Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 91

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

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The courage of Gansevoort held out during this siege of twenty days, although it looked like ulti- mate surrender because ammunition and food had nearly given out, and many of his men advised surrender. Herkimer, Willett, and Arnold deserve all praise for the part they acted in preventing St. Leger from carrying out the plan of meeting Bur- goyne at Albany. We have reason to believe that there were Albany County men with Gansevoort and with Arnold; but we have not found their names.

After the departure of St. Leger, General Ganse- voort and his regiment had charge of repairing Fort Plain and erecting the block house near it, where they were stationed for some time to take charge of the large quantity of stores destined for Fort Stanwix; to watch the movements of the In- dian and Tories; and to be ready to render services in case of any attacks made by them in the vicinity.

The report of the designs of Burgoyne and St. Leger, seemed at first to paralyze, not arouse, the Whigs of Mohawk Valley. They began to regard the patriot cause as almost hopeless. They hesi- tated whether to prepare for defense against disci- plined British soldiers or to supinely await the course of events. The event awakened new con- fidence and effort.

The story of Saratoga and the taking of Bur- goyne is too familiar to require repetition here. Indeed, our space is too limited to give it in satis- factory detail. It is well known that the patriotic Philip Schuyler was superseded a few days before the battle by Horatio Gates, an experienced, trained military officer of English birth; good at making plans; inferior to Schuyler as a man; selfish, and ambitious; not remarkable for any deeds of patri- otism or of daring bravery, either at this time or any other.

Schuyler was cautious, and in such an emergency as that in which he was placed by the advance of Burgoyne and his proud army, and his own ill- appointed and uneasy troops, he might well be so. But Schuyler was not the man for the occasion. He was not a man for his soldiers. He was too dilatory; he did not understand his men, nor did they understand him. His conduct, after he was superseded, was worthy of all praise. No doubt he felt the seeming degradation, but at no point could he be accused of neglecting his duty as a patriotic citizen. His wise counsels and his means were at the command of his country. No doubt some of his movements in falling back before Bur- goyne's march seemed then cowardly. It is doubt- ful if his final stand, taken near the forks of the Mohawk, where he entrenched himself and his small army as well as he could, on Van Schaick and Haver Islands, was well taken. The people of his own county began to fear that he was not equal to the emergency, and the feelings of the New England troops was very bitter against him. It was difficult to enlist men to fight under him. These facts, not forgetting his really worthy character as a man and as a patriot, seemed to justify the course pursued by Congress in super- seding him. After this was done, a new spirit seemed to pervade the Northern Department, and all possible efforts were cheerfully made to prevent the advance of Burgoyne.

The magnanimity of Schuyler was shown after the battle, by his treatment of Burgoyne and his suite at his own house in Albany; his gallant treatment of the amiable Madame Riedesel; and his humane aid in behalf of the sick and wounded soldiers. More than a thousand of them were taken to the hospital and even into the houses of Albany, including friends and foes, and there had the best of care.

We feel justified in this connection, in making an extract from Smith's "History of Pittsfield," as giving a fair estimate of the character of General Schuyler in connection with the cause that led to his being superseded by Gates. It also aids much in understanding the state of feeling at that pe- riod:

"The calamitous termination of the invasion of Canada brought to its culmination the opposi- tion to Schuyler, which, in King's District, the County of Berkshire, and in the New Hampshire Grants, had been growing ever since his appoint- ment to the Northern command.

" An unblemished patriot, a gallant soldier, and no mean statesman, Schuyler was yet distinguished by qualities, both positive and negative, which rendered him, if qualified for any departmental command, remarkably ill-adapted to that which was assigned him, between a majority of whose people and himself there existed an incompatibility which resulted in an antagonism fatal to the public interest. An aristocrat of aristocrats, he hated the robustious democracy of Massachusetts, and the still ruder independence of the settlers upon the Grants. A New Yorker of New Yorkers, jea- lous of the rights of his Province, he participated

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to the full in the feeling excited by the alleged en- croachments of the New Englanders upon her eastern borders, and was prepared to resist, at any cost, the new invasion of her territory, under pre- tense of patents from New Hampshire. Intimate, socially and personally, with many of the higher class of Loyalists in King's District, he could not be made to believe them guilty of the secret plots against their country and the violation of their solemn pledges, of which they were popularly ac- cused. Annoyed by the evil deeds of the Tories, he was opposed to them; but he was indignant at the harsh treatment with which the Sons of Liberty treated his friends, the Van Schaicks, and others of suspected Toryism, and was not in favor of a cer- tain class of Whigs. This led to ill-blood and bitter opposition to his promotion.

"Coming to his command with a nervous hor- ror of partisan warfare, he attributed that character to the proud-spirited and ambitious militia of the hills, who, used to hardy and independent enter- prise, were not easily controlled, but kept him in perpetual terror of some rash adventure, while they failed him in executing his best-laid schemes of falling back for an indefinitely postponed advance. And he refused to renounce his prejudices against them, even when he found that they alone won victories in his department, and, having won them, showed a regard for the amenities of honorable warfare, and observed its laws with a scrupulous nicety which put to shame the regulars whom they encountered. He failed to perceive a courtesy which was not expressed in courtly phrase, or to recognize chivalry except in those of gentle blood -as gentility went in provincial America. As a soldier, his courage was proved; as a general, few in the American armies could better set a squadron in the field, or were more familiar with the rules of their art. As a commander of a de- partment, none labored more arduously, or gave themselves with more untiring zeal and industry to the unthankful task of providing material of war; none did so more unselfishly, as was grandly shown in his ceaseless exertions to supply the northern army when forbiden to hope for any large share in the glory of its anticipated achievements. But he was destitute of that great element in generalship which, given a certain soldiery with which to ac- complish a specific end, takes them as it finds them, with all their faults and with all their excel- lences, wins their confidence, and makes the most of what is in them. Schuyler, on the contrary, fretfully magnified the imperfections of the men committed to him, and was perversely blind to their good qualities as soldiers. Assigned to a position surrounded by innumerable difficulties, he possessed nothing of the spirit which delights to encounter obstacles; the energy which turns them to its own account; and, least of all, that calm strength which endures without complaint what cannot be avoided or changed."

Much of that which was to be regretted in him was the result of the depressing influence of ill- health; and, reviewing his career, we cannot fail to recognize the true patriot and statesman, and the

general, whose abilities would have given him per- haps, brilliant success in almost any other field than that in which he was placed.

The radical Whigs, who controlled the politics of his department, were hardly to be expected so clearly to perceive his merits. Between the revo- lutionary committees of that region and such a man as we have described, conflict was inevitable. Of political and social sentiments, the very reverse of those which characterized Schuyler, the com- mittees were also extremely unlike him in temper- ament and habits of thought. Impetuous, some- times even to rashness, in their zeal, they and their followers were ever ready to rally in sudden emer- gency, or for the execution of dashing enterprises; but, if the opportunity to meet the enemy was not speedily accorded them, they grew impatient of the necessary restraint of military discipline. In their theory of the art of war, retreat was omitted from the list of contingencies. As a general, Fabius was by no means a model in their esteem. Judg- ing the readiness of all men to make sacrifices for their country by their own, they underrated the im- pediments which Schuyler found in raising armies and accumulating stores. Intolerant of the luke- warmness of moderate Whigs, as well as of the mis- deeds of the Loyalists, they denounced the former in no measured terms, while they advocated and practiced the most rigid discipline of the latter. Many of them, of narrow experience in affairs, and wanting that liberality towards opponents which contact with the great world brings, they could not explain the perhaps over-generous sentiments of Schuyler towards some of those whom they classed indiscriminately as the enemies of American liberty, except upon the hypothesis of his sympathy with their Toryism.

When, therefore, information came to Berkshire and King's district of the sad aspect which affairs wore in Canada and finally, that all which had been gained there at such great cost was wrested from the Americans-smarting under the disap- pointment of hopes which with them had been more sanguine than elsewhere, the people of those districts were ready to charge the commander who, although not long personally in the field, had from the first been nominally at the head of operations, with the responsibility for their miserable failure. Among its prime causes, they ranked the brief delay before St. John's, to which he had been per- suaded by the report of a treacherous informer to the neglect of the truthful representations of John Brown and James Livingston. Other missteps of the expedition were attributed to him, oftenest un- justly, through the malignancy of his enemies, who played upon the popular feeling through unscrupu- lous emissaries, who found powerful auxiliaries in Schuyler's unfortunate peculiarities.

The disaster to St. Leger, and the unexpected check made by the brave Stark at Bennington, fell like an incubus on Burgoyne's army. Indians deserted and Loyalists were less confident.

We need not tell what was done by Gates. What he did was well done, as events proved. But it has well been said that the blunders of Burgoyne

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were quite as helpful to the patriot cause as was the skill of Gates. Around him came Lincoln, Poor, Scammell, Woolcott, Cilley, Putnam, Dear- born, Brooks, Glenn, Nixon, Whipple, Warner, Hull, Fellows, Hale, Bailey, and other brave com- manders, with their full brigades from New Eng- land, full of the patriotic fire long kept alive among those sons of the Puritans. They were men who " trusted in God and kept their powder dry." Indeed Gates himself says: "My New England troops did the fighting at Saratoga." But we must not fail to do justice to the daring Arnold, who was one of the bravest men, and did some of the most effective fighting in the battle. Nor do we forget the brave Morgan, of Virginia, with his un- erring marksmen. The bravest men of Albany County, too, were there under Abraham Ten Broeck. Soldiers from the lower Hudson were there under Henry and James Livingston, mem- bers of a family that was always on the side of freedom, learning and public progress. Van Court- land was there too, with his brigade, and Morgan Lewis was also there. It would take a volume to tell all that was done, and give appropriate praise to all who did it.

When all was over, and the army of Burgoyne had left the country, Albany County was safe. Its soldiers were in no more important battles. The war was carried to the south. Albany was kept on the home guard.

After the surrender of Burgoyne, so far as we have learned, the troops from Albany County gen- erally retired to their homes.

The fighting was done in the more southerly departments-in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and States further south. The painful marches and the pestilential encampments were made there mostly. The troops in the service were from New England and the Atlantic States south of New York.

This, well called one of the decisive battles of history, was fought in our territory, almost at the gates of our city, and aided by the services and resources of the brave men that once made their homes in our own county.

Following this there was much fear from the lurking Indians and Tories; there was much watch- ing and guarding, and not a little skirmishing.

The council held at Johnstown on the 9th of March, 1778, to try once more to secure the neu- trality, if not the co- operation of all the Six Nations, was represented on behalf of Congress by Volkert P. Douw, and, perhaps, General Philip Schuyler. But it resulted in no change of policy. Only the Oneidas and Tuscaroras pledged abiding friend- ship.

Early in the spring of 1779, upon the urgent entreaty of General Schuyler made to Congress, and under the direction of General James Clinton, an expedition was undertaken against the Onon- daga Indians, under command of Colonel Van Schaick, with 558 strong men selected from his own regiment and that of General Gansevoort. Its object was to punish that bloodthirsty tribe,

and deter its warriors from future cruelties. The expedition lasted six days, and returned to Fort Stawnix without the loss of a man. The little army had scattered the tribe, destroyed three of its villages, horses and cattle, a large quantity of pro- visions, killed twelve Indians and taken thirty-three prisoners. This punishment was deserved, but of doubtful policy. It led to the destruction of Co- bleskill, attacks upon Canajoharie, Stone Arabia, and other places soon after; and finally compelled the fearful and effective chastisement under Gen- eral John Sullivan, of all the savage tribes in Western New York.

In the spring of 1780, Colonel Van Schaick, in command of 800 militia, was sent from Albany by Governor Clinton to pursue Sir John Johnson, who was making destructive inroads upon the small settlements along the Mohawk Valley. Sir John left his pursuers behind and escaped to Canada. Colonel Van Schaick was a valiant officer, and did good service in a military and civil capacity. A portrait and memorial of his life, prepared by Miss Jane Van Schaick, of Albany, appears in this history.

In the latter part of 1784, while our troops had little to do but to watch and wait, certain regiments of General Gansevoort's brigade were stationed be- tween the Battenkill and the Hoosick, waiting fur- ther orders. This was near the New Hampshire Grants, in which dwelt some of the boldest men in the States, and particularly ready to resist any ag- gressions from the State of New York, which claimed jurisdiction over these Grants. Since there were no British troops to fight, the old animosities broke out, and the Green Mountain Boys who had fought at Bennington and Saratoga, were declared in a state of insurrection. This broke out in the regiments of Colonels John and Henry K. Van Rensselaer and Peter Yates. Indeed, the militia in this vicinity seemed generally to take sides with the people of the Grants, with whom they became in sympathy in the alliance of the battle-field and the camp. General Gansevoort, on the 5th of De- cember, ordered Colonels Yates, Van Vechten and Van Rensselaer to march to St. Coych and quell the insurrection. Governor Clinton directed Gen- eral Robert Van Rensselaer's brigade to assist Gen- eral Gansevoort with all necessary troops. General Stark, stationed at Saratoga, being solicited, refused to interfere unless ordered by General Heath, his superior officer. The sympathies of the New Eng- landers were with the brave Vermonters. Ganse- voort, with what volunteers he could raise, advanced to St. Coych, where he found a force of 500 men ready to support the insurgent militia, Having only 80 men, General Gansevoort retired five miles, and attempted, by writing to the leaders, to induce them to lay down their arms, but in vain. The so-called rebels were left undisturbed. After this, a conciliatory letter from General Washington to Governor Chittenden, had the effect to put an end to disturbances that were made in defense of what were considered honest rights. Ten years after this Vermont became all its citizens asked-an in- dependent State. The controversy was an old

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

and bitter one; and, from its vicinity to the New Hampshire Grants, Albany County had much to do with it.

THE VAN SCHAICK FAMILY.

The family of Van Schaick is one of the earliest of the many prominent early families of Albany. Colonel Gozen Van Schaick was born in January, 1737, and died July 4, 1789. His wife was Mary Ten Broeck, of the celebrated New York family of that name. He served with great distinction in the colonial army during the revolutionary strug- gle, having previously had military experience in the service of the Crown under General Amherst. He was in command of the American forces in Albany, then a military point of great importance, and was the leader of the memorable expedition against the Onondagas in 1779, for the successful conduct of which he received the thanks of Congress. In this connection, Washington, writing to Clinton, expressed himself as follows:

"The enterprise commanded by Colo. Van Schaick merits my approbation and thanks, and does great honor to him and all the Officers & men engaged in it. The issue is very interesting .- I have written him a line upon the occasion."

The following flattering testimonial to Colonel Van Schaick from General Schuyler, sums up the Colonel's soldierly character most completely:

" ALBANY, June 15th, 1782.

"SIR, -- I lament the occasion which renders it in- cumbent on me to afford you a testimonial of the sense I entertain of your conduct. I sincerely wish I could communicate it in words equal to my feelings, and to my experience of the propriety of it during a series of years.

" The early decisive and active part which you took in the favor of your country in the present contest, justly entitles you to the attention of its Friends. We are not less indebted to your exer- tions as an Officer. Your service, whilst I had the honor of commanding the military in this Depart- ment, were such as attracted my notice; your close attention to the discipline of your Regiment afforded a beneficial example to officers less expe- rienced in the duties of their offices. The alacrity with which you executed every order; The propri- ety of your conduct when left to act Independently, and judge for your self; The prudence which you exhibited on occasions when the line of conduct to be held was delicate and important, evinsed a clearness of judgment, and a mind capable of re- source, and created a confidence of which I never had occasion to Repent. Upon the whole, Sir, I esteem you a valuable Officer and a faithfull ser- vent of the Public, and should have been rejoiced to have learnt your merit rewarded in a promotion to that military Rank which you claim as your due.

" Delicacy would have prevented my saying thus much in a Letter to you, but to have said less, when I intend you should exhibit this to any per- son or persons whom you conceive may wish to be

advised of the opinion I entertain of you as an Officer and a citizen, would have been injurious to truth.

"Wishing you a speedy and an Honorable extri- cation from the embarrassments which distress you,

" I am, Sir, " Very sincerely, " Your obedient " Humble servant, " P. SCHUYLER."

Colonel Van Schaick was afterwards a general in the regular service, and held that rank at the time of his death. He left a quantity of papers and letters, private and official, a large portion of which were lost or destroyed after his death by accident, as is supposed. Those that were fortunately pre- served, consisted of letters from the Clintons, a large number of autographs from General Wash- ington, of the most confidential and flattering char- acter, showing that he held him in high estimation as a man of sound judgment as well as a gallant soldier, and others from officers under whom he served when in the provincial service, such as Sir Jeffrey Amherst, which are a beautiful specimen of chirography, and to whom he owed his first com- mission in the British army. Among them is a characteristic letter from General Montgomery con- taining the most humane and generous sentiments, and quite a number of commissions with ponder- ous seals, with the autograph of George III, and communications from Generals Gates, Schuyler, Clinton and others. What remain of this once valuable collection are carefully preserved by his grandson, Henry Van Schaick, and other descend- ants.

General Van Schaick had five sons and a daugh- ter. Some of the former were well known in bus- iness circles in Albany and New York, and all- until their death, moved in the most distinguished society of the Empire State. One of these, Tobias Van Schaick, was born in Albany, December 9, 1779, and married Jane Staats, daughter of the old Albany merchant, Henry Staats, November 2, 1811. This lady was born May 16, 1783, and died April 23, 1823. She bore Mr. Van Schaick several children, all of whom died in infancy except the Misses Ann and Jane Van Schaick, the former of whom died June 22, 1861. Early in life Mr. Van Schaick was a merchant, and carried on an exten- sive trade at 447 and 449 Broadway, from which he retired while yet a comparatively young man to assume the care of the Van Schaick estate in Al- bany, which had been under the management of his mother for some time preceding her death. Following this retirement, he never afterward engaged in active business; but he took a deep interest in the growth and prosperity of Albany, and in the conduct of public affairs. Politically he was a Whig, but his tastes were such that he never permitted himself to become actively involved in politics. He attended and was a most liberal sup- porter of the North Reformed Dutch Church. He was a quiet, unostentatious man, going little abroad, and enjoying the comforts of his home.

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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.

Disliking all vain-glorious pomp and show, he lived simply for one of his means and position, always finding most pleasure at his own hearthstone and in the society of those he loved, though mingling socially with the most prominent families of Al- bany, and was always a welcome guest wherever he went.

He was a man who talked little, especially about himself, and because of that reserve much that might interest the readers of this work has been lost, for reminiscences of such a man, could they be procured, would be a valuable contribution to any history of Albany. He died April 21, 1868, aged 88 years 4 months and 11 days:

THE MILITIA OF 1775-76.

Albany County, as it existed at the time of the Revolution, first organized Seventeen Regiments of Militia, under the law of 1775. We give the officers of such as belonged wholly, or in part, to the present Albany County. They were numbered and officered, as found in the Historical Records of the State, as follows :

FIRST REGIMENT, CITY OF ALBANY.

Jacob Lansing, Jr., Colonel; Direk Ten Broeck, Lieutenant-Colonel; Henry Wendell, First Major; Abraham Cuyler, Second Major; Volekert A. Douw, Adjutant; Ephraim Van Veghten, Quarter- master.

First Company .- John Barclay, Captain ; John Price, First Lieutenant; Abraham I. Yates, Second Lieutenant; John Scott, Ensign.

Second Company .- Thomas Barrett, Captain ; Matthew Vischer, First Lieutenant; Abraham Eights, Second Lieutenant; John Hoagkirk, En- sign.

Third Company. - John Williams, Captain; Henry Staats, First Lieutenant; Barent Van Allen, Second Lieutenant; Henry Hogan, Ensign.

Fourth Company .- John M. Beeekman, Captain; Isaac De Freest, First Lieutenant; Abraham Ten Eyck, Second Lieutenant; Teunis T. Van Veghten, Ensign.

Fifth Company .- Harmanus Wendell, Captain; William Hun, First Lieutenant; Jacob G. Lansing, Second Lieutenant; Cornelius Wendell, Ensign.

Sixth Company .- John N. Bleecker, Captain; John James Beeckman, First Lieutenant; Casparus Pruyn, Second Lieutenant; Nicholas Marselis, En- sign.

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Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 91

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452