USA > New York > Westchester County > Rye > Chronicle of a border town : history of Rye, Westchester county, New York, 1660-1870, including Harrison and the White Plains till 1788 > Part 24
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The friends of Congress here complain that ' the tories are get- ting the upper hand of them, and threaten them daily.' Some patriots have had their private property injured by the destruction of fences and cropping of horses' tails and manes. The tories are equipped and constantly in arms, walking about at night, six, eight, and ten at a time. Some of them do not hesitate to say that they are determined to defend themselves, and would fire upon any one who should come to their houses and attempt to take away their arms.3
One Godfrey Hains, of Rye Neck, is the most defiant of these tories. He gives great offence by his contemptuous speeches about Congress and the Committee of Safety. He has been heard to say that there would be bad times here soon ; some of the people of the place would be taken off and carried to General Gage's army. One, he declares, will be had at all events, and that is Judge Thomas, who must be caught if it cost the lives of fifty men. Other persons have been secretly warned to keep out of the way, as there is a scheme to seize them in their houses and carry them off.
November, 1775. - A plot has been discovered at Rye for the capture of several zealous friends of their country. Godfrey Hains 632. August 24, Wooster writes from Oyster Ponds to Governor Trumbull of Con- necticut, that he expects to sail by next Monday for New York, but begs to be no longer under the direction of the Provincial Congress of New York, having no faith in their honesty to the cause. (American Archives, fourth series, vol. iii. p. 263.)
1 Gaine's New York Gazette, July 3, 1775.
2 Ibid. August 14, 1775.
3 Journals of the Provincial Congress, Provincial Convention, Committee of Safety and Council of Safety of the State of New York, 1775, 1776, 1777. Albany, 1842 : vol. i. pp. 192-194.
15
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THE REVOLUTION.
was arrested in September last for speaking disrespectfully of Con- gress, but broke jail, and is now on board the man-of-war in New York harbor. He is said to be bent on revenge. A number of his neighbors and associates on Rye Neck lately formed a plan for tak- ing Judge Thomas at his house in Rye Woods. A tender of the British man-of-war was to appear off Mamaroneck at a certain time, and barges were to be sent on shore to receive Thomas and others. The plot fortunately came to the knowledge of Captain Gilbert Budd, of Mamaroneck, who was privately warned by a neighbor ; and upon his information William Lounsberry and sev- eral others have been arrested, and bound over to keep the peace.
December, 1775. - The tories of Westchester are unceasing in their efforts to furnish supplies, to be sent to the army at Boston. Between Byram River and King's Bridge, there are about two thou- sand barrels of pork, chiefly in the hands of tories, besides what has been sent off. At the house of William Sutton, of ' Maroneck,' about twenty head of fat cattle have been barrelled within a few days past ; it is supposed that they are to be sent off for the minis- terial army. 'In the same neighbourhood, for three and four miles around, there are not more than eight or ten Whigs to 120 Tories. On the fifteenth instant, a large yawl from the Asia, with about twenty-four men armed, came in the night into Maro- neck harbour ; and the inimical inhabitants loaded it with poultry and small stock for said ship. The friends of liberty were so few, that they were not able to collect a sufficient force to make any timely opposition.' 1
January, 1776. - A daring outrage was committed on the night of the seventeenth instant, near King's Bridge. Some cannon,2 which had been placed there for the purpose of defending the approaches to the city in that direction, were discovered the next morning to have been spiked and rendered useless. The Com- mittee of Safety in New York took measures immediately to dis- cover the perpetrators, who proved to be none other than William Lounsberry and his tory confederate's at Rye Neck and Mamaro- neck. Lounsberry was apprehended on the twenty-third by Lieu- tenant Allen with a guard of twelve men. He appeared to be ' struck with guilt' when arrested, but made no confession. Sev- eral other arrests have been made, and a full examination of the
1 American Archives, fourth series, vol. iv. p. 591.
2 Dr. Church, in his ' traitorous letter to an Officer in Boston,' dated July 23, 1775, had written, ' I counted 280 pieces of Cannon, from 24 to 3 pounders, at Kingsbridge, which the Committee had secured for the use of the colonies.'
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TORY PLOTS.
parties before the Committee of Safety has brought out the follow- ing facts : -
The plan originated with the British governor, Tryon, who was now on board the Asia, man-of-war, in the harbor of New York. The city was held by the Continental troops ; but the presence of the king's ships, on one of which he had taken refuge, en- abled Tryon to carry on intrigues with disaffected persons in the surrounding country. Congress had given stringent orders for the apprehension and punishment of any who might be found engag- ing in such plots ; and local committees were on the watch. Early in January, Lounsberry and Josiah Burrell, of Rye Neck, had been on board the man-of-war in the North River, and had seen the governor, who said ' It must be done, to render the cannon use- less.' On the evening of the seventeenth instant, about nine or ten o'clock, Lounsberry had been seen, with five other men, all on foot, in New Rochelle, going towards New York ; they appeared to have handkerchiefs about their heads, and belts around their waists over their coats. Lounsberry has finally confessed that he and others had gone to disarm the guns with sledges ; but when they came near to a house in the neighborhood they heard people at work at them. They waited awhile, and then upon coming to the cannon found them spiked, and the touchholes turned downwards. The guns lay a few hundred yards from Isaac Valentine's house.
The ringleaders in this plot have been ordered to be ' shackled and manacled, and kept in close confinement.' Godfrey Hains too has been arrested again. This irrepressible tory, after ' break- ing jail by breaking six grates out of a window,' stole a boat in the night, and got on board a British man-of-war. He remained there until the vessel sailed, and then having purchased a small sloop, the Polly and Ann, set off for Boston with a load of beef, pork, and other provisions to supply the British army and navy, then blockaded in that port by the American forces under Gen- eral Washington's command. The sloop sailed on the twentieth of January, and on the twenty-third was ' stranded on the Jersey shore.' Hains is sent to New York by the Committee of Safety of New Jersey. The New York Committee are of opinion that ' his many and mischievous machinations are so dangerous, that he ought to be kept in safe custody and close jail.' He is sent 'fettered and manacled,' to Ulster County jail, there to be con- fined securely until further orders.
The British troops evacuated Boston on the seventeenth of
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THE REVOLUTION.
March, 1776. It was now fully believed that New York would be the principal point of attack. The friends of England were secretly maturing plans for an effectual cooperation with the royal forces when they should arrive. It was understood that Governor Tryon had held out strong inducements to any who would enter the king's service and stand prepared to act with the government at the proper moment. 'Many Enemies to America are daily travelling through this County in Disguise, and under divers Pre- tences, though in reality for the purpose of aiding the Ministerial Troops when they shall arrive in this Colony ; ' so the committee for Westchester County, in session at the White Plains, wrote on the eleventh of June. In view of this fact, the sub-committees in the several towns, and the militia officers, are empowered to ex- amine all transient persons ; and boatmen and others are charged on no account to carry any passengers from this county to New York, Long Island, or elsewhere, without certificates from one or more of the members of this committee, or of the committees of the districts in which they reside.1
The Committee of Safety for Rye, chosen to serve for one year from May, 1776, consisted of the following persons : -
Samnel Townsend, Samuel Lyon,
Isaac Seaman,
Gilbert Lyon,
Frederick Jay, John Thomas, junior.2
In Harrison, the Committee of Safety was composed of -
William Miller, Deputy Chairman.
Lewis M'Donald, Peter Fleming, James Raymond, Marcus Mosenell.3
These committees needed to keep a vigilant eye upon the tories on Rye Neck. Lounsberry was again active, this time en- deavoring to obtain recruits for the royal army. Jacob Scureman, called up for examination at the White Plains, testified that he was going over from New Rochelle to Rye, when he came across three or four men with Lounsberry in the woods. He talked with him, but was not shown the enlistment paper, nor asked to put his name to it. Bloomer Neilson, who was with Lounsberry at the place aforesaid, confessed that his name was put to the enlistment paper; Lounsberry overpersuaded him. Joseph Turner, whose name is on the list, says that Lounsberry asked him to sign it, and put his name down ; he was to have three pounds bounty. Stephen
1 Gaine's New York Gazette, June 7, 1776.
2 New York Revolutionary Papers, vol. i. p. 632.
3 American Archives, fourth series, vol. v. p. 290.
229
ARREST OF DISAFFECTED PERSONS.
Hains promised Lounsberry last spring to enlist with him ; he did enlist a few days before he was taken. Complaint is made also that Jonathan Purdy, junior, 'a young fellow,' and Gilbert Hor- ton of the White Plains, have called themselves subjects of King George, and claim the privileges of prisoners of war.1
The arrival of the British fleet was now imminent. Washing- ton was in New York, making every preparation within his means for the defence of the city. The New York Convention was in ses- sion at the White Plains, receiving information and issuing orders respecting the movements of the tories in Westchester County. June 5th, several persons disaffected to the American canse are ordered to be arrested. Among these are William Sutton, Joseph Purdy, and James Horton, junior. Others, 'considered in a sus- picious light,' are to appear when summoned, Solomon Fowler among them. On the twenty-second, a levy of fifty men is ordered to serve in this county, in consequence of annoyances suffered from sundry disaffected and dangerous persons. Frequent meet- ings are now held in different parts of the county at private houses, by ' many persons unfriendly to the liberties of the United States.' The Committee of Safety issue a warning to any who ' allow such meetings to be held at their houses, that they are to be treated as enemies to their country.' 2 July 16th, one fourth of the militia of the county were called out.3 The enemy's ships were now in the bay of New York ; on one of them was General Howe, fully expecting that 'a numerous body of the inhabitants,' who were waiting only for the opportunity, would soon join his army. There were reasons for this expectation. The tories here grow more in- solent and boastful. William Sutton and his son John are at last arrested, and ordered to be confined, ' because of inimical declara- tions and threats.' The Committee of Safety at the White Plains ask to have Captain Townsend's company, now at the North River, recalled, inasmuch as the people of this county greatly need their presence.4 Several of our Rye farmers have been for some time past detained at the White Plains as disaffected persons. The Com- mittee of Safety apply to the Convention, August 24th, for orders respecting them. ' They are chiefly considerable farmers, and this present season loudly calls upon them to attend to the putting of their seed in the ground, if they can be released with safety to
1 Journals of the Provincial Congress, etc., vol. ii. p. 221.
American Archives, fifthi series, vol. i. p. 354.
3 Journals of the Provincial Congress, etc., vol. i. p. 525.
Ibid. vol. ii. p. 289.
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THE REVOLUTION.
our country.' Among these persons are Monmouth Hart, John McCullum, Joseph and John Gedney, Joseph Purdy, Gilbert Hor- ton, Captain Joshua Purdy, Josiah and Isaac Brown, Bartholomew Hains, Joseph Haviland, Adam Seaman, Samnel Merritt, and Jeremiah Travis. They were probably permitted to return to their homes.1
With the arrival of the British fleet, the waters of Long Island Sound became for the first time a scene of hostilities. July 23d, Governor Trumbull of Connecticut wrote to General Washington that ' many of the enemy's frigates and ships ' had ' been stationed between Montauk Point and Block Island, to intercept trade from the Sound. They have been but too successful,' he adds, 'in tak- ing several provision vessels ; ' indeed, it is impossible that any should escape falling into their hands. The armed vessels in the service of Connecticut were ordered to stop and detain all vessels going down the Sound with provisions, until further orders. Wash- ington requests the governors of Connecticut and Rhode Island to send some of their row-galleys, which he thinks may be of service in attempting something against the enemy's ships. One has arrived, and three or four others are expected.
1 Journals of the Provincial Congress, etc., p. 291. One of the persons concerned in the spiking of cannon at King's Bridge was Isaac Gedney, of Rye. He was for some time detained as a prisoner in the city of New York ; and on the twenty-seventh of March was transferred to the White Plains. From this place he addressed the fol- lowing petition to the New York Committee of Safety : -
' WHITE PLAINS JAIL, April 20, 1776.
'GENTLEMEN : I am to acknowledge your kindness in removing me from the New York Jail to this place, but am still unhappy in being detained from my family, who at this season, want my assistance very much. It is not only the aid I might give, in keeping my interest together, (all of which has been earned by the sweat of my brow,) but adding happiness to my family, and saving a large family of children from run- ning into many vices. You, gentlemen, who have families, know the difficulty of keep- ing youth within bounds, when with them ; much less can it be done by a mother.
' I have been in confinement near three months. There surely ought to be some period, some end to a man's sufferings. If you, gentlemen, think that giving you good bail for my appearance, as well as for my peaceable behaviour, will answer the intention of the law, I can, and shall with pleasure, give it, in any sum which may be asked ; but to lie here confined in a jail, and know my interest daily sinking, withont one single advantage to the publick that I can conceive, renders me more unhappy than the bare suffering of being confined.
' If you, gentlemen, can with propriety give me enlargement, you will relieve a dis- .tressed family of a wife and seven children, and lay under obligations your unhappy and very humble servant,
ISAAC GEDNEY.'
The Committee of Safety granted this application May 2, and permitted Isaae Ged- ney to go at large, under promise not to bear arms against the American colonies. ( American Archives, fourth series, vol. v. pp. 990, 991, 1484, 1485.)
*
231
THE MILITIA CALLED OUT.
' Two men of war are now anchored,' writes Colonel Drake from New Rochelle, August 27th, ' between Hart and City Islands ; one more has just gone past Frog's Neck.' He has rallied as many of the militia as possible. The Committee of Safety, upon hearing this, ' orders the militia to be called out with five days' provisions, to watch the motions of the enemy on the Sound. August 28th, a party is to guard from Rye Neck to Rodman's Neck. Colonel Budd commands it. They are in great want of powder. The enemy as yet ' have not been able to plunder much.' 1
1 American Archives, fourth series, vol. i. pp. 1544-1552.
ยท
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE REVOLUTION.
1776.
' A voice went forth throughout the land, And an answering voice replied,
From the rock-piled mountain fastnesses To the surging ocean tide.
And the hill-men left their grass-grown steeps, And their flocks and herds unkept ; And the ploughshare of the husbandman In the half-turned furrow slept.'
MARY E. HEWITT.
INTHE troubles in Westchester County were only beginning, as long as the American forces remained in possession of the city of New York. Their presence checked the demonstrations which the British commanders expected from the rural population whose sympathies were very generally with them. Opposition to Congress displayed itself chiefly in plots such as we have seen occurring at Rye and in the neighborhood. But on the fourteenth of September, 1776, Washington abandoned the city, and with- drew his army to the upper part of the island. A month later (October 21-26) he retreated to the White Plains. The opera- tions of the two armies for the next few weeks were conducted at no great distance from Rye. Indeed, the most important of them occurred within the limits of this town, which then included the White Plains. The period therefore of real danger and suffering to our inhabitants begins with these events.
General Howe had landed his forces, on the twelfth of October, upon Throgg's Neck, twelve miles below Rye. On the twenty- first, he took his position upon the heights about a mile north of New Rochelle. The enemy, writes Washington the same day from the White Plains, are advancing by parties from their main body now at New Rochelle. They are seeking to take possession of posts on the Sound, to cut off our supplies from the eastward by water.1
1 ' In one of the churches at New Rochelle was stored more than 2,000 bushels of
233
ENGAGEMENT AT MAMARONECK.
Active efforts were now making to prepare the population of Westchester County for a general rising in favor of the govern- ment. Information had reached General Heath at King's Bridge, October 2d, that several companies were forming to join Howe's army.1 To thwart these measures, small bodies of troops were stationed at various points. As early as September 11th, Gov- ernor Trumbull had appointed Major Backus with a troop of light horse at or near Westchester. September 21st, General Heath directed him to order a part of this troop to be posted at ' Mare- neck,' and places below.2
At Mamaroneck, Howe posted Lieutenant-colonel Rogers, in command of the Queen's Rangers, a body of loyalist volunteers recently raised. This was the first introduction of the inhabitants to this officer and his corps, at whose hands they suffered cruelly in after days. Rogers was attacked at Mamaroneck, on the night of his arrival, by a detachment of American troops, who killed or captured some forty of his men. This engagement took place on Nelson Hill and in the vicinity ; and the bodies of the killed were buried on the southeast side of the hill. The day after this affair another division of General Howe's army, under General Knyp- hausen, arrived and encamped upon the land between Mamaro- neck and New Rochelle. This division consisted of Germans, principally Hessians, who had landed but a few days before in New York. The site of their encampment was on the land recently owned by E. K. Collins, Esq.
Rye was occupied at this moment by a small American force. Early in October, 1776,3 the twentieth regiment of the Connecticut militia had been ordered to take position here, for the defence of that State. The regiment was far from complete, numbering only one hundred and seventy-six men, commanded by Major Zabdiel Rogers of Connecticut ; 4 it had been sent to this point by Gov- salt, which has fallen into the hands of the enemy. It was owned by the State of New York.' (Letter quoted in American Archives, fifth series, vol. ii. p. 1209.) ' We have lately made a prize,' writes a British officer from New York, October 30, to a friend in London, ' that must distress them [the Rebels] exceedingly, no less than a church full of salt ; so that the poor Yankees literally won't have salt to their porridge.' (Ibid. p. 1294.)
1 American Archives, fifth series, vol. ii. p. 845.
2 Ibid. pp. 295, 439.
3 October 2, General Heath at King's Bridge, sends orders to the officers command- ing guards between his posts at Westchester and the ' Saw-pits,' particularly to Major Rogers, etc. (American Archives, fifth series, vol. ii. p. 845.)
4 The following order from General Washington, at the White Plains, October 21, to this officer, at Rye, warns him of the approach of the Rangers : -
' SIR : You are hereby requested to make the best stand you can with the Troops
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THE REVOLUTION.
ernor Trumbull of Connecticut, at the earnest request of the Committee of Safety for New York. On the tenth of October, they wrote to him from Fishkill, begging that he would have his militia in readiness in the event of an insurrection. 'No reliance can be placed,' they write the same day to Washington, 'on the Westchester County militia.'' The officers, in many cases, op- pose the measures of Congress.2
The battle of the WHITE PLAINS was fought on the twenty- eighth. By the twenty-sixth the American army had been moved from King's Bridge to the White Plains, and ranged on the high grounds to the northeast and northwest of the village, and on the lower ground between. It extended from the Bronx River on the right, to Horton's Pond, now called St. Mary's Lake, on the left. Here, upon the left of the line, General Heath's division was posted. To the east of his position lay 'a deep hollow, through which ran a small brook, which came from a mill-pond, a little above.' A high hill rose on the opposite side of this hollow, the top of which was covered with wood. On the south brow of this hill, in the skirt of the wood, General Heath placed Colonel Mal- colm, and his regiment of New York troops, with a field-piece.
The American line thus formed ran from northeast to south- west, across the town of the White Plains, a little above the vil- lage ; and in front of this line some intrenchments were thrown up. To the west of this position and on the other side of the Bronx River was the height known as Chatterton's Hill. The possession of this hill was important, to protect the right flank of the army ; and General McDougal's brigade, numbering about fourteen hundred and fifty men, was ordered to occupy it. Mean- while the enemy had advanced from Scarsdale, and after a skir- mish near the present village of Hart's Corners, a little over a mile south of the lines, had arrived in view of the American forces. At once, upon seeing the advantageous position occupied by the force under McDougal, General Howe decided that this force must be dislodged before an attack should be made upon the main lines of the American army.
under your command against the Enemy, who I am informed are advancing this morning on Mamaronek, and I will as soon as possible order a party to attack them in flank, of which you shall be fully informed in proper time.'
The success of this attack rendered this precaution needless, and the Rangers did not as yet visit our town. (History of Norwich, Connecticut, by F. M. Caulkins, 1866, p. 382.)
1 American Archives, fifth series, vol. ii. p. 991.
2 Ibid., fourth series, vol. ii. p. 1604.
235
BATTLE OF THE WHITE PLAINS.
A heavy fire was opened on MeDougal's command. The can- nonade continued for more than an hour, whilst the main body of both armies remained inactive spectators of the scene. Two brigades of the enemy then crossed the Bronx, and marching along the western bank of the river at the foot of the hill, on the line of what is now known as the Mill Lane, came opposite to the left of McDougal's line, when they halted, and facing to the left, ascended the rocky face of the hill with great steadiness, notwithstanding the opposition of the American troops.
On every part of the hill the ground was obstinately contested, and the advancing columns of the enemy were more than once thrown into disorder. But the unequal contest could not con- tinue long, and General MeDougal's troops were compelled to give way. They moved off with sullenness, however, 'in a great body,' as an eye-witness describes it, neither 'running' nor yet ' observing the best order,' and the enemy made no attempt what- ever to pursue them.
The American force that participated in this contest was very small. Not more than twelve hundred men, it would appear, occupied the hill. The British force engaged consisted of thirteen regiments of healthy, well-appointed troops. The American loss was fifty-nine killed and sixty-five wounded; four officers and thirty-five privates were taken prisoners. The enemy lost seventy- four Hessians, and one hundred and fifty-seven British officers and privates killed, wounded, and missing.
After retiring from the hill, General McDougal led his troops over the bridge west from the present railroad station, and marched into the lines east of the Bronx, without interruption from the enemy.
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