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 25
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During the night after the battle, General Washington drew back his lines and strengthened his works to so great an extent that General Howe considered an attack too hazardous, and ordered reinforcements from Mamaroneck and New York. Mean- while, on the night of October 31st, General Washington silently evacuated his lines and fell back to the hills, a very strong position, about two miles north from the White Plains, where the enemy could not approach him without certain defeat.1
The action on Chatterton's Hill took place just outside of the 1 Battles of the United States, by Sea and Land, by Henry B. Dawson. In two volumes. New York, Johnson, Fry & Co. : chapter xiv. The Battle of the White Plains, vol. i. pp. 176-187. In the above narration I have simply abridged Mr. Daw- son's admirable account of this battle, founded upon a most careful and accurate col- lation of authentic documents.
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limits of our town, in Greenburg, west of the Bronx River. But on the day after Washington's withdrawal to the hills, an affair occurred within our limits, of which we have a very graphic account. The division under General Heath's command remained in the position first taken, on the extreme left of the American line, throughout the operations which took place on the right of the army, from October 22d to November 9th. Its line extended from the village of the White Plains, eastward to the hollow already spoken of, in the neighborhood of Horton's Pond. A let- ter of General George Clinton, who was with this division, de- scribes the state of the troops. He writes, October 31st, after the affair on Chatterton's Hill : -
' We are exactly in the same situation in which we were when I wrote you yesterday. The enemy seem still to be endeavouring to out- flank us, especially our right wing. Our advanced guards, I hear, are a little south of Young's tavern, on the road leading to White-Plains. Where the main body is I can't say, as I am so closely confined to my post on the left of the whole as not to have been a quarter mile west from this for four days past. Near three thousand of the enemy yes- terday and the evening before filed off to the left, and were seen advancing towards King's street and the Purchase road, from which it appears they intend to flank our left as well as. right wing. We had reason to apprehend an attack last night or by daybreak this morning. Our lines were manned all night in consequence of this; and a most horrid night it was to lay in cold trenches. Uncovered as we are, daily on fatigue, making redoubts, flèches, abattis, and lines, and retreat- ing from them and the little temporary huts made for our comfort before they are well finished, I fear will ultimately destroy our army without fighting. This I am sure of, that I am likely to lose more in my brigade by sickness occasioned by extra fatigue and want of cover- ing than in the course of an active campaign is ordinarily lost in the most severe actions.' 1
While thus encamped near Horton's Pond, General Heath's division was attacked by the enemy, after the main body of the American army had fallen back to their position on the hills. The following is Heath's account of the affair : -
' November Ist. - In the morning the British advanced with a number
1 American Archives, fifth series, vol. ii. p. 1312. 'Last night Captain Townsend with a detachment of my brigade, consisting of about thirty, brought in prisoner a certain Mr. Wentworth, late of Boston, and now a Commissary in the regular service, which they took prisoner near Ryc. . . I am with usual health, though in no better lodging than a soldier's tent.'
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of field-pieces, to the north of the road, near late Head-Quarters, (a heavy column appearing behind on the hill, ready to move forward) and commenced a furious cannonade on our General's division, which was nobly returned by Capt. Lieut. Bryant and Lieut. Jackson, of the artillery. Our General's first anxiety, was for Col. Malcolm's regiment on the hill, to the east of the hollow on the left, lest the enemy should push a column into the hollow, and cut the regiment off from the divis- ion. He therefore ordered Maj. Keith, one of his Aids, to gallop over, and order Col. Malcolm to come off immediately, with Lieut. Fenno's artillery. But, upon a more critical view of the ground in the hollow, (at the head of which there was a heavy stone wall, well situated to cover a body of troops to throw a heavy fire directly down it, while an oblique fire could be thrown in on both sides) he ordered Maj. Pol- lard, his other aid, to gallop after Keith, and countermand the first order, and direct the Colonel to remain at his post, and he should be supported. A strong regiment was ordered to the head of the hollow, to occupy the wall. The cannonade was brisk on both sides, through which the two Aids-de-camp passed, in going and returning. At this instant, Gen. Washington rode up to the hill. His first question to our General, was, " How is your division ?" Ile was answered, "They are all in order." " Have you," said the Commander in Chief, " any troops on the hill over the hollow ?" He was answered, " Malcolm's regiment is there." " If you do not call them off immediately," says the General, " you may lose them, if the enemy push a column up the hollow." He was answered, that even in that case, their retreat should be made safe ; that a strong regiment was posted at the head of the hollow, behind the wall ; that this regiment, with the oblique fire of the division, would so check the enemy, as to allow Malcolm to make a safe retreat. The Commander in Chief concluded by saying, " Take care that you do not lose them." The artillery of the division was so well directed, as to throw the British artillery-men several times into confusion ; and find- ing that they could not here make any impression, drew back their pieces, the column not advancing. The British artillery now made a circuitous movement, and came down toward the American right. Here, unknown to them, were some 12 pounders; upon the discharge of which, they made off with their field-pieces as fast as their horses could draw then. A shot from the American cannon, at this place, took off the head of a Hessian artillery-man. They also left one of the artillery horses dead on the field. What other loss they sustained was not known. Of our General's division, one man only, belonging to Col. Paulding's regiment of New York troops, was killed.
' The British made no other attempt on the Americans, while they remained at White Plains. The two armies lay looking at each other, and within long cannon-shot. In the night time, the British lighted up a vast number of fires, the weather growing pretty cold. These fires,
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some on the level ground, some at the foot of the hills, and at all dis- tanees to their brows, some of which were lofty, seemed to the eye to mix with the stars, and to be of different magnitudes. The American side, doubtless, exhibited to them a similar appearance. On this day our General ordered three redoubts, with a line in front, to be thrown up on the summit of his post, so constructed, that the whole of them could make a defence, and support each other at the same time, if attacked. These, to the enemy, in whose view they fully were, must have appeared very formidable, although they were designed principally for defence against small-arms ; and perhaps works were never raised quicker. There were the stalks of a large corn-field at the spot : the pulling these up in hills, took up a large lump of earth with each. The roots of the stalks and earth on them placed in the face of the works, answered the purpose of sods, or facines. The tops being placed inwards, as the loose earth was thrown upon them, became as so many ties to the work, which was carried up with a dispatch scarcely conceiv- able.
. The British, as they say, had meditated an attack on the Americans, which was only prevented by the wetness of the night. Be this as it may, our General had ordered his division, at evening roll-call, to be at their alarm-posts, (which they every morning manned, whilst at this place) half an hour sooner than usual. He had then no other reason for doing this, than the near position of the enemy, and the probability that they would soon make an attack. But the Commander in Chief must have made some other discovery ; for, after our General was in bed, Col. Carey, who was one of the Aids-de-camp of Gen. Washing- ton, came to the door of his marque, and calling to him, informed him that the whole army were to be at their alarm-posts, the next morning, half an hour sooner than usual, and that he was to govern himself accordingly. Our General replied, that he had fortunately given such orders to his division, at evening roll-call. He therefore neither got up himself, nor disturbed any other of his division.
' 3d. - The centinels reported, that, during the preceding night, they heard the rumbling of carriages to the south-eastward : and it was apprehended that the British were changing their position.
. 5th. - The British centinels were withdrawn from their advanced posts. It was apprehended that they meant a movement. The Amer- ican army was immediately ordered under arms. At 2 o'clock, P. M., the enemy appeared, formed on Chaderton's Hill, and on several hills, to the westward of it. Several reconnoitring parties, who were sent out, reported that the enemy were withdrawing. About 12 o'clock, this night, a party of the Americans wantonly set fire to the court- house, Dr. Graham's house, and several other private houses, which stood between the two armies. This gave great disgust to the whole American army.
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' The British were moving down towards Dobb's Ferry. A detach- ment from the American army was sent out in the morning to harass their rear, but could not come up with them.
' The division moved from near White Plains, and the same night halted at North-Castle.' 1
Rye was only seven miles distant from the field of this engage- ment. The rear of the cannon must have been heard here dis- tinctly, throughout that eventful day. Many of the inhabitants, doubtless, were interested spectators of the affair, from the sur- rounding hills. But more anxious times were near at hand for them. On the fourth of November, General Howe withdrew his forces from the White Plains. That night, our inhabitants saw against the northern sky the glare of a conflagration, the locality of which they could scarcely doubt. The Court House, the Pres- byterian Church, and several other buildings at the White Plains, had been set on fire. This outrage was committed by some Amer- ican soldiers, but without orders, and against the wishes of their superior officers. It incurred the severest condemnation from Washington, who declared his purpose to bring the perpetrators to condign punishment if discovered.
Scenes like this soon became familiar enough to our people. Many a night, the reddened horizon or the visible flames betokened the ruin of some unhappy family, whose barns or houses were consuming within the region of the 'Debatable Land.'
Some of the unavoidable discomforts of war had already begun to be felt. The American army, while encamped near King's Bridge, drew its supplies from the neighboring country. Commis- saries were authorized to purchase all the cattle that were fit for the use of the army, and drive them down to King's Bridge, leav- ing only as many as might be absolutely necessary for the support of families. Should any persons refuse to part with their property at reasonable prices, the cattle were to be driven down to the army, and the owners were to be paid whatever sums the cattle might be sold for, deducting expenses. 'Gil Budd Horton ' with others, are appointed agents for the army, to drive all the horses, hogs, sheep and cattle, from those parts of Westchester County that lie along the Sound and the Hudson River, and which are most exposed to the enemy, and billet them out upon the farms in the interior part of the county, until they can be otherwise dis- posed of. Most of the cattle from Rye are driven to Bedford,
1 Memoirs of Major General Heath, written by himself. Published according to Act of Congress. Boston, 1798 : pp. 75-83.
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where they are kept in the pastures of Colonel McDaniel. The army greatly needing straw, the farmers of this county are ordered immediately to thresh out all their grain. Those who do not comply with this requisition are liable to have their grain taken for army use, even though it should not have been threshed. The commander-in-chief is empowered to order any straw in West- chester County to be taken, paying the owner a reasonable com- pensation, ' providing always so much be left as should be suffi- cient to support the families of the owners for nine months, and fatten hogs.'
These foraging parties had probably left our farmers little to spare. But until now they had been visited by only one of the contending armies. The first appearance of ' the King's troops' at Rye was in the last days of October, 1776. Just before Gen- eral Howe withdrew his army from the White Plains, a brigade under the command of General Agnew ' pushed forward about two miles beyond Rye,' in hopes of bringing a 'large detachment of the American army, which was stationed at Saw Pit, to an engagement.' 1 Not being able to come up with them, they returned on Sunday afternoon, November 3d, to join the royal forces near the White Plains. It was a great day for the loyalists at Rye. 'Many of them showed particular marks of joy ' upon the passage of the king's troops. Conspicuous among these was the Rev. Mr. Avery, the rector of the parish, who had been in corre- spondence with Governor Tryon before the arrival of the British army in New York, and had been very outspoken in his professions of sympathy with the British cause. The American troops reached Rye on the same evening; and by the loyalist account which we have of the matter, 'showed their resentment ' toward the tory sympathizers ' by plundering their houses, driving off their cattle, taking away their grain, and imprisoning some of them.' Among the rest, Mr. Avery was a sufferer, and lost his cattle, horses, etc. Two days later he was found dead in the neighbor- hood of his house. 'Many people,' writes Mr. Seabury, from New York, to the Secretary of the Gospel Propagation Society in England, 'are very confident that he was murdered by the rebels. Others suppose that his late repeated losses and disappointments,
1 ' We have just received intelligence,' writes Colonel Harrison, Washington's secretary at White Plains, November 3, ' from General Parsons, who is still stationed with his brigade at the Saw-Pits, that a large body of the enemy have advanced within a mile of him. He is on his march to meet.'em, and requested some troops to be sent to maintain the lines he has thrown up.' (American Archives, fifth series, vol. iii. p. 493.)
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the insults and threats of the rebels, and the absence of his best friends, who had the day before gone off for fear of the rebels, drove him into a state of desperation too severe for his strength of mind. . .. . . He has left five or six helpless orphans, I fear in great distress ; indeed, I know not what is to become of them; I have only heard that the rebels had humanity enough to permit them to be carried to Mr. Avery's friends at Norwalk in Connecticut.' 1
. This melancholy incident gives us a glimpse of a state of things which was now commencing, and was to last throughout the dreary years of the Revolutionary War : the inhabitants, accord- ing as they had espoused the one cause or the other, leaving the place with all haste upon the approach of the enemy's forces, or remaining to suffer abuse and depredation.
These injuries were not inflicted solely by the regular troops of either side. Lawless bands of marauders - Cow Boys and Skin- ners- infested the ' Neutral Ground,' ravaging the whole country between the British and American lines, a region some thirty miles in extent, embracing nearly the whole of Westchester County.
'The party called Cow-boys were mostly refugees belonging to the British side, and engaged in plundering the people near the lines of their cattle, and driving them to New York. Their vocation suggested their name. The Skinners generally professed attachment to the Amer- ican cause, and lived chiefly within the American lines ; but they were of easy virtue, and were really more detested by the Americans than their avowed enemies the Cow-boys. They were treacherous, rapacious, and often brutal. One day they would be engaged in broils and skirmishes with the Cow-boys; the next day they would be in league with them in plundering their own friends as well as enemies. Often a sham skirmish would take place between them near the British lines ; the Skinners were always victorious, and then they would go boldly into the interior with their booty, pretending it had been captured from the enemy while attempting to smuggle it across the lines. The proceeds of sales were divided between the parties. The inhabitants of the Neutral Ground were sure to be plundered and abused by the one party or the other. If they took the oath of fidelity to the Amer- ican cause, the Cow-boys were sure to plunder them. If they did not, the Skinners would call them tories, seize their property, and have it confiscated by the State.' 2
Fifteen or twenty years ago, there were some aged persons with us who could recollect the opening scenes of the Revolution.
V
1 History of the Prot. Episc. Church in the County of Westchester, by Robert Bolton, pp. 322, 323.
2 Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, by Benson J. Lossing : vol. ii. p. 185, note.
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They have now all passed away ; but many incidents are still re- membered, which they were accustomed to relate, in the long winter evenings, of those eventful times. One such account I am per- mitted to give, as it was taken down shortly before her death by the daughters of an excellent lady who lived to enter upon her ninety-fourth year.
' Mother was a school-girl between nine and ten years old at the beginning of the war. She well remembers running all the way home from school one morning, when it was announced that the British army were encamped upon Sniffen's Hill, within a mile of her father's house. A part of the army came up by the way of the White Plains, and were most of the day marching down to join those on the hill. In the mean time a large party of Hessians left the camp to plunder the neigh- borhood, and coming to her father's, robbed the house of all the meat, bread, butter, milk, and cheese, even taking one from the press ; drove away the cattle, and killed the poultry, a hog and a cow, from which they cut such pieces as they liked, and left the rest unskinned. Her mother made a cake of a little flour they left, and cooked a piece of the cow for dinner. The Hessians took the horses to carry away their plunder ; but by going to some of the officers whom he knew at the camp, her father recovered them as well as his cattle. While the army were marching down [to New York, after leaving Sniffen's Hill], some of the soldiers would leave their ranks, and run in for food, but seeing how stripped and frightened they were, would say there were others coming much worse than the Hessians.
' Her father was sometimes abused and beaten for his money, but being a remarkably peaceable man, did not fare as badly as many others. At one time when they were striking him with their guns, so that the blood ran down his face, mother's sister S. stood before him, and holding up her arms to ward off the blows, was very much bruised herself. Her mother once met a band of plunderers in the road, who demanded her money, searched her pockets, and used abusive language, but let her pass without further molestation. On several other occa- sions she met with similar treatment.
' While the British had possession of New York and the neighbor- hood, the inhabitants of this vicinity were said to live "between the lines." Those who joined the British were called the " lower party," or " refugees," and those who favored the American cause, the "upper party." Among the militia of the latter, the very lowest class bore the name of " Skinners," and the inhabitants living between the lines often suffered exceedingly from the depredations of both the refugees and the Skinners, who would frequently rob their defenceless neighbors of all the money, food, and clothing they could find, or could extort from them by wanton cruelty. Mother says that some of the neighbors used to
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disguise themselves by blackening their faces and then go from house to house, robbing, stealing, and abusing the inmates. They came to her father's house one night, and as they were breaking down the front door, grandmother dared them to come in. They swore they would shoot her if she did not leave the entry, thrusting their guns through the sidelights ; but she replied, Fire if you dare, I know you !'
This grandmother seems to have been one of the model ' women of the Revolution,' high-spirited and determined as any soldier. One of the lesser inconveniences to which our farmers were exposed in those days was the necessity of entertaining the officers quartered upon them. These were generally of the Amer- ican army, and this family, at least, appear to have been fortunate in the character of their guests. The following incident is given, as an instance of the good lady's independent way : --
' Among the officers quartered at her father's, mother well remem- bers General Schuyler and his suite; but they did not stay long. One morning the General sent a servant for her mother's tea-kettle; but her reply, that when she and her family should have done using it, he might have it, gave great offence.'
Rye was still protected in a measure by the presence of some American troops. General Parsons1 was at Saw Pit, early in November, with a portion of his brigade.2 He had a post, also, ' near the head of Rye Pond,' October 29th, securing the com- munications of the army at the White Plains, in that direction.3 A month later, in December, 1776, General Wooster, command- ing the Connecticut militia, had his headquarters at 'the Saw- pitts.' 4 Complaint, however, was made that some of his men dis-
1 Brigadier-General Samuel Holden Parsons, of Connecticut, was a distinguished officer, who served' through the war. Washington's secretary, Colonel Harrison, pronounced him, in 1776, ' a very judicious and good officer.' He died November 17, 1789, being drowned in the Ohio, near Pittsburg. (Records of the Revolutionary War, by W. T. R. Saffell. New York, 1858: p. 534.)
2 The return of General S. H. Parsons's brigade is made November 3, 1776. Colonels Prescott, with 211 men fit for duty; Tyler, 231; Huntington, 136; Ward, 176; M'Intosh, 259; Carpenter, 130; Cogswell, 287 ; Major Rogers, 108; Lieut .- Colonels Throop, 104 ; Horsford, 106; Smith, 62. Total, 1,810 fit for duty, besides 708 sick, etc. The whole brigade numbers 3,192 men. Major Zabdiel Rogers, at Saw Pit, November 1, 1776, makes a return of his command. He has ten companies ; total, rank and file, 172 men, of whom 53 are sick. The same day, Washington's secretary sends to the President of Congress a letter just received from General S. H. Parsons ' who is stationed near the Saw-Pits,' complaining of a 'most scandalous ' practice of 'desertion and return home,' by which ' the number of our troops is every day decreasing.' (American Archives, fifth series, vol. iii. pp. 475, 493, 499.) -
8 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 1285.
4 December 11, Governor Trumbull writes, 'Major General Wooster is now at Saw-Pits, with about 750 men from this State.'
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tressed the inhabitants of Westchester County even 'more than the very enemy themselves : taking off with them our stock, household furniture, and even our farming utensils.'. It is to be hoped that such grievances were not frequent. But it appears that these Connecticut troops thought themselves bound to act only for the defence of their own State. 'General Wooster,' say the inhabitants, ' affords us no assistance, and we have been in- formed that some of his officers have said that they would not defend this State, and that if the enemy should make their appear- ance, they would retreat to the borders of Connecticut, and there make a stand.'' This statement receives some confirmation from the incident of November 3d, already related.
December 8th, 1776, General Wooster wrote from Saw Pit to the President of Congress: 'On the 5th inst. a fleet of about eighty transports and eight large ships of war anchored off New London, and were there on the 6th, being the last accounts from them. They passed this place on the 4th, in the evening. I learn from deserters from Long Island, who left the fleet, that they had about 8,000 men on board, - a bad situation for our eastern people, and not a general officer in that part of the country ; but I hope Providence will work deliverance for us.' 2
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