History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 27

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 868

USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 27

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A second chain was stretched across the Hud- son at West Point, May 1, 1778, a portion of which is preserved in the Artillery Laboratory at West Point. The links are made of iron bars, 22 inches square, average in length a little over two feet, and weigh about 140 pounds each. The chain was stretched across the river at the narrowest point, between the rocks just below the steamboat land- ing and Constitution Island, opposite. It was fastened to huge blocks on each shore, and buoyed

* Fishkill in the Revolution, by J. Hervey Cook, in the Fishkill Standard of April 22. 1876.

Contribution from Benson J. Lossing to the Poughkeepsie Weekly Eagle of Feb. 26, 1876, and Sketches of Local History, by the same author, in The Dutchess Farmer of Dec. 12, 1876. Local Reminiscences in The Sunday Courier, of Poughkeepsie, April 20, 1873.

# Clarkson's Clermont, or Livingston Manor, 87.

* Sketches of Local History, by Benson J. Lossing, in The Dutchess Farmer, Dec. 12, 1576; and the Poughkeepsie Weekly Eagle, July 8, 1876.

+ Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, I, 732; Clinton on the Hudson, by Anchor. (J. Watts de Peyster, of Tivoli, ) in The New York Times, Sept. 30, 1877.

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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

by large logs, about 16 feet long, pointed at the ends, to lessen their opposition to the current at flood and ebb tide. Anchors, to which it was fastened by means of cables, were dropped at proper distances, to give it greater stability.

The following letter, which appears in the Fish- kill Standard of 1876, shows how great were the hopes based on this obstruction, which, however, was no formidable obstacle to the progress of the British fleet after the fall of Forts Clinton and Montgomery : --

FISHKILL, Sept'r 11th, 1776.

SIR :- It is conceived highly necessary that the Iron Chain should be immediately dispatched. If it is finished, pray send it down to the Fort with- out delay. If it is not finished, let no time be lost, and in the interim give us the earliest particular ac- count of its present state, and when it will prob- ably be finished.

" I am, sir, your very hum. servt., " WM. YATES, JUN. "To GILBERT LIVINGSTON, EsQ., Po'keepsie."

A few years since a three-pointed caltrop was found in the locality of Anthony's forge.

In the fall of 1776, Washington's army was driven from New York by the forces under Lord Howe, and withdrawn from the east side of the Hudson into New Jersey. The command of the forts in the Highlands was devolved on George Clinton, who was afterwards elected the first Gov- ernor of the State. The term of enlistment of the militia under his command had expired, and ap- prehension was felt that the enemy meditated an attack on the Highland passes. In response to Washington's appeal to the State to meet this emergency with a temporary supply, Dec. 21, 1776, the Convention, then in session at Fishkill, ordered the entire militia force of the counties of Westchester and Duchess and part of Albany, to be marched forthwith to North Castle, in the former county, " well equipped with arms and am- munition, and furnished with six days' provisions, and blankets, and a pot or camp kettle to every six men." Exemption was, however, granted to such persons as the field officers judged could not " be called into service without greatly distressing their families," or who were "actually engaged in the manufacture of saltpetre, or of shoes and cloth- ing for the army." The militia were to be allowed Continental pay and rations, and such as could not provide themselves with arms were to be supplied from the public stores.

In 1777, Gen. Burgoyne was struggling, first with Gen. Schuyler, and subsequently with Gen. Gates, for the supremacy of the Upper Hudson,

and, in spite of the unhappy jealousy and strife between the latter generals, which seriously weak- ened the American army in that quarter, was checked, and finally overwhelmed with disaster on the fields of Saratoga. Oct. 4, 1777, Sir Henry Clinton, then in command of the British forces in New York, started a force, "variously estimated at 3,000 to 3,600, and 4,000 regulars and loyal organ- izations," up the Hudson ; but whether designed to co-operate with Burgoyne, or, merely, by a diver- sion in his favor, to facilitate his operations, is a mooted question. Certain it is that Burgoyne counted on his support and co-operation ;* but whether Clinton so intended is not so certain, though Dunlap says this was his obvious intention. If he did, his failure to take advantage of his suc- cesses was as inexcusable as inexplicable. t

The defense of the Hudson was entrusted to the inefficient Major General Israel Putnam, whom the great Massachusetts historian pronounced " unfit to be a General officer." His jurisdiction extended from King's Bridge to Albany. " Although having guard-boats all along the river and spies on the alert in every direction," says Gen. de Peyster, "the British Clinton completely outwitted him ; made him believe that he was about to turn his position by the practicable passes through the eastern Highlands, then took advantage of a fog, transferred his troops over to the western side of the river, to Stony Point, made a wonderful march across or rather around the Dunderberg Mountain, and carried Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery by assault, performing the most brilliant British oper- ation during the seven years' war."

Forts Clinton and Montgomery, the latter com- manded by Adıniral George Clinton, the first Governor of the State of New York, and the for- mer by his brother, Gen. James Clinton, were taken on the 6th of October. The garrison of Fort Montgomery, according to Stedman, num- bered 800 men ; that of Fort Clinton, 400 ; though Gordon and Irving agree in stating their united force did not exceed 600, mostly militia. Gov- ernor Clinton, having, according to Gen. Sir Edward Cust, lost roo in killed and 250 taken prisoners, escaped with the remnant of his force from the two forts under cover of night, and placed himself in a position to watch the further

* Anburey's Travels in America, I, 410, and 11, 30. Wilkinson's Memoirs, (Vol. I, p. 251.) furnishes copies of letters from Burgoyne to Clinton showing this fact ; and the expectation of aid from Clinton was one of the determining conditions in Burgoyne's final surrender.

t Gen. J. Watts de Peyster, of 'Tivoli, contributed a very able re- view of Clinton's expedition to The New York Times of September 30, 1877.

I35

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

movements of the enemy and to afford succor to Esopus (Kingston,) then the State capital. Other forts had been constructed along the Hudson to guard special interests, among them two at the Wiccopee Pass, about four miles south of Fishkill village, (whose sites are yet plainly discernible,) to guard that pass, and protect the military stores at Fishkill. . But these could offer no resistance to the progress of the enemy up the river, after the fall of Forts Clinton and Montgomery. Putnam, whose force numbered, according to Botta, 600 regulars and an uncertain number of militia, re- treated from Peekskill, where he was encamped, to the stronger Highlands in his rear, before an insig- nificant force sent by Sir Henry Clinton to conceal the advance of his forces on the west side of the river. On the 7th he wrote to Gates, then in command of the Northern army opposed to Bur- goyne : "I cannot prevent the enemy's advancing ; prepare for the worst;" and on the 8th: "The enemy can take a fair wind, and go to Albany or Half Moon with great expedition and without any opposition."

Sir Henry Clinton removed the obstructions for the defense of the river on the 7th; but not until the 13th (Botta, II, 26,) did he send up the river " a flying squadron of small frigates, under Sir James Wallace, carrying a detachment of British troops under Major Gen. Vaughan," while he, himself, after garrisoning Fort Montgomery, re- turned to New York. He had, however, on the IIth sent Sir James Wallace to reconnoiter the river. That officer proceeded to within three miles of Poughkeepsie, and having burned Van Buren's mills and several buildings, also several old vessels along the shore, returned in safety .* His report determined the expedition under General Vaughan ; for, says Stedman, the necessity of a di- version in favor of Burgoyne was not even suspected.

On the 7th of October, from New Windsor, Gov. Clinton, after his narrow escape from capture at Fort Montgomery, communicated the loss of the Highland forts to the Legislature, then in session at Esopus, and requested them to urge forward the detachment of Duchess and Ulster county militia from the army under Gen. Gates. Clinton removed his personal effects from Little Britain to Esopus, and his brother-in-law, Dr. Peter Tappen, removed Mrs. Clinton and the family to Pleasant Valley, in Duchess county, where they remained until the marauders under Vaughan returned to New York.

The Legislature received information of the re- duction of Forts Clinton and Montgomery on the 7th of October, and anticipating an advance upon Esopus, took immediate steps to do what lay in their power to promote the public weal. They passed resolutions continuing the county and dis- trict committees, as well as the commissioners for detecting conspiracies. They required the com- mittee to lade all the vessels at the different land- ings and other places along the river with flour, wheat, or other provisions which was near the shore, and send them to Albany ; to cause all cattle and live stock near either side of the river, not required for present use, to be removed into the interior, or, in case persons refused to permit such removal, to destroy them. They appointed a Council of Safe- ty, consisting of William Floyd, Evert Baucker, Egbert Benson, Daniel Dunscomb, Robert Harper, Jonathan Landon, Levi Pawling, John Morin Scott, Johannis Snyder, Peter Pray Van Zandt, Alexan- der Webster, Wm. B. Whiting and Abraham Yates, Jr., any seven of whom were vested with the pow- ers of government, to continue as long as the ne- cessities of the State should require .* As the dan- ger from the enemy seemed imminent, the public records were ordered boxed, ready to be moved at a moment's notice to Rochester, (Ulster Co.,) which was designated as their repository. Vari- ous other measures were taken for the public weal.

Clinton kept close watch of the movements of Vaughan's forces up the river, and when it became evident that Kingston was the objective point, he set his small army in motion toward that village, whither he preceded them, arriving at 9 oclock on the night of the 15th of October. His army, fatigued by a forced march, did not reach that place until about two hours after it had been de- stroyed by the British, but had it been at hand, it was inadequate to successfully oppose them. Strenu- ous efforts were made to save as much of the public and private property as possible, but the British moved with such celerity that much plunder fell into their hands and was destroyed with the village. They gained the landing on the 16th and marched immediately up to Kingston, driving from their hastily constructed earth-works on the river bank, at the point of the bayonet, about 150 militia, commanded by Cols. Levi Pawling and Johannis Snyder. Kingston, which was then the third town in size in the State, was destroyed on the 16th, only one house escaping plunder and the torch.

# Journal Provincial Convention, 1, 1061. This Council held its ses- sions first at Kingston, next at Hurley, and finally at Poughkeepsie. It continued from Oct 8, 1777, to Jan. 7, 1778, its first session in Pough- keepsie being held Dec. 22, 1777.

* Zephaniah Platt to the Council of Safety, dated Poughkeepsie, Oct. 12, 1777. Gates Papers,

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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

Authors differ in regard to this date, some as- signing to it the 13th, others, the 15th, others still, the 16th, and one, ( The New American Encyclope- dia,) the 17th. The researches of Hon. George W. Pratt, embodied in a paper read before the Ulster County Historical Society Oct. 16, 1860, have thrown light on this subject and shown pretty conclusively that the 16th is the correct date. He cites the following letter from Gov. Clinton to Gen. Putnam, dated "Marbletown, seven miles from Kingston, 17th October, 1777." "Kingston was burnt yesterday afternoon because I had not troops to defend it;" and the following draft of a letter from the Council to the New York delegates in the Continental Congress, referring to the movements of Vaughan's troops. (Journal Provincial Conven-

tion, I., 1072 ;) * on the sixteenth, * gained the Landing and *

* * marched imme- diately up to Kingston and reduced the whole town to ashes." The New York Journal and the General Advertiser of May II, 1778, then pub- lished at Poughkeepsie, states that Kingston was destroyed on the 16th.

The advent of Sir Henry Clinton's forces up the Hudson was anticipated in the early autumn and occasioned much alarm to the people living adja- cent to the river, but the dilatory moments of the British commander had measurably allayed the apprehensions thus awakened. They were revived, however, when, on the 6th of October, the roar of cannon was heard at Forts Clinton and Mont- gomery, and when, on the night of the 7th, the beacon lights on the northern summits of the High- lands, flashed out the intelligence that those works had succumbed to the enemy.

In the postscript to a letter from Brig. Gen. James Clinton to his brother,. the Governor, dated Little Britain, Oct. 18, 1777, it is stated that Gen. Parsons remained at Peekskill with about 2,000 men ; that the militia regiments of Cols. Humphrey and Brinkerhoof were left at Fishkill, and Col. Platt, with about 150 men, at Poughkeepsie.

The British, it would seem, did not delay their progress up the river to commit depredations along its shores until reaching the vicinity of Rondout Kill. They did, nevertheless, fire a few shot and shell in response to the firing from the shore, and made targets of the dwellings of prominent Whigs, which were pointed out by a Duchess county Tory, who piloted them up the river. Several shells were fired at a party who were standing on the porch of one of the old houses above the Fishkill Landing Machine Works, and two of them were subse-

quently found in making excavations. One of them went as far up as what is known as the Wm. H. Van Voorhis place. Several shots were fired at Poughkeepsie, where a vigorous fire was kept up by the "Invincibles," who occupied the high grounds south of Kaal Rock, and were concealed from the enemy by a heavy growth of cedar. A

piece of ordnance, of about three pounds calibre, was stationed in the ravine between that point and Kaal Rock, and from this "battery" fire was opened as soon as the first vessel of the enemy came in range. "But a few shots from the English silenced it, and sent the artillerymen flying up the hill and beyond reach." " The Invincibles fired a couple of volleys, but a shot or two from another vessel of the fleet compelled them to 'lay low' and cease firing. The enemy then passed on with- out further molestation from our 'forces' until they reached a point near the ferry slip. Here the enemy again received a shot or two from another small cannon which was stationed on the high ground at that place, but without sustaining dam- age." Firing was continued from the shore until the fleet passed out of range of the high grounds at the Upper Landing .* One shot from the enemy, so we were told by the late Matthew Vassar, Jr., struck in the spring near the old Vassar brewery on Vassar street. Another shot pierced the south side of the old Livingston house, near the left door jamb, and the orifice made through the shingle (for the sides, as well as the roof of the house, are covered with shingles,) is still discernible, though another shingle has been inserted under the one thus perforated to cover the hole made through the wall .¡ The Invincibles were commanded by Capt. Jacobus Frear, some of whose descendants are still living in Poughkeepsie.

* Local Reminiscences, in The Sunday Courier of Poughkeepsie, June 15, 1873 ; Fishkill in the Revolution, by J. Hervey Cook, of Fish- kill-on-the-Hudson, in the Fishkill Standard, March 4, 1876.

t This old house is one of the most interesting relics of Duchess county, and is one of the oldest, if not the oldest building, standing in it. It is located on the river, between it and the Hudson River Rail- road, a little more than a mile below the landing at the foot of Main

street. It was, says Lossing, (Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, I, 384, 385,) " the residence of the late Col. Henry A. Livingston, a grand-son of Philip Livingston, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and son of the late John H. Livingston, D. D., president of the College of New Brunswick. It was built by his paternal grand- father, Henry Livingston, in 1714, and is a fine specimen of a country mansion of that period." The situation was once delightful, completely imbosomed in venerable willow trees, planted by the first owner, beside a once beautiful cove, but whose beauty, like that of the mansion site, has been marred by the railroad, which passes within a few feet of the house, and the works of the Hudson River Iron Manufacturing Company, to whom the property now belongs. Col. Livingston, who died June 9, 1849, will long be remembered in Poughkeepsie as one of its best citizens. " Although living in the retirement of a gentleman of wealth and leisure, he often consented to serve the public in offices requiring judgment, industry and integrity."

137

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, THE " DUCHESS INVINCIBLES."

The " Duchess Invincibles " were probably the first uniformed militia company in Poughkeepsie. The company was organized about 1775 and num- bered nearly one hundred men. Their headquarters were on what is now South Avenue, near Mr. Bur- nap's residence. That portion of Poughkeepsie was then known as "Freartown," from the fact that about the whole of it was owned by the Frears. The uniform of the Invincibles consisted of a bear skin cap of peculiar shape, long frock coat made of homespun cloth, trimmed with buff, and 4 pantaloons of the same material, with buff stripe down the legs. They had no cartridge box, but carried their ammunition in a pocket made of leather which was fastened to the breast of the coat .*

Gen. Vaughan, having effected the destruction of Kingston, rapidly withdrew his forces to the fleet, which remained at anchor on the night of the 16th. On the 17th, (Friday,) a strong detachment was landed on the east side of the river and marched to Rhinebeck Flats, (now Rhine- beck,) which, it is claimed, "was eminently a Whig place during the Revolution." There several houses were burned; "not those of the poorer class, nor indiscriminately," says Gen. de Peyster, "but of rich leaders who had made themselves ob- noxious." One of these was the residence of the lamented Gen. Montgomery before he assumed the command which terminated in his death in an assault on Quebec, Dec. 31, 1775. This detach- ment made its way up the river as far as Living- ston's Manor, and destroyed the mansion and other houses. Red Hook did not escape the avenging hand. The detachment disembarked at what was formerly known as the Lower Tivoli Dock, and burned the residences above Upper Red Hook Landing, (now Tivoli.) Thence they marched to their work of destruction, some three miles further north, along a path still constantly used within a quarter of a century. They also destroyed Liv- ingston's (?) Mills, in Red Hook, of which not a vestige now remains. They consisted of a grist- mill, very fine for the era in which it did its work, and a saw-mill which had an immense business. They were located at the mouth of the Saw Kill, which empties into the Hudson just north of what is known as the " Montgomery Place" which was built by the widow of the General from whom it derives its name, after his death, and from whose piazza, in 1818, she saw "her husband's remains

return with distinguished funeral honors from the scenes of his heroic death and temporary burial," borne to their final resting place in New York City .*

A letter dated Fishkill, Oct. 30, 1777, and pub- lished in the Independent Chronicle, (Boston, ) Nov. 6, 1777, attributes to the timely appearance of Gen. Putnam the prevention of the further de- struction of villages and property along the river. It says :-

"Last Friday the fleet returned from their in- glorious expedition up the North River, having burnt Kingston, in Esopus, and a few houses at Rhynebeck and Livingston's Manor. * * Our army, commanded by Gen. Putnam, coming up with them, caused them to skulk on board their vessels, and prevented their doing further mischief ; the wind being light in their return, which gave an opportunity to our army of march- ing as fast as they sailed and was a happy circum- stance in our favor, and prevented them from de- stroying Poughkeepsie and other buildings on the river side."

Mr. Lossing, the historian, in a contribution to the Poughkeepsie Eagle of recent date, says that at Livingston's Manor, Vaughan's forces heard of the surrender of Burgoyne, "and fled in haste to New York." Lamb's Journal, (pp. 172-'3,) says " the advanced state of the season " compelled the return.

Governor Clinton concentrated his little force at Hurley, and did not follow the enemy lest he might be shut in between the Catskill Mountains and the river, should the British land in force.

The British fleet lay opposite the northern part of the county. "The armed vessel highest up the river," says Gen. de Peyster, "lay just above the ' Lover's Leap'-a tall bluff covered with glorious evergreens-about three-quarters of a mile north of Tivoli Station. The rest were strung out south- ward for over two miles." Here it lay till the 23d of October, when, to the astonishment of the American patrol on shore, it steered down, instead of up, the river, and rejoined the forces in the Highlands. This retrograde movement, adds Gen. de Peyster, seemed to the Americans "to be ex- plained three or four days after, when the news of Burgoyne's surrender reached this locality." It was a serious disappointment to the "large body of loyalists," who, says Lamb, "were forming at this time on the eastern shore of the river to join the royal army."

October 19th, the Council of Safety, which dispersed at the burning of Kingston, met at Mar-

* Local Reminiscences, in The Sunday Courier, of Poughkeepsie, June 8, 1873.

* Gen. J. Watts de Peyster, in The New York Times, Sept. 30, 1877.

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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

bletown, and adopted the following preamble and resolutions :-

" WHEREAS, The late destruction of the town of Kingston, and a vast number of dwelling houses, improvements, grain and fodder on either side of Hudson's River, by a cruel, inhuman and merciless enemy, has deprived many persons and families, the good subjects of the State, of shelter and sub- sistence for themselves and their cattle-calamities which, by the blessing of God on the fruits of this land, those who have not shared in so uncommon a misfortune are enabled in a great measure to relieve ;

" Resolved, Therefore, that it be, and it is hereby most earnestly recommended to the several and re- spective general and district committees of the counties of Ulster, Dutchess, Orange and Westches- ter, to make, or cause to be made, a proper and proportionate distribution of the aforesaid dis- tressed persons and families, and their cattle, to the end that they may all be provided for as the circumstances of the country will permit ; and it is hereby most strenuously urged on all those who may not have shared with them in their afflictions to receive the aforesaid persons, families and cat- tle, and furnish them with shelter and subsistence at a moderate rate."

While Sir Henry Clinton's victorious army was pushing its way up the Hudson and ravaging the settlements upon its banks, the straitened army of Burgoyne was engaged in the vain endeavor to extricate itself from the toils with which the victo- rious and increasing army of Gates had surrounded it, and into which it had been lured in no small measure by the delusive hope of succor from the former. On the 17th of October, 1777, the day following the destruction of Kingston, Burgoyne surrendered his entire army. The melancholy fate of this army has a local interest, for its route from Cambridge, Mass., to Charlottesville, Va., where, for a long time, it was kept as prisoners of war, was through this county. After the surrender at Sara- toga, it was marched to Cambridge, whence, according to the second article of the convention between Generals Burgoyne and Gates, it expected to proceed to Boston and embark for Europe ; but Congress, with perhaps questionable justice, decided otherwise.

The route of the British army is laid down in a map accompanying Anburey's Interior Travels Through America. It entered this county and State in the neighborhood of Sharon, and " marched," says the historian Lossing, "down the valley of the Wee-bee-tuck or Wee-bu-took, (the Ten Mile River,) almost to Dover Plains, went over Plymouth Hill, and through Mutton Hollow to Little Rest, thence by way of Verbank

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History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 27

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 868

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 868