USA > New York > Ulster County > History of Ulster County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers. Vol. I > Part 38
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" Among the old houses is that occupied by the Van Steenburgh family, at lower enel of Wall Street, well known to be the only house not burued by the British iu October, 1777.
"THE ARRIVALS.
" Large nutubers of people came to the upper part of the city on Saturday night, and the streets presented a lively appearance until & late hour. On Sunday the churches were crowded, among the con- gregations being a sprinkling of regimentals that gave these places of worship an unusually interesting appearance, so far as concerned temporal matters.
" During the church service at night the preachers made appropri- ate mention of the Centennial to be celebrated on the morrow, they generally treating it in a mixed religions and secular vein, and the manner in which they were listened to by the large congregation showed how interested they were in the couring event. Precisely at the hour of midnight, as the Centennial was u-bered in, the bell of the First Reformedl church began to ring, which was soon followed by the bells of the other churches, and those who were asleep sprang from their beds, at first supposing it to be a fire-alarm.
" These belle continued to peal for several minutes, and then all was quiet again until five o'clock, when the whole place, as if by magie, bevande all life and bustle. The bell rang out full and clear, poral ou peal, while the eunnon belched forth a thundering salute and the boys exploded crackers and torpedoes, all of which made such a trensen lous noise the most slothfal were glad to leave their beds and decorate their houses in a style becoming the grand occasion. Before many hours had passed the streets began to wear a bright picturesque look, with gay flags and red. white, and blue decorations that could be seen on nearly every house in the place.
"THE MILITARY PROCESSION.
" At 12 noon the military was formed on the Strand, right resting on Union Avenue, and the ruarch was contieneed in the following order :
" 1. Major General James W. Hustel, Grund Marshal, and staff as Ails.
" 2. Colonel John MeEntee, Marshal of the Day, and Aids.
".3. Fifth Division N. G. S. N. Y., comprising the Seventh Brigade, Brigadier- General Blauvelt counnanding, consisting of the Sixteenth Battalion, Twenty-Seventh Regiment, and Troop of Cavalry, Eighth Brigade, Brigadier-General George Parker commandling, consisting of the Twentieth Battalion, Twenty- First Regiment, and Battery A. "4. Various military organizations.
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
"3. Washington Continentals, detachment of Touth Regiment N.
G. S. N. Y., of Albany, with Doring's Band.
" 6. Ex-Governors uf the State.
"7. Nutional, Stnte, and county officers, and other distinguished guests.
"S. Orators of tho day.
"9. Buard of supervisors of U'Ister County.
" 10. Mayor and Common Council of the city of Kingston.
" 11. Civie societies.
" 12. Fire department and visiting firemen.
" 13. Jackson Corps of Albany, with Austin's (formerly Sullivan's) Band.
" 14. Tibbet's Veteran Corps of Trny. Col. Egolf.
+ 15. Tibbet's Cudets of Troy, Captain J. H. Patteu.
" 16. Battery B, N. G. S. N. Y., of Troy, Captain Green.
" 17. Trojan Ilook and Ladder Company, No. 3, of Troy, Foreman Ingrau.
" 18. Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, of Albany, Foreman Fre- dendall. Coxsackie Post, t. A. R., of Coxsackie, A. V. D. Colyer, Commandant. Centennial Mounted Minute-Men from the several towns.
" The procession moved amidst thousandIs of spectators to the grove called the Centennial Grounds, where, after a review of the Fifth Di- vision of the National Guard by Major-General James W. Husted, an invocation was made by Rev. J. G. Van Slyke, un I the oratorical ceremonies were begun by Judge T. R. Westbrook, who delivered the following address of welcome :
" HONORED GUESTS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF NEW YonK :
" To ine lias heen assignel the pleasant duty of billing yon, one and all, welcome to this historie ground, which one butlred years ago to-day witnessed the inauguration of the first government of the Empire Commonwealth under a written constitution emanating from the will of its people, and which in its first section enenciates this grand principde, ' That no authority ball on any pretence whatever be cxcreised over the people or members of this State but such as shall be derived frout and granted by them.'
" Ilow well and wisely our fathers reared the structure of the future majestic Stute upon that great corner-stoue of republican truth. you and we are bere this day to declare and commemorate. As we review the history of the century which has just closed, nud recall the mar- velous growth and development of the colony, which, with its begin- ning, wns warde a State in population, wealth, material development, civil and religious liberty, our hearts exult with houest prile, und n common anthem of praise issues from all lips to lim who gave to our fathers the courage and wisdom to found, and to their children and successors the like wisdom and courage to preserve, the structure of the State which to-day we call onrs.
"Throughout all its borders -- from the imperial city which rests queenly by its ocean's gateway to his numerous bright and smaller sisters, and to all the villages onl abodes of industry mil peace -- the Iws which guvern and the bands which execute thets couse from the people. and are only the creations of their wisdom; and the repre- sentatives of their power. The undettered genius of our people has by steam and vind made of river and lake arteries of travel and commeter, and reross mountain and plain, ryan highways of its own creation, is now transporting the wealth of a great nation, which, thank God! is yet .one and inseparable."
"To-day we rejoice together over the way by which a divine Hand bas led us. We all-those of us who are allied by blood and birth to the nien of the Revolution, and those who have come to us front other shores, both sharers in the blessings and privileges they won and lie- queathed, children alike whether by birth or adoption-to-day call them fathers, as we recount and reeall their heroism, their devotion, their wisdom.
"We forget neither the trials, the difficulties, nor the progress of the past. They are all ores.
" The legacy of bravery and honor bequeathed to us by New York's fallen cons in the recent great struggle for the nation's in livisibility, as well as the laurels won by those who have returned to us, are all ours_
" And as to-day we see order and peace from the ocean's waves to the waters of the great lakes, as tu-day we witness the triumph of law orer riot,-the prompt suppression of woh and lawlessness, -the
pride is also ours to know that the self-reliance derived from our fathers taught us to look to the arm of the State, and not to that of the nation, for deliverance and safety ; and that we so recently wit- nesseil, in the conduct of our volunteer soldiers, the wisdom of that organic enactment which one hundred years ago declarel ' that the militia of the State, at all times hereafter, as well in peace as in war, shall be armed and disciplined and in readiness for service.'
"Once more in the name and behall' of our historic city I bit you welcome.
" Around us are the same grand old mountains which witnessed the birth of our State. This beautiful plain and yonder smiling valley, filled up with happiness and beauty, still smile as they then smiled upon the new commonwealth. Close beside us is the road over which a few months later the soldiers of a foreign monarch marched to burn and waste the spot which cradled it. May the century now begun. if it does bring with it, as the past has done, trial, perit, and death, have as peaceful an end as that just closed, and the new one to Le bore witness, as this does, a powerful and mighty republican State, wherein dwell a happy, united, and prosperous people !"
Various addresses followed, evincing careful preparation and thorough research into historical questions. The speakers were Chauncey M. Depew, Rev. John C. F. HIves, D.D., Hon. George II. Sharpe. A valuable letter from Hon. Horatio Seymour was received and read. Com- wunications were also read from President Hayes, Wm. M. Evarts, Francis Kernan, Governor Robinson, Gen. Dis, and others. For the addresses in full see " Centennial Volume." issued in 1879 by authority of the Legislature, and edited by Allen C. Beach, Secretary of State. From the address of Gen. Sharpe we add in conclusion the following graphic description of the inanguration of Governor Clinton :
" Towards evening of the 20th of July, 1777, the bells of the Dutch church, the court-house, and Kingston Academy were heard ringing out, as if for a joyous festival. The people, to whom notice bad al- ready been given by the Rev. Mr. Doll on the Sunday preceding. wended their way towards the court-house. On either side of its door, mid facing inwards, were ranged the companies of Capts. Bogardus and Elmendorf. The dark mass of the court-house formel the back- ground of the scene, while across the s'reet was the great pile of the Dutch church, with its separate belfry tower np-rearing fac above it. On the front and right stretched away the mounds marking the graves of the fathers nf the inhabitants who were present, and on the left the view was hounded by the Vanderlyn innusion. The Council of Safety. having met and organized in the court-room, descended and took their places on the steps of the enurt-house, and at tho head of the square formed by the military companies. There was the accomplished Pierre Van Cortlandt. president of the council, who became lieutenant- governor under Clinton, and subsequently presided in the Senate of this State with recognized ability and dignity. There was Christo- pher Tappen, whose sister George Clinton had married, who was for long years the leading lay officer of the venerable church of Kingston, an.1 whn subsequently sat in the Assembly for three successive years, At 1 wasa Senator from the Middle District in 1797. There was % phanich Platt, afterwards first judge of the county of Dutchess and a Stite senator, who .ounded the town of Plattsburg in 1785, aml died there in ISOT. There, too, was that noble son of Ulster who subscribe l hiu :- self Charles Dewitt of Greenkill, and who, perhaps, after Clinton, was the most prominent man from the county during the whole Revo- lutionary period. As a member of the last Legislature which sat un- der the royal authority, he was one of the nine resolute and jnitrione inen who voted to approve the proceedings of the Continental Congress. then sitting in Philadelphia He was a member of the committee to prepare a draft of the Constitution, and after the treaty of peace be was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress. There. too, was the Christian gentleman, Gilbert Livingston, representing the county of Dutchess, who set ons of the carfiest examples of practical philan- thropy by the liberation of all his slaves. And there were Maj. Peter Van Zandt and Thomas Tredwell, the latter a graduate of Princeton College, who held successively nearly all the offices in the county of Suffolk, and was reckoned among those of his day who had the best pretensions to scholarship and classical taste.
155
ULSTER IN THE REBELLION.
" There, too, were Robert Hiper and Matthew Cantius, and next to them Gen. John Morin Scott, who graduated at Yale in 1746, was present with his brigade in the battle of Long Island, und subse- quently became Secretary of State of New York.
" Nor must I pass without special mention the youngest member of the Committee of Safety, for the well-bred figure standing on the left of the little semi-circle surrounding Clinton is that of Robert R. Livingston, who beetme the first chancellor of the State of New York, and in this official capacity administered the oath of ofice to Wash- ington on his inauguration ns first President of the United States. In 17st Livingston was unde Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and in 1801, resigning the chancellorship, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to France, where he successfully negotiated the treaty for the cession of Louisiana. It is said of him that as an orator and patriot be was so distinguished a person that Franklin in his admi- ration termed him the Cicero of America.
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" Of tho old citizens of this town, who, we find, were not absent with the army of Washington, or at Saratoga, or in the Highlands, we can well imagine the presence of those who bore familiar names. There was the courteous anl hospitable Huguenot. Col. Abraham Hasbrouck, who had jast relinquishel the command of one of our county regiments. There were Nicholas an I Benjamin Bogardus, at the head of the farmers who cune from the direction of Hurley. There was Johannis Sleight, chairman of the comunittre of Kingston, anl Abrahaw Hoffman, afterwards one of the judges of the Common Pleas. There was Joseph Gasberie, who became the first surrogate of the county, and Abraham D. Bancker, for many years the careful and respected clerk of the senate.
"Col. Jacobus S. Bruyn was absent with the troops at Fort Mont- gomery, hat the ladies of his family could be distinguished in the group to the left, near the Vanderlyn mansion. There was oll Jere- miah Du Bois, at the head of the residents of Twaalfskill, and Capt. Egbert Schoonmaker, of Coxing, in Marbletown, commanding the guard over the prisoners in the fleet. There, too, were Abraham Delewinter and Jacob Treu:per, Peter Van leriyn and Abraham Van Keuren, Peter Dumond and Peter Jausen, Tobias Van Buren and Peter Ruggen, Peter Marius fireen, Jacob Marias Green, and lienry Schoonmaker, Ir. Luke Kierstedi, an I Ju. hea Du Bois.
'. These well- known citizens came with their families and colored servants, and with them came the Mastous, Van Steenburghs, Bur- hanses, Ten Broecks, Beckmans, Swarts, New kirks, Snyders, Hough- tailings. Persens, Eltinges. Elmen lorfs, anl Vosbargs, and many others whose nimes are familiar in our early records. And the sancy beauty of the wife of Capt. Thomas Van Gaasbeck could be easily distinguished as she came with the matrons and waldens from East Front street. Jolin Vanderlyu, the painter, was still an infant, and if present he toust have been carried in the arms of one of his family to witness a ceremonial some of the artor, in which he afterwards re- produced on canvas, the likeness of Chancellor Livingston, in the possession of the New York Historical Society, being a specimen of his master-freul.
" When silence had been comumn ded by a nourish of the drums of the military companies, Egbert Dumont. the sherif of the county, mounted a temporary elevation, and read to the people as follows :
"'A PROCLAMATION. "'IN COUNCIL OF SAFETY FOR THE STATE OF NEW YORK, ** ' July 30. 1.77.
" Whereas, ilis Excellency, George Clinton, Esq., has been duly elected Governor of the State of New York, and bath this day quali- fiel himself for the execution of his office by taking in the council the onthe required by the constitution of this State, to enable him to exer- cise his sant office, this council doth, therefore, hereby, in the name and by the authority of the good prople of this State, proclaim and declare the salil George Clinton, Esq .. Governor. general, and com. man ler-in-chief of all the militia and admiral of the navy of this State, to whom the good people of this State ary to pay all due obe- diener, according to the laws and constitution thereef.
" .. By onler of the Conneli of Sanity, ". PIERRE VAN CORTLANDT, President.'
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" And then Sheriff Duinont aided, in a loud voice, 'God save the people !"
CHAPTER XXVI.
ULSTER IN THE REBELLION.
THE citizens of Ulster County are justly proud of her record in the great Southern Rebellion. In the following pages will be found sketches of the major part of the sev- eral regiments and commands raised within her limits.
I .- THE TWENTIETH REGIMENT."
THE 20th Regiment, N. Y. S. M., " was organized in 1851, under the direction of the State military authorities, by Col. Christopher Fiero, then and still a resident of San- gerties, aml succeeded a military organization which had been known as the 245th Regiment, of which Col. Fiero was the commandant at the time it was disbanded, and by virtue of his rank became colonel of the new regiment."f Prominent among the first officers were Gen. Henry A. Samson, who was appointed to the lieutenant-coloneley, Maj. George F. Von Beck, Capts. John Derrenbacher and John Bodine, and Dr. Abram Crispell, who was the first regimental surgeon. The " Ulster Guard"} was com- manded, after Col. Fiero, by G. E. Bashuell and George W. Pratt.
The services of this regiment were tendered to the gor- ernment, through Governor Morgan, even before the 12th of April, Col. Pratt and other of its officers foreseeing au actual outbreak of the then threatened hostilities. Imnic- diately on receipt of the news of the firing upon Sumter a miss- meeting was held at the court-house, the Hon. John B. Steele presiding. Patriotic speeches were made by Hlen. Win. S. Kenyon, Hon Theodoric R. Westbrook, George Ii Sharpe, Win. H. Romeyn, and others; committees were appointed to aid in enlisting soldiers for the " 20th," to sup- ply the wahts of the soldiers' families during their absence, ete. The banks contributed eight thousand dollars to pre- pare the regiment for the field, and the citizens responded generously in donations of money and " monthly subserip- tions,"
April 23, 1861, Maj. Gen. John T. Cooper, commanding the 3d Division, N. Y. S. M., issued a general order direct- ing that the 20th Regiment be detailed for immediate ser- vice, and report forthwith to the President of the United States at Washington. April 28th (Sunday) " the regi- mirut paraded in Academy Green, where, surrounded by thousands of people, religious ceremonies were conducted by the Kingston clergy, and the formal leave-takings were then concluded. When these were over, the regiment, about eight hundred strong, marched to Rondout, and embarked on board the steamer . Manhattan' and a barge, which were to convey the command to New York." It thence proceeded to Annapolis, Md., occupying some of the build- ings of the Naval Academy.
May 11th the 20th was ordered by General Butler to march and relieve the 5th along the line of the railroad
# We are in lested for most of the material from which this sketch is prepared to the work " The Ulster Guard," Ly Theodore B. Gates, published in 1879.
+ Article in Kingston Journal, October, 1878.
* This name was bestowed upon the corps by Col. Pratt, and the appellation was afterwards borne by the regiment.
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IHISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
from Auinapolis to the junction, and establish headquarters at the latter place, where the camp was christened " Camp Reynolds," in compliment to the zealous friend of the Ul- ster Guard, Henry H. Reynolds, of Kingston. During this time, although the duty required of the corps was neither arduous nor dangerous, it was faithfully performed, -that of guarding the approach to Washington, in pro- tecting the Baltimore and Washington and Anuapolis Railroads.
June 29th orders were received from Gen. Banks, the department connuander, to proceed to Baltimore. The reg- iment marched through the city to Patterson's Park, on the east side, and encamped. In view of the impending battle of Bull Run, the regiment was a little later ordered into the city, where the secession element was then quite strong and rampant. In the latter part of July the 20th returned to " Camp Banks," in Patterson Park. August Ist the regiment returned to Ulster County, its three months' service being expired.
On the 5th of August the field- officers advertised for recruits, and began the work of reorganizing the regiment " for three years or during the war," designing it to bear the same number it had during its three months' service .* The number assigned to it in the line of volunteer regi- ments of the State of New York was the " Eightieth." In Gates' history, and generally in Ulster County, it is spoken of as the " old Twentieth," or the " Ulster Guard," in which number and name they take a justifiable pride. Oct. 25, 1861, the regiment, nine hundred aud sighty-seven strong, left Rondout for the seat of war. The regiment at this time was officered as follows: Colonel, George W. Pratt ; Lieutenant Colonel, Theodore B. Gates; Major, Jacob B. Hardenbergh ; Adjutant, Lient. John M. Schoon- maker ; Engineer, Capt. Cornelius D. Westbrook ; Quarter- master, Lieut. John S. Griffiths; Paymaster, Selali O. Tut- bill ; Surgeon. Major Robert Loughran ; Assistant Surgeon, Capt. Robert K. Tuthill; Chaplain, Rev. Cornelius Van Santvoord, D. D.
The line-officers were as follows :
Company A .- Captain, James Smith ; First Lieutenant, Charles S. Wilkinson ; Second Lieutenant, Joseph Il. Har- rison.
Company B .- Captain, Walter A. Van Rensselaer; First Lieutenant, Abram S. Smith ; Sccoud Lieutenant, Jolin h. Leslie.
Company C .- Captain, John R. Tappen ; First Lieu- tenant, Andrew S. Schutt ; Second Lieutenant, Martin Snyder.
Company D .- Captain, Daniel McMahon ; First Licu- tenant, Henry Mick ; Second Lieutenant, James G. Wilson.
Company E .- Captain, Pelatiah Ward; First Lien- 1 teuant, Albert S. Pease ; Second Lieutenaut, Edgar T. Dud- ley.
Company F .- Captain, Juhn S. Corbin ; First Lieu- tenant, Nicholas Hoysradt; Second Lieutenant, George North, Jr.
Company G .- Captain, J. T. Hendricks; First Lieu- tenant, William II. Cunningham; Second Lieutenant, James M. Van Valkenburgh.
Company H .- Captain, Abraham'S. Smith ; First Lien- tenant, Ely R. Dobbs; Second Lieutenant, Martin H. Swarthout.
Company 1 .- Captain, James D. Balen ; First Lieu- tenant, John D. S. Cook ; Second Lieutenant, Demetrius J. France.
Company K .- Captain, Ambrose N. Baldwin; First Lieutenant, Alexander McFarland; Second Lieutenant, John R. Horner.
Arriving in Washington on Sunday, Oct. 27, 1861, the regiment settled down on Kalorama Heights. November Tth it moved to Upton's Hill, and reported to Gen. Wads- worth. There it passed the winter, and in March was in the columns of the one hundred thousand men who moved upon the rebel stronghold of Manassas, to find its elaborate fortifications bristling with wooden guns. At Centreville the 20th was placed in the First Corps d'Armee. Gen. Me- Dowell commanding. The 20th Regiment participated in the subsequent movements, reconnaissances, and engage- inents of the Army of the Potomac in its " on-to-Rich- mond" campaign. From the bloody and disastrous field of Groveton was borne the body of the chivalrous commander of the "20th." Patrick's brigade advanced in two lines. the first composed of the 21st and 35th Regiments, and the second of the 20th and 23d Regiments, New York Volunteers. The enemy allowed the Union lines to adcap .e two hundred yards into the woods without firing a shot; then they opened a murderous fire, apparently in the very faces of our men, from behind the embankment. The first line melted away, and the second line then received the full force of the leaden tornado, as well as the shot and shell from their artillery, posted on high ground in the rear of their infantry line. The enemy were admirably protected by the railroad embankment. to carry which position was at- tempted by our forces by a charge; but the fire was too heavy for men to endure, and they were forced to fall back. A second and yet a third time they tried to reach the hidden foe, but were each time repulsed with heavy loss. When they had been the third time driven back, and white standing in line of battle, irresolute whether to make another attempt to reach the enemy, an order came from Gen. Porter for the troops to retire. They withdrew leisurely and in perfect order. The enemy followed the retning Federa's, but when they reached the open country they were met by so destructive a fire of artillery and musketry that they threw themselves flat on the ground, and they were sin forced to arise and escape to the cover of the woods, with heavy loss. This, practically, was the end of the second battle of Bull Run. Col. Pratt was wounded carly in the battle, and was taken from the field and removed to Wash- ington, thence to Albany, where he died the 11th of Sep- temiber following.t
t Cot. Gronce W. PRATT was born April IS, 1830, at Prattsville. Greene Co., N. Y. His father, Col. Zadock Pratt, had acquired a for- tune as n tanner. He was a sagacions business man, represent. . i h's district in Congress, and had filled various minor positions. Hits ..... himself, be nevertheless appreciated the advantages of education, and gave his son the best facilities for obtaining a thorough knowledge of
& Company B, Capt. Sharpe, an I Company E, Capt. Lent, did not participate in the reorganization, and were disbanded August 31st. " not having the required member of men to be effective at this critical period of our national history."
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ULSTER IN THE REBELLION.
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