USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester County, New York, from its earliest settlement to the year 1900 > Part 36
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tinacity with which he was disciplined are forcibly illustrative of the general spirit of the times in Westchester County.
On the Sunday after the Declaration of Independence was pro- claimed by the authority of the assembled delegates of the State of New York at White Plains, the Rev. Epenetns Townsend, holding services as usual in his church at Salem, omitted not one jot of the prescribed formularies in relation to the king and the royal family. On the second Sunday he still pursued the even tenor of his duties in this particular; but on the third Sunday, says Bolton, " when in the afternoon he was officiating, and had proceeded some length in the service, a company of armed soldiers-said to have be- longed to Colonel Sheldon's regiment, stationed on Keeler's Hill, op- posite-marched into the church with drums beating and fifes play- ing, their guns loaded and bayonets fixed, as if going to battle; and as soon as he commenced reading the collects for the king and royal family they rose to their feet, and the officer commanded him upon the peril of his life to desist. Mr. Townsend immediately stopped reading, closed his prayer-book, descended from the reading-desk, and so the matter passed over without any accident." On the 21st of Or- tober following he was sent to Fishkill as an enemy of America, and for six months was kept on parole at his own expense. In the spring of 1777, having refused to take the oath of allegiance to the republic, he was permitted to remove with his " family, apparel, and house- hold furniture " to the British lines, his property in Salem-a very " genteel " one-being confiscated. In 1779 he was appointed chap- lain to a Loyalist battalion, which was ordered to Halifax, and he sailed with it thither, accompanied by his wife and five children. His ship foundered, and he and his whole family perished.
The first vessels of the British expedition against New York, which arrived at Sandy Hook on June 29, were gradually joined by the entire fleet. The united military force comprised the army formerly quartered in Boston (which, after evacuating that place, had been transported to Halifaxi, some troops from the Southern colonies, a large addition of fresh troops from England, and some fourteen thousand Hessian mercenaries. In the aggregate there were 33,611 men, of whom 21. 164 were in condition for battle. It was by far the largest army ever gathered in America during the Revolution. It seemed probable that General Howe's attack on New York would not be in the form of a naval bombardment of the city or of a de- barkation of the army on Manhattan Island, but of a movement thither from Long Island. There Washington had caused defenses to be fortified and occupied, whose inner line extended from Gowanus
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Creek to Wallabout Bay. General Howe's original intention seems to have been to disembark immediately on Long Island and move to his destination with all possible energy. On July 1 the fleet was brought up to Gravesend Bay (Coney Island), with the evident de- sign of effecting a landing the next morning. But if such was the purpose of the British commander, he promptly abandoned it (being actuated, it is supposed, by the prudential feeling that it would be wisest to await the arrival of the bulk of his forces); and, indeed, it was not until the 220 of August that the landing on Long Island was made. There Washington was granted a respite of seven weeks, which he availed of by perfecting the Long Island defeuses and making all practical arrangements for concentrating in that quarter a force capable of resisting the invasion. How nearly this proved fatal to the American canse is a theme that the historians of the Revolution never weary of expatiating upon.
General Howe, in bringing his formidable command to America, had, at least nominally, a double function to discharge. While he grasped the sword with one band he bore the olive branch in the other. Before proceeding to sanguinary measures he was to proffer terms of reconciliation, which were to include gracious pardon for all acts of rebellion. But toward the end of peace so devontly to be wished for, he unfortunately was not able to make any progress whatever. One of his first acts was to dispatch an officer under a flag of truce with a letter addressed to " George Washington, Esq.," reminding one of that other historic British impertinence, the offi- cial designation of the fallen and captive Emperor Napoleon, after Waterloo, as " General Bonaparte." lowe's messenger, after ex- changing the most elegant and amiable courtesies with the Amer- iean officer who came to meet him, stated that he had a letter for a " Mr. " Washington. The other informed him that some unaccount- able mistake must have been made, that there was no person an- swering to such a name in the whole patriot camp. The missive was next produced, and still it was disavowed that the specified pri- vate individual had any known existence. The puzzled messenger was fain to return to his chief without accomplishing his landable object. This was the last offer to spare the erring colonies the fear- ful chastisement that had so long been threatened.
On the 24 of July the British ships left Gravesend, advanced in stately procession through the Narrows, dropped anchor one by one along the shores of Staten Island, and began to discharge the troops, who, gladly remarks Dawson, were " welcomed by the inhabitants of that beautiful island as their deliverers from the terrible oppression of the Revolutionary powers." Not until the 12th of July was any
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formal demonstration against the American foe attempted. Then i wo vessels, the " Phoenix," of forty-four guns, and the " Rose," of twenty guns, with three tenders, were dispatched on an expedition up the Hudson River. They were fired on by the shore batteries, with little or no effect, and responded by dropping a number of shells into the city, which killed three of Washington's soldiers. Anchor- ing at Spuyten Duyvil Creek, they got a warm reception from the new batteries which had been planted on Tippet's and Cock's Hills. They then resumed their voyage up stream as far as Tarrytown, where the local company of militia, known as the Associated Com- pany of the upper part of Philipseburgh Manor, showed itself ready for the emergency. That body turned out, under the command of Lieutenant Daniel Martling, and guarded the shore during the night to prevent any possible attempt at landing. But there was no such endeavor; and, although the hostile ships remained opposite Tarry- town for four days, no clash of arms occurred there. Meantime the State convention at White Plains sent supplies of powder and ball to Tarrytown, and also ordered re-enforcements thither. It is very conjeeturable that the purpose of the British warships in staying so long at that spot was to carry on communication with the Tories of Philipseburgh Manor and the opposite shore. Washington was con- cermed about this movement up the Hudson. Referring to it in a letter to the convention dated the 14th, he expressed the opinion that the ships " may have carried up arms and ammunition to be dealt out to those who may favor their cause, and co-operate with them at a fixed time," and urged vigilant action for nipping so dan- gerous a scheme in the bud. He also apprehended that troops might be on board, intended for the seizure of the important Highland de. files, " in which case the intercourse between the two [ American] armies, both by land and water, will be wholly cut off, than which a greater misfortune could hardly befall the province and army." Steps were accordingly taken to guard against such a catastrophe, particular attention being directed toward protecting the road which passed around Anthony's Nose. Solicitude was likewise felt for Kings- bridge, a point of even greater immediate importance. In June Wash- ington had made a personal visit of inspection to Kingsbridge and vicinity, had found the locality to admit of advantageous fortifica- tion in seven distinet places, and, " esteeming it a pass of the utmost importance in order to keep open communication with the country," had assigned troops to push forward the defensive works deter- mined upon. On the 2d of July General Mifflin was sent to Kings- bridge to assume charge, and from that time forward there was the utmost activity in and around this spot. The great fear was that
VIEW FROM ABOVE PEEKSKILL, LOOKING SOUTIL.
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the bridge itself, and with it the Farmers' Bridge, would be de- stroved by a boat expedition from the Hudson River, and that a por- tion of the British army would be coincidently landed in Westchester County, which would have shut up Washington's whole force on Manhattan Island. But those dreaded attempts were never made. and even if they had been the precautions taken would probably have sufficed to counteract them.
It is well known that General Howe placed not a little dependence upon the hope of receiving active co-operation in the field from the loyal inhabitants of the lower counties of this State, and in that hope he was encouraged by assurances which he received from Goy- ernor Tryon and others upon his arrival. So far as Westchester County is concerned, no evidence exists that any results to sustain him in such an expectation followed the undoubted attempts to stim- nlate Tory courage incidental to the dispatch of the " Phomix " and " Rose " up the Hudson.
Too much praise can not be given the New York State convention for its vigorous and well-considered measures at this time of uncer- tainty regarding the intentions of the enemy. With the situation below the Harlem River Washington was competent to deal in all its details, but the convention relieved him of much of the responsi- bility and distraction that would have been involved in caring for the security of the country above. Provisions and other stores having been accumulated in the neighborhood of Peekskill, the convention ordered their removal to places which would be less exposed to danger from possible British landing parties. Militia re-enforce- ments for Forts Constitution and Montgomery were provided for. One-fourth of the entire militia of Westchester, Dutchess, and Orange Counties was called out, and, in view of the emergency, each militia- man taking the field was granted a bounty of twenty dollars ta gen- erous allowance in the circumstances of the time), with continental pay and subsistence. This whole militia force (Westchester County's contingent being under the command of Colonel Thomas Thomas) was ordered to Peekskill as the strategie point for repelling the expected attack on the Highlands. The convention pledged itself to defray the expenses of any practicable plans for obstructing the naviga- tion of the Hudson and annoying the enemy's ships. Not having sufficient ammunition for the militia, it requested Washington to loan what was needed, promising to replace it at the earliest oppor- tunity. It also advised Washington to use his offices with Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, for the creation of a camp of six thousand men on the Byram River, in the interest of bringing to confusion any schemes of the British for seizing the country above Kingsbridge.
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This recommendation was deemed by Washington most excellent, but never bore any fruits.
On the 16th of July the " Phoenix " and " Rose," with their tenders, left Tarrytown and sailed up the river to near Verplanck's Point. Finding that their progress into the Highlands would be prevented by the batteries of Forts Constitution and Montgomery, they merely took soundings, received such information as could be got from sym- pathizers on shore, and landed small parties here and there, which committed a few minor depredations. Returning slowly down the stream, they soon found that some tolerably lively adventures had been prepared for them by the alert American commander.
At Tarrytown, on the 4th of Angust, they were boldly engaged by a number of galleys-the " Washington," " Lady Washington," " Spit- fire," " Whiting," " Independence," and " Crane "-which Washing- ton had procured from the governors of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and dispatched for the purpose of annoying the two warships. One of the participants on the American side, in an account of this spirited encounter, says: " We had as hot a fire as, perhaps, was ever known, for an hour and a half. Our commodore, Colonel Tupper, thought it prudent to give the signal for our little fleet to withdraw, after man- fully fighting a much superior force for two hours. Never did men behave with more firm, determined spirits than our little crews. One of our tars, being mortally wounded, cried to his messmate: 'I am a dying man; revenge my blood, my boys, and carry me alongside my gun, that I may die there.' We were so preserved by a gracious Providence that in all our galleys we had but two men killed and fourteen wounded, two of which are thought dangerous."
An even more exciting experience was reserved for the " Phoenix," " Rose," and their tenders. Two tire vessels, constructed by Wash- ington's orders, approached them at their anchorage on the night of the. 16th of August. The resulting transactions have been pictur- esquely described by numerous writers, but with many variations as to details. The precise location of this affair of the fire-ships is im- possible of determination, so conflicting are the statements on that point. The thrilling scene is variously located off Tarrytown, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, and Yonkers. According to a very circumstantial account by a principal participant on the American side-Captain Joseph Bass, apparently the navigator of one of the fire-ships, -it or- eurred not in the jurisdiction of Westchester County but in that of Rockland County, the British vessels, he says, having taken stations on the west side of the river, because of the greater depth of the water there, upon receiving an intimation from some quarter that mischief was impending. The narrative of Captain Bass toriginally
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published in the Worcester Magasine in 1826) is so explicit and in essen- tial respects so intelligent that it seems to ns his statement that the event transpired on the west side of the river must be accepted with- ont question. Yet Dawson, after examining numerons original au- thorities, all carefully cited in his footnotes, gives no suggestion of this; although he does not specifically say that the engagement of- curred on the east bank. Again, the individual proceedings and performances of the two tire-ships are strangely confused by different narrators, the exact part borne by one in some accounts being as- signed to its companion in others. Leaving aside the minuter do- tails involving discrepancies, which after all are not very material -- and, indeed, the whole affair is of no distinct importance in its rela- tion to the progress of general events, although exceedingly interest- ing as an episode,-we shall confine ourselves to a brief statement of the essential facts, about which there are no disagreements.
The advisability of converting small river craft into fire-ships to attack the enemy's war vessels received carly consideration by the State convention after the advent of the British fleet. The subject was assigned to a secret committee, whose practical projects wore en- couraged by Washington and also by General George Clinton. After the passage of the " Rose," " Phomix," and their tenders up the river, two fire-ships, or rafts, were fitted out and held in readiness at Spuyten Duyvil Inlet for a favorable opportunity. " The fire-ships," says Ruttenber, whose account is digested from the narrative of Cap- tain Bass, " had been prepared with fagots of the most combustible kinds of wood, which had been dipped in melied pitch, and with bundles of straw eut about a foot long, prepared in the same manner. The fagots and bundles tilled the deck and hold as far aft as the cabin, and imto this mass of combustible materials was inserted a match, that might be fired by a person in the cabin, who would have to escape through a door ent in the side of the vessel into a whaleboat that was lashed to the quarter of the sloop. Besides these combus- tibles, there were in each vessel ten or twelve barrels of pitch. 1 quantity of canvas, amounting to many vards, was ent into strips about a foot in width, then dipped in spirits of turpentine, and hung upon the spars and rigging, extending down to the deck."
On the night of the 16th of August the two fire-ships, commanded (says Dawson) by Captains Fosdick and Thomas, both volunteers from the army, sailed up the river on the serious business for which they had been constructed. They kept in midstream, and in the dark- ness were unable to detect the enemy's ships, but located them by the cry of the lookouts, " All's well!" and bore down upon them. One of the fire-ships grappled a tender for " bombketch," according
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to Bassy, and the other made fast to the " Phomix." The fires were lighted, and instantly the rafts were aflame. The tender, or bomb- ketch, was burned to the water's edge, and the " Phomix " seemed in a fair way of total destruction, but was saved by desperate exer- tions. Nevertheless she was tired in several places, and mich of her rigging was cut away so that the flames might not catch it. Most of the crew of the tender perished, and it is supposed that some men on the " Phomix " were lost. Captain Thomas and five of his men were unable to escape to their whaleboat after applying the match to the combustibles. They jumped into the water and were drowned. Washington's account of this daring and, indeed, very brilliant affair is as follows:
The night of the 16th two of our fire vessels attempted to burn the ships of war up the river. One of these boarded the " Phoenix," of forty-four guns, and was grappled with her for some minutes, but unluckily she cleared herself. The only damage the enemy sustained was the destruction of one tender. It is agreed on all hands that our people engaged in this atfair behaved with great resolution and intrepidity. One of the captains, Thomas, it is to be feared, perished in the attempt, or in making his escape by swinning, as he has not been heard of. llis bravery entitled him to a better fate. Though this enterprise did not sucreed to our wishes, Fineline to think it alarmed the enemy greatly; for this morning ( August 18) the " Phoenix " and " Rose," with their two remaining tenders, taking advantage of a brisk and prosperous gale and favorable tide, quitted their stations and have returned and joined the rest of the Heet
With the final sailing away of the British ships on the morning of the ISth of Angust, the Hudson River, from the bay up, was re- lieved of the enemy, whose entire fleet was now anchored along the Staten Island shore. It was nearly a month before the much-dreaded vessels of war again ventured above the Battery, and it was not until the 9th of October that the citizens of Westchester County were thrown into renewed apprehension by the reappearance of the un- welcome visitors in their quarter.
The transportation of the invading army from its temporary quar- ters on Staten Island to Long Island was begun early on the morn- ing of the 224 of August, the landing being effected at Gravesend without opposition. With the details of the battle of Long Island, which presently followed, our narrative is not concerned, and it is sufficient for the purpose of this History to briefly summarize its ro- sulis. By noon on the 27th of August that disastrous battle ended in complete victory for the British, and Washington, having sustained a heavy loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, retired with his whole remaining force, which, as slightly re-enforced the next day, did not exceed nine thousand, behind his inner intrenchments, stretching, as already noticed, from the Gowanns to the Wallabout. Fronting him was an army of fully twenty thousand, and at any moment the whole tremendous British fleet might erter the East River and out
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off his retreat to Manhattan Island. In such an eventuality his un- conditional surrender would be but a question of a brief time, and with it the cause of American independence would in all probability receive its deathblow. The sole problem for Washington to solve was therefore that of the most expeditions possible escape. Without delay he began to make his arrangements. By the evening of the 29th all the available craft in the surrounding waters had been col- lected and brought to the Brooklyn end of the ferry. The night was fortunately dark, and not a ship of the enemy's had yet appeared in the vicinity, while lowe's army lay before our works in complete ignorance of the design of the American general. One by one the regiments left their posts and were safely transferred to the New York side. At dawn the business was still unfinished, but, happily, a heavy fog obsenred river and land. Nevertheless the last boat- loads had scarcely left the Brooklyn shore when the British ap- peared on the scene, and, indeed, their arrival was in time to cap- ture some of the stragglers. It was a narrow escape for the patriot army from the jaws of certain destruction, made possible only by a combination of circumstances which seems providential. It is told that the wife of a Tory named Rapelje, living near the ferry, as soon as the retreating movement began after nightfall, dispatched a negro with information of it to the British camp, but that the mes- senger, after safely making his way through the American lines, had the ill Inek to stumble upon an outpost of Hessian mercenaries, who were unable to understand a word of his language, and, not ap- prehending that he was a person of any importance, did not turn him over to the British until morning. The battle of Long Island, although in its immediate result to the Americans a terrible defeat, followed by the abandonment of Long Island and of New York City also, was, if thoughtfully reflected upon, a defeat of prodigions ulti- mate advantage. If Washington had triumphed in that battle, or even if its ontcome had been comparatively indecisive, his generals would almost certainly have insisted on standing their ground, and in that event he would abnost inevitably have suffered a miserable end on Long Island. It was the completeness of his defeat alone which preserved the army by leaving no course of action open ex- cept immediate retreat. Although the loss of New York City also was involved, that, from the American point of view, was more a relief than a catastrophe. Without a fleet, Washington never could have held the city, which, as a base absolutely indispensable for the British to acquire, would have been taken by them in the end, even at the cost of reducing it to ashes. An attempt to hold it could have residted in nothing but a futile sacrifice of energies, troops, and
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money on an enormous scale. It was best that he should be rid of it at once with no greater sacrifice than that incurred in the brief Long Island campaign and the mainly defensive movements that followed it. Ile was thereby released from a most perilous situation and en- abled to withdraw his army into the interior, where it could recruit its strength, improve its discipline, and grasp opportunities as they should be presented in a struggle for liberty which everyone knew must be protracted and could succeed only through endurance.
The first encounter of the Revolution on the soil of Westchester County occurred on the 28th of August in the vicinity of Mamaro- neck between a party of Loyalist recruits led by one William Louns- bury and an American force commanded by Captain John Flood, which was sent in pursuit of them. According to the records of the State convention for the 29th of August, 1776, " Mr. Tompkins came into convention and informed that Mr. Lounsbury was come into Westchester County with a commission from General Howe to raise rangers; and that a party of the militia went in pursuit of him, and were under the necessity of killing him, as he would not surrender; another was wounded, and four were taken prisoners-all his re- eruits." The prisoners were Jacob Schureman. Bloomer Neilson ( wounded), Joseph Turner, and Samuel Haines. Lounsbury had been on board the " Phoenix " in the North River, and his enlisting or- Each of his recruits was to receive £3. ders were found on his person.
On Manhattan Island Washington was still undisputed master, and the British, without any precipitaney but with great thorough- ness, proceeded to bring him to another reckoning there. Although the fleet made no attempt to dispose itself around the island for purposes of co-operation with lowe's land forces until several days after the battle of Long Island, two of the warships, with a brig. had on the very day of that battle taken a station above Throgg's Neck. This was an ominous move, suggesting an intention to come up through the East River and seize the numerous strategie points of- fered by the islands and necks of the river and Sound. Between the 3d and 14th of September a number of the most powerful frigates of the fleet were stationed in the East River, and what are now Ran- dall's and Ward's Islands were occupied. On the 15th the frigates took a position at the head of Kip's Bay and opened a terrifie fire upon a selected spot on the shore, under whose cover eighty-four boat- loads of soldiers were landed without the least resistance. It is true thai Washington had placed a considerable force of Connecticut and Massachusetts troops in that vicinity- eight regiments in all,-but they beat a hasty and decidedly discreditable retreat as soon as the enemy showed himself. With the English army present in force on
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