USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester County, New York, from its earliest settlement to the year 1900 > Part 53
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Flagg was dispatched in like savage manner. Greene, fearfully mangled, still retained some life, but he was not permitted to breathe his last in peace. He was placed on a horse and compelled to ride off with the ruffianly victors. After going about three-quarters of a mile they perceived he could travel no farther, removed him from his horse, and pitched him into some bushes by the roadside, where he presently expired. He was buried, with Major Flagg, in the churchyard at Crompond.1 The American loss in this ghastly affair in killed, wounded, and prisoners was about fifty.
Shortly after the middle of May, Washington received definite intelligence of the French fleet. It was to consist of twenty ships of the line, with land troops, all commanded by the Count de Grasse, was to sail from France for the West Indies, and from there was to proceed to the shores of the United States in July or August. On the basis of this news Washington and Rochambeau met at Weathers- field, Conn., on the 22d of May, and subscribed to the following un- derstanding:
The enemy, by several detachments from New York, having reduced their force at that post to less than half the number which they had at the time of the former conference at Hart- ford in September last, it is thought advisable to form a junetion of the French and American armies upon the North [Undson | River as soon as possible, and move down to the vicinity of New York, to be ready to take advantage of any opportunity which the weakness of the enemy may afford.
Should the West Indies fleet [de Grasse's] arrive on the coast, the forces thus combined may either proceed in operations against New York or may be directed against the enemy in some other quarter.
It will be observed that this agreement of the two generals was explicit as to the immediate operations of the united armies, but not as to the ultimate destination of the fleet or as to the final joint objective of armies and fleet. It was decided with all possible dis- patch to effect a union of Washington's and Rochambean's forces and " move down in the vicinity of New York," there to " take advantage of any opportunity which the weakness of the enemy may afford." But whither the fleet was to come was not definitely indicated; and manifestly it was intended that the ultimate campaign of the armies should be determined by the destination of the fleet-provided, of course, no decisive operations before New York should result pre- viously to the fleet's arrival.
Now, there were only two possible destinations for the fleet. One was Chesapeake Bay, where all the enemy's forces in the South were concentrating for the reduction of Virginia; the other was New York,
1 The New York State legislature of 1900 made an appropriation of $2,000 for the oree- tion of a monument in the frompond church-
yard to the heroes of this affair. A further amount has been contributed through the ef- forts of the Sons of the Revolution.
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where Sir Henry Clinton's command was located. To which point would de Grasse come? or, rather, to which point should the two generals advise him to come ?- for there was, of course, time to com- municate with him before his departure from the West Indies, and that indeed was indispensable.
It will be remembered that in 1778, when the first French expedi- tion under d'Estaing reached our shores, it proceeded, at Washing- ton's suggestion, to Sandy Ilook, with every purpose of entering New York harbor and joining with the continental army in a siege of New York; but that d'Estaing at the last moment abandoned that plan because of his apprehension that his larger war vessels might get stranded on the bar. Indeed, there was a confirmed dislike in the French admiralty office of the Sandy Hook bar, which Rocham- beau appears to have shared in a positive degree. At the Weathers- field conference he expressed this animus strongly, and, in fact, the whole bent of his inclination was toward a prompt united naval and land campaign in the South.
Washington, on the other hand, deemed a New York campaign of tirst and supremest importance-not because he considered Ameri- can interests less needful of his personal employment in the South than in the North, but for the precisely contrary reason that the proposed move against New York was the one essential instrumen- tality by which to relieve the stress at the South. At Weathers- field he urged this opinion with the utmost confidence, and all his subsequent procedure corresponded with his original conviction. There is nothing to show that at any time he cherished undue hope of actually capturing New York-especially in the absence of re-en- forcements and of assurance that the fleet would co-operate. But he was for an immediate and perfectly formal New York campaign, let the fleet come where it might. Perhaps he seriously hoped to take New York. But the eventuality there did not interest him so much as the manifest advantage of the strategy. He would make so formidable a demonstration against New York that Sir Henry Clinton would either have to Jose the city or leave Cornwallis at the South to his own resources. In either case there would be an ex- cellent chance to strike the final blow.
If this was not Washington's exact mental attitude from start to finish-clearly formulated at the beginning and never modified by special conditions later-then his whole course of conduct and ex- pression was purely accidental, a thing not to be believed of him. Again and again he was besought to leave the army at the North and take the command in Virginia; and uniformly he replied that he was resolved to continue at the North conformably with well-matured
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plans which, in their execution, would give Virginia far greater relief than his personal presence could possibly bring to pass. In July, when his enterprise against New York was in full progress, Richard Henry Lee wrote to him pressingly from Virginia, declar- ing that the people were ready to make him dictator if he would show himself there; to which he replied in the following strong words: " My present plan of operation, which I have been preparing with all the zeal and activity in my power, will, I am morally cer- tain, with proper support, produce one of two things, either the fall of New York or a withdrawal of the (enemy's) troops from Vir- ginia." On the 4th of June, previously to the junction of the Ameri- can and French armies in Westchester County, he wrote from his headquarters at New Windsor these most significant words to the Count de Rochambeau: " I could wish that the march of the [ French ] troops might now be hurried as much as possible. I know of no measure which will be so likely to afford relief to the Southern States."
Yet it has been claimed by some historical writers that it was Washington's essential policy to capture New York, and that the idea of the final move to Virginia originated with Rochambeau. This view rests upon the exceed- ingly slender foundation that at the Weathers- field conference Rochambeau opposed any co- operation by the fleet at New York ( because, as THE ROYAL FLAG OF FRANCE. already pointed out, of French prejudice against the Sandy Hook bar). But if at Weathersfieldt Rochambeau conceived the Virginia campaign, it was certainly not a conception based upon the plan of a formidable preliminary New York campaign. With- out the preliminary New York campaign, conducted with the utmost sagacity, there would have been no triumphant Virginia campaign.
This digression from the straightforward progress of our narrative seems necessary to a proper understanding of the Weathersfield agreement of the 22d of May and its relations to subsequent events. That agreement was decidedly indefinite, except in the one particular that there should be an immediate movement of the combined armies on New York; with which prime matter settled, Washington con- sented to leave de Grasse's course with his fleet to his own discre- tion. It is not conceivable that he. the responsible commander-in- chief, would have made such a concession if he had held to the ex- clusive idea of taking New York.
By a dispatch vessel sent from Newport to the West Indies in the latter part of May, de Grasse was accordingly notified of the deci-
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sions reached at the Weathersfield conference, and it was made op- tional with him whether to come to New York Harbor or to Chesa- peake Bay. As we shall see, Washington remained in absolute un- certainty regarding the French admiral's intended destination until after the latter had sailed from the West Indies.
The remainder of May and the first three weeks of June were em- ployed in preparations for the junction of the allied armies and the offensive operations on New York. Rochambeau began his march from Newport on the 10th of June, leaving at that place a sufficient garrison, its harbor being still occupied by French ships of war. Washington assembled his troops from their different encampments on the west side of the Hudson, brought them across King's Ferry, and on the 26th established his headquarters at the Van Cortlandt house north of Peekskill. He at once proceeded to demonstrate to the British that the joint movement was not a mere feint or a ven- ture whose final object was to be approached gradually, but a swift and deadly undertaking against New York. The promptitude with which Washington, after arriving at Peekskill, planned and exeented the demonstration on New York, and the fine judgment with which he arranged his combinations, must have been convincing proof to Sir Henry Clinton that he would soon be called upon to defend the city with all the resources at his command.
Washington had two immediate objects in view-first, to surprise and, if possible, capture the British position at Kingsbridge; second. to cut off de Lancey's large body of Refugees at Morrisania and any other troops of the enemy north of the Harlem River. The two schemes were to be carried out simultaneously and with great secrecy and rapidity. The Kingsbridge enterprise was to be under the charge of General Lincoln, of the American army, who was to drop down the river under cover of night, reconnoiter the works at the northern end of Manhattan Island, and, if he found them not too strongly de- fended, attack Kingsbridge. At the same time the Duke de Lauzun, of the French army, was to come down to Morrisania from Connec- tieut by a forced march and fall upon de Lancey. In the event that Lincoln should find it imprudent to attack Kingsbridge, he was to take a station near that place so as to prevent de Lancey from escap- ing to Manhattan Island. And finally Washington and Rochambeau, with their main bodies, were to descend swiftly down through West- chester County and be ready for further immediate operations in force if Kingsbridge should be taken. It was a thorough plan of instant aggression, well calenlated to cause Sir Henry Clinton the greatest concern whether it succeeded or failed. The date selected for the combined attempt was the 30 of July.
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On the evening of the 1st of JJuly General Lincoln, with 800 men and several pieces of artillery, left the camp in the vicinity of Peek- skill, marched to Teller's (Croton) Point, and put his expedition on board of boats, which were rowed with muffled oars down the Hud- son to the present Ludlow section of the City of Yonkers. For the purpose of concealment the flotilla was drawn close to the shore. General Lincoln crossed to the west bank, and from the Palisades reconnoitered the Manhattan Island forts. To his disappointment he discovered that a large body of the enemy was encamped there. Thus his intended surprise of Kingsbridge was made impracticable. Ile returned to his boats and remained in them till before dawn of the 3d, when he landed his men and guns and advanced to a height opposite Kingsbridge (the site of the former Fort Independence) in order to support de Lauzun in his attack on de Lancey. But ill-Inck attended this attempt also. He was discovered by a strong foraying party of the enemy, which came across the bridge just about day- break, and skirmishing ensued the noise of which alarmed de Lancey at Morrisania. De Lauzun had arrived at Williams's Bridge during the night of the 2d, and after giving his men a few hours' rest, was just preparing to move against de Lancey. But the latter, apprised of his danger by the firing at Kingsbridge, hastened away and was soon safe on Manhattan Island.
Meantime Washington, with remarkable celerity, had brought the main army down from Peekskill. Leaving his tents standing, he quitted the camp at three o'clock on the morning of the 20. The march was made without baggage, so as to execute it in the briefest possible time. There were only two halts-one at Croton Bridge and the other beside the Sleepy Hollow Church near Tarrytown. Valen- tine's Hill (Yonkers), four miles above Kingsbridge, was reached by sunrise of the 3d, and there Washington stopped to await the result of the movements below. At the same time the French army was on the way from Connecticut.
This well-planned and in all its parts perfectly well-executed demon- stration failed totally. Its collapse affords striking testimony of the sound sense of Washington in discouraging proposed expeditions against New York throughout the Revolution. Such expeditions were projected repeatedly by his subordinates, but Washington dis- approved them almost without consideration. He himself, on one or two occasions previously to the attempt of July 3, 1781, made ready to descend upon Kingsbridge, but these offers were only tem- porary menaces for strategic purposes. Washington's career teaches that when there was any conceivable advantage to be derived from fighting or from aggressively operating, he was as enterprising and
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persistent along those lines as any great general of history. It was agonizing to him to waste away campaign after campaign on the defensive. From the summer of 1778 to the summer of 1781 he never fought a battle, conducted a siege, or made any aggressive movement in force which involved active warfare. Yet during all that period he had his army drawn up or disposed in New Jersey, the Highlands, or Westchester County, within easy striking distance of New York; and, moreover, the recapture of New York was the grand goal of the Revolution. He did not attempt it because it would have been a simply mad thing to do with the forces at his disposal. When, finally, with the assistance of the French, he was ready to move on New York as a formal matter, he arranged a perfect combination to take Kingsbridge by swift surprise. This, the first and only attempt to surprise Kingsbridge, did not come even to the fighting stage. How merely foolhardy would have been the ordinary ex- peditions against Kingsbridge which ambitious officers were con- tinually planning.
Finding that the British at the outposts of New York were not to be surprised, it remained for. Washington to institute deliberate operations. The next day (July 4) he retired from Valentine's ITill to Dobbs Ferry, where he encamped, also marking ont a camp for the French on his left. Rochambeau had advanced as far as North Castle (seventeen miles distant), where Washington visited him on the 5th. On the 6th the French joined the Americans. The latter lay in two lines, resting on the Hudson at Dobbs Ferry, covered by batteries, and extending toward the Nepperhan River; while their allies were in a single line on the hills farther east, reaching to the Bronx. The left of the French position was at Chatterton's Hill, the scene of the battle of October 28, 1776. A very pleasing description of the united encampment is given by Irving in his Life of Wash- ington : " It was a lovely country for a summer encampment, breezy hills commanding wide prospects, umbrageous valleys watered by bright pastoral streams, the Bronx, the Sprain, and the Nepperhan, and abounding with never failing springs. The French encamp- ment made a gallant display along the Greenburgh hills. Some of the officers, young men of rank, to whom this was all a service of romance, took a pride in decorating their tents and forming little gardens in their vicinity. 'We have a charming position among rocks and under magnificent tulip trees,' writes one of them, the Count Dumas. General Washington was an object of their enthu- siasm. He visited the tents they had so gayly embellished, for, with all his gravity, he was fond of the company of young men. They were apprised of his coming, and set out on their camp tables plans
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of the battle of Trenton, of West Point, and other scenes connected with the war. The greatest harmony prevailed between the armies. The two commanders had their respective headquarters in farm houses, and occasionally, on festive occasions, long fables wore spread in the adjacent barns, which were converted into banquet halls."
In Rochambeau's army were many notable officers, the flower of the French army. Some of these were the Baron Viomenil, com- manding the Bourbonnais, the oldest regiment of France; the Count de Viomenil, his brother; the Chevalier de Chastelleux; the Count de Custine and the Duke de Lauzun, both of whom fell under the guillo- tine; Berthier, at the time aide-de- camp to Rochambeau and later one of Napoleon's field marshals; and the Count de Fersen, who dis- tinguished himself at Yorktown and during the stormy days of the French Revolution was conspicu- ous in his devotion to the royal family.
Rochambeau's headquarters were at the old Odell mansion then owned by a Mr. Bates; and Wash- ington's were at Joseph Appleby's. about half a mile from the Dobbs Ferry Road and the same distance from the Sawmill River.
The American army at Dobbs Ferry was something less than 5,000 strong, and the numbers of GENERAL HENRY KNOX. the French were about the same. On the Sth of July Washington reviewed the two armies. One of the first things done was the erection of a battery at Dobbs Ferry to com- mand the Hudson River. For the first two weeks, however, no gen- eral proceedings were attempted.
On the evening of the 15th of July there was a spirited engagement with the enemy at Tarrytown, occasioned by an attempt of several British ships of war to capture or destroy American vessels that had come down the river with ordnance and supplies. This affair is known as " the action at Tarrytown," and in commemoration of it a historical tablet was placed on the Tarrytown railroad station, July 15, 1899. The American vessels, of which there were two ac- cording to one account, and three or four according to other (and more probable) statements, were descending from West Point, and
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their cargoes were very important. In order to escape the British ships, which were coming up, they were steered for the dock at Tarrytown, but they ran aground at a distance of about a hundred yards from that place. There being no troops at Tarrytown, except a small French guard, Washington hurriedly dispatched Sheldon's Dragoons from Dobbs Ferry. Sheldon's men, under Captain George Hurlbut, went to work with a will to unload the stranded craft. The enemy's warships, having come to anchor not far away, opened a heavy cannonade, under cover of which two gunboats and four barges approached with the object of burning our vessels. Captain Hurlbut, who was on board one of the latter with twelve men, armed only with pistols and swords, waited until the British were alongside and " gave them a fire, which they returned, and killed one of his men." The Americans now jumped into the water and swam ashore. After setting fire to the vessels the British quickly retired under a deadly musketry attack from the Dragoons and French on the shore. There- upon Captain Hurlbut, Captain-Lieutenant Miles, Lieutenant Shaylor, and several others plunged into the river, boarded the burning sloops, and extinguished the flames .. Hurlbut received a wound from which he died two years later. All the contents of the vessels were then safely landed. Washington deemed the services thus rendered so valuable and so gallant that in general orders he recited the facts, adding that the conduet of the three officers " entitles them to the most distinguished notice and applause of their general," and in his Diary he remarks upon "the extraordinary spirit and activity " of the gentlemen concerned.
The next morning (July 16) the Americans opened an artillery fire upon the British ships from a battery which had been erected at Tarrytown. This proved so troublesome that the enemy had to move out of range. On the 19th they stood down the river to return to New York. A destructive fire was poured upon them by the Dobbs Ferry battery. The largest of the ships was set on fire by a bursting shell, and in consternation a number of the men jumped overboard. Some of them were drowned, and three or four who reached the shore were made prisoners.
After these creditable transactions with the enemy's ships, Wash- ington entered vigorously upon his arrangements for threatening New York. About this time he crossed with Rochambean to the other side of the river, and, accompanied by 150 New Jersey troops, very carefully reconnoitered Manhattan Island and its defenses along the Hudson. On the 18th two detachments, an American and a French (the latter commanded by young Dumas), were sent to explore the country in the lower part of Westchester County. Both proceeded
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to within musket range of the Kingsbridge works. This was pre- paratory to the famous " grand reconnaissance" of New York on the 22d and 23d.
July the 21st, at eight o'clock in the evening. about one-half the forces of the two armies at the Dobbs Ferry camp wore put in mo- tion and marched to opposite Kingsbridge, following the Hudson River, Sawmill River, and Eastchester roads. "The right, com- manded by General Heath, was formed by a part of the division of General Lincoln. The legion of Lauzun protected the army upon the left. There were in all about 5,000 men, with two field batteries. The head of the column reached the ridge which commands Kings- bridge at five o'clock on the morning of the 22d. The roads were very bad, and the artillery had diffienly in following. Nevertheless, the two armies marched in perfect order, observing the strictest silence." The troops were disposed so as to cover the proceedings of the two generals, who, with the greatest deliberation, attended by a corps of engineers, traversed the country in front of the British posi- tion from river to Sound, noting every place and object that might be of importance in connection with future operations. Their move- ments were directed by the Fordham guide, Andrew Corsa. "He used to relate that when the allies, marching from the east near the Bronx and passing over the high grounds around Morrisania house, came in sight of the enemy, the fire which the British artillery opened upon them from the fortifications at Randall's Island and Snake Hill, from the batteries at Harlem, and from the ships of war at anchor in the (Harlem) river, were terrible and incessant; and, obey- ing the instinct of self-preservation, which became suddenly pre- dominant, he urged his horse forward at full speed and rode for safety behind the ohl Morrisania Mill. Here he pulled up, and, looking back, saw Washington, Rochambean, and the other officers riding calmly along under the fire as though nothing unusual had occurred. ITis self-possession now returned, and, ashamed at having given way to an impulse of fear, he at once pricked back with all the rapidity to which he could urge his horse, and resumed his place in the order of march; while the commanding officers, with good-natured peals of laughter, welcomed him back and commended his courage." 1
" This reconnoisance," says a French writer, " was made with all the care imaginable. We had been exposed to six or seven hundred cannon-shots, which cost the Americans two men. We had taken twenty or thirty prisoners from the English, and killed four or five men. Sixty horses had also been taken from them. I can not repeat too often how greatly I have been surprised at the American army.
. Bolton (rev. rd .. H .. 533.
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It is inconceivable that troops almost naked, poorly paid, and com- posed of old men, negroes, and children, should march equally well on the road and under fire. I have shared this astonishment with M. de Rochambeau himself, who continued to speak of it to us on the return march. I hardly need to speak of the coolness of General Washington. It is known; but this great man is a thousand times greater and more noble at the head of his army than at any other time." 1
This was no sensational parade before the enemy's position to make a plausible showing of offensive designs, but an elaborate. scientific preparation for a siege. It is said that Washington and Rochambean were in their saddles twenty-four consecutive hours. Rochambeau relates an interesting episode:
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