History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 102

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1354

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I > Part 102

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That disappointnient was expressed to the Home Government. in the General's despatch of the twenty.fifth of September, 1776, in these words : " We must also have recruits from Europe, not finding the Amer- " icans disposed to serve with arms, notwithstanding the hopes held out "to me, upon my arrival at this post." Iu his Speech before a Commit- tee of the House of Commons, on the twenty-ninth of April, 1779, the Gen- eral repeated the expression of his disappointment, on that subject, in these emphatic words : "I must, here, add, that I found the Americans " not so well-disposed to join us, and to serve, as I had been tauglit to "expect." The careful student of the history of that period will also bear testimony, in confirmation of what General Howe thus wrote and said, that the Americans, those who bad been persecuted and outraged because of "suspicions" that they were "disaffected," notwithstanding the very reasonable reasons which they had for thus transferring their strength to the Royal Army, generally remained at their homes, with their families, without voluntarily taking up arms, in eitber Army ; and tbat tbe Loyal Battalions were composed, almost exclusively, of the floating population, largely men of foreign birtb or Americans whose immoralities or necessities had induced tbem to enter the servicc. They were relatively few In numbers ; and but for the personal respectability of those who led them, their services would have been only nominal.

We are not unmindful, in what we have thus said, of the great use of that loyal element which Joseph Galloway made in his very lawyer-like publications; but we have also borne in mind, that those publicatious were made for personal and partisan purposes ; and that, like his earlier associates in duplicity and treachery, he was capable of resorting to un- savory means for the accomplishinent of any given end in which he was personally interested, justifying the employment of those means by the character of the proposed end, nnd boldly and unreservedly doing evil in order that what he was pleased to regard as good might, therefrom, be securedl.

" accounts to be collected from the inhabitants, who " are entirely ignorant of military description."3 In- deed, during that period, because of the character of the country, in its advantages for defensive opera- tions, and because of his great disappointment, in his failure to receive the support, in arms, from those who were disaffected, which he had been Icd to ex- pect, General Howe, also, became dispirited and dis- heartened, even to the extent of losing confidence in his own abilities and in those of his immense and well-officered and well-disciplined command to make any further progress, during that Campaign, nor until the arrival of heavy reinforcements, during the ensuing Winter and Spring.4 General Howe had

3 General Howe's Speech before a Committee of the House of Commons, April 29, 1779.

In his examination before a Committee of the House of Commons, on the sixthi of May, 1779, the Earl of Corn wallis testified that "the knowl- "edge of the country of America, for military purposes, was extremely " difficult to be obtained from the inhabitants ; " that "the country, in " general, is so covered with wood and so favorable to ambuscades that, "certainly, it was very difficult to obtain a knowledge of it by recon- "noitering ; " and that he " never saw a stronger country or one better "calculated for tbe defensive." In another portion of his testimony, the Earl stated, "I can only say that it is a very strong country, very "rugged, very hilly, and very woody ;" and that, although, "by no means "equally so," bis former description was "applicable, in some degree, "to all." General Gray, before the same Committee and on the same day, testified that "the inhabitants of the country, in general, were so very much "against us that they deserted the country wherever we came; and we " could get no intelligence that we could possibly depend on;" that "that part of America where I have been, is the strongest country I ever " was in. It is every where hilly and covered with wood, intersected by " ravines, creeks, and marshy grounds ; and every quarter of a mile, is "a post fitted for ambuscades. Little or no kuowledge could be obtained "by reconnoitering ; " and " America is, of all countries, the best calcu- " lated for the defensive: every one hundred yards might bo disputed, "at least that part of it that I have seen."

During a visit wbich be made to us, at our home, near the White Plains, previously to the late Civil War, General John E. Wool, a vet- eran in the service of the L'uited States, was peculiarly emphatic con- cerning the natural capabilities of Westchester-county, for a defensive warfare.

4 " U'pon the present appearance of things, I look upon the further " progress of this Army, for the Campaign, to be rather precarious, an "attack upon Rhode Island excepted, which I would willingly defer, " for a short time, in case it should be thought advisible to employ our " whole force together. * *

* But, in my situation, I presume, I " must not risk, as a check, at this time, would be of infinite detriment " to 118.

"The enemy is too strongly posted to be attacked, in front ; and in- "numerable difficulties are in my way of turning him, on either side, " thoughi his Army is much dispirited from the late success of his " Majesty's arms; yet have I not the smallest prospect of finishing the "contest, this Campaign, nor until the Rebels see preparations, in the " Spring, that may preclude all thoughts of further resistauce. To this "cnd, I would propose eight or ten line-of-battleships, to be with us in " February, with a number of supernumerary Seamen, for manning boats, " having fully experienced the want of them, in cvery movement we have " made. We must, also, have recruits from Europe, not finding the " Americans disposed to serve with arms, notwithstanding the hopes "held out to me, upon my arrival at this port."-(General Hoire to Lord George Germaine, " NEW-YORK ISLAND, 25 September, 1776," received by his lordship, November 2, 1776.)

" With regard to the knowledge of the country, so necessary to be ob- " tained previous to the movement from New- York, I beg leave to men- " tion the difficulties we labored under, in that respect, throughout the " War. The country is so covered with wood, swamps, and creeks, that "it is not open, in the least degree, to be known but from post to post or "from accounts to be collected from the inhabitants, who are entirely "ignorant of military description. These circumstances were, therefore

402

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

not learned the more modern military theory of "at- "trition," no matter at what cost, nor was he of the same school of politics as that in which Bute and Germaine and Dundas and Wedderburne and Jay and Duane and the Livingstons and the Morriscs were preceptors, of high or low degree: on the other hand, he did not expose his command where the object to be attained was inadequate,1 nor was he inclined to visit the country, even that portion of it which was antagonistic to the Royal Army, with se- verity.2

Whatever may have inspired and encouraged him, notwithstanding all whichs he had previously said of the "innumerable difficulties in his way, "of turning him," [" the enemy,"] "on either side," and of his own, evidently well-considered, appre- hensions of an unfavorable result, should an at- tempt be made to do so, Geueral Howe determined to endcavor to turn the left flank of the American Army, encamped on the Heights of Harlem and in Westchester-county, with a view of compelling it to abandon its very strong position and, if possible, of bringing it to action. As the defensive works, on the high grounds to the southward of the Harlem . plains, with the moderate detachment which he could leave, for the purpose of occupying them and the other por- tions of the City of New York, and with the further protection which was afforded by the Fleet and the increased safety which had been afforded by the cap- ture of the American works at Powle's-hook, appeared to afford all the protection which would be neeessary, there scemcd to have been little probability that General Washington would make any attempt to rc- cover, or even to raid, that City ; and the determination of General Howc was, therefore, a reasonable one, and, with such a force and with such appointments as hc, then, controlled, there was a reasonable probability that it would be attended with an entire success.

On Sunday, the fifteenth of September, in order to draw the attention of the Americans from the prep- arations which were being made, on Long Island, for

the occupation of the City of New York, by the Royal Army-which was successfully accomplished, later in the day-the Phoenix, of forty-four guns, and com- manded by Captain Hyde Parker, the Roebuck, of forty-four guns, and commanded by Captain Ham- mond, and the Tartar, of twenty-eight guns, com- manded by Captain Omnmany, each with a tender, had been moved up the Hudson-river, as far as Blooming- dale ;3 and they had remained at anchor, at that place after the Royal Army had occupied that City, cover- ing the left flank of the lines and very effectually closing the navigation of the lower portion of the river, to the Americans. But, about cight o'clock, on the morning of Wednesday, the ninth of October, they got under way and stood, with an easy southerly breeze, up the river. The Americans, with great labor and outlay of means, had constructed a chevaux- de-frise, for the protection of the navigation, above Fort Washington ; " and it was hoped it would have intercepted the further passage of the ships while the batterics, at Fort Washington and Fort Lee, and the galleys, which had been stationcd behind the chevaux- de-frise, played on them ; but, "to the surprise and " inortification" of General Washington and his com- mand, they passcd all the obstructions, "without the " Icast difficulty, and without receiving any apparent " damage from our forts,5 though they kept up a " heavy fire from both sides of the river." 6

8 General Washington to the President of Congress, "HEAD-QUARTERS, "AT COLONEL MORRIS'S HOUSE, IG September, 1776;" General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " HEAD-QUARTERS, NEW-YORK, September 21, "1776;" The New-York Gazette and the Weekly Mercury, No. 1303, NEW- YORK, Monday, October 14, 1776.

General Ilcath, (Memoirs, GO,) said these Ships were "sent up the "river, as far as Greenwich," only, on the fourteenth of Septeuiber.

4 Doctor Sparks, in his Writings of George Washington, (iv., 30, note,) said " the mode of constructing the chevaux-de-frise was a contrivance of " General Putman's; " and, in support of that statement, he quoted from a letter written by the General to General Gates, dated July 26th, in which were these words : " We are preparing chevaux-de-frise, at which " we make great dispatch by the help of ships, which are to be sunk ; a "scheme of mine, which you may be assured is very simple, a plan of "which I send you."

Hlad not the General's own words heen given in support of the state- ment, we should have supposed the Doctor had mistaken the General for Colonel Rufus Putnam, who was an Engineer: and the more so, since even the most zcalous of the General's biographers and eulogists are silent, on this subject. Possibly, however, that silence may be accounted for, from the result of the professional stupidity of the Enginecr, whom- soever he may have been.

5 In this instance, General Washington was mistaken, since the " ships " suffered much, in their masts and rigging ; " and Captaiu Parker sub- sequently reported that the Phoenix lost a Midshipman, two Seamen, and one Servant, killed, and a Boatswain, a Carpenter, eight Seameu, a Ser- vaut, a negro Man, and a private Marine, wounded ; that the Roebuck lost a Lieutenant, a Midshipman, and two Seamen, killed, and a Mid- shipman, two Seamen, and a Corporal of Marines, wounded ; and that the Tartar lost a Midshipman, killed, and a Lieutenaut of Marines wounded. -(Report of the Killed and Wounded on board His Majesty's Ships pass- ing the Batteries, the 9th of October, 1776.)

Sec, also, Admiral Lord Howe's despatch to the Secretary of the Ad- miralty, "EAGLE OFF NEW-YORK, November 23, 1776."

6 General Washington to the Congress, "HEIGHTS OF HARLEM, 7 Octo- "ber, 1776," postscript, dated "October 9th ;" Lieutenant-colonel Tench Tilghman to the Committee of Safety, " HEAD-QUARTERS, HARLEM-11 EIGHTS, "9 Octr, 1776 ;" General George Clinton to the Convention, " KING'S BRIDGE, "10 October, 1776 ;" The New- York Gazette and the Weekly Mercury No.

" the cause of some unavoidable delay, in our movements. I must, here, "add that I found the Americans not so well-disposed to join us, and to "serve, as I had been taught to expect ; that I thought our farther " progress, for the present, precarious ; and that I saw no prospect of " finishing the War, that Campaign. These sentiments I communicated 'to the Secretary of State, in the letters last mentioned."-(General Howe's Speech before a Committee of the House of Commons, April 29, 1779.) 1 " The most essential duty I had to observe was, not wantonly to com- " mit his Majesty's troops where the object was inadequate. I knew, " well, that any considerable loss sustained by the Army could not, "speedily nor easily, be repaired. I also knew that one great point " towards gaining the confidence of an Army-and a General without it "is upon the most dangerous ground-is never to expose the Troops, " where, as I said before, the object is inadequate."-(General Ilowe's Speech before a Committee of the House of Commons, April 29, 1779.)

2 "Although some persons condemn me for having endeavoured to con- "ciliate his Majesty's rebellious subjects, by taking every meaus to pre- " vent the destruction of the country instead of irritating them by a con- " trary mode of proceeding ; yet am I, from many reasons, satisfied, in "my owu miud, that I acted, in that particular, for the bcuefit of the "King's service."-(General Howe's Speech before a Committee of the House of Commons, April 29, 1779.)

.4 PLAN OF THE OPERATIONS of the KING'S ARMY under the Command of GENERAL S" WILLIAM HOWE KB . IN

NEW YORK AND

EAST NEW JERSEY

Againft the AMERICAN FORCES Commanded By GENERAL WASHINGTON,

From the 12th of October to the 28th of November 1716 Wherein is Particularly Distinguished

THE ENGAGEMENT on the WHITE PLAINS the 28th of October

By CLAUDE JOSEPH SAUTHIER; Engraved by WM FADEN,ATT Scale of Miles

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403

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

It would not have been very apparent how these vessels could have passed such seemingly formidable obstruetions, "without the least difficulty," nor for what especial reason General Washington was " sur- " prised and mortified," when such a passage had been successfully acomplished, had not General George Clinton, who commanded the Militia of the State who had been called out for the reinforcement of the Continental Army, at Kingsbridge, informed the Convention that the ships had " passed by, in shore, " East of our obstruetions in the river" 1-that the deep waters of the river, in shore, immediately around the point which juts into the river, at that place, had been left entirely unprotected-a fact which refleets very little credit on the skill or the forethought of either the Engineer or those who were employed in build- ing the obstruetions, especially since the Phoenix and the Rose and their respective tenders had passed the same obstruetions, in the same way, on the eighteenth of August, after the galleys and the fireships had rendered their longer stay, in the waters of the Hudson-river, both unprofitable and hazardous.2

After the vessels had passed the obstructions, they ran up the river as far as Dobbs's-ferry, where they agam east anchor. On their passage up the river, they captured two or three small river-craft-one of them loaded with Rum, Sugar, Wine, etc .- and sunk a sloop which had on board a machine invented by Mr. Bushnell, for blowing up the British Fleet.3 Two new ships, purchased for the further obstruction of the channel of the river, were driven ashore, near Yonkers-one of them was afterwards recovered, how- ever, by a party of men whom General Clinton sent from Kingsbridge, for that purpose ;4 and two galleys, which had been stationed near the obstructions, were also driven ashore, near Dobbs's-ferry, and captured by the enemy.5 While the ships were at anchor, off

1303, NEW-YORK, Monday, October 14, 1776 ; The Freeman's Journal and New-Hampshire Gazette, Volume 1, Number 27, PORTSMOUTH, Tuesday, November 26, 1776; The Pennsylvania Journal, No. 1767, PHILADELPHIA, Wednesday, October 16, 1776; Santhier's Plan of the Operations of the King's Army under the command of General ST William Howe, K. B., in New York and East New Jersey, Ed. London : 1777-opposite -; Memoirs of General Heoth, 68 ; etc.

I General George Clinton to the Convention, "KING'S BRINGE, 10 Oc- "tober, 1776."

Vide page 392, ante.

" The late Charles J. Bushnell, of New York, well known among nu- mismatists and antiquaries, was of the same family as the Mr. Bushnell referred to, in the text ; and he gathered, with great labor and much cost, everything which was known to exist, concerning that early in- ventor. The only description of tho machine for destroying vessels at anchor, invented by him and destroyed by the enemy whom it was in- tended to annoy, as far as we have knowledge, may he seen in the Me- moirs of General Heath, 69.

4 We have some reasons for supposing that both these ships were saved ; although no direct evidence appears that more than one of thein was brought off. See, however, Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman to General Heath, "HEAD-QUARTERS, October 9, 1776;" Colonel Reed to the same, "October 9, 1776 : " General Putnom to the same, " Wednesday, noon ; " Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman to Robert R. Livingston, "HEAD-QUARTERS, " HARLEM HEIGHTS, October 10, 1776 ;" etc.

6 Lieutenants Putnam and Cleaves to General Washington, "NORTH

Dobbs's-ferry, a boat's erew was sent ashore, and sig- nalized its presence by plundering a store, and by staving the casks and setting the building on fire ; but the fire was extinguished by the Americans, after the enemy had returned to his boat.6

The movement of the ships, up the river, and the consequent control of the latter, notwithstanding the obstructions on which so much dependence had been rested, very promptly ealled forth the entire energies of General George Clinton7 and General Heath,8 both of them in Westchester-county, to prevent the enemy from effecting a landing and for the protection of the property which was exposed to the ravages of his tenders and boats ; and, of course, the vigilant Com- mander-in-chief immediately despatched an express to the Convention, that notice might be immediately communicated to General James Clinton, command- ing the forts, in the Highlands, putting him on his guard, and directing that precautions should be taken to prevent the river-craft from falling into the hands of the enemy-the General was not informed of the destination of the ships nor of the purposes of the movement ; but he was not, apparently, very much alarmed, and supposed, only, that they were sent to eut off the communication of the American Army, by water, to the northward ; " probably to gain recruits ;" and to elose the supplies of the Americans, especially those of Boards, for the construction of Barracks,

"RIVER, October 9, 1776;" Generol George Clinton to the Convention, "KING'S BRIDGE, 10 October, 1776 ; " The Philadelphia Evening Post, Vol- ume 2, Number 270, PHILADELPHIA, Saturday, October 12, 1776; The Pennsylvanio Journal, No. 1767, PHILADELPHIA, October 16, 1776 ; Me- moirs of General Heath, 68, 69.

6 Memoirs of General Heath, 69.

Among the incidents of 1776, Bolton related the following : "Upon "the 9th of October, a hody of 1100 British troops embarked on hoard "batteanx at l'eekskill and the same night proceeded to Tarrytown, "whore they landed at daybreak, and occupied the heights adjoining." -(Ilistory of Westchester-county, second edit., i. 348.)

Although tho historian has referred to "Gaine's Weekly Mercury," * as his anthority, we have failed to find the slightest evidence, anywhere that such a movement as lie lias thus described was really made ; and with the best of evidence, accessible to every one, that there were no British troops in Westchester-county, until several days after the date referred to, nor, then, within many miles from Peekskill, we dismiss the statement as something else than History.

7 General Clinton sent out the detachment of troops which rescued oue of the ships which were driven ashore, near Yonkers .- (General George Clinton to the Convention, " KING'S BRIDGE, 10 October, 1776.")

8 General Heath ordered Colonel Sargent, with five hundred Infantry and forty Cavalry ; Captain Horton, of the Artillery, with two twelve- pounders ; and Captain Crafts, with a howitzer, to march, immediately and with all possible expedition, to Dobbs's-ferry ; and the entire Divis- ion was formed, in order of battle, and "moved down, over the different "grounds which it was supposed might be the scene of action."-(Me- moirs of General Heath, 69 )

See, also, General Heath's Orders to Colonel Sargent, "KING'S BRIDGE, "October 9, 1776 ; " David Ilow's Diary, October 9, 1776 ; Colonel Sur- gent to General Heath, " llalf past two o'clock at night, Doug's FERRY, "October 10, 1776 ;" General Heath's Orders to Colonel Surgent, "KING's 4. BRINGE, October 10, 1776 ;" etc.

* We have not found a file of Gaine's New- York Gazette and the Weekly Mercury of the latter portion of 1776 ; and the well-informed Mr. Kelby, of the New York Ilistorical Society, informs us that such a file is not known to him, anywhere.

404

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

which it should have received, at an earlier day, and of which it was in great need.1

The enemy's Squadron got under way, again, dur- ing the evening, and sailed up the river, as far as Tarrytown; where it anchored, and remained during the entire period which was occupied by those stirring and momentous events of which their own movement, up the Hudson-river, was the earlier portion.2

When the information of that movement of the enemy's ships reached the Committee of Safety, at Fishkill, it was, evidently, very much alarmed; but, with that promptitude which the emergency de- manded, it immediately ordered three hundred of the Militia of Ulster-county to be sent down, without any delay, to Peekskill, "well armed aud accoutred, "and with three days' provisions ;" that a sufficient number of the Militia of Orange-county, below the mountains-now Rockland-county-should be called out for the due protection of that portion of the western bank of the river, and one hundred from the Militia of the same County, above the mountains, should be called out and sent to Peekskill, with three days' provisions ; that all the Rangers which had been enlisted for the protection of the frontiers of Ulster- county should be marched to Fishkill, evidently for the purpose of holding the more violent of the di-af- fected, in Duchess-county, in check ; and it also sent expresses to General Schuyler, commanding the Northern Army, and to General George Clinton, at Kingsbridge, declaring its helplessness and begging " the most speedy succour." It also wrote a letter to General Washington, in which the condition of the country was thus described ; "Nothing can be more " alarming than the present situation of our State. " We are daily getting the most authentic intelli- " gence of bodies of men, enlisted and armed, with "orders to assist the enemy. We much fear that " those, co-operating with the enemy, will seize such " passes as will cut off all communication between the

" Army and us, and prevent your supplies. We " dare not trust any more of the Militia out of this " County, [Duchess.] We have called for some aid " from the two adjoining ones ; but beg leave to sug- " gest to your Excellency the propriety of sending a " body of men to the Highlands or Peekskill, to

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History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 102

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1354

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1354