History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 112

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 112

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6 Extroct of a letter from a Gentlemon in the Army, dated "CAMP NEAR "THE MILLS, AHOUT THREE MILES NORTH OF WHITE-PLAINS, November "1, 1776," re-printed in Forcc's American Archives, "V. iii., 473, 474.

We have learned from the Returns of the Killed, Wounded, ond Missing, on that day, of Regiments who are known to have taken no part what . ever in the subsequent action on Chatterton's-hill, of what Regiments that force who met the King's troops, near Ilart's-corners, was com- posed : it contained the Regiments commanded by Colonels Silliman, Selden, Sage, and Douglass-the latter commanded by Lieutenant-colo- nel Arnold-all of them of the Brigade commanded by Gencral Wads- worth ; the Regimeut commanded by Colonel Chester, of the Brigade commanded by Colonel Sargent ; the Regiments commanded by Colonels Baldwin, Donglass, and Lieutenant-colonel Elv, of the Brigade com- mandcd by General Saltonstall ; and the Regiments commanded by Colonels Holman and Smith, of the Brigade commanded by General Fellows. All these made Returns of Casualties sustained by them, on that occasion : how many other Regiments there were, whose bashfulness forbade the making of any Returns, we have not ascertained.

7 Letter from a Gentleman in the Army, "CAMP NEAR THE MI1.L6, ABOUT " THREE MILES NORTH OF WHITE-PLAINS, November I, 1776; " Mem- oir of Colonel Benjomin Tallmodge, prepared by himself, at the request of his children, 13 ; etc.

8 We are not insensihle of the fact that "a Gentleman in the Army," from whose letter, dated "CAMP NEAR THE MILLS, ABOUT THREE MILES

sent out, to hold the enemy in check. These were posted, advantageously, "on the old York road," it is said; 9 and it is also said that when the left column of the Royal Army "had advanced within musket-shot "of our troops, a full discharge of musketry warned " them of their danger. At first, they, " [the Hessians,] " fell back ; but, rallying again, immediately, and the" [right] "column of British troops having advanced " upon our " [General Spencer's] "left, it became nec- "essary " [for him] "to retire;"10 taking the opportu- nity, " occasionally," to form behind the stone walls, on the line of his retreat, and to annoy those who pursued him 11-it has been said, however, that the flight of that large detachment was hastened by the appearance, on its front, of the British Light Dra- goons; 12 and that the retreat was not such an one as reflected credit on its discipline, as soldiers, or on its bravery, as men.13 A large portion, if not the whole, of the detachment, terror-stricken and without any appearance of order, sought "the ford "-a shallow portion of the Bronx-river, apparently a short distance below the present railroad-bridge, between Hartsdale and the White Plains-closely pursued by Colonel Rall, with the Brigade, composed of the Regiments of Lossberg, Knyphausen, and Rall, whom he com- manded; 14 and, having passed the little stream, the cowardly fugitives found refuge in the neighboring

" NORTH OF WHITE-PLAINS, November 1, 1776," we have already made extracts, stated that the command of General Spencer, on the occasion under notice, "consisted, in the whole of five or six hundred men ; " but, on the third of November, five days !after the engagement, the same Regiments reported an aggregate strength of four thousand, seven hun- dred, and ninety-six, of whom five hundred and sixty Officers, non-com- inissioned Officers, and Musicians, and two thousand and seventy-six Privates "fit for duty," were present. (Generol Return of the Army in the service of the United States, November 3, 1776.) We have (Icterinined, therefore, that the effective strength of the Regiments, on the occasion under notice, before they were met by the enemy, was not far from twenty-six hundred men, as we have said in the text.

Lieutenant colonel Touch Tilghman, one of the Aides of General Waslington, in a letter to his father, dated " WHITE-PLAINS, 31st Octo- " ber, 1776," said, "On Monday morning we recd Information that the " Enemy were in Motion and in March towards our Lines, all our Men " were immediately at their Aların Posts and abont 2000 detached to give " the Enemy as much annoyance as possible on their approach ;" and Brigade-major Tallmadge, of tlic Brigade commanded by General Wads- worth, himself present and a participant in the affair, stated, (Memoir of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, prepared by himself, 13,) that it was "a de- tachment of 2000 or 3000 men;" botli of which statements, from those who were entirely competent to make them with accuracy, go far to confirm what we have more definitely stated in the text.

9 Memoir of Colonel Benjomin Tallmadge, prepared by limscif, 13.

10 The same, 13, 14.

11 The same, 14.

12 Gordon's History of the American Revolution, ii., 340, 341, 343.

13 Brigade-major Tallmadge's description of the retreat, leaves no room for questioning the accuracy of our statenient, in the text.

14 It was that Brigade, commanded by the same Colonel, Rall, who was captured at Trenton, in the following December; and we have as- certaincd the Regiments of whom it was composed, from the despatch of General Howe to Lord George Germaine, dated " NEW-YORK, December " 29, 1776," announcing that disaster to the Royal Army, to the Home Government.

In the despatch of General Washington to the Congress, dated " HEAD- "QUARTERS, NEWTOWN, 27th December, 1776," the Regiment of Loss- berg is called the Regiment of Landspatch. We have preferred to follow General Howe, as our authority, in this instance.

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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

hills of Greenburgh, 1 and were reported among the " Missing," which, in that Army, too often, afforded a resting-place for the namc and the fame of a cow- ard and poltroon.2 In the instances now under con- sideration, inany of these bashfnl New Englanders purged themselves of some portion of the reproach produced by their cowardice, by returning, as they found opportunities, in small parties,to the Camp, at the White Plains, 3 exemplifying the truth of the old couplet :

"He who fights and runs away, " Will live to fight, another day ; "

while their Hessian pursuers, probably checked in their further progress by their discovery of the troops on Chatterton's-hill, of whom the reader will learn more, licrcafter, occupied a position on the high ground, westward from the Harlem Railroad, between Chatterton's-lill and the present railroad-station, at Hartsdale. 4

An amusing incident connected with that disgraceful retreat of General Spencer's command, was related by Major Benjamin Tallmadge, then Brigade-major of General Wadsworth's Brigade and, himself, one of the fugitives-subsequently better known in connection with the detention of Major André. After having de- scribed the retreat of the detachment of Americans and the pursuit by the Brigade of Hessians, the rush of the former for the ford and the anxiety of the fn- gitives to pass the river, he said, "They," [the Amer- icans,] "immediately entered the river and ascended "the hill; while I, being in the rear and mounted on " horseback, endeavored to hasten the last of onr " troops, the Hessians being then within musket- "shot. When I reached the bank of the river, and " was about to enter it, our Chaplain, the Rev. Dr. " Trumbull, sprang up, behind me, on my horse, with " such force as to carry me, with my accontrements, " together with himself, headlong into the river. This " so disconcerted me, that, by the time I reached the "opposite bank of the river, the Hessian troops were "abont to enter it, and considered me their prisoner," in which, however, they reckoned without their liost, since he watched for an opportunity, and escaped, by

I Indeed, they were among those hills as soon as they had passed the Bronx, at the ford ; and, there, they found safety, for a few days, as we shall see, hereafter.

Irving facetiously remarked, (Life of George Washington, ii., 393,) they " scattered themselves among the hills, but afterwards returned to " Head-quarters."

" It is amusing to see Connecticut-men claim that these poltroons were those who fought the Battle and defended Chatterton's hill, withont alluding to any other troops, unless without giving them credit for hav- Ing done anything worthy of notice. (Letter from a Gentleman in the Army, "CAMP NEAR THE MILLS, ABOUT THREE MILES NORTH FROM THE " WHITE PLAINS, November 1, 1776 ;" Hlinman's Historical Collection, of the part taken by Counecticut, during the War of the Revolution, 91; etc. 8 Gordon's History of the American Revolution, ii., 343 ; etc.

4 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " NEW-YORK, 30 November, " 1776;" Sauthier's Plan of the Operations, etc. ; [llall's] History of the Ciril War in America, i., 208 ; Gordon's History of the American Revolu- tion, ii., 340 ; etc.

way of what have been more recently known as " the Mill-lane" and the road to Dobbs's-ferry, con- veying to General Washington, at Head-quarters, information of the situation of the troops, on the op- posite bank of the river.3

On the left of the line of march of the Royal Army and on the western bank of the Bronx-river, which flowed through a marshy valley of some extent, at its base, arose the bold and rocky height which was known, then, and is still known, as " Chatterton's-hill." It is one of the range of high grounds, on the western side of the Bronx, on which the line of entrenched en- campments had been thrown up by detachments from the American Army, the latter then occupying the Heights of Harlem, for the purpose of preventing the enemy from crossing the Bronx and closing the line of communication between the Army and the coun- try-the same line of defensive works, indeed, which subsequently covercd the retreat of the Army, from Harlem Heights to the White Plains-and it extended, northwardly, to within a short distance from the American lines-the latter on the opposite side of the little stream and of the marshy intervale-and really, to some extent, it commanded the right and centre of them.6 It had been occupied, and an earthwork of small pretensions had been thrown up, on it, prob- ably by the Regiment of Massachusetts Militia, com- manded by Colonel John Brooks, then of General Lincoln's Division and subsequently Governor of Massachusetts ; 7 and, on the morning of Monday, the

5 Memoir of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, prepared by himself, 14.

6 Our personal kuowledge of the ground is our authority for this de- scription of it.

Stedman, iu his History of the American War, (i., 214,) attempted to qualify that fact-" it rose so gradually from the Bronx," he said, " that "its crest was not within random cannon-shot, as was proved by many "of our Battalions lying npon it, on their arms, the whole evening after "the action ; "-but, nevertheless, those who know the entire ground, composing Chatterton's-hill and its dependencies, will fully sustain ns, in what we have said, iu the text, on that subject.

" Because a portion of General Lincoln's Division, with all of that of General Spencer, had beeu detached from the muaiu body of the Army, and sent forward, with orders to occupy all the high grouuds, between Valentine's-hill and the White l'lains, and to strengthen them with en- trenchments ; and because the Regiment commanded by Colonel Brooks formed a portion of one of the Divisions who were thus detailed to occupy aud to streugtben those high grounds ; and because we have not found the slightest allusion to the Regiment commanded by Colonel Brooks, in any of the descriptions of the movements of troops, at any time pre- vious to the attack ou Chatterton's-hill, by the Royal troops ; and be- canse we cannot find any Order, from Ilead-quarters, for any other oc- cupation of Chatterton's-hill, until the morning of the twenty-eighth of October, when Colonel Haslet, with his well-tried command, was ordered by General Washington "to take possession of the hill beyond our lines " and the command of the Militia Regiment there posted," (Colonel Has- let to General Rodney, " November 12, 1776,") when a Regimeut of Militia, whose subsequent conduct clearly identified it as that commanded by Col- onel Brooks, was found iu possession of the ground-all these reasons lead ns to the conchision stated in the text.

We are not insensible that words employed by Colonel Harrison, in his letter to the President of the Congress, dated "WHITE-PLAINS, 29 "October, 1776," have been construed to mean that troops had been sent down, on the morning of the twenty-eighth of October, "with a view of " throwing up some lines," ou Chatterton's-hill ; and that the biogra- pher of Colonel Rufus Putnam, (Memoir of Colonel Rufus Putnam, in Ifil- dreth's Biographical aud Historical Memoirs of the Eurly Settlers of Ohio,

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

twenty-eighth of October, General Washington or- dered Colonel Haslet, with his Regiment of Delaware troops, and General McDougal, with his Brigade, the latter composed of the Regiment of New York troops whom he had formerly commanded, the Regiment of the same Line who was commanded by Colonel Ritzema, the Regiment of Maryland troops whom Colonel Smallwood commanded, and the Regiment of Connecticut troops commanded by Colonel Charles Webb, to occupy the same position.1

It appears that Colonel Haslet's command was the first of the reinforcements to reach the hill; 2 and it is very probable that it was either that Regiment or that commanded by Colonel Brooks or both, together, on the summit of the high ground, on his right, which led Colonel Rall to check his Hessian Regiments, in their pursuit of the fugitive New Englanders, and to occupy the position on the high ground, nearer to Hartsdale, to which reference has been made, whence he could move, if such a movement should become ex- pedient, on the right flank and rear of whatever force of the Americans should occupy Chatterton's-hill-a movement, by the way, since it was evidently made by Colonel Rall, on his own impulse, which reflected great credit on the military abilities of that subse- quently unfortunate Officer.3

While Colonel Rall was thus engaged, on the left

64, ) has stated that, on that morning, that Engineer had heen ordered to that hill, to superintend the construction of some more important en- trenchments. But there is nothing inconsistent with either of these statements, if not distorted, in what we have written concerning the probable pre-occupation of Chatterton's-hill, by the Regiment of Massa- chusetts Militia commanded hy Colonel John Brooks.

It is very evident that whatever defensive works there may have been on the hill, at the time of the engagement, if there were any, they af- forded no shelter for the men. - (Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman to William Duer, "HEAD-QUARTERS, WHITE-PLAINS, October 29, 1776.")

See, also, Lieutenant colonel Tilghman to his father, "WHITE-PLAINS, 31 "' October, 1776."

1 Colonel Haslet to General Casar Rodney, " November 12, 1776 ;" Return8 of the Brigade commanded by General MeDougal, Noventher 3, 1776; etc. 2 Colonel Haslet to General Cusur Rodney, "November 12, 1776."

As the Delaware Regiment commanded hy Colonel Haslet, was of the Brigade commanded hy General Lord Stirling, and was ordered hy Gen- eral Washington "to take possession of the hill and the command of "the Militia Regiment there posted ; which was done," of which there has been no question ; and since the Brigade which was commanded by General McDongal subsequently moved up the same hill, which no one has ever pretended to deny, it is not evident why Colonel Carrington, (Battles of the American Revolution, 240,) without the slightest authority to sustain hin, made a special attempt to helittle Colonel Haslet, indi- vidually, and as an Officer-he could not helittle his doings nor those of his command, on that field-because, iu his Report of the action, to Gen- eral Rodney-the only Report from an actnal participant in the affair, which has come down to us-he described, in detail, his own and his gallant Regiment's portions of the doings on that historically important occasion.

3 " Colonel Rall . took possession of it, with great alacrity, to " the approbation of Lieutenant-general Ileister, who was acquainted with " this movement hy Sir William Erskine," the Quartermaster-general of the British Army .- (General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " NEW-YORK, " 30 November, 1776.")

It will be seen, from that paragraph, that the action of Colonel Rall, in thus occupying a position on the right flank of the Americans who were occupying Chatterton's-hill, received the favorable notices of hoth the British and the German Generals, commanding : we shall see, here- after, how important that action was, in the subsequent engagement.

of the enemy's line of march, the two columns con- tiuued their movements toward the American lines, "as if they mcant to attack us, there," as General Washington's Secretary subsequently de- scribed the movement +-indeed, General Howe sub- sequently stated that " an assault upon the enemy's " right, which was opposed to the Hessian troops, " was intended." 5 The Army was formed, evidently, for a general movement on the right and center of the American lines, with its right resting on the road which led from the White Plains to Mamaroueck, about a mile from the center of the former, and its Left on the Bronx-river, about the same distance from the extremc right of the American entrenchments ; 6 and what appeared to have been the decisive hour in which the future of America was to be determined, by the arbitrament of arms, had, at length, been reached. But the bright designs of God, concerning America, were widely different from those of men ; the future of those thirteen new-born members of the community of nations, in His purposes, was not de- pendent on the result of an assault on the improvised lines of defense, on the high grounds, in the vicinity of the White Plains ; and the powerful arm which was already uplifted and ready to strike a crushing blow on that which God had predestinated for other ends, was restrained by an unseen power, a power before which the King of Great Britain and all his Armies were as nothing, by the same power which had re- strained the same arm, uplifted, at Graveseud aud be- fore Brooklyn, at Kip's-bay and on Throgg's-neck- the handful of American troops, on the summit of Chatterton's-hill, a phantom which scemed to augur ill for the left flank and rear of the Royal Army, was seen by General Howe; the further advance of the main body, toward the Americau lines, was stayed : the uplifted arm fell, without having struck the blow which was intended ; the right and center of the American line remained, unharmed; and another opportunity for the determination of the great dispute, between Great Britain and America, was lost, never to be be regained.

4 Colonel Robert H. Harrison to the President of the Congress, " WHITE- " PLAINS, 29 October, 1776."

5 Sprech of General Howe before a Committee of the House of Commons, April 29, 1779-Almon's Parliamentary Register, Fifth Session, Four- teentb Parliament, xii., 324 ; Narrative of Lieutenant-general Sir William IFowe, 6.

6 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "NEW-YORK, 30th Novem- "her, 1776 ;" Sauthier's Plan of the Operations, etc. ; Gordon's History of the American Revolution, ii., 340 ; etc.

Stedmian stated, (History of the American War, i., 214,) that "the " Right wing of the British did not extend beyond the center of the " American Army," which is in harmony with what General Ilowe had stated concerning the distance of his Right from the American lines- he referred to the center, without having made the slightest allusion to the left, where General Heath was posted. Stedman continued : "That "part of the enemy's position," [the American center, ] "did not seem to "be considered : all the attention of the British Commander being fixed "on another part of the field "-as we have already seen, " an assault " npon the American right, which was opposed to the Hessian troops, " was intended ;" and the British troops were to have been spared, for other services, elsewhere.

439

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

The force, on the summit of Chatterton's-hill, which had thus, insensibly, arrested the progress of the Royal Army, in its movement against the Right and Center of the American lines, was, of course, that of whom we have already made mention-the Regiments commanded, respectively, by Colonels Brooks and Haslet, the Brigade commanded by General MeDou- gal not having reached the hill; and against that small force, thic Hessian Artillery, from the Plain, on the opposite side of the Bronx, not far from the present railroad-station, at the White Plains, opened a vigorous fire,1 with no other effeet, however, than the wounding of one of the Militia, which so greatly alarmed his comrades that the entire Regiment " broke, and fled, and were not rallied, without much " difficulty."? Soon after the eannonade was com- menced, General McDougal and his eommand reached the hill-top; and the command of the entire force de- volved on and was assumed by that very inexperieneed Offieer. After several changes, in the positions of the several Regiments, the line was formed, with the Regiment of Massachusetts Militia, eommanded by Colonel Brooks, sheltered by a stone wall, and sup- ported by the Regiment of Marylanders commanded by Colonel Smallwood-the latter, the remains of that fine body of " Macearonies," so ealled by the New Englanders, whose gallant conduct, at the Battle of Long Island, had won the admiration and sorrow of General Washington, and which has been generally honored in history-on the extreme right, eonfront- ing Colonel Rall and his Brigade, who were resting on their arms, on the summit of the adjacent hill, further to the southward. On the left of the Mary- landers, was posted the Delaware Regiment, proud of its name of " The Blue Hen's Chickens," whom Colonel Haslet commanded : the remainder of Gen- eral McDougal's Brigade, composed of the First Regi- ment of the New York Line, formerly commanded by Colonel MeDougal, at that time, by one of its Captains, whose name was not recorded ; the Third Regiment of the same Line, commanded by Colonel Rudolphus Ritzema ; and the Regiment of the Connecticut Line, commanded by Colonel Charles Webb, oceupy- ing the left of the very feeble line3 -- with the excep- tion of the Regiment commanded by Colonel Brooks, no portion of that force was composed of Militia : all, except that Regiment, were Continental troops.4 The

1 Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman to William Duer, "HEAD-QUARTERS, " WHITE- PLAINS, October 29, 1776 ;" the same to his father, " WHITE- " PLAINS, 31 October, 1776;" Colonel Robert II. Harrison to Gorernor Trumbull, " WHITE-PLAINS, November 2, 1776 ; " Colonel Hasket to Gen- eral Cæsar Rodney, " November 12, 1776"; etc.

2 Colonel Huslet to General Cæsar Rodney, "November 12, 1776."

3 Colonel Haslet to General Cæsar Rodney, "November 12, 1776;" Captain Hull's unpublished Memoir of his Revolutionary Serrices, quoted In Campbell's Revolutionary Services and Civil Life of General William Hull, by his daughter, 54, 55; etc.

4 Colonel Carrington, (Battles of the American Revolution, 240,) was at some pains to introduce Colonel Morris Graham, of the New York Mili- tia, and to place his name where it would appear among those of Colo- nels commanding Regiments who had occupied and defended Chatterton's-

Company of New-York Artillery, with two small field-pieces, eommanded by Captain Alexander Ham- ilton and forming a portion of the Brigade eom- manded by General MeDougal, was, also, present ; but history has not recorded the name of the Officer who, then, commanded it.5

The cannonade of the little party, on Chatterton's- hill, was continued by the Hessian Artillerists, with- out cessation, while the General Officers, it is said,6 assembled in Council, withont having dismounted ; and it is probable that the noisy demonstration, so very characteristie of Germans, in their use of gun- powder, was continued, with unabated ardor, until the movement of their companions in arms, up the steep and rugged hill-side, of which the reader will learn more, hereafter, obliged the gunners to suspend their operations.7

" Upon viewing the situation," in deference to the

hill ; but no other writer than he has thus honored Colonel Graham, himself unworthy of any such authorial favor ; and, besides, Colonel Carrington could have easily ascertaincd that Colonel Graham's com- mand was a portion of the Brigade commanded by General George Clin- ton, who was posted on the extreme left of the American line, not far from two miles from Chatterton's-hill.

No one has pretended that the Adjutant-general of the Army was on Chatterton's-hill, on that eventful Monday ; but he must have been there, if Colonel Carrington is correct, since it was he who accused Colonel Graham of cowardice, on which Colonel Carrington has based his favor to the baslıful New-Yorker.

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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 112

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