History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 113

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

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6 It is a notable fact that, notwithstanding all which has been written, in these latter days, of the great services of that Company, of which con- temporary writers were entirely silent, the name of the Officer who was in actual command, on Chatterton's-hill, was not mentioned by any one, of that period, who wrote concerning the Battle.

There is a tradition that, a short time before the date under considera- tion, Captain Hamilton was in the City of New-York, then in possession of the King's Army ; and there is, certainly, written evidence, over his own signature, that he was in the same City, on the sixth of November, eight days after the Battle : it is possible, therefore, that, because the command was not in the official commander, on the occasion under con- sideration, the name of the actual commander was not regarded as worthy of being recorded.

6 " I saw their General Officers, on horseback, assemble in Council." -(Colonel Haslet to General Cæsar Rodney, "November 12, 1776.")

7 There is, evidently, considerable exaggeration in what was written of that cannonade, by "a Gentleman in the Army," in his letter, already resorted to, dated " CAMP NEAR THE MILLS, ABOUT THREE MILES NORTH " OF THE WHITE PLAINS, November 1, 1776 ;" but we make room for it. " The scene was grand and soleinn; all the adjacent hills smoked, as "though on fire, and bellowed and trembled with a perpetual cannonade " and fire of field-pieces, howitz, and mortars. The air groaned "with streams of cannon and musket-shot ; the air and hills smoked and " echoed, terribly, with the bursting of shells ; the fences and walls were "knocked down, and torn to pieces ; and men's legs, arms, and bodies " mingled with cannon and grape-shot, all round us. I was in the ac- "tion, and under as good advantages as any one man, to observe all that " passed, and write tlicse particulars of the action from my own observa- "tion."

A very near connection, by marriage, of our own family, then living where what was, lately, Ilall's Tavern, at Hall's-corners, now known as Elmsford, on the road leading from the White Plains to Tarrytown, told 118, many years ago, that he heard that severe cannonade, and saw the smoke occasioncd by it, and very clearly remembered it ; and, as may be reasonably supposed, under such circumstances, he regarded it as some- thing more than ordinarily terrible.

What we have said concerning the extent of time thus occupied by the Hessian Artillerists, in their cannonade of the Americans, was authorized by Colonel Haslet, in his letter to General Rodney, already referred to ; by Campbell's Revolutionary Srrices und Ciril Life of General William Hull, 54; ctc.

440

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

standard military maxim, of that period, which re- quired the immediate removal of everything which might, possibly, jeopardize a flank or the rear of a column, no matter how insignificant it might other- wise be; and, undoubtedly, with the concurrence of the impromptu Council, of which mention has been made, General Howe determined to dislodge the Americans who had occupied Chatterton's-hill, before he proceeded further, in his movement against the main body of the American Army, then within its line of entrenchments, and awaiting his evidently in- teuded assault. With that purpose in view, the main body of the Royal Army was ordered to rest on its arms, on the Plain, within a mile, and in open sight, from the American lines; orders were issued for a Battalion of Hessians to pass over the Bronx-river,1 supported by the Second Brigade of British troops, composed of the Fifth, Twenty-eighth, Thirty-fifth, and Forty-ninth Regiments of Foot, commanded by Brigadier-general Leslie; and by the Brigade of Hes- sians, composed of Linsing's, Mingerode's, Len- gereck's, aud Kochler's Regiments of Grenadiers and his own Regiment of Chasseurs, commanded by Colo- nel Donop-the last mentioued Brigade to be taken from the right of the Army, where it had been posted -for the purpose of assaulting the position on Chat- terton's-hill, in front ; and Colonel Rall was ordered to move the Brigade which he commanded, on a charge, on the right of the Americans, simultanc- ously with the movement of the Hessian forlorn-hope and its supporting parties, on their front.2

1 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "NEW-YORK, 30 November, " 1776."

General Howe did not state which particular Battalion of Hessians was thus employed ; and we have not found, in any of the contemporary authorities, anything which throws any light on the subject.

Bancroft, who has enjoyed unusual opportunities for acquiring informa- tion on the subject of the German mercenaries, has said, (History of the United States, original edition, ix., 181 ; centenary edition, v., 444,) that that forlorn-hope was composed of the Lossberg Battalion ; but if, as he has conceded ou another page, that Battalion was a portion of the Brigado commanded by Colonel Rall, it was, already on the western bank of the Bronx, and in position ; and it is not to be supposed that it would have been withdrawn from that important position to the eastern bank of the river, by way of the ford, and then moved to the western bank, again, at a place where the depth of water made the passage much more difficult, as a forlorn-hope; while it could have acted as such a forlorn-hope, had that beeu desired, by simply marcbing up the Mill-lane, and climbing up the side of the hill, without the unnecessary labor and risk of passing and re-passing the river.

That Battalion of Hessians who formed the forlorn-hope continues to be, to us, a subject on which we need and seek for further information, especially since it was definitely and very reasonably stated in The Annual Register for 1776, (History of Europe, *178,) that it was one of the Bat- talions of the Brigade commanded by Colonel Donop ; in which The History of the War in America, Edit. Dublin, 1779, (i., 195), concurred, both of which statements are in entire harmony with our own conclus- ions, on that subject, at the present timue.

2 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " NEW-YORK, 30 November, " 1776."

The Regiments of which the Second Brigade was composed were named in General Howe's despatch to Lord Germaine, above mentioned, and in the Return of the Killed, Wounded, etc., of the Brigade, in the ac- tion : those of which the Brigade commanded by Colonel Donop was composed may be seen iu the same Return, as well as in the Report of the distribution of the Army, made by General Howe.

The appearance of the Royal Army, as the main body was thus halted, with detachments moving towards the Bronx, for the proposed assault on Chat- terton's-hill, was thus described by an eye-witness, himself an Officer among the Americans who were, then, awaiting the assault on their position : " Its ap- " pearauce was truly maguificent. A bright autumnal "sun shed its full lustre on their polished arms; aud "the rich array of dress and military equipage gave an " imposing grandeur to the scene, as they advanced, in " all the pomp and circumstances of War, to give us " battle;" 3 and, with the main bodies of the two armies, each resting on its arms, auxious spectators of the scene,4 the Battalion of Hessians which had been designated for the forlorn-hope, in the proposed as- sault, and the British Regiments who had been de- tached for its support, moved, steadily, toward the Bronx, iu front of the hill, on their mission of death.

It is probable that the little river, where the as- saulting party attempted to pass it, was deeper than elsewhere, above or below that place, as it has been, during the entire period of our personal knowledge of the locality ; and the Hessian forlorn-hope, conse- quently, found "some difficulty in passing" the stream;5 but it struggled successfully, and evidently reached the opposite bauk without having sustained any loss, the Twenty-eighth and Thirty-fifth Regiments of Britishı Foot, followed by the Fifth and Forty- ninth Regiments of the same arm of the service, and, subsequently, by the Brigade of Hessians commanded by Colonel Donop,6 finding " a place most practica- "ble"-probably " the ford," where the fugitive New Englanders and their Hessian pursuers had passed the river, earlier in the morning, was the more prac- ticable place referred to ™-hastening forward, in the

3 Captain William Hull, quoted in The Revolutionary Services and Civil Life of General William Hull, by his daughter, 54.

Concerning the saine subject, General lleath, who was on the opposite extremity of the line of the main body, wrote, ( Memoirs, 78.) "The sun "shone bright ; their arms glittered ; and, perhaps, troops were never " shown to more advantage, than these now appeared." 4 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "NEW-YORK, 30 November, "1776;" [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 208, 209 ; Gor- don's History of the American Revolution, ii., 341 ; Stedman's History of the American War, i., 215 ; etc.

5 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " NEW-YORK, 30 November, "1776."

See, also, The Annual Register for 1776, History of Europe, *178 ; His- tory of the War in America, Edit. Dublin : 1779, i., 195, etc.

6 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "NEW-YORK, 30 November, "1776."

See, also, The Annual Register for 1776, History of Europe, *178 ; etc. It is very probable that it was that accidental separation of the Regi- ments composing the support of the Hessian forlorn-hope, and the conse- quent assault on the Americans in three distinct movements, which led Captain Hull, (in Campbell's Revolutionary Services and Civil Life of General William Hull, 55,) to suppose the assault had been originally ordered to be made, in that manner.

7 In what manuer the assaulting party crossed the Bronx-river has been made the subject of the speculations of several modern writers, led and, probably, inspired by the unscrupnlous Johu C. Hamilton, (History of the Republic of the United States, i., 133,) who said the Hessian forlorn-hope " refused to wade the taugled stream ; and a temporary bridge was begun" and, finally, completed,-of which hridge, he related several incidents,

441

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

order in which we have named them, for the support of the shivering, half-drowned Germans, who were . undoubtedly waiting, on the western bank of the stream, for their co-operation.

When the movement of the assaulting party, toward the ford, was seen from the summit of the hill, Colonel Haslet applied to General MeDougal for the two field- pieces, in order that a fire might be opened on the advancing columtt; but General MeDougal spared only one of the two guns; and that was so poorly appointed that the Colonel was obliged, personally, to assist in dragging it along the rear of his Regiment, to the place where he desired to post it. While it was being thus slowly dragged along the rear of the line of Americans, it is said that a shot from the Hes- sian guns struck its carriage, scattering the shot, etc., and leaving a wad of tow blazing in the middle of the debris. With the exception of a single man, who " was prevailed upon to tread out the blaze and col- " leet the shot," " all the Artillery-men fled," leaving Colonel Haslet and the field-piece entirely unsup- ported ; but it appears that some of these later fngi- tives returned ; made a couple of discharges on the enemy; and then retired, "with the field-piece," not to be seen again, until after they were securely quar-

of each of which his father's Company of Artillery and his father were, invariably, the principal subjects.

Such a speculation would require little reflection, in order to show its improbability to any one ; but Lussing, ( Field book of the Revolution, originaledition, ii., 822;) Irving, * (Life of George Washington, ii., 392 ;) and others having followed that leader, and repeated bis errors. But

General lowe's despatch to Lord George Germaine left no room for doubting, and clearly indicated that the troops forded the stream ; San thier's Plan of the Operations, etc., (the British official Map,) clearly in dicated that the Royal troops crossed the river at " The Ford," designated on the Map; The Plemu of the Country from Frog's Point to Croton River, (General Washington's Map, ) did the same, also designating the " Ford ;" The Annual Register for 1776, (History of Europe, 178,*) clearly under- stood the river was forded; Stedman, in bis History of the American l'ar, (i., 211,) said, " A part of our left wing passed the ford, which was "entirely under command of our cannon ; " Sergeant Lamb, of the Welsh Fusilvers, in his Junrual of Verurrences during the late American War, (page 126,) said the entire assaulting party, whom he described, in detail, "marched down and crossed the ford; " Doctor Andrews, in his Hutory of the War, (ii., 245, ) stated the assaulting party " marched down " to the ford, and crossed it ; " General Heath, an exe-witness of the movement, stated, in his Memoirs, (page 78,) that "a part of the left col- "minu, composed of British and Hessians, forded the river," etc. : Chief justice Marshall, in his Life of George Washington, (ii., 504,) with General Washington's papers before him, clearly knew nothing of any bridge, constructed by the Royal Army ; and Doctor Sparks, also with the papers of General Washington before him, in his Life of George Washington, (page 196,) after having described all the troops who had Den ordered to make the assault, said, "they forded the Broux, and " formed in good order on the other side ;" and we prefer to follow our own convictions, that no bridge was constructed by the Royal Army, ou that occasion, especially since those well-considered convictions are so amply sustained by such unquestionable authorities.

With the story of the bridge, other similarly groundless stories for which that phantom bridge had afforded foundations, notwithstanding the effect with which they have been related by their inventor, also van- ich as the reader will shortly see.

* Mr. Irving, subsequently, explained to ns, personally, how he had fallen into the error ; and requested ns to pay norespect to the erroneous statements, contained in his work, concerning them.

tered, with the main body of the Army, within the lines, on the other side of the river. 1

The Twenty-eighth and Thirty-fifth Regiments were the first portion of the supporting party who succeeded in crossing the river ; " and they moved from the ford, along the road which has more recently been known as "The Mill-lane," extending between the base of Chatterton's-hill and the bank of the Bronx, until they had reached a point which was opposite to the right of the American line, on the top of the hill, 3 when they faced to the left and, with the shivering Hessians on their front, they elimbed up the steep and rugged hill-side, in good order and with the great- est steadiness, 4 the fire of the Hessian Artillerists, ont the opposite side of the river, at least that portion of it which was directed against the American right, having been suspended, in order that they might not be exposed to unnecessary danger. 5

On that portion of the American line which was exposed to that assanlt, on its front, as well as to the movement of the Hessian Brigade commanded by Col- onel Rall, who had been ordered to charge on its right flank, simultaneously with the movement on its front,

1 Colonel Hastet to General Casar Rodney, " November 12, 1776."

Among the creations of John C. Hamilton's very able but very nn- serupulous pen was one, based on the story of the bridge which we have already noticed, concerning the Artillery Company of which his father, Alexander Hamilton, was the Captain, and what he assumed to have been the wonderful services of that Company, on the occasion now under notice.

As we have already stated, (ride page 439, unte,) there are very grave doubts concerning Captain Hamilton's presence, with the Company, ou Chatterton's-hill, on the eventful day of the Battle ; and it is of ques- tionable propriety, therefore, to identify him with the shortcomings of his command, so graphically portrayed by Colonel Haslet, in his letter to General Rodney, to which we have referred, in the text-shortcom- ings which were certainly such as reflected nothing else than disgrace on both the body of the Company and the Officer who was in com- mand, ou, that occasion, whomsoever he may have been.

Generals Washington, Howe, Cornwallis, Robertson, and Heath, and Captains Harris and Hall, all of whom witnessed the action and de- scribed it, and Gordon, Stedman, Marshall, and Sparks, all of them standard historians, whose advantages for acquiring accurate informa- tion were in nowise neglected. were uniformly and rigidly silent on the subject of the alleged services of Captain Hamilton's Company of Artillery ; while the adverse testimony of Colonel Ilaslet, which we have stated in the text, supported, in a great measure by that of Cap- tain llull, the latter concerning the other of the two pieces and those who manned it, on the extreme left of the line, (Campbell's The Rer- olutionary Ferrices and Ciril Life of General William Hull, 5-1,) leaves nothing, concerning that Company, on that occasion, to which the admirers of Alexander Hamilton can refer, with any pleasure, the pre- tensions of his son, to which we have referred, to the contrary not- withstanding.

" General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "NEW-YORK, 30 November, "1776;" The Annual Register for 1776, History of Europe, 178$ ; History of the War in America, Edit. Dublin : 1779, i., 195; etc.

3 Santhier's Plan of the Operations of the King's .Irmy, etc.

General Ileath, an eye-witness, said, that, after they had "forded the "river," they "marched along, under the cover of the hill, until they "had gained sufficient ground to the left of the Americans, when, by " facing to the left," etc. - (Memoirs, 78.)

+ General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "NEW-YORK, 30 November, " 1776;" The Annual Register for 1776, llistory of Europe, ITS* : etc. General Heath, who witnessed the movement, said that, "by facing "to the left, their column became a line, parallel with the Americans, " when they briskly ascended the hill. . . . - (Memoirs, 78.)

5 Memoirs of General Heath, 78, 79.

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

were posted, as we have already stated, the Regiment of Massachusetts Militia commanded by Colonel Brooks, sheltered behind a stone wall and supported by the re- mains of the Maryland Regiment commanded by Col- onel Smallwood, 1 and, probably, by the Third Regi- ment of New Yorkers commanded by Colonel Ritze- ma ;2 and, against these, the two assaulting parties simultaneously directed their overwhelming power. There was no Artillery to hurl destruction on either of the assailants: since, by that time, the Delaware Regiment, immediately on their left, was confronted by the Fifth and Forty-ninth Regiments, who had also crossed the river and were climbing the hill-side, " zealous to distinguish themselves," there was no support for the hard-pressed " Maccaronis " and their New York comrades : and nothing else than their own resolute wills and their strong arms and their not generally trusty and always ill-supplied muskets were there, to support those less than eleven hundred Offi- cers and Privates in their approaching struggle with two well-disciplined, well-armed, well-commanded British Regiments, besides the Hessian forlorn-hope, on their front, and three equally well-disciplincd, well-armed, and well-commanded Hessian Regiments, on their right flank.

It is recorded that the Regiment of Militia, com- manded by Colonel Brooks, notwithstanding the shcl- ter afforded by the stone wall, " fled in confusion, "without more than a random, scattering fire ; " 3 leaving the Marylanders and New-Yorkers, alone and unsupported; and it also recorded that these last- named Regiments advanced to the brow of the hill, meeting their assailants, and throwing on them, while they were climbing the hill-side, an effective, plung- ing fire, compelling them to fall back.4 But the retreat of the Militia, to whom appears to have been assigned the part of holding Colonel Rall in check, having entirely exposed the right flank of the two Regiments to the charge of his Brigade, while the three Regiments of British and Hessian troops who were climbing up the eastern face of the hill, not- withstanding the check which they had sustained, were rallied and renewed their assault on the front of the position, the conflict was too unequal to be long- sustained; and, notwithstanding the stubborn bravery which was nceessary to sustain it, with such great odds against the Americans, during the long period of not less than a quarter of an hour,5 the two brave

Regiments were compelled to " give way " 6-they fell back, fighting as they went, as brave men would be likely to do, under such circumstances.

But the action on Chatterton's-hill was not con- fined to the simultaneous assaults on the front and right flanks of the Americans who occupied it. Very closely after the Twenty-eighth and Thirty-fifth, the Fifth and Forty-ninth Regiments also forded the Bronx; and moved to the positions which had been assigned to them, respectively ; and climbed up the side of the hill;7 and assaulted the position which was occupied by "The Blue Hen's Chickens "-thc Regiment of Delaware troops, commanded by Colonel Haslet-" foemen worthy of their stecl." That Regi- ment numbered very few, if any more, than three lin- dred fighting Officers and Privates ; 8 and yet, single- handed-the two Regiments on its right were already engaged, with assailants on both their front and flank ; and the First New York Regiment and the Regi- ment of Connecticut troops, the latter commanded by Colonel Charles Webb, were also employed in oppos- ing Colonel Donop's Brigade of Hessians, who were " ascending the height, with the greatest alacrity and "in the best of order "-that single regiment bravely sustained the attack, until after the Regiments which had covered its right had given way, when " part of " the first three Companies of the Regiment also re- "treatcd, in disorder," with considerable loss.º The left of the Regiment, however, with the greater num- ber of its Officers, notwithstanding the retreat of the Regiments on its right and that of its own three Com- panies had exposed its right to the combined assaults of, at least, the Hessian Battalion who had been the forlorn- hope and two of the British Regiments and Colonel Rall's entire Brigade, while two other British Regiments were on its front, fell baek only far enough to occupy " a fence, on the top of the hill," a position which it continued to occupy and defend, successfully . until the two Regiments which covered its left had also given way, wheu, it, also, " retired," the last of the Americans who remained on the hill, and that resolute force, small as it was, who held back the suc- cessful assailants, then eager to become pursuers, and covered the retreat of those who, then, remained of the defenders of Chatterton's-hill.10

1 Colonel Haslet to General Cicsar Rodney, " November 12, 1776."

2 We have found no mention of the movement of the Regiment com- manded hy Colonel Ritzema for the support of the Regiments cout- manded by Colonel Brooks and Smallwood, on the right of the line ; hut it is reasonable that support was needed, there; and there is sat isfactory evidence that Colonel Ritzema and his command were really there, during the action : we shall not stop to enquire just when they went to that very exposed position.

3 Colonel Haslet to General Casur Rodney, " November 12, 1776."

+ Letter to a Gentleman in Annapolis, dated " WHITE-PLAINS, October 29, " 1776."

5 " After a smart engagement for about a quarter of an hour, obliged

" our men to give way."-( Colonel Robert II. Harrison to the President of the C'ongress, " WHITE-PLAINS, October 29, 1776.")

" After a very smart engagement for fifteen or twenty minutes, they "obliged our men to give way."-(Colonel Robert H. Harrison to General Schuyler, "WHITE PLAINS, November 1, 1776.")

" The Militia Regiment fled * * Colonel Smallwood, in a quarter "of an hour afterwards, gave way, also."-(Colonel Haslet to General Cæsar Rodury, " November 12, 1776.") 6 Colonel Haslet to General Casar Rodney, " November 12, 1776."

¡ General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "NEW-YORK, 30 November,

"1776 ;" The Annual Register for 1776, History of Europe, 178 * ; History of the War in .Imerica, Edit. Dublin : 1779, i., 195 ; etc.

8 Returns of the Strength of the Regiments engaged, etc. (Vide page 445, post.) 9 Colonel Haslet to General Casar Rodney, "November 12, 1776."

10 G

10 Colonel Haslet to General Cæsar Rodney, " November 12, 1776."

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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

But the action was, also, not confined to the as- saults on nor to the defences of the right and center of the Americans, on the top of that notable hill. The four Regiments composing the Brigade commanded by General Leslie, were soon followed, "with the " greatest alacrity and in the best order," through the river, at the ford, and up the Mill-lane, and up the eastern face of the hill, by the Chasseurs and by three, if not by, four, Regiments of Hessian Grenadiers, composing the Brigade commanded by Colonel Donop.1 In front of these, on the summit of the hill. were the skeleton First New York Regiment, formerly commanded by General MeDongal, but then evidently without Field-officers and commanded by one of its Captains ; and the Regiment of Connecticut troops commanded by Colonel Charles Webb, very little stronger in effective men, than the other; and, very probably, one of the two field-pieees which constituted the armament of the Company of New-York Artillery of whom Alexander Hamilton was the official com- mander-the other of the two pieces, as the reader will remember, was posted on the extreme right of the line, under the command of Colonel Haslet.2 All these numbered, in the aggregate, not many, if any, more than four hundred fighting Officers and Pri- vates ; 3 and, with their only piece of artillery dis- mounted, evidently before the assailants commenced to aseend the hill,4 and without any support or defen- sive works, it is scarcely probable that much was expected from so feeble a body, in the face of so heavy a body of assailants. But the records indicate that all those of the two feeble Regiments who were present on the field, performed their duty satisfacto- rily to the Commander-in-chief; 5 and, we are told that, when an effort was made by the assailants to turn the left of the line, a detachment from Colonel Webb's Regiment, commanded by Captain William Hull, defeated the attempt, with spirit and prompti- tude, although he was opposed by more than double the number of his own command. 6

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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 113

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