History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 116

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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A strong party was left in possession of the lines

8 Colonel Robert H. Horrison to the President of the Congress, "WHITE- " PLAINS, October 31, 1776."

9 Chief justice Marshall, (Life of George W'oshington, ii., 505,) stated, in harmony with what General Howe also stated in his despatches to Lord George Germaine, (vide page 448, ante,) that the Auierican Army was withdrawn from the lines on the night after the engagement on Chat- terton's-hill; and that it was moved, a second time, during the night of the thirty first of October, to the high grounds of Northcastle, which he erroneously supposed to have been five miles from the White Plains.

We cannot reconcile either of these statements, without some qualifi- cation, with well-known facts which indicate, beyond a peradventure, that the lines which the main body had occupied, from the beginning, were fully occupied until the evening of the thirty-first of October, as stated in the text ; and we await the appearance of new evidence which can throw more light on the subject, without permitting our own well- considered convictions to be, in the meantime, disturbed by what ap- pears to have been written ambiguously.

10 " The left of our General's Division was not to move; but the re- "mainder of his Division and all the other Divisions of the Army "were to fall back and form," on that stationery pivot, (Memoirs of General Heath, 79; ) the whole occupying a new line, without having disturbed the relative positions of any of the Regimeuts or Divisions of whom the Army was composed.

11 Gordon's History of the American Revolution, ii., 313, 344 ; Marshall's Life of George Washington, ii., 506; General Howe to Lord George Ger- maine, "NEW-YORK, 30 November, 1776; " [Hall's] History of the Civil War in Americo, i., 210; Stedman's History of the Americon W'or, i., 216 ; etc.

12 Ilall and Stedman erronously supposed the new position was North of the Croton-river. General Howe, very accurately, stated it was "one " mile back from their entrenchments." Chief justice Marshall, as we have seen, erroneously supposed it was five miles from the White Plains. Hildreth, (History of the United States. iii., 154,) said it was two miles in the rear of the first line. Irving, (Life of George Wl'ashington, ii., 397,) said it was five miles distant. Lossing, (Pictorial Field-book of the Revo- lution, ii., 823,) said, uncertainly, it was "toward the Croton River." General Knox, in a letter written to his brother, dated " NEAR WHITE- "PLAINS, 32 MILES FROM NEW-YORK, 1 Nov. 1776," said "the enemy's "possession of this hill obliged us to abandon some slight lines thrown "up on the White Plains. This we did, this morning, 'and retired to " some hills about half a mile in the rear."

As the left of the former line did not move from the position which it had occupied since the twenty-second of October; and because the remainder of the Army. without disturbing the formation of the line, did no more than to swing back, on a pivot, into its new position, the extreme right could not have been more than two miles distant from the former line, probably it was not much more than half that distance. 13 Generol Washington to the President of the Congress, " WHITE-PLAINS, "6 November, 1776."

See, also, Gordon's History of the American Revolution, ii., 344 ; Mar- shall's Life of George, Washington, ii., 506; [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 210 ; Stedman's History of the American War, i, 216 ; - etc.

451

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

which had been vacated; 1 and, during the night, itset fire to several barns and one house, which contained forage ; and some Provisions which, for the want of teams, could not be removed, were also destroyed.2

On the morning after the withdrawal of the main body of the American Army from its lines, at the head of the White Plains, [ Friday, November 1, 1776,] General Howe gave orders for the occupation of those lines, by the Royal Army ; but, again, a violent rain interposed; and the project was abandoned.3 At a later hour, however, the Hessian Grenadiers were moved from Chatterton's-hill, and occupied those lines,4 very possibly as the beginning of a movement against the new position of the American Army, which, after a due examination of its strength, was conducted no further.5

1 Letter from a Gentleman in the Army, "CAMP NEAR THE MILLS, ABOUT " THREE MILES NORTH OF THE WHITE-PLAINS, November I, 1776," pub- lished in The Pennsylvania Evening Post, No. 280, PHILADELPHIA, Thurs. day, November 14, 1776 ; General Ilowe to Lord George Germaine, "NEW- "YORK, 30 November, 1776 ; " [llall's] History of the Ciril War in Amer- ica, i., 210 ; Gordon's History of the American Revolution, ii., 344 ; etc. 2 Memoirs of General Ileath, 80.

See, also, u Letter from a Gentleman in the Army, dated " CAMP NEAR "THE MILLS, ABOUT THREE MILES NORTH OF THE WHITE-PLAINS, Novem- "ber 1, 1776," published in The Pennsylvania Evening Post, No. 280, PHILADELPHIA, Thursday, November 14, 1776; General George Clinton to John McKesson, "CAMP AT THE OLD PLACE, NEAR THE WHITE PLAINS, 2 " November, 1776 ;" General Hlowe to Lord George Germaine, "NEW- " YORK, 30 November, 1776 ; " etc.

General Howe and several others bave fallen into the error of sup- posing that the Village of the White-Plains was also burned, on the occasion now under notice : it was not burned until the night of the fifth of November, when, after he had robbed the houses, it was destroyed by n party of Massachusetts troops, commanded by Major Austin.

3 In the cross-examination of General Lord Cornwallis, by the mem- bers of a Committee of the llouse of Connnous, on the sixth of May, 1779, his Lordship was asked, "Was there not a timo, at the White " Plains, when our Army lay on their arms, intending to attack the " enemy, but were prevented by rain ?," to which he replied, " After "the enemy fell back to the heights, neur North-Castle, they left an "advance Corps on the heights of the White Plains; there were or- " ders given for an attack of that Corps, which way prevented by a vi- "olent rain. We did not lay upon our arms." The inquiry was con- Ilnued by the Committee asking, " From the situation of the rebel "Army and of our's, was that storm in their or our faces?" to which his Lordship replied, " 1 do not apprehend that the attack was pre- " veuted by the storm of rain being in either of our faces; there are "other effects of a storin, such as spoiling the roads and preventing " the drawing of artillery up steep hills." The Committee contiuned, by asking, " Whether if the powder was wet. on both sides, the at- " tacks might not have been made by bayonets ? ; " to which his Lord. ship replled, " I do not recollect that I said the powder was wet ; " and, there, the subject was dropped .- ( Almon's Parliamentary Register, Fifth Session of the Fourteenth Parliament of Great Britain, xiii., 14.)

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

5 Although it was not stated, at the time, and notwithstanding it has not been stated, since thint time, that General Howe proposed to attack the Americans, In their new position, on the morning after it was taken by them, weare sure thint that was his purpose, when he ordered the IIessian Grenadiers from Chatterton's-hill ; and made the preparations for " drawing of artillery up steep hills," to which General Lord Cornwallis referred, in his testimony ; nud ordered or approved the movement on the extremlle left of the American lines, of which meution will be made, hereafter. Nothing else than such a project, it seems to ns, could have warranted all these operations ; and, certainly, nothing else conld have led some of the British writers, including Captain Hall, (History of the Civil War in America, 1., 210,) to consider the occupation of the aban- doned lines, by the Hessian Grenadiers, as a pursuit of the fugitive Americans.

On the morning of Friday, the first of November, simultaneously with the movement of the Hessian Grenadiers and with other equally important prepa- rations-the whole, we believe, preparatory to an as- sault on the new position of the American Ariny, in the high grounds of North Castle,-a heavy body, from the Right of the Royal Army, with a number of field-pieces, was moved against the extreme left of the American lines, where the Division commanded by General Heath was posted, and opened a heavy fire ; which was returned by Captain-lieutenant Bryant and Lieutenant Jackson, of the American Artillery, neither party sustaining any loss which was particn- larly worthy of record. 6 A violent rain, however, again interposed; and the project, whatever it may have been, was abandoned. 7

G General Ileath lias left a very minute description of the movements of the enemy and of his own preparations to oppose those miovenients, (Memoirs of General Heath, 80, 81 ;) and we make room for it, because of its great local interest, in the vicinity of the White Plains: "Our Gen- "eral's first anxiety." General Heath stated, speaking of himself, " was " for Colonel Malcolm's Regiment, on the hill, to the East of the hollow, " on the left, * lest the enemy should push a Column into the bollow, "and cut the Regiment off from the Division. He, therefore, ordered " Major Keith, one of his Aides, to gallop over, nud order Colonel Mal- " colni to come off, immediately, with Lieutenant Fenno's Artillery , but. " upon a more critical view of the ground, in the hollow, (at the head "of which there was a heavy stone wall, well-situated to cover a body of "troops to throw a heavy fire directly down it, while an oblique fire " could be thrown in, on both sides, ) he ordered Major Pollard, his other " Aide, to gallop after Keith, and countermand the first order ; and to " direct the Colonel to remain at his post ; and he should be supported. " A strong Regiment was ordered to the head of the hollow, to occupy "the wall.

"The cannonade was brisk, on both sides, through which the two " Aides-de-camp passed, in going and returning. At this instant, Gen- "eral Washington rode up to the hill. Ilis first question to our General, "was, ' How is your Division ?' He was answered, 'They are all in or- " ' der.' ' llave you,' said the Commander-in-chief, 'any troops on the hill, "' over the hollow? ' He wasanswered, ' Malcolm's Regiment is there.' ' If ". " you do not call them off, immediately,' says the General, ' you may lose """" them, if the enemy push a column up the hollow.' Ile was answered, "'that, even in that case, their retreat should be made safe ; that a strong " Regiment was posted at the head of the hollow, behind the wall ; that " this Regiment, with the oblique fire of the Division, would so check the " enemy, as to allow Malcolm to make a safe retreat. The Commander- "inchief concluded by saying, ' Take care that you do not lose then.' " The Artillery of the Division was so well directed as to throw the " British artillery-men, several times, into confusion ; and, finding that "they could not, here, make any impression, they drew back their pieces, "the ('ohinm not advancing," [probably because of the failure of the main body to advance against the American lines, in cooperation with this de- tuchment, as we have already stated.]

"The British Artillery now made a circuitons movement ; nud came " down, toward the American right. Here, unknown to them, were "some twelve-pounders, upon the discharge of which, they made off, " with their field-pieces, as fast as their horses could draw them.

" A shot from the American cannon, at this place, took off the head of n "Flexsian artillery-man : they also left one of their artillery-horses, dead "on the fiehl. What other loss they sustained, was not known. Of our "General's Division, one man, only, belonging to Colonel Paulding's " Regiment of New-York troops, was killed." +

7 Testimony of Lord Cornwallis, before a Committee of the Ilouse of Commons, vide Note 3, of this page, ante.

* For descriptions of the various localities mentioned in this statement, by General llenth, see page 428, ante.

t The Returns of General George Clinton's Brigade, dated "PEEKSKILL, " November 17, 1776," noted that casualty, aud gave the name of the ulan - William Phoenix, of Captain Canlines's Company.

452

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

Having been thus frustrated in all his efforts to cut off the communications of the American Army with the upper country as well as with New England and to draw General Washington to give him battle, in a general engagement-in other words, having been completely outgeneraled by the Coni- mander-iu-chief of the forces whom his associates in arms had so contemptuously ridiculed-General Howe determined to abandon the attempt;1 aud to with- draw his great and powerful commaud from West- chester-county, in search of laurels on other and more inviting fields. The two Armies continued in their respective lines, not more than a long cannon-shot from each other, 2 until the following Saturday night, [ November 2,] when the American sentries heard what they supposed to have been the rumbling sound of mov- ing artillery. 3 On Mouday uight, the fourth of No- vember, however, the entire encampment of the enemy was broken up; and, on the following morning, [ Tuesday, November 5,] he made a sudden and unex- pected movement from all the posts, in front of the American lines, which he had previously taken 4-as early as the preceding Monday, [ October 28,] evidently preparatory to this movement, General Knyphausen, who had been left at New Rochelle, with the Second Division of the German troops, to keep open the com- munication between the Army and the Flcet, 5 had been ordered to leave the Regiment of Waldeckers, who formed a portion of his command, at that place, and to move with the remainder of the Division, six fresh Battalions of Hessians, towards Kingsbridge ; and, on Saturday, the second of November, he had occu- pied a position, on New-York-islaud, near that place : on Sunday, the third of November, the entire Army had been ordered to provide itself with forage, for three day's consumption : on the following day, [ Mon- day, November 4,] Major-general Grant, with the Fourth Brigade of British troops, had been moved down to Mile-Square and Valentine's-hill ; General Agnew, with the Sixth Brigade of British troops, the sanie who had been moved to Mamaroneck, on the morning after the Queen's Rangers had been so "roughly handled " by Colouel Haslet and his com- mand, 6 had been moved from that place to a bridge

1 " I did not think the driving their rear-guard further back, an object " of the least consequence," were General Howe's official words, de- scriptive of that very important determination.

See, also, [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 211 ; Sted- man's History of the American War, i., 216 ; Memoirs of General Heath, 81 ; Gordon's History of the American Revolution, ii., 344 ; Marshall's Life of George Washington, ii., 506, 507, etc.

2 Memoirs of Genera! Heath, 81-83 ; Letter dated " NEAR HEAD-QUAR- " TERS, NORTH-CASTLE, Nov. 5, 1776," published in The Freeman's Jour- nal and New-Hampshire Gazette, Vol. 1., No. 26, PORTSMOUTH, Tuesday, November 19, 1776.

8 Memoirs of General Heath, 83.

4 General Washington to the President of the Congress, " WIIITE-PLAINS, 6 " November, 1776 ; " the same to Governor Livingston, " WHITE-PLAINS, "7 November, 1776 ;" Memoirs of General Heath, 83; Marshall's Life of George Washington, ii., 507 ; Gordon's History of the American Revo- Jutiou, ii., 344 ; etc.

Vide pages 429, 434, ante.

6 Vide pages 428, 429, ante.

over the Bronx-river, near De Lancey's Mill, [now the village of West Farms,] in the Town of Westchester ; and the Waldeckers whom General Knyphausen had left at New Rochelle, on the preceding Monday, was moved to another bridge, also over the Bronx-river, three miles above the other, [then and now known as Williams's-bridge : ] and every other necessary prepara- tion for an orderly aud undisturbed retreat had, in the meanwhile, been taken.7

During the evening of Tuesday, the fifth of Novem- ber, inspired by the teachings of General Israel Put- nam, 8 and in harmony with the advanced New Eng- land ideas, of that period, with which the inhabitants of Westchester-county had already become well- acquainted,9 as well as with those of an immediately subsequent period,10 a body of Massachusetts troops, led by Major Austin, of Colonel Brewer's Regiment, left the Camp, and went down into the Village of the White Plains, which the enemy has abandoned, dur- ing the earlier portions of the day. The purposes of that party were such as New Englanders of that period were apt to regard as peculiarly "patriotic "-they evidently went down to see what the merciless Hes- sian and British soldicry had left, when the Royal Army had retreated ; to select, for their own or their families' uses, and to carry away, into New England, whatever, of that remaiuder, should best suit their own tastes ; to dispossess the women and children who were mostly the occupants of the houses ; and to burn what they did not care to steal, sparing almost nothing of either public or private properties, just to "strike terrour into the Tories and influence in our " favour," as these New England thieves "patrioti- "cally " expressed it. That was the prevailing New England idea of the period, taught and illustrated by

7 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "NEW-YORK, 30 November "1776; " [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 211 ; etc.

8 " The question being asked Major Austin, whether he had any "orders for burning said houses, he confessed that he had no orders "for it; but he alleged, as an excuse, his being in company with " some of the General Officers, just before the houses were burnt on the " Plains," [those containing the forage, etc., which had been burned when the Army evacuated the lines, on the evening of the thirty first of October,] "and heard General Putnam say be thought it would be best to burn "ALL the houses, etc .; and finding there was houses burnt on the "Plains, soon after, he thought it his duty to burn the said houses, "as he did."-(Defence of Major Austin, before the Court- martial, " PHIL- " IPSBURG, November 12, 1776.")

9 The reader will remember the unauthorized raids of the banditti,, under Isaac Sears, David Waterbury, David Wooster, and other "pa- "triotic" New Englanders, during which the most barefaced rob- beries of the farmers' properties, throughout Westchester-county, had been perpetrated by large bodies of armed men, from Connecticut, against whom the isolated and unarmed farmers had been powerless.

10 ** The enemy have retreated from the White Plains. It was a happy " thought, the burning of a few houses, upon our retreat from thence. "The measure convinced them they had little to expect from peuetrat- "ing the country. They saw how much we would sacrifice," [of the property of others,] " to the safety of our Army and disadvantage of " theirs ; at the same time, it must have struck terrour into the Tories "and influence in our favour, from the strong motive of interest, as " they perceive their dwellings, etc., depend on our success."-(Colonel Jed. Huntington to Governor Trumbull, "CAMP, NORTH-CASTLE, 7th No- "vember, 1776.")

453

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

NewEnglanders of the most elevated stations; and it was evidently regarded, by the New England Major and his " Christiau" followers, not only a duty but a virtuc, to obey the teachings of such " patriotic " and " virtuous" preceptors.

The Major and his men entered house after housc, as they went down the roadways leading through the Village ; carrying from each, such articles as pleased their cupidity ; 1 hastening the oceupants from the houses, without suffering them to dress the children, where there were children, " but drove them out of " doors, naked ;" 2 carrying the sick and helpless, out- doors, on their beds, and leaving them exposed to the rigors of that November night; 3 insulting the females, with ill language and threats, in the presence of the Major ; and, then, setting fire to the houses.5 The Court-house, the Meeting-house of the Presbyterian- church, and the greater number of the dwellings, in- cluding that of Doctor Graham, 6 together with all, of furniture and provisions and clothing, which the rapacious enemy had spared for the use and support and protection of the helpless inhabitants, uuless such portions of each, which the new-comers had taken away, to the Major's marquee or elsewhere, were thus wantonly and criminally destroyed.7

That great outrage, inflicted on the inhabitants of Westchester-county, called forth the denunciations of the Commander-in-chief, in the General Orders of the Army, 8 and those of the Committee of Safety of the State; 9 the leader of the band of ruffians who

1 " When she went out of the house, some of the men began to carry " things out of the house ; when she asked them why they took those "tlrings. Theu Major Austin spake; and told her he should carry "thewi to the General's; and alleged General Sullivan's orders for it." -(Mrs. Adams's testimony, before the Court-martial for the trial of Major Austin, " PHILIPSBURG, November 12, 1776.")

"On the night of the 5th instant, he had been out on a sconting party, "with Major Austin; and, on their return, the Major ordered him back, with ". five men, to the houses which they burned ; and told him to take good care "of whatever things he got ; to keep them safe ; aud bring them off, to his " markee ;" etc .- (T'estimouy of Sergeant Churchill, at the same trial, " Nov- "ember 13," in which Captain Keith and James Linzer fully concurred.) "Further says. that what things were tied up, in two blankets, were "' carried to the Major's markee ; and all the rest were left with the wo- " men."-(Testimony of Tilley How, at the same trial, " November 13:" in which James Linzer and Captain Keith fully concurred.)

Testimony of Mrs. Adams, at the same trial.

3 Testimony of Tilley How, aud of James Linzer, and of Captain Keith, at Barne trial.

4 Testimony of Mrs. Adams, at the same trial.

5 " Major Austin told his men to go and set the other houses on fire, "As quick as he could."-(Testimony of Mrs. Adams, at the same trial.) See, also, the testimony, on the same subject, of Sergeant Churchill, of Tilley Ilow, of James Linzer. and of Captain Keith, at the same trial.

6 Understood. from aged people, many years since, to have occupied the lower portion of the property now occupied by the respected widow of the late C. llalsey Mitchell-that portion of that property, indeed, which was occupied, so many years, for the Law-offices of Minott Mitchell, Esq., so long the head of the Bar of Westchester-county.

1 General Orders of the Army, "HEAD-QUARTERS, WIRITE- PLAINS, NO- " vember 6, 1776 ; " The Committee of Safety for the State of New- York to the President of the Cougress, " IN COMMITTEE OF SAFETY FOR THE STATE " OF NEW-YORK, FISHKILL, November 28, 1776 ; " Memoirs of General Heath, 83 ; etc.

$ General Orders of the Army, "IlEAD-QUARTERS. WHITE-PLAINS, NO- " vember 6, 1776."

9 Committee of Safety for the State of New-York to the President of the

had inflicted the great wrong, only after the most vigorous effort of General Lee, was mildly “dis- " missed from the service," by the verdict of a second Court-martial, who sat in judgment, on the culprit ; 10 and he was turned over to the Convention of the State, to be dealt with, in an action by the State, resulting in his eseape from the Jail at Kingston, which closed the subjeet, on the pages of history.

On Weduesday, the sixth of November, General Howe, with that portiou of the Royal Army whom he had not pushed forward toward Kingsbridge, en- camped at Dobbs's-ferry ; 11 and, on the same day, General Washington called a Council of his General Officers, to cousult on such measures as should be adopted, in case the enemy should continue to fall back, on the City of New York.12

On Thursday, the seventh of November, the en- emy's park of Artillery was moved to Kingsbridge, under a strong escort, with a detachment of Chasseurs, to join the Division commanded by General Knyphau- sen ; 13 and his foraging parties were busily employed in collecting Grain aud Hay, and in driving in Cattle, from all those portions of the County which were below Tarrytown, the Plains, and Rye.14

On Friday, the eighth of November, two Battalions of Light Infautry and the remainder of the Chasseurs, with four field-pieces, took post on the line of com- munication with Kingsbridge; 15 and, on the part of the Americans, the troops belonging to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the more Southern States, began to file off, from the lines which were occupied by the American Army, " as fast as our situation and circum- "stances would admit, in order to be transported over "the river, with all expedition." 16

On Saturday, the ninth of November, the Division commanded by General Heath, who had performed so distinguished a part in the military operations, in Westchester-county, was moved from the extreme left

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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 116

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