History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 68

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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period of the existence of that Congress, to seenre that advantage and, thereby, if possible, to defeat the motion-" at the request of the Deputies of the City " and County of Albany and the Counties of " Ulster, Suffolk, and Charlotte," it was "ORDERED, " That the same be deferred." +

Although the Rule required the Congress to resume the consideration of the motion on "the next day," the Rule was disregarded ; } and, on the following day [June 1, 1775,] Mr. Kissam, with the leave of the Congress, withdrew the motion, "in order to " amend it." 6

On the second of June, the amended motion was submitted by Mr. Kissam, " in the words Following, " to wit: Forasmuch as a reconciliation between " Great Britain and these Colonies, on constitutional " principles, is essential to the well-being of both " countries, and will prevent the horrors of a Civil " War, in which this Continent is now about to be " involved : I move that a Committee be appointed " to prepare a plan of such accommodation, and re- " port the same to this House."

The revolutionary faction, led by John Morin Scott and Alexander MeDougal, resolutely opposed the motion ; and the last-named, seconded by Abra- ham Brasher, moved for the previous question, in or- der to defeat it; but only Ulster, Orange, Suffolk, and Duchess-counties favored the motion for the previous question ; and it was defeated - Philip Van Cortlandt, differing from all his asso- ciates from Westchester-county, voting with the rev- olutionary faction. The motion of Mr. Kissam was then carried, without any dissent, except that of Philip Van Cortlandt, who recorded that dissent on the Journal of the Congress.

Colonel Woodhull, of Suffolk, one of those who hrad opposed the motion, then moved, as an amend- ment of the motion, the addition of these words : " That we may be ready, if we shall think it neces- " sary, to communicate our sentiments npon that sub- " ject to our Delegates at Philadelphia ;" which was subsequently adopted, without a division, in the fol- lowing words : " LESOLVED, therefore, That, although " we would, by no means, presume to dictate to the " General Continental Congress, yet it is highly nec- " essary that this House be prepared to give our sen- " timents to our Delegates, in the said Congress, upon " such plan of accommodation." With the ap- pointment of John Morin Scott, Isaac Low, Alexan- der MeDougal, Benjamin Kissam, and Thomas Smith, of the City of New York ; John Sloss Hobart, Colo- nel Nathaniel Woodhull, and Thomas Tredwell, of Suffolk; Robert Yates and Peter Silvester, of the City and County of Albany ; Gouverneur Morris, of

1 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Martis, 9 ho., A.M., May ·· 30, 1775."

2 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Martis, 9 ho., A.M, May "30, 1775."

3 "10th. - That no question shall be determined on the day that it is "agitated, if three Counties shall request that it be deferred to the "next day."-(Rules of the Congress, in the Journal of the Provincial l'on- gress, Tuesday, 23rd of May, 1773.)

A Journal of the Provincial Congress, "5 ho., P.M., May 30, 1775."

> Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Mercurii, 9 ho., A.M., May "31, 1775 .**

6 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Jovis, 9 ho., June 1, 1775."

273

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

Westchester-county ; Ephraim Paine, of Duchess- county ; John Williams, of Queens-county ; and Paul Michean, of Richmond-county-six of whom, including Messrs. Scott, McDougal, Hobart, Wood- hull, Paine, and Tredwell, were undoubtedly opposed to the entire movement-for a Committee, with in- structions to " make report with all convenient speed," the subject rested, temporarily.1

It was not until the twenty-second of June, that tlie Committee was ready to report to the Provincial Congress the result of its deliberations on the sub- jeet which had been referred to it. On that day, the Report was presented, and read, twice, when the fol- lowing very significant Order thercon was made by the Congress :

" ORDERED, That the same be taken into consider- " ation on Saturday morning next; that the mem- " bers of cach County have leave to take one copy " thereof, each copy to be numbered by one of the " Secretaries, who shall take a memorandum of the " name of the member who shall take with him such " copy and the number of the copy by him taken, " that all such copies may, on Saturday next, be re- " turned to and filed with the Secretaries ; and all " the members are directed by the President, from " the Chair, to take the utmost care to preserve the " said copies secret, and to keep secret the subject " matter thereof. And it is agreed that no member " shall transcribe the said Report, or take any copy " from the copies taken out of the House for the use " of the members of each County ; and that all the " said copies shall, on Saturday next, be returned to " the Secretaries." 2

On the following Saturday [June 24, 1775,] the Provincial Congress proceeded to consider the Re- port, agreeable to its Order made on the preceding Thursday ; and, after the Report had been read and re-read, debated and amended, during the greater portion of that day and a portion of the following Tuesday. the proposed " Plan of Accommodation " with Great Britain," thius amended, was adopted, apparently with much cordiality, by all, except by those of the revolutionary faction.3

That very important paper, the " Plan of Accommo- " dation with Great Britain," which is essential to a proper understanding of the character of the doings of the Provincial Congress, at a later period of its existence, was, in its completed form, in these words :

" That all the Statutes and parts of Statutes of the " British Parliament, which are held up for repeal by " the late Continental Congress, in their Association,

" dated thic twentieth day of October, 1774, and all the "Statutes of the British Parliament, passed since that "day, restraining the Trade and Fishery of Colonics " on this Continent, ought to be repealed.

"That from the necessity of the case, Britain ought "to regulate the Trade of the whole Empire, for the "general benefit of the whole, and not for the sep- "arate interest of any particular part ; and that, front " the natural Right of Property, the powers of Taxa- "tion ouglit to be confined to the Colony Legislatures, "respectively.

"THEREFORE, That the monies raised as Duties, "upon the Regulations of Trade, ought to be paid "into the respective Colony Treasuries, and be subject " to the disposal of their Deputies.

"That in those Colonies whose Representatives in "General Assembly are now chosen for a greater term "than three years, such Assemblies, for the future, "ought, in their duration, not to exceed that " term.

" That the Colonists are ready and willing to sup- " port the Civil Government within their respec- " tive Colonies ; and, on proper requisitions, to "assist in the general defence of the Empire, in " as ample manner as their respective abilities will " admit.

"That if objections be made that a resort to a "variety of Colony Legislatures, for general aids, is "inconvenient, and that large, unappropriated Grants "to the Crown, from America, would endanger the " Liberty of the Empire, then the Colonics are ready "and willing to assent to a Continental Congress, " deputed from the several Colonies, to mect with a " President appointed by the Crown, for the purpose " of raising and apportioning their general aids, upon "application made by the Crown, according to the " advice of the British Parliament, to be judged of by " the said Congress.

"And as the free enjoyment of the Rights of Con- "science is, of all others, tlie most valuable branch of " human Liberty ; and the indulgence and establislı- "ment of Popery, all along the interior confines of "the old Protestant Colonies, tends not only to "obstruct their growth but weaken their security ; "that neither the Parliament of Great Britain nor " any other earthly Legislature or Tribunal ought or " can interfere or interpose, in any wise, howsoever, "in the religious and ecclesiastical concerns of the " Colonies.

" That the Colonies, respectively, are entitled to a "frec and exclusive power of legislation, within " themselves, respectively, in all cases of internal " polity, whatsoever, subject only to the negative of " their Sovereign, in such manner as has been, liere- " tofore, accustomed.

" RESOLVED: That no one Article of the afore- " going Report be considered preliminary to another, " so as to preclude an accommodation without such "Article; and that no part of the said Report be

1 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Veneris, 9 ho., A. MI., June 2, "1775."

2 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Jovis, 9 ho., A.M., June 22, " 1775."

3 " Journal of the Provincial Congress," 1 ho., P.MI., Die Martis, June " 27, 1775."

274

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

"dcemed binding or obligatory upon the Repre- " sentatives of this Colony, in Continental Con- gress." 1

The principles on which that Plan was constructed and the methods which were proposed for the execu- tion of its provisions were so radically subversive of all the purposes for which Colonies were established and protected ; so singularly presumptuous in claiming all the privileges and benefits enjoyed by English- men without assuming any of the burdens under which Englishmen were then staggering; so unae- countably inconsistent in conceding the authority of the Parliament to regulate their Trade and to levy Duties on their Imports while, at the same time, they denied the authority of that Parliament to im- pose Taxes on them, for general purposes, in the same manner and to the same extent and for the same purposes that it imposed similar Taxes on Englishmen, in England; so undnly arrogaut in dietating to the Home Government and to the Parlia- ment what they should do and what they should not do-including, in the former, a removal of all those obstructions to the "illicit Trade" of the Colonists, which that Home Government and that Parliament had interposed-as the price of their indirect proffer of an abandonment of their rebellious movements and of their return to their duties, as subjects of the Crown, that it is difficult to bring one's self to a belief that the framers and supporters of that pro- posed Plan were really sincere in proposing it. unless with the qualification that their enthusiasmn and the seeming indifference of the Home and Colonial Governments had blinded them to its remarkable peculiarities, and induced them to regard the Colonists as something superior, in their political standing, to other subjects of the Crown-as something more than subjects, owing obedience to those in authority and to the Laws of the land. Such a Plan, had it been submitted to the Home Government and to the Parliament, would, unquestionably, have aggravated instead of conciliated, and have widened the breachi which then separated the Colonies and the Mother Country, instead of closing it. It is serviceable, how- ever, to the careful student of the history of that period, to indieate how much the Rebellion had already palled upon the senses of even those who werc its local leaders ; how much a reconciliation was secretly hankered for, even among those who were blustering in fictitious bravery ; how much of hypoc- risy there was among those who were loudly pretend- ing to be "patriots," in harmony with similar "patriots " in each of the other Colonies, all of them zealously and noisily crowding the entire Continent into an open aud unqualified Rebellion, while, at the same time, they were secretly determining, among themselves, by how slight a bond they were bound to their associates in crime, how delicately constructed

were their honor and their patriotism, and at what price the Home Government could purchase their ad- herence and their "patriotism " and their sympathy with their compatriots, whenever that Home Govern- ment should inelinc to enter the market of " patriot- " ism," for such a purpose.

At a very early period, the sccurity of the pass at Kingsbridge appears to have attracted the attention of the revolutionary faction ; and measures were taken with the evident intention of throwing up some defensive works, at that point, for the protection of the City.

Immediately after the receipt of intelligence con- cerning the raid of the Royal troops on Lexington and Concord, without any formal order from the Committee of One hundred, great numbers of men were employed in hauling the cannon from the City to Kingsbridge, in readiness for the work of intrench- ment; 2 and on the fourth of May, the Committee "ordered, that Captain Sears, Captain Randall, and " Captain Fleming be a Committee to procure proper "judges to go and view the ground at or near Kings- " bridge, and report to this Committee, with all " convenient speed, whether it will answer the pur- "poses intended by it"3-although they were not described, the "purposes " referred to were, evidently, for the protection of the City from any irruption, by land, from the country Towns.

The published Proceedings of the Committee of (me hundred, in the City of New York, make no mention of the doings of that Committee ; and it is not proba- ble that it accomplished anything, in the way of forti- fying Kingsbridge ; but, on the twenty-fifth of May, the Continental Congress agreed to the following Resolutions, " respecting New York," one of which relates to the defence of Kingsbridge. These Reso- lutions were in the following words :

"1 .- RESOLVED, That a Post be immediately taken " and fortified at or near King's-Bridge, in the Colony " of New-York ; and that the ground be chosen with "a particular view to prevent the communication " between the City of New-York and the country " from being interrupted by land.

" 2 .- RESOLVED, that a Post be also taken in the " Highlands, on each side of Hudson's River, and Bat- " teries erected in such manner as will most effectual- " ly prevent any Vessels passing, that may be sent to " harass the Inhabitants on the borders of said River ; " and that experienced persons be immediately sent " to examine said River, in order to discover where it " will be most advisable and proper to obstruct the " Navigation.

"3 .- RESOLVED, That the Militia of New-York be "armed and trained, and in constant readiness to act

1 Journal of the Provincial Congress, 4 ho., P. M., Die Martis, June 27, 1775.

3 Proceedings of the Council of the Colony of New York, " Monday, May I, "' 1775.""

3 Minutes of the Committee of Our hu ufred, Adjournod Meeting, "Thurs- " day morning, 4th May, 1775."

275

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

"at a moment's warning ; and' that a number of Men " be immediately embodied, and kept in that City, and " so disposed of as to give protection to the Inhabit- "ants, in ease any insult should be offered by the ! " Troops that may land there, and to prevent any "attempts that may be made to gain possession of "the City, and interrupt its intercourse with the " country.

"4." -- [RESOLVED. ] " That it be left to the Provincial " Congress of New- York to determine the number of "men sufficient to occupy the several Posts above- " mentioned, and also that already recommended to be " taken at or near Lake George, as well as to guard the " City, Prorided, the whole do not exceed the number "of three thousand men, to be commanded by such "Officers as shall be thereunto appointed by said " Provincial Congress, and to be governed by such " Rules and Regulations as shall be established by said "Congress, until farther order is taken by this Con- " gress ; Provided, also, that if the said Provineial " Congress should be of opinion that the number pro- " posed will not be sufficient for the several services " above recommended, that the said Congress report " their sentiments upou this subject to this Congress, "as soon as may be.

"5."-[RESOLVED.] "That it be recommended to " the said Provincial Congress, that in raising those "Forces, they allow no Bounties or Clothing, and " that their Pay shall not exceed the establishment " of the New-England Colonies.

"6."-[RESOLVED.] "That it be further recom- "mended to the Provincial Congress, aforesaid, that " the Troops be enlisted to serve until the last day "of December next, unless this Congress shall direct " that they be sooner disbanded." 1

On the following day, [ May 26, 1775,] the Conti- nental Congress further " RESOLVED, That it be recom- " mended to the Congress aforesaid, to persevere the " more vigorously in preparing for their defence, as it " is very uncertain whether the earnest endeavours of " this Congress to accommodate the unhappy differences " between Great Britain and the Colonies, by concilia- " tory measures, will be successful ; " and, in addition, it "ORDERED, That the above Resolves, respecting " New-York, be transmitted by the President in a let- " ter, to the Provincial Congress of New-York; and " that it be particularly recommended to said Con- " gress, by the President, not to publish the foregoing " Resolves, but to keep them as seeret as the nature of " the ease requires." 2

On the twenty-ninth of May, the Resolutions which had been thus adopted by the Continental Congress, were received by the Provincial Congress ; $ and on the following day, on motion of John Morin

1 Journal of the Continental Congress, " Thursday, May 25, 1775."

2 Journal of the Continental Congress, " Friday, May 26, 1775."

3 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Dies Lunme, 4 ho., P.M., May *: 29th, 1775 .**

Scott, of the City of New-York, they were taken into consideration-that portion of them which directed the fortifying of Kingsbridge, was referred to Cap- tain Richard Montgomery, of Duchess-county, Henry Gleun'and Robert Yates, of Albany-county, and Col- qnel James Van Cortlandt and Colonel James Holmes, of Westchester-county, with orders " to view " the ground at or near King's Bridge, and report to "this Congress whether the ground near King's " Bridge will admit of making a fortification there, " that will be tenable; and at what particular place "the ground will admit of making the best and "inost tenable fortification ; and that they call to " their assistance such persons as they shall think " necessary, and make report to this Congress, with all " convenient speed :" that portion of them which directed the erection of fortifications in the High- lands, on the Hudson-river, was referred to Colonel James Clinton and Christopher Tappan, both of UI- ster-county, with orders to "take to their assistance "sneh persons as they shall think necessary ; to go to " the Highlands, and view the banks of Hudson's "river there ; and to report to this Congress the most " proper place for creeting one or more fortifications ; "and, likewise, an estimate of the expense that will " attend ereeting the same." +

Bothı these Resolutions were initiatory of prolonged and not always harmonious and agreeable proceed- ings, both without and within the Provincial Con- gress and both without and within the Congress of the Continent, all of which can be considered with greater propriety in the local publications concerning the Towns of Kingsbridge and Cortlandt and in the general publications concerning the War of the Ameri- ean Revolution, than in a general History of the County of Westchester; and, for that reason and with this introductory send-off, the construction of those military works to which the Resolutions referred will receive no further attention, in this narrative.

On the thirty-first of May, in its further considera- tion of the Resolutions of the Continental Congress, which have been already laid before the reader, the Provincial Congress resolved, "that it berecommended "to the Inhabitants of this Colony, in general, im- "mediately to furnish themselves with necessary arms "and ammunitions ; to use all diligence to perfect " themselves in the military art; and, if necessary, to "form themselves into Companies, for that purpose, "until the further order of the Congress; " and it ordered the Resolution to be printed in the news- papers and in handbills. At the same time, it met the eall of the Continental Congress, for men to oe- cupy the proposed posts at Kingsbridge and in the Highlands, for the protection of the City of New York, and for that of Lake George, referred to in the third and fourth Resolutions of that Congress, by re- solving that it " would use all possible diligenee in

A Journal of the Provincial Congress, " 5 ho., P. M., May 30, 1773."

276

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

" embodying men according to the said Resolutions ; " and by appointing a Committee "to report an ar- "rangement of the troops to be embodied for the " defence of this Colony ; and to report such Rules " and Regulations as would be proper to be established "by this Congress, for the government of such "troops." 1

The doings of the Provincial Congress were, of course, entirely in the iuterest of the Rebel- lion.

* * * * * *

Early in the Summer, as has been stated, the Con- tinental Congress ordered the enlistment of a large armed force, of which three thousand were to be raised and put into the field by the Colony of New York. These troops were to be commanded by such Officers as should be thereunto appointed by the Provincial Congress; they were to be governed by such Rules and Regulations as that Congress should establish for that purpose ; they were to be mustered into the service, to serve no longer than the last day of the sueeeediug December; 2 and as there was no enemy before them, and as little probability existed that there would be any one to molest them, during their short term of service, the proffered opportunity to take the field, as Continental Soldiers, appeared to be very inviting -- it seemed, in fact, to promise what would be little else than an organized picnic-party, for the succeeding Summer and Autumn and early Winter months.

There were, of course, plenty of applications from those of the well-born, among the revolutionary fac- tion and from among those who had been instrumental in bringing the Livingstons and the Morrises and others into authority, for each of the offices, in each of the four Regiments into which the levy on New York was arranged ; but there was an evident back- wardness, among the masses, from the beginning, in enlisting for "the private station;" there was a greater anxiety, among those who did enlist, con- cerning their pay and bounty and "under clothes," than for the welfare of the Colony ; and, generally, there was very little inclination, any where, among those who had them, to exchange their peaceful oc- cupations and their domestic comforts and their quiet homes, under such circumstances as then existed, for a distant encampment or a distant military post and the sometimes laborious and not always well-supplied and always irregular lives of soldiers, in garrison as well as in the field.

Of the four Regiments thus ordered, on the Conti- nental Establishment, only the Fourth, or Duchess, appears to have had any connection with Westchester- county-James Holmes, of Bedford, an experienced

soldier of the former War, was its Colonel ; 3 and Philip Van Cortlandt, of Cortlandt Manor, who held, also, a Royal Commission of Major in the Colonial Militia, was its Lieutenant-colonel ; + Barnabas Tut- hill, of Southold, Suffolk county, was its Major ; 5 Benjamin Chapman was its Quarter-master; and Ebenezer Haviland was its Surgeon.6 Of the ten Companies of which the Regiment was composed, three were largely from Westchester-county-of one of these Jonathan Platt, of Bedford, was Captain,7 David Dan, of Poundridge, was First Lieutenant ; 8 and Manning Bull, of -, was Second Lieutenant : of another of those Companies, Daniel Mills, of Bed-

3 James llolmes was the grandson of one of the original proprietors and settlers of the Town of Bedford. He was born in that Town, in 1737 : and a Captain in the Army, during the War with France, in which he gained great credit. He was elected to the Provincial Convention for the appointment of Delegates to the Continental Congress of 1774 ; and he was a member of the Provincial Congress, by whom he was made Colonel of this Regiment. Ile went with his Regiment to the northern frontier, and occupied Ticonderoga, very much to his disgust ; quarrelled with General Schnyler, who commanded in that Department ; declined to continue in the service, after the term of the enlistment of his com- mand had expired; became a Loyalist ; took the Lieutenant-colonelcy of the Corps of the Westchester-county Refugees; continued to live in Bedford, until about 1810, when he removed to New Haven, where he died, on the eighth of July, 1824, aged eighty-seven years.

An extended notice of him may be seen in Jones's History of New York during the Revolutionary War, ii., 334-336; and, in his Notes to that His- tory (ii., 618-621.) Mr. de Lancey has re-produced, in full, an exceed- ingly interesting antobiographical tract, from the Colonel's own pen.

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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 68

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