USA > New York > New York City > History of the New Netherlands, province of New York, and state of New York : to the adoption of the federal Constitution. Vol. II > Part 10
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CAPTURE OF FORT WASHINGTON.
not say that this want was unattended to . the soldiers were con- tinually administering to it by bringing water in a bucket. But though we, who were about the door, did well enough, the supply was very inadequate to such a number of mouths; and many must have suffered much. Our situation brought to my recollection that of Captain Holwell and his party, in the black hole at Calcutta; and had the weather been equally hot, we should not have been much better off."
These prisoners, added to the men taken on Long Island, filled the prison, the hospital, the churches, and sugar houses of New York with suffering and dying Americans. The British immedi- ately crossed the Hudson, and Washington was obliged to abandon Fort Lee with loss of artillery and stores, and precipitately retreat west of Hackinsack River, with the shadow of an army, every day becoming thinner. General Lee, who commanded what was now the principal body of the forces, was ordered to join the comman- der-in-chief as soon as possible, as the enemy evidently were push- ing for Philadelphia.
One of the evils attending the fall of these brave men, was the loss of confidence in General Washington, which it occasioned. His enemies rejoiced, and boldly declared that he was unfit for his station ; and none so loudly as Major-general Charles Lee. Ge- neral Washington had been determined by a council of officers, and by the opinion of one in whom he ever justly placed great con- fidence, General Greene. Yet I believe he sorely lamented the not withdrawing these men from a post, which, if even more strong- ly garrisoned, could only have been hield for a few days. In the commander-in-chief's letter to congress, dated from Gen. Greene's head-quarters, the 16th of November, 1776, he says, that when the army was removed in consequence of Howe's landing at Frog's Point, Colonel Magaw was left with 1200 men at Fort Washing- ton with orders to defend it to the last. Afterward " reflecting upon the smallness of the garrison," he wrote to. Greene, who commanded on the opposite side of the Hudson, to be governed by circumstances, and revoked the absolute order to Magaw. Hearing of the summons to surrender, the general hastened from Hackinsack, and was prevented crossing to Fort Washington by meeting Greene and Putnam, coming from thence, who assured him that the men were " in high spirits, and would make a good defence." Next morning the attack commenced ; and when the column of Colonel Rahl had gained the ground on the hill within one hundred yards of the fort, and all the advanced troops had been driven in or taken prisoners, a flag with a second demand of surrender was sent in to Magaw, at the same time that Washing- ton, who viewed the contest from the palisades, (the rocks oppo- site,) sent a billet to the colonel, directing him to hold out, and he
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RETREAT TO THE DELAWARE.
would endeavour in the evening to bring him off. It was too late : the treaty of surrender had been entered into, and could not be retracted. Magaw and his brave men became prisoners of war- the soldiers retaining their baggage and the officers their swords.
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CHAPTER VII.
Retreat to the Delaware-Lee's misconduct-Affairs in the north -Colonel Meigs-Vermont-Starke.
1776 WASHINGTON wrote to his brother Augustine, November 19th, 1776, and mentioned the loss of Fort Washington :-- "We have lost not only two thousand men that were there, but a good deal of artillery, and some of the best arms we had." He laments that the different states are so slow in levying their quotas of men : "In ten days from this date, there will not be above two thousand men, if that number, of the fixed established regiments, on this side Hud- son's River, to oppose Howe's whole army." Two days after, he informed congress, that the British had followed up the blow of the 16th, by crossing the Hudson and pushing for the bridge over the Hackinsack, obliging him to retreat so as to secure that pass ; that the cannon of Fort Lee were lost, with a great deal of baggage, two or three hundred tents, a thousand barrels of flour, and other stores. He was then retreating to put the river Passaic between him and the enemy. He orders Lee to leave his present position and cross the Hudson with the continental troops. On the 27th of November, Lee had not moved. The enemy not only advanced on the track of the retreating Americans, but pushed detachments from Staten Island and passed by Amboy, Woodbridge, and the villages along the Raritan.
Lord Stirling, with two brigades, was, on the third of Decem- ber, at Princeton, and the general at 'Trenton. Two brigades of his remaining troops, having served their time of enlistment, aban- doned him, when now most wanted. General Lee's movements were unknown, both to the commander-in-chief and to congress. An express was despatched " to know where, and in what situation, he and his army were." It was known that some of the regiments from the north had joined him. These were under St. Clair, who, VOL. II. 12
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LEE'S MISCONDUCT.
on the 27th November, had written to Gates that be would do al that he could to inspirit the troops, and get them on to Washing- ton's army. but feared that he could not keep them together.
A disjointed, disobedient mass : but that the head and the heart were sound, what would have been the fate of America! This winter showed to the great commander those on whom he mig !: depend ; and developed, in part, the false-heartedness of others. On the 9th of December, General Washington received a letter from Lee by the hand of an officer, who had been sent to seek him and his ariny, and the general found, that, instead of obeying his orders to join him as soon as possible, the major-general was pur- suing schemes of his own, and " hanging on the rear of the ene- my," when wanted to oppose their front. The commander writes to him, on the 10th : " Do come on ; your arrival may be fortu- nate ; if it can be effected without delay, it may be the means of - preserving a city, whose loss must prove fatal to the cause of Ame- rica." And again, the next day : " Nothing less than our utmost exertions will be sufficient to prevent General Howe from possess- ing Philadelphia. The force I have is weak, and entirely incom- petent to that end. I must, therefore, entreat you to push on with every possible succour you can bring." Generals Mifflin and Put- nam were sent to Philadelphia, and they persuaded Congress to fly to Baltimore.
On the 11th of December, Lee wrote from Morristown, and gave notice that, instead of intending to follow the directions be had re- ceived, he was about to make his way to the ferry below Burling- ton, in case the enemy's column should cross the Delaware-an event which Washington, by securing the boats, and guarding the passes, was endeavouring to prevent ; and farther, Lee hints that the Jersey militia would turn out " if they could be sure of an army remaining among them." I have copied the following from an unpublished letter, in Lee's hand writing, dated Baskinridge, December 13th, 1776, and addressed to Gates :
" The ingenious manœuvre of Fort Washington has unhinged the goodly fabric we had been building : there never was so damned a stroke. Entre nous, a certain great man is damnably deficient. He has thrown me into a situation where I have my choice of diffi- culties. If I stay in this province, I risk myself and army; and if I do not stay, the province is lost forever. I have neither guides, cavalry, medicines, money, shoes, or stockings. I must act with the greatest circumspection. Tories are in my front, rear, and on my flanks ; the mass of the people is strangely con- taminated ; in short, unless something which I do not expect turns up, we are lost."
The comment upon this epistle is the fact, that something which
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AFFAIRS IN THE NORTHI.
he did not expect turned up very quickly. On the morning this letter is dated, (which was probably written the evening before,) this circumspect major-general was surprised and carried off to Perthi Amboy by a party of British dragoons.
"The command of his army falling on Sullivan, it was safely con- ducted. by the route designated in the commander-in-chief's letters -thus reinforcing the main body. And in ten or twelve days after the date of this letter, Washington recrossed the Delaware with his troops, without the necessary comforts of " shoes or stock- ings," and captured or drove in the advance of the British army.
General Schuyler having dismissed the militia under his com- mand, on the 12th of November, from Albany, ordered Gates to send on the Jersey and Pennsylvania troops, to embark upon the Hudson. " I shall have sloops in readiness to convey them down." -" General Sinclair or General Maxwell to march with the regiments destined for the southward." At the same time Gates received a letter in a very different style :
" The enclosed, I received from our mutual good friend, Mr. Gerry. The tory interest is (with ?) General Schnyler. Walter Livingston is to be nominal contractor, and Philip Schuyler, major- general, real contractor. That Livingston will take the contract, is now ascertained by his letter to me of the Sth instant, (No- vember.") This is signed Joseph Trumbull .*
Schuyler informed congress that he had supplied the post at Ticonderoga with provisions, and pointed out measures to antici- pate any attempt of the enemy. He calls on Governour 'Trumbull to send on the troops, raised in his state, to " Ti" and Fort George. At the same time, we find him directing Gates to proceed with troops to aid General Washington, and calling upon influential men to es- tablish the government of the State of New York, that the unprin- cipled and licentious might be controlled. To his old friend and fellow-labourer, General George Clinton, then commanding at New Windsor, he forwards timber for obstructing the navigation of the Hudson ; and instructs him in the manner of constructing and sinking casoons. Such were the cares of this great man ; while those who were undermining him were occupied with schemes of selfish ambition, or modes of obtaining lucrative contracts.
With great difficulty and reluctance, Gates reinforced the com- mander-in-chief's army with the regiments which were opposed to Carleton, before he returned to Canada to avoid the freezing of Lake Champlain. Gates then went to Congress, and his adju- tant-general was sent with Arnold to arrange the militia of Rhode Island. After this, on the 25th December, did Washington, with
" See Gates' Papers, in N. Y. His. Soc. Lib.
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EXPLOIT OF COLONEL MEIGS.
a phantom of an army, recross the Delaware, and by his success, turn the tide of war .*
When Washington had withdrawn his forces, the whole of Long Island had become the store-house of the British troops, Sag harbour was their magazine as being convenient to their ship- ping, and a garrison protected their stores of hay, corn, and cattle.
1777 Early in 1777, Colonel Meigs performed a service with 234 meu, which drew the following letter from General Washington, and a gift of a sword from congress :
" Head-quarters, Middlebrook, May, 1777. Dear Sir .- I am just now favoured with your letter of the 25th, by Major Hum- phrey. The intelligence. communicated by it is truly interesting and agreeable. And now I shall take occasion not only to give you my hearty approbation of your conduct in planning the expe- dition to Long Island, but to return my sincere thanks to Lieute- nant Colonel Meigs, and all the officers and men engaged in it. This enterprise, so fortunate in the execution, will greatly distress the enemy in the important and essential article of forage, and re- flects much honour upon those who performed it. I shall ever be happy to reward merit when in my power, and therefore wish you to inquire for a vacant ensigncy in some of the regiments for Ser- geant Gennings, to which you will promote liim, advising me of the same and the time."
Colonel Meigs embarked from Newhaven, May 21st, 1777, with two hundred and thirty-four men, in thirteen whale-boats. He proceeded to Guilford, but on account of the rougliness of the sea, could not pass the Sound till the twenty-third. On that day, at one o'clock in the afternoon, he left Guilford with one hundred and seventy men, under convoy of two armed sloops, and crossed the Sound to Southold, where he arrived at six o'clock. The enemy's troops on this part of the island had marched for New York two or three days before, but it was reported that there was a party at Sagg Harbour on the south branch of the island about fifteen miles distant. Colonel Meigs ordered the whale-boats to be transported over the land to the bay between the north and south branches of the island, where one liundred and thirty men embarked, and at twelve o'clock at night arrived safely on the other side of the bay within four miles of Sagg Harbour. Here
. When General Washington mustered his army, and took the field at Middle- brook, his whole effective force was 5.733. From this strong position he over- looked the Raritan, the road to Philadelphia, and the British posts at Brunswick and Perth Amboy. But, what an army was this to defend the country and the city of Philadelphia against the best troops of Britain, strong in numbers and equip- ments !
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NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS. . 93
the boats were secured in a wood, under a guard, and the remain- der of the detachment marched quickly to the harbour, where they arrived at two o'clock in the inorning, in the greatest order, attack- ing the outpost with fixed bayonets, and proceeded directly to the shipping at the wharf, which they found unprepared for defence. 'The alarm was given, and an armed schooner with twelve guns and seventy men began to fire upon them at the distance of one hundred and fifty yards, which continued three quarters of an hour, but did not prevent the troops from executing their design with the greatest intrepidity and effect. Twelve brigs and sloops, one of which was an armed vessel of twelve guns, and one hundred and twenty tons of hay, corn, oats, ten hogsheads of rum, and a large quantity of merchandize, were entirely destroyed. Six of the enemy were killed and ninety taken prisoners. Not one of Colonel Meigs's men was either killed or wounded. He returned to Guilford at two o'clock in the afternoon, having been absent only twenty-five hours ; and in that time had transported his troops by land and water full ninety miles, and completed his undertaking with the most entire. success .*
In January of this year, (1777) that portion of the state of New York, which had long been opposed to her government, and known by a name derived from the source of dispute " the New Hampshire grants," assumed another name, and a more dignified station among the communities of the Earth. A general convention · of representatives from the towns on both sides of the Green Mountains, assembled at Westminster, and on the 16th of January, 1777, proclaimed that the "district of territory comprehending, and usually known, by the name and description of the New Hampshire Grants," is hereafter a free state, and must be known by the name of New Connecticut, alias Vermont. Happily the alias prevailed.
We will look back to events which preceded this declaration of independence.
After war had fairly commenced with Great Britain in self-defence, the contest between New York and the settlers on the New Hamp- shire Grants ceased for the time being. The country had no ci- vil government. They governed themselves by town meetings and committees ; appointed officers and obeyed them. Sometimes the towns sent deputies to a convention on the east side of the moun- tains and sometimes on the west. No general plan was adopted ; yet all went on smoothly. A convention that met in January, 1776, at Dorset, drew up a petition to congress, requesting, that, as they were willing to serve in the general cause, they might not
* See Thompson's History of Long Island, p. 218.
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VERMONT.
be called upon as inhabitants of New York ; but that whatever com- missions might be granted to any of them, they might be considered as inhabitants of the New flampshire grants. Congress advised the petitioners to submit, for the present, to New York, in such man- ner as that their submission should not prejudice their claims when the present troubles had passed. But when, in July of that year, Congress declared that the people of the United Colonies were free and independent state:, the people on the grants felt themselves ab- solved from all ties which might be presumed to connect them with any government whatsoever, and freed from all claims founded upon grants or decisions of the crown of Great Britain, and they consulted among themselves what was to be done in this new situa- tion of affairs. New Hampshire had renounced all political con- nexion with them : not so New York. - The convention of that state voted unanimously Angust 2d, 1776, " that all quit rents for- merly due to the King of Great Britain, are now due, and owing to this convention, or such future government as shall be hereafter established in this state."
To come to some determination in this crisis, the people of the grants met in a General Convention, at Dorset, in the 24th July, 1776, and agreed upon an association for defence. On the 25th September following, they met again and resolved, that the New Hampshire Grants were " a free and independent district." This was followed in January 1777, by another general convention from the towns and the Declaration of Independence above mentioned, of the State of Vermont, happily named from their central chain of Green Mountains.
'T'his declaration was transmitted to congress with a petition re- questing that the district therein described might be ranked among the free and independent States of America, and their delegates admitted to seats in that honourable body. The time was well chosen, or happily occurred, and thenceforward Vermont was an independent state.
New York protested against this proceeding. At two several periods afterward New York attempted to bring congress to such decision on this question as she considered just, and in June, 1777, resolves passed that body, dismissing the petition of the people " styling themselves inhabitants of the Massachusetts grants," and asserting that " by raising and officering the regiment commanded by Colonel Warner," they never meant to give any encourage- ment to their claims of independence.
Soon after this, followed the triumphant progress of Burgoyne, until stopped by the exertions of Schuyler. It was during this pro- gress of the enemy, that the Convention of Vermont called upon New Hampshire for aid. Starke was sent with a body of militia to
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95
JOHN STARKE.
co-operate " with the troops of that new State," and otherwise ad- dressing Vermont as a free and independent state.
In the recital of the military events of this period, is seen the effective assistance brought by the New Hampshire general, Starke, the successful co-operation of Warner's regiment, and the final result of the invasion from Canada.
John Starke was born in Londonderry, in New Hampshire, in the year 172S. His father was an Irishman, and with others, Scotch presbyterians, formed this settlement, but after the birth of John, removed to Manchester in the same province.
In the year 1752, John became acquainted with Indian customs and manners, owing to his going on a hunting party beyond the limits of the white population, and falling into the hands of the St. Francis tribe, who captured him and one of his companions, and made prize of the furs they had accumulated.
Starke showed his characteristick hardihood, and gained the good opinion of his captors by baffling the young men of the Indian vil- lage, when he was condemned for the amusement of the savages to run the gauntlet. The young warriours formed two lines, between which, the captive is obliged to run and receive the blows of the barbarians in his passage to the council-house, where if he arrived he was safe. Starke snatched a club from the Indian nearest to him, and starting for the race, laid about him, right and left so power- fully and unexpectedly, that he gained the goal uninjured, amidst the applause of the older men and warriors.
He was thenceforth kindly treated, and gained a knowledge of Indian character, which served him in the perilous adventures of many succeeding years of his life. Their customs and practices became familiar to him in the course of four months residence- their mode of hunting and of threading the mazes of the forest- . and this knowledge made him a valuable guide, ranger, and scout, when called upon to serve his country in those capacities.
The province of Massachusetts sent agents to ransom certain of its citizens who had been captured by the Indians. These agents ransomed Starke, though not of their province ; and after an absence of several months, he was returned to his family. Of the Indian; Starke always spoke in terms of admiration ; and asserted that he had received more kindness from them than ever he knew to be bestowed npon prisoners by civilized men.
A short time after his return, he was engaged as a guide to a company sent by New Hampshire to explore the country to the head waters of the Androscoggin. He performed this service to the satisfaction of his employers ; and in 1754 was again employed as a guide by the government when they sent a party into the same region to determine the truth of a report that the French were build-
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JOHN STARKE.
ing a fort in this wilderness. They found no French ; but reported the discovery of the fertile meadows on the banks of the Connecticut, where now the most flourishing villages of New England rear their steeples to the skies.
War commenced between Great Britain and France in 1754-a year memorable for the congress at Albany, which adopted a plan for the union of the colonies, on the 4th of July, on the same day that George Washington capitulated to a superiour force of French, at the Great Meadows. This war, occasioned by the clashing inter- ests and views of these two great nations, called into action many Americans, and trained them for subsequent and more important military actions. Its events I have already detailed, as connected with my main subject. Starke was justly considered a man fit for the scouting service, so necessary in the warfare of the wil- derness, and he received a commission as a lieutenant in the corps of Rangers, which was distinguished under the command of Major Rogers, in the expedition against Crown Point and subsequently.
In the actions which followed, Starke gained some knowledge of military affairs. He was present when the ignorance of General William Johnson sacrificed the worthy and intelligent Colonel Ephraim Williams, and when accident made Jolinson a hero and a baronet, by destroying Baron Dieskau. This accomplished military man was mortally wounded, after his army had been de- feated, and died in the quarters of his fortunate adversary .* These transactions were the school lessons of Starke.
That the services of these Rangers, to whom Starke was attached, were valuable as ministers of destruction, cannot be doubted ; but the business of lying in wait and shooting men before they are aware of the presence of an enemy-of rushing upon the dead, the dying, and the wounded, and tearing off scalps as trophies, to be exchanged for a reward in money-does not appear very consonant with humanity, morality, or the Christian religion. The instruc- tions given to the Rangers, characterizes the nature of the corps, and the warfare carried on by the civilized nations of England and France. They were, " to use their best endeavours to distress the French and their allies, by sacking, burning, and destroying their houses, barns, barracks, etc .; by killing their cattle of every kind ; and at all times to endeavour to waylay, attack, and destroy their convoys of provisions by land and water," wherever found.
It does not appear that Starke was distinguislied in any remarka- ble manner until the year 1757, when, in a desperate encounter between Rogers's Rangers and a superiour party of the French, the .
* The reader will notice two discrepant statements in Vol. I, pp. 377, 378, 379, as to the time and place of Dieskau's death. The first, there stated, and alluded to above, appears to be the correct account.
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"JOHN STARKE.
Lieutenant, by his courage and conduct, (Rogers being severely wounded,) saved those of the provincials who were not slain, from a captivity almost as disastrous. After continuing the bush-fight until night enabled them to retreat, Starke proceeded forty miles over the snow to the nearest fort, and procured sleds by which the wounded men were preserved, and the remnant of the corps brought off in safety.
Shortly after this, Starke received a captain's commission, and continued in this hard, hazardous, and little enviable service.
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