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 9
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Over the ruins of this fire I have wandered, when a boy, in every direction. It will be observed, by Mr. Grim's account, that the houses on the west side of Broadway, and which were south of Beaver street, escaped the conflagration ; and it was in these, that the English generals lived-what is now No. 1, being head-quar- ters. I must observe, that the houses in Broadway, north of Tri- nity church yard, were not burned. The City Tavern was on part · of the site of the present City Hotel. Between this and St. Paul's church the houses were small and most of them of wood. The last brick houses in the town were next beyond the church. The ruins on the south-east side of the town were converted into dwelling places by using the chimneys and parts of walls which were firm, and adding pieces of spars, with old canvass from the ships, form- ing hovels-part hut and part tent. This was called " Canvass- town ;" and was the receptacle and resort of the vilest dregs brought by the army and navy of Britain, with the filthiest of those who fled to them for refuge.
General Howe, finding that the position taken by Washington was too strong to be attacked in front, moved his main army higher up the sound, and crossed over to Frog's Point. This rendered it necessary for a change of position on the American part. Accord- ingly, leaving a garrison at Fort Washington, the army was marched to White Plains. General Lee was now with Washington ; and General Greene had command at Fort Lee, opposite to the garri- son left on York island.
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While Howe moved his army from Frog's Point to New Ro- chelle, he was attacked successfully by skirmishing parties behind stone walls. At White Plains an action took place without deci- sive advantage to either party ; and Washington, taking a stronger position, expected and awaited an attack. A rain storm intervened ; and the Americans withdrew to the heights of North Castle, where their adversary deemed it improper to assault them. Leaving Ge- neral Lee at this post, the commander-in-chief crossed the North River to Fort Lee, and from thence to Hackinsack. Howe seized this opportunity to attack Fort Washington, left with too slender a garrison under the command of Colonel Magaw. Works were erected on Haerlem river to cover the crossing of the English, which nothing could impede. I am indebted to Graydon* for the follow- ing particulars :
" Fort Washington stood on an eminence, situated on the mar- gin of the Hudson, or North river, about two miles and a half below Kingsbridge. The access to the level on the top of it, is steep and difficult on every side, except on the south, where the ground is open, and the ascent gradual, to the fort. The hill ex- tends along the North river about half a mile from the fort ; and at the termination of it were some small works, which, with the na- tural strength of the place, were deemed a sufficient protection against the enemy, in that quarter.
"Nearly opposite to the fort, on the west side of Haerlem river, a body of men was posted to watch the motions of the enemy, who had erected works on the high and commanding ground east of that river, apparently with a design of covering a landing of troops in that part of the island of New York. Two lines ex- tended from the vicinity of Haerlem river, across the island, to the North river, and were in length each about a mile. The first line towards New York, intersected the great road leading to Kings- bridge, after the height is ascended from Haerlem plains : it was a slight intrenchment, with a few weak bastions, without platforms for cannon, and furnished with no other ordnance than a few old iron pieces of small calibre, scarcely fit for use, and an iron six pounder mounted on trucks. The second line was stronger ; but on the day of the attack of Fort Washington, was, from necessity, wholly without defence, either of troops, or artillery of any de- scription. Colonel Magaw, who commanded on the island, re- mained in the fort ; Colonel Rawlins, with his regiment of riflemen, was posted on the rear of Mount Washington ; Colonel Baxter, with his regiment of militia, on Haerlem river, opposite Fort Washington ; and Colonel Lambert Cadwalader, at the first line,
* Page 175.
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about two and a half miles from the fort, with about eight hundred men, including a reinforcement of a hundred militia, sent him about ten or eleven o'clock'in the morning.
" The operations of the enemy were announced early in the morning, by a cannonade on Colonel Rawlins' position, and a distant one, from the heights of Morrisania, on the line occupied by Colonel Cadwalader ; the former with a view of facilitating the attack on that point, by three thousand Hessians : the latter, to favour the approach of Lord Percy with one thousand six hundred men.
" At ten o'clock in the morning, a large body of the enemy ap- peared on Haerlem plains, preceded by their field-pieces, and ad- vanced with their whole body towards a rocky point of the heights, which skirted the plains in a southern direction from the first line, and at a considerable distance from it-and, commencing a brisk fire on the small work constructed there, drove out the party which held it, consisting of twenty men, and took possession of it : the men retiring with the piquet-guard to the first line. The enemy having gained the heights, advanced in column, on open ground, towards the first line ; while a party of their troops pushed forward and took possession of a small unoccupied work in front of the first line ; from whence they opened their fire with some field-pieces and a howitzer, upon the line, but without effect. When the column came within proper distance, a fire from the six pounder was di- rected against it; on which, the whole column inclined to their left, and took post behind a piece of woods, where they remained. As it was suspected that they would make an attempt on the right of the line, under cover of the wood, that part was strengthened.
"Colonel Rawlins was some time late in the morning attacked by the Hessians, whom he fought with great gallantry and effect, as they were climbing the heights ; until the arms of the riflemen be- came useless from the foulness they contracted from the frequent repetition of their fire. From this incident, and the great superi- ority of the enemy, Colonel Rawlins was obliged to retire into the fort. The enemy having gained the heights, immediately pushed forward towards the fort, and took post behind a large storehouse, within a small distance of it.
" But to return to what passed at the first line towards New York. Intelligence having been received by Colonel Cadwalader, that the enemy were coming down Haerlem river in boats, to land in his rear, he detached Captain Lenox with fifty men, to oppose them, and, on further information, a hundred more, with Captains Ed- wards and Tudor. This force, with the addition of about the same number from Fort Washington, arrived on the heights near Morris's house, early enough to fire on the enemy in their boats, which was done with such effect, that about ninety were killed and wounded.
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" This body of the enemy immediately advanced, and took pos- session of the ground in advance of, and a little below, Morris's house. They hesitated ; and this being perceived, from the delay that took place, Colonel Cadwalader, to avoid the fatal consequences that must have resulted from the expected movement, immediately resolved to retire to the fort, with the troops under his command ; and pursuing the road which led to the fort, under the heights by the North river, arrived there with little or no loss.
"On the 16th of November, before daybreak, we were at our post in the lower lines of Haerlem heights : that is, our regiment and Magaw's and some broken companies of Miles's and other battalions, principally from Pennsylvania. This might be called our right wing, and was under the command of Colonel Cadwala- der ; our left, extending to the Hudson above and on the north side of the fort towards Kingsbridge, was commanded by Colonel Raw- lins of Maryland, who had there his own regiment of riflemen, and probably some other troops ; though, as the position was narrow, numbers were not so essential to it, as to other parts of the gene- ral post. The front or centre extending a considerable distance along Haerlem river, was committed to the militia of the Flying Camp, and Colonel Magaw placed himself in the most convenient station for attending to the whole, having selected one or two offi- cers to assist him as aids-de-camp. I think it was between seven and eight o'clock, when they gave us the first shot from one of their batteries on the other side of the Haerlein river. It was well di- rected, at a cluster of us that were standing together observing their movements ; but it fell short by about ten or fifteen yards, and bounded over the spot. we had precipitately abandoned. In cor- recting this errour they afterwards shot too high, and did us no harm; at least, while I remained in this part of the field, which, though enfiladed or rather exposed in the rear, was too distant to be very seriously annoyed. They had better success in front, killing a man with a cannon ball, belonging to our piquets, which they drove in. Soon after, they approached the lines in great force under cover of a wood, in the verge of which they halted, and slowly be- gan to form, giving us an occasional discharge from their artillery. 'l'ired of the state of suspense in which we had remained for seve- ral hours, I proposed to Colonel Cadwalader, to throw myself with my company into a small work or ravelin about two hundred yards in advance, for the purpose of annoying them as they came up. To this he assented, and I took possession of it ; but found it was a work that had been little more than marked out, not knee high, and of course affording no cover. For this reason, after remaining in it a few minutes, with a view to impress my men with the idea that a breastwork was not absolutely necessary, I abandoned it, and returned to the entrenchment. This unimportant movement was
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treated with some respect ; not knowing its meaning, it induced the troops that were in column, immediately to display ; and the irregulars to open upon us a scattering fire. Soon after my return to the lines, it being observed that the enemy was extending him- self towards the Hudson on our right, Colonel Cadwalader de- tached me thither with my company, with orders to post myself to the best advantage for the protection of that flank. I accordingly marched, and took my station at the extremity of the trench, just where the high grounds begin to decline towards the river. 'This situation, from the intervention of higher land, concealed from my view the other parts of the field ; and thence disqualified me from speaking of what passed there as an eye-witness ; but that the ac- tion had begun in earnest, I was some time after informed by my sense of hearing : it was assailed by a most tremendous roar of ar- tillery, quickly succeeded by incessant volleys of small arms, which seemed to proceed from the east and north ; and it was to these points, that General Howe chiefly directed his efforts. On receiving intelligence that embarcations of British troops were about to be thrown across Haerlem river in the rear, Colonel Cad- walader made detachments from his position (already much too weakly manned) to meet this body of the enemy, as yet unopposed by any part of our force. The first detachment arrived in time to open a fire upon the assailants before they reached the shore, and it was well directed and deadly. Nevertheless, their great supe- riority of force, adequately aided by artillery, enabled them to land, and, by extending themselves, to gain the heights. On this ground it was, that a sharp contest ensued ; speaking of which, in his ofli- cial account of the action, General Howe says, 'it was well defended by a body of the rebels ;' and so it undoubtedly was, when it is considered that but one hundred and fifty of our men, with a single eighteen pounder, were opposed by eight hundred British troops under cover of a battery. But, overpowered by numbers, the resistance was ineffectual ; and the detachments engaged in it retired towards the fort. Rawlins, on his part, made a gallant stand against the Hessians under the command of General Knyp-
· hausen, to whom had been assigned the perilous glory of gaining this strong piece of ground, differing essentially from that on the
' borders of Haerlem river, in the want of opposite heights for bat- teries. The Germans here lost a great many men ; but as they had been bouglit by his Britannick majesty, he had an unques- tionable right to make a free use of them ; and this seemed to be the conviction of General Howe. Rawlins also suffered a good deal in proportion to his numbers. He had, I think, two officers killed ; and himself, Major Williams, and some others, were wounded : one of whom, a Mr. Hanson, died in New York. The attainment of the post of Rawlins, put the Hessians in possession
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of the ground that commanded the fort ; as that, possessed by the British commanded the open field. Hence, the contest might be said to be at an end.
" Colonel Cadwalader, aware that he was placed between two fires ; and that the victorious enemy in his rear, would soon extend themselves across the island, ordered a retreat just in time to pre- vent his interception.
" The first notice that I had of the intrenchment being given up, was from an officer I did not know, posted at some distance from me, going off with his men. I called to him to know what he meant. He answered, that he was making the best of his way to the fort, as the rest of the troops had retreated long since. As I had no reason to doubt his veracity, I immediately formed my company, and began to retire in good order, which is more than I can say of my neighbour or his corps ; and amidst all the chagrin I afterward felt, that the events of the day had been so unpropitious to our glory, I had the satisfaction to reflect, that the men were always obedient, and ready to partake of any danger their officers would share with them. This, however, was but matter of infer- ence ; since I never was attacked, though continually fronted by a strong force, and incommoded by their ordnance, though without being injured by it. After proceeding some hundred paces, I re- flected that I had no orders for what I was doing ; and that, although I had no right to expect exactness, in a moment of such pressure, it was yet possible my movement might be premature. I knew nothing of what had passed in the centre, or of the enemy being master of the high grounds in my rear about Colonel Morris's house, from whom, no doubt, had proceeded the cannon balls that whizzed by us ; and for which, coming in that direction, I could not account. To be entirely correct in my conduct, I here halted my men, and went myself to a rising ground at some distance, from which I might have a view of the lines where Colonel Cad- walader had been posted. They seemed thoroughly manned ; and at the instant, I beckoned to the officers to march back the company, which they immediately put in motion ; but looking . more attentively, I perceived that the people I saw, were British and Hessian troops that were eagerly pressing forward. Upon this, I hastened back to my party, and as there was no time to be lost, being in a situation to be cut to pieces by a corps of cavalry, I ordered them under the command of my ensign, to make the best of their way and join the body of men, which none doubted being our own, on the heights beyond the inner lines ; and that I would follow them as fast as I could, for I was a good deal out of breath with the expedition I had used in going to and returning from the ground, which gave me a view of the outer lines. I accordingly walked on, accompanied by Forrest, who did not
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choose to leave me alone. The body I had pointed to and di- rected my company to join, under the idea of their being our own men, turned out to be the British, consisting of Colonel Stirling's division of Highlanders. - Upon this discovery, we held a mo- ment's consultation, and the result was, that, hemmed in as we were on every side, there was no chance of escaping ; and that there was nothing left but to give ourselves up to them. Thus circumstanced, we clubbed our fusees in token of surrender, and continued to advance towards them. They either did not or would not take the signal ; and though there were but two of us, from whom they could not possibly expect a design to attack, they did not cease firing at us. I may venture to say, that not less than ten guns were discharged with their muzzles towards us, within the distance of forty or fifty yards ; and I might be nearer the truth in saying, that some were let off within twenty. Luckily for us, it was not our riflemen to whom we were targets ; and it is astonish- ing how even these blunt shooters could have missed us. But as we were ascending a considerable hill, they shot over us. I ob- served they took no aim, and that the moment of presenting and firing, was the same. As I had full leisure for reflection, and was perfectly collected, though fearful that their design was to give no quarter, I took off my hat with such a sweep of the arm as could not but be observed, without ceasing however to advance. This had the intended effect : a loud voice proceeded from the breast- work, and the firing immediately ceased. An officer of the forty- second regiment advanced towards us ; and as I was foremost, he civilly accosted me by asking me my rank. Being informed of this, as also of Forrest's, he inquired where the fort lay and where Co- lonel Magaw was. I pointed in the direction of the fort, and told him I had not seen Colonel Magaw during the day. Upon this, he put us under the care of a sergeant and a few men, and left us. The sergeant was a decent looking man, who, on taking us into custody, bestowed upon us in broad Scotch the friendly admonition of young men, ye should never fight against your king. The lit- tle bustle produced by our surrender, was scarcely over, when a British officer, on horseback, apparently of high rank, rode up at a full gallop, exclaiming, What ! taking prisoners! kill them, kill. every man of them. My back was towards him when he spoke ; and although, by this time, there was none of that appearance of ferocity in the guard, which would induce much fear that they would execute his command, I yet thought it well enough to parry it, and turning to him, I took off my hat, saying, Sir, i put myself under your protection. No man was ever more effectually rebuked. His manner was instantly softened : he met my salutation with an in- clination of his body, and after a civil question or two, as if to
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make amends for his sanguinary mandate, he rode off towards the fort, to which he had inquired the way.
" Though I had delivered up my arms, I had not adverted to a cartouch-box which I wore about my waist, and which, having once belonged to his Britanniek majesty, presented, in front, the gilded letters G. R. Exasperated at this trophy on the body of a rebel, one of the soldiers seized the belt with great violence, and in the attempt to unbuckle it, had nearly jerked me off my legs. To appease the offended loyalty of the honest Scot, I submissively took it off and delivered it to him, being conscious that I had no longer any right to it. At this time a Hessian came up. He was not a private, neither did he look like a regular officer : he was some retainer, however, to the German troops ; and was as much of a brute as any one I have ever seen in the human form. The wretch came near enough to elbow us ; and half unsheathing his sword, with a countenance that bespoke a most vehement desire to use it upon us, he grinned out in broken English, Eh, you rebel,
. you damn rebel !
" These transactions, which occupied about ten minutes, passed upon the spot on which we were taken, whence we were marched to an old stable or out-house, where we found about forty or fifty prisoners already collected, principally officers. We remained on the outside of the building; and for nearly an hour sustained a series of most intolerable abuse. The term rebel, with the epithet damned before it, was the mildest we received. We were twenty times told, sometimes with a taunting affectation of concern, that we should every man of us be hanged ; and were nearly as many times paraded with the most inconceivable insolence, for the pur- pose of ascertaining whether there were not some deserters among us ; and these were always sought for among officers, as if the lowest fellow in their army was fit for any post in ours. ''There's a fellow,' an upstart Cockney would exclaim, 'that I could swear was a deserter.' 'What countryman are you sir? did you not belong to such a regiment ?' I was not indeed challenged for a deserter ; but the indignity of being ordered about by such con- temptible whipsters, for a moment unmanned me, and I was obliged to apply my handkerchief to my eyes. This was the first time in' my life, that I had been a victim of brutal, cowardly oppression ; and I was unequal to the shock; but my elasticity of mind was soon restored, and I viewed it with the indignant contempt it deserved.
" For the greater convenience of guarding us, we were removed from this place, to the barn of Colonel Morris's house, already mentioned, which had been the head-quarters of our army, as it now was of the royal one. This was the great bank of deposite for prisoners taken out of the fort ; and already pretty well filled.
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It was a good new building, and we were ushered into it among the rest, the whole body consisting of from a hundred and fifty, to two hundred, composing a motley group to be sure. Here were men and officers of all descriptions, regulars and militia, troops continental and state, some in uniforms, some without them, and some in hunting shirts, the mortal aversion to a red coat. Some of the officers had been plundered of their hats, and some of their coats ; and upon the new society into which we were introduced, with whom a showy exteriour was all in all, we were certainly not calculated to make a very favourable impression.
" The officer who commanded the guard in whose custody we now were, was an ill-looking, low-bred fellow of this dashing corps of light infantry. As I stood as near as possible to the door for the sake of air, the enclosure in which we were being extremely crowded and unpleasant, I was particularly exposed to his bruta- lity ; and repelling with some severity one of his attacks, for I was becoming desperate and careless of safety, the ruffian exclaimed, Not a word, sir, or I'll give you my butt, at the same time clubbing his fusee and drawing it back as if to give a blow. I fully expected it, but he contented himself with the threat. I observed to him that I was in his power, and disposed to submit to it, though not proof against every provocation.
" As to see the prisoners was a matter of some curiosity, we were complimented with a continual succession of visitants, con- sisting of officers of the British army. There were several of these present, when the sergeant-major came to take an account of- us ; and particularly, a list of such of us as were officers. This ser- geant, though not uncivil, had all that animated, degagee impudence of air, which belongs to a self-complacent non-commissioned officer of the most arrogant army in the world ; and with his pen in his hand and his paper on his knee, applied to each of us, in turn, for his rank. He had just set mine down, when he came to a little squat, militia officer from York county, who, somewhat to the de- · terioration of his appearance, liad substituted the dirty crown of an old hat, for a plunder-worthy beaver that had been taken from him by a Hessian. He was known to be an officer from having been assembled among us, for the purpose of enumeration. You are an
officer, sir ! said the sergeant ; Yes, was the answer. Your rank, sir ! with a significant smile. I am a keppun, replied the little man in a chuff, firm tone. Upon this, there was an immoderate roar of laughter among the officers about the door, who were attending to the process ; and I am not sure, I did not laugh myself.
" Although the day was seasonably cool, yet from the number crowded in the barn, the air within was oppressive and suffocating, which, in addition to the agitations of the day, had produced an excessive thirst ; and there was a continual cry for water. I can-
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