USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. II > Part 27
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All eyes were turned expectantly upon the movements at Boston. On the 12th, General Gage established martial law in Massachu- June 12. setts, and sent vessels to Sandy Hook to turn the transports to Boston, which were bound to New York with four regiments of soldiers. About the same time Thomas Wickham, the member of the New York Congress from Easthampton, and one of the trustees in charge of Gar- diner's Island for the children of the late David Gardiner (the 6th Lord) reported that the British had taken off all the stock from this defenseless point, and desired to know whether pay should be taken for the same.1
1 Journal of the Provincial Congress ; New York Historical Society. The manor of Gardi- ner's Island was the first English settlement within the present limits of the State of New York ; its founder, Lion Gardiner, having purchased it of Wyandanch, the great sachem of Long Island in 1639, and taken up his residence there during the same year. He was an educated Englishman, whose family has been traced to the Gardiner who was connected by marriage with the Ancient Barony of Fitz Walter ; and from an engineer in the English army had been made "Master of Works of Fortifications" in the camp of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. He came to America in the employ of a company of English noblemen, to build a city at the mouth of the Connecticut River (a project afterwards abandoned), and commanded the Saybrook Fort through the perils of the great Pequot War with signal ability. He also built the first fort in Boston. He married Mary Willemsen, a Holland lady. His
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WASHINGTON COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
The Continental Congress having at last created a continental army, elected Washington its commander-in-chief. On the following June 15. day he accepted the position, refusing all compensation beyond
his expenses ; and with the full knowledge that he was appointed by the feeblest of all possible governments, prepared for his departure for the seat of war. Four major-generals and eight brigadiers where like- wise appointed. At the same moment events were transpiring in Boston which were to electrify all Christendom. Spies, swimming under the very bows of the British war-vessels unseen, communicated to the army of besiegers that the enemy were about to extend their lines over Charlestown. The question was quickly debated of fortifying the Heights of Charles- town (Bunker Hill). But if such step were taken the post must be held against a constant cannonade, and probably a direct assault, and where was the powder to be obtained ? General Ward knew that he was hardly commander-in-chief, although in chief command, for in reality there was no New England army ; Massachusetts had an army, New Hampshire had an army, Connecticut had an army, and Rhode Island had an army, but there was no association formed and no common authority. They had met under one common impulse and purpose, that was all. The moment, however, was a critical one, and demanded decisive action. Joseph War- ren, President of the Massachusetts Congress, and chairman of the Com- mittee of Safety, was in favor of taking the risks for the possible issue. The vote accorded with his judgment, and Ward executed the instructions of his superiors. The next day (the 16th) William Prescott was chosen to lead a detachment to intrench Bunker Hill, and a thousand men were placed under his command. It was one of the most daring enterprises of
eldest son, David, was the first white child born in Connecticut. His daughter, Elizabeth, was the first child of English parentage born in New York.
The manor was in a highly prosperous condition at the time of the death of David, the 6th Lord, in the autumn of 1774 ; and as his two children, John Lyon and David, were quite young, the estate was in charge of three trustees, Colonel Abraham Gardiner, of East- hampton, Thomas Wickham, and David Mulford whose wife was Colonel Gardiner's daugh- ter. It was one of the most exposed portions of the Province ; as was also the thriving territory of Easthampton, of which the inhabitants had been among the earliest to come for- ward in a body and sign an association "never to become slaves." They petitioned for troops to be added to the number they were raising among themselves to enable them to withhold support from the enemy, who, it was predicted, would swoop down upon them for provisions ; and, after some deliberation, General Wooster was sent from Harlem with a detachment for the protection of this eastern region. But before operations were perfected, - on August 8, - a fleet of thirteen sail anchored in Gardiner's Bay, and not being able to effect the purchase of stock and other supplies from Colonel Gardiner, plundered the island of nearly twelve hun- dred sheep, upwards of sixty head of cattle, and hogs, fowls, cheese, and hay, to the value of some four thousand dollars. Henceforward Gardiner's Island was a foraging field for the British ..
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modern warfare. The work must be done in the night, and in such near proximity to the enemy that ordinary conversation might be heard. The men with their wagons and tools were in readiness as the shades of even- ing settled upon Cambridge. They were drawn up in front of the par- sonage, General Ward's headquarters, not knowing whither they were bound, and prayer was offered by the Reverend President of Harvard College, Dr. Langdon. Prescott, with two sergeants carrying dark lanterns open in the rear, gave the order of march at nine o'clock, himself leading the way. With hushed voices and silent tread they passed the narrow isthmus. Then they halted, and Prescott conferred with Colonel Richard Gridley, a competent engineer, and other officers, in relation to the exact spot suitable for their earthworks. The order designated "Bunker Hill," the highest of the two eminences which constituted what was then known as Charlestown Heights. But with scanty military appliances it was quite apparent that both hills could not be fortified in one night, and that the lower, or " Breed's Hill" (as it was afterwards called), was a superior position. Bunker Hill would have been altogether untenable except in connection with Breed's Hill. The British would certainly have occupied the latter summit if the Americans had not, and thus have become masters of the situation.
The Boston bells announced the midnight hour before the sod was broken, and the remnant of a waning moon disappeared. The stars shone with mocking brilliancy. Morning was just beyond the horizon, approaching swiftly. How precious each second of time ! Every man was conscious of the risks, and every muscle was strained to the utmost in the rapid work of raising the protecting shield of loose earth. A guard was stationed at the water's edge to note any movement of the British. Five or more armed vessels were moored so close that it seemed almost impossible but that the sentries, if awake, would hear something of the operations. Twice Prescott ran down to the shore to satisfy himself that they had discovered nothing, and was reassured by the drowsy cry from the decks, " All is well." During the night General Putnam appeared for a few moments among the Connecticut men on the Hill, but his hands were full elsewhere. Officers sprang from point to point, putting their own shoulders to the wheel, and men worked as men can only work in the presence of a fearful necessity. Thus minutes yielded the fruits of ordinary hours.
The sun rose upon a scene which foretold serious events. A redoubt had sprung into existence while Boston was sleeping, the earthwork of which was already between six and seven feet high. Cannon from the vessels greeted it with a hot fire without any seeming effect. The British
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THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
generals repaired to Copp's Hill, twelve hundred yards from it, to study its strength and character. Hurrying its completion, Prescott's one thou- sand looked like a hive of bees. Untiring, with perspiration streaming from every pore, without food or water,1 the intense heat of the coming day bearing down upon them with fatal force, they labored with an intre- pidity which delayed the measures of the enemy through sheer amazement. Prescott was full of bounding energy, and his words fell like fire-balls of inspiration about him. He was in his fiftieth year, tall, of fine, command- ing presence, with frank, open, handsome face, blue eyes and brown hair; he was bald on the top of his head, and later in life wore a wig. He was in a simple and appropriate military costume, - wearing a three-cornered hat, a blue coat with a single row of buttons, lapped and faced, and a well-proven sword.2 Expecting warm service, he had with him a linen coat or banyan which he wore in the engagement. As he mounted the works with his hat in his hand, and walked leisurely backwards and forwards giving directions, his magnificent figure attracted the attention of Gage on Copp's Hill, who asked of Counselor Willard, at his side, "Who is that officer commanding ?"
Willard, recognizing his own brother-in-law, named Colonel Prescott.
" Will he fight ?" asked Gage.
" Yes, indeed, depend upon it, to the last drop of blood in him ; though I cannot answer for his men."
But Prescott could answer for his men, as the sequel proved.
The story of this battle has been told again and again. Who does not know with what admirable coolness and self-possession, such as would have done credit to the greatest hero of antiquity, Colonel Prescott de- liberately gave orders and compelled their obedience. He despatched repeated messengers for reinforcements and provisions, but none came. Without sleep, without breakfast, without dinner, without even a cup of cold water, he and his men prepared for a desperate encounter with a vastly superior force. General Ward, at Cambridge, apprehending that the main attack of the British would be at headquarters, dared not impair his strength by sending more men to Bunker Hill. Even when he was told by Brooks - afterwards governor of Massachusetts, one of Prescott's mes- sengers, who, denied a horse because the roads were raked by the cannon of the gunboats, had made the long detour to headquarters on foot - that
1 Two barrels of water were knocked in pieces by a shot from one of the vessels. Jacob Nash, the grandfather of the author, witnessed the scene, to whom he often described it while the latter was a child.
2 This account differs somewhat from the notions obtained from the ideal pictures, where Prescott is represented in the working garb of a farmer, wearing a slouched hat and carrying a musket ; but the above description is well authenticated.
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the British were landing at Charlestown, he refused to change his plan. He simply ordered the New Hampshire regiments of Stark and Reed, then at Medford, to march to Prescott's support. Some two hundred yards in the rear of the redoubt, a low stone-wall crowned by a rail-fence extended towards the Mystic. A few apple-trees were upon either side of it. The meadow, just mown the day before, was rich with half-cured hay in piles. Prescott sent the brave Knowlton with a detachment of Connecticut troops to improvise a fortification by throwing up another rail-fence along the route of this, filling the few feet of space between the two with the fresh-mown hay. The work was done, and proved of great service. But it was only about seven hundred feet long, and there was an opening of nearly the same length between it and the redoubt which there was no time to secure, and no means of defending save be- hind a few scattered trees.
Thousands of persons from hill-top, steeple, and roof, almost disbelieving their own eyes, regarded every movement with intensest anxiety. Ere the clock struck nine the bustle in Boston indicated that the British would presently attempt to dislodge the bold patriots. But they moved with moderation ; they took refreshments by the way; they halted on the grass and sent back for reinforcements ; and finally, about half past two o'clock in the afternoon, marched up the hill in their glittering uniforms.
Prescott was undismayed by the thinned ranks of his fighting corps, some of those detailed expressly for the night work having departed. Warren arrived just before the action, saying he came as a volunteer, and asked for a place where the onset would be most furious. It was absolutely necessary, with the small amount of powder in hand, that every charge should take effect, hence the men were ordered to withhold their fire until they could see the whites of the assaulters' eyes. Prescott vowed instant death to any one who disobeyed him in this respect, and when the word was given and the deadly flashes burst forth, the enemy fell like the tall grass before the practiced sweep of the mower. General Pigott, who com- manded the British left wing, was obliged to give the order for retreat. General Howe, meanwhile, with the British right wing, made for the rail- fence where Putnam had posted the artillery, and threatened to cut down any of his men who risked the waste of a musket discharge without orders. The word was given when the enemy were within eight rods, and a lane was mown through the advancing column. The assailants retreated in confusion. Our troops and our cause suffered from want of discipline and imperfect preparation ; and an almost insuperable barrier to the bringing on of reinforcements was the plowing of the neck of land by the incessant volleys from the ships, which kept a cloud of dust darkening
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WASHINGTON IN NEW YORK.
the air. At this crisis fresh troops came over from Boston, and the enemy rallied for a second attack. Again were the British fairly and completely driven from the hill. It was during this assault that Charlestown was set on fire by order of Howe, and its church and over two hundred dwell- ings were falling in one great blaze. The few remaining rounds of powder were distributed by Prescott himself to the less than two hundred men left in the redoubt, and there were not fifty bayonets in his party. The British made the third desperate assault, and hand to hand and face to face were exchanged the last savage hostilities of that day. It was only when the redoubt was crowded by the enemy and its defenders in a dense promiscuous throng, and fresh assailants were on every side pouring into it, that Prescott conducted an orderly but still resisting retreat. The chival- rous Warren was among the last to leave the redoubt, and fell a few rods from it. Putnam, with Knowlton and Stark, made a vigorous stand at the rail-fence, which was of the utmost service to the retreating party, but were also compelled to retire. The enemy were in no condition to pursue, and remained apparently content with the little patch of ground which had cost them so many lives. They had brought their last forces into the field; more than a third of those engaged lay dead or bleeding, and the survivors were exhausted by the courage of their adversaries. All that night and the next day boats, drays, and stretchers were conveying the wounded and dying to Boston. Seventy commissioned officers were wounded and thirteen slain. Even the battle of Quebec, which won half a continent, did not cost the lives of as many officers. Gage estimated his loss at one thousand fifty-four. Of the Americans, one hundred and forty-five were killed. This battle put an end to all offensive operations on the part of Gage.
The news reached Philadelphia on the 22d, and the next day Washing- ton, accompanied by two of the newly appointed major-generals,
Lee and Schuyler, and a volunteer corps of light horse, started June 23. for the seat of war. As the brilliant cavalcade clattered through the country, it was the delight and wonder of every town and village. The New York Congress were in a dilemma when a message came that Washington would arrive in the city on the 25th, and another to June 25. say that Governor Tryon, just from Europe, was on a vessel in the harbor, and would probably land about the same time. Tryon was still held to be the legal governor by order of the Continental Congress, although the only allegiance shown him by the New York Congress was outward respect, and a vigilant caution that his person should not be molested. It was not desirable that the two distinguished officials should meet, and it was incumbent on the self-constituted authorities to
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
pay military honors to both. In the embarrassment of the moment they ordered one company of militia to meet Washington, and another to be ready at the ferry to welcome whichever dignitary should first arrive " as well as circumstances would allow." A committee consisting of John Sloss Hobart, Melancton Smith, Richard Montgomery, and Gouverneur Morris met Washington in Newark, and attended him to New York. It was a lovely afternoon, bells were rung joyfully, militia paraded in their gayest trim, and the handsome, courtly commander-in-chief, in a uniform of blue, with purple sash, and long plume of feathers in his hat, was drawn in an open phaeton by a pair of white horses, up Broadway, which was lined by multitudes to the very house-tops. A letter from Gilbert Livingston to Dr. Peter Tappan gives an account of the affair in all its freshness.
NEW YORK, June 29, 1775.
" DEAR BROTHER, - You will see by the warrants who are nominated officers for your County, it is very likely we shall raise an additional number of troops besides the 3,000 now Raised. We expect all dilligence will be used in Recruiting, that the Regiments may be formed immediately. Last Saturday about two o'clock the Generals Washington Lee and Schuyler arrived here, they crossed the North River at Hoback 1 and landed at Coll Lispenards.2 There were 8 or 10 Companies under Arms all in Uniforms who marched out to Lispenards, the procession began from there thus, the Companies first, Congress next, two of Continental Congress next, General Officers next, & a Company of horse from Philadelphia who came with the General brought up the rear, there were an innumerable Company of people Men Women and Chil- dren present. In the evening Governor Tryon landed as in the newspapers. I walked with my friend George Clinton, all the way to Lispenards - who is now gone home.8 I am very well hope all Friends so, the Torys Catey 4 writes are as violent as ever ! poor insignificant souls, Who think themselves of great importance. The Times will soon show. I fancy that they must quit their Wicked Tenets at least in pretense and show fair, Let their Hearts be Black as Hell. Go on be spirited & I doubt not success will Crown our Honest endeavours for the Support of our Just Rights and Privaledges."
Governor Tryon landed about eight o'clock the same evening, and was met and escorted by a delegation of magistrates, and the militia in full dress, to the residence of the Hon. Hugh Wallace. He wrote to Dart- mouth shortly after, that he was only in the exercise of such feeble ex- ecutive powers as suited the convenience or caprice of the country, and he felt most keenly his ignoble situation. He said every traveler on the
1 Hoboken.
2 In the vicinity of Laight Street, near Greenwich.
3 The wife of George Clinton was Cornelia, sister of Dr. Tappan.
4 "Catey " was the wife of Gilbert Livingston and sister of Dr. Tappan.
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THE ASIA.
continent must have a pass from some committee or some congress, in order to proceed from one point to another.
Washington met the New York Congress on the day following his re- ception, exchanged addresses and civilities, and discussed military June 26. questions of moment, chiefly concerning the formidable power which threatened from the interior of this province ; then hastened towards Cambridge, where he was much needed. Schuyler was left in command of the militia of New York. The Continental Congress had already ordered New York to contribute three thousand men as her quota to the army of the country. Four regiments were soon raised and placed under Colonels McDougal, Van Schaick, James Clinton, and Holmes. John Lamb was appointed captain of a company of artillery. He was shortly instructed by the New York Congress to remove the guns on the
battery to the fortifications in the Highlands. While accomplish- Aug. 23. ing this feat, on the night of August 23, he was fired upon by a party from the Asia, who were in a barge close under the fort, evidently to watch proceedings, and returned a volley which sent the hostile craft swiftly to the shelter of the ship, with one man killed and several wounded. A broadside was at once opened upon the city by the Asia, wounding three of Lamb's men and injuring some of the houses in the vicinity of Whitehall. In the mean time the cannon, in all twenty-one pieces, were taken hence with great deliberation. The panic was such that many families hurriedly removed from the city the next day. The captain of the Asia wrote to the Mayor, Whitehead Hicks, in the early morning, demanding satisfaction for the murder of one of his men in the skirmish. The Aug. 24. public functionaries were summoned to the council-room of the City Hall, including the Mayor and Common Council, Governor Tryon, and of his counselors Daniel Horsemanden, Oliver De Lancey, Charles Ward Ap- thorpe, Henry White, and Hugh Wallace, together with the members of the New York Congress who were in town, to consult in regard to the alarming condition of affairs. It was agreed, after considerable discussion, that as the Asia had seen fit to cannonade the city, she must henceforward receive no more supplies from it directly, but fresh provisions might be delivered on Governor's Island for her benefit. Thus there would Aug. 29.
be no communication between the vessel and the town. Orders to this effect were issued on the 29th. A week later Tryon wrote to Dartmouth : -
" The city has remained quiet since, but a boat which carried only some milk to the ship was burnt on her return to shore, as was last Sunday a country sloop for having put some provisions on board the man-of-war. Such is the rage of the present animosity. At least one third of the citizens have moved with their
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effects out of town, and many of the inhabitants will shortly experience the dis- tresses of necessity and want."
It may be observed that the ablest and best-informed of those who have censured the New York Congress for permitting any supplies what- ever to reach the Asia are scarcely consistent with themselves. On what principle of generalship could an engagement have been provoked with an adversary of such strength without as yet the slightest means of de- fense ? It is hardly conceivable that men of genius and judgment, as the majority of this Congress unquestionably were, should commit so great a blunder as to throw the firebrands which would have certainly laid the city in ashes, to the great risk of life and destruction of property. There were other and broader objects and aims than the punishment of one war vessel which manifestly had the advantage at the present moment. De- spite the clamor of the short-sighted and impatient, less diplomacy and discretion at this crisis would have done irreparable injury to the American cause. "We had better be dubbed cowards and tories than to beat our heads against a wall," said Gouverneur Morris.
Tryon wrote to Dartmouth in an hour of deep dejection :-
" Every day produces fresh proof of a determined spirit of resistance in the Confederate Colonies. The Americans from politicians are becoming soldiers, and however problematical it once was, there can be no doubt now of their intention to persevere to great extremity, unless they are called back by some liberal and conciliatory assurances." 1
Tryon was privately informed by General Montgomery that measures were being matured by Congress for his arrest and imprisonment, Oct. 30. and after suffering much uneasiness and mortification, he retired, on the 30th of October, to the ship Duchess of Gordon, under protection of the guns of the Asia in the harbor.
John Morin Scott wrote to Richard Varick on the 15th of November following : -
"Every office shut up almost, but Sam Jones's who will work for 6/ a day & live accordingly - All Business stagnated, the City half deserted for fear of a Bombardment - a new Congress elected - Those for New York you will see by the papers are changed for the better - All staunch Whigs now. How it is with the Convention I know not. We have [not rec'd] Returns. Yesterday the new Congress was to meet but I believe they did not make a house. My Doctors say I must not attend it nor any other Business in some Weeks ; but I hope they will be mistaken. Nothing from t'other side of the Water but a fearful looking for of wrath. Our continental petition most probably condemned the Bulk of
1 Tryon to Dartmouth, September 5, 1775. N. Y. Coll. Ms. VIII. 633.
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