USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. II > Part 30
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Rigorous military rule was established over the city; soldiers and in- habitants were all subjected to strict discipline. Nobody was permitted to pass a sentry without the countersign, furnished on application to a brigade- major ; and any person caught in the act of holding communication with the ships in the bay was treated as an enemy. The work of intrench- ing went on with spirit. The batteries planned for both sides of the East River were intended to secure safe transit between Long Island and New York ; there was one sunk in a cellar on Coenties Slip, near foot of Wall Street; Waterbury's Battery was located at the foot of Catherine Street, where the river was narrowest; another battery on the Rutgers lower hill ; forts were being erected on Jones', Bayard's, and Lispenard's hills, north of the town, to cover the approach by land in that direction ; and still another at the foot of East Eighty-eighth Street to blockade the passage at Hell Gate. That part of Fort George which faced Broadway was dismantled to prevent its being converted into a citadel ; and bat- teries were projected along the west side of the island at various points, although it was agreed that the Hudson was so extremely wide and deep that all attempts to obstruct the passage of ships would be fruitless ; works of considerable strength were in progress at Kingsbridge. The map of New York Island, on the following page, has been compiled from authentic
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THE BRITISH ARMY DRIVEN FROM BOSTON.
sources with direct reference to the convenience of the reader in tracing the course of events and armies during this rarely interesting period of American history. It serves also with its truthful lines to illustrate the wonderful growth of New York City in a century.
During the month of March, while George III. was exulting over the acquisition of twenty thousand German soldiers, and Joseph Brant, a Mohawk sachem, was standing among the courtiers at Whitehall, promis- ing assistance from the Six Nations to chastise those " bad children, the New England people," and the ministry were strengthening their impetu- ous arrogance with the near prospect of victory, Washington, through a series of skillful maneuvers, in which he hazarded comparatively nothing, was actually putting the British army to flight from the city of Boston. Never before was so important a result obtained at so small a cost of human life.
Howe's orders for the instant evacuation of Boston fell upon the inhab- itants who had rallied round the standard of the king like a bolt of thun- der from a clear sky. They had never once dreamed of such a contin- gency. They had regarded the gibbet as the inevitable destination of the American patriots. Their faith was pinned to the potency of the British arms, and they laughed at fear while under such protection. Now they were stricken with horror and despair. The best that England could do for their safety was to offer a crowded passage to the shores of bleak and dismal Nova Scotia, where they must remain in exile indefinitely, de- pendent on monarchical charity grudgingly doled from a pinched treasury. Many of these loyalists, as in New York, were among the wealthiest and most upright people of the Colony, who acted from a principle of honor in adhering to the cause of their sovereign; others were time-servers, desperate of character, or governed in their conduct by their confidence in the strength and success of the crown. Their anguish in bidding adieu to homes and comforts and estates, as they ran wildly to and fro in the dead of night, preparing for embarkation, can easily be imagined. Eleven hundred of these " wretched beings " (so styled by Washington in his dis- patches), with eight thousand valiant troops, were precipitately hustled on board one hundred and twenty transports, between the hours of March 17. four and half past nine in the morning. At ten o'clock A. M. sails were fluttering in the breeze, and the gallant forces of King George III. were scudding from the town they had been sent to punish, leaving be- hind them stores valued at £ 30,000, some two hundred and fifty pieces of cannon spiked, some large iron sea-mortars, which they in vain at- tempted to burst, and one hundred and fifty horses.1 Several British .
l' Heath, 43 ; Holmes's Annals, II. 242 ; Nash's Journal, 9, 51, 52 ; Sparks, 164.
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store-ships consigned to Boston steered unsuspiciously into the harbor and were seized; one of these brought more than seven times as much powder as contained in the whole American camp. The destination of the British fleet was Halifax, but it could not be expected to tarry long in that region of inactivity. "General Howe," wrote Washington, " has a grand maneuver in view - or - has made an inglorious retreat." 1 New York was the point towards which all eyes turned, whether in hope, ap- prehension, or despair, its reduction being of the first importance to the mother country.
Washington marched triumphantly into Boston, meeting with a soul- stirring welcome, and made vigorous preparations for the transfer of his army to New York ; not venturing to move, however, until the hostile fleet had actually put to sea from Nantasket Road, where it loitered ten days. During the last days of March several regiments were sent for- ward to the metropolis ; the artillery were in motion on the 29th, journey- ing over the muddy highways to New London, thence to New York by sloop.2 Washington left Cambridge on the 4th of April on horseback, attended by his suite, - stopping in Providence, where he was enthusiasti-
cally honored ; in Norwich, where he was met by Governor Trum- April 7. bull of Connecticut ; in New London, where he tarried long enough to hasten the embarkation of troops awaiting his arrival; in Lyme, at April 9. the mouth of the Connecticut River, where he spent the night with John McCurdy ; 3 and in New Haven, -reaching New York on the 13th of April. He established headquarters at the Richmond Hill House, and was joined by Mrs. Washington and family.
As if in confirmation of David Hartley's prediction in the House of Commons on the last day of February, that England in applying to foreign powers for aid was setting an example to America which might prove dis- astrous to all possibility of reconciliation, a secret congressional committee, of whom John Jay and Franklin were conspicuous members, dispatched Silas Deane of Connecticut to France on a mission of the utmost delicacy, that of learning how far assistance might be expected from that nation in case the Colonies should form themselves into an independent state. Deane was an accomplished, college-bred man, of elegant manners and striking appearance, accustomed to a showy style of living, equipage,
1 Washington to Joseph Reed, March 28, 1776.
2 Solomon Nash was connected with the artillery, and his private daily record of pass- ing events has proved of great service in fixing dates and corroborating other authorities. He joined the army on January 1, 1776, in Roxbury, and his circumstantial Journal covers the entire year, until his return to Boston, January 9, 1777. He was a descendant of the famous Thomas Nash who figured so prominently in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
3 See Vol. I. page 719.
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SILAS DEANE SENT TO THE FRENCH KING FOR HELP.
and appointment, and a natural diplomat. He was chairman of the Committee of Safety in Connecticut, and his residence in Wethersfield was the rendezvous of nearly all the public characters of the period. William Livingston called it " Hospitality Hall"; Lossing speaks of it as the " Webb House."1 He was a member of the first Continental Congress, taking his step-son Samuel B. Webb with him to Philadelphia as private secretary. He was perfectly informed on American affairs, and, Congress having already received intimation of the kindly disposition of France, he was able to accomplish the grand result desired. He sailed in April, and reached Paris in June.
The affairs of Canada were agitating the public mind at this moment also. The army was dwindling away about Quebec, where Arnold had maintained the blockade with an iron face since the fall of Montgomery. The intense cold, absence of comforts of every description, scarcity of wholesome food, sickness in camp, and the expiration of enlistments, had combined to demoralize the remnant of troops remaining. There was no uncertainty concerning the reinforcements from England destined for the relief of Quebec, which would arrive as soon as the ice should break up in the St. Lawrence River. Schuyler had appealed again and again for troops to sustain the besiegers ; but Washington, with his poverty of material for defending a continent, could do little ; he had sent two com- panies of artillery from Roxbury, in March, which he knew not how to spare, - those of Captain Eustis, and Captain Ebenezer Stevens, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel of Artillery, who, dragging guns through the deep snow which covered the surface of New Hampshire, cutting their own roads and building their own rafts and bridges, progressed slowly. Con- gress, finally, in alarm at the exposed condition of Northern New York, expressed a strong desire to have four, even ten regiments detached from the forces in and about the metropolis and sent to Canada at once. Washington acquiesced shortly after he reached New York, although he
1 Silas Deane married the widowed mother of Samuel B. Webb in 1753 (and after her death, Miss Saltonstall). The " Webb House " was where Washington and Rochambeau met in 1781, and arranged the campaign against Cornwallis in Virginia. The suites of the two commanders, consisting of forty-five persons each, were distributed among the people of Wethersfield. Only Washington and Rochambeau slept in the great double house, with its wide hall in the center, and rooms on each side with wall decorations of rich crimson velvet paper. Samuel B. Webb, afterwards general, was descended in the direct line from Richard Webb, who came to Boston from England in 1632, and in connection with Hooker, Hopkins, and Willys. settled Hartford in 1635. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill, immediately after which he was appointed aid-de-camp to Putnam ; and in June, 1776, at the age of twenty-two, was made private secretary and aid-de-camp to Washington, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was the father of General James Watson Webb, and the grandfather of General Alexander S. Webb of the New York City College.
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said, "I am at a loss to know the designs of the enemy. Should they send the whole force under General Howe up the River St. Lawrence to recover Canada, the troops gone and now going will be insufficient to stop their progress ; and should they send an equal force to possess this city and secure the navigation of the Hudson River, the troops left behind will not be sufficient to oppose them ; and yet, for anything we know, they may attempt both." Meanwhile Congress sent a commission to Canada clothed with extraordinary power. It consisted of Dr. Franklin, Samuel Chase of Maryland, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and John Car- roll, brother of the latter, a Catholic priest who had been educated in France, and spoke French like a native. They were to confer with Ar- nold, but their chief business was to enlist Canada into a union with the Colonies, raise troops and issue military commissions. Equipped for this journey of five hundred miles, they tarried in New York City several days. "It is no more the gay, polite place it used to be esteemed, but almost a desert," wrote the venerable priest. Lord Stirling engaged a sloop, upon which they embarked for Albany April 2, where they were warmly welcomed by Schuyler, and entertained in his handsome home
for two days. On the 9th they left for Saratoga, accompanied by
April 9.
the General and Mrs. Schuyler, and their two beautiful black-eyed daughters, who were so full of life and vivacity that the rough ride of thirty-two miles over muddy roads speckled with snow-drifts was divested of half its tediousness. A week spent at Schuyler's hospitable and well- appointed country-seat in Saratoga, and the aged philosopher (Franklin was now a man of seventy), who had been suffering from severe indisposi- tion, was able to proceed. Two days and a half of wagon-transit brought them to Lake George. Schuyler had gone before to prepare a bateau, upon which they embarked April 19, and pushed their way to its upper end through the floating masses of ice, sailing when they could, rowing when they must, and going ashore for their meals. Six yoke of oxen drew their bateau on wheels across the four-mile neck of land which separates the two lakes, and after a delay of five days they were afloat on Lake Champlain. They reached St. Johns in four days, and thought they had done well. Then came another day of tiresome travel in torturing calashes, which brought them to Montreal, where Arnold, who had been superseded by Wooster, before Quebec, on the 18th day of April, received them with a great body of officers and gentry, the firing of cannon, and other military honors.
They presently found that Canada was lost. Congress had no credit there ; even the most trifling service could not be procured without the payment of gold or silver in advance. The army had contracted debts
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CANADA'S COMMISSIONERS.
which were manufacturing enemies faster than a regiment of commis- sioners could make friends for America. And, shortly, the news reached Montreal that a British fleet had landed soldiers at Quebec, who had attacked and put the little American army to flight. Apparently noth- ing remained but to fortify St. Johns, conduct the routed army to that point, and make a desperate attempt to check the southward progress of the British into New York.
The indefatigable Schuyler assisted the travelers on their homeward journey down the lakes, entertained them at his house, and, owing to the illness of Franklin, sent his own chariot to convey them the whole dis- tance to New York City. It was about the middle of June when they reached Philadelphia.
The tidings of Canadian reverses had preceded them, spreading con- sternation through the northern districts. Schuyler was accused in the most extraordinary manner. He had never been loved by the New Eng- land people, having in all the boundary disputes been the champion of New York in opposition to Eastern claims. Now, he was charged with having neglected to forward supplies and reinforcements ; indeed, as the commander of the Northern department of the army, he was declared re- sponsible for its failures and humiliations. His magnanimity in allowing Sir John Johnson to go at large was misconstrued into a crime ; presently insinuations were afloat that he was untrue to America, and town-meetings were held in various places and plots concocted for his arrest and im- prisonment. These base imputations were not generally advanced or countenanced ; but Washington was addressed on the subject, as was also Governor Trumbull and others. Washington was indignant, said it was one of the diabolical schemes of the Tories to create distrust, and pro- claimed his utmost confidence in Schuyler's integrity. Schuyler denounced the scandal as infamous, and demanded a court of inquiry.
On the 19th Washington was summoned, by Congress, to Philadelphia, whither he was accompanied by Mrs. Washington, accepting the hospitalities of John Hancock fifteen days. There were serious May 19. divisions among the members ; it was known that commissioners from Parliament were on the water, coming with proposals of accommodation, the engagement of German troops by England indicated unsparing hos- tility, and the hazards of a protracted war were fully comprehended. The majority, however, were for vigorous measures, and it was resolved to swell the army in New York with thirteen thousand eight hundred militia, and institute a flying camp of ten thousand to be stationed in New Jersey. A war-office was established, which went into operation June 12. Among those in Congress to whom Washington turned for 265
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counsel concerning the interior defenses of New York at this alarming crisis, was George Clinton, whose life at the ancestral homestead in Orange County had familiarized him with the physical and topographical peculiarities of the region along the Hudson above the city. His brother, James Clinton, was stationed with a considerable force in the Highlands ; he had been with Montgomery at the siege of St. Johns and the capture of Montreal, and, even earlier, while yet a beardless boy, had taken les- sons in that great American military school, the French War, in which their father Charles Clinton was an efficient officer under the Crown. Both brothers were men of military genius and sound judgment.
The question of what to do with the Tories was discussed with much warmth during this conference. Many had been apprehended, some dis- armed, and not a few incarcerated. To discriminate justly between those who were criminal as covert enemies, and such as indulged in a peaceable difference of opinion, was by no means easy. Rancorous partisans com- plained of the want of patriotic vigor in the New York Congress, because of the methods used to avoid confounding the innocent with the guilty and prevent unmerited abuse. A proposal which found favor, however, emanated from this body, that secret committees, chosen by the civil au- thority of each Colony, should act in connection with the military leaders in subduing an element so threatening to the chances of success. John Jay, Philip Livingston, Gouverneur Morris, Thomas Tredwell, Lewis Gra- ham, and Leonard Gansevoort composed the earliest " Committee on Con- spiracy " in New York under these resolves. They were all members of the Third New York Congress, which, elected in April, assembled about the middle of May, and continued in session until June 20.
The public fever was at its highest ebb during these dark days of ex- pectant calamity. Mischief was brewing on every hand. Schuyler dis- covered that Sir John Johnson had broken his parole, and was preparing to co-operate with the British army at the head of savage bands of warriors. Colonel Elias Dayton was sent with a strong force to arrest him, but he escaped and took refuge among the Indians on the borders of the lakes, accompanied by a crowd of armed tenants. Dayton took temporary possession of Johnson Hall, seized Sir John's papers and read them aloud in the presence of his wife, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of the counselor, John Watts, and finally conveyed her ladyship as a hostage to Albany. The rumor followed quickly that Sir John was actually coming down the valley of the Mohawk prepared to lay everything waste, and Schuyler hurriedly collected such material as he could command, in the vicinity of Albany, to oppose the anticipated attack.
Meanwhile New York City was alive with conspiracies, imaginary and
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THE APTHORPE MANSION.
real. The secret committee made out a list of suspected persons and served upon each a printed summons to appear and give security on oath that they would have nothing to do with any measures hostile to the union of the Colonies. Heading this formidable list were the counselors Oliver De Lancey, Hugh Wallace, and Charles Ward Apthorpe, who were in the habit of visiting the governor on board the Duchess of Gordon, in the harbor, and were said to be privately offering bribes to induce men to
The Apthorpe Mansion.
enlist in the service of the king. Apthorpe was a scholarly man of fifty, of quiet habits, cultivated tastes, and social prominence, with no special inclination to fight either for a crowned head across the water or a crown of heads upon this side. He built the stately old mansion of the sketch, one of the finest specimens of the domestic architecture of that period in America, shortly before the Revolution. It stands on the corner of Ninth Avenue and Ninety-First Street, and is known at the present time as Elm Park. Its recessed portico, Corinthian columns, corresponding pilasters, and high-arched doorway at the middle of the house opening into a hall
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wide enough for a cotillion party, give it an aristocratic air even now, with its weight of years and interesting associations. Apthorpe was able to satisfy the committee in regard to his peaceable intentions. His property in New York was untouched at the close of the war (although he had large estates in Maine and Massachusetts which were confiscated), and he resided in his elegant Bloomingdale mansion, exercising the generous hospitality of a courtly gentleman of wealth, until his death in 1797. In the winter of 1789, the beauty, wealth, and fashion of New York City gathered under this roof to witness the marriage ceremony of his " lovely and accomplished " daughter Maria, to the distinguished Hugh Williamson, Member of Congress from North Carolina, a bachelor of fifty years.1
The President of the Third New York Congress was Nathaniel Wood- hull, who had served in the French War, commanding a New York regi- ment under General Amherst in the final reduction of Canada in 1760. His wife was Ruth, daughter of Nicoll Floyd, and sister of William Floyd, one of the active members of the Continental Congress.2 He was fifty- four years of age, brave, generous, upright, and a chivalrous defender of colonial rights. He was appointed a brigadier-general, for which his mili- tary training and experience had admirably fitted him, and with the first intimation of the landing of the British on Long Island, he placed himself at the head of his command.3 In his necessary absences during the ses- sion John Haring presided over this Congress, a tall, fine-looking, dark- complexioned man of thirty-seven, of unblemished character, excellent parts, and a fluent talker. His residence was in Tappan on the Hudson, in the vicinity of which he was popular and influential, and constantly con- triving measures to circumvent the Tories. In addition to his legislative duties he was actively employed in the purchase and manufacture of salt- petre, and in collecting lead. In consultation with Henry Wisner4 months prior to this date, the subject of the practical alleviation of the most
1 New York Daily Gazette, Monday, Jan. 5, 1789.
2 See p. 20, note (Vol. II.).
3 The next day after the battle of Long Island he was surprised by a party of Light Horse under Oliver De Lancey, Jr., near Jamaica, and seriously injured after the surrender of his sword, the wounds causing his death, September 20, 1776.
4 Henry Wisner was born in 1720 ; his father was Hendrick Wisner, and his mother a New England woman. His grandfather, Johannes Wisner, was born in Switzerland, fought under Louis XIV. in the allied army of the Prince of Orange, and under the Duke of Marlborough ; he emigrated to New York in the early part of the eighteenth century. Henry Wisner's resi- dence was about a mile south of the village of Goshen ; he was a justice of the peace, owned considerable land thereabouts, and a few slaves. His wife was Sarah Norton. His public services began in the New York Assembly in 1759, which position he held for ten years. - Memorial of Henry Wisner, by Franklin Burdge.
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ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
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