USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. II > Part 35
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1 This statement seems to be absolutely correct. It was Washington's original estimate, made from the list of names handed in by the commander of each regiment engaged in the fight ; many of these lists are preserved (Force, Fifth Series, Vol. III.), and by compari- son with other official reports prove the facts, notwithstanding the widely different account given by Howe, and accepted by various historians.
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THE RETREAT.
In the rear of the Americans was a river half a mile broad swept by swift tides. He could, when the wind changed, easily encircle them by a fleet, thereby cutting off all connection with New York.
On the morning of the 29th'the rain was still pouring in torrents. Neither Washington nor his generals had taken rest since the Aug. 29. battle. Should the enemy succeed in penetrating the lines, or the fleet in commanding the crossing, they were lost. Hence was planned and executed the famous retreat from Long Island, one of the most re- markable military events in history.
As soon as it was resolved to withdraw the troops, boats and every species of water-craft, large and small, upon both sides of Manhattan Island to the Harlem River, were impressed into service for the coming night, with the utmost despatch and secrecy. These were placed under the management of John Glover, who commanded a regiment of Marble- head fishermen, the best mariners in the world. To prepare the army for a general movement without betraying its purpose, orders were issued for each regiment to parade with accoutrements at seven o'clock in front of their encampments, ready to march at a moment's notice ; the impression was given that many of them were to be relieved by battalions from Mercer's New Jersey command, and other changes made, while some in- ferred that a night attack upon the enemy was contemplated and hastened to make nuncupative wills. During the afternoon such heavy rain fell as could hardly be remembered. Washington's anxiety and unceasing vigi- lance kept him continually in the saddle, drenched and dripping, without having closed his eyes in sleep for forty-eight or more hours. Mifflin was assigned to the command of the rear-guard, -- chosen men from Hand's, Smallwood's, Haslet's, Shee's, Magaw's, and Chester's regiments, who were to remain nearest the enemy to the last. The withdrawal commenced with the first deep darkness of the cloudy evening. As one regiment moved in silence towards Fulton Ferry, another was changed quietly to fill the gap. They tramped through the " mud and mire " with their luggage - guns, ammunition, provisions, " pots and kettles " - upon their shoulders, the artillery men dragging cannon, and carts and horses and cattle being pushed along with as much celerity as the soft condition of the well-soaked soil would allow. There were some vexatious delays ; and in the midst of the hushed hurry, in the dead of night, a cannon went off (cause unknown) with tremendous roar, startling the Americans, but failing to alarm the British. A serious blunder in conveying a verbal message also created a whirlwind of excitement among an interested few for a brief time. Washington, standing on the ferry stairs about two o'clock in the morning, sent Alexander Scammel, Sullivan's brigade-major, now VOL. II.
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serving as aid to the commander-in-chief (who had been a law student of Sullivan's before the breaking out of the war), to hurry forward the troops already on the march. Misunderstanding orders, he started Mifflin with his entire command for the ferry, where all was in confusion owing to the turning of the tide and the inability of the sail-boats to make headway. Washington met the party, and in terms indicative of acute distress expressed his fear that the mistake had ruined the whole scheme. Mifflin and party promptly faced about and reoccupied the lines which had been completely vacated for an hour, without discovery by the enemy. It was daylight when they were finally summoned to the ferry, but a friendly fog came up, so dense that a man could scarcely be discerned six yards away ; thus they marched without detection, leaving Washington refused to step into his barge
their camp-fires smoking. until the entire force had embarked. At seven in the morning Aug. 30. Howe learned to his chagrin that an army of nine thousand troops, with all their munitions of war, had successfully retired from a position in front of his victorious legions so near that ordinary sounds could be dis- tinctly heard ! However he may have surprised the Americans by his night manœuvre of the 27th, he was now as much more surprised as the movement of Washington was conducted with greater military skill.
Yet it was a retreat. And there were plenty of people to murmur and complain. Disappointment makes men captious. Why was the Jamaica Pass left unguarded ? Why did Washington go to Brooklyn at all ? Who was responsible for the surprise and defeat ?
Neither was General Howe applauded by England for his apparent conquest. Why did he not run up the Hudson and land in the rear of the rebels, instead of wasting so much time on Long Island ? And when he was engaging the rebels on the 27th, why did not Lord Howe move with his fleet into the East River, and thereby end the war ?
For the next two days New York presented a cheerless picture. Wet clothes and camp equipage were strewed along the sidewalks in front of the houses or stretched in yards to dry. Squads of weary-looking soldiers were moving to and fro, but not a sound of drum or fife was heard. Men were going home in groups and companies. They were farmers chiefly, who had left their grain half cut in the fields, and were present on short enlistments. Their example was disheartening and contagious.
The same opinion prevailed throughout the American army as in the British councils, that there was now little or nothing to prevent Howe from landing and extending his lines from river to river across Manhattan Island, thereby cooping up the patriots, without means of exit even by the sea. The loss of three prominent generals, Sullivan, Stirling, and Wood-
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THE CAPTIVE GENERALS.
hull, was depressing in the extreme. The two former were prisoners in the British camp. They were treated with respect, dining daily with the two brothers, Lord and General Howe. Woodhull had been captured on the evening of the 28th at Carpenter's tavern, near Jamaica, where he had taken refuge from a thunder-storm. He had written to the Convention on the same morning that his men (less than one hundred) and horses were worn out with fatigue, that Smith and Remson could not join him, communication being cut off by the enemy, and that he must retire unless he had assist- ance ; concluding his letter with the remark, "I hope the Convention does not expect me to make brick without straw." He was surprised by a party of several hundred of the enemy sent out in pursuit of him, and surrendered his sword; after which he attempted to escape over a board fence in the darkness, but was discovered by the sentries and severely wounded through blows inflicted upon his head and arms with a cutlass and bayonet, from which injuries he died three weeks later.1 He was allowed to send for his wife, at the same time requesting her to bring with her all the money in her possession and all that she could procure, which he distributed among the American prisoners to alleviate their suf- ferings - the last generous act of his useful and honored life.
Washington attempted to restore order and confidence by reorganizing the army. It was obvious that the city was untenable. The enemy were strengthening the works on Brooklyn Heights. Their heavy vessels were anchored near Governor's Island, within easy gunshot of the city, the American garrison at that point and at Red Hook having been safely withdrawn the night after the battle.2 They were also throwing
1 Jones's History of New York during the Revolutionary War, Vol. II. 332 ; Notes to Jones's History by Edward F. De Lancey, with contemporary documents, etc., Vol. II. 592-612. A careful examination of the various statements concerning the capture, injuries, and death of General Woodhull leads to the opinion expressed in the text. Oliver De Lancey, Jr., was an officer of the 17th Light Dragoons, the capturing party, and has by a succession of writers been charged with inflicting the wounds from which Woodhull died. It is claimed by his family that he always indignantly denied the accusation. Thompson and others write that he came up in time to save Woodhull from instant death. Judge Thomas Jones, author of the recently published history which throws new light upon these incidents, was a contem- porary writer, lived on Long Island, his sister was the wife of Richard Floyd, first cousin of Mrs. Woodhull, and the two ladies were warm friends before and after the general's death ; thus he had every opportunity of knowing the circumstances. He was a judge of the Supreme Court of New York, as indeed had been his father before him, and the head of the Jones family of Queen's County ; his wife was Anne, daughter of Lieutenant-Governor James De Lancey - sister of Mrs. William Walton - and first cousin of the Oliver De Lancey mentioned.
2 Jones, censuring the English generals, writes : "In the evening of the same day (unac- countable as it is) a detachment of the rebel army went from New York with a number of boats and carried off the troops, the stores, artillery and provisions without the least inter- ruption whatever, though General Howe's whole army lay within a mile of the place, and his brother, the Admiral, with his fleet, covered the bay at a little distance below the island."
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up fortifications on the Long Island shore at intervals as far as the mouth
of the Harlem River. On the 2d of September, just at evening, Sept. 2. a forty-gun man-of-war swept between Governor's Island and Long Island, past the batteries on the East River, which might as well have fired at the moon for all the harm they could do her, and anchored in Turtle Bay, near the foot of what is now Forty-seventh Street. Through the skillful attack of a detachment of Washington's artillery the ship was compelled to change her position to the shelter of Black- well's Island. Several war vessels suddenly made their début in the Sound, having gone round Long Island. Visions of red-hot bullets and showers of shells in the streets of New York dismayed even the brave. Resistance would be impossible should the enemy come upon the city from the North, with men-of-war encircling the Battery.
A situation more delicate and full of risk could hardly be imagined. The evacuation and burning of New York was discussed freely as a matter of military policy. Washington submitted to Congress the ques- tion " If we are obliged to abandon the town, shall it stand as winter- quarters for the enemy ?" on the very day that the British war vessel made her successful trip up the East River. Congress replied that " no damage should be done to the city of New York, as it could undoubt- edly be recovered even should the enemy obtain possession for a time." There was no cessation of exertion with the spade and pickaxe to render Manhattan Island a stronghold ; and the army, disposed in three divisions, under Putnam, Spencer, and Heath, stretched its attenuated line from the Battery to Harlem and Kingsbridge, Putnam guarding the city proper and the East River approaches to Fifteenth Street. All military stores, however, not in actual immediate demand, were being quietly removed, as fast as conveyances could be procured, to a post partially fortified at Dobb's Ferry.
Days slipped by and the enemy made no further advance. They were fearful of precipitating the destruction of the richest city in America. And as Washington's appeal to Congress and its response were not borne on the wings of the wind, or in coaches propelled by steam, there was ample time for the expression of much diverse opinion among the military and civil authorities, before the sense of the supreme government was known. Putnam urged an immediate retreat from the city, as one por- tion of the army might at any moment be cut off before the other could support it, the extremities of the lines being sixteen miles apart. Mercer said, " We should keep New York, if possible, as the acquiring of it will give eclat to the arms of Great Britain, afford the soldiers good quarters, and furnish a safe harbor for their fleet." Greene, from his sick-bed, wrote :
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"On the 7th a Council of general officers met at Washington's head quarters, at the Richmond Hill House, to decide upon some general course to be adopted. " Page 117.
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QUESTION OF BURNING NEW YORK CITY.
" Abandon, by all means, the city and island. They should not be put in competition with the general interests of America. There is no object to be obtained by holding any position below Kingsbridge. I would burn the city and suburbs to deprive the enemy of barracking their whole army together and of profiting by a general market." Scott was of the same mind, although the city contained his entire possessions. Reed wrote to his wife, on the 6th, " We are still here, in a posture somewhat awkward. We think (at least I do) that we cannot stay, and yet we do not know how to go, so that we may be properly said to be between hawk and buzzard." John Jay had long since advocated the burning of the city; and Wolcott quoted precedents where invading armies had been starved and ruined by the laying waste of the countries upon which they had built their hopes. Heath, Spencer, and George Clinton were unwilling that a place should be abandoned which had been fortified with such great cost and labor, and never wavered for a moment in their advice to hold the city.
On the 7th a council of general officers met at Washington's head- quarters, at the Richmond Hill House, to decide upon some general course to be adopted. The majority voted for defense, believing that Congress wished the point to be maintained at every hazard. On the 10th Con- gress resolved to leave the occupation or abandonment of the city entirely at Washington's discretion. The next day Greene and six brigadiers petitioned Washington to call a council of war to reconsider the decision of the 7th. He did so on the 12th, when ten generals voted to evacuate, and three - Heath, Spencer, and George Clinton - to defend.
This was but one of innumerable instances in which George Clinton displayed his natural boldness of character and unflinching nerve. He was a man whose iron will never failed him in an emergency. He was called arbitrary and cruel. The cause may be traced to the school in which he found himself. He had no pity for those whom he regarded as open enemies, and he treated them with severity. And yet, per- sonally, his heart was tender and kind. Henceforward, during the next twenty-six years, we shall find him a conspicuous figure in the annals of New York. He became the first governor after the organization of the State, and, in reference to those who would have guided the British on to victory, an avenging power. "Not one of the men on the American side in the Revolution," writes Edward Floyd De Lancey, "great and brilliant. as many of them were, could ever have retained, as he did, the governorship of New York by successive elections for eighteen years." Mrs. George Clinton was a lady of Dutch parentage, well educated, and of exceptional strength and balance of character. She was about his own
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age. Her father was a man of influence and fortune, prominent in the affairs of Kingston. Her brother, Christopher Tappan, was one of the trustees of Kingston and clerk of the corporation. The Tappan family were related to nearly all the people of importance in the vicinity of Kingston. Thus George Clinton's early political life began under favor- able auspices, and his legal acumen and strong common-sense enabled
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Governor George Clinton.
Mrs. George Clinton ..
[Fac-simile copy of miniature portraits executed when the governor was about forty years of age , in possession of his granddaughter, Mrs. Cornelius Van Rensselaer.]
him to master many an after problem without wasting time in consulta- tion. He said councils made men cowards. In adopting the surest and most certain means to attain his objects, he became the terror of all the adversaries of the Revolution, but even they rarely accused him of injus- tice, and never of revenge.1
While these events were transpiring in New York, Lord Howe was. taxing his ingenuity to devise some method by which he could negotiate a peaceful adjustment of the strife. He had no disposition to destroy New
1 See (Vol. II.) page 74. Charles Clinton, the father of George Clinton, removed to. America in 1729, landing at Cape Cod ; and in 1730 formed a permanent and flourishing set- tlement in Ulster County, New York, which he called Little Britain. He was of English descent ; his grandfather was William Clinton, an officer in the army of Charles I., one of the members of the famous family of the Earls of Lincoln : after the dethronement of his monarch he went to France, thence to Spain, and to Scotland where he married a lady of the family of Kennedy ; after which he took up his abode in Ireland ; his only son, James, while- in England to recover the patrimonial estate married the daughter of an army officer. Charles: Clinton, the son of James, born 1690, married Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Denniston. He was a man of education and property, built a substantial home in Little Britain, pos- sessed a well-selected library, became a surveyor of note, a judge of Common Pleas for the. County of Ulster, and colonel of the militia, doing good service with his regiment at the.
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THE CONFERENCE.
York, nor to proceed harshly against a people whose independent notions he admired and honored. He was hampered by his instructions, unable to shape a message which would be accepted by Congress or by the com- mander-in-chief of its army; thus he took advantage of his prisoner, General Sullivan, sending him, on parole, with a verbal message explana- tory of his wishes as well as lack of power to treat with Congress as a legal body, and earnestly requesting a conference with some of its mem- bers as private persons.
Sullivan reached Philadelphia September 2, and made known his errand. Congress was for a time divided in opinion. Hot debates occu- pied full three days, before Sullivan was on his return journey to the British camp, conveying an answer to this effect : " Congress cannot with propriety send any of its members in a private capacity to confer with Lord Howe; but, ever desirous for peace, they will send a committee of their body to learn whether he has any authority to treat with persons authorized by Congress for that purpose, and to hear such propositions as he may think fit to make." The committee chosen were Dr. Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge. Several letters were exchanged between Lord Howe and Dr. Franklin in relation to a place of meeting, which was fixed finally at the Old Billopp manor-house on Staten Island, opposite Perth Amboy.
It was then a two days' journey from Philadelphia to Amboy. The committee started on the 9th, John Adams on horseback, and Dr. Franklin and Rutledge in old-fashioned chairs. The taverns along the way were so full of soldiery en route for the defense of New York, that these digni- taries could hardly obtain admission. The second night they staid in New Brunswick, Franklin and Adams being obliged to share the same bed, in a little narrow chamber with one small window. Adams was an invalid, and afraid of the night air. "Don't shut the window," exclaimed Franklin, as he saw Adams with his hand on the sash, " we shall be suf- focated." " I cannot run the risk of a cold," said Adams, bringing down the sash in an imperative manner. "But the air within the chamber capture of Fort Frontenac. He was, in short, a man endowed with many talents, and of great dignity and respectability. He had seven children, but the two sons best known to fame were James, born 1736, and George, born 1739. James married first, Mary, daughter of Egbert De Witt ; second, Mrs. Mary Gray. The third son of James Clinton and Mary De Witt was the famous De Witt Clinton. George Clinton (first Governor of New York, and for eight years Vice-President of the United States) married, in 1769, Cornelia Tappan of Kingston, and their children were, Catherine, who married General Pierre Van Cortlandt, son of Lieutenant-Governor Pierre Van Cortlandt ; Cornelia Tappan, who married Citizen Edmond Charles Genet ; George, born in 1778, who married Anna, daughter of Hon. William Floyd ; Elizabeth, who married Matthias B. Tallmadge ; Martha W., who died young ; Maria, who married Dr. Stephen Beekman. See page 151.
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will soon be, and indeed is now, worse than that without doors. Come, open the window and come to bed, and I will convince you. I believe you are not acquainted with my theory of colds ?" " I have read some of your letters, which are inconsistent with my experience," said Adams, opening the window, and leaping into bed, curious to hear an elucidation of what seemed to him a paradox. The philosopher commenced a lecture which lulled his audience into repose, and just as he was dwelling upon the amount of air per minute which the human body destroys by respira- tion and perspiration, and showing, by a train of subtle reasoning, that through the breathing of impure air we imbibe the real cause of colds, not from without but from within doors, he fell asleep himself. The next morning they reached the beautiful shore opposite Staten Island at an early hour. Lord Howe's barge was there to receive them, and a gen-
tlemanly officer told them he was to remain subject to their orders, Sept. 11. as hostage for their safe return. "This is childish," said Adams, turning to Franklin ; "we want no such pledge." Franklin and Rutledge were of the same mind. They accordingly told the officer that if he held himself under their direction, he must go back to his superior with them in the barge, to which he bowed assent, and they all embarked. Howe walked toward the shore as the barges approached, and perceiving his officer with the committee, cried out : "Gentlemen, you make me a very high compliment, and you may depend upon it I will consider it the most sacred of things."
He shook hands warmly with Franklin, who introduced his com- panions, and they all moved towards the house, between the lines of sol- diery which had been drawn up so as to form a lane, conversing pleasantly together. One of the largest apartments had been converted, with moss, vines, and branches, into a delightful bower, and here a collation of " good claret, good bread, cold ham, tongues, and mutton " was immediately served. After this Lord Howe opened the conference, expressing his attachment to America, and his gratitude for the honors bestowed upon his accomplished elder brother, who was killed at Lake George in the expedition against the French eighteen years before, declaring that " should America fall he should feel and lament it like the loss of a brother." Franklin bowed with graceful ease, and replied, smiling blandly, "My lord, we will use our utmost endeavors to spare you that mortification." Howe stated his position in flowing language, and asked the gentlemen if they were willing to lay aside their distinction as members of Congress, and con- verse as individuals upon the outline of a plan to stay the calamities of war. They assented; Adams exclaiming, with characteristic impetu- osity, " Your lordship may consider me in what light you please. Indeed,
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I should be willing to consider myself for a few moments in any character which would be agreeable to your lordship, except that of a British subject." The conversation was conducted as among friends for four hours. But it came to nothing, except so far as it strengthened the patriots. Howe was found to be wholly devoid of authority to treat with the colonies in their present condition. And the committee were only commissioned to obtain this knowledge. Neither party could make propositions or prom- ises. They separated with the utmost show of courtesy, Howe saying, as he bade them adieu, "I am sorry, gentlemen, that you have had the trouble of coming so far to so little purpose."
To a man of Howe's temperament the situation at this moment must have been one of torture. He was sad and silent the remainder of the day. The next morning industry in every department of the British army indicated a speedy movement upon New York. While the com- mittee were traveling through New Jersey dust slowly back to Phila- delphia, discoursing at intervals upon the lack of discipline among the troops they encountered at the inns, New York was in a ferment. The news had already begun to fly from mouth to mouth that the city was to be evacuated. Horses, vehicles, and water-craft were employed in transfer- ring military equipments and stores to Kingsbridge. It is said that nine- teen twentieths of the inhabitants had already removed from the town, but there were still enough left to cause great embarrassment. Some would remain in any event, partly from want of means to remove, or a place of refuge, and partly from a sense of coming protection. But others hurriedly prepared to abandon their homes and go into exile. On the 13th four ships sailed past the American batteries, keeping up an incessant fire, and anchored in the East River. Six thousand of the British were already quartered upon the islands near the mouth of the Harlem River, and ere sunset of the 14th were joined by several thousand additional troops. An immediate landing at Harlem or Morrisania was predicted. Wash- ington sprang into his saddle as soon as the messenger came with this last intelligence, and rode in hot haste to Harlem Heights.
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