USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. II > Part 38
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THE MARCH TO WHITE PLAINS.
the East River, and flat-bottomed boats with bright scarlet burdens floated upon the bosom of the shining waters. The landing was Oct. 12 at Frog's Neck,1 practically a tide island, which was then con- nected with the main by a bridge over a mill-damn, which, built by Caleb Heathcoate in 1695, stood until February 1875, when it was accidentally burned. "Had they pushed their imaginations to discover the worst place," wrote Duer, " they could not have succeeded better." Hand and his brave riflemen, stationed the other side of the bridge, pulled up the planks, and Prescott, of Bunker Hill renown, with his command behind breastworks hastily thrown up, resisted every attempt of the enemy to cross ; relieved from time to time by other regiments, the Americans actually prevented Howe from marching beyond the cover of his ship- ping. After losing five days, he re-embarked his troops and crossed to Pell's Neck.
On the 16th a council of war at the Morris House pronounced it im- practicable to blockade the Sound, or even the Northi River; thus
the only method of preventing the British from cutting off Wash- Oct. 16. ington's communication with the country was an immediate northern movement towards the strong grounds in the upper part of Westchester County. Detailing a garrison for the holding of Fort Washington, the march began next morning. Lee was sent forward to Valentine's Hill, and one brigade was folded behind another, dragging guns by hand and carrying luggage on the shoulder, keeping along the ridge of high ground to the west of the Bronx River, and throwing up a continuous chain of intrenchments with each day's progress.
On the 18th, the whole British army were in motion. At East Chester a sharp skirmish occurred; the light infantry advancing towards the Hudson were valiantly faced by Glover's brigade from behind stone Oct. 18. walls, and retired after losing several men. Howe's troops halted for the night upon their arms near New Rochelle. The British chieftain remained here two days, studying the geography of Westchester, and making every arrangement for advance with military precision ; thus he lost his prey. He discovered and captured two thousand bushels of salt which had been stored in the New Rochelle Church, and plundered the inhabitants indis- criminately of horses, cattle, and grain. On the 21st he occupied the heights north of New Rochelle on both sides of the road leading Oct. 21. to Scarsdale. The Americans were at the same date nearly abreast. They had the advantage of the shortest distance and the strong- est ground. "We press him (Howe) close to Sound," wrote Tilghman,
1 Frog's Neck is a corruption of Throg's Neck, itself an abbreviation of Throckmorton's Neck, so called from its first English settlers.
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141
BATTLE OF WHITE PLAINS.
" from which he has made no westing in the sea phrase, and if he make much more easting, and endeavors to stretch across, he will need as large an army as that of Xerxes to form a line." Both armies were deficient in the means of transportation. Howe was hindered by the destruction of bridges and the felling of trees across the roads. It took him as long to overcome these obstacles as it did Washington to throw up stone-walls and cover them with earth. Howe was in a perpetual state of alarm also, for he was not blind to the generalship of his adversary. He marched in solid columns, and all his encampments were well guarded with artil- lery. On the 25th he advanced within four miles of White Plains and again halted. Washington had reached and fortified certain Sept. 25. high points in that village, intending to make a stand, not so much that a battle was courted as to draw the enemy forward and waste his time. The 27th was marked by an unsuccessful attack upon Fort Washington, by Lord Percy, aided by the ships in the Hudson.
The morning of the 28th saw Howe's troops moving forward, intending apparently to fight a great battle. Sir Henry Clinton and the Sept. 28. brave De Heister commanded the two chief divisions. At Hart's
Corner they drove back a party of Americans under Spencer who had been sent out to delay their progress. When within three fourths of a mile, they could see Washington's army in order of battle, upon chosen ground, behind two parallel lines of intrenchments, awaiting their ap- proach with an air of easy self-confidence. Howe carefully measured his chances ; should he carry one line there would remain another; if he scaled both, the northern hills would provide for the retreating foe - " the rebel army could not be destroyed." But having come so far he must do something, hence he valiantly attacked a feeble outpost.
Chatterton Hill, west of the Bronx, and less than a mile to the south- west of Washington's main army, covered the Tarrytown road; it was fortified, and occupied by a force of about fourteen hundred men under McDougall. Howe directed four thousand of his warriors to dislodge them, while the rest of his army seated themselves on the ground as lookers-on. The scene was in full view of the American army. An ineffectual cannonade was commenced from the east side of the Bronx ; then, presently, a red-coated division waded through the shallow river, and struggled through a deadly shower of bullets up the rocky steep. For fifteen minutes they met a determined resistance, but when two fresh regiments attacked his flank, as well as front, McDougall, still preserving his communications, conducted his party safely over the Bronx bridge, and by the road to the American lines. Some eighty were taken pris- oners, the whole loss not exceeding one hundred. The British lost double that number.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
The acquisition of the hill was of no consequence to Howe after all his trouble. It really enfeebled him by dividing his forces. The day was waning, the men were fatigued, and no attempt was made to pursue McDougal or fortify the post. The whole British army lay that night upon their arms in order of battle. The next morning it rained. Howe watched the skies, waiting for fair weather. Washington occupied the day in removing the sick and his stores to the hills, some two miles north, in his rear, where he was also throwing up strong works. The 30th was unfavorable for Howe's progress, and favorable for Washington's Oct. 31. plans. Another drenching rain on the 31st, and Howe still re- mained inactive. That night Washington retired to the new position he had chosen, which could be more easily defended than that in the village of White Plains.
On the 5th of November Howe suddenly broke up his encampment in front of Washington's lines and moved towards Dobb's Ferry. He
Nov. 5. had, prior to this, ordered Baron Von Knyphausen from New Ro- chelle to Kingsbridge, the American garrison at that post retiring to Fort Washington as he appeared. It was a puzzle to the Americans whether Howe intended to penetrate New Jersey and march to Philadelphia, or embark in vessels on the Hudson and fall upon their rear. A council of war determined to throw an army into the Jerseys and secure Peekskill. As for Fort Washington, it was retained on account of its strategic importance, and to aid Fort Lee, opposite, in blockading the passage of the river.
But there was a traitor in that stronghold. William Demont, the adjutant-general of Robert Magaw, commandant of the post, passed undis- covered, on the night of November 2, into the British camp of Earl Percy, carrying plans of Fort Washington, with complete information as to the works and the garrison.1 Percy despatched a messenger with the news in all haste to Howe at White Plains, who, seeing how he could capture an important fortress, without much risk, and thus control the Hudson and the country beyond, started without a moment's delay, reaching Dobb's Ferry on the 6th. The next day he sent artillery to Knyphausen at Kingsbridge, and placed batteries in position on the Westchester side of the Harlem River to cover selected points of attack. These and other active preparations went forward without exciting suspicion in the mind of Washington as to the real purpose of the enemy. On the 12th the whole British army moved to Kingsbridge and encamped along the high grounds of Harlem River, with his right on the Bronx and his left on the
1 DeLancey's Notes to Jones's History of New York during the Revolutionary War, Vol. I., 626-636 ; DeLancey's Mount Washington and its Capture ; Mag. Amer. Hist., Vol. I.
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143
CAPTURE OF FORT WASHINGTON BY THE BRITISH.
Hudson. Four separate points of attack were planned, and subsequently carried out to the letter. On the night of the 14th thirty row-boats, chiefly from the fleet, passed undiscovered up the North River, through Spuyten Duyvel into the Harlem River, ready for use. On the morning of the 15th Howe summoned Magaw to surrender, under penalty of Nov. 15. a storm (which by military law is liability to be put to the sword
if taken), and gave him two hours to decide. Magaw at once returned the brave answer, "I am determined to defend this post to the last extremity." Greene was at Fort Lee, and approved Magaw's action ; he sent a messenger with the intelligence directly to Washington at Hack- ensack, where he was arranging for the reception of his army then crossing the Hudson at Peekskill, who rode in all haste to Fort Lee. Finding that Greene was at Mount Washington, he embarked in a row-boat to cross the river, although it was late in the evening, but met Greene and Putnam returning when about midway between the two shores ; they told hini that the troops were in high spirits, and would make a good defense ; hence they together repaired to Fort Lee. Not one among the American officers dreamed that it was treason with which they were contending. Washington's judgment was opposed to holding Fort Washington, but, governed by the wishes of Congress and a vote of the council of war, he had hitherto left its evacuation to the discretion of Greene, who was on the spot watching the movements of the enemy, and confident that if matters came to the worst the garrison could be withdrawn.
The next morning was fair. At early dawn there were active movements upon every side of Mount Washington except the river side. The several British columns all pushed forward simultaneously. Lord Cornwal- lis climbed the steep heights with his force; Percy, accompanied Nov. 16. by Howe who animated the troops by acts of personal bravery, with a col- umn from Harlem Flats, attacked the lower lines ; Knyphausen led his men up the Heights through many grave obstacles ; and other gallant officers went into the thickest of the fight. The Highlanders rushed up the steep just below the Morris House, and captured over one hundred and fifty Americans, detached to oppose them at that point. The greatest gallantry was exhibited on both sides. Magaw had made good disposition of his forces, considering the ground and the four attacks to be met. But the British, knowing precisely the strength they were to overcome, were pro- vided with the means. As the troops were driven in from the various outer batteries, Magaw found the fort so crowded that further resistance could only involve great sacrifice of life, and, after much parley, signed articles of capitulation with Knyphausen and Colonel Patterson, the British
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
adjutant-general. In the midst of these negotiations a note from Wash- ington, telling Magaw that if he could hold out till evening an effort would be made to bring off the garrison, was brought by Captain Gooch, who, crossing the Hudson in a small boat, ran up the steep, delivered the message, and, running through the fire of the Hessians, reached his craft and recrossed the river in safety. But it was too late. The terms of surrender had already assumed the form of an agreement. Thus were two thousand eight hundred and eighteen soldiers captured ; four officers and fifty privates were among the killed, and ninety-three men were wounded. The British engaged in the battle numbered about eight thou- sand nine hundred ; their loss has been variously estimated, but the total in killed and wounded was four hundred and fifty-eight.
Graydon, a captain in Cadwallader's regiment, one of the prisoners cap- tured, writes, " Howe must have had a perfect knowledge of the ground we occupied." Sixteen years later, the traitor himself, in attempting to recover certain dues from the British government, described his treason over his own signature, stating, explicitly, that through the plans he fur- nished Lord Percy, "the fortress was taken by his Majesty's troops." This letter, dated London, January 16, 1792, authenticated beyond ques- tion, is now in possession of Edward Floyd De Lancey. It is possible that Howe might have moved against Fort Washington without this information, but his chances of success would have been as limited as Greene, Putnam, and Mercer predicted ; even Washington, who was in consultation with these generals on the very morning of the battle, seems not to have been alarmed for the safety of the garrison. The losing of so many brave men was painfully disheartening ; in addition to which forty- three guns, twenty-eight hundred muskets, four hundred thousand car- tridges, fifteen barrels of gunpowder, several thousand shot and shell, and a large quantity of military stores, including " two hundred iron fraise of four hundred weight each, supposed to be intended to stop the navigation of the Hudson River," fell into the hands of the enemy.
Thus was Manhattan Island in complete possession of the British ; and the king's fleet might furrow without molestation the Hudson, the East River, and the waters of the Sound.
Fort Lee was of no further importance to the Americans. Washington ordered its stores and guns removed at once, preparatory to its abandon- ment ; this work was in progress and partially effected, when, during the stormy night of the 19th, Lord Cornwallis, with six thousand troops, crossed the Hudscn some five miles above, the men dragging cannon by hand up a steep, narrow, rough road (for nearly half a mile), to the top of the palisades, and early in the morning of the 20th commenced
336
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THE AMERICAN ARMY IN NEWARK.
a brisk march southward, intending to enclose the garrison between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers. A farmer brought the tidings to Greene. It was evident that the safety of the troops depended upon the celerity with which they could reach and cross the bridge to the Nov. 20. other side of the Hackensack, where Washington and his main army were encamped. The deplorable want of horses and wagons rendered the loss of much baggage and valuable stores inevitable. There was no help for it. Tents were left standing, and fires burning with the soldiers' break- fasts cooking over them. A large, flat, scorched stone is to this day pointed out as the oven where the bread was baking for the officers' table. The vanguard of the British reached the bridge almost as soon as the Americans, but the latter escaped, and Cornwallis did not esteem it worth while to attempt the crossing.
Washington posted troops along the western bank of the Hackensack, as a show of defense, while he moved his heavy artillery and stores farther inland. But he had no intention of remaining upon this level peninsula, hemmed in by two rivers, without an intrenching tool, and with hundreds of men destitute of shelter from the November elements. He wrote to Lee, at North Castle, to join him quickly with the troops under his com- mand. Towards evening of the same day of hurry and excitement, an express from Heath (who was guarding the Highlands) came upon the scene with a letter for Washington. He met Reed, who, sitting on his horse, wrote to Lee upon a scrap of brown wrapping paper, “ Dear Gen- eral, we are flying before the British. I pray -" and the pencil broke. He added the remainder of the message verbally -"you to push and join us," and bade the horseman speed without loss of time to North Castle. The commission was faithfully executed, and the messenger related also what he had seen with his own eyes. On the 21st Washington crossed the Passaic River; and on the 22d entered Newark, where Nov. 21. he remained six days. The diminution of the army through the departure of soldiers whose terms of enlistment had expired was a source of dismay at this juncture. Washington was attended by less than thirty-five hundred troops. Mercer's flying camp was dissolving, his men having engaged to serve only until December 1. Lee did not come to the front as ordered. Schuyler, always on the alert to send help where it was wanted, responded to Washington's appeal to hasten from the North the troops of Pennsyl- vania and New Jersey to his assistance, but the march was long, their terms nearly expired, and they refused to re-enlist. Mifflin was dispatched to Pennsylvania, where he possessed great influence, to endeavor to raise reinforcements ; and Reed was sent to Governor Livingston to press upon his notice the absolute need of unusual exertions to prevent the State of
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
New Jersey from being overrun by the enemy. Livingston made the most strenuous efforts to have militia in the field in time to oppose the invading force. He issued circulars and he wrote letters ; but a panic had seized the mass of the population. Congress was at the same time writing to the North and South, entreating for troops, and begging blank- ets and woolen stockings for the freezing soldiers. Pennsylvania was paralyzed by anarchy, and by profitless disputes concerning the new constitution. Yet Mifflin was destined to be suc- cessful in and about Phila- delphia, and men were soon enlisting with enthusiasm.
On the 28th Washington left Newark, as the advanced guard of Cornwallis entered the city, - the British offi- cers quartering themselves in 1.5 de. the best houses and demand- ing the best furniture to make their rooms comfortable. The American army slept the same night in New Brunswick. Livingston was with Wash- ington in conference the following morning, and was CFHB directed to collect all the boats on the Delaware for Home of General Philip Schuyler, Albany. a distance of seventy miles above Philadelphia, and place them under a strong guard. The first day of December came, and also the British van, in full view upon the other side of the Raritan. The Americans broke down the bridge in the face of a heavy cannonade, which was answered by a spirited fire from the battery of Alexander Hamilton, while the bare- footed, tattered American army quitted New Brunswick in haste, and marched by night to Princeton. The dazzling, warmly clad, and suc- cessful Englishmen seemed to be sweeping all before them ; the inhabi- tants in vast numbers flocked to them for protection ; and the Howes cunningly seized this opportunity to issue another proclamation, offering full pardon to all who would within sixty days appear before an officer of the crown and take the oath of submission to Royal authority.
It was now that Washington began to display his great moral and in- tellectual qualities to advantage. His mind seemed to expand with the darkness of the situation. The deeper the gloom, the brighter and the clearer his mental vision. Livingston had not yet been able to raise one
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THE MARCH THROUGH NEW JERSEY.
company of recruits in all New Jersey. Reed, while on his mission to the New Jersey government, sent his commission to Congress, through unwillingness to follow "the wretched remains of a broken army." The prospect of the censure he was likely to encounter induced him at the end of four days to retract his resignation ; but Washington's affectionate con- fidence in him was forever impaired. A sarcastic and self-constituted rival was also unexpectedly revealed in Lee, whose neglect to obey orders in this emergency deprived Washington of the aid of a considerable number of soldiers upon whom he had counted with certainty. Men of influence were daily going over to Howe; the State of Maryland was willing to renounce the declaration of the Fourth of July for the sake of an accommodation with Great Britain ; and it was rumored that Connec- ticut had appointed a committee to make peace with the king's commis- sioners. In Washington's own immediate family officers were criticising each other, and making the character and military conduct of their com- mander-in-chief the subject of disparaging comments.
Cornwallis halted six days in New Brunswick, not being able to pro- ceed further without positive orders from Howe. Washington left Lord Stirling with twelve hundred men in Princeton, while he went forward to Trenton and transported his remnant of military stores and baggage beyond the Delaware. He then faced about. On the 6th of December Howe joined Cornwallis at New Brunswick, and after deliberate prepa- rations continued the pursuit. Washington, on the counter-march Dec. 8. to Princeton, December 8, met Stirling retiring before a superior force, and returning to Trenton, crossed the Delaware in safety. Had Howe, instead of resting seventeen hours at Princeton, pushed forward immediately, the year 1776 might have ended with a very different record. As it was, Cornwallis reached Trenton just in time to see the rear guard of Washington land upon the western bank of the Delaware ; he made several unsuccessful efforts to seize boats, and seemed surprised to find them all beyond his reach. He marched thirteen miles up the river to Coryell's Ferry, sending a column also below as if he would entrap the Americans in the acute angle made by the bend of the river opposite Bordentown. But an able disposition of troops on the opposite bank of the Delaware by Washington, and the want of boats, discouraged special efforts. A noted loyalist, in censuring Howe for not crossing immediately and annihilating the American army, said, " There was a board-yard entirely full and directly back of the house in which the commander- in-chief had his headquarters, and which he must have seen every time he looked out of his bedroom window. Besides, there was in Trenton a number of large barns and storehouses, built of boards, out of which rafts
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
might have been made, in the space of two days, sufficient to have con- veyed the whole British army, with their baggage, artillery, and provisions, across the river."
Putnam was now detached to take command of Philadelphia and put it in a position of defense. Congress retired to Baltimore. Ever since the army separated at White Plains, Lee had acted a mysterious part. His reputation was at its zenith, and not only Congress but the country at large pinned unlimited faith to his knowledge of the art of war. When ordered to New Jersey he raved about the insanity of one army reinforcing another, as if he was holding a separate command. He glibly discussed saving the community regardless of Congress, and wrote to Congress re- flecting severely upon Washington's judgment. He was an ambitious aspirant for power. Finally the repeated mandates of his superior ad- mitted of no further evasion, and his division crossed the Hudson Decem- ber 3. His progress after that was vexatiously slow. He was in Pompton on the 7th ; from Morristown he wrote to Congress, December 8, that Washington was all wrong, and that he had no idea of joining him ; and to Washington he reported his division as consisting of four thousand noble-spirited men, with whom he would " hang on the enemy's rear." Again ordered peremptorily to the Delaware, he moved forward leisurely, caviling at everything done by others, and in four days had only reached Baskinridge, where he very indiscreetly lodged, with a small guard, in Mr. White's tavern, near the church, some distance from the main body of his troops. A loyalist in the neighborhood rode in all haste with the intelligence to Colonel Harcourt, afterwards Earl Harcourt, who, with a scouting party of seventy dragoons, was watching for an opportunity of distinguishing himself. Early next morning he reached the spot by a Dec. 13. rapid march, surrounded the house, and in four minutes was bear- ing off in triumph the capricious general who had just written boastful letters to the effect that he was reconquering the Jerseys. Lee was at first treated as a deserter from the British service, and not as a prisoner of war. Howe refused to see him at Princeton, and he was taken under a close guard to New York.
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