USA > New York > History of the state of New York, for the use of common schools, academies, normal and high schools, and other seminaries of instruction > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34
5. On the 27th of November the Sons of Liberty formally renewed their organization and adopted a series of spirited reso- lutions, denouncing as enemies to the liberties of America any person aiding or abetting in any way the introduction, pur- chase, or use of tea, and declaring that whether the duties im- posed by the act were paid in Great Britain or America, the liberties of the colonies were equally affected. On the 16th of December, the same day on which the Boston tea-party took place, these resolutions were again promulgated in imme- diate anticipation of the landing of a cargo from England. Governor Tryon made an ineffectual effort to secure its introduc- tion by promising that after its formal reception the tea should be returned to the ships; but the excited inhabitants, headed by John Lamb, unanimously refused to permit its landing.
6. The ship, in the mean while, delayed by adverse 1774. winds, failed to make her appearance ; and on the 7th of April of the ensuing year, Tryon, leaving the government again in the hands of Colden, set sail for England. On the 18th the long-expected vessel - the Nancy, Captain Lockyer -- arrived off Sandy Hook with a cargo of tea for the port. The pilots, under the directions of the Vigilance Committee, detained the vessel in the Lower Bay, while several of the committee pro- ceeded on board and took possession. The captain was per-
Spirited proceedings of the Sons of Liberty. - Colden resumes the admin- istration. - Arrival of tea-ships.
93
TEA TROUBLES IN NEW YORK.
mitted, under a strong escort, to consult with the consignee, who at once refused to receive the cargo, and advised its prompt return to England.
7. On the 22d, Captain Chambers, a recreant New-Yorker, arrived in the harbor with the ship London, and was immediate- ly boarded by two of the members of the committee. On his assurance that he had no tea on board, and the exhibition of his papers, confirming this statement, he was permitted to pro- ceed to the city. On reaching the wharf, the vessel was again boarded by the committee, who demanded a thorough search for the obnoxious article. Driven to bay by their determined vigilance, Chambers finally admitted the possession of tea, al- leging, however, that it was his own on a private venture, and without the knowledge of the Company. At eight in the even- ing the vessel was again boarded by a vast crowd of the ex- cited inhabitants, the hatches forced open, eighteen chests of tea brought upon deck, opened, and their contents emptied into the river. No attempt at disguise or concealment was made ; and the people at an early hour quietly dispersed without fur- ther violence.
8. The next morning, in pursuance of a call of the Vigilance Committee, the citizens assembled in front of the Coffee House in Wall Street, where Lockyer was lodging, and amid the ringing of bells, firing of cannon, display of flags, and the music of the city bands, conducted him to a boat at the foot of the street, whence, with his companion Chambers, under the escort of a less ceremonious committee, he was taken on board the Nancy, and, accompanied by the vigilant representatives of the popular feeling three leagues beyond Sandy Hook. they took a polite leave of their entertainers and proceeded on their outward voyage.
9. On a meeting of the citizens on the 19th of May, in re- sponse to an invitation from the patriots of Boston for a re- newal of the non-importation agreement, a corresponding com- mittee of fifty-one of the leading inhabitants was formed, and a sub-committee, consisting of Alexander McDougall, Isaac Low,
New York " tea-party. " - Proceedings of the Vigilance Committee and citizens. - Departure of the tea-ships. - Public meeting of citizens. - Committee of fifty-one.
-
94
FIFTH PERIOD.
James Duane, and John Jay, appointed to prepare an answer to the Bostonians. This committee, deeming a renewal of the non-importation agreement inexpedient under existing circum- stances, recommended a General Congress of deputies from the colonies for the consideration of public affairs. At a public meeting on the 6th of July, presided over by McDougall, and at which Alexander Hamilton, then a youth of seventeen, and a student of King's College, made his first appearance as an orator, the non-importation agreement was renewed, notwith- standing the opposition of the committee, their recommenda- tion of a Colonial Congress adopted, and resolutions strongly sympathizing with the Bostonians under the arbitrary tyranny of England unanimously passed.
10. The second Colonial Congress accordingly assembled at Philadelphia carly in September, New York being represented by Philip Livingston, Jolin Alsop, Isaac Low, James Duane, and John Jay, appointed by the committee of fifty-one, in con- junction with a committee of mechanics. This body adopted a Declaration of Rights and Privileges drawn up by Jay, pro- testing against standing armies and parliamentary taxation, and declaring the various obnoxious acts passed since the accession of the present monarch infringements of their rights and uncon- stitutional. They also leagued themselves into a non-importa- tion association, pledging themselves to import no goods from Great Britain or its dependencies until the repeal of these acts. 11. The Assembly, although a majority of its mem- 1775. bers could not be prevailed upon to afford their sanction to the proceedings of the Colonial Congress, addressed, never- theless, a strong remonstrance to Parliament against its harsh and severe treatment of the colonies, in terms so distasteful to that body that the ministry refused to receive it. On the 3d of April, 1775, the Assembly adjourned, and was never afterwards convoked. The first Provincial Congress, consisting of delegates from the several counties, assembled in their stead on the 20th of April, and appointed five delegates to the first Continental Congress, which convened at Philadelphia in the ensuing month.
Recommendation of a General Congress. - Second Colonial Congress. - Declaration of Rights. - Non-importation league. - Assembly. - First Provincial Congress. - First Continental Congress.
95
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
12. On the 22d of May the Provincial Congress, consisting of about seventy members, again convened at New York. Two teriments were authorized to be raised ; bounties were offered for the manufacture of gunpowder and muskets ; fortifications at Kingsbridge and the Highlands were projected, and Philip Schuyler and Richard Montgomery were recommended to the Continental Congress as Major and Brigadier Generals. After delegating their powers to a committee of safety they ad- journed early in September.
13. A short time previous to these events the seventy-four- gun ship Asia had been ordered from Boston and anchored off the Battery, with her guns pointed against the city. The re- moval of the troops to Boston, preparatory to a large reinforce- ment, rendered the erection of additional barracks in that city necessary, for which the mutinous inhabitants declined furnish- ing the requisite materials. New York was applied to for aid ; but the vigilant Sons of Liberty peremptorily forbade any ef- forts in that direction. A vessel was, however, fitted out for that purpose in the harbor ; aud the patriots, headed by John Lamb, Marinus Willett, and Isaac Sears, resolved to seize the ship and prevent her voyage. The citizens were requested to provide themselves with a supply of arms and ammunition. Sears, the principal instigator of this daring movement, was ar- rested and brought before the Mayor, but, ou his refusal to give bail, was committed. On his way to prison, however, he was forcibly rescued by the people, and conducted in triumph through the principal streets of the city.
14. On the receipt, soon after, of intelligence of the battle of Lexington, all business was at once suspended ; the patriotic Sons of Liberty took possession of the City Hall, distributed the arms and ammunition found there and at the arsenal among the citizens, a portion of whom organized a volunteer corps under the command of Samuel Broome, and assumed the temporary government of the city. They obtained possession of the Custom House, which they at once closed, laid an cm- bargo upon the English vessels in the port destined for the
Second Provincial Congress. - Arrival of the Asia. - Disturbances in the city. - Receipt of news of the battle of Lexington. - Proceedings of the Sons of Liberty.
96
FIFTH PERIOD.
eastern colonies, and relieved them of eighty thousand pounds' worth of provisions and supplies for the British army.
15. On the 5th of May, a Provisional Government, consist- ing of one hundred of the principal inhabitants, was organized by the citizens, and the municipal affairs of the city placed under their absolute control until the Continental Congress should otherwise order. A large body of troops being on their way to the city, Lieutenant-Governor Colden was soon after- wards requested to use his influence with General Gage, then in command in the city, to prevent their landing. The Con- gress, however, recommended that permission for their land- ing should not be withheld, while no fortification should be al- lowed to be constructed, and all warlike stores be removed from the town, and a safe retreat provided for the women and chil- dren in the event of a siege.
16. In the mean time the patriots under the direction of their daring leader, John Lamb, having procured a vessel from Connecticut, had taken possession of a quantity of military stores belonging to the royal troops, at Turtle Bay, near the foot of the present Forty-Seventh Street on the Hudson, a portion of which was despatched to the army at Cambridge, and the residue reserved for future use. Some other demonstrations of the popular feeling occurring soon after, the Provisional Con- gress requested General Wooster to take up his head-quarters near the city, where he accordingly, early in June, encamped with his troops at Harlem.
17. The royal troops, having been soon afterwards ordered to repair to Boston, were permitted by the Provisional Government to depart, with the stipulation that they should take nothing with them but their own arms and accoutrements. Disregard- ing this express restriction, they proceeded to the place of em- barkation in Broad Street with a large quantity of military stores belonging to the city. Here, however, they were met by Colonel Marinus Willett and John Morin Scott, who, notwith- standing the opposition of their leader and the remonstrances of the Mayor and Gouverneur Morris, who supposed full permis-
Provisional Government of the city. - Patriotic demonstrations. - Cap- ture of ammunition at Turtle Bay. - General Wooster encamps at Har- lem. - Embarkation of the royal troops for Boston.
97
ETHAN ALLEN AT TICONDEROGA.
sion had been given by the authorities, succeeded with the aid of the citizens, who had by this time assembled, in turning them back, and regaining the arms. Having secured the stores in a safe place, the soldiers were escorted to the wharf, where they embarked amid the hisses and execrations of the crowd.
CHAPTER V.
CAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA AND CROWN POINT. - WASHINGTON AS- SUMES COMMAND OF THE ARMY. - GOVERNOR TRYON'S ABDICATION. - INVASION OF CANADA. - SIEGE OF QUEBEC AND DEATH OF MONT- GOMERY.
1. Ox the morning of the 10th of May, 1775, Colonel 1775. ETHAN ALLEN of Vermont, aided by Captain BENEDICT ARNOLD, having with a force of eighty three men crossed over Lake Champlain from the Vermont shore during the preced- ing night, attacked the strong fortifications of Ticonderoga, and, after a brief conflict with the surprised garrison, demanded and effected its surrender "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." One hundred and eighty-two can- non and a large quantity of military stores were captured with the garrison, as the result of this bold and daring enterprise. On the succeeding day, Colonel SETH WARNER, of Vermont, ob- tained possession of Crown Point, with its garrison and a hun- dred and eleven pieces of artillery. This gallant enterprise seems to have been originally suggested by Colonel John Brown of Massachusetts.
2. On the 25th of June, eight days after the battle of Bunker Hill, WASHINGTON, having been commissioned by the Continental Congress as Commander-in-Chief of the American armies, passed through New York on his way to his head- quarters at Cambridge, whither he was escorted by the provin- cial militia, and where, on the 3d of July, he assumed the com- mand. Tryon on the morning of the day Washington left the city resumed his official duties as Governor, and was accorded a
Recapture of arms by the citizens. - Capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point - Washington assumes command of the army. - Return of Gov- ernor Tryon.
7
98
FIFTH PERIOD.
favorable reception by the Mayor and Corporation ; although such was the changed sentiment of the city, that, while nom- inally according him all the respect due to his position, the Provincial Congress in their midst secured their ready and im- plicit obedience.
3. Three thousand men were ordered by the Continental Con- gress to be raised by the colony of New York as her quota of the troops for the public defence. Four regiments were ac- cordingly raised under the authority of the Provincial Congress, and placed under the command of Colonel Alexander McDou- gall, Gozen Van Schaick, James Clinton, and Colonel Holmes. John Lamb was appointed to the command of an artillery and Marinus Willett of an infantry company. Sears and others of the " Liberty Boys " joined the ranks.
4. The Provincial Congress, desiring the guns of the fort on the Battery for the fortifications of the Highlands, and re- garding their present position as unfavorable to the patriotic cause, directed their removal accordingly. Captain Lamb, on the night of the 23d of August, proceeded to the execution of this order with a party of the Sons of Liberty and a number of citizens, including Alexander Hamilton. While thus engaged a shot was fired from a barge of the ship-of-war Asia, stationed near the shore ; and on the fire being returned by Lamb, killing one of the crew and wounding several others, a heavy can- nonade was opened upon the town by the ship, inflicting con- siderable damage upon the buildings near the Battery and severely wounding some of the inhabitants. The Liberty Boys, undismayed by this formidable attack, coolly persevered in their work until it was completed and the guns safely removed.
5. The commander of the Asia, on the ensuing day, for- warded a despatch to the Mayor, demanding satisfaction for the murder of one of his crew. A desultory correspondence followed the receipt of this demand, when the Provincial Con- gress put an end to it by declaring that, as the Asia had seen fit to cannonade the city, she must henceforth obtain her sup-
Organization of four regiments as the quota of New York. - Removal of the guns on the Battery. - Cannonade of the city by the Asia sloop-of- war. - Disposition of the demands for satisfaction of the cannonade of the Asia.
99
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
plies from some other source. Meanwhile the Governor, finding his position growing daily more unsatisfactory and perilous, de- termined to abandon the city, and took refuge on board the Asia. His organ and that of the royalists - Rivington's New York Gazette - having excited the ire of the patriots, Captain Sears, with a party of light-horse, on the 4th of December proceeded to its demolition, destroying the press and scattering the types. The proprietor sailed for England, whence, how- ever, on the occupation of the city by the British troops, he returned and resumed the publication of his journal.
6. On the 27th of June the Continental Congress directed General Philip Schuyler to repair to Ticonderoga, and in con- junction with Colonels Arnold and Hinman to place the fortifica- tions at that post in a complete state of defence, and afterwards, if found practicable, to take military possession of St. John's, Montreal, or any other portions of Canada which he might deem important to the interests of the colonies. Schuyler, under these instructions, reached Ticonderoga on the 18th of July, and, after making suitable provisions for its defence, despatched an agent to Canada to ascertain the disposition of the inhab- itants, and the number and condition of the royal forces.
7. General Montgomery, with a force of twelve hundred men, left Crown Point on the 31st of August, and being joined on the 4th of September by Schuyler, with about a thousand troops, the latter advanced on the 6th against St. John's, but, meeting with a formidable opposition, withdrew and re-embarked his troops on the succeeding morning. Having been reinforced by seven hundred men from New York and Connecticut, a second attempt upon St. John's was made, under the command of Montgomery on the 10th, which was again frustrated by the cowardice of the troops. General Schuyler being compelled by sickness to return to Ticonderoga, Montgomery assumed the command of the expedition on the 16th, and on the same day was joined by Colonel Seth Warner, with one hundred and seventy Green Mountain boys. On the 19th of October the fort at Chambly, twelve miles below St. John's, was captured by Majors Brown and Livingston.
Governor Tryon's abdication. - Demolition of Rivington's press. - Prep- arations for an invasion of Canada.
100
FIFTH PERIOD.
8. It was not, however, until the 2d of November, that St. John's was surrendered, after a series of misfortunes and miscarriages which would have discouraged a less determined spirit. Five hundred regulars and one hundred Canadians, with forty pieces of artillery and a quantity of naval stores, fell into the hands of the victors. Two parties sent to the relief of the fort by General Carleton, the British commander, one of which was headed by himself, were defeated by Colonel Warner and Majors Brown and Livingston. Major John André, whose subse- quent history is well known, was one of the prisoners taken at the fort. Colonel Allen, in the mean time, acting wholly with- out authority from Schuyler or Montgomery, had involved him- self in a series of disastrous failures in an attack upon Mon- treal, resulting in his capture and prolonged imprisonment.
9. General Montgomery then proceeded to Montreal, which city, after intercepting and defeating a strong naval and military force under the command of Generals Carleton and Prescott, was surrendered to him on the 12th of November. In the mean time General Washington had, about the middle of Sep- tember, despatched Arnold with a force of about two thousand men, by the route of the Kennebec River, against Quebec. After incredible hardships and fatigue the troops reached Point Levi, opposite the city, on the 8th of November, and, having been strengthened by the arrival of reinforcements from St. John's, crossed the river on the 13th, and were drawn up on the Plains of Abraham, where they awaited the answer of the garri- son to their repeated demands for surrender.
10. Learning, however, of the approach of an armed vessel to the relief of the city, Arnold on the 19th withdrew his forces a short distance up the river, to await the arrival of Montgom- ery, who on the 3d of December joined him with a strong rein- forcement. The combined army immediately moved down the river to Quebec, and on the next day took up their position op- posite the city, where vigorous preparations had been made by Carleton, who had escaped from Montreal, for their reception. A spirited but ineffectual bombardment was kept up for several days by the besiegers, when on the 16th a definitive plan of
Siege and capture of St. John's. - Disastrous expedition of Allen. - Siege of Quebec by Arnold and Montgomery.
العدد
101 .
CAPTURE OF QUEBEC.
operations was arranged by Montgomery for a final and decisive assault.
11. In consequence, however, of the treachery of deserters, a change in this plan became necessary. Major Brown and Colonel Livingston were intrusted with the execution of two feints on the upper town ; Arnold, with Lamb's artillery, was ordered to attack the suburbs on the north ; while Montgomery in person was to attack the lower town, with the consolidated forces, upon their junction.
12. At five o'clock in the morning of the last day of Decem- ber, in the midst of a furious storm of wind and snow, the troops took up their respective lines of march. Montgomery, at the head of his detachment, descended from the Heights of Abraham toward the lower town, where, encountering a block- house of hewed logs, flanked by a strong stockade, with his own hand he sawed off the posts of the latter, and at the head of his party entered the opening. At that moment the occu- pants of the block-house discharged against the assailants a three-pounder loaded with grape, instantly killing every person who had entered, with the exception of the French guide, in- cluding General Montgomery and both his aids. The remainder of the party, appalled by this disaster, immediately fell back hastily and retreated to their quarters.
13. Meanwhile the intrepid Arnold led his men through a succession of heavy snow-drifts to the foot of the cliff on the St. Lawrence, where a battery was erected for the defence of the suburbs. Advancing to its attack at the head of his troops, he was disabled by a musket-shot in the knee, and conveyed from the field. Captain Morgan, assuming the com- mand, carried the battery, amid a storm of musketry and grape-shot, and immediately commenced an assault upon a second battery, which he also carried after a fierce contest of three hours. Carleton, however, with a heavy force, now ap- peared in his rear, and the gallant Morgan, finding himself un- supported and surrounded was compelled to surrender, leaving a hundred and fifty of his heroic band killed or wounded, and a large number of prisoners, including Captain Lamb, Major Og- den, Aaron Burr, and Captain Oswald.
Death of Montgomery, and defeat of Captain Morgan.
,
1
102
FIFTH PERIOD.
14. General Carleton, after making suitable provision for the disposition of the dead and wounded, with a chivalry which re- flects high credit on his character, directed special honors to be paid to the remains of his gallant enemy, General Montgomery, which were buried, under the personal superintendence of the Lieutenant-Governor, within the walls of the city. Forty-two years later they were removed, by order of the Legislature of New York, to St. Paul's Church in the city of New York, where they now repose under a monumental tablet, erected under the directions of Congress as a lasting record of his bravery and worth.
1776. 15. Colonel Arnold assumed the command of the remain- ing troops, and having withdrawn from the immediate neigh- borhood of the city, awaited the arrival of General Wooster, who, in April of the ensuing year, renewed the siege. After a series of ineffectual efforts to effect an entrance, the troops, on the approach of General Burgoyne early in May, with heavy rein- forcements, hastily retreated, leaving their stores and sick in the hands of the enemy. Thus terminated this bold and daring but disastrous invasion of Canada, - a result due more to the insubordination and want of discipline of a portion of the troops, the absence of necessary supplies, and the inefficiency of some of the officers, than to any deficiency in its conception, or want of ability or heroic bravery in its gallant commanders.
Honors to the memory of Montgomery. - Continuance of the siege by Arnold and Wooster. - Arrival of Burgoyne, and retreat of the American troops.
-
----
103
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
CHAPTER VI.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. - INVESTMENT OF THE CITY OF NEW
YORK BY THE BRITISH. - BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. - RETREAT OF THE AMERICANS TO HARLEM HEIGHTS AND KINGSBRIDGE. - EXECU- TION OF NATHAN HALE. - BATTLE OF WHITE PLAINS. - CAPTURE OF FORTS WASHINGTON AND LEE. - RETREAT THROUGH NEW JERSEY.
1. GENERAL WASHINGTON having, about the middle of 1776. March, 1776, forced the British troops under Howe to evacuate Boston, whence they sailed for Halifax, and apprehen- sive of an intended attack upon New York by the forces under Sir Henry Clinton, made immediate preparations for the defence of that city. General Charles Lee, who had commanded the American forces since the departure of Wooster in January, having been ordered to Charleston, General Putnam was as- signed to duty in his place. Clinton, aware of the spirited preparations for his reception, passed down the harbor with his troops, and proceeded south to the attack of Charleston.
2. General Washington, with the main body of his army, arrived in the city in April, and proceeded to fortify the town and its vicinity, together with the passes of the Highlands on the Hudson. On the 25th of June General Howe appeared before the city with a fleet from Halifax, and on the 2d of July took possession of Staten Island on the south, where he was soon after joined by his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, with a fleet and a large land force from England, and by Sir Henry Clinton with the troops under his command.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.