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 19
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4. In the centre, however, General Porter's brigade, two regi- ments of the rifle corps, and a detachment of artillery under Major Hindman, were confronted by a force of about five hun- dred men under Lieutenant-General Drummond. The garrison, under the lead of Captain Williams and Lieutenants McDon- ough and Watmough, gave them a spirited reception, hurled back their scaling-ladders, and drove them from the bastions with a heavy loss. A second and third assault followed, with the same results ; the garrison being now strengthened by Gen- eral Ripley's brigade of regulars.
5. Soon afterwards, taking advantage of the darkness of the morning and the heavy columns of smoke, Lieutenant-General Drummond moved his troops silently round the ditch, repeated his charge, and reascended his ladders with such celerity as to obtain a footing on the parapet before any effectual opposition could be made. Orders were given to show no mercy to the garrison. The conflict was desperate ; Captain Williams and Lientenants McDonough and Watmough fell, the former mor- tally wounded ; charge followed charge in rapid succession until daybreak, when the enemy, in spite of every effort, retained pos- session of the bastion.
6. On the extreme right, defended by the remnant of the First (Scott's) Brigade, under the command of Lieutenant-Colo- nel Aspinwall, the Douglass Battery, Colonel MeRee, and Cap-
Combined assault and its repulse. - Drummond's attack, repulse, second attack and repulse.
13
194
SIXTH PERIOD.
tains Boughton and Harding of the Volunteers, an ineffectual + sault was also repeatedly made by the enemy under Lieuten :. .. Colonel Scott. The resistance in this quarter was so spirited ... . persistent that at daybreak the British troops were withdrawn ..
7. The struggle for the possession of the fort was now con centrated in the central bastion, which, at the moment the advance of the British reserve to support the successful a .! vance, burst with a terrific explosion, and a jet of flame, mit: gled with fragments of timber, carth, stone, and human body .. rose to the height of more than a hundred feet in the air, an. ] fell in a shower of ruins in every direction. The reserves int mediately fell back ; and soon afterwards the conflict ended in the entire defeat of the enemy, whose shattered columns r turned to their encampment with the loss of two hundred an ! twenty killed, one hundred and seventy-four wounded, and nearly two hundred prisoners.
8. During the ensuing month the American army were busily engaged in repairing the ruined bastion, and strengthening and increasing the works. Both armies in the interval had received reinforcements, and the siege was prosecuted and the defence sustained with skill and spirit on both sides. General Gaines had left the encampment and returned to Buffalo, and General Brown, who had recovered from his wounds, resumed the com- mand of the army.
9. On the morning of the 17th of September, in the midst of a heavy fog with occasional showers of rain, a sortie was made from the fort, in two divisions, commanded respectively by Gen- erals Porter and Miller, supported by Colonel Miller's regiment under General Ripley as a reserve. At noon, General Porter's division, accompanied by Colonel Gibson and Major Wood, moved from the encampment, and, marching through the woods, at three o'clock rushed upon the enemy's lines and carried - them by assault.
10. Simultaneously with this movement, General Miller, with the right division, attacked the centre of the British lines, and compelled its defenders to a precipitate flight, after capturing their batteries and fortifications. In this gallant and success-
Central bastion. - Defeat of the British. - Reinforcements. - Sally from the fort.
the
195
, INVASION OF NEW YORK.
ful achievement the Americans suffered severely, Major-General Davis, Lieutenant-Colonel Wood, Colonel Gibson, with seven other officers and seventy men, having been killed, and Generals Porter and Ripley, Lieutenant-Colonel Aspinwall, twenty-two other officers, and one hundred and ninety men wounded. The British loss was equally severe ; and, after collecting his scat- tered forces, General Drummond broke up his encampment, and resumed his former position on the Chippewa.
11. The British having, in August, captured the city of Wash- ington, and burned and destroyed the principal public buildings, and the entire coast being blockaded by the English fleet, ener- getic measures for the defence of the city of New York were adopted by the inhabitants. An enthusiastic public meeting was held, and the citizens, without distinction of party, pledged themselves to a vigorous co-operation with the national and State authorities in the prosecution of the war. The various fortifications in and around the city were strengthened and supplied with effective garrisons, twenty thousand troops were maised and stationed in the city under the command of Major- Generals Morgan Lewis and Ebenezer Stevens, and Commodore Decatur placed in charge of the fleet lying in the harbor. The city and its suburbs became one vast camp, animated by a firm determination to uphold the national honor, and preserve at all hazards their beautiful metropolis.
12. On the refusal of the banks to advance the requisite funds for the organization and support of this immense force on the security of the United States Treasury notes alone, Governor Tompkins patriotically came forward and pledged his own per- sonal and official security as indorser on the part of the State for a loan of half a million of dollars, which were thereupon promptly advanced.
13. In the mean time, General Sir George Prevost, with fifteen thousand men from the Duke of Wellington's successful army, aided by a strong naval squadron under Sir James L. Yco, pre- pared for an invasion of the State by way of Lake Champlain. The greater part of the American forces stationed at Plattsburg, under the command of General Izard, having been transferred
Preparations for defence of the city of New York. - Indorsement of the credit of the government by Governor Tompkins. - Invasion of New York.
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SIXTH PERIOD.
to the Niagara frontier, Sir George at once put his comma: : motion without waiting for the co-operation of the squad- and early in September advanced through Clinton County : .point within eight miles of Plattsburg on Lake Champlain.
14. While these movements were in progress, General Mate gathered together at Champlain the fragments of the Amer: army, numbering not more than fifteen hundred effective n ... and, retiring before the British general, fell back on Plattsi ... . and completed the defences which had been commenced on : : southern bank of the Saranac, a small stream which enters !!... lake at that place.
15. Against this small force, General Sir George Preve! moved his army in two columns on the two parallel roads le .. ing to Plattsburg. On the upper, or Beekmantown road, Br .... dier-General Mooers with seven hundred militia, and May. : John E. Wool with two hundred and fifty regular troops at! two pieces of artillery, disputed and considerably checked h :- progress, while the defence of the lower or lake-shore road W.s intrusted to Lieutenant-Colonel Appling and Captain Sproul.
16. General Prevost, however, succeeded, with considerabd ... loss, in reaching Plattsburg ; and both divisions of the Ameri- can force, slowly retiring before him, and destroying the bridge, over the Saranac, entered their works, whence they poured a storm of hot shot into the buildings of the town occupied by the British. The latter contented themselves for the en- suing week in the preparation of batteries for assaulting their position, and in the mean time awaiting the arrival of the naval squadron.
17. During this period, Commodore THOMAS MCDONOUGH, with a fleet consisting of four large vessels - the Saratoga, Eagle, Ticonderoga, and Preble - and ten small galleys, mounting in all about seventy guns, lay at anchor in the bay off Plattsburg, ad- joining Lake Champlain. The enemy's squadron, under Captain George Downie of the Royal Navy, made its appearance, enter- ing the bay around Cumberland Head on the morning of the 11th of September, consisting of the sloop Finch, the flag-ship Confiance, the brig Linnet, and the sloop Chubb, with twelve
Attack upon Plattsburg. - Battle on Lake Champlain.
197
SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN.
gunboats, mounting in all ninety-five guns, including an eighteen- pound Columbiad.
18. As this imposing squadron came into line around Cum- berland Head, - the Chubb moving against the Eagle, the Finch towards the Preble and Ticonderoga, and the Confiance against the Saratoga, - the several small vessels prepared for action. After solemn prayers on board the flag-ship, and without wait- ing the signal for attack, the Eagle opened fire for some time without effect, followed, as soon as her guns began to tell, by the Saratoga and the remainder of the vessels.
19. The Linnet, then anchored in a favorable position for- ward of the Eagle's beam, poured a well-directed broadside into the Saratoga ; while the Chubb, seeking a position from which to rake the American line, received a broadside from the Eagle, which carried away her cables, bowsprit, and boom, and in- flicted so severe an injury that she drifted down between the two opposing lines, until, after receiving another shot from the Saratoga, she was compelled to surrender, and was towed to the shore by one of the Saratoga's boats.
20. Extraordinary efforts were made during the action, by the Finch, to disable the Ticonderoga and Preble; and the Con- fiance opened fire upon the Saratoga with terrible effect, killing or wounding about forty of her crew. But in the course of an hour the Finch, badly disabled, was driven from her position near the Ticonderoga, and, running upon Crab Island, was there captured, while on the American side the Preble was compelled to fall back out of range of the enemy's guns.
21. The contest had now narrowed down to the Confiance and Linnet, on the right of the line, against the Eagle, the Saratoga, and the galleys, and on the left the British gunboats against the Ticonderoga. The Linnet had secured an admirable position at the head of the enemy's line, and gallantly sustained and returned the fire of the Eagle ; the Confiance was pouring in her broadsides on both the Eagle and the Saratoga, and the gunboats were struggling for supremacy with the Ticonderoga.
22. The Eagle having lost her springs, and being prevented from bringing her guns to bear, her commander ran her down
Progress of the fight. - Disabling of the British vessels Chubb and Finch, and of the American vessel Saratoga.
.
198
SIXTH PERIOD.
between the Saratoga and Ticonderoga, where he again opened fire on the Confiance and Linnet, the former in the mean time raking the Saratoga on her bows. The Saratoga in turn hav- ing become disabled, Commodore McDonough brought her around, in the face of a galling fire from the Linnet, in a posi- tion enabling her to bring her batteries to bear on the Con- fiance, and, after a gallant contest of upwards of two hours, compelled that vessel to strike her colors.
23. Within fifteen minutes afterwards the Linnet surren- dered to the Saratoga, and the gunboats, withdrawing from their attack on the Ticonderoga, escaped from the harbor. The commanders of the several remaining vessels surrendered their swords to Commodore McDonough, on the Saratoga, who cour- teously returned them to their brave owners, with the remark that they " were worthy to wear them." The prisoners were ordered to Crab Island, with the strictest directions to treat them kindly, and speak to them encouragingly.
24. After the completion of this signal victory the troops were withdrawn by Sir George Prevost from the town, the bat- teries dismantled, the artillery and stores removed, and during the succeeding night he followed with his entire army, leaving behind him the sick and wounded, together with immense quantities of provisions, camp equipage, and other stores, as trophies of his signal discomfiture.
25. The loss of the British on this occasion was three officers and thirty-four men killed, and eight officers and one hundred and forty-two men wounded, on shore ; Captain Downie, four officers, and fifty-two men killed, and three officers and sixty- nine men wounded, on the lake. The Americans lost one offi- cer and thirty-six men killed, and two officers and sixty men wounded, on land ; and four officers and forty-eight men killed, and four officers and fifty-four men wounded, on the lake.
26. Governor TOMPKINS, in consequence of the exposed situa- tion of the country, and the imminent danger of invasion of the State, convened the Legislature, by proclamation, on the 26th of September. SAMUEL YOUNG, of Saratoga, was chosen Speaker, and Aaron Clark, of New York, Clerk of the Assembly.
Surrender of the Linnet. - Complete victory of McDonough. - Special session of the Legislature.
199
THE TREATY OF GHENT.
Acts were passed for the increase of the pay of the militia in the service of the United States, providing for the raising of troops for the defence of the State and city of New York, in- cluding two regiments of colored soldiers, and authorizing the formation of associations for the encouragement of privateering. Provision was also made for indemnifying Governor Tompkins for all expenditures and responsibilities incurred by him in the defence of the State, not provided for by existing laws.
27. These energetic and spirited proceedings of the New York Legislature, combined with the prompt measures for the defence of the city of New York by its inhabitants, gave great satisfaction to the government at Washington ; and so highly were the patriotic efforts and sacrifices of Governor Tompkins at this crisis appreciated, that President Madison tendered him the position of Secretary of State of the United States, Mr. Monroe having now the charge of the War Department. The Governor, however, conceiving that, in his present position, he could be of greater service to the country, declined the flatter- ing offer.
CHAPTER X.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR TOMPKINS. - TREATY OF PEACE WITH GREAT BRITAIN. - ELECTION OF GOVERNOR DE WITT CLINTON. - ERIE AND CHAMPLAIN CANAL. - COMMON SCHOOLS. - STATE OF PARTIES.
1. Ar the meeting of the Legislature in January, 1815, 1815. NATHAN SANFORD, of New York, was elected United States Senator in place of Obadiah German, whose term had expired, and MARTIN VAN BUREN Attorney-General, in place of Abraham Van Vechten, removed. On the 12th of February, information was received of the conclusion of a treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States at Ghent, on the 24th of December previous, and of the splendid victory of General JACK-
Spirited proceedings for the public defence. - Their reception at Washing- ton. - Governor Tompkins declines the State Department. - United States Senator. - Attorney-General. - Treaty of peace with Great Britain. - Battle of New Orleans.
200
SIXTH PERIOD.
sox at New Orleans on the 8th of January. This intelligence created a general feeling of joy and satisfaction throughout the country, and was appropriately celebrated in the several towns and cities of the State.
2. In December of this year a large public meeting was held in the city of New York in reference to the construction of the Erie and Champlain Canal, spirited resolutions in its favor adopted, and a strong memorial to the Legislature, drawn up by Mr. CLINTON, directed to be forwarded to that body. Governor TOMPKINS, in his speech at the opening of the session of 1816. 1816, expatiated upon the importance of this great enter- prise, not only to the State of New York, but to the Western and Eastern States, and anticipated the zealous co-operation of those States in the proposed work. The citizens of Albany also held a large meeting and passed strong resolutions in favor of the measure.
3. The difficulties to be surmounted in the further prosecu- tion of this great undertaking were formidable in the extreme, and nothing but the indomitable energy and perseverance of Mr. CLINTON and his associates in the canal commission could have succeeded in overcoming them. The funds of the State had been wellnigh exhausted by the efforts rendered necessary in the prosecution of the war; all aid from the general govern- ment or the adjacent States had been pertinaciously withheld ; the resources of private enterprise crippled and paralyzed by the financial embarrassments of the crisis, and the project itself was almost universally regarded as visionary and chimerical. The preliminary measures put in operation for the commencement of the work, under previous acts of the Legislature, however ably devised and faithfully executed, had been necessarily attended by great expense to the State, and the current of public senti- ment ran strongly against any additional legislation in behalf of an enterprise so vast in its conception and inexhaustible in its demands upon the public treasury.
4. On the 17th of April the Legislature was induced, princi- pally through the exertions of Mr. CLINTON, powerfully sup-
General rejoicings. - Canal meetings in New York and Albany. - Gov- eruor's speech. - Difficulties and embarrassments of the undertaking. - Energy and perseverance of Mr. Clinton in its prosecution.
201
FEDERAL AND STATE ELECTIONS.
ported by Mr. VAN BUREN and Colonel YOUNG, to pass an " Act to provide for the improvement of the internal navigation of the State " repealing the previous statutes on the subject, and appointing STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, DE WITT CLINTON, SAMUEL YOUNG, JOSEPH ELLICOTT, and MYRON HOLLEY Canal Commissioners, with authority to prosecute all necessary sur- veys for the route of the proposed canal, and report to the Legislature at its next session. Twenty thousand dollars were appropriated for this purpose from the State treasury.
5. The April elections resulted, by a large majority, in favor of the Republicans. Governor TOMPKINS and Lieutenant-Gov- ernor TAYLER were re-elected, over Rufus King and George Tibbetts, with a Republican majority in both branches of the Legislature. This body met on the 5th of November for the choice of presidential electors. Electors were appointed favor- able to JAMES MONROE of Virginia for President, and DANIEL D. TOMPKINS of New York for Vice-President, who were sub- sequently elected by a nearly unanimous vote ; Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Delaware casting thirty-four votes only for Rufus King for President, and twenty-two for John E. Howard, of Maryland, for Vice-President.
6. At the opening. of the session on the 28th of January, 1817. 1817, Governor Tompkins sent a message to the Legislature recommending the entire ABOLITION of SLAVERY in the State from and after the 4th of July, 1827. By a previous act, all males born of slave parents subsequent to the year 1799 were to become free at the age of twenty-eight, and females at twenty- five. The recommendation of the Governor was unanimously concurred in by the Legislature. Thus through the philan- thropic exertions of the Society of Friends in the city of New York and elsewhere, and the energetic aid of Cadwallader D. Colden, Peter A. Jay, William Jay, Governor Tompkins, and other friends of humanity throughout the State, the dark blot of slavery was destined to be forever erased from our escutcheon.
7. A few days previous to the 4th of March, Vice-President TOMPKINS resigned his office as Governor, the duties of which
Act for appointment of Canal Commissioners, and survey of canal. - Election of President Monroe and Vice-President Tompkins. - Abolition of Slavery. - Resignation of Governor Tompkins.
202
SIXTH PERIOD.
were devolved upon Lieutenant-Governor Tayler. An act was passed providing for the election of a successor at the ensuis: : spring elections, at which term DE WITT CLINTON, by a near !: unanimous vote, was elected Governor, and JOHN TAYLER Lien- tenant-Governor, with a decided Republican majority in both branches of the Legislature.
8. On the 10th of March the Canal Commissioners present ..! to the Legislature an elaborate report of their proceedings : and on the 17th of April, after the most strenuous opposition. an act was passed, prepared by Mr. CLINTON, authorizing the construction of the proposed canal from the Hudson to Lakes Champlain and Erie, - three hundred and sixty-three miles in length, with a surface of forty feet in breadth, declining to eighteen at the bottom, with a depth of four feet of water, sufficient for the conveyance of vessels of one hundred tous' burden.
9. On the 4th of July succeeding, this great enterprise was commenced at Rome, in the presence of Governor CLINTON and the commissioners, by James Richardson, and the first steps were taken for the construction of a magnificent public work, hitherto unequalled in importance and extent in the civilized world, and destined in the future to exert an immense influence upon the agricultural, commercial, and mechanical interests of the entire Union.
10. On the 27th of January, 1818, the Legislature 1818. again assembled. Governor CLINTON, in his first address to that body, after presenting a clear view of the financial affairs of the State, and recapitulating the progress made in the construction of the canal, submitted various recommenda- tions for the improvement of the civil and criminal laws of the State. A formidable political opposition to his administration, headed by Mr. Van Buren, Colonel Young, Roger Skinner, Wal- ter Bowne, General Root, and other leading Republicans, soon developed itself, and gave origin to the formation of two new and distinctly marked parties, known as the Bucktail, or Demo- cratic, and the Clintonian. JOHN VAN NESS YATES was ap-
Election of Governor Clinton and Lieutenant-Governor Tayler. - Pas- sage of the act for the construction of the canal. - Commencement of the work. - New organization of parties.
203
THE STATE GOVERNMENT. '
pointed Secretary of State by the Council, in place of Dr. Cooper, removed.
11. On the 16th of March, GIDEON HAWLEY, the Superin- tendent of Common Schools, transmitted to the Legislature his fifth annual Report, from which it appeared that there were in the State upwards of five thousand schools properly organized, in which more than two hundred thousand children were an- nually taught during an average period of from four to six months. The Lancasterian system of instruction was fully indorsed, and its advantages were pointed out at great length. This system, however, after a brief experiment, failed in accomplishing the favorable results which were expected, and was finally abandoned.
12. During the session an able report on the subject of domestic manufactures was presented by PEREZ RANDALL of Chenango, chairman of the committee on that subject, recom- mending, in view of the high price of foreign fabrics and the depressed condition of the country generally, consequent on the exhaustion produced by the war, the development and cultiva- tion of our own industrial and mechanical resources, and the reliance, as far as practicable, upon domestic manufacture, especially in the article of clothing.
13. The results of the spring elections were generally favora- ble to the Clintonians, a majority in both branches of the Legis- lature and of the popular vote having been secured in their favor. Most of the prominent Federalists of the State were among the leading supporters of the administration of Governor Clinton, although that party, as a distinctive political organiza- tion, had ceased to exist.
14. The Legislature convened on the 5th of January, 1819. 1819. General OBADIAH GERMAN, of Chenango, was cho- sen Speaker of the Assembly, after a violent political contest, lasting for two days. Governor Clinton, in his address, again adverted to the canal policy of the State, reminding the Legis- lature, that, under the act of 1817, the commissioners were only authorized to contract for the construction of canals between
Report of the Superintendent of Common Schools. - The Lancasterian system of instruction. - Report on domestic manufactures. - Spring elec- tions. - Triumph of the Clintonians. - Meeting of the Legislature. - Rec- ommendations of the Governor.
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SIXTH PERIOD.
the Mohawk and Seneca Rivers and the Hudson and Lake Champlain, and strongly urging the opening of the entire line from Lake Erie to the tide-waters of the Hudson, and from Fort Edward to the head of sloop navigation on that river. These views were concurred in by the Legislature, and an act was passed for carrying them into effect. HENRY SEYMOUR, of Oneida, was appointed Canal Commissioner in place of Mr. Ellicott, resigned.
15. The appointment of Chief-Justice THOMPSON as Secretary of the Navy under the United States Government produced another vacancy on the bench of the Supreme Court of the State, which was filled by the promotion of AMBROSE SPENCER as Chief-Justice, and the appointment of JOHN WOODWORTH as Associate Justice. An act was passed requiring the Comptroller to liquidate and settle the outstanding accounts - as between Vice-President Tompkins and the State, and also between the State and the general government-growing out of the late war.
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