USA > New York > Rensselaer County > Landmarks of Rensselaer county, New York, pt 1 > Part 6
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LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY,
them for the purpose of enforcing the decree of the English govern- ment. Not content with this these sturdy pioneers, goaded to despera- tion, organized small bands and invaded Rensselaer and Washington counties, killing stock, burning buildings, destroying growing crops and committing other depredations.
They were led in their numerous raids by Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, Remember Baker and others-all true patriots during the fight for in dependence which followed a few years later-who were referred to by the New York authorities as " the Bennington mob." The Walloom- sac patent of 12,000 acres, which lay partly in Rensselaer county, partly in Washington county and partly in Vermont, was the theatre of considerable contention. As an illustration of the character of the clashes which occurred the following old account will suffice:
James Breakenridge owned a farm on the Walloomsac Patent, which was situated in the town of Bennington, near the line of Hoosick. In July, 1721, Henry Ten Eyck, the Sheriff of Albany County, summoned a posse, numbering 200 or 300 of the principal citizens of the city, and started to take possession of Breakenridge's farm, held under a grant from New Hampshire. The first day they proceeded to Sancoik, near North Hoosick, where they remamed over night. The citizens had received warning of their approach and had assembled, resolved to defend the rights of their neighbor. When the Sheriff's posse arrived at what is now known as the Henry Bridge, they were stopped by a small guard placed there for that purpose, while a large number were concealed at a little distance, awaiting further developments. After a short parley, the Mayor of Albany and a few of the most distinguished of the com- pany, were allowed to proceed to the house of Breakenridge, which they found bar- ricaded, loop-holed and guarded by about twenty armed men. The Sheriff on being re- fused admittance caused the writ of possession to be read, but no attention was paid to it. A large part of the Sheriff's posse, seeing that they had a resolute band of men to contend with and that peccable possession could not be gained, thought discretion the better part of valor, and all finally retreated without any shedding of blood. Affidavits of several of the party are found in " Documentary History of New York." Vol. 4, among which is that of John R. Bleeker, who says he had " great reason to think that if the Sheriff had attempted to break open the said house he would have been in the utmost danger of losing his life, and all those that would have assisted him in the attempt."
Among the outrages committed by the Bennington Mob, it was alleged that they had " seized, insulted and terrified Magistrates and other civil officers, so that they dare not execute their respective functions; rescued prisoners for debt, assumed to themselves military commands and judicial powers; burned and demohshed the houses and property and beat and abused the persons of many of His Majesty's sub- jects, expelled them from their possessions, and put a period to the administration of justice, and spread terror and destruction throughout that part of the country which is exposed to their oppression." In consideration of these outrages and the
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JURISDICTION OF NEW YORK ESTABLISHIRD.
recommendation of the Assembly of the State of New York, the Governor says: "1 have therefore thought fit with the advice of his Majesty's Council to issue this Proclamation hereby strictly enjoining and commanding all Magistrates, Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs and other eivil officers of the Counties of Albany and Charlotte to apprehend and take the before named Ethan Allen, late of Bennington in the County of Albany, yeoman, Seth Warner late of the same place, yeoman, Remember Baker, late of Arlington in said County, yeoman, Robert Cochran, late of Rupert in the County of Charlotte, yeoman, Peter Sunderland, late of Socialborough in the said County, yeoman, Sylvanus Brown, late of the same place, yeoman, James Breakenridge, late of Wallumsehaick in the County of Albany, yeoman, and John Smith, late of Socialborough in the said County of Charlotte, yeoman, and them to commit to safe and secure custody in the Gaol of the City and County of Albany to answer for the several offenses and to be dealt with according to law."
The Governor, in the Proclamation, offers a reward of one hundred pounds for apprehending each of them the said Ethan Allen and Remember Baker, and the sum of fifty pounds for apprehending each and every one of them the said Seth Warner, Robert Cochran, Peleg Sunderland, Sylvanns Brown, James Breakenridge and John Smith to be paid to the person or persons who shall take and secure the said offenders that they may be proceeded against as the law directs.
For nearly a score of years these doughty pioneers terrorized the eastern frontier of New York. The authorities of New York, though making a show of attempting to quell the disorder. were either help- less or indifferent. At the close of the war the little rebellion was continued. The settlers knew they were legally under the jurisdiction of the State, now independent, but they nevertheless refused to recog- nize the right of the government to deprive them of their possessions. For awhile all was chaos. A temporary government was organized by the insurgents, who, to annoy the New York authorities, mockingly set up a claim to jurisdiction over Rensselaer and Washington counties. They frequently attempted to serve legal processes in the very heart of Rensselaer county, and more than once their officers came within sight of the land now embraced in the city of Troy ou these errands. 'This anarchy-it can hardly be called a government -- existed under the name of New Connecticut, or Vermont, until the territory in dispute was admitted as a State in the Union in 1791, the same year in which Rensselaer county was erected from Albany county. Nine years be- fore that date the towns of Granville, Cambridge and White Creek, in Washington county, which had been induced to join the insurgents, withdrew from the outlawed organization and acknowledged the an- thority of the State of New York.
During the early years of the Revolutionary War the inhabitants of the east district of the manor of Rensselaerwyck were in a state bor.
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LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.
dering on terror on account of the numerous robberies which occurred in that section. Complaint was made to the local authorities without avail and finally, March 11, 1780, the State Legislature, which had been organized September 10, 1777, passed a law directing the super- visor of the east district to raise by taxation a sum not exceeding 1, 500 pounds, " together with a sum not exceeding one shilling in the pound for colleeting the same," to be employed in the payment of "rangers," whose duties should be to arrest the freebooters and bring them to justice. Many arrests followed under this authority, but the work of arresting and punishing the robbers was continued for several years before their depredations were finally brought to an end.
CHAPTER V.
The War of the Revolution and the Participation Therein of the Colonists of Rensselaerwyck-General Schuyler Deposed-Baum's Proclamation-The Famous Battle of Bennington and the Events Leading up to It-Fought Entirely within the Town of Hoosick-The Accounts of General Stark and Lieutenant Glick-Losses on Both Sides-Direct Result of the Battle-The Decisive Action at Saratoga.
We do not think it is possible for any historian to shed any new light on matters relating to the participation of the inhabitants of Rens- selaer county in the War of the Revolution. One of the greatest battles in the history of that memorable struggle for independence on the part of the American colonies was fought entirely within the limits of the county of Rensselaer-yet all the credit of it, so far as the casual student of the present generation may be interested, goes to a village in the neighboring State of Vermont! This great fight, which is known as the battle of Bennington, should have been called the battle of Hoosick or the Battle of Walloomscoick or Wal- loomsae or Walloomsack. The fight retains the name of the Battle of Bennington, by which it at once became known, for the reason that the secret expedition which started out for the Connecticut valley by the orders of Gen. Burgoyne, had for its first objective point the little vil- lage of Bennington, which fortunately was never reached.
The events which preceded this battle may be summarized in a few
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GENERAL BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN.
words. Every child knows the causes which led up to the War of the Revolution and we will waste no words in a description of them.
The campaign of Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne is acknowl- edged to have been one of the most important events of the whole war. This officer, one of the most valiant and distinguished in the British service, arrived at Quebec in March, 1777, superseding Sir Guy Carte- ton in command of the British forees in Canada. He occupied the first two months after his arrival in the organization of a powerful army for the invasion of New York. Early in June his forces numbered over ten thousand men. Of these seven thousand were British and Hes- sian veterans, and the remainder were Canadians and Indians. It was understood to be his plan to move upon Albany by way of Lake Cham- plain, Lake George and the Upper Hudson. After reaching Albany it was his intention to continue down the river to New York and there join the main division of the British army. He hoped by this means to cut off New England from the Middle and Southern colonies and thus leave the whole country at the merey of General Howe. He had no idea that it was possible for the colonial forces to offer any serious resistance to his progress, for his army was one of the strongest Great Britain had mustered on American soil.
Reaching St. John's, at the north end of Lake Champlain, June 1, on the 16th of the month he began his journey down the lake to Crown Point. This place had been left undefended by the colonial forces and a British garrison was left in charge. Three thousand men under General St. Clair held Fort Ticonderoga, and Burgoyne, with practically his entire army, marched to this point. After capturing Mount Defiance the British planted a battery seven hundred feet above the American works. Mount Hope was next captured and retreat by way of Lake George was thereby eut off. The American forces un- doubtedly would have been compelled to surrender had they attempted to maintain their position. St. Clair, realizing this fact, decided to abandon Fort Ticonderoga, which he did on the night of July 5, leav- ing with his garrison by way of Mount Independence and Wood Creek, \'t. The Americans fled through Vermont until they reached Hub- bardton, at the north end of Lake Bomoscen, where they were over- taken by the pursuing British forces. A sharp engagement followed, in which the Americans were defeated; but the latter succeeded in checking for awhile the progress of the enemy, finally retreating to Fort Edward. The British reached Whitehall the next day, where they captured a large quantity of baggage, stores and provisions.
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LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.
Fort Edward was at this time the temporary headquarters of the colonial Army of the North, under command of General Philip Schuy- ler. Upon the arrival of St. Clair the combined American forces at Fort Edward numbered less than five thousand men, most of whom were militiamen, while the forces of Burgoyne, now at Whitehall, were about double. Furthermore many of Schuyler's men were with- out arms and accoutrements. Schuyler felt the weakness of his posi- tion and decided to evacuate the fort. He retreated southward through the valley of the Hudson until he reached the islands at the mouth of the Mohawk river. Upon reaching Van Schaick's, now Adams's island, he pitched camp, determined, if necessity compelled it, to prevent Burgoyne's army from reaching the navigable waters of the Hudson river.
Haver island, the most northerly of the group in the delta of the Mohawk, was the most advantageous position for defense in the locality through which Schuyler believed Burgoyne must pass in order to reach New York. It was opposite the fords in the Mohawk river at Half Moon point, now the village of Waterford. At this point Gen. Schuyler's men, under the direction of Thaddeus Kosciusko, engineer of the northern department, a noble Pole who greatly endeared himself to the Americans, threw up intrenchments and planted behind them several cannon, which commanded the river at this point. These small fortifications still exist on either side of the tracks of the Dela- ware & Hudson railroad just south of the most northerly branch of the Mohawk.
At this time an event occurred which caused the most profound regret among the friends of General Schuyler. The colonial Congress, probably not fully cognizant of all the facts in the case, deposed Gen. Schuyler and placed the Army of the North in command of the vain and incompetent General Horatio Gates. Gen. Schuyler had suffered greatly from the intrigues of jealous officers, who represented that his capabilities as a warrior had been overestimated. The difficulties under which he had labored were not understood. On all sides he was acknowledged an undoubted patriot with the highest motives, and while his bravery was never brought into question Congress was led to believe by his jealous rivals that he was not endowed with sufficient discretion properly to conduct the important campaign with which he had been intrusted. A retrospect of the famous Burgoyne 'expedi- tion leads to the inevitable conclusion that the critics of General
Chat R. Ingalls
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COLONEL BAUM'S EXPEDITION.
Schuyler were actuated by selfish motives alone, in all probability, and that he acted with good judgment. Had Burgoyne not been inter- cepted at Saratoga he eventually must have attempted to cross the ford at Half Moon point in his march to New York. The advantageous position which Sehuyler had selected there, coupled with the fact that he could easily have had the entire Army of the North where they could perform the most effective service, must have led to the defeat of the British forces; and if he had not been superseded by General Gates one of the world's decisive battles would have been fought on the border of Rensselaer county. Burgoyne had made a boast that he would eat his Christmas dinner in Albany; but he failed to appre- ciate the fighting qualities of the men who were determined to stop him and the grand generalship of the commanders of the Army of the North.
Colonel Friedrich Baum was a German officer in the service of the British, and a valiant soldier. He accompanied Gen. Burgoyne in his memorable expedition from Canada into New York, and upon his sagacity and military training Burgoyne placed great reliance. Baum was in command of a regiment of Hessian dragoons, well drilled, but like the Hessians who became an easy prey of the Americans at Tren- ton, they were hirelings and they fought like hirelings. There was every reason why they should have won an easy victory over superior numbers of Americans, for the latter were poorly armed and inexperi- enced in the field of battle. Burgoyne's supplies were fast disappear- ing and he was obliged to branch ont from the path he had outlined in order to secure provisions and stores for his army. Leaving Whitehall he came on by way of Fort Ann, which the Americans had despoiled before leaving it, and thence through the woods and across obstructed roads to Fort Edward. He arrived at the latter point July 30 and de- cided to wait there with the main body of his troops until he could obtain additional supplies, of which he had become in urgent need. Accordingly he dispatched Colonel Baum with five hundred picked men to Bennington, where he had ascertained there was a large quantity of provincial stores. Most of these stores had been brought across from the New England provinces. They consisted for the most part of cat- tle, horses and wheel-carriages, which were guarded by a small body of militia only. In Burgoyne's written instructions to Col. Banm he made no mention of Bennington. He wrote that Baum should feel the public pulse, or "try the affections of the country; " that he should 7
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LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.
"mount the Riedesel dragoons" and "complete Peters's corps; " and further that he should obtain large supplies of cattle, horses and car- riages. The number of horses to be brought was thirteen hundred at the least. "You will use all possible means," he continued, " to make the country believe that the troops under your command are the ad- vanee eorps of the army, and that it is intended to pass the Connecticut on the road to Boston. You will likewise insinuate that the main army from Albany is to be joined at Springfield by a corps of troops from Rhode Island." The expedition was practically a big foraging expedi- tion. Burgoyne never told what secret instructions he had given to Baum, but there is no doubt that his written directions were intended to disguise his real plan, and that Bennington was the objective point of the expedition which terminated so disastronsly.
Burgoyne's instruction continued, in epitome, as follows: Baum was to go Battenkill, thence to Arlington, where he was to wait for a de- tachment of the provincials under Capt. Sherwood. From there he was directed to go to Manchester, a few miles east, and take possession of the mountain road to Rockingham, sending the few Indians in his command and the fight troops toward Otter Creek If no enemy ap- peared on the Connecticut river, on their return he was to continue in his journey to Rockingham, the limit of his expedition. He was directed to use his judgment as to whether he should send his Indians and light troops up the Connecticut valley, but if he did on their return he was to march to Brattleboro and proceed thence by way of the turn- pike to Albany, where he was to join Burgoyne and the main army. Burgoyne had planned well, but Baum never reached Rockingham, nor Manchester, nor Bennington; and his superior, who believed his army invincible in the province of New York, never came any nearer to Albany than half way down Saratoga county. Burgoyne met defeat and capture; Baum met death and his force was almost annihilated within the limits of Rensselaer county. The battle with Burgoyne at Saratoga is now recorded among the decisive battles of the world; but the outcome of that fight might have been different had Baum's mis- sion succeeded.
Baum was especially instructed to seize everything he could find in the way of horses and vehicles, also draught-oxen and cattle fit for slaughter. He was directed to give receipts to all persons who had complied with the "orders " contained in Burgoyne's proclamation, but the property of rebels was to be taken without exchanging vouchers.
1
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GENERAL BURGOYNE'S PROCLAMATION.
The proclamation to which the commanding general referred was is- sued by Burgoyne while at Crown Point. After exhorting all the in- habitants of the country through which he expected to pass to remain loyal, he offered employment to those who would join his forces and pay to all of whom he would demand provisions or stores. The proc- lamation concluded as follows :
If, notwithstanding these endeavors and sincere inclinations to effect them, the frenzy of hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted, in the eyes of God und man, in denouncing and executing the vengeance of the state against the willful onteasts. The messengers of justice and wrath await them in the field; and devas- tation, famine, and every concomitant horror that a reluctant but indispensable prosecution of military duty must occasion will bar the way to their return.
July 10 he issued another proclamation, addressed particularly to the inhabitants of Granville, Pawlet, Wells, Rutland, Castleton, Hubbard- ton and Tinmouth and to the people living in the districts bordering on Cambridge, White Creek and Cambden, calling upon them to send representatives to Castleton to meet Col. Skene, who would give them further encouragement and advice, if they had paid heed to the first proclamation; or, if they had not acknowledged allegiance to Great Britain, to learn of the conditions which they must fulfill in order to be spared from the righteous wrath with which they had been threat- ened.
Three days after Burgoyne's second proclamation, July 13, General Schyler issned a counter proclamation to the inhabitants of the same locality in which, after reminding the persons interested of the manner in which the British in New Jersey had made and broken similar prom - ises, he informed them that all persons who gave any assistance to or corresponded with the enemy would be treated as traitors and subject to punishment as such.
While, as a rule, Burgoyne's proclamation had an effect directly op- posite to that intended, there were a number of persons in the district referred to who disregarded the decree of Schuyler and in various ways gave evidence of Toryism. But the assistance which this class gave to the enemy was not important enough to seriously affect the interests of the patriots.
The universal feeling throughout the country on the eve of the battle of Bennington was one of extreme anxiety. This sentiment began to be profound upon the surrender of Ticonderoga by St. Clair. The gallant General Montgomery had failed to carry Quebec, a fortification
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LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.
invulnerable except by strategy; Crown Point had been abandoned, and the superiority of the British flotilla on Lake Champlain had been demonstrated. Mount Independence and Ticonderoga, which were con- sidered at that time as .almost impregnable, had been lost through our negligence in not properly fortifying Mount Defiance, which com- manded both points. Mount Defiance, or Sugar Loaf Hill, from its height and proximity overlooked all our works at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. It was extremely difficult of access and, prop- erly fortified, could have been held by a comparatively small force who might have expelled Burgoyne's army with little trouble. The aban- donment of the two other points was entirely unexpected and severely felt. Washington was greatly depressed by the news of the abandon- ment of Ticonderoga, On hearing of the disaster he wrote to General Schuyler: " The evacuation of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence is an event of chagrin and surprise not apprehended nor within the compass of my reasoning; " and he predicted: "As matters are going, Burgoyne will have little difficulty in penetrating to Albany." At Hubbardton the day had gone against us, and the patriot army, fleeing to the southward, had abandoned Skenesborough, Fort Ann, Fort Edward, Moses Creek and Saratoga.
When the news of these successive disasters reached Albany and Rensselaer county the inhabitants were well-nigh distracted, for they feared, and with good reason, that the British general and his power- ful army would soon be marching victoriously through the valley of the lower Hudson, devastating everything in his path. People packed up their household goods and sent them to distant points, and many be- gant to flee in terror from the awful punishment that had been threat- ened by Burgoyne in his proclamation, In Stockbridge, Mass., it is recorded that the inhabitants were " greatly burdened with people who had fled from the New Hampshire grants." General Howe had de- feated us on Long Island and in New York, and obtained a foothold in New Jersey and Newport, R. I. Burgoyne's valor was thoroughly appreciated, and his spirit of enterprise and desire for military glory led people to believe he was almost certain to accomplish that which he had undertaken. This feeling of insecurity and dread later on was in- creased by the murder of Jane McCrea near Fort Edward, July 27, 1777. Miss McCrea was a young woman, daughter of a Presbyterian clergyman of New Jersey. Though she was a member of a patriotic family she was betrothed to an officer named Jones in Peters's corps
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THE ADVANCE TOWARD BENNINGTON.
of loyalists. She was a guest at the house of Jones's mother, within the British lines near Fort Edward, and started under an escort of two Indians to go to the house of Jones's brother, near the British eamp about four miles distant, to meet her betrothed. A barrel of rum had been prom- ised to her Indian guides upon their delivering her safely at her desti- nation. The Indians quarrelled over the reward and one of them, in order to prevent the other from securing any pay for his services, buried his tomahawk to the handle in Miss MeCrea's skull. This form of barbarity at the hands of the Indians who had allied themselves with the British frightened the colonists further southward, who feared that the scene might often be re-enacted as the British advanced toward the ocean. It was while the MeCrea ease was yet fresh in the minds of the inhabitants of Eastern New York and Vermont that Burgoyne issued his proclamation threatening to let his Indian forces loose in that section should his mandates be disobeyed.
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