USA > New York > Orange County > Newburgh > Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical > Part 7
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Stand here on the old piazza, where Washington often sat in meditation, and see yonder through the portal of the Highlands West Point enthroned among the mountains, the Gibraltar of the Revolution; Pollopel's Island, which during the latter part of the war was a military prison, lifts its bald head out of the waters of the bay at your feet; the beacon summits of the mountains where the watch- fires blazed, the camp grounds in the woods of New Windsor, the sites of the public building, barracks, storehouses and hospital of our army, the headquarters of the generals-all are within short distances from this sacred spot. /
Under this low-descending roof Washington made his headquarters and his family their home during the latter part of the war for independence; and in and about this place were enacted scenes and events of such vital and thrilling nature that they shall never be for- gotten while love of country is a characteristic of American manhood. At two periods previously the headquarters of the commander-in- chief were at the little village of New Windsor, only two miles sonth.
Commencing with the campaign of 1777, the region in which are West Point, Newburgh and Fishkill was an arena of almost constant ' military activity. Fishkill village was long the principal depot of the American army. There they placed their chief magazines,* their hospitals and their workshops, which formed a town of themselves, besides a military prison, and " handsome large barracks " built in the wood at the foot of the mountain. It was clear that the plan of the British was to render themselves masters of the whole course of the Hudson River, thus separating the States east of it from those west, and subdne each section in turn. West Point was, therefore, made choice of as the most important place to fortify, and Fishkill, and subsequently Newburgh also, on either side of the river, as the places
best adapted for the principal depots of supplies. A dock (called the Continental Dock) was built for military purposes at Newburgh, and in its neighborhood were some of the army buildings.
One who saw West Point in 1780 wrote: "Lifting your eyes you beheld on every side lofty summits thick set with redoubts and bat- teries, and from the fort proper at West Point, which is on the edge of the river, to the top of the mountain are six different forts, all in the form of an amphitheatre, and protecting each other."
As an additional security, an iron chain of immense strength was thrown across at the short bend of the river, and fixed to huge blocks on each shore. It was buoyed up by very large logs, about six- teen feet long, pointed at the ends to lessen their opposition to the force of the current at flood and ebb tide. The logs were placed a short distance from each other, the chain carried over them, and made fast to each by staples." There were also a number of anchors dropped at proper distances, with cables made fast to the chain, to give it greater stability. The New England colonies were the prin- cipal source of the supplies and material for carrying on the war, and as the British occupied New York and patrolled the Hudson up to the Highlands, the ferry between Fishkill and Newburgh was the connecting link between the two sections of country. Loaded teams were constantly arriving at the former place, and when the army was in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, were ferried across the river, and took their tedions way back of the Highlands till they reached their destination. This was the door of communication ; West Point was the key that locked it, and of all the posts in the United States Wash- ington deemed it the most important. From September, 1778,+ until the close of the war the "main" Continental army was almost con- stantly in the Highlands or in their vicinity.
On June 25, 1779, General Washington established his head- quarters at New Windsor village. He remained there till July 22, and then took np his headquarters at West Point. The main army was then posted at West Point, Constitution Island, Fishkill, New Windsor, Ft. Montgomery, and Smith's Clove, fourteen miles south- west of West Point. While at New Windsor Washington planned
* "About this time, (January, 1782), nine or ten thousand stands of arms and a large quantity of powder, brought from France by Colonel Laurens, were brought from Boston to Fishkill.' -Major-General Heath's Memoirs.
* See Illustration on Page 31.
+ " The grand army under General Washington took up a new position; one division under the immediate command of General Putnam at Fishkill," etc .- General Heath's Memoirs.
[29]
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NEWBURGH.
the attack on Stony Point, which Wayne carried out so successfully. He left West Point in November, spent the winter in Morristown, and came again to New Windsor Dec. 6, 1780.
Here he spent the winter of 1780-'81, near his stronghold, watching through his secret service the doings of the British on the lower Hudson. His headquarters were in the Thomas Ellison house, on the hill imme- diately south of the village. The main army was separated into several cantonments. There was a large force at West Point, including four Massachusetts brigades; two Connecticut brigades were on the opposite side of the river; there was another cantonment "in the woods two miles in the rear of the works at West Point," and another at Fishkill; a force of New Jersey troops was at Pompton, two thousand Pennsylvania troops at Morristown, several New York regiments at Albany, and other troops elsewhere.
Gen. Knox had his headquarters at the John Ellison house, at Vail's Gate. LaFayette joined his commander at New Windsor, and
in Virginia, Heath forwarded to him supplies, principally collected in New England, till General Washington wrote (Oct. 27, 1781,) that " there will be no occasion for forwarding any more beef cattle from the northward for this army."
After the surrender of Cornwallis the Continental troops engaged in the Yorktown campaign (with the exception of the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia troops, who were detatched, with St. Clair in command, and ordered to join Greene in the south) started on their long journey northward. The French army remained in Virginia. The "main army" on the Hudson went into winter quarters at West Point and its vicinity.
In the spring of 1782 we find the main body of the Continental army encamped along the Hudson, on both sides of the river, in proximity to the highlands.
On March 31, Washington established his headquarters in the Hasbrouck house at Newburgh .* The main English army was Sir
WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS-FROM THE NORTHWEST.
had his headquarters there for a short time in the winter. He was not with Washington at Newburgh, as has often heen stated, and did not even visit the Headquarters when in Newburgh in 1824.
We are aware that his name has been coupled with the Newburgh Headquarters in song and story, and for those who have set much store on the tradition, there is consolation in the fact that it is only a mistake of two years in time and two miles in distance. In Dec., 1781, after the surrender of Cornwallis, he sailed for France, and did not return to this country till 1784.\
Here at New Windsor Washington planned that master-stroke of strategy and generalship that culminated in the surrender of the army of Cornwallis at Yorktown. General Heath was left in com- mand of the army remaining at West Point and its vicinity, consisting of two regiments of New Hampshire, ten of Massachusetts, five of Connecticut infantry, the corps of invalids, Sheldon's legion. and the Third Regiment of artillery, together with all such State troops and militia as remained in the service. During Washington's campaign
Henry Clinton's at New York, and now once more Washington watched his movements from his Highland stronghold. Hostilities had almost ceased, negotiations were commenced for the restoration of peace, and the army passed a whole year in comparative idleness.
Although never again to meet the enemy in deadly conflict in the field, they were yet to participate in events that will always be of thrilling interest to all who read of their noble deeds. The first was the celebration of the birth of the Dauphin of France, on the 31st of May, 1782. Major Villefranche had employed a thousand men for ten days in the construction of a curious edifice at West Point. It was called an arbor, and was composed of the simple materials which the common trees of the vicinity afforded, and was about 220 fect in length and So in width, supported by a grand colonnade of 118
* Extract from General Heath's diary : "March 31 .- His Excellency General Washington arrived at Newburgh; he had been absent from the main army since the 19th of the preceding August, having spent the winter at Philadel- phia after the capture of Earl Cornwallis."
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NEWBURGH.
pillars, made of the trunks of trees. The covering of the roof con- sisted of boughs and branches of trees curiously interwoven, and the same material formed the walls. On the inside every pillar was encircled with muskets and bayonets, bound around in a fanciful and handsome manner, and the whole interior was decorated with ever- greens, festoons of flowers, garlands, emblematical devices, fleurs de lis, and other ornaments significant of the existing alliance between
LINKS OF FORT MONTGOMERY CHAIN. SEE PAGE 28.
France and America. The superb structure in symmetry and pro- portion and elegance of arrangement has seldom been surpassed on any temporary occasion, and it affected the spectators with admira- tion and pleasure. All the troops were paraded on the contiguous hills on both sides of the river at West Point at 2:30 o'clock, forming a circle several miles in circumference in plain view from the edifice, and at a signal (the firing of three cannons), the regimental com- manders repaired to the building for the entertainment prepared for them. At 5 o'clock General Washington aud lady led a dis- tinguished company from the quarters of General MacDougall to the arbor, where more than five hundred ladies and gen- tlemen partook of a magnificent festival. Each toast, thirteen in all, was announced by the discharge of thirteen cannons. In the evening the arbor was illuminated by a vast number of lights, and at a signal from the battery the soldiers on the hills discharged their guns, and all the cannons in the forts and batteries were fired. This feu de joie was three times re- peated, each time followed by three sbouts of acclamation and benediction for the Dauphin by the united voices of the whole army on all sides. The mountains re-echoed like tremendous peals of thunder, and the flashings from thousands of fire- arms in the darkness of evening could be compared only to the most vivid flashes of lightning from the clouds. Wash- ington, escorting Mrs. Knox, opened the grand ball, and with a dignified and graceful air carried down a dance of twenty couples in the arbor on the green grass." The celebration was concluded by the exhibition of fireworks, consisting of rockets, wheels, fountains, trees, bee-hives, balloons, flowers and fleurs de lis, admirably constructed, and played off at twenty minutes after eleven o'clock.
On the Fourth of July a similar celebration occurred, in honor of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the army being assembled in the same manner as before.
The inspection and muster of the different corps took place in the month of June, and the commander-in-chief publicly complimented several regiments for their respectable and soldier-like appearance. Every other day, by brigade and by detail, the troops were exercised and drilled. The army was in the best of spirits at this period,
proud of its victories, and confident of its strength and efficiency in battle. Baron Stenben had exercised the officers and soldiers in the various movements and evolutions, and exerted all his great powers for the establishment of a regular system of discipline among the heterogeneous bodies of soldiers. One of the finest companies in the army was the "light company" of the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, and Washington said he had never seen its superior. Other splendid organizations were the Tenth Massachusetts Regiment, the Second Connecticut Brigade and the First and Second Massa- chusetts brigades. Washington assured Major General the Baron Steuben that the credit for the efficiency of the army was due to his indefatigable assiduity and eminent services; and in public orders expressed approbation of the laudable dispo- sition and pride of corps which seemed to be diffused throughout the army, remarking also upon the amazing contrast between the past and present appearance of the troops.
On August 31 the army (mainly in boats) moved down the river from New Windsor, Fishkill, West Point, and adjacent positions, ande ncamped at Verplanck's Point, for the purpose of reviewing and extending a welcome to the French army then on its return march from Virginia. The camp presented a beautiful and picturesque appearance. In front flowed the grandest river in the world, and the noble mountains formed the most sublime background that painting can express. All the tents were decorated with laurel, evergreens and limbs of trees. On Sept. 14, the French army arrived and encamped within a few miles of the Americans. General Washington re the French army on Oct. 1, and the next day the French officers reviewed the American army. A fortnight later eight bat- talions were picked from the Continental troops and manœuver- ed before the officers of the two armies. The Americans bestowed every courtesy and attention upon the French soldiers, who had aided them in throwing off the British yoke. On October 22 the French army left for Boston, where it embarked for home.
The American forces consisted of about eight thousand men who, for the first time since the beginning of the war, were decently clothed, well armed, properly equipped, and camped in tents of regular model. Six years' service in the field had made them trained
THE JOHN ELLISON HOUSE-Front View from the Old Road.
veterans, and Prince de Broglie said that to him "they all seemed good looking, robust and well chosen." Several of the French army, who had seen troops of different European nations, bestowed enco- miums and applause on our army, and said they had seen none superior to the American. Such was the army that came to New- burgh.
At that time the main army was divided into two wings, each of which was sub-divided into two divisions, which in turn were sub-divided into brigades, composed of several regiments each.
* Thacher's Journal.
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NEWBURGH.
RIGHT WING-MAJOR-GENERAL GATES.
First Division-Major-General MacDougall. First Brigade, Col. Swift. Second Connecticut Regiment. Fourth Connecticut Regiment. Rhode Island Regiment.
Second Brigade, Brig .- Gen. Huntington. First Connecticut Regiment. Fifth Connecticut Regiment. Ninth Connecticut Regiment.
Second Division-Major-General St. Clair. First Brigade, Col. Courtland.
First New York Regiment. Second New York Regiment.
Second Division-Major-General Howe.
First Brigade, General Patterson. Second Massachusetts Regiment. Fifth Massachusetts Regiment. Eighth Massachusetts Regiment.
Second Brigade, Col. Greatton. Third Massachusetts Regiment. Sixth Massachusetts Regiment. Ninth Massachusetts Regiment.
On the morning of the 26th of October, 1782, the troops of the left wing marched from Verplanck's Point to Garrison's, and on the the next day crossed the river to West Point, marched through the post, over Storm King Mountain, and passed the night on its northern slope in the open field. On the morrow the various brigades pro- ceeded to the positions assigned them. The right wing of the army,
Jonathan Belknap's
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Second Brigade, Col. Dayton.
First New Jersey Regiment. Second New Jersey Regiment.
LEFT WING-MAJOR-GENERAL. HEATH.
First Division-Major-General Lord Stirling. First Brigade, Col. Tenth Massachusetts Regiment. First New Hampshire Regiment. Second New Hampshire Regiment.
Second Brigade, Col. Sheppard. First Massachusetts Regiment. Fourth Massachusetts Regiment. Seventh Massachusetts Regiment.
under General Gates, with the exception of the Connecticut regi- ments, which remained at West Point and its vicinity, came a few days afterwards.
The campground is situated in the Town of New Windsor, mainly along the Silver Stream (designated in the map as the Beaver Dam), and on the slopes south and southwest of Snake Hill-from two and a half to three miles distant from Washington's Headquarters, in a southwest direction. Silver Stream flows through a wide valley, southeasterly, the fields rising on either side in long, gentle inclines, till they reach a considerable elevation, from which a great range of country is unfolded to view. The water course for a distance is through a morass, on either side of which most of the troops were encamped. The soldiers built a causeway across the swamp, and remains of it can be seen to this day. The New York, New Hamp- shire and New Jersey lines were on the west side of the stream, and on the eastern slopes were the First and Third Massachusetts Bri-
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NEWBURGH.
gades, mainly on lands now owned by W. L. McGill. The camp of the Second Massachusetts Brigade was on the high ground directly south of and half a mile distant from Snake Hill, on the farm now owned by John Heron, formerly the Munn farm.
The only map of the cantonment that has been preserved is Simeon De Witt's, found recently among the papers of General Gates, in the possession of the New York Historical Society .* It shows the location of the several State lines, with the exception of the Rhode Island Regiment and the Maryland Battalion. The former was or- dered from the New Windsor cantonment to the Schuylerville barracks, and the lat- ter came to the can- tonment after the map had been made.
The campground was mainly covered with woods, but now most of it is cleared land. The soldiers' quarters were spa- cious, healthy and well built, and con- sisted of log houses, containing two chambers, each in- habited by eight soldiers. The bar- racks were mainly arranged in State lines and brigade lines, but the non-commissioned officers occupied a separate range of barracks. They were not all built together in rows, for other huts were scattered through the vicinity. They were built without a bit of iron or even nails. To obtain the wood for constructing the barracks, the soldiers cut great quantities of timber; they also cut a vast amount of firewood.
THE VERPLANCK HOUSE AT FISHKILL. STEUBEN'S HEADQUARTERS.
General Heath said the cantonment for its nature and kind was beautiful. Those who will visit the place now will say the same. Stand on the slope on either side of the valley and the whole camp- ground is spread out before your eyes. Hills are on every side,
except on the northwest, where you can see far up the valley, and on the southwest, where there is a view of the Hudson.
"These hills shall keep their memory sure; The blocks we rear shall fall away; The mountain fastnesses endure, And speak their glorious deeds for aye."
THE CAMPGROUND,
Walk over the fields and even to this day can be seen the remains of bake- ovens and the found- ations of huts. A number of years ago several graves were found in a strip of woods on the Heron farm, and Mr. McGill has ploughed up on his land many relics, such as buttons, etc.
Where were prob- ably the barracks of the Second Massa- chusetts Brigade, on the Heron farm, there is an old well, now filled up with stone, and the former owner also found near by foundations of huts, the stones of which he removed to use in building walls. A road, form- erly a Continental road, runs through the campground.
The headquarters of General Gates from December, 1782, to April, 1783, was in the John Ellison house at Vail's Gate, a short distance south of the New Windsor cantonment. It is still standing, a pictur- esque building of stone, erected by Col. Thomas Ellison, founder of the New Windsor family of that name. He was a pioneer merchant of 1723. The original residence of Colonel Ellison was on the bank
UZAL KNAPP'S MONUMENT.
of the Hudson, at New Windsor Village. Washington had his head- quarters there in 1779-'80-'81. Major-General Knox, at the time of the New Windsor cantonment, was in command of West Point. He had previously been in command of the artillery. He and General Greene had their headquarters at the Ellison house at Vail's Gate, five weeks in the months of June and July, 1779, and General Knox was there ten weeks in the Fall of the same year; also from Nov. 20,
* The search for this map was instituted by Major E. C. Boynton, of New- burgh.
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NEWBURGH.
1780, to July 4, 1781; and from May, 1782, till ordered to take command at West Point, Ang. 24, 1782. While the army was at Snake Hill, General Greene and General Wayne were in the South. At one period of the war General Wayne had his headquarters at Mrs. Wool's house (formerly Weigand's hotel), in Broad Street, near Liber-
sions of the Provincial Convention and of its Committee of Safety were held in the old Reformed Dutch Church, from August, 1776, to December, 1777, during which time the preliminary work of forming a State government was transacted and the first Constitution of the State nearly completed. More or less directly connected with the
MOSSENG. CON'Y
ROOM WITH SEVEN DOORS AND ONE WINDOW.
AT WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS.
ty. James Donnelly, who was living in Old Town then, related that he saw the General almost every day. "He was short and stout and had red eyes. I remember his eyes because we had a cross dog that had red eyes, and we called him ' Mad Anthony ' altogether." General Heath spent the Winter at his home in Roxbury, Mass., returning to the cantonment in the Spring. Lord Stirling was at Albany, where he died before the close of the war. Baron Stenben had his headquarters in the Verplanck house at Fishkill. St. Clair is supposed to have had his headquarters at the Edmonston house. " Wood's," on the Little Britain road, was the Mrs. Falls house. where Governor Clinton had his residence after the fall of Fort Mont- gomery; in 1782-3 it was the quarters of Colonel Francis Barber, Asst. Inspector-General to Baron Steuben, and is believed to have been also the quarters of Major John Armstrong, the author of the "Newburgh Letters."
The Life Guards were stationed a few rods northwest of Wash- ington's Headquarters. They were all native Americans, " sober, young, active and well made," the pick of the army, and none less than 5 feet 9 inches tall. Their uniform consisted of a blue coat, with white facings, white waistcoat and breeches, black stock and black half-gaiters, and a round hat with blue and white feather. The motto of the corps was " Conquer or Die." Their number was about sixty. William Colfax was the Captain Commandant. The last survivor of this corps was Uzal Knapp, of New Windsor. He died January 11, 1856, aged ninety-six. His body lay in state in these headquarters four days, and was buried with great honors at the foot of the flagstaff near the building over which he kept faithful vigil three-quarters of a century before, and on the same green slope where he and his companions watched and sported.
One of the store-houses of the Commissary-General was where the Union Church now stands. Fishkill Village, besides having long been the principal depot of the army, was the place where the ses-
action of these bodies was the establishment there, or rather its re- moval from New York to Fishkill, of the only Revolutionary news- paper in the State-the Fishkill Packet, by Samuel Loudon-in
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WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS -DIAGRAM OF FIRST FLOOR,
A-Dining Room, or Room with Seven Doors and One Window.
E-Perlor, or Sitting Room.
F-Washington's Office.
G-Washington's Bed-room.
C Kitchen.
H -Store Room.
D- Hall.
SOUTH.
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FIRE PLACE
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B-Family Room
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NEWBURGH.
the office of which were printed the first copies of the Declaration of Independence which were issued in the State, as well as of the first Constitution of the State .*
The Headquarters building is constructed of rough-hewn stone. It is one story high, and has a frontage of fifty-six feet, and a depth of
WEST ENTRANCE TO WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS.
forty-six. The farm once belonged to Burger Meynders. He sold it to Jonathan Hasbrouck (1747), who built the house and retained the ownership till his death in 1780, and when Washington vacated the house the family returned to it, and occupied it till a short time anterior to 1849, when it came into the possession of the State.
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