USA > New York > Kings County > Revolutionary incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties; with an account of the Battle of Long Island and the British prisons and prison-ships at New York > Part 13
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Revolutionary incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties; with an account of the Battle of Long Island and the British prisons and prison-ships at New York > Part 13
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enemy's fire. Capts. Ramsay's and Scott's companies were in front and sustained the first fire of the enemy, when hardly a man fell. The whole of the right wing of our battalion thinking it impossible to march through the marsh, attempted to force their way through the woods, where they, almost to a man, were killed or taken.
The Maryland battalion has lost 259 men, amongst whom are 12 officers : Capts. Veasy and Bowey ; Lts. Butler, Sterrit, Dent, Coursey, Muse, Prawl ; Ensigns Corts, Fernandes. Who killed and who pri- soners is yet uncertain. Cols. Atlee, Miles and Piper, are also taken. 1,000 men missing in all. We took a few prisoners. Many officers lost their swords and guns. Most of our Generals on a high hill in the lines, viewed us with glasses, as we were retreating, and saw the enemy we had to pass through, though we could not. Many thought we would surrender in a body without firing. When we began the attack, [to cut through ?] Gen. Washington wrung his hands, and cried out, " Good God ! what brave fellows I must this day lose !" Major Guest commanded the Maryland battalion, ( the Col. and Lt. Col. being both at York,) Capts. Adams and Lucas were sick. The Major, Capt. Ramsay, and Lt. Plunket were foremost and within 100 yards of the enemy's muzzles, when they were fired on by the enemy, wlio were chiefly under cover of an orchard, save a few that showed themselves and pretended to give up ; clubbing their firelocks till we came within 40 yards, when they immediately presented, and blazed in our faces ; they entirely overshot us, and killed some men away behind in the rear. I had the satisfaction of dropping one the first fire. I was so near I could not miss. I discharged my rifle 7 times that day.
813. From an Officer in Col. Atlee's Battalion, dated Aug. 27.
Yesterday, about 120 of our men went as a guard to a place on L. I. called Red Lion ; about 11 at night the sentries descried 2 men coming up a water-melon patch, upon which our men fired on them. The enemy then retreated, and about 1 o'clock advanced with 200 or 300 men, and endeavored to surround our guard, but they being watchful, gave them 2 or 3 fires, and retreated to alarm the remainder of the bat., except one Lt. and about 15 men who have not been heard of as yet. About 4 o'clock this morning, the alarm was given by beating to arms, when the remainder of our battalion, accompanied by the Delaware and Maryland battalions, went to the place our men retreated from. About a quarter of a mile this side, we saw the enemy, when we got into the woods (our battalion being the advance guard) amidst the incessant fire of their field-pieces, loaded with grape shot, which continued till
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10 o'clock. The Marylanders on the left, and we on the right, kept up a constant fire amid all their cannon, and saw several of them fall ; but they being too many, we retreated a little, and then made a stand. Our Lt. Col. Parry was shot through the head, and I retreated with him to secure his effects, since which, I hear the enemy are within 60 yards of our lines.
814. An officer of distinction in the battle, having seen high encomiums on Col. Miles, writes the following, as a corrective, dated, N. Y., Sep. 10, '76:
" The enemy were some days encamped at Flatbush, about 33 miles South and East of our lines. Within half a mile of the enemy is a ridge of hills covered with wood, running from the Narrows about North-east toward Jamaica, about 6 miles. Through this woods are three passes, which we kept strongly guarded, 800 men at each, to pre- vent the enemy penetrating the woods. The night before Aug. 27, on the west road were posted Col. Hand's regiment, a detachment from Penn. and N. Y., next East were posted Col. Johnson, of Jersey, and Lt. Col. Henshaw, of Mass. ; next East were posted Col. Wyllys and Lt. Col. Wills, of Conn .; East of all these Col. Miles of Penn. was posted toward Jamaica, to watch the motion of the enemy, and give in- telligence. Col. Miles's guard on the East of the woods, by some fata- lity, what I don't know, suffered the enemy to march their main body to the East of the woods, and advance near two miles in rear of our guards in the woods without discovery. Con. Gaz. No. 673.
815. Extract of a Letter from an American Officer.
" Yesterday morning, or some time in the night before, the British landed a large body on a neck of land, on this side the mountains, and on a place where our guards were stationed. [Was this Bennet's Cove ?] This soon brought on a warm engagement, which lasted from 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, to 1 or 2 in the afternoon. The British en- deavored to force our lines. Our batteries mowed them down like grass."
816. Samuel Mills, of Jamaica, L. I., enlisted in May, 1776, in Capt. Jacob Wright's company of 6 mo. volunteers ; his Ist lieut. was North, from Newtown ; one Wilson of Jamaica was orderly sergeant. Cap. Wright's co. was principally from Jamaica ; another company of volun- teers from Kings county, under Capt. Van Nuys, united with Cap. Wright's co. to fill up Col. Lasher's Ist New-York regiment-Gen. Scott's brigade. On the day of the battle of L. I. Mills was one of the inside guard and stationed in Cobble Hill fort, was not in the battle ;
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his station was in the fort for that day. 'There were 120 grenadiers in Col. Lasher's regiment. When it was known that the Americans were retreating, the grenadiers were stationed at regular distances inside the American lines, each one having 6 hand-grenades beside their other arms. In the afternoon and evening, previous to crossing over to N. Y., the soldiers were continually marching and countermarching ; one regiment would march up and two down, one up and two down, so that the troops were kept in ignorance of what the final move would be, but generally supposed that an attack of the British would take place the next day. The boats were constantly going and coming to and from N. Y. during the final retreat, and when Mills' co. landed in N. Y., it was 3 o'clock A. M.
From Mrs. Catharine R. Williams' Life of Stephen Olney of Rhode Island.
817. " Soon after the evacuation of Boston, Olney's regiment, under Lt. Col. Ezekiel Cornell of Scituate, was ordered to N. Y. They arrived after a tedious overland march, and were posted on Brooklyn Heights, and employed in throwing up fortifications. Olney, with his regiment, was ordered on picket guard, and lay the night preceding the battle on their arms in a wood within one mile of the enemy. The ground be- ing covered with wood, we were not exactly apprized of our situation. At daylight hearing a firing in front and rear, we perceived we were surrounded, but saw no enemy as yet. Lt. Col. Cornell ordered Capt. Tew's platoon, to which I belonged, to move in front to protect our sen- tries, and he marched our regiment toward our forts, where the firing continued. When they came in sight of the enemy, they run their way through and gained the camp. Many who hid in the woods came in the camp after night. But to return to Capt. Tew. He marched a lit- tle distance in front, but as the firing continued in our rear, he detached me with 20 men in front to protect the sentries, and he marched after and shared the fate of his reg .- the fate of those who fell on the sword of the enemy. I marched forward and found the enemy firing their field-pieces and some small arms into the woods, where our sentries were placed, but the balls seemed to make most havoc in the tops of the trees. I placed my men behind trees, and they kept up a deliberate fire. In half an hour the firing in the rear ceased, and I discovered a party of the enemy coming to us in that direction. I formed my men and marched off in very quick time towards our home, believing the enemy were between us and the forts. In about a mile we came out of the woods into a field beside the road which led by a school-house, by
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which we must pass to get over the mill dam to our fort. On getting over the fence I saw the enemy into the road, as near the school-house as we were, drawn up in line viewing our works. The enemy saw us and ran. ahead and fired ; nevertheless I got nearly all my men past the school-house. After we passed them 100 yards, they huddled together on the road. I ordered my men to face about, give them one well di- rected fire, which I saw from the staggering had taken good effect. Af- ter we got in our fort there came on a dreadful heavy storm with thun- der and lightning, and the rain fell in such torrents that the water was soon ankle-deep in the fort. With all these inconveniences, and an enemy just without musket-shot, our men could not be kept awake. They would sit down and fall asleep, though Lt. Col. Cornell threatened to make daylight shine through them. All that seemed to prevent the enemy taking our main fort was a scarecrow row of palisades from the fort to low water in the cove, which Major Box had set up that morn- ing. On our retreat to N. Y., we had to take our baggage, camp-equi- page, &c., on our shoulders to the boats, and tedious was the operation through mud and mire."
Page 170-5.
[The above account, as well as many of the others, is quite con- fused, owing to Olney's ignorance of the localities. Perhaps the ori- ginal letters would clear up some obscure passages .- Ed.]
Major Popham's account of the part he took in the Battle of L. I.
818. On or about Aug. 21, '76, I arrived in N. Y. a 2d Lt. in Col. Haslet's regiment ; a few days after I was ordered with the Delaware regiment to cross over to L. I., on Saturday, I believe. On Sunday I saw the Maryland regiment reviewed by Col. Smallwood in front of the Corkscrew fort. Next day, or next but one, I marched toward the ground occupied by our army, in the summit of the high ground in front of Gowanus, near the edge of the river, where the enemy were landing from their ships, [Bennet's Cove,] one or two lying near the shore to cover the landing. Many shots were exchanged between us and the enemy. About 12 o'clock Gen. Stirling came to the east brow of the hill and ordered the Delaware regiment up. Here we received the first order to load with ball, and take care that our men (who were awkward Irishmen and others) put in the powder first. We then marched up and joined the army which was drawn up in line, my regiment and my company on the left. The whole bay was covered with the enemy's shipping. The firing continued all the time of the enemy's landing, and we lost several men. About this time the enemy began to send detach
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ments as scouts on our left, when Capt. Wragg and 18 men, supposing us to be Hessians by the similarity of our dress, approached too near before he discovered his mistake, when my company attacked and took them prisoners. I was immediately ordered with a guard to convey them across the creek in our rear to our lines. On descending the high ground we reached a salt meadow, over which we passed, though not miry, yet very unfavorable to silk stockings and my over-clothes. When we had reached about half way to the creek, the enemy brought a couple of pieces to bear upon us, which, when Wragg saw, he halted, in the hope of a rescue ; but on my ordering him to march forward in- stantly, or I should fire on him, he moved on. When we got to the creek, the bank of which was exceedingly muddy, we waded up to our waists. I got in after my people and prisoners, and an old canoe that had been split and incapable of floating except by the buoyancy of the wood, served to help those who wanted help to cross a deep hole in the creek, by pushing it across from the bank which it had reached. I had advanced so far into the mud, and was so fatigued with anxiety and exercise, that I sat down on the mud with the water up to my breast, Wragg's fusee, cartouch-box, and bayonet on my shoulder ; in which situation I sat till my charge were all safely landed on the rear.
Wm. Popham, et. 92.
819. Extract of a Letter from a British Officer on L. I., Sep. 4, '76, to his friend in Aberdeen.
The 2d battalion of grenadiers, which was sent from our right to support Gen. Grant, unfortunately mistook a rebel regiment (blue faced with red) for the Hessians, and received several fires from them without returning it ; and Lt. Wragg of the marines, and 20 men, being sent out to speak to them, were made prisoners. At length the mistake be- ing discovered, they were soon beat and dispersed, but we lost several officers and men, and some of the rebels got off.
820. Narration of the Ballle fought on Long Island.
Aug. 27, "76. James S. Martin, a native of Conn., published in 1830, a sketch of his life, under the title of " The Adventures of a Revolutionary Soldier."
" In the latter part of the month of August, I was ordered upon a fatigue party ; we had scarcely reached the grand parade, when I saw our sergeant major directing his course up Broadway, towards us, in rather an unusual step for him ; he soon arrived, and informed us and
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then the commanding officer of the party, that he had orders to take off all belonging to our regiment and march ns to our quarters, as the regiment was ordered to Long Island, the British having landed in force there. Although this was not unexpected to me, yet it gave me rather a disagreeable feeling, as I was pretty well assured I should have to snuff a little gunpowder. However, I kept my cogitations to my- self, went to my quarters, packed up my clothes, and got myself in readiness for the expedition as soon as possible. I then went to the top of the house, where I had a full view of that part of the Island ; I distinctly saw the smoke of the field-artillery, but the distance and the unfavorableness of the wind prevented my hearing their report, at least but faintly. The horrors of battle then presented themselves to my mind in all their hideousness ; I must come to it now, thought I-well, I will endeavor to do my duty as well as I am able, and leave the event with Providence. We were soon ordered to our regimental pa- rade, from which, as soon as the regiment was formed, we were marched off for the ferry. At the lower end of the street were placed several casks of sea bread, made, I believe, of canel and pease-meal, nearly hard enough for musket flints ; the casks were unheaded, and each man was allowed to take as many as he could, as he marched by. As my good luck would have it, there was a momentary halt made; I im- proved the opportunity thus offered me, as every good soldier should upon all important occasions, to get as many of the biscuit as I possibly could ; no one said any thing to me, and I filled my bosom, and took as many as I could hold in my hand, a dozen or more in all, and when we arrived at the ferry-stairs I stowed them away in my knapsack. We quickly embarked on board the boats ; as each boat started, three cheers were given by those on board, which was returned by the nu- merous spectators who thronged the wharves ; they all wished us good luck, apparently ; although it was with most of them, perhaps, nothing more than ceremony. We soon landed at Brooklyn, upon the Island, marched up the ascent from the ferry to the plain. We now began to meet the wounded men, another sight I was unacquainted with, some with broken arms, some with broken legs, and some with broken heads. The sight of these a little daunted me, and made me think of home, but the sight and thought vanished together. We marched a short distance, when we halted to refresh ourselves. Whether we had any other vic- tuals beside the hard bread I do not remember, but I remember my gnawing at them ; they were hard enough to break the teeth of a rat. One of the soldiers complaining of thirst to his officer ; look at that
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man, said he, pointing to me, he is not thirsty, I will warrant it. I felt a little elevated to be styled a man. While resting here, which was not more than twenty minutes or half an hour, the Americans and British were warmly engaged within sight of us. What were the feel- ings of most or all the young soldiers at this time, I know not, but I know what were mine ;- but let mine or theirs be what they might, I saw a lieutenant who appeared to have feelings not very enviable ; whether he was actuated by fear or the canteen, I cannot determine now ; I thought it fear at the time ; for he ran round among the men of his company, snivelling and blubbering, praying each one if he had aught against him, or if he had injured any one that they would forgive him, declaring at the same time that he, from his heart, forgave them if they had offended him, and I gave him full credit for his assertion ; for had he been at the gallows with a halter about his neck, he could not have shown more fear or penitence. A fine soldier you are, I thought, a fine officer, an exemplary man for young soldiers. The officers of the new levies wore cockades of different colors to distinguish them from the standing forces, as they were called ; the field officers wore red, the captains white, and the subaltern officers green. While we were resting here our Lieutenant-Colonel and Major, (our Colonel not being with us,) took their cockades from their hats; being asked the reason, the Lieutenant-Colonel replied, that he was willing to risk his life in the cause of his country, but was unwilling to stand a mark for the enemy to fire at. He was a fine officer and a brave soldier. We were soon called upon to fall in and proceed. We had not gone far, about half a mile, when I heard one in the rear ask another where his musket was ; I looked round and saw one of the soldiers stemming off without his gun, having left it where we last halted ; he was inspecting his side as if undetermined whether he had left it or not, he then fell out of the ranks to go in search of it: one of the company who had brought it on (wishing to see how far he would go before he missed it) gave it to him. We overtook a small party of artillery here, dragging a heavy twelve pounder upon a field carriage, sinking half way into sandy soil .- They plead hard for some one to assist them to get on their piece ; our offi- cers paid no attention to their entreaties, but pressed forward towards a creek, where a large party of Americans and British were engaged. By the time we arrived, the enemy had driven our men into the creek, or rather mill pond, (the tide being up,) where such as could swim got across ; those that could not swim, and could not procure any thing to buoy them up, sunk. The British having several field-pieces stationed
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by a brick house, were pouring the cannister and grape upon the Amer- icans like a shower of hail; they would doubtless have done them much more damage than they did, but for the twelve pounder men- tioned above ; the men having gotten it within sufficient distance to reach them, and opening a fire upon them, soon obliged them to shift their quarters. There was in this action a regiment of Maryland troops (volunteers), all young men. When they came out of the wa- ter and mud to us, looking like water rats, it was truly a pitiful sight. Many of them were killed in the pond, and more were drowned. Some of us went into the water after the fall of the tide, and took out a number of the corpses and a great many arms that were sunk in the pond and creek. Our regiment lay on the ground we then occupied the following night. The next day in the afternoon, we had a consid- erable tight scratch with about an equal number of the British, which began rather unexpectedly, and a little whimsically. A few of our regiment went over the creek, upon business that usually employed us, that is, in search of something to eat. There was a field of Indian corn at a short distance from the creek, with several cocks of hay about half way from the creek to the cornfield ; the men purposed to get some of the corn, or any thing else that was eatable. When they got up with the haycocks, they were fired upon by about an equal number of the British, from the cornfield ; our people took to the hay, and the others to the fence, where they exchanged a number of shots at each other, neither side inclining to give back. A number, say forty or fifty more of our men, went over and drove the British from the fence ; they were by this time reinforced in their turn, and drove us back. The two parties kept thus alternately reinforcing, until we had the most of our regiment in action. After the officers came to com- mand, the English were soon routed from the place, but we dare not follow them for fear of falling into some snare, as the whole British army was in the vicinity of us; I do not recollect that we had any one killed outright, but we had several severely wounded, and some I be- lieve mortally. Our regiment was alone, no other troops being near where we were lying ; we were upon a rising ground, covered with a young growth of trees ; we felled a fence of trees around us to prevent the approach of the enemies' horse. We lay there a day longer : in the latter part of the afternoon there fell a very heavy shower, which wet us all to the skin, and much damaged our ammunition ;- about sunset, when the shower had passed over, we were ordered to parade and dis- charge our pieces. We attempted to fire by platoons for improvement,
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but we made blundering work of it ; it was more like a running fire, than firing by divisions : however, we got our muskets as empty as our stomachs, and with half the trouble, nor was it half the trouble to have reloaded them, for we had wherewithal to do that, but not so with our stomachs.
" Just at dusk, I, with one or two others of our company, went off to a barn, about half a mile distant, with intent to get some straw to lodge upon, the ground and leaves being drenched with water, and we as wet as they ; it was quite dark in the barn, and while I was fumbling about the floor, some one called to me from the top of the mow, inquiring where I was from ; I told him. He asked me if we had not had an engagement there, (having heard us discharge our guns ; ) I told him we had, and a severe one too ; he asked if many were killed; I told him that I saw none killed, nor any very badly wounded. I then heard several others, as it appeared, speaking on the mow. Poor fel- lows, they had better have been at their posts, than skulking in a barn on account of a little wet, for I have not the least doubt but that the British had possession of their mortal parts before the noon of next day. I could not find any straw, but found some wheat in the sheaf, standing by the side of the floor; I took a sheaf or two and returned as fast as [ could to the regiment. When I arrived the men were all paraded to march off the ground ; I left my wheat, seized my musket, and fell into the ranks. We were strictly enjoined not to speak, or even cough, while on the march. All orders were given from officer to officer, and communicated to the men in whispers. What such secrecy could mean we could not divine. We marched off in the same way we had come on the Island, forming various conjectures among ourselves as to our destination. Some were of opinion that we were to endeavor to get on the flank or in the rear of the enemy. Others, that we were going up the East River, to attack them in that quarter ; but none, it seems, knew the right of the matter. We marched on, however, until we arrived at the ferry, where we immediately embarked on board the batteaux, and were conveyed safely to New-York, where we were landed about three o'clock in the morning, nothing against our inclinations."
821. Aug. 23. Before day the enemy began to land a body of troops at Utrecht. The morning was foggy. They were discovered to be still landing after sunrise. By about 2 o'clock they reached Flatbush, where they were met by a body of our people, who skirmished with them to advantage. After that we kept a picket guard of 1500 between Flat- bush and Brooklyn in the woods and on eminences, who were continually
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skirmishing with the enemy. From the south part of the Bay below Bushwick in a line drawn from (i) straight on a little to the left of (j) down to the creek running up to and by Brooklyn, were our lines and forts, by which we had inclosed a tract of land to the westward, next to N. Y. Our lines fronted east. On the left, near the lowest part of the above described bay, was Fort Putnam; near the middle, Fort Greene ; and towards the creek, Fort Box : the whole were composed of forts, redoubts, breastworks, &c. On Monday night about 5,000 of the enemy, with 50 or 60 light horse, filed off to the right up to Bush- wick, crossing the flat lands, and making a circuit to avoid our advanced posts, with a design of falling upon our left. We had made the roads leading to our lines from the different adjacent towns quite inconvenient or unsafe. A heavy detachment marched on Tuesday morning before day from the Narrows to attack our advanced guards in that quarter, and on coming up with, began to engage them. On that, Lord Stirling went off with about 1200 to support them. Ere he arrived, the enemy landed a body of 3,000 in the small bay just below the mouth of the creek, which obliged him to form his men in two lines meeting in an obtuse angle, one stretching up to the creek between the regulars and Brooklyn, the other leading away from that, where it formed the angle towards Flatbush, and was joined by a number of the picket guard. Lord Stirling began to engage the enemy a little after sunrise. About two hours after that, between 9 and 10, the 5,000 that had marched all night and taken a circuit to Bushwick, fell upon the rear of our north road picket guard under Gen. Parsons, which occasioned another body of our men under Gen. Sullivan to advance that way with a view of supporting them. A great part of the north road picket guard fought their way down to the creek. The Hessians marched over Flatbush Plains, and formed a middle line in such a direction as to prevent Gen. Sullivan's getting into our lines in the usual way ; and his men were therefore obliged to cross the creek at the upper part, next to a mill-dam. Lord Stirling's men, after having fought a long while, forded the mouth of the creek next to the bay. When the 5,000 had got down to the right of our lines, next to the creek, they made an attack, but were re- pulsed. The lines between Box Fort and the creek were not completed the day before. There was an opening adjoining the creek, which it was thought the enemy was acquainted with ; for when they came to it and found the entrance closed with a breastwork and other defences, they appeared confounded. However, they made the attack with one party, and then with another, supposed with a view chiefly of carrying
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