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 3
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 3
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Your most obedient,humble servant,
NATH'L WOODHULL.
To the Hon. Convention of the State of N. Y. at Harlem.
* A mistake of course. This letter appears to have been received and acted upon by the Convention before the preceding one, at least it is so entered in the Journal .- Ed.
595. The battle of Brooklyn had now been fought ( for an account of which, see Kings Co.) and the enemy had so completely surprised the American scouts, on the morning of Aug. 27, that not one prob- ably had escaped to apprize Woodhull of the loss of our outposts, and warn him to flee from impending danger, for we find him the day after the defeat yet at Jamaica, writing a letter to the Convention and waiting for a reply, when it behooved him to withdraw speedily and at once from his perilous proximity .- Ed.
596. Major Lawrence, who came on a message from Woodhull, informs Convention the morning of Aug. 28, that Dr. Ab'm Riker told him that a number of scattering troops [British] had posted themselves, Aug. 27, on the ridge of hills between Newtown and Ja- maica; that they had been in many of the houses ; had taken victuals and drink but had not plundered as he understood.
Convention, Aug. 28, order Maj. Lawrence to wait on Gen. Wash- ton with a copy of Woodhull's letter, and inform him how Smith and Remsen's Regiments may be sent to Woodhull by way of Flushing.
Washington declined sending the Regiments as he could not spare them .- Ed.
Convention also order Mr. Van Wyck to repair immediately to Flushing to gain intelligence of the situation of the enemy and what places are occupied by Woodhull, and that he dispatch a boat with
34
REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT.
all possible expedition with the information, at the same time point- ing out the most suitable place for Woodhull's reinforcement to land.
Flushing, Aug. 28, '76.
GENTLEMEN :- I am informed by Thos. Thorne, a member of Com- mittee, who just came from Gen. Woodhull, that he was at Jamaica ; and that he [Thorne] just came from White Stone ; that the ships of war lay between Thorn's Point and Great Neck ; that there can be no danger of bringing up our men to this place, if [we] can get them up this evening. I think it will be proper to send this intelligence off as soon as possible by the same boat, as I cannot get any other. I am just going to Jamaica to the General.
I am, Gentlemen, your most obt.
Humble servant, COR'S VAN WYCK.
To the Pro. Congress. .
[Whether Van Wyck ever reached Woodhull or not, it is impos- sible to tell. Perhaps he fell into the hands of the light-horse, who, in companies of 8 or 10, were pillaging at Flushing .- Ed.]
Jamaica, Aug. 28, '76.
597. GENTLEMEN :- I wrote 2 letters to you yesterday, one by ex- press, and another by Mr. Harper ;* and also sent my Brigade-major to you to let you know my situation, and I expected an answer to some of them last night : but my express informed me he was detained till last night for an answer. I have now rec'd yours of the 26th, which is only a copy of the last, without a single word of answer to my letters, or the message by my brigade-major. I must again let you know my situa- tion. I have about 70 men, and about 20 of the troop, which is all the force I have or can expect, and I am daily growing less in number. The people are so alarmed in Suffolk, that they will not any more of them march : and as to Col's Smith and Remsen's regiments, they cannot join me, for the communication is cut off between us. I have sent about 1100 cattle to the great fields on the plains yesterday, about 300 more gone off this morning to the same place ; and I have ordered a guard of an officer and 7 privates. They can get no water in those fields. My men and horses are worn out with fatigue. The cattle are not all gone off toward Hempstead ; I ordered them yesterday, but they were not able to take them along. I brought yesterday about 300 from Newtown. I think the cattle are in as much danger on the north as on the south side, and have ordered the inhabitants to remove them. If you cannot send
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SUFFOLK COUNTY.
me an immediate reinforcement, I am afraid I shall have no men with me by to-morrow night ; for they consider themselves in an enemy's country. And if I can have no reinforcement, I beg you will send very particular directions what I shall do with the stock, whether I shall kill them, or leave them, for I shall not be able to get them all together and tend them [even] if the men I have will all stay with me. I beg you would immediately send at least 2 members as a committee that I may have their advice : for unless you do, I must quit, for I hope the Con- vention does not expect me to make brick with[out] straw.
I am, Gentlemen, Your most ob't, NATH'L WOODHULL.
[* Robert Harper had just carried £200 to the Committee of Flush- ing, and was on his return to the Convention .- Ed.]
[The above is the last letter ever written by the General-writ- ten probably only a few hours before his capture ; and it was while waiting for a reply that he was overtaken by the enemy. In com- pliance with his request, the Convention ordered, Aug. 28, that Judge Hobart and Jas. Townsend be a Committee to repair to Gen. Woodhull, to assist him with their advice, and that they impress boats and persons to convey themselves to the General with the ut- most dispatch ; and that they and the General be instructed to cause all such stock and grain in Queens and the western part of Suffolk, as may be in danger of falling into the enemy's hands and cannot be removed, to be destroyed.] Jour. 596.
[Messrs. Townsend and Hobart, on arriving in Queens Co., heard of Woodhull's capture, when they hastened on to Hunting- ton .- Ed.]
Aug. 29. Convention yet in ignorance of Woodhull's fate, or- der Sam'l Townsend, a member of their body, to be sent as a mes- senger to him (fearing a letter might fall into the enemies' hands) to give an account of their proceedings upon the subject of his letters, and of Washington's letter declining to send Cols. Smith and Rem- sen. [Townsend probably did not set out .- Ed.] Jour. 599.
598. [What part, if any, the L. I. regiments bore in the battle of Brooklyn, I am not able to say. They were hemmed in the Lines, and perhaps acted as inner guards. Col. Smith joined in the retreat to New-York, as appears by the following letter .- Ed.]
1248146
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REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT.
Camp at Brooklyn, Aug. 29, '76.
To the President of the Convention .- I just now received orders from the General to march my Reg. over to N. Y., and there to receive or- ders from the Convention of N. Y., which I desire you to send me by the bearer, Col. Phinehas Fanning.
JOSIAH SMITH, Col.
[Convention order Col. Smith's Reg. to Hoorn's Hook, but it was soon disbanded, "the Col. giving leave for every man to shift for himself in getting their families and effects off L. I."-Ed.]
[The death of Gen. Woodhull has not been described in any his- tory of the Revolution, and as the accounts both written and traditional are conflicting, we insert all the notices of his capture and death we have met with, and leave the reader to form his own opinion .- Ed.]
599. Death of Gen. Woodhull, from Wood's L. I., pages 88, 89. Ed. of 1826.
Before General Woodhull had reached the outposts of the Ame- rican army,* he discovered that the British had possession of the country between him and the left wing of the American army, and that any farther advance would only expose his troops, without ef- fecting any good purpose, and therefore ordered a retreat. The Gen. remained in the rear and retreated slowly with only one or two companions, waiting, as is said, for the return of his Brigade Major [Lawrence]. A severe thunder shower, as is supposed, obliged him to take refuge in a public house about 2 miles east of Jamaica [vil- lage], and before he left the house he was overtaken by a detach- ment of the 17th Reg. of British Dragoons, and 71st Reg. of British Infantryt [Highlanders], who had been dispatched in pursuit of the militia under his command, accompanied by some disaffected inhabi- tants [of Jamaica] as guides. The Gen. stept to the doort in order to give them his sword. The ruffian who first approached him, said to be a Major Bairdį of the 71st, as is reported, ordered him to say " God save the King." The General replied, " God save us all," on which he most cowardly and cruelly assailed the defenceless General with his broadsword, and would have killed him on the spot, if he had not been prevented by the interference of an officer of more honor and humanity, said to be Major Delancy|| of the Dragoons, who arrested his savage violence. The Gen. was badly wounded in
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SUFFOLK COUNTY.
the head, and one or both arms was mangled from the shoulder to the wrist. * * * *
It is said that one of the battalions employed in this inglorious warfare against an unresisting individual, or some other one, was com- manded by a Major Crewe, T a distant kinsman of the Gen., and that when he came to be apprized of that fact and of the circumstances of the case, he was so mortified, that he either resigned his commis- sion and quit the service, er obtained permission to leave the army, and returned to England.
[* It is now demonstrated by documents that Gen. W. was not or- dered to join the A. army at all, but to drive off the stock towards the east.]
[t Could foot soldiers have kept up with dragoons in their hot pur- suit of the General ? Besides, the 71st Reg. was engaged in battle at Gowanus, Aug. 27.]
[# The accounts vary of the precise manner of the General's capture whether mounting his horse, stepping to the door, taken in the dark in' the barn, or after an ineffectual attempt at concealment, or on the piazza.]
[§ In '76 there was a Capt. (not Major) Sir Jas. Baird of the 71st Reg.]
[ll See Queens Co., Sec. 112.]
[T Major Crewe (17th Dragoons), if he ever did resign, was very slow about it, for we find his name in the army list in '78.]
[I have italicised the words implying doubt or uncertainty in the above account. They occur nine times! In his first edition, 1824, Wood says, " Woodhull was suffered by the officers to be so cut and mangled, that he died of his wounds a few days after his capture." -Ed.]
A New Haven paper of Sep. 4, says, "Woodhull, late President of the New-York Congress, for refusing to give up his side arms, was wounded on the head with a cutlass and had a bayonet thrust through his arm."
[The mention of cutlass and bayonet would indicate that both horse and foot were present at Woodhull's capture .- Ed.]
Col. Livingston says, Southold, Aug. 31, " Woodhull was taken prisoner Wed. last, Aug. 28, and cruelly treated by the horse. Af- ter he was taken he received a wound in his head and much uncivil language, and was finally committed close prisoner to Jamaica jail." 3
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REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT.
[* Does this refer to his being ordered to say " God save the king ?" -Ed.]
Wm. Warne, who left Long Island Sep. 5th, "76, reports at Fishkill, Sep. 7th, that "one of the Light Horsemen told he had taken Gen. Woodhull in the dark in Increase Carpenter's barn ; that before he would answer when he spoke to the General, he had cut him on the head and both arms."
Jour. 617, 619.
" Sundry prisoners taken on L. I. Aug. 27, were, in an inhuman and barbarous manner, murdered after they had surrendered their arms ; particularly a General Woodhull, of the Militia, who was hacked to pieces with cutlasses, when alive, by the light horsemen." - Ethan Allen's Life, written March "79.
[That the light horse were sent expressly to capture Woodhull's party, and prevent his driving off the live stock, which they so much needed, is highly probable in itself, and is confirmed by all tradition. Wm. Howard, aged 86, says: " On the night before the battle, the light horse (who acted as scouts to the enemy), heard where Woodhull's party lay, and started in quest of him ; but on hearing an exaggerated account of his force, they returned." The day after the battle, they set out again after him, and entered Jamaica village at tea-time, inquiring for Wood- hull. They surrounded the house of Robert Hinchman, a noted Whig, who ran out of the back door, but was stopped by the soldiers who had already surrounded the house, expecting perhaps to find Woodhull there. Hinchman was next seen in front of his house on his knees with hands uplifted and the enemy flourishing their swords over his head. His life was spared, but he was put in jail that night and next day sent west- ward.
The light horse rode on east till they came to Carpenter's inn, where they saw two horses (as Mrs. Hinchman used to tell the story), and supposed the riders must be near. After searching a while to no purpose, they fired their pistols into the thatched roof of the barn, but as the straw was wet it would not kindle. They then broke open the doors and felt in the hay with their swords till they pricked the heel of Wm. Everett's boot. On his putting forth his head to surrender, he was cut at by a soldier till an officer stopped him. Gen. Woodhull was brought wounded the same evening into the back room of her house and laid on a bed, his arm hacked, as a butcher would a shin of beef. He begged Mrs. H. not to leave him alone, and that her son might sit up with him that night. "Don't be uneasy, General," said the kind
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SUFFOLK COUNTY.
hostess, " I don't expect to go to bed to-night." (In Knapp's Life of Woodhull, it is said " he was confined in the stone church, exposed in his blood-stained garments, to the gaze of all.") The next morning the enemy would have made Woodhull walk with other prisoners to the British army, but he was too faint. Whithead Hicks had previously offered his carriage for the use of the wounded General, but the kind offer was rejected, incredible as it may seem, by Sir Wm. Erskine! At last, as David Lamberson, also a prisoner, was too unwell to walk, they made him take his own chair and Woodhull with him in it. The Gen- eral, with other prisoners, was probably first taken to Howe's head-quar- ters near Brooklyn, to be registered. We know nothing of the place or manner of his confinement till about a fortnight after, when he was brought on board a prison-ship off New Utrecht.
How different was Woodhull's treatment from that of Gen. Sullivan and Lord Sterling, taken prisoners the day before, who were kindly en- tertained and soon exchanged. Was it because they were of the Regu- lar or Continental army, while Woodhull, though President of the N. Y. Convention, was but a general of militia ?- Ed.]
Robert Troup, Esq., a Lieutenant in Col. Lasher's battalion of New-York militia, was made prisoner by a British scouting party, about three o'clock, A. M., Aug. 27, five miles west of Jamaica. After a week's confinement at Flatbush, he with seventy or eighty officers, was put on board a small vessel or transport, lying between Gravesend and the Hook, which had been employed in bringing cattle from England. After Troup's release, he made oath of the treatment he had received ; and at the close of it he adds :-
" That while he was confined on board the said transport, Brigadier General Woodhull was also brought on board, in a shocking mangled condition : that deponent asked the General the particulars of his cap- ture, and was told by the said General that he had been taken by a party of light-horse, under the command of Captain Oliver De Lancey : that he was asked by the said Captain if he would surrender ; that he an- swered in the affirmative, provided, he would treat him like a gentle- man, which Captain De Lancey assured him he would ; whereupon the General delivered his sword, and that immediately after the said Oliver De Lancey, junior, struck him, and others of the said party imitating his example, did cruelly cut and hack him in the manner he then was; that, although he was in such a mangled and horrible situation, he had, nevertheless, been obliged to sleep on the bare floor of the said trans-
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REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT.
port, if a lieutenant of the man-of-war who guarded the transport had not lent him a mattress : that General Woodhull was afterwards car- ried to the hospital in the church of New Utrecht, where he perished, as deponent was on good authority informed, through want of care, and other necessaries : and further this deponent saith not.
" ROBERT TROUP.
" Sworn the 17th of January, 1777, before me, " Gouv. MORRIS."
What Troup heard of Woodhull's perishing through want of care and other necessaries, is confirmed by the following extract of a let- ter from Dr. Silas Holmes, of Norwich, a prisoner and assistant surgeon in the British Hospital, who himself attended Woodhull. He says :-
" The wounded prisoners taken at the battle of Brooklyn were put in the churches of Flatbush and New Utrecht, but being neglected and unattended, were wallowing in their own filth, and breathed an in- fected and putrid air. Ten days after the battle, Dr. Richard Bailey was appointed to superintend the sick. He was humane, and dressed the wounded daily, got a sack-bed, sheet and blanket for each prisoner, and distributed the patients into the adjacent barns. When Mrs. Woodhull offered to pay Dr. Bailey for his care and attention to her husband, he replied, he had done no more than his duty, and if there was any thing due, it was to me."
What a pity Woodhull had not fallen into the hands of this good Samaritan in the earlier stages of his illness! His wounds, neglected for nine days in the hot months of August and September, had assumed such a malignant form, that not even the medical skill of Dr. Bailey could avail to save his valuable life.
Proceedings of the N. Y. Convention in behalf of Gen. Woodhull, Sep. 18, '76.
" Whereas this Convention, after many anxious inquiries, hath at length received certain intelligence that the Hon. Nath'l Woodhull, Brig. Gen. of the militia, and President of the Convention of this State, is at present in the hands of the enemy, and that he was made captive whilst actually employed in executing the Resolutions of this House. And Whereas they are loudly called upon not only by the sacred voice of honor and public duty, but likewise by the sympathizing principles of personal affection and respect, to exert themselves in
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SUFFOLK COUNTY.
restoring so valuable a person to that liberty which he has hmiself lost in endeavoring to secure to others that inestimable blessing ; Therefore, Resolved, that a list of the prisoners at the disposal of this State be immediately made out, and transmitted to Gen. Washington, and that John Sloss Hobart, Esq. wait on his Excellency with the earnest request of this Convention, that he will be pleased to give his assistance and advice in negotiating his exchange."
Hobart thus writes from Fairfield, Oct. 7, '76 :
Gentlemen :- I wrote to Convention from Camp at Kingsbridge, giving an account of the progress I had made in negotiating the ex- change of Gen. Woodhull, since which I have received the melancholy intelligence of his death. The wound in his arm mortified, and the arm was taken off, but the mortification still continued, and in a few days put an end to that useful life. He was attended in his dying mo- ments by his lady, who was permitted to remove the corpse to his seat, where it was interred about the 23d ult. These particulars I have from Capt. Benajah Strang, of Islip, by whose door the procession passed on its way to St. George's. Cor. 346.
[The ballad on Woodhull's death ('Thompson, II. 423,) was first published in the N. Y. Nat. Advocate, Feb. 28, 1821, and thence copied into the L. I. papers. It was probably written (with poetic license) by some person of leisure, who in his rides from the city called at Carpenter's Inn, and heard the story from the Landlady. A tragedy has also been written on the same subject, by Mr. Lester, 1849. The Life of Woodhull may be found in Thompson, and also in Knapp's Biography. See Queens Co., Sec. 111, 112 .- Ed.]
[The original Journal of Col. Woodhull, 3d, N. Y. Reg., kept during the expedition of Gen. Amherst, against Montreal, in 1760, is now in possession of his descendants at Mastic .-- Ed.]
PART II.
SUBMISSION OF SUFFOLK COUNTY.
600. [The consternation of the inhabitants of Suffolk, at hearing the news of the disastrous battle of Brooklyn and the subsequent abandonment of the Island to the enemy, may be better understood from the following documents than any de- scription I can give .- Ed.]
Hobart and Townsend who had been sent by the Convention to advise with Woodhull, write as follows, from Hunting- ton, Aug. 30 :-
" To our unspeakable mortification we found, when we arrived in Queens Co., that the militia had dispersed, and Gen. Woodhull had fallen into the hands of the enemy. We then proceeded with all dispatch to this town, as the only place where we could have any prospect of making an effectual stand, as the enemy were in full pos- session of the western parts of Queens Co., as far as Jamaica, and the Disaffected from the east were gone in to them. We have order- ed the militia of Suffolk to rendezvous here, and written to Col. Mul- ford of E. Hampton, to come up and take command, and have borrow- ed £320 from the Treasurer of Q. Co .- Aug. 31. Our express not being able to cross at Sand's Point, has returned. A no. of militia of this town, are now under arms, but they complain their officers have left them. We have exerted ourselves to recover the people from the consternation into which they were thrown by the precipi- tate retreat of Woodhull's party. A party of Kings Co. horse have crossed the sound from this place, leaving their horses to follow in the next boat. We stopped the horses and sent for the men back [they did not return .-- Ed.]. We purpose after the party who were with Gen. Woodhull are rallied, to form the rest into companies. As
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SUFFOLK COUNTY.
to field officers we shall be at a loss, as Col. Floyd is at Congress, Lt. Col. Potter is gone off, 1st Major Smith resigned : 2d Major Brush is with us and begins to be in spirits. Cor. 291.
Narrative of the proceedings of the officers and men of part of 1st Reg. of Suffolk Co., Aug. 30, at Brookhaven and Smithtown, by Eben'r Dayton, Q. M.
Aug. 29. Maj. Jeffery Smith sent orders to Adjutant Philip Roe, to order the 4 companies in Brookhaven to march immediately to Platt Carlls' in Huntington. He did so, and there appeared a high spirit among the men. By the middle of next day 3 companies arrived to Epenetus Smith's, Smithtown, and the other, Capt. Nich. Roe's, was coming up. It was reported at Smith's that the Major was gone to Huntington to see Messrs. Hobart and Townsend, and desired the companies to wait till his return, which was not till dark. Meanwhile the militia were uneasy and eager to march to Hempstead Plains, to bring off the stock and make a stand in the woods E. of the Plains. At dusk the Major returned and called the officers into a room, and told them he thought "it dangerous to march farther West, as their forces would not be sufficient to oppose the enemy, and he very much gave up the Island ; they must fall in the enemy's hands, it would not be good policy to incense a cruel enemy by being taken in arms; if they remained quietly at home, they would fare better, and that he should resign his commission ; Col. Potter was gone off and left him alone, and Maj. Brush had judged it unsafe to proceed against the enemy, unless reinforced. Capt. Thompson said he would give orders, for his company to return home immediately." Major S. said he would give no orders as he designed to decline his commission (but advised them to wait till they could have orders from Hobart and Townsend) ; whereupon the milita repaired to
their homes.
Cor. 292. -
Sam'l Buell writes from Sag Harbor, Aug. 30, '76, that he has just received direct intelligence from the West end of the Island, that the ministerial army are on this side our army. The enemy have 200 horse whose riders were to dine, Aug. 28, at Hempstead. The Hessians fight terribly. I am with Col. Livingston. Will you throw over a num- ber of Troops ? Trumbull, V. 444.
H. B. Livingston writes from Sag Harbor, Aug. 30, '76, that he
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SUBMISSION OF
has command of a detachment of 200 troops by order of Washington, to protect inhabitants and stock. This force is insufficient and in danger. " Send over forces in the night, that they may not be seen by the British ships in the Sound."
Robt. Hempstead, Ch'n of a Committee meeting, at Southhold, Aug. 31, '76, writes that they have received several expresses from the middle of the Island, that the enemy's scouting party of about 300 horse and 400 foot with a no. of tory recruits, are about penetrating into Suf- folk Co., as they have already marched as far as the West part of Hempstead Plains, where they took Gen. Woodhull prisoner. "Will you aid us with men and ammunition, as our men are chiefly drawn off -- not able to raise over 750 men in the whole Co .- If you send men, send provisions also, except fresh."
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