USA > New York > Westchester County > Tarrytown > Souvenir of the revolutionary soldiers' monument dedication, at Tarrytown, N.Y. October 19th, 1894; > Part 18
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THE SURPRISE AT ORSER'S.
no longer pursued. Those of our party who were from Salem and Stephentown, wishing to take the nearest road home, were anxious to leave us as we approached the Croton, and we agreed to go to Orser's house on the banks of the North River, refresh ourselves and our horses and divide our plunder. It was now about 9 o'clock A. M. Our horses were put in the barn, stable, and barnyard, and fed, and we proceeded to sell our spoils at auction. While these events were going on, the enemy probably reinforced at Dobbs Ferry, renewed pursuit, but not overtaking us had pulled up between Tarrytown and Sing Sing, when they were overtaken by a man named Curry who had passed us when we halted near Orser's, and who informed them where we were.
They now once more pushed forward, and when they approached Orser's sent a party of abont forty or fifty around through a lane, so getting in our rear, and lay in ambush to cut off our retreat. This party, by a circuitous march, occupied the ground north of Orser's, while the other party, of fifteen or twenty, advanced upon us to the at- tack under cover of the orchard, which extended down the banks of the river south of the house. Capt. Williams had been averse to our halting there, urging nis to cross the Croton and so join a guard of twenty-five or thirty men posted at Cortlandt's House, before stopping, and he was at the very time on the lookout ; but Kipp, who com- manded the Refugees, took his measures so well that the enemy's ap- proach was not discovered till they discharged their carbines. The horses, alarmed and wounded, kicked and plunged, and broke from their fastenings in great confusion, and running north for home were, inany of them, captured by the party which had advanced to the north- ward to cut off our retreat. We lost here about twenty horses of our own, and likewise the fifteen we had taken at West Farms, and the two prisoners. When the alarm was first given we were engaged in selling our spoils. Considering ourselves secure we had posted no sentinels. WVe ran on the instant for our horses, but most of them had escaped, mine among the rest, and not being able to make any resistance, I sur- rendered. I was then a boy of sixteen only, and wore my brother's uniform and arins, he being a Captain of the Westchester Troop of Horse, but at the time sick. Williams escaped by the fleetness of his horse, and riding along at the edge of the iee where the enemy dare not pursue him. Licut. John Odell mounted the first horse he could find, his famous Cortlandt gray having broken loose and escaped to Colaberg ; but was pursued by Kipp and Totten for half or three-quar-
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194
THE SURPRISE AT ORSER'S.
ters of a mile, and overtaken on the ice. They both cut at Odell, and 'T'otten striking with a dull sword at last hit his cocked hat and then the bridge of his nose, part of the hat being between and intercepting the edge of the sword. The bony part of the nose being broken, Odell carried the mark of this wound with him through life. He saved him- self by pulling up his horse suddenly and striking at the same moment a blow which stunned one of his pursuers, Totten, cutting off his fore- finger, so that lic let liis sword fall. I saw this wound afterwards at Morrisania. Odell then made for Teller's Point and escaped. One of Kipp's men, the notorious Shube Merritt (who was afterwards killed), stripped me of iny boot's and uniform. George McChain was the only man of our party killed, and he was with nic on the banks of the Hnd- son when the enemy came up. They refused him quarter in consc- quence of his being charged with setting fire to some houses and barns of the Refugees. He begged hard, but they refused him. They shot him and cut his body in pieces. John Paulding was considered a pris- oner of consequence, and having before escaped several times when captured, was guarded with great care. They secured him by tying his legs under the house he rode. He tried to prevail upon several of the other prisoners during the march to untie the ropes, saying he could cscape almost anywhere by jumping from his horse and taking to the woods. There were fifteen of us taken prisoners. We were taken first to Morrisania and then to the island opposite Randall's, and then to New York, where we were confined in the Provost Jail. Paulding, however, in consequence of the celebrity he had acquired as one of the captors of Andre, was not confined, but was entertained by the British officers, messing and living with the Captains and Licutenants. We were detained as prisoners till the 27th or 28th of April."
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Capt. Hopkins' Fight With Emerick.
Jolın Romer, in an interview of the date of Sept. 16, 1845, gives the following account of the engagement between a small detachment of Light Horse under Capt. Hopkins, with a much larger force of Brit- ish Tories commanded by Col. Emerick : "Near the end of July, 1779, Capt. Hopkins with a detachment of Moylan's and Sheldon's, lay in the neighborhood of Young's House; in a wood in ambush about three-quarters of a mile west of the place, on the south side of, the road between Youngs' and Hammond's. He was lying in ambus- cade for Bearmore, who was not out there, but Col. Emerick had marched from below with a strong party, and was endeavoring to draw this detachment of Moylan's within his reach. Emerick's party was nearly 500 strong, and was moving to waylay all the roads. Hopkins, ignorant of all this, had gone down a by-road leading past Avery's (Lieut. Thaddeus') house and mill and which came out near the Youngs House. About daylight a portion of the enemy advanced near Hop- kins, and was charged by a few of his men and driven as far as Youngs', although a number of them had surrendered ; there they were supported by Emerick's Horse. Emerick then charged and drove them near a quarter of a mile, when Hopkins came up with his whole detachment and in turn drove the enemy back to Youngs'. Eme- rick and his party would have been taken and destroyed had not a body of Yagers come up and taking a position behind a stone wall on the south side of the road about two hundred yards west from Youngs' fired on Hopkins' men. Emerick behaved with great courage, but he could have been killed by Hopkins' men, only they were desirous
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196
CAPT. HOPKINS' FIGHT WITH EMERICK.
of taking him prisoner. Hopkins finding there were several bodies of hostile troops about him found it was time to retreat. He was then almost surrounded, the enemy being in the possession of Youngs' House and the adjacent roads. This he first attempted by the Saw Mill River road, which leads west of the County House to Twitching's Corner, but after going a mile on that road they found it in the posses- sion of the Yager Horse. They then turned back, but before they could reach the Tarrytown road again encountered Emerick, who had placed them between two fires. They charged Emerick again and drove him towards Youngs'. They then attempted the North River Road, but on approaching Beekman's Bridge, they found that pass guarded by a strong detachment. They were now on the point of being surrounded. In this dilemma their guide, a bold and skilful man, Isaac Webbers, conducted them over the Pocantico by a short cut through the fields a little east of the bridge and mill pond, and so brought them with their three remaining prisoners in safety to the Post Road not far from the old Dutch churchyard. All the way Eme- rick was following so closely at his heels that to a spectator they almost appeared to form one squadron. When Hopkins crossed the fields to the eastward near Beekman's bridge, Emerick dashed up the Post Road in pursuit, intending to cut off his retreat, but when he approached the Yager infantry at the bridge they mistook him for the enemy and fired upon his troop. The confusion caused by this mistake much facilitated Hopkins' escape ; but Emerick afterwards continued the then ineffectual pursuit. It was an exciting contest and a very narrow escape for Capt. Hopkins and his men.
The Youngs House Affair.
About four miles east of Tarrytown, and ucarly the same dis- tance northwest of White Plains, a little to the north of what used to be called "the upper road" to White Plains, but is now most frequently mentioned as "the County House Road," is the scene of what the chroniclers of the Revolution have designated as "The Affair at Youugs' House." At that point the upper road from Tarrytown, run- ning from west to east, is crossed at right angles by the road from Uniouville, running from north to south. It is an elevated region, nearly midway between the Hudson River and the Bronx, and from the intersection here of the two roads it received long ago the name of "The Four Corners." The east and west road is the dividing line be- tween the two townships of Greenburgh and Mount Pleasant, so that that part of the Unionville road north of it is iu Mount Pleasant, while the part south of it is in Greenburgh. The site of the famous house of Joseph Youngs, where the fight took place ou February 3, 1780, is yet discoverable. The house which then stood there was burnt down by the British, Hessians and Tories and the place was long known as "the Burnt House." After the war was over, Isaac Van Wart, one of the captors of Andre, bought the property, from which fact the house after- wards built took the name of "The Van Wart House."
The Youngs House was within what was called "the American lines," by which was meant that it was within that part of Westchester County which was mainly controlled by the Americans. Its elevated position, together with the number of buildings attached rendered it a convenient stopping-place for the Continental troops that were designed to guard that portion of the county that lay between Bedford and the
· 198
THE YOUNGS HOUSE AFFAIR.
Hudson, on the east and west, and between the Croton and the lines, on the north and south. These troops were ordered to be kept in motion, partly to protect the country and partly to clude the vigilance of the enemy and prevent them from planning an attack, so that gener- ally they remained but a short time in any one place. At the time here referred to, however, they for souie reason remained at Youngs House longer than usual. The Tories in the neighborhood soon conveyed in- telligence of the fact to the British headquarters in New York, and an expedition . was dispatched to attack them. The Continental troops at Youngs House in January, 1780, numbered about two hundred and fifty men, chiefly from Massachusetts, and all commanded by Lieuten- ant-Colonel Thompson, of that State. The larger part were at the house, but detachments were posted westward extending nearly two miles toward the Hudson River, and eastward about three miles toward the Bronx. Pickets were also stationed in front of the entire line, and every precaution taken to prevent a surprise.
On Wednesday evening, between ten and eleven o'clock, Feb. 2, 1780, a force of between four and five hundred infantry and one hundred horsemeu, composed of British, Germans, and Col. Delancey's 'Tories, set out from Fort Knyphausen, south of Spuyten Duyvil, to at- tack the Americans posted at Youngs House, the whole expedition under command of Col. Nelson of the Guards. The weather was cold and a deep snow on the ground. Sleighs had been secretly provided to con- vey the infantry, and anattempt was made touse them for that purpose, but the troops had not gone far before they were compelled to give it up and send back the sleighs, together with two light field-pieces, as the snow was found altogether too deep to admit of that mode of convey- ance. The cavalry kept the main road going north from Yonkers up the valley of the Nepperhan or Saw Mill River, but the infantry were obliged to get along the best way they could; sometimes in the road, and sometimes out of it in the fields, on one side or the other. It was a march of about twenty miles by the shortest route, and they did not reach the vicinity of Young's house until nearly nine o'clock on Thurs- day morning, Feb. 3d.
Gen. William Heath, in his memoirs, gives substantially all the facts in regard to it. The following is his account : "On the morning of the 3d, about 9 o'clock, the enemy made an attack on Lieut .- Col. Thomson, who commanded the troops on the lines. The Colonel's force consisted of 250 men, in five companies, properly officered ; they were instructed to move between Croton River aud the White Plains,
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THE YOUNGS HOUSE AFFAIR.
Hudson's River and Bedford ; never to remain long at any one place, that the enemy might not be able to learn their manner of doing duty, or form a plan for striking them in any particular situation. The Col- onel had for some days taken post himself at Young's, not far from the White Plains. Capt. Watson, with his company, was with the Lieut. Colonel ; Capt. Roberts and Capt. Stoddard, with their coutpanics, were on the right ; Capt. Lient. Farley and Capt. Cooper on the left. The force of the enemy consisted of the four flank companies of the first and second British regiments of the guards-detachments from two Hessiau battalions-some mounted rangers, and mounted refugees, the whole under the counmand of Col. Norton of the Guards. The roads were so filled with snow that the enemy advanced but slowly, and werc obliged to leave their field-pieces behind on the road. They were dis- covered at a distance by Mr. Campbell, one of our guides, who, from the goodness of his horse, reconnoitered them pretty near. He gave the Lieutenant-Colonel notice of their advancing, and that their force was considerable and advised him to take a stronger position a little in his rear. Bat the Lieutenant-Colonel was very confident that the enemy were only a body of horse, and that he could easily disperse thieni, and would not quit his ground. The enemy first attacked a small advance-guard, consisting of a Sergcant and cight men, who be- haved well, and meant to reach the main body in seasou; but were prevented by the horse, and all taken prisoners. The chemny's horse soon appeared in sight of the Americans, discharged their rifles at long shot and waited the coming up of the infantry, when a warm action conunenced ; the enemy scattered, taking the advantage of the ground and trees in the orchard, closing up on all sides. The companies of the detachment, which had joined, fought well. After about 15 min- ittes' sharp conflict, our troops broke; some took into the house and others made off ; the enemy's horse rushing on at the same instant and the whole shonting. At this time the two flank companies came up, but finding how matters stood, judged it best to retreat, Capt. Stod- dard's company giving a fire or two at long shot, Capt. Cooper's from their distance, not firing at all. Some who were engaged effected their escape, others were overtaken by the horse. The chemy collected what prisoners they could, set Mr. Young's house and buildings on fire, and returned. Of the Americans 13 were killed dead on the spot, and Capt. Roberts, who was mortally wounded, lived but a few hours. Seventeen others were wounded, several of whom died. Lieut .- Col. Thomson of Marshall's, Capt. Watson of Greaton's, Capt. Lieut. Farley
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THE YOUNGS HOUSE AFFAIR.
of Wesson's, Lient. Burley of Tupper's, Lieut. Maynard of Greaton's, En- sign Fowler of Nixon's, Ensign Bradley of Bigclow's, with 89others, were taken prisoners. The enemy left three men dead on the field, and a Captain of grenadiers was wounded iu the hip and a Lieutenant of in- fantry in the thigh. The British in their account of the action, ae- knowledgedl that they had 5 men killed and 18 wounded. Lieut .- Col. Badlam, with the relief for the lines, was at the time of action far ad- vanced on his march, but not within reach of those engaged.
"One Mayhew, a peddler well-known in Massachusetts, was of this detachment ; he made of up the road, but finding the horse rush- ing on, he struck off into the snow almost up to his hips. Two of the enemy's horse turned into his track after him and gaining fast upon him he asked them if they would give him quarter, they replied, 'Yes, yon dog, we will quarter you.' 'This was twiee repeated, when Mayhew, find- ing them inflexible, determined to give them one shot before he was quar- tered ; and, turning round, discharged his piece at the first horseman who cried out, "The raseal has broke my' leg,' when both of them turned their horses round and went off, Icaving Mayhew at liberty to tread back liis path to the road and come off."
An account of this same affair at Young's house is given by 'Thacher in a single paragraph of his "Military Journal " as follows : "February (1780), Licutenant-Colonel Thompson had the command of about two hundred and fifty men as an advanced party on our lines. He was instrueted to be constantly alert and in motion, that the chemy might not be able to take advantage and form a plan for his destrue- tion. It happened, however, that a detachment of British, Hessians and mounted refugees were discovered advancing towards him, but, on account of a very deep snow obstructing the road, they marched slowly, and Colonel Thompson resolved to defend his ground. The enemy's horse first advanecd and commenced skirmishing till their infantry approached, when a sharp confliet ensued, which continued about fifteen minutes; some of our troops manifested symptoms of cowardice and gave way. The enemy secured the advantage and rushed on with a general shout which soon decided the contest. The Americans lost thirteen men killed and Captain Roberts, being mor- tally wounded, soon expired. Seventeen others were wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson and six other officers, with eighty-nine rank and file, were made prisoners. Of the enemy, two officers and eighteen men were wounded and five men killed."
The British advanced by the southern road, and divided at the
قدصر ٩
.* ود إحياء.
201
THE YOUNGS HOUSE AFFAIR.
junction of the Four Corners-one party going west, the other march- ing directly upon the house. The party moving west intercepted or eut off Lient. Isaac Van Wart and a small company under his command who were attempting to suecor their comrades. The dead, who fell in this, engagement, were buried on the east side of the road, upon the ris- ing bank of a small hollow northeast of the Van Wart residence.
The return of killed and wounded of the King's troops in the attack upon the Youngs House is as follows :
Killed.
Wounded.
Horses.
Cavalry of Yagers, " Refugees,
2 3 I
I
I
O
O
2
Grenadier Guards,
13
0
Light Infantry,
O
I
C
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1
J5
3
Officers : Capt. Boscawen of the Guards. Wilcox of Refugees, mortally wounded.
The following is the British report of Rebel (Patriot) losses :
Killed. - 1 Capt .. 40 Non-Coms. and Privates. .
Wounded and left behind, 12 ditto
Prisoners .- I Lt. Col., I Capt., I Capt. Lt., 2 Lts., 2 Ensigns, So Non-Coms. and Privates.
N. B .- 19 Privates are wounded.
It appears that William Hammond, son of Col. Hammond, who was then but a boy, accompanied Mr. Campbell on horseback to recon- noitre the enemy. Thompson said, " They are only a few Cow Boys." Thompson's out-guard was at Jrendahl Allaire's, about half a mile south of Young's-a Sergeant's guard of eight or ten men, who at first supposed that they could defend themselves, but were surrounded and all taken but one who escaped across the fields on snow shoes. Thomp- son had 80 or 100 snow shoes, and was urged either to put them on his men and move against the enemy, or to fall back upon the relief guard, or draw his forces within the house ; but he declined to adopt any of these suggestions and drew up his troops in front and ou the right of the house towards Hammond's. Capt. Roberts being mortally wounded at the first fire, and the Americans yielding to superior force, Thomp- son ordered a retreat, and was moving off northerly when about a quar- ter of a mile from the house his horse was killed on or near the road leading to the upper Four Corners and he was taken prisoner. It ap- pears that Capt. Roberts predicted his death shortly before the attack, observing, "My grandfather was killed in the old French war and I shall be killed in this."
This was a serions reverse for the American arms, the lines be- ing pushed back at that time towards the Croton River. Some impor-
202
THE YOUNGS HOUSE AFFAIR.
tant officers had been stationed there, including General Kosciusko and ' Col. Aaron Burr. The Youngs house was not rebuilt, but there will always linger about it the memory of the tragedies there enacted.
There was a spring of water nearly opposite Youngs', on the . east side of and in the road, where many of the wounded crawled for water and died. The late Rev. Alexander Van Wart, son of Isaac, one of the captors, who afterwards owned the Youngs place, described the somnewhat elevated sandy field just north of the Corners, on the east side of the Unionville road, as the place where some thirteen Amer- icans and three British soldiers who fell in that fight were buried ; "and," he added, "I have ploughed many a furrow over their graves."
Other Incidents.
When the Youngs House was raided on Christmas night, 1778, John Champenois, a Tory prisoner, was sitting before the fire in cus- tody of a negro whom Caleb Paulding had employed to guard him. Champenois, it is said, had been plundering the patriots to such an ex- tent that the party which under command of Capt. Daniel Williams had been down to Morrisania the night before had been gotten up in large part to capture him, in which it had succeeded. He had boasted that Bearmore would come to the rescue of himself and his fellow pris- oners, and at the first noise outside exclaimed "The Major has come !" A moment after some of the inmates opened one of the front windows to see what was the matter, when, in an instant, several shots werc fired in from without, one of which killed Champenois dead. At the time he was struggling with the sentinel who guarded him, when the fatal shot pierced his heart and he dropped dead into the fire. After the capture of the place, which was taken by surprise and made but little resistance, Bearmorc set fire to one of Youngs' barns, retook the prisoners whom Capt. Williams had captured the night before, assem- bled the American prisoners he had made, including Joseph Youngs and Capt. Williams, and all the cattle he could find, and retreated. Capt. Williams was taken off bootless. At White Plains he got a pair of shoes and a hat. This occurred Dec. 25, 1778. Thos. Champenois was the only Tory in that family. The shooting of him by his Tory friends who had come to his rescue was, of course, an accident. Capt. Williams was always reputed a brave man and a skilful partisan officer.
Bolton gives the following account of the surprisal of a company of Refugees, (Tories), which took place at the Van Tassel Tavern, now
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204
OTHER INCIDENTS.
Jacob Mott place, 1781 : "Maj. David Hunt having received intelligence of the advance of the party at once determined upon their surprise, par- ticularly as the late murderers of his brother were known to be among the number. In company therefore with John Arehier and a few volun- teers Maj. Hunt proceeded from Westchester to Tarrytown, so arrang- ing the march as to arrive in the vicinity of the tavern about dusk. After darkness had fairly set in, Hunt, with his party, surrounded the house. Atthis moment their unsuspecting enemies were engaged in play- ing cards. Major Hunt having armed himself with a huge elub now gave the signal for the attack, when the whole party, headed by the Major rushed in, he exclaiming, as he raised his weapon, "Clubs are trumps, gentlemen !" During the desperate struggle that ensued Areher attempted to kill several of the Refugees, and was ouly preven- ted from doing so by Major Hunt. After a short but ineffeetnal resis- tance the Refugees surrendered and were led off in triumph to the American quarters."
Capt. John Romer says that Katrina Buckhout was killed by a Yager rifleman belonging to a party under the Tory Colonel Emerick who were patroling on the west side of the Saw Mill River. Slie imprudently appeared at the house door with a man's hat on when two hostile parties were near each other, and was killed by mistake for an encmy. The Yager fired without orders and Emerick made apology, being much mortified at the occurrence. The house where she was killed was near to and a little above the Saw Mill River (Elmsford) Church. Col. John Odell endorsed this statement as correct. So she was not killed at the time of the attack on the Capt. Glode Requa house, May 26, 1779, as stated by Bolton, but it was in the Saw Mill River Valley that the tragedy occurred.
In Oetober, 1777, a body of militia under Col. Luddington and Col. Hammond lay a little west of Col. Hammond's, near the school- house. The British, on their way up the river, landed to strike at this force and to distract the Americans. Luddingtou, not knowing the strength of the enemy, waited for them, though preparing his baggage for retreat. He had with him a drummer who had deserted from theil. The British were advaneing rapidly in column. He said he could play something to stop them. He then beat a parley. Thereupon the Bri- tish halted, and Luddington took advantage of this delay to secure his retreat.
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