USA > New York > The Empire State: a compendious history of the commonwealth of New York > Part 24
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* David Wooster was born at Stratford, Conn., March 2d, 1710, and was educated at Yale College. He performed excellent military service among provincial forces before the Revolution. He was colonel of a Connecticut regiment, and became a brigadier- general in the French and Indian War. He was with Allen and Arnold at the capture of Ticonderoga in 1775 ; was in command in Canada, with the commission of a brigadier- general, in the spring of 1776, and on his return was made first major-general of Con- neeticut militia. Opposing the invasion of his State in the spring of 1777, he was fatally wounded in a skirmish at Ridgefield, and died on May 2d.
231
GENERAL SCHUYLER AND SIR J. JOHNSON.
General Schuyler had just heard of the death of Montgomery, when he was called up the Mohawk Valley to disarm the Tories of Tryon County. It was evident that Sir John Johnson and his retainers were preparing for an active armed alliance with the British in Canada. Schuyler, acting under instructions from the Continental Congress, called for seven hundred militia to assist him. The response was marvellous. Before he reached Caughnawaga on the Mohawk, a few miles from Johnson Hall, he had three thou- sand armed followers, including nine hundred of the Tryon County militia.
By appointment Schuyler met the baronet at the late residence of Guy Johnson, on the Mohawk, from whom he demanded, as terms of peace, the immediate cessation of all hostile demonstrations ; the surrender of all arms, ammunition, 1 and stores in the possession of Johnson ; the delivery to him of all the arms and accoutrements held by the Tories and Indians, and Sir John's parole of honor not to SIR JOHN JOHNSON. act inimically to the patriot cause. Sir John was compelled to comply with the terms, and gave his pledge."
On January 19th (1776) the expedition under Schuyler was at Johns- town, where the arms and military stores were delivered up, and at noon the next day nearly three hundred Scotch Highlanders laid down their arms before a line of armed militia in the streets of Johnstown. The Mohawks meanwhile had remained neutral. With six Scottish chiefs and more than one hundred Tory prisoners, and some heavy guns as trophies, Schuyler marched back to Albany. He had disarmed between six and seven hundred Tories, conciliated the Mohawks, and diluted
* Sir John Johnson was born in 1742 ; died at Montreal June 4th, 1830. In 1774 he was appointed major-general of the New York militia. He was an active Tory and British partisan during the old war for independence, and produced great distress among the patriotic inhabitants of the Mohawk Valley by participation with the Indians on their destructive forays with his " Royal Greens," a partisan corps. He went to England, but returned in 1785 and resided in Canada, where he was made Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He was also a member of the Legislative Council of Canada. To compensate him for his losses, the British Government made him grants of land in Canada.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
the loyalty of some of the most prominent leaders among the Six Nations.
During the summer and fall of 1775 stirring events occurred in the city of New York. The course of Governor Tryon was so evidently hostile to the Republican cause that the Provincial Congress, now governed by the popular will, and perceiving a resort to arms to be inevitable, ordered Captain John Lamb, then recruiting an artillery com- pany, to take the cannons from the fort and the grand battery to a place of safety. With a small military force and a body of citizens led by Cap- tain Sears, he went to the Battery at nine o'clock in the evening (Angust 25th) and began the task. A bullet was sent among the people from a barge filled with armed men from the Asia, which was concealed near by. A volley was returned, and the barge, bearing several men killed and wounded, hastened back to the Asia. That vessel immediately hurled three cannon shots ashore in quick succession. Lamb ordered the drums to beat to arms. The church-bells rang ont an alarum ; and while all was confusion and fear broadside after broadside of grape-shot from the Asia was fired upon the town, injuring several houses ;* but no life was sacrificed. Believing that the town was to be sacked and burnt, hundreds of men, women, and children were seen at midnight hurrying away with their light effects to places of safety in the suburbs. Yet the patriots at the Battery stood firm, and in the face of the can- nonade from the Asia every gun was removed. There were twenty-one iron 18-pounders and some smaller cannons.
The conduct of the commander of the Asia cansed intense exaspera- tion among the patriots, and Governor Tryon, taking counsel of prudence and his fears, sought refuge from the wrath of the people on board a British ship-of-war in the harbor. From that aquatic " palace" he attempted to rule the province. There his Council joined him.+ But royal authority was at an end at New York forever.
Rivington, the loyal printer, had changed the name of his newspaper to the Royal Gazette, and was using his great influence as a journalist in
* Among the houses injured at that time was the tavern of Samuel Fraunce, a West Indian by birth, and of such a dark complexion that he was familiarly known as " Black Sam." His house was on the corner of Broad and Pearl streets. Freneau, in his " Petition of Hugh Gains," makes that time-serving journalist say, in alluding to the cannonade of the Asia :
"At first we supposed it was only a sham, Till he drove a round ball through the roof of Black Sam."
+ The members of his Council who joined him were : Oliver de Lancey, Hugh Wallace, William Axtelle, John Harris Cruger, and James Jauncey.
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SEARS' RAID ON A PRINTING, OFFICE.
fostering Toryism in the province. He abused the Sons of Liberty (especially Captain Sears) in his paper without stint. Fired by personal insult and patriotic zeal, Sears went to Connecticut, and at noon on a bright day in November (25th) he entered the city at the head of seventy- five light horsemen, proceeded to the printing establishment of Riving- ton* at the foot of Wall Street, placed a guard around it, put the type into bags, destroyed the press and other appurtenances, and then rode out of the city amid the shouts of the populace and to the tune of Yankee Doodle. The type was cast into bullets Rivington finding New York too hot for him, fled to England, but returned the next year, when British troops held possession of the city, and resumed the publi- cation of his Gazetteer.
Notwithstanding this action and the aggressive zeal of the Republicans, disaffection to their cause extensively prevailed throughout the province of New York during the winter JAMES RIVINGTON. of 1775-76. In Queens County, on Long Island, many of the people began to arm in favor of the crown, and from his floating refuge in the harbor Governor Tryon kept up a continual correspondence with Mayor Matthews, Oliver de Lancey, and other Loyalists on shore. The Continental Congress as vigorously opposed his influence, and took measures to disarm the Tories every- where, while Washington, besieging Boston, kept a vigilant eye upon all that might harm the colony of New York.
* James Rivington, the " King's printer" in New York, was a native of England. Failing in business as a bookseller in London, he came to America in 1760 and opened a book-store in Philadelphia. He opened another the following year at the foot of Wall Street, in New York. He printed books, and in 1773 he began the publication of the Royal Gazetteer, a weekly newspaper. After the Revolutionary War began he took strong ground in favor of the crown, and so continued until the close of the contest. It seems to be a well-attested fact that Rivington played false to the Royalists, and furnished much information to Washington. He, an apparent Anti-Loyalist, was permitted to remain in the city unmolested when, at the evacuation in 1783, hundreds of lesser sinners were compelled to flee. He died in July, 1802, at the age of seventy-eight years.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
When, in January, 1776, Sir Henry Clinton, with a considerable force, sailed from Boston, Washington, believing New York to be his destina- tion, sent General Charles Lee thither, instructed to gather a force on his way and take a position to defend that city. With marvellous rapidity Lee collected about twelve hundred men and encamped with
Jae Rwingto wvon aton
SIGNATURE OF JAMES RIVINGTON.
them in " The Fields" on the verge of the city, in spite of the protests of the Committee of Safety, who had been made timid by a threat of the commander of the Asia that he would bombard the town if "rebel troops" were allowed to enter it. Lee made his headquarters at No. 1 Broadway and issued a proclamation, in which he said :
" I come to prevent the occupation of Long Island and the city by the enemies of liberty. If the ships-of-war are quiet I shall be quiet ; if they make my presence a pretext for firing upon the town, the first house set in flames by their guns shall be the funeral-pile of some of their best friends."
At these brave words the Tories shrunk into inactivity ; the Provincial Congress felt a glow of patriotism, and measures were immediately adopted for fortifying the city and the approaches to it, and garrisoning it with two thousand men." Sir Henry Clinton arrived at Sandy Hook on the day when Lee entered the city. Informed of Lee's presence, he sailed southward. Lee followed by land, leaving the little army at New York in charge of Lord Stirling. In June following Lee and Clinton were in conflict in Charleston Harbor.
Washington prosecuted the siege of Boston with as much vigor as cir- cumstances would allow, and in March, 1776, he drove General Howe and his troops from the town literally into the sea. He allowed them to evacuate Boston (March 17th) and to sail away quietly and unmolested, accompanied by a large number of Loyalists, who fled before the indig- nation of a multitude of Whigs whom they had persecuted for months.
* For a description of the fortifications thus erected, see Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, Vol. II., p. 593, note.
235
A CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON.
Howe sailed for Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the following summer he appeared with a large armed force before New York City, borne thither in a fleet commanded by his brother, Lord Howe, and took possession of Staten Island.
Suspecting Howe had sailed for New York, Washington, with a larger part of his army, hastened to that eity immediately after the evacuation of Boston, and held it until Sep- tember.
During the heats of the summer Washington made his headquarters at Richmond Hill, far "ont of town," with the bulk of his army encamped near by. Tryon was yet at his floating headquarters in the Duchess of Gordon war-ship plot- ting, plotting, plotting with his friends on shore for the ruin of the Republiean eause. He formed a plan for the murder of Washington and his principal officers, or for their UZAL KNAPP. arrest and transportation to England to be tried for treason, and the capture of the troops on Manhattan Island. He sent money ashore freely for purposes of bribery. The Life Guard of Washington* was tampered with, and two of them were seduced from their fidelity. To one of them, an Irishman named Hickey, was intrusted the task of destroying Washington. He knew that his commander was very fond of green peas, and he resolved to
* Washington's Life Guard was organized in the autumn of 1776 on Harlem Heights, and consisted of one hundred and eighty picked men, first commanded by Caleb Gibbs, of Rhode Island, with the rank of captain. William Colfax was the last commander. The special service of the Life Guard was to guard the headquarters of the commander- in-chief, but they were never spared in battle. The last survivor of Washington's Life Guard was Uzal Knapp, who died in the town of New Windsor, Orange County, N. Y., in January, 1857, when he was a little more than ninety-seven years of age. He was a native of Stamford, Conn., and was a sergeant in the Guard. Over his grave near Wash- ington's Headquarters at Newburgh is a handsome mausoleum of brown freestone, made from designs by H. K. Brown, the sculptor.
The sketch on the following page of the banner of the Guard was copied from one in the museum at Alexandria, Va., in 1848, deposited there by George Washington Parke Custis. The figure of the guardsman shows the uniform of the Guard.' It consists of a blue coat with white facings, white waistcoat and breeches, black half gaiters, a cocked hat with a blue and white feather. The banner was white silk.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
slay him by poison mixed in a dish of them to be set before him at dinner.
Hickey tried to make the general's housekeeper, a faithful maiden, an accomplice in the deed by placing the poison in the peas. She pre- tended to favor his plans. At the appointed time for plaeing the savory dish before the general Hickey watched her movements through a half- opened door. The general made some excuse for ordering the dish away without tasting the peas. The girl had forewarned him. Hickey was arrested, found guilty, and hanged on a tree (June 28th, 1776) in the presence of fully twenty thousand people. It was the first military execution in the Continental Army. Mayor Matthews and more than twenty others were ar- rested on suspicion of complicity in the plot, but only Hickey suffer- ed. The plot was traced CONQUER directly to Tryon as its OR DIE anthor.
At this juncture the Continental Congress, now become a permanent body, sitting at Phila- delphia, were engaged in the discussion of a most important matter. The people in general until lately had not ex- BANNER OF WASHINGTON'S LIFE GUARD. pressed a desire for po- litieal independence of Great Britain. There were a few who had warmly advocated it for some time. At the be- ginning of 1776 Thomas Paine, an English radical living in Philadelphia, put forth a powerful pamphlet, at the suggestion of Dr. Rush, in which he pleaded earnestly for independence. It was termed Common Sense. In terse, sharp, incisive, and vigorous sentences bristling with logie, he embodied the sentiments of reflecting men and women throughout the eolonies.
"Independence," he said, "is now the only bond that will keep us together. We shall then be on a proper footing to treat with Great Britain. . . . Every quiet method for peace hath been ineffectual. Our prayers have been rejected with disdain. Reconciliation is now a
237
PAINE'S PLEA FOR INDEPENDENCE.
fallacious dream. Bring the doctrine of reconciliation to the touch- stone of nature ; can you hereafter love, honor, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword into your land ? Ye that tell us of harmony, can you restore us to the time that is past ? The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, "Tis time to part.' The last chord is now broken ; the people of England are now presenting addresses against us. A government of our own is a natural right. Ye that love mankind, that dare oppose not only tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth ! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia and Africa hath long expelled her ; Europe regards her like a stranger ; and England hath given her warning to depart. Oh, receive the fugitive and prepare an asylum for mankind !"
The effect of this pamphlet was marvellous. It carried dismay into the enemy's camp. One hundred thousand copies were sent broadcast over the land, and produced an almost universal desire for independence among the people, for its trumpet tones awakened the continent and made every patriotic heart thrill with joy. It gave expression to a feeling that already filled the hearts of the people and was waiting for a voice.
Very soon legislative bodies began to move in the matter. North Carolina was the first colony that took positive action. It authorized its delegates in Congress to " concur with those of other colonies in declar- ing independence." Other colonies did the same. Others permitted their deputies to do so, and still others refused assent and were silent. Among the latter were New York, South Carolina, and Georgia.
At length the Continental Congress moved in favor of independence, satisfied that the people were ripe for it. In April they recommended the several provincial assemblies to form State governments. General letters of marque and reprisal were granted, and the American ports were opened to all nations excepting the British. Finally on June 7th, on motion of Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia (seconded by John Adams, of Massachusetts), the Congress resolved that the colonies were, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain was, and ought to be, dissolved.
The consideration of this resolution was deferred, and a committee was appointed to draw up a formal declaration of causes for the action. The resolution was debated from time to time for nearly a month. It was adopted on July 2d by the unanimous vote of the colonies (not of the representatives), and on July 4th the Declaration, written by Thomas
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
Jefferson, was adopted by the same vote. The Declaration was signed on the same day by all the members who voted for it, when it was printed and sent out in every direction bearing the signatures of only John Hancock, president, and Charles Thomson, secretary. It was engrossed on parchment and signed afterward.
Toward evening on July 9th the Declaration of Independence was read to a brigade of the Continental Army in New York City, which was drawn up in a hollow square on the site of the City Hall. Wash- ington was present. The Declaration was read in a clear voice by one of his aides. At early twilight the excited populace, citizens and soldiers, were led to the Bowling Green, where they attached ropes to the equestrian statue of George III. erected there, as we have observed, in 1770 (see page 199), and man and horse were pulled headlong to the ground. The statue, made of lead, was broken into fragments, and a large portion of it was cast into bullets which were afterward used by the Continental soldiers. "So," wrote a contemporary, " the British had melted majesty hurled at them."
A sudden change in action now appeared in the newly-elected Pro- vincial Congress of New York. A large British force, just landed on Staten Island, was menacing the city. The Congress adjourned to White Plains, in Westchester County, and reassembled there on July 9th. They emphatically approved the Declaration of Independence,* and changed the title of their body to " Convention of Representatives of the State of New York," though the State was not yet organized. That measure was then under consideration.
It was now clearly manifest that the province of New York was to be the theatre of the first great effort to crush the " rebellion" in accord- ance with a plan devised by the British Ministry the year before, and which had been partially revealed. It contemplated the seizure of New York and Albany, and to strongly garrison both cities ; to declare all persons " rebels" who should oppose the royal troops ; to take possession of the Hudson and East rivers with small armed vessels, and so to form a strong line of military power between New England and the rest of the colonies, extending from Manhattan Island through the valleys of
* The Declaration was referred to a committee, of which John Jay was chairman. He almost instantly reported the following resolution, which was adopted :
"Resolved, unanimously, That the reasons assigned by the Continental Congress for declaring these united colonies free and independent States are cogent and conclusive, and that, while we lament the cruel necessity which has rendered the measure unavoid- able, we approve the same, and will, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, join with the other colonies in supporting it."
239
A COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS SENT TO CANADA.
the Hudson to Canada ; to retake the forts on Lake Champlain, and with regulars, Canadians, Tories, and Indians, easily make destructive irruptions into New England and Pennsylvania. This would secure a safe communication between Quebec and New York, separate and weaken the most important colonies, and make the subjugation of all the colonies an easy task. This plan was devised by the ministry after the battle of Bunker (Breed's) Hill, and was made known to members of
SAMUEL CHASE.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
CHARLES CARROLL.
the New York Provincial Congress by a letter from London during that summer.
The Continental Congress, satisfied that such a plan of subjugation was to be attempted, perceived the necessity of forming an alliance with Canada or achieving its conquest, and in the spring of 1776 Dr. Franklin, Samuel Chase, and Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, were sent into that province invested with extraordinary powers. They were accompanied by Rev. John Carroll, a Roman Catholic priest. They were authorized to regulate all military matters in the Republican army there ; to treat with the Canadians as friends and brethren ; to organize a republic there, and to admit Canada into union with the colonies they represented. The commissioners were cordially received at Montreal," but circum-
* The commissioners were entertained at New York by Lord Stirling, and set sail up the Hudson in a sloop furnished by him for the purpose at five o'clock P.M., April 2d, 1776. They came to anchor off the upper end of Manhattan Island, and lay there twenty-four hours because of a heavy north-east storm. They proceeded, and had a perilous voyage
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
stances rendered their mission futile. The British Government had hired thousands of soldiers from petty German princes to assist in enslav- ing its subjects in America. Some of these, under the command of General de Riedesel, with British re-enforcements commanded by Sir John Burgoyne, arrived at Quebec early in May (1776), and very soon the little Republican army in Canada, sorely smitten with the scourge of small-pox, was driven out of that province.
General Jolın Thomas, a brave and skilful officer, had been sent by Washington to take command of the Republican troops in Canada and attempt a retrieval of losses there. He reached the camp near Quebec late in April (1776). The arrival of British re-enforcements there com- pelled him to retreat up the St. Lawrence. He continued his retreat to the Sorel, where he died of small-pox, when the command devolved upon General Sullivan. That officer struggled bravely with fate, but was compelled to yield to a superior force. With the shattered remnant of the Republican army he retreated to Crown Point. Of five thousand troops gathered there, poorly clad, fed, and sheltered, fully one half were sick early in July. The Northern army had lost, by death and desertion, fully five thousand men.
So ended in disaster that remarkable invasion. The incidents of its execution rank among the most startling and romantic in the annals of war .*
We have observed that Sir John Johnson gave his parole of honor to remain quiet. Early in May (1776) Schuyler was informed that Sir John, with Brant and others, was holding conferences with the Indians and inciting them to war, and that the baronet was preparing to make hostile movements in Tryon County with his Scotch retainers and the barbarians. Colonel Elias Dayton, a judicious officer, was sent with a competent force to Johnstown to arrest the baronet and take him to Albany, with his Scotch retainers and their families. When Dayton
through the Highlands, for the storm continued. When it abated they sailed with a fair wind and pleasant weather to Albany, where they were hospitably entertained by General Schuyler. Charles Carroll wrote : "He lives in pretty style ; has two daughters (Betsy and Peggy), lively, agreeable, black-eyed gals." "Peggy" became Mrs. (Patroon) Van Rensselaer, and " Betsy" Mrs. General Hamilton. The general conveyed them first to his country-seat at Saratoga, and thence to Lake George, where he had prepared for them a stout bateau. They crossed the lake among floating ice. Their bateau was drawn over to Lake Champlain (four miles) by six yoke of oxen. There the commissioners embarked on it and voyaged to St. Johns, at the foot of the lake, and thence, by land, to Montreal in calèches-two-wheeled vehicles.
* For a more minute account of this invasion, see Lossing's Life and Times of Philip Schuyler.
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SIR JOHN JOHNSON AND HIS FOLLOWERS.
arrived the baronet had fled to the forest, and Lady Johnson assured him that her husband was on his way to Niagara with his retainers, and that his enemies would " soon hear where he was."
Lady Johnson was a spirited woman, a daughter of John Watts, one of the king's provincial councillors. Dayton informed her that measures would be taken to frustrate her husband's designs, and that she must accompany him to Albany. She was then conveyed thither, where she was treated with all the delicacy due to her sex and her social position. She was retained there some time as a hostage for the good behavior of her husband.
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