USA > New York > The Empire State: a compendious history of the commonwealth of New York > Part 32
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" My God !"' exclaimed Paulding, " he is a spy !"
The major offered the young men large bribes if they would let him
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TREASONABLE DESIGNS FRUSTRATED.
pass on. They refused, and delivered him to Colonel Jameson, then in command of a post at North Castle. Jameson sent the papers found in André's boot by express to Washington, who was returning with his suite from Hartford. Andre, still maintaining the role of an American, begged the colonel to inform his (Andre's) commander at West Point that John Anderson, though bearing his passport, was detained a pris- oner. This Jameson thoughtlessly did, and so Arnold was informed of his own peril in time to allow him to escape.
Arnold's headquarters were at the country-house of Beverly Robinson, opposite West Point. Mrs. Arnold had lately arrived there with her
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THE ROBINSON HOUSE.
infant son. On the morning of September 25th Washington, with Generals Knox and Lafayette, arrived in the vicinity two days earlier than they were expected. Word was sent to Arnold that they would breakfast with him. Washington and the two generals turned aside to inspect some redoubts, while Colonel Hamilton and others rode on to tell Mrs. Arnold not to detain breakfast for the generals. It was the very day (September 25th) that had been fixed for Clinton to ascend the river and receive the surrender of West Point. Washington's early return frus- trated the treasonable designs.
While Arnold and his guests were at breakfast a courier arrived with Jameson's letter, which revealed to Arnold the terrible fact that André
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was a prisoner ; that all was known-that all was lost. With marvellous self-possession the traitor excused himself to his guests, retired, ordered a horse, and tlien going to Mrs. Arnold's room, sent for her. In a few words he told her of his peril.
" I must fly instantly," he said. " My life depends upon my reach- ing the British lines without detection."
He then returned to the breakfast-room, and again exeusing himself with the plea that he must hasten to West Point to prepare for the reception of Washington, he leaped into the saddle on his horse at the door and dashed down a path to the river, where his six-oared barge was moored. Quitting his horse, he hurried into his boat, with his pistols in his hands, and ordered the oarsmen to pull to the middle of the stream and then to row with speed to Teller's (now Croton) Point, saying he must hasten and return to meet General Washington. Near that point, sitting in the bow of his barge, Arnold raised a white handkerchief, and ordered his men to row to the Vulture, lying within sight. They did so, and the traitor, reaching her deck, was safe from pursuit. The barge was retained and the crew were sent on shore.
Washington took a late breakfast at Arnold's quarters, and then erossed over to West Point, expecting to meet the general there. He had not been there for two days ! Still ansuspicious, the commander- in-chief did not return until about noon. He was met by Colonel Hamilton, who put into his hands evidences of Arnold's treason. Orders had already been issued to attempt to intercept the flight of the guilty fugitive. It was too late.
Arnold had left his wife lying in a swoon. She had not been dis- covered until some time after her husband's departure. Recovering consciousness, she became frenzied, and for a long time refused to be comforted. Washington went to her room, and succeeded in soothing her. He assured her of the personal safety of her husband, of his own tender regard for her, and also of the personal safety of herself and child. IIe comprehended the gravity of the situation, but seemed undis- turbed. To General Knox he said sadly : " Arnold is a traitor ; who can we trust now ?"
André was conveyed first to West Point, and thence to Tappan, on the west side of the Hudson, then the headquarters of the army, where . a board of inquiry was organized (September 30th), composed of fourteen general officers, to consider the prisoner's case. They unanimously reported that " Major Andre, adjutant-general of the British army, ought to be considered as a spy from the enemy, and that, agreeable to the law and usage of nations, it is their opinion he onght to suffer death."
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THE FATE OF ARNOLD AND ANDRÉ.
He was accordingly executed on October 2d, 1780. André was not then twenty-nine years of age.
Great efforts were made to save the life of Major André. It was known that he did not voluntarily become a spy, and almost universal sympathy was then, and has been ever since, evinced for him. . Wash- ington would have saved him had the stern rules of war allowed. Sir Henry Clinton might have saved him had honor permitted him to exchange Arnold for Andre .* His king pensioned his family and knighted his brother ; a mural monument to his memory was placed in Westminster Abbey, and in 1882 a granite memorial stone was erected by a citizen of New York (Cyrus W. Field) on the spot where he was hanged as a spy, to commemorate that event. It was destroyed by a miscreant with dynamite on the evening of November 2d, 1SS5. It bore an inscription written by the late Dean Stanley, of London.
The captors of Andre were each awarded a silver medal and an annuity of $200 for life. Arnold received his stipulated reward for his treasonable endeavors, and served as a British general in crnel marauding expeditions against his countrymen. None of the British officers would serve with him in the regular army. He was forever afterward shunned and despised by all honorable men on both sides of the ocean.
A few weeks after the execution of Andre a stirring military event occurred on Long Island. Some refugee Tories from Rhode Island had taken possession of the St. George's Manor-house on Smith's Point and fortified it, and were cutting wood for the supply of the British at New York. Late in November Major Benjamin Tallmadge crossed Long Island Sound in whale-boats from Fairfield, Conn., with eighty dis- mounted dragoons, and at dawn (November 23d) appeared before the Manor-house, burst through the stockade, rushed across the parade, and assailed the garrison on three sides, shouting, " Washington and glory !" The garrison surrendered without resistance. Having secured three hundred prisoners, they were returning to their boats when they made a detour, and at Coram destroyed three hundred tons of hay gathered there for the use of the British in New York. The expedition returned to
* An attempt was made to abduct Arnold from Clinton's headquarters at No. 1 Broad- way, New York, and carry him to Washington's headquarters at Tappan. Sergeant Champe, of Lee's Legion, was allowed to play the role of a deserter. He was met by the traitor with much cordiality. Arrangements were made for a party to seize Arnold while walking in the garden at the British headquarters with Champe, at evening of the day preceding the execution of Andre. The quasi-deserter was foiled by being sent away with a party of British to Chesapeake Bay on that day.
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Connecticut without losing a man. Congress thanked the victors, and Washington warmly commended their valor .*
Civil events in the region known as the New Hampshire Grants created much uneasiness not only in New York, but throughout the Confederacy in 1780. The controversy between New York and the Grants paused, as we have observed, at the beginning of the war for independence ; but the spirit of liberty among the settlers east of Lake Champlain continued conspicuously all through the period of that war. They had assumed a provisional independent political organization, and in 1776 had petitioned the Continental Congress to admit them into the union as such. New York so vehemently opposed their pretensions that their petition was rejected.
At a popular convention held at Westminster in Jannary, 1777, the people of the Grants declared their domain an independent State, for- ever thereafter to be " known and distinguished by the name of New Connecticut, alias VERMONT." This position they maintained until Vermont was admitted into the Union in 1791.
The State of Vermont was much strengthened by the annexation of sixteen towns laying east of the Connecticut River, which were claimed as part of the domain of New Hampshire. The latter State protested ; New York denied the authority of Vermont as independent of her juris- diction, whilst Congress, appealed to, could do nothing.
In the southern portion of Vermont was the county of Cumberland, one of the fourteen political divisions of New York. Over this county New York exercised authority. Vermont claimed it as her own, and Massachusetts put in a claim for it and a portion of New York, truth- fully asserting that the boundary between the Bay State and New York had never been settled. The inhabitants themselves claimed to belong to New York, and in 1779 Governor Clinton gave commissions to persons in that county, whereupon Vermont ordered Colonel Ethan Allen to raise a militia force, march into the disputed district, and assert her authority there. Governor Clinton directed the people to remain firm
* A similar gallant feat by soldiers from Connecticut had been performed on Long Island in the spring of 1777. Colonel R. J. Meigs was sent from Guilford with one hundred and seventy men in whale-boats, accompanied by two armed schooners, to destroy British stores at Sag Harbor, on the eastern end of Long Island. At night they crossed over a portion of Long Island to Peconic Bay, carrying their boats with them, and at two o'clock in the morning attacked the British guards. An armed schooner opened fire upon them. The fire was returned with spirit, and the Americans killed or captured the whole British force, destroyed twelve brigs and sloops, one hundred tons of hay, a large quantity of rum and other stores and merchandise, and returned to Guilford with ninety prisoners. Congress thanked Meigs, and gave him an elegant sword.
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VERMONT COQUETS WITH THE BRITISH.
in their allegiance to New York, and promised them military assistance if required. Congress, having been appealed to, advised the four claim- ants to authorize that body to determine the respective boundaries ; but really independent Vermont paid no attention to the recommendation, and nothing was then done.
At this juncture a question of greater magnitude than these local dis- putes presented itself. The British authorities in Canada had eagerly watched the progress of the quarrel with Vermont, and now entertained hopes that the latter would be so far alienated from the " rebel " cause, by the opposition of New York and the injustice of Congress, as to be induced to return to its allegiance to the British crown. Accordingly in the spring of 1780 Colonel Beverly Robinson wrote to Ethan Allen from New York, making overtures to that effect. The letter was delivered to Allen in the street at Arlington by a spy disguised as a New England farmer.
Allen laid the letter of Robinson before Governor Chittenden and others, who advised silence. In February, 1781, Robinson wrote another letter to Allen, enclosing a copy of the former. Allen made no reply, but early in March he sent Robinson's letter to Congress, with one from himself, which closed with the words :
" I am as resolutely determined to defend the independence of Vermont as Congress is that of the United States ; and, rather than fail, I will retire with the hardy Green Mountain Boys into the desolate caverns of the mountains and wage war with human nature at large."
Meanwhile information of the first letter written by Robinson, and the sending of a delegation from Congress to Vermont, had alarmed the authorities of New York. Governor Clinton, suspecting a combination against his State, wrote to James Duane (October 29th, 1780) that in the event of a certain contingency the New York delegates would be withdrawn from Congress, " and the resources of the State, which have hitherto been so lavishly afforded the Continent, be withheld for the defence of New York." Clinton called the attention of Washing- ton to the apparent danger, when the latter issued orders to General Schuyler to arrest Allen. Schuyler shared in Clinton's apprehensions, and wrote from Albany to the governor at Poughkeepsie (October 31st), saying :
" The conduct of some people to the eastward is alarmingly mys- terious. A flag, under pretence of settling a contest with Vermont, has been on the Grants. Allen has disbanded his militia, and the enemy, in number upward of six hundred, are rapidly advancing toward us. The night before last they were at Putnam's Point. Entreat General Wash-
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ington for more Continental troops, and let me beg of your Excellency to hasten up here."
This was in allusion to a conference between Allen and Colonel Dundas at Isle aux Noix concerning an exchange of prisoners. At that conference Dundas, under the direction of Governor Haldimand, made verbal proposals to Allen similar to those made by Robinson." Allen now saw the opportunity for Vermont. He received the overtures with apparent favor. Haldimand and Dundas were delighted with their apparent skill in diplomacy, and readily agreed to a proposition from Allen not to allow hostili- ties on the Vermont frontier until after the meeting of the Legislature. Hence the dismiis- sal of Allen's militia.
The coquetry of the brothers Allen (Ethan and Ira) and six or eight other leaders in Vermont with the British authorities in Canada continued until the peace BEVERLY ROBINSON. in 1783, when dissimulation was no longer necessary. The con- clusion of the whole matter may be stated in a few words. The shrewd diplomatists of Vermont had been working for a twofold object- namely, to keep the British troops from their territory and to induce Congress to admit the independence of their domain as a State of the Union. They outwitted the Britons, hoodwinked Congress, and finally gained their point.+
* Beverly Robinson, a stanch royalist, was born in Virginia in 1734 ; died an exile at Thornbury, England, in 1792. Ile was a major under Wolfe at Quebec. He married a daughter of Frederick Philipse. Up to the Declaration of Independence he opposed the measures of the British Government ; then he espoused the cause of the crown. He took an active though generally a secret part in the plot of Arnold and Andre. He accom- panied the latter on his voyage up the Hudson in the Vulture to have an interview with Arnold, who occupied Robinson's house as headquarters at that time. He fled to England, and his property was confiscated. The British Government allowed him $80,000 as an indemnity for his losses. His wife died in England in 1822, at the age of ninety-four years.
+ Ethan and Ira Allen were remarkable men. They were both born in Connecticut, Ethan in 1737, and Ira in 1751. The latter was Ethan's younger brother. Ethan was one of the proprietors of the iron works at Salisbury, Conn., in 1762. In 1766 he went
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A LONG DISPUTE SETTLED.
Yet the difficulties between New York and Vermont were not settled. Violent measures had ceased forever. Both parties, however, were unwilling to yield. Finally the Legislatures of the two States appointed commissioners late in 1789 to settle all matters of controversy. The only serious difficulty that remained related to compensation for the lands claimed by citizens of New York which had been granted to them by Vermont. It was finally agreed that the State of Vermont should pay to the State of New York $30,000 in settlement of their claims. All other matters in dispute were adjusted, and so, amicably, was ended a bitter controversy which had been carried on for more than twenty-six years, at times threatening immediate civil war. In the spring of 1791 Vermont was admitted into the Union as an independent but not a sovereign State.
The Americans were not subdued at the close of 1780, but their canse was in great peril because of the extreme weakness of material props and the absence of an efficient civil government. The Continental paper money, which had hitherto greatly assisted in sustaining the canse, had become almost worthless. " A wagon-load of money," said a contem- porary, " would not buy a wagon-load of provisions." The several States were urged to supply quotas of funds for the common use. Their responses were slow and feeble, for there was no central power compe- tent to levy taxes or demand forced loans. The idea of State sovereignty was all-controlling. Finally a plan of government which had been dis- cussed in Congress since 1775 was adopted late in 1777, and submitted to the State Legislatures for ratification. It was yet unratified, and the Continental Congress had but a shadow of power independent of the States, whose supremacy was made potential by the new constitution of government, which was entitled " Articles of Confederation."
to the New Hampshire Grants, then almost a wilderness, and, as we have observed, was a bold leader in the controversy with the settlers and the authorities of New York. He wrote several pamphlets during that controversy. He was outlawed by the authorities of New York ; took a conspicuous place in the opening scenes of the Revolution ; was carried a prisoner to England ; was exchanged in 1778, and invested with the chief com- mand of the Vermont militia. He was a leading coquette with the Canadian authorities ; served as a member of the Legislature of Vermont and a delegate in Congress after the war, and died at Burlington, Vt., and was buried there in February, 1789.
Ira Allen was also an active patriot during the old war for independence in military and civil affairs. He was Secretary of State and member of the Council of Vermont. As senior major-general of Vermont, in 1795 he was sent to Europe to purchase arms for his commonwealth. On his way homeward, with muskets and cannons, he was captured and taken to England as a French emissary intending to supply the Irish with arms. He was soon released. He died in Philadelphia in 1814. Allen wrote a National and Political History of Vermont.
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Thoughtful men were alarmed and perplexed. The young Alexander Hamilton (then in Washington's military family), in a letter to James Duane, one of the four New York members of Congress, denounced this scheme of government as " neither fit for war nor peace. The uncontrollable sovereignty in each State," he wrote, " will defeat the powers of Congress and make our union feeble and precarious." In his letter to Duane he proposed a convention of all the States, for the purpose of constructing a national government under the superintendence of one supreme head, and he proposed a plan, in the form of suggestions, which was substantially adopted several years afterward.
There were no military opera- tions of great importance in the State of New York in 1781 be- fore the arrival of the French troops, under Rochambeau, # from Rhode Island, in the vicinity of the Hudson River, early in July. Sir Henry Clinton had sent the traitor Arnold, at the head of about sixteen hundred British and Tory marauders, into Virgi- nia. Anxious to serve his royal COUNT DE ROCHAMBEAU. master, Arnold was exceedingly active. He ascended the James River to Richmond, burned it, with a very large quantity of public and private property, and then made a plundering raid down the river. Alarmed by information that the French fleet from Rhode Island had sailed for Chesapeake Bay, he fled up the Elizabeth River and took post at Portsmouth, opposite Norfolk. Great efforts were made to seize him. Lafayette was sent to Virginia with troops to assist the Baron von Steuben, t then in command there. The Virginia militia turned out in large numbers to oppose the traitor.
* Count de Rochambeau was born at Vendome, France, in 1725 ; died in May, 1807. He entered the army in his youth, and rose rapidly to distinction. With the commission of lieutenant-general he came to America with troops to assist the patriots in their struggle with British power. After the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown, in 1781, he remained some time in America, returning to France late in 1782. In 1791 he was made a marshal of France and placed in command of the Army of the North. He narrowly escaped the guillotine. Bonaparte pensioned him in 1804, and gave him the decoration of the Cross of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.
+ Frederick W. A. (Baron) von Steuben was a native of Prussia, born at Magdeburg,
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CORNWALLIS IN VIRGINIA.
Governor Jefferson offered a reward of $25,000 for his capture, and a portion of the French fleet shut him up in the Elizabeth River. The fleet was soon compelled to retreat, after a conflict with Admiral Arbuthnot.
General Phillips soon afterward joined Arnold with two thousand men, and took the chief command. Finally Lord Cornwallis entered Virginia from North Carolina, joined the forces of Phillips and Arnold, and attempted the subjugation of that State. Ile was driven back to the coast early in the sum mer by the forces of Steuben and Lafayette, and took post at and fortified Yorktown, on the York River. Clin- ton had ordered him to be near the sea, in order to re-enforce the garri- son at New York, if necessary. It was then seriously menaced by the combined American and French forces. STEUBEN'S MONUMENT.
The Count de Grasse, a distinguished admiral, was then in command of a French fleet in the West Indies, and Washington was assured that he was ready to co-op- erate with the allied armies in any undertaking that promised success. Meanwhile Rochambeau had led the French troops from New England to the IIndson River, and the junction of the Americans and their allies took place near Dobb's Ferry on July 6th. Washington was then con- templating an attack upon the British in the city of New York, but before De Grasse was ready to co-operate with him Sir Henry received
in 1730. He held a distinguished place in the Prussian army, and rose to the office of grand marshal in 1764. He joined the Continental army in America in 1777, and was appointed inspector-general, doing excellent service until the close of the war. For his services the State of New York gave him sixteen thousand acres of wild land in Oneida County, where he built a log-house for himself. The National Government gave him an annuity of $2500. He withdrew from society, and dwelt on his domain until his death, in November, 1794. By his will he parcelled his estates among his aides (Colonels North, Popham, and Walker) and twenty or thirty tenants. The State of New Jersey also gave him a small farm. He was kind, generous, and witty, and possessed polished manners. Over his grave in the town of Steuben, about seven miles north-west of Trenton Falls, a plain monument was erected, by private subscription, in 1826-simply a recumbent slab with his name upon it.
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re-enforcements (Angust 11th) of three thousand troops from England. At about the same time Washington was informed that De Grasse could not leave the West Indies just then.
Lafayette had written to Washington that Cornwallis had made a great mistake in intrenching himself at Yorktown, and urged the commander- in-elief to march into Virginia. "Should a French fleet enter Hampton . Roads," he wrote, " the British army would be compelled to surrender." For six weeks the allied armies lay in Westchester County, waiting for the arrival of De Grasse to attack New York. When, a few days after the arrival of Clinton's re-enforcements, Washington was informed that De Grasse was about to sail for the Chesapeake, lie resolved to march to Virginia and assist Steuben- and Lafayette in opposing Cornwal- lis. He wrote misleading letters to General Greene in New Jer- sey, and sent them so as to be intercepted by Sir Henry. Gen- eral Sehnyler also wrote a letter to Washington for the same pur- pose. These letters so adroitly concealed Washington's real in- tentions that it was ten days after the allies had crossed the Hudson and were marching for the Dela- ware and beyond before Clinton was convinced the movement was not a feint to cover a sudden BARON VON STEUBEN. descent upon New York. It was then too late to intercept or sne- cessfully to pursue the allies, and he sent Arnold with a band of marand- ers to desolate the New England coast, hoping to recall the Americans ..
Washington was in chief command of the allied armies, and bearing the commission of lientenant-general from the King of France. He arrived before Yorktown with twelve thousand troops on September 28th, and soon began a siege. De Grasse had already arrived, and was guarding the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. The siege was carried on vigorously, and on October 19th Cornwallis was compelled to surrender to Washington and De Grasse, himself and about seven thousand troops, the post with all its ordnance and supplies, his shipping and seamen. A vast concourse of people, equal in number, it was said, to the military, was assembled from the surrounding country to participate in the event
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