USA > New York > The Empire State: a compendious history of the commonwealth of New York > Part 33
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323
EFFECTS OF THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS.
so joyful to the Americans. Clinton appeared at the entrance of Chesa- peake Bay a few days afterward with seven thousand troops to re- enforce Cornwallis. It was too late, and he sailed back to New York amazed and disheartened.
The surrender of Cornwallis filled the hearts of patriotic Americans with joy, for it was a prophecy of peace and independence. That prophecy was soon fulfilled. The desire for peace, which had long burned in the hearts of the British people, now found such potential expression that it was heeded by the British Ministry.
The news from Yorktown fell like a lighted bombshell in the midst of the war party in Parliament, and public opinion found immediate and veliement expression in both Houses. Lord North, the premier, who had misled the nation for twelve years, retired from office (March 20th, 1782), the advocates for peace came into power, and early in May ensuing Sir Guy Carleton, who had succeeded Clinton as commander-in- chief of the British forces in America, arrived at New York with propo- sitions for a reconciliation.
Measures were immediately taken by Congress and the British Gov- ernment to arrange a treaty of peace. Commissioners were appointed by the high contracting powers, in which France, an ally of the Ameri- cans, was included, and on November 30th a preliminary treaty was signed at Paris. A definitive treaty was signed at the same place on September 3d, 1783, by which the independence of the United States was acknowledged by the King of Great Britain.
War had raged in the South during 1781. General Nathaniel Greene had succeeded General Gates in command of the Southern army, and with the main body took post at Cheraw, east of the Pedee River. Among his most active lieutenants was General Daniel Morgan, who with a thousand men occupied the region near the confluence of the Pacolet and Broad rivers.
. Cornwallis was about to march into North Carolina, when he found himself between two fires. He sent the energetic Colonel Tarleton to capture or disperse Morgan's men. The belligerents met in battle at the Cowpens, in Western South Carolina (January 17th, 1781), where Tarleton was defeated with much loss. Congress rewarded Morgan with a gold medal, and his two lieutenants, Colonels Howard and Washington, with a silver medal each.
Morgan started for Virginia with his five hundred prisoners and much spoil. Cornwallis attempted to intercept or overtake him, but failed. Morgan crossed the Catawba before him, and on the banks of the Yadkin he was joined by Greene and his escort.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
Now began the famous retreat of the American army, under General Greene, from the Catawba through North Carolina into Virginia. Corn- wallis had been detained by the sudden swelling of the Catawba by a heavy rain. He reached the Yadkin (February 3d) just as the Ameri- cans were safely landed on the opposite shore. Swelling floods again arrested him. The patriots pressed onward, and Cornwallis was soon again in full pursuit. At Guilford Conrt-Honse Greene was joined by his main army from Cheraw, but he was not strong enough to fight. They all continued the flight, and after many escapes the Americans reached the Dan (February 13th), and crossed the rising waters into the friendly bosom of Halifax, in Virginia. Cornwallis, again foiled by a flood, abandoned the chase, and moved sullenly sonthward through North Carolina. .
Greene soon recrossed the Dan, to prevent Cornwallis organizing the Tories in North Carolina. Recruits had swelled his ranks, and at the beginning of March he found himself in command of about five thousand troops. He sought an engagement with Cornwallis, and on March 15th they fought a very severe battle near Guilford Court-House. Although the British remained masters of the field, the victory was almost as destructive for Cornwallis as a defeat. " Another such a victory," said Charles J. Fox, in the House of Commons, " will ruin the British army." The battalions of Cornwallis were so shattered that he could not maintain the advantage he had gained. Thoroughly dis- pirited, he abandoned Western North Carolina, and moved with his whole army to Wilmington, leaving Lord Rawdon in command of a British - force at Camden. Cornwallis soon afterward marched into Virginia.
Greene with all his force pursued Cornwallis some distance, and then marched for Camden. He encamped upon Hobkirk's Hill, within a mile of Rawdon's encampment, where he was surprised by the British forces on the morning of April 25th. After a sharp battle of several hours Greene was defeated, but on his retreat he carried away all his artillery and baggage and fifty British prisoners.
Greene's army began to increase, when Rawdon, alarmed for the safety of his posts in the lower country, abandoned Camden and took position at Nelson's Ferry, on the Santee. Within the space of a week the Americans seized four important posts, and Greene was making rapid marches toward Fort Ninety-Six, on the site of the (present) village of Cambridge, in Abbeville District. In all these operations Greene was greatly aided by Colonel Henry Lee (" Light Horse Harry") and his famous Legion. At the beginning of June the British possessed only
325
GREENE'S OPERATIONS IN SOUTHI CAROLINA.
three posts in South Carolina-namely, Charleston, Nelson's Ferry, and Ninety-Six.
General Greene began the siege of Ninety-Six on May 22d, but on the approach of Rawdon with a strong force he was compelled to abandon it on June 19th. Meanwhile Lee, Pickens, and others had gained victories on the Savannah River. They captured Fort Galphin, below Augusta, on May 21st, and after a siege of eleven days and a final assault Angusta was surrendered to Lee and Pickens. Then the victors hastened to join Greene before Ninety-Six, and with him they retreated beyond the Salnda River. The Americans finally crossed the Congaree, and the main body encamped during the hot and sickly season on the High Hills of Santee, in Santee District.
Rawdon left his army at Orangeburg with Colonel Stewart and returned to England. Re-enforced by North Carolina troops, Greene crossed the Wateree at the close of August, and marched upon Orange- burg, when Stewart retreated to Entaw Springs, near the Santee. Greene pursued and overtook him there, and on the morning of September 8th they fought a sanguinary battle. The Americans were victorions at first, but lost the prize for which they contended, by imprudence. Unex- pectedly the British renewed the conflict, and after a severe struggle for several hours the Americans were defeated. Stewart, however, thought it prudent to retreat toward Charleston during the night, and on the 9th Greene took possession of the battle-field. Congress rewarded him with a gold medal and other honors.
Annoyed by the active partisan corps in South Carolina, the British soon afterward evacuated their interior posts and retired to Charleston. At the close of 1781 they were confined to the cities of Charleston and Savannah.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE Americans did not relax their vigilance while negotiations for peace were in progress. The army was kept intaet, for British troops seemed still disposed to be aggressive. The last blood shed in the Revo- lution was spilled in a skirmish with a British foraging party not far from Charleston in August, 1782. Already the British troops had evacuated Savannah (July 11th), but they held Charleston until December 14th,
ROOM IN WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS.
when they left it forever, and the city of New York alone was then in possession of the Britons. They remained there almost a year longer.
Meanwhile the State of New York became the theatre of most important events in the career of the Continental army, eneamped between Newburgh and New Windsor, above the Hudson Highlands. The head- quarters of the army was at Newburgh .* In the autumn of 1782 it was
* The quaint old stone house at Newburgh used by Washington as headquarters is yet standing, and is preserved in its original form outside and in. It is the property of the
327
PATRIOTISM EXPOSED TO TEMPTATION.
temporarily transferred to Verplanck's Point, below the Highlands, to mect the French troops on their return from Virginia, preparatory to their marching into New England to embark for France. At that time the Continental army numbered about ten thousand men.
The joy inspired by the prospects of peace was mingled by gloomy forebodings concerning the future. The army, which through the most terrible snfferings had been faithful and become a conqueror, was soon to be disbanded, and thousands of soldiers, many of them made invalids by their hard service in the field, would be compelled to seek a liveli- hood in the midst of the desolation which war had prodneed.
For a long time the public treasury had been empty, and neither officers nor private soldiers had received any pay for several months. Murmurings of discontent were heard throughout the army. The weak- ness of the Confederation was ascribed to its republican form, and many men sighed for a stronger government. A change, to be wrought by the army, was actually proposed by Colonel Nicola, a meritorious foreign officer of the Pennsylvania line. In a well written letter addressed (May, 1782) to the commander-in-chief at his headquarters at Newburgh, he not only urged the necessity of a monarchy, but endeavored to persuade Washington to become King, by the voice of the army, in imitation of the actions of the Roman legions. The sharp rebuke admin- istered by the commander-in-chief in his reply checked all further move- ments in that direction.
Toward the close of the winter of 1783 the discontent in the army assumed a more formidable shape. The officers had asked Congress to make a full settlement of all accounts, past and present. That body, feeble in resources, would not make any definite promises of present relief or future justice. This increased the discontent, and early in the spring (March 11th) a well-written anonymous address, purporting to be from a suffering veteran, was circulated through the American eamp. It advised the army to take matters into its own hands, and make a demonstration that should alarm the people and Congress, and thus obtain justice. It declared that to be tame in their present situation would be worse than weakness on the part of the soldiers, and it exhorted them to " suspect the man who could advise to more modera- tion and longer forbearance." The tenor of the whole address was inflammatory. With it was privately circulated a notification of a nieet-
State of New York, and in the custody of the corporation of Newburgh. It presents the remarkable feature in one room (which Washington used as a dining-room) of seven doors and only one window, with a huge fireplace, which is large enough to admit of roasting a small bullock whole. The house is filled with relics of the Revolution.
.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
ing of officers at a large building called the Temple, which had been ereeted for the use of public gatherings and the Free Masons of the army.
These papers were brought to the notice of Washington on the day they were issued. He referred to them in general orders the next morning ; expressed his disapproval ; invited the general and field- offieers of the army to assemble at the Temple at noon on the 19th (March, 1783), and requested General Gates to preside at the meeting. There was a full attendance. Washington stepped upon the platform to read an address which he had prepared for the occasion. As he put on his spectacles he remarked : "You see, gentlemen, I have not only
LEMUEL COOK.
grown gray but blind in your service." These words touched a tender chord of sympathy in all hearts.
The address was a model- eompaet in construction, digni- fied and patriotic in sentiment, mild yet severe in its strictures, and abounding with the most important suggestions concerning the best interests of the army, represented by the men before him, the citizens, the Republic, and human freedom. On clos- ing his address Washington im- mediately retired, leaving the officers to discuss the subject unrestrained by his presence.
The deliberations of the officers were brief. They unanimously eon- demned the addresses ; voted thanks to their chief for the course he had pursued ; expressed their unabated attachment to his person ; declared their unshaken confidence in the good faith of Congress, and their determination to bear with patience their grievances until they should be redressed.
The author of the seditious addresses was Major John Armstrong, a member of Gates's military family and a young man then twenty-five years of age. He was Secretary of War in Madison's Cabinet in 1814.
A few weeks later the disbanding of the Continental army began at New Windsor and its vicinity. Congress proclaimed a cessation of hostilities on April 19th. The soldiers who had enlisted " for the war" claimed the right to go home. Congress insisted that their terms of
329
LATEST SURVIVOR OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY.
enlistment would not expire before a definitive treaty of peace should be effected. Washington exercised the office of mediator and pacificator. He issned long and really indefinite furloughs to all the soldiers excepting those who re-enlisted until a peace establishment should be organized. The furloughed soldiers went home and never returned. A definitive treaty of peace was signed at Paris on September 3d (1783), and on October 18th Congress, by proclamation, diselarged the soldiers of the Continental army .*
Before the beginning of the disbandment of the army in June (1783) the officers, at the suggestion of General Knox, formed an association at their cantonment, near Newburgh, having for its chief objects the promo- tion of cordial friendship and indissoluble union among themselves, and to extend benevolent aid to such of its members as might need assistance. They named the organization the Society of the Cincinnati. Wash-
# The number of the soldiers of the Continental army at its disbandment, and its con- dition, was much the same as it was at the time of the Declaration of Independence, seven years before. On July 4th it consisted of 7754 men present and fit for duty, including one regiment of artillery. Their arms were in a wretched condition. Nearly one half the muskets of the infantry were without bayonets. During the war 231,771 soldiers were enrolled in the Continental army. These were furnished by the respective States, each in number, as follows :
New Hampshire.
12,497
Delaware
2,386
Massachusetts.
67,907
Maryland.
13,912
Rhode Island.
5,908
Virginia.
26,678
Connecticut.
31,939
North Carolina
7,263
New York
17,781
South Carolina
6,417
New Jersey
10,726
Georgia
2,679
Pennsylvania.
25,678
Total 231,771
The last two survivors of the Continental army were Lemuel Cook, of New York, and William Hutchings, of Maine. Cook was born at Plymouth, Lichfield County, Conn., in 1764, and died at Clarendon, Orleans County, N. Y., May 20th, 1866, at the age of one hundred and two years. Hutchings was born at York, Maine, October 6th, 1764, and died May 2d, 1866, also nearly one hundred and two years of age. Lemuel Cook entered the military service of his country in the spring of 1781, at the age of seventeen years, and was with the allied armies in the campaign against Cornwallis in Virginia. He was one of the regulars, and was a member of the Second Regiment of Light Dragoons, commanded by Colonel Sheldon, but was soon mustered into the infantry. At the end of the war he was discharged at Danbury, Conn. He soon afterward married Hannah Curtis, of Cheshire, Conn., by whom he had seven sons and four daughters. He married a second wife when he was seventy years of age. In his earlier years he lived in the then almost wilderness region of Utica, N. Y. Most of his children were born in Connecticut. He moved into Central New York with his young family, and lived at Clarendon about thirty years previous to his death. He was a farmer all his life. In 1863 his annual pension was increased from $100 to $200, and the last year of his life to $300. New York has the distinction of having as a citizen the last surviving soldier of the Continental army.
330
THE EMPIRE STATE.
ington was chosen its president and General Henry Knox its secretary. This was called the General Society. State societies were formed auxiliary to the general society. To perpetuate the association, its con- stitution entitled the eldest masculine de- scendant of an original member to wear the order, or badge, and enjoy the priv- ileges of the society .*
The last act in the drama of the old war for independence was performed at the city of New York late in 1783. The opening seene was the flight of the Loyal- ists, or Tories. These supporters of the erown were numerous and active, especially in New York City and State. They had aroused the most intense indignation-nay, hatred, of the Whigs against them by their oppressive conduct, eivil and military, and when it was known that the British troops were soon to leave the city of New York they hastened, with the utmost consterna- tion, to fly to some place of refuge from the impending wrath of the patriots.
In October a fleet of transports conveyed hundreds of Loyalists, or Tories, to Nova Scotia, and at the evacuation (which was delayed for want of vessels to transport them) other hundreds fled to the same British province.
FE RA
DXWI The property of many Loyalists in the State of New York was confiscated by laws passed for the purpose during the war, but after peace and independence were estab- ORDER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. lished justice and policy required a general amnesty. The harsh laws were repealed, and much of the confiscated property was restored. Many of the refugees in Nova Scotia who could procure the means to do so came back, and in the course of a score of years the
* The order or badge of the society consisted of a golden spread eagle, with enamel- ling, suspended on a ribbon. On the breast of the eagle is a medallion with a device repre- senting Cincinnatus at his plough receiving the Roman senators who came to offer him the chief magistracy of Rome.
331
EVACUATION OF NEW YORK BY THE BRITISH.
social animosities engendered by the war were healed or greatly modi- fied.
The time fixed for the evacuation of New York was November 25th. On the morning of that day General Washington and his staff and Goy- ernor Clinton and staff, escorted by General Knox and some troops who came down from West Point, appeared at the (present) junction of Third and Fourth avenues-the " head of the Bowery Lane"-and halted there until noon. At one o'clock, when the British had withdrawn to the. water's edge for embarkation, the Americans marched into the city, the general and governor at their head, and before three o'clock General Knox had taken possession of Fort George, at the foot of Broadway, amid the acclamations of thousands of citizens and the roar of artillery. Then Washington and his officers retired to Fraunce's Tavern .* Governor Clinton and the civil officers went to the City Hall and re-established civil government, and at evening the chief magistrate gave a public din- ner at Fraunce's Tavern. The last sail of the British fleet that bore away the army and the Loyalists did not disappear beyond the Narrows before twilight.
The final scene in the last act was now performed. Washington as- sembled liis officers in a large room in Fraunce's Tavern on December 4th, and there bade them farewell. He entered the room, and taking a glass of wine in his hand, said :
" With a heart full of love and gratitude I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable." Having tasted the wine, he continued : " I cannot come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged to you if each will come and take me by the hand."
A tender scene ensued. Tears moistened the war-worn cheeks of the veterans before him as each pressed the hand of their beloved commander and received from his lips a kiss upon their foreheads. Then Wash- ington left the room in silence, passed through a corps of light infantry, walked to Whitehall (now the Staten Island Ferry), followed by a large multitude of grateful citizens, and at two o'clock p.M. entered a barge that
* This building, yet standing, is on the corner of Broad and Pearl streets. It was partially destroyed by fire in June, 1852. Samuel Fraunce, the proprietor, had a dark complexion, and was called " Black Sam." When President Washington resided in New York Fraunce became the caterer for the Presidential mansion. Freneau, in his " Hugh Gaine's Petition," makes that time-server allude to the cannonade of the Asia, man-of-war, and say :
" At first we supposed it was only a sham
Till he drove a round ball through the roof of Black Sam."
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
conveyed him to Paulus' Hook (now Jersey City), whenee he journeyed first to Philadelphia and thence to Annapolis, where the Continental Congress was in session. To that body, assembled in the Senate Chamber of the old State House, at noon on December 23d (1783), he resigned his commission of commander-in-chief of the armies, which he received from them more than eight years before.
From Annapolis Washington journeyed to Mount Vernon in his own carriage, accompanied by his wife, where he arrived on Christmas eve. Then he laid aside his sword and military garments, and, joyfully resign-
Pey Clinton
THE
RU
caso
1777
FIRST GREAT SEAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
ing the cares of public life, like Cincinnatns, returned to his plough-a farmer on the banks of the Potomac.
During all the stormy period, from the foundation of the State Govern- ment, in the summer of 1777, until the departure of the last hostile foot from its shores, in 1783, New York had been laying the foundations of its future greatness strong and deep, and at the same time it had been just and generous in its fraternal relations with its sister States. It grappled the great task before it with energy and wisdom. It held a commanding position. The prominent part it had taken in the mighty struggle just ended ; the fact that it alone of all the States had promptly
333
CAPITAL OF THE STATE AND SEALS.
met every requirement of the Provisional General Government, and even made advances on its own credit to supply the deficiencies of other States ; its extensive commerce and large territory, and the ability and patriotism of its leading statesmen, entitled it to special consideration, and gave it great weight in the couneils of the nation.
The sessions of the State Legislature were held alter- nately at Poughkeepsie, New York, and Albany, after the flight from Kingston in the fall of 1777, until the begin- ning of 1798-a period of about twenty years. At that time Albany became the per- manent political capital of the State, and a new great seal was adopted. *
THE
OF
ATE
FHL
OF NEW YORK
The first care of the Leg- islature after the war was the adjustment of boundaries, SECOND GREAT SEAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. land claims, etc. In this par- ticular New York found itself in a peculiar situation, because of rival claims to its soil. Of the territory which, by the treaty of peace, was ceded by Great Britain to the United States in their collective capacity, each of the individual States claimed such portions as were compre-
* Three great seals of the State of New York have been made. The first two were pendant, and the third is incumbent. The first great seal, adopted in 1777 by the con- vention that framed the State Constitution, was rudely engraved on brass. It bore on one side a rising sun ; motto, EXCELSIOR ; legend, THE GREAT SEAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. On the other side a rock in the midst of the ocean, and the word FRUSTRA. The above engraving is from a drawing of an impression made on beeswax and attached to a commission signed by Governor Clinton. It shows the method of attaching pendant seals to the parchment. It is three and a quarter inches in diameter and about three eighths of an inch in thickness. A second seal was authorized in 1798, and the description was recorded, January 22d, 1799, as follows : " The arms of the State complete, with supporters, crest, and motto ; round the same, THE GREAT SEAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. On the reverse a rock and waves beating against it ; motto, 'Frustra above ; 1798 below.'" The obverse of the seal is delineated above.
In 1809 the great seal (incumbent) now in use was ordered, and was first attached to a document in November of that year. It bears the arms of the State of New York, a little modified in the design. In the second seal the supporters are standing ; in the third they are sitting. In both the crest is the same-an eagle preparing to soar from a demi-globe.
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