The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I, Part 15

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1114

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I > Part 15

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What was termed " samp porridge " (from the Indian seaump-pounded corn) was made by long boiling the corn that had been pounded in a wooden mortar, a pro- cess that was learned from the Indians. What was known as suppaan was made, in the same way, from more finely ground meal. These mortars or " pioneer mills," as they have sometimes been called, were at first the only means the settlers possessed of converting their corn into coarse meal, and the process was called " niggering" corn, because the work was usually done by negro slaves.

Tea drinking was a custom of later date. The prac- tice of interchanging visits on Sunday afternoons was prevalent, but the clergy and some of the strictest of the laity, influenced by the views of their New England neighbors, came to regard it as an evil and it was grad- ually discontinued. FURMAN says:

" It seems more like puritanical rigor than an exhibi- tion of Christian feeling, to break up such kindly and social meetings as these after the religious services of the day have been performed."

Under the colonial government, nearly all marriages on the island were under license from the governor-a practice which increased his income and added to the expense of entering the matrimonial state. Marriage by publication of the bans seems to have been held in disrepute. In 1673 there was an officer in New York whose duty, which extended to Long Island, was to hear and determine matrimonial disputes. He was styled "the first commissary of marriage affairs." Such an officer at the present day would lead a busy life.

Many of the amusements, sports, and fireside enjoy- ments of the people here, as well as their religious cus- toms and superstitions, were transplanted from the native countries of the original settlers. The origin of many of these in the remote past is lost; but customs often outlive the ideas which gave birth to them. On the annual return of Christmas the yulc-log and Christ- mas candles were burned among the English settlers as in ancient times in " Merrie England," and the Dutch celebrated the holiday with still greater zest, after the

manner of their forefathers in the Netherlands. St. Nicholas, or "Santa Klaas," was regarded among the Dutch children as a veritable personage, and they had a hymn in the Dutch language which they sang on the occasion of their Christmas festivities, the first line of which was "Sanctus Klaas goedt heyligh man " (St. Nicholas, good holy man). The practice, which was in- troduced by these Dutch settlers, of having their chil- dren's stockings hung up to be filled by Santa Klaas, is far from being extinct. New Year's eve and the first of January were formerly celebrated in a noisy way, by firing guns at the doors in a neighborhood, when their neighbors thus saluted were expected to invite their friends in to partake of refreshments, and then join them to thus salute others till all the men were collected together, when they repaired to a rendezvous and passed the day in athletic sports and target firing. It was finally deemed necessary to arrest, by legal enactments, this practice of firing guns on these occasions. When the style was changed, the Dutch here at first refused to recognize the change in their celebration of these festi- vals. New Year was never celebrated with greater cordiality and hospitality than by these people, and their old customs are plainly traceable in the manner of keeping the day still in vogue here.

St. Valentine's day, called among the early Dutch here " Vrouwen dagh " or women's day, was a time of great hilarity among the young people. One peculiarity in their manner of celebrating it is thus described by FURMAN :

" Every girl provided herself with a cord without a knot in the end, and on the morning of this day they would sally forth, and every lad whom they met was sure to have three or four smart strokes from the cord bestowed on his shoulders. These we presume were in those days considered as 'love taps ; ' and, in that light, answered all the purposes of the 'valentines' of more modern times."

Easter day, or " Pausch " (pronounced Paus), was observed by religious services as well as merry-makings, and these continued through Easter week. Among their customs was that of making presents to each other of colored eggs, called Easter eggs, and this still prevails among some of their descendants.

" Pinckster dagh," or Pentecost, was once celebrated by the Dutch here on the first Monday in June, by good cheer among neighbors, and the use of soft waffles was peculiar to this festival.

Among the Dutch people in the days of slavery the custom prevailed of presenting the children of their female slaves, at the age of three years, to some young member of the family of the same sex ; and the one to whom the child was presented at once gave it a piece of money and a pair of shoes, the event being often followed by strong and lasting attachments between these domestics and their destined owners.

ORA

1. Scabrings Mill:

EAST RIVER

2 Brouwer's Mill.

Wallabout

3 Van Dyck's Mill.

Cove

4. Brooklyn Church.

5. Red Lion Tavern

YORK

RIVER

خصـ

EAST

WALLA BOUT

1 RC.Imnaden

CFsStirling

COVE-

3 Remsens

4 Kings Nedd Tawern

Carria

5 J. Rapelje

6 Half Moon Fort

7 Brooklyn Fort

& Cobble Hill ( rsed by the British I

927

" Bamper Hostse

Il Remsan's Mill

Governor's Id.}

Cobble

B- FtPutnam.

"Fi Green

R Box

. Baker's Tavern

Fond.

BEDFORD

Road 10

Jamaica

Red Hook

British

Positie

the

FiDefiance

Corelyou

Tictout

Sullivan Ang 27

Pass

Flatbush

Bedford

Pass

alle

BAY

Stirling Aug 21.

NEW YORK

Grant Auger

HARBOR

ants Line of March.

VarenxenLane

Any

British

" one Colunur Aug.

Canarisce

BAY

Vaas Pond (Haxl'ond.)

Positi

FLATLANDS

JAMAICA

Hestes LAuy 25.

LOWER BAY

GRAVESEND

GRAY

BAY

Rockaway Intet

ATLANTIC OCEAN

BROWER'S MILL, ( at Gowanus)

The Yellow Mill is seen in the distance.

to the 26th

March of the British

THE NARROWS.

Hoy da

. NEW

UTRECHT

British

Cortelyon

want Gr Grants lind of March

FLATBUSH

Fresh Kill

Now Lots

Hook

Kculer

Steenbakkerøy (Stone Bakay)

DeHeister Aug 27.

Quakers Briduc

(Present Hast New York.)

GOWANUS

Blochje's Berg

morning of Aug. 27

Jamuica

Pass

Road

Howard's Half Way House.

2 PLemagsion

BRITISH LINES ( 1776-1783.

po Ft George N_EYI

Rood to Newtowun

Howard's HALF-WAY HOUSE, East New York.

9 Cornell iferrepont | House

Purtnan Aug

Cripplehush

MAP OF THE BATTLE OF BROOKLYN, AUGUST 27, 1776.

Retreat of Hands Red

the

rion

KINGS COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION.

CHAPTER V.

KINGS COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION .- FORTIFICATIONS ON THE SITE OF BROOKLYN.

A T the outbreak of the Revolution the Dutch inhabitants of Kings County, as we have already stated, were very little in sympathy with the patriot eause. In them, the fear of personal inconvenience and pecuniary loss outweighed the impulses of patriotism, and they looked at the approach- ing storm with regret. A few, however, became imbued with the spirit which pervaded the country. In the spring of 1775, action was taken in the several towns of Kings County (except Flatlands, which chose to remain neutral) for the appointment of delegates to a convention. The Provincial Congress was soon afterward organized, and in this all the towns were represented. The representa- tives from this county soon exhibited a want of zeal, which, with the evident signs of disaffection to the American cause in other parts of the Island, disheart- ened the friends of that cause, and encouraged the loyalists. This was the state of feeling in Kings County in 1776.

Washington, who was in command at the siege of Boston, bceame convinced that warlike operations were to be transferred to this point. General Charles Lee also foresaw this, and quickly raised in Connecticut a foree of twelve thousand men, with which he arrived in New York February 3d. Early in March, Washing- ton ordered the fortification of Brooklyn; and when, after the sailing of the British fleet from Halifax, it became certain that this was to be the next point of attack, the work was pushed with the utmost vigor.

Brooklyn, at that time, was no more than an agricul- tural village. In the vicinity of "the ferry " stood some fifty dwellings. Groves of cedars crowned the " Heights," on which were a few residences. The space between the East River and Joralemon and Fulton Streets was covered with pastures, orchards and market gardens. Farm houses of the Dutch citizens were scattered along the shore of the East River to Gowanus, and of the Wallabout to Bushwick, while the village of Brooklyn proper was a mile from the ferry, on the Jamaica road, and a mile and a quarter further was Bedford-then consisting of a few farm houses.

The defensive works were originally planned by General Lee, who, being soon called southward, was succeeded, March 7th, by Lord Stirling; and he in May by General Greene, under whom the works were com- pleted. Space will not permit a detailed account of these works. In their construction, and in the dispo- sition of the forces that were to man them, the Ameri- can officers found it necessary to provide against dif- ferent possible plans of attack ; and, in so doing, the

effective American force of 20,000 men (the nominal force was 27,000) was extended from King's Bridge, on Manhattan Island; and, on Long Island, from the Wallabout Bay to Gowanus meadows-a line many miles in length. It is proper to say that the plan of these fortifications has since been made the subject of much and diverse criticism. JOHNSTON, the latest, and probably the most accurate historian of this subject, locates them as follows :

Premising that "the topography of this section of Long Island was peculiar, presenting strong contrasts of high and low land. Originally, and indeed within the memory of citizens still living, that part of Brooklyn looking south and west of the line of Nevins Street, was practically a penin- sula, with the Wallabout Bay (present Navy Yard) on one side of the neck, and on the other, a mile across, the exten- sive Gowanus Creek and marsh, over which now run 2d, 3d and 4th Avenues. The creek set in from the bay where the Gowanus canal is retained, and rendered the marsh impassable at high water as far as the line of Baltic Street. Blocks of buildings now stand on the site of mills that were once worked by the ebb and flow of the tides. The lower part of what is known as South Brooklyn was largely swamp land in 1776. Here, the peninsula terminated in a nearly isolated triangular piece of ground jutting out into the harbor, called Red Hool, which figured prominently in the military opera- ions. From this projection to the furthest point on the Wallabout was a distance of three miles."

This Red Hook, and Governor's Island opposite, were the first points occupied and fortified by the Americans, under orders of General Putnam, who had assumed the chief command April 4th, and who was quick to observe their strategie importance. His sagacity was justified by the alacrity with which the British ships- of-war took themselves out of gun-shot.

"The occupation of these two points, clearly necessary for a more effective defence of the East River, resulted in a modification of Lee's plan of fortification; and the adoption of a new line on Long Island. It was now decided to hold the B. peninsula with a chain of works thrown up across the neck from Wallabout Bay to the Gowanus marsh." By the recent "fortunate recovery of General Orders of the day, and of original sketches of the site, it has become possible to locate this line, and name the various works with almost entire accuracy. To defend the approach between the bay and the marsh, the engineers laid out three principal forts and two redoubts, with breastworks connecting them. The site occupied was a favorable one. On the left was the high ground, now known as Fort Greene, or Washington Park, 100 feet above the sea level; and on the right, between the main road and marsh, were lower elevations on lands then owned by Rutgers Van Brunt and Johannes Debevoise. The flanks were thus well adapted for defence, and near enough each other to command the ground between them."

Extending from the right to the left of the line of defence, the works erected were :

1. On the right of the line, Fort Box (so named after Major Daniel Box, Gen. Greene's Brigade-Major), nearest to Gowanus Creek. It was of diamond shape, and located on, or near, the line of Pacific, just above Bond street.

2. Three hundred yards, or so, to the left of Fort

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

Box, a short distance above Bond street, between State and Schermerhorn, was Fort Greene, star-shaped, mounting six guns, provided with well and magazines, and named, of course, after Gen. Greene. Its guns commanded the Jamaica highway, and it was garrisoned by a full regiment.

3. Still further to the left, on the other side of the road, was a small circular work, called the Oblong Redoubt. It stood on a rising ground at corner of Dc Kalb and Hudson avenues, commanded the road directly, and was, with Fort Greene, the centre of the line of defence, which, ascending northeasterly to the top of the hill (Washington Park), connected with

4. Fort Putnam, star-shaped, somewhat smaller than Fort Greene, but mounting four or five guns. It was probably named after Col. Rufus Putnam, the chief engineer.

5. At the eastern end of the hill, not far from Fort Putnam, and on a lower grade, was a small affair, called the redoubt on the left. It was on the line of Cumberland street, about midway between Willoughby and Myrtle avenues.

"Each of these works was a complete fortification in itself, being surrounded with a wide ditch, provided with a sally- port, its sides lined with sharpened stakes, the garrison armed with spears to repel storming parties, and the well supplied with water and provisions against siege. The greater part of the line was picketed with abattis, and the woods cut down to give full sweep to the fire of the guns."

Outside of this line of defence, there were other forti- fications, viz : (1), A redoubt on the crest of a conical hill, near the corner of Court and Atlantic strects, known to the Dutch inhabitants as Punkiesberg; but named by the Continentals, Cobble Hill, from its resemblance to a hill of that name which was one of the fortified points in the siege of Boston, whenee they had lately come. Its trenches ascended spirally to the top, where a plat- form was laid for the cannon, from which circumstance it derived, also, the nickname of "Corkscrew Fort." Its oecupaney " would have prevented the cncmy from get- ting a foothold on the peninsula in rear or flank of the main line, in case they had effected a landing back of Red Hook, or had crossed Gowanus Creek above." (2), Near the corner of present Degraw and Bond streets, a small redoubt,-in form, a right angle,-mount- ing one gun, and covering the narrow passage over a mill-dam which there crossed G .- Creek : (3), The water- battery on Red Hook, mounting 4 18-pounders, en bar- bette, to keep the enemy from landing at the southern extremity of the peninsula, and to cover the passage between this and Governor's Island. This-Fort Defi- ance-was a "small, but exceedingly strong" work ; (4), on the corner of present Clark and Columbia streets, a strong, inclosed work, of 8 guns, called Fort Stirling, and commanding the East River channel.

In the digging and strengthening of these works, the tedious but necessary performance of camp duty, and in occasional expeditions to suppress the latent Toryism

which, ever and anon, would break out in both Kings and Queens counties, the spring of '76 slipped away -until (June 1st) the fortifications were so far advanced as to admit of the mounting of the guns, and the assign- ment (17th) of the various regiments to their respective positions. And by the middle of summer the American army was fairly entrenched upon the Brooklyn peninsula, with lines which, though yet unfinished, "were still of very respectable strength." These fortifications on L. I., it must be remembered, were but part of a formidable line of defensive works which may be described in a general way, as beginning again on New York Island, at Corlaer's Hook ; passing around the lower end of present city, and up on the North River side to corner of present Washington and Harrison streets ; while another line of defence ran across New York island, above the (then) city, from a redoubt, corner of Monroe and Rutger streets, along the line of Grand street to Bayard's Hill, corner Grand and Mulberry streets, where was a strong redoubt having the range of the city on one side, and the approach by the Bowery on the other. Other available points on the island, as far as Harlem Heights, were, also, more or less fortified, and the city itself was full of barricades.

CHAPTER VI.

ARRIVAL OF THE BRITISH ARMY-THE BATTLE OF BROOKLYN.

0 N the 29th of June, the British fleet, from Halifax, entered the lower bay of New York. It had been Gen. Howe's first intention to land at onee on Long Island, but he was deterred from so doing by what he learned, from spies, of the character of the defences. On the 9th of July the British troops were landed on Staten Island, where they remained a month and a half, receiving re-inforcements almost daily. The naval forces werc commanded by Admiral Sir Richard Howe, brother to Gen. William Howe, who was in command of the land forces. Both were brave, skilful and experienced officers, and the plan and con- dnet of the battle which followed fully sustained their good reputation.

The transfer of the British, from Staten to Long Island, was begun on the morning of the 22d of August; and by noon, 15,000 men and 40 pieces of artillery had been landed at Denyse's dock (now Fort Hamilton), at what is now Bath, in the town of New Utrecht. Hitherto, Washington's chief anxiety had been, to know at which of the many and widely separated points open to the British commander, he would be attacked. Would the British descend upon New Jersey, from Staten Island ; would they make a direct attack upon the city with the fleet, and land troops in his rear by way of the Hudson ; would they cross to L. I., and fall

THE BATTLE OF BROOKLYN.

THE BATTLE PASS (IN PROSPECT PARK), BROOKLYN. (From a Sketch by G. L. BURDETTE, taken in 1792.)

upon Gen. Greene in foree ; or, would they make feints of landing at different points, as their water carriage enabled them to do, and suddenly strike at his weakest point ? But all uncertainty as to the intentions of the British commander being thus dispelled, troops were hurried across from New York, to rc-inforee those hold- ing the defenees at Brooklyn.

JOHNSTON (from whose aeeurate pages the following account is mainly condensed) thus sketehes the position:

" The section of L. I., which the enemy now occupied, was a broad, low plain, stretching northward from the coast from 4 to 6 miles, and eastward, a still further distance. Scattered over its level surface were four villages, surrounded with farms. Nearest to the Narrows, and nearly a mile from the coast, stood New Utrecht ; another mile S. E. of this was Gravesend ; N. E. from Gravesend, nearly 3 miles, the road led through Flatlands, and directly N. from Flatlands, and about half way to Brooklyn Church, lay Flatbush. Between this plain and the Brooklyn lines, ran a ridge of hills, ex- tending from New York Bay midway through the island to its eastern extremity. The ridge varied in height from 100 to 150 feet above the sea, and from the plain it rose s mewhat abruptly from 40 to 80 feet, but fell off more gradually in its descent on the other side. Its entire surface was covered with a dense growth of woods and thickets, and to an enemy advancing from below it presented a continuous barrier, a huge natural abattis, impassable to artillery, where, with pro- portionate numbers, a successful defense could be sustained. The roads across the ridge passed through its natural depres- sions, of which there were four within a distance of six miles from the harbor. The main highway, or Jamaica Road-that which led up from Brooklyn Ferry-after passing through

Bedford, kept on still N. of the hills, and crossed them at the "Jamaica Pass," about 4 miles from the fortified line. From this, branched three roads leading to the villages in the plain. The most direct was that to Flatbush, which cut through the ridge a mile and a half from the works.

Three quarters of a mile to the left, towards the Jamaica Pass, a road from Bedford led also to Flatbush ; and near the coast ran the Gowanus road to the Narrows. Where the Red Lion Tavern stood on this road, about 3 miles from Brooklyn Church, a narrow lane, known as the Martense Lane, now marking the southern boundary of Greenwood Cemetery, diverged to the left through a hollow in the ridge and con- nected with roads on the plain. Clearly to understand suc- ceeding movements on L. I., it is necessary to have in mind the relative situation of these several routes and passes."

The entire effective force of the American army in and about New York, which now awaited the approach of Howe's 24,000 veterans, may be estimated at not far from 19,000, mostly levies and militia. The British, however, did not attempt an advance for three days, although skirmishing occurred in front of Flatbush. On the 24th, Sullivan, attacked by severe illness, was super- seded in the chief command on Long Island by General Putnam. On the 26th, additional regiments were sent over from New York, among them the gallant Mary- landers and Delaware battalion, raising the foree on Long Island on the night of the 26th to a total of about 7,000 men fit for duty; and the same night the British columns began their forward movement. Three of the passes, which we have described, were well guarded by the American forces, viz .: the Flatbush Pass

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

(near the junction of which with the narrow Post Road, was a breastwork, with felled trees in its front); the Coast Road, near the Red Lion tavern, and the Bed- ford Pass ; while between there was a chain of senti- nels. But, though the best possible disposition had been made of the limited force that could be spared, and though at the passes themselves a stout resistance could have been offered, it was still an attenuated line, over four miles long, not parallel, but oblique, to the line of works at Brooklyn, and distant from it not less than one-and-a-half, and at the farthest point nearly three niiles. Unfortunately, the fourth or Jamaica Pass, far over to the left, and four miles from the lines, was left without any permanent guards. Its distance and isolated position, together with the searcity in force, especially in eavalry, to a certain extent compelled its neglect; exeept such watching as the few mounted patrols could give it. The British forces were now moving on the Ameriean lines in three columns; General Grant's divis- ion from the Narrows, along the Shore road; De Heis- ter's Hessians by the way of Flatbush Pass; and Gen- erals Clinton, Cornwallis and Percy, with Howe himself, with the main body as a flanking force, around the Americans' left by way of Jamaica Pass, which they had found to be neglected.

Grant's advanee guard, marching from the Narrows, struck the American pickets near the Red Lion, about 2 a. m. of the 27th, and, when met by General Stirling, who had promptly responded to the alarm with two or three regiments, were on the full march toward the Brooklyn lines. As there were still good positions which he could occupy, Stirling immediately disposed his foree so as to make as effective resistance as possible. The road wound along on the line of present 3d avenue, only a little distance from the bay; and, at the present erossing of the avenue by 23d street, there was a little bridge on the old road crossing a creek, which set baek from the bay to a low and marshy piece of ground on the left, looking south; while just beyond the bridge, the land rose to quite a bluff at the water's edge, called by the Dutch, "Blockje's Bergh." From the bluff the hill fell away gradually to the marsh, the road being between them. On the crest of the slope, which rose northerly from the marsh and low land around Bloekje's Berg, on the line of present 20th street, Stirling formed his brigade. On the right next the road he posted Smallwood's Marylanders; further up the hillside, the Delaware troops; on their left, in the woods above, Atlee's Pennsylvanians, with the Pennsylvania rifle- men along the hedges near the foot of the hill. Seeing his path thus blocked, Grant drew up in line, as if for attaek; but really (it was now 7 a. m.) to keep Stirling where he was until the other movements of the day were developed. In the skirmishing and by-play which ensued, the Americans troops displayed nerve and ability, standing firm under feints of attack and the galling fire of British artillery, and inflicting

upon their foes a greater loss than they themselves sustained.

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The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I, Part 15

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1114

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1114