USA > New York > Dutchess County > The history of Dutchess County, New York > Part 15
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In the working out of our history as a Nation under the Constitution it has been found that the provisions of this Bill of Rights have been the bulwarks of the liberties of the people. They were worth con- tending for and insisting upon, and the men who contended for and in- sisted upon them are worthy of all honor and of all praise by the suc- ceeding generations of a free people living under the constitution, as amended; for we would in no sense have been a free people without these amendments, and the sufferings and struggles of the Revolu- tionary patriots in behalf of liberty might have been in vain.
By their success in the arbitrament of arms, the American patriots had sustained their contention that "taxation without representation" was oppression ; and they had justified their Declaration that "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."
They were, moreover, heritors of all the rights of the people of Great Britain-all that had been won through battle and bloodshed, wrested from King John and guaranteed by Magna Charta; all that had been claimed in the original English "Bill of Rights" and secured through the "glorious Revolution" in England, the infringement of which had cost Charles I his head, and James II his crown; and the wise men of this new nation, who had vivid memories of the struggles of the past and clear foresight for the dangers of the future, and who insisted that these hard won rights should be guaranteed to the people by the government about to be formed, should have all honor and glory.
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CHAPTER XIII. DE CHASTELLUX'S TRAVELS THROUGH DUTCHESS COUNTY.
N the year 1786 there was published at Paris in two volumes the "Voyage De M. Le Marquis De Chastellux, Dans L'Amerique Septentrionale, Dans les annes 1780, 1781 and 1782," the "Travels of the Marquis of Chastellux in North America in the years 1780, 1781 and 1782."
By the kind permission of Mr. Reginald W. Rives, the editor of this work has been allowed to examine and have translations made from the rare original books in French, owned by him.
The Marquis was a French general officer under Rochambeau and one of that group of French noblemen, sympathizers with the Ameri- can cause, who took such an active interest and gave such valuable assistance in our struggle for liberty during the Revolutionary period.
Having landed at Newport, R. I., in July 1780, he was detained there some time by reason of the presence of the English fleet before that place. Admiral Rodney, however, having undertaken nothing up to the beginning of October, and the season being far advanced, after the Marquis had seen the troops properly installed in winter quarters, on the 11th of November, he started upon a "long tour upon the Continent." He was accompanied by two Aides de Camp, M. Linch and M. de Montesquieu, each of whom had a servant. The Marquis had three, one of whom looked after a led horse and another drove a little cart upon which was carried his baggage.
It was very cold and snow covered the land.
Proceeding across Connecticut and stopping at various places, on the 19th of November he left Litchfield and pursued his journey, trav- elling through the mountains; passing Washington, whose name "de- clars its recent origin," and New Milford, he found himself "upon the bank of the Housatonic, otherwise called the river of Stratford. It is not necessary to remark that the first name is the true one, that
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is to say, the one given to it by the Savages, the ancient inhabitants of the country."
We shall proceed to quote the Marquis's own words of the narrative of his further journey, as he enters and proceeds through Dutchess County, translating them literally :
"That river (the Housatonic) is not navigable, and you cross it easily at a ford near the forges of Mr. Bull (Bull's Iron Works). You turn next toward the left, and follow its banks; hut if you are sensible to beautiful nature, if you have learned in looking at the pictures of Vernet and of Robert, to admire examples of it, you will pause, you will forget yourself in looking at the charming country which forms the surroundings of the forges, the water fall which serves to work them and the accessories of trees and of rocks with which that picturesque scene is embellished.
Scarcely have you gone a mile, when you cross again the same river, but upon a wooden bridge; you find another soon, which empties itself into it, called Ten Miles River. You follow that for the space of two or three miles and see next many pleasant houses which form part of the district called the Ohlong. It is a long and straight tract of land ceded by Connecticut to the State of New York in consequence of an exchange made between those two States. The Inn where I was going is in the Oblong, but two miles further along. It is kept by Colonel Moorhouse; for in America nothing is more common than to see a Colonel an Inn keeper. They are for the most part Colonels of Militia, chosen by the Militia itself, which rarely fails to intrust the command to the most honest and best accredited citizens. I urged my horses and hastened to arrive to get ahead of a traveller on horse-back, who had joined me on the road, and who would have had the same right as myself for lodging, if we had arrived there together. I had the satisfaction to see him continue on his way; but soon afterwards I had the misfortune to learn that the fair sized Inn, where I had counted upon passing the night, was occupied by thirteen farmers and two hundred and fifty cattle, which had come from New Hampshire. The cattle were the least troublesome of the whole company. They had driven them some distance from there into a meadow, where they left them free at their own will, without leaving any guard with them, not even that of a dog; but the farmers, their horses and their dogs were the possessors of the Inn. I informed myself of the reason which caused them to journey thus, and I learned that they were conducting to the Army a part of the contingent of subsistance which New Hampshire furnished it. That contingent is a kind of tax which is divided among all the inhabitants, who are taxed, some at the rate of 150, others at 100 or 80 pounds of meat according to their means, so that they agree among themselves to furnish a steer, more or less heavy, it makes no differ- ence, because each animal is weighed. The driving of the herd is then intrusted to several farmers and servants. The farmers have a little more than a dollar a day; and their expenses as well as that of the herd are repaid them upon their return according to the receipts which they have taken care to get from all the
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MOREHOUSE TAVERN, WINGDALE, TOWN OF DOVER, N. Y.
A noted hostelry during the Revolution. Washington, Arnold, Marquis de Chastellux and Lafayette all stopped at this travern. Torn down in 1877.
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Inns where they stop. They pay ordinarily from 6 to 10 French sols for each of the cattle for one night; the supper is in proportion. I informed myself of these details while my men sought lodging for mc, but all the rooms, all the beds were occupied by the drovers of the cattle, and I found myself in the greatest distress, when a large and fat man, the leader among them, having learned who I was, came to me and told me that neither he nor his companions would ever suffer that a French General Officer should want a bed, and rather than consent to that they would all sleep upon the floor, which they were accustomed to, and that that would not cause them the least discomfort. I answered them that I was a soldier and was just as accustomed as they to have the ground for my bed. A grand debate of politeness upon that point; on their part rough but cordial and more touching than the best turned compliments. The result was that I had a room and two beds for myself and for my Aides de Camp. But our acquaintance did not rest there. After we had separated each for his own affairs, I to fix myself up and to rest, they to continue to drink of grog and of cider, I saw them re-enter my room. I was then occupied in verifying my route upon a map of the country. That map excited their curiosity. They saw there with surprise and satisfaction the routes by which they had come. They asked me if they knew them in Europe, and if it was not in that part of the world that I had bought my maps. They appeared very much pleased when I assured them that we knew America as well as the countries that were nearest neighbors to us; but their joy had no bounds when they saw on my map New Hampshire, their country.
They immediately called those of their companions who had remained in the other room and mine found itself full of huge men, the most strong and most robust which I have yet seen in America. I expressed surprise at their height and their stature. They told me that the inhabitants of New Hampshire were strong and vigorous; that that came from several reasons, because the air there was excellent and because agriculture was their sole occupation, and especially because their blood was not mixed, that country being inhabited by the families of the original emigrants who came from England. We separated very good friends, touching, or rather shaking, hands in the English manner, and they told me that they were happy to have had occasion 'to shake hands with a French General.' The horse that carried my baggage having failed to travel as quickly as myself, did not join me until the next morning. Therefore on that day, which was the 20th of November, I was not able to start until ten o'clock. Three miles from Moorhouse Tavern you find a very high mountain, you next descend, but a little less than you ascend; then you follow the road upon an elevated plain, leaving the high mountains upon the left. The country is well cultivated, and you see there some beautiful farms and some mills and notwithstanding the war they are building there again, especially at 'Hopel' township, principally settled by the Hollanders, as for the most part the State of New York is, that State having be- longed to the Republic of Holland, which exchanged it afterwards for Surinam. My intention was to sleep five miles this side of Fishkill at a tavern of Colonel Griffin. I found him cutting and shaping wood to make fences. He assured me that his house was full which I did not hesitate to believe because it was very small. I continued then my journey and arrived at Fishkill toward four o'clock
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in the afternoon. That village where you count scarcely more than fifty houses in the space of two miles, has for a long time been the principal depot of the American Army. It is there that they have placed the magazines, the hospitals, the work-shops, &c., but all these establishments form a village by itself, composed of fine and large barracks which they have constructed in the woods at the foot of the mountains; because the Americans, like the Romans in many regards, have for their winter quarters only these villages of wood or barrack camps, which one can compare to those which the Romans called Hiemalia.
As to the position of Fishkill, the results of the campaign of 1777 have proved how important it was to occupy it. It was clear that the plan of the English had been, and could again be, to get possession of the whole course of the North River, and to separate thus the States of the east from those of the west and the south. It was necessary to make sure of a post on this river. They chose West Point as the most important to fortify, and Fishkill as the most convenient place to es- tablish the principle depot of provisions, ammunition, etc .; these two positions are connected. I will speak presently of that of West Point; but I will observe here that Fishkill has all the necessary conditions for a place for a depot, because that village is situated on the main road from Connecticut, and near the North River, and because at the same time it is protected by a chain of inaccessible mountains, which occupy a space of more than twenty miles between the Croton river and that of Fishkill.
The approach of Winter quarters and the movements of the troops that this circumstances occasioned rendered lodgings hard to find; I had trouble enough to find any; but finally I established myself in a mediocre Inn, kept by an old Madam Egremont. The house had not the cleanliness that one commonly finds in America; but the greatest inconvenience was that several panes of glass were lacking. In- deed, of all repairs, those to the windows are the most difficult, in a country where, the houses being so scattered and separated from one another, it is necessary some- times to send twenty miles to get a glasier. We used everything which came to hand to fill up to the best of our ability the cracks, and we made a good fire. A moment afterward, the doctor of the hospital, who had seen me pass, and who had recognized me as a French General Officer, came with much politeness to find out if I had need of anything, and to offer me everything which he could supply. I am using the English word "Doctor" because the distinction between Surgeon and Doctor of medicine is no more known in the army of Washington than in that of Agamemnon. One reads in Homer, that the Doctor Macon himself dressed all the wounds; but our Doctors, who are not Greeks, are not willing to follow this example. The Americans conform to the ancient usage, and are well pleased with it; they are well satisfied with their Doctors, for whom they show the greatest consideration. Doctor Graig, whom I knew at Newport, is the intimate friend of General Washington; and lately M. Lafayette had for Aide de Camp Colonel MacHenry, who, the past year, acted as Doctor in the same army.
The 21st, at 9 o'clock in the morning, the Quarter-master of Fishkill, who had come in the evening watch with all possible politeness, to offer me his services and to place two sentinels at my door, an honor that I refused in spite of all his insistence, came to my house; and after having partaken of tea, according to cus-
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tom, he conducted me to the barracks where I saw the quarters, the magazines and the work-shops of the different workmen attached to the service of the army. These barracks are in fact houses of wood, well constructed, well covered, and having garrets to store grain and even cellars; of such a kind that one gets a very false idea, if one judges of them by those which one sees in our army, when we put our troops in barracks. The Americans make them sometimes more like ours, but only to put the soldiers under cover, when they are more in reach of the enemy. They give to these latter the name of huts, and they are very clever in constructing both kinds. It takes only three days to construct the first, count- ing from the moment when they commence to cut down the trees; the others are finished in twenty-four hours. They consist of low walls, made of piled up stones, the chinks of which are filled with earth mixed with water, or simply with mud; some planks form the roof; but that which makes them very warm, is that the chimney is on the outside and one enters only by a little side door, practically at the side of that chimney. The army has passed whole winters under such huts without suffering and without sickness. As to the barracks, or rather as to the little military village of Fishkill, they have so well provided for all which the service and discipline of the army can need, that they have constructed there a Provost house and a prison which are surrounded with palisades. There is only one door by which to enter into the enclosure of the Provost and before that door they have placed a body-guard. Through the bars with which the windows of the prison are guarded, I distinguished several prisoners wearing the English uniform; these were a band of thirty soldiers or enlisted Tories. These wretched men had fol- lowed the Savages in an invasion that they had just made by Lake Ontario and the Mohawk River. They had burned more than 200 houses, killed the horses and cows, and destroyed more than 10,000 bushels of wheat. The gallows ought to be the price of such exploits; but the enemy having also made several prisoners, they feared retaliation and contented themselves with guarding these robbers in a close and narrow prison.
After having passed some time in visiting these different establishments, I mounted my horse, and conducted by a guide of the State that the Quarter-master had given me, I pushed on into the wood and followed the road to West Point, where I wished to arrive in time for dinner. Four or five miles from Fishkill, I saw several trees cut down and a clearing in the wood; having approached nearer, I perceived it was a camp, or rather some huts inhabited by several hundred invalid soldiers. These invalids were all in very good health; but one must know that in the American Army one calls all those soldiers invalids who are not in a condition to do service, or those who have been sent to the rear, because their uniforms are in truth 'invalid.' These honest people, for I will not say these un- happy ones (they know too well how to suffer and suffer for a cause too noble) have not in fact coverings, not even rags; but their assured mien, their arms in good condition, seem to cover their nakedness, and allow one to see only their courage and their patience. It was near this camp that I met Major Liman, Aide de Camp of General Heath, whom I had known very well at Newport, and M. de Villefranche, a French officer, serving at West Point, in the rank of an engineer. General Heath had been informed of my arrival by a dispatch that the Quarter-
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master of Fishkill bad sent him on my arrival, and he had sent these two officers to meet me. I continued my way through the wood and on a road shut in on two sides by some very steep mountains, which seemed made expressly for bears to live in and where in truth they make frequent excursions during the Winter. One profits by a pass where the mountains are a little lower to turn toward the west and approach the river; but one does not see it yet. I descended these mountains slowly, when all at once at a turn of the road, my eyes were struck with the most magnificent view that I have seen in all my life; it was that which the North River presents, flowing in a deep gap formed by the mountains through which it had long ages ago forced a passage.
The fort of West Point and the formidable batteries with which it is defended fixed the attention on the west side of the river; but if one raises one's eyes, one sees on all sides lofty summits bristling with redoubts and batteries. I leap down from my horse and remain a long time looking through my spy-glass, the only means which one can use to comprehend the whole of the fortifications with which this important post is surrounded. Two high summits, on each of which they have constructed a great redoubt, protect the river on the east. These two works have not received any names except those of the 'North Redoubt' and 'South Redoubt'; but from the fort of West Point properly speaking, which is on the bank of the river, up to the top of the mountain, at the foot of which it has been built, one counts six different forts all in an amphitheatre and protected by one another. They induced me to leave that place, where I would willingly have passed the entire day; and I had not gone a mile before I saw why they had urged me to come. In fact I per- ceived a body of infantry, more than two thousand five hundred men, very near, which was in battle array on the bank of the river. They had just crossed it to march at once toward Kings Bridge, and to cover a grand foraging raid that they were proposing to make toward the White Plains and up to the very gates of New York. General Starke, he who whipped the English at Bennington, com- manded these troops, and General Heath was at their head; he wished to have me see the troops before they set out on the march. I passed before their ranks, saluted by all the officers with their swords, and the drums beating 'to the field,' an honor that they show in America to Major Generals, whose rank is the highest in the Army, although it corresponds only to that of Marshal of the camp. The troops were badly dressed, but they made a good appearance; as for the officers, they left nothing to desire, either in respect to their appearance or their manner of marching and commanding. After I had passed down the front of the line it broke, and marched before me and continued on its way.
General Heath conducted me to the river bank, where his barge awaited him to carry me to the other side. It was then that a new scene opened to my view, not less sublime than the first. We descended, our faces turned toward the north; in that side one saw an island covered with rocks which seemed to close the channel of the river; but soon across the kind of opening that its bed had formed in separating the immense mountains, one perceived that it flowed obliquely from the west and made a sudden turn around West Point, to open a passage and hasten to rejoin the sea, without making from there on the slightest detour. One's glance turning towards the north above Constitution Island (this is the island of which
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I have just been speaking) sees again the river, distinguishing New Windsor on its left bank, then resting on different amphitheatres formed by the Appalachians, the furthest summits of which close the scene and are more than ten leagues away. We embark in the barge and cross the river which is nearly a mile wide. As we approach the opposite bank, the fort of West Point which, seen from the east bank appeared situated low down at the foot of the mountain, lifted itself up before our eyes and seemed to be the summit of a steep rock; this rock was how- ever on the bank of the river. When I had not remarked that the openings which pierced it in different places were not else than embrasures for cannon and for formidable batteries, I had my attention drawn to them by thirteen shots of 24- pound cannon, fired one after the other. This was a military salute, with which General Heath wished to honor me, in the name of the thirteen states. Never had honor been more imposing or more majestic; each shot of the cannon, after a long interval, was reechoed from the opposite bank with a noise almost equal to that of the discharge itself. If one remembers that two years ago, West Point was a wilderness almost inaccessible, that this wilderness has been covered with fort- resses and artillery, by a people who, six years before, had never seen a cannon; if one reflects that the fate of the thirteen states has depended on this important post, and that a horse trader changed into a general, or rather become a hero, always intrepid, always victorious, but buying victory always at the price of his blood; that this extraordinary man, at the same time the honor and disgrace of his country, had sold and thought to deliver to the English this Palladium of American liberty; if finally one groups together so many wonders, both of the physical and of the moral world, one would easily believe that my thoughts were indeed fully occupied and that I was not bored by my journey. On landing, or rather on climbing up the rocks which rose on the border of the river, and the feet of which the river washed, we were received by Colonel Lamb and Major Bowman, both artillery officers, by Major Fish, a young man of fine figure, refined and in- telleetual, and by Major Frank, formerly Aide de Camp to General Arnold."
After a visit to Philadelphia, the Marquis returned in December, 1780, and stopping at Newburg, was entertained over night by Gen- eral Washington at his headquarters at that place.
After an interesting account of this visit the Marquis proceeds :
"I greatly wished that it were possible for me to yield to the importunities which he (General Washington) made me to agree to pass some days with him. I had made at Philadelphia a solemn engagement with the Vicomte de Noailles and his travelling companions to arrive twenty-four hours after them at the head- quarters, if they should stop there or at Albany, if they should go straight on. We wished to see Still-water and Saratoga. It would have been difficult for us to make a proper observation of that country if we should not be together, because we counted upon General Schuyler, who should not have to make two trips to satisfy our curiosity. I had been faithful to my promise, because I had arrived at New Windsor the same day that they had left West Point. I hoped that I should accompany them to Albany and General Washington seeing that he could not
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