USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The history of Kingston, New York : from its early settlement to the year 1820 > Part 30
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The following correspondence is of interest to show the great insufficiency of the forces under General George Clinton to defend the forts and protect the river :
"HEAD QUARTERS " MORRISTOWN 19th Feby 1777
" SIR Information being lodged, that many of the inhabitants, living near the Passaick Falls, are busily employed in removing their provisions and forage within the enemy's reach, with a de- sign of supplying them, obliges me to beg the favor of you to let me know what success you have experienced in collecting the troops voted, by the Convention of the State of New York. The presence of some men in that neighborhood would be attended with much good ; add to this the well grounded probability, that the enemy, being lately reinforced, will make some movement soon, and you will I am satisfied use your utmost exertions to bring a reinforcement to our assistance. At present I cannot check the above mentioned practice, least the detachment, sent that way, may be more wanted for other purposes than this. I therefore
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hope that some of your troops will take that duty off my hands, and that you will further enable me effectually to oppose any designs of the enemy.
" I am Sir Your Most obedt Servt " GEO WASHINGTON " Gen Geo Clinton New Windsor -- "
It may be noted here that the above urgent call was rendered necessary by some Americans having more regard for the dollar than for their country.
"NEW WINDSOR 23 Feby 1777
"DEAR SIR
"On my arrival home last night, I received a letter from his Excellency General Washington, of which the enclosed is a copy. By this you will find that more is expected of me than is in my power. Even tho' the 500 men ordered to be raised in Duchess and Westchester were completed, unless they were to join me on this side the river, I should be able to afford but a very inconsider- able reinforcement to the main army (if any at all) after posting sufficient detachments at the pass, for effecting the business more particularly recommended in his Excellency's letter. Col Pawling's regiment consists now of only 361 including officers, and they occupy three different posts, to wit Sydman's bridge, Cloyster and Hackensack, all equally, if not more necessary, than that men- tioned by the General, and I don't immagine he means they should be abandoned. I fear that sending a detachment out of this small force, (already much divided) to Pasaic falls will be endangering the other posts ; at any rate it will render the duty on the men exceed- ingly hard. I will however order a Lieutenant's party there, for the present, in hopes that some way may be devised to supply this place. Useless as the rangers have been, would it not be best to an- nex Belknap's and De Witt's companies to Col Pawling's regiment on this occasion. I have issued orders to the Militia Colonels, to complete their complement of men, which they were to have raised, some of whom have been much more deficient in this respect than I could have thought.
" This, and the number that have enlisted, out of Col Pawling's regiment, in the standing army, and some desertions, of Tory drafts, to the enemy, are the reasons why it falls so much short of its complement.
"I am with due respect your most Obedt Servt
"GEO CLINTON
" To the Hon The Prest of the Convention of the State of N. Y."'
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
On the 26th day of February, 1777, the Council of Safety ap- pointed Messrs. Taylor and Cuyler a committee to confer with Generals George and James Clinton and General MeDougall, and inform themselves in regard to the forces requisite for defending the forts and passes in the Highlands, and afterward wait upon the commander-in-chief, General Washington, "with the intelli- gence they had acquired."
On the 12th of March, 1777, they made their report to the con- vention, which was then in session.
By the report it appeared that the obstruction to the navigation was in a state of great forwardness ; that it would require one thousand men at least to defend Fort Montgomery ; that Fort Con- stitution, from its disadvantageous situation, might be easily taken if besieged with artillery.
On the 18th of March the convention adopted and forwarded letters to Congress, with others from General Washington and General McDougall, urging the strengthening, arming, and man- ning the fortresses in the Highlands, and the appointment of Gen- eral George Clinton to their command.
On the 25th day of March, 1777, resolutions were passed by the State Convention authorizing General George Clinton to call out the whole or any part of the militia of the counties of Ulster, Duchess, Orange, and Westchester, whenever he should deem the same necessary, either on the requisition of His Excellency General Washington, or at his own discretion, and station them in such manner as might be most proper for securing the forts and passes in the Highlands, and frustrating the attempts of the enemy to make incursions into this State. The resolutions also directed that whatever sums General George Clinton should certify to be due to any body of the militia so called into service, should "be forth- with paid out of the Treasury of the State."
He was further authorized to impress carriages, horses, teams, boats, and vessels, and take care that the wages or hire for the same be punctually paid ; and whenever satisfaction could not otherwise be speedily obtained, he was authorized to draw on the convention.
This extraordinary power vested by the convention in a single man exhibits in a high degree the confidence placed by the sages of that body in the judgment, honor, and integrity of General Clinton, and it is a pleasure to know that their confidence was neither misplaced nor abused.
On the same day, the 25th day of March, the Continental Con- gress passed a resolution that a commandant of the forts in the Highlands be appointed with the rank of brigadier-general, and
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
immediately appointed General George Clinton to such command, and promoted him to the rank of brigadier general.
His commission was immediately forwarded to the New York Convention, and received on the 1st day of April. His former commission was under State authority ; this was from the general government.
General Clinton issued orders on the 31st day of March, 1777, requiring that one third part of the militia of the counties of Ulster and Orange be forthwith called into actual service, and that for that purpose "the Colonels of the respective regiments by ballot, or any other equitable manner, immediately detach the third part of their Regiment under proper officers of each company, to con- sist of sixty two privates, as near as may be. That the men, thus raised, be divided into three regiments commanded by
Col Pawling, Lt Col McClaughry Major Logan " Snyder " Hooghteling
" Heathorn
Hardenbergh Jr
Cuyper 66 Muffelt
That the Companies of Horse turn out their Quota, and that the exempts be included in the third part of the militia to be raised."
On the 27th of April, 1777, a further order dated at Fort Mont- gomery was issued, as follows : "It is essential to the safety of this post, that Colonel Pawling's and Col Snyder's regiments be immediately completed to their full complement of men ; which being the case will supersede the necessity of calling out any further part of the Militia in this busy season of the year. It is therefore ordered in the most express and positive terms, that the Colonels or Commanding officers of the Militia Regiments do forth- with furnish their respective quotas of Men, as fixed by the order for raising and marching the above two regiments to this post, and that they also return Muster rolls of their said Regiments to the General.
*
* * * * *
* *
" As many of the men belonging to said Regiments, now at this post, being principally persons hired by others who were drafted, are without arms and otherwise unprovided ; it is ordered that the persons who were so drafted do immediately provide and deliver arms and accoutrements to those whom they have so hired, or in failure thereof they be immediately brought to this Post to per- form their own duty
" ALBERT PAWLING Major of Brigade"
Such were some of the movements and orders made to put the country in as good a situation for defence as possible. But it was also necessary that some means of communication should be estab- lished between the Northern and the Southern armies in the State.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
The country being new, and sparsely settled, communication between distant points was slow, and none regularly established. Some special arrangement to that end was therefore necessary. With this object in view, on the 5th day of August, 1777, Captain Salisbury, of the Kingston Light Horse, was ordered to furnish a detachment consisting of a non-commissioned officer and six privates to be stationed at Kingston and at other points between that and the Northern army to serve as expresses ; and an equal number at New Burgh of Captain Woodhull's company, between that and Fort Montgomery, and thence to headquarters.
In preparation for an attack from below, Captains Pawling's, Snyder's, Graham's, Freer's, Humphrey's, and Sutherland's regi- ments were ordered to hold themselves in perfect readiness to march on a moment's warning, and if the enemy should approach the western frontier, Colonel Pawling was directed to send detach- ments from his and Colonel Snyder's regiment to protect the inhab- itants, besides the frontier companies of Allison's and McClaughry's regiments, which were left at home for the same purpose.
On the near approach of fall it became necessary to prepare for the worst, for the enemy, if they designed striking a severe blow at all, must do it soon. The Council of Safety, therefore, turned their attention to the National Congress, and on the 7th of August, 1777, addressed a letter to the delegates of this State in that body in reference to their unsatisfactory condition, stating, among other things, that, " as the defence of this State is intimately connected with the safety of America, the convention have not only exerted their utmost strength, but cheerfully agreed to sacrifice local attachments, and a great share of their property, to the attainment of these desirable ends. .. . . That by far the greater part of the levies ordered, by the Congress, to be raised from our Militia, are completed and at their several stations. . . . The whole number of drafts from the Militia of this State, exclusive of the Conti- nental Battalions raised therein, will amount to about nine thou- sand men. The stations, the last levies will occupy, being on our frontiers, in the Highlands and on Long Island, prevent their adding to the strength of the army at New York, much as it needs their assistance.
" It gives us great pain to inform you, that the aid received from our sister States is very inadequate to our expectation, none of them having yet completed the levies directed by Congress ; which leaves us reason to fear, that instead of using every means that. human wisdom dictates for insuring success, we shall (with inferior numbers) on the doubtful issue of a single battle, hazard the glorious cause for which we have hitherto struggled."
Among other matters the letter suggested that the forces em-
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ployed on the frontiers were of general utility, and the immediate demand for them required the payment of considerable bounties, and therefore they should be taken into the pay of the general government. "But," the letter proceeded to state, "should the Congress think otherwise, we propose to retain them at our own expense, since we are determined to neglect no measures, (however burdensome) if within our reach, which we conceive necessary for the safety of America."
The object has been to give a sufficient part of this letter to show to what extent New York was in fact left to rest upon her own resources, and the patriotic spirit which animated her repre- sentatives.
On Tuesday, the 12th of August, 1777. the Council of Safety received information of a reported design on the part of some Indians and Tories to make a descent upon Kingston on the follow- ing Friday night, to burn and destroy it. They placed but little confidence in the report, but advised Colonel Pawling thereof, and requested him to take such precautionary measures as would render the scheme abortive.
The time passed without any appearance on the part of the Indians.
Their attention was then called in another direction for the relief of loyal citizens in an adjoining county. Information was * received that one Captain Man had organized a band composed of Tories and Indians in Schoharie to operate against the loyal citi- zens, and that Colonel Vrooman and a party of Whigs were besieged there by a band of Tories. Colonel Pawling was on the 12th of August ordered out with a detachment of two hundred men from his regiment, to proceed to Schoharie for the destruction of Man and his party, and the relief of the Whigs and loyal citizens.
General Burgoyne in the latter part of June had his (the left) wing of the invading army gathered at Crown Point, composed of nearly eight thousand men, and on the 2d of July he succeeded in capturing Fort Ticonderoga. Thus far he drove everything before him, and apparently had a kind of triumphal march through the country. But General Schuyler not having an army sufficient to oppose his progress, resorted to tactics of obstructing the roads and tearing down bridges to such an extent that General Burgoyne occupied twenty-four days in marching twenty-six miles, thus giving time for the Americans to gather re-enforcements.
. Ulster County was then called upon to send troops to the north to strengthen the Northern army in that great emergency.
But General Clinton, on the 13th of August, wrote to the Coun- cil of Safety that, though he most anxiously wished it was in his power to re-enforce the Northern army, and give succor to the
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
brave and much-distressed inhabitants of Tryon County, yet he could not be induced to think it would be prudent to draw the militia from so far down as this to the northward until the design of the enemy's Southern army could be more fully ascertained.
General Schuyler by letter of the same date to the President of the Council of Safety, set forth the plight in which he was then placed. He stated that he had on the previous night received a letter dated the 9th from Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, from which he was given to understand that he must not expect any aid from that State. The general further stated that by letters re- ceived on the 11th, he had been advised as to Massachusetts that orders had been issued for the march of one sixth part of six regi- ments in the county of Worcester, and one in the county of Middle- sex ; that when they arrived, if they ever did, it would increase the number of his army about six or seven hundred ; that his whole Continental force of effectives did not exceed three thousand four hundred rank and file ; that he had about forty militia from this State, but none from any other.
About the same time the Council of Safety communicated to the delegates from this State in Congress the information they had acquired in regard to the respective forces on both sides ; that they had no positive information, but as near as they could gather, from examination of prisoners and other sources, the whole number of regular troops in the Northern army with Burgoyne was about six thousand, besides a large number of Tories and Indians, who had joined him since the evacuation of Ticonderoga ; that about eight hundred Regulars, together with four hundred Canadians, Tories, and Indians, were besieging Fort Schuyler.
In reference to our own Northern army it was stated that it did not exceed four thousand men.
The communication further stated that about two thousand of our militia went up when the army retreated to Fort Edward, and about twelve hundred came in from the Eastern States and the Grants. As it was the height of harvest, and the militia were very uneasy at their stay, the general thought it advisable to dismiss part of them, on condition that the remainder would continue three weeks, by which time they expected to be relieved by Conti- nental troops or militia. One thousand of the militia had remained until that time. Most of them, who had then come away, had found it necessary, on account of the retreat of the army, to re- move their families. The governor had ordered the whole militia of Albany to supply their places, but fear was expressed that his order would not be obeyed, as the disaffected had gained ascend- ancy in many places, and not only refused to go themselves, but compelled the Whigs to side with them. He had, however, sent
t.+
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up from Ulster and Duchess counties five hundred men, to remain until the 1st of November ; he had also ordered two hundred men to Schoharie, where the Whigs were besieged by Tories and Indians. He had seven hundred militia out in Tryon County, and abont two thousand men in passes of the Highlands, seven hundred of these being drafted to continue until the 1st of No- vember, and the rest were the whole militia of the counties of Orange and the lower part of Duchess and Ulster.
The letter proceeded : " You gentlemen who know our weak- ness, the great drains we have had, the troops we are obliged to keep on posts to guard the disaffected prisoners in every quarter, the number that are pressed into service as wagoners, bateaumen, etc and that this whole force is drawn from four counties out of fourteen, that we once possessed, will think it much beyond our strength, but we are resolved if we do fall to fall as becomes brave men."
Albany was not included in the above computation for reasons already stated, although it was probable a small force might be drawn from there.
These were dark and desponding days for the Whigs of New York, apparently left almost entirely to their own insufficient resources. But soon rays of light darted forth in the Northern horizon ; the nobly-fought battle of Oriskany, under General Herkimer, on the 6th, with the Canadians and Indians, followed on the 16th by the triumphant victory of General Stark with his brigade from the Granite State and the militia and rangers raised in Vermont, over not only the British detachment sent for the possession of Bennington, but also the large re-enforcement sent by Burgoyne to their support, and further supplemented on the 21st by the precipitate retreat of General St. Leger and the entire breaking up of the right wing of the Northern invading army, at once raised the hopes of the desponding, and gave new and in- creased vigor and strength to the firm and determined Sons of Liberty.
Soon after the news of these glorious triumphs was spread throughout the country enlistments made rapid progress, re-enforce- ments to the Northern army came pouring in, and General Bur- goyne soon found himself within the meshes of a net which he could not break, and was forced to surrender.
As has been previously stated, the design of the British in the conduct of the war was by overpowering armies and a strong naval force from New York, to form a junction with Burgoyne at Albany.
The Americans relied upon their fortifications and obstructions
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in the Highlands, with the troops garrisoning the forts, to pre- vent it.
Notwithstanding their great importance, not only for the safety of this State, but for the whole country, so great was the pressure upon New York in every direction, and so dilatory were her sister States in coming to ler aid, that the Highland forts and passes were never at any time sufficiently manned. The garrisoning of those forts and protection of those passes on the west side of the river were not only left substantially to be cared for by the Ulster and Orange County troops, but the necessities at the north had drawn away a large number of men from the northern part of Ulster to aid in the defeat or capture of Burgoyne. It was thus that while the State was necessarily strengthening itself in the north, it was dangerously weakening itself in the south. The forts referred to above were built mainly for the river front, but were of very light construction on the rear or landward side.
Sir Henry Clinton, who was then in command of the land forces at New York, became aware of those facts through information gleaned from the Tories, and determined at once to capture the forts by an overwhelming force. Accordingly on the 3d day of October he proceeded to the attack with between four and five thousand troops, and a large naval force and transports. A few of his forces were landed on the east side of the river for a cover. Some of the ships also were sent up the river, one to take a station so as to pre- vent any re-enforcements being despatched by General Putnam from the east to the west side of the river by Peekshill Ferry ; the others to engage Fort Montgomery in front, so as to divert the attention of the garrison from the rear. The main body, three thousand and upward strong, landed south of Stony Point, on the west side of the river, and were from thence piloted by a Tory, whose name the writer has not been able to ascertain, a circuit of about twelve miles through the wilderness to reach the fortifica- tions in the rear.
The British troops reached the advanced party of the Americans stationed at Doodletown, about two and one half miles from the fort, at about ten o'clock in the forenoon. The Americans received the enemy's fire, returned it, and retreated to Fort Clinton. They soon received intelligence at Fort Montgomery that the enemy was advancing on the west side of the mountain to attack the garrison in the rear. Governor Clinton then ordered Lieutenant-Colonels Bruyn and McClaughry, with upward of one hundred men, toward Doodletown, and a brass field-piece, with sixty men, to be used at every advantageous post on the road to the furnace. They were all soon attacked by the enemy in their full force. They de- fended with great spirit, and made much slaughter in the ranks of
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the invaders, but of course they were overwhelmed and had to re- treat. The party on the furnace road were strengthened to over one hundred ; they kept their field-piece in full play until the men who worked it were driven off with fixed bayonets ; then they spiked it, and retreated to a twelve-pounder which had been ordered to cover them, and froni thence to the fort. *
Very soon after the advance parties had been driven in, both Forts Montgomery and Clinton were invested on all sides, and an incessant fire kept up until night.
When the sun was about an hour high the British commander summoned the Americans to surrender as prisoners of war within five minutes and prevent the shedding of blood. The demand was refused, and about ten minutes afterward the enemy made a desperate assault and forced the lines and redoubts at both forts. The garrison being determined not to surrender, as many of them as could fought their way out and escaped through the forest. Governor Clinton slid down a precipice toward the river and escaped in a boat, which he found on the shore, to the other side. General James Clinton also escaped through the woods.
The forts were, without doubt, defended with great and com- mendable spirit, and against overwhelming odds. The loss on the part of the patriots was about one hundred killed and two hundred and fifty taken prisoners. The enemy lost seven field officers and upward of three hundred and fifty rank and file killed. Sir Henry Clinton commanded the British force in person, and had three gen- eral officers with him. A deserter who came in after the taking of Fort Montgomery stated that the attacking force of the enemy consisted of five thousand men, of whom three thousand were British troops and Hessian yaughers, the remainder new levies under Brigadier-General Robertson and Colonel Fanning. Sir Henry Clinton reported his force at three thousand.
After the surrender of the forts on the west side, as above, Fort Constitution was demolished by the garrison and abandoned. The fortifications being thus silenced, the enemy was enabled without hindrance to remove the obstructions which the Americans had placed in the river, and thus enjoy a free passage northward.
Governor Clinton, the same night in which he escaped from Fort Montgomery, proceeded to General Putnam's quarters to con- sult in regard to future movements. It was there agreed that General Putnam should withdraw his army to a very defensible pass in the mountains, about three miles below Fishkill Village, and call out the militia of the Eastern States ; that Governor Clinton should rally his scattered forces, and call out all the militia of Orange and Ulster counties.
As soon as the enemy passed the chevaux-de-frise both armies
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