USA > New York > Rockland County > The history of Rockland County > Part 9
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Henry Wisner.
ASSEMBLY.
Jeremiah Clarke, David Pye,
Bezaleel Seely, Jr.
John Stagg.
FIFTH SESSION.
SENATE.
John Haring,
Henry Wisner.
ASSEMBLY.
Jeremiah Clarke, John Stagg,
John Hathorn, John Suffern.
SIXTH SESSION. Ending March 23d, 1783.
SENATE.
William Allison,
John Haring.
ASSEMBLY.
Jeremiah Clarke, John Hathorn,
Gilbert Cooper,
John Stagg.
DELEGATES TO THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
September, 1774.
John Haring, Henry Wisner.
April 20th, 1775.
Henry Wisner.
March 19th, 1785. John Haring. March 29th, 1785. John Haring. February 27th, 1786. John Haring. January 26th, 1787. John Haring.
Authorities referred to. "Field Book of the Revolution," Vols. II., B. J. Lossing. " Bry- ant's History United States," Vols. IV., S. H. Gay. " Force Papers." "The New York Civil List." " History of Orange County," S. W. Eager.
CHAPTER VI.
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
THE MILITIAMEN OF OUR COUNTY AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR-IN- SUBORDINATION AMONG THEM-THE BUILDING OF FORT CLINTON- THE WATER FRONT VISITED BY THE ENEMY'S FLEET-RETREAT OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY THROUGH THE COUNTY-THE FORAGES OF THE ENEMY IN OUR- COUNTY AND THE PATRIOTIC STRUGGLE TO DEFEND IT-WASHINGTON ENCAMPS AT RAMAPO-FROM THENCE MARCHES TOWARD PHILADELPHIA-THE BATTLE OF FORT CLINTON- THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WEST POINT CHAIN-MASSACRE AT OLD TAPPAN-CAPTURE OF STONY POINT BY THE BRITISH-ITS RECAPTURE BY GENERAL WAYNE-THE CONTINENTAL ARMY ENCAMPS AT TAP- PAN-THE TREASON OF ARNOLD-TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF ANDRE- MARCH OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY THROUGH THE COUNTY TO BESIEGE YORKTOWN.
Civil war tests men. In it there can be no wavering, no middle course, for wavering is equivalent to treason, and a refusal to assume the responsi- bility of supporting one or the other side betrays mental weakness or personal selfishness. Ideas, the grandest attributes of humanity, obtain full sway, and, supported by an idea, the partisan of one or the other faction will abandon all save the principle he seeks to make dominant. For a time passion eclipses reason and destroys all ties of love or friend- ship. Neighbors are separated by their differing views of a momentous subject of statesmanship, and family relations are abruptly severed. Hu- manity is so constituted, that when a discussion of national polity passes into a conflict for the supremacy of one or the other views, it makes a per- sonal of a political matter, and, foretime friends becoming enemies, each contestant recalls the many kindnesses and favors he has rendered to his opponent, and grows to look upon that opponent not only as a traitor, who seeks the ruin of their common country, but also as an ungrateful wretch who has no thankfulness for past benefits. Hence, while combat- ants in battle may listen to appeals for mercy from an alien foe, and render the horrors of war as merciful as possible by sparing property and life, they regard with dulled ears the plea for quarter of their foretime neigh- bors, and witness the destruction of their possessions without pity.
Yet in every rebellion there will be found, within the revolting section, three classes of people, who, either from love of the existing form of government, motives of interest, or fear of war, oppose and harass in every
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possible manner the revolutionary armies. Our war for independence was no exception to this rule. Many people in these provinces loved and revered the government of Great Britain, regarded the uprising of the colonists against her as unfilial and outrageous, and either gave to the British their open aid by enlisting in the ranks, or more secretly by con- veying to them information of the strength and resources of the Conti- nental troops. This class found it advisable at the elose of the war to follow their allies from our shores, and many, abandoning their worldly possessions, found new homes in England or her colonies.
Another class, uncertain as to which side would bear off the palm of victory, remained non-partisan, hoping by the assumption of neutrality to escape a confiscation of their property no matter what the result. The third class was composed of a mixed assembly of deserters and cowards, who abandoned their homes from fear of being pressed into service, and who, skulking along the outskirts of the armies, enriched themselves by the robbery of private property, the rifling of the dead upon the field of battle, or the betrayal alike of friend or foe for a few pieces of gold. Rockland County contained representatives from all these classes, and the history of that period is replete with accounts of the collisions and forays which occurred between them and the many patriots.
The militia of this, as of the other counties of the State, had long been organized under the command of the English Governor. At the last official inspection under the old regime, June 2, 1773, two regiments, three battalions, twenty-three companies composed the force of Orange County and this force was officered by two Colonels, three Lieut-Colonels, three Majors, twenty-three Captains, forty-six Lieutenants, and twenty-three Ensigns.
By no means did this force represent the patriot feeling in the County. Before the close of 1776, the Chairman of the Committee of Safety for the County-Daniel Coe-estimated the total strength of the militia as 280 men, most of them unarmed, one-third of whom were disloyal. The first duty of the Committee of Safety, as we have seen, was to organize a military force, for the purpose of guarding the County, on which they could depend. In Orangetown, Colonel Lent, long a commissioned officer in the militia, was given command of the troops, and in Haverstraw Colonel A. Hawks Hay organized a regiment. Lent's command was brief. On Dec. 22, 1775, he obtained his commission from the Provincial Con- gress, and on March 26, 1776, he resigned. This act was caused by the jealousy and insubordination of the rank and file under his command, a condition largely produced, doubtless, by the ignorance among the troops,
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not only of the discipline needed but even of the language in which the orders were given. The insubordination among the Orangetown troops at last reached so alarming a state, that Colonel Hays was ordered to place seven of the ringleaders of Captain Blauvelt's company under arrest and send them to the city of New York .*
The resignation of Lent resulted in the breaking up of the Orange- town regiment into separate companies of Minute men, who, under the lead of local officers, did good duty in defending our shores.
All the militia of both Ulster and Orange Counties were formed into a brigade commanded by General George Clinton. As Minute men, they were to assemble at the firing of two guns from Fort Montgomery, and two from Fort Lee, and these were to be answered by two at New Wind- sor. The capture and destruction of Forts Lee and Montgomery ended this signal, and the Minute men then depended on the beacon fires that blazed on the mountain tops. These beacons came into universal use through all the Colonies and flashed the news of the enemy's movement from peak to peak, rendering such helpful service to the sore-pressed patriots, that it seems a not inapt conceit to say, the American Colonists, like the sore tried people of Israel, were led out of bondage by a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of a cloud by day.
So far, the worthy settlers in this County had but heard rumors con- cerning the hostile movements in the east. The battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill had been fought, and Boston was under siege when, in the autumn of 1775, the construction of the first fortification on the present soil of Rockland County, Fort Clinton, was begun. This work, situated on the south bank of Peploaps t Kill, about one hundred and twenty feet above the river, was built of stones and earth and could contain a garrison of four hundred men. It was designed and commenced by Bernard Ro- mans, and completed by Captain Thomas Machin. Immediately to the west and but a few paces from the fort, was Lake Sinipink, now known as Highland Lake, and from the lake to the steep river bluff, across the nar- row road which led to the fort, were placed strong abatis. At the same period, the fort on Stony Point was determined on for the purpose, not only of supporting the forts higher up, but also, in conjunction with a pro- posed fort on Verplancks Point, to protect the ferry.
Ere these works were finished, Boston had been evacuated, and the scene of action was changed to New York. On June 29th, 1776, General Howe arrived at Sandy Hook with his troops and a large fleet ; and on
* See Page 68.
t See note at end of Chapter.
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July 12th, the ships of war Phoenix, 44 guns, and Rose, 21 guns, with four cutters, all protected by sand bags, sailed up the river past the American batteries, and came to anchor in the Tappan Zee.
This was the first time the residents of the County had looked upon a hostile armament, and, though unaccustomed to war, they opposed their enemy so firmly and with such vigilance as to frustrate his attempts to ob- tain fresh provisions and water or to convey arms to the Tories.
On August 27th, the battle of Long Island was fought, and, two days later, the long retreat of Washington began. New York was evacuated, Harlem was evacuated, and the Continental Army, pressed back step by step, at last occupied a line from the Hudson at Tarrytown to the Heights at Northeastle. At this time, November 8th, 1776, Washington deter- mined to retreat into New Jersey with all his army, save the New England troops, and the movement was speedily begun. Part of the army crossed from Tarrytown to Sneden's Landing, where General Greene covered their debarkation with 500 men and one gun ; part crossed from Croton Point to Piermont, then Tappan Slote, and on November 9th, Lord Ster- ling, with 1,200 men, crossed at Kings Ferry and seized the pass at Long Clove, followed next day by Col. Hand with 1,000 troops and General Bell with 1,700, belonging to Putnam's Division.
Washington, after inspecting the works at Peekskill and vicinity, crossed on the 13th, and joined his army, making his headquarters at Hackensack. On November 18th, General Howe crossed the river in pur- suit of the Americans, and landed at Closter with 6,000 troops. With the retreat through New Jersey, it is not my province to deal. The effect of that retreat and the presence of the enemy, roused every Tory in northern New Jersey and southern New York, and Loyalists not only openly joined the British and obtained arms from them, but they joined with the foe in overrunning the southeastern part of the county, till Orangetown was well nigh wrested from the patriots.
To resist this elated enemy was a militia, half-armed, half-clothed, half-starved, and wholly insubordinate. Both officers and men were new to military duty. The opportunities granted to raw recruits in other countries and in the French wars in this country, the drills and encamp- ments that gave them confidence in themselves and in their officers, had been prevented by the startling rapidity with which events had transpired, and our militiamen were now called on for action and answered that call, fearful of each other, distrusting their commanders, and in terror of the enemy. Their families had been left in many cases without meal, wood, or fodder for their cattle ; never wealthy, their poverty now rendered their
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condition more pitiable, and the sight of their Tory neighbors, well dressed and enriched by the money of the King, while it did not touch their honor did cause them to grow mutinous. So widespread had this feeling become that on November 5th, 1766, General Greene, then at Kings Ferry, threatened to place Colonel Hays' regiment under guard and send it to Fort Lee for duty if the men did not change their conduct.
To protect the patriots, as well as to hold so important a communica- tion, Col. Huntington was sent to the Ramapo Pass-then called Sidman's Pass-shortly after the army crossed the river, and began the building of barracks and the erection of earthworks. But his presence, instead of overawing the Loyalists, encouraged them to devise a plan for capturing his forces. In this condition of affairs, Col. Hays appealed to Gen. Heath, who was in command at Peekskill, to send him aid for the protection of the military stores at Haverstraw. In response to this urgent request, Brigadier-Gen. Scott was ordered to cross to Haverstraw with his brigade and assist in guarding the country. Scott's troops crossed on November 26th, 1776.
Finding themselves in greater strength, the Americans now assumed the offensive. Col. Tyler's regiment was dispatched from Ramapo to Tappan, while Col. Malcom, with one hundred men and several volunteer commissioned and non-commissioned officers, was sent to Nyack, opposite which lay the enemy's fleet. On December 3d, 1776, Malcom wrote Gen. Heath that he had stationed two guards a mile apart to prevent the British from landing; that the fleet consisted of 2 ships, 2 galleys, I schooner, a transport brig and sloop; and that the previous week parties from the vessels had landed twice, and besides looting a house, had carried off some cattle.
On the arrival of Malcom at Nyack, Tyler withdrew to Ramapo, which he reached on December 4th with six companies of his regiment, having left two at Haverstraw. Whether Tyler's withdrawal encouraged the enemy, or whether they had been exasperated by his sharp actions with them, does not appear ; but whatever the reason, they organized a raid which filled the people south of the mountains with terror and drew down upon themselves sharp retaliation. On December 7th the combined force of Tories and cowboys entered Tappan, and, after maltreating such patriots as they could find, and destroying and stealing whatever of value they could reach, they finally withdrew, after cutting down the liberty pole, taking with them the father of an officer in Malcom's regiment as a pris- oner, and driving off a horse and a yoke of oxen.
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Malcom, believing he was to be attacked, took post in the moun- tain gorge at the Slote, and, stationing his guns in the road, deployed his men on both sides of the pass. The next day, he marched down into Bergen County and carried consternation into the Tory lines, driving them in headlong speed from their homes and capturing one of their number.
This foray of the enemy called from the County Committee of Safety an urgent request to General Clinton for aid, and the same day that their petition was forwarded, Dec. 9th, Clinton was ordered to march to New City with 1,500 men.
On Dec. 11th, 1776, Colonel Malcom sent word to General Heath that he was as completely isolated in Clarkstown as he would be in an enemy's country; that he could obtain no news of the movements of his foe save through his own scouts; that the Tories were recruiting and obtaining arms ; and that with the force at his command, it was unsafe to attempt to protect Tappan. Upon the receipt of this information, Heath immediately left Peekskill and marched with 2,000 men to Tappan, which he reached on Dec. 12th. Remaining there two days, he then advanced to Hacken- sack, effectually crushing the Tory spirit by his presence. As soon as General Hcath left Tappan, Colonel Allison was ordered to move into Orangetown with his regiment, while Colonel Hasbrouck was to remain at Haverstraw to afford support if needed.
The year 1777 opened in gloom for the American cause, Washington's army, encamped near Morristown, was an army that had steadily witnessed defeat, while Howe, who had returned with his troops to New York, was flushed with victory. Anxiously Washington awaited the English com- mander's next move. Already, in the previous year, a plan had been agreed upon, whereby Carleton was to foree his way from Canada to the Hudson, and be met by Howe on that river, thus dividing New England from the Southern States. It was partly in pursuance of this movement that the ships of war had passed up to Haverstraw bay. Failure had greeted the attempt, but the projcet was only postponed, and this year saw the beginning of a new campaign, in which Burgoyne instead of Carleton commanded the Northern army. Whether Howe would attempt to force his way through the Hudson Highlands to meet Burgoyne, or sail for Philadelphia, was the perplexing question.
To be prepared for either movement, Washington marched his army northward, and on July 15th had it encamped in Ramapo valley. On the 23d of the same month he established his headquarters at Ramapo, and, from the summit of the Torne, often anxiously scanned the distant ocean and bay near Sandy Hook, to learn if possible the movements of the
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British fleet. At length, receiving positive information that the fleet had passed out to sea, and feeling assured that Philadelphia was its destina- tion, Washington broke camp and marched with his army to that city.
A legend, founded on one of these visits of the Commander to the Torne, remains to this day. While on its summit, on one occasion, Wash- ington was winding his watch when it accidentally slipped from his hands, leaving the key in his grasp, and fell into a deep crevice. The fall, instead of stopping the timepiece, seemed to confer upon it perpetual motion, and the visitor to the Torne can hear its ticking even at this time.
Two months after the departure of the main army for Philadelphia, Aaron Burr, then ranking as Lieutenant-Colonel, was at Sufferns in con- mand of Malcom's regiment-September, 1777.
The Ramapo valley, or Sidman's Pass, was the great pathway from West Point and New Windsor to the country south of the Highlands, and was in almost constant use by some portions of the army from 1776 till the close of the war. Through its narrow defile Burgoyne's army passed as prisoners, on their long march from New England to Virginia in the autumn of 1778. In June, 1779, it was again the camping place of the Continental Army, and was strongly intrenched at that time. The re- mains of the intrenchments are still visible, and relics of its military occu- pation are not few.
After the capture of Stony Point by "Mad Anthony" Wayne, on July 16th, 1779, a detachment of British prisoners were placed in a barn belonging to Abram De Baun, standing one-eighth of a mile east of Erastus Johnson's, and one-eighth of a mile north of the highway in Ramapo. One of the prisoners in his dreams cried "Fire!" and the guard, mistaking the source of the order, did fire on the prisoners, killing three and wounding eighteen.
Throughout the whole struggle, Sidman's Pass was the resort of cow- boys, who issued forth upon their raids either into New Jersey, that por- tion of Orange County north of the mountains, or the fertile country east of Sufferns; and the name of Claudius Smith and his band of cut-throats still carries recollections of many a midnight horror to the descendants of the old settlers near the clove. At the time of the Revolution this whole section was known as West New-Hempstead.
On one of the occasions when the Continental army was encamped in Ramapo Clove an attempt to force it was contemplated by the British, which was only frustrated by a happy ruse. A notorious spy, whose in- formation was regarded as reliable by the foe, was captured in the Ameri- can camp. He was at once tried by drumhead court martial, found guilty, and sentenced to be executed on the following morning.
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Before the hour appointed for punishment arrived, the father, mother and brother of the condemned man entered camp and entreated permis- sion to visit the prisoner. This was granted under necessary restrictions. During the interview the commanding officer-said to have been General Greene-happened to pass the room where the spy was confined, and, hearing the lamentations, went in. The mother of the prisoner fell at Greene's feet and entreated him to spare her son, but was greeted with the stern response that that son must die in an hour. After leaving the room Greene paced thoughtfully to and fro for a few moments and then returned to the spy's chamber. Again the mother begged for her boy's life and Greene finally acquiesced on condition that the spy should immediately repair to the enemy's camp and report that the American army, six thou- sand strong, had begun to advance and would fall upon the British within an hour.
The prisoner at once consented to this plan. Greene was evidently cautious, for he further stipulated, that the prisoner's brother should take his place, and that, if the foe did not begin a retreat upon hearing the spy's report, the brother should be hung. At first that proposed hostage demurred to the arrangement, but the entreaties of his parents caused him at length to reluctantly yield.
In a short time all but the two brothers withdrew from the room. Then an officer appeared and removed the irons from the spy to his brother. Shortly after an old woman brought a knapsack and placed it beside the door of the prison room. Presently the spy came out, shouldered the knapsack, stole from the building, and, after dodging from an outhouse to the barn, skulked to the woods which were near by.
General Greene was so confident of the success of his artifice that the next morning he moved, with a strong detachment, upon the enemy's line. On arriving at their encampment a curious spectacle was presented.
The artillery and baggage was found scattered in the utmost confusion, not a tent was struck, and the fires were actually still smoking under the camp kettles. The foe had not been gone for over an hour when the Americans arrived, and Greene's troops halted to make a hasty meal on the viands that the frightened enemy had left.
The particulars of the retreat were afterwards learned from the spy. On his arrival in the British camp he at once repaired to the command- ant's tent, with his hat and coat pierced with bullet holes. In that tent he found a large party of officers assembled, before whom he related a won- derful tale of Greene's advance and tremendous force, stating that he had inadvertently ran into the advance skirmish line and only escaped after the bullets had cut his clothing and grazed his flesh.
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The British officers were seized with a panic, and, at a council of war which was hurriedly summoned, it was decided to begin an immediate retreat. While this council was being held the spy passed from camp-fire to camp-fire, spreading his direful news with additional lies until the troops were in a fit condition for flight. When the orders came for withdrawal from the camp they were obeyed with alacrity.
While Howe successfully prosecuted his Philadelphia campaign, Bur- goyne had advanced into the Upper Hudson valley as far as Saratoga. Almost all the way, he had met with earnest opposition, and at last in dire distress sent word to Clinton, who commanded at New York in Howe's ab- sence, to come up the river to his relief. As soon as a reinforcement ar- rived from England, Clinton started up the Hudson, with five thousand men in flatboats and transports, on Saturday evening, October 4th, 1777, and made a brief land at Tarrytown to draw General Putnam's attention from the main point of his attack. On the following day, the British transports proceeded to Verplanck's Point and three thousand troops de- barked.
When Washington started to oppose Howe at Philadelphia, he left a quantity of stores at Peekskill under the guard of General Putnam and a large body of troops. In the course of the campaign about Philadelphia, Putnam had been called on for detachments from these troops till, at the time of General Clinton's movement, his whole force amounted to only about fifteen hundred militia. Believing, when Clinton landed at Ver- plank's Point, that the destruction of the stores at Peekskill was his object, Putnam fell back to high ground in the rear of that place, and sent for aid to the Generals commanding Forts Clinton and Montgomery.
The strategem of Sir Henry Clinton was successful in drawing atten- tion from his design on the Highland forts, and on the following morning, October 6th, 1777, under the cover of a heavy fog, he crossed two thou- sand troops to Stony Point, ten miles below Fort Clinton. The transports were anchored near Stony Point ; a corps of Royalists remained at Ver- planck's Point ; and the frigates Tartar, Preston, and Mercury, proceeded up the river to the southern entrance of the " Race "
Leaving a detachment near the present school house above Resolvert Waldron's to keep communication open, the troops, consisting of Emerick's corps of Chasseurs, a corps of loyalists and New York Volunteers, the Fifty-second and Fifty-seventh British Regiments, under the command of Colonel Campbell, one troop of the 17th Light Dragoons dismounted, and a large body of Hessians, guided by a Tory named Peter Keesler, crossed the Donderberg in single column, and at Doodletown separated into two
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divisions; one, under Lieut .- Col. Campbell, marching around the base of Bear Hill to attack Fort Montgomery, the other, under the command of Sir Henry Clinton was to storm Fort Clinton; each detachment consisted of about nine hundred men.
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