USA > New York > New York City > The story of the city of New York > Part 19
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Hamliton, for instance, was but nineteen ; Burr, as we have seen, twenty; and Nicholas Fish, Scott's brigade-major, but eighteen.
One arm of the patriot power must not go unmen- tioned-the odd little fleet of schooners, sloops, peri. augers, row galleys, and whale boats commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Benjamin Tupper that patrolled the harbor, and picked up spies, deserters, provision boats, and intelligence, with the greatest impartial- ity. It was one of the commanders of this fleet who, on reporting the enemy short of provisions, piously added : "May God increase their wants."
Let us now consider briefly the opposing force, and express our wonder at the temerity of the patriots in attempting for a moment to resist it. That army was composed mostly of regulars-men trained to arms. There were the Boston garrison, seasoned veterans from the West Indies, picked men from Gibraltar and other strongholds, Scotch who had won fame in a seven years' war, and Hessians whose trade it was to fight. And then the array of officers-Lieu- tenant-Generals Clinton, Percy, and Cornwallis; Ma- jor-Generals Matthews, Robertson, Pigot, Grant, Jones, Vaughn, and Agnew ; Brigadier-Generals Les- lie, Cleveland, Smith, and Erskine. There were twenty-seven regiments of the line, four battalions of light infantry, four of grenadiers, two of the king's guards, three brigades of artillery, a regiment of light dragoons, 23,000 officers and privates -- with the 8,000 Hessians, forming an army of 31,000 men. It was the best-officered, best-equipped army that King George, with the resources of Europe at command, could muster.
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Lord Howe, the Commander-in-Chief, was a just and humane man, whose sympathies were with the Americans. He had been given power to offer free pardon to such of the rebels as would submit, and before launching his force against those whom he could but regard as Englishmen, he desired a con- ference with the leaders. Accordingly, on July 14th he despatched an officer in a barge with a letter to Washington. Tupper's alert whale boats, however, met the officer in the harbor, and detained him while they sent a message to head-quarters. In answer to it, Joseph Reed, Washington's adjutant-general, and Colonel Knox came down to treat with the officer. He received them politely, hat in hand. " I have a letter," said he, " from Lord Howe to Mr. Washing- ton." "We have no person in our army with that address," returned Colonel Reed. "Will you not look at the address?" persisted the officer. " No, sir," replied Reed. "I cannot receive that letter." " I am sorry," said the envoy, and returned to the fleet.
In thusdeclining to receive a letter not bearing his proper title, Washington was not moved by vanity or any question of etiquette : a grave principle was involved. The Americans now considered them- selves a free and independent people, entitled to all the rights of belligerents. If so, Washington was as truly a general as Howe. England, however, denied that the Americans were a nation. She contended that they were rebels, traitors, to her authority, lia- ble to trial and summary execution by court-martial whenever caught. For Howe to have addressed
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Washington as " General " would have been to ac- knowledge his claims. For Washington to consent to be addressed as plain " Mr." was to relinquish his claims to being considered a belligerent. 'In this lit- tle by-play before the grand drama both actors appear as skilled diplomatists, as well as soldiers. After much talking, it was later arranged that Colonel Patterson, Lord Howe's adjutant-general, should have a personal interview with the American chief. The colonel came in full dress, attended by his aides, to the Kennedy mansion, where Washington and his generals, also in full uniform, received him with stately courtesy. Colonel Patterson, in behalf of Lord Howe, apologized for the address on the for- mer letter, said no disrespect was meant, and pro- duced another with the inscription : " George Washington, Esq., etc., etc., etc.," which, as it im- plied every thing, he hoped would prove satisfactory. " True," replied Washington, " but it also implies any thing "; and he added that he could not receive a letter addressed to him as a private person when it related to his public station. Colonel Patterson then tried to communicate orally the contents of the let- ter. The king desired to conciliate the colonists, and had given to Lord Howe and his brother, Ad- miral Howe, power to pardon past offences. To this Washington replied that "the Americans, having done no wrong, wanted no pardons. They had but maintained their rights as Englishmen." The inter- view then terminated, nothing having been gained by it.
His offers of pardon being rejected, Lord Howe
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decided to fight, and to attack by way of Long Island. At dawn on the morning of August 22d the frigates Rose and Greyhound, with the bomb ketches Thunder and Carcass, took position within Gravesend Bay to cover the landing. Then 15,000 soldiers, fully equipped, entered the eighty-six flat- boats and batteaux that had been provided, and were rowed in ten divisions to the Gravesend wharf, where they were landed without opposition, only a few Dutch farmers and the pickets of Hand's Virginia riflemen witnessing the affair. At this point, Howe was between six and seven miles from the American defences, although the skirmish line was three miles nearer.
But before describing the army's movements, let us go over the ground it was to contest. Had you crossed Fulton Ferry in August, 1776, Brooklyn Heights would have risen before you in natural outline, uncrowned by buildings. There were a few farm-houses on the slopes and the two noble mansions of Robert and Philip Livingston on Columbia Heights, but neither city nor village. A road, called the King's Highway, started from the ferry, and following the present line of Fulton Street, passed through Jamaica and continued on to the castern end of the island. A mile and a half out on this road a little hamlet had clustered round a quaint old Dutch church, standing in the middle of the street. There was an- other village at Bedford farther on, one at Gowanus, and another at the Wallabout. As you passed the line of the five forts and went on toward New
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Utrecht Plains, on which the British army now lay, you came, soon after leaving Bedford, to a ridge of hills extending from New York Bay eastward to Montauk Point through the centre of the island, and forming its backbone, so to speak. They were from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet high, often abrupt, and covered with the dense growth of scrub oak, pine, and bushy thickets, which still pre- vails farther east. Of course, no army could pass these hills. There were, however, four natural de- pressions or "passes " in the range, through which roads had been constructed-farthest north was the Jamaica Pass, through which the King's Highway ran on its way to Jamaica and the east ; then on the south a road from the King's Highway to Flatlands, one from Bedford to Flatbush ; and the coast road from Gowanus to the Narrows. These roads led to villages on the plain,-Flatlands, Flatbush, Gravesend, and New Utrecht. . On the coast road, at a noted tavern called the Red Lion, Martense Lane, now the south line of Greenwood Cemetery, diverged to the southeast through a hollow in the hills and connected with the roads on the plain. Jamaica Pass was four miles from the American line, the Flatbush Pass a mile and a half, and the Red Lion tavern nearly three. General Sullivan held the hill passes, which Washington considered the key to the position, with about twenty-five hundred troops, while Putnam, as Commander-in-Chief in the absence of Washington, remained in the fortified camp. Washington was in New York watching the enemy, and on Long Island Putnam was the central figure.
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LETTER OF GENERAL PUTNAM TO GENKKAL WASHINGTON, 1776.
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A rugged, striking figure he was, too,-one of the strongest characters of the Revolution. At this time in middle life, a veteran of the French and Indian wars, a good fighter, a stern disciplinarian, rough in manner, like Miles Standish much readier with the sword than the pen, as the letter opposite, probably written while the army was fortifying New York, shows. The apologists of Washington say-without sufficient proof-that it was by his advice that the battle of Long Island was risked and lost.
Howe's first movement was to send Cornwallis with the reserves to seize Flatbush, but not to at- tempt the pass if held by the enemy. It was held by the Virginia riflemen ; so he pushed on, and oc- cupied the village of Flatlands. The position of the Americans at this moment was as follows :
Sullivan took post on a wooded hill near the centre ; Hand's riflemen watched the Hessians at Flatbush; Miles held the Bedford Pass; a detach- ment under Parsons took post at the Red Lion tavern on the lower road, while videttes were set to patrol the King's Highway, at the Jamaica Pass. The whole patriot force on the skirmish line did not exceed 2,500 men. Putnam, with the main body, lay within the fortified line, where it was thought he could at once push forward a force to any outpost if attacked. His entire army was scarcely a third of that of the enemy's. Howe lay four days before making an advance, studying his ground and await- ing re-enforcements. On the 25th he was joined by De Heister, with two brigades of Hessians, raising his force to 21,000 men, and on the evening of the
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26th he began his advance, the Hessians and reserves under Cornwallis being massed at Flatbush, the .main body, commanded by Clinton and Percy, at Flatlands, and Grant's two brigades near the Nar- rows. The British plan of battle was an admirable one. Grant, on the extreme left, was to engage the Americans at the Red Lion tavern asa feint merely, his orders being not to press the battle until he heard from the other columns on his right. De Heister was to attack at Flatbush Pass, while the main army would steal around to the extreme right, turn the American line by the unguarded Jamaica Pass, gain the hills, and double up the skirmish line on the main body. It was vitally necessary to the success of the plan that the advance of the flanking force should not be discovered. At nine o'clock, of the night of August 26th, it being quite dark, this column began its march "across the country, through the new lots toward Jamaica Pass," as Lord Howe wrote in his report.
At the front were three Flatbush Tories as guides ; then came Clinton with the light dragoons and a brigade of light infantry; then Cornwallis and the reserve, with fourteen pieces of field artillery ; lastly, Lords Howe and Percy. The force toiled on in the darkness, along the road from Flatlands as far as Shoemaker's Creek, thence through the fields for a mile or two until they reached the Jamaica Road and . came to a halt in the open lots in front of Howard's " Half Way" tavern, a little southeast of the pass. Scouts sent forward reported the latter unguarded. Where, then, were the videttes set to guard it? On
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this particular night they comprised five young Amer- ican officers of undoubted bravery and patriotism who had volunteered for the dangerous work,-Lieu -. tenants Van Wagener, who had charged with Mont- gomery at Quebec, Troup, Dunscomb, Gilliland, and Hoogland. Their orders were to patrol the pass. Had they obeyed orders, a patriot defeat might have been averted; but they were young, ardent, burning for distinction, and so must needs go for- ward on the road in order sooner to discover the enemy's advance, never once considering that a foe might march across the fields and gain the road in their rear. Yet this was what happened ; the Brit- ish came into the road behind and quickly surprised and captured them. It was a greater prize than Lord Howe knew ; there were none now to carry the news of his advance to the patriot camp. The young men were at once hurried into the presence of General Clinton, who questioned them minutely as to the troops, the forts, and dispositions of the Amer- ican commander. But they sturdily refused to an- swer, claiming the privileges of prisoners of war. "Under other circumstances," said Dunscomb, "you would not dare insult us in this manner." Clinton, angry, called him an "impudent rebel," and threat- ened to hang him,-a threat which terrified the pris- oners but little ; "for," as Dunscomb significantly observed, " Washington can hang man for man." The column now marched through the pass and down the King's Road to Bedford, where it arrived at about half-past eight in the morning. It was in the rear of the American left, still undiscovered, and much
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nearer Putnam's fortified camp than were his out- posts on the skirmish lines. A swift push forward and the British might break through the chain of forts and cut off the Americans from their New York supports. In their present position the British could not hope to remain long undiscovered. Miles, who had been marching back and forth all the morning in search of them, discovered them at last in full possession of the Jamaica Road, between him and the forts. The British promptly attacked him in the rear, while the Hessians pressed forward in front at Bedford Pass, and drove the troops there back upon Miles; at the same time, cannonading in the direction of the Red Lion inn proved that Grant was on time, and had engaged and overlapped the American right. The patriots were in a trap. Fail- ure to guard the Jamaica Pass had undone them. They did the best thing possible under the circum- stances,-broke and fled into the wood, and made their way back to the American lines as best they could. Many were captured, and a few regained the forts.
Meantime the honors of the day had been gained by Stirling, Parsons, and their sturdy troops of the Connecticut, Maryland, and Pennsylvania lines. At two o'clock that morning Grant's advance had driven in the American pickets at the Red Lion tavern. Word was quickly sent to Parsons, who commanded in that quarter, and to Putnam in the camp. Parsons hurried down, and with a squad of twenty men, hastily collected, held the enemy in check for some time. Putnam, who had been ordered
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to hold the outposts at all hazards, at once sent Lord Stirling with a force of 1,600 men to check the en- emy's advance. Stirling found the latter moving down the road nearly half a mile this side the Red Lion on their way to the forts; directly before them was a bridge over a little creek, and on the Brook- lyn side rose a small hill known as Blockyesbergh. Stirling seized on the creek and hill as his line of resistance.
The British line of battle was formed on the oppo- site bank, and as on the right it overlapped the American, Parsons was sent to take possession of a small hill, which would extend the patriot line on the left some three hundred yards. The British first gained this hill, and Parsons made a gallant assault before he could carry it, but at last it was his. The two armies now confronted each other for two hours, it being contrary to orders for Grant to force a battle until he heard the guns of the flanking column. Stir- ling's men were 1,600 strong, the enemy 7,000, and their bravery in facing in open field an enemy so much superior is worthy of remembrance. Mean- time a brisk artillery fire was kept up, and very soon Parsons, on his hill-now the beautiful Battle Hill of Greenwood Cemetery,-was attacked by the enemy, whom, however, he again repulsed.
At ten Grant heard firing at the passes and knew that Howe was in the American rear. He at once began pushing Stirling harder, but the Americans held their ground heroically. Eleven o'clock-half past eleven came, and still no orders to retreat, although Stirling knew from the firing that the
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enemy were gaining his rear. At last, about noon, he attempted a retreat. It was too late; he was surrounded. Cornwallis, with the 71st Regiment and the Grenadiers, was on the Gowanus Road. Looking about to see how he might save his brave fellows, Stirling saw on his left Gowanus Creek and a marsh that was deemed impassable Across on the opposite shore were the American redoubts and safety. He ordered his men to break ranks and cross the marsh as best they could, while he, with Gist's and half the Maryland battalion, should hold Cornwallis in check, thus giving them time to escape. This plan was carried out. Most of the men escaped across the marsh, whereupon Stirling, seeing they were beyond danger, and finding that his Spartan band was being borne back into a thick wood, gave his men orders to disperse and save themselves. Nine men under Major Gist succeeded in crossing the creek and escaping ; but most of them, with the brave Stirling himself, were made prisoners. The greater part of Parsons' brave fellows on Battle Hill were also taken, though the General with quite a number succeeded in hiding himself in a swamp and thence gained the American lines.
Just as Stirling made his bold stand, Washington reached the forts. Smallwood, who had gained the lines with the Marylanders, begged to go to his assistance, but Washington said the risk was too great. He, however, despatched Douglas' Connecti- cut levies and Thomas' Marylanders, with two guns, to a point opposite the mouth of Gowanus Creek, to check the enemy's advance,
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Thus ended the battle. The Americans were defeated. The British were close upon their line of forts. Only this thing had been gained. The patriots, as in the case of Stirling's men, had proven that they could meet the British veteran in open line of battle and defeat him in fair fight. Washington ordered over additional troops from New York and Harlem, but could not conceal the fact that his army was in bad plight. If the enemy should assault and carry his redoubts, or if the British frigates should sail up and command the ferry in his rear, the capture of his entire force was certain. On the 29th he called a council of his generals to consult on the advisability of retreating to New York. Several reasons were given for the step. The loss in officers and men in the defeat of the 27th had occasioned confusion. The men were tired out with constant watching and alarms ; their arms and ammunition had been rendered nearly use- less by the rain of the last two days. The enemy was trying to get his ships into the East River. Lastly, Howe was advancing by trenches parallel with the American works, and an assault might soon be expected. It was decided, after long discussion, to retire to New York.
"To conduct a skilful retreat," some one has said, "is equal to winning a great victory." Washington conducted this retreat in the most masterly manner, and in part atoned for his bad generalship in trying to defend the city. As soon as it was resolved to retreat he sent Colonel Trum- bull to Assistant Quartermaster Hughes in New
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York, with orders to at once impress. every kind of craft, from Hell Gate to Spuyten Duyvil Creek, that could be kept afloat, and have them all in the " east harbor" by dark. Trumbull was also ordered to send a messenger to General Heath, commanding at Kingsbridge, to impress all the boats in his district, and to man them with the Salem and Marblehead fishermen of his command. The boats were required, it was said, to ferry over some New Jersey troops, who were to take the place of others relieved.
In his general orders to the army, Washington enployed the same fiction,-a retreat was not men- tioned,-they were to be relieved by fresh New Jersey militia. Every regiment was ordered to be ready to march at dark, knapsack on back, and arms and camp equipage in hand. It was a busy day for General Heath and Colonel Hughes. The entire water line of Manhattan Island was scoured, and, by sunset, every craft that would float was impressed and moored at the Fulton Ferry dock. It was an odd fleet-sloops, sail-boats, galleys, periaugers, flat-boats, row-boats, whale-boats,-manned by the hardy Salem and Marblehead fishermen. At dark the army was ready, each regiment being drawn up on its parade. First, Hitchcock's Rhode Islanders marched to the ferry, "through mud and mire, and not a ray of light visible," their place being at once supplied by another brigade ; and so the retreat went on, the place of each regiment, as it moved, being noiselessly taken by its fellow. Out on the redoubts the camp-fires blazed brightly, and the sentinels called the hours within hearing of the
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British pickets. Six regiments, under General Mif- flin, held these redoubts. At two in the morning, a nearly fatal blunder occurred. An aide, by mistake, brought an order for Mifflin's command to march to the ferry, which was still crowded with the retreating army. On the road, however, the mistake was dis- covered, and the men gallantly returned to the de- serted earthworks. As day broke in the east, the main army and its impedimenta was on the New York side. Mifflin's force still held the forts. How should they be drawn off undetected ? The question was answered as if by a special Providence. Ranks of heavy fog-clouds rolled up from the bay, and drew around the frowning heights an impervious curtain. Mifflin was safe. As the last outpost retired it heard distinctly the sound of shovel and pickaxe in the British trenches. Before 7 A.M., the entire force was over the river. "Washington," said Colonel Cham- berlain, " saw the last man over himself." He had been for nearly forty-eight hours in the saddle. When Howe awoke that morning, he found that an army of nine thousand men, with stores, baggage, and artillery, had been spirited away from under his guns while his army slept.
The 30th and 3Ist of August, 1776, were gloomy daysin New York. Tents, clothes, baggage, all man- ner of camp equipage, soaked with rain, encumbered the streets and sidewalks. Squads of soldiers moved wearily and dispiritedly about, or lingered on the corners. The inhabitants who were unable to flee kept within doors. In a few days, however, the army was reorganized, and order and confidence were
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restored. The burning question then was, whether to attempt to hold the city against all odds, or to burn it, and retreat to the fastnesses of the Hudson. The matter was debated for several days by Congress (to whom it was referred), and by the generals. At length, Congress gave Washington sole discretion in the matter. On September 12th, he called a council at his head-quarters in the Richmond Hill House, and there it was decided to evacuate the city-with- out burning it, however, as Congress thought it might be recovered. It was time to retreat ; already the British had seized the islands in the Harlem River, with the evident design of capturing Harlem Heights, which commanded the city on the north.
On September 3d, the frigate Rose of thirty-two guns had sailed by the batteries and up the East River conveying thirty boats which were to be used in the crossing. On the 12th thirty-six more boats passed up, and on the 14th the frigates Roebuck, Phoenix, Orpheus, and Carysfort, with six transports, joined the Rose. On this day all the teams and transports of the Americans had been employed in removing to Kingsbridge the sick, wounded, and stores. Another day and the work would have been done. Unfortunately it had been begun a day too late, for next morning the British moved upon the city, and in the afternoon it fell. The cove that now sets in from the East River at the foot of East Thirty-fourth Street was then known as Kip's Bay. There were several earthworks there, and around and below it five American brigades were distributed to watch the enemy. Sullivan's division garrisoned
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the city. Parsons' was at Corlear's Hook below Kip's Bay. Scott's New York brigade was on the Stuyvesant estate near the present Fifteenth Street. Wadsworth, with the Connecticut levies was at Twenty-third Street, Douglas with three Connec- ticut militia regiments at Kip's Bay. Putnam's division was also in the city guarding the forts and barricades. Washington on the eve of the 14th had left New York and had fixed his head-quarters at the Apthorpe mansion on the Bloomingdale Road, which one may still see, a quaint reminder of old days, at the corner of Ninth Avenue and Ninety-first Street.
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