USA > New York > Washington County > Washington county, New York; its history to the close of the nineteenth century > Part 20
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The loss in this action was severe on both sides. Colonel Hale,
1 Johnson.
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THE ADVANCE OF GENERAL BURGOYNE.
who, on account of illness, had not brought his regiment into action, fell in with a small party of British in a dense forest, and with a num- ber of his men-all raw militia-was captured. Colonel Hale (the grandfather of the late Hon. Robert S. Hale, M. C., of Elizabeth- town, Essex County, N. Y.) was charged at the time, by personal enemies, not only with cowardice, but also with treasonable commun- ications with Burgoyne while a prisoner. The matter was thoroughly investigated and both charges were found to be without a shadow of foundation. Indeed, I have now before me, as I write, a certificate in Burgoyne's own hand-writing (who, although he may not have been a great general, yet certainly was a man of honor, save when women were concerned) in which he certifies "on his honor as a gentleman and a soldier," that Colonel Hale has never communicated to him any improper information, and further, that no conversation, even, has passed between them, "except the ordinary dinner table courtesies between gentlemen." Poor Hale died a prisoner at the early age of thirty-seven and never had the opportunity, which he most earnestly sought, to vindicate himself by a court-martial. In killed, wounded and prisoners, the Americans lost in this action three hundred and twenty-four men, and the British, one hundred and eighty-three-among whom was Major Grant, of the Grenadiers, a most excellent and brave officer.
Meantime, while these events were taking place upon the land, General Burgoyne was pursuing the Americans upon the water. In a few hours he destroyed the boom and bridge which had been con- structed in front of Ticonderoga and which had been the work of months and of great labor to complete, and by a few well directed cannon shots he broke in two the colossal chain upon which so many hopes had hung. The passage thus being cleared, the fleet of Bur- goyne immediately entered Wood Creek, and, favored by a brisk wind, came up with the American flotilla at Skenesborough in the afternoon. Meanwhile, three regiments, which had landed at South Bay, crossed a mountain with great celerity, with the object of turn- ing the Americans above Wood Creek, and destroying their works at Skenesborough, thus cutting off their works at Fort Anne. The Americans, however, eluded this stroke by the rapidity of their flight, but, in the meanwhile, the British frigates having now come up, the galleys, already hard pushed by the gun-boats, were completely over- powered. Two of them surrendered and three were blown up. The
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
Americans now despaired, and having set fire to their works, mills and bateaux and otherwise destroyed what they were unable to burn, the detachment under Colonel Long, hastily retreated by way of Wood Creek to Fort Anne.
Meanwhile, General St. Clair, who had arrived with the van-guard at Castleton, in Vermont, upon learning of the discomfiture at Hub- bardtown and the disaster at Skenesborough, and consequently, ap- prehensive that he would be interrupted if he proceeded toward Fort Anne, struck into the woods uncertain whether he should repair to New England or Fort Edward. Being joined, however, two days afterward at Manchester by the remains of the corps of Colonel War- ner and by the militia, which, it will be remembered, had been sent to him from Washington County under Colonel Williams, he proceeded to Fort Edward and united with the force of General Schuyler.
BATTLE OF FORT ANNE.
As soon as Burgoyne had taken possession of Skenesborough, he detached Lieutenant-Colonel Hill, with the 9th regiment, to Fort Anne, with the view both of interrupting such of the enemy as should attempt to retreat to that fort and of increasing the panic produced by the fall of Ticonderoga. It was also of vital importance to the British that Fort Anne should be taken, as it commanded Wood Creek through which their army would have to move carrying with them as many hatteaux as would be necessary to transport their provisions down the Hudson to Albany-the objective point of Burgoyne's expe- dition. This detachment had not proceeded many miles before it overtook some boats laden with baggage, women, children and invalids belonging to the Americans, moving up Wood Creek in order to escape to Fort Anne. These were at once secured. Arriving within a quarter of a mile of the fort Colonel Hill learned, through an American deserter (in reality an American spy) that it was very strongly garrisoned, and although he had with him five hundred and forty-three veterans, he at once halted in a strong position and send- ing back a message to Burgoyne for reinforcements, lay that night upon his arms.
Before, however, giving an account of the Battle of Fort Anne-an engagement the most important that has ever taken place within the limits of Washington County, and which, as was acknowledged by
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DEFENCE OF FORT ANNE.
officers on both sides, was one of the most hotly contested actions of the Revolutionary War-it may be well, in order that the reader of the present day may have a clear idea of the scene of this battle, to give a brief description of the ground on which it was fought. On leaving the main street of Fort Anne village, there is a bridge over Wood Creek, leading to its left bank. Immediately beyond the bridge there is a narrow pass only wide enough for a carriage, cut in a great measure out of a rocky ledge, which terminates here exactly at the creek. This ledge is the southern end of a high rocky hill, which converges toward Wood Creek and between the two is a narrow tract of level ground, which terminates at the pass already mentioned. On this ground the battle took place, and the wood on the right bank of the creek, from which the Americans fired upon the left flank of the British, is still there and it was up this rocky hill that they retreated and took their stand. 1
Meanwhile, Colonels Long and Van Rensselaer, who by the direc- tion of Schuyler, with five hundred men-many of them convales- cents-had taken post at Fort Anne, were not persons to await an attack. Colonel Long had been known for many years as an officer of distinguished bravery and of undoubted patriotism, while in regard to Colonel Van Rensselaer, when Ticonderoga was abandoned by the Americans, General Schuyler requested General Washington to send Colonel Henry Van Rensselaer to the Northern Army. The First New York regiment with a park of brass artillery, was then at Fort George-to save which was all important -to the American cause. Colonel Van Rensselaer was directed to pick out of the militia, then at Fort George, (many of whom, aside from those enlisted in Colonel William's regiment, were from Washington County) four hundred volunteers and stop the British advance at a defile near Fort Anne at all hazards, until he could remove the stores, etc., from Fort George." These officers, learning from the spy before mentioned, who had re- turned, determined to force an engagement before Burgoyne should
1 Aubury in his "Travels" gives an exquisite picture (and, undoubtedly, a faithful one) drawn by him on the spot, of Fort Anne and its block-house. 1 would advise those of my Fort Anne readers, who would like to see how their town appeared in 7777, when they happen to be in Albany to visit the State Library and look at this picture, as the library has this work. It will well repay them to do so.
2 How far he succeeded in executing this order and the good effect it had in rallying a new army, will be found in Burgoyne's Trials, Wilkinson's Memoirs, Bonney's Historical Gleanings and in other works.
[ 21 ]
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
be able to assist Colonel Hill. Accordingly, early the following morning (July 8th) they suddenly issued from the fort and attacked the English in front checking their advance by a galling fire, while at the same time a strong column under Van Rensselaer crossed the creek, and taking advantage of a thick wood passed nearly around the left flank of the British, and, after delivering them a most tremendous fire across the creek, "poured down upon them," in the language of a participant in this action, "like a mighty torrent." Indeed, so severe was this onslaught that Deputy-Quartermaster General Money testi- fied before the Committee appointed to try Burgoyne in Parliament, that the "American fire at the engagement at Fort Ann was heavier than any other action during the campaign, except in the battle of Freeman's Farm on the 19th of September, 1777." This terrific attack of Colonel Van Rensselaer compelled Colonel Hill, in order to avoid being completely surrounded, to take post on the top of a slight emi- nence. No sooner, however, had he taken up this position than the Americans reformed and attacked it so vigorously in an engagement which lasted more than two hours, that the English Colonel must soon have surrendered, had not the ammunition of the Americans unfortu- nately given out ; and since, on their side, bayonets were the exception and not the rule among them, they could not fight regular troops with only clubbed muskets. To add, moreover, to the giving out of the ammunition their misfortune was increased at this critical juncture, most opportunely for the British, by the arrival of a party of Indians under Col. Money who, with the shrill war-whoop, dashed in and forced the Americans, in their turn, to give way and join their comrades further up the creek. Colonel Long thereupon, not being able to withstand the force of Major-General Phillips-some authorities say General Powell-who, with the 20th regiment, consisting of five hundred and twenty men and two pieces of artillery, was pressing forward to the assistance of Hill, sent off all his baggage and wounded, and having set fire to the frail block-house and palisade which constituted Fort Anne, with the remnants of his Spartan band, fell back with his com- mand upon Fort Edward, joining his forces at that place with those of General Schuyler.
It has, I am fully aware, been stated that the credit of impeding Burgoyne's ascent of Wood Creek up from Skenesborough should be given to Colonel Long in his retreat, who " wisely used his powder in blasting rocks from the bluffs above Fort Anne in the narrow gorge
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COLONEL LONG'S OPERATIONS.
through which the creek flows and effectually destroyed its naviga- tion." But what proofs can be produced for this claim on behalf of Colonel Long?
The British broke through the boom barrier or bridge at Ticon- deroga before 9 a. m. on the 6th of July and reached Skenesborough only two hours later than the Americans-early in the afternoon of the same day. "Colonel Long," writes General J. Watts de Peyster -than whom on this episode of the Revolution no abler eritie exists- "landed his battalion at about 3 p. m., 1 the 6th of July and marched directly to Fort Anne, eleven or twelve miles further south. He must have consumed the whole daylight getting over that distance through the woods and swamps. Early next day, 7th July, Long retraced his steps three miles, had a hard fight with the British Colonel Hill, and that afternoon, having returned to Fort Anne and burned it, retired to Fort Edward, on the Hudson. That is to say, this Colonel Long, who is represented as using his powder in blasting roeks on the 6th, still had powder enough to fight next day a smart little battle which lasted a number of hours. How did the soldiers under Long obtain or carry with them any super-abundant powder on this exhausting march, and where did he get tools to drill and appliances for blasting? He did march eleven or twelve miles, we know, from Skenesborough (Whitehall) to Fort Anne, after 3 D. m., on the 6th July, consequently
1 The | American] boats reached Skenesborough about three o'clock on the afternoon of the same day [6th July], when the fugitives landed to enjoy, as they fancied, a temporary repose; but in less than two hours they were startled by the reports of the cannon of the British gun- boats, which were firing at the galleys which were lying at the wharf. By uncommon effort and industry. Burgoyne had broken through the chain, boom and bridge at Ticonderoga, and had followed in pursuit with the ' Royal George' and ' Inflexible ' and a detachment of the gunboats under Captain Carter. The pursuit had been pressed with such vigor that, at the very moment when the Americans were landing at Skenesborough, three British regiments disembarked at the head of South Bay, with the intention of occupying the road to Fort Edward. Had Burgoyne delayed the attack upon the galleys until these regiments had reached the Fort Edward road, the whole party at Skenesborough would have been taken prisoners. Alarmed, however, by the approach of the gunboats, the latter blew up three of the galleys, set fire to the fort, mill and storehouse, and retired in great confusion toward Fort Ann. Occasionally the overburdened party would falter on their retreat, when the startling cry of 'March on, the Indians are at our heels,' would revive their drooping energies and give strength to their weakened limbs. At five o'clock in the morning [7th July], they reached Fort Ann, where they were joined by many of the invalids who had been carried up Wood Creek in boats. A number of the sick, with the cannon, provisions and most of the baggage, were left behind at Skenesborough.
On the 7th, a small reinforcement, sent from Fort Edward by Schuyler, arrived at Fort Ann. About the same tune a detachment of British troops approached within sight of the fort. This detachment was attacked from the fort, and repulsed with some loss; a surgeon, a wounded cap- tain, and twelve privates were taken prisoners by the Americans. The next day Fort Ann was burned, and the garrison retreated to Fort Edward, which was then occupied by General Schuy- ler."-" History of Saratoga County, New York," by the late Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
he had no time to obstruct Wood Creek on that day. Next day he fought an engagement three miles in advance of Fort Anne-i. c., in the direction of Skenesborough-retreated to Fort Anne, burned the post, and fell back nine miles farther to Fort Edward-having marched fifteen miles, besides fighting desperately for a number of hours on the 7th. Consequently he could have had no time on the 7th. When and how did he perform the engineering feats attributed to him?"
To the same effect, also, Lieutenant-Colonel Kingston, Burgoyne's Adjutant-General in Burgoyne's trial before Parliament testified: "I remember our scouts giving information that a bridge was laid over the Hudson river, very near the enemy's camp; and it was the opinion of some very confidential men that were employed in that army in that capacity, and were much under the direction of General Fraser, that on the approach of Sir Henry Clinton's army, the army of Mr. Gates could not stand us, but would cross the river and go towards New England."
ANECDOTES OF THE BATTLE.
It was during the most severe part of the conflict and while "the woods, the rocks and the hills were re-echoing with the continuons crash of musketry" that Colonel Van Rensselaer was desperately wounded by a musket ball in his leg while in the act of stepping over a fallen tree. The ball entered his thigh, broke the bone and glanced up to the hip-joint where it lodged and remained for nearly forty years in his person and could not be traced until after his death. Such a fearful wound, of course, put a stop to his further participation in the fight and threw him on his back behind the mouldering tree trunk. Notwithstanding, however, the intense agony which he suffered, he called out to those of his men who in blank consternation had run to his assistance. " Don't mind me my brave fellows; leave me and charge the enemy. Charge! Charge! I say." His mandate was obeyed and for fully two hours, without a leader, these hastily gath- ered and undisciplined yeomanry, of five hundred men, entirely mus- tered on the Van Rensselaer manor, maintained their advantage over some of the finest troops of Great Britain. Indeed, the stand thus taken by Colonel Van Rensselaer's tenants held Burgoyne in check an entire day and enabled General Schuyler to remove the artillery and stores from Fort George, strengthen his position in Bemis Heights and gain invaluable time.
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HEROISM OF COLONEL VAN RENSSELAER.
The gallant leader at Fort Anne refused every proffer of assistance after receiving his wound and persisted in the advance of all his men after the retreating foe. In consequence he was soon left alone, but his anxiety to calculate the result of the onset induced him ever and anon to brave the pangs of an effort to overlook the obstructing log. When satisfied by the still receding noise of contention, he sought again his more comfortable position on the level earth. At the ex- piration of those seemingly unending hours he heard the sound of approaching footsteps among the rustling underbrush. Looking over the log he found the noise was occasioned by a young rustic, whose soiled garments, together with sundry circular impressions upon his lips, evidently made from a foul gun-barrel, proclaimed him late from the scene of action. Whether his prowess had been exerted in favor of King or Rebel was not known to the Colonel, who consequently hailed him.
" Who comes there ?"
" Holloa," ejaculated the startled youth and catching a glimpse of the head from which the unexpected demand had issued, and of the musket in the act of being leveled at him over the log, he quickly ensconced himself behind a neighboring tree. Having reloaded his piece he replied: " I am a Continental soldier, and who the devil are you?" "I am Colonel Van Rensselaer," was the answer. Upon hearing this, the brave fellow immediately left his hiding-place and soon, collecting a few of his comrades, bore, with their assistance, the wounded officer to the fort. In his latter days the Colonel often men- tioned the manly conduct of this soldier with pleasure. 1
R. Lamb, a sergeant in the Royal Welsh Fusileers, and the one referred to above as a "participant in the action " and who was the one left in charge of the wounded, was evidently a man of education and culture. " He gives in his Journal of Occurrences during the late
1 At Fort Anne Colonel Van Rensselaer's wound was hastily dressed and as the evacuation of the fort was decided upon, he was again raised upon the shoulders of his devoted men and borne fifteen miles to Fort Edward, whence he was put on a battean and floated down to Albany, hav- ing as his companions Captain Montgomery and other prisoners of war. Being too ill to be taken to his residence in Greenbush, both of these officers were placed under the skillful hands of Dr. Samuel Stringer- - Surgeon-General of the forces under General Schuyler, and a man of great eminence in the medical profession, ranking among the very first practitioners of his day. He clied in 1818.
For the above facts both in the text and note, the author is greatly indebted to Mrs. Catharina V. K. Bonney's Historical Gleanings.
Mrs. Bonney is the grand-daughter of Colonel Van Rensselaer.
2 After the war he returned to his native place, Dublin, and taught an excellent school for many years.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
American War (Dublin 1809) the following graphie account of the action at Fort Anne, which, being from the pen of an eye-witness and participant in the battle is well worthy of quoting and of preservation. He writes:
"I very narrowly escaped myself from being taken prisoner at that time [i. e. at the Battle of Fort Anne] as I was just in the act of assisting the surgeon in dressing Captain Montgomery's wound, when the enemy came pouring down upon us like a mighty torrent ; in con- sequence whereof I was the last man that ascended the hill. I had not been there five minutes when Lieutenant Westrop, who was by my side, was shot through the heart. A few minutes after a man a short distance upon my left, received a ball in his forehead, which took off the roof of his skull. He reeled round, turned up his eyes, muttered some words and fell dead at my feet. After the Americans had retreated, we formed on the hill. It was a distressing sight to see the wounded men bleeding on the ground, and what made it more so, the rain came down like a deluge upon us, and still, to add to the distress of the sufferers, there was nothing to dress their wounds, as the small medicine-box which was filled with salve, was left behind with Sergeant Shelly and Captain Montgomery at the time of our movement up the hill. The poor fellows earnestly entreated me to tie up their wounds. Immediately I took off my shirt, tore it up and with the help of a soldier's wife (the only woman who was with us and who also kept close by her husband's side during the engage- ment) ' made some bandages, stopped the bleeding of their wounds and conveyed them in blankets to a small hut about two miles in our rear. * * Our regiment now marched back to Skenesborough, leaving me behind to attend to the wounded with a small guard for our protection. I was directed that, in case I was either surrounded or overpowered by the Americans, to deliver a letter, which General Burgoyne gave me, to their commanding officer. There I remained seven days with the wounded men, expecting every moment to be taken prisoners; but although we heard the enemy cutting trees every night during our stay in order to block up the passages of the road and the river [ i. e. Wood Creek ] we were never molested."
1 So it would seem as if there were "Moll Pitchers" on the English side during the Revolution as well as on our own ! How interesting it would be to trace the descendants of this chivalric woman. Perhaps, for aught we know to the contrary, her descendants may even now be occupy- ing positions of great trust in the Government of the United States, for very many of these English troops eventually settled in this country.
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IMPORTANCE OF FIGHT AT FORT ANNE.
Meanwhile. General Phillips, learning upon his arrival at the de- serted and charred ruins of Fort Anne, that the enemy had retired, immediately marched back to Skenesborough, leaving behind a small guard to take care of the wounded and, on the 13th of July, the Americans reoccupied the site of the fort.
General Burgoyne, in accordance with his usual policy, claimed in his reports to the British ministry, a victory in this affair-a claim which was clearly not justified by the facts. He certainly did not retain possession of the battle-field; and not only does General Reide- sel (the commander of the Brunswick contingent under Burgoyne) state in his " Journal," that "the English, after a long fight at Fort Anne were forced to retreat," but the British abandoned Captain Montgomery, son of Sir William Montgomery, Bart. of Dublin and a brother-in-law of Lord Townshend, and also a wounded officer of great merit, a surgeon and other prisoners, when, in the language of Burgoyne, in describing this action to Lord George Germain-they "changed ground." This scarcely reads like a victory.
This memorable action-the Battle of Fort Anne-has never occu- pied the place in the history of the Revolutionary War to which its importance entitles it. Even Bancroft par excellence the historian of the United States passes it over with a brief allusion. And yet its importance cannot be overrated. It occurred comparatively a short time previous to the two great battles which resulted in the crushing defeat and surrender of Burgoyne on the heights of Saratoga and Schuylerville, and was swallowed up and forgotten in the superior brilliance and importance of those decisive conflicts. It was main- tained for an entire day in a series of desperate and bloody skirmishes by a force of one thousand men against an advanced brigade of Bur- goyne, composed of the flower of his army and commanded by the best military talent of that age. Not even Churchill-the famous Duke of Marlborough-the greatest general between Caesar and Napoleon the world has ever produced-had such an array of able lieutenants. Fort Anne, in Washington County, was indeed, an hon- ored field for the preliminary skirmishes and engagements between the contending armies before the final surrender. It was fought by order of General Schuyler, who, realizing the importance of checking the enemy's advance at that point, gave explicit directions to defend Fort Anne at " all hazards." There were large supplies intended for the use of the American army at Ticonderoga and Lake George,
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
where they had been detained in consequence of hearing of the in- vestment by land and water of our works on Lake Champlain; and to favor the design of the detachment of wagons and the other commis- sariat sent to remove those supplies back to Fort Edward, General Schuyler despatched Col. Henry K. Van Rensselaer to Fort Anne to collect the militia from Washington County and oppose the British who were in pursuit of Colonel Long's scattered command. In fact, it was in consequence of this that the battle with the Ninth regiment took place.
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