Westchester County, New York, during the American Revolution, Part 56

Author: Dawson, Henry B. (Henry Barton), 1821-1889. 4n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Morrisania, New York City : [s.n.]
Number of Pages: 592

USA > New York > Westchester County > Westchester County, New York, during the American Revolution > Part 56

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& Biotraand.com net Hammond to the Convention, " TARRYTOWN. July "16, 1756;" General Clinton to Gouvedl Washington, " FORT MONTGOM- "ERY, July 23, 1776."

6 Journal of the Convention, " Friday morning, Jaly 16, 157."

1 Vhle page 208, ante.

2 Journal of the Convention, " Die Luat, P.M., July 15, 1776."

The Convention to Lieavant-colour Hammond, " IN CONVENTION FOR " THE STATE OF NEW - YORK, WHITE PLAINS, July 15, 1776." Journal of the Convention. " Die Laina, P.M., July 15, 1776;" the Convention to Lieutenant colonel Hammond, "IN CONVENTION FOR THE " SPATE At NEW-YORK, WHITE PLAINS, July 15, 1776."

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of the river; and those who were already in the service, from Ontige atul U'lster- anties, were order- edl to be posted in the Highlands, to guan ine detiles, therein, which were westward from the Hudson-river, as General Clinton should direct. The provisions of these enactments were completed by the appointment of Colonel Thomas Thomas as the Colonel-command- ing and Ebenezer Purdy as the Major, ot the troops which were to be drawn from Westchester-county !-- an appointment of Colonel which was made in the hurry of the moment and umler a misapprehension, the Convention having erroneously supposed Colonel Thomas was the senior Colonel of the Westchester- county Militia, whereas the seniority rested on Colonel Drake; and which Election, subsequently, produced a serious rupture in the military circles of the County, and between the two rivals and their respee- tive friends, since Colonel Thomas resolutely retained the authority which he had thus received by mistake.4 A guard of fifty meu was also provided for the pro- tection of the public stores of Provisions, at or near Peekskill ; ' and the Commissioners for building the Continental Ships, at Poughkeepsie, were requested to exert their ntmost abilities and attention to defend those Ships from the hostile attempts of the enemy, and, if nothing else, to preserve the Oak-plank, Rig- ging, and other Stores from falling into his hands.3

In the afternoon of the same day, [July 16, 1776,] the Convention appointed a secret Committee " to de- " vise and carry into execution such measures as to " them shall appear most effectual for obstructing " the channel of Hudson's-river, or annoying the en- " emy's ships in their navigation up the said river ; " and that this Convention pledge themselves for de- " fraying the charges incident thereto." That Com- mittee was composed of John Jay, of the City of New York, Robert Yates, of Albany-county, Major Chris- topher Tappen, of Ulster-county, William Paulding, of Westchester-county, and Robert R. Livingston and Gilbert Livingston, both of Duchess-county. At the same time, a messenger was ordered to he sent to Goy- ernor Trmubull for the purpose of requesting him to order the forces of western Connecticut to be called out, for the further support of those who were neen- pying the passes in the Highlands ; 6 a Resolution,

1.J. arnol of the Coneration, "Friday morning, July 16, 175."

" Journal of the Convention, " Die Lane, 9 ho., A.M., July 22, 17;" the sure, " Die Lane, & ho., P.M., July 22, 176;" Colore Jongh Drake to the Convention, " Wire Pluss, 23 July, 1756 ; " the same to General Morris, " NEW Hours, July 24, 1KG ; " the same to the Contar- tion, " NEW RachELLE, 6 August, 1776."

3 Preamble and Readation of the Convention, " Die Luna, I ho., P.M., " .July 22. 1776."

+ The Contention to Colour Porre Fan Cortlandt, " IN CONVENTION OF "THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW - YORK, WHITE PLAINS, ".Inly le, I77i."

5 The Convention to Jacobus Van Zandt, in his alvener, to the Captains Laurence and Toder, or other of them, at Ponkeepsie, " IS CONVENTION "OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK, WITHTE PLAINS, " Indy [6, 1776."

' It appears that it was subsequently considered advisable to send a

requesting " all Magistrates and other officers of ju -- "tive in this State, who were well attected to the liber- "ties of America, until further orders, to exercise their " respective offices," was adopted; and the Convention also adopted Resolutions declaring that "all person- "abiding within the State of New York and deriving " protection from the Laws of the same, owe Allegiance " to the said Laws, and are members of the State : that " all persons passing through, visiting, or making a " temporary stay in the said State, being entitled to " the protection of the Laws, during the time of such " passage, visitation, or temporary stay, owe, during " the same time, Allegiance thereto; and that all " persons, members of or owing Allegiance to this " State, as before described, who shall levy War " against the said State, within the same, or be adher- " ent to the King of Great Britain or others the ene- " mies of the said State, within the same. giving to " him or them, aid and comfort, are guilty of Treason " against the State, and being thereof convicted, -hall "suffer the pains and penalties of Death """" The Convention also " earnestly recommended to the Gen- " eral Committees of the Counties and the Sub-Com- "mittees in the Districts of the several Counties in " this State, immediately to apprehend and seenre all

Committee of the Convention, instead of a letter by the bands of a Messenger ; and Colonel John Bromine of New York City, and William Inter, of Charlotte county, were selected for that purpose. (faren Washington to the President of the Continental Congress, " NEW York, 19 "July, 1756." )

" These Resolutions are almost identical with other Resolutions, of the same teror, which had been adopted by the Continental Congress, ca the twenty-fourth et Jump preceding. (rab jag & 179, 150, ante ;) but, be- cause of the subsequent ubrogation of all the Laws of the Colony, and because no other Laws had been enacted, even provisionally, to take their places. the truth was, that, on the day of the adoption of these Resolutions, by the Convention, there were no Laws, of any kind, in force, within the State, nor any Courts to try offenders, of auy kit.d: and the Resolutions were, therefore, practically, more buncombe, mean- ing nothing.

But the ridiculousness of the Resolutions was not confined to their allusions to Laws which had been formally altogated and to Comets which had been a. formally ahol shed. Obedience to the Laws, lad there beon any Laws, would have been truly dne from every one within the limits of The State ; but that was something which was eutively distinct from Allegiance, which was not due to the Law- but to the Sovereign to whose supreme authority the page was legally sulgret, and from whom even the Laws themselves, had there been any, had derived all the authority which they call have is silly passesen Trescott has always consisted, mui sull ruteist-, of 4onething else thum a mete misleheranor or a suuple felony : and the subject of another sovereign, although a violator of the by lai, to which he properly owed obedience, could not, then our since, have been legally tried and convicted of Treasu, for any such violation of the best Law, in the State of New York ou elsewhere, else, muler these I -on- tions, every officer and solcher of the Royal Army, whether British or Irish or German, who were within the State of New York, on and ator the sixteenth of July, 1756, were Traitors "against the State,' Int.le to be tried fer that very capital offence, and int "suffer the pains at! " penalties of Death." therefor.

The Pouvertil, in its eagerness to secure the State, make it-I ridiculous ly the passage of such Resolutions, especially since it w. exercising despotie authority, unrestrathed by any Law, and needed to such Resolution as a warrant for dechiring any one. hu matter whom. either with or without a reason, to have been a traitor, and to have h.t.2 and quartered him after the most approved fashion of desports, lehet inclined to have done so).

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' such persons, whose going at large, at this critical ' three miles of Fort Montgomery; plundered the " time, they shall drem dangerous to the Liberties of I house of a poor man-taking, among other things, " a " handkerchief toll of Salad and a Pig so very poor " that a crow would scarcely deign to eat it "-setting the house on fire, when it was left ; and then, return- ing to the pare where the tender had run aground, in the morning, cast her anchor, where, on the fol- lowing day, the Phoenix joined her.4

" this State;" ' and the measure of its zeal was filled by asking a loan from General Washington, for the payment of what it had undertaken to do, promising to " take the earliest care to replace what nothing " but urgent necessity would have induced it to bor- " row ;" by requesting him to send an immediate sup- ply of Ammunition for" the troops who were already in motion and " but ill-supplied " with that very nec- essary article ; by expressing a fear to him that the quemy would attempt " to ent off the communication " between the City amt country, by landing above " Kingsbridge," and its desire to " have soute force " ready to hang on his rear, in case such a step should " be taken ;" and by suggesting to the General, also, that if Governor Trumlaill would form a Camp of six thousand men, at Byram-river, the westernmost limit of Conneetient, any designs which the enemy might have, to land above Kingsbridge, would become " ex- " tremely hazardous." ?

While the Convention was thus bravely and, gener- ally, with excellent judgment, employed in making preparations for a vigorous and effective resistance, whatever the purposes of the enemy may have been, General Clinton, then. at Fort Montgomery, as we have already seen, not only welcomed one of the en- emy's tenders, which was beating up the river, taking soundings as she went, with a thirty-two pound shot, which caused her to put about and run down the river, to the place where the ships had anchored ; but he also made preparations for the removal of all the goods, from the storehouses, and all the Cattle, Sheep, ete., from the farms which were contiguous to the river, to placesof safety ; and, on the following day, [.July 17, 1776, ] he went down with a force sufficiently strong to do what he had proposed ; successfully re- moved what had not yet been removed by others ; and left one hundred and eighty Militia, under the command of a prudent officer, to oppose auy attempt which might be made to effeet a landing or to open a communication with the shore .?

On the same day, [.July 17, 1776,] the Rose and one of the tenders ran up the river, the former within

1 Jottrual of the Convention, " Tuesday afternoon, 16 July, 1776."

" The Conreactions to General Washington, " Where Praia, July 16, 17TE." Of the last natued excellent suggestion, General Washington super-

quently wrote, * * * * but 1 did not think my-elf ut liberty to "urge or request his " [ Governor Townbull's] " interest in forming the " Camp of six thensind men, as the levies, directed by Congress, on the " third of Jane, to be furnished for the defense of this place, by that " Government, are but little more than one-third cotue in. At the same "time, the proposition I think a good one, if it could be carried into "execution. In case the enemy should attempt to riert a bunting "above Kingsbridge atl to ent off the communication between this "City and the country, an Army to hang out their rear would distress "Ihrem exceedingly." (General Washington to the President of the tools- neutel Congress, " New York, 19.July, 1776.")

See, also, the General's annually warm approval of the project, in his letter to the Convention, " HEAD-CARTEES, NEW YORK, July 1, 1576." & General George Clinton to Geared Washington, " Fort MONTGOMERY, ",July 233, 1576."

The purposes for which these vessels were sent up the river have never been satisfactorily explained ; and where historians have referred to the movement at all, they have generally left the subject imperfectly told. General Howe, in his first despatch on the mat- ter, informed the Home Goverment that he had " submitted to Admiral Shuldham's consideration the " propriety of sending a naval force up the North- " river, above the Town of New York, with a view to " distress the rebels on that Island, by obstructing " supplies coming down the river, and other goud " consequences dependent upon that measure, which "meeting with his approbation, orders are given for "two ships, one of forty and another of twenty guns, "to proceed upon that service, the first favorable op- " portunity ; and I fatter myself that these ships, " more than which cannot be spared at present from " the protection of the transports, will prove of suffi- "cient force to support themselves against all at- " tempts of the enemy, from the upper river, and to " answer the purposes for which they are intended," 3 from which it will be seen that it was a naval move- ment made for a purely military purpose, originated by the General-in-chief of the Army; aud, it is said, unwillingly acquiesced in, by the Admiral."

It was said by General Howe, as we have seen, that | the purpose was to cut off the supplies, for the City. which were brought down the river; but he also said, it will be remembered, there were "other good " consequences dependent npon that measure, " of the character of which " consequences " he prudently said nothing. If, among those " other good consequences," it was intended to cut off the communication, by wa- ter, between New York and Albany and, therefore, between the Army on the northern frontier and the main Army, at the former place, as General Washing- ton suspected, that would have been a well-devised

A General George Clinton to General Washington, " FORT MONSOONERY, " July 23. 1576."

The sworn statement of Jacob Hallsted, the owner of the property carried away or destayed, which is a well-toll narrative of some of the vils attendant on every War, may be seen in the Historien Moon- scripts, etc .: Miere Buone Popers, VANN., TT.

& General Hour to Lord George Gernmint, "STATEN ISLAND, & July.

" The directauthority for this statement has been nelaid ; but a emn- firnation of it may be seen in General Howe's statement, int las despatch to Lord Courge Germaine, ("STATEN ISLAND, & July, 1776,") that no more than the Flowver and He could have been spared, at that time, from the protection of the transports, even for the important service in which those two ships were employed.

i General Washington to Joka Augustine Washington, " NEW-YORK, 2 " July, 1776."*

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purpose, since the same movement which would have cut the line of communication between the two Armies, would, also, have ent off the supplies intended for the City. It was feared, also, by General Washington,' that troops were on board, intended for the seizure and occupation of the passes in the Highlands; and it was also supposed, by the same vigilant commander,? ! that Arms, for the use of those who were inclined to declare for the King, were carried up the river, by these ships and by their tenders.

The success of the expolitiun, in the purpose for : nor was there any open communication between the which General Howe said it was principally sent out -to cut off the supplies for the City-was unques- tionable ; but if that had been the real and principal purpose of the movement, in view of its complete ~ue- cess, the ships would not have been withdrawn after "so short a stay-the command of the river, for such a purpose ouly, woukl have been just as useful, permia- nently, as it had been during the short period of their limited stay on the river. There must, therefore, have been "other good consequences dependent on assurances, to that effect, which he received from Governor Tryout at. I others; of the measures adopted by binwelt, nudler the most favorald. circonstances ; and of The litter doappointment which he had . xperi- enced. in every installer. " that measure ;" and we are not inclined to admit that any Arms were aboard the ships, for the equipment of As the inhabitants of staten Island, and those of Queens, Westch-ver. and Duchess-counties were suppneed to have been especially conversa- tive and, consequently, had been most terribly outraged by the dogs want faction, it was reasonably supposed, by those who were familiar with the facts, that retaliation if not loyalty would induce these, especially. to declare against those who lead oppressed and outraged them ; but ( ... [wareful disposition of the farmers of lower orange and Duchess and Westchester-conties, theie simple doitwestie habits and controlling love of home, and their almost universal contentment with their old-time pr s- perity and comfort and happiness, were not taken Into consideration ; and, as the expedition of the hair and the Rose ascertained aulas General llowe subs piently learned, these were more powerful than any other consideration-the farmers referred to, preferred to endure the hardships to which they might be subjected, at home, instead of nhau- doning their homes and wives and children, of throwing themselves inta what would have been new and untried associations and arthod- and-v. periences, und of being subjected to other hardships, in the foldfor i. garrisous, as severe, if not more severe, as those from which they went !! have this escaped. Westchester-county Loyalists, nor that any design against the Highland passes was on the programme of their proposed operations-we ineline, rather, to the belief that only ostensibly were those ships sent up the river to cut off the supplies ; and that, really, they were sent up to sound, not only the river but the inhabitants of the Philipsborough and the Cortlandt Manors, on the eastern bank of the river, and, to some extent, those of Orange-county, below the mountains, on the western bank, as to their disposition to declare themselves favorable to the Royal cause. The vigi- lance with which the Westchester-shore of the river was generally watched and the extreme backwardness of even those who had been outraged by the County and Town Committees, to abandon their families and General Howe very well said, after experience had taught him the farts, " Much might be sa'd upon the state of loyalty and the principles "of loyalty, in America. Some are loyal from principle ; meny from it .- "terest ; many from resentment ; maay wish for prace, but are indiffer- "ent which side prevails ; and there are others who wish shows to fireatt " Britain, from a recollection of the happiness they enjoyed under ter "government." (aberrations spou a prophet entitled Letters to a Na- Although there may have been individuals andong the Letters of Westchester county who, wieder this classification, were " loved from " principle ' or from "interest" or from " resentment," there can le very little doubt that th . mase of those farmers were loyal, as far as they were loyal inany degree, because of their desire for peare, her matter from whout it might come, and because of their recollection of the hat- piness they hadenjoyed under the Colonial Government. bleman, 39.) their homes, even in retaliation or because of their honorable loyalty to their Sovereign, were so pain- fully evident, however, that General Howe became convinced that if " the Militia of Westchester-county "could not be depended on," in the revolutionary interest, it was equally untrustworthy, in the interest of the King; that the farmers of Westchester-county were reliable, mainly, in their love of their respective homes; that they desired nothing more than a peace- ful occupation of their respective farms; and that he need not expect any military co-operation from them. He learned the lesson, faithfully ; and no one who They practic diy illustrated the theory of the party of the Uppertin to the Home ( vermacut, with whom they had been, generally, in har- many-" LET 'S ALONE." reads what he subsequently wrote," no one who studies

I tieneral Washington to John Augustine Washington, "New-YORK, 22 " July, 1776."

= 1bid.

" Iu his poiblished Despatches to the Home Goverment, while he held the chief command of the Army in America, and in his Sarrutier in i Committee of the House of Commons, relative to his Conduct, etc., et. pecially in his observations apod of pamphlet entitled Letters to a Noble- man, General lowe told the story of his great exportion of active co- operation, in the field, from those who favored the Royal raus ; of the

what he subsequently did, concerning the alleged hoy al element of the country, will fail to trace the -part of both his words and his actions, back to the to. i. ings of that not unprofitable expedition of the /. and the Box into the western waters of Westchester. county.

Whatever may have been the real purposes of the expedition, the eastern shore of the river was so well guarded that no attempt was made to land, in force. for any purpose, on the Westchester-county side of it. ships til the inhabitants of that County, although it is known that frequent communications were effect- el, secretly and in the night, with some of the in- habitants of the Cortlandt Manor' -- it is not pretende .. by any one. that any Loyalist, from either of the three Counties of Orange, Westchester and Duchess. son lit refuge on board of either of the ships. The river

General Washington to Jaha .lagusting Washington, " NEW YORK, "July, 1776."

There is not known to have been any communication between the Westchester county bank of the river and the ships, while the latter re- mained on their lower an borgo-ground, except those referred to pago 20%, sollte ; lot, selonquently, while the ships were of the Couple it Muur, their boats as we shall see, were very active, during every ight . and it is known the ships were visited by value of the nightout = 1. habitants. The guards were less vigilant, in the upper part of the Locality. that they Innud been, neur Tarrytown.

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was carefully sounded, as far as the tenders went ; 1 the inhabitants, especially those on the western bank of the river, were widely robbed, and, sometimes, cation, between the City and the upper portions of had been merely to cut off the supplies, since the sup-

5 General Washington to the Convention, " HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK, "July 19, 1776."

Pierre Van Cortlandt and Zephanich Plat, Jaar. to the Convention, " PEEKSKILL, July 22, 1776." 7 Memoirs of Major-general Heath, 50.

Pierre Van Cortland and Zephanich Platt, Jour, to the Convention, " HEAD-QUARTERS, MOUTH OF CROTON, Augt. 2, 1776."

On the twenty-sixth of July, Joshua, son of Caleb Ferris-a member of the County Conunittee, during 1775-6-went ou lward the Phaais, rumshine all night ; and Philip Schurman -who had been in Boston, while the Royal Army had occupied the Town; who bad been taken prisoner, by the Americans; and who had been released by reason of per- gonal influence of his friends-Frederic Secore, "one Balles," * atul Lewis Purdy, " from froton River, " are also known to have gone to the samo ship, on that day or antsequently. (Examinations of Joshua Ferris, Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Miscellaneous Papers, xxxV., 63, 85.)

* On Sunday night, the twenty-elghth of July, because the New Eng- land trooja Had gone away, on the preceding day, leaving the river- line unguarded, the boats from the ships went ashore, "at one Bailey's," near the mouth of Croton-river; " went back, half a mile ; and drove off "a pair of oven, two cows, one call, one heiler, and eleven cheep : Do "doubt had the assistance of some Tories, on shure " (Pierre Van Cortlandt and Zephanink Platt, Jaar, to the Contention, " HEAD QUARTERS, " MotTH or CRUTON, Angt. 2, 1776.")

Was the Bailey, at whose house the latudling was thus made, the same Bailey who was seen out board the Plumnir, a few days afterwards ?

Tarrytown, during either the second or third of August."

In the meantime, while the ships were thuis alarm-

their honses were burned ; " and the line of communi- ' ing nearly every une, by their movements np the river, General Washington, notwithstanding his the country, was effectually ent ; ' but, if the purpose multitude of other cares, promptly adopted measures for seeuring the removal of those unwelcome visitors plies of the City which were taken from Westchester- . from the waters of the Hudson. Immediately after cunnty, were drawn, during the harvest-season, ouly , their successful passage up the river, the General in very limited quantities and those from only the near- by farmers, possessing only limited means, the ships were anchored too far np the river; and that par- ticular purpose of the expedition must have been, to some extent, defeated, by the mistake of the ofliver commanding it. . wrote to the Governors of Connecticut and Rhode Is- land, for the use of some of the galleys which those States had built; and, on the twenty-fourth of July, he wrote to the Convention of New York, telling it what he had done ; that he was in expectation, "every "honr," that three or four of those galleys would reach The Militia who were ordered out for the protection of the storehouses and the passes in the Highlands, responded with great promptitude,' so much so, in- deed, that General Washington was warranted in ealling to the main Army some Massachusetts troops who had been sent to that vicinity ; ' and the vessels dropped down and anchored "a little below Ver- "planek's Point," and ceased to make any attempt to effect a landing, anywhere.6 the City of New York; that he had one, already ; that if any measures were being taken for attacking the ships, in which these galleys could be usefully employed, to let him know ; and that, " if not other- "wise materially engaged," he should be glad to co- operate with them, and to furnish any assistance which the galleys could give.10 The reply of "the "Secret Committee" of the Convention, to whom this portion of the General's letter was referred, has On the twenty-sixth of July, the ships were said to have dropped down the river, still further,' probably to the mouth of the Croton-river ; " and it is very evident they fell down to their original station, off not been found ; but the tenor of it may be seen in the fact that two of the galley's went up the river, on the twenty-eighth of July, and three or four more on the first of August; " and that they probably "ran into "shoal water and ereeks, whence they could warp out, General Clinton to General Washington, " FORT MONTGOMERY, July " 23, 1776." "at certain times of tide, and annoy the shipping."12 On the afternoon of the third of August, these 2 Colourl A. Hawkes Huy to General Washington, " HAVERSTRAW, July "19, 1776 ;" General Clinton to General Washington, ". FORT MONTHOM- " ERY, July 23, 176;" Extract from a letter dated at Fort Montgomery, July 23, 1776, in Force's AAmerican Archives, V, 1., 546. galleys-bearing the names, respectively, of Wash- ington, Lady Washington, Spitfire, Whiting, Indepen- dence, Crane, and an unnamed whaleboat-boldly at- 3 Journal of the Convention, "Thursday morning, July 18, 1756 ;" Gea - 1 eral Washington to John Augustine Washington, " NEW YORK, 2 July, "1736." tacked the ships, at their anchorage ; and as this early naval confliet occurred in the waters of Westchester- Pierre Van Cortlandt and Zephanich Platt, Jour, to the Contentun, " PEEKSKILL, July 16, 1776." county, we make room for the contemporary account of it:

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Westchester County, New York, during the American Revolution, Part 56

Author: Dawson, Henry B. (Henry Barton), 1821-1889. 4n Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Morrisania, New York City : [s.n.] Number of Pages: 592

Author: Dawson, Henry B. (Henry Barton), 1821-1889. 4n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Morrisania, New York City : [s.n.]
Number of Pages: 592