USA > New York > Westchester County > Westchester County, New York, during the American Revolution > Part 63
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In connection with this notice of the removal of the Live-stock and Crops, we may properly mention that, very largely, the inhabitants of those portions of the County which were likely to be exposed to the de- predations of either of the two Armies-and one of these Armies was quite as bad as the other, in the work of plunder and devastation and outrage -- re- moved from their several rural homes, with as many of their effects as they could take with them, to places of supposed greater safety ;" and it is scarcely proba-
ble that, in all the lower Towns of the Comity, in which the tramp of armed men was soon to be heard, many of the inhabitants remained, unless, here and there, where the head of a family, accompanied by a faithful negro, lingered on the deserted homestead, in order that the property which could not be removed might not be left entirely uncared for.
The Convention was also mindful of the danger to which the records of the City and County of New York, as well as those of the Borough of Westchester and those of the County of Westchester, were exposed, by the movement of the enemy into the last-named County. All these had been removed from their proper places and lodged, for greater safety, in private houses, in different parts of the County, where, it was feared, they would become exposed to the enemy : and William Miller, of Harrison's Precinet, Theodorus Bartow, of New Rochelle, and John Corine were appointed Commissioners for collecting them and removing them to Kingston, in Ulster-county, with instructions to gather and remove the scattered papers, "with all possible expedition," and to deliver them, at Kingston, to Direk Wynkoop, Abrahan Hasbrouck, and Christopher Tappen ; and the Com- missioners were authorized to call for a military guard, " to attend the said records, in their removal."5
On the fifteenth of October, the local Committee of Poundridge became so much alarmed, by reason of the movements of the "disaffected," in its vicinity, that the subject was laid before the Convention ; " and the local Convention, and even individual members of that hody, eoutinued to worry General Washington
ger. (Lieu Morris to the Convention, "PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 24, 1770.") John Jay obtained a leave of absence, on the fifteenth of October, to assist in the removal of his aged parents, with their effects, from their home, at Rye, to a place of safety, one of the most honorable acts of his life, (Journal of the Conration, " Tuesday afternoon, 15 October. 1776.") The pathetic story of Placke Oakley, (Petition, December 2, 1776,) and other evidences of equal value, clearly indicate that, among those who are less linown to fatne but equally worthy of respect, the removal of families and their effects, to places of supposed greater safety, at the time of which we write, very generally prevailed.
& Found of the Correations, "Tuesday morning, Octor. 15, 1776."
"As the note of the Committee indicated the feeling of the more active of the disaffected, at that time-although the great body of three who were discontented made no attempt to take up arms or to join the Royal Army, preferring to remain at home, in proce-wo make rien for it, in this place ;
" POUNDRIDGE, October 15, A.D., 1776. "HIONOFRED SIRS :
" We, the Sub Committee of Poundridge, in West Chester County. " hey have to inform your Honours that we are apprehensive that "there is danger of our prisoners leaving us and going to the Min- "isterial Army, as we are not more than nine or ten miles from the " water, where the Sound is full of the Ministerial ships and teindlers. " One of one number is already gone to Long Island, and numbers are " gone fr an other places, which are, no doubt, now with the Minis. " teria! Ariny. There are doaffected persons daily going over to thom, " which gives us much trouble. Therefore, we humbly bag your Hlou- "omx would give us some directions concerning them, that they may " be speedily removed at some farther distance. We would also inform "you that for the misdemeanors of one of them and our own safety: wo " have been oldiged to commit bim to gaol nt the White Plains,
"These, with all proper respects, from your to serve, " JISHE'S AMBLER, Chairman of Committee
" TO THE HONOURAMY CONVENTION OF THE STATE OF NAM. Y.HE."
& General He dh to General Niren, " Kiva's Better, October 11, 1776." 2 Vide pages 221, 222, ante.
& Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Monday morning, Octor. 14, "1776."
" The Morris funify had left Morrisinia, at the first appearance of dan-
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with recitals of dangers from the "disaffected" who, | tional strife had blighted the hopes of patriots of singular as it appeared to these local depuis, were ; as une m . regel of many tten. Twee not inclined to submit, passively, to whatever of insult or of injury those in revolution should he in- clined to impose on them-only in very exceptional instances, however, did that "disaffection" extend beyond a disinclination to approve, in formal words, all which the Congresses had done, while the inelina- tion to approve the Colonial policy of Great Britain was no stronger ; and the general disinclination to leave their homes and their families and to resort to arms, or to render any assistance whatever, which the "disaffected," everywhere, presented, was as pro- ductive of disappointment to the commuanders of the Royal Army as it was to General Washington. Neither General Howe nor General Washington understood of what that "disaffection " was gen- erally composed ; and partisan writers and parti- san orators, from that day to this, have delighted to make that "disaffection" something else than it really was, and to invest the " disaffected," as a class, with characteristics and aims to which, unless in exceptional instances, they were strangers. Had the conservative farmers of Westchester-county -and these were not unlike the great bodies of the farmers, in all the Colonies-been permitted to dissent, quietly, from the policies of both the Home Goy- ernment and the Continental Congress, and to have approved, quietly, of the spirited opposi- tion to the Colonial policy of the Home Govern- ment and of the almost audacious demands for a redress of the grievances of the Colonies, which were made by the General Assembly of the Colony of New York, as they were certainly and generally inclined to do; and had not the aristocratie and haughty leaders of the revolutionary faction, in New York, attempted to secure uniformity of merely po- litical opinions -- and those to be only such opinions as they should dietate, by the methods which charac- terized the bigoted and relentless Clergy, in cases of religious dissent from their Calvinistic Congregation- alism, in puritannic Massachusetts and Connecticut- as the those high-toned leaders persistently attempted, it is doubtful if " disaffection " would have been heard of, unless in some individual instances, which would have been harmless because of their insignificance; and it is morally certain that, if the love of home and the sense of wrongs inflicted by the Mother Country and the respect for those bearing authority, which everywhere prevailed, had been permitted to exercise the influences which they would have surely exercised, especially if they had been supported by that forbear- ance and by that respect for freedom of conscience, in political affairs, and by those appeals for harmony which every Christian man would have employed and none but civilized savages would have declined to em- ploy, New York, if not the entire Continent, would have appeared, in the Autumn of 1776, as she had ap- peared in the Spring of 1774, before the spirit of far-
diferentes and social inequalities, wo handling and, if needs be, supporting in arms, the Rights and the honor of the Colony and of the Continent. But that contro !- ling faction had other ends than those of the country's welfare in view ; and a narrow, bigoted, hanghty, and relentless proscription and persecution of those whose political opinions differed from their own, very rea- sonably cansed "disaffection " among the victims, without, however, leading them, to any considerable extent,1 to strike, in retaliation-they would have been worthy of all which was heaped on them, had they endured that prescription and that persecution, with- out becoming " disaffected :". it was honorable that. although "disaffected," they declined to take up arms, even in retaliation or self-defence, when those arms, thus employed, would have been employed against their own country.
There does not appear to have been any movement, which is worthy of especial notice, in either Army, on the fifteenth of October; but in the General Orders of that day, Colonel Joseph Reed's Regiment Was ordered to join the Brigade commanded by General MeDougal; and Colonel Hutchinson's Regiment was ordered to join the Brigade commanded by General Clinton. The Regiments commanded, respectively, by Colonels Sargent, Ward, and Chester and by Lieu- tenant-colonel Storrs, were formed into a Brigade, to be commanded by Colonel Sargent; and the Regi- ments commanded, respectively, by Colonels Douglass, Ely, Horseford, and by Majors Rogers and Graves, were, also, formed into a Brigade, to be commanded by General Saltonstall. The several Brigades of the Army were formed into Divisions," those commanded, respectively, by Brigadier-generals Heard, Beall, and Weedon were to form the Division to be commanded by Major-general Putnam ; those commanded, respect- ively, by Brigadier-generals Lord Stirling, Wads- worth, and Fellows were to form the Division to be commanded by Major-general Spencer; those com- manded, respectively, by Brigadier-generals Nixon, MeDougal, and James Clinton, the last commanded by Colonel Glover, were to form the Division to be com- manded by Major-general Lee; those commanded, respectively, by Brigadier-generals Parsons, Scott, and George Clinton were to form the Division to be com-
I The reader has been, already, informed of what General Howe stated on the backwardness of the Colonists, even of those who had claimed 'o have been loyal, in taking up arms against their own country, (vide pages 212, 225, ante.) We need not repeat the statements.
" It is a noticeable fact, and one which has seriously perpleand those who have attempted to study the history of that period and, very often, bas led thein astray, that, until the time now under notier, the Regiments of the Army were not, gearnilly, arranged into Briga les and Divisions; and that neither Brigadier generals nor Major-zonerals had any specified Regiments under their especial command-they cour- mandled those who were present and on duty, wherever they might bap. pen to be ; and it is hardly to be wondered at, that there was so little af ordet and discipline in the Army : it is rather remarkable there were as much of them as there appears to have been.
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WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
manded by Major-general Heath ; those commanded, ! mander-in-chief, Major-general Lee, Patnam, Heath, respectively, by Brigadier general, Saltoncall, Sur- gent, and Hand were to form the Division to be commanded by Major general Sullivan; and the Massachusetts Militia, then serving with the Army, was to be formed into a Division to be commanded by Major-general Lincoln .! At the same time, the Gen- eral, in the most pressing terras, exhorted all Officers commanding Divisions, Brigades, and Regiments, to have their Officers and the men under their respective commands properly informed of what was expected from them, that no confusion might arise in case they should be suddenly called to action, which, there was no kind of doubt, was near at hand; and he hoped and flattered himself that the only contention would be who should render the most acceptable service to his country and his posterity. He also desired that the Officers would be particularly attentive to the mens's Arms and ammunition, that there might be no deficiency or application for Cartridges when they were called into the field .?
On Wednesday, the sixteenth of October, General Washington, accompanied by the other Generals, made a careful reconnaissance of the ground at and near Pell's or Rodman's-neck,3 towards which, it is very evident, his attention had been particularly di- rected, as the point towards which the next move- ment of the enemy would probably be directed.+
With all the information, concerning " the enemy's " intention to surround " the American Army, which the General had been able to secure; with all the knowledge which his personal and careful reconnais- sance of the country had imparted to him; and with all the intelligence concerning "the turbulence of " the disaffected in the upper parts of this State," which the Convention had communicated to him, he re-a sembled the Council of War which had met and adjourned on the preceding Sunday,' [October 13;] and he laid all these matters before it, for its consid- eration.
That very notable Council was assembled at the Head-quarters of General Lee ; and, besides the Com-
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1 Although General Lincoln was considered and mened, in the General Only now under notice, av a Major-general, it is probable that that was only his tank in the Militia of Masacisuseus, since, in tier. Colfer il of War, which was held on the following day, [October 16,] he was ranked to only a Brigadier-general, and then only at the lower end of the line of Brigadiers ..
- General Orders, "HEADQUARTERS, HARLEM HEIGHTS, October 15, " 1776."
3 Memoirs of General Henth, TI.
4 The first reconnaissance which the General made, after the enouiy's occupation of Throgg's neck, included "the Necks adjacent," so that he was not ignorant of the character of the ground on and near l'ol s- neck ; but, on the morning of the sixteenth-probably because of infor- mation received, on the preceding day, from some deserters from the Boet, who had been taken to Head-quarters and personally examined by the General, with evident confidence in their testimony, ( Genered Muchawy- for to Governor Trumbull, " HEADQUARTERS, HEIGHTS OF HARLESS, O to- "her 16, 1576,")-another and more minute examination of the ground was made, as stated in the text.
" Vida page 233, ante.
Spencer, and Sullivan ; Briga dier generale Load Stir- ling, Millin, MeDougal, Parsons, Nixon, Wadsworth, Scott, Fellows, Clinton, and Lincoln; and Colonel Knox, commanding the Artillery, were present-al- though General Greene was at the Head-quarters of the Army, on Harlem heights, he was evidently out of humor and was not present." After the Command- er-in-chief had communicated to the assembled Gen- erals those letters from the Convention of the State and those " accounts of deserters showing the enemy's "intention to surround " the American Army, to which reference has been made, and after much con- sideration and debate, the following question was stated : " Whether, (it having appeared that the ob- " structions in the North River have proved insuffi- " cient, and that the enemy's whole force is now in "our rear, on Frog Point,) it is now deemed possible, " in our present situation, to prevent the enemy from " cutting off the communication with the country and " compelling us to fight them, at all disadvantages, " or surrender prisoners at discretion ?" With only one dissenting voice, that of General George Clinton, the Council agreed that " it is not possible to prevent " the communication from being cut off; and that " one of the consequences mentioned in the question " must certainly follow." Largely, if not entirely, in deference to the expressed will of the Continental Congress, the Council resolved, however, apparently with entire unanimity, " that Fort Washington be re- " tained as long as possible." 7
6 Grucral Greene to Governor Cooke, "HEAD-QUARTERS, NEW-YORK IS- "LAND, October 16, 1776."
Singular as it would appear to be, were not the propensity for securing all the honor which belongs to them and as much more as is possible, so generally prevalent among those who have occupied publie plices, Gor- don, who was sy largely the exponent of General Greene's opinions and pretensions, made the latter take a leading part, in the Council, in op- posing the movement of the Army from Harlem Heights ; but the official Mondes of the Council clearly show that General Greene was not present, and, therefore, con'd not have taken any part in the proceedings of that body, ( Compare the Proceedings of a Council of General Officers at the Head quarters of General Lee, October 16, 1776, with Gordon's History of the American Revolution ii. 338.)
i Proceedings of a Council of General Officers held at the Head quarters of General Lee, October 16, 1776.
Because of evident errors in the copy of that pagar which is printed in Force's American .frchir. «, V., ii., 1115, THIS, we have preferro.l the copy of it, evidently taken from the original manuscript, which appears in Sparks's Writings of George Washington, Ed. Boston : 1:31, iv., 135, note.
In his evidently new.born zeal, adverse to the military and personal character of General Charles Lee, Bancroft has exposed his entire ina- bility to understand and correctly describe a military movement, what- ever his capability of understanding and correctly describing a political usovement may be, in what he has written concerning " the origin of " the retirement of the American Army from New York." ( History of the United States, Mit. Boston : 1896, ix., 175, note ; the same, centenary edi- tion, v., 410, note. )
In his attempt to take from General Lee everthing of credit for having mited with others, in advising that "retirement of the Amer- "iran Army from New York," which is now under consideration. that venerable and distinguished historian has entirely disregarded the action of that Council of War, in which the Comman log-in-chief was othcially informed, the first thing, of the opinions of the General Officers, concerning the further ocemprition of the Heights of Har em by the main body of the American Auny, on which opinions the wewere (orders for
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The several positions occupied by the different pur- setts Militia, from the command of Major-general tions of the Army, from day to day, have an been Lincoln, were " sent up the river," [the Hudson-river, noticed, with any der. gris, if any of , " to watch the motions of the ships," [the Phoenix, the the official documents of publications of that period, as far as we have knowledge; but it is evident that the command of Major-general Spencer was moved -- from the exterior lines, on the Heights of Harlem, to which it had been ordered on the preceding Monday, [October 14,]' and carried into Westchester-county --- the Brigades commanded, respectively, by Brigadier- generals Wadsworth and Fellows were moved to Kingsbridge,? probably further northward; and the Brigade commanded by Brigadier-general Lord Stir- ling, to which the Regiments commanded, respect- ively, by Colonels Weedon and Reed were added? was pushed forward, first, to the Mile Square and, afterwards, to the White Plains.4 A portion, if not the whole, of the Brigade commanded by Colonel Glover was evidently moved to support whatever guard there may have been posted on the outlet from Pell's, or Rodman's, neck ;3 two Regiments of the Massachu- Roebuck, and the Tartar, then lying off Tarrytown. ] " and to oppose any landing of men, that they may attempt ;" 6 while the Head-quarters of that small Division and, probably, the two remaining Regiments, were posted on Valentine's-hill,7 in the Town of Yonkers, one of those ridges which formed, and which still form, a distinguishing feature in the to- pography of Westchester-county ; and, at the time of which we write, the most southerly of those high grounds, extending northerly as far as the White Plains, which were subsequently occupied by detach- ments of the American Army, while the main body of that Army was laboriously and painfully occupied in its famous retreat, with its baggage and stores, from the Heights of Harlem to the high grounds at the last mentioned-place ; ' and General Heath's Di- vision was posted in a line extending from Fort In- dependence to Valentine's-hill." It is said, also, that a line of entrenched encampments was also formed, that "retirement" were largely based, and from the date of which officially expressed opinions, alone, that of "the origin of the retire- "ment of the American Army from New York " can be accurately ascer- tained. along the high grounds, on the western side of the Bronx-river, from Valentine's-hill, on the South, to Chatterton's-hill, opposite the White Plains, on the North ; 19 but by which of the Regiments they were
Surely the historian could not have been sincere when he described the hurried movement of the Regiment commanded by Colonel Small- wow, on the twelfth of October, to oppose the progress of the enemy from Throgg's-beck, as a "retirement of the American Army from New " York ; " and because the weight of his authorities, in support of his fancy, was confined to a single letter, written by the Adjutant-general of the Army to his wife, on the day after the enemy landed on Throgg's- nerk, in which that 'officer said, "The principal part of this Army is "moved off this island"-a movement from the works on Harlem Highits, which was only for the purpose of holding the enemy in chech, and that not, by any means, in fact, approaching a movement of "the " principal part of the Army," nor with either an intimation or a pretense that it was a "retirement of the American Army" from its strong posi- tion-without any other testimony whatever to support it, we are con- strained to attribute the statement under consideration, either to have Uwen an ebullition of his antipathy against General Lee or one of the reasonable results of his ignorance of what was necessary to constitute a "retirement of the American Army from New York."
It would have been more creditable to the authorial reputation of that venerable writer of history, had be read what General Washington in. structed his Secretary to write to the Presbleut of the Congress, on the seventeenth of October, the day after the Council had advised him of the inexpediency of holding the Heights of Harlem, with the main body of the Army, on the subject of the " change of our disposition, to counter- " art the operations of the enetuy, declining an attack on our front." Had he road that very simple statement, be would have ascertained that the Commander in chief was not aware, on the seventreuth of October, that any portion of the Army, at that time, had been " taken from "hence," in the selise of a "retireurent of the Army ;" that the "change "of the disposition " of the Army had not, then, been made; that that proposed " change of our disposition" was frankly stated to have been " determined" on, in the Council of General Officers, on the preceding day ; and that " General lee, who arrived on Monday, had strongly "urged the absolute necessity of the measure," not yet execuled. 1 Vidle page 234, ante.
: Memoas of General Heath, 71.
3 Gruerul Orders, " HEAD-QUARTERS, HARLEM HruHIS, October 17, "1776."
+ Memoirs of General Heath, 74.
' The action which occurred on the eighteenth of October, the day After that of which we write, was maintained by the Regiments com- manded, respectively, by Colonels Shepar 1, Read, Baldwin, and Glover, all of them belonging to the Brigadle commanded by Colonel Clover, in the alence of General James Clinton .- (Vol pages 211-200, pal.)
6 General Washington to Governor Trumbull, "HEIGHTS OF HARLEM, "15 October, 1776." : Manoirs of General Heath, 73.
7. 8 Viste pages 239 ; 250, 251 ; 254 ; etc., post.
" The two Regiments of Connectiont encamped on the Harlem river, belonging to General Parson's Brigade, (General Orders, " IKAD-QU'AR- " TERS, HARLEM HEIGHTS, October 16, 1776,") were ordered to pass over the new Bridge and join Colonel Swartwout ; and, with his Regiment, to form a flank guard. Of the Brigade commanded by General Parsons, the Regiments commanded, respectively, by Colonels Prescott atul Hunt- ington were ordered to occupy Fort Independence ; Colonel Ward, with his Regiment, was ordered to Fletcher's, to the eastward of Fort Inde- pendence ; the Regiments commanded, respectively, by Colonels Tyler and Wyllys, were ordered to form a Reserve ; and Captain Treadwell, with a three pounder, and Lieutenant Berbeck, with a howitzer, were attached to the Brigade. Of the Brigade commanded by General Scott, the Regiments cuminanded, respectively, by Colonels Lasher and Mal- colin were ordered to forin a Reserve ; * Colonel Drake, with his Regi- ment, wasordered to occupy the Redoubt, in Bates's cornfield ; Colonel Hardenberg, with his Regiment, was ordered to occupy the Kedoubt, ou Cannot-bill ; and Lieutenant Fleming and Fenno, each with a three- founder. were a.tched to the Brigade. Of General George Clinton's Brigade, the Regiments commanded, respectively, by Colonels Niealis and Thomas were ordered to form a Reserve ; Colonet Pawling, with his Regiment, wa- ordered to occupy Valentine's corufield, with Colonel Graham and his Regiment on his left ; and Captain Bryant, with a three- pounder, and bientehaut Jackson, with a six pounder, were attached to the Brigade. ( Dietrion Orders, " KING's. Buituk, October 17, 1776.")
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