USA > New York > Westchester County > Westchester County, New York, during the American Revolution > Part 75
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1 " When she went out of the bones, some of the mon began to carry " things out of the house ; when she asked them why they took those "things. Then Major Austin spake; and told her he should carry " them to the General's ; and alleged General Sullivan's order, for it." -(Mrs. Adoras's testimony, before the Court-martial for the trial of Major Austin, "PitiusesBene, November 12, 1976.")
"Ou the night of the 5th instant, he had been out on a scouting party, " with Major Austin; and, on their return, the Major ordered him back, with '. five men, to the houses which they harced ; and told him to take goodcare " of whatever thing. he got ; to keep them safe ; aml bring them off, to his " markve ; " ete .-- ( Testimony of Surge int Churchill, at the s time trial, - Nov- " ember 13." in which Captain Keith and James Linzer fully concurred.) " Further says. thal what thing- were tied up, in two blankets, were " carried to the Major's maike ; and all the rest were left with the wo- " p. a."-(Textingmg of Tilley How, at the same trial, " November 13:" in which James Linzer and Captain Keith fully coucnrred.)
" Testimony of Mes. Mluas, at the same trial.
* Theway of They How, vol of Jumex Linzer, and of Captain Keith, at
+ Textudoug of Me. Alame, at the same trial.
5 " Major Au-tin tobl his men to go and set the other hon.es on fire, "as quick as he curth."-(Testimony . / Mes. adams, at the same trial.) See, also, the testimony, on the sune subject, of Sergeant Churchill, of Tilley flow, of James Linzer, and of Captain Keith, at the same trial. 6 Enderstoot. from aged people, many years since, to have ocenpied the lower portion of the property now occupied by the restarted widow of the late C. Halsey Mitchell-that portion of that property, indeed, which was occupied, so many years, for the Law-office of Minutt Mitchell, Esq., so long the head of the Bar of Westchester-county.
General Orders of the Army, "HE ALOS ARTERS, WHITE PLAINS, NO. "vember 6. 1776 ; " The Committee of Safety for the State of Soir. Fick to the President of the Congress, " IN COMMITTEE OF SAFETY FOR THE STATE "OF NEW-YORK, FISHKILL, November 28, 1776 ; " Members of General Heath, 83 ; rte.
& General Orders of the Army, "HEADQUARTERS. WHITE PLAINS, NO- " veraber C, 1776."
" Committee of Sajely for the State of Nor-York to the President of the
had inflicted the great wrong, only after the most vigorons effort of General Lee, was mililly "dis- " missed from the service," by the verdict of a second Court-martial, who sat in judgment, on the culprit; 19 and he was turned over to the Convention of the State, to be dealt with, in an action by the State, resulting in his escape from the Jail at Kingston, which closed the subject, on the pages of history.
On Wednesday, the sixth of November, General Howe, with that portion of the Royal Army whom he had not pushed forward toward Kingsbridge, en- camped at Dobbs's;ferry ; " and, on the same day, General Washington called a Council of his General Officers, to consult on such measures as should be adopted, in case the enemy should continue to fall back, on the City of New York.12
On Thursday, the seventh of November, the en- emuy's park of Artillery was moved to Kingsbridge, under a strong escort, with a detachment of Chasseurs, to join the Division commanded by General Knyphau- sen; 13 and his foraging parties were busily employed in collecting Grain and Hay, and in driving in Cattle, from all those portions of the County which were below Tarrytown, the Plains, and Rye.14
On Friday, the eighth of November, two Battalions of Light Infantry and the remainder of the Chasseurs, with four field-pieces, took post on the line of com- munication with Kingsbridge; 16 and, on the part of the Americans, the troops belonging to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the more Southern States, began to file off, from the lines which were occupied by the American Army, " as fast as our situation and circum- "stances would admit, in order to be transported over "the river, with all expedition." 16
On Saturday, the niath of November, the Division commanded by General Heath, who had performed so distinguished a part in the military operations, in Westchester-county, was moved from the extreme left
Congress, "IN COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, FOR THE STATE OF NEW YORK, " FISHKILL., November 28, 1776."
1 Report of the General Court-martial, held by order of Major-general Lee, for the trial of Major Austin, " Poussesacks, November 12, 1776." 11 funeral Home to Lord George Germaine, " NEW-YORK, 31 November, "1756;" [Halt's] History of the feil War na almerien, i., 211, 212 ; el. 12 frem rad Wishingbut In the President of the Congress, " WHITE PLAINS, "6 November, 1776."
The Council referred lo agreed, unanimously, that, in caso the enemy was really retreating lowards New York, it would be proper, immediate- ly, to throw a body of troops, into New Jersey; that those troops who were troin the States to the westward of the Hudson, should be thus de- tached, the others to be subject to " the movements of the enemy all " the cireninstances of the Vmethan Army ; " and that three thousand men should be detailed to take post at Peekskill and the passes in the Highlands, for the defence of those punts, for erreting fortifications, etc. 13 General Hoter to Long George fiermaine, " NEW YORK, 30 November, "1756.7
14 Gourd M.Douged to Colonet De Will, "White-Plass, Novender 7, "1776;" Memoirs of General Hoth, St. 16 General Horce to Lord Georg. Gernesine, " NEW-YORK, 30 November, "1776."
16 General Washington to General Greene, "HEADQUARTERS, 8 November, "1776."
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of the line, which it had so honorably occupied ; and took up its line of march, towards Peek-kill, where it was to be permanently posted, for the defense of the Highlands; ' and, on Sunday, the tenth of November, General Washington left the White Plains, to take command of those troops who had crossed the Hud- son-river, and who, soon afterwards, were engaged in that disastrous retreat, through the Jerseys, and in that subsequent recovery of the greater part of that State, which so greatly distinguished him, as a com- manding General, and which have been recorded, with such entire approbation, on the pages of history. General Lee was left at the White Plains, with his own Division and those commanded by Generals Spencer and Sullivan, generally New York and New England troops, with orders to watch the movements of the enemy ; to secure and carry off the Stores; and, then, to follow the main body of the Army, into the Jerseys.3
While General Washington and the main body of the American Army were thus falling back from their position, at North Castle, General Howe and the main body of the Royal Army continued to fall back and approach Kingsbridge. On Sunday, the tenth of November, a Brigade of Hessians was moved to that place, to inercase the strength of General Knyphau- sen's already strong Division ;' and, two days after- wards, [ Tuesday, November 12,] the main body of the Royal Army broke up the encampment, at Dobbs's- ferry, which it had oeeupied since the preceding Wed- nesday, and, in two columns, moved towards Kings- bridge, resting, on the following day, [ Wednesday, November 13,] on the heights of Fordham, and form- ing a line, with the Right upon the road leading to the Borough Town of Westchester, and covered by the Bronx-river, and with the Left on the Hudson- river," where it remained, until the preparations for the assault on Fort Washington, which had been rea- sonably determined on, had been completed."
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The progress of the Royal Army through West- chester-county was distinguished by the outrages which were inflicted on the inhabitants, withont respeet to persons or sexes, on both those who were entirely conservative and disposed to favor the Royal cause and those who were radically and actively opposed to it-as General Washington described them, while forewarning the Governor of New Jersey of what the fate of that people would be, "they have treated all, " here, without discrimination: the distinction of
" Whig and Tory has been lost in one general scen .. "of ravage and desolation." 7 In that work, the Hes- sians and the British troops were equally notorious ; and what the soldiery spared, was frequently carried away by the soldiers' wives and mistresses, who formed a part of the retinue of the Army.4 Indeed, the warmth of controversy called out from one of the most prominent Loyalists of that period, the following graphic description of the outrages inflicted by the King's troops: "The inhuman treatment alltided to, " was the indiscriminate plunder suffered to be com- "mitted, by the soldiery under his command, on "Staten Island, Long Island, the White Plains, and "in the Province of New Jersey, where friend and "foe, loyalist and rebel, met with the same fate-a "series of continued plunder, which was a disgrace to "an Army pretending to discipline, and which, while "it tended to relax the discipline of the troops, could " not fail to ereate the greatest aversion, even in the "breast of loyalty itself, to a service which, under the " fair pretenee of giving them protection, robbed them, "in inany instances, of even the necessaries of life." 9
But the sufferings endured by the inhabitants of Westchester-eounty were not confined to those which were produced by the outrages inflicted by the Royal Army and its followers. We have already alluded,10 ineidentally, to the robberies of Horses which were inflicted on the farmers of that Conniy, by Officers of the American Army, for their private uses, at their respective homes -- not by the Rank and File, nor by the soldiers' wives and concubines, nor in a foreign country ; but by the Commissioned Officers of the Army of Americans who had been moved into the County, for the protection of the inhabitants and of their properties. To such an extent were those robberies of Horses, to be sent to the homes of the thieves, for their private uses, carried on. that, after several General Orders, bearing on the subject, had
7 General Washingtonto Governor Livingston, " WHITE. PLAINS, 7 NO- " veiler, 1776."
In a letter to General Greene, written on the same day, the Grueral said, " They," [the farmers, in New Jersey.] " may rely upon it, that the " enemy will leave nothing they find among them ; nor do they dis- " criminate between Whig and Tory. Wofal experience has convinced " the latter, in the idos mentsof the enemy, in this Sinte, of this truth."
"1776.")
8 " The people who remained in that part of the country," [ Westcher- trecounty, ] " through which they pass'd, have been most cruelly plun " deted ; many helpless women luol even their shifts taken from their " las ke by the soldiers' wives, after the great plandeters had dour ; and, " in this general ravage, no diverimination was made of Whit or Tory." (Letter from Stamford, daled "12th Nov. 1776," published in The Free- men's Journal, or Nai-Hampshire Gazette, Vol. I., No. 28, PORTSMOUTH, Tuesday, December 3, 1776.)
" [Galloway's] Reply to the Observations of Liest. Gen. Sir William flowe on a pamphlet entitled Letters to a Nobleman, 17, 18.
On the general subject, see, also, General Melongal to Colonel De Wat, " WHITE PLAINS, 7 November, 1779;" Letter to a Gentleman in Virginia, " HEADQUARTERS, WHITE. PLAINS, November >, 1776," pub- lished in Force's .Imerican . trehices, V., ini., 603; The Committee of Safety to the President of the Congress, " IN COMMITTEE OF SAFETY FOR THE "STATE OF NEW-YORK, FISHKILL, November 20, 1776:" etc. 10 Vide pages 20, 210, ant ..
1 Memoirs of General Heath, 84.
: General Washington to the President of the Congress, "PEEKSKILL., 11 " November, 1776."
& Instructions of General Washington to General Lee, " HEAD-QUARTERS, "NEAR THE WHITE PLAINS, 10 November, 176;" Return of the Cti- mental Troops under the command of General Ise, " NORTH-CASTLE, SO- ". vember 16, 1776 :" Memoirsof General Henth, &1.
A General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "New-York, 30 November, " 1776."
& General Haute to Lord George Germaine, " NEW-YORK, 30 November, "1776 ;" [ Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, 1., 212 ; etc.
OF Hell's History of the Civil War in America, i., 212.
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been issued, without having checked the carcer of ! Caleb Martine of Greenburgh and of the widow of robbery, General Washington was constrained to issue another, in these words, siticiently illustrative of the practices and of his views concerning them : " It is with astonishment the General hears that some "Officers have taken Horses, between the enemy's "Camp and ours, and sent them into the country, for "their private use. Can it be possible that per- "sons bearing Commissions and fighting in such " a cause, can degrade themselves into plunderers of " Horses ? He hopes every Officer will set his face "against it, in future; and does insist that the "Colonels and commanding Officers of Regiments im- " mediately inquire into the matier, and report to him " who have been guilty of these practices ; and that | "they take an account of the Horses in their re- " spective encampments; and send to the Quarter- "master-general all that are not in some public " service." I
While some of the Officers of the American Army were thus employed in replenishing their own stables, at their respective homes, from the stables of the farmers of Westchester-county, others of that Army, Officers and Privates, were systematically visiting the houses of those farmers and robbing them of what- ever was acceptable to them. - Like the British and Hessians, they were not respecters of cither the friends of the American cause or those of the King; nor did they hesitate to rob helpless and unprotected females and their families ; sometimes turning them out of their houses, undressed and in their night- clothes ; and, generally, adding personal abuse of their victims to the crime of robbing them. Nothing whatever was unacceptable to the thieves; and the bags of Feathers and of unmanufactured Wool, the Desks and Tea-tables and Chairs, the Book-cases and Books, the Andirons and brass and copper Kettles, the linen Curtains and Looking-glasses and women's Hats, the Churns and Washtubs, the sets of Sleigh- harness and skips of Becs, which appear recorded among the articles which were thus stolen by the soldiers whom Massachusetts and Connecticut had sweat into the Army, very clearly indicated that while the Horses of the farmers of Westchester-county were stolen for the supplying of the stables of the thieves, at their respective homes, the Household Furniture belonging to the same farmers, and the Clothing of their wives, and their unmanufactured Wool and Feathers, and their Bees, were also stolen for the purpose of enriching the homes and the work- rooms and the gardens of those same "Chrisian" New Englanders, and the wardrobes of their families. Among those who were thus robbed were Mites Oak- ley, who was the Landlord of the Tavern, contiguous to the Court-house, in the Village of the White Plains ; " John Martine, the grandfather of the late
the late Thomas Dean of Tarrytown, whose 1 apr- siead is now ocenpied by Haar F. Van Wart, of Greenburgh ; Talman Pugsley, who is said to have lived where the brick School-house now stamls, oppo- site to the residence of Abraham Beare, of Green- burgh; Phibe Oakley, who was the sister-in-law of Talman Pugsley ; Marmaduke Foster, who was the son-in-law of John Martine; and Solomon Pugsley and the widow Elizabeth Pugsley, whose places of résidence are not known to us; and their Depositions and Statements and the Schedules of the articles stolen from John Martine and his son-in-law, afford, at once, the evidence of the robberies and of the com- forts which were to be found in the homes of the quiet and industrious and intelligent residents of Westchester-county, at that time.3 Among the thieves whose names have come down to us, were Major Bacon, Captains Gale, Shaddock, and Ford, and others, of Colonel Brewer', Regiment of Artificers, of the Massachusetts Line ; and Officers and Privates of the Regiment of Connecticut troops, commanded by Colonel Charles Webb.4
In view of these great outrages, and of many others of which no records have been preserved, the Com- mittec of Safety for the State addressed a letter to the President of the Continental Congress, in which are these concluding words : " I have the satisfaction " to assure you that the fortitude of this State and " their zeal for the glorious cause in which we are " engaged, is not abated ; on the contrary, we are " prepared to mect even severer misfortunes, with a " spirit and firmness becoming the generous advo-
meeting-place of Lewis Morris and his friends; to have been kept by Isaac Oakley; and to have stood. until about ists, when it was bnrned.
Unless there were two Taverns, in the White Plains, with Oakleys for their Landlord-, in 1775 and 1776; or, unless Miles had succeeded Istae, as the Landlord of the one Tavern which was " Oakley's "Taveru," between April, 1775, and November, 1776, we were probably in error, in our foriner statement, concerning the name of the Oakley who was the Landlord of that Tavern which was, there, mentionel: and if ouly one "Oukley's Tavern" was in existence, in the White Piains, at that time, it was among the buildings which were burned by Major Austin, on the fifth of November, 17it (ride pages 276, 275, arte;) and, therefore, was not standing in til 1868, as stated on page for. We have not been able to ascertain the fiets ; aill so leave the matter
3 Petition of Miles Oakley to General Washington, " November 9, 1776;" Inportion of Joka Martine and Memorandum of Goods plantered from him, "ilated November 15, 1776"; Dwposition of Talman Pugsley, "dated " the second day of December, 1776" ; Patation of Phave theking to the Car- ertion of New- York, and her Deposition, "dated the second of December, "1771; Preposition of Murmudade Filter and a list of Articles talon by the wildurs, from him, "dated the Thirteenth of November, ITTO" ; Be- lenne, by Stephen thinly, "in behalf of Solorion Pagaley and the wish to " Health Digly, to Capitais Ford, "for the things that said Captain " Ford amt his men did take out of The house of Solomon Pugsley, near " the lives of the enemy, at White Plains, on Philips s Maner ; " etc.
No more interesting papers, connected with the history of that peric-l and illustrative of the morality and integrity of New Englanders of the era of the Revolutionary War, can be found, anywhere, than these.
Depositions of Phabe Oashley, John Martine, Jahren Prysky, and Marinaduke Rester ; Relever, by Stephen tralley to Captain Ford ; Inposition of Ebenezer Barril, "dated the second day of December, 195D " ; etc.
1 General Orders, " HEAD-QUARTERS, WHITE PLAINS, October 31, 1776." On page és, ante, note 1, we referred Jo n Tavern, also contiguous to the Court-house, which, in April, 1955, was said to have Inen the
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" cates for Liberty. Unhappily am I to add, that, " amidst all our suffering. the Army employed for " the protection of America have not refrained from " embittering even the calamities of War. At a " time when the utmost resources of this State were " laid open to their wants, and the members of Con- " vention personally submitted to the labour and " fatigue which were necessary, on a sudden emer- " geney, and after frequent losses of Provisions and " Barracks, to supply two numerous Arinies, ang- " mented by the Militia, with every article which " they required, the Court-house and the remains of " the Village, at the White Plains, which had been " spared, on the retreat of our forces, was, after the " enemy had, in their turn, retired, wantonly de- " stroyed, without the Orders and to the infinite re- " gret of our worthy General. Besides, in spite of " all his Excelleney's efforts, wherever our troops " have marehed or been stationed, they have done " infinite damage to the possessions and farms, and " have pilfered the property of the people.
" I am direeted, Sir, to submit it to the honourable "Congress, whether some effectual remedy ought " not to be provided against such disorderly and dis- " graceful proceedings. The soldier who plunders " the country he is employed to protect, is no better " than a robber, and ought to be treated accordingly ; " and a severe example ought, in the opinion of the " Committee, to be made of the Officer who, without " necessity or his General's permission, set fire to the " Court-house and other buildings, at the White " Plains. He is guilty of the crime of Arson ; and if " he cannot be punished by the Articles of War, he " ought to be given up to the Laws of the land. If " so glaring a violation of every sentiment of human- " ity should be passed over, in silence, if the Army " is not seasonably restrained from such acts of bar- " barity, the consequence must be fatal to the cause " of a people whose exalted glory it is to be advocates " for the Rights of Mankind against the tyranny and " oppression of law less power." 1
The conduct of General Washington, in the trying events of that memorable Campaign, in Westchester- county, has received the unqualified approbation of his country and of the world, and secured for him the highest honors, as a Soldier and as a commanding General. The conduct of General Howe, during the same Campaign, received nothing else than the ap- proval of the King, his step-brother, and that of the party of the Opposition, in the Parliament, of which he was a member, and which was, peculiarly, the party who was in sympathy with America.
Both the Admiral and the General, commanders, respectively, of the King's Fleet and Army, were ac- cused, by the Press of Great Britain and in the Par-
liament, with want of wisdom, in the formation of their plans; and with want of vigor and energy, in the execution of those plans.2 "A connection with "the Opposition, and a resolution, assumed before " their departure from England, to frustrate every " measure of the " [then] " present Achministration, " and, thereby, to bring them " [the Administration,] "into disgrace with their Sovereign and the Nation," were, also, boldly charged on the two brothers ;3 while others "shrewdly suspected that their poverty, not "their will, consented " -- they said that it was " ob- " vious to all, that, had the Admiral destroyed the " rebel ships, in their ports, or effectually blockaded " up their harbors, no valuable captures of Tobacco or " Indigo could have fallen to the share of the British " Admiral ; " and they did not hesitate to assert that large fortunes were accumulated, from that source.' They also took advantage of the friendship which had existed between the family of Howe and the Americans, during the French War ; and they boldly charged the brothers with positive friendship for the American eause.5 All of these charges were, prob- ably, more or less true. The two brothers were indolent men ; fond of company, wine, and play : they were, in fact, identified with the party of the Opposition : they did not attempt to conceal the sympathy, which, to some extent, they felt for the Americans : like other Commanders, in both ancient and modern times, they probably kept a sharp eye on the spoils. But there were, also, other circumstances, of which their accusers knew nothing and of which the world, to-day, knows only very little, which largely controlled them ; and it is only reasonable and fair, therefore, that the accused should, also, be heard on the subject -- when a Committee of the House of Com- mons was charged with the grave duty of inquiring into the conduet of General Howe, during his com- mand of the King's troops in North America, that distinguished Officer made a written defense, in which we find the following words, relative to the operations of the Royal Army, in Westchester-county :
"From the twelfth of October, the day the Army "landed on Frog's-neck, to the twenty-first of the " same month, we were employed in getting up Stores "and Provision ; and in bringing over the Dragoons, "the Second Division of Hessians, and the carriages "and horses for transportating Provisions. Artillery, " Ammunition, and Baggage. Four or five days had
: [Galloway's] Lettere to a Nobleman, 36; [Galloway's] Reply to the Ob- servations of Lient. Gen. Sur William Howe, vi a pamphlet, entitled Letters to a Job', man ; Latter from " Cicero"> >> led Har, 2, 3 ; Wraxall's Memoirs of his own Time, Edit. Philadelphia : 1845, 163; etc.
3 .A Letter to the Right Honorable Lord Viscount He. Mit. London: 1779, 42, 43 : Letter from " Cioro" to Lord Hace, 199 ; Wraxall's Mem- oirs, 163 ; etc.
A Letter to the Right Honorable Lord Viscount II -- e, 43, 11; Letter from " Cicero" to Ford House, 1, 2; etc.
3.1 Letter to the Right Honurable Lood Visconde 1, 42, 43; Istler from " Cicero" to Lord Hace, T-9; The MotHover Sound and Meer- Farr, No. 120, London : From Saturday, December 14, to Tuesday, De- cember 17, 17TG ; etc.
1 The Committee of Safety to the President of the Congress, "Is Comsur " TRE OF SAFETY FOR THE STATE OF NEW-YORK, FISHKILL, November " 20, 1776."
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" been umavoidably taken up in landing at Frog's- " neck, instead of going, at once to Pell'-point, " which would have been an imprudent measure, as it "could not have been executed withont much un- " necessary risk.
" On the twenty-eighth of October, the engagement " at the White-Plains took place. But it has been "asserted, that, by my not attacking the lines, on the " day of that action, I lost an opportunity of destroy- "ing the Rebel Army ; and it has been also said, " that I might have cut off the enemy's retreat by the "Croton-bridge. Sir : an assault upon the enemy's " right, which was opposed to the Hessian troops, " was intended. The Committee innist give me credit " when I assure them, that I have political reasons, " and no other, for declining to explain why that as-
"object. And. Sir, I do not hesitate to confess that, " if I could, by any manoeuvre, remove an aremy " from a very advantageou- position, without hazard- "ing the consequences of an attack, where the point "to be carried was not adequate to the loss of men to "be expected from the enterprise, I should certainly "adopt that cautionary conduct, in the hopes of "meeting my adversary upon more equal terms,"!
The careful student of that portion of the history of our own country which relates to the Campaign in Westchester-county, in 1776, will arise from the ex- amination of it with the words on his lips which the Apostle Paulemployed, in another connection : " God "hath chosen the foolish things of the world to con- " found the wise, and God hath chosen the weake "things of the world, to confound the mighty things. " sault was not made. Upon a minute inquiry, those I " and vile thing, of the world, and things which are "reasous might, if necessary, be brought out, in evi- 1 "despised, hath God chosen, and things which are " dence, at the Bar. If, however, the assault had been "not, to bring to nought things that are."" " made, and the lines carried, the enemy would have "got off, without much loss; and no way had we, "that I could ever learn, of cutting off their retreat " by the Croton-bridge. I cannot conceive the foun- "dation of such an idea. By forcing the lines, we " should, undoubtedly, have gained a more brilliant "advantage. some Baggage, and some Provisions ; but Aspeech of General How- before the Committee of the House of Com- monk, April 29, 1770-Almon's Parliamentary Register, Fifth Session, Fourteenth Parliament of Great Britain, xii., 321. "we had no reason to suppose that the Rebel Ariny "could have been destroyed. The ground in their " rear was such as they could wish, for securing their " The Neve Testament, Genevan Version, Edit. London : 1595, 1 G. rinth. ians, i., 27, 28. "retreat, which, indeed, seemed to be their particular Ser, also, The Narrative of Sir William Home, 6, 7.
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