History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 28

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418

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" Whereas, This Council is informed that many of the principal associators of Colonel Hunter's Battalion, of Berks County, refuse to march to join General Washington's army at this Important Crisis, when so glorious an opportunity offers of crushing the enemy, and thereby have prevented and discouraged the rest, and proceeded even to dare them to enforce the re- solves of this Council upon them; therefore,

"Resolved, That Colonel Hunter be directed forth- with to collect all the well affected in his Battalion, and seize upon the ringleaders in this defection and send them under guard to Philadelphia, and that he do execute the Resolve. The resolve of this Council of the seventh of December last upon all who refuse to march without favor or affection, and that they do collect blankets and other necessaries of those who are to march, paying a reasonable price for the same ; and should any person refuse to deliver such neces- saries as they can spare, the Colonel is directed to take and pay for the same. Those that turn out are to march the most direct road to Head Quarters."

And three days after this (21st of January, 1777,) General Israel Putnam addressed a letter from Princeton to the Council of Safety of Pennsylvania, saying that "Captain Echard and Captain Fisher, of Berks County, had just informed him that their companies had run away to a man, except a lientenant, sergeant and a drummer." He added, " I hope, gentle- men, no pains or cost will be spared to apprehend these men and bring them back to their duty. I think it is of the last importance that this spirit of desertion should be crushed in its in- fancy, and the militia taught that there is a power that can and will detain them."

HESSIAN PRISONERS .- In 1775 the king of Great Britain obtained by treaty from the Ger-

1 " Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn," by Henry P. Johnson.

2 Saffel's "Record of Revolutionary War," 309. [He lived nearly twenty years afterward.]

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man princes seventeen thousand men for the purpose of sending them to America to assist in subdning the American colonies. These men were sent early in 1776. Many of them (Hes- sians) were taken prisoners at the battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, and conveyed to Lancaster.1 Some of these prisoners were afterward stationed at Reading. Their first quarters in the town were in the southern section, and, after remaining in that locality several years, they were removed to the southern de- clivity of Penn's Mount. This removal was caused by the frequent disturbances which arose between the prisoners and the citizens of the town. In May, 1779, a proposition was made to send them to New Jersey. On the 27th of June, 1781, President Reed wrote to Valentine Eckert, " that it was the desire that the prisoners should be encamped in huts at some small dis- tance from Reading, where wood and water were convenient, that Colonel Morgan had mentioned a piece of ground which had belonged to the proprietaries, which would be convenient

1 The Continental troops took the following prisoners, arms, etc., at the battle of Trenton : 750 Hessians, 1 lieut- enaut-colonel, 2 majors, 4 captains, 15 subalterns, 3 stan- dards, 6 brass field-pieces, and near 1000 stand of arms. Two days afterward General Washington commanded them to be forwarded to Lancaster.

The following letter was addressed to Daniel Clymer, Esq., at Lancaster, in 1777, in reference to the removal of prisoners from that place to Reading :

"Dr. SIR,-The Board have directed me to write to Wil- liam Atlee, Deputy Commissary of Prisoners, to whom you'll please to render all the assistance in your power in the removal of the Prisoners of War from Lancaster towards Reading and Lebanon. Congress having just been informed by Express that the Enemy are landing in Maryland above Baltimore, & its being past a doubt the rescuing their Pris- oners & the destruction of our Stores are the objects they have in view. On this important occasion, anything in your power, the Board are well satisfied will be done. You'll please to have an eye to the Prisoners at York, & if Mr. Atlee can do the Business by himself at Lancaster, it is the desire of the Board you proceed thither, & the Committee are hereby earnestly requested to furnish such a number of Militia as shall put it out of the power of the Prisoners to effect an escape. We are unacquainted with the Number of Prisoners at York ; you will, therefore, act as your own good sense may .dictate. I am with all due Respect

" Your very humble Serv.,

" JOSEPH NOURN, . D. S. " Philadelphia, Friday evening, seven o'clock.

" DANL. CLYMER, EsQ., Lancaster."

and proper." Three persons were appointed to select a location,-Valentine Eckert, lieutenant of Berks County ; Major Bayley, and Colonel Wood, Lancaster. On the 17th of July, follow- ing, Colonel Wood wrote President Reed, "that he could not decide where to locate the prisoners, that certain persons who thought they did not have a legal title to the commons, had paid the taxes and claimed the land." He, therefore, referred the matter to him for a decision. He also alluded to the Continental stable at Reading, which, he thought, might be converted into barracks. This stable was in dimensions, twenty by one hundred and seventy-five feet, and a store-house, twenty by sixty feet. The "Com- mons" was not selected ; but the committee went half a mile to the eastward, and selected a spot on the hill-side, where they caused huts to be erected, and in which they stationed the prisoners. At the close of the Revolution many of the prisoners remained and settled perman- ently in Berks County, mostly in Alsace and Oley townships. The place has since been known as " Hessian Camp." The greater part of these huts were standing in 1841. In July, 1780, the prisoners at Reading numbered one hundred. On 16th of June, 1781, a large number of convention prisoners of war, ten hundred and fifty, all Germans, excepting sixty- three Britons, arrived in Reading under guard of the York County militia. Valentine Eckert called out two classes of companies from the Sixth Berks County regular militia to guard the encampment. They were under the charge of Major Bayley. During the week following, ad- ditional prisoners were brought, so that the whole number was near eleven hundred. They were encamped on the east bank of the Schuyl- kill, near Reading. It is not known whether they were taken along to " Hessian Camp" or not. On February 23d, 1782, the lieutenant of the county was ordered to call out the first class of the militia to guard the military prisoners at Reading; but only forty men were wanted at a time for this purpose. The order was as fol- lows :

" Ordered, That the Lieutenant of the county of Berks be directed to call out a class of the militia of the said county, for the purpose of guarding the

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

military prisoners of that county ; that as forty men are only wanted at one time for the said purpose, the lieutenant be directed to call out no more than that number, and that the battalion be called up in their numerical order, beginning at the first, for the said one class, so far as may be necessary to furnish the said number; and when the time of the first forty shall expire, he then call on the next battalion or bat- talions for the like number, so as to have the succeed- ing numbers ready to take charge of the said prisoners when the time of the first shall expire, and so on until the said one class shall have served their tour of duty, or until further orders from this Council."

Some of the Hessian prisoners at Reading, during the course of their imprisonment, were hired out to service, notably to George Ege at Charming Forge and to John Patton at Berk- shire Furnace.

HESSIAN CAMP SURPRISED .- The following interesting incident transpired at the Hessian camp on Christmas-Day, 1781. The Hessian prisoners and their guard were suddenly alarmed by certain soldiers in the disguise of Indians, which caused them to fly from the en- campment. A court-martial was afterwards held, but no one was punished :

" Van Campen, whilst at McClure's Fort, which was on the Susquehanna River, above Sunbury, upon the service of conducting scouts around the line of the settlements, was ordered with his company to Lan- caster, late in the fall of 1781. He descended the river in boats as far as Middletown (a place ten miles below Harris's Ferry), where the order was countermanded by another, directing him to march to Reading, Berks County, where he was joined by a part of the Third and Fifth Pennsylvania Regiments, and a company of the Congress Regiment. Their principal duty, while here, was to take care of a large body of Hessians that had been taken prisoners with General Burgoyne. These had been under the guard of a company of militiamen, whose time had not yet expired. The march which Van Campen's soldiers had performed was, on account of lateness of the sea- son and bad roads, extremely fatiguing, and, as the time for which the militia were engaged continued them in service a little longer, he allowed them the space which intervened as a season of rest. This proved grateful to the soldiers, and it no doubt served to invigorate their spirits, for, in the approach- ing Christmas holidays, they were found to be suf- ficiently recruited to engage in the exercises of sport. Some of those belonging to Van Campen's company determined to have a frolic with the militiamen be- fore they should be discharged from their posts. These were stationed at a little distance out of the

village, near the direct road from Reading to Phila- delphia, on the side of a hill, around which the way turned, and which hid the view to the road before reaching the place. When Christmas came, twelve or fifteen young soldiers set out, with music in their heads, for the militiamen's camp. Just before they came to where the road turned around the hill, and while they were yet out of sight, they arrayed them- selves in Indian dress and crept along up the ascending ground until they came in sight of the militiamen's camp. There they fired their guns, which contained an unusual charge of powder, and followed the discharge of these by loud and continued yells. They presented themselves to the view of the soldiers, and began to jump from tree to tree so as to produce an enlarged idea of their numbers. Their unexpected appearance produced the intended effect. The soldiers were startled by the sudden roar of the rifles, which echoed through the deep forest like the terrible thundering of cannon. The loud yells, too, from the supposed Indians, were enough to have startled them at a time of peace, much more when the savage was looked for at any moment to commit his deeds of violence. The soldiers conceived an in- stantaneous alarm; fear was scattered throughout their ranks, and, with a sudden bound, they started from their encampment. The sentinels fled without firing a single gun and the whole company deserted their posts, leaving the poor Hessians (whom they were placed to guard) without a man to prevent their being retaken. But these, too, apprehensive that they might be mistaken for rebels, were infected with the universal panic and showed their heels to the enemy. The camp was entirely deserted in a few moments after the first alarm had been given. No sooner had the militiamen deserted their camp than they began to spread the alarm, saying, 'that all Niagara was let loose; that a party of several hun- dreds of Indians had attacked their camp, and that they had just escaped with their lives.' The intelli- gence was soon brought to the troops at Reading, who were immediately placed in the order of defence, and who began forthwith to march, with Van Campen at their head, towards the enemy. They had not gone far, however, before they were met by some of their own soldiers, who assured them that they had started out upon a false alarm, at the same time giving them a history of the secret of the attack and of the brave de- fense which had been made by the militiamen. They returned to their quarters, very much amused and with the laugh upon the poor soldiers who had made such a display of their bravery.

"But this little event (which had been conceived only in sport, like many others of the same origin) was the occasion of serious difficulty. To one party it afforded the highest amusement, but to those who had committed their valor to their heels it was a sub- ject of constant annoyance. They could not endure the chagrin that was brought upon them by having

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been put to flight by a few boys who had been dis- guised as Indians, and who had so successfully played off their wits upon them of a Christmas holiday. The militia officers, whose bravery was somewhat impli- cated in the affair, declared that they would be satis- fied with no reconciliation short of the punishment of those who had been concerned in creating the alarm.

" A court-martial was held, in which Lieutenant Van Campen sat with the militia officers, to decide the point at issue. These affirmed it to be but right, -that those who had occasioned the mischief should be whipped ; while Van Campen, whose soldiers were implicated, unwilling that his men (who belonged to some of the most respectable families of that part of Pennsylvania,) should suffer such a disgrace, would allow of this only upon condition that the sentinels, who had fled from their posts without firing, should be punished as the martial-law required-with death. These terms were not agreeable to the minds of the officers, and Van Campen, who declared that he would sooner see his men shot than whipped, con- tinued to sit in court-martial for the space of three weeks. A compromise was finally made between the two, it being proposed that the sergeant, who had been one of the leaders in the affair, should be broken of his rank. This was allowed, and harmony was again restored between the two parties. The sergeant was broken of his rank at night and restored the next morning; so that his punishment, after all, was more nominal than real. Immediately after, Van Campen and his men entered upon the care of the Hessian soldiers and remained in this service until the next spring, when they were relieved by the militia, who again took them under charge.1

HESSIAN OFFICER DROWNED .- During the time that the Hessian prisoners were at Read- ing, a Hessian officer of rank was fishing from a canoe one day in the Schuylkill, and fell overboard. A servant on the shore saw the ac- cident, but, instead of alarming the occupants in a house near by, he ran and informed the commanding officer. When the officer arrived, he found the Hessian at the bottom of the river, drowned, and his efforts to resuscitate life were fruitless.

During the winter of 1776-77 there was much sickness amongst the prisoners. Many of them died. The burials were made in " Pot- ter's Field," which comprised two lots of ground, numbers 398 and 399 on the west side

of North Sixth Street, south of Walnut, in Reading. The deaths were so numerous at times that it became necessary to bury two, and even three, in one grave. I heard this state- ment made frequently by some of the older residents.

MILITIA REFUSE TO MARCH .- About Jan- uary 1, 1777, some of the militia at Reading refused to march under orders given. Daniel Brodhead,2 by direction of General Mifflin, took a company of Northumberland County militia, stationed at Reading, and compelled them to march. In a letter to Owen Biddle he said he believed " the remainder were so much alarmed that few will think of staying at home."

The Council of Safety was informed, on Jan- uary 18, 1777, that " many of the principal as- sociators of Colonel Hunter's Battalion of Berks County refuse to march to join General Wash- ington's army at this Important Crisis, when so glorious an opportunity offers of crushing the enemy, and thereby have prevented and dis- couraged the rest, and proceeded even to dare them to enforce the resolves of this Council upon them." It was then decided that the Colo- nel should forthwith collect all the well affected in his Battalion, seize the ring-leaders in this defection and send them to Philadelphia.

MILITIA RETURNS OF COUNTY. - Jacob Morgan and his sub-lieutenants met at Reading on April 25, 1777, for the purpose of receiving returns of the inhabitants of Berks County, be- tween the ages of eighteen and fifty-three years. The number then returned was about four thousand. These were divided into six districts, and meetings were ordered to be held on the 5th and 6th of May following, for the purpose of electing officers and of forming com- panies. Morgan reported that he had forwarded to the Executive Council an exact list of the field officers, captains, subalterns and court- martial men, comprising the six battalions of the Berks County militia. But this list was

1 Taken from " Life and Adventures of Moses Van Cam- pen," by his grandson, John N. Hubbard, in 1841 ; pp. 239-243. Copy of work in library of Pennsylvania His- torical Society, at Philadelphia.

2 Daniel Brodhead, of Berks County, was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Second Battalion of Colonel Samuel Miles' Pennsylvania. Rifle Regiment, on March 13, 1776. He had removed to Reading in 1771. For sketch see Pennsylvania Arch. (2d ser.), vol. 10, p. 645; and supra.

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

lost, not having been included in the Archives. It has not been discovered since.

On August 17, 1777, Morgan reported that two classes of militia had marched from Read- ing on their way to West Chester. They con- sisted of twelve companies. They left mostly in the beginning of August ; the last company on the 16th. The whole number of officers and men was six hundred and fifty-six. The two battalions were commanded by Daniel Hunter and Daniel Udree. "In the opinion of every one here they were hearty and able men, fit to take the field against our inveterate enemies."

In the State returns of the militia, dated Sep- tember 6, 1777, these two battalions included the following officers and men :

Hunter.

Udree.

Colonel

Lieutenant-Colonel

Major.

...

Captains

Lieutenants

Ensigns.

Chaplain

Adjutant

Quartermaster

Surgeon.

Sergeants

Drummers

Fifers

Fit for duty.

184

183

Sick, present

Sick, absent

On command

On furlough.

Total

272

210

Deserted

The total number of the State was two thou- sand nine hundred and seventy-three.

ARMY SUPPLIES .- In the beginning of the Revolution, Reading was selected as a place, adapted by its situation, for storing army sup- plies. It was capable of easy defeuse in the event of an attack from the enemy ; and it was not far distant from the operations of war in the State. Large quantities of provisions were stationed here. In April, 1780, the Executive Conncil was directed by General Washington to furnish the State out of the supplies at Reading, with the following articles : Two hundred bar- rels of flour ; five hundred and sixty gallons of

rum ; one hundred and eighty tons of hay ; and fourteen thousand bushels of corn.

At this time Nicholas Lotz was the com- missioner of purchases for Berks County. Two years before, there were two commissioners, Valentine Eckert and John Lesher. In 1778 the supplies at Reading were large and valuable ; and then Congress requested the State to station two hundred militia at this point to defend the magazines of military stores, and keep commu- nications secure from sudden incursion of the enemy. Colonel Cowperth waite was the store- keeper. The Executive Council made such an order. In May, of this year, Jacob Morgan re- ported that he had reduced the guard in Read- ing to fifty men, rank and file.

In November, 1777, in pursuance of orders received, three hundred and fifty wagons were sent from Berks County to Philadelphia ; also a wagon master-general and wagon masters. When they reached Philadelphia, the enemy had left. The wagons got nothing. Twenty were taken into service. The men returned and demanded pay. Henry Christ, Jacob Shoe- maker and John Ludwig requested the president of the Executive Council to forward money for this purpose. The sum required was between twenty-five hundred and three thousand pounds.

The quota of articles, etc., from Berks County to the State in July, 1780, was-six hundred barrels of flour per month ; six hundred bushels of forage per month ; twenty wagons and two hundred horses; and three hundred militia ; and there having been then a great want of teams in the army, a requisition was made on the county to furnish twenty wagons. In September, 1778, the quota of wagons was one hundred and ten, and these were then ordered to be sent to Philadelphia. On June 14, 1779, Jacob Morgan, Jr., reported that he had sent to camp at Middle Brook, thirty-six good Con- tinental teams and fifty-four spare horses, and on the next day twelve teams properly equipped.

Nicholas Lotz, as commissioner of forage, re- ported on June 5, 1780, that he had purchased forty tons of flour, one hundred and seventy- two bushels of oats and nineteen bags ; and on the 19th of June, following, he reported the

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purchase of ten head of cattle and forty sheep, which he was obliged to take under the law. Cattle and sheep he reported to be scarce, be- cause many butchers and drovers had come from Philadelphia and other places and bought them up. He was appointed commissioner on April 3, 1780.

It was reported to Council on August 12, 1780, that John Patton by agreement with Captain Jay, agreed to supply the Board of War with ninety tons of shell and shot; for which purpose he put his Berkshire Furnace in blast. He was then at work ; but how long he would continue he could not tell because his workmen were not exempted from military duty. Then they were ordered out, and unless they were released he could not keep his works going. At this time he also had some Hessian prisoners employed. These were demanded from him ; and if they were not returned his bond would be put into suit.

In May, 1776, Mark Bird offered to buy or have made in Berks County, one hundred mus- kets, provided he were supplied with the necessary funds. This offer was accepted by the Executive Council and an order to him for four hundred pounds was drawn. And in August, 1776, the committee of safety also drew an order in favor of Samuel High, a county commissioner, for six hundred dollars, on account of arms making in the county.

On July 8, 1776, the Council passed a resolu- tion :

" That the Iron Masters employed in casting cannon or shot for the public service in the counties of Chester, Lancaster and Berks, be permitted to employ any of the soldiers, prisoners of war at Lancaster and Reading, as laborers in the said business, giving an account to the committees of Lancaster and Reading of the time of such soldiers as they shall so employ.

"This permission was given in view of the public exigency which required additional artillery and war materials to repel the invasion of the country by the army of General Howe, who had recently appeared at New York with the British fleet."

On January 10, 1777, Captain Daniel Jay reported to Councils from the Reading Furnace that Mr. Old was casting different sizes of shot and expected to have by January 12, 1777, four tons of shot,-3-1b., 2}-1b., 2-1b., 14-1b., 1-1b. and

¿- lb., with a quantity of canister shot. But he an- ticipated difficulty in getting teams to haul them down.

That week he sent down to Philadelphia two tons of shot,-62 18-lb. shot; 250 3-1b. shot ; 400 1-1b. shot ; 300 }-1b shot; 1350 1}-1b. shot ; 815 pounds canister shot.

Owing to the aid given by divers inhabitants of the State to the enemy, the Council of Safety appointed a committee in the several counties to seize upon and dispose of all the property of such offenders and make an inventory and return of their proceedings under oath. This was in September, 1777. The following committee was appointed in Berks County : Thomas Parry, David Morgan, Peter Nagle, Henry Haller, Daniel Udree, Henry Spycker and Joseph Hiester.

And about that time the Council also ap- pointed a committee to collect arms, clothing, etc., from the inhabitants of the county who did not take the oath of allegiance, or who aided the enemy, and deliver them to the clothier general. The committee in Berks County was Henry Christ, Heury Haller, Thomas Parry, Daniel Udree, Philip Miller, Nathan Lewis, John Lower, Godfrey Ream, Jacob Seltzerand Nicho- las Shaffer.

Jacob Morgan was qualified on September 3, 1777, as a councillor from Berks County in the Supreme Executive Council of the State, and he then took his seat. On May 25, 1778, an order was drawn to him for three hundred and one pounds and five shillings for attending Council one hundred and eighty days, including mileage. James Reed succeeded him as the councillor from Berks County and was qualified on June 30, 1778.

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History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 28

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards Number of Pages: 1418

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418