History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 18

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150

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1 See " A plan of the Operations of the British & Rebels Army in the Campaign, 1777," under Descriplive Letter F. "The Evelyns in Amer- ica," p. 252.

" PenDa. Archives, let series, vol. iii. p. 191.

3 Penna. Mag. of History, vol. vi. p. 38.

4 Ib., p. 37.

5 Sparks' "Correspondence of Washington," vol. v. p. 71.

l " The Evelyne io America," p. 246.

7 " Diery of Robert Morton," Penna, Mag. of Hist., vol. i. p. 12.

8 " Journal of Capt. Montressor," Penna. Mag. of Hist., vol. vi. p. 42.

CONCLUSION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

after spiking the cannons and setting fire to the bar- rack, withdrew without firing a gun.1 The force under Stirling is stated by Col. Bradford to have been Highlanders and marines from the man-of-war. Capt. Montressor says the troops were the Seventy-first Highlanders. On October 4th the enemy retired, excepting three hundred men, after they had made some unsuccessful efforts to remove the obstructions sunk in the river there, and on October 6th the British set fire to all the works and house, and the men who had been left to garrison the fort were withdrawn. The same evening Commodore Hazelwood of the Pennsylvania navy came down the river with the row-galleys, and attacked the British vessels of war between Fort Island and Chester. The firing " was almost a constant cannonade," aud resulted in the British vessels getting under way, retiring to Chester, where nine of his Majesty's war ships were then lying.2 The same evening the Forty-second and Tenth British Regiments, with two howitzers and two mortars, marched to Philadelphia to protect a large quantity of provisions landed at Chester for the use of the army, which were then being transported to the city. In the evening of October 11th, about three hundred American militia entered the town of Ches- ter and captured the loyal sheriff of Sussex County, Del., who had sought shelter there under the British authorities. The night after the battle of the Brandy- wine, Governor Mckinley, of that State, was taken from his bed and made a prisoner. In retaliation for that act the Governor offered a reward of three hun- dred dollars for the arrest of the sheriff, at whose in- stance it is said Mckinley had been apprehended. The day previous to this bold movement of the milita, Col. Boyd, sub-lieutenant of Chester County, was instructed to call out the fifth class of the militia to defend the inhabitants from foraging parties, and that a troop of fifty horsemen should be organized for that purpose. The ammunition required for these has- tily-assembled forces was ordered to be placed at Col. Boyd's immediate disposal. On the 13th of October it was reported that Gen. Proctor, with sixteen hun- dred men, was then in Newtown township, almost sixteen miles from Philadelphia.3 Potter had been ordered to keep a sharp lookout for parties of Eng- lish foragers, and if possible prevent any provisions from being taken from the west side of the Schuylkill to Philadelphia for the use of the British troops. Congress had also by resolution declared that any one who should furnish provisions or certain other desig- nated supplies to the British forces, or who should be taken within thirty miles attempting to convey such interdicted articles to any place then occupied by his Majesty's soldiers, would be subject to martial law, and if found guilty of the offenses, should suffer

death.4 Gen. Armstrong, on the 14th, informed Coun- cil that his division had been separated, that Gen. Potter with his brigade had been "sent to Chester County to annoy the Enemies' small parties, whether Horse or foot, that may be found on the Lancaster or Darby roads, prevent provisions going to the Enemy, &c. I have heard," he continued, " of a fifth class of the militia of that County beiug ordered to remain for its own defence, which is very proper, the Com- mander of that Class ought to communicate with General Potter & occasionally take his instructions." 5 On the 15th the British fleet moved up the river and joined the " Roebuck" and " Vigilant," that then lay at anchor off Little Tinicum Island, the latter having the day before come up the Delaware sufficiently near to exchange shots with Fort Mifflin. The Americans were still confidently relying on the strength of the chevaux-de-frise, being entirely unaware of the fact that Robert White, who had been employed to sink the obstructions, was a traitor, as his subsequent base conduct showed, and had designedly left the channel near the Pennsylvania side open.6 Yet even after the forts were in the hands of the British, the approach to the city of Philadelphia was regarded as so hazard- ous that most of the English vessels lay in the river below the Horse-Shoe, making the town of Chester the port where they discharged supplies for the army.

Richard Peters, as secretary of the United States Board of War, on Oct. 18, 1777, called President Wharton's attention to information received, that a great number of the inhabitants of Chester County had furnished intelligence to and supplied the enemy with provisions while they were in that county, with- out which assistance it was believed the British would not have succeeded in the capture of Philadelphia. The authorities of the United States were determined to render such service impossible, and to that end urged upon the State that "the great principle of self Preservation requires that the most effectual means should be forthwith pursued to put it out of their Power to persist in their former Mal-Practices, by taking from them such Articles of Cloathing & Provisions, & of the former particulary shoes, stock- ings & Blankets, as might serve for the comfort & subsistence of the Enemy's Army, & the Acquisition whereof is of absolute Necessity to the existence of our own." The War Department, therefore, urged on Council that "spirited and determined militia," con- manded by discreet and active officers, should be im- mediately sent to Chester County to collect blankets, shoes, and stockings from all of the inhabitants that had not taken the oath or affirmation of allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania, and that all provisions and stock which might be useful to the enemy should be removed to a point beyond the latter's incursions.

1 Marshall's "Life of Washington," vol. iii. p. 176.

2 Penns. Archives, Iet series, vol. v. p. 648.

3 Penna. Mag. of Hist., vol. i. p. 18.

4 Marshall's " Life of Washington," vol. Jii. p. 172.

5 Penna. Archives, Ist series, vol. v. p. 673.

6 Penna. Mag. of Hist., vol. vi. p. 192, note.

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Geo. Washington, it was apprehended by Richard Peters, would order Gen. Potter to co-operate with the officers appointed for that purpose by Council.1 On the 21st, which was possibly the day Council re- ceived the dispatch just mentioned, for it had been sent from York to Lancaster, Col. Evan Evans, Col. William Evans, Col. Thomas, Col. Gibbons, Col. Thomas Levis, Capt. William Brooks, and Capt. Jacob Rudolph were appointed to collect the articles enumerated from persons who had not publicly given in their adherence to the State of Pennsylvania, and were instructed to give certificates to owners whose goods were taken, allowing them three pounds for new single blankets. The articles thus taken were to be delivered to the clothier-general. Dr. Smith tells us that this order bore with unusual harshness on the Quakers, who were indeed a class peculiarly situated, their religious principles prevented them from taking the oath of allegiance and abjuration, for not only did they suffer from the inconvenience of parting with the necessaries for their family, but in addition, "their conscientious scruples would not permit them to re- ceive the proffered compensation." 2

At this time the British were making every effort to forward the siege they had begun of Fort Mifflin, where, under the supervision of Capt. Montressor, bat- teries had been erected on Providence Island in the rear of the fort and communication had also been es- tablished with the fleet by way of Bow Creek. On the 23d of October an unsuccessful attack was made on the fort, twenty vessels taking part therein, but in the action the frigate " Augustas," a new sixty-four gun ship, got agrouud, was set on fire, her magazine exploded and she was a total wreck, as was the " Mer- lin" sloop-of-war, which ran on the chevaux-de-frise and sunk. The day before the attempt to carry Red Bank by assault had resulted disastrously for the British arms. On the 25th, Col. Joseph Reed, then at Darby, wrote to Council that a deserter from the Hessian Losberg regiment stated that the British army "must retreat in a few Days to Wilmington if they cannot get up their Provisions. Great Distress for Provisions in Town." Hence, when the news of Burgoyne's surrender was received in Philadelphia on October 31st well might Capt. Montressor record : "We are just now an army without provisions, a Rum artillery for Beseiging, scarce any amunition, no clothing, nor any money. Somewhat dejected by Burgoyne's capitulation, and not elated with our late manœuvres as Dunop's repulse, and the 'Augustas' and ' Merlin' being burnt and to complete all, Block- aded."

with his command the country people carried to the city all kinds of marketing, but that he had put an end to that trade, no one being suffered to go to Philadelphia without a pass. At the time he wrote, sixty ships of the enemy were lying at and below Chester. From the best information he could get he learned that provisions " is very scarce and deer in the city," and he also stated that he had moved all the beef cattle and the flour from that part of the county,- the territory now included within the present limits of Delaware County.

Two days after the date of this letter Gen. Wash- ington (Oct. 31, 1777) wrote to Gen. Potter :

" A6 8000 as the Schuylkill ie fordahle, I will send over a large body of militia to yon, for the purpose of executing come particular matters. The principal one ie to endeavor to break up the road by which the enemy have a commnoication with their shipping over the islande (by Bow Creek) if practicable; and to remove the running-stones from the mills in the neighborhood of Chester and Wilmington."

The commander-in-chief was very explicit in the orders to Gen. Potter, and the latter was instructed to execute them at once, and, if he had no teams or insufficient means of transporting the stones, he was directed to impress wagons. The grist-mills from which the stones were to be taken he designated thus :

"Lloyd'e, about two miles on tbie side of Chester (afterward Lepadie, Leiper's Snuff-mille) ; Robineon'e, on Naaman's Creek ; Shaw's, about one mile back of Chester (now Upland), sod the Brandywine mills. . . . The etodes should be marked with ter and grease, or in some other maoner, that it may be known to what mill they belong, that they may be returned and made use of io the future, and they should be moved to such distance that the enemy cannot easily recover them. If there is any fleur ie the mills it should be removed, if possible, after the stones are secured. I am informed that there is e considereble quantity in Shaw's mill, particularly, which there is reason to believe ie intended for the enemy. It is very convenient to the navigation of Cheeter Creek, and should he first taken care of. I beg you mey instantly eet about this work for the reason above mentioned. That no previone alarm may he given, let a certain hour be fixed upon for the execution of the whole at one time, aod even the officere who are to do the business should not know their destination till just before they set out, lest it should take wind.1

In a postscript, Washington says, " I have desired Capt. Lee, of the Light-Horse, to give any assistance that you may want."3

That this order was carried into effect we learn from a letter dated Nov. 4, 1777, written by Maj. John Clark, Jr., to Washington, in which be informed the general that, "Near Hook fell in with Capt. Lee with a few dragoons and about sixty of foot, among whom were a few riflemen. . . . The mills are dismantled, and we drove off some fat cattle from the shore at Chester, which I believe were intended for the enemy."+ I have been unable to find where the mill-stones were taken, or how long their owners were deprived of them. Certain is it that after the British evacuated Philadel- phia, the mills mentioned were in full operation.

Gen. Potter was active in his efforts to harass the enemy and cut off their means of supply, for we learn The service of light cavalry was indispensable in moving rapidly from place to place in order to inter- from a letter to President Wharton, written on Octo- ber 27th, that when he first went to Chester County | cept the enemy in their raids in the neighborhood of

1 Penno. Archives, let series, vol. v. p. 68G.

: Smith'e " History of Delaware County," p. 319.

3 Annale of Buffalo Valley, by John Blair Linn, p. 144,

4 Bulletin of Penoa. Hist. Society, vol. 1. No. 10, March, 1847, p. 34.

CONCLUSION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

the city and in rescuing booty from their foraging parties or in driving cattle beyond their reach So important was it deemed to have such bodies of men in Chester County that Council, October 31st, ordered Cols. Cheyney and Granow, without loss of time, to form three or four troops of light-horse, particularly in the southeastern parts of the county-now Dela- ware County-and in the formation of such mounted troops the advice and direction of Gen. Potter was to be taken. The militia officers designated immedi- ately set about carrying out the orders they had re- ceived, for on November 8th, Gen. Potter, who then had his headquarters at Mr. Garret's, in Newtown, wrote to President Wharton that considering the close approach of winter, he doubted whether the men could be raised and equipped sufficiently early to be of any service in the then campaign, and that he then had volunteers who were acquainted with the country, and answered every purpose of dragoons. If it was necessary to have dragoons for an emer- gency, Washington would send any number that might be required. The reasons assigned hy Gen. Potter seem to have fully satisfied Council, for nothing more appears in reference to the troops of light-horse· men from Chester. County.

Meanwhile the British forces were making regular siege to Fort Mifflin, for the scarcity of provisions was such that already many articles of food had so advanced in price in Philadelphia that they had thereby been banished from the tables of all hut the wealthier classes, and provender for animals was difficult to procure. Although the city had fallen, on the whole, considering the repulse of the fleet at Fort Mifflin and the defeat at Red Bank, together with the stirring tidings from the North that Bur- goyne had been captured, the outlook for the enemy was in nowise promising. For a number of years before the war, the industrious residents of that part of Chester County bordering on the Delaware, at a considerable outlay of labor, time, and money, had constructed dikes or embankments of earth along the river bank, so that much of the low and swampy ground had been converted into rich meadow land. As a means of defense, Council had determined to cut these banks when necessary, and flood the meadows. Hence we find that on November 1st, Capt. Montres- sor, who was constructing the batteries on Carpenter's and Providence Islands, and who had effected com- munication with the fleet by the way of Bow Creek, records on that day that "two hundred of the Rebels employed in cutting up the road to Bow Creek, and breaking down the dam to overflow us." Previous to this, however, the meadows had been flooded, for in a letter to Gen. Potter, dated October 31st, Washington says, " I am glad to hear the flood had done so much damage to the meadows. Endeavor by all means to keep the breakers open." Still the engineers strength- ened the batteries, the work of reducing the fort and opening the river continued.

The American army even then, before the winter at Valley Forge set in, was miserably deficient in clothing, and as the State authorities were highly in- dignant at the peaceable position assumed by the Society of Friends, on Nov. 8, 1777, Council ap- pointed collectors in the several counties in the State to collect from those persons who had not taken the oath of allegiance,1 or who had aided the enemy, arms, accoutrements, blankets, woolen and linsey- woolsey, cloth, linen, stockings, and shoes for the army. For Chester County, the following persons were named: Col. Evan Evans, Philip Scott, Esq., Elijah McClenaghan, Capt. John Ramsay, Patterson Bell, Esq., Thomas Boyd, Esq., Capt. Benjamin Wal- lace, William Gibbons, Col. George Pierce, Capt. McCay (Concord), Maj. Thomas Pierce, Capt. John Gardiner, Samuel Holliday, Col. William Evans, Capt. Israel Whellam, John Wilson, Capt. Samuel Vanlear, Thomas Levis, Esq., Capt. William Brookes, Capt. David Coupland, Col. Thomas Taylor, Capt. Allen Cunningham.

At this juncture John James, a loyalist, seems to have been especially objectionable to Council, hence on Nov. 13, 1777, all the officers of the commonwealth, both civil and military, were instructed to exert their utmost endeavors to apprehend him, so that he might be dealt with according to law ; and the following day Col. Smith, lieutenant of Chester County, was notified that John James had been clandestinely sent out from Philadelphia by Gen. Howe into his territory, and the authorities were particularly desired to secure " that dangerous emissary and to bring him to condign pun- ishment." To that end Col. Smith was instructed to watch the quarterly meetings of the Society of Friends, where, it was believed, he would endeavor to promote the views of the invaders. That he might be more readily detected, Council furnished a personal descrip- tion of James, setting forth that he was then about thirty-five years of age, five feet ten inches in height, slenderly made, with a stoop in his walk, leans side- wise, and his shoulders falling greatly. His eyes were dark, and his hair, for he wore no wig, was of a dark hue. His apparel, it is stated, was generally a light drab, in "the strictest Quaker fashion, being lengthy in the skirts and without pockets," while his hat was very plain. He was, so the instructions stated, a native of Chester County, and would be better known to the people there personally than by any description Council could give of him. "For this man you have,

1 No wonder ia it that the Society of Friends, aa a body, were not zeal- oua in the interest of the Continental authorities, a sentiment that the men most active in the Revolutionary war were mainly responsible for. Washington, naually so just in all his acts and deeda, was emiuently nn- just to Friends. Even at the time was this patent to careful observers, for io a letter written from Philadelphia by a British officer, shortly after the captura of that city, he says, in speaking of those who remained when it fell, " Till we arrived I believed it was a very populous city, but at present it is very thinly inhabited, and that only by the canaille and the Quakers whose peaceable disposition has prevented their taking up arma, and consequently has engaged them in our interests, by drawing upon them the displeasure of their countrymen."

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

under cover of this letter," the order to Col. Smith stated, "a warrant, tho' it is expected that all agents of the Enemy will be industriously sought after and apprehended by you and many other friends of their country without such formalities."1 The arrest of John James and many other Friends had been specially ordered by Council in the month of August preceding the battle of Brandywine.2

On Monday morning, Nov. 10, 1777, the batteries opened on Fort Mifflin, which was bravely defended until the Saturday, when, about a half-hour before midnight, the garrison evacuated it, the enemy's fire having rendered it no longer tenable. Before they retreated the Americans applied the torch, and when the royal troops took possession and hauled down the flag, which had been left flying at the staff-head, it was almost a ruin. A noticeable incident of the siege, which shows the changes in the river, is thus mentioned in Howe's dispatch :

"On the 15th, the wind proving fair, the ' Vigilant' armed ship, car- rying 16 twenty-four pounders, and a hulk with three 24-pounders, got up to the Fort through the Channel hetween Providence Ieland and Hog Ieland, those assisted by several ships-of-war in the Eastern channel, as well as by the batteries on shore, did auch execution upon the Fort and collateral block-honees that the enemy, dreading our impending aseault, evacuated the island in the night between the 15th And 16th and it was possessed on the 16th at daybreak by the grenadiers of the guarde."

We are told by Marshalls that the water between Providence and Hog Islands had been deepened be- cause the obstructions in the main channel had forced a strong current in that direction, which fact was en- tirely unknown to the garrison. The sharpshooters from the round-top of the " Vigilant" kept the Ameri- can guns silenced, for no sooner would a man show himself than he was fired at from the vessel with fatal effect. The American galleys endeavored to drive the English man-of-war away, but without success, and the evacuation of the fort became absolutely necessary. Lord Cornwallis, who was incensed at the stubborn resistance, and the loss its capture had occasioned to the British forces, with a round army oath denounced it as " a cursed little island." +

Fort Mercer, at Red Bank, still floated the rebel colors, and it was determined by the invaders to effect its reduction. Hence, to that end, Gen. Howe, ou the evening of the 18th,5 dispatched Cornwallis from Philadelphia with three thousand men, comprising

the Fifth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Thirty-third, and Fifty-sixth Regiments, exclusive of the Hessians and Light Infantry, with twelve pieces of cannon and several howitzers,6 together with a number of baggage- wagons, which body marched across the Middle Ferry on their way to Chester. On the morning of that day a numerous fleet of British vessels sailed up to and anchored off Billingsport,7 where was disembarked a large body of troops, estimated by the American scouts as nearly six thousand men. They had " ar- rived a few days before from New York," under the command of Maj .- Gen. Sir Thomas Wilson, with whom were Brig .- Gens. Leslie and Patton.8

As the division under Cornwallis was on the march to Chester they drove in the American pickets on the Darby road, who, retreating, sought shelter in the Blue Bell Tavern, on Crum Creek, and from the win- dows fired at the advancing English. Two. men of the Thirty-third Regiment were killed, one of the slain being the sergeant-major." The Grenadiers, en- raged, broke ranks, rushed into the house, and there bayoneted five of the Americans who had taken ref- uge in the inn. They would have killed all the militiamen had not the British officer interfered, and the whole picket, which had numbered thirty-three including the killed, were captured. The column then resumed the march and encamped a few miles eastward of Chester, from which point marauding parties plundered the inhabitants. The next day they reached Chester, where the whole of Cornwallis' command was embarked on transports by sunset, and it was conveyed across the Delaware to Billingsport, where he united his forces with those of Gen. Sir Thomas Wilson.

Washington, who had been apprised of this move- ment, ordered Gen. Greene to repair to the support of Gen. Varnum at Red Bank, and Gen. Huntingdon was immediately detailed with a brigade to reinforce the garrison. It is not within the scope of this work to narrate the circumstantial story of the unnecessary abandonment of Fort Mercer, which was vacated on the evening of the 19th, and the destruction, two days thereafter, of eight American armed vessels and two

i l'enna. Archives, lat series, vol. vi. p. 4.

2 Colonial Recorda, vol. xi. p. 342.

" Marshall's " Life of Washington," ili p. 178.

4 Penna. Archivee, Ist series, vol. vi. p. 23.

5 John Clarke, Jr., 00 Nov. 20, 1777 (Penna. Archivee, let series, vol. vi. p. 23), wrote to Paul Zuntzinger, Esq., that at noon on the 17th, Cornwallis left Philadelphia for Chester with three thousand British and Hessian troope, but Gen. Ilowe in his report unequivocally asserts that the soldiers began their march on the night of the 18th, in which state- ment he is supported by Robert Morton (Penna. Mag. of Hist., vol. i. p. 28), and by Cupt. Montressor (Penna, May. of Hist., vol. vi. p. 193). Clark in a poatecript to this lettor anye, "I dined at Chester yesterday, caught a person supplying the enemy nt the wharf with provisions, the bont pushed off, and about thirty pounde of butter and an excellent cheese fell into my hands."

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 18

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150