History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 15

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1288

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The convention for framing a new constitution for the colony met on the 15th of July, and was organized by electing Franklin President, and on the 28th of September completed its labors, having framed a new organic law and made all necessary provisions for putting it into operation. In the mean- time the old proprietary Assembly adjourned on the 14th of June to the 26th of August. But a quorum failed to appear, and an adjournment was had to the 23d of September, when some routine business was attended to, chiefly providing for the payment of salaries and necessary bills, and on the 28th of September, after a stormy existence of nearly a century, this Assembly, the, creature of Penn, adjourned never to meet again. With the ending of the As- sembly ended the power of Gov. Penn. It is a singular circumstance, much noted by the believers in signs, that on the day of his arrival in America, which was Sunday, the earth in that locality was rocked by an earthquake, which was interpreted as an evil omen to his administration. He married the daughter of William Allen, Chief Justice of the colony, and, though at times falling under suspicion of favoring the royal cause, yet, as was believed, not with reason, he remained a quiet spectator of the great struggle, living at his country seat in Bucks County, where he died in February, 1795.

The titles of the proprietors to landed estates were suspended by the action

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of the convention, and on the 27th of November, 1779, the Legislature passed an act vesting these estates in the commonwealth, but paying the proprietors a gratuity of £130,000, "in remembrance of the enterprising spirit of the Founder." This act did not touch the private estates of the proprietors, nor the tenths of manors. The British Government, in 1790, in consideration of the fact that it had been unable to vindicate its authority over the colony, and afford protection to the proprietors in the enjoyment of their chartered rights, voted an annuity of £4,000 to the heirs and descendants of Penn. This annuity has been regularly paid to the present time, 1884.

CHAPTER XII.

THOMAS WHARTON, JR., 1777-78-GEORGE BRYAN, 1778-JOSEPH REED, 1778-81- WILLIAM MOORE, 1781-82-JOHN DICKINSON, 1782-85-BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1785-88.

TI THE convention which framed the constitution appointed a Committee of Safety, consisting of twenty-five members, to whom was intrusted the government of the colony until the proposed constitution should be framed and put in operation. Thomas Rittenhouse was chosen President of this body, who was consequently in effect Governor. The new constitution, which was unanimously adopted on the 28th of September, was to take effect from its passage. It provided for an Assembly to be elected annually; a Supreme Ex- ecutive Council of twelve members to be elected for a term of three years; As- semblymen to be eligible but four years out of seven, and Councilmen but one term in seven years. Members of Congress were chosen by the Assembly. The constitution could not be changed for seven years. It provided for the election of censors every seven years, who were to decide whether there was a demand for its revision. If so, they were to call a convention for the pur- pose. On the 6th of August, 1776, Thomas Wharton, Jr., was chosen Presi- dent of the Council of Safety.

The struggle with the parent country was now fully inaugurated. The British Parliament had declared the colonists rebels, had voted a force of 55,000 men, and in addition had hired 17,000 Hessian soldiers, to subdue them. The Congress on its part had declared the objects for which arms had been taken up, and had issued bills of credit to the amount of $6,000,000. Par- liament had resolved upon a vigorous campaign, to strike heavy and rapid blows, and quickly end the war. The first campaign had been conducted in Massachusetts, and by the efficient conduct of Washington, Gen. Howe, the leader of the British, was compelled to capitulate and withdraw to Halifax in March, 1776. On the 28th of June, Sir Henry Clinton, with a strong detach- ment, in conjunction with Sir Peter Parker of the navy, made a combined land and naval attack upon the defenses of Charleston Harbor, where he was met by Gen. William Moultrie, with the Carolina Militia, and after a severe battle, in which the British fleet was roughly handled, Clinton withdrew and returned to New York, whither the main body of the British Army, under Gen. Howe, had come, and where Admiral Lord Howe, with a large fleet directly from England, joined them. To this formidable power led by the best talent in the British Army, Washington could muster no adequate force to oppose, and he was obliged to withdraw from Long Island, from New York, from

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Harlem, from White Plains, to cross into New Jersey, and abandon position after position, until he had reached the right bank of the Delaware on Penn- sylvania soil. A heavy detachment under Cornwallis followed, and would have crossed the Delaware in pursuit, but advised to a cautious policy by Howe, he waited for ice to form on the waters of the Delaware before passing over. The fall of Philadelphia now seemed imminent. Washington had not sufficient force to face the whole power of the British Army. On the 2d of December, the Supreme Council ordered all places of business in the city to be closed, the schools to be dismissed, and advised preparation for removing the women and children and valuables. On the 12th, the Congress which was in session here adjourned to meet in Baltimore, taking with them all papers and public records, and Jeaving a committee, of which Robert Morris was Chairman, to act in conjunction with Washington for the safety of the place. Gen. Putnam was dispatched on the same day with a detachment of soldiers to take command in the city.

In this emergency the Council issued a stirring address: "If you wish to live in freedom, and are determined to maintain that best boon of heaven, you have no time to deliberate. A manly resistance will secure every bless- ing, inactivity and sloth will bring horror and destruction. * * * May heaven, which has bestowed the blessings of liberty upon you, awaken you to a proper sense of your danger and arouse that manly spirit of virtuous resolu- tion which has ever bidden defiance to the efforts of tyranny. May you ever have the glorious prize of liberty in view, and bear with a becoming fortitude the fatigues and severities of a winter campaign. That, and that only, will entitle you to the superlative distinction of being deemed, under God, the deliverers of your country." Such were the arguments which our fathers made use of in conducting the struggle against the British Empire.

Washington, who had, from the opening of the campaign before New York, been obliged for the most part to act upon the defensive, formed the plan to suddenly turn upon his pursuers and offer battle. Accordingly, on the night of the 25th of December, taking a picked body of men, he moved up several miles to Taylorsville, where he crossed the river, though at flood tide and filled with floating ice, and moving down to Trenton, where a detachment of the British Army was posted, made a bold and vigorous attack. Taken by surprise, though now after sunrise, the battle was soon decided in favor of the Americans. Some fifty of the enemy were slain and over a thousand taken prisoners, with quantities of arms, ammunition and stores captured. A triumphal entry was made at Philadelphia, when the prisoners and the spoils of war moved through the streets under guard of the victorious troops, and were marched away to the prison camp at Lancaster. Washington, who was smarting under a forced inactivity, by reason of paucity of numbers and Jack of arms and material, and who had been forced constantly to retire before a defiant foe, now took courage. His name was upon every tongue, and foreign Governments were disposed to give the States a fair chance in their struggle for nationality. The lukewarm were encouraged to enlist under the banner of freedom. It had great strategic value. The British had intended to push forward and occupy Philadelphia at once, which, being now virtually the cap- ital of the new nation, had it been captured at this juncture, would have given them the occasion for claiming a triumphal ending of the war. But this ad. vantage, though gained by a detachment small in numbers yet great in cour- age, caused the commander of a powerful and well appointed army to give up all intention of attempting to capture the Pennsylvania metropolis in this campaign, and retiring into winter cantonments upon the Raritan to await

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the settled weather of the spring for an entirely new cast of operations. Washington, emboldened by his success, led all his forces into New Jersey; and pushing past Trenton, where Cornwallis, the royal leader, had brought his main body by a forced march, under cover of darkness, attacked the British reserves at Princeton. But now the enemy had become wary and vig- ilant, and, summoned by the booming of cannon, Cornwallis hastened back to the relief of his hard pressed columns. Washington, finding that the enemy's whole army was within easy call and knowing that he had no hope of success with his weak army, withdrew. Washington now went into winter quarters at Morristown, and by constant vigilance was able to gather marauding parties of the British who ventured far away from their works.

Putnam commenced fortifications at a point below Philadelphia upon the Delaware, and at commanding positions upon the outskirts, and on being summoned to the army was succeeded by Gen. Irvine, and he by Gen. Gates. On the 4th of March, 1777, the two Houses of the Legislature, elected under the new constitution, assembled, and in joint convention chose Thomas Wharton, Jr., President, and George Bryan Vice President. Penn had expressed the idea that power was preserved the better by due formality and ceremony, and, accordingly, this event was celebrated with much pomp, the result being declared in a loud voice from the court house, amid the shouts of the gathered throngs and the booming of the captured cannon brought from the field of Trenton. The title bestowed upon the new chief officer of the State was fitted by its length and high-sounding epithets to inspire the multitude with awe and reverence: "His Excellency, Thomas Wharton, Junior, Esquire, President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, Captain General, and Com- mander-in-chief in and over the same."

While the enemy was disposed to be cautious after the New Jersey cam- paign so humiliating to the native pride of the Britain, yet he was determined to bring all available forces into the field for the campaign of 1777, and to strike a decisive blow. Early in April, great activity was observed among the shipping in New York Harbor, and Washington communicated to Congress his opinion that Philadelphia was the object against which the blow would be aimed. This announcement of probable peril induced the Council to issue a proclamation urging enlistments, and Congress ordered the opening of a camp for drilling recruits in Pennsylvania, and Benedict Arnold, who was at this. time a trusted General, was ordered to the command of it. So many new ves- sels and transports of all classes had been discovered to have come into New York Harbor, probably forwarded from England, that Washington sent Gen. Mifflin, on the 10th of June, to Congress, bearing a letter in which he ex- pressed the settled conviction that the enemy meditated an immediate descent upon some part of Pennsylvania. Gen. Mifflin proceeded to examine the de- fensive works of the city which had been begun on the previous advance of the British, and recommended such changes and new works as seemed best adapted for its protection. The preparations for defense were vigorously pros- ecuted. The militia were called out and placed in two camps, one at Chester and the other at Downington. Fire ships were held in readiness to be used against vessels attempting the ascent of the river.

Lord Howe, being determined not to move until ample preparations were completed, allowed the greater part of the summer to wear away before he advanced. Finally, having embarked a force of 19,500 men on a fleet of 300 transports, he sailed southward. Washington promptly made a corresponding march overland, passing through Philadelphia on the 24th of August. Howe, suspecting that preparations would be made for impeding the passage of the

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Delaware, sailed past its mouth, and moving up the Chesapeake instead, de- barked fifty-four miles from Philadelphia and commenced the march north- ward. Great activity was now manifested in the city. The water-spouts were melted to furnish bullets, fair hands were busied in rolling cartidges, power- ful chevaux-de-frise were planted to impede the navigation of the river, and the last division of the militia of the city, which had been divided into three classes, was called out. Washington, who had crossed the Brandywine, soon confronted the advance of Howe, and brisk skirmishing at once opened. See- ing that he was likely to have the right of his position at Red Clay Creek, where he had intended to give battle, turned by the largely superior force of the enemy, under cover of darkness on the night of the 8th of September, he withdrew across the Brandywine at Chad's Ford, and posting Armstrong with the militia upon the left, at Pyle's Ford, where the banks were rugged and pre- cipitous, and Sullivan, who was second in command, upon the right at Brin- ton's Ford under cover of forest, he himself took post with three divisions, Sterling's, Stephens', and his own, in front of the main avenue of approach at Chad's. Howe, discovering that Washington was well posted, determined to flank him. Accordingly, on the 11th, sending Knyphausen with a division of Hessians to make vigorous demonstrations upon Washington's front at Chad's, he, with the corps of Cornwallis, in light marching order, moved up the Brandy- wine, far past the right flank of Washington, crossed the Brandywine at the fords of Trumbull and Jeffrey unopposed, and, moving down came upon Washington's right, held by Sullivan, all unsuspecting and unprepared to re- ceive him. Though Howe was favored by a dense fog which on that morning hung on all the valley, yet it had hardly been commenced before Washington discovered the move and divined its purpose. His resolution was instantly taken. He ordered Sullivan to cross the stream at Brinton's, and resolutely turn the left flank of Knyphausen, when he himself with the main body would move over and crush the British Army in detail. Is was a brilliant conception, was feasible, and promised the most complete success. But what chagrin and mortification, to receive, at the moment when he expected to hear the music of Sullivan's guns doubling up the left of the enemy, and giving notice to him to commence the passage, a message from that officer advising him that he had disobeyed his orders to cross, having received intelligence that the enemy were not moving northward, and that he was still in position at the ford. Thus balked, Washington had no alternative but to remain in position, and it was not long before the guns of Howe were heard moving in upon his all unguarded right flank. The best dispositions were made which time would permit. His main body with the force of Sullivan took position along the brow of the hill on which stands the Birmingham meeting house, and the battle opened and was pushed with vigor the whole day. Overborne by numbers, and weakened by losses, Washington was obliged to retire, leaving the enemy in possession of the field. The young French nobleman, Lafayette, was wounded while gal- lantly serving in this fight. The wounded were carried into the Birmingham meeting house, where the blood stains are visible to this day, enterprising relic hunters for many generations having been busy in loosening small slivers with the points of their knives.

The British now moved cautiously toward Philadelphia. On the 16th of September, at a point some twenty miles west of Philadelphia, Washington again made a stand, and a battle opened with brisk skirmishing, but a heavy rain storm coming on the powder of the patriot soldiers was completely ruined on account of their defective cartridge boxes. On the night of the 20th, Gen. Anthony Wayne, who had been hanging on the rear of the enemy with his.

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detachment, was surprised by Gen. Gray with a heavy column, who fell sud- denly upon the Americans in bivouac and put them to the sword, giving no quarter. This disgraceful slaughter which brought a stigma and an indelible stain upon the British arms is known as the Paoli Massacre. Fifty-three of the victims of the black flag were buried in one grave. A neat monument of white marble was erected forty years afterward over their moldering remains by the Republican Artillerists of Chester County, which vandal hands have not spared in their mania for relics.

Congress remained in Philadelphia while these military operations were going on at its very doors; but on the 18th of September adjourned to meet at Lancaster, though subsequently, on the 30th, removed across the Susque- hanna to York, where it remained in session till after the evacuation in the following summer. The Council remained until two days before the fall of the city, when having dispatched the records of the loan office and the more valuable papers to Easton, it adjourned to Lancaster. On the 26th, the British Army entered the city. Deborah Logan in her memoir says: "The army marched in and took possession in the city in the morning. We were up-stairs and saw them pass the State House. They looked well, clean and well clad, and the contrast between them and our own poor, bare-footed, ragged troops was very great and caused a feeling of despair. * *

Early in the afternoon, Lord Cornwallis' suite arrived and took possession of my mother's house." But though now holding undisputed possession of the American capital, Howe found his position an uncomfortable one, for his fleet was in the Chesapeake, and the Delaware and all its defenses were in posses- sion of the Americans, and Washington had manned the forts with some of his most resolute troops. Varnum's brigade, led by Cols. Angell and Greene, Rhode Island troops, were at Fort Mercer, at Red Bank, and this the enemy determined to attack. On the 21st of October, with a force of 2,500 men, led by Count Donop, the attack was made. In two colums they moved as to an easy victory. But the steady fire of the defenders when come in easy range, swept them down with deadly effect, and, retiring with a loss of over 400 and their leader mortally wounded, they did not renew the fight. Its reduction was of prime importance, and powerful works were built and equipped to bear upon the devoted fort on all sides, and the heavy guns of the fleet were brought up to aid in overpowering it. For six long days the greatest weight of metal was poured upon it from the land and the naval force, but without effect, the sides of the fort successfully withstanding the plunging of their powerful missiles. As a last resort, the great vessels were run suddenly in close under the walls, and manning the yard-arms with sharp-shooters, so effectually silenced and drove away the gunners that the fort fell easily into the Brit- ish hands and the river was opened to navigation. The army of Washing- ton, after being recruited and put in light marching order, was led to German- town where, on the morning of the 3d of October the enemy was met. A heavy fog that morning had obscured friend and foe alike, occasioning con- fusion in the ranks, and though the opening promised well, and some progress was made, yet the enemy was too strong to be moved, and the American leader was forced to retire to his camp at White Marsh. Though the river had now been opened and the city was thoroughly fortified for resisting attack, yet Howe felt not quite easy in having the American Army quartered in so close striking distance, and accordingly, on the 4th of December, with nearly his entire army, moved out, intending to take Washington at White Marsh, sixteen miles away, by surprise, and by rapidity of action gain an easy victory. But by the heroism and fidelity of Lydia Darrah, who, as she had often done before

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passed the guarda to go to the mill for flour, the news of the coming of Howe was communicated to Washington, who was prepared to receive him. Finding that he could effect nothing, Howe returned to the city, having had the weari- some march at this wintry season without effect.

Washington now crossed the Schuylkill and went into winter quarters at. Valley Forge. The cold of that winter was intense; the troops, half clad and indifferently fed, suffered severely, the prints of their naked feet in frost and snow being often tinted with patriot blood. Grown impatient of the small results from the immensely expensive campaigns carried on across the ocean, the Ministry relieved Lord Howe, and appointed Sir Henry Clinton, to the chief command.

The Commissioners whom Congress had sent to France early in the fall of 1776-Franklin, Dean and Lee had been busy in making interest for the united colonies at the French Court, and so successful were they, that arms and ammunition and loans of money were procured from time to time. Indeed, so persuasive had they become that it was a saying current at court that, "It was fortunate for the King that Franklin did not take it into his head to ask to have the palace at Versailles stripped of its furniture to send to his dear Americans, for his majesty would have been unable to deny him." Finally, a convention was concluded, by which France agreed to use the royal army and navy as faithful allies of the Americans against the English. Accordingly, a. fleet of four powerful frigates, and twelve ships were dispatched under com- mand of the Count D'Estaing to shut up the British fleet in the Delaware. The plan was ingenious, particularly worthy of the long head of Franklin. But by some means, intelligence of the sailing of the French fleet reached the English cabinet, who immediately ordered the 9vacuation of the Delaware, whereupon the Admiral weighed anchor and sailed away with his entire fleet to. New York, and D'Estaing, upon his arrival at the mouth of the Delaware, found that the bird had flown.

Clinton evacuated Philadelphia and moved across New Jersey in the direc- tion of New York. Washington closely followed and came up with the enemy on the plains of Monmouth, on the 28th of June, 1778, where a sanguin- ary battle was fought which lasted the whole day, resulting in the triumph of the American arms, and Pennsylvania was rid of British troops!

The enemy was no sooner well away from the city than Congress returned from York and resumed its sittings in its former quarters, June 24, 1778, and on the following day, the Colonial Legislature returned from Lancaster. Gen Arnold, who was disabled by a wound received at Saratoga, from field duty, was given command in the city and marched in with a regiment on the day following the evacuation. On the 23d of May, 1778, President Wharton died suddenly of quinsy, while in attendance upon the Council at Lancaster, when George Bryan, the Vice President, became the Acting President. Bryan was a philanthropist in deed as well as word. Up to this time, African slavery had been tolerated in the colony. In his message of the 9th of November, he said: "This or some better scheme, would tend to abrogate slavery-the approbrium of America-from among us. * * * In divesting the State of slaves, you will equally serve the cause of humanity and policy, and offer to God one of the most proper and best returns of gratitude for His great deliverance of us. and vur posterity from thraldom; you will also set y ur character for justice and benevolence in the true point of view to Europe, who are astonished to see a people eager for liberty holding negroes in bondage." He perfected a bill for the extinguishment of claims to slaves which was passed by the Assembly, March 1, 1780, by a vote of thirty-four to eighteen, providing that no child.

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of slave parents born after that date should be a slave, but a servant till the age of twenty-eight years, when all claim for service should end. Thus by a simple enactment resolutely pressed by Bryan, was slavery forever rooted out of Pennsylvania.

In the summer of 1778, a force of savages and sour- faced tories to the num- ber of some 1,200, under the leadership of one Col. John Butler, a cruel and in- human wretch, descending from the north, broke into the Wyoming Valley on the 2d of July. The strong men were in the army of Washington, and the only defenders were old men, beardless boys and resolute women. These, to the number of about 400, under Zebulon Butler, a brave soldier who had won distinction in the old French war, and who happened to be present, moved resolutely out to meet the invaders. Overborne by numbers, the inhabitants were beaten and put to the sword, the few who escaped retreating to Forty Fort, whither the helpless, up and down the valley, had sought safety. Here humane terms of surrender were agreed to, and the families returned to their homes, supposing all danger to be past. But the savages had tasted blood, and perhaps confiscated liquor, and were little mindful of capitu- lations. The night of the 5th was given to indiscriminate massacre. The cries of the helpless rang out upon the night air, and the heavens along all the valley were lighted up with the flames of burning cottages; " and when the moon arose, the terrified inhabitants were fleeing to the Wilkesbarre Mount- ains, and the dark morasses of the Pocono Mountain beyond." Most of these were emigrants from Connecticut, and they made their way homeward as fast as their feet would carry them, many of them crossing the Hudson at Pough- keepsie, where they told their tales of woe.

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History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 15

Author: Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1288

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1288