History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 41

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1372

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During the time that Armand's Legion was in York his men were quartered in log houses at the northwest corner of Duke and Philadelphia Streets. One row extended westward on Philadelphia and another north on Duke Street. These properties were then owned by Mr. James Beck.

JOHN GOTTLIEB MORRIS, of Ar- mand's Legion, who settled as a physician in York after the Revolution, was born in Prussia in the village of Redekin, near Magdeburg, in 1754. He received a liberal education and also studied medicine and surgery in one of the higher institutions of Germany. During the latter part of 1776. Dr. Morris came to America, landing at Philadelphia, where, after a careful exam- ination, he was granted a certificate to serve as a surgeon in the Continental army. This certificate was signed by William Shippen, William Brown and other noted surgeons of that day. He was then a young man of twenty-two, and is said to have possessed rare accomplishments. When Armand's Legion was organized, in 1777, Dr. Morris was appointed assistant surgeon to this command. He accompanied Colonel Ar- mand in both his northern and southern campaigns. After the battle of Camden, South Carolina, Morris was made chief surgeon of the Legion, which, in October. 1781, was present and took part in the bat- tle of Yorktown, Virginia, and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis and his entire army.

At the close of the war. Surgeon Morris settled in York as a physician and druggist. In June, 1784, he married Barbara Myers, of York. Dr. Morris was one of the early members of the Society of Cincinnati, com- posed of commissioned officers of the Revo- lution. Charles A. Morris, his eldest son, was a druggist at York for more than half a century. He married Cassandra. the sis- ter of Philip and Samuel Small. At his death, he gave most of his estate to charity and benevolence. Rev. John G. Morris, the second son, was a noted Lutheran clergy- man, lecturer and entomologist, and served as president of the Maryland Historical

Society. He was married to Eliza, sister of Dr. Jacob Hay, Sr. He died at Baltimore in 1895, at the advanced age of 92 years. George Morris, the third son, was one of the early coal merchants of York, and died unmarried many years earlier than his brothers.

QUARTERMASTERS' POSTS IN YORK COUNTY.

During the year 1778-9, when the Indians and Tories were giving trouble along the northern and western frontiers, posts were established by authority of Congress at Carlisle, York, Hanover, and Marsh Creek, near the site of Gettysburg. Colonel John Davis had been appointed deputy quarter- master-general of the region west of the Susquehanna, with headquarters at Carlisle. which was the distributing point of army supplies for the frontier. Colonel David Grier, who had been seriously wounded at the battle of Paoli, while in command of the Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment, was made quartermaster at York: Captain Alexander McDowell, at Hanover, and Colonel Robert McPherson, at Marsh Creek. There is no complete statement of the different pur- chases made at these posts during the years named. Some of the original papers have been procured, from which interesting facts have been taken.

On May 14, 1778, Captain William Nich- ols, assistant quartermaster at York, wrote to Colonel John Davis, that he had sent to Carlisle two small teams and would send another in two days. Captain Nichols states that he had already received $45.000 for the department at York. On June 2. 1778, Colonel Grier reported the following employes at his office at York: John Mc- Pherson, clerk, whose salary was $60 per month; Robert McPherson, jr., clerk. $60: Henry Zinn, measurer of forage, $80; James Shaw and Patrick May, weighers of hay and attendants at the public stables of the gov- ernment, $80 each: John Uley, express rider, $90 and expenses ; and Francis Jones, brigade wagonmaster, whose salary is not given. On August 25, 1778, Colonel David Grier received $12,000 from Colonel Davis for use of the post at York. On September 12, 1778, John Pollock, of York, received 1,000 shingles, a quantity of nails and 820

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

spikes for use in repairing the government stables at York.

Charles Lukens wrote to Colonel Davis all vouchers he received for furnishing forage and wood for the use of Burgoyne's army, then numbering about 4,000 men, who were marched through Hanover and camped there for the night, on their way to Charlottesville, Virginia, as prisoners of war, during the latter part of December, 1778.

from Washingtonburg to send a team to York for oil and other articles. Captain Alexander McDowell, in charge of the post at Hanover, wrote, on April 30, 1779, to Colonel Davis that pack horses were difficult to procure around Hanover, but that he had purchased nine. Captain Mc- Dowell also states in his letter that "the horses that were brought for the army camps to winter at Hanover were looking well and fit for service. Forage is very scarce. Oats and spelts can hardly be bought at any price, owing to a frost during the summer. Rye is scarce and sold at the rate of five pounds per bushel. Oats or spelts are worth at least $6 per bushel in Continental money." He also asked Colo- nel Davis to send him $10,000 from Carlisle if Davis had "plenty of money on hand."

On May 1, 1779, McDowell wrote that he could procure only one team to go to Fort Pitt, as "all the farmers are busy with their summer crops, as the frost had caused the destruction of the previous crops." On May 17, Colonel Davis sent six teams to Colonel McPherson to carry eighty-five bar- rels of beef and pork to Fort Pitt. On May 28, Colonel Davis ordered Colonel Grier to send from York to the American camp all the horses, also the portmanteaus and pack saddles. Colonel Grier was also to send wagons to Carlisle to convey military stores from that post to Pittsburg. On the same day, Colonel Grier received $12,000 for use at his post.

On June 4, 1779, Charles Lukens wrote from Washingtonburg to Colonel Davis to procure a team of four horses and a wagon, and send it to Spring Forge, in York County, to purchase "bar iron for the use of the United States." This bar iron was to be hauled to Philadelphia. On July 26, he ordered Colonel Davis to send another team to Spring Forge to procure bar iron for the government. On August 7, Captain McDowell asked the quartermasters' de- partment at Carlisle to send him $10,000 for use at the post at Hanover. Some time before, McDowell had sent to Carlisle for the army, 216 tar pots for wagons, 104 army canteens, 109 pounds of lashing rope. August 12, Captain McDowell received a

communication from the Board of Treasury of the United States, asking him to forward

Colonel Grier's report to the government for the month of August, 1779, showed that he had expended during that month, the sum of 2,634 pounds in Continental money : to Francis Jones, wagonmaster of a brigade, 1,237 pounds; to George Messencope, wagonmaster, 209 pounds; George Moul, for smith work, 215 pounds; John McAllis- ter, for supplies, 151 pounds; Thomas White, wagonmaster, III pounds; and to Jacob Probst, for ropes, 75 pounds. The balance was paid in small amounts to differ- ent persons for various purposes.

The official report for the month of Au- gust, shows that Captain McDowell ex- pended at his post at Hanover, the sum of I, 17I pounds, which he estimated an equiva- lent of $3,124, showing that Continental money then was worth about thirty cents on the dollar in specie. Among the items were the following: Colonel Richard McAl- lister, for seven quires of paper, 15 pounds or $42; John Hinkel, for smith work, 100 pounds; William Kitt (Gitt), for riding express and expenses, II pounds; George Boyer, for 296 pounds of beef, 75 pounds.

September 5, 1779, John McPherson, clerk of the post at York, reported that he had sent to the quartermasters' department at Carlisle, fifty-one pounds of lashing rope, for which he paid fifteen shillings a pound, and 100 halter ropes, which cost seven shil- lings and six pence each. He thought these prices were high for the articles named, but stated that more ropes and halters could be obtained at York if needed, at these prices.

Quartermaster Grier, at York, November I, reported the following stores on hand: 3 wagons, 9 reams of writing paper, 50 blank books, 250 yards of linen, 50 bags, 159 can- teens, 2 saddles, and 4 horses. In a letter to the quartermaster-general at Carlisle, Colonel Grier wrote that he needed for use at his post in York, a good supply of money for necessary expenditures. He fur-

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THE REVOLUTION

ther stated that he would be required to militia in marching from the southward to purchase a large amount of forage to keep some cattle during the winter belonging to the government.

Charles McClure, from the post at Car- lisle, ordered two wagons to go to Ken- nedy's mill, in York County, now near the site of Gettysburg, for the purpose of con- veying flour to Carlisle, and corn to Major Smith's mill. In November, 1779, Colonel Grier expended at his post in York, the sum of 517 pounds.

April 7, 1780, four wagons were sent from partment, thirty-one barrels of flour at

the main army." They urged that another commissary be appointed instead of McAl- lister, for "it was thought proper when Congress was here during the winter of 1777-78 to have a commissary of purchases, another of issues, a quartermaster, town major and a physician, which officers have since been continued."

McAllister appeared in his defence before the Supreme Executive Council at Phila- delphia, when only part of the accusations were proven. He remained in office a short

Robert Erwin, who, in 1780, had been

Deardorff's mill, in York County, doubtless sent by William Buchanan, commissary- a mill with that name near York Springs. general of purchases, to take charge of the May 24. Colonel Henry Miller, then serving post at Hanover, succeeded in the purchase as sheriff of York County, wrote to the of a large amount of supplies in that region. In April, 1780, he had on hand 4.500 pounds of bacon, 4,500 pounds of pork, 10,000 pounds of flour, and 400 gallons of whiskey and an amount of forage which he had pur- chased for the government.

quartermaster at Carlisle that the arrival of twelve merchant vessels at Baltimore caused a decline in the prices of all merchan- dise in this region. In this letter he stated that much depended upon the results in the south, to which region the British army had then gone, the seat of war having been transferred to South Carolina and Georgia. The troubles with the Indians along the frontier had been brought to an end. In the summer of 1782, the post at York was dis- continued. Besides the quartermaster- general, Colonel David Grier, and his assist- ant. John McPherson, the department at York had in its employ two clerks, two men in charge of the stables, and four persons in the forage department.

John McAllister, acting commissary of issues at York, in June, 1779, was charged with malpractice and peculation in office for having misused provisions belonging to the government. He was accused by Jacob Eichelberger and Major David Jameson, of York, with having fed hogs with flour and good biscuit "at a time when soldiers that were on the march to the army were in the greatest need of flour for rations." McAl- lister admitted part of the accusation and acknowledged that he had mixed water with whiskey. a part of the government stores in his possession.

CHAPTER XVI REVOLUTION-Continued.

British and Hessian Prisoners-The Re- turn of the Prisoners-Camp Security- Sergeant Lamb's Story-Baron Riedesel -A Heroine of the Revolution-Dr. John Connolly.

During the Revolution the British and Hessian prisoners were sent to the interior of the country, a long distance from the scene of war. This was done by order of Congress so that there might be no danger that these prisoners would be set free by raids from the British army. Lancaster, York, Reading, Lebanon. Carlisle, Penn- sylvania: Frederick, Maryland; Winchester and Charlottesville. Virginia, were places where large detachments of British and Hessian prisoners were kept for several months and some of them for two or three years. Barracks were erected in all of these towns. They were used as places of con- finement and were carefully guarded by the local militia. Officers were frequently quar-

Owing to these accusations, the question arose as to continuing the commissary de- tered in the county jails and other public and private buildings. The York County

partment at York, whereupon Jameson and Eichelberger asserted that York "was a jail, then situated at the northeast corner of great thoroughfare for troops, particularly George and King Streets, contained British

the post at Carlisle to procure, for the de- time and was then removed.

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

prisoners, generally officers, a large part of Canada. After his release he returned the time from 1776 to 1780. Temporary barracks were erected on the public com- mon and private soldiers were confined therein. during the early part of the war. The place of imprisonment best known to history in York County was situated in the northwest corner of Windsor Township, near the village of Longstown. At this place a large number of prisoners, part of Burgoyne's army and other soldiers cap- tured in the south, were imprisoned for nearly two years, during the latter part of the Revolution. In 1781, a contagious fever broke out in camp, of which a large number of prisoners died.

The first prisoners brought to York ar- rived in March and April, 1776. During the summer of 1775. General Montgomery, by authority of Congress, led an expedition for the capture of Canada. It was an ill-fated campaign for this gallant soldier of the Revolution lost his life in an engagement with the enemy in front of Quebec.

In the engagement at St. Johns and Chambley, in the vicinity of Quebec, about 400 British soldiers were captured. They belonged to the Seventh Royal Fusileers and the Twenty-Sixth Regulars, both famous commands which had taken part in several engagements in Europe. When Congress heard of these captured officers and men, it ordered that they be sent to Lancaster. The detachment from the Seventh Fusileers reached Lancaster, De- cember 9, 1775, and the prisoners of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment some time later. Barracks had already been erected in that town and the prisoners placed therein. Some of the officers were quartered in private houses under guard. Strange as it may seem, the wives and children of most of the officers and some of the men, accom- panied the army to Canada and were also captured and brought to Lancaster. There were 66 women and 125 children with the prisoners, during the early part of 1776. Early in March, 1776, Congress ordered that one-half the prisoners from the Seventh Regiment be removed to York and the rest to Carlisle.

Among the officers taken to

Andre Carlisle was the unfortunate

Carlisle.

at Major Andre, then a lieutenant, who had been captured in

to the British army and was recap- tured near Tarrytown during his alliance with the traitor, Benedict Arnold. He was then executed as a spy. Andre was im- prisoned for a considerable time at both Lancaster and Carlisle. In March, 1776, when the officers and men of the Seventh Regiment were ordered to York, there were a few cases of smallpox here. When they heard this news, the officers objected to coming, but some of them were finally brought to York. When it was discovered that smallpox did not prevail to an alarming extent, Congress ordered that one-half the British officers belonging to the Twenty- Sixth Regiment should be removed to York and the rest to Carlisle.

Because the conduct of these

First officers at Lancaster had been

Prisoners reprehensible, they were re-

in York. quired to cross the Susque- hanna and they remained in York as prisoners of war for six or eight months, till they were exchanged. A com- plete list of these officers cannot be given. Among the names revealed are the follow- ing: Captains John Strong, James Living- stone, and Andrew Gordon; Lieutenants Laurence Dulhanty, Edward Thompson, Don McDonall and Edward P. Wellington ; Ensigns Robert Thomas and James Gor- don; Captains Daniel Robertson, of the Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment, and Robert Chase, of the navy.

In July, 1776, a petition signed by nearly all the above-named officers was sent to John Hancock, then President of Congress at Philadelphia. In this petition they com- plained of ill-treatment and dissatisfaction because they had been separated from their men, who were left at Lancaster. They further stated that they had signed a parole which gave them privileges usually ac- corded to all officers who were prisoners of war. It seems, however, that they were confined to their rooms at night and this was the main cause of their complaint. Their servants were also taken from them by order of Congress. They asserted that the local Committee of Safety was preju- diced against them. They requested that they be treated as gentlemen and given the freedom usually accorded to prisoners who had signed a parole. They were quartered

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THE REVOLUTION

in taverns and private houses and if the re- Boston, the Hessian troops were quartered strictions as to their movements be con- tinued, they preferred to be imprisoned in the county jail. The real cause, however, that they were not allowed to move about the town during the night was that some British prisoners at Lebanon had escaped in the darkness of the night. The commit- tee at York determined to keep a close watch over these officers so that no oppor- tunities were afforded them to escape, and their requirements were enforced until the officers were exchanged.

on Winter Hill, near Cambridge, in bar- racks, which had been erected by the American troops during the siege of Bos- ton. The British troops were given rude quarters on Prospect Hill, just outside of Cambridge. The officers, who had signed a strict parole, were treated little better than the private soldiers. They were per- mitted to find quarters in the small towns and villages nearby. The captured army was supplied with provisions and fuel that were paid for by General Heath, the Ameri- BRITISH AND HESSIAN PRISONERS. can commander at Boston, with Continental money, and Congress insisted that Bur- goyne should make his repayment dollar for dollar in British gold, worth three times as much. By the terms of the surrender, Bur- goyne's troops were to receive pay from the English government and be supplied with provisions paid for by authority of Bur- goyne himself. The Continental money at this time being worth only thirty cents on the dollar, a controversy arose about the decision of Congress requiring Burgoyne to pay this obligation in gold coin. Even Gen- eral Heath, in a letter to Washington, stated, "What an opinion must General Burgoyne have of the authority of these desel. The former had commanded the States to suppose that his money would be received at any higher rate than our own.

The surrender of Burgoyne to Gates at Saratoga, October 18, 1777, placed in the hands of Congress, then in session at York, the disposition of nearly 6,000 prisoners of war. Sir John Burgoyne, the famous British general, with a well-equipped army, had passed up Lake Champlain from Canada and down the Hudson, intending to join Sir Henry Clinton at New York City. After two unsuccessful attacks upon the American army, under General Gates, he fell back to Saratoga, where he surrendered his entire army, including his two major- generals, William Phillips and Baron Rie- British troops comprising the right of Bur- goyne's army, and the latter the German troops on the left. An official report states that 5,800 troops surrendered at Saratoga, of whom about 2,400 were Germans and the balance British. According to the terms of the surrender, known in English history as the "Convention of Saratoga," the British and Hessian prisoners were to be marched to Boston and from that port sent to Eng- land. The British forces were placed under command of Phillips and the Germans under Riedesel, while the entire army on this march was guarded by two brigades of American troops. If any of these prisoners desired to take the oath of allegiance to the American government, they were permitted to desert. About 100 Germans and nearly the same number of British took advantage of this opportunity before they reached Boston. As the prisoners expected soon to be released, strict discipline was enforced and the best of decorum displayed while on this march.

When these prisoners of war reached

Congress, anxious to impose conditions not likely to be fulfilled, demanded that General Burgoyne should make out a de- scriptive list of all the officers and soldiers in his army, in order that if any of them should thereafter be found serving against the United States they might be punished accordingly. As no such provision was con- tained in the convention, upon the faith of which Burgoyne had surrendered, he naturally regarded the demand as insulting. and at first refused to comply with it. He afterwards yielded the point, in his eager- ness to liberate his soldiers ; but meanwhile, in a letter to Gates at Albany, he had in- cautiously said, "The public faith is broken," and this remark, coming to the ears of Congress, was immediately laid hold of as a pretext for repudiating the conven- tion altogether. It was argued that Bur- goyne had charged the United States with bad faith, in order to have an excuse for repudiating the convention on his own part.

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

On the 8th of January, Congress accord- ingly resolved, "that the embarkation of Prisoners Lieutenant-General Burgoyne and the troops under his command be suspended until a distinct and explicit ratification of the Convention of Saratoga shall be prop- erly notified by the court of Great Britain to Congress." As the British government could not give the required ratification without implicitly recognizing the inde- pendence of the United States, no further steps were taken in the matter, the "public faith" really was broken and the captured army was never sent home. By the end of the year 1777, about 400 British prisoners on Prospect Hill had deserted, but ac- cording to records only 20 Germans es- caped.

Burgoyne Released. In March. 1778, General Bur- goyne, on account of ill health, was permitted by Congress to return to England. In order to secure his release he was required to make a deposit of $40,000 in gold or silver, and this money was used for buying food and supplies, to be procured in Rhode Island, for the prisoners. After his capture and release, he changed his sentiments toward the United States. While still a prisoner on parole he entered the British parliament and became conspicuous among the de- fenders of the American cause.

Meanwhile, a fleet of vessels arrived at Newport from England for the purpose of leaving Boston and no pay was sent them

transporting the troops to their native country, but the fleet had to return without them. Early in April a number of war vessels appeared off the coast of Boston, and as General Heath feared an attack from the enemy, he had the British troops removed from Prospect Hill, fifty-five miles northwest to the village of Rutland, near the present city of Worcester. On account of the difficulty of obtaining provisions for these prisoners, a long discussion arose in Congress, still in session at York, as to what disposition should be made of them. While this discussion was in progress, the barracks at York and Lancaster, in Penn- sylvania, were mentioned as suitable places to quarter them. It was finally decided that the British and Hessians should be removed to Charlottesville. Virginia, where the troops could be more readily supplied with provisions than in Massachusetts.

About November 1, General Heath gave orders that the Sent British troops at Rutland under

South. command of General Phillips should march in three divisions to the south. The first division started No- vember 10, and the others in two successive days, under guard of Continental troops and Massachusetts militia. Before the British had left Rutland, they were paid in coin received from Sir Henry Clinton at New York.

The German troops at Cambridge, under an American guard, also began the march in three divisions on November 10, in com- mand of Baron Riedesel, it being arranged that one division was always one day in advance of the other. Before leaving Mas- sachusetts, all the officers had to sign a strict parole not to desert on the march. As many of the British and Hessian officers and some of the private soldiers had their wives and children with them, when they were captured at Saratoga, General Wash- ington ordered that wagons be provided for transporting the women and children to Virginia. The Baroness Riedesel was ac- companied by three little children, and her diary describing this trip has been pub- lished in the German and English lan- guages.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 41

Author: Prowell, George R. Publication date: 1907 Publisher: J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1372

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1372