Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. I, Part 49

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716

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Of the desperate circumstances attending the American Army, Washington on December 21, wrote to Governor Cooke: "The Delaware now divides our small force from General Howe's army, a large part of which is cantoned in the neighboring towns ; which, from appear- ances, and many concurring reports, is only waiting an opportunity to pass. As soon as the ice is formed they will try to effect it. General Howe's object, beyond all question, is to pos- sess Philadelphia. . .. In the course of a few days, the last of this month, the force I now have, by no means equal to his, will, by the impolicy and fatal system of short enlistments, be reduced to a mere handful." Greene, without minimizing the situation, saw a ray of hope; writing on the same day as Washington, he said: "The fright and disaffection was so great in the Jerseys that in our retreat of 100 and odd miles we were never joined by more than a hundred men. I dare say, had that army been in New England, we should not have been under the necessity of retreating twenty miles. We are now on the west side of the Delaware; our force, though small, collected together ; but small as it is, I hope to give the enemy a stroke in a few days. Should fortune favor the attack, perhaps it may put a stop to General Howe's progress. His ravages in the Jersey exceed all description. Men slaughtered; women rav- ished; mothers and daughters ravished in presence of the husbands and sons, who were obliged to be spectators to their brutal conduct. I believe, notwithstanding the general dis- affection of a certain order of people, the army will fill up. Should that be the case, nothing is to be feared."

*Chapter XIII.

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BATTLE OF TRENTON-What Greene referred to in the words "I hope to give the enemy a stroke in a few days" was the battle of Trenton. Had Greene been merely the repository of Washington's confidences he probably would not have referred to the plans for the battle; had the plans been other than his own, Greene would not have used the pronoun "I." The fair inference to be drawn from the letter of December 21 is that Greene devised the master stroke at Trenton, which marked the turning point of the Revolution. To Washington him- self belongs the glory of achieving the victory at Trenton, when other divisions of his army failed to cross the Delaware, and he with a single column proceeded without them to carry into effect by surprise attack what had been planned as a surrounding movement. Crossing at McConkey's Ferry, Washington led his soldiers eight miles through a blinding snowstorm, and deployed them to enfilade the main streets of the town. Greene commanded the left wing in person. Colonel Rall, commanding the Hessians, was killed, and over 1000 prisoners were taken and carried safely to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Rhode Island regiments were not in the battle. John Howland's narrative refers to the first battle at Trenton as follows: "In the afternoon of that day (December 24) a violent cold snow storm began and continued through the night and the next day, which was Christmas. In the night of the twenty-fourth we mus- tered out of our tents and marched down to the shore, where a number of boats had been collected to surprise the Hessian garrison on the Jersey side of the river. Here we waited with shouldered arms several hours for the floating ice to open a passage for our boats in! which we were to cross, but the vast sheets of ice that came down so fully obstructed the pas- sage that General Cadwallader, our commander, ordered his division back to their tents. We suffered more this night from cold in the snow storm than in any we had yet experienced, and when we reached the camp and shook off the snow as much as possible, and crept into our tents without fire or light, comfort or repose was out of the question. Cold-cold-cold- and that continually. General Washington, with the other half of the army, was more for- tunate. They succeeded in crossing the river at Trenton, ten miles above us. The current of the river there being stronger, swept the floating ice so as not greatly to obstruct the passage of the boats. At daylight in the morning he divided his force and advanced on the Hessians in front and rear. Their officers were partly taken by surprise. Knowing that for a consid- erable time before there had been no American troops in Jersey, they had little reason to expect being attacked by an enemy from Pennsylvania, in such a snow storm; but they made such a defense as, under the circumstances, they were able. They were compelled, however, by Washington to ground their arms. Two regiments and about half of another, with a com- pany of artillery, were made prisoners. A part of the third regiment, quartered at the south part of the town, fled to Bordentown, where we should have accounted for them with the rest of the division cantoned at that place, if the ice had not prevented our crossing from Bristol." After disposing of his prisoners, Washington occupied Trenton. A division of the army, under General Mifflin, including the three Rhode Island regiments, was sent to Crosswicks, New Jersey, a dozen miles from Trenton.

BRAVE RHODE ISLANDERS-The Christmas victory revived American hopes, but Wash- ington faced a serious situation because of the expiration, with the end of the year, of the enlistments of many of his troops. John Howland's narrative relates the effort made to hold the soldiers for service and the heroic response made by the Rhode Island regiments: "On December 31, 1776, the day on which the term of enlistment of the Continental troops expired, the remnant of all the divisions, brigades or regiments which had composed the army at the opening of the campaign, together with a company of volunteers from Philadelphia, were paraded. The brigade to which we were attached was composed of five regiments, three of which (Varnum's, Hitchcock's and Lippitt's) were from Rhode Island, and the other two

----

COLONEL WILLIAM BARTON. WHO CAPTURED GENERAL PRESCOTT

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(Nixon's and Little's ) were from Massachusetts. Colonel Daniel Hitchcock, the oldest colonel present, commanded this brigade. Of the number of men Lippitt's counted more than one- third. This was the time that tried both soul and body. We were standing on frozen ground covered with snow. The hope of the commander-in-chief was sustained by the character of these half-frozen, half-starved men, that he could persuade them to volunteer for another month. He made the attempt and it succeeded. He directed General Mifflin to address our brigade. Seated on a noble-looking horse, and himself clothed in an overcoat made up of a large rose blanket, and a large fur cap on his head, the General made a powerful harangue, persuading us to remain a month or six weeks longer in service. It was expected that in that time the states would send on reinforcements to take our places, and he did not doubt before that time we should be able to expel the enemy from New Jersey. . .. At the close of his speech, the General required all who agreed to remain to poise their firelocks. The poising commenced by some of each platoon, and was followed by the whole line. .. . From the mis- fortunes and losses of the preceding campaign the army was deficient in baggage wagons, and from the difficulty of transporting what we had across the icy Delaware, we had, by order of the General, left our tents at Bristol. From the celerity and uncertainty of our movements, we could have no quarters more comfortable than the frozen ground covered with snow afforded."

ASSUNPINK CREEK-Washington remained in New Jersey. Mifflin's division, including the Rhode Island regiments, marched back to Trenton on the night of December 31, and were quartered in the houses occupied by the Hessians; scarcely had they finished a hurried meal before they were formed in line for marching. Cornwallis, with 10,000 British, was approach- ing, and Washington was preparing to draw Cornwallis into the north end of the town, his own forces being south of Assunpink Creek, which flows into the Delaware at Trenton. A company of artillery and a picket was sent to engage Cornwallis, and Hitchcock's Brigade was sent across the creek to cover the retreat of the artillery and picket and fight a rearguard action. "This was toward the close of the day," wrote John Howland. "We met them and opened our ranks to let them* pass through. We then closed in a compact and rather solid column, as the street through which we were to retreat to the bridge was narrow and the British pressed closely on our rear. Part of the enemy pressed into a street between the main street and the Delaware and fired into our right flank at every space between the houses. When what was now our front arrived near the bridge we were to pass, and where the lower or water street formed a junction with the main street, the British made a quick advance in an oblique direction to cut us off from the bridge. In this they did not succeed, as we had a shorter distance in a direct line to the bridge than they had. and our artillery which was posted on the south side of the brook, between the bridge and the Delaware, played into the front and flank of their column, which induced them to fall back. The bridge was narrow, and our platoons in passing it were crowded into a dense and solid mass, in the rear of which the enemy were making their best efforts. The noble horse of General Washington stood with his breast pressed close against the end of the west rail of the bridge, and the firm, composed and majes- tic countenance of the General inspired confidence and assurance in a moment so important and critical. In this passage across the bridge it was my fortune to be next the west rail, and arriving at the end of the bridge rail, I was pressed against the shoulder of the General's horse, and in contact with the General's boot. The horse stood as firm as the rider and seemed to understand that he was not to quit his post and station. When I was about half-way across the bridge, the General addressed himself to Colonel Hitchcock, the commander of the brigade, directing him to march his men to that field, and form them immediately . . at the same

*The artillery.

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time extending his arm and pointing to a little meadow, at a short distance, on the south side of the creek or river, and between the road and the Delaware." With the rearguard with- drawn, the artillery which had reformed under their cover, commanded the bridge, and Corn- wallis postponed effort to cross the bridge until morning. The armies camped for the night, the Americans south, the British north, of Assunpink Creek, the campfires burning brightly as both tried to keep warm. At daylight the British "did not see the American sentinels at the end of the bridge, and some of the officers ventured to pass over. They could see no enemy. They saw the fires still burning which we had hovered over the evening before," wrote John Howland, "but we were not there. The question with Cornwallis and his officers was, 'Where is Washington's army ?' . None could tell. They were in suspense till sunrise, when they heard the cannon at Princeton." Washington had left his campfires burning and had stolen away in the night to surprise the rearguard of the British army and their baggage train at Princeton.

BATTLE OF PRINCETON-In the action at Princeton the service of the Rhode Island regiments was distinguished for gallantry. General Mercer, with an advance guard of Penn- sylvania volunteers, encountered the British column on the march; Mercer fell mortally wounded almost at the beginning of the battle, and his detachment retreated in confusion. Colonel James Monroe, an officer in the Pennsylvania militia, and afterward fifth President of the United States, was shot while trying to rally his men, who fled precipitately as the British advanced and almost disrupted Colonel Jeremiah Olney's Rhode Island company, which was advancing steadily and was threatened with confusion as the Pennsylvanians rushed through their line. The Rhode Island troops were steadfast, and Lieutenant Stephen Olney raised and carried Colonel Monroe to the rear and safety. The British surrendered, except a small number who retired to breastworks and resisted for a time. The Americans left Princeton with over 300 prisoners and the British baggage train. Washington thanked Colonel Hitch- cock publicly and personally on the battlefield, taking him by the hand and expressing his high appreciation of his conduct and that of the troops he commanded, including the three Rhode Island regiments. Washington marched from Princeton to Somerset Courthouse, and thence to Morristown, where he went into winter quarters. Cornwallis did not pursue after learning the fate of the detachment at Princeton ; instead he marched to Brunswick, New Jersey. The battles at Trenton, Assunpink Creek and Princeton had been decisive, and the British there- after were not active in New Jersey. Colonel Daniel Hitchcock died from the exposure of the campaign a few days after the battle at Princeton, and Israel Angell was promoted to command of the regiment, which Washington called "His Rhode Island Regiment." The Rhode Island troops whose enlistments had expired and who did not reenlist were mustered out, and walked home to Rhode Island.

NEW RHODE ISLAND TROOPS-Rhode Island's contingent in the new Continental army, raised early in 1777 to serve for the war, consisted of two battalions with many of the officers who had served in the old regiments, including Christopher Greene and Israel Angell as Col- onels, Jeremiah Olney as Lieutenant Colonel, Simeon Thayer and Samuel Ward as Majors, John Topham and Stephen Olney as Captains. Nathanael Greene continued as Major Gen- eral, and James M. Varnum, who had been active in the Rhode Island militia after leaving the Continental army, was appointed as Brigadier General. The British plan of campaign for 1777 aimed at control of the Hudson River and the division of the states on that line. It included Burgoyne's movement from Canada to the Hudson, ending with the decisive action at Bennington and his surrender at Saratoga. The British had occupied Newport in Decem- ber, 1776. A projected movement against them, for which forces were sent to Rhode Island by other New England states, was abandoned; by some it was interpreted as a gesture

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intended principally to occupy the attention of the British and deter them from leaving New- port to assist either Burgoyne or Howe. The latter, instead of moving up the Hudson, aimed at Philadelphia. In June, Greene with three brigades, one of which was commanded by Var- num and included the Rhode Island battalions, drove Howe from New Brunswick, and thus cleared New Jersey of British. While Washington watched anxiously lest the British at New York undertake a movement up the Hudson to cooperate with Burgoyne, Colonel Angell's battalion was at Peekskill, and Colonel Greene's at Fort Montgomery. Both regiments suf- fered from the neglect that has led some writers of history to describe the American Revolu- tionary army as nondescript and tatterdemalion. Colonel Israel Angell wrote a letter of appeal in which he declared that his regiment was laughed at, because the soldiers were without shoes and some so poorly clothed as to be unfit for appearance in public. Colonel Greene's regi- ment was as badly off : Varnum wrote: "The naked situation of the troops when observed for parading for duty is sufficient to extort the tears of compassion from every human being. There are not two in five who have a shoe, stocking, or so much as breeches to render them decent." The General Assembly, in August, 1777, resolved to order the drafting of a bill for the better supply of the troops raised by the State; to send six hogsheads of sugar to the camp at Peekskill; to procure coats, hats, breeches, four pairs of stockings, two pairs of shoes, and four shirts for each of 600 soldiers, to send half the clothing to the Rhode Island troops in Continental service, and to reserve half for the militia on guard duty. Varnum had used persuasion to quiet the Rhode Island troops, who were close to mutiny; the situation cleared with the sending of relief, and the Rhode Island soldiers were in good spirits in the campaign that followed.

BRANDYWINE CREEK AND GERMANTOWN-Howe, instead of moving up the Hudson, sailed from Staten Island in a fleet of warships and transports, estimated at 250 sail, leaving to Washington the problem of determining whether the movement was a feint to draw him away from the defences of the Hudson or a blow aimed at Philadelphia. Eventually Howe sailed up Chesapeake Bay to Elkton, thirty-five miles southwest of Philadelphia. Wash- ington had solved the problem, and at Brandywine Creek, with 11,000 men, disputed the advance of Howe, who had 18,000. Howe, with superior forces, executed a flank movement on Washington's right; at a critical period, when the right of the American army, caught between two fires, was giving way, General Greene marched a brigade from the left wing four miles in forty-five minutes to relieve the right, stopped what threatened to be a rout, saved the American artillery from capture, and drove the British back. Washington held the field until night, and then withdrew his army in safety to Chester. Howe occupied Philadelphia on September 26; a large part of his army camped at Germantown. Washington planned a surprise attack on Germantown on October 4; Greene, commanding the left wing, routed the British division facing him. On other fronts resistance was more determined, and Washing- ton was constrained to withdraw as the British were reinforced from Philadelphia. The Rhode Island regiments were conspicuous for gallantry at both Brandywine Creek and Ger- mantown. Their next exploit was at Forts Mercer and Mifflin.

FORTS MIFFLIN AND MERCER-Howe had reached Philadelphia overland from the head- waters of Chesapeake Bay, and his line of communications with his fleet as a base for supplies of food and ammunition and for reinforcements, must be maintained over thirty-five miles unless and until he could open the Delaware River. His fleet had failed to pass the American batteries on the Delaware at Red Bank and Mud Island below Philadelphia. At Red Bank was Fort Mercer, and on Mud Island, Fort Mifflin, placed strategically to command the river at a turn in the channel, and admirable for defence against an attack from the water. General Varnum of General Greene's division was in command on the Jersey shore, and he placed

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Colonel Christopher Greene and the two Rhode Island regiments in Fort Mercer. Fort Mifflin was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Smith of Maryland. Howe determined to reduce the forts and open the river. The British attacked both forts on October 22, the fleet opening a bombardment at Fort Mifflin, which was answered with so much spirit and so effectively that the British retired after losing two vessels, a ship and a frigate. Fort Mercer was attacked on the land side by 1200 Hessians, commanded by Colonel Donop. To a demand for surrender to overwhelming forces, Colonel Greene, who had some 300 Rhode Island sol- diers with him, answered: "Say to him (Colonel Donop) that we ask no quarter, nor will we give any. We shall defend the fort or make it our tomb." He abandoned the outer part of the fort, and retired to the inner redoubt. Under shell fire from the fleet and against repeated assaults by the Hessians, Greene and his Rhode Islanders resisted manfully until Colonel Donop fell and the bodies of 400 Hessians covered the approaches to the fort. Inside the fort eight were killed and twenty-four were wounded, including victims of an exploded cannon. The Hessians withdrew, and with both Forts Mercer and Mifflin still held by the Americans, Howe must evacuate Philadelphia unless he could capture or destroy them.

The attack on Fort Mifflin was resumed on November 10, by land batteries, as well as gunboats, water batteries and warships, mounting almost 300 cannon. On November II, Colonel Smith was wounded and relieved of duty. Lieutenant Colonel Russell, next in rank, asked relief because of ill-health, and General Varnum appointed Major Simeon Thayer of Rhode Island, who had volunteered for this service, to command Fort Mifflin. With him went a detachment of Rhode Islanders from the garrison at Fort Mercer, including Major Silas Talbot. Major Thayer had 300 men in Fort Mifflin on November 12. Meanwhile the bombardment was continuous, and became constantly heavier as new batteries concentrated their fire upon the fortress. The American artillery fire, directed by Major Thayer, was so effective as almost to dishearten the British, but they continued to fire, demolishing ramparts and dismounting cannon, and killing and wounding the devoted defenders. Major Thayer, dauntless, determined, defiant, planned to hold the fort, in spite of his losses, notwithstanding the fact that the British took advantage of darkness to move their water batteries nearer and into more satisfactory positions. By the night of November 15 the fort was practically demolished, ammunition was running low, most of the cannon had been silenced, and Major Thayer had lost almost 250 men, most of whom had been killed. Under cover of darkness Major Thayer removed all his wounded men, including Major Talbot, across the river to Fort Mercer. He had then only forty men available for further service, and with these he recrossed the river to Fort Mifflin, spiked the remaining cannon, mined so much of the fort as was still standing, exploded the magazine, and then, with the faithful forty, crossed the river for the third time that night, escaping to Fort Mercer.

With Fort Mifflin destroyed, a combined attack, by land and water, on Fort Mercer was planned by the British, Cornwallis commanding. Generals Greene and Lafayette had been directed to reinforce the garrison at Fort Mercer. Strategy counselled discretion in the face of almost certain disaster. The main purpose of the gallant defence had not been so much the closing of the river as holding the British in check until regiments could be released from the Saratoga campaign to reinforce Washington's army; this had been accomplished. Col- onel Greene and his brave Rhode Island troops were withdrawn from Fort Mercer on Novem- ber 17. Congress voted Colonel Greene a sword for his heroic defence of Fort Mercer on October 22.

VALLEY FORGE-After their duties at the forts on the Delaware the Rhode Island troops went into winter quarters with Washington at Valley Forge, which had been selected by Gen- eral Greene as capable of defence against assault or surprise. The trench lines may still be

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traced at Valley Forge, where Washington's headquarters are preserved and other spots are marked, some by monuments. There may be seen the place where Varnum spent the winter, near which the Rhode Island soldiers camped. It was a fearful winter of suffering from cold, famine, disease and exposure for want of clothing. Two Rhode Island officers died of small- pox. Clothing was sent forward from Rhode Island, but not in time to prevent suffering. At home also, the people were enduring a régime made miserable by the British occupation of Newport and the consequent interruption of the commerce on which they were dependent for food and other life necessities. Early in January, 1778, General Varnum proposed that the two Rhode Island battalions at Valley Forge be consolidated and that Colonel Greene, Lieutenant Colonel Olney, Major Ward and other officers be sent home to Rhode Island to recruit a regiment of slaves. Washington presented the proposal in a letter to the General Assembly, which in February authorized the enlistment of "able-bodied negro, mulatto or Indian" men slaves, each of whom should, "upon his passing muster before Colonel Chris- topher Greene, be immediately discharged from the service of his master or masters, and be absolutely free, as though he had never been encumbered with any kind of servitude or slav- ery." Owners were to be paid for slaves thus freed the fair value, not exceeding £120 in any instance. By later resolution the time of enlisting slaves was limited to the period ending June 10. The regiment was raised, organized, drilled and disciplined by Colonel Greene and his associates. It participated in the battle of Rhode Island in August, 1778; there it was com- manded by Major Samuel Ward.

In February, 1778, Rhode Islanders repeated the visit that Esek Hopkins made to New Providence early in 1776. The "Providence," sloop, twelve guns, Captain John Rathbone, United States navy, with a crew principally from Rhode Island, landed Lieutenant John Tre- vett and fifteen men. Trevett's party scaled the walls of the fort during the night, surprised the garrison and took them prisoners. Six vessels in the harbor were driven off by artillery fire. After three days the cannon were spiked, the "Providence" was loaded with military stores and sailed away after a successful raid in which no American lives had been lost. The second raid on New Providence occurred at almost the same time that the United States and France were perfecting a treaty of alliance, in which France recognized American independence.

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Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. I, Part 49

Author: Carroll, Charles, author Publication date: 1932 Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 716

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716