Revolution, Capt. John Van Dyck, of Lamb's artillery, who was present at
the evacuation of New York, and "was on Fort George and within two feet
of the flagstaff," should have stated in the most positive terms, that
"there was no British flag on the staff to pull down:" also that no
ladder was used, and besides, more than intimated that Van Arsdale did
not perform the part ascribed to him! (His letter, in _N. Y. Commercial
Advertiser_, of June 30th, 1831.) We well remember Capt. Van Dyck, and
do not doubt the sincerity of his statements; but it only shows how
effectually facts once well known may be obliterated from the memory by
the lapse of time. For few facts in our history are better authenticated
than that the royal standard was left flying at the evacuation; and it
was afterwards complained of, as the able historian, Mr. Dawson writes
me, by John Adams, our first embassador to England, as an unfriendly
act, to evacuate the City without a formal surrender of it, or striking
their colors. The fact is also mentioned in a pamphlet printed in 1808,
by the "Wallabout Committee," (appointed to superintend the interment of
the bones of American patriots who perished in the prison ships), and
consisting of gentlemen who could not have all been ignorant on such a
point, viz., Messrs. Jacob Vandervoort, John Jackson, Issachar Cozzens,
Burdet Stryker, Robert Townsend, Jr., Benjamin Watson and Samuel
Cowdrey. Hardie, who wrote his account prior to 1825, ("Description of
New York," p. 107,) also makes the same statement, and so does Dr.
Lossing: "Field Book of the Revolution," 2:633. A letter written in New
York _the day after the evacuation_, says "they cut away the halyards
from the flagstaff in the fort, and likewise greased the post; so that
we _were obliged to have a ladder_ to fix a new rope." The use of a
ladder is attested by Lieut. Glean; and also by the late Pearson
Halstead, who witnessed the ascent. Mr. Halstead stated this to me, in
1845, and that, about the year 1805, he was informed that Van Arsdale
was the person who climbed the staff. His association with Mr. Van
Arsdale, both in business and in the Veteran Corps, gave him the best
means of knowing the common belief on that subject, and he said it was
"a fact understood and admitted by the members of the Veteran Corps, who
used often to speak of it." Capt. George W. Chapman, of the Veteran
Corps, then 84 years of age, informed me, in 1845, that he commanded the
Corps when Van Arsdale joined it, and that the fact ascribed to the
latter was well known to the members of the Corps, and never disputed.
John Nixon, a reliable witness, said to me, in 1844, that he saw the
ascent, &c., "by _a short thickset man_ in sailor's dress," and that
_ten years later_ (1793) he became acquainted with Van Arsdale, and then
learned that "_he was the person who tore down the British flag, in
1783_." Gen. Jeremiah Johnson informed me, in 1846, that he "saw the
sailor, in ordinary round jacket and seaman's dress, _shin up_ the
flagstaff; _a middling sized man_, well proportioned." Major Jonathan
Lawrence, who was present; said "a _sailor_ mounted the flagstaff, with
fresh halyards, rigged it and hoisted the American flag."
CHAPTER II.
The real conservators of the rights of mankind have rarely been found
among the rich or titled aristocracy. They belong to the more ingenuous,
sympathetic, and virtuous middle class of society, so called. This is
not the less true because of the notable exceptions, where the
endowments of wealth, rank, and influence, have added lustre to the
names of some of earth's best benefactors. The fact must remain that the
bone and sinew of a nation, and in which consists its safety in peace,
and its defense in war, are its hardy yeoman who guide the plow, or
wield the axe, or ply the anvil; and without whose practical ideas and
well-directed energies, no community could protect itself, or make any
real advancement. It was most fortunate that the founders of this nation
were so largely of this sterling class; the architects of their own
fortunes, no labor, no difficulties or dangers appalled them; the very
men were they, to break by stalwart blows the fetters which despotism
was fast riveting upon them.
Such was Captain John Van Arsdale, in the essentials of his character.
It chafed his young, free spirit to see his country, the home of his
ancestors for a century before his birth, bleeding under the iron hand
of tyranny, and invoking the sturdy and the brave to come forth and
strike the blow for freedom. He was one of the first to heed that call,
and to fearlessly enter the lists; nor ceased to battle manfully till
our independence was achieved! If honest, unswerving patriotism,
standing the triple test of manifold hardships and dangers, long and
cruel imprisonment and years of arduous, poorly-requited service, should
entitle one to the love and gratitude of his country; then let such
honor be awarded to the subject of this sketch, and the power of his
example tell upon all those who may read it.
John Van Arsdale was the son of John and Deborah Van Arsdale, and was
born in the town of Cornwall (then a part of Goshen), Orange County, N.
Y., on Monday, January 5th, 1756.[11] His ancestors for four generations
in this country, as mentioned in the records of their times, were men of
intelligence and virtue, honored and trusted in the communities in which
they lived, and on whom, as God-fearing men, rested the mantles of their
fathers who had battled for their faith in the wars of the Netherlands.
His grandsire, Stoffel Van Arsdalen (for so he and his Dutch
progenitors wrote the name), had removed from Gravesend, Long Island,
to Somerset County, New Jersey, in the second decade of that century,
and eventually purchased a farm of two hundred acres in Franklin
township, where he lived, zealously devoted to the church, and highly
esteemed, till his death near the beginning of the Revolution.[12] He
married Magdalena, daughter of Okie Van Hengelen, and had several
children, of whom, John, born 1722, and Cornelius, born 1729, removed to
the County of Orange, aforesaid.[13] John, by trade a millwright, was
engaged by Mr. Tunis Van Pelt to build a grist mill on Murderer's Creek,
so called from an Indian tragedy of earlier times; and from which name
softened to Murdner, in common usage, came the modern Moodna. While so
occupied, and sharing the hospitalities of Mr. Van Pelt's house, he
wooed and married his daughter, Deborah, in 1744. Associating with his
father-in-law in the milling business, Van Arsdale eventually became
proprietor, assisted, we believe, by his brother Cornelius, who was a
miller. Building up a large trade, he also became known for his private
virtues and public spirit. A lieutenant's commission (in which he is
styled "of Ulster County, Gentleman"), under Capt. Thomas Ellison, and
dated October 10th, 1754, is now in the writer's possession. But
misfortune, the loss of a vessel sent to the Bay of Honduras laden with
flour, and where it was to ship a cargo of logwood, led him to give up
the business and remove to New York, where he took charge of the Prison
in the old City Hall, in Wall street, which was deemed a post of great
responsibility. It was soon after this change that John, the subject of
our sketch, was born, at Mr. Van Pelt's residence, at Moodna, where his
mother had either remained, or was then making a visit. About six weeks
thereafter, having come to the city, with her infant, she sickened and
died of the small pox. After four years (in 1760), Mr. Van Arsdale
married Catherine, daughter of James Mills, deputy-sheriff of New York.
Ten years later, weary of his charge, then at the New Jail, built in
1757-9 (the Provost of the Revolution, and now the Hall of Records); he
resigned it, bought a schooner, and engaged in the more congenial
pursuit of marketing produce.
The Revolution coming on, Capt. Van Arsdale entered with his vessel into
the American service, supplied our army at New York with fuel brought
from Hackensack (the Asia man-of-war once taking his wood and paying him
in continental bills), and afterwards helped to sink the
_chevaux-de-frize_ in the Hudson, opposite Fort Washington. In this
arduous work he was aided by his son John, then lately returned from the
Canada expedition. The day the enemy entered the City he conveyed his
family to his vessel at Stryker's Bay, and, crowded with fugitives, made
good his escape up the Hudson to Murdner's Creek. Here his companion,
who had borne him eleven children, died in 1779; but he survived not
only to witness the war brought to a happy close, but long enough to see
much of the waste repaired, and the greatness of his country assured.
Respected and beloved for his amiable qualities and exemplary christian
character, Capt. Van Arsdale, the elder, died in 1798 at the residence
of his son-in-law, Mr. William Sherwood, at "The Creek."
The junior Van Arsdale would have been unworthy of his honest ancestry
had he not possessed in a good degree the same stability of character.
Bereft of a mother's love at so early an age, John was tenderly reared
at his grandfather Van Pelt's till his father married again. Then New
York became his home for ten years or more, during which time his
playground was the Green (now City Hall Park) with the fields adjacent
to the New Jail, of which his father still had the custody. The times
were turbulent, and many stirring scenes passed under his boyish eyes.
One was the Soldiers' Riot, in 1764, when the jail was assaulted and
broken into by a party of riotous soldiers, with design to release a
prisoner, and in which Mr. Mills, in resisting them, was rudely handled
and wounded. And the gatherings, hardly less tumultuous, of the "Sons of
Liberty" to oppose the Stamp Act, or celebrate its repeal, by raising
liberty poles, which were several times cut down and replaced, all
serving to implant in his young mind an abhorrence of foreign rule, with
the germs of that patriotism which matured as he grew in years.[14] But
an elder brother Tunis (his only own brother living, save Christopher, a
brassfounder, who died, unmarried, in the West Indies in 1773), having
served an apprenticeship with Fronce Mandeville, of Moodna, blacksmith,
married, in 1771, Jennie Wear, of the town of Montgomery, and the next
spring began married life on a farm of eighty acres, which he had
purchased, lying in that part of Hanover Precinct (now Montgomery)
called Neelytown. Much attached to Tunis, John thereafter spent several
years with him, attending school.
But now the growing controversy between the Colonies and the mother
country had ripened into actual hostilities; the first aggressive
movement in which this Colony took part being the expedition against
Canada, planned in the summer of 1775. It fired young Van Arsdale's
patriotism, and about August 25th he enlisted under Capt. Jacobus
Wynkoop, of the Fourth New York Regiment, James Holmes being the colonel
and Philip Van Cortlandt the lieutenant-colonel. These forces,
proceeding up the Hudson, entered Canada by way of lakes George and
Champlain; part of the Fourth Regiment, under Major Barnabas Tuthill,
taking part in the brilliant assault upon Quebec, December 31st, but
unsuccessful, and fatal to the gallant leader, General Montgomery, and
numbers of his men. On their way to Quebec, and especially in crossing
the lakes on the ice, Van Arsdale and his comrades suffered so intensely
from the extreme cold that the hardships and incidents of this, his
first campaign, remained fresh in his memory even till old age. Van
Arsdale having "served his time out in the year's service, returned to
New York," where the Americans were concentrating troops, in order to
oppose the royal forces expected from Europe. Here he assisted his
father on board the schooner in sinking the obstructions in the Hudson,
as before noticed, and when the enemy captured the city, accompanied him
to Orange County. It was on Sept. 16th, 1776, that the British forces
landed at Kip's Bay, on the east side of the island, three miles out of
the city. A great many of the citizens who were friends of their
country, made a precipitate flight, and the roads were lined with
vehicles of every kind, removing furniture, etc. The elder Van Arsdale,
with difficulty, and only by paying down $200, got the use of a horse
and wagon to take his family and effects from his house to the schooner
lying in Stryker's Bay. While drawing a load, a spent cannon ball
knocked off one of the wagon wheels, at which his little son Cornelius,
but eight years old, was so frightened that he never forgot it. The
schooner was crowded to excess with citizens and their families, all
eager to get away, and for fear they might sink her, Capt. Van Arsdale
was obliged to turn off some who applied for a passage. They left deeply
loaded, and in their haste were obliged to take with them a lot of
military stores which were on board. Arriving at Murdner's Creek, John,
at his father's request, and taking his brother Abraham, set out afoot
for Neelytown, to inform their brother Tunis of their arrival. The
journey of twelve miles seemed short, and ere long the well-known
farmhouse hove in sight, seated a little way back, and to which led a
lane between rows of young cherry trees, and near it on the road the
low, dusky smith-shop, with its _debris_ of cinders, old wheel-tires and
broken iron-work strewn about. Entering, as Tunis, with his back towards
them, stood at the forge heating his iron, and his assistant, Aleck
Bodle, lazily blowing the bellows, the first surprize was only
surpassed, when after hearty greetings, they imparted the startling news
of the capture of New York by the British, and that their father, having
barely escaped with his vessel, had arrived at the Creek. At once out
went the fire, and out went Tunis also to harness his horses, in order
to go and bring up the rest of the family; but on second thought, as the
day was far spent, he concluded to await the morrow. The next day there
was a joyous reunion at the farmhouse, but tempered with many sad
comments upon the doleful situation.
John spent the winter with his brother Tunis, aiding in farm work and at
the forge; he had just reached his majority, and found congenial spirits
in Alexander Bodle and Joseph Elder, then serving apprenticeships with
Tunis, and afterwards much respected residents of Orange County. Around
the evening fireside they indulged in many a joke, when laughter made
the welkin ring, or behind the well-fed pacer, were borne in the clumsy
box sled, with the gingle of merry bells, to the rustic frolic; but the
bounds of decorum were never exceeded, and lips which could tell all
about it, bore us pleasing witness to Van Arsdale's correct habits and
deportment at a stage of life so beset with syren snares for the unwary,
and which commonly moulds the character.
But nevertheless the winter was one of great military activity,
especially among the organized militia of Orange County, in which (in
the town of New Windsor) was the sub-district of Little Britain, the
home of the Clintons;[15] the menacing attitude of the enemy under Lord
Howe, who had approached as near as Hackensack, and the protection of
the passes of the Highlands, requiring frequent calls upon the yeomanry
to take the field. The inhabitants of Hanover Precinct, which precinct
joined on New Windsor, had from the first shown great spirit; their
Association, dated May 8th, 1775, in which they pledge their support to
the Continental Congress, &c., in resisting "the several arbitrary and
oppressive acts of the British Parliaments," and "in the most solemn
manner resolve never to become slaves," is signed first by Dr. Charles
Clinton and presents 342 names. The Precinct in the winter of 1776-7,
contained four militia companies, under Captains Matthew Felter, James
Milliken, Hendrick Van Keuren and James McBride, and these were attached
to a regiment of which that sterling patriot, James McClaughry, of
Little Britain, brother in law to the Clintons, was lieutenant colonel
commandant.[16] Tunis and John Van Arsdale lived in Capt. Van Keuren's
beat. The Captain was a veteran of the last French war, and it gave him
prestige, in the command to which he had been recently promoted. He had
"warmly espoused the cause of his country, and evinced unshaken firmness
throughout the whole of the contest." Col. McClaughry had taken the
field with his regiment early in the winter, proceeding down into
Jersey, and of which, on his return, Jan. 1st, he gave a humorous
account to Gen. Clinton; but though highly probable, we have no positive
evidence that John Van Arsdale went into actual service till the spring
opened.
Forts Montgomery and Clinton, begun in 1775, stood on the west side of
the Hudson, opposite Anthony's Nose, at a very important pass, where the
river was narrow, easily obstructed, and from the elevation which the
forts occupied, was commanded a great distance up and down. Fort Clinton
was below Fort Montgomery, distant only about six hundred yards, the
Poplopen Kill running through a ravine between them; the fortress was
small, but more complete than Fort Montgomery, and stood at a greater
elevation, being 23 feet the highest, and 123 feet above the river.
These posts were distant (southeast) from the Clinton mansion only about
sixteen miles. The two fortresses required a thousand men for their
proper defense, but till early in 1777, had usually been in charge of a
very small force under Gen. James Clinton. The time of these soldiers
expiring on the last day of March, Col. Lewis Dubois, with the Fifth New
York Regiment was sent to garrison Fort Montgomery.
A meeting of the field officers of Orange and Ulster, was held at Mrs.
Falls' in Little Britain, March 31st, 1777, pursuant to a resolve of the
New York Convention empowering General George Clinton, lately appointed
commandant of the forts in the Highlands, to call out the militia "to
defend this State against the incursions of our implacable enemies, and
reinforce the garrisons of Fort Montgomery, defend the post of Sidnam's
Bridge (near Hackensack), and afford protection to the distressed
inhabitants." It was there resolved, with great spirit, to call
one-third of each of the several regiments into actual service, to the
number of 1,200, and to form them into three temporary regiments, of
which two should garrison Fort Montgomery, under Colonel Levi Pawling
(with Lt. Col. McClaughry), and Col. Johannes Snyder. As the men were
raised they were to march in detachments to that post, and were to serve
till August 1st, and receive continental pay and rations. Each captain
was forthwith directed to raise his quota, and "in the most just and
equitable manner."
John Van Arsdale was among those chosen from his beat, and sometime in
April, borrowing from his brother an old but trusty musket, proceeded to
Fort Montgomery. Being of a resolute, active temperament, with a
knowledge of tactics, and an aptness to command, he was made a corporal;
an evidence of the good opinion entertained of him by his officers,
flattering to one of his years. It was also in his favor that he was a
good penman, and had acquired a fair English education for the times.
Drilling his squad, placing and relieving the guards, and other daily
routine duty, gave our young corporal enough to do, while the courts for
the trial of some notorious tories, held at that post, during the spring
and summer, added to frequent alarms due to indications that the enemy
from below meditated an attack upon the forts, kept everything lively.
On July 2nd, Gen. Clinton, upon a hint from Washington that Lord Howe,
in order to favor Burgoyne, might attempt to seize the passes of the
Highlands, and "make him a very hasty visit," with which view, accounts
given by deserters from New York coincided; immediately repaired to Fort
Montgomery, after first ordering to that post the full regiment of Col.
McClaughry, with those of Colonels William Allison, Jesse Woodhull, and
Jonathan Hasbrouck. The militia came in with great alacrity, almost to a
man. But ten days passed without a sign of the enemy. Parties went daily
on the Dunderbergh (Thunder Mountain) to look down the river, but could
not see a single vessel; then, as usual, when there was no immediate
prospect of any thing to do, the transient militia became uneasy, and
were allowed to go home in the belief that they would turn out more
cheerfully the next time.
But as the term of service of those called out in April expired on
August 1st, on that date another call was made by Gov. Clinton on the
respective regiments, to make up eight companies, by ballot or other
equitable mode, and to march with due expedition to Fort Montgomery, and
there put themselves under command of Colonel Allison, with McClaughry
as his Lieutenant Colonel. They were to draw continental pay, etc. In
this instance no immediate danger being apprehended, the militia did not
respond very promptly, although much needed to replace part of the
continental force which had been withdrawn for other service. Again, on
August 5th, Clinton, by virtue of threatening news from Gen. Washington,
directed Allison and McClaughry to march all the militia to Fort
Montgomery, except the frontier companies, which were to be left for
home protection. But repeated orders to urge them forward were but
partially successful. September closed, the quotas were far from
complete, orders then issued by Allison, McClaughry, and Hasbrouck (by
direction of Clinton) for half their regiments to repair to Fort
Montgomery were but slowly complied with, and the delay was fatal! Van
Arsdale had re-enlisted and held his former position. It was at this
time that he made the acquaintance of Elnathan Sears, and which ripened
into friendship under very trying circumstances.
Forts Montgomery and Clinton at this date mounted thirty-two cannon,
rating from 6 to 32 pounders. The garrison consisted of two companies of
Col. John Lamb's artillery, under Capts. Andrew Moodie and Jonathan
Brown (one in each fort) and parts of the regiments of Cols. Dubois,
Allison, Hasbrouck, Woodhull and McClaughry with a very few from other
regiments. Thus matters stood on Sunday, October 5th, 1777.
Hark! what bustling haste--of people running to and fro,--has suddenly
disturbed the Sabbath evening's repose at Neelytown? Tidings have just
reached them that the enemy's vessels are ascending the Hudson with the
obvious design of attacking Fort Montgomery and the neighboring posts.
The orders are for every man able to shoulder a musket to hasten to
their assistance! This was grave intelligence for the inmates at the Van
Arsdale home (and which may serve to represent many others), but the
call of duty could not be disregarded. For most of the night the good
wife was occupied in baking and putting up provisions for Tunis and his
two apprentices to take with them, while these were as busy cleaning
their muskets, moulding bullets, etc., that naught might be wanting for
the stern business before them. Towards morning, taking one or two hours
rest, they arose, equipped themselves, and made ready for the journey to
the fort, which was full twenty miles distant. As the parting moment had
come, the kind father kissed his three little ones tenderly, then
uttered in the ear of his sorrowing Jennie the sad good-bye, and with
the others hastened from the house, his wife attending him to the road,
and weeping bitterly for she understood but too well that it might be
the final parting. Her longing eyes followed them till they disappeared
beyond an intervening hill. "Oh!" said she to the writer more than sixty
years afterwards, as she related these facts, her eyes even then
suffused with tears, "You may _read_ of these things, but you can never
_feel_ them as I did. I wept much during those seven years."