Colonel Haslet, with Delaware and Maryland troops, to surprise some
Loyalists then lying at Mamaroneck, under Colonel Rogers, the ranger
during the French and Indian wars. These troops were the Queen's
Rangers, afterward commanded by Simcoe. Almost eighty men were killed
or captured, and the spoils were sixty stand of arms, and provisions
and clothing. Rogers escaped. On the twenty-third, Colonel Hand and
his riflemen attacked two hundred and forty Hessian chasseurs near East
Chester, and routed them; and almost nightly the British pickets were
disturbed by the Americans. These events made Howe cautious and slow in
his movements.
*** The high perpendicular rocks extending along the western bank of the
Hudson from Weehawken north about twenty-three miles, are so called
on account of their resemblance to palisades. Congress had ordered
Washington, "by every art and whatever expense, to obstruct effectually
the navigation of the North River, between Fort Washington and Mount
Constitution [whereon Fort Lee stood], as well to prevent the regress
of the enemy's frigates lately gone up, as to hinder them from receiving
succors."--Journals, ii., 385.
**** The house occupied by Washington while the army was at White Plains
is yet standing. It is a frame building, on the east side of the road,
about two miles above the village. This view is from the road, looking
northeast. When I last visited it (1851), Miss Jemima Miller, a maiden
ninety-three years of age, and her sister, a few years her junior, were
living therein, the home of their childhood. A chair and table, used by
the chief, is carefully preserved by the family, and a register for
the names of the numerous visitors is kept. This house was in the deep
solitude of the forests, among the hills, when Washington was there; now
the heights and the plain near by smile with cultivation. The present
owner of the property is Abraham Miller.
[[[The two Armies at White Plains.--The Battle there.--The
Intrenchments.]]]
{822}cast up breast-works, rather as a defense for an intrenched camp
in preparation upon the hills of North Castle two miles beyond than as
permanent fortifications. * Both armies were near White Plains on the
morning of the twenty-eighth of October.[[1776]] The Americans were
chiefly behind their breast-works near the village, and the British were
upon the hills below, eastward of the Bronx.
[Illustration: 8832]
Chatterton's Hill, a commanding eminence on the opposite side of the
stream, was occupied on the evening of the twenty-seventh by Colonel
Haslet, with his Delawares, some Maryland troops and militia, in all
about sixteen hundred men. Early the next morning, M'Dougal was ordered
to reenforce Haslet with a small corps and two pieces of artillery
under the charge of Captain Alexander Hamilton, and to take the general
command there.
[Illustration: 9832]
At ten o'clock the British army moved toward the village in two columns,
the right commanded by General Clinton, the left by De Heister and Sir
William Erskine; in all thirteen thousand strong. Howe was with the
second division, and when near the village, he held a council of war on
horseback, which resulted in a change in the point of attack. Inclining
to the left, the British placed fifteen or twenty pieces of artillery
upon the slope southeast of the rail-way station, and, under cover of
their fire, constructed a rude bridge over the Bronx, and attempted to
cross and ascend the steep wooded heights to dislodge the Americans from
their hastily constructed breastworks upon Chatterton's Hill. Hamilton
had placed his two guns in battery, on a rocky ledge, and these swept
whole platoons from the margin of the hill they were attempting to
ascend.
[Illustration: 6832]
The British recoiled, fell back to their artillery, and joined another
division, under General Leslie (consisting of the second British
brigade, the Hessian grenadiers under Colonel Rail, a battalion of
Hessian infantry, and two hundred and fifty cavalry), who were then
crossing the Bronx a quarter of a mile below. There the assailants
joined, and the whole force pushed up the slopes and ravines along the
southwestern declivities of Chatterton's Hill.
[Illustration: 7832]
Gaining a gentle slope toward the top, they endeavored to turn
M'Dongal's right flank. His advance, under Smallwood and Ritzema,
gallantly opposed them while slowly retreating toward the crown of the
eminence, until the British cavalry attacked the American militia on the
extreme right and dispersed them. M'Dongal with only six hundred men,
consisting chiefly of his own brigade and Haslet's corps, sustained an
obstinate conflict for an hour. Twice the British light infantry and
cavalry were repulsed, when an attack upon his flank by Rail compelled
M'Dougal to give way
* A square redoubt of earth was erected in the main street of the
village, the remains of which may yet be seen a little northeast of Mr.
Swinburn's Literary Institution, and where now (1852) lies a shattered
howitzer, dug up from the trenches a few years ago. From this redoubt-a
line of breast-works extended westerly over the south side of Purdy's
Hill to the Bronx, and easterly across the hills to Horton's Pond. These
were not quite finished when the battle occurred on the twenty-eighth
of October.--See Address of J. W. Tompkins, 1845, quoted by Bolton, ii.,
368.
** This view is from the southeastern side of the Bronx, a little more
than half a mile below the rail-way station at While Plains, looking
north. The rail-way bridge is seen on the extreme right. Between that
and the barn on the left the British ascended. In the field, seen a
little to the left of the telegraph posts, toward the center, and the
one on the summit beyond, the hottest of the engagement occurred. The
latter is on the land of Mr. Cornelius Horton. In a hollow, near a large
hickory-tree, on the southwest side of Chatterton's Hill, are the graves
of many of the slain.
[[[Retreat of the Americans.--The Loss.--Withdrawal to North
Castle.--Conflagration.]]]
{823}and retreat to the intrenchments at White Plains. This was done in
good order down the southeastern side of Chatterton's Hill, and across
the Bronx, near the present rail-way station, under cover of troops, led
by Putnam.
[Illustration: 8833]
M'Dougal carried off his wounded and artillery, and left the victors in
possession of only the inconsiderable breastworks upon the hill.
The militia, who were scattered among the Greenburg hills, soon
collected in the intrenched camp at the village, and there the
American army rested, almost undisturbed, until the evening of the
thirty-first.[[Oct, 1778]]The British troops rested upon their arms all
night after the battle, and the next day, after a skirmish with Glover's
brigade, they encamped within long cannon shot of the front of
the American lines. Awed by the apparent strength of Washington's
intrenchments, Howe dared not attack him, but awaited the arrival of
Lord Percy, with four battalions from New York and two from Mamaroneck.
**
The loss of the Americans, from the twenty-sixth to the twenty-ninth,
did not exceed, probably, three hundred men, in killed, wounded, and
prisoners; that of the British was about-the same.
Earl Percy arrived in the evening of the thirtieth, and preparations
were made to storm the American works the next morning. A tempest of
wind and rain arose at midnight, and continued for twenty hours. All
operations were delayed, and on the night of the thirty-first, while
the storm clouds were breaking and the British host were slumbering,
Washington withdrew, and encamped upon the heights of North Castle,
toward the Croton River, where he had erected strong breast-works along
the hills which loom up a hundred feet above the waters of the Bronx.
*** Howe was afraid to attack him there, and on the night of the fourth
of November,[[1776]] he retreated toward the junction of the Hudson
* This is a view of the southeastern side of Chatterton's Hill, from the
rail-way station. They crossed the Bronx at a point seen on the extreme
right. On the top of the hill, in the edge of the woods on the left,
Hamilton's cannons were placed.
** The intrenchments, which appeared so formidable through Howe's
telescope, were exceedingly weak, composed of earth and sods laid upon
heaps of cornstalks. They were no protection against cannon-balls, and
had Howe attacked these lines first, instead of the really stronger
position on Chatterton's Hill, the complete dispersion, if not loss of
the American army, would doubtless have been the result. His caution was
too faithful in its promptings, and he wasted time and energy, for two
or three days, in attempts to gain Washington's rear.
*** A little southeast of the house occupied by Washington (see sketch
on page 821), on the brow of a steep hill overlooking an extensive
region of country, are yet (1852) prominent remains of some of these
breast-works. These are nearest the village of White Plains, and easiest
of access for the student or antiquary. Gordon relates that while the
British were at White Plains, the garden of a widow was robbed at night.
Her son, a mere boy, asked and obtained leave to catch the thief. With
a loaded gun he concealed himself in some bushes, when a British
grenadier, a strapping Highlander came, filled a bag with fruit, and
placed it on his shoulder. The boy appeared behind him with his gun
cocked, and threatened him with instant death if he attempted to lay
down the bag. Thus the boy drove him into the American camp. When he
laid down his bag, and saw that he had been driven in by a stripling,
he was excessively mortified, and could not suppress the exclamation, "A
British grenadier made a prisoner by such a damned brat! {824}
[Illustration: 0834]
*** On the night of the evacuation, the Presbyterian church and other
buildings were fired and consumed, but without the knowledge or approval
of Washington. Bolton (ii., 366) says the incendiary was Major Osborne,
of the Massachusetts line. Gordon (ii., 121) remarks that "Colonel
Austin, of the Massachusetts, who commanded the guards and sentries,
being heated with liquor, burned the town on White Plains unnecessarily
and without any orders."
[[[Retreat to New Jersey.--Fort Washington menaced.--A Surrender
refused.--Re-enforced.]]]
{825}and Harlem Rivers, and encamped upon the heights of Fordham,
extending his left wing almost to King's Bridge. *
An attack upon Fort Washington, now environed by a hostile force, though
at a distance, was to be the next scene in the drama. Washington called
a council of war, and it was unanimously resolved to retreat into New
Jersey with the larger portion of the army, leaving all the New England
troops on the east side of the Hudson to defend the Highlands. This
movement was speedily executed. By the twelfth[[November]] the main army
were in New Jersey, some crossing from Tarrytown to Paramus (Sneeden's
Landing), and others from Tiller's Croton; Point to the mouth of Tappan
Creek (Piermont). The chief, after inspecting places at Peekskill and
vicinity, crossed King's Ferry,[[Nov. 14, 1776]] and hastened to form
his camp, with his head-quarters at Hackinsack, in the rear of Fort Lee.
** General Heath was left in command in the Highlands, and General Lee,
with a dissolving force *** of more than eight thousand men, remained
at North Castle, with orders to join the main army in New Jersey if the
enemy should aim a blow in that quarter.
On the day of the battle at White Plains, Knyphausen, with six German
battalions, marched from New Rochelle, crossed the head of Harlem River,
at Dyckman's Bridge, **** took possession of the abandoned works in the
vicinity of King's Bridge, and encamped upon the plain[[Nov. 2]] between
there and Fort Washington.
[Illustration: 9835]
The Americans in Fort Independence and redoubts near, fled, on his
approach, to Fort Washington, and now the whole country beyond Harlem,
between Dobbs's Ferry and Morrisania, west of the Bronx, was in the
possession of the royal army. Fort Washington was completely environed
by hostile forees. On the seventh, three British ships of war passed up
the Hudson unharmed, and on the night of the fourteenth, a large
number of flat-boats went up and were moored near King's Bridge.
The commander-in-chief would now have ordered the evacuation of Fort
Washington, had not Greene urged the necessity of holding it, in
connection with Fort Lee, for the defense of the river.
On the fifteenth[[Nov. 1776]] Howe was informed of the real condition
of the garrison and works at Fort Washington, by a deserter from Magaw's
battalion, and he immediately sent a messenger with a summons for the
commander to surrender, or peril his garrison with the doom of massacre.
Magaw, in a brief note, promptly refused compliance, and sent a copy
of his answer to Washington at Hackinsack. Confident of success, Howe
ordered a cannonade to be opened upon the American outworks from two
British redoubts, situated upon the east side of the Harlem River,
a little above the High Bridge. The cannonade commenced early on the
morning of the sixteenth, to cover the landing of troops which crossed
the Harlem there, preparatory to a combined attack at four different
points. Expecting this, Magaw made a judicious disposition of his little
force. (v) Colonel Rawling's
* Gordon, ii., 116-121. Stedman, i., 210-216. Marshall, i., 110-114.
** This fortification was situated upon a sort of plateau, about three,
hundred feet above the river, at the present landing and village of Fort
Lee, and opposite the present One hundred and Sixtieth Street, of New
York. Some of the mounds are yet visible, covered with low trees.
A little above was a redoubt, opposite Jeffery's Hook, to cover the
chevaux-de-friese in the river. Few traces of this redoubt now remain.
*** The time of service of seven thousand five hundred of these men
would expire within a week, and the remainder would be free on the first
of December. When the time of dissolution came, some were induced to
remain, but the largest portion went home dispirited.
**** For this and other localities made memorable by military operations
between Fort Washington and the Highlands, the reader may profitably
consult the map on the preceding page. It is copied from Stedman, whose
orthography of proper names, it will be observed is often incorrect.
There is an important error in the map, which was not observed, until
it was engraved, namely, the transposition of the names of Heights
of Fordham and Valentine's Hill. The former is in the vicinity of
Morrisania; the latter near Wepperham, or Yonkers. Mile Square should be
placed about two and a half miles further up the Bronx.
* (v) The garrison consisted of only about twelve hundred men, when
Knyphausen first sat down at King's Bridge. Greene sent a re-enforcement
from Mercer's Flying Camp, and when the fort was attacked there were
about three thousand men within the lines. When Washington heard of lhe
summons to surrender, he hastened from his camp to Fort Lee, and at
nine in the evening, while crossing the Hudson, he met Greene and
Putnam returning from Fort Washington. They assured him that Magaw was
confident of a successful defense, and the chief returned with them to
Fort Lee.
[[[Disposition of the Garrison.--Plan of Attack.--Knyphausen's
Assault]]]
{826}with his Maryland riflemen, was posted in a redoubt (Fort George)
upon a hill north of Fort Washington, and a few men were stationed at
the outpost called _Cock-hill Fort_.
[Illustration: 9836]
Militia of the Flying Camp, under Colonel Baxter, were placed on the
rough wooded hills east of the fort, along the Harlem River, and others,
under Colonel Lambert Cadwalader, of Pennsylvania, manned the lines in
the direction of New York. Magaw commanded in the fort.
The plan of attack was well arranged.
[Illustration: 8836]
Knyphausen, with five hundred Hessians and Waldeckers, was to move to
the attack on the north simultaneously with a division of English and
Hessian troops, under Lord Percy, who were to assail the lines on the
south. At the same time, Brigadier Mathews, supported by Cornwallis,
was to cross the Harlem River, with the guards, light infantry, and two
battalions of grenadiers, and land above Fort Washington, under cover
of the guns on the West Chester Hills, just mentioned, * while Colonel
Stirling, with the 42d regiment, was to cross at a point a little above
the High Bridge. These arrangements were carried out. Knyphausen divided
his forces. One division, under Colonel Rall (killed at Trenton seventy
days afterward), drove the Americans from _Cock-hill Fort,_ while
Knyphausen, with the remainder, penetrated the woods near Tubby Hook,
and, after clambering over felled trees and other obstructions, attacked
Rawlings in _Fort Tryon_. The fort was gallantly defended for some time,
and many Hessians were slain. Rawlings was finally forced to yield, and
retreated to Fort Washington, under cover of its guns, when Knyp-hausen
planted the Hessian flag upon _Fort Tryon_. In the mean while, Percy had
crossed near Harlem, swept over the plain, drove in the American pickets
at Harlem Cove (Manhattanville), and attacked Cadwalader at the advanced
line of intrenchments. *** Percy's force was eight hundred strong;
Cadwalader had only one hundred and fifty men, and one eighteen-pounder.
Both parties fought bravely, and Percy, yielding, moved toward the
American left, behind a wood, and the combat ceased for a while.
While Rawlings and Cadwalader were keeping the as-
* Mathews landed in the cove or creek at about Two hundredth Street.
** This is a view from the site of the interior works at Fort Washington
from the foot of the flag-staff, looking southwest. In the foreground
are seen the remains of the embankments. The tall mast seen near the
river below is the support for telegraph wires which cross the Hudson
there, from the rocky point of Jeffery's Hook. In the distance aeross
the river are the Palisades, and the mast upon their summit denotes the
site of the redoubt north of Fort Lee. This little sketch exhibits the
relative position of Forts Washington and Lee.
*** Preparatory to this attack, a cannonade was opened upon the American
works by two pieces on the high ground north of Motthaven on the Harlem.
"**** This flag-staff, indicating the center of the fort, is a
prominent object to passengers upon the Hudson.
[[[Attack of Stirling and Percy.--Surrender of the Fort.--The Loss.--Mr.
Battin.]]]
{827}sailants at bay, Mathews and Stirling landed. The latter pushed
up the wooded heights, drove Baxter's troops from their redoubt (Fort
George) and rocky defense, and stood victor upon the hills overlooking
the open fields around Fort Washington. Stirling, after making a feigned
landing, dropped down to an estuary of the river, landed within the
American lines, and, rushing up the acclivity by a sinuous road,
attacked a redoubt on the summit, and made about two hundred prisoners.
* Informed of this, and perceiving the peril of being placed between two
fires, Cadwalader retreated along the road nearest the Hudson, closely
pursued by Percy, and battling all the way.
[Illustration: 9837]
When near the upper border of Trinity Cemetery (One hundred and
Fifty-fifth Street), he was attacked on the flank by Colonel Stirling,
who was pressing aeross the island to intercept him. ** He continued
the retreat, and reached the fort, after losing a few killed, and about
thirty made prisoners. On the border of the cemetery, and near the fort,
severe skirmishes took place, and many of the Hessian pursuers were
slain. The defense was gallant; but pike, ball, and bayonet, used by
five thousand men, overpowered the weakened patriots, and at meridian
they were nearly all gathered within the ramparts of the fort.
General Howe now sent another summons to surrender. Perceiving further
resistance to be vain, Magaw complied, *** and at half past one
o'clock[[Nov. 16, 1776]] the British flag was waving where the Union
banner was unfurled defiantly in the morning. The garrison, amounting
to more than two thousand men, were made prisoners of war, **** and
with these the jails of New York were speedily gorged. It was a terrible
disaster for the little Republican army. Of all the gallant men who
battled there on that day, not one is known among the living. Probably
the last survivor of them all, and the last living relic of the
British army in America, was the venerable John Battin, who died at
his residence in Greenwich Street, in the city of New York, on the
twenty-ninth of June, 1852, at the age of one hundred years and four
months. His body is entombed in Trinity Cemetery, upon the very ground
where he fought for his king seventy-six years before. (v)
Washington, standing upon Fort Lee with his general officers, and the
author of "Common Sense," (Thomas Paine) saw some of the slaughter near
the doomed fortress, and
* Stirling's landing-plaee was at about the foot of One hundred and
Fifty-second Street, at the head of the Eighth Avenue, three fourths of
a mile below the High Bridge, "within the third line of defense whieh
crossed the island."--Marshall, i., 117. The road up which he passed is
still there, and, as mentioned in the note on page 816, the lines of the
redoubt on the "wooded promontory' (Stedman, i., 218) are quite visible.
** It was at this stage of affairs that Washington, with Putnam, Greene,
and Mercer, crossed the Hudson, ascended the heights, and from Morris's
house surveyed the scene of operations. Within fifteen minutes
after they had left that mansion, Stirling and his victorious troops
approached and took possession of it. It was a narrow eseape for the
chief commanders.
*** At this moment Captain Gooch came over from Fort Lee with a note
from Washington, assuring Magaw that if he could hold on till night the
garrison should be brought off. It was too late.
**** The number of regulars was about two thousand. There were six or
seven hundred militia, volunteers, and stragglers, all of whom were
probably included in Howe's report of "two thousand six hundred
prisoners." The loss of the Americans, in killed and wounded, did not
exceed one hundred; that of the royal army was almost one thousand. The
Hessians, as usual, suffered most severely. Washington was blamed for
yielding to the opinions of Greene in endeavoring to hold this fort.
Lee, who was opposed to it from the beginning, wrote to Washington, "O!
general, why would you be overpersuaded by men of inferior judgment to
your own? It was a cursed affair."
* (v) Mr. Battin came to America with the British army in 1776, and
was engaged in the battles near Brooklyn, at White Plains, and Fort
Washington. After the British went into winter quarters in New York, and
Cornwallis's division (to which he was attached), returned from Trenton
and Princeton, he took lessons in horsemanship in the Middle Dutch
church (now the city post-office), then converted into a circus for a
riding-school. He then joined the cavalry regiment of Colonel Bird, in
which he held the offices of orderly sergeant and cornet. He was in
New York during the "hard winter" of 1779-80, and assisted in dragging
British cannons over the frozen bay from Fort George to Staten Island.
He was always averse to fighting the Americans, yet, as in duty bound',
he was faithful to his king. While Prince William Henry, afterward
William the Fourth, was here, he was one of his body-guard. Twice he was
sent to England by Sir Henry Clinton with dispatches, and being one
of the most active men in the corps, he was frequently employed by
the commander-in-chief in important services. With hundreds more, he
remained in New York when the British army departed in 1783, resolved to
make America his future home. He married soon after the war, and at
the time of his death had lived with his wife (now aged eighty-three)
sixty-five years. For more than fifty years, he walked every morning
upon first the old, and then the new, or present Battery, unmindful of
inclement weather. He always enjoyed remarkable health. He continued
exercise in the street near his dwelling until within a few days of his
death, though with increasing feebleness of step. The gay young men of
half a century ago (now gray-haired old men) remember his well-conducted
house of refreshment, corner of John and Nassau Streets, where they
enjoyed oyster suppers and good liquors. The preceding sketch of his
person is from a daguerreotype by Insley, made a few months before his
departure.
[[[Washington's Disappointment.--Wayne's Expedition near Bull's
Ferry.--Lee's Attack on Paulus's Hook.]]]
{828}with streaming eyes he beheld the meteor flag of England flashing
above its ramparts in the bright November sun. The fort was lost
forever, and its name was changed to Knyphausen.
The chief now turned his thoughts toward the defense of the federal
city of Philadelphia, for he penetrated the design of Howe to push
thitherward. Fort Lee was abandoned, but before its stores could be
removed, Cornwallis had crossed the Hudson with six thousand men, and
was rapidly approaching it. * The garrison fled to the camp at Hack-
* The Americans lost at Fort Lee the whole of the mounted cannons,
except two twelve-pounders, a large quantity of baggage, almost three
hundred tents, and about a thousand barrels of flour and other stores.
The ammunition was saved.
[Ill 8838]
* Three or four miles below Fort Lee, at the base of the Palisades, is
a little village called Bull's Ferry. Just below the village, on
Block-house Point, was a block-house, occupied in the summer of 1780
by a British picket, for the protection of some wood cutters, and the
neighboring Tories. On Bergen Neck below was a large number of cattle
and horses, within reach of the British foragers who might go out from
the fort at Paulus's Hook. Washington, then at Hopper's, near Suflferns,
sent General Wayne, with some Pennsylvania and Maryland troops, horse
and foot, to storm the work on block house Point, and to drive the
cattle within the American lines. Wayne sent the cavalry, under Major
Lee, to perform the latter duty, while he and three Pennsylvania
regiments marched against the block-house with four pieces of artillery.
They made a spirited attack, but their cannons were too light to be
effective, and after a skirmish, the Americans were repulsed, with
a loss, in killed and wounded, of sixty-four men. After burning some
wood-boats near, and capturing the men in charge of them, Wayne returned
to camp, with a large number of cattle, driven by the dragoons. This
expedition was made the subject of a satirical poem by Major André,
called The Cow-chase (see page 198), published in Rivington's paper. A
copy of this celebrated production may be found in the Supplement. Major
Lee made a more successful attack upon the British post at Paulus's Hook
(now Jersey City) toward the close of the summer of 1779. The Hook is
a sandy peninsula, and at that time was connected with the main by a
narrow marshy neck. Upon this peninsula the British erected quite strong
military works, and used it as an outpost, while they were in possession
of the city of New York. The main works were upon rising ground in
the vicinity of the intersection of Grand and Greene Streets. One (A)
redoubt was of circular form, and mounted six heavy guns. It had a ditch
and abatis. The other (B), a little southeast of it, was of oblong form,
and had three twelve-pounders and one eighteen, a a, were block houses;
b b b b b, breast-works fronting the bay; c, part of the 57th regiment
of five hundred men, under Major Sutherland; d, pioneers; e, carpenters;
fff, barracks; g, new bridge built by the British. A deep ditch was dug
across the isthmus with a barred gate Thirty feet within this diteh were
abatis. This ditch, with the surrounding marshes, made the peninsula
an island. After the recapture of Stony Point toward the close of
ihe summer of 1779, while Sir Henry Clinton was encamped upon Harlem
Heights, a plan was formed for surprising the garrison at Paulus's Hook.
The enterprise was intrusted to Major Henry Lee, then on the west side
of the Hudson, back of Hoboken. A feeling of security made the garrison
careless, and they were unprepared for a sudden attack when it was made.
Preparatory to the attack, troops were stationed near the Hudson
to watch the distant enemy, who might cross the river and intercept
retreat, for it was not designed to hold the post when captured. Lee
marched with three hundred picked men, followed by a strong detachment
from Lord Stirling's division, as a reserve. Lee's march toward Bergen
excited no surprise, for foraging parties of Americans as large as this
were often out in that direction. The reserve halted at the new bridge
over the Hackinsack, fourteen miles from the Hook, from which point Lee
had taken the road among the hills, nearest the Hudson. At three o'clock
on the morning of the nineteenth of August (1779), Lee reached the
Harsimus Creek, at the point where the railway now crosses it, and
within half an hour he crossed the ditch through the loosely-barred
gate, and entered the main work undiscovered. The sentinels were either
absent or asleep, and the surprise was complete. He captured one hundred
and fifty-nine of the garrison, including officers, and then attacked
the circular redoubt, into which a large portion of the remainder
retreated, with the commander. It was too strong to be effected by small
arms, and Lee retreated with his prisoners, with the loss of only two
killed and three wounded, and arrived at camp in triumph at about ten
o'clock in the morning. This gallant act was greatly applauded in the
camp, in Congress, and throughout the country, and made the enemy more
cautious. On the twenty second of September following, Congress honored
Lee with a vote of thanks, and ordered a gold medal to be struck and
presented to him.--See Journals, v., 278. On one side "The American
Congress to Henry Lee, colonel of cavalry."
[Illustration: 7839]
* "Notwithstanding rivers and intrenchments, he with a small band
conquered the foe by warlike skill and prowess, and firmly bound by
his humanity those who had been conquered by his arms. In memory of the
conflict at Paulus's Hook, nineteenth of August, 1779."
[[[Medal awarded to Lee.--American and British near King's
Bridge.--Events near Tippett's Creek.]]]
{829}insack, and now commenced the retreat of Washington across the
Jerseys, toward the Delaware, noted on pages 221--22 of this volume.
Before leaving these heights consecrated by valor and patriotism, let us
turn, toward the distant hills of West Chester, where almost every rood
of earth is scarred by the intrencher's mattock, or made memorable
by deeds of daring and of suffering, and consider the most important
military transactions which occurred within ten leagues of our point of
observation.
[Illustration: 8839]
We can not tarry long; to the local historian we must refer for the
whole story in detail.
General Knyphausen held Fort Washington and the neighboring works,
while the main British army was operating elsewhere in 1777. The
fortifications were strengthened, and King's Bridge and vicinity
presented a formidable barrier to the invasion of York Island by land.
After the fall of Fort Washington, and the departure of both Americans
and British to New Jersey General Heath established a cordon of
troops[[January, 1777]] from the heights at Wepperharn (Yonkers) to
Mamaroneck, under the command of Brigadier John Morin Scott.
[Illustration: 9839]
That officer left the army two months later for civil employment, and
the Americans retired, so that their left rested upon Byram River. While
the strong detach-
* This view is from the southwest side of the stream, from near the
tide-mill. The house beyond, shaded by willows, is the residence of the
widow of the late Robert M'Comb. *
[Illustration: 6839]
* This vicinity was the scene of many stirring events during the
Revolution. Near here was a severe skirmish between a detachment of
General Heath's troops and some Hessians, on the seventeenth of January,
1777. It was the result of an attempt by the Americans to dislodge the
Hessians from Fort Prince. A little west of the bridge, Tippett's brook
flows into the Hudson. Following the course of the valley through which
this creek passes, on a bright autumn morning in 1850, I reached the
vale of Yonkers, and the Van Cortlandt mansion, a beautiful residence
in the midst of a broad lawn and profusion of shrubbery. This was the
quarters of a Hessian picket-guard in 1777, and here Washington and his
staff dined in July, 1781, when the British pickets were driven beyond
King's Bridge by Lincoln. North of the man-. sion is Vault Hill, where
many of the Van Cortlandt family lie.
[Illustration: 7839]
* Upon this, hill those American troops were encamped whom Washington
left to deceive Sir Henry Clinton, while he marched with the main army
southward, to assist La Fayette in Virginia (see page 213). On this
estate, and a short distance from Vault Hill, is Indian Field and
Bridge, the site of a severe engagement on the thirty-first of August,
1778, between British light troops and some Stockbridge Indians, under
the chief, Nimham. Lieutenant-colonel Emmerick, while patrolling in that
direction, was attacked and driven back, when he met Simcoe coming to
his relief. Emmerick was sent back to take post so as to cover an attack
upon the Americans in flank and rear, but on his way fell into an ambush
by the Indians. While fighting, Simcoe and Tarleton advanced, and a hot
conflict ensued. The Indians fought bravely but were at last obliged
to give way. A body of American light infantry, under Stewart
(distinguished at Stony Point), were engaged in the skirmish, but
escaped. Nimham and about forty of his sixty braves perished.--Simcoe's
Journal, page 83. "The scene of the conflict," says Bolton, "lies on the
land of the late Frederick Brown, now (1848) occupied by his widow.".
[[[Loyalist Patrols.--The Delanceys and their Movements.]]]
{830}ments of the two armies were occupying their relative positions,
many skirmishes took place, especially between the Americans and corps
of Loyalists, formed under various leaders. The latter traversed Lower
West Chester, annoyed the American outposts and patrols, and distressed
the inhabitants. *
In the summer of 1777, Washington, believing the post at New York to be
weak, because the main army of the British was in New Jersey and a large
detachment was on
* One of the earliest, most influential, and efficient of the Loyalist
leaders was Oliver Delancey, who, with his son Oliver, and nephew James,
performed active service for the king in Lower West Chester. He was a
brother of Chief Justice (also lieutenant governor) Delancey, and was a
man of large property and great influence. He was a member of the King's
Council before the Revolution; and at the beginning of hostilities,
leaned rather to the popular side. Deprecating a separation from
Britain, he espoused the royal cause after the Declaration of
Independence went forth. He was commissioned a brigadier, and authorized
to raise three battalions of Loyalists. This he finally effected. His
son Oliver was commissioned a captain of horse in 1776; was present at
the capture of General Woodhull; became major of the 17th regiment
of dragoons; and, after Major Andre's death, was appointed adjutant
general, with the commission of lieutenant colonel. At the close of
the war General Delancey went to England, was elected a member of
Parliament, and died at Beverly in 1785, at the age of sixty-eight
years. His son Oliver accompanied him, and rose gradually to the rank of
major general. At the time of his death he was almost at the head of
the British army list. James, a nephew of General Delancey, commanded
a battalion of horse in his uncle's brigade. Because of his activity in
supplying the British army with cattle from the farms of West Chester,
his troopers were called Cow-boys. Sir William Draper, "the conqueror of
Manilla," married General Delancey's daughter. The Confiscation Act of
the New York Legislature swept away the largest portion of the Delancey
estate in America. *
* Many attempts were made to destroy or disperse the Delancey Loyalists.
On the twenty-fifth of January. 1777, some Americans attacked a
block-house, erected hy Delancey on the site of Mapes's Temperance
House, at West Farms. Several of the guard were wounded, but none were
killed or made prisoners. In the winter of 1779, Colonel Aaron Burr,
with some Americans, attacked this block house to destroy it. Provided
with hand grenades, combustibles, and short ladders, about forty
volunteers approached cautiously, at two o'clock in the morning, and
cast their missiles into the fort, through the port-holes. Soon the
block house was on fire in several places, and the little garrison
surrendered without firing a shot. A few escaped. A corp of Delancey's
battalions occupied the house of Colonel Lewis G. Morris, at Morrisania,
for a short time. They were attacked there on the fifth of August,
1779, by some of Weedon's and Moylan's horse, a detachment from Glover's
brigade, and some militia. Fourteen Loyalists were made prisoners.
These attacks becoming frequent, Delancey was compelled to make his head
quarters at the house now owned by Mr. Samuel Archer, in the vicinity of
the High Bridge, where he was under the guns of fort No. 8, one of the
redoubts mentioned on page 825, cast up by the British to cover
the landing of their troops on the morning of the attack upon Fort
Washington.
* Near the entrance to Mr. Archer's mansion was a building wherein
Colonel Hatfield had his quarters in January, 1780, when he was attacked
by some levies and volunteers from Horseneck and Greenwich. The assault
was made at one o'clock in the morning. Unable to dislodge the enemy,
the assailants fired the house. Some escaped after leaping from the
windows; the colonel and eleven others were made prisoners.
* In May, 1780, Captain Cushing, of the Massachusetts line, guided by
Michael Dyckman, surprised Colonel James Delancey's corps near No. 8.
He captured over forty of the corps; the colonel was absent. Cushing
retreated, followed some distance by a large number of Yagers and
others. In January, 1781, Lieutenant-colonel Isaac Hull (General Hull
of the war of 181214), who was in command of a detachment of troops
in advance of the American lines, successfully attacked Colonel
Oliver Delancey at Morrisania, with three hundred and fifty men. Hull
surrounded the Loyalists, forced a narrow passage to their camp, took
more than fifty prisoners, cut away a bridge, burned several huts and a
quantity of stores, and retreated to camp, closely pursued. A covering
party, under Colonel Hazen, attacked the pursuers, and killed and
captured about thirty-five more. Hull lost twenty-six men in killed and
wounded. At sunrise on the fourth of March, 1782, Captain Hunneywell
and a body of cavalry, having a covering party of infantry under
Major Woodbridge, entered Delancey's camp at Morrisania, dispersed the
Loyalists, and killed and wounded several. Others in the neighborhood
were collected and pursued Hunneywell, when they fell into an ambush
formed by Woodbridge, and were driven back. In this skirmish Abraham
Dyckman was killed.
* At Jefferd's Neck, in the township of West Farms, Colonel Baremore, a
notorious Tory marauder, was captured by Colonel Armand (see page
466) on the night of November 7th, 1779. Baremore was at "the Graham
Mansion," which stood on the site of the house of William H. Leggett,
Esq., and with five others was made a prisoner. The Graham family were
dispossessed of their house, to make room for British officers. When
Colonel Fowler, who last occupied it, was about to leave, it was fired,
and consumed while that officer and his friends were eating dinner in
a grove near by. That night Colonel Fowler was mortally wounded while
leading a marauding party in East Chester. On another occasion, Armand
marched down from Croton to the vicinity of Yonkers, below Cortlandt's
house, made a furious charge, with his cavalry, upon a camp of Yagers,
and captured or killed almost the whole party.
* The ancestor of the American Delanceys (De Lanci) was Etienne, or
Stephen, a Huguenot, who came to New York in 1681. He was descended from
a noble French family, known in history in the sixteenth century. He
married Ann Van Cortlandt, and became active in public affairs. The
chief justice and the general were his sons. Another son, James, married
a daughter of Caleb Heathcote, lord of the Manor of Scarsdale. James's
third son was the father of William Heathcote Delancey, D.D., the
present Protestant bishop of the diocese of Western New York. The seat
of General Oliver Delancey was upon the Bronx, opposite the village
of West Farms, three miles from the mouth of that stream. There he had
extensive mills, which are now the property of Mr. Philip M. Lydig.
The old mansion, where British officers were so often entertained,
was destroyed by fire several years ago. He owned another residence
at Blooming-dale, on York Island, which was burned on the night of the
twenty-fifth of November, 1777. It is supposed to have been fired by
some daring Whigs, in retaliation for the burning of some houses in the
vicinity of Yonkers, by the Tories.
[[[Operations near King's Bridge.--Valentine's Hill and its
Associations.]]]
{831}Rhode Island, ordered General Heath to approach King's Bridge,
and if circumstances appeared to promise success, to attack the
fortifications there. The withdrawal of troops from New Jersey or Rhode
Island, if not the possession of New York, were hoped for results.
Heath advanced, and summoned Fort Independence, on Tetard's Hill, to
surrender. The commandant refused, and while preparing for attack, Heath
received intelligence of movements in the East, which made it prudent
to withdraw and watch his Highland camp and fortifications. In the
succeeding autumn, Sir Henry Clinton captured Forts Clinton and
Montgomery, and Kingston was destroyed. Several months before, a British
detachment had destroyed stores at Peekskill (see page 173), and Tryon
had desolated Danbury and vicinity. * These events, which have already
been considered, directed the attention of Washington more to the
security of the Highlands than offensive operations against New York.
After the battle at Monmouth[[January 1778]] and the retreat of the
British army to New York, Knyphausen again took command near King's
Bridge, with his quarters at Morris's house. The Queen's Rangers, under
Simcoe, and other Loyal corps, a troop of light horse under Emmerick,
and Delancey's battalions, now became active in patroling Lower West
Chester. To oppose their incursions, General Charles Scott, of Virginia,
with quite a strong force, took post on the Greenburg Hills, and
extended his left toward New Rochelle. Sometimes he advanced as far as
Valentine's Hill, ** and the foraging parties of the enemy were kept in
check. Frequent skirmishes occurred, and the most vigilant and wary were
the most successful.
When the French army, marching from New England in the summer of 1781,
approached the Hudson, Washington was informed that a large detachment
of British troops had left New York for a marauding incursion into New
Jersey. Washington had long cherished a desire to drive the enemy from
New York Island, and now there appeared to be a favorable opportunity
to strike the garrison at King's Bridge and vicinity. Arrangements were
made to begin the attack on the night of the second of July,[[1781]]
believing
* See page 403, volume i.
** Valentine's Hill, rising on the west of the beautiful vale of Mile
Square (a favorite eamp-ground for all parties during the war), affords
some of the most charming prospects in West Chester. It is upon the
road leading from Yonkers to the Hunt's Bridge Station, on the Harlem
rail-way. From its summit the rough hills and cultivated valleys of that
region are seen spread out like a panorama, and the eye catches glimpses
of the Palisades on the Hudson, and the more distant varieties of
feature displayed by Long Island Sound and the villages upon its
borders. Southward, stretching away toward King's Bridge, is the
beautiful vale, sparkling with Tippett's Brook, famous in the annals of
West Chester for deeds of valor in partisan warfare. When I visited this
region in 1850, Miss Elizabeth Valentine, aged eighty-three, was yet
living there with the present owner of the farm, Elijah Valentine. She
well remembers being caressed by Washington, and afterward frightened
by the fierce-looking Highlanders and Hessians. The dwelling of the
Revolution stood a little northwest of the present mansion. *
* On the summit of Valentine's Hill intrenchments were cast up in the
summer of 1776, and here Washington was encamped a few days before the
battle at White Plains. Here Sir William Erskine was encamped with a
detachment of British troops in January, 1778; and in the autumn, a few
weeks before he sailed to attack Savannah, Sir Archibald Campbell
was here with the 71st regiment of Highlanders. During the whole war,
Colonel James Delancey kept recruiting officers at Mile Square; and in
this vicinity Simcoe, with the Queen's Rangers, often traversed,
and sometimes penetrated to the Croton River. Heath says that on the
sixteenth of September, 1782, foragers, with a covering party five or
six thousand strong, accompanied by Sir Guy Carleton, and the young
prince William Henry, made an incursion as far as Valentine's Hill.
After this, the vicinity was abandoned by the military, and then the
lawless marauders of that region harassed the people. Prince Charles's
Redoubt and Negro Fort were on the east side of Valentine's Hill. On
the second of July, 1779, a skirmish oeeurred in Poundridge between a
portion of the corps of Sheldon and Tarleton. The British were
repulsed, and, while retreating, set fire to the meeting house and Major
Lockwood's dwelling. The chief object of Tarleton was the capture of
Lockwood. The Americans lost eighteen in wounded and missing, and twelve
horses. On the thirtieth of August, a skirmish occurred near Tarrytown,
between some of Sheldon's horse, under Captain Hopkins, and part of
Emmerick's corps. The latter were led into an ambuscade, and suffered
terribly. Twenty-three of his men were killed, and the remainder were
dispersed. Hopkins, while pursuing Emmerick, was in turn surprised by
riflemen, and was obliged to retreat toward Sing Sing, across Sleepy
Hollow Creek. In Beckman's woods Hopkins wheeled, captured two or
three of his pursuers, and retreated in good order to Sing Sing. Near
Crompond, Rochambeau encamped with his army in 1781. The spot is still
known as French Hill. Remains of some of his ovens may be seen at the
present time. On the third of February, 1780, a patrol of the enemy,
horse and foot, attacked Lieutenant Thompson, who was stationed at
The Four Corners. He was defeated, with a loss of thirteen killed and
seventeen wounded. Thompson, six other officers, and eighty nine rank
and file, were made prisoners.
[[[Attempted Invasion of New York.--Vigilance of the British.--Yonkers
and its Associations.]]]
{832}Rochambeau would arrive by that time. A part of the plan was to cut
off Delancey's light troops along the Harlem River. This enterprise
was intrusted to the Duke De Lauzun, then approaching, to whose legion
Sheldon's dragoons and some Continental troops, under Colonel Waterbery,
were to be attached.
[Illustration: 9842]
On the night of the first of July, a strong detachment, under General
Lincoln, went down the river from Tappan, in boats with muffled oars,
and landed half a mile below the village of Yonkers, * upon the land now
owned by Thomas W. Ludlow, Esq. ** Lincoln marched cautiously over the
hills to Tippett's Brook, unobserved by Emmerick, who, with his light
horse, was patrolling toward Boar Hill. Also avoiding Pruschanck's
corps, stationed upon Cortlandt's Bridge, Lincoln reached the house of
Montgomery, near King's Bridge, before dawn, where he was discovered and
fired upon by the enemy's pickets. Delancey, at fort No. 8, ever on the
alert, heard the firing, and retreated in time for safety, for Lauzun
had not approached by West Farms as was intended. Washington had
advanced to Valentine's Hill, and when he heard the firing he pressed
forward to the aid of Lincoln. The British troops immediately fell back,
and withdrew behind their works, near King's Bridge. Lincoln ascertained
that the detachment had returned from New Jersey; that the British were
re-enforced by some fresh troops; that a large party was on the north
end of the island, and that a ship of war was watching at the mouth of
the creek, near King's Bridge. In view of these difficulties, Washington
withdrew to Dobbs's Ferry, where he was joined by Rochambeau on the
sixth, and both armies were soon on their way to Virginia to capture
Cornwallis. No other military operations of importance took place in
this vicinity until the passage of King's Bridge by American troops in
the autumn of 1783, when the British were about to evacuate New York.
Stretching away eastward beyond the Sound, is Long Island, all clustered
with historical associations. Almost every bay, creek, and inlet
witnessed the whale-boat warfare while
* Yonkers is an old settlement on the Hudson, at the mouth of the Nepera
or Saw-mill River, about four miles north of King's Bridge. Here was the
later residence of the wealthy proprietor of the Phillipse manor, and
here is the spacious stone manor-house where, on one of his rent days,
the patroon feasted his friends and tenantry.
[Illustration: 9842]
* Its exterior is plain, but the interior displays rich wainscotings and
cornices, and elaborately wrought chimney-pieces. Here, on the third
of July, 1730, Mary Phillipse was born; she was the young lady of
whom Washington became enamored (see pages 141, 816) in 1756. She is
represented as a beautiful and accomplished woman. She was attainted of
treason, and the whole Phillipse estate was confiscated. It is believed
that she and her sister (Mrs. Robinson), and the wife of Reverend
Charles Inglis, rector of Trinity church, in New York, were the only
females who suffered attainder during the war.
[Illustration: 8842]
* They were guilty of no crime but attachment to the fortunes of their
husbands. The last lord of the manor was Colonel Frederick Phillipse,
who died in England in 1785. Upon Locust Hill, the high eminence
eastward of the manor-house, the American troops were encamped in 1781,
when Rochambeau was approaching. Near the eastern base of Boar Hill,
a short distance from the village, was the parsonage of Reverend Luke
Babcock, occupied by his widow. There Colonel Gist was stationed in
1778, and was attacked by a combined force under Simcoe, Emmerick,
and Tarleton. After traversing the vale of Yonkers, they approached
at separate points to surround the American camp. The vigilant Gist
discovered their approach and escaped. Some of his cavalry were
dispersed by Tarleton, his huts were burned, and forage was carried
off. At about the same time, Simcoe captured Colonel Thomas near White
Plains, whose house he surrounded. In the same neighborhood Captain
Sackett was captured (December 4th, 1781), and his command left with
Lieutenant Mosher. That brave officer, with eighteen men, beat back and
repulsed seventy men, under Captain Kip. The captain was badly wounded.
In front of Yonkers, a naval engagement occurred in 1777, between the
British frigates Rose and Phoenix, and American gun-boats. The latter
had a tender filled with combustibles, in tow, with which they intended
to destroy the British vessels. After the exchange of several shots, the
gun-boats were compelled to seek shelter in the mouth of the Saw-mill or
Nepera River.
** Bolton.
[[[Operations upon Lloyd's Neck.--Simcoe's Fortified Camp at Oyster
Bay.]]]
{833}the British occupied the island. * In its swamps and broad forests
partisan scouts lurked and ambushed, and almost every fertile field was
trodden by the depredator's foot.
[Illustration: 8843]
Local historians have made the record in detail; we will only glance at
two or three of the most important military operations there, in which
Major Benjamin Tallmadge was the chief leader. **
On the fifth of September, 1779, Major Tallmadge proceeded from Shipan
Point, near Stamford, Connecticut, with one hundred and thirty of his
light dragoons, dismounted, and at ten o'clock at night attacked five
hundred Tory marauders, who were quite strongly intrenched upon Lloyd's
Neck, on Long Island. *** The surprise was complete, and before morning
he landed upon the Connecticut shore with almost the whole garrison as
prisoners. He did not lose a man.
In the autumn of 1780, some Rhode Island Tory refugees took possession
of the manor-house of General John Smith, at Smith s Point, fortified it
and the grounds around it, and began cutting wood for the British army
in New York.
* The expedition of Colonel Meigs against the enemy at Sag Harbor,
and other exploits, will be noticed in the account of the whale-boat
warfare, in the Supplement.
** Benjamin Tallmadge was born at Setauket, Long Island, on the
twenty-fifth of February, 1754. He graduated at Yale College in 1773,
and soon afterward took charge of a high school at Wethersfield. He
entered a corps of Connecticut troops as lieutenant, in 1776, and
was soon promoted to adjutant. He was one of the rear-guard when the
Americans retreated from Brooklyn, and was in several of the principal
battles in the Northern States during the war. His field of active
exertions was chiefly in the vicinity of Long Island Sound. He had the
custody of Major Andre from his arrest until his execution, and after
that was actively employed against the enemy on Long Island. He was for
a long time one of Washington's most esteemed secret correspondents. He
retired from the army with the rank of colonel. He married the daughter
of General William Floyd, of Mastic, in 1784. In 1800 he was elected
a member of Congress from Connecticut, and served his constituents, in
that capacity, for sixteen years. He died on the seventh of March, 1835,
at the age of eighty-one years.
*** Lloyd's Neck is an elevated promontory between Oyster Bay and
Huntington harbor. It was a strong position, and the fort covered
the operation of wood-cutters for miles around. There the Board of
Associated Loyalists established their head-quarters after their
organization in December, 1780. This board was for the purpose of
embodying such Loyalists as did not desire to enter military life as
a profession, but were anxious to do service for the king. Governor
William Franklin was president of the board, and in the course of 1781,
they collected quite a little navy of small vessels in the Sound,
and made Oyster Bay the place of general rendezvous. * Their chief
operations were against the Whig inhabitants ol Long Island and the
neighboring shore, by which a spirit of retaliation was aroused that
forgot all the claims of common humanity. The manifest mischief to the
royal cause which this association was working, caused its dissolution
at the close of 1781. In July of that year, Count Barras, then at
Newport, detached three frigates, with two hundred and fifty land
troops, to attack this post, then garrisoned by about eight hundred
refugee Tories. The enterprise proved unsuccessful, and, after capturing
some British marines in Huntington Harbor, returned to New York. The
stockade on Lloyd's Neck was called Fort Franklin.
[Illustration: 9843]
* Oyster Bay was an important point during the British occupation of the
island. Sheltered from the Sound by a large island, it afforded a secure
place for small vessels, and the fertile country around supplied ample
forage. It was the head-quarters of Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe with
the Queen's Rangers (three hundred and sixty in number), who made the
village of Oyster Bay his cantonment during the winter of 1778-9. He
arrived there on the nineteenth of November, 1778, and immediately
commenced fortifying his camp. He constructed a strong redoubt upon an
eminence toward the west end of the town, now (1851) the property of the
Rev. Marmaduke Earle. The diteh and embankments are yet very prominent.
This work was capacious enough for seventy men, and completely commanded
the bay. These preparations were made chiefly because General Parsons
was encamped on the Connecticut shore with about two thousand militia,
and controlled a large number of whale-boats. Oyster Bay was made the
central point of operations in this quarter. According to Simcoe's
account, great vigilance was necessary during the winter, to prevent a
surprise. For a sketch and explanation of Simcoe's camp at Oyster Bay,
see the next page. Simcoe made his quarters at the house of Samuel
Townsend, who was a member of the Provincial Assembly of New York in
1776, and there Major André and other young officers of the army often
visited. His daughter, Miss Sarah Townsend, was then about sixteen years
of age, and very attractive in person and manner. She was the toast of
the young officers, and on Valentine's day, 1779, Simcoe presented her
with a poetical address in laudation of her charms. This production may
be found in Onderdonk's Revolutionary Incidents of Long Island, i., 215.
Miss Townsend died in December, 1842, at the age of eighty years. The
dwelling now belongs to her grand-niece, Mrs. Sarah T. Thorne.
[[[Capture of Fort George.--Destruction of Stores at Corum.--Capture of
Fort Siongo.--Badge of Military Merit.]]]
{834}At the solicitation of General Smith, and with the approval of
Washington, Major Tallmadge proceeded to dislodge them. They had named
their fortress Fort George, and appeared too strongly intrenched to
be in fear. * Tallmadge crossed the Sound from Fairfield with eighty
dismounted dragoons, and landed in the evening at _Old Man's_, now
Woodville.[[Nov. 21, 1780]] On account of a storm, he remained there
until the next night, when, accompanied by Heathcote Muirson, he marched
toward Fort George.
[Illustration: 9844]
At the mills, about two miles from the fort, he procured a faithful
guide, ** and at dawn he and his gallant soldiers burst through the
stockade on the southwestern side, rushed across the parade, and,
shouting "Washington and Glory!" they furiously assailed the redoubt
upon three sides. The garrison surrendered without resistance. At that
moment a volley was fired from the upper windows of the mansion. The
incensed Americans burst open the doors, and would have killed every
inmate, had not Major Tallmadge interfered.
Having secured his prisoners (three hundred in number), demolished the
fort, and burned vessels lying at the wharf, laden with a great amount
of stores, Tallmadge set out on his return at sunrise. On his way,
leaving his corps in command of Captain Edgar, he proceeded with ten
or twelve men to Corum, and there, after overpowering the guard, they
destroyed three hundred tons of hay collected for the British army
in New York. He arrived at Fairfield with his prisoners early in
the evening, without losing a man. This brilliant exploit drew from
Washington a very complimentary letter, and from Congress a gratifying
resolution. ***
At Treadwell's Neck, near Smithtown, a party of Tory wood-cutters (one
hundred and fifty in number) erected a military work, whieh they called
Fort Siongo. This Major Tallmadge determined to assail.
[Illustration: 8844]
On the evening of the ninth of October, 1781, he embarked one hundred
and fifty of his dismounted dragoons, under Major Trescott, at the mouth
of the Saugatuck Ptiver. They landed at four o'clock the next morning,
and at dawn assailed the fort. Some resistance was made, when the
garrison yielded, and Trescott was victorious without losing a man. He
destroyed the blockhouse and two iron four-pounders, made twenty-one
prisoners, and carried off a brass three pounder, the colors of the
fort, seventy stand of arms, and a quantity of ammunition. ****
[Illustration: 6844]
* Explanation of the above Plan of Oyster Bay Encampment.--a, redoubt;
b b b, fleches; c c c c c c, quarters separately fortified; d, quarters
of the Hussars; c, Townsend's house, Simcoe's quarters.
* This fort was upon Smith's Point, a beautiful and fertile promontory
projecting into South Bay, at Mastic. It commands a fine view of the
bay, and the village of Bellport. The property now belongs to the
sons of General Smith. The fort consisted of a triangular inclosure of
several acres of ground, at two angles of which was a strong barricaded
house, and at the third was a strong redoubt, ninety-six feet square,
with bastions, a deep ditch, and abatis. Between the houses and the fort
were stockades twelve feet in height. It was embrasured for six guns;
two only were mounted. This fort was intended as a depository of stores
for the Tories of Suffolk county.--Onderdonk, ii., 96; Thompson, 289.
** This guide was William Booth, who resided near the mills. Mrs.
Smith was also there, having been driven from her home. When Tallmadge
informed her that he might be compelled to destroy her house, she at
once said, "Do it and welcome, if you can drive out those Tories."
The position of the house is seen in the diagram, at the top of the
triangle. The dotted lines indicate the line of march in the attack.
When I visited the spot in 1851, the lines of the fort might be
distinctly traced northwestward of the mansion of the present occupant.
*** Journal, vi., 171.
**** In this enterprise as well as at Fort George, Sergeant Elijah
Churchill, of the 2d regiment of dragoons, behaved so gallantly, that
Washington rewarded him with the badge of military merit. *
* Washington established honorary badges of distinction in August, 1781.
They were to be conferred upon non commissioned officers and soldiers
who had served three years with bravery, fidelity, and good conduct, and
upon every one who should perform any singularly meritorious action. The
badge entitled the recipient "to pass and repass all guards and military
posts as fully and amply as any commissioned officer whatever." A board
of officers for making such awards was established, and upon their
recommendation the eommander-inchief presented the badge. The board,
in Churchill's case, consisted of Brigadier-general Greaton, president;
Colonel Charles Stewart, Lieutenant colonel Sprout, Major Nicholas Fish
(father of ex-governor Fish, of New York), and Major Trescott. The MS.
proceedings of the minutes of the board on this occasion are in the
possession of Peter Force, Esq., of Washington City.
[[[British occupation of New York City.--Residences of several of the
Officers.--Prisons and Hospitals.]]]
{835}Every where eastward of Hempstead minor events of a similar
character, but all having influence in the progress of the Revolution,
were almost daily transpiring.
Let us now follow the British army into the city, and take a brief
survey of the closing events of the war.
[Illustration: 8845]
When the British felt themselves firmly seated on Manhattan Island
after the fall of Fort Washington, they leisurely prepared for permanent
occupation. General Robertson immediately strengthened the intrenchments
across the island from Corlaer's Hook, erected barracks along the line
of Chambers Street from Broadway to Chatham, and speedily placed the
army in comfortable winter quarters. Nearly all of the Whig families
whose means permitted them had left the city, and their deserted
houses were taken possession of by the officers of the army and refugee
Loyalists. *
[Illustration: 9845]
The dissenting churches were generally devoted to military purposes, **
and the spacious sugar-houses, then three in number, were made prisons
for the American captives, when the cells of the City Hall and the
provost prison were full. *** Looking with contempt upon the rebels in
field and council, the British felt no anxiety for their safety, and
every pleasure that could be procured was freely indulged in by the
army.
[Illustration: 6845]
A theatre was established, tennis courts and other kinds of amusements
were prepared, and for seven years the city remained a prey to the
licentiousness of strong and idle detachments of a well-provided army.
This was the head-quarters of British power in America during that time,
and here the most important schemes for operations against the patriots,
military and otherwise, were planned and put in motion. The municipal
government was overthrown, martial law prevailed, and the business of
the city degenerated almost into the narrow operations of suttling.
* Sir Henry Clinton occupied No. 1 Broadway, and Sir William Howe the
dwelling adjoining it. Toward the close of the war, Sir Guy Carleton
(Lord Dorchester) also occupied No. 1. General Robertson resided
first in William, near John Street, and afterward in Hanover Square.
Knyphausen, when in the city, occupied Verplanck's house in Wall Street,
near the Bank of New York, where also Colonel Birch, of the dragoons,
resided. Admiral Digby and other naval officers, and also Prince William
Henry (afterward William the Fourth of England), when here, occupied the
city mansion of Gerardus Beekman, on the northwest corner of Sloat
Lane and Hanover Square. Admiral Rodney occupied a house, now 256 Pearl
Street, and Cornwallis's residence was three doors below it. Carleton's
country residence was the mansion at Richmond Hill, corner of Variek
and Charlton Streets, long the property of Colonel Aaron Burr. Admiral
Walton occupied his own house (yet standing in Pearl Street, number
326, opposite the publishing house of Harper and Brothers), and there he
dispensed generous hospitality.
** The Middle Dutch church (now the city post-office), on Nassau,
Liberty, and Cedar Streets, was converted into a riding-school, where
the British cavalry were taught lessons in horsemanship. The French
Protestant church (Du St. Esprit), built by the Huguenots in 1704,
near the corner of Pine and Nassau Streets, and the North Dutch church,
corner of William and Fulton Streets, were converted first into prisons
and then into hospitals. The quaint old church edifice which stood on
the corner of William and Frankfort Streets until 1851 (when it was
demolished, and a large hotel was placed upon its site), was a hospital
for the Hessians, and all around the borders of the swamp close by, many
of the poor Germans were buried.
*** These, and the events connected with them, will be noticed under the
head of "Prisons and Prison-Ships," in the Supplement.
[[[Counterfeit Continental Bills.--Expedition to Staten Island.--Second
great Fire in New York.]]]
{836}Here many petty depredating expeditions were planned; and from
Whitehall many a vessel departed with armed troops to distress the
inhabitants of neighboring provinces, * or with secret emissaries to
discover the weakness of patriot camps, to encourage disaffection in the
Republican ranks, and, by the circulation of spurious paper money ** and
lying proclamations, to disgust the people and win their allegiance to
the crown.
[Illustration: 9846]
A record of the stirring incidents of the armed occupation of New York
would fill a volume. *** It tempts the pen by many allurements, but
I must leave the pleasure of such a task to the local historian, and
hasten to a considera-
* We have already noticed most of these expeditions. Staten Island was
held by the British during their occupancy of New York, and several
schemes were planned to expel them. In the summer of 1777, the British
force on the island amounted to between two and three thousand men,
nearly one half of whom were Loyalists. General Sullivan, with Colonel
Ogden of New Jersey, and a part of the brigades of Smallwood and
Deborre.
[Illustration: 7846]
* (see page 381), crossed from Elizabethtown before daylight on the
twenty-second of August. Two of the Tory parties, commanded by Colonels
Lawrence and Barton, stationed near the present Factoryville, were
surprised, and eleven officers and one hundred and thirty privates
were made prisoners. Wanting a sufficient number of boats to convey the
captives, a party of British attacked Sullivan's rear-guard, and made
many of them prisoners. The whole loss of the Americans was three
officers and ten privates killed, fifteen wounded, and nine officers and
one hundred and twenty-seven privates made prisoners. General Campbell,
who commanded the British on the island, reported two hundred and
fifty-nine prisoners. It was during the cold month of January, 1780
("the hard winter"), that Lord Stirling went on an expedition against
the British on Staten Island. It was a re-enforcement of troops after
this attack (see page 311, volume i.) that crossed the bay of New York,
with heavy cannons, upon the ice.
** Among other schemes for annoying the Americans, and casting discredit
upon Congress, the British resorted to the issue of "cart loads" of
counterfeit Continental bills, so as to depreciate the currency. This
fact is alluded to on page 318, volume i. It was no secret at the time,
as appears by an advertisement * in Gaine's New York Mercury, April
14th, 1777. For two or three years these bills were circulated
extensively, and doubtless had great effect in depreciating the
Continental money. Francis, in his History of the Bank of England,
ii., 79-80, says, that Premier Pitt, the younger, resorted to a similar
trick, by causing a large number of French assignats to be forged at
Birmingham, to depreciate the currency of the French Republic. Napoleon
also caused forged notes of the Austrian Bank to be distributed
throughout the Austrian Tyrol.
*** A second great conflagration in the city, during the British
occupation, occurred on Saturday night, the seventh of August, 1778. It
commenced at Cruger's Wharf, Coenties Slip, and before it was subdued
three hundred houses were consumed. The next day was excessively hot,
and at noon, while the smoke of the smouldering fire was yet rising
from the ruins, a heavy thunder-storm burst over the city. At about one
o'clock, while raging at its height, the city was shaken as if by an
earthquake, and suddenly a column of dense smoke arose in the east and
spread over the town. Tiles were shaken from the roofs of houses, and
crockery was broken in some houses at Franklin Square. The shock was
occasioned by the explosion of the magazine of a powder vessel lying
in the East River, which was struck by lightning. The vessel had
just arrived from England, and the event was regarded as a special
interposition of Providence in behalf of the Americans.--See Dunlap,
ii., 164.
* "Advertisement.--Persons going into other colonics may be supplied
with any number of counterfeited Congress notes, for the price of the
paper per ream. They are so neatly and exactly executed, that there is
no risk in getting them off, it being almost impossible to discover
that they are not genuine. This has been proven by bills to a very large
amount which have already been successfully circulated. Inquire of Q.
E. D., at the Coffee-house, from 11 A. M. to 4 P. M., during the present
month."
[[[Treaties for Peace.--The Continental Army.--Congress at
Princeton.--Mutiny.--Washington's Circular Letter.]]]
{837}tion of the final evacuation of the city by the British army, and
the parting of Washington with his officers.
After protracted negotiations for a year and a half, a definitive treaty
of peace was signed at Paris[[Sept. 3, 1783]] between American and
English commissioners. A provisional treaty had been signed about nine
months previously,[[Nov. 30, 1782]] and in the mean while preparations
for a final adjustment of the dispute had been made. On account of the
pecuniary embarrassments of Congress, the arrearages of pay due to
the soldiers, and the prospect of a dissolution of the army without a
liquidation of those claims, general gloom and discontent prevailed.
[Illustration: 8847]
We have seen its alarming manifestation at Newburgh in the spring of
1783 (see page 106), and, though suppressed, it was never entirely
subdued. It required all the personal influence and sagacity of
Washington to keep the remnant of the Continental army in organization
until the final evacuation of the British in the autumn of that year,
and when that event took place the Republican troops were a mere
handful. *
In August, Washington was called to attend upon Congress, then sitting
at Princeton. ** He left General Knox in command of the little army at
Newburgh and vicinity, and, with Mrs. Washington and a portion of his
military family, he made his residence at Rocky Hill, near the Millstone
River, about four miles from Princeton, where he remained until
November, when he joined Knox and the remnant of the Continental army at
West Point, preparatory to entering the city of New York. ****
* The number of soldiers furnished for the Continental army by
each state, during the war, was as follows: New Hampshire, 12,497;
Massachusetts, 67,907; Rhode Island, 5,908; Connecticut, 31,939; New
York, 17,781; New Jersey, 10,726; Pennsylvania, 25,678; Delaware,
2,386; Maryland, 13,912; Virginia, 26,678; North Carolina, 7,263; South
Carolina, 6,417; Georgia, 2,679. Total, 231,791.
** The cause of the assembling of Congress at Princeton was the violent
spirit manifested by some of the Continental troops of the Pennsylvania
line. These had marched in a body (June 21), three hundred in number,
surrounded the State House, where Congress was in session, and, after
placing guards at the door, demanded action for redress of grievances,
within the space of twenty minutes, at the peril of having an enraged
soldiery let in upon them. Congress was firm; declared that body had
been grossly insulted, and resolved to adjourn to Princeton, where
the members assembled on the twenty-sixth. As soon as Washington was
informed of this mutiny, he sent General Robert Howe, with fifteen
hundred men, to quell it. He soon quieted the disturbance. Some who were
found guilty on trial were pardoned by Congress.
*** This is a view of the southwest front of the mansion. The room
occupied by Washington is in the second story, opening out upon the
piazza. It is about eighteen feet square, and in one corner is a
Franklin stove like that delineated on page 328, volume i. The situation
of the house, upon an eminence an eighth of a mile eastward of the
Millstone River, is very pleasant. It is now quite dilapidated; the
piazza is unsafe to stand upon. The occupant, when I visited it in 1850,
was Mr. James Striker Van Pelt.
**** A great portion of the officers and soldiers had been permitted
during the summer to visit their homes on furlough, and on the
eighteenth of October Congress virtually disbanded the Continental
army, by discharging them from further service. Only a small force
was retained, under a definite enlistment, until a peace establishment
should be organized. These were now at West Point, under the command of
General Knox. The proclamation of discharge, by Congress, was followed
by Washington's farewell address to his companions in arms. He had
already issued a circular letter (Newburgh, eighth of June, 1783) to the
governors of all the states on the subject of disbanding the army. It
was designed to be laid before the several State Legislatures. It is a
document of great value, because of the soundness of its doctrines,
and the weight and wisdom of its counsels. Four great points of
policy constitute the chief theme of his communication, namely, _an
indissoluble union of the states; a sacred regard for public justice;
the organization of a proper peace establishment; and a friendly
intercourse among the people of the several states, by which local
prejudice might be effaced_. "These," he remarks, "are the pillars on
which the glorious fabric of our independency and national character
must be supported." No doubt this address had great influence upon the
minds of the whole people, and made them yearn for that more efficient
union which the Federal Constitution soon afterward secured.
[[[British prepare to Evacuate New York.--Washington's Farewell Address
to the Army.--The Evacuation.--Clinton and Knox.]]]
{838}On the seventh of August,[[1783]] Sir Guy Carleton, then in chief
command of the British army, received instructions to evacuate the city
of New York.
[Illustration: 8848]
This event was delayed in order to make arrangements for the benefit
of the Loyalists in the city and state, and it was not until late in
October when Carleton notified Washington of his determination to leave
our shores.
[Illustration: 9848]
On the second of November, Washington issued his "_Farewell Address
to the Armies of the United States_" ** from Rocky Hill, and on the
fourteenth of the same month he conferred with Governor Clinton, ***
and made arrangements to enter and take possession of the city. Clinton
issued an appropriate proclamation on the fifteenth, and summoned the
officers of the civil government to meet him in council at East Chester.
A day or two afterward, Washington, Clinton, and Carleton held a
conference at Dobbs's Ferry (see page 195), and the twenty-fifth was
fixed upon as the time for the exodus of the British troops. Both
parties adopted measures for the preservation of order on the occasion.
On the morning of that day--a cold, frosty, but clear and brilliant
morning--the American troops, under General Knox, **** who had come down
from West Point and encamped at Harlem, marched to the Bowery Lane, and
halted at the present junction of Third Avenue and the Bowery. There
they remained until about one o'clock in the afternoon, when the British
left their posts in that vicinity and marched to Whitehall. (v) The
* The Loyalists, fearful of meeting with unpleasant treatment from the
irritated Americans, prepared to leave the country in great numbers, and
fled to the British province of Nova Scotia. The delay in question was
in consequence of a want of a sufficient number of transports to convey
these people and their effects. A further notice of the Loyalists will
be found in the Supplement.
** This, like his letter to the governors, was an able performance.
After affectionately thanking his companions in arms for their
devotedness to him through the war, and for their faithfulness in duty,
he gave them sound and wise counsel respecting the future, recommending
them, in a special manner, to support the principles of the Federal
government, and the indissolubility of the union.
*** George Clinton was born in Ulster eounty, New York, in 1739. He
chose the profession of the law for his avocation. In 1768, he was
elected to a seat in the Colonial Legislature, and was a member of 'he
Continental Congress in 1775. He was appointed a brigadier in the army
of the United States in 1776, and during the whole war was active in
military affairs in New York. In April, 1777, he was elected governor
and lieutenant governor, under the new Republican Constitution of the
state, and was continued in the former office eighteen years. He was
president of the convention assembled at Poughkeepsie to consider the
Federal Constitution in 1788. He was again chosen governor of the state
in 1801, and three years afterward he was elected Vice-president of the
United States. He occupied that elevated position at the time of his
death, which oeeurred at Washington City in 1812.
**** Henry Knox was born in Boston in 1750. He was educated at a
common sehool, and at the age of twenty years commenced the business of
bookseller in his native town. He was engaged in that vocation when
the Revolutionary storm arose, and his sympathies were all with the
patriots. He was a volunteer in the battle of Bunker Hill, and for this
and subsequent services Congress commissioned him a brigadier, and
gave him the command of the artillery department of the army, which he
retained during the whole war. He was always under the immediate command
of Washington, and was with him in all his battles After the capture
of Cornwallis, Congress commissioned him a major general. In 1785, he
succeeded Lincoln in the office of Secretary of War, which position he
held for eleven years, when he retired into private life. He died at
Thomaston, Maine, in 1806, at the age of about fifty-six years.
To General Knox is conceded the honor of suggesting that noble
organization, the Society of the Cincinnati.
* (v) The British claimed the right of possession until noon of the
day of evacuation. In support of this claim, Cunningham, the infamous
provost marshal exercised his authority. Dr. Alexander Anderson, of New
York, related to me an incident which fell under his own observation.
He was then a lad ten years of age, and lived in Murray, near Greenwich
Street. A man who kept a boarding-house opposite ran up the American
flag on the morning of the twenty-fifth. Cunningham was informed of the
fact, and immediately ordered him to take it down. The man refused, and
Cunningham attempted to tear it down. At that moment the wife of the
proprietor, a lusty woman of forty, came out with a stout broomstick,
and beat Cunningham over the head so vigorously, that he was obliged
to decamp and leave the "star-spangled banner" waving. Dr. Anderson
remembers seeing the white powder fly from the provost marshal's wig.
[[[Entrance of the Americans.--Parting of Washington with his
Officers.--Rejoicings in New York.]]]
{839}American troops followed, * and before three o'clock General Knox
took formal possession of Fort George amid the acclamations of thousands
of emancipated freemen, and the roar of artillery upon the Battery.
[Illustration: 9849]
Washington repaired to his quarters at the spacious tavern of Samuel
Fraunce, and there during the afternoon, Governor Clinton gave a public
dinner to the officers of the army, and in the evening the town was
brilliantly illuminated.
[Illustration: 8849]
Rockets shot up from many private dwellings, and bonfires blazed at
every corner. On Monday following,[[Dec. 1,1783]] Governor Clinton gave
an elegant entertainment to Luzerne (the French embassador), General
Washington, the principal officers of the State of New York and of the
army, and more than a hundred other gentlemen.
On Thursday[[Dec. 4]] the principal officers of the army yet remaining
in service assembled at Fraunce's, to take a final leave of their
beloved chief. The scene is described as one of great tenderness.
Washington entered the room where they were all waiting, and taking
a glass of wine in his hand, he said, "With a heart full of love and
gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your
latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been
glorious and honorable." Having drank, he continued, "I can not come to
each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged to you if each will
come and take me by the hand." Knox, who stood nearest to him, turned
and grasped his hand, and, while the tears flowed down the cheeks of
each, the commander-in-chief kissed him. This he did to each of his
officers, while tears and sobs stifled utterance.*** Washington soon
left the room, and passing through corps of light infantry, [[b Dec. 4]]
* The troops entered the city from the Bowery, through Chatham Street,
in the following order: 1. A corps of light dragoons. 2. Advanced guard
of light infantry. 3. A corps of artillery. 4. A battalion of light
infantry. 5. A battalion of Massachusetts troops. 6. Rear-guard.
* Washington with his staff, and Governor Clinton and the state
officers, soon afterward made a public entry, as follows: 1. The general
and governor, with their suite, on horsebaek, escorted by a body of West
Chester light horse, commanded by Captain Delavan. 2. The lieutenant
governor and the members of the council for the temporary government of
the Southern District of the state, four abreast. 3. Major-General Knox
and the officers of the army, eight abreast. 4. Citizens on horsebaek,
eight abreast. 5. The speaker of the Assembly and citizens on foot,
eight abreast.
* The British army and the refugees who remained were all embarked
in boats by three o clock in the afternoon, and at sunset they were
assembled upon Staten and Long Islands, preparatory to their final
embarkation. * Before they left, the British flag was nailed to the
flag-staff in Fort George, the eleets were knocked off, and the pole
was greased so as to prevent ascent. New eleets were soon procured, a
sailor-boy ascended as he nailed them on, and, taking down the British
flag, placed the stripes and the stars there, while the cannons pealed a
salute of thirteen guns.
** See note 1, page 796.
*** Gordon, iii., 377; Marshall, ii., 57. Only one of the participators
in this interesting scene is now living. That honored man is Major
Robert Burnet, whose portrait may be found on page 118. Major Burnet
commanded the rear-guard on the entrance of the American army into the
city.
* The British left these two islands a few days afterward, and then the
evacuation of the sea-board was complete. Western and northern frontier
posts (Oswegatchie, Oswego, Niagara, Presque Isle, Sandusky, Detroit,
Mackinaw, and others of less note) continued in the possession of
British garrisons for some time afterward.
[[[Washington's Departure for, and Journey to Annapolis.--His account
current of Expenses.--Lady Washington.]]]
{840}he walked in silence to Whitehall, followed by a a barge to proceed
to Paulus's Hook on his way to lay his commission at the feet of
Congress, at Annapolis. *
[Illustration: 8850]
When he entered his barge, he turned to the people, took off his hat,
and waved a silent adieu to the tearful multitude. *
Washington remained a few days in Philadelphia, where he delivered in
his accounts to the proper officers, ** and then hastened, with his
wife, to Annapolis, where he arrived on the evening of the nine-with
ladies, among whom was Mrs. Washington vast procession, and at two
o'clock entered.[[Dec. 1783]] The next day he informed Congress
of his desire to resign his commission as commander-in-chief of the
armies of the United States. That body resolved that it should be done
at a public audience the following Tuesday,[[Dec. 23]] at meridian.
The day was fine, and around the State House (see page 402) a great
concourse was assembled. The little gallery of the Senate Chamber was
filled. ***
* Congress had adjourned to meet at Annapolis, in Maryland, on the
twenty-sixth of November. A quorum was not present until Saturday, the
thirteenth of December, when only nine states were represented.
** The account current of his expenditures for the public service during
the war, rendered by Washington, was in his own handwriting. The total
amount was about seventy-four thousand four hundred and eighty-five
dollars. * The disbursements were for reconnoitering and traveling,
secret intelligence service, and miscellaneous expenses. It will be
remembered that Washington refused to receive any compensation for his
own services.
[Illustration: 6850]
*** Martha Dandridge was born in New Kent county, Virginia, in May,
1732. In 1749 she was married to Colonel Daniel Parke Custis, of New
Kent, and settled with her husband on the bank of the Pamunky River,
where she bore four children. Her husband died when she had arrived at
the age of about twenty-five, leaving her in the possession of a large
fortune. In 1758 she became acquainted with Colonel Washington, whose
greatness was just budding, and whose fame had spread beyond Virginia.
He became her suitor, and they were married. The exact period of their
marriage has not been found on record; it is supposed to be in 1759.
They removed to Mount Vernon soon after that event, and there was
their home during the remainder of their lives. During the war for
independence, she occasionally visited her husband in camp. Almost at
the very hour of his great victory at Yorktown, a cloud came over
her, for then her only surviving child expired. While Washington was
President of the United States, Mrs. Washington presided with dignity in
the mansion of the chief magistrate. The quiet of private life had more
charms for her than the brilliancy of public greetings, and she joyfully
sought the banks of the Potomac when her husband's second presidential
term was ended. A little more than two years afterward, she was called
to mourn his death. **
* The pecuniary cost of the war, exclusive of the vast losses by the
ravages of plantations, burning of houses and towns, plunder by Indians
and the British soldiery, &c., &c., was not less than one hundred and
seventy millions of dollars. Of this sum, Congress disbursed about two
thirds; the remainder was spent by the individual states. It had been
raised "by taxes under the disguise of a depreciating currency; by taxes
directly imposed; by borrowing; and by running in debt."--See Hildreth's
History of the United States, iii., 445.
** We have already noted (see page 425) the principal events in the
public life of General Washington, until his appointment