The Battle of Long Island
Down on the Narrows Road, General Stirling's force was holding its own
against the British. The patriot soldiers were steady and calm, and
loaded and fired regularly and with considerable effect, and had
fortune gone well with Sullivan's division, the Continental soldiers
would probably have won the battle. But General Sullivan, stationed on
the hills south of Bedford, was attacked fiercely in front by a strong
force of British, and another force under Generals Howe and
Cornwallis, having marched around to the north of this position, by
way of the Jamaica Road, attacked Sullivan from the rear, and his
force, thus caught between two fires, was driven back and forth among
the trees, with disastrous results.
General Putnam, watching the battle from the Heights, through his
glass, saw that Sullivan was in difficulties and in danger of capture,
and he decided to send a message to Stirling, warning him of this
fact, and ordering him to retreat toward the Heights as quickly as
possible-for as soon as Sullivan's force was overpowered, the British
would sweep on across the fields and fall upon the rear of Stirling's
force and capture it. So, having written a brief note, General Putnam
summoned Dick Dare.
"Do you think you can find General Stirling?" the general asked.
"I think so, sir," was the reply.
"He is over on Narrows Road. You will know him, because he will be
mounted on a large bay horse. Get to him as quickly as possible, and
hand him this message," and he gave Dick the slip of paper.
"I will do so, General Putnam," said Dick, firmly.
"Very good. Now hurry. Get there as quickly as possible."
Dick hastened away, running swiftly, and as he passed where Tom and
Ben were stationed, he called out: "I'm taking a message to General
Stirling."
"Good for you," cried Ben.
"Go it," from Tom.
Dick vaulted over the breastworks and then ran down the slope at the
top of his speed.
"I'm a messenger from General Putnam," he called to the sentinel, as
he approached the soldier on duty partway down the slope, and then on
he dashed, without slackening speed in the least.
Soon he was in among the trees and out of sight of the patriot
soldiers on the Heights. He knew the direction to go in order to reach
General Stirling, and he headed in that direction and kept up his
speed.
Dick heard the firing over to his left, and knew this was where
General Sullivan was having such a hot fight with the enemy. The youth
would pass within two or three hundred yards of the left wing of the
attacking British, and he kept a sharp lookout in that direction, for
he did not want to get shot by any of the British soldiers.
Presently he caught sight of the right wing of Sullivan's force, and
saw the patriot soldiers firing at the British as rapidly as possible,
and then he saw the redcoats, who were attacking the patriots from
both the front and the rear.
Dick wished that he might be able to help the patriot soldiers fight
the British, but he had business of his own to attend to, and so he
kept onward, running at the top of his speed.
Suddenly, however, when he was perhaps halfway to the point where
General Stirling's army was fighting so bravely, he was given a
surprise, and a most unpleasant one-for he found himself confronted by
a force of British soldiers, which was making a flank movement, with
the intention, doubtless, of falling upon Sullivan's right wing.
Doubtless another force was executing a similar movement on the
opposite side, to attack Sullivan's left wing, and when this movement
was finished, the soldiers under Sullivan would be surrounded.
Dick halted instantly, on catching sight of the approaching soldiers.
He had seen them while still they were a couple of hundred yards
distant, they being easy to see owing to the brilliant red of their
coats, which stood out plainly between the trees. He wondered if he
had been seen. If not, it might be possible to escape capture by
hiding-if a hiding-place could be found. If he were to turn to the
right and run in that direction, with the purpose of getting around
the end of this advancing force, he would be almost certain to be seen
and either shot down or captured. Evidently, therefore, the proper
thing for him to do was to hide if he could find a place of
concealment.
But could he do this? He glanced around him, eagerly and anxiously. He
was determined to get through the British ranks and deliver the
message to General Stirling, if such a thing were possible. It would
never do to fail in the very first work that he was given to do in a
battle with the British. No, he must reach General Stirling. General
Putnam had shown confidence in Dick, and the youth was not going to
give the general reason to think his confidence had been misplaced.
But, where could he hide? While pondering this matter, Dick was
standing behind a larger tree, and on glancing around this tree, to
see how close the redcoats were, the youth noted an interesting fact:
The tree was hollow. There was an opening at least two feet high by a
foot and a half wide, at the bottom, but halfway around to the other
side. In order to enter this opening, Dick would have to take the
chance of being seen by the approaching British soldiers.
It seemed to be his only chance, however, for he could not hope to run
around the end of the force and escape without being shot down, and to
remain where he was would be to be discovered the instant the soldiers
came up to him.
This being settled, Dick did not hesitate, but acted at once. He
dropped to the ground, and lying on his stomach, wriggled his way
around the tree-trunk, much after the fashion of a huge snake. He
glanced toward the approaching redcoats, and while he could see them
plainly, they being within seventy-five yards of him, they had not as
yet, he felt certain, discovered him. This gave him courage, and
quickly he reached the opening and crawled through it and into the
hollow within.
Crouching back as far from the opening as possible, Dick waited
anxiously for the coming of the British soldiers. Had they seen him as
he crawled through the opening? Would he be hauled out of the hollow
tree and made a prisoner? Dick could not say. All he could do was to
wait and see what would happen. If the redcoats had seen him, he would
certainly be captured, but if they had not, then he stood a chance of
escaping discovery, and when they passed, he could continue on his way
and deliver the message to General Stirling. How Dick wished that this
might be the case!
The moments that intervened before the redcoats reached the vicinity
of the tree were anxious ones for Dick. He sat there, crouching back
as far as possible from the opening, and waited, and as he heard the
footsteps and voices of the British soldiers, his heart came up into
his throat.
It was indeed a critical moment. It was a situation to try the nerve
of the bravest person.
Louder sounded the footsteps, plainer the voices of the redcoats.
Closer and closer the soldiers came, and then some of them appeared
opposite the opening. Dick's heart was in his mouth. He held his
breath and wondered if some of the redcoats would stop and haul him
out from his hiding-place. But no, nothing of the kind occurred. It
was now evident that he had not been seen as he was entering the
hollow tree, and the redcoats merely walked past, without looking
through the opening, and Dick was not discovered.
Eagerly and thankfully he saw the soldiers pass, and when they had all
gone by, and had gotten perhaps fifty yards beyond, he stuck his head
out through the opening and took a look after his enemies. They were
walking swiftly onward, their faces to the front. Not one was looking
back, and deeming it was safe, Dick crawled out of his hiding-place,
and heaving a sigh of relief, he again set out in the direction of the
point where Stirling's force was giving such valiant battle to the
British.
On Dick ran, at top speed, and presently he emerged upon the Narrows
Road, and caught sight of the patriot force, and also of the British.
The battle between these two divisions of the armies was still going
on, and Dick quickly caught sight of General Stirling, who was seated
on his big bay charger, watching the progress of the battle.
Dick hastened up to the general, and saluting, said: "I have message
for you, General Stirling, from General Putnam."
General Stirling took the message and quickly read the few words
written there.
"Ah!" he exclaimed. "Sullivan is in sore straits, being attacked from
both front and rear, and I must retreat, or my force will be treated
to the same fate."
Then he turned to Dick, and said: "Tel General Putnam I will begin
retreating toward the Heights at once."
"Yes, General Stirling," said Dick, and then he moved away, in the
direction from which he had come, while General Stirling gave the
order for his force to beat a retreat. They obeyed, though
reluctantly, for they did not know that Sullivan's force was
practically in the hands of the British, and so could not understand
why the order to retreat was given. They knew there was a strong force
of redcoats over to their left hand, however, and so they kept a sharp
lookout in that direction as they fell back. They were attacked from
that side, by a part of the force, and General Stirling, while
fighting valiantly, was surrounded and made a prisoner.
Dick, from quite a distance, saw the capture of General Stirling, and
he remained where he was for a little while, until he saw that the
main force under Stirling succeeded in getting past the British and
were coming toward the Heights, which they would undoubtedly succeed
in reaching, and then he turned and hastened on up to the Heights, and
made his way to General Putnam.
"I delivered the message to General Stirling, sir," the youth said,
"and he told me to say to you that he would begin a retreat at once."
"Very well, Dick," said Putnam. "You did well to deliver the message."
"I saw his force retreating, sir, from down the slope a ways," went on
Dick, "and I saw some of the redcoats make a prisoner of General
Stirling."
"So you say, my boy?" exclaimed Putnam. "That is bad. Well, it cannot
be helped. But, I think the major portion of his force will succeed in
reaching the Heights."
"Yes, I think so, General Putnam. The soldiers are coming steadily,
and have got past the main part of the British force."
"Thanks for the information, Dick," said the general, and then the
youth rejoined his comrades at the breastworks. Tom and Ben had many
questions to ask, and he told them briefly the story of his trip with
the despatch.
The soldiers of Stirling's force reached and entered the works on the
Heights by the time Dick had finished his story, and the battle of
Long Island was practically ended, the firing ceasing very soon
afterwards.
The British army now advanced till in front of Brooklyn Heights, but
it did not attempt to storm the defenses. Doubtless General Howe
remembered Bunker Hill, and felt that a repetition of that experience
would be disastrous to the king's cause.
General Washington sent over two thousand more soldiers, from New
York, which made the force ten thousand strong within the patriot
works of Brooklyn Heights, and he was positive, as was General Putnam
also, that the Heights could be held, that if the British made an
attack it would be disastrous for them.
The action of General Howe showed that he thought so too, for instead
of getting ready to attack, he stretched his force around the Heights,
from the East River on the north to the East River again, on the
south, in a semicircle, and it was plain that his intention was to
establish a siege.
General Washington realized at once that it would not do to stay on
Brooklyn Heights, under such circumstances, for if the British fleet
were to come up the East River and cut off the patriot army's retreat
in that direction, the only result possible would be the surrender of
the Continental army on the Heights. As he had no intention of
surrendering, he decided to evacuate the position, and that night all
the boats that could be gathered together were secured and the patriot
army was removed across the river to New York. Also all the arms,
ammunitions, provisions of every kind, and the heavy artillery, were
ferried over. Nothing was left, and when next morning the British
looked up at the works on the Heights, they were amazed to see no
signs of life there-for so silently and cautiously had the patriots
worked during the night that the British had not gotten an inkling of
the movement. The redcoats pushed up the hill, and climbed over the
works, only to stare around in dismay. Nothing was left of the big
army that had been there only the evening before.
This achievement of General Washington, this wonderful feat of
withdrawing an entire army of ten thousand men, with all the arms,
including heavy artillery, and the ammunitions and provisions from
right under the very nose of the enemy, and without the enemy even
suspecting what was going on, will always be considered one of the
greatest triumphs of generalship the world has ever known. This feat,
when it became known in England, caused some of the greatest soldiers,
and generals, and over in Europe as well, to shake their heads and
declare that General Washington was a commander who would cause the
British a great deal of trouble. And after events proved that they
were right in their prophecies.
General Putnam must have told General Washington about Dick Dare
having carried a message practically through the lines of the British,
to General Stirling, during the battle of Long Island, for the
commander-in-chief, happening to see Dick the day after the army took
up quarters in New York, spoke to him about the matter, and
complimented him on having successfully delivered the message, thus
probably saving Stirling's force from capture.
To say that Dick was well pleased at receiving words of praise from
the lips of the commander-in-chief is stating it mildly. And when he
told Tom and Ben what General Washington had said, they were well
pleased also, and declared that the commander-in-chief should have
cause to be satisfied with all three of them many times before the end
of the war, and, as friends will find, if they read the succeeding
volume of the Dare Boys Series, which will be entitled, "The Dare Boys
on The Hudson," the brothers kept their word, and performed many, many
wonderful deeds of daring while fighting for Liberty.
The British commander-in-chief now put in a week trying to get the
patriot commander-in-chief to agree to peace, he stating that the king
would make certain concessions, but as in accordance with the
Declaration of Independence this was not to be thought of for a
moment, the interviews came to naught, and so the British
commander-in-chief began making preparations to continue the war. His
next move, undoubtedly would be to capture New York City, and General
Washington knew this would be an easy matter, so he made preparations
to retreat to Harlem Heights, on the banks of the Hudson at the north
end of Manhattan Island, where he would occupy a strategic position.
On the fifteenth of September the British made the move that was
expected. Warships from Admiral Howe's fleet ascended the Hudson river
as far as Bloomingdale, and the East River as far as Blackwell's
Island, and while they bombarded the north end of the island, General
Howe brought his army across from Brooklyn in boats, and landed at
Kipp's Bay, near what is now the foot of 34th Street.
General Washington came down from the Heights with two brigades of
patriot soldiers, with the purpose of holding the British in check
long enough for General Putnam to evacuate the lower part of the city
with the four thousand soldiers under him at that point. This was
accomplished, and when Putnam and his men were safe on the Heights,
the two brigades retired to the Heights also. The British then took
possession of New York City, and so the two armies lay, the
Continental on the Heights and the British in the city, confronting
each other, on Manhattan Island.
It was an interesting situation, and especially so to Dick and Tom
Dare and Ben Foster, who were now just beginning to feel that they
were soldiers in the patriot army.
One evening, a few days after the British took possession of New York
and the patriots took up their station on Harlem Heights, the
commander-in-chief of the patriot army made the soldiers a stirring
speech, as they were assembled at the center of the encampment, saying
that he expected each and every soldier to do his full duty, and
support the cause of Liberty with his life if need be. The speech made
a great impression on Dick, Tom and Ben, and when they went to their
quarters, they were enthusiastic about it.
"I'll tell you what, boys," said Tom Dare, "it was wonderful, the way
General Washington talked, wasn't it?"
"Yes, Tom," agreed Dick, "and we'll come up to his expectations, too,
or know the reason why."
And in enthusiastic unison Tom and Ben exclaimed:
"Yes, yes! That we will, Dick!"
And when the time came, they kept their word.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Dare Boys of 1776, by Stephen Angus Cox