PUTNAM’S MILITARY PROJECTS—CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE AT FORT WASHINGTON—MEDITATED
ATTACK ON STATEN ISLAND—ARRIVAL OF SHIPS—HESSIAN REINFORCEMENTS—SCOTCH
HIGHLANDERS—SIR HENRY CLINTON AND LORD CORNWALLIS—PUTNAM’S OBSTRUCTIONS
OF THE HUDSON—THE PHŒNIX AND ROSE ATTACKED BY ROW GALLIES AT
TARRYTOWN—GENERAL ORDER OF WASHINGTON ON THE SUBJECT OF SECTIONAL
JEALOUSIES—PROFANE SWEARING PROHIBITED IN THE CAMP—PREPARATIONS AGAINST
ATTACK—LEVIES OF YEOMANRY—GEORGE CLINTON IN COMMAND OF THE LEVIES ALONG
THE HUDSON—ALARMS OF THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK—BENEVOLENT SYMPATHY OF
WASHINGTON—THE PHŒNIX GRAPPLED BY A FIRE-SHIP—THE SHIPS EVACUATE THE
HUDSON.
General Putnam, beside his bravery in the field, was somewhat of a
mechanical projector. The batteries at Fort Washington had proved
ineffectual in opposing the passage of hostile ships up the Hudson. He
was now engaged on a plan for obstructing the channel opposite the fort,
so as to prevent the passing of any more ships. A letter from him to
General Gates (July 26th) explains his project. “We are preparing
chevaux-de-frise, at which we make great despatch by the help of ships,
which are to be sunk—a scheme of mine which you may be assured is very
simple; a plan of which I send you. The two ships’ sterns lie towards
each other, about seventy feet apart. Three large logs, which reach from
ship to ship, are fastened to them. The two ships and logs stop the
river two hundred and eighty feet. The ships are to be sunk, and when
hauled down on one side, the pricks will be raised to a proper height,
and they must inevitably stop the river, if the enemy will let us sink
them.”
It so happened that one Ephraim Anderson, adjutant to the second Jersey
battalion, had recently submitted a project to Congress for destroying
the enemy’s fleet in the harbor of New York. He had attempted an
enterprise of the kind against the British ships in the harbor of Quebec
during the siege, and, according to his own account, would have
succeeded, had not the enemy discovered his intentions, and stretched a
cable across the mouth of the harbor, and had he not accidentally been
much burnt.
His scheme was favorably entertained by Congress, and Washington, by a
letter dated July 10th, was instructed to aid him in carrying it into
effect. Anderson, accordingly, was soon at work at New York constructing
fire-ships, with which the fleet was to be attacked. Simultaneous with
the attack, a descent was to be made on the British camp on Staten
Island, from the nearest point of the Jersey shore, by troops from
Mercer’s flying camp, and by others stationed at Bergen under Major
Knowlton, Putnam’s favorite officer for daring enterprises.
Putman entered into the scheme as zealously as if it had been his own.
Indeed, by the tenor of his letter to Gates, already quoted, he seemed
almost to consider it so. “The enemy’s fleet,” writes he, “now lies in
the bay, close under Staten Island. Their troops possess no land here
but the island. Is it not strange that those invincible troops, who were
to lay waste all this country with their fleets and army, are so fond of
islands and peninsulas, and dare not put their feet on the main? But I
hope, by the blessing of God, and good friends, we shall pay them a
visit on their island. For that end we are preparing fourteen fire-ships
to go into their fleet, some of which are ready charged and fitted to
sail, and I hope soon to have them all fixed.”
Anderson, also, on the 31st July, writes from New York to the President
of Congress: “I have been for some time past very assiduous in the
preparation of fire-ships. Two are already complete, and hauled off into
the stream; two more will be off to-morrow, and the residue in a very
short time. In my next, I hope to give you a particular account of a
general conflagration, as every thing in my power shall be exerted for
the demolition of the enemy’s fleet. I expect to take an active part,
and be an instrument for that purpose. I am determined (God willing) to
make a conspicuous figure among them, by being a ’burning and shining
light,’ and thereby serve my country, and have the honor of meeting the
approbation of Congress.”[90]
Projectors are subject to disappointments. It was impossible to
construct a sufficient number of fire-ships and galleys in time. The
flying camp, too, recruited but slowly, and scarcely exceeded three
thousand men; the combined attack by fire and sword had therefore to be
given up, and the “burning and shining light” again failed of
conflagration.
Still, a partial night attack on the Staten Island encampment was
concerted by Mercer and Knowlton, and twice attempted. On one occasion,
they were prevented from crossing the strait by tempestuous weather, on
another by deficiency of boats.
In the course of a few days arrived a hundred sail, with large
reinforcements, among which were one thousand Hessians, and as many more
were reported to be on the way. The troops were disembarked on Staten
Island, and fortifications thrown up on some of the most commanding
hills.
All projects of attack upon the enemy were now out of the question.
Indeed, some of Washington’s ablest advisers questioned the policy of
remaining in New York, where they might be entrapped as the British had
been in Boston. Reed, the adjutant-general, observed that, as the
communication by the Hudson was interrupted, there was nothing now to
keep them at New York but a mere point of honor; in the mean time, they
endangered the loss of the army and its military stores. Why should they
risk so much in defending a city, while the greater part of its
inhabitants were plotting their destruction? His advice was, that, when
they could defend the city no longer, they should evacuate, and burn it,
and retire from Manhattan Island; should avoid any general action, or
indeed any action, unless in view of great advantages; and should make
it a war of posts.
During the latter part of July, and the early part of August, ships of
war with their tenders continued to arrive, and Scotch Highlanders,
Hessians, and other troops to be landed on Staten Island. At the
beginning of August, the squadron with Sir Henry Clinton, recently
repulsed at Charleston, anchored in the bay. “His coming,” writes
Colonel Reed, “was as unexpected as if he had dropped from the clouds.”
He was accompanied by Lord Cornwallis, and brought three thousand
troops.
In the mean time, Putnam’s contrivances for obstructing the channel had
reached their destined place. A letter dated Fort Washington, August 3d,
says: “Four ships chained and boomed, with a number of amazing large
chevaux-de-frise, were sunk close by the fort under command of General
Mifflin, which fort mounts thirty-two pieces of heavy cannon. We are
thoroughly sanguine that they [the ships up the river] never will be
able to join the British fleet, nor assistance from the fleet be
afforded to them; so that we may set them down as our own.”
Another letter, written at the same date from Tarrytown, on the borders
of the Tappan Sea, gives an account of an attack made by six row galleys
upon the Phœnix and the Rose. They fought bravely for two hours, hulling
the ships repeatedly, but sustaining great damage in return; until their
commodore, Colonel Tupper, gave the signal to draw off. “Never,” says
the writer, “did men behave with more firm, determined spirit, than our
little crews. One of our tars being mortally wounded, cried to his
companions: ’I am a dying man; revenge my blood, my boys, and carry me
alongside my gun, that I may die there.’ We were so preserved by a
gracious Providence, that in all our galleys we had but two men killed
and fourteen wounded, two of which are thought dangerous. We hope to
have another touch at those pirates before they leave our river; which
God prosper!”
Such was the belligerent spirit prevailing up the Hudson.
The force of the enemy collected in the neighborhood of New York was
about thirty thousand men; that of the Americans a little more than
seventeen thousand, but was subsequently increased to twenty thousand,
for the most part, raw and undisciplined. One fourth were on the sick
list with bilious and putrid fevers and dysentery; others were absent on
furlough or command; the rest had to be distributed over posts and
stations fifteen miles apart.
The sectional jealousies prevalent among them, were more and more a
subject of uneasiness to Washington. In one of his general orders he
observes: “It is with great concern that the general understands that
jealousies have arisen among the troops from the different provinces,
and reflections are frequently thrown out which can only tend to
irritate each other, and injure the noble cause in which we are engaged,
and which we ought to support with one hand and one heart. The general
most earnestly entreats the officers and soldiers to consider the
consequences; that they can no way assist our enemies more effectually
than by making divisions among ourselves; that the honor and success of
the army, and the safety of our bleeding country, depend upon harmony
and good agreement with each other; that the provinces are all united to
oppose the common enemy, and all distinctions sunk in the name of an
American. To make this name honorable, and to preserve the liberty of
our country, ought to be our only emulation; and he will be the best
soldier and the best patriot, who contributes most to this glorious
work, whatever be his station, or from whatever part of the continent he
may come. Let all distinction of nations, countries and provinces,
therefore, be lost in the generous contest, who shall behave with the
most courage against the enemy, and the most kindness and good humor to
each other. If there be any officers or soldiers so lost to virtue and a
love of their country, as to continue in such practices after this
order, the general assures them, and is authorized by Congress to
declare to the whole army, that such persons shall be severely punished,
and dismissed from the service with disgrace.”
The urgency of such a general order is apparent in that early period of
our confederation, when its various parts had not as yet been
sufficiently welded together to acquire a thorough feeling of
nationality; yet what an enduring lesson does it furnish for every stage
of our Union!
We subjoin another of the general orders issued in this time of gloom
and anxiety:
“That the troops may have an opportunity of attending public worship, as
well as to take some rest after the great fatigue they have gone
through, the general, in future, excuses them from fatigue duty on
Sundays, except at the ship yards, or on special occasions, until
further orders. The general is sorry to be informed, that the foolish
and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing, a vice heretofore
little known in an American army, is growing into fashion. He hopes the
officers will, by example as well as influence, endeavor to check it,
and that both they and the men will reflect, that we can have little
hope of the blessing of Heaven on our arms, if we insult it by our
impiety and folly. Added to this, it is a vice so mean and low, without
any temptation, that every man of sense and character detests and
despises it.”[91]
While Washington thus endeavored to elevate the minds of his soldiery to
the sanctity of the cause in which they were engaged, he kept the most
watchful eye upon the movements of the enemy. Beside their great
superiority in point of numbers as well as discipline, to his own crude
and scanty legions, they possessed a vast advantage in their fleet.
“They would not be half the enemy they are,” observed Colonel Reed, “if
they were once separated from their ships.” Every arrival and departure
of these, therefore, was a subject of speculation and conjecture. Aaron
Burr, at that time in New York, aide-de-camp to General Putnam, speaks
in a letter to an uncle, of thirty transports, which, under convoy of
three frigates, had put to sea on the 7th of August, with the intention
of sailing round Long Island and coming through the Sound, and thus
investing the city by the North and East Rivers. “They are then to land
on both sides of the island,” writes he, “join their forces, and draw a
line across, which will hem us in, and totally cut off all
communication; after which, they will have their own fun.” He adds:
“They hold us in the utmost contempt. Talk of forcing all our lines
without firing a gun. The bayonet is their pride. They have forgot
Bunker’s Hill.”[92]
In this emergency, Washington wrote to General Mercer for 2,000 men from
the flying camp. Colonel Smallwood’s battalion was immediately
furnished, as a part of them. The Convention of the State ordered out
hasty levies of country militia, to form temporary camps on the shore of
the Sound, and on that of the Hudson above King’s Bridge, to annoy the
enemy, should they attempt to land from their ships on either of these
waters. Others were sent to reinforce the posts on Long Island. As Kings
County on Long Island was noted for being a stronghold of the
disaffected, the Convention ordered that, should any of the militia of
that county refuse to serve, they should be disarmed and secured, and
their possessions laid waste.
Many of the yeomen of the country, thus hastily summoned from the
plough, were destitute of arms, in lieu of which they were ordered to
bring with them a shovel, spade, or pickaxe, or a scythe straightened
and fastened to a pole. This rustic array may have provoked the
thoughtless sneers of city scoffers, such as those cited by Graydon; but
it was in truth one of the glorious features of the Revolution, to be
thus aided in its emergencies by “hasty levies of husbandmen.”[93]
By the authority of the New York Convention, Washington had appointed
General George Clinton to the command of the levies on both sides of the
Hudson. He now ordered him to hasten down with them to the fort just
erected on the north side of King’s Bridge; leaving two hundred men
under the command of a brave and alert officer to throw up works at the
pass of Anthony’s Nose, where the main road to Albany crosses that
mountain. Troops of horse also were to be posted by him along the river
to watch the motions of the enemy.
Washington now made the last solemn preparations for the impending
conflict. All suspected persons, whose presence might promote the plans
of the enemy, were removed to a distance. All papers respecting affairs
of State were put up in a large case, to be delivered to Congress. As to
his domestic arrangements, Mrs. Washington had some time previously gone
to Philadelphia, with the intention of returning to Virginia, as there
was no prospect of her being with him any part of the summer, which
threatened to be one of turmoil and danger. The other ladies, wives of
general officers, who used to grace and enliven head-quarters, had all
been sent out of the way of the storm which was lowering over this
devoted city.
Accounts of deserters, and other intelligence, informed Washington, on
the 17th, that a great many of the enemy’s troops had gone on board of
the transports; that three days’ provisions had been cooked, and other
steps taken indicating an intention of leaving Staten Island. Putnam,
also, came up from below with word that at least one fourth of the fleet
had sailed. There were many conjectures at head-quarters as to whither
they were bound, or whether they had not merely shifted their station.
Every thing indicated, however, that affairs were tending to a crisis.
The “hysterical alarms” of the peaceful inhabitants of New York, which
had provoked the soldierlike impatience and satirical sneers of Lee,
inspired different sentiments in the benevolent heart of Washington, and
produced the following letter to the New York Convention:
“When I consider that the city of New York will, in all human
probability, very soon be the scene of a bloody conflict, I cannot but
view the great numbers of women, children, and infirm persons remaining
in it, with the most melancholy concern. When the men-of-war (the Phœnix
and Rose) passed up the river, the shrieks and cries of these poor
creatures, running every way with their children, were truly
distressing, and I fear they will have an unhappy effect upon the ears
and minds of our young and inexperienced soldiery. Can no method be
devised for their removal?”
How vividly does this call to mind the compassionate sensibility of his
younger days, when commanding at Winchester, in Virginia, in time of
public peril; and melted to “deadly sorrow” by the “supplicating tears
of the women, and moving petitions of the men.” As then, he listened to
the prompt suggestions of his own heart; and, without awaiting the
action of the Convention, issued a proclamation, advising the
inhabitants to remove, and requiring the officers and soldiery to aid
the helpless and the indigent. The Convention soon responded to his
appeal, and appointed a committee to effect these purposes in the most
humane and expeditious manner.
A gallant little exploit at this juncture, gave a fillip to the spirits
of the community. Two of the fire-ships recently constructed, went up
the Hudson to attempt the destruction of the ships which had so long
been domineering over its waters. One succeeded in grappling the Phœnix,
and would soon have set her in flames, but in the darkness got to
leeward, and was cast loose without effecting any damage. The other, in
making for the Rose, fell foul of one of the tenders, grappled and burnt
her. The enterprise was conducted with spirit, and though it failed of
its main object, had an important effect. The commanders of the ships
determined to abandon those waters, where their boats were fired upon by
the very yeomanry whenever they attempted to land; and where their ships
were in danger from midnight incendiaries, while riding at anchor.
Taking advantage of a brisk wind, and favoring tide, they made all sail
early on the morning of the 18th of August, and stood down the river,
keeping close under the eastern shore, where they supposed the guns from
Mount Washington could not be brought to bear upon them. Notwithstanding
this precaution, the Phœnix was thrice hulled by shots from the fort,
and one of the tenders once. The Rose, also, was hulled once by a shot
from Burdett’s Ferry. The men on board were kept close, to avoid being
picked off by a party of riflemen posted on the river bank. The ships
fired grape-shot as they passed, but without effecting any injury.
Unfortunately, a passage had been left open in the obstructions on which
General Putnam had calculated so sanguinely; it was to have been closed
in the course of a day or two. Through this they made their way, guided
by a deserter; which alone, in Putnam’s opinion, saved them from being
checked in their career, and utterly destroyed by the batteries.