I left Poughkeepsie at ten in the evenin_The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Vol. 1 (of 2) or, Illustrations, by Pen And Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence

ninety-three miles north of New York, a little past midnight. The

landing is upon a rocky island separated from the main land by a morass,

crossed by a causeway. It is nearly three miles from the village, which

lies upon an elevated plain several miles in extent, and is surrounded

by high hills on all sides except toward the Hudson. On the northwest

the Catskill range rises grand and beautiful, and far enough distant to

present an azure hue. I think I never saw a more imposing display of

distant mountain scenery than is presented at Kingston, toward sunset,

when the higher peaks and bold projections cast their long shadows over

the agricultural districts below, reflecting, at the same time, from

their southwestern declivities, the mellow light of departing day.

Kingston was settled by the Dutch as early as 1663, as appears from an

account of troubles between the white settlers and the Indians there,

and was called Wiltwyck--literally _Wild Witch_, or Indian Witch. The

Dutch built a redoubt upon the bank of the creek, near the ancient

landing-place. The creek was called Redoubt Kill, or Creek, and is now

known by the corrupted name of Rondout Creek. *** The Esopus Indians

then occupied the beautiful

* Since my visit the quiet and beauty of the place have been invaded by

the Hudson River Rail-road, which passes within a few feet of the

mansion, and in whose construction the beautiful cove has been

destroyed, and some of the venerable willows, planted by the first

owner, have been uprooted. In our country the beautiful has but a

feather's weight in the scale against the useful.

** Colonel Livingston died June 9th, 1849. Although living in the

retirement of a gentleman of wealth and leisure, he often consented to

serve the public in offices requiring judgment, industry, and integrity,

he was a member of the state Senate one term; and it is a remarkable

fact that he was never absent a day from his post in the Senate Chamber

or in the hall of the Court of Errors. He will long be remembered in

Poughkeepsie as one of its best citizens.

*** Benson's Memoirs, in the Collections of the New York Historical

Society vol. i., part ii.. p. 119

Early Settlement at Kingston.--Indian Troubles.--The Huguenots.--

Formation of the State Constitution.

386flats extending from the creek northward nearly to the present town

of Saugerties, and, becoming dissatisfied with their white neighbors,

resolved to destroy them. For this purpose they fell upon the settlement

while the men were abroad in the fields, and killed or carried off

sixty-five persons. The survivors retreated to the redoubt, and the

Indians began to erect a stockade near it. A message was sent to Nieu

Amsterdam (New York), and Governor Stuyvesant immediately forwarded a

body of troops, under Martin Crygier, who drove the Indians back to the

mountains. During the summer, parties of the Dutch made inroads among

the hill fastnesses, destroyed the Indian villages and forts, laid waste

and burned their fields and stores of maize, killed many of their

warriors, released twenty-two of the Dutch 1663-64 captives, and

captured eleven of the enemy. This chastisement caused a truce in

December, and a treaty of peace in May following.

The Dutch settlement at Kingston received a valuable accession, toward

the close of the century, by the arrival of a company of Huguenots, *

who, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, fled from persecution

to America. They were a fragment of the resolute Christian band of eight

hundred thousand who escaped from France into Holland, Germany,

Switzerland, and England. They settled in the fertile valleys of Ulster

and Orange, but that repose which they coveted was a long time denied

them, for the Indians, jealous of the encroachments of the pale faces,

harassed them continually. The school of suffering in which they had

been tutored before leaving Europe had given them patience and

perseverance, and they succeeded in planting the Gospel of Peace in the

midst of the heathen, and gave many hardy sons to do battle in the

council and the field for American independence.

Kingston and the neighboring region suffered much from the Indians and

Tories during the Revolution, for this was emphatically a Whig district;

and when Kingston became so presumptuous as to harbor rebel legislators,

it was marked for severe chastisement by the enemy.

In 1776, after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the

General Assembly of New York changed its title from the "Provincial

Congress of the colony" to the "Convention of the Representatives of the

state of New York." The Assembly was to meet in the city of New York on

the 8th of July, the special object of the session being the forming of

a state Constitution. But before that day arrived, the fleet of Admiral

Howe, with a British army, appeared near Sandy Hook, and the new

Congress assembled at White Plains, in West Chester county, twenty-five

miles from the city. At the moment of meeting it received intelligence

of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and its first act

was to approve that measure by a unanimous vote. On the 1st of August a

committee was appointed to draw up and report a Constitution. ** John

Jay was the chairman of the committee, and the duty of drafting the

instrument was assigned to him.

During the autumn the labors of the Convention were greatly disturbed by

military events. The enemy had taken possession of New York city and

island; had spread over the lower

* These people occupy a conspicuous place in the history of the

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and, as will be observed hereafter,

formed an essential element in the machinery of our Revolution,

particularly in the Carolinas. On the 26th of August, 1572, the festival

of St. Bartholomew, seventy thousand Protestants were butchered in

France by royal and papal authority. Terrible persecutions continued

until 1598, when Henry IV. issued an edict, called the Edict of Nantes,

granting toleration to his Protestant subjects. For nearly a century

this edict was in force, but in 1685 Louis XIV. revoked it, and

persecutions began anew. This cruel and injudicious policy lost France

eight hundred thousand of her best subjects, who were Protestants, fifty

thousand of whom made their way to England, where they introduced silk

weaving, the manufacture of jewelry, and other elegant employments then

monopolized by France. Of those who settled in Ulster county the names

of twelve are preserved, whose descendants are numerous, and among the

most respectable citizens of that and Orange eounty. The following are

the names: Lewis Dubois, Andre Lefevre, Louis Bevier, Hugues Frere

[Frear], Christian Deyo, Jean Hasbrouck, Anthony Crispell, Isaac Dubois,

Abraham Hasbrouck, Pierre Deyo, Abraham Dubois, Lyman Lefevre.

** The following are the names of the gentlemen who composed that

committee: John Jay, John Sloss Hobart, William Smith, William Duer,

Gouverneur Morris, Robert R. Livingston, John Broome, John Morris Scott,

Abraham Yates, Jr., Henry Wisner, Sen., Samuel Townsend, Charles De

Witt, and Robert Yates. James Duane was subsequently placed on the

committee, and, Mr. Jay being absent when the draft of the Constitution

was reported, it was submitted to the Assembly by him.--Journal of the

Convention, p. 552 and 833.

Completion and Adoption of the Constitution.--Its Character.--Subsequent

Constitutions.--Effects of a Mixture of Races.

1777. 387part of West Chester county, and expelled the American troops,

and Washington and his army had fled before them to the Delaware. The

Convention migrated from place to place, and held brief sessions at

Harlaem, White Plains, and Fishkill in Dutchess county. At the latter

place the members armed themselves for defense against the British or

Tories who should assail them. * Finally they retreated to Kingston,

where they continued in session from February, 1777, until May of that

year. There, undisturbed, the committee pursued its labors, and on the

12th of March reported the draft of a Constitution.

It was under consideration more than a month, and was finally adopted on

the 20th of April.

It is a document of great merit, and exhibits a clear apprehension of

the just functions of government, which distinguished the mind of its

author. Its preamble sets forth explicitly the cause which demanded the

erection of a new government; and its first article declared that no

authority should be exercised in the state but such as should be derived

from, and granted by, the people.

Great wisdom was manifested in all its provisions for regulating the

civil, military, and judicial powers of the state. It was highly

approved throughout the country, and English jurists spoke of it in

terms of praise. Under it the government of the state was organized by

an ordinance of the Convention, passed in May, and, as we have noticed,

the first May 8, 1777 session of the Legislature was appointed to be

held at Kingston in July. *** This Constitution remained in force, with

a few amendments, until 1823, when a new one was formed by a state

Convention. This, in time, was submitted to the action of a Convention

to revise it, and a third was formed and became law in 1846.

In the history of these movements toward perfecting the organic law of

the state of New York is developed much of the philosophy of that

progress which marks so distinctly the career of our republic. From the

old Dutch laws, sometimes narrow and despotic, but marked by a sound and

expansive policy, to the enlightened features of the Constitution of

1846, we may trace the growth of the benevolent principles of equality,

and a correct appreciation in the public mind of human rights. "We may

see," says Butler, "in the provisions of our several Constitutions, the

effects of the intermixture of the different races: the Dutch; the

English, Scotch, and Irish; the French, Swedes, and Germans; the Anglo-

American from the eastern colonies, from whom our people have been

derived. To this cause, and to the great number and diversity of

religious sects and opinions which have flowed from it, may especially

be ascribed the absolute freedom and perfect equality in matters of

religion, and the utter separation of the Church from the State, secured

by these instruments." ****

* Lives of Gouverneur Morris and John Jay.

** This house, the property and residence of James W. Baldwin, Esq., was

used for the session of the state Convention in 1777. It is built of

blue limestone, and stands on the southwest corner of Maiden Lane and

Fair Street. It is one of the few houses that survived the conflagration

of the village.

*** Popular elections for members of the Legislature were held in all

the counties except New York, Kings, Queens, and Suffolk, which were

then in possession of the enemy. George Clinton, then a brigadier

general in the Continental army, was elected to the offices of governor

and lieutenant governor. The former office he held by successive

elections for eighteen years, and afterward for three years. Pierre Van

Courtlandi, who was president of the Senate, became lieutenant governor;

Robert R. Livingston was appointed chancellor; John Jay, chief justice;

Robert Yates and John Sloss Hobart, judges of the Supreme Court; and

Egbert Benson, attorney general.--Journals of the Convention, p. 916--

918.

**** Outline of the Constitutional History of New York, a discourse

delivered at the annual meeting of the New York Historical Society, in

1317, by Benjamin F. Butler, late attorney general of the United States.

Marauding Expedition up the Hudson.--Landing at Kingston.--Burning of

the Town.--Rhinebeck Flats.

October 6, 1777. Kingston388 (or Esopus), being the capital of the state

when Sir Henry Clinton gained possession of the forts in the Hudson

Highlands, was marked by the conqueror for special vengeance. Having

demolished the _chevaux-de-frise_ at Fort Montgomery, the British fleet

proceeded up the Hudson; the massive iron chain was not yet stretched

across the river at West Point. * All impediments being removed, a

flying squadron of light frigates, under Sir James Wallace, bearing

three thousand six hundred men, under the command of General Vaughan,

sailed up the river.

They were instructed to scatter desolation in their track, and well did

they perform their mission. Every vessel upon the river was burned or

otherwise destroyed; the houses of known Whigs, such as Henry

Livingston, at Poughkeepsie, were fired upon from the ships; and small

parties, landing from the vessels, desolated neighborhoods with fire and

sword. They penetrated as far northward as Kingston, where they landed

on the 13th of October. The frigates were anchored a little above the

present landing on Kingston Point, and a portion of the invaders

debarked in the cove north of the steam-boat wharf. Another division, in

small boats, proceeded to the mouth of Esopus (now Rondout) Creek, and

landed at a place a little northeast of Ron-dout village, called

Ponkhocken Point. The people at the creek fled, affrighted, to Marble-

town, seven miles southwest of Kingston, and their houses were

destroyed. The two divisions then marched toward the village, one by the

upper road and the other by the Esopus Creek Road. Near the house of a

Mr. Yeoman, who was in the army at Stillwater, they seized a negro, and

made him pilot them directly to the town. The detachments joined upon a

gentle eminence near the village, a few rods south of the Rondout Road,

and, after a brief consultation, proceeded to apply the torch. Almost

every house was laid in ashes, and a large quantity of provisions and

stores situated there and at the landing was destroyed. The town then

contained between three and four thousand inhabitants, many of whom were

wealthy, and most of the houses were built of stone. *** Warned of the

approach of the enemy, a few saved their most valuable effects, but many

lost all their possessions, and were driven back upon the interior

settlements upon the Wallkill. Governor Clinton, with the members of the

Legislature, was there, and efforts were made to raise a sufficient

number of militia for the protection of the town, but without success.

The enemy, however, fearing their wanton cruelty would bring the people

in mass upon them, hastily retreated after destroying the village. A

detachment crossed the river and marched to Rhinebeck Flats, **** two

miles eastward, where they burned several houses; and, after penetrating

northward as far as Livingston's Manor, and burning some houses there,

they rejoined the main body, and the fleet returned to New York.

This wanton and apparently useless expedition excited great indignation.

It was supposed that the destination of the enemy was, according to

arrangement, Albany, and a junction with Burgoyne, then hemmed in by

Americans at Saratoga, and anxiously awaiting the

* A detail of this event, and a drawing of the remains of the chain now

at West Point, may be found on page 700 of this volume.

** This view is from the road, looking north. An attempt was made by a

soldier to burn the house, but so rapid was the march of the invaders

that the flames had made but little progress before the troops were far

on their road to the village. A negro woman, who was concealed under

some corn-stalks near, extinguished the flames. The house is about half

a mile from the river, on the right side of the road from the landing to

Kingston village.

*** Governor Clinton, writing to Captain Maehin on the subject of

erecting works for the defense of Kingston, says, "I do not conceive it

necessary to inclose the town, as the houses are stone, and will form

(if the windows are properly secured) good lines of defense."

**** Rhinebeck Flats village is in Dutchess county, about seventeen

miles north of Poughkeepsie. It was eminently a Whig place during the

Revolution. There was the residence of the widow of General Montgomery,

who had been killed at Quebec two years before, and of many of her

numerous relatives, the Livingstons, all of whom were friends of the

patriot cause.

Livingston's Manor.--An Advantage thrown away.--Gates's Letter.--

Loyalists.--Rondout.

389promised aid from Clinton. When Vaughan and his troops were at

Livingston's Mills (which they destroyed), a flood tide would have

carried them to Albany in five hours; and so completely had the army of

Gates drained the country, in that vicinity, of men, that they might

easily have burned the stores at Albany, and taken possession of that

city. Gates afterward declared that, had such an event occurred, he must

have retreated into New England, and Burgoyne would have escaped. But,

instead of becoming honorable victors, Vaughan and his party appeared

content to fulfill the office and earn the renown of successful

marauders. They may have thought that their operations would divert

Gates's attention, and cause him to detach troops for the defense of the

country below, and thus so weaken his force as to enable Burgoyne to

conquer or escape. But this effect was not produced, and the expedition

was fruitless of good to the cause of the king. Gates at that very time

was making the most honorable propositions to Burgoyne for a surrender,

and, when he heard of Vaughan's operations, he wrote that officer a

letter replete with just severity. *

Kingston was the scene of the execution of several Loyalists during the

Revolution, and there Sir Henry Clinton's spy, who was caught at New

Windsor, with a dispatch for Burgoyne in a silver bullet (of which I

shall hereafter write), was hung upon the limb October 12, 1777 of an

apple-tree. Several Tories saved their lives by consenting to enlist in

the Continental army.

The depredations of the Indians and Tories in the Warwasing and

Mamakating Valleys, and other portions of Ulster county, from 1778 till

near the close of the war, will be noticed hereafter, in connection with

the Minisink massacre. Let us now make a flying visit to the

Revolutionary localities in the vicinity of Kingston, and then pass on

to the battle-ground of Bennington.

With the exception of the "Constitution House" (depicted on page 387)

and two or three other stone buildings, and the venerable tomb-stones in

the old Dutch burying-ground, Kingston presents little attraction to the

seeker of Revolutionary relics. ** Its hills, and rich plains, and

distant mountain scenery are still there, but greatly modified by

cultivation. I passed the morning in the village, with General Smith,

and at about noon proceeded to Rondout. This thriving little village is

nestled in a secluded nook near the mouth of the Rondout Creek, which

here comes flowing through a deep and narrow gorge among the hills, and

mingles its waters with the Hudson. Mr. Gossman, the editor of the

_Courier_, kindly offered to accompany me to points of interest

connected with the Revolution, and I passed the remainder of the day in

a pleasant ramble with him. Crossing the creek in a skiff to its

southwestern

* He concluded his letter by saying, "Is it thus that the generals of

the king expect to make converts to the royal cause? Their cruelties

operate as a contrary effect: independence is founded upon the universal

disgust of the people. The fortune of war has delivered into my hands

older and abler generals than General Vaughan is reputed to be: their

condition may one day become his, and then no human power can save him

from the just vengeance of an offended people." The friends of the king

were also displeased at the movement. One of the leading loyalists of

New York, writing to Joseph Galloway, said, "Why a delay was made of

seven days after Clinton had taken the forts, we are ignorant of. The

Highland forts were taken on the 6th of October; Esopus was burned on

the 13th; Burgoyne's convention was signed on the 17th. There was no

force to oppose even open boats on the river. Why, then, did not the

boats proceed immediately to Albany? Had Clinton gone forward,

Burgoyne's army had been saved. Putnam could not have crossed to Albany.

The army amused themselves by burning Esopus, and the houses of

individuals on the river bank." Clinton and the brothers Howe seem to

have been perfect malaprops, striking at the wrong time, and withholding

a blow when most appropriate and promising the best success.

** In the old grave-yard rest the remains of some of the Huguenots and

of many of their descendants; and there repose the bodies of not a few

who suffered during the war for independence. Some of the earlier grave-

stones are rude monuments. One of them, at the head of the grave of

Andries De Witt, is delineated in the engraving.

The inscription is rudely carved. The tall and slender slate stone is

supported by a cedar post, which was probably set up when the stone was

erected, yet it is perfectly preserved, and retains its odor. I saw it

there fifteen years ago, and then "the oldest inhabitant" remembered it

from his boyhood. The meaning of IVLY may need to be explained to young

readers. I was used for J and V for U in former times, and the letters,

therefore, make the word JULY.

An Octogenarian.--Landing-places of the British.--A frightened

Dutchman.--Departure for the North

390side, we called upon the venerable John Sleight, now eighty years

old, who lives in the dwelling of his father, on the slope of a high

hill near the water. He had a clear recollection of the landing of the

British, and directed us to the different localities at the mouth of the

creek. He said there were only three houses where Rondout now is, and

they were burned. The occupants fled to Marbletown, and the few soldiers

stationed at the redoubt on the hill, a little northeast of the village,

with a single cannon, followed the flying inhabitants. The enemy did not

cross the creek, and the house of Mr. Sleight was spared.

From the high hills a quarter of a mile from Mr. Sleight's we had a fine

view of the landing-places of both divisions of the enemy, as seen in

the engraving. The water extending on the left is Ron-dout Creek, and

that on the right and beyond the long point is the Hudson River, the

spectator looking northeast. The high point on the left is the place

where the redoubt was thrown up. The small building beyond, standing

upon the water's edge, is upon Ponkhocken Point,1 and in the cove

between it and the redoubt is the place where the enemy landed. The long

point in the distance is the present landing, immediately above which,

in a sandy cove, the main division of the British army debarked. An

amusing anecdote was related to me, connected with that event. Between

the point and Ponkhocken are extensive flats, bare at low water, and

yielding much coarse grass. When the enemy landed, some Dutchmen were at

work just below the point, and were not aware of the fact until they saw

the dreaded red-coats near them. It was low water, and across the flats

toward Ponkhocken they fled as fast as their legs could carry them, not

presuming to look behind them, lest, like Lot's wife, they might be

detained. The summer hay-makers had left a rake on the marsh meadow, and

upon this one of the fugitives trod. The handle flew up behind him, and

gave him a severe blow on the back of his head. Not doubting that a

"Britisher" was close upon his heels, he stopped short, and, throwing up

his hands imploringly, exclaimed, "O, mein Cot! mein Cot! I kivs up.

Hoorah for King Shorge!" The innocent rake was all the enemy that was

near, and the Dutchman's sudden conversion to loyalty was known only to

a companion in the race, who had outstripped him a few paces.

Passing along the river road to the upper point, we visited the landing-

place of the British. A large portion of the cove is now filled by a

mass of earth, rocks, and trees that slid down from the high shore a few

years ago. The heaps of blue clay have the appearance of huge rocks, and

will doubtless become such in time, by induration. Returning to Ron-

dout, I rode over to Kingston at about sunset, passed the evening with

Mr. Vanderlyn ** the painter, and at midnight embarked in a steamer for

Albany.

Sept. 27, The morning was cold, and every thing without was white with

hoar frost. I was Sept. 271848 in Troy a little after sunrise, and at

eight o'clock, seated with the driver upon a mail-coach, was ascending

the long hills on the road to Hoosick, in Rensselaer county, *** about

twenty-

* The ferry to Rhinebeck was from Ponkhocken Point until 1814, when the

causeway was constructed at the upper point, and the ferry and landing

established there.

** Mr. Vanderlyn was a native of Kingston. He resided many years in

Europe, where he painted his large picture of the Landing of Columbus,

for the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington. It was completed about

three years ago (1846), and now occupies its appropriate place. He died

in 1853.

*** The original Manor of Rensselaer, or Rensselaerwyck, included all of

Rensselaer county, except Hoosick, Schaghticoke, and Pittstown, and also

the greater part of Albany county. The city of Albany is near the center

of the manor. This domain was granted to Killian Van Rensselaer by

patent from the States-Gen-eral of Holland, after he had purchased the

native right to the soil in 1641, and was twenty-four miles wide, on

both sides of the river, and about forty-two miles long east and west.

When the English came into possession of the country, the right to his

domain of the proprietor of Rensselaerwyck, who was called the patroon,*

was not questioned, and on the 4th of March, 1685, it was confirmed by

letters patent under the great seal of the state of New York.

* This title was given to those Dutch purchasers of lands who bought the

soil fairly from the natives, and planted a colony There were several

patroon estates, but that of Van Rensselaer is the only one not

disturbed by political changes. This, how ever, is now on the verge of

extinction, and, for several years past, anti-rentism, as the opposition

to the patroon privilege is called, has been working a change in the

public mind unfavorable to such vast landed monopolies.

Ride to the Hoosick Valley.--Van Schaick's Mills.--Place of the

Bennington Battle-ground.--Baume's Dispatch

391five miles east of the Hudson. The country is very elevated and

hilly, and, when three miles east of Troy, the Green Mountains were seen

in the distance. Before the Hoosick Valley is reached, the country

becomes extremely broken and picturesque. We descended by a romantic

mountain road into the valley, a little past noon, and halted at

Richmond's, at Hoosick Four Corners. This is the nearest point, on the

turnpike, to the Bennington battle-ground. The road thither skirted the

Hoosiek River northward for three miles, to the falls, * where we turned

eastward, and passed through North Hoosick, situated at the junction of

the Walloomscoick and White Creeks.

Here is still standing the old mill known as _Van Schaick's_ in the

Revolution. It was occupied by a party of Americans when Baume and his

Hessians approached; and here the memorable battle of Bennington ended.

From this mill, along the hills and the valley on the right bank of the

Walloomscoick, to the bridge near the house of Mr. Barnet, two miles

above, is the scene of the battle; and the hottest of the fight (which

occurred when the Hessians retreated from the heights) took place

between the little factory village of Starkville and the house of Mr.

Taber. These allusions will be better understood after consulting the

history.

The conflict called the battle of Bennington was a part of the

operations connected with Burgoyne's invasion from Canada, in the summer

and autumn of 1777. The delay whieh he had experienced at Skenesborough

and on his way to Fort Edward had so reduced his stores and provisions,

that a re-

* At the Hoosiek Falls is a manufacturing village containing about one

hundred dwellings. The river here falls about forty feet, and affords

very extensive water power. Near the factories I observed a handsome

octagonal edifice, on the road side, on the front of which, in prominent

letters, is the following:

"SACRED TO SCIENCE.

In sea, earth, and sky, what are untold

Of God's handiwork, both modern and old."

* It contains, I was told, a large collection of natural curiosities,

which the wealthy and tasteful proprietor takes pleasure in exhibiting

freely.

** This battle was fought within the town of Hoosiek, and five or six

miles from Bennington. At that time the boundary line between New York

and New Hampshire (Vermont, as a state, not being then in existence) was

at the Green Mountains, and Bennington was claimed to be within the

borders of New York

*** This view is taken from the left bank of the Walloomscoick, a little

below the bridge. The mill belonged to a Whig named Van Sehaick, who had

joined General Stark's collecting forces at Bennington. Lieutenant-

colonel Baume wrote the following dispatch to Burgoyne from this place:

*** "Sancoik, 14th, August, 1777, 9 o'clock.

*** "Sir--I have the honor to inform your excellency that I arrived here

at eight in the morning, having had intelligence of a party of the enemy

being in possession of a mill, which they abandoned at our approach;

out, in their usual way, fired from the bushes, and took their road to

Bennington. A savage was slightly wounded; they broke down the bridge,

which has retarded our march above an hour; they left in the mill about

seventy-eight barrels of very fine flour, one thousand bushels of wheat,

twenty barrels of salt, and about £1000 worth of pearlash and potash. I

have ordered thirty provincials and an officer to guard the provisions

and the pass of the bridge. By five prisoners taken here, they agree

that from fifteen to eighteen hundred are at Bennington, but are

supposed to leave it on our approach. I will proceed so far to-day as to

fall on the enemy early to-morrow, and make such disposition as I may

think necessary, from the intelligence I may receive. People [Tories]

are flocking in hourly, but want to be armed. The savages can not be

controlled; they ruin and take every thing they please.

*** "I am your excellency's most humble servant, F. Baume."

* See note respecting this name on page 399.

Foraging Expedition to Bennington.--Burgoyne's Instructions.--Baume's

Indian Allies.--Skirmish near Cambridge

392plenishment was necessary. Informed that the Americans had a large

quantity of these, and of cattle and horses, at Bennington and in the

vicinity, he resolved, with the advice of Major Skene, to send a

detachment of his army thither to capture them. Both Phillips and

Reidesel, the most experienced of his generals, were opposed to the

measure; but Burgoyne, actuated by an overweening confidence in his

strength, and deceived as to the extent of the Royalist party in the

colonies, * dispatched Lieutenant-colonel Baume thither with five

hundred Hessians, Canadians, and Tories, and one hundred Indians.

Burgoyne's instructions to the commander of the expedition, dated August

9th, 1777, ** declared the objects to be to try the affections of the

county, to disconcert the councils of the enemy, to mount Reidesel's

dragoons, to complete Peters's corps [of Loyalists], and to obtain large

supplies of cattle, horses, and carriages. Baume was directed "to scour

the country from Rockingham to Otter Creek," to go down Connecticut

River as far as Brattleborough, and return by the great road to Albany,

there to meet General Burgoyne, and to endeavor to make the country

believe his corps was the advanced body of the general's army, who was

to cross Connecticut River and proceed to Boston. He ordered that "all

officers, civil and military, acting under the Congress, should be made

prisoners." Baume was also instructed "to tax the towns where they

halted with such articles as they wanted, and take hostages for the

performance, &c.; to bring all horses fit to mount the dragoons or to

serve as battalion horses for the troops, with as many saddles and

bridles as could be found." Burgoyne stipulated the number of horses to

be brought at thirteen hundred at least, and more if they could be

obtained, and directed them to be "tied in strings of ten each, in order

that one man might lead ten horses." Dr. Thatcher, in his Journal, says,

"This redoubtable commander surely must be one of the happiest men of

the age, to imagine such prodigious achievements were at his command;

that such invaluable resources were within his grasp. But, alas! the

wisest of men are liable to disappointment in their sanguine

calculations, and to have their favorite projects frustrated by the

casualties of war. This is remarkably verified in the present instance."

*** August, 1777 With these full instructions, Baume left his encampment

on the 13th, and the next day arrived at the mill on the Walloomscoick.

He reached Cambridge on the evening previous, near which place an

advanced guard of Tories and Indians attacked a small party of Americans

who were guarding some cattle. The patriots, after delivering a well-

directed fire, retreated to the woods, leaving five of their number

behind, prisoners. Some horses were captured, but, according to a

dispatch from Baume to Burgoyne, the Indians who secured them destroyed

or drove away all that were not paid for in ready cash. In his whole

expedition Burgoyne found the savages more trouble than profit. Let us

leave the invader at "Sancoik's," while we take a retrospect of relative

events on the part of the Americans.

On the evacuation of Ticonderoga, and the advance of Burgoyne toward the

Hudson, the Eastern States were filled with alarm. Burgoyne's

destination was not certainly known, and when he was at Skenesborough it

was thought that Boston might be the point to which he would march. The

whole frontier of New Hampshire and Massachusetts was uncovered,

* Major Skene assured him that "the friends to the British cause were as

five to one, and that they wanted only the appearance of a protecting

power to show themselves."--Gordon, ii., 242.

** The original of these instructions is in the archives of the

Massachusetts Historical Society.

*** Military Journal, p. 92.

Measure for defending Now Hampshire.--Langdon's Patriotism.--Raising of

Troops.--General Stark

393and strenuous efforts were at once made for the defense of these

states, particularly New Hampshire, which was lying nearest the scene of

danger. The Committee of Safety of the New Hampshire Grants (now

Vermont) wrote to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety at Exeter,

apprising them of the pressing danger near, and imploring their

assistance. The Provincial Assembly had finished their session, and had

gone home, but a summons from the committee brought them together again

in three days. Despondency seemed to pervade the whole convention when

they met, until the patriotic John Langdon, * then Speaker of the

Assembly, thus addressed them: "I have three thousand dollars in hard

money. I will pledge my plate for three thousand more. I have seventy

hogsheads of Tobago rum, which shall be sold for the most it will bring.

These are at the service of the state. If we succeed in defending our

firesides and homes, I may be remunerated; if we do not, the property

will be of no value to me. Our old friend Stark, who so nobly sustained

the honor of our state at Bunker Hill, may be safely intrusted with the

conduct of the enterprise, and we will check the progress of Burgoyne."

Langdon's patriotic spirit seemed to be infused into the Assembly, for

the most energetic measures were planned and put in operation. The whole

militia of the state was formed into two brigades. The first was placed

under the command of William Whipple (one of the signers of the

Declaration of Independence), and the second, of John Stark. They

ordered one fourth part of Stark's brigade and one fourth of three

regiments of Whipple's to march immediately, under the command of the

former, to the frontiers of the state, and confront the enemy. The

militia officers were empowered to disarm the Tories. A day of fasting

and prayer was ordered and observed.

Stark was then a private citizen. He had been a brigadier with

Washington at Trenton and Princeton, and, when the army went into

winter-quarters at Morristown, returned to New Hampshire on a recruiting

expedition. Having filled his regiments, he returned to Exeter to await

orders, and there learned that several junior officers had been promoted

by Congress, while he was left out of the list. Feeling greatly

aggrieved, he resigned March 1777 his commission and left the army, not,

however, to desert his country in the hour of peril, for, like General

Schuyler, he was active for good while divested of military authority,

He was very popular, and the Assembly regarded him as a pillar of

strength in upholding the confidence and courage of the militia of the

state. That body offered him the command, and, laying aside his private

griefs, he once more donned his armor and went to the field,

stipulating, however, that he should not be obliged to join the main

army, but hang upon the wing of the enemy on the borders of his state,

strike when opportunity should offer, according to his own discretion,

and be accountable to no one but the Assembly of New Hampshire.

Joy pervaded the militia when their favorite commander was announced as

their chief, and they cheerfully flocked to his standard, which was

raised, first at Charleston and then at Manchester, twenty miles north

of Bennington, where Colonel Seth Warner, with his Green Mountain Boys

was posted. This was only the remnant of the regiment that so gallantly

opposed the enemy at Hubbardton on the 7th of July, and was then

recruiting at

* John Langdon was born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1740. He

received a mercantile education, and for several years prosecuted

business upon the sea, and, when the Revolution broke out, was a leading

merchant in Portsmouth. He espoused the republican cause, and was one of

the party which removed the powder and military stores from Fort William

and Mary, at New Castle, in 1774. He was a delegate in the Continental

Congress in 1775 and 1776. For a short time he commanded a company of

volunteers in Vermont and on Rhode Island. Pie was Speaker of the

Provincial Assembly of New Hampshire, and Judge of the Court of Common

Pleas in 1776 and 1777. He was Continental agent in New Hampshire in

1779, and was again elected a delegate to Congress in 1783. He served in

the Legislature of his state for several years, and in 1788 was chosen

President of New Hampshire. The next year he was elected a member of the

United States Senate, and in 1794 was re-elected for another term of six

years. From 1805 till 1811 he was four years governor of the state, and

then retired into private lifo. He was of Jefferson's political school,

and in 1812 the majority in Congress selected him for Vice-president of

the United Stales, but he declined the honor. He died at Portsmouth,

September 18th, 1819, aged seventy-eight years.

Stark's Refusal to accompany Lincoln. Censure of Congress. The Result.

Movements to oppose Baume. Life of Stark

August, 1777. Manchester. There394 Stark met General Lincoln, who had

been sent by General Schuyler, then in command of the Northern

Department, to conduct him and his August 19. recruits to the Hudson.

Stark positively refused to go, and exhibited the written terms upon

which he had consented to appear in the field at all.

His refusal was communicated to Congress, and that body resolved that

the Assembly of New Hampshire should be informed that the instructions

which they had given General Stark were "destructive of military

subordination, and highly prejudicial to the common cause and the

Assembly was desired "to instruct General Stark to conform himself to

the same rules which other general officers of the militia were subject

to whenever they were called out at the expense of the United States."1

This \yas sound military logic, but was not adapted to the circumstances

in question. General Stark, as well as the Assembly of New Hampshire,

knew better than Congress what policy, in the premises, was most

conducive to the general good, and the sequel proved that the apparent

insubordination, which seemed so "highly prejudicial to the common

cause," was productive of great benefits to the country. It was at this

very juncture that Burgoyne was planning his expedition to Bennington,

and on the day of the date of Baume's instructions Stark arrived at that

place.

Informed of the presence of Indians at Cambridge, twelve miles north of

Bennington, and of their attack upon the party of Americans there, (a)

he detached Lieutenant-colonela August 13 Gregg, with two hundred men,

to oppose their march. Toward night he received information that a large

body of the enemy, with a train of artillery, was in the rear of the

Indians, and in full march for Bennington. Stark immediately rallied his

brigade, with all the militia that had collected at Bennington, and sent

out an urgent call for the militia in the vicinity. He also sent an

order to the officer in command of Colonel Warner's regiment, at

Manchester, to march his men to Bennington immediately. The order was

promptly obeyed, and they arrived in the night, thoroughly drenched with

rain. On the morning of the 14th, about the time when Baume was at Van

Schaick's Mills, Stark, ** with his whole force, was moving forward to

support Colonel Gregg. He was accompanied by Colonels Warner, Williams,

and Brush. The regiment of the former was not with him; they remained at

Bennington, to dry themselves and prepare their arms for action. After

marching about five miles, they met Gregg retreating, and the enemy

within a mile

August 9.

* Journals of Congress, vol. iii., 273.

** John Stark was the son of a native of Glasgow, in Scotland, and was

born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, August 28th, 1728. His father

removed to Derryfield (now Manchester), on the Merrimac, in 1736 While

on a hunting expedition in 1752, young Stark was taken prisoner and

carried off by a party of St. Francis Indians. He was redeemed by a

Boston friend for the sum of one hundred and three dollars, to pay which

he went on another hunting expedition on the Androscoggin. He served in

Rogers's company of Rangers during the French and Indian war, and was

made a captain in 1756. Repairing to Cambridge on hearing of the battle

of Lexington, he received a colonel's commission, and on the same day

enlisted eight hundred men. He fought bravely on Bunker Hill, his

regiment forming a portion of the left of the American line, and its

only defense being a rail inclosure covered with hay. He went to Canada

in the Spring of 1776, and in the attack at Trenton commanded the van of

the right wing. He was also in the battle of Princeton In March, 1777,

he resigned his commission, and retired to his farm. He commanded the

New Hampshire militia at the battle of Bennington, in August, 1777, and

in September enlisted a new and larger force, and joined the Continental

army, under Gates, with the rank of major general. He served in Rhode

Island in 1778 and 1779, and in New Jersey in 1780. In 1781 he had the

command of the Northern Department at Saratoga. At the close of the war

he left all public employments. In 1818 Congress voted him a pension of

sixty dollars a month. He died on the 8th of May, 1822, in the ninety-

third year of his age. He was buried on a small hill near the Merrimac,

at Manchester, and over his remains is a granite obelisk, inscribed with

the words Major General Stark. A costly monument is now in

contemplation.

Preparations for Battle.--Disposition of the Enemy's Troops.--English

Plans of Battles.--Errors, and Difficulties in Correction.

395of him. Stark immediately disposed his army for battle, and Baume and

his men, halting advantageously upon high ground near a bend in the

Walloomscoick River, began to intrench themselves. Perceiving this,

Stark fell back about a mile, to wait for re-enforcements and arrange a

plan of attack. Baume, in the mean time, alarmed at the strength of the

Americans, sent an express to Burgoyne for aid.

Colonel Breyman was immediately dispatched with about five hundred men,

but he did not arrive in time to render essential service.

The 15th was rainy, and both parties employed the time in preparing for

battle. The Hessians and a corps of Rangers were strongly intrenched

upon the high ground north of the Walloomscoick, and a party of Rangers

and German grenadiers were posted at a ford (now the bridge near Mr.

Barnet's), where the road to Bennington crossed the stream. Some

Canadians, and Peters's corps of Tories, were posted on the south side

of the river, near the ford. At the foot of the declivity, on the east,

near the mouth of a small creek, some chasseurs were posted, and about a

mile distant from the main intrenchments on the height, on the south

side of the river, Peters's American volunteers, or Tories, east up a

breast-work. On the same side, upon the Bennington Road, Stark and the

main body of his army were encamped. The Walloomscoick, though called a

river, is a small stream, August, 1777.

* Note.--The map here given is a copy, reduced, of one drawn by

Lieutenant Durnford, and published in Burgoyne's "State of the

Expedition" * &c. The Walloomscoick is there erroneously called Hosack

(meaning Hoosick), that river being nearly three miles distant from the

plaee of the Hessian intrenchments. I would here remark that we are

obliged to rely almost solely upon British authorities for plans of our

Revolutionary battles. They are, in general, correct, so far as relates

to the disposition and movement of British troops, but are full of

errors respecting the movements of the Americans, and also concerning

the topography of the country, with which they were necessarily little

acquainted. It is too late now to correct many of these errors, for the

living witnesses have departed, and the hearsay evidence of a younger

generation is not sufficiently certain to justify any important

corrections in the published plans of the battles. I have, therefore,

copied such maps as seemed most trustworthy, and endeavored, by slight

alterations, and by descriptions in the text, to make them as correct as

possible, as guides to a full understanding of the military operations

of the time. In this particular, as well as in local traditions, great

caution is necessary in receiving testimony; and, where the subject has

historical importance, I have uniformly rejected traditions, unless

supported by other and concurrent authority, or the strongest

probability.

* The group upon this map, composed of a drum without a head, a musket,

sword, and grenadier's cap, is a representation of those objects thus

arranged and hanging over the door of the Massachusetts Senate Chamber

at Boston. They are trophies of the Bennington battle, and were

presented by General Stark to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The

grenadier's cap is made of a coarse fabric resembling flannel, dyed red,

and on the front is a large figured brass plate. The drum is brass; the

sword has an enormous brass guard and hilt; and the bayonet attached to

the musket is blunted and bent.

Skirmishing in the Rain.--The Hessian Encampment.--A bellicose

Clergyman.--Stark's Promise and Fulfillment

396every where fordable when the water is of ordinary depth. Lying in

the midst of high hills, its volume is often suddenly increased by

rains.

Notwithstanding the rain fell copiously on the 15th, there was some

skirmishing. The Americans, in small parties, fell upon detachments of

the enemy; and so annoying did this mode of warfare become, that the

Indians began to desert Colonel Baume, "because," as they told him, "the

woods were filled with Yankees." The Hessians continued their works upon

the hill. By night they were strongly intrenched, and had mounted two

pieces of ordnance which they brought with them.

During the night of the 15th, Colonel Symonds, with a body of Berkshire

militia, arrived. Among them was the Rev. Mr. Allen, of Pittsfield,

whose bellicose ardor was of the most glowing kind. Before daylight, and

while the rain was yet falling, the impatient shepherd, who had many of

his flock with him, went to Stark, and said, "General, the people of

Berkshire have often been summoned to the field without being allowed to

fight, and, if you do not now give them a chance, they have resolved

never to turn out again."

"Well," said Stark, "do you wish to march now, while it is dark and

raining?"

"No, not just this moment," replied the minister of peace. "Then," said

the general, "if the Lord shall once more give us sunshine, and I do not

give you fighting enough, I'll never ask you to come out again."

Sunshine did indeed come with the morrow, for at the opening of the dawn

the clouds broke away, and soon all Nature lay smiling in the warm

sunlight of a clear August morning; and "fighting enough" was also given

the parson and his men, for it was a day of fierce conflict.

August 16, 1777 Early in the morning the troops of both parties prepared

for action. Stark had arranged a plan of attack, and, after carefully

reconnoitering the enemy at the dis-

* This view is from the hill on the southwest bank of the Walloomscoick,

a little west of the road from the bridge to Starkville, looking

northeast. The road over this hill existed at the time of the battle,

and is laid down on the map, page 395. The river, which here makes a

sudden bend, is seen at two points--near the cattle, and at the bridge,

in the distance, on the right. The house on the left, near the bridge,

is Mr. Barnet's, and the road that crosses the center of the picture

from right to left is the road from Bennington to Van Schaick's or North

Hoosick. It passes along the river flat, at the foot of the hills where

the battle occurred. The highest point on the distant hills, covered

with woods, is the place where the Hessians were intrenched. From that

point, along the hills to the left, for about two miles, the conflict

was carried on; and upon the slopes, now cultivated, musket-balls and

other relics of the battle have been plowed up.

Commencement of the Battle of Bennington.--Terror and Flight of the

Indians.--Victory for the Americans.--Second Battle

397tance of a mile, proceeded to act upon it. Colonel Nichols, with two

hundred men, was detached up the little creek that empties into the

Walloomscoick above the bridge, to attack the enemy's left in the rear,

and Colonel Herrick was sent with three hundred to fall upon the rear of

their right, with orders to form a junction with Nichols before making a

general assault. Colonels Hubbard and Sticknoy were ordered to march

down the Walloomscoick with two hundred men, to the right of the enemy,

and with one hundred men in front, near Peters's intrenched corps, in

order to divert Baume's attention to that point. Thus arranged, the

action commenced at three o'clock in the afternoon, on the rear of the

enemy's left, by Colonel Nichols, who marched up from the deep-wooded

valley, and fell furiously upon the Hessian intrenchments. At the same

moment the other portions of the American army advanced to the attack.

As soon as the first volley from Nichols's detachment was heard, Stark,

who remained with the main body at his camp, sprang to his saddle and

gave the word "Forward!" They pressed onward to the hill above the Tory

intrenchments, and there the whole field 'of action was open to their

view. The heights were wreathed in the smoke of the cannon and musketry,

and along the slopes and upon the plains the enemy was forming into

battle order. * The Americans rushed down upon the Tories, drove them

across the stream, and, following after them, the whole of both armies

was soon engaged in the fight. "It lasted," says Stark, in his official

account, "two hours, and was the hottest I ever saw. It was like one

continued clap of thunder." The Tories, who were driven across the

river, were thrown in confusion on the Hessians, who were forced from

their breast-works on the heights. The Indians, alarmed at the prospect

of being surrounded, fled at the commencement of the action, between the

corps of Nichols and Herrick, with horrid yells and the jingling of cow-

bells, and the weight of the conflict finally fell upon the brave corps

of Reidesel's dragoons, led by Colonel Baume in person. They kept their

column unbroken, and, when their ammunition was exhausted, were led to

the charge with the sword. But they were finally overpowered, and gave

way, leaving their artillery and baggage on the field. The Americans,

like the dragoons, displayed the most indomitable courage. With their

brown firelocks, scarce a bayonet, little discipline, and not a single

piece of cannon, they ventured to attack five hundred well-trained

regulars, furnished with the best and most complete arms and

accouterments, having two pieces of artillery, advantageously posted,

and accompanied by one hundred Indians. The mingled incentives of a

defense of homes and promises of plunder ** made the American militia

fight with the bravery of disciplined veterans.

As soon as the field was won, the Americans dispersed to collect

plunder. This nearly proved fatal to them, for at that moment Colonel

Breyman arrived with his re-enforcements for Baume. They had approached

within two miles before Stark was apprised of their proximity. The heavy

rain on the preceding day had kept them back, and, although their march

had been accelerated on hearing the noise of the battle just ended, they

could not reach the field in time to join in the action. They met the

flying party of Baume, which made a rally, and the whole body pushed

forward toward the abandoned intrenchments on the heights. Stark

endeavored to rally his militia, but they were too much scattered to be

well arranged for battle, and the fortunes of the day were, for a

moment, in suspense. Happily the corps of Colonel Warner, which was left

at Bennington in the morning, arrived at this juncture, fresh and well

armed, and fell vigorously upon the enemy. Stark, with what men he had

been able to collect, pushed forward to his assistance. The battle

continued with obstinacy until sunset. It was a sort of running

conflict, partly on the plains and partly on the hills, from the heights

to Van Schaick's, where the enemy made his last stand, and then fled

toward the Hoosick. The Americans pursued them until dark, and Stark was

then obliged

* It was at this moment that Stark made the laconic speech to his men,

which popular tradition has preserved: "See there, men! there are the

red-coats. Before night they are ours, or Molly Stark will be a widow!"

This speech, it is said, brought forth a tremendous shout of applause

from the eager troops, which greatly alarmed the Loyalists in their

works below.

** General Stark, in his orders in the morning, promised his soldiers

all the plunder that should be taken in the enemy's camp.--Gordon, ii.,

244.

Pursuit of the Enemy.--Loss in the Battle.--Stark's Popularity.--Visit

to the Battle-ground.--Anecdotes

398to draw off his men to prevent them from firing upon each other in

the gloom of evening. Seven hundred of the enemy were made prisoners,

among whom was Colonel Baume. He was wounded, and died soon afterward.

"Another hour of daylight," said Stark, in his official report, "and I

would have captured the whole body." Besides the prisoners, four pieces

of brass cannon, two hundred and fifty dragoon swords, several hundred

stand of arms, eight brass drums, and four ammunition wagons were

secured. Two hundred and seven of the enemy were killed. The loss of the

Americans was about one hundred killed, and as many wounded. General

Stark had a horse killed under him, but was not injured, himself. The

total loss of the enemy in killed, wounded, and prisoners was nine

hundred and thirty-four, including one hundred and fifty-seven Tories. *

This victory was hailed with great joy throughout the land. It was

another evidence of the spirit and courage of the American militia when

led to the field by a good commander. ** It also crippled the strong arm

of Burgoyne, and revived the spirits of the American army at Cohoes and

Stillwater. The loud commendatory voice of the people forced Congress to

overlook the insubordination of General Stark, which seemed so "highly

prejudicial to the common cause," and on the 4th of October resolved,

"That the thanks of Congress be 1777.... presented to General Stark, of

the New Hampshire militia, and the officers and troops under his

command, for their brave and successful attack upon, and signal victory

over, the enemy in their lines at Bennington; and that Brigadier Stark

be appointed a brigadier general in the army of the United States." ***

When I visited the Bennington battle-ground, every ancient resident in

the vicinity, who had been familiar with the locality, had departed, and

I was unable to find a person who could point out the exact place of the

German intrenchments. A _vendue_, a few miles distant, had attracted the

men from home; but, through the general familiarity with the scenes of

Mr. Richmond, of Hoosick Four Corners, who accompanied me, and aided by

the map of Lieutenant Durnford, which I had with me, the points of

interest were easily recognized.

Ascending the rough hills northeast of Mr. Barnet's, we soon found, upon

the highest knoll on the crown of the timbered heights, traces of the

German intrenchments. Portions of the banks and ditches are quite

prominent, and for several rods on all sides the timber is young, the

spot having been cleared by the enemy. Descending the gentle slope

northward, we emerged into cleared fields, whence we had a fine view of

the valleys of the White Creek on the north and of the Walloomscoick

**** on the east. Here was the place where Colonel Nichols made his

first attack upon the rear of the enemy's left. The view of the

Walloomscoick Valley was one of the finest I ever beheld. From our point

of vision it stretched away to the eastward, its extremity bounded by

the lofty Green Mountains, about nine miles dis-

* Gordon, Ramsay, Thacher, Marshall, Allen, Burgoyne's Defense, Stedman,

Everett's Life of Stark.

** There are several anecdotes related in connection with this battle,

whieh exhibit the spirit of the people and the soldiers. Thacher says

that an old man had five sons in the battle. On being told that one of

them was unfortunate, he exclaimed, "What, has he misbehaved? Did he

desert his post or shrink from the charge?" "Worse than that," replied

his informant. "He was slain, but he was fighting nobly." "Then I am

satisfied," replied the old man; "bring him to me." After the battle the

body of his son was brought to him. The aged father wiped the blood from

the wound, and said, while a tear glistened in his eyes, "This is the

happiest day of my life, to know that my five sons fought nobly for

freedom, though one has fallen in the conflict." This was an exhibition

of old Spartan patriotism.

** When Warner's regiment came into the field, Stark rode up and ordered

a captain to lead his men into action. "Where's the colonel [Warner]? I

want to see him first," he coolly replied. The colonel was sent for, and

the captain, in a nasal tone, said, "Well, colonel, what d'ye want I

should do?" "Drive those red-coats from the hill yonder," replied

Warner. "Well, it shall be done," said the captain, and in an instant

himself and men were on the run for the thickest of the battle.

*** Journal of Congress, iii., 327. In passing the last clause of the

resolution, the yeas and nays were required and taken. There was but one

dissenting voice, Mr. Chase, of Maryland. The delegates from Virginia

did not vote.

**** This, is said to be a Dutch word, signifying Walloom's Patent. It

is variously spelled. On Durnford's map it is Watmscock. On Tryon's map

of the state of New York, 1779, it is Wallamschock; and others spell it-

Wallamsac, Wolmseee, and Walmsook. The orthography which I have adopted

is that which the New York records exhibit, and is doubtless correct.

View of the Wahoomscoick Valley.--Incident while Sketching.--

Insurrection in that Vicinity.--Its Suppression--

399tant, which formed a line of deeper blue than the sky, the tint

broken a little by gray cliffs and bald summits reflecting occasional

gleams of the evening sun. Through the rich intervales of the broad

basin, the winding Walloomscoick, traversed by the highway, glistened at

various points among the groves that shade its banks; and the whole

valley, dotted with farm-houses, presents one picture of peaceful

industry. On the right, seven miles distant, and nestled among the hills

near the Green Mountains, lies Bennington, the white spire of whose

church was seen above the intervening forests. From the heights we could

plainly discern a brick house in the valley, that belonged, during the

Revolution, to a Tory named Mathews. It is remarkable only for its

position, and the consequences which sometimes resulted therefrom. It

stands upon the line between New York and Vermont, and in it center the

corner points of four towns--Bennington, Shaftsbury, Hoosick, and White

Creek; also, those of the counties of Bennington, Washington, and

Rensselaer. The occupant had only to step from one room to another, to

avoid the operation of a legal process that might be issued against him

in any one of the counties or four towns.

Descending the heights, we crossed the bridge at the old ford, near

Barnet's, and went down the river, on its southern side, to Starkville.

From the hill a few rods south of the place where Peters's Tories were

intrenched (slight traces of the mounds were still visible) we had a

fine view of the whole battle-ground. I tarried long enough upon the

brow of the hill, near the river, to make the sketch on page 396. While

thus engaged, a low bellow, frequently repeated, attracted my attention,

and, seeming to approach nearer, induced me to reconnoiter. Toward the

foot of the hill a huge bull was pawing the earth, and making menacing

advances up the slope. He had mistaken my cloak, fluttering in the wind,

for a formal challenge to combat, and seemed about advancing to the

charge. Regarding an honorable retreat as a wiser measure than the risk

of a probable defeat, I gathered up my "implements of trade," and

retired to the fence, thinking all the way of the similarly-chased

negro's use of Henry Laurens's motto, "Millions for de fence." It was

sunset when we reached Van Schaiek's on our return, and I had barely

light sufficient to complete the drawing of the old mill on page 391,

for heavy clouds were gathering. The twilight was brief, and darkness

was upon us when we arrived at Hoosiek Four Corners.

There was an insurrectionary movement among the militia in this vicinity

in 1781. Situated above the north line of Massachusetts, the country was

within the claimed jurisdiction of the New Hampshire Grants. The

animosities between the state government of New York and the people of

the Grants, which the active Revolutionary operations in that quarter

had, for a time, quieted, now that those operations had ceased, were

renewed in all their former vigor. So warm became the controversy, that,

on the 1st of December, an insurrection broke out in the regiments of

Colonels John and Henry K. Van Rensselaer. The 1781 regiment of Colonel

Peter Yates also became disaffected, and, indeed, a large portion of the

militia between the Batten Kill and the Hoosiek seemed disposed to take

sides with the lawless people of the Grants, who disregarded the urgent

demands of patriotism at that juncture. These disturbances arose in

"Scaghticoke, St. Coych, * and parts adjacent." The insurgent regiments

belonged to General Gansevoort's brigade. He heard of the defection on

the 5th, and immediately directed Colonels Yates, Van Vechten, and Henry

K. Van Rensselaer, whose regiments were the least tainted, to collect

such troops as they could, and march to St. Coych, to quell the

insurrection. An express was sent to Governor Clinton, at Poughkeepsie,

who readily perceived that the movement had its origin among the people

of the Grants. With his usual promptness, he ordered the brigade of

General Robert Van Rensselaer to the assistance of Gansevoort, and gave

the latter all necessary latitude in raising troops for the exigency.

Gansevoort repaired to Saratoga, and solicited troops and a field piece

from General Stark, who was stationed there. The latter declined

compliance, on the plea that his troops were too poorly clad to leave

their quarters at that season, and also that he thought it im-

* This place was Van Schaick's Mill, now North Hoosiek. The name was

variously written by the early historians--St. Coych, Sancoix,

Saintcoix. &c.

Stark and Governor Chittenden.--End of the Insurrection.--Ride to Troy.-

-The Housatonic Valley.--Danbury

400proper to interfere without an order from General Heath, his

superior. Governor Chittenden, of the Grants, had just addressed a

letter to Stark, requesting him not to interfere; and, as his sympathies

were with the Vermonters, that was doubtless the true cause of his

withholding aid from Gansevoort. The latter, with what volunteers he

could raise, pushed on to St. Coych, where he discovered a motley force

of about five hundred men, advancing to sustain the insurgent militia.

Having only eighty men with him, Gansevoort retired about five miles,

and attempted to open a correspondence with the leaders of the

rebellion. He 1782 was unsuccessful, and the rebels remained

undisturbed. Early in January following, Washington wrote a calm and

powerful letter to Governor Chittenden, which had great effect in

quelling disturbances there, and no serious consequences grew out of the

movement. September, 1848 I left Hoosick at nine on the morning of the

28th, on the Bennington mail-coach, for Troy. It was full inside, and

the driver was flanked by a couple of passengers. The only vacant seat

was one covered by a sheep-skin, upon the coach-roof--a delightful place

on a pleasant morning, but now the lowering clouds betokened a storm. It

was "Hobson's choice," however, and, mounting the perch, I had a fine

view of a portion of the Hoosick Valley. The high hills that border it

are cultivated to their summits, and on every side large flocks of

Saxony sheep were grazing. * As we moved slowly up the ravine, the

clouds broke, the wind changed, and, when we reached the high rolling

table-land west of the valley, a bleak nor'wester came sweeping over the

hills from the distant peaks of the Adirondack and other lofty ranges

near the sources of the Hudson. Detained on the road by the cracking of

an axle, it was nearly sunset when we reached Troy. I had intended to

start for Connecticut that evening, but, as the cars had left, I rode to

Albany, and departed in the early morning train for the Housatonic

Valley and Danbury.

The country from Albany to the State. Line, ** where the Housatonic and

Western Rail-roads unite, is quite broken, but generally fertile.

Sweeping down the valley at the rate of twenty miles an hour, stopping

for a few minutes only to take in wood and water, the traveler has very

little opportunity to estimate the character of the region through which

he is passing. The picture in my memory represents a narrow, tortuous

valley, sometimes dwindling to a rocky ravine a few rods wide, and then

expanding into cultivated flats half a mile in breadth, with a rapid

stream, broken into riffs and small cascades, running parallel with our

course, and the whole surrounded on all sides by lofty hills, densely

wooded with maples, oaks, hickories, and chestnuts. At New Milford the

narrow valley spreads out into a broad and beautiful plain, whereon the

charming village stands. Thence to Hawleyville the country is again very

broken, but more generally redeemed from barrenness by cultivation.

At Hawleyville I left the rail-road, and took the mail-coach for

Danbury, seven and a half miles westward, where we arrived at two

o'clock. This village, one of the oldest in the state, is pleasantly

situated upon a plain on the banks of a small stream, about twenty miles

north from Long Island Sound. Its Indian name was _Pahquioque_, and the

first eight families that settled there, in 1685, purchased the land

from the aboriginal proprietors. *** There is nothing remarkable in its

early history, aside from the struggles, privations, and alarms incident

to a new Christian settlement in the midst of pagans. In truth, it seems

to have enjoyed more than ordinary prosperity and repose through the

colonial period, but a terrible blight fell upon it during our war for

independence.

* Wool is the staple production of this region. The first flock of

Saxony sheep in Hoosick was introduced by a German named H. De Grove,

about 1820. The price at which these sheep were then held was enormous.

some bucks having been sold as high as five hundred dollars. But the

great losses incurred in speculations in merino sheep, a few years

previous, made people cautious, and the Saxony sheep soon commanded only

their fair value. In 1845 the number of sheep of this fine breed in the

town of Hoosick was fifty-six thousand.

** The State Line station is upon the boundary between New York and

Massachusetts, thirty-eight miles from Albany and eleven from

Pittsfield.

*** Their names were Taylor, Bushnell, Barnum, Hoyt, two Benedicts,

Beebe, and Gregory. They were all from Norwalk, on the Sound, exeept

Beebe, who came from Stratford--See Robbins's Century Sermon, 1801.

Tyron's Expedition to Danbury.--Trumbull's "M'Fingal."--Life of the

Author.

401

CHAPTER XVIII.

"When Yankees, skill'd in martial rule,

First put the British troops to school;

Instructed them in warlike trade,

And new maneuvers of parade;

The true war-dance of Yankee reels,

And manual exercise of heels;

Made them give up, like saints complete,

The arm of flesh and trust the feet,

And work, like Christians undissembling,

Salvation out with fear and trembling."

Trumbull. *

HE expedition to Danbury, in the spring of 1777, conducted by Governor

Tryon, of New York, in person, was, in its inception, progress, and

result, disgraceful to the British character, no less on account of the

barbarity and savageism displayed than of the arrant cowardice that

marked all the movements of the marauders. Sir William Howe did well for

his own character, in disclaiming any approval of the acts of Tryon on

that occasion, and in endeavoring to excuse the leader of the expedition

by pleading the apparent necessity of such harsh measures. Every

generous American should be ready to accord all the honor, skill,

bravery, and humanity which often belonged to British officers during

the war, for some of them, despite the relation which they held to our

people struggling for freedom, demand our admiration and regard. But

these very officers, guided by a false philosophy, and the instructions

of ministers grossly ignorant of the temper and character of the

colonists, planned and executed measures which every true Briton then

condemned, and which every true Briton now abhors. The destruction of

Danbury, and, two years later, of Norwalk and

* This is quoted from a political poem in three cantos, by John

Trumbull, LL.D., called "M'Fingal," which gained for the author much

celebrity in America and Europe. The first part of the poem was written

in 1775, and published in Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress

was then in session. Numerous editions appeared, and it was republished

in England. It was not finished until 1782, when the whole was printed

at Hartford, in three cantos. It is in the Hudibrastic strain, "and,"

says Griswold, "is much the best imitation of the great satire of Butler

that has been written." The author was born in Waterbury, Connecticut,

in 1750. So extraordinary was the development of his intellect, that he

received lessons in Greek and Latin before he was six years old, and was

pronounced fit to enter Yale College at the age of seven. He entered

college at thirteen, and went successfully through the whole course of

studies. In 1771 he and Timothy Dwight were elected tutors in Yale, and

in 1773 he was admitted to the practice of the law. He went to Boston,

entered the office of John Adams, and there, in the focus of

Revolutionary politics, his republican principles had full play. He

commenced the practice of law in New Haven toward the close of 1774, and

there he wrote his "M'Fingal." He had already acquired considerable

celebrity as a poet. He removed to Hartford in 1782. Joel Barlow,

Colonel David Humphries, and Timothy Dwight were among his most intimate

literary friends. He was one of the "four bards with Scripture names"

whom a London satirist noticed, in some verses commencing,

"David and Jonathan, Joel and Timothy,

Over the water set up the hymn of the," &c.

* In 1800 Trumbull was elected a member of the Legislature, and, the

year following, a Judge of the Superior Court. He was Judge of the

Supreme Court of Errors from 1808 to 1819. His poems were collected and

published in 1820, and in 1825 he removed to Detroit, where he died in

1831, in the 81st year of his age.

Landing of the British at Compo.--Object of the Expedition.--Rising of

the Militia.--Character of the People

402Fairfield; the massacre of Baylor's corps at Tappan and Wayne's

detachment at Paoli, are among the records which Britons would gladly

blot out. Aside from the cold-blooded murder and incendiarism involved,

there was cowardice displayed of the most abject kind. In each case,

when their work of destruction was effected, the troops displayed the

"Manual exercise of heels"

when fleeing back to their respective camps.

On Friday, the 25th of April, 1777, twenty-six sail of British vessels

appeared off Norwalk Islands, standing in for Cedar Point. It was a

mild, sunny afternoon. The inhabitants of Norwalk and Fairfield, aware

of their approach, took measures for the defense of their respective

towns. But both villages were, at that time, spared. A little before

sunset about two thousand well-armed troops landed upon the long beach

at the foot of the beautiful hill of Compo, on the eastern side of the

Saugatuck River, and near its mouth. They were commanded by Governor

William Tryon, assisted by Generals Agnew and Sir William Erskine. The

expedition had been fitted out by Sir William Howe at New York, its

ostensible object being the destruction of American military stores at

Danbury. The force marched about seven miles into the country that

evening, where they rested until toward daylight. Clouds had gathered

during the night, and rain began to fall. Resuming their march, they

reached Reading, eight miles southeast of Danbury, at eight in the

morning, where they halted and breakfasted.

General Silliman, who was attached to the Connecticut militia, was at

his residence at Fairfield when the enemy landed. He immediately sent

out expresses to alarm the country and collect the militia. The call was

responded to, ** and early the next morning he started in pursuit. He

reached Reading about noon, where his force amounted to five hundred

men. He was there joined by Generals Wooster and Arnold, with a small

number of militia. These officers, who were at New Haven, on hearing of

the invasion, started immediately to the aid of Silliman. The Americans

continued the pursuit as far as Bethel, within four miles of Danbury.

They did not reach Bethel until eleven o'clock at night, owing to a

heavy rain. There they determined to halt and postpone their attack upon

the enemy until he should attempt to return to his shipping.

April 26, 1777 The British, piloted by two young men of Danbury--Stephen

Jarvis and Eli Benedict--reached the village between one and two o'clock

in the afternoon. They

* This view is from the top of a high hill northeast of the dwelling of

Mr. Ebenezer Smith, near Norwalk. Its long sand-bar is seen stretching

into the Sound on the right, and over the lowest extremity of the point

the shade trees of Fairfield are visible. The water on the left is the

mouth of the Saugatuck River, and that in the distance, on the right, is

Long Island Sound.

** The people of this region were extremely patriotic, and never

hesitated a moment when their country called. Before actual hostilities

commenced (March, 1775), a company of one hundred men was enlisted in

Danbury, for the colonial service, and joined a regiment of Connecticut

troops, under Colonel Waterbury They were engaged in active service

until Montgomery reached Montreal, in December, when they returned home

without the loss of a single man. The last survivor, David Weed, died in

Danbury, June 13th, 1842, aged ninety-four years. When this little band

of one hundred men left for Lake Champlain, their friends regarded them

as lost. When they all returned, many of those very friends were in

their graves, swept away by a prevalent dysentery.

Enemy's March to Danbury.--Entrance into the Village.--Anecdotes of

Holcomb and Hamilton.--Officers' Head quarters

403proceeded through Weston, by Reading Church, over Hoyt's Hill and

through Bethel and so expeditious was their march, that the people of

Danbury were not warned of their approach until they were within eight

miles of the town. Then all was confusion and alarm Although the chief

object of the invaders--the capture or destruction of the military

stores--was understood, the Revolutionary party felt a presentiment that

the expedition was fraught with cruelty and woes.

Some fled, with the women and children and a few movable effects, to the

woods and adjacent towns, while others remained to watch and guard the

sick and aged who could not depart. There was a small militia force of

only one hundred and fifty in the town, under the Colonels Cook and

Dimon, when the enemy approached ** --too few to attempt resistance.

When Try-on entered the village at the south end, Dimon and his troops,

who were mostly without arms, retired across the Still River at the

north, and, making a circuitous march under cover of night, joined the

Americans at Bethel. ***

Tryon established his head-quarters at the house of a Loyalist named

Dibble, at the south end of the village, and near the public stores.

Generals Agnew and Erskine made their head-quarters in a house near the

bridge, at the upper end of the main street, now owned by Mr. Knapp. All

the other houses in the village were filled with British troops at

night.

As soon as the enemy entered the town they began to insult and abuse the

people, but com-

* At this place the enemy was brought to a halt by a single resolute

American named Luther Holcomb. Wishing to give the people of Danbury as

much time as possible to escape, or prepare for resistance, he rode to

the brow of a hill over which the invaders were about to march, and,

waving his hat, and turning, as if to address an army behind him,

exclaimed, "Halt the whole universe! break off into kingdoms!" It was a

mighty host whose obedience he evoked. Tryon was alarmed. He caused his

army to halt, and, arranging his cannon so as to bear upon the supposed

opponents, sent out flanking parties to reconnoiter. Finding himself in

danger of being surrounded, Holcomb put spurs to his horse and retreated

to Danbury.

** Hearing of the approach of the enemy, Colonel Cook sent to General

Silliman for arms and ammunition. The messenger was Lambert Lockwood,

who, coming suddenly upon the British troops near Reading Church, was

made a prisoner. Tryon recognized him as a young man who had given him

aid when his carriage broke down while passing through Norwalk. On that

account he took Lockwood under his protection, but, in his hasty retreat

from Danbury, left him to take care of himself. Tryon was writing a

protection for him when he was informed that the Americans were coming.

The governor dropped his pen and seized his sword, and the protection

remained unwritten.

*** When the British approached, a citizen named Hamilton resolved to

save a piece of cloth which was at a clothier's at the lower end of the

village. He had just mounted his horse with the cloth, and fastened one

end to the saddle, when the British advanced guard appeared. Three light

horsemen started in pursuit of Hamilton, whose horse was less fleet than

theirs. Drawing near to him, one of the troopers exclaimed, "Stop, old

daddy, stop! We'll have you." "Not yet," said Hamilton, and at that

moment his roll of cloth unfurled, and, fluttering like a streamer

behind him, so frightened the troopers' horses that the old man got

several rods the start. The chase continued through the town to the

bridge at the upper end. Several times the troopers would attempt to

strike, but the cloth was always in the way. The pursuit was finally

abandoned, and the old man escaped.

**** This house is on the south bank of Still River, at the north end of

the main street. It was built by Benjamin Knapp, in 1770, and was owned

by him at the time of the invasion. His birth-place is also standing, on

the north side of the river. They were among the few houses not burned.

At the bridge seen on the right the British planted a cannon, and kept a

strong guard there until their departure. This house is now (1848) owned

by Noah Knapp.

Imprudence of some Citizens.--Retaliation of the British.--Destruction

of Stores and of the Village

1848. 404mitted no great excesses. Had the inhabitants who remained kept

quiet, the town might have been saved from conflagration; but four men,

* whose feelings were wrought to the highest pitch by the free use of

liquor, madly placed themselves in a large and valuable dwelling near

the court-house, belonging to Major Starr, and, as the van of the

British army approached, fired upon them several times from the windows,

without effect. The exasperated troops rushed into the house, seized the

men, thrust them into the cellar, and burned the building over their

heads. The unhappy men perished in the flames, victims of most egregious

folly.

The public stores were now attacked. The Episcopal Church was filled

with barrels ot pork and flour as high as the galleries, and two other

buildings were also filled with provisions. One of them, the barn of Mr.

Dibble, is still standing, on the southwest side of Main Street, at the

lower end of the town. The American commissioners made use of it without

his consent. Being a Tory, his barn was spared, and all the stores in it

were saved. Those in the church were taken into the street and

destroyed. The liquors were freely used by the soldiery, and they passed

the night in drinking and carousing.

As yet, the torch had not been applied. The sky was cloudy and the night

was intensely dark. Having marched a greater portion of the preceding

night, the troops were much exhausted by fatigue and want of sleep.

Those who remained awake were intoxicated, except a few sentinels. The

force of two thousand men that landed at Compo was reduced, in reality,

to three hundred; and could the American generals at Bethel have known

the exact state of things in the hostile camp, they might have

annihilated the invaders. Tryon was on the alert, and slept but little.

He was apprised by a Tory scout of the gathering of the militia at

Bethel. Knowing the present weakness of his army, he resolved on flight,

and accordApril 27, 1777 ingly, before daylight on Sunday morning, his

troops were put in marching order.

Fire-brands were applied to every house in the village, except those

belonging to Tories. These had been marked with a conspicuous cross the

previous evening. At the dawn of day the enemy marched toward Ridgeway,

while for miles around the country was illumined by the burning village.

"Through solid curls of smoke the bursting fires

Climb in tall pyramids above the spires,

Concentering all the winds, whose forces, driven

With equal rage from every point of heaven,

Wheel into conflict, round the scantling pour

The twisting flames, and through the rafters roar;

Suck up the cinders, send them sailing far,

To warn the nations of the raging war."

Joel Barlow. ***

* Joshua Porter, Eleazer Starr, Adams, and a negro.

** Robbins's Century Sermon.

*** This is quoted from the Columbiad, a long epic--the American

Revolution its theme. The author was one of the poets of the Revolution

whose writings have outlived them. Dwight, Trumbull, Humphries, Hopkins,

and a few other men of literary reputation in Connecticut, were his

friends and associates. He was a native of Reading, Connecticut, where

he was born in 1755. He was the youngest in a family of ten. He

graduated at Yale College in 1778. He recited an original poem on taking

his bachelor's degree, but it possesses little merit. Four of his

brothers were in the Continental army, and during his collegiate

vacation he went to the field as chaplain. He was in the battle at White

Plains, and displayed good courage in several minor engagements. He

married the sister of the Hon. Abraham Baldwin, of New Haven, and in

1783 removed to Westford, where he commenced the publication of the

"Mercury." He was admitted to the bar in 1785, and the same year, at the

request of several Congregational ministers, pre pared and published an

enlarged and improved edition of Watts's version of the Psalms, and

added to them a collection of hymns, several of them his own. His

"Vision of Columbus" was published in 1787. It was dedicated to the

unfortunate Louis XVI. In London and Paris it was reprinted, and

received considerable applause. He was engaged, with the literary

friends just named, in publishing a satirical poem called he Anarchiad,

which had considerable influence. Privileged Orders," and, the following

year, The Conspiracy of the Kings. He had some correspondence with the

French National Assembly, and, on going to Paris, was honored by the

gift of citizenship, and made France his home. His time was devoted

chiefly to commercial pursuits, by which he amassed a fortune. He

traveled some on the Continent, and in Piedmont wrote a poem called

"Hasty Pudding," the most popular of his writings. Returning to Par is

in 1795, he was appointed by Washington consul at Algiers, with power to

negotiate a treaty of commerce with the dey, and with Tunis and Tripoli.

After an absence of seventeen years, he returned to the United States,

and built a splendid mansion on the bank of the Potomac. In 1791 he

published in London his "Advice to the Washington, known afterward as

"Kalorama." The Colitabiad, the original Vision of Columbus greatly

altered, was published in 1808, in a splendid quarto, richly

illustrated. Its merits have been variously estimated, some regarding it

as a fit companion of the Iliad, Aeneid, and Paradise Lost, and others

allowing it only a small share of merit. Mr. Barlow had prepared to

write a history of the United States, in 1811, when the design was

frustrated by his being appointed minister plenipotentiary to the French

government. In the autumn of 1812 he was invited by the Duke of Bassano

to a conference with Napoleon at Wilna, in Poland. He traveled

thitherward without halting to rest. The fatigue and exposure brought on

an inflammation of the lungs, which caused his death, at an obscure

village near Cracow named Zarnowica, on the 2d of December, in the

fifty-fourth year of his age. He has been charged with abjuration of

Christianity, but the accusation rests solely upon inferences. In

private life he was pure and greatly beloved, and his public career was

without spot or blemish.--Allen's Biographical Dictionary; Grisivold's

American Poets.

Estimated Damage.--Revolutionary Men.--Levi Osborn.--Joel Barlow.--The

Sandemanians.

405Nineteen dwellings, the meeting-house of the New Danbury Society, and

twenty-two stores and barns, with all their contents, were consumed. The

exact amount of military stores that were destroyed is not known, but,

from the best information that could be obtained, there were about three

thousand barrels of pork, more than one thousand barrels of flour, four

hundred barrels of beef, one thousand six hundred tents, and two

thousand bushels of grain, besides many other articles, such as rum,

wine, rice, army carriages, &c. A committee appointed to appraise the

private losses estimated the whole amount at nearly eighty thousand

dollars.

On inquiring for men of the Revolution in Danbury, I was referred to

three, all of whom 1 had the pleasure of seeing. I first called upon the

venerable Levi Osborn, in September, eighty-six years of age. He resided

in Danbury when the village was burned, 1818 and remained, amid the

jeers of Tories and the insults of the invaders, to protect an aged and

sick parent. He is a leader of the sect of Sandemanians, of the division

known as "Os-bornites." * His naturally strong mind was yielding to the

pressure of bodily infirmities, yet he still lives, an honored

representative of the men of 1776.

After sketching Knapp's house, printed on page 403, I walked down to the

old burial-ground, toward the lower part of the village, where the

remains of many of the men of the

* This small sect derives its name from its founder, Robert Sandcman, a

native of Perth, in Scotland. He came to America in 1764, and in Boston

and Danbury organized societies in accordance with his peculiar

religious notions. His doctrines were similar to those of Calvin, and

his distinguishing tenet was, that "faith was a mere intellectual

belief--a bare belief of the bare truth." Like other founders of sects,

he claimed to belong to the only true Church. His followers meet on the

Sabbath and Thursday afternoons of each week, and, seated around a large

circular table, each with a copy of the Scriptures, the men read and

comment on them as they are moved by desire. The females are silent. The

attending congregation not members are mere spectators, and the

worshipers seem not to notice their presence. They have prayer and

singing, after which they go to the house of one of the members, and

partake of a feast of love. Their morals are of the purest kind, and

their influence in society is exceedingly salutary. The two divisions

are known as the Baptist Sandemanians and the Osbornites. The former

practice baptism, the latter do not. Of late years none have joined

them, and death is reducing their number. There are a few in England.

Mr. Sandcman died at Danbury in 1771, aged fifty-three years. His grave

is marked by a handsome marble slab, bearing his name and an epitaph.

Obscurity of Wooster's Grave.--Resolves of Congress.--A centenarian

Loyalist--Treatment by his Neighbors

406Revolution rest, and among them those of the brave General Wooster,

who fell, as we shall presently observe, while gallantly opposing Tryon

and his marauders on their retreat from Danbury. Not even a rough stone

of the field marked his grave, _and no person could then identify it!_

The fact is a disgrace to the people, past and present, among whom he

fell in battle; and the government, whose representatives, with grateful

appreciation of his services, long ago voted money to erect a monument

to his memory, * is guilty of positive ingratitude in so long

withholding the paltry sum, while the long grass is weaving a web of

utter obscurity over his dust.

From the cemetery I strolled down the winding road along which Tryon

entered Danbury, and, returning, called to see the venerable Joseph

Dibble, then in his hundredth year.

He lives with a nephew, near the same as the first hue of light in the

east appeared. Time softened the asperities of feeling, and

* On the 17th of June, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted a

resolution, "That a monument be erected to the memory of General

Wooster, with the following inscription: 'In honor of David Wooster,

brigadier general in the army of the United States. In defending the

liberties of America, and bravely repelling an inroad of the British

forces to Danbury, in Connecticut, he received a mortal wound on the

27th day of April, 1777, and died on the 2d day of May following. The

Congress of the United States, as an acknowledgment of his merit and

services, have caused this monument to be erected.' "Resolved, That the

executive power of the state of Connecticut be requested to carry the

foregoing resolution into execution, and that five hundred dollars be

allowed for that purpose."--Journals of Congress, iii., 197.

* It has been erroneously asserted that the money was subsequently put

into the hands of General Wooster's son, and that it was squandered.

This is not true, as the Journals of Congress will show. A bill for the

purpose passed the House of Representatives in 1822, but, in consequence

of the numerous similar petitions that were presented after the passage

of the resolution by the Lower House, the Senate did not concur. Ezra

Foote, Esq., a citizen of Danbury, aged eighty-four years, informed me

that he could so nearly identify the grave of Wooster as to pronounce it

with certainty to be one of two graves, situated, as I ascertained by

measurement, twenty feet northeast of the grave of Sandeman. General

Wooster was not in the Continental service at the time of his death.

Conceiving himself neglected, he had resigned, and was appointed the

first major general of militia in his native state.--See note l, page

408.

Tory Guides.--Night Ride toward Ridgefleld.--Return to Danbury.--

Ridgefield.--Military Movements.

407for half a century he had lived among his old neighbors and their

descendants, a worthy and respected citizen. The two guides who piloted

the army to Danbury did not fare so well; they were obliged to flee.

After the war, Benedict returned to Danbury for the purpose of residing

there, but the people at once prepared to ride him out of the town upon

a rail, and he fled. Jarvis went to reside in Nova Scotia. Many years

afterward he returned privately to Danbury, to visit his relations. His

presence being known, some citizens prepared tar and feathers for him.

They surrounded his father's house, and demanded his person. His sister

concealed him in an ash-oven, where he lay until the search was over and

the party gone, when he left the town, and never returned.

Mr. Dibble was too nearly a wreck to give me any clear account of

Revolutionary matters in that vicinity, and it was with much difficulty

that he could be made to understand my object in wishing to sketch his

portrait and obtain his autograph. He was a bachelor, and assured me

seriously that he intended to remain one all the days of his life. He

lived almost three years longer, and died in the Summer of 1851.

I also called upon Ezra Foote, Esq., one of the patriarchs of the

village. Although eighty-four years of age, his erect figure, firm

voice, and clear, intelligent eye gave him the appearance of a man of

sixty. After half an hour's pleasant and profitable conversation with

him, on Revolutionary topics connected with the locality, I returned to

the hotel, and prepared to depart for Ridgefield, nine miles distant,

after supper. For two or three hours a strong southeast wind had been

piling the driving scud from the ocean in huge cumulous masses along the

northwestern horizon, and, when darkness came, it was intense. I had

hired a conveyance, and a young man to accompany me from Danbury to

Norwalk, by the way of Ridgefield, and, in the midst of the gloom and

the rain that began to fall, we left the village. For a little while the

beaten road was visible, but, when the light dust became wet with

showers, not a trace of the track could be seen. The young man became

alarmed, and urged me to turn back. I was too anxious to reach New Haven

by Sunday to be easily persuaded, and, borrowing a tin lantern from a

farmer whom he knew, we endeavored to grope our way. The perforations of

the lantern were "like angels' visits, few and far between," and the

light that stole through them was just enough to make "darkness

visible." After tilting half over by the road side once or twice, and

being assured by my companion that there was a "dreadful ugly place in

Sugar Hollow, a mile or two beyond," I consented to turn back, on

condition that he would be ready to start at peep of day. He promised,

and at nine in the evening we were again in Danbury. At dawn we started

for Ridgefield. The rain had ceased, and the clouds were dispersing. We

had a delightful ride over the broken, but fertile country, and before

ten o'clock I had visited the place where Wooster fell, and where Arnold

made his escape, and made sketches of the localities. Let us for a

moment follow the British on their departure from Danbury, and the

Americans in their opposing maneuvers.

Tryon, doubtless fearing that he might be cut off on his retreat

directly back to his shipping at Compo, marched toward Ridgeway, a

parish in the town of Ridgefield, and north of that village. This

movement was probably made to deceive the Americans into the belief that

he intended to return by land through West Chester, and then, by a

sudden turn, push for the shipping along the least guarded route. When

this movement was made known to the American generals, they divided

their forces into two parts. The largest division, consisting of about

four hundred men, under Silliman and Arnold, proceeded to take post in

front of the enemy, while Wooster, with the other division of two

hundred, was left to hang upon and annoy their rear.

After proceeding to Ridgeway, the enemy turned southward toward

Ridgefield, * their route from Danbury thus forming the two sides of a

scalene triangle, of which the present direct

* The tract of land called Ridgefield was named by the Indians

Candatowa, which signifies high ground On some of the hills near the

village Long Island and the Sound may be seen for a distance of forty

miles. Twenty-five of the inhabitants of Norwalk purchased the ground of

Catoonah, the chief sachem, in 1708, and the first settlement was made

the following year.

The British attacked by Wooster.--Return Fire.--Death of Wooster.--

Sketch of his Life.--Approach of Arnold.

April 27, 1777 road from village408 to village is the hypotenuse. This

change of direction was made known to Wooster about nine in the morning,

and, hastening forward, he came up to them when within a few miles of

Ridgefield. He attacked the rear-guard, and, after attack them on the

flank, and a little skirmishing, took forty prisoners.

Thus he harassed them, and kept them in partial check, until they

arrived within two miles of Ridgefield meeting-house, when another smart

skirmish ensued. The ground is very broken, and well adapted for such a

sort of guerrilla warfare as the American militia kept up. While the

enemy were hidden by a hill, near the present road from Ridgefield to

Salem, Wooster encouraged his undisciplined army to push forward and The

British made several discharges of artillery, which caused the American

column to break and give way. Wooster endeavored to rally them.,

exclaiming, "Come on, my boys! Never mind such random shots!" While thus

in the van, urging his troops, a musket-ball took him obliquely in the

side and broke his back-bone. He fell from his horse, and was removed

from the field to Danbury, at which place he died. *

General Arnold, informed of the change in the route of the enemy, made a

forced march across the country to Ridgefield village, where he arrived

at about eleven o'clock in the morning, with his force increased to

about five hundred men. Across the upper end of the main street he cast

up a barricade of carts, logs, stones, and earth, which was flanked on

the right by a house and barn, and on the left by a ledge of rocks.

Behind this barricade he formed his men in battle order, and awaited the

approach of the enemy. As soon as Tryon discovered Arnold, he ordered

General Agnew to advance with the main body in solid col-

* David Wooster was born in Stratford, Connecticut, on the 2d of March,

1710. He graduated at Yale College in 1738, and the following year, when

the Spanish war broke out, was made a lieutenant, and soon afterward was

promoted to the captaincy of the vessel built and armed by the colony as

a guarda costa, or coast guard. In 1740 he married the daughter of Rev.

Thomas Clapp, president of Yale College. He was a captain in Colonel

Burr's regiment, which went on the expedition to Louisburg in 1745, from

which place he went to Europe, in command of a cartel ship. He was not

permitted to land in France, but in England he was received with

distinguished honor. He was presented to the king, and became a favorite

at court. He was made a captain in the regular service, under Sir

William Pepperel, and his likeness (from which our engraving was copied)

was published in the periodical magazines of that day. He was first a

colonel and then a brigadier in the French and Indian or Seven Years'

War that ended in 1763. He espoused the patriot cause, and was one of

the principal conspirators against Ticonderoga in 1775, which resulted

in its capture by the provincials under Allen and Arnold. When the

Continental army was organized, Wooster was appointed one of the eight

brigadiers, third in rank. He was in Canada in 1776, where he had the

chief command for a while. Returning to Connecticut, he was appointed

the first major general of the militia of his state. In that capacity he

was actively employed when Tryon's invasion occurred. He hastened to the

field, was fatally wounded, carried to Danbury, and expired on the 2d of

May, at the age of sixty-seven years. On the 27th of April, 1854, the

corner-stone of a monument to be erected over the obscure grave of the

long-neglected Wooster was laid. When search was made for his grave, it

was identified by unmistakable evidences. With a skeleton was found some

matted wire (the remains of epaulets), a portion of a plume, and a

leaden bullet. The latter was a smooth, English bullet, larger than

those used by the Americans. These were satisfactory evidence that the

right grave had been opened. That bullet undoubtedly gave the death-

wound to the patriot. * The bones were re-interred, with imposing

ceremonies. The Honorable Henry C. Deming was the Orator on the

occasion.

* Colonel David Dimon, one of Wooster's subordinate officers at that

time (mentioned on page 403), was a native of Fairfield, Connecticut,

and was a brave and useful soldier. He was one of the volunteers who

captured British stores at Turtle Bay, New York, and one of Montgomery's

staff in the expedition to Canada in 1775. He was active in the capture

of St. John on the Sorel, and Fort Chambly, after which he returned to

Connecticut on public business, and was not with the army in its reteat

at Quebec. Colonel Dimon continued in active service until after Tryon's

expedition to Danbury. He had the command at the barricades in

Ridgefield, and pursued the British to Compo. A fever, produced by

exposure in the service, caused his death in September following, when

in the 36th year of his age

Barricade at Ridgefield.--Bravery of Arnold.--Narrow Escape.--March to

Compo.--Skirmishes.

409umn, while detachments were sent to outflank him and fall upon his

rear. With only about two hundred men, Arnold confronted nearly two

thousand, who advanced, and delivered and received several fires. In

this way the action continued nearly a quarter of an hour. Agnew

succeeded in gaining the ledge of rocks. From that position a whole

platoon of British infantry fired, with deliberate aim, at Arnold, who

was not more than thirty yards distant. Not a bullet hit him, but his

horse was pierced, and fell dead under him.

Seeing their leader prostrate, the Americans fled. For a moment Arnold

could not extricate his feet from the stirrups. Perceiving this, a Tory

named Coon, from New Fairfield, rushed toward the general with his

bayonet, to seize him. "Surrender! you are my prisoner!" shouted the

Tory. "Not yet," exclaimed Arnold, as, springing to his feet, he drew

his pistol, shot the Tory dead, and bounded toward a thick swamp near

by, followed by a shower of bullets, and escaped. The number of

Americans killed in this skirmish was between forty and fifty; of the

enemy's loss no account was given. Colonel Gould, of Fairfield, was

among the slain. He fell about eighty rods east of the house of Mr.

Stebbins, seen in the engraving, and his body was carried to Fairfield.

Having repulsed the Americans, Tryon's army encamped upon high ground

about a mile south of the Congregational Church in Ridgefield, until

daylight the next morning, April, 1777 when they resumed their march

toward Norwalk and Compo, through Wilton. Four dwellings were burned in

Ridgefield, and other private property was destroyed when the marauders

struck their tents. As they approached Norwalk, Tryon learned that

Arnold was again in the saddle, and was rallying the scattered militia

upon the road leading to Saugatuck Bridge. He filed off eastward, and

forded the Saugatuck some distance above the bridge, where about five

hundred Americans, under Colonel Huntingdon, were posted to oppose his

passage. Small detachments of militia annoyed the British all the way

from Wilton to the Saugatuck; and while the latter were pushing forward

toward Compo and their shipping, on the east side of the creek, the

former kept upon the west side, and galled them with cannon-shot and

musket-balls. A small detachment of Americans forded the stream, picked

off many of the rear-guard of the enemy, and returned without losing a

man.

At the bridge was the battalion of the New York artillery, under Colonel

John Lamb, with three field pieces, under Lieutenant-colonel Oswald.

Perceiving the formidable force there collected, Tryon urged forward his

men as fast as they could run, and they succeeded in passing by the

bridge before the main body of the Americans could get over. Exposed to

an enfilading fire, the enemy were partially checked, and for about

fifteen minutes there was a sharp engagement at the bridge. ** The

Americans pushed across and followed the flying

* This view is at the north end of the main street. It was taken from

the spot where, tradition asserts, Arnold's horse was killed, which is

on the west side of the street, near a maple-tree, about one hundred

yards southwest of the house of Samuel Stebbins, Esq., seen on the right

in the picture. While making this sketch an old man (whose name I forgot

to ask) came along, and informed me that on the day after the battle

himself and some other boys skinned Arnold's horse, and discovered nine

bullet-holes in his hide. The escape of the rider seemed miraculous.

** The bridge where the engagement took place was at the head of

navigation in the Saugatuek, nearly three miles from the sea. There is

now a bridge upon the site, within the pleasant village of Westport

(formerly ealled Saugatuck), which, at the time of the battle, contained

only five houses. Seven or eight men were killed near the present

Congregational Church in Westport. The smooth and really beautiful

elevation of Compo is about two and a half miles south of the village,

and commands a fine view of the Sound and of the distant shores of Long

Island.

Erskine's Maneuver.--The Connecticut Militia.--Action of Congress

concerning Arnold.--Place where Wooster fell.

410enemy to Compo, gaining the right flank of their rear in an

advantageous position. Here another hot skirmish ensued, and, but for a

successful maneuver of Sir William Erskine, the exhausted Britons must

all have been captured. That officer landed some marines from the

vessels, who furiously attacked the fatigued Americans in front, and

drove them back some distance. While this conflict was going on, the

main body of the enemy embarked, amid a galling fire from Lamb's

artillery. The marines, by a sudden retrograde movement, took to their

boats and reached their vessels. At about sunset the fleet weighed

anchor.

A large number of the Connecticut militia had collected at Compo,

besides those actually enrolled in the special service on that day. Many

of them were without arms, others were insubordinate, and a good

proportion of the new-comers behaved in the most cowardly manner. Had

they possessed a tithe of the courage of their leader, who was seen

urging his men at points of most imminent danger, the exhausted troops

of Tryon might have been made prisoners or destroyed. Arnold knew this,

and, unmindful of danger, urged on the militia by voice and example,

until his horse was wounded in the neck and disabled. The opportunity

was not courageously improved, and the enemy escaped.

The loss of the Americans during the invasion was about one hundred men;

the enemy lost, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, about three hundred.

Tryon was slightly wounded. Colonel Lamb, while gallantly leading his

men at Compo, received a violent contusion from a grape-shot. Arnold was

untouched, though a bullet wounded his horse, and another passed through

the collar of his coat. Congress, impressed with the brilliancy of his

achievements, May 30, 1777 directed the quartermaster general (a) to

"procure a horse and present the same, properly caparisoned, to Major-

general Arnold, as a token of their approbation of his gallant conduct

in the action against the enemy in the late enterprise to Danbury." *

It was a little after sunrise when we reached Ridgefield, ** and, after

sketching the place of the barricade in the village, we rode to the spot

where General Wooster fell. It is about a mile north of Mr. Stebbins's,

at the forks of the road, one of which is the way from Ridgefield to

North Salem. For a long time tradition pointed to a large chestnut-tree

as the place where the brave soldier was wounded. The tree has been

converted into rails, and the stump, almost decayed into dust, is

flanked by the two thrifty sugar maples seen toward the left of the

picture. The taller tree is a locust. It is to be hoped that some

monument will be reared to mark the spot, before these mature and decay

by age. The owner of the land pointed out the locality to us, and

expressed the patriotic opinion that "Congress ought to do something."

He had long contemplated the erection of a chestnut post at his own

expense, but, having done that, the public would expect him "to paint

some lettering on t," and he was not disposed to bear the whole burden

himself. Clearly right; it would be asking too much of a single citizen.

Returning to the village, we breakfasted at ten at the tavern of Mr.

Resseque, whose wife is the daughter of Mr. Keeler, the owner of the

dwelling at the time of the invasion. It is about half a mile south of

the Congregational Church, where the British planted a cannon

* Journals of Congress, iii., 158.

** Ridgefield is situated upon a high, rolling plain, and contains about

sixty houses, on one street, within & mile. Like Danbury, it is

beautifully shaded with elms and sycamores.

Relic of the Revolution.--Reading.--Threatened Mutiny there.--Putnam's

Speech.--Putnam at Greenwich.

411after driving the Americans from the barricade. Near the northeast

corner of the house is a four pound cannon-ball, lodged in one of the

posts, where it has remained ever since the Revolution. Some Americans

near the house were the objects at which some balls were discharged. One

passed into the building, just over the north door, and, crossing a

staircase, hit a chimney and fell to the floor. A man was just ascending

the stairs when the ball entered, with a terrible crash, and passed

between his legs. Unhurt, but greatly frightened, he fell to the foot of

the stairs, exclaiming, "I'm killed! I'm a dead man!" and for some time

he insisted that his legs were shot off. As soon as he was undeceived,

he put them in requisition, and fled, as fast as they could carry him,

toward Wilton. The house was set on fire, but the flames were

extinguished by a Tory brother of Mr. Keeler, whose own property was

endangered.

A few miles northeast from Ridgefield is the village of Reading, *

distinguished as being the head-quarters of General Putnam in the winter

of 1779. He occupied that position with General Poor's brigade of New

Hampshire, two Connecticut brigades, Hazen's infantry corps, and a corps

of cavalry under Shelden, for the purpose of covering the country from

the British lines in New York, eastward along the Sound. Like many of

the New England villages, it is scattered, and beautifully shaded with

elms, maples, and sycamores. Putnam's quarters were at a house situated

on the Norwalk and Danbury Road, about three miles westward of the

Congregational Church in Reading.

During the winter a mutinous spirit pervaded the Connecticut troops.

They were badly fed and clothed, and worse paid, for their small

pittance, when received, consisted of the rapidly-depreciating

Continental bills.

Brooding over their hard lot, the Connecticut brigades finally resolved

to march to Hartford and demand of the Assembly a redress of grievances.

The second brigade had assembled under arms for that purpose, when

information of the movement reached Putnam. He immediately galloped to

the encampment, and, in his uncouth, but earnest manner, thus addressed

them: "My brave lads, where are you going? Do you intend to desert your

officers, and to invite the enemy to follow you into the country? Whose

cause have you been fighting and suffering so long in? Is it not your

own? Have you no property, no parents, wives, or children? You have

behaved like men so far; all the world is full of your praise, and

posterity will stand astonished at your deeds, but not if you spoil all

at last. Don't you consider how much the country is distressed by the

war, and that your officers have not been better paid than yourselves?

But we all expect better times, and that the country will do us ample

justice. Let us all stand by one another, then, and fight it out like

brave soldiers. Think what a shame it would be for Connecticut men to

run away from their officers!" If this speech did not display the

polished eloquence of Demosthenes, who made the Athenians cry out with

one voice, "Let us go and fight Philip," it possessed the same spirit

and produced a similar result. When Putnam concluded his short address,

a loud cheer burst from the discontented regiments, and they returned to

their quarters in good humor, resolved to suffer and fight still longer

in the cause of liberty.

It was during Putnam's encampment at Reading, in 1779, that the famous

event occurred at West Greenwich, or Horseneck, in which the general was

the principal actor. He was visiting his outposts at West Greenwich, and

tarrying at the house of the late General Ebenezer Mead. Early on the

morning of the 26th of March, while standing before a a looking-glass,

'shaving, he saw the reflection of a body of "red-coats" marching up the

road from the westward. He dropped his razor, buckled on his sword, and,

half shaven, mounted his horse and hastened to prepare his handful of

men to oppose the approaching enemy. They were a body of nearly fifteen

hundred British regulars and Hessians, under Governor Tryon, who had

marched from their lines in West Chester county, near King's

* The township derived its name from Colonel John Read, one of its most

prominent settlers. His monument is in a small burying-ground a little

west of the town-house. He died in 1786, aged eighty-five years.--

Barber's Historical Collections of Connecticut.

Tryon's Expedition to Horseneck.--Skirmish at Greenwich.--Defeat of the

Americans.--Escape of Putnam

412Bridge, the previous evening, with the intention of surprising the

troops and destroying the salt-works at Horseneck Landing. A scout of

thirty men, under Captain Watson, who had been sent out by Putnam,

discovered the enemy in the night at New Rochelle. At daylight they had

advanced to Rye Neck, and there a slight skirmish ensued between the

British advanced guards and Putnam's scouts. The latter retreated to

Sawpits, on the Byram River, and thence to Horseneck, pursued by the

enemy. *

Putnam arranged his men (only one hundred and fifty in number) upon the

brow of the hill, by the Congregational Church in the village. There he

planted a battery composed of two old iron field pieces, and awaited the

approach of the enemy. They moved up the road in solid column until

almost within musket-shot, when detachments broke off and attempted to

gain Putnam's flanks. At the same moment the British dragoons and some

infantry prepared to charge.

Perceiving this, and discovering the overwhelming numbers of the enemy,

Putnam ordered a retreat, after a few discharges of the field pieces and

some volleys of musketry. So near was the enemy, that the retreat of the

Americans became a rout. The soldiers broke and fled singly to the

adjacent swamps, while the general, putting spurs to his horse, sped

toward Stamford, pursued by several of the dragoons. A quarter of a mile

eastward of the Congregational Church is a steep declivity, on the brow

of which the road turned northward, and passed, in a broad sweep, around

the hill. Putnam perceived that his pursuers were gaining upon him, and,

with the daring of desperation, left the road and wheeled his horse,

while on a gallop, down the rocky height, making a zigzag course to the

bottom, and reaching the road again in safety. The dragoons dared not

follow, and, discharging their pistols at Putnam, without effect, rode

back to the main army, and the general reached Stamford, five miles

eastward, in safety.

Tryon plundered the inhabitants of every thing valuable, and, having

destroyed a few salt a March 26, 1799 works, a small sloop and store,

and damaged the houses of the Whigs, retreated to Rye the same evening,

and the next day reached King's Bridge. As soon as

Putnam arrived at Stamford, he collected some militia and a few of his

fugitives, and returned to attack the enemy on his retreat. He succeeded

in taking thirty-eight prisoners and in recapturing a portion of the

plunder, which he restored to the inhabitants. There were about twenty

Americans killed. The loss of the British in killed is not recorded.

I visited the scene of Putnam's exploit in June, previous to my journey

to Danbury and Ridgefield, and made the accompanying sketch of "Putnam's

Hill," as it is called. It is about five miles west from Stamford, on

the main road to New York from Horseneck *

* This name was given to the peninsula extending into the Sound at

Greenwich, from the circumstance that many horses used to be pastured

upon it.

Putnam's Hill.--Its present Appearance.--Norwalk.--Fitch's Point

413Landing. This sketch is taken from the road near the residence of the

late General Ebenezer Mead, looking westward. The aspect of the place

has materially changed since the Revolution. The old road, as I have

mentioned, made a circuit northward around the hill. The present road,

seen in the engraving, passes directly over the hill, being a causeway

part of the distance, and a deep cut through the rocks on the brow of

the eminence. On the hill, just south of the road, and in a line with

the tall tree by the causeway, stood the old Episcopal Church; and it

was for the accommodation of worshipers there, who lived eastward of the

hill, that a flight of seventy rude stone steps was made. These are the

steps so celebrated in the popular accounts of Putnam's exploit. They

are now quite covered with earth and shrubbery, but their site is

distinctly marked. I have given them more prominence than they really

have, exhibiting them as they probably appeared when Putnam made his

escape.

Between the trees is seen the spire of the Congregational Church at

Greenwich, standing upon the site of the one near which Putnam planted

his battery. General Mead and others saw the descent of Putnam. He

wheeled his horse from the road near the house of Dr. Mead, seen on the

extreme right, and did not go down the steps at all (as popular

tradition avers), except four or five of them near the bottom. As he

hastened by toward Stamford, General Mead distinctly heard him cursing

the British whom he had left behind. The feat was perilous, but, under

the circumstances, not very extraordinary. I was told that in 1825

several of the dragoons in the escort of La Fayette to this place

performed the same Let us resume our journey.

The ride from Ridgefield to Norwalk was very pleasant. The clouds were

dispersed, and the air was almost sultry. The country was rough until we

entered the valley of the Norwalk River, a region of great beauty and

fertility. Our road lay along that winding stream, and, as we approached

Norwalk, the transition from the open country to the populous town was

almost imperceptible. Venerable elms and sycamores, planted by the early

settlers, shaded handsome mansions thickly strewn along the winding

road. These, the tolling of a bell, and the whistle of steam betokened a

village near, and in a few minutes we reined up at the principal hotel

in the compact street of a busy mart. We are again upon Revolutionary

ground, the scene of another of Governor Tryon's marauding expeditions.

After laying Fairfield in ashes, Governor Tryon and Brigadier-general

Garth, with their troops, retreated to their vessels and crossed the

Sound to Huntington Bay, Long Island, whence they sailed over to Norwalk

on the night of the 11th of July, 1779. The main body landed at about

nine o'clock in the evening, "in the 'Cow Pasture,' a peninsula on the

The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Vol. 1 (of 2) or, Illustrations, by Pen And Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence · 第 45 / 60 章

I left Poughkeepsie at ten in the evening, and reached Kingston village,