They landed at the foot of a great hill, called Long Clove Mountain, on
the western shore of the Hudson, about two miles below Haverstraw. This
place had been designated by Arnold for the meeting, and thither he had
repaired from Smith's house. Arnold was concealed in the thick bushes,
and to the same place Smith conducted Andre. They were left alone, and
for the first time the conspirators heard each other's voice; for the
first time Arnold's lips uttered audibly the words of treason. There, in
the gloom of night, concealed from all human cognizance, they discussed
their dark plans, and plotted the utter ruin of the patriot cause. When,
at the twilight of an autumn day, I stood upon that spot, in the shadow
of the high hills, and the night gathering its veil over the waters and
the fields, a superstitious dread crept over me lest the sentence of
_anathema, maranatha_, should make the spot as unstable as the earth
whereon rested the tents of the rebellious Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
The hour of dawn approached, and the conference was yet in progress.
Smith came, and warned them of the necessity for haste. There was much
yet to do, and André reluctantly consented to mount the horse rode by
Arnold's servant, and accompany the general to Smith's house, nearly
four miles distant. ** It was yet dark, and the voice of a sentinel,
near
* These passes, which are still in existence, are as follows:
"Head-quarters, Robinson House, September 20, 1780.
"Permission is given to Joshua Smith, Esquire, a gentleman, Mr. John
Anderson, who is with him, and his two servants, to pass and repass the
guards near King's Ferry at all times.
"B. Arnold, M. Gen'l."
"Head-quarters, Robinson House, September 21, 1780.
"Permission is granted to Joshua Smith, Esq., to go to Dobbs's Ferry
with three Men and a Boy with a Flag to carry some Letters of a private
Nature for Gentlemen in New York, and to Return immediately.
"B. Arnold, M. Gen'l.
"N.B.--He has permission to go at such hours and times as the tide and
his business suits.
"B. A."
** The fact that Arnold had provided a spare horse (for there was no
necessity for a servant to accompany him to the place of meeting), is
evidence that he expected a longer conference than the remainder of the
night would afford. Furthermore, convicted as Arnold is of innate
wickedness, it may not be unjust to suppose that he was prepared, after
getting Andre within the American lines, to perform any act of dishonor
to extort a high price for his treason, or to shield himself from harm
if circumstances should demand it.
Arrival of the Conspirators at Smith's House.--The Vulture fired upon.--
Plan of Operations arranged.--Colonel Livingston.
720the village of Haverstraw, gave André the first intimation that he
was within the American lines. He felt his danger, but it was too late
to recede. His uniform was effectually concealed by a long blue surtout,
yet the real danger that environed him, he being within the enemy's
lines without a flag or pass, made him exceedingly uneasy.
They arrived at Smith's house at dawn, and, at that moment they heard a
cannonade in the direction of the Vulture.
Colonel Livingston had been informed that the vessel lay so near the
shore as to be within cannon shot. Accordingly, during the night, he
sent a party with cannon from Verplanck's Point, and at dawn, from
Teller's Point, they opened a fire upon the Vulture, of such severity
that the vessel hoisted her anchors and dropped farther down the river.
** This movement André beheld with anxiety; September 22, 1780 but, when
the firing ceased, his spirits revived. During that morning the whole
plot was arranged and the day for its consummation fixed. André was to
return to New York, and the British troops, already embarked under the
pretext of an expedition to the Chesapeake, were to be ready to ascend
the river at a moment's warning. Arnold was to weaken the various posts
at West, Point by dispersing the garrison. When the British should
appear, he was to send out detachments among the mountain gorges, under
pretense of meeting the enemy, as they approached, at a distance from
the works. As we have noticed, a link from the great chain at
Constitution Island was to be removed. The river would be left free for
the passage of vessels, and the garrison, so scattered, could not act in
force; thus the enemy could take possession with very little resistance.
All the
* This view is from the slope in front of the house. The main building
is of stone; the wings are wood. The piazza in front of the main
building, and the balustrades upon the top, are the only modern
additions; otherwise the house appears the same as when Arnold and Andre
were there. It stands upon a slope of Treason Hill, a few rods west of
the road leading from Stony Point to Haverstraw, and about half way
between the two places. It was in a room in the second story that the
conspirators remained during the day of their arrival. The present owner
of the house and grounds is Mr. William C. Houseman.
** Colonel Livingston, on perceiving the position of the Vulture,
conceived a plan for destroying her. He asked Arnold for two pieces of
heavy cannon for the purpose, but the general eluded the proposal on
frivolous pretenses, so that Livingston's detachment could bring only
one four-pounder to bear upon her. He had obtained some ammunition from
Colonel Lamb, from West Point, who sent it rather grudgingly, and with
an expressed wish that there might not be a wanton waste of it. "Firing
at a ship with a fourpounder," he said, "is, in my opinion, a waste of
powder." Little did he think what an important bearing that cannonade
was to have upon the destinies of America. It was that which drove the
Vulture from her moorings, and was one of the causes of the fatal
detention of Andre at Smith's house. The Vulture was so much injured
that, had she not got off with the flood, she must have struck. Colonel
Livingston saw Arnold pass Verplanck's in his barge when he escaped to
the Vulture; and he afterward declared that he had such suspicion of him
that, had his guard-boats been near, he would have gone after him
instantly, and demanded his destination and errand. Henry Livingston,
who commanded at Stony Point at the time of Arnold's treason, was born
at the Livingston Manor, in Columbia county, New York, January 19th,
1752. He married in Canada at an early age, and while residing there
became familiar with the French language. He was among the first who
took up arms against Great Britain. He accompanied Montgomery to St.
John's, Montreal, and Quebec. He assisted in the capture of the fort at
Chambly, and otherwise distinguished himself in that campaign. He was a
lieutenant colonel in the army at Stillwater, and was present at the
capture of Burgoyne. At the close of the war he was made a brigadier
general, and throughout a long life maintained the highest confidence
and respect of his countrymen. The Marquis de Chastellux, who
breakfasted with him at Verplanck's Point on one occasion, says of him,
in his Journal (i., 94), "This is a very amiable and well-informed young
man." He died at his residence, Columbia county, May 26th, 1823, at the
age of seventy-one years.
The Papers taken from Andre's Boot.--"Artillery Orders."--Forces at West
Point--Villefranche's Estimate.
721plans being arranged, Arnold supplied Andre with papers explanatory
of the military condition of West Point and its dependencies. * These he
requested him to place between his
* These documents, with five of the passes given by Arnold on this
occasion, are now preserved in the Library of the Stale of New York, at
Albany, having been purchased from the family of a lineal descendant of
Governor George Clinton. They were in my custody a few weeks, when I had
the opportunity of comparing the following copies, previously made, with
the originals, and found them correct. These manuscripts, though
somewhat worn, are quite perfect. Those written upon one side of the
paper only have been pasted upon thicker paper for preservation. The
others yet exhibit the wrinkles made by Andre's foot in his boot. The
following are true copies of the several papers:
"West Point, September 5th, 1780.
"Artillery Orders.--The following disposition of the corps is to take
place in Case of an alarm:
"Capt. Dannills with his Comp'y at Fort Putnam, and to detach an Officer
with 12 men to Wyllys's Redoubt, a Non Commissioned Officer with 3 men
to Webb's Redoubt, and the like number to Redoubt No. 4.
"Capt. Thomas and Company to repair to Fort Arnold.
"Captain Simmons and Company to remain at the North and South Redoubts,
at the East side of the River, until further Orders.
"Lieutenant Barber, with 20 men of Capt. Jackson's Company, will repair
to Constitution Island; the remainder of the Company, with Lieut.
Mason's, will repair to Arnold.
"Capt. Lieut. George and Lieut. Blake, with 20 men of Captain
Treadwell's Company, will Repair to Redoubt No. 1 and 2; the remainder
of the Company will be sent to Fort Arnold.
"Late Jones's Company, with Lieut. Fisk, to repair to the South Battery.
"The Chain Battery, Sherburn's Redoubt, and the Brass Field pieces, will
be manned from Fort Arnold as Occation may require.
"The Commissary and Conductor of Military stores will in turn wait upon
the Commanding Officer of Artillery for Orders.
"The artificers in the garrison (agreeable to former Orders) will repair
to Fort Arnold, and there receive further Orders from the Command'g
Officer of Artillery.
"S. Bauman, Major Comm't Artillery."
This document gave the British full information of what would be the
disposition of the Americans on the occasion; and as Sir Henry Clinton
and many of his officers were acquainted with the ground, they would
know at what particular points to make their attacks. This and the
following document are in Arnold's handwriting:
"Estimate of Forces at Wst Point and its Dependencies, September 13,
1780.
"A brigade of Massachusetts Militia, and two regiments of Rank and File
New Hampshire, Inclusive of 166 Batteaux Men at Verplanck's and Stony
Points........................................... 992
"On command and Extra Service at Fishkills, New Windsor, &c.,
&c., who may be called in
occasionally...........................................................
............................. 852
"3 regiments of Connecticut Militia, under the com'd of Colonel Wells,
on the lines near N. Castle 488
"A detachment of New York levies on the
lines.......................................................... 115
Militia, 2447
"Colonel Lamb's
Regiment...................................................... 167
"Colonel Livingston's, at Verplank and Stoney
Pts............................. 80
Continent: 247
"Colonel Sheldon's Dragoons, on the lines, about one half
mounted................................. 142
"Batteaux Men and
Artificers.............................................................
.............. 250
Total, 3086."
"N.B.--The Artillery Men are not Included in the above Estimate."
Return of the Ordnance in the different Forts at West Point.--Arnold's
Description of the Works.
722stockings and feet, and in the event of accident, to destroy them. He
then gave him a pass, a fac simile of which is printed on the next page,
and bidding Andre adieu, Arnold went
The following table is in the handwriting of Bauman, Major Commandant of
Artillery:
The following description of the works at West Point and its
dependencies is in the handwriting of Arnold, endorsed "Remarks on Works
at West Point, a copy to be transmitted to his Excellency General
Washington. Sep'r. 1780."
"Fort Arnold is built of Dry Fascines and Wood, is in a ruinous
condition, incompleat, and subject to take Fire from Shells or
Carcasses.
"Fort Putnam, Stone, Wanting great repairs, the wall on the East side
broke down, and rebuilding From the Foundation; at the West and South
side have been a Chevaux-de-Frise, on the West side broke in many
Places. The East side open; two Bomb Proofs and Provision Magazine in
the Fort, and Slight Wooden Barrack.--A commanding piece of ground 500
yards West, between the Fort and No. 4--or Rocky Hill.
"Fort Webb, built of Fascines and Wood, a slight Work, very dry, and
liable to be set on fire, as the approaches are very easy, without
defenses, save a slight Abattis.
"Fort Wyllys, built of stone 5 feet high, the Work above plank filled
with Earth, the stone work 15 feet, the Earth 9 feet thick.--No Bomb
Proofs, the Batteries without the Fort.
"Redoubt No. 1. On the South side wood 9 feet thick, the Wt. North and
East sides 4 feet thick, no cannon in the works, a slight and single
Abattis, no ditch or Pickett. Cannon on two Batteries. No Bomb Proofs.
"Redoubt No. 2. The same as No. 1. No Bomb Proofs.
"Redoubt No. 3, a slight Wood Work 3 Feet thick, very Dry, no Bomb
Proofs, a single Abattis, the work easily set on fire--no cannon.
"Redoubt No. 4, a Wooden work about 10 feet high and fore or five feet
thick, the West side faced with a stone wall 8 feet high and four thick.
No Bomb Proof, two six pounders, a slight Abattis, a commanding piece of
ground 500 yards Wt.
"The North Redoubt, on the East side, built of stone 4 feet high; above
the Stone, wood filled in with Earth, Very Dry, no Ditch, a Bomb Proof,
three Batteries without the Fort, a poor Abattis, a Rising piece of
ground 500 yards So., the approaches Under Cover to within 20 yards.--
The Work easily fired with Faggots diptd in Pitch, &c.
"South Redoubt, much the same as the North, a Commanding piece of ground
500 yards due East--3 Batteries without the Fort."
The "Artillery Orders" of September 5, 1780; the estimate of forces at
West Point; estimate of men to man the works, by Villefranche; the
"Return" of Bauman; the description of the works at West Point and
vicinity, and a copy of a council of war held at Washington's quarters,
September 6, 1780, are the papers which were taken from Andre's
stocking. The latter document, which set forth the weakness, wants, and
gloomy prospects of the American army, was a statement made by
Washington to the council. It is too long for insertion here. Preserved
among these papers are five passes, signed by Arnold; a memorandum,
which, from its ambiguity, is unintelligible, * and the following letter
from Joshua Smith to his brother Thomas, after his arrest on suspicion
of being an accomplice with Arnold:
"Robinson House, Sept. 25th, 1780.
"'Dear Brother,--I am here a prisoner, and am therefore unable to attend
in person. I would be obliged to you if you would deliver to Captain
Cairns, of Lee's Dragoons, a British uniform Coat, which you will find
in one of the drawers in the room above stairs.f I would be happy to see
you. Remember me to your family.
"I am affectionately yours,
I have before me three interesting MS. letters, written by Smith and his
two brothers, at about this time. The first is from the Tory Chief
Justice Smith, of New York, to his brother Thomas; the second is from
Thomas to Governor Clinton, covering the one from Judge Smith; and the
third is from Joshua H. Smith, written in the jail at Goshen. See Note *
on page 752.
"New York, 12th October, 1180.
"Dear Sir,--You will naturally suppose us in great anxiety for our
brother Joshua, though General Arnold assured us that he knew nothing of
his designs, and that he has written to General Washington more than
once asserting his, and the innocence of several others still more
likely to be suspected, from their connections with him, while in his
confidence. Joshua meets with a faithful reward from his old friends.
God Almighty protect him. I hope his relations, at least, have not
deserted him in his afflictions. Our last accounts were, that he was
still in the hands of the army, which appears strange to all here that
have just views of civil liberty, or know any thing of Thomas Smith,
Esq., that that model for a Constitution poor Joshua helped to frame at
Kingston as an improvement upon that under which we were all born.
"Your friends here would be all well, if they thought you were so. Our
sister, Livingston, has spent several weeks with us, and will return
sooner than we wish.
"Your son's health seems at length to be established, and he seems
inclined to winter in South Carolina. I have suspended iny assent to the
voyage till I know your opinion; which ought to come soon, to avoid the
danger of a winter voyage.
"Commend me to all friends. I add no more, from an attention to your
condition in an angry and suspicious hour. God preserve you and yours
through the storm, which I hope is nearly over.
"Ever most affectionately yours, William Smith."
"16th October, 1780.
"Dear Sir,---The inclosed was this moment delivered me by Mrs. Hoffman,
who came out in a Flag via Elizabeth Town, as I wish to receive no
letters from my brother but such as are subject to public inspection. I
have taken the liberty to inclose it for your perusal. The situation in
which the unhappy affair of my brother Joshua has placed me and all the
family, calls for the greatest care to avoid suspicion. I am yours, with
esteem and affection, Thomas Smith.
"His Excellency Governor Clinton.
"P.S. I should be glad, if your house at Windsor is not engaged, to hire
it, as I am determined to quit this place."
"Goshen, Orange County, 19th Nov., 1180.
"Sir,--In pursuance of a warrant of the Commissioners of Conspiracy, I
was on the 12th day of this instant committed to the close custody of
the sheriff of this County. My long and severe confinement before and
during my trial by the court-martial has greatly impaired my health, and
I find my constitution much shattered. I have been subject to repeated
attacks of a bilious colic and an intermittent fever; and am advised
that a close confinement will soon terminate my existence, unless I can
be permitted to use some exercise. I have, therefore, to request some
indulgence on this head, in compassion to my distressed situation.
"As I have never been officially acquainted with the sentence of the
court-martial, I have also to request your Excellency to favor me with a
copy of it by Major Hatfield, and thereby much oblige,
"Your Excellency's most obedient and distressed humble servant,
"His Excellency George Clinton, Esq., &c., Ac. "JOSHUA H. SMITH."
** This was Major Andrê's coat, which that officer exchanged with Smith
for a citizen's dress-coat, as mentioned in the text.
*** Sec page 387 of this volume. .
Arnold's Pass.--Smith's Refusal to take André back to the Vulture.--His
insufficient Excuse.
723up the river, in his own barge, to head-quarters, fully believing
that no obstacle now interposed to frustrate his wicked scheme. Andre
passed the remainder of the day alone, and
as soon as evening came, he applied to Smith to take him back to the
Vulture. Smith positively refused to go, and pleaded illness from ague
as an excuse. If he quaked, it was probably not from ague, but from
fear, wrought by the firing upon the Vulture; for he offered to ride
half the night with Andre, on horseback, if he would take a land route.
Having no other means of reaching the vessel, André was obliged to yield
to the force of circumstances. He con-
Andrè's Exchange of Coats.--He and Smith cross the Hudson.--Smith's
Letter to his Brother.--Ambiguous Memorandum.
724sented to cross King's Ferry to Verplanck's Point, and make his way
back to New York by land. He had been prevailed upon by Arnold, in the
event of his taking a land route (which had been talked of), to exchange
his military coat for a citizen's dress. This act, and the receiving of
papers from Arnold, were contrary to the express orders of Sir Henry
Clinton, but André was obliged to be governed by the unforeseen
circumstances in which he was placed. Smith agreed to attend him on the
way as far as the lower outposts of the American lines. September, 1780
A little before sunset, on the evening of the 22d, accompanied by a
negro servant, they crossed King's Ferry. At dusk, they passed through
the works at Verplanck's
Point, and turned their faces toward White Plains. While they are
pursuing their route toward the Neutral Ground, let us consider events
at the Robinson House, and then resume our own journey. We shall
overtake the travelers presently, when the concluding portion of the
narrative of Arnold's treason will be given.
Arnold's Composure in Presence of his Aids.--Washington's Return from
Hartford.--His Approach to Arnold's Quarters.
725
CHAPTER XXXI.
"Here onward swept thy waves,
When tones, now silent, mingled with their sound,
And the wide shore was vocal with the song
Of hunter chief or lover's gentle strain.
Those pass'd away--forgotten as they pass'd;
But holier recollections dwell with thee.
Here hath immortal Freedom built her proud
And solemn monuments. The mighty dust
Of heroes in her cause of glory fallen,
Hath mingled with the soil, and hallow'd it.
Thy waters in their brilliant path have seen
The desperate strife that won a rescued world,
The deeds of men who live in grateful hearts,
And hymn'd their requiem."
Elizabeth F. Ellet.
ITH such consummate art had General Arnold managed his scheme of
villainy thus far, that not a suspicion of his defection was abroad. He
returned to his quarters at the Robinson House, as we have observed,
toward evening, and after passing a half hour with his wife and child,
and one or two domestics, he conversed freely with his aids-de-camp,
Majors Varick * and Franks, concerning the important information he was
expecting to receive from New York, through a distinguished channel
which he had just opened.
This was on the 22d; the 24th was the day fixed upon for the ascent of
the river by the September, 1780 British, and the surrender of West
Point into the hands of the enemy. Yet, with all this guilt upon his
soul, Arnold was composed, and the day on which his treason was to be
consummated, no change was observed in his usual deportment.
Washington returned from Hartford on the 24th, by the upper route,
through Dutchess county to Fishkill, and thence along the land road by
Philip town. Soon after leaving Fishkill, he met Luzerne, the French
minister, with his suite, on his way to visit Rochambeau. That gentleman
induced the commander-in-chief to turn back and pass the night with him
at Fishkill. Washington and his suite were in the saddle before dawn,
for he was anxious to reach Arnold's quarters by
* Richard Varick, who, before the close of the war, was promoted to
colonel, was a sterling patriot. He admired Arnold as a soldier; and
when that officer's defection became known, Variek was almost insane for
a day or two, so utterly contrary to the whole life of Arnold appeared
the fact. Varick beeame one of Washington's military family near the
close of the war, as his recording secretary. He was mayor of the city
of New York from 1791 to 1801. On the death of John Jay, he was elected
president of the American Bible Society, which office he held until his
death, which occurred at Jersey City, July 30th, 1831, at the age of
seventy-nine years.
Washington's Delay in reaching Arnold's Quarters.--Announcement of
Andrê's Arrest.--Flight of Arnold.--His Wife and Son.
726breakfast time, and they had eighteen miles to ride. The men, with
the baggage, started earlier, and conveyed a notice to Arnold of
Washington's intention to breakfast with him. When opposite West Point,
the commander-in-chief turned his horse down a lane toward the river. La
Fayette, perceiving it, said, "General, you are going in a wrong
direction; you know Mrs. Arnold is waiting breakfast for us, and that
road will take us out of the way." Washington answered, good-naturedly,
"Ah, I know you young men are all in love with Mrs. Arnold, and wish to
get where she is as soon as possible. You may go and take your breakfast
with her, and tell her not to wait for me, for I must ride down and
examine the redoubts on this side of the river, * and will be there in a
short time." The officers, however, did not leave him, except two aids-
de-camp, who rode on, at the general's request, to make known the cause
of the delay.
Breakfast was waiting when the officers arrived, and as soon as it was
ascertained that the commander-in-chief and the other gentlemen would
not be there, Arnold, his family, and the aids-de-camp sat down to
breakfast. Arnold appeared somewhat moody. The enemy had not appeared
according to arrangements, and Washington had returned at least two days
sooner than he anticipated. While they were at table, Lieutenant Allen
came with a letter for Arnold. The general broke the seal hastily, for
he knew by the superscription that it was from Colonel Jameson,
stationed at one of the outposts below. The letter was, indeed, from
that officer; but, instead of conveying the expected intelligence that
the enemy were moving up the river, it informed him that _Major Andre,
of the British army, was a prisoner in his custody!_ ** Arnold's
presence of mind did not forsake him, and, although agitated, his
emotion was not sufficiently manifest to excite the suspicion of those
around him. He informed the aids-de-camp that his immediate attendance
was required at West Point, and desired them to say to General
Washington, when he arrived, that he was unexpectedly called over the
river, and would soon return. He ordered a horse to be made ready, and
then leaving the table, he went up to Mrs. Arnold's chamber, and sent
for her. ****
There was no time to be lost, for another messenger might speedily
arrive with evidence of his treason. In brief and hurried words he told
her that they must instantly part, perhaps forever, for his life
depended on reaching the enemy's lines without detection. Horror-
stricken, the poor young creature, but one year a mother and not two a
bride, swooned and sunk senseless upon the floor. Arnold dared not call
for assistance, but kissing, with lips blasted by words of guilt and
treason, his boy, then sweetly sleeping in angel innocence and purity,
(v) he rushed from the room, mounted a horse belonging
* These redoubts were upon the point, near the rail-way tunnel above
Garrison's Landing.
** This letter was written on the 23d, two days before. The
circumstances of the arrest of André are detailed on page 752 to 758
inclusive.
*** This is a view of the room in the Robinson House in which Arnold was
at breakfast when he received Colonel Jameson's letter announcing the
arrest of Andre. It is preserved in its original style, which is quite
antique. The ceiling is low; the heavy beams are bare; the fire-place
surrounded with neat panel-work, without a mantel-shelf. The door on the
right opens into a small room which Arnold used as an office; the
windows on the left open upon the garden and lawn on the south, from
whence I made the sketch of the house printed on page 708.
**** This chamber is also preserved in its original character. Even the
panel-work over the fire-place has been left unpainted since the
Revolution, in order to preserve some inscriptions made upon it with a
knife. There is carved in bold letters, "G. Wallis, Lieut. VI. Mass.
Reg't."
* (v) This was the only child of Arnold by his second wife, born in the
United States. His name was James Robertson. He entered the British
army, and rose to the rank of colonel of engineers. He was stationed at
Bermuda from 1816 to 1818, and from the last-named year until 1823 was
at Halifax, and the commanding officer of engineers in Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick. While thus in command, he was at St. John's, and, on
going into the house built by his father, in King Street (which is still
standing), wept like a child. His wife was a Miss Goodrich, of the Isle
of Wight. He is a small man, his eyes of remarkable sharpness, and in
features bears a striking resemblance to his father. A gentleman who has
been in service with him, and is intimately acquainted with him, speaks
of him in terms of high commendation, and relates that he expressed a
desire to visit the United States. Since the accession of Queen
Victoria, he has been one of her majesty's aids-de-camp. In 1841, he was
transferred from the engineer's corps, and is now (1846) a major
general, and a knight of the royal Hanoverian Guelphic order.--See
Sabine's Biographical Sketches of American Loyalists.
Arnold's Passage to the Vulture.--Treatment of his Oarsmen.--
Washington's visit to West Point.--Discovery of the Treason.
727to one of the aids of Washington, and hastened toward the river, not
by the winding road that led to the "Beverly Dock," but along a by-way
down a steep hill, which is yet called _Arnold's Path._ At the dock he
entered his barge, and directed the six oarsmen to push out into the
middle of the stream, and pull for Teller's Point. *
Arnold's oarsmen, unconscious of the nature of the general's errand, had
their muscles strengthened by a promise of two gallons of rum, and the
barge glided with unusual speed. He told them he was going on board the
Vulture with a flag, and was obliged to make all possible haste, as he
wished to return in time to meet General Washington at his quarters.
When he passed Verplanck's Point, he displayed a white handkerchief,
which, as a signal of amity, answered for both Colonel Livingston at the
Point, and Captain Sutherland of the Vulture, which lay in sight a few
miles below. They reached the Vulture without interruption, and, after
having introduced himself to Captain Sutherland, Arnold sent for the
coxswain, and informed him that he and his oarsmen were prisoners. They
indignantly asserted their freedom to depart, alleging truly, as they
supposed, that they had come on board under the protection of a flag.
Arnold coolly replied that they must remain on board. Captain Sutherland
would not interfere with Arnold's commands, but, despising his meanness,
he gave the coxswain a parole to go on shore and get such things as he
wanted. This was done, and, when the Vulture arrived in New York, Sir
Henry Clinton set them all at liberty. In this transaction, the inherent
meanness of Arnold's spirit was conspicuous, and made the British
officers regard him with scorn as a reptile unworthy of that esteem
which a high-souled traitor--a traitor because of great personal wrongs-
-might claim.
Washington arrived at Robinson's house shortly after Arnold had left.
Informed that he had gone to West Point, the commander-in-chief took a
hasty breakfast, and concluded not to wait, but go directly over and
meet Arnold there. Hamilton remained behind, and it was arranged that
the general and his suite should return to dinner. While crossing the
river in a barge, Washington expressed his expectation that they would
be greeted with a salute, as General Arnold was at the Point; but, to
his surprise, all was silent when they approached the landing-place.
Colonel Lamb, the commanding officer, who came strolling down a winding
path, was much confused when he saw the barge touch the shore. He
apologized to Washington for the apparent neglect of courtesy, alleging
his entire ignorance of his intended visit. The general was surprised,
and said, "Sir, is not General Arnold here?" "No, sir," replied Colonel
Lamb, "he has not been here these two days, nor have
I heard from him within that time." This awakened the suspicions of
Washington. He proceeded, however, to inspect the several works at West
Point, and at about noon returned to the Beverly Dock, from whence he
had departed.
While ascending from the river, Hamilton was seen approaching with
hurried step and anxious countenance. He conversed with Washington in a
low tone, and returned with him into the house, where he laid several
papers, the damning evidence of Arnold's guilt, before him. These
consisted of the documents given in a preceding chapter, which Arnold
had placed in Andre's hands. They were accompanied by a letter from
Colonel Jameson, and one from André himself. Jameson, uninformed of the
return of Washington from Hartford, had dispatched a messenger thither,
with the papers, to the commander-in-chief. After rid-
* The coxswain on the occasion was James Larvey. The aged Beverly
Garrison, whom I saw at Fort Montgomery, knew him well. He said Larvey
always declared that, had he been aware of Arnold's intention, he would
have steered to Verplanck's Point, even if the traitor had threatened to
blow his brains out.
Washington's presence of Mind.--Condition of Mrs. Arnold.--Attempts to
"head" the Traitor.--His Letters from the Vulture.
728ing almost to Danbury, the messenger heard of the return of
Washington by the upper road, and, hastening back, took the nearest
route to West Point through Lower Salem, where André was in custody. He
thus became the bearer of Andre's letter to Washington. * He arrived at
the Robinson House four hours after the departure of Arnold, and placed
the papers in the hands of Hamilton.
Washington called in Knox and La Fayette for counsel. "Whom can we trust
now?" said the chief, with calmness, while the deepest feeling of sorrow
was evidently at work in his bosom. The condition of Mrs. Arnold, who
was quite frantic with grief and distress in another room, awakened his
liveliest sympathies. He believed her innocent of all previous knowledge
of her husband's treasonable designs, and this gave keenness to the pang
which her sorrows created." Yet he maintained his self-possession, and
calmly said, when dinner was announced, "Come, gentlemen, since Mrs.
Arnold is unwell, and the general is absent, let us sit down without
ceremony."
As soon as the contents of the papers were made known, Washington
dispatched Hamilton on horseback to Verplanck's Point, that preparations
might be made there to stop the traitor. But Arnold had got nearly six
hours' the start of him, the tide was ebbing, and the six strong
oarsmen, prompted by expected reward, had pulled with vigor. When
Hamilton arrived at the Point, a flag of truce was approaching from the
Vulture to that post. The bearer brought a letter from Arnold to
Washington, which Hamilton forwarded to the commander-in-chief, and then
wrote to General Greene at Tappan, advising him to take precautionary
measures to prevent any movement of the enemy in carrying out the
traitor's projects. The failure of the plot was not known to Sir Henry
Clinton until the arrival of the Vulture at New York the next morning,
and then he had no disposition to venture an attack upon the Americans
in the Highlands, now thoroughly awake to the danger that had
threatened.
Arnold's letter to Washington was written to secure protection for his
wife and child. "I have no favor to ask for myself," he said; "I have
too often experienced the ingratitude of my country to attempt it; but,
from the known humanity of your excellency, I am induced to ask your
protection for Mrs. Arnold from every insult and injury that a mistaken
vengeance of my countrymen may expose her to. It ought to fall only on
me. She is as good and innocent as an angel, and is incapable of doing
wrong." In this letter Arnold avowed his love for his country, and
declared that that sentiment actuated him in his present
* This letter of Andre's is a model of frankness, and exhibits the
highest regard for truth and honor. After revealing his name and
character, and relating the circumstances under which he was lured
within the American lines without his knowledge or consent, and
mentioning his capture, he says, "Thus, as I have had the honor to
relate, was I betrayed (being adjutant general of the British army) into
the vile condition of an enemy in disguise within your posts." He
disavowed any intention of being a spy, and asked, as a favor, that he
should not be branded as such, he "being involuntarily an impostor." He
further requested the privilege of sending an open letter to Sir Henry
Clinton, and another to a friend, for linen; and concluded by intimating
that there were several American prisoners who were taken at Charleston
for whom he might be exchanged.
** "She, for a considerable time," says Hamilton, in a vivid description
of the scene, "entirely lost herself. The general went up to see her.
She upbraided him with being in a plot to murder her child. One moment
she raved; another, she melted into tears. Sometimes she pressed her
infant to her bosom, and lamented its fate, occasioned by the imprudence
of its father, in a manner that would have pierced insensibility itself.
All the sweetness of beauty, all the loveliness of innocence, all the
tenderness of a wife, and all the fondness of a mother, showed
themselves in her appearance and conduct. We have every reason to
believe that she was entirely unacquainted with the plan, and that the
first knowledge of it was when Arnold went to tell her he must banish
himself from his country and from her forever. She instantly fell into
convulsions, and he left her in that situation." Mr. Leake, the
biographer of Colonel John Lamb, basing his opinion upon information
received from Arnold's sister Hannah, in 1801, regards this scene as
only a trick to deceive, and believes that Arnold's wife was the chief
instrument in bringing about the defection of her husband. Hannah Arnold
averred that the traitor's wife received a pension from the Queen of
England during her life.--See Life of John Lamb, by Isaac Q. Leake, p.
270. I can not but regard the inference of Mr. Leake as untenable. It
was certainly consoling to the feelings of Hannah Arnold to believe that
the influence of another, and not his own base principles, was the
source of the defection and disgrace of her brother.
Beverly Robinson's Letter to Washington.--The Army at Tappan put in
Motion.--André ordered to West Point
729conduct. "In short," says Sparks, "the malignant spirit, impudence,
and blunted moral feeling shown in this letter were consistent with his
character. Attachment to his wife was the only redeeming quality which
seemed not to be extinguished." *
Washington also received a letter from Beverly Robinson, dated on board
the Vulture, demanding, in mild terms, the release of André, claiming it
as equitable, he being on shore with a flag of truce at the request of
General Arnold. Robinson attempted to influence the mind of the chief by
referring to their former friendship, but the letter had not the least
effect upon Washington's firmness of purpose. He was ignorant of the
extent of defection, and his thoughts and efforts were first directed to
measures of security. He had a most delicate task to perform. He might
suspect the innocent, and give his confidence to the unworthy. He
resolved, as the least dangerous course, to confide unreservedly in all
his officers, and this resolution, promptly acted upon, had a very
salutary effect. **
Washington sent orders to General Greene, directing him to put the left
wing of the army, near Tappan, in motion as soon as possible, and march
toward King's Ferry. It was midnight when the express reached Greene's
quarters; before dawn the whole division was upon the march. The
commander-in-chief also dispatched a letter to Colonel Jameson,
directing him to send Andre to Robinson's house under a strong guard.
This messenger also reached his destination at Lower Salem, at midnight.
Andre was aroused, and, although the rain was falling fast, and the
night was exceedingly dark, a guard, under Major Tallmadge, set off with
the prisoner immediately. They rode all night, and arrived at Robinson's
house at dawn on the 26th. André was taken over to West Point the same
September, 1780 evening, and on the morning of the 28th was conveyed,
under a strong escort of cavalry, to Tappan, where he was tried and
convicted as a spy. This event will be noticed in connection with the
details of his capture. For the present, my tour leads me to the
consideration of other important transactions within cannon-echo of the
_Sugar Loaf_, at whose base we are standing, and up whose steep sides I
was desirous of climbing, to view the prospect so glowingly depicted by
the pen of Dr. Dwight; *** but recollecting that the venerable boatman
was awaiting my return, I exchanged a hasty adieu with Lieutenant Arden,
and hastened back to the Beverly Dock by way of _Arnold's, Path_. There
I found the old waterman quietly
* Inclosed in the letter to Washington was one for Mrs. Arnold, who,
when thus made acquainted of her husband's safety, became more quiet.
She was treated with great tenderness by Washington, and was soon
afterward sent to New York under an escort, and joined her husband. Her
affection survived his honor, and through all his subsequent career she
exemplified the character of a true woman's love, which often "Clings
like ivy to a worthless thing."
** The position of Colonel Livingston at Verplanck's Point, with some
circumstances that appeared suspicious, made him liable to be
distrusted, for it might fairly be presumed that he was directly or
indirectly concerned in Arnold's movements. By a brief letter,
Washington ordered Livingston to come to head-quarters immediately.
Conscious of his integrity, that officer promptly obeyed, but he
expected his conduct would be subjected to a strict investigation.
Washington made no inquiries. He told him that he had more explicit
orders to give than he could well communicate by letter, and that was
the object of calling him to the Highlands. "It is a source of
gratification to me," said the commander-in-chief, "that the post was in
the hands of an officer so devoted as yourself to the cause of your
country." Washington's confidence, was not misplaced, for there was not
a purer patriot in that war than Henry Livingston.
*** Dwight's Travels in New England.
**** This view is taken from the Hudson River rail-road, looking north.
The dock, covered with cord wood, is seen near the point on the left. It
is at the termination of a marsh, near the point of a bold, rocky
promontory, through which is a deep rock cutting for the road. The
distant hills on the extreme left are on the west side of the Hudson;
and through the gorge formed for the road may be seen the military
edifices of West Point.
Buttermilk Falls.--Ride to Fort Montgomery.--Mrs. Rose.--A speculating
Daughter.
730fishing, and apparently unconscious that two hours had elapsed since
we parted. He locked his oars, and in a few minutes we were at the foot
of Buttermilk Falls. I clambered up the steep, rough road under the
cliff, to the village, dined at a late hour upon cold mutton and stale
bread, and in a light wagon, procured with difficulty for the occasion,
set off, with a boy driver, for Fort Montgomery, about four miles below.
For half the distance the road (which is the old military one of the
Revolution) was smooth; the residue of the way was as rough as rocks and
gulleys could make it. On every side huge bowlders, many of them ten
feet in diameter, lie scattered over the bare flat rocks, like fruit
shaken from a tree in autumn. They become more numerous toward the base
of the steep mountain range on the west, where they lie in vast masses,
like mighty pebbles rolled up by the waves upon the shore. Here the
geologist has a wonderful page spread out for his contemplation.
Within a short distance of Fort Montgomery, we turned up a rough
mountain road to visit an old lady named Rebecca Rose, eighty years of
age, who lived close by Fort Montgomery at the time it was taken by the
enemy. I found her upon a bed of sickness, too feeble then to converse,
but at a subsequent visit she was well and communicative. She was a
child only seven or eight years old, and has no distinct recollection of
events at the taking of the forts, except her care and anxiety in
concealing her rag babies in a sap trough, while her parents were hiding
their property in the woods. Her father was a tanner and shoemaker, in
the employ of the garrison at the two forts. The British tried to
frighten him into the performance of the duty of a guide for them, by
twice hauling him up to an apple-tree with a halter around his neck. He
resolutely defied them, and they passed on. From the cottage of Mrs.
Rose, among the hills, is one of the most magnificent views of rock and
forest, cliff and river, imaginable; overlooking Forts Montgomery and
Clinton, the Race flanked by Anthony's Nose and the Dunderberg, and the
fertile hills of West Chester in the distance.
Near Mrs. Rose lived an old soldier who was wounded at the siege of Fort
Montgomery. I found him living with his daughter, a little plump widow
of fifty, in a cottage beside a clear stream that comes leaping down
from the hills. He was a private in Captain De Vere's company, Colonel
Dubois's regiment, and was bayoneted in the thigh when the enemy made
their way over the ramparts of Fort Montgomery and fought the garrison
hand to hand. Although nearly ninety years old, he was vigorous and
talked sensibly. I asked the privilege of sketching his portrait, which
he readily granted, and I was about unlocking my port-folio for the
purpose, when his daughter, resting upon a broom handle, and assuming
the shrewd look of a speculator, inquired, "What'll ye give?" "For
what?" I inquired. "For daddy's likeness," she answered. Unacquainted
with the market value of such commodities, and being doubtful as to the
present sample possessing much intrinsic worth, I made the indefinite
offer of "What is right."
"No, no," she said, tuning her voice to a higher key, and beginning to
sweep the floor vigorously, "you sha'n't look at him till you tell me
what you'll give. We've been cheated enough a'ready. Two scamps come
along here last week, and told my darter they'd make a likeness on her
for their breakfasts, and they on'y guv her a 'nasty piece of black
paper, that had a nose no more like sis's than that tea-pot spout. No,
sir; give me a half a dollar, or clear out quick!" The more fortunate
silhouettists had evidently ruined my prospects for a gratuitous sitting
of the old soldier; and feeling very doubtful whether the demanded half
dollar, if paid, would add a mite to his comforts, I respectfully
declined giving the price. The filial regard of the dear woman was
terribly shocked, and she called me a cheat and other hard names. I
shook hands with the old "Continentaler" as I rose to depart, and
turning quietly to the dame, who was yet sweeping around the room in a
towering passion, invited her to sit for her portrait! This produced a
climax; she seized the broom by the brush; I saved my head by closing
the door between us. I walked off unscathed and much amused, in the
midst of a perfect
Sites of Forts Clinton and Montgomery.--Lake Sinnipink.--Beverly
Garrison.
731shower of grape-shot from her tongue-battery, compelled to content
myself with a pen and ink sketch of the hornet instead of the one I had
asked for.
We descended the hills, and proceeded to the site of Fort Montgomery, a
rough promontory on the north side of Peploap's, or Poplopen's, Kill. *
It terminates in a steep cliff at the mouth of the stream, and was an
admirable situation for a strong fortress to command the river. Almost
the entire line of the fortifications may be traced upon the brow of the
cliff, which is rocky, and bare of every thing but stinted grass and
dwarf cedars. More than half way down to the water's edge are the
remains of the two-gun-battery which was placed there to cover the chain
and chevaux de frise which were stretched across the river from the
upper side of Poplopen's Kill to Anthony's Nose.
We crossed to the southern side of the stream, and clambered up a
winding and romantic pathway among cedars, chestnuts, and sassafras, to
the high table land whereon stood Fort Clinton, within rifle shot of
Fort Montgomery. A fine mansion, belonging to Mrs. Pell, with cultivated
grounds around it, occupy the area within the ravelins of the old fort.
The banks of the fortress have been leveled, its fossé filled up, and
not a vestige of it remains. About a quarter of a mile west of Mrs.
Pell's is Lake Sinnipink, a small sheet of crystal water, surrounded by
the primitive forest, and as wild in its accompaniments as when the
Indian cast his bait in its deep waters.
From its western rim rises the highest peak of Bear Mountain to an
altitude of more than a thousand feet. The lake itself is one hundred
and twenty-three feet above the river.
Near the north end of Lake Sinnipink, on the river slope of the hills,
stands the cottage of the aged Beverly Garrison, a hale old man of
eighty-seven years. He was a stout lad of fourteen when the forts were
taken. His father, who worked a great deal for Beverly Robinson, and
admired him, named this boy in honor of that gentleman. When the British
approached the
* This kill, or creek, is the dividing line between the towns of Monroe
and Cornwall, in Orange county. Its correct orthography is uncertain.
Upon a map of the State of New York made in 1779 it is called Cop-lap's
Kill; in the British plan of the engagements there, of which the map
given on page 166 is a copy, it is spelled Peploap's; Romans, who was
engaged in the construction of the forts, wrote it Pooploop's.
** This view is from an eminence near the mountain road, about three
quarters of a mile in the rear of Fort Montgomery. In the distance, the
cultivated slopes of West Chester, between Peekskill and Ver-planck's
Point, are seen. On the left is the high, rocky promontory called
Anthony's Nose; on the right is the Dunderberg, with a portion of
Beveridge's Island; the buildings in the center of the picture, owned by
Mrs. Pells indicate the site of Fort Clinton; toward the right is seen
the deep ravine through which flows Poplopen's Creek, and on the extreme
right, partly hidden by the tree in the foreground, and fronting the
river, is the site of Fort Montgomery. The scenery from this point of
view is indeed magnificent This picture is from a pencil sketch by Tice,
who accompanied me to the spot.
*** This view is from the outlet of the lake, within a few rods of the
spot where a large number of the Americans and British were slain in a
preliminary skirmish on the afternoon when the forts were taken. The
bodies were thrown into the lake, and from that circumstance it was
afterward called Bloody Pond.
Mr. Garrison's Recollections.--"Captain Molly."--Character of Forts
Clinton and Montgomery.--Chevaux de frise.
732forts, Beverly and his father, who was wagon-master at Fort
Montgomery, were ordered to take a large iron cannon to the outworks on
the neck of the promontory. While thus engaged, they were made
prisoners; but Beverly, being a boy, was allowed his liberty.
He told me that he was standing on the ramparts of Fort Montgomery on
the morning when Arnold passed by, in his barge, fleeing to the Vulture,
and that he recognized the general, as well as Larvey, his coxswain. He
also informed me that a Tory, named Brom Springster, piloted the enemy
over the Dunderberg to the forts. Brom afterward became a prisoner to
the patriots, but his life was spared on condition that he should pilot
Wayne on his expedition over the same rugged hills to attack Stony
Point. Mr. Garrison remembered the famous Irish woman called _Captain
Molly_, the wife of a cannon-ier, who worked a field-piece at the battle
of Monmouth, on the death of her husband. She generally dressed in the
petticoats of her sex, with an artilleryman's coat over. She was in Fort
Clinton, with her husband, when it was attacked. When the Americans
retreated from the fort, as the enemy scaled the ramparts, her husband
dropped his match and fled. Molly caught it up, touched off the piece,
and then scampered off. It was the last gun fired by the Americans in
the fort. Mrs. Rose (just mentioned) remembers her as _Dirty Kate_,
living between Fort Montgomery and Buttermilk Falls, at the close of the
war, where she died a horrible death from the effects of a syphilitic
disease. I shall have occasion to refer to this bold camp-follower, whom
Washington honored with a sergeant's commission for her bravery on the
field of Monmouth, nearly nine months afterward, when reviewing the
events of that battle.
Here, by the clear spring which bubbles up near the cottage of the old
patriot, and in the shadow of Bear Mountain, behind which the sun is
declining, let us glance at the Revolutionary history of this region.
Forts Clinton and Montgomery were included in the Highland
fortifications ordered to be constructed in 1775--6. These, like Fort
Constitution, were commenced by Bernard Romans, assisted by skillful
French engineers, and were finally completed under the superintendence
of Captain Thomas Machin. Fort Montgomery was of sufficient size to
accommodate eight hundred men; Fort Clinton was only about half as
large.
They were built of stones and earth, and were completed in the spring of
1776. Pursuant to a recommendation of Romans, made the previous autumn,
preparations were made to place obstructions in the river from the mouth
of Poplopen's, or Peploap's Kill, to Anthony's Nose, opposite. These
obstructions, which were not completed until the autumn of 1777, just
before the forts were attacked, consisted of a very strong boom, and
heavy iron chain. * The latter, eighteen in length, was hundred feet
buoyed up by heavy spars, connected by iron links, and also by large
rafts of timber. It was believed that these obstructions, covered by the
guns of the fort, and accompanied by several armed vessels, would be
sufficient to effectually prevent the enemy from ascending the river.
The result, however, was otherwise.
* Generals Knox and Greene visited Fort Montgomery in the spring of
1777, in company with Generals Wayne, M'Dougal, and Clinton. They made a
joint report to Washington, in which they recommended the completion of
the obstructions substantially as they were afterward done. The boom and
the chevaux de frise so obstructed the current of the river (here very
strong), that the water was raised two or three feet above them, and
pressed upon them heavily. Twice the chain was parted by this pressure:
first, a swivel, which came from Ticonderoga, was broken; and the second
time a clevis, which was made at Poughkeepsie, gave way.
Condition of the British Forces.--Putnam's intended Expedition.--Sir
Henry Clinton's Stratagem.--Landing of British Troops.
733When Burgoyne found himself environed with difficulties at Saratoga,
and perceived the rapid augmentation of the American army under Gates,
he dispatched messengers to Sir Henry Clinton, then commanding at New
York in the absence of General Howe, * urging him to make a diversion in
his favor, and join him, if possible, with a force sufficient to scatter
the half-disciplined provincials. Clinton was eager to comply; but a re-
enforcement of troops from Europe, expected for several weeks, was still
delayed. This force, amounting to almost two thousand men, under General
Robertson, arrived at the beginning of October. Having sailed in Dutch
bottoms, they were three months on the voyage. The 1777 first battle of
Stillwater had now been fought, and the second was nigh at hand. Putnam
was in the Highlands, with fifteen hundred men; his head-quarters were
at Peekskill. Washington had drawn upon Putnam, toward the close of
September, for twenty-five hundred troops, to aid in defending
Philadelphia and the works on the Delaware, then menaced by the enemy.
** Their places were supplied by militia of New York and Connecticut;
but, apprehending no hostile movement up the Hudson, Putnam had
discharged about one thousand of them, leaving his effective force only
fifteen hundred strong. Forts Clinton and Montgomery, commanded by the
brothers James and George Clinton, were feebly garrisoned; in both
fortresses there were not more than six hundred men, chiefly militia
from Dutchess and Ulster. There was a fortification near Peekskill,
called Fort Independence, which was also feebly garrisoned; in fact, the
Highland posts were almost defenseless against a respectable
demonstration on the part of the enemy.
On the arrival of re-enforcements, Sir Henry Clinton prepared for an
expedition up the Hudson, partly for the purpose of destroying American
stores at Peekskill, but chiefly to make a diversion in favor of
Burgoyne. On Saturday evening, the 4th of October, he proceeded up the
river in flat boats and transports, with about five thousand men, 1777
and landed at Tarrytown, nearly thirty miles from New York. ** This was
a feint to deceive General Putnam into the belief that Peekskill was his
destination. To strengthen this belief, and to divert Putnam's attention
from the Highland forts, Clinton proceeded on Sunday, with three
thousand troops, to Verplanck's Point, eight miles below Peekskill,
where he debarked. General Putnam fell back, on his approach, to the
high ground in the rear of Peekskill, and sent a messenger to Governor
Clinton, desiring him to send to his aid as many troops as he could
spare from the forts. The militia in the vicinity rallied around Putnam,
and he had about two thousand men, on the afternoon of the 5th, to
dispute the progress of the enemy up the Hudson, either by land or
water. Sir Henry Clinton perceived that his stratagem was successful,
and the next morning, under cover of a fog, he passed two thousand of
his troops over to Stony Point, whence they made their way among the
tangled defiles and lofty crags of the Dunderberg to Forts Clinton and
Montgomery, twelve miles distant. The transports were anchored near
Stony Point, and the corps of Loyalists, under Colonels Bayard and
Fanning, remained at Verplanck's Point. A detachment was left near Stony
Point, to guard the pass and preserve a communication with the fleet.
Three frigates, the Tartar, Preston, and Mercury, proceeded up the river
to a position between what is now known as Caldwell's Landing and Fort
Independence, and within cannon-shot of the latter.
Governor Clinton received advices on Sunday night of the arrival of the
enemy's ships and transports at Tarrytown, and, on Monday morning, a
scouting party of one hundred
* General Howe was now in Pennsylvania. His army was encamped at
Germantown, and being in possession of Philadelphia, he had established
his headquarters in that city.
** When this requisition was made, Putnam was preparing a plan for
attacking the enemy at four different points: Staten Island. Long
Island, Paulus's Hook, and New York. He relied upon the militia of
Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, to accomplish his designs.
Fortunately, Washington made his requisition in time to prevent what
must have proved a disastrous expedition.
*** Colonel Luddington was posted at Tarrytown with about five hundred
militia. Clinton sent a flag with a peremptory summons for them to
surrender themselves prisoners of war. While parleying with the flag the
enemy endeavored to surround the militia, which Luddington perceiving,
he ordered a retreat. The British then returned to their shipping.
Governor Clinton informed of the Landing of the British.--A
reconnoitering Party.--Skirmish near Doodletown.
734men under Major Logan, which he had sent to the Dunderberg to watch
the motions of the enemy, returned with information that about forty
boats, filled with troops, had landed near Stony Point. Another party of
thirty men was sent out upon the mountain road leading from Fort Clinton
to Haverstraw; and at a place called Doodletown, three miles south from
the fort, they fell in with the advanced guard of the approaching
British. The Americans were ordered to surrender, but refused, when the
enemy fired upon them. They returned the fire with spirit, and retreated
to the fort without losing a man.
The design of the enemy was now apparent. It was past noon, and no
intelligence had been received from Putnam. Clinton had dispatched a
messenger to that officer, requesting him to send him a strong
* This view is from Peekskill landing, looking up the river. On the left
is the Dunderberg, or Thunder Mountain, over which the troops marched to
Forts Clinton and Montgomery. The dark spot on the brink of the river,
upon the extreme left, shows the place of the coffer-dam made by the
deluded seekers after Captain Kidd's treasure. At the water's edge, on
the right, is seen the grading of the Hudson River railroad, in course
of construction when the sketch was made. The dark mountain on the right
is Anthony's Nose. Intermediately, and projecting far into the river, is
a high, sandy bluff, on which stood Fort Independence. Further on is
Beveridge's Island; and in the extreme distance, behind the flag-staff,
is seen Bear Mountain. Between the point of Fort Independence and the
rock cutting of the rail-road is the mouth of the Peek's Kill, or Peek's
Creek. The Plan of the attack here given is copied from the narrative of
Stedman, a British officer, and appears to be mainly correct. The reader
may correct the slight errors by the text.
Treachery of a Messenger.--Putnam deceived.--Skirmish near Fort
Montgomery.--Forts ordered to be Surrendered.
735re-enforcement to defend the forts. The messenger, whose name was
Waterbury, treacherously delayed his journey, and the next day deserted
to the enemy. In the mean while, Putnam, astonished at hearing nothing
further from the enemy, rode to reconnoiter, and did not return to his
head-quarters, near Continental Village, until after the firing was
heard on the other side of the river. Colonel Humphreys, who was alone
at head-quarters when the firing began, urged Colonel Wyllys, the senior
officer in camp, to send all the men not on duty to Fort Montgomery. *
He immediately complied, but it was too late. It was twilight before
they reached the river, and the enemy had then accomplished their
purpose.
The British army, piloted by a Tory, traversed the Dunderberg in a
single column, and at its northern base separated into two divisions.
One division, under Lieutenant-colonel Campbell, consisting of nine
hundred men, was destined for the attack on Fort Montgomery; the other,
under the immediate command of Sir Henry Clinton, and consisting of an
equal number, was to storm Fort Clinton. There was a large body of
Hessians in each division. Governor Clinton, on hearing of the attack
upon his scouts near Doodletown, sent out a detachment of more than one
hundred men, under Colonels Bruyn and M'Claghrey, ** with a brass field-
piece and sixty men, to an advantageous post on the road to Orange
furnace. As the enemy approached, another detachment of one hundred men
was sent to the same point, but they were pressed back by the bayonets
of a superior force, and retreated to a twelve-pounder in the rear,
leaving their guns (which they spiked) in possession of the assailants.
With the second cannon they did great execution, until it bursted, when
they retreated to Fort Montgomery, followed by Emerick's corps of
chasseurs, a corps of Loyalists and New York volunteers, and the fifty-
second and fifty-seventh British regiments, under Campbell. The pursued
kept up a galling fire with small-arms while on their retreat, and slew
many of the enemy.
Sir Henry Clinton, in the mean while, made his way toward Fort Clinton
with much difficulty, for upon a narrow pass between the Sinnipink Lake
at the foot of Bear Mountain and the high river bank was a strong
_abatis_. ** This was overcome after much hard fighting, and at about
four o'clock both forts were invested by the enemy. Sir Henry Clinton
sent a flag, with a summons for both garrisons to surrender prisoners of
war within five minutes, or they would all be put to the sword.
Lieutenant-colonel Livingston was sent by Governor Clinton to receive
the flag, and to inform the enemy that the Americans were determined to
defend the forts to the last extremity. The action was immediately
renewed
* See Humphreys's Life of Putnam. This detachment seems to have been
mistaken by Stedman for the whole army under Putnam, for on his map, at
the top, he says, "General Putnam with 2000 men endeavoring to cross the
river."
** In connection with a notice of Colonel M'Claghrey, who was made a
prisoner at the capture of the fort, Mr. Eager, in his History of Orange
County, makes a slight error. He says he was taken to New York, and
confined in the Hospital. In the room above him, he affirms, was Colonel
Ethan Allen, who had been a prisoner in the hands of the British since
the autumn of 1775. The floor between them was full of wide cracks,
through one of which M'Claghrcy, who had heard of the capture of
Burgoyne, passed a scrap of paper to Allen, on which he had written the
information. Allen immediately went to his window, and called out to
some British officers passing in the street, "Burgoyne has marched to
Boston to the tune of Yankee Doodle." "For this and other offenses, we
believe," says Mr. Eager, "Allen was sent to England in chains." Quite
the contrary. He was sent to England in irons two years before, and had
returned to New York, where he was admitted to his parole. In January,
1777, he was ordered to reside on Long Island; and in August following
he was sent to the provost jail, where he remained until exchanged in
May, 1778.
*** These abatis were placed on the margin of the outlet of Lake
Sinipink, near its center, the place from which the view on page 731 was
sketched.
Attack on Forts Clinton and Montgomery.--Flight of the Americans.--
Destruction of Vessels and the Chevaux de frise.
736with great vigor on both sides. The British vessels under Commodore
(afterward Admiral) Hotham approached within cannon shot of the forts,
and opened a desultory fire upon them, and on some American vessels
lying above the _chevaux de frise_. * At the same time, Count Grabowski,
a brave Pole, and Lord Rawdon, led the grenadiers to the charge on Fort
Montgomery. The battle continued until twilight, when the superior
number of the assailants obliged the patriots at both forts to give way,
and attempt a scattered retreat or escape. It was a cloudy evening, and
the darkness came on suddenly. This favored the Americans in their
flight, and a large proportion of those who escaped the slaughter of the
battle made their way to the neighboring mountains in safety.
The brothers who commanded the forts escaped. General James Clinton was
severely wounded in the thigh by a bayonet, but escaped to the
mountains, and reached his residence in Orange county, sixteen miles
distant, the next day, where he was joined by his brother George, and
about two hundred of the survivors of the battle. Lieutenant-colonels
Livingston, Bruyn, and Claghery, and Majors Hamilton and Logan, were
made prisoners. The loss of the Americans in killed, wounded, and
prisoners, was about three hundred; that of the British about one
hundred and forty in killed and wounded, among whom were Colonel
Campbell and Count Grabowski. **
Above the boom the Americans had two frigates, two galleys, and an armed
sloop. On the fall of the forts, the crews of these vessels spread their
sails, and, slipping their cables, attempted to escape up the river, but
the wind was adverse, and they were obliged to abandon them. They set
them on fire when they left, to prevent their falling into the hands of
the enemy. "The flames suddenly broke forth, and, as every sail was set,
the vessels soon became magnificent pyramids of fire. The reflection on
the steep face of the opposite mountain, and the long train of ruddy
light which shone upon the water for a prodigious distance, had a
wonderful effect; while the ear was awfully filled with the continued
echoes from the rocky shores, as the flames gradually reached the loaded
cannons. The whole was sublimely terminated by the explosions, which
left all again in darkness." *** Early in the morning October 1777 the
obstructions in the river, which had cost the Americans a quarter of a
million of dollars, Continental money, were destroyed by the British
fleet. Fort Constitution, opposite West Point, was abandoned, passage up
the Hudson. Vaughan and Wallace marauding expedition, and, as we have
before noticed, burned Kingston, or Esopus. It was deemed too late to
assist Burgoyne by a junction with him, for on that very day the second
battle of Stillwater, so disastrous to that commander, was fought; ten
days afterward he and his whole army were captives. Yet the fall of the
Highland forts was a serious blow to the Americans, for quite a large
quantity of ordnance and ammunition was collected there. ****
* An account in the Annual Register for 1778 says that the British
galleys approached so near the forts that the men could touch the walls
with their oars! Both forts were upon a precipice more than one hundred
feet above the water, rather beyond the reach of oars of ordinary
length.
** Count Grabowski fell at the foot of the ramparts of Fort Montgomery,
pierced by three bullets. He gave his sword to a grenadier, with a
request that he would convey it to Lord Rawdon, with the assurance of
the owner that he died as a brave soldier ought to.--Stedman, i., 362. A
pile of stones still marks the burial-place of the count.
*** Stedman, i., 364.
**** The Americans lost 67 cannons in the forts, and over 30 in the
vessels, making a total of more than 100 pieces. Also, 54 casks, 11 half
barrels, and 12,236 pounds of loose powder, exclusive of what was in the
vessels. There were also 1852 cannon cartridges, and 57,396 for muskets.
Also, 9530 round cannon shot, 886 double-headed, 2483 grape and case,
and 36 cwt. of langridge; 1279 pounds of musket balls, 116 pounds of
buck shot, and 5400 flints. In addition to these were stores of various
kinds, such as gun-carriages, port-fires, tools, &c., in great plenty.
Evening Voyage in a Fisherman's Shallop.--Anthony's Nose.--Peekskill.--
Situation of the Village
737It was almost sunset when I left the ruins of Fort Montgomery to seek
for a waterman to carry me to Peekskill, on the east side of the river,
four miles distant. The regular ferryman was absent on duty, and after
considerable search, I procured, with difficulty, the services of a
fisherman to bear me to the distant village. We embarked at twilight--a
glorious Indian summer twilight--the river as calm as a lake of the
valley.
"The Dunderberg sat silently beneath
The snowy clouds, that Form'd a vapory wreath
Above its peak. The Hudson swept along
Its mighty waters--oh! had I a pen
Endued with master gifts and genius, then
Might I aspire to tell its praise in song."
Thomas MacKellar.
The boat was a scaly affair, and the piscatory odor was not very
agreeable; nevertheless. I had no alternative, and, turning my eyes and
nose toward the glowing heavens, I tried to imagine myself in a rose-
scented caique in the Golden Horn. I had half succeeded, when three or
four loud explosions, that shook the broad mountains and awoke an
hundred echoes, broke the charm, and notified me that I was in a
fisherman's shallop, and a little too near for safety to St. Anthony's
Nose, * where the constructors of the Hudson River rail-road, then
working day and night, were blasting an orifice through that nasal
feature of the Highlands. We sheered off toward the Dunderberg, and,
shooting across Peekskill Bay, with the tide flowing strongly down its
eastern rim, I landed in time for a warm supper at the "Atlantic."
Early on the morning of the 27th I made the sketch from Peekskill
landing October, 1848 printed on page 166, and then walked up to the
village on the slopes and hills, by a steep winding way that overlooks a
deep ravine, wherein several iron founderies are nestled. The town is
romantically situated among the hills, and from some of its more
prominent points of view there are magnificent prospects of the river
and Highland scenery in the vicinity. Here, spreading out south and east
for miles around, was the ancient manor of Cortlandt,3 stretching along
and far above the whole eastern shore of Haverstraw Bay, and extending
back to the Connecticut line. The manor house, near the mouth of the
Croton River, is yet standing. Within Peekskill village, opposite the
West Chester County Bank, is the old Bird-sail residence, a part of
which, as seen in the picture upon the next page, is a grocery store.
This building was erected by Daniel Birdsall, one of the founders of the
village. His store was the first one erected there. *** The owner and
occupant, when I visited it, was a son of
* This is a high rocky promontory, rising to an altitude of twelve
hundred and eighty feet above the level of the river, and situated
directly opposite Fort Montgomery. The origin of its name is uncertain.
The late proprietor of the land, General Pierre Van Cortlandt, says,
that before the Revolution, as Captain Anthony Hogans, the possessor of
a remarkable nose, was sailing near the place, in his vessel, his mate
looked rather quizzically first at the hill, and then at the captain's
nose. The captain comprehended the silent allusion, and said, "Does that
look like my nose? If it does, call it Anthony's Nose, if you please."
The story got abroad on shore, and it has since borne that name.
Washington Irving, in his authentic history of New York, by Diedrich
Knickerbocker, gives it an earlier origin. He says that while the fiery-
nosed Anthony Van Corlear, the trumpeter of one of the Dutch governors,
was standing one morning upon the deck of an exploring vessel, while
passing this promontory, a ray of the sun, darting over the peak, struck
the broad side of the trumpeter's nose, and, glancing off into the
water, killed a sturgeon! What else could the hill be called, under the
circumstances, but Anthony's Nose?
** The Courtlandts, or Van Courtlandts, are descended from a noble
Russian family. The orthography, in the Dutch language, is properly
korte-landt, meaning short land, a term expressing the peculiar form of
the ancient duchy of Courland in Russia. This domain constituted a
portion of Livonia, but was conquered by the Teutonic knights in 1561,
and subsequently became a fief of Poland. It remained a short time
independent, under its own dukes, after the fall of that power, but in
1795 it was united to Russia. The dukes of Courland were represented in
1610 by the Right Honorable Steven Van Cortlandt, then residing at
Cortlandt, in South Holland. He was the father of Oloff Stevenson Van
Cortlandt, the first lord of the manor, of that name, on the Hudson.
*** The first settlement at Peekskill commenced one mile north of the
present village, near the head waters of the creek. The name is derived
from John Peck, one of the early Dutch navigators, who, mistaking the
creek for the course of the river, ran his yacht ashore where the first
settlement was commenced. The settlement of the present village was
commenced in 1764.--Bolton's History of West Chester, i., 63.
The Birdsall House.--An Octogenarian.--Oak Hill.--Van Cortlandt House.--
Philip Van Cortlandt
738the first owner, and was then eighty years of age. His lady, many
years his junior, kindly showed me the different apartments made
memorable by the presence and occupancy of distinguished men in the
Revolution.
It was occupied by Washington when the head-quarters of the army were
there; and the rooms are pointed out which were used by the chief and La
Fayette as sleeping apartments. Chairs, a table, and an old clock which
has told the hours for more than eighty years, are still there; and in
the parlor where Whitefield once preached, I sat and sketched one of the
pieces of this venerable furniture. This old mansion, projecting into
and marring the regularity of the street, is an eyesore to the
villagers, and when the present owner shall depart, no doubt this relic
will be removed by the desecrating hand of improvement.
On leaving the Birdsall House, I proceeded to visit another octogenarian
named Sparks, whose boyhood and long life have been passed in Peekskill.
I found him sitting in the sun, upon his stoop, reading a newspaper
without glasses, and his little grandson, a fair-haired child, playing
at his feet. For an hour I sat and listened to his tales of the olden
times, and of scenes his eyes had witnessed. He had often seen
Washington and his suite at the Birdsall House, and well remembers
Putnam, Heath, M'Dougall, and other officers whose quarters were at
Peekskill. He never became a soldier, and saw only one battle during the
war. That occurred near the Van Cortlandt House, two miles east of
Peekskill, between some American pickets at the foot of Gallows Hill,
and a picket guard of the enemy at the base of the eminences opposite.
They were too near each other to keep quiet, and a skirmish at length
ensued. "They made a great smoke and noise," said Mr. Sparks, "but
nobody was hurt except by fright." Pointing to a huge oak standing near
the Peekskill Academy on Oak Hill, and in full view of our resting-
place, he related the circumstance of the execution of a British spy,
named Daniel Strang, upon that tree. He was a Tory, and was found
lurking about the American army at Peekskill with enlisting orders sewed
up in his clothes. I left the vigorous old man to enjoy the warm
sunlight and his newspaper alone, and procuring a conveyance, rode out
to Van Cortlandt's house; the church-yard, where rest the remains of one
of Andre's captors; Gallows Hill, famous as the camping-ground of Putnam
for a short period during the Revolution, and to Continental Village,
the scene of one of Tryon's marauding expeditions.
Van Cortlandt's house is situated in the midst of one of the fine
estates of that family.' It is a brick mansion, and was erected in 1773.
It stands in the center of a pleasant lawn, shaded by locust trees, on
the north side of the post-road. It was occupied by Washington, for a
brief space, as head-quarters; and there the Van Cortlandt family
resided in safety,
* General Philip Van Cortlandt was the last possessor of the manor
house, near Croton, by entail. He was born in the city of New York on
the 1st of September, 1749, and was reared at the manor house. At
nineteen, he commenced business as a land surveyor, but when the
Revolution broke out, agreeing in sentiment with his father, Honorable
Pierre Van Cortlandt, he joined the Republican army. His Tory relatives
tried to dissuade him from his purpose, and Governor Tryon forwarded him
a major's commission in the Cortlandt militia. He tore it in pieces, and
accepted a lieutenant colonel's commission in the Continental army. He
was appointed a colonel in 1776, and in that capacity served at the
battles of Stillwater. He also served against the Indians on the New
York frontier in 1778, and in 1779-80 was a member of the court martial
convened for the trial of Arnold. He commanded a regiment of militia
under La Fayette in 1781, and for his gallant conduct at the siege of
Yorktown he was promoted to a brigadier's command. Seven hundred of the
British and Hessian prisoners of war were afterward intrusted to his
care while on their march from Charlottesville to Fredericktown, in
Maryland. He was for sixteen years a member of Congress, but in 1811
declined a re-election. General Van Cortlandt accompanied La Fayette in
his tour through the United States in 1824. He died at the manor house,
at Croton, November 21st, 1831, at the age of eighty-two. With him
expired the property entail.
The Cortlandt Manor House.--Paulding's Monument, and St. Peter's
Church.--Gallows Hill.
739while desolation was rife around them. When I visited the mansion,
General Pierre Van Cortlandt, the late owner (brother of General Philip
Van Cortlandt, of the manor October, 1848 house), had been dead but a
few months. Many of the family portraits were yet there, some of them
more than one hundred years old. They have since been removed to the old
manor house at Croton. The mansion which we are considering was occupied
for a while by General M'Dougall's advanced guard, when the British took
possession of Peekskill in March, 1777, an event that will be noticed
presently. The old oak tree is standing in a field a little eastward of
the house, which was used for the purpose of a military whipping-post
during the encampment there. It is green and vigorous, and so regular
are its branches, that, when in full foliage, its form, above the trunk,
is a perfect sphere.
Upon a knoll, a little eastward of Van Cortlandt's house, is an ancient
wooden church, erected in 1767 for worship, according to the rituals of
the Church of England. Within its grave-yard, which spreads over the
knoll westward, is the monument erected to the memory of John Paulding,
one of the captors of Andre, by the corporation of the city of New York.
The monument is constructed of West Chester marble, in the most simple
form, consisting of a pedestal surmounted by a cone. It is massive, and
so constructed as to last for ages. The base of the pedestal covers a
square of seven feet, and is surrounded by a strong iron railing. The
height is about thirteen feet. One side of the monument exhibits a
representation, in low relief, of the face of the medal voted by
Congress to each of the captors of Andre; the other side exhibits the
reverse of the medal. The main inscription is upon the western panel of
the pedestal. **
From the old church-yard I rode to the summit of Gallows Hill, a lofty
ridge on the north, and bared of trees by the hand of cultivation. It is
famous as a portion of the campground of the division of the American
army under Putnam in 1777, and also as the place where a spy was
executed, from which circumstance the hill derives its name. Leaving my
vehicle at the gate of a farm-house by the road side, I crossed the
fields to the place designated by tradition as the spot where the old
chestnut-tree stood, near which the spy was hanged. It is about one
hundred rods west of the road, on the southeastern slope of the hill,
and is marked by a huge bowlder lying upon the surface, by the side of
which is the decayed trunk
* The site of this church and the grave-yard was a gift of Andrew
Johnson, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The parish was called St. Peter's;
and this and the parish of St. Philip, in the Highlands, were endowed
with two hundred acres of land by Colonel Beverly Robinson.
** The following are the inscriptions: North side.--"Here repose the
mortal remains of John Paulding, who died on the 18th day of February,
1818, in the 60th year of his age." West side.--"On the morning of the
23d of September, 1780, accompanied by two young farmers of the county
of West Chester (whose names will one day be recorded on their own
deserved monuments), he intercepted the British spy, Andre. Poor
himself, he disdained to acquire wealth by the sacrifice of his country.
Rejecting the temptation of great rewards, he conveyed his prisoner to
the American camp; and, by this act of noble self-denial, the treason of
Arnold was detected; the designs of the enemy baffled: West Point and
the American Army saved; and these United States, now by the grace of
God Free and Independent, rescued from most imminent peril." South
side.--"The Corporation of the city of New York erected this tomb as a
memorial sacred to PUBLIC GRATITUDE." The monument was erected in 1827;
the cone was placed on the pedestal on the 22d of November of that year,
in the presence of a large concourse of citizens, who were addressed by
William Paulding, then Mayor of New York. A copy of the medal presented
to the captors of Andre may be found on page 773
Execution place of a Spy.--Putnam's laconic Letter.--View from Gallows
Hill.--Relative importance of Peekskill
740of a chestnut, as seen in the picture, * said to be a sprout of the
memorable tree. The the spy was Edmund Palmer. He was an athletic young
man, connected by nature and affection with some of the most respectable
families in West Chester, and had a wife and children.
He was arrested on suspicion, and enlisting papers, signed by Governor
Tryon, were found upon his person. It was also ascertained that he was a
lieutenant in a Tory company. These and other unfavorable circumstances
made it clear that he was a spy, and on that charge he was tried, found
guilty, and condemned to be hung. His young wife pleaded for his life,
but the dictates of the stern policy of war made Putnam inexorable. Sir
Henry Clinton sent a flag to the American commander, claiming Palmer as
a British officer, and menacing the Republicans with his severest wrath
if he was not delivered up. Putnam's sense of duty was as deaf to the
menaces of the one as to the tears of the other, and he sent to Clinton
the following laconic reply:
"Head-quarters, 7th August, 1777.
"Sir,--Edmund Palmer, an officer in the enemy's service, was taken as a
spy, lurking within our lines. He has been tried as a spy, condemned as
a spy, and shall be executed as a spy; and the flag is ordered to depart
immediately. Israel Putnam.
"P.S.--He has been accordingly executed."
From the top of Gallows Hill there is a glorious prospect of the
surrounding country, particularly southward, in which direction the eye
takes in glimpses of Peekskill village, the river and its rocky shores
on the west, and the fertile estates of West Chester as far as the high
grounds of Tarrytown. On the southeast of the ridge is the beautiful
undulating Peekskill Hollow, and on the north, between it and the rough
turrets of the Highland towers, is scooped the Canopus Valley, deep and
rich, wherein is nestled Continental Village, the scene of one of
Tryon's desolating expeditions. We are upon historic ground; let us open
the chronicle for a few moments.
In view of the relative position of the belligerent armies at the
opening of 1777, Peekskill was regarded by the commander-in-chief as a
very important post. Believing that the chief design of the next
campaign would be, on the part of the enemy, to accomplish a junction of
the forces under Sir William Howe at New York and an army preparing in
Canada March 12, 1777 for invasion, Washington wrote, in a letter to
General Schuyler, as follows:
"On these considerations, I can not help thinking much too large a part
of our force is directed to Ticonderoga. Peekskill appears to me a much
more proper place, where, if the troops are drawn together, they will be
advantageously situated to give support to any of the Eastern or Middle
States. Should the enemy's design be to penetrate the country up the
North River, they will be well posted to oppose them; should they
attempt to penetrate into New England, they will be well stationed to
cover it; if they move westward, the Eastern and Southern troops can
easily form a junction; and besides, it will oblige the enemy to have a
much stronger garrison at New York." ** With these views, the commander-
in-chief determined to collect a respectable force at Peekskill. This
was done as speedily as possible, and General Heath, of Massachusetts,
was placed in command. This officer was obliged to return to his state,
and the command devolved upon General M'Dougall. ***
* Near this bowlder a gallows, rudely constructed of logs, was erected,
on which the spy was hung. It remained there for several years
afterward, an object of superstitious dread to the country people who
were obliged to pass it in the night.
** Sparks's Washington, iv., 359.
*** Alexander M'Dougall was the son of a Scotchman from the Lowlands,
who came to America about twenty years before the Revolution broke out,
and commenced business in the city of New York. The date of his birth is
not known. He became a zealous Whig during the years immediately
preceding the Revolution, and when the war broke out he joined the army.
In August, 1776, he was appointed a brigadier, and in October, 1777, he
was promoted to the rank of major general. He commanded in the action
near White Plains, and was in the battle at Germantown in the autumn of
1777. In 1781 he was elected to a seat in the Continental Congress, and
was afterward a member of the New York State Senate. He died June 8,
1786.
Stratagem of Sir William Howe.--Invasion of Peekskill.--Destruction of
Stores.--Destruction of Continental Village
741Cattle and military stores, in large quantities, were collected at
Peekskill and in the vicinity; and the post, not being very strongly
manned, attracted the attention of the enemy. Sir William Howe projected
a scheme to capture or destroy them. Stratagem was a part of his plan.
He caused a conversation on the subject to be held in the hearing of an
American officer who had been captured at Fort Washington, in which it
was arranged that an excursion was to be made into the country by three
divisions: one to go up the Sound and land at Mamaroneck, another to
march up the center road by Kingsbridge, and a third to go up the Hudson
and land at Tarrytown. The officer was soon afterward released, and
escorted with a flag to the American lines. The object was to have him
report the conversation, and thus draw off General M'Dougall's attention
from the real point of attack. M'Dougall had only two hundred and fifty
effective men, too few to attempt opposition. He immediately commenced
sending his stores to Forts Clinton and Montgomery for safety, but
before he had accomplished his design, ten sail of British vessels
appeared off Tarrytown, and two went up to Haverstraw Bay, at a point
twelve miles below Peekskill. March 22, 1777 The next day the whole
fleet anchored in Peekskill Bay; and at one o'clock, five hundred men,
in eight flat-boats, under the command of Colonel Bird, landed at Lent's
Cove, on the south side of the bay. They had four pieces of light
artillery, drawn by the sailors. General M'Dougall retreated to Gallows
Hill and vicinity, giving directions for destroying such stores as could
not be removed. At the same time, he sent a dispatch to Lieutenant-
colonel Willett, at Fort Constitution, to leave a subaltern's command
there, and hasten to his assistance. The British held possession of the
town until next day, when a detachment advanced toward the Highlands.
These were attacked by Colonel Willett, and a smart skirmish ensued. The
detachment retreated back to the main body of the enemy, and in the
evening, favored by the light of the moon, they all embarked and sailed
down the river. Their object, the destruction of the stores, was
partially accomplished, but not by their own hands. They had nine of
their number killed in the skirmish with Willett, and four at the verge
of the creek, while attempting to burn some boats. The Americans had one
man killed by a cannon shot. * Two or three houses were burned, and
about forty sheep, furnished by the Tories, were carried off.
Near the banks of Canopus Creek, and overlooked by Gallows Hill, is
Continental Village. It is about three miles from Peekskill, at the main
entrance to the Highland passes northward. There, in 1777, were
constructed barracks sufficient to accommodate two thousand men. A large
number of cattle, and a great quantity of military stores under the
charge of Major Campbell, were collected there. Two small redoubts were
erected on the high ground, for the double purpose of protecting the
public property and guarding the mountain road. Hither, on the morning
of the 9th of October, three days after the capture of Forts Clinton and
Montgomery, General Tryon was detached with Emerick's 1777 chasseurs and
other Germans, with a three-pounder, to destroy the settlement. He
accomplished the object most effectually. The barracks, and nearly every
house in the little village, together with the public stores, were
consumed, and many of the cattle were slaughtered. The inhabitants fled
to the hills, while the few troops that were left when Putnam and the
main force retired to Fishkill on the fall of the mountain fortresses,
were compelled to fly for safety. In a few hours the smiling little
valley was a scene of utter desolation. ** Gen-
* General M'Dougall's MS. Letter of March 29, 1777, quoted by Sparks.
** The feelings of Tryon toward the Republicans may be learned from a
letter of his, written a few weeks after this transaction, in reply to
one of remonstrance on the part of General Parsons. "I have," he says,
"the candor enough to assure you, as much as I abhor every principle of
inhumanity or ungenerous conduct, I should, were I in more authority,
burn every committee-man's house within my reach, as I deem those agents
the wicked instruments of the continued calamities of this country; and
in order sooner to purge this country of them, I am willing to give
twenty-five dollars for every acting committee-man who shall be
delivered up to the king's troops."
Peekskill possessed by the Americans.--The Soldier's Spring.--
Verplanck's Point.--Hudson and the Indians.
742eral Parsons * marched down from Fishkill with two thousand men a few
days afterward, and took possession of Peekskill. From that time it was
the scene of no stirring military events, other than those incident to
the brief encampment of regiments or divisions of the American army.
After sketching the only prominent object on the site of poor Palmer's
gallows, I resumed the reins, and, when part way down the northern slope
of the ridge, turned up a green lane near the Soldier's Spring ** to the
farm-house of Mr. Lent, to inquire for an aged couple of that name.
Informed that they lived at a little village called Oregon, a mile and a
half distant, I returned to Peekskill Hollow, and proceeded thither. My
journey was fruitless of information. They were, indeed, a venerable
pair; one aged eighty-four, and the other eighty-three years.
After dinner at Peekskill, I rode down to Verplanck's Point, eight miles
below. *** It was October 27, 1848 a lovely afternoon; a fine road amid
ever-varying scenery, and every rock, and knoll, and estuary of the
river clustered over with historic associations, made the journey of an
hour one of great pleasure and interest. Verplanck's Point is the
termination of a peninsula of gently rolling land, gradually ascending
from the neck toward the shore, where it ends in a bluff, from thirty to
fifty feet high. Here, during the memorable season of land and town
speculation, when the water-lot mania emulated that of the tulip and
1836 the South Sea games, a large village was mapped out, and one or two
fine mansions were erected. The bubble burst, and many fertile acres
there, where corn and potatoes once yielded a profit to the cultivator,
are scarred and made barren by intersecting streets, not _de_populated,
but _un_populated, save by the beetle and grasshopper. On the brow of
* In allusion to this and kindred expeditions, Trumbull makes Malcom
say,
"Behold, like whelps of Britain's lion, Our warriors, Clinton, Vaughan,
and Tryon, March forth with patriotic joy To ravish, plunder, and
destroy. Great gen'rals, foremost in their nation, The journeymen of
Desolation! Like Sampson's foxes, each assails, Let loose with fire-
brands in their tails, And spreads destruction more forlorn Than they
among Philistines' corn." ----M'Fingal, Canto iv.
* Samuel Holden Parsons was a native of Connecticut, and one of a
committee of correspondence in that state before the commencement of the
war. He was appointed a brigadier general by Congress in August, 1776,
and served his country faithfully during the contest. Under his
direction, the successful expedition of Colonel Meigs against the enemy
at Sag Harbor, on Long Island, in 1777, was sent out. He was appointed a
commissioner to negotiate with the Western Indians in 1785. In 1787, he
was appointed one of the judges of the Northwestern Territory. He was
drowned in the Ohio, in December, 1789.
**This is a little fountain bubbling up by the road side, and named The
Soldier's Spring, from the circumstance that an American soldier, while
retreating before the enemy, stooped at the fountain to quench his
thirst. While so doing, a cannon ball, that struck the hills above him,
glanced obliquely, hit and shattered his thigh, and left him dying
beside the clear waters. He was conveyed in a wagon that passed soon
afterward, to Fishkill, where he expired.
*** This was the point off which Henry Hudson's vessel, the Half Moon,
came first to anchor after leaving the mouth of the river. The Highland
Indians, filled with wonder, came flocking to the ship in boats, but
their curiosity ended in a tragedy. One of them, overcome by
acquisitiveness, crawled up the rudder, entered the cabin window, and
stole a pillow and a few articles of wearing apparel. The mate saw the
thief pulling his bark for land, and shot at and killed him. The ship's
boat was sent for the stolen articles, and when one of the natives, who
had leaped into the water, caught hold of the side of the shallop, his
hand was cut off by a sword, and he was drowned. This was the first
blood shed by these voyagers. Intelligence of this spread over the
country, and the Indians hated the white man, afterward, intensely. The
exceedingly tortuous creek which traverses the marsh southward of
Verplanck's Point was called, by the Indians, Meahagh, and this was the
name which they gave to the peninsula. It was purchased of the Indians
by Stephanus Van Cortlandt in 1683. From him it passed into the
possession of his son Johannes, whose only daughter and heiress,
Gertrude, married Philip Verplanck, from whom it acquired its present
appellation.
Fortifications at Verplanck's Point.--Capture of Fort Fayette. --
Surrender of the Garrison.
743the Point, near the western extremity, and overlooking the water, a
small fortification, called Fort Fayette, was erected It was an eligible
site for a fort; and, in connection with the fortress on the rocky
promontory opposite, was capable of being made a formidable defense at
this, the lower gate of the Hudson Highlands.
These two promontories make the river quite narrow, and, if well
fortified, might defy the passage of any number of hostile vessels. *
The site of Fort Fayette is distinctly traceable in the orchard upon the
high grounds in the rear of Mr. Bleakly's store upon the wharf. The
mounds and fossé of the main fort, as it was enlarged and strengthened
by the British, and also the embankments of the smaller outworks, are
quite prominent in many places.
The small forts at Verplanck's and Stony Points were captured by the
enemy commanded by Sir Henry Clinton in person, on the 1st of June,
1779. The garrison of Stony Point consisted of only about forty men, and
that at Verplanck's of seventy men, commanded by Captain Armstrong. As
these forts secured a free communication between the troops of New
England and those of the central and southern portions of the
confederacy, Clinton determined to dislodge the Americans therefrom.
Accordingly, on the 30th of May, he sailed up the river with a strong
force, accompanied by General Vaughan; the flotilla was commanded by
Admiral Collier. They landed in two divisions on the morning of the
31st, the one under Vaughan, on the east side, eight miles below
Verplanck's, and May-1779 the other under Clinton, on the west side, a
little above Haverstraw. The garrison at Stony Point retired to the
Highlands on the approach of the enemy, and the fort changed masters
without bloodshed. The next morning, the guns of the captured fortress,
and the cannons and mortars dragged up during the night, were pointed
toward Fort Fayette opposite, and a heavy cannonade was opened upon it.
Unable to make a respectable resistance to this assault, and attacked in
the rear by Vaughan's division, the little garrison surrendered
themselves prisoners of war. ** The loss of these forts was greatly
lamented by Washington,
* This map shows the relative position of Verplanek's and Stony Points,
and of the forts in the time of the Revolution. A represents the
position and form of the fort on Stony Point; B, General Wayne's right
column, and C his left column, when he stormed the ramparts and fort;
and D shows the site of Fort Fayette, on the east side of the river.
** The following were the terms of capitulation:
"On the glacis of Fort Fayette, June 1st, 1779.
"His excellency Sir Henry Clinton and Commodore Sir George Collier grant
to the garrison of Fort La Fayette terms of safety to the persons and
property (contained in the fort) of the garrison, they surrendering
themselves prisoners of war. The officers shall be permitted to wear
their side-arms.
"John Andre, Aid-de-camp."
Disposition of the American Troops on the Hudson.--Preparations for
attacking Stony Point--The Negro Spy.
744and his first care was to make an effort to recover them, for West
Point was now in danger. The main body of the American army was moved
from Middlebrook toward the Highlands, and Washington established his
quarters at Smith's Clove, far in the rear of Haverstraw. *
Sir Henry Clinton gave orders for the immediate strengthening of the
forts, and to guard the detachments left for the purpose, he descended
the river with his army only as far as Phillipsburgh, now Yonkers.
On the 23d of June, Washington established his headquarters at New
Windsor, leaving General Putnam in command of the main army at Smith's
Clove. General M'Dougall was transferred to the command at West Point;
the garrisons at Constitution Island, and at the redoubts opposite West
Point, were strengthened; the road to Fish-kill was well guarded, and
three brigades were placed under the command of General Heath, who had
lately been ordered from Boston. On the 1st of July, General Wayne was
appointed to the command of the light infantry of the line, and was
stationed in the vicinity of the Dunderberg, between Fort Montgomery and
the main army at the Clove. The British had now greatly enlarged and
strengthened the two forts in question, well supplied them with
ammunition and stores, and had them strongly garrisoned. The force at
Stony Point consisted of the seventeenth regiment of foot, the grenadier
companies of the seventy-first, and some artillery; the whole under the
command of Lieutenant-colonel Johnson of the seventh. The garrison at
Verplanck's was commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Webster, and was quite
equal in force to that at Stony Point. Several small British vessels of
war were anchored in the bay within close cannon shot of the forts. Such
was the situation of the two armies, when the attack of the Americans
under Wayne and Howe upon Stony Point and Verplanck's Point was planned
and executed by order of Washington 1779 On the morning of the 15th of
July, all the Massachusetts light infantry were marched to the quarters
of Wayne at Sandy Beach, fourteen miles from Stony Point. At meridian on
that exceedingly sultry day, the whole body moved through narrow
defiles, over rough crags, and across deep morasses, in single file, and
at eight in the evening rendezvoused a mile and a half below Stony
Point. There they remained until General Wayne and several officers
returned from reconnoitering the works of the enemy, when they were
formed into column, and moved silently forward under the guidance of a
negro slave belonging to a Captain Lamb who resided in the neighborhood.
***
The position of the fortress was such that it seemed almost impregnable.
Situated upon a huge rocky bluff, an island at high water, and always
inaccessible dry-shod, except across
* Smith's Clove extends northward from the Ramapo Valley, not far from
Turner's station on the Erie rail-road.
** This sketch presents a rear view of the old embankments of the fort,
and of the light-house, whieh is seen by all travelers upon the river,
just before entering the Highlands. The beacon stands exactly in the
center of the fort, upon the site of the magazine. There was a covered
way toward the water on the north side of the hill, and about twenty
yards in the rear are some prominent remains of the ravelins which
extended across the point.
*** Mr. Tenyek, the old ferryman at Stony Point, informed me that he
knew this negro well. His name was Pompey, and for his services on that
night his master gave him a horse to ride, and never exacted any labor
from him afterward. Pompey's master was a warm Whig, and himself was a
shrewd negro. Soon after the enemy took possession of the Point, Pompey
ventured to go to the fort with strawberries to sell. He was kindly
received; and as the season advanced, and berries and cherries beeame
plentiful, he carried on an extensive traffic with the garrison, and
beeame a favorite with the officers, who had no suspicion that he was
regularly reporting every thing to his Whig master. Finally, Pompey
informed them that his master would not allow him to come with fruit in
the daytime, for it was hoeing-corn season. Unwilling to lose their
supply of luxuries, the officers gave Pompey the countersign regularly,
so that he could pass the sentinels in the evening. He thus possessed a
knowledge of the countersign on the night of the attack, and made good
use of it. That countersign was, "The fort's our own," and this was the
watch-word of the Americans when they scaled the ramparts.
Condition of Stony Point.--Wayne's Proposition to Storm it.--Biography
of Wayne.--His Monument.
745a narrow causeway in the rear, it was strongly defended by outworks
and a double row of abatis. Upon three sides of the rock were the waters
of the Hudson, and on the fourth was a morass, deep and dangerous. But
Wayne was not easily deterred by obstacles; and tradition avers, that
while conversing with Washington on the subject of this expedition, he
remarked, with emphasis, "General, I'll storm hell if you will only plan
it."
He possessed the true fire of the flint, and was always governed by the
maxim, "Where there's a will there's a way."
He resolved to storm the fort at all hazards, and only waited for the
ebbing of the tide, and the deep first slumber of the garrison, to move
toward the fortress.
* Anthony Wayne was born in the township of Eastown, in Chester county,
Pennsylvania, on the 1st of January, 1745. He was educated in
Philadelphia, and having studied mathematics with care, he opened a
surveyor's office in his native town. He was sent to Nova Scotia in
1765, to locate a grant of land from the crown to several gentlemen in
Pennsylvania. They made Wayne superintendent of the settlement. This
post he held until 1767, when he returned home, married a young lady in
Philadelphia, and resumed his profession as surveyor. In 1773, he was
appointed a representative to the general Assembly of his state. He
quitted the council for the field in 1775, where he was appointed a
colonel in the Continental army, and went to Canada with General Thomas.
At the close of the campaign there in 1776, he was promoted to brigadier
general. He was with the commander-in chief at Brandywine, Germantown,
and Monmouth, in all of which engagements he was distinguished for his
valor. The capture of Stony Point raised him to the highest mark in the
admiration of his countrymen. In 1781, he went with the Pennsylvania
line to the South, and in Virginia co-operated with La Fayette. After
the capture of Cornwallis, he was sent to conduct the war in Georgia,
and was very successful. As a reward for his services, the Legislature
of Georgia made him a present of a valuable farm. He was a member of the
Pennsylvania Convention that ratified the Federal Constitution. In 1792,
he succeeded St. Clair in the command of the army to be employed against
the Western Indians, and gained a great victory over them in the battle
of the Miamis, in August, 1794. He concluded a treaty with the Indians
in August, 1795. While engaged in the public service, and returning home
from the West, he was seized with the gout, and died in a hut at Presque
Isle, in December, 1796, aged fifty-one years. He was buried, at his own
request, under the flag-staff of the fort, on the shore of Lake Erie,
from whence his remains were conveyed in 1809, by his son, Colonel Isaac
Wayne, to Radnor chureh-yard, in Delaware county. The venerable church,
near which the body of the hero lies, was erected in 1717.
* The Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati caused a handsome
monument of white marble to be erected over his remains, upon which are
the following inscriptions: North front.--Major-general Anthony Wayne
was born at Waynesborough,* in Chester county, State of Pennsylvania,
A.D. 1745. After a life of honor and usefulness, he died in December,
1796, at a military post on the shore of Lake Erie, commander-inchief of
the army of the United States. His military achievements are consecrated
in the history of his country and in the hearts of his countrymen. His
remains are here interred." South front.--"In honor of the distinguished
military services of Major-general Anthony Wayne, and as an affectionate
tribute of respect to his memory, this stone was erected by his
companions in arras, the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati,
July 4, A.D. 1809, thirty-fourth anniversary of the independence of the
United States of America; an event which constitutes the most
appropriate eulogium of an American soldier and patriot."
* This is an error. His birth-place was about a mile and a quarter south
of the Paoli tavern
Approach of the Americans to Stony Point.--Capture of Sentinels.--
Storming of the Fort
746It was half past eleven o'clock at night when the Americans commenced
their silent march toward the fort. All the dogs in the neighborhood had
been killed the day before, that their barking might not give notice of
strangers near. The negro, with two strong men disguised as farmers,
advanced alone.
The countersign was given to the first sentinel, on the high ground west
of the morass, and while he was conversing with Pompey, the men seized
and gagged him. The silence of the sentinel at the causeway was secured
in the same manner, and as soon as the tide ebbed sufficiently, the
whole of Wayne's little army, except a detachment of three hundred men
under General Muhlenburg, who remained in the rear as a reserve, crossed
the morass to the foot of the western declivity of the promontory,
unobserved by the enemy. The troops were now divided into two columns;
the van of the right, consisting of one hundred and fifty volunteers,
under Lieutenant-colonel De Fleury, and that of the left, of one hundred
volunteers, under Major Stewart, each with unloaded muskets and fixed
bayonets. An _avant-guard_ of twenty picked men for each company, under
Lieutenants Gibbon and Knox, preceded them, to remove the _abatis_ and
other obstructions. These vans composed the forlorn hope on that
memorable night.
At a little past midnight the advanced parties moved silently to the
charge, one company on the southern, and the other toward the northern
portion of the height. They were followed by the two main divisions; the
right, composed of the regiments of Febiger and Meigs, being led by
General Wayne in person. The left was composed of Colonel Butler's
regiment, and two companies under Major Murfey. The Americans were
undiscovered until within pistol shot of the pickets upon the heights,
when a skirmish ensued between the sentinels and the advanced guards.
The pickets fired several shots, but the Americans, true to orders,
relied entirely upon the bayonet, and pressed forward with vigor. The
garrison was aroused from their slumbers, and instantly the deep silence
of the night was broken by the roll of the drum, the loud cry _To arms!
to arms!_ the rattle of musketry from the ramparts and behind the
_abatis_, and the roar of cannon, charged with the deadly grape-shot,
from the embrasures. ** In the face of this terrible storm, the
Americans forced their way, at
* This view shows a large portion of the morass, and the place where the
assaulting party divided and prepared for an attack upon the fort, which
was situated where the light-house is seen. The place of the causeway is
on the left, denoted by the cattle. When I made this sketch it was quite
high water, and the morass, there about one hundred feet wide, was
almost covered. There was another place near the river shore, on the
right, where the Point was accessible at times. It is distinguished in
the sketeh by the narrow strip of land extending nearly across the mouth
of the morass. Upon this the enemy had dug pits and placed sharpened
stakes within them, so that, had the Americans attempted to reach the
Point by that way many would have been impaled. The position of the
Americans in the attack, and of the outworks and the abatis, will be
better understood by a reference to the map on a preceding page.
** Major (afterward General) Hull says in his Memoir, "At about half
past eleven o'clock, the two columns commenced their march in platoons.
The beach was more than two feet deep with water, and before the right
column reached it we were fired on by the out-guards, which gave the
alarm to the garrison. We were now directly under the fort, and, closing
in a solid column, ascended the hill, which was almost perpendicular.
When about half way up, our course was impeded by two strong rows of
abatis, which the forlorn hope had not been able entirely to remove. The
column proceeded silently on, and, clearing away the abatis, passed to
the breast-work, cut and tore away the pickets, cleared the chevaux de
frise at the sally-port, mounted the parapet, and entered the fort at
the point of the bayonet. Our column on the other side entered the fort
at the same time. Each of our men had a white paper in his hat, which in
the darkness distinguished him from the enemy; and the watch-word was,
'The fort's our own!'" Some authors have asserted that bomb-shells were
thrown by the British, but such, probably, was not the fact. No official
account that I have seen mentions the use of shells.
Wayne wounded.--His Bravery.--Surrender of the Fort--Wayne's laconic
Dispatch.
747the point of the bayonet, through every obstacle, until the van of
each column met in the center of the works, where each arrived at the
same time.' At the inner _abatis_, Wayne was struck upon the head by a
musket ball, which brought him upon his knees. His two brave aids,
Fishbow and Archer, raised him to his feet, and carried him gallantly
through the works. Believing himself mortally wounded, the general
exclaimed, as he arose, "March on! carry me into the fort, for I will
die at the head of my column!" But the wound was not very severe, and he
was able to join in the loud huzzas that arose when the two columns met
as victors within the fort. Colonel De Fleury first entered the works,
and struck the British standard with his own hands. The garrison
surrendered at discretion as prisoners of war, and that brilliant
achievement was rendered the more glorious for the clemency which the
victors exercised toward the vanquished. Not a life was taken after the
flag was struck and the garrison had pleaded for quarters. Wayne had but
fifteen killed and eighty-three wounded; the British had sixty-three
killed; ** and Johnson, the commander, with five hundred and forty-three
officers and men, were made prisoners. The ships of the enemy lying in
the river in front of Stony Point slipped their cables and moved down to
a place of security. Before daylight, Wayne sent to the commander-in-
chief the brief but comprehensive reply, of which a fac simile is here
given:
* Wayne's official dispatch, dated at Stony Point, July 17, 1779.
** This is the number given in the American account. Colonel Johnson, in
his official dispatch, says he had only twenty killed.
Fort Fayette Cannonaded.--Relieved by Sir Henry Clinton.--Galley with
Ordnance sunk at Caldwell's.
748At dawn the next morning the cannons of the captured fort were turned
upon the enemy's works at Verplanck's Point under Colonel Webster, and a
desultory bombardment was kept up during the day. Major-general Robert
Howe had been sent to attack Fort Fayette, but on account of delays, and
some misconceptions of Washington's orders, he did not make the attack
in time to dislodge the garrison. News of Webster's critical situation
and the capture of Stony Point was speedily communicated to Sir Henry
Clinton, and he immediately sent relief to the menaced garrison at
Verplanck's. Howe withdrew, and the enterprise was abandoned.
Washington, clearly perceiving the danger of attempting to retain the
post at Stony Point with so few troops as could be employed in the
service, concluded to order an evacuation, and a destruction of the
works after the ordnance and stores should be removed. This was
accordingly done on the night of the eighteenth. All that was originally
intended July, 1779. was accomplished, namely, the destruction of the
works and the seizure of the artillery and stores. A large portion of
the heavy ordnance was placed upon a galley to be conveyed to West
Point. As soon as the vessel moved, a cannonade from Verplanck's and the
British shipping was commenced upon it. A heavy shot from the Vulture
struck it below water-mark, and the galley went down at the point just
above Caldwell's Landing, where speculation recently made credulity seek
for treasures in a sunken vessel alleged to have belonged to the famous
Captain Kidd. If, as asserted, a cannon was drawn up from a vessel lying
at the bottom of the river there, it was doubtless one of the pieces
taken from Stony Point, and the "ship's timbers" there discovered are
the remains of the old galley. The "treasures," if secured, would be of
little worth in these "piping times of peace."
The British repossessed themselves of Stony Point on the 20th, but they
had little of value left them but the eligible site for a fortification.
The storming and capture of Stony Point, regarded as an exhibition of
skill and indomitable courage, was one of the most brilliant events of
the war. General Wayne, the leader