IN COMMAND AT NEW YORK
The British had been forced out of Boston; they had embarked aboard
their fleet; but for more than a week they lingered in the outer harbor,
as if uncertain whither to go. While Washington was in doubt as to their
next movement, he shrewdly guessed that the city of New York, being so
advantageously situated, especially commanding communication with Canada
by the valley of the Hudson River, would be their ultimate, if not
immediate objective. He had already despatched thither General Lee, who
was planning defenses for the harbor; but as he desired Lee to command
in the South, he looked around for another man to take his place. Troops
were on the way, also, under Generals Heath and Sullivan, to be followed
by many more, and there was every indication that soon a large army
would be concentrated in and around New York.
Who to trust with this important command was a serious question for the
Commander-in-Chief, but he finally pitched upon Putnam, in whom he
seemed to have confidence, though with some misgivings which
foreshadowed the accuracy of his final estimate of the man. In a letter
treating of a similar situation, two months previously, Washington had
written to Congress: "General Putnam is a most valuable man and a fine
executive officer; but I do not know how he would conduct in a separate
department."
But he resolved to entrust him with the command, and on the 29th of
March, only twelve days after the British had left, gave him his orders,
which concluded with this expression of confidence: "Your long service
and experience will, better than my particular directions at this
distance, point out to you the works most proper to be raised; and your
perseverance, activity, and zeal will lead you, without my recommending
it, to exert every nerve to disappoint the enemy's designs."
With his customary expedition, General Putnam lost no time in getting to
New York, arriving there on the 4th of April, whither he was followed by
Washington nine days later. The Commander-in-Chief found, when he
arrived, little to criticize and much to commend in what Putnam had
done, for he had already stopped the Tories from furnishing supplies to
the British fleet, had commenced to fortify Governor's Island and Red
Hook, increased the efficiency of the works on Brooklyn Heights,
barricaded the streets of New York with mahogany logs from the West
Indies, and organized a "navy" of schooners and whale-boats, to cruise
in the North and East rivers.
As Washington was absent much of the time in consultation with Congress
at Philadelphia, Putnam was practically in supreme command; yet his
arduous and important duties did not prevent him from attending a dinner
on the first anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. In a letter
written by an American officer describing this event, it is more than
intimated that he was ever ready to accommodate when called upon for a
song or a speech on such an occasion, for he says: "Our good General
Putnam got sick and went to his quarters before dinner was over, and we
missed him a marvel, as there is not a chap in the camp who can lead him
in the 'Maggie Lauder's song.'"
When in New York, Putnam's headquarters were on Bowling Green, where he
later had with him members of his family, including his wife, who had
also visited him at Cambridge, and had dispensed a generous hospitality
at the Inman mansion; while Mrs. Washington (with whom both Putnam and
his wife were in high favor) was at the Craigie house. His son Israel
was a member of his military family, which also included Major Humphreys
(who afterward wrote his biography) and Major Aaron Burr, his military
secretary. His justifiable severity in proclaiming martial law, and in
punishing Tories found guilty of harboring or assisting the enemy,
incurred the ill-will of New York's inhabitants, and militated against
his fortunes when later he fell into disrepute.
Plots against his life were formed, among them most conspicuous for its
scheme of wholesale assassinations being that in which one of
Washington's own guards was concerned, and for complicity in which this
same man, Thomas Hickey, paid the penalty with his life, being executed
on the 27th of June. Two days later a large British fleet was reported
off Sandy Hook, and by the 1st of July there were more than a hundred of
the enemy's war-ships and transports in the bay. The presence of this
immense fleet did not prevent the proper reception of the immortal
_Declaration of Independence_, proclaimed by the Continental Congress at
Philadelphia on the 4th of July, 1776, and which was read to the troops,
amid loud acclaim from officers and common soldiers, on the 9th.
[Illustration: Israel Putnam.
From a painting by Trumbull.]
The arrival of the vast fleet, the subsequent landing of an army of
nearly twenty-five thousand men, and the warlike preparations which the
British were feverishly making looking to the capture of the city, did
not alarm Old Put, with his total force of scarcely seventeen thousand.
He went on as calmly and as determinedly as though himself commander of
the larger army, for the hero of Bunker Hill never anticipated defeat.
He always fought to the last, after making every needful preparation for
whatever event, and at New York, although the chances were all against
him, he did his utmost to bring about success. He had fortified
Governor's Island and Red Hook in order to prevent the enemy's ships of
war from ascending the Hudson; he now sank several old hulks in the
channel for the same purpose; but, notwithstanding, two war-vessels
succeeded in getting up the North River, which they afterward descended,
without injury to themselves.
It having been recommended by Congress that "fire-rafts be prepared and
sent among the enemy's shipping," Putnam acted in accordance with the
suggestion by fitting out fourteen fire-ships for the purpose, though
nothing was accomplished with them. Still persistent in his endeavors to
drive off the enemy, he adopted the invention of David Bushnell, a
native of his own State, which the inventor called the "great American
Turtle," and which, in fact, was a submarine torpedo, probably the first
one thus used in warfare. It was to be guided by one man, and that man
was to have been Bushnell himself; but, unfortunately, he fell sick, and
the "turtle" boat with its infernal machine was entrusted to a
Connecticut sergeant named "Bije" Shipman, who promised to row the
"submarine"--diminutive prototype of all those which have committed such
destruction since--down the bay and attach the torpedo to the bottom of
the British admiral's ship. He reached the ship without being
observed--strange to say--and attempted to attach the torpedo; but the
attaching screw struck against an iron plate and caused great delay.
Coming up to get a breath of fresh air, "Bije" was seen and fired upon
by a sentinel, and at once rowed away as fast as his oars could carry
him. The torpedo, the explosion of which was regulated by clockwork
operating on a gun-lock, actually exploded about half an hour after,
sending up a great geyser of water, which frightened the British admiral
so that he gave orders to up anchor and seek another mooring-place.
The Yankee navigator of the submarine declared that when he struck the
iron plate he got "narvous," and couldn't affix the screw properly; but
that if he had had a fresh "cud of terbacker," he would have been all
right and the admiral's ship would have gone "a-kiting" into the air.
The attempt was not repeated, for some reason or other, probably because
the British got wary and kept farther away from shore. The next year,
however, inventor Bushnell succeeded in blowing up a British schooner
with his torpedo; but neither he nor quaint "Bije" Shipman ever
received the credit that was their due, the latter being one of the
forgotten heroes of the Revolution.
About this time the Putnam family entertained as guest the pretty
daughter of a British officer, Major James Moncrieffe, the same one to
whom, at the siege of Boston, "Old Put" had sent a present of
provisions, even though they were opposed as enemies. This young lady
was received by the family with affection, presented to General and Mrs.
Washington, and afterward provided with a pass through the lines and
sent to her father, accompanied by a letter of which (as she wittily
said to a friend) "the bad orthography was amply compensated for by the
magnanimity of the man who wrote it." Here is the letter: "Ginrale
Putnam's compliments to Major Moncrieffe, has made him a present of a
fine daughter, if he don't lick [like] her he must send her back again,
and he will provide her with a good twig [Whig] husband."
General Putnam's humor, like his generosity, was never-failing; but, as
"Josh Billings" once remarked of himself, "he was a bad speller" to the
end of his life. But he could spell _f-i-g-h-t_ as well as anybody; and
what is more, he could forgive his enemies, not only after the fight was
over, but while it was going on--as witness his generous actions on many
occasions.
Though kept busy as a bee from morning to night, yet General Putnam
found life in New York irksome, and was glad enough when ordered by
Washington over to Long Island, to command at Brooklyn Heights and to
supersede Sullivan, who had superseded Greene, then sick with fever, who
had planned and erected the fortifications on the island. It was perhaps
this "lightning change" of commanders that was responsible for the
bitter defeat of the Americans in that encounter known as the "Battle of
Long Island." By the third week of August, when this battle took place,
the British were near New York with more than three hundred ships and
thirty thousand troops, including those of Clinton, Cornwallis, and
Howe. The last named was in command, and on the 22d of August he landed
twenty thousand troops, including five thousand hireling Hessians, at
Gravesend Bay, with the intention of flanking the Americans out of their
positions at Flatbush and the Heights and then advancing across the
island to East River and New York.
It was not until two days later that (in the words of a soldier writing
to his wife at that time) "General Putnam was made happy by obtaining
leave to go over--the brave old man was quite miserable at being kept
here," in New York. Only three days after his arrival the battle was
fought, which (in brief) was brought about by the British surprising an
outpost at one of the three passes to the American rear, on the night of
the 26th of August and thus turning the patriots' position. With more
than three times the numerical strength of the Americans, the British
were successful, and the former lost more than a thousand men, most of
them made prisoners, including Generals Sullivan and Stirling.
Washington hurried over reenforcements, until there were nearly ten
thousand men at the Heights; but Putnam soon found it impossible to
conduct its defense against twenty thousand of the enemy, with ten
thousand more in reserve, and, with Washington's sanction and
cooperation, he withdrew his men from their perilous position by a night
retreat across the river, which was a triumph of military sagacity and
achievement. The more than nine thousand men, with their ammunition,
arms, provisions, etc., were safely over the river before the British
became aware of what was going on. Then it was too late, and
notwithstanding that the Americans had been outflanked and defeated by
the most skilful strategy, the British lost the chief fruits of their
victory by procrastination.
The loss of Long Island meant, of course, the evacuation of New York,
since the city could now be commanded by the enemy's guns on the
Heights. This movement was decided upon by Washington and his generals
at a council of war; the garrison was withdrawn from Governor's Island,
and after the surplus ammunition and military stores had been forwarded
to a point of safety, the troops leisurely followed after toward the
north. Putnam, Heath, and Spencer were placed in command of the three
grand divisions into which the army was divided preparatory for retreat
and stationed along the East River, Putnam, as usual, having the most
perilous situation, at the lower end of the city. To him was committed
the removal of the troops and military stores, so that he had no more
time at command than formerly.
Yet the British did not move upon the city with precipitation.
Commander-in-Chief Howe had learned his lesson by heart at Bunker Hill,
and was no longer in haste to attack his brave opponents unless with
overwhelming numbers, whether entrenched or otherwise. He had resolved
upon a series of flank movements, for the purpose of cutting off the
American retreat northward, and on the 15th of September put the first
in execution. Washington was at his new headquarters, the Jumel mansion,
at Harlem Heights, and Old Put was busy hurrying off the last of the
detachments down in the city, when both heard the booming of cannon at
Kip's Bay. They met at Murray Hill, and together galloped toward the
sound of firing, but before they reached East River were met by their
own troops fleeing before the British advance.