The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Vol. 2 (of 2) / or, Illustrations, by Pen And Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence

by Benson John Lossing

CHAPTER XXXI.

"In the year seventy-six came the two noble brothers.

With an army and fleet fit to conquer a world;

And Cornwallis, and Rawdon, and Tarleton, and others—

And murder and rapine on our country were hurl'd."

Yankee Chronology.

"There the old-fashioned colonel galloped through the white infernal

Powder cloud;

And his broad sword was swinging, and his brazen throat was ringing

Trumpet loud:

There the blue bullets flew,

And the trooper jackets redden at the touch of the leaden

Rifle breath;

And rounder, rounder, rounder, roared the iron six-pounder,

Hurling Death!"

Knickerbocker Magazine.

N Thursday morning, the twenty-second of August, 1776, the British troops under General William Howe landed upon Long Island, in the vicinity of New Utrecht. Four thousand men crossed the ferry from Staten Island, at the Quarantine Ground, to Denyse's strong stone house, where Fort Hamilton now stands, and landed under cover of the guns of the Rainbow, anchored where Fort La Fayette looms up in the center of the Narrows. Some riflemen, under Colonel Edward Hand, posted on the hill above, retired toward Flatbush. An hour afterward, British and Hessian troops poured over the sides of the English ships and transports, and in long rows of boats, directed by Commodore Hotham, five thousand more soldiers landed upon Long Island, in the bow of Gravesend Bay (at a place known as Bath, in front of New Utrecht), under cover of the guns of the Phonix, Rose, * and Greyhound.

The chief commanders of the English were Sir Henry Clinton, Earls Cornwallis and Percy, and Generals Grant and Sir William Erskine. Count Donop, who was killed at Red Bank in 1777, landed, with some Hessians, with the first division, and on the twenty-fifth,August, 1776 the veteran De Heister, ** with Knyphausen, and two Hessian brigades, also landed near New Utrecht. The whole invading force was about ten thousand men well armed, with forty cannons. Lieutenant-colonel Dalrymple remained to keep Staten Island.

* The Rose and Phoenix, after remaining in Haverstraw Bay three weeks, had passed the American batteries and joined the fleet.—See page 802.

** Lieutenant-general De Heister was an old man, and warmly attached to his master, the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel. The long voyage of almost fourteen weeks dispirited him, "and," says Sir George Collier, "his patience and tobacco became exhausted." A sniff of land breeze revived him. "He called for Hock, and swallowed large potations to the health of his friends."

*** This view is from the road on the high shore, a little below Fort Hamilton, looking southeast; the house in the center belonged to Simon Cortelyou, a Tory, during the Revolution, and has not been altered. Gravesend Bay is seen beyond the house, and the distant land is Coney Island beach.

Alarm in New York.—General Putnam.—General John Morin Scott

When this movement of the enemy was known in New York, alarm and confusion prevailed. * Re-enforcements were sent to General Sullivan, then encamped at Brooklyn, and the next day the veteran General Putnam ** was ordered thither by Washington, to take the supreme command there. The military works on Long Island had been constructed under the immediate direction of General Greene, who made himself acquainted with every important point between Hell Gate and the Narrows. Unfortunately, he fell sick, and none knew so well as he the importance of certain passes in the rear of Brooklyn. The chief fortifications were within the limits of the present city, *** while at the passes alluded to

* Many Whig families left the city, and for seven long years of exile they endured privations with heroic fortitude. * Many of their houses were destroyed by fire, and others were ruined by military occupants.

** Israel Putnam was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on the seventh of January, 1718. He was a vigorous, athletic lad, and in 1739 we find him cultivating land in Pomfret, Connecticut. He was appointed to the command of the first troops raised in Connecticut for the French and Indian war in 1755, in which capacity the reader has met him several times in these volumes. He returned to his farm after the peace, where he remained until he heard of the affair at Lexington. At the head of Connecticut troops, he distinguished himself in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was one of the four major generals appointed by Congress in 1775. His services during the war are mentioned in many portions of this work, and we will not repeat them here. His last military services were performed at West Point and vicinity in 1779, where he was chiefly engaged in strengthening the fortifications. Paralysis of one side impaired the activity of his body, but his mind retained its powers until his death. He lived in retirement after the war, and died at Brooklyn, Windham county, Connecticut, on the twenty-ninth of May, 1790, aged seventy-two years. His remains repose beneath a marble slab in the grave-yard south of the village, upon which is an appropriate inscription.

*** Over all the sites of Revolutionary fortifications, near Brooklyn, the modern city is rapidly spreading. Streets and avenues reticulate the whole area, and it is difficult now to identify the consecrated places.

* I have before me a manuscript letter, written by a daughter of General John Morin Seott, from Elizabethtown, three days after the landing of the British on Long Island, whieh exhibits the alarms and privations to which wealthy families, who had left the city, were subjected. After mentioning their hourly expectation of the landing of the British at Elizabethtown Point, she says: "We have our coach standing before our door every night, and the horses harnessed ready to make our escape, if we have time. We have hardly any clothes to wear: only a second change." Warned by Governor Livingston to leave Elizabethtown, the family of General Scott fled at night to Springfield, in the midst of a terrible thunder-storm. The writer continues: "We were obliged to stop on the road and stay all night, and all the lodging we could get was a dirty bed on the floor. How hard it seems for us, that have always been used to living comfortable!... Papa, with his brigade, has gone over to Long Island, whieh makes us very uneasy. Poor New York! I long to have the hattle over, and yet I dread the consequences." This letter is in the possession of her grandson, Charles S. M'Knight, Esq., of New York.

* John Morin Scott was an early opponent of British oppression, the coadjutor of Sears, Lamb, Willett, and others. He was a descendant of the baronial family of Scott of Ancram, Teviotdale, Scotland, and was born in New York in 1730. He graduated at Yale College in 1746. He adopted the profession of the law, married Helena Rutgers, of New York, and made that city his field of active usefulness. With William Livingston, of New Jersey, his voice and pen boldly advocated extreme measures, and, because of his ultra Whig principles, the timid ones defeated his election to the General Congress in 1774. He was one of the most active and influential members of the General Committee of New York in 1775, and was a member of the Provincial Congress that year. On the ninth of June, 1776, he was commissioned a brigadier, which office he held until March, 1777. He was with his brigade in the battle of Long Island, and was one of the Council of War called by Washington to decide whether lo fight longer or retreat. He was afterward with General Heath in the lower part of West Chester, but left the service in March, 1777, when he was appointed secretary of the State of New York. He was a member of the General Congress in 1782 and 1783. In 1784 he was elected an honorary member of the Society of the Cincinnati. He died on the fourteenth of September of the same year, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. His remains lie in Trinity church-yard with those of his ancestors, close by the railing on Broadway, north of the great entrance-door to the church. I am indebted to John Morin Scott, Esq., of Philadelphia, a grandson of the general, for the materials of this brief sketch.

** This monument is erected to the memory of the Honorable Israel Putnam, Esq., major general in the armies of the United States of America; who was born at Salem, in the Province of Massachusetts, on the seventh day of January, 1718, and died at Brooklyn, in the State of Connecticut, on the twenty-ninth day of May, A.D. 1700. Passenger, if thou art a soldier, go not away till thou hast dropped a tear over the dust of a Hero, who, ever tenderly attentive to the lives and happiness of his men, dared to lead where any one dared to follow. If thou art a patriot, remember with gratitude how much thou and thy country owe to the disinterested and gallant exertions of the patriot who sleeps beneath this marble. If thou art an honest, generous and worthy man, render a sincere and cheerful tribute of respect to a man whose generosity was singular; whose honesty was proverbial; and who, with a slender education, with small advantages, and with powerful friends, raised himself to universal esteem, and to offices of eminent distinction by personal worth, and hy the diligent services of a useful life."

The "Passes."—Miles and Woodhull.—Fortifications near Brooklyn.

breast-works were cast up. These rows to the Jamaica road, at the present East New York, and in broken elevations further on. There were several roads traversing the flat country in the rear of these hills.

These Colonel Miles, of Pennsylvania, was directed to reconnoiter with his regiment, to watch and report upon the progress of the enemy. To Sullivan was intrusted command of the troops without the lines, assisted by Brigadier-general passes were in a range of hills extending from the Nar—Lord Stirling; General Woodhull (late president of the Provincial Congress), now in arms, was commissioned to deprive the invaders of provisions by removing the live stock to the plains of Hempstead.

The invading army prepared for marching soon after the debarkation. The Hessians, under De Heister, formed the center or main body; the English, under General Grant, composed the left wing, which rested

* By a careful comparison of maps, military plans, and other authorities, with maps of the modern city, I have endeavored to locate the various works. I am satisfied that there will be found no material errors in the statement.

* The first work erected, after fortifying Red Hook and constructing Fort Stirling, on Brooklyn Heights (see page 799), was a redoubt called Fort Putnam, upon a wooded hill near the Wallabout, now known as Fort Greene and Washington Square. This was a redoubt with five guns; and when the trees were felled, it commanded the East River, and the roads approaching Brooklyn from the interior. An intrenchment extended from Fort Putnam northwesterly down the hill to a spring now(1852,) in a tanning yard, with a pump in it, near the intersection of Portland Street and Flushing Avenue. This spring was then on the verge of the Wallabout. From the western side of the fort an intrenehment extended in zigzag course across the Flatbush road, near the junction of Flatbush Avenue and Power Street, to Freek's mill-pond, at the head of Gowanus Creek, near the junction of Second Avenue and Carroll Street. Near the intersection of Nevins and Dean Streets, about half way between Fort Putnam and the mill pond, on the land of Debevoise and Vanbrunt, a redoubt was constructed with five guns, and called Fort Greene.

* A little eastward of Fort Putnam, near the Jamaica road, was a small redoubt; and upon the slope of Bergen Hill (also ealled Boerums's Hill), opposite Brower's mill, was a small redoubt with four guns. It stood between Smith Street and First Avenue, not far from the termination of Hoyt Street, at Carroll. This is supposed to be Box Fort. It was afterward strengthened by the British while a detachment lay encamped on Bergen Hill. Last year (1851) a friend of the writer picked up arrow heads, and buttons marked "42" (42d Highlanders), on the site of this redoubt. At the head of the tunnel of the Long Island rail way, in the vicinity of Boerum and Atlantic Streets, was a high, conical hill, called Ponkiesbergh and Cobble Hill. A redoubt for three cannons was constructed on the top of this hill, and, from the circumstance that an intrenchment extended spirally from summit to base, it was called Cork-screw Fort.—(See Onderdonk's Revolutionary Incidents of Long Island, ii" 118.) This redoubt remained until 1812, when it was strengthened and ealled Fort Swift. Fort Putnam was strengthened at the same time, and called Fort Greene. The banks then raised on those of the fort of the Revolution were very prominent until the present year (1852), when diluted patriotism and bad taste allowed them to be leveled so as to give the face of Washington Square a smooth appearance. To the eye of a true American there is more beauty in a single mound consecrated by patriotism than in a score of graveled walks trodden by the gay and thoughtless. These several fortifications, with other localities and events mentioned in the account of the battle, will be better understood by reference to the accompanying map, which is a reduced copy of one carefully prepared by Henry Onderdonk, Jr., and published in his valuable collection of Revolutionary Incidents of Long Island. Mr. Onderdonk has thoroughly explored the ground we are considering; and to him, as a cicerone, when visiting the field of conflict, I am much indebted for a knowledge of the various localities.

* Explanation of the Plan.—Figure 1, Gravesend beach, where the British landed; 2, Denyse's (Fort Hamilton); 3, Martense's Lane, along the southern boundary of Greenwood Cemetery, extending from Third Avenue, at the lower end of Gowanus Bay, to the Flatbush and New Utrecht road; 4, Red Lion tavern; 5, Grant's forces; 6, Stirling's forces; 7, Stirling's last encounter; 8, Cortelyou's house; 9, Port or Mill road; 10, Flatbush pass; 11, Americans retreating across the creek; 12, Party of Americans covering the retreat; 13, Box Fort; 1-1, Brower's mill; 15, Fort Greene, near the mill-pond; 16, Cork-screw Fort; 17, Baker's tavern, near the junction of Fulton and Flatbush Avenues; 18, British redoubt, cast up after the battle; 19, Fort Putnam, now Fort Greene; 20, Stone church, where Washington held a council of war; 21, Fort Stirling; 22, The ferry, foot of Fulton Street; 23, Fort at Red Hook; 24, Corlaer's Hook; 25, Battery, foot of Catharine Street; 20, Panlus' Hook; 27, Governor's Island; 28, The Narrows; 29, Vandeventer's Point; 30, Shoemaker's Bridge, near New Lots. Bennet's Cove is near figure 4, where, it is said, three thousand British troops landed on the morning of the twenty-seventh of August, the day of the battle, a a, track of the left wing of the British army, under the immediate command of General Howe, from Flatlands, by way of the present East New York (Howard's half-way house) to Brooklyn. While in possession of New York and vicinity, the British so strengthened Fort Stirling, on Brooklyn Heights, that it assumed the character of a regular fortification, with four bastions, similar to Fort George, in New York. They also east up a line of intrenchments along the brow of the hill from the Heights to the present Navy Yard.

March of the British.—Advantage gained.—Advance of Grant toward Gowanus.

on New York Bay; and the right wing, designed for the principal performance in the drama about to be opened, was composed of choice battalions, under the command of Clinton, Cornwallis, and Percy, accompanied by Howe, the commander-in-chief. While Grant and De Heister were diverting the Americans on the left and center, the right was to make a circuitous march by the way of Flatlands, to secure the roads and passes between that village and Jamaica, and to gain the American left, if possible. This division, under the general command of Clinton, moved from Flatlands on the evening of the twenty-sixth,August, 1776 and, guided by a Tory, passed the narrow causeway, over a marsh near the scattered village of New Lots, * called Shoemaker's Bridge. At two o'clock in the morning they gained the high wooded hills within half a mile of the present village of East New York, unobserved by Colonel Miles and the American patroles, except some subaltern officers on horseback, whom they captured. Informed that the Jamaica road was unguarded, Clinton hastened to secure the pass, and before daylight that important post and the Bedford pass ** were in his possession, and yet General Sullivan was ignorant of the departure of the enemy from Flatlands. Expecting an attack upon his right, in the vicinity of Gowanus, all his vigilance seems to have been turned in that direction, and he did not send fresh scouts in the direction of Jamaica. The advantage thus gained by Clinton decided the fortunes of the day.

While the British right wing was gaining this vantage ground, General Grant, with the left, composed of two brigades, one regiment, and a battalion of New York Loyalists raised by Tryon, made a forward movement toward Brooklyn, along the coast road, *** by way of Martense's Lane—"the road from Flatbush to the Red Lion" (4) mentioned by Lord Stirling. The guard at the lower pass (3) gave the alarm, and at three o'clock in the morningAugust 27 Putnam detached Lord Stirling, **** with Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland regiments, commanded by Atlee, Haslet, and Smallwood, to oppose Grant. The militia guard at Martense's Lane were driven back by Grant to the hills of Greenwood Cemetery, a little north of Sylvan Water, where they were rallied by Parsons, and maintained a conflict until the arrival of Stirling (v) at daybreak, with fifteen hundred men.

* New Lots village is about a mile south of the rail-way station at East New York, upon the same plain. The morass at Shoemaker's Bridge (30 on map, page 806) is now only a wet swale, with a small sluggish stream, and presents none of the difficulties of passage of former days. It is said that at the time in question a single regiment might have kept the whole British force at bay at Shoemaker's Bridge.

** There were four important passes through the hills which should have been well guarded, namely, at Martense's Lane (3), on the southern border of Greenwood Cemetery; the Flatbush pass, at the junction of the present Brooklyn and Flatbush turnpike and the Coney Island Plank road; the Bedford pass, about half a mile northward of the junction of the Flatbush and Bedford roads; and the Jamaica pass, a short distance from East New York, on the road to Williamsburgh, just at the entrance to the Cemetery of the Evergreens. At East New York, "Howard's half-way house" of the Revolution is yet standing, though mueh altered. William Howard, a son of the Whig tavern-keeper, is yet (1852) living there, at the age of ninety. He told me that he remembers well seeing the British approaching from New Lots, and then taking his father a prisoner and compelling him to show them the Jamaica pass, and the best route over the hills east of it, to the open country toward Brooklyn. We sat in the room in which he was born eighty-nine years before.

*** It must be remembered that the present road along the verge of the high bank from Yellow Hook to Gowanus did not exist. The "coast road" was on the slopes further inland, and terminated at Martense's Lane.

**** Lord Stirling was in the English House of Commons on the seeond of February, 1775, when this same General Grant declared in debate that the Americans "could not fight," and that he would undertake to march from one end of the Continent to the other with five thousand men."—Duer's Life of Lord Stirling, 162; Par. Reg., i., 135.

* (v) William Alexander, earl of Stirling, was born in the eity of New York in 1726. His father, James Alexander, was a native of Scotland, and took refuge in America in 1716, after an active espousal of the ling took position upon the slopes a little northwest of "Battle Hill," in Greenwood, and Atlee ambuscaded in the woods on the left of Martense's Lane, near the Firemen's Monucause of the pretender, in the rebellion the previous year. His mother was the widow of David Provoost, better known in the city of New York, a little more than a century ago, as "Ready-money Provoost."* Young Alexander joined the army during a portion of the French and Indian war, and was aid-de-camp and secretary to General Shirley. He accompanied that officer to England in 1755, and while there he made the acquaintance of some of the leading statesmen of the time. By the advice of many of them, he instituted legal proceedings to obtain the title of Earl of Stirling, to which his father was heir presumptive when he left Scotland" Although he did not obtain a legal recognition of the title, his right to it was generally conceded, and from that time he was addressed as Earl of Stirling. He returned to America in 1761, and soon afterward married the daughter of Philip Livingston (the second lord of the manor), a sister of Governor Livingston, of New Jersey, and built a fine mansion (yet standing) at Baskenridge, in that state. He was a member of the Provincial Council of New Jersey for several years. In 1775, the Provincial Convention of New Jersey appointed him colonel of the first regiment of militia, and in March, 1776. the Continental Congress gave him the commission of brigadier. Lee left him in command at New York in April. He was conspicuous in the battle near Brooklyn in August, and in February ensuing Congress appointed him a major general. He performed varied and active service until the summer of 1781, when he was ordered to the command of the Northern army, his head-quarters at Albany.

* An invasion from Canada was then expected. Quite a large British force prevailed above the Highlands. He was at Ticonderoga and vicinity, under St. Leger, who have already met detachments, was repulsed at Fort Stanwix in 1777. and at that time were several respecting beacons and alarm posts. From one of them, in possession of the son of Colonel Aaron Burr, I copied the annexed sketch, made by the pen of Lord Stirling, together with the full order of Lord Stirling who died at Albany on the fifteenth of January 1783, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. It is a singular fact that at different periods during the war. Lord Stirling had under his command every brigade of the American army except Colonel William Duer, and became Judge John Duer, of the city of Duer. LL.D.

* The vigorous and effective preparations made by Lord Stirling intimidated St. Leger, and he returned to Canada. Late in the autumn Stirling took the chief command in New Jersey, and the following summer he was again in command at Albany, with a general supervision of military affairs between that place and New York. Among other orders issued by him at those of South Carolina and Georgia. His youngest daughter married the brother of William A. Duer, late president of Columbia College, at New York.—See Life of Lord Stirling, by his grandson, William A.

* He acquired this title because he won riches rapidly by the illicit trade in which the colonists were then engaged. His family vault may now (1852) be seen a few rods from the bank of the East River, in "Jones's Woods," between Seventieth and Seventy-first Streets. On the top is a large marble slab, placed there in memory of the wife of his son David.

**The following is a copy of the order: "Each of the beacons are to be of lhe following dimensions: at bottom, fourteen feet square, to rise in a pyramidal form to about eighteen or twenty feet high, and then to terminate about six feet square, with a stout sapling in the center of about thirty feet high from the ground. In order to erect them, the officer who oversees the execution should proceed thus: he should order the following sized logs to be cut as near the place as possible: twenty logs of fourteen feet long and about one foot diameter; ten logs of about twelve feet long; ten logs of about ten feet long; ten logs of about nine feet long; ten logs of about eight feet long; twenty logs of about seven feet long; twenty logs of about six feet lone. He should then sort his longest logs as to diameter, and place the four longest on the ground, parallel to each other, and about three feet apart from each other. He should then place the four next logs in size across these at right angles, and so proceed till all the logs of fourteen feet be placed. Then he is to go on in the same manner with logs of twelve feet long, and when they are all placed, with those of a lesser size, till the whole are placed, taking care, as he goes on, to fill the vacancies between the logs with old dry split wood or useless dry rails and brush, not too close, and leaving the fifth tier open for firing and air. In the beginning of his work, to place a good stout sapling in the center, with part of its top left, about ten or twelve feet above the whole work. The figure of the beacon will appear thus. [The sketch above given.] The two upper rows of logs should be fastened in their places with good strong wooden plugs or trunnels." These beacons were erected upon hills from the Hudson Highlands through New Jersey by way of Morristown, Pluckemin, and Middlebrook, and upon the Neversink Hills at Sandy Hook. They were to be used as signals denoting the approach of the enemy, for the assembling of the militia at certain points, and to direct the movements of certain Continental battalions.

*** I have before me an old manuscript schedule of Lord Stirling's wardrobe, in which the material and color of each article is given. I print the number as a curious example of the personal provisions of a gentleman of his class at that time, namely: Thirty-one coats, fifty-eight vests, forty-three pairs of breeches, six powdering gowns (used when powdering the hair), two pairs of trowsers, thirty shirts, seventeen handkerchiefs, twenty seven stocks, twenty-seven cravats, eight razor cloths, one hundred and nineteen pairs of hose, six pairs of socks, fifteen night-caps, five pairs of drawers, two pairs of gloves, fourteen pairs of shoes, four pairs of boots; total, four hundred and twelve garments.

Skirmish between Grant and Stirling.—-Storming of the Flatbush Redoubt.—-Descent of Clinton.—Surrender of the Americans.

After two or three rounds Atlee fell back to the left of Stirling, on the top of the hills.

At this moment Kichline and his riflemen, De Haas and his battalion, and Captain Carpenter, with two field-pieces, arrived. Grant advanced and took post in an orchard, * within one hundred and fifty yards of Stirling, and a severe skirmish ensued. Grant had also two field-pieees, but neither party made much use of their cannons. In that position the belligerents remained, without severe fighting, until eleven o'clock in the forenoon, ** when events on the left wing of the American army changed the whole aspect of affairs.

While Grant and Stirling were thus engaged, De Heis-ter and his Hessians moved from Flatbush, and cannonaded the works at the Flatbush pass, where Sullivan was in command with the regiments of Colonels Williams and Miles.

In the mean while, Clinton had descended from the wooded hills and attacked the extreme left of the Americans on the plain at Bedford. The firing was understood by De Heister, who immediately ordered Count Donop to storm the redoubt at the pass, while he pressed forward with the main body of the Hessians. A fierce and bloody combat ensued,3 when Sullivan, perceiving the peril of his little army (for Clinton was rapidly gaining his rear), ordered a retreat to the lines at Brooklyn. The opportunity was gone, and on descending the rough slope from Mount Prospect, they were met by Clinton's light infantry and dragoons, who drove them back in confusion upon the Hessian bayonets. Sullivan and his ensnared soldiers fought desperately, hand to hand, with the foe, while driven backward and forward between the full ranks of the assailants. Many broke through the gleaming fence of bayonets and sabers, and

* A few trees of this orchard yet remain in the southwest part of Greenwood Cemetery.

** During the morning the Roebuck frigate approached Red Hook and cannonaded the battery there. This, like the movement of Grant, was intended to divert the Americans from the operations of Clinton on their left.

*** The Hessians fought with desperation, and gave no quarter. They had been told that the Americans would not suffer one of them to live, and their sentiment was total extermination. "Our Hessians and our brave Highlanders gave no quarter," wrote an offieer of the 71st, "and it was a fine sight to see with what alacrity they dispatched the rebels with their bayonets, after we had surrounded them so they could not resist."—Sec Onderdonk's Revolutionary Incidents, ii., 138.

Battle between Stirling and Cornwallis.—Retreat across the Gowanus.—Defeat and Capture of Stirling.

escaped to Fort Putnam, * while their less fortunate companions died upon the field or were made prisoners.

Among the latter were General Sullivan and several subordinate officers. Those who escaped were followed up to the verge of the American lines, and the pursuing grenadiers were with difficulty restrained from storming Fort Putnam. An easy victory would doubtless have been the result.

Stirling was not aware of the disasters on the left until Cornwallis had marched down the Port or Mill road (9), took position near the ancient dwelling known as "the Cortelyon House," near Gowanus, and fired two guns as a signal for Grant to press forward. That officer immediately attacked the Americans, and in the engagement Colonel Atlee was made a prisoner. Hemmed in by the foe, Stirling saw no opportunity for escape except across the Gowanus Creek, at the dam of the "Yellow Mill," and other places below Brower's Mill.

To effect this, it was necessary to attack Cornwallis, and while a few—a forlorn hope—should keep him at bay, a large part of the Americans might escape. No time was to be lost, for the tide was rising, and soon the creek would be impassable. Changing his front, and leaving his main body in conflict with Grant, Stirling, at the head of a part of Smallwood's battalion, commanded by Major (afterward General) Gist, fell upon Cornwallis, and blood flowed freely. For twenty minutes the conflict was terrible. Stirling endeavored to drive the earl up the Port road, get between him and Fort Box, and under cover of its guns escape across Brower's dam. He was successful, but while with his handful of brave young men he was keeping the invader in check, a large part of his companions in arms, consisting now chiefly of Haslet's Delawares and a part of Smallwood's Marylanders, reached the creek. Some passed it in safety, but many sunk into silence in the deep mud on its margin or beneath its turbid waters. Stirling was obliged to yield when despoiled of nearly all of his brave men. **** He became a prisoner, and was sent immediately on board the Eagle, Lord Howe's flag-ship. Thus ended the battle, when the sun was at meridian; when it disappeared behind the low hills of New Jersey, one third of the five thousand patriots who had contended for victory were lost to their country—dead, wounded, or prisoners. * Soon many of the latter were festering with

* The most sanguinary conflict occurred after the Americans had left the Flatbush pass, and attempted to retreat to the lines at Brooklyn. The place of severest contest, and where Sullivan and his men were made prisoners, was upon the slope between the Flatbush Avenue and the Long Island rail-way, between Bedford and Brooklyn, near "Baker's Tavern" (17), at a little east of the junction of these avenues. The preceding map, compiled from those of the English engineers for Marshall's Life of Washington, will assist the reader in obtaining a proper understanding of the movements of the two armies.

** This house, built of stone, with a brick gable from eaves to peak, is yet (1852) standing upon the eastern side of the road leading from Brooklyn to Gowanus. It was built by Nicholas Vechte in 1699, and was one of the first houses created between Brooklyn and New Utrecht.

*** This is a view of the old mill of the Revolution, as it appeared when I made the sketch in 1850, before it was destroyed. The view is from the west side of Gowanus Creek, looking southeast. In the extreme distance is seen the "Yellow Mill" between which and the one in the foreground so many of the patriots perished.

****Smallwood's regiment was composed chiefly of young men belonging to the most respectable and influential families in Maryland. Two hundred and fifty-nine of them perished in this conflict with Cornwallis's grenadiers near the "Cortelyon House."

* (v) Dispatches of Washington and General Howe; Letter of R. H. Harrison, quoted by Sparks, Washington's Writings, iv., 513; Letters of Haslet and Sullivan, 516, 517; Doer's Life of Lord Stirling, 163; Life and Correspondence of President Reed, i., 218—224; Gordon, ii., 96—101; Marshall, i., 87—91; Sted-man, i., 191-196; Onderdonk, ii.. 127-131. The loss of the Americans is not precisely known. Howe estimated it at 3300; it probably did not exceed 1650, of whom about 1100 were made prisoners. Howe stated his own loss at 367 killed, wounded, and made prisoners.

Capture, Treatment, and Death of General Woodhull.—Preparations to Besiege the Works at Brooklyn.

disease in the loathsome prisons in New York, or in the more loathsome prison-ships at the Wallabout. * General Woodhull was made a prisoner at Jamaica the next day, ** and at the close of summer no man was in arms against the crown in Kings, Queens, and Richmond counties.

The victors encamped in front of the patriot lines, and reposed until the morning of the twenty-eighth,August, 1778 when they broke ground within six hundred yards of Fort Putnam, cast up a redoubt (18), and cannonaded the American works. Washington was there, and joyfully perceived the design of Howe to commence regular approaches instead of rapid assaults. This fact was a ray of light in the midst of surrounding gloom. The

* An account of the New York prisons and prison-ships may be found in the Supplement to this work.

** Nathaniel Woodhull was born at Mastic, Long Island, December 30, 1722. Agriculture was the chief pursuit of his life. He was a major, under Abercrombie, in the attack upon Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and afterward accompanied Bradstreet against Fort Frontenac. He was a colonel, under Amherst, in 1760, and at the close of the campaign he returned home and married Ruth Floyd, He espoused the popular side in the Stamp Act movements, and, possessing the esteem of the people, he was elected, with William Nicoll, a representative of Suffolk county, in the Colonial Assembly in 1769. He represented Suffolk in the first Provincial Congress in 1775, and was elected president of that body.

** He was appointed a brigadier of militia in August of that year, and in July, 1776, he was summoned home to embody the militia of Suffolk and Queens, to assist in repelling invasion. He was engaged in this serviee when he was made a prisoner,* cruelly wounded by a British officer, and died of his injuries three weeks afterward at New Utrecht. His wife, who was with him in his last moments, conveyed his body to Mastic, and there, in a secluded family cemetery, a short distance from his residence, his remains rest. A marble slab marks his grave, and bears the following inscription:

** "In memory of General Nathaniel Woodhull, who, wounded and a prisoner, died on the twentieth of September, 1776, in the fifty-fourth year of his age; regretted by all who knew how to value his many private virtues, and that pure zeal for the rights of his country to which he perished. Woodhull's Grave." The mansion of General Woodhull was burned in 1783, and in 1784, the present dwelling on the homestead farm was erected near the spot. It is now (1852) owned by Henry Nicoll, Esq., a great-grandson of General Woodhull.

* In consequence of the tardy movements of others, on whom devolved the duty of furnishing him with a proper force to perform the labors assigned him, General Woodhull (Udell in many old accounts) did not participate in the battle on the twenty-seventh of August He made his head-quarters at Jamaica, and with his inadequate force he scoured the country for miles around, watching the movements of the enemy, and driving large numbers of cattle to Hempstead plains. When he perceived the position of Clinton, near the Jamaica pass, on the morning of the twenty-seventh, he sent urgent messages to the Provincial Congress asking for re-enforcements. It was now too late, for the regiments of Smith and Remsen, of Kings and Queens counties, could not be spared from the lines at Brooklyn.

* With a soldier's impatience he was obliged to listen to the distant roar of battle, for with a soldier's strict discipline he would not move without orders. When apprised of the disasters of the day, he ordered his little band to fall hack four miles beyond Jamaica, on the morning of the twenty-eighth, while he awaited orders from camp. In the afternoon, he left Jamaica with two companions, to join his soldiers, and while taking refuge from a thunder-storm in the inn of Increase Carpenter, two miles east of Jamaica village, he was made a prisoner by a party of British, under Captain Sir James Baird (whom we met at Savannah, page 732), piloted by some Tories. Tradition says that Baird ordered Woodhull to shout "God save the King!" and because instead he cried "God save us all!" he smote him with his broadsword, and would have killed him on the spot, if Major Delancey, who accompanied Baird, had not interfered. The blow badly wounded the head of the general, and mangled his left arm the whole length. He and his companions were taken to Jamaica, confined until the next morning in the Presbyterian stone church (which stood in the middle of the present Fulton Street, at the head of Union Hall Street. It was demolished in 1832), then taken to the British camp at Brooklyn, and conveyed to a loathsome cattle transport in Gravesend Bay. A Church at Jamaica, humane British officer procured his removal to a house in the village of New Utrecht, where his arm was amputated at the elbow. Woodhull sent for his wife, with a request that she should bring; with her all the money in her possession, and all she could borrow. This was distributed among his fellow-prisoners. His wife arrived in time to attend him in his last moments, for the unskillful amputation resulted in mortification, and he died in the fifty fourth year of his age. I am indebted to Mr. Onderdonk for the sketch of the old Jamaica church. With him 1 visited New Utrecht (1850) to make a drawing of the house wherein General Woodhull died. It had just been demolished, and a modern house placed on its site by the owner, Mr. Barent Wyckoff. To the patriotism and artistic skill of Miss C. Lott, living near, I am indebted for the sketch of that venerated edifice, probably the first house erected in that town. It was of stone, covered with red tiles, and answered the description of a dwelling erected in 1658, by De Sille, the attorney general of the province.—See Doc. Hist, of New York, i., 634. The New House in which Woodhull died. Utrecht church, which stood near, was of octagon form like one at Jamaica. The weather cock from its steeple now graces the barn of Mr. Lott, and the gilt dove from the pulpit sounding-board is perched upon the roof of his well.

Situation of the Two Armies.—Council of War.—Retreat of the Americans to New York.

chief had crossed from New York early in the morning, and had witnessed the destruction of some of his finest troops, without ability to send them aid except at the peril of the safety of the camp or of the city, and his whole army. Ignorant of his real strength, Howe dared not attempt an assault, and Washington had time to conceive and execute measures for the safety of his troops.

The morning of the twenty-eighthAugust 1776 dawned drearily. Heavy masses of vapor rolled up from the sea, and at ten o'clock, when the British cannonade commenced, a fine mist was falling. Although half dead with fatigue, the Americans had slumbered little, for it was a night of fearful anxiety to them. At five in the morning, General Mifflin, who had come down from King's Bridge and Fort Washington with the regiments of Shee, Magaw, and Glover, a thousand strong, in obedience to an order sent the day before, crossed the East River, and took post at the Wallabout. The outposts of the patriots were immediately strengthened, and during the rainy day which succeeded there were frequent skirmishes. Rain fell copiously during the afternoon, and that night the Americans, possessing neither tents nor barracks, suffered dreadfully. A heavy fog fell upon the hostile camps at midnight, and all the next dayAugust 29 it hung like a funeral pall over that sanguinary battle-field. Toward evening, while Adjutant-general Reed, accompanied by Mifflin and Colonel Grayson, were reconnoitering near Red Hook, a light breeze arose and gently lifted the fog from Staten Island. There they beheld the British fleet lying within the Narrows, and boats passing rapidly from ship to ship, in evident preparation for a movement toward the city. Reed hastened to the camp with the information, and at five o'clock that evening the commander-in-chief held a council of war. * An evacuation of Long Island, and a retreat to New York, was the unanimous resolve of the council. Colonel Glover, whose regiment was composed chiefly of sailors and fishermen from Marblehead and vicinity, ** was ordered to collect and man boats for the purpose, and General M'Dougal was directed to superintend the embarkation. The fog still rested heavily upon the island, the harbor, and the adjacent city, like a shield of the Almighty to cover the patriots from the peril of discovery. Although lying within a few hundred yards of the American lines, the enemy had no suspicion of the movement. ***

At eight o'clock in the evening the patriot regiments were silently paraded, the soldiers ignorant of the intent; but, owing to delay on account of unfavorable wind, and some confusion in orders, it was near midnight when the embarkation commenced at the Ferry Stairs, foot of Fulton Street, Brooklyn. For six hours those fishermen-soldiers plied their muffled oars; and boat after boat, filled with the champions of freedom, touched at the various wharves from Fulton Ferry to Whitehall, and left their precious burdens. At six in the morning, nine thousand men, with their baggage and munitions, except heavy artillery, had crossed. Mifflin, with his Pennsylvania battalions and the remains of the regiments of Smallwood and Haslet, formed the covering party, and Washington and his staff, who had been in the saddle all night, remained until the last company had embarked. **** At dawn

* The council was held in the stone Dutch church (20), which stood near the junction of the present Fulton and Flatbush Avenues. This church was designated in the order for the evening as an alarm post during the night, where they might rendezvous, in the event of the movement being discovered by the British. The officers present at the council were Washington, Putnam, Spencer, Miffin, M'Dougal, Parsons, John Morin Scott, Wadsworth, and Fellows.—See Life, &c., of President Reed, i., 417.

** The uniform of these men, until they were attached to the Continental line, consisted of blue round jackets and trowsers, trimmed with leather buttons. They were about five hundred in number.

*** A late English author complains bitterly of the apathy of the British general on this occasion. He says, his troops "kept digging their trenches on one side, while Washington was smuggling his forces out on the other, and ferrying them over the East River to the city of New York.... The high-feeding English general slept on, and his brother the admiral (Lord Howe), though not so apt to doze, did not move a single ship or boat, and was to all appearance unconscious of what was going on."—Pict. Hist, of the Reign of George the Third, i., 273. Notwithstanding his want of energy on this occasion, General Howe received the honors of knighthood from his king for this victory. The ceremony was performed by Knyp-hansen, Clinton, and Robertson, in November, 1776.

**** In his dispatches to the president of Congress, Washington said that he had scarcely been out of the lines from the twenty-seventh till the morning of the evacuation, and forty-eight hours preceding that had hardly been off his horse and never closed his eyes. Yet a popular English author of our day (see Pict. Hist, of the Reign of George the Third, i., 273) mendaciously says, "Washington kept his person safe in New York."

British first aware of the Retreat.—Condition of the Army.—Disposition of the British Army.

the fog lifted from the city, but remained dark and dreary upon the deserted camp and the serried ranks of the foe, until the last boat left the Long Island shore. Surely, if "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera," in the time of Deborah, the wings of the Cherubim of Mercy and Hope were over the Americans on this occasion.

Intelligence of this movement reached the British commander-in-chicf at half past four in the morning. Cautiously Captain Montressor and a small party climbed the embankments of Fort Putnam and were certified of the fact. * It was too late for successful pursuit, for when battalion after battalion were called to arms, and a troop of horsemen sped toward the East River, the last boat was beyond pistol shot; and as the fog rolled away and the sunlight burst upon the scene, the Union flag was waving over the motley host of Continentals and militia marching toward the hills of Rutgers' farm, beyond the present Catharine Street. ** Howe was greatly mortified by the event, for he felt certain that his prey could not escape his meshes.

Although the American army was safe in New York, yet sectional feelings, want of discipline, general insubordination of inferior officers and men, and prevailing immorality, appeared ominous of great evils. Never was the hopeful mind of Washington more clouded with doubts than when he wrote his dispatches to the president of Congress, in the month of September.1776

Those dispatches and the known perils which menaced the effort for independence led to the establishment of a permanent army. ***

On the evacuation of Long Island, the British took possession of the American works, and, leaving some English and Hessian troops to garrison them, Howe posted the remainder of his army at Bushwick, Newtown, Hell Gate, and Flushing.

Howe made his head-quarters at a house in Newtown (yet standing), now the property of Augustus Bretonnier, and there, on the third of September, he wrote his dispatch, concerning the battle, to British ministry. On the thirtieth,August, 1776 Admiral Howe sailed up the bay with his fleet and anchored near Governor's Island, within cannon-shot of the city. During the night, after the battle, a forty-gun ship had passed the batteries and anchored in Turtle Bay, somewhat damaged by round shot from Burnt Mill or Stuyvesant's Point, the site of the Novelty Iron-works. **** Other vessels went around Long Island, and passed into the East River from the Sound, and on the third of September the whole British land force was upon Long Island, except four thousand men left upon Staten Island to awe the patriots of New Jersey. A blow was evidently in preparation for the republican army in the city. Perceiving it, Washington made arrangements for evacuating New York, if necessary. (v)

* Onderdonk (ii., 131) says that a Mrs. Rapelye, living near the ferry, sent her servant to inform the British of the retreat. The negro was arrested by a Hessian guard, who could not understand a word that he uttered. He was detained until morning, when he was taken to head-quarters, and revealed the seeret, but too late.

** A cannonade was opened upon the pursuers from Waterbery's battery, where Catharine Market now stands.

*** See page 225. In his letter of the second of September, Washington evidently foresaw his inability to retain his position in the city of New York. He asked the question, "If we should be obliged to abandon the town, ought it to stand as winter quarters for the enemy?" and added, "If Congress, therefore, should resolve upon the destruction of it, the resolution should be a profound secret, as a knowledge of it will make a capital change in their plans." General Greene and other military men, and John Jay and several leading civilians, were in favor of destroying New York. But Congress, by resolution of the third of September, ordered otherwise, because they hoped to regain it if it should be lost.—See Journal, ii., 321.

**** Washington sent Major Crane of the artillery to annoy her. With two guns, upon the high bank at Forty-sixth Street, he cannonaded her until she was obliged to take shelter in the channel east of Blackwell's Island.

* (v) On the approach of the fleet, the little garrison on Governor's Island and at Red Hook withdrew to New York. One man at Governor's Island lost an arm by a ball from a British ship, just as he was embarking.*

Howe's proposition for a Conference.—Meeting with a Committee of Congress.—Bushnell's "Marine Turtle" or Torpedo.

Lord Howe now offered the olive-branch as a commissioner to treat for peace, not doubting the result of the late battle to be favorable to success.

General Sullivan and Lord Stirling were both prisoners on board his flag-ship, the Eagle.

The former was paroled, * and sent with a verbal message from Howe to the Continental Congress, proposing an informal conference with persons whom that body might appoint. Impressed with the belief that Lord Howe possessed more ample powers than Parliament expressed in his appointment, Congress consented to a conference, after debating the subject four days. A committee, composed of three members of that body, was appointed, and the conference was heldSept. 11, 1776 at the house of Captain Billop, formerly of the British navy, situated upon the high shore of Staten Island, opposite Perth Amboy. ** The event was barren of expected fruit, yet it convinced the Americans

* Both officers were exchanged soon afterward, Sullivan for General Prescott, captured nine months before (see vol. i., page 181), and Lord Stirling for Governor Brown, of Providence Island, who had been captured by Commodore Hopkins. Lord Stirling was exchanged within a month after he was made prisoner.

** The committee consisted of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge. When they reached Perth Amboy, they found the barge of Lord Howe in waiting for them, with a British officer who was left as a hostage! The meeting was friendly, and Lord Howe, who was personally acquainted with Franklin, freely expressed to that statesman his abhorrence of the war, and his sincere personal desire for peace. * The whole interview was distinguished by courtesy and good feeling. Howe informed the committee that he would not recognize them as members of Congress, but as private gentlemen, and that the independence of the colonies could not be considered for a moment They told him he might call them what he pleased, they were nevertheless representatives of a free and independent people, and would entertain no proposition which did not recognize the independence of the colonies. The gulf between them was evidently impassable, and the conference was soon terminated, for Howe had nothing acceptable to offer. He expressed his regret because of his obligation now to prosecute the war. Franklin assured him that the Americans would endeavor to lessen the pain he might feel on their account by taking good care of themselves. Thus ended the conference. * In the third volume of the collected Writings of John Adams may be found an interesting sketch from the pen of that patriot, describing the events of a night passed in bed with Dr. Franklin at New Brunswick, on the night preceding this conference.

* It was while the Eagle laid near Governor's Island that an attempt was made to destroy her by an "infernal machine," called a "Marine Turtle," invented by a mechanic of Saybrook, Connecticut, named Bushnell. Washington approved of the machine, on examination, and desired General Parsons to select a competent man to attempt the hazardous enterprise. The machine was constructed so as to contain a living man, and to be navigated at will under water. A small magazine of gunpowder, so arranged as to be secured to a ship's bottom, could be carried with it. This magazine was furnished with clockwork, constructed so as to operate a spring and communicate a blow to detonating powder, and ignite the gunpowder of the magazine. The motion of this clock-work was sufficiently slow to allow the submarine operator to escape to a safe distance, after securing the magazine to a ship's bottom. General Parsons selected a daring young man, named Ezra Lee. He entered the water at Whitehall, at midnight on the sixth of September. Washington and a few officers watched anxiously until dawn for a result, but the calm waters of the bay were unruffled, and it was believed that the young man had perished. Just at dawn some barges were seen putting off from Governor's Island toward an object near the Eagle, and suddenly to turn and pull for shore. In a few moments a column of water ascended a few yards from the Eagle, the cables of the British ships were instantly cut, and they went down the Bay with the ebbing tide, in great confusion. Lee had been under the Eagle two hours, trying in vain to penetrate the thick copper on her bottom. He could hear the sentinels above, and when they felt the shock of his "Turtle" striking against the bottom, they expressed a belief that a floating log had passed by. He visited other ships, but their sheathing was too thick to give him success. He came to the surface at dawn, but, attracting the attention of the bargemen at Governor's Island, he descended, and made for Whitehall against a strong current. He came up out of reach of musket shot, was safely landed, and received the congratulations of the commander-in-chief and his officers. Young Lee was afterward employed by Washington in secret service, and was in the battles at Trenton, Brandywine, and Monmouth. He died at Lyme, Connecticut, on the twenty-ninth of October, 1821, aged seventy-two years.

** Richard, Earl Howe, was born in 1725, and was next in age to his brother, the young Lord Howe, who fell at Tieonderoga in 1758 (see vol. i., page 118). He sailed with Lord Anson to the Pacific as midshipman at the age of fourteen years, and had risen to the rank of admiral at twenty. He was appointed rear-admiral in 1770, and, before coming to America, he was promoted to Vice-admiral of the Blue. After the American war, he was made first Lord of the Admiralty. He commanded the English fleet successfully against the French in 1794. His death occurred in 1799, at the age of seventy-four years. In 1774, Lord Howe and his sister endeavored to draw from Franklin the real intentions of the Americans. The philosopher was invited to spend Christmas at the house of the lady, and it was supposed that in the course of indulgence in wine, chess, and other socialities, he would drop the reserve of the statesman and be incautiously communicative. The arts of the lady were unavailing, and they were no wiser on the question when Franklin left than when he came.

** William Howe, brother of the earl, succeeded General Gage in the chief command of the British forces in America, and assumed his duties at Boston in 1775. He commanded at the attack on Breed's Hill, and from that time until the spring of 1778, he mismanaged military affairs in America. He was then succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton, and with his brother, the admiral, returned to England. He is represented as a good-natured, indolent man—"the most indolent of mortals,' said General Lee, "and never took pains to examine the merits or demerits of the cause in which he was engaged."

Evacuation of the City by the Americans.—Washington's Quarters.—Captain Hale.—Beekman's Green-house.

that Britain had determined upon the absolute submission of the colonies.

This conviction increased the zeal of the patriots, and planted the standard of resistance firmer than before.

At a council of war held on the seventh,Sept. 1776 a majority of officers were in favor of retaining the city; but on the twelfth, another council, with only three dissenting voices (Heath, Spencer, and Clinton), resolved on an evacuation.

The movement was immediately commenced, under the general superintendence of Colonel Glover. The sick were taken to New Jersey, and the public stores were conveyed to Dobbs's Ferry, twenty miles from the city. The main body of the army moved toward Mount Washington and King's Bridge on the thirteenth, accompanied by a large number of Whigs and their families and effects. * A rear-guard of four thousand men, under Putnam, was left in the city, with orders to follow, if necessary, and on the sixteenth Washington made his head-quarters at the deserted mansion of Colonel Roger Morris, ** on the

* Washington made the house ol Robert Murray, on Murray Hill (see page 788), his quarters on the fourteenth, and on the fifteenth he was at Mott's tavern, now the properly of Mr. Penlz, near One hundred and Forty-third Street and Eighth Avenue. It was at Murray's house that Captain Nathan Hale received his secret instructions for the expedition which cost him his life. *

** This elegant mansion is yet standing and unaltered, upon the high bank of the Harlem River, at One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Street, a little below the High Bridge of the Croton Aqueduct. Its situation is one of the most picturesque on the island, commanding a fine view of the Harlem River and village, Long Island Sound, Flushing, and Astoria, with the green fields of Long Island beyond. Below are seen the plains of

* The commissioners immediately afterward issued a proclamation similar in character to the one sent out in July. This proclamation, following the disasters upon Long Island, had great effect, and many timid Americans availed themselves of the supposed advantages of compliance. In the city of New York more than nine hundred persons, by petition to the commissioners, dated sixteenth of October, declared their allegiance to the British government. To counteract this, in a degree, Congress, on the twenty-first, provided an oath of allegiance to the American government.

** Anxious to know the exact condition and intentions of the British on Long Island, Washington called a council of officers, when it was determined to send a spy into their camp. Colonel Knowlton, who commanded a choice regiment called Congress's Own, was directed to select a competent man from his corps. Captain Nathan Hale, of Coventry, Connecticut, volunteered for the service, and, bearing instructions from Washington to the commanders of all-American armed vessels to convey him whithersoever he might desire to go, he crossed the Sound to Huntington (some say to Oyster Bay), and made his way to the British camp at Brooklyn and vicinity. There he made sketches and notes, and, unsuspected, returned to Huntington with valuable information. There he was recognized and exposed (tradition says by a Tory relative), and was taken immediately to Howe's head quarters at Beekman's house, at Turtle Bay. He was confined in the green house of the garden during the night of the twenty-first of September, and the next morning, without even the form of a regular trial, was delivered to Cunningham, the brutal provost marshal, to be executed as a spy. He was treated with great inhumanity by that monster. The services of a clergyman and the use of a Bible were denied him, and even the letters which he had been permitted by Howe to write to his mother and sisters during the night, were destroyed. He was hanged upon an apple-tree in Rutgers' Orchard, near the present intersection of East Broadway and Market Streets. His last words were, "I only regret that I have but one life to give to my country!" His body was buried beneath the gibbet-tree. The name of this youthful patriot martyr appears luminous upon the pages of our country's history, and the grateful citizens of his native town have erected a handsome monument to his memory there. I made the above sketch of the green-house a few days before it fell, with all the glories of the beautiful garden of the Beekman mansion, at the touch of the street commissioner, in July, 1852. Its locality is now in the center of Fifty-second Street, a little east of First Avenue. It was erected, with the mansion delineated on page 817, in 1764. I am indebted to the Honorable James W. Beekman, the present owner of the grounds, for a copy of a curious document preserved among the family papers. It is a memorandum, kept by the gardener of James Beekman (the original proprietor); during the war, showing the time that several British officers, in succession, made the house their head-quarters. The following is a copy, with the heading by the pen of Beekman: "At the undermentioned time my country seat was occupied by the following generals" [the gardener's report]: "General Howe commenced fifteenth of September, 1776—seven and a half months. Commissary Loring the first of May, 1777—one year and five months. General Clinton the twentieth of October, 1778—three years and six months. General Robison [Robertson] May the first, 1782—eleven and a half months. Mr. Beekman the sixteenth of April, 1783—two months. General Carleton the sixteenth of June, 1783, to the evacuation, is five months—in the whole, is seven years one and a half months."—For Hale's capture and death, see Onderdonk's Revolutionary Incidents, ii" 48, 53

Preparation to invade New York.—Revolutionary Fortifications on the north part of the Island.

heights of Harlem River, about ten miles from the city. Every muscle and implement was now put in vigorous action, and before the British had taken possession of the city the Americans were quite strongly intrenched. *

Howe now prepared to invade the island and take possession of the city of New York. Large detachments were sent in boats from Hallet's Point to occupy Buchanan's and Moutressor's (now Ward's and Randall's) Islands, at the mouth of the Harlem River, and early on Sunday morning the fifteenth.

Sir Henry Clinton, with four thousand men, crossed the river in flat bottomed boats from the mouth of Newtown Creek, and landed at Kip's Bay (foot of Thirty-fourth

* At Turtle Bay, Horn's Hook, Fort Washington and the heights in the vicinity, on the Hudson and Harlem Rivers, and near King's Bridge, traces of these fortifications may yet be seen. *

* The Americans cast up a redoubt at Turtle Bay, on the East River, between Forty-fourth and Forty sixth Streets; a breastwork at the Shot Tower, Fifty-fourth Street; another at the foot of Seventy-fourth Street; a third at the foot of Eighty-fifth, near Hell Gate Ferry; and a strong work called Thompson's Battery, upon Horn's Ilook (now a beautifully shaded grassy point), at Eighty-ninth Street. This redoubt commanded the mouth of Harlem River and the narrow channel at Hell Gate. They also built a small work upon Snake Hill (now Mount Morris, in Mount Morris Square), near Harlem, and a line of breastworks near the Harlem River, extending from One hundred and Thirty-sixth Street to Bussing's Point, near M'Comb's Dam. Upon each aide of "Harlem Cove," at Manhattanville, a battery was constructed (One hundred and Thirty-first and One hundred and Thirty-third Streets), and along the central hills whereon the Convent of the Sacred Heart stands with a line of works extending to One hundred and Fiftieth Street. These were small batteries, without connecting breast-works, and overlooked Harlem River. From near "The Grange" (the country residence of General Hamilton, yet standing), in the vicinity of One hundred and Fifty-first Street, was a line of intrenchments, with three batteries and abatis extending to the Hudson, a distance ot almost a mile. The batteries of this line were upon three eminences. Almost upon the line of One hundred and Sixty-first and One hundred and Sixty-second Streets, was another line, with three batteries and abatis. These formed the "double lines of intrenchments," mentioned in the histories. The quite prominent outlines of a redoubt on the lofty bank of the Harlem River, at the foot of One hundred and Fifty-sixth Street, were pointed out to me by Henry O'Reilly, Esq., who resides near. From this redoubt, down the steep hill to the cove where Colonel Stirling landed (see page 827), the old road is yet (1852) open and passable. From Colonel Morris's (Madame Jumel's) house was a line of shallow intrenchments to the North River, with a single battery upon the eminence above the residence of the late Mr. Audobon the ornithologist, a little north of Trinity Cemetery. Upon the high west bank of the Harlem, yet rough and wooded, were two breast works. These the British afterward strengthened, and called it Fort George. This was between One hundred and Ninety-second and One hundred and Ninety-sixth Streets. On the King's Bridge road below, at Two hundred and Sixth Street, a strong four-gun battery was erected.

Fort Washington, situated between One hundred and Eighty-first and One hundred and Eighty-sixth Streets, upon the highest eminence on the island (between ten and eleven miles from the City Hall), was a strong earth-work of irregular form, covering, with its ravelins, several acres. It contained an inner work, a sort of citadel, within which was the magazine. About twenty heavy cannons were mounted upon it, besides several smaller pieces and mortars. Its chief strength consisted in its position. On the promontory below it (Jeffery's Hook), where the Telegraph mast stands (between One hundred and Seventy-sixth and One hundred and Seventy-seventh Streets), was a redoubt, intended as a covering to chevaux de frisé constructed in the channel there. The banks of this redoubt, among dwarf cedars upon the rocks, are yet (1852) very prominent. Northward of Fort Washington, on the same lofty bank of the Hudson, between One hundred and Ninety-fifth and One hundred and Ninety sixth Streets, was a redoubt with two guna, which was afterward strengthened by the British and called Fort Tryon. Near the extreme point of this range, at Spyt den Dyvel Kill (Spite the Devil Creek), at Two hundred and Seventeenth Street, was a little redoubt of two guns, called Cock Will Fort; and across the creek, on Tetard's Hill, was a square redoubt, with bastions, called Fort Independence. At the point where the Hudson River railway strikes the West Chester shore, was a small battery, and upon a hill commanding King's Bridge from the south side, between Two hundred and Twenty-fifth and Two hundred and Twenty-sixth Streets (just above (he present mill), was a redoubt. This was strengthened in 1781 by the British, and called Fort Prince, in honor of Prince William (afterward William the Fourth), then in New York. The embankments of Fort Washington, and all of the works mentioned in this paragraph, are yet visible. Those of the Citadel of Fort Washington (indicated at the foot of the flag-staff, page 826) are well defined. The military works mentioned in this note, with those in the note on page 799, composed the whole of the Revolutionary fortifications upon Manhattan Island, except sortie breast-works at M'Gowan's Pass, between One hundred and Fifth and One hundred and Eighth Streets and the Fifth and Sixth Avenues, now known as Mount St. Vincent. The embankments now seen at M'Gowan's Pass, and the square excavation in the rock a few rods northwest of the Roman Catholic school, were constructed in 1812. Very few of the streets mentioned in this note have yet been opened; all of them have been surveyed and located upon the city maps. The streets are generally opened and graded as far as the State Arsenal, Sixty-third Street.

Flight of the Americans on the Landing of the British.—Washington's Mortification.—Evacuation of the City.

Street) under cover of a severe cannonade from ten ships of war, which had sailed up and anchored opposite the present House of Refuge, at the foot of Twenty-third Street. * Another division, consisting chiefly of Hessians, embarked a little above, and landed near the same place. The brigades of Parsons and Fellows, panic-stricken by the cannonade and the martial array, fled in confusion (many without firing a gun) when the advanced guard of only fifty men landed. Washington, at Harlem, heard the cannonade, leaped into the saddle, and approached Kip's Bay in time to meet the frightened fugitives.

Their generals were trying in vain to rally them, and the commander-in-chief was equally unsuccessful. Mortified, almost despairing, at this exhibition of cowardice in the face of the enemy, Washington's feelings mastered his judgment, and casting his chapeau to the ground, and drawing his sword, he spurred toward the enemy, and sought death rather than life. One of his aids caught his bridle-rein and drew him from danger, when reason resumed its power. ** Unopposed, the British landed in full force, and, after skirmishing in the rear of Kip's house with the advance of Glover's brigade, who had reached the scene, they marched almost to the center of the island, and encamped upon the Incleberg, an eminence between the present Fifth and Sixth Avenues and Thirty-fifth and Thirty-eighth Streets. The Americans retreated to Bloomingdale, and Washington sent an express to Putnam in the city, ordering him to evacuate it immediately. Howe, with Clinton, Tryon, and a few others, went to the house of Robert Murray, on Murray Hill (see page 789), for refreshments and rest.

With smiles and pleasant conversation, and a profusion of cake and wine, the good Whig lady detained the gallant Britons almost two hours; quite long enough for the bulk of Putnam's division of four thousand men to leave the city and escape to the heights of Harlem by the Bloomingdale road, with the loss of only a few soldiers. *** General Robertson, with a strong force, marched to take possession of the city, and Howe made his headquarters at the elegant mansion of James Beekman, at Turtle Bay, then deserted by the owner and his family. **** Before sunset his troops were encamped in a line extending from Horn's Hook

* The ships went up the Hudson, at the same time, as far as Bloomingdale. One of these vessels was the detested Asia, of sixty-four guns. Captain Talbot, anxious to be useful, attempted its destruction by a fire-ship. From near Fort Washington he proceeded cautiously, at two o'clock in the morning of the sixteenth, and soon he was alongside the enemy, with his ship in a blaze. Lingering too long, he was badly burned, but escaped to the Jersey shore in safety. The Asia managed to extricate herself from the peril.—See Tuckerman's Life of Commodore Talbot, p. 24-29.

** Gordon, ii., 111.

*** Putnam, Knox, and other officers in the city were quite ignorant of the island beyond the intrenchments. They were perplexed on learning that the enemy occupied the east and middle roads, for they knew of no other way among the woods and swamps of the island. Fortunately, Major Aaron Burr, then one of Putnam's aids, knew the ground well, and under his direction the troops left Independent Battery, on Bunker Hill (where they were preparing for defense), and passing through the woods west of the present Broadway, they reached a road leading from Greenwich (the property of Sir Peter Warren) to Blooming, dale. They were discovered by a patrole, after passing the camp upon the Incleberg, and a detachment of light infantry were sent in pursuit. These overtook the rear of the Americans in a path extending from Bloomingdale to Harlem Lane, near M'Gowan's Pass, and a warm skirmish was the result. This skirmish was at about the intersection of One hundredth Street and Eighth Avenue.

**** See note on page 815. This view of Beekman's mansion is from the grounds looking toward the East River. The fine lawns and blooming gardens are now reticulated by eity streets, and in a few years, no doubt, this elegant specimen of the houses of "the olden time" will be swept away by the broom of improvement. The carved family arms have been removed from their long resting-place over the elaborately wrought chimney-piece of the drawing-room, and an ancient sun-dial, which marked the hours in the garden for almost a century, has been laid away in security. The elegant coach of the first proprietor, emblazoned with the Beekrnan arms, is yet there, a rich old relic of the aristocracy of New York a century ago. * There General Riedesel and his family resided during the summer of 1780.

* The family arms consist of an irregular broad line, representing running water (Beekrnan signifies brook-man) drawn across a shield, and upon each side of it is a full-blown rose. The crest is a helmet, surmounted by spread wings: the legend, "Menteonscia recti." The Beekmans trace their family to Germany as early as 1470. William, the ancestor of the American branch of the family, came to America, with Stuyvesant, in 1647. He was appointed vice-governor on the Delaware in 1658, was afterward sheriff of Keopus, in Ulster county, and burgomaster and alderman in New Amsterdam. There were other Beekmans who settled in the vicinity of Albany.—See Holgate's American Genealogy, page 66.

Americans on Harlem Heights.—Battle on Harlem Plains.—Death of Knowlton and Lietch.

across the island to Bloomingdale. Harlem Plains divided the hostile camps. For seven a Sept. 15, years, two months, and ten daysSept. 15, 1776 to Nov. 25, 1783 from this time, the city of New York remained in possession of the British troops.

The wearied patriots from the city, drenched by a sudden shower, slept in the open air on the heights of Harlem that night.

Early the next morningSept. 16 intelligence came that a British force, under Brigadier Leslie, was making its way by M'Gowan's pass to Harlem Plains. The little garrisons at Mount Morris and Harlem Cove (Manhattanville) confronted them at the mouth of a deep rocky gorge, * and kept them in partial check until the arrival of re-enforcements. Washington was at Morris's house, and hearing the firing, rode to his outpost, where the Convent of the Sacred Heart now stands. There he met Colonel Knowlton, of the Connecticut Rangers (Congress's Own), who had been skirmishing with the advancing foe, and now came for orders. The enemy were about three hundred strong upon the plain, and had a reserve in the woods upon the heights. Knowlton was to hasten with his Rangers, and Major Leitch with three companies of Weedon's Virginia regiment, to gain the rear of the advance, while a feigned attack was to be made in front. Perceiving this, the enemy rushed forward to gain an advantageous position on the plain, when they were attacked by Knowlton and Leitch on the flank. Re-enforcements now came down from the hills, when the enemy changed front and fell upon the Americans. A short but severe conflict ensued. Three bullets passed through the body of Leitch, and he was borne away. A few moments afterward, Knowlton received a bullet in his head, fell, and was borne off by his sorrowing companions. ** Yet their men fought bravely, disputing the ground inch by inch as they fell back toward the American camp. The enemy pressed hard upon them, until a part of the Maryland regiments of Colonels Griffiths and Richardson re-enforced the patriots. The British were

* This rocky gorge has not yet been touched by the hand of improvement. It remains in all its primal roughness, covered by low shrubbery, shoots from the roots of the ancient forest-trees. It extends on a line with and between the Fifth and Eighth Avenues, from the southern extremity of Harlem Plains.

** Major Leitch died the following day. Knowlton was earned to the redoubt, near the Hudson, at One hundred and Fifty-sixth Street, where he expired before sunset, and was buried within the embankments. His death was a public loss. His bravery at Bunker Hill commanded the highest respect of Washington. In general orders in the morning after the battle on Harlem Plains, the commander-in-ehief, alluding to the death of Knowlton, said, "He would have been an honor to any country."

Great Fire in New York.—Departure of the British Army for West Chester.—Landing upon Throck's Neck.

driven back across the plain, when Washington, fearing an ambush, ordered a retreat. The loss of the Americans was inconsiderable in numbers; that of the British was eighteen killed and about ninety wounded. This event inspirited the desponding Americans, and nerved them for the contest soon to take place upon the main.

The British strengthened M'Gowan's Pass, placed strong pickets in advance of their lines, and guarded their flanks by armed vessels in the East and North Rivers. General Robertson, in the mean while, had taken possession of the city, and commenced strengthening the intrenchments across the island there. He had scarcely pitched his tents upon the hills in the present Seventh and Tenth Wards, and began to look with complacency upon the city as snug winter quarters for the army, when columns of lurid smoke rolled up from the lower end of the town. It was midnightSept. 20-21,1776 Soon broad arrows of flame shot up from the darkness, and a terrible conflagration began.' It was stayed by the exertions of the troops and sailors from the ships, but not until about five hundred houses were consumed.

Perceiving the Americans to be too strongly intrenched upon Harlem Heights to promise a successful attack upon them, Howe attempted to get in their rear, to cut off their communication with the north and east, and hem them in upon the narrow head of Manhattan Island.

Leaving a sufficient force of British and Hessians, under Lord Percy, to guard the city, and others to man his lines toward Harlem, he embarked the remainder of his army upon ninety flat-boats, passed through the narrow and turbulent strait of Hell Gate, and landed upon Throck's Neck,Oct. 12, 1774a low peninsula jutting into the East River from the main of West Chester county, sixteen miles from the city. *** A few days afterwardOct. 17

* Mr. David Grim, a merchant of New York, who saw the conflagration, has left a record of the event. He says the fire broke out in a low groggery and brothel, a wooden building on the wharf, near Whitehall Slip. It was discovered between one and two o'clock in the morning of the twenty-first of September. The wind was from the southwest. There were but few inhabitants in the city, and the flames, for a while unchecked. spread rapidly. All the houses between Whitehall and Broad Streets, up to Beaver Street, were consumed, when the wind veered to the southeast and drove the fire toward Broadway. It consumed all on eaeh side of Beaver Street to the Bowling Green, a little above which it crossed Broadway, and swept all the buildings on both sides, as far as Exchange Street. On the west side it consumed almost every building from Morris Street to Partition (Fulton) Street, devouring Trinity church * in its way, and destroyed all the buildings toward the North River. For a long time the new (St. Paul's) church was in peril, for the fire crept in its rear to Mortkile (Barclay) Street, and extended west of King's (Columbia) College to Murray Street. The exact number of buildings consumed was four hundred and ninety-three. The city then contained about four thousand houses. "The ruins," says Dunlap (who wandered over the scene at the close of the war), "on the southeast side of the town were converted into dwelling places by using the chimneys and parts of walls which were firm, and adding pieces of spars with old canvas from the ships, forming hovels—part hut and part tent." This was called Canvas Town, and there the vilest of the army and Tory refugees congregated. The Tories, and British writers of the day attempted to fix the crime of incendiarism upon the Whigs, but could not. It was well known that the fire had an accidental origin, yet British historians continue to reproduce the libel.

** The officer who went out to Lexington with re-enforcements in April, 1775.—See page 528, vol. i.

*** This is spelled Throck's, Throg's, and Frog's, in different histories. It was originally owned by a man named Throckmorton, who was called Throck for the sake of brevity. On the extreme point of this peninsula, at the entrance to Long Island Sound, stands Fort Schuyler, a strong work completed in 1842.

* Trinity church was erected at the close of the seventeenth century. The first building was small and square. Queen Anne granted to the corporation in 1705 the land extending along the west side of Broadway to Christopher Street, known as the Queen's Farm. The edifice was enlarged in 1737 to one hundred and forty-eight feet in length, including the tower and chancel, and seventy-two feet in breadth. The steeple was one hundred and seventy-five feet in height. This was the edifice consumed by the great fire in 1776. The sketch of the ruins is from a picture made on the spot, and published in Dr. Berrian's History of Trinity Church. It was rebuilt in 1788, taken down in 1839, and on the twenty-first of May, 1846, the present edifice was consecrated to Christian worship.

Landing-place of the Hessians.—Howe confronted.—Skirmish near New Rochelle.—General Heath

other troops from Montressor's Island * and Flushing landed there; and on the twenty-second, Knyphausen, with the second division of German hirelings, just arrived at New York, ** landed upon Myers's Point, now Davenport's Neck, near New Rochelle. ***

When Washington perceived this movement, he sent strong detachments, under General Heath, **** to oppose the landing of the British, and occupy lower West Chester.

A redoubt had been thrown up on the hills, near William's Bridge; all the passes to King's Bridge were well guarded, and a detachment was at White Plains making intrenchments there. The causeways to Throck's and Pell's Necks were also guarded, the latter by Colonel Hand and his riflemen; and on the night of the first landing,October 12the bridge was removed, and General Howe was left upon an island.

He suspected his Tory guides of treachery, but he soon ascertained the truth and decamped, after being driven back from the causeway by Hand, with the aid of Prescott (the hero of Breed's Hill) and a three-pounder, under Lieutenant Bryant. (v) Howe crossed in his boats to Pell's Point, a little above,October 18 and marched over Pelham Manor toward New Rochelle.

After a hot skirmish with Glover's brigade, of Sullivan's division, in which the Americans were repulsed, Howe encamped upon high ground between Hutchins's River and New Rochelle village, where he remained until the twenty-first, when he took post upon the heights of New Rochelle, (v) north of the village, on the road to White Plains and Scarsdale. Knyphausen and his division arrived the next day, and encamped upon the land now owned by E. K. Collins, Esq., between New Rochelle and Mamaroneck.

* On the twenty-fourth of September, Colonel Jackson, with Major Henly (aid-de-eamp to General Heath), and two hundred and forty men, made a descent upon the British on Montressor's Island in flat-boats. They were repulsed with a loss of twenty-two men. Among them was Major Henly, who was shot while at the head of his men. He was carried to the vamp, and buried by the side of the brave Knowlton.

** These re-enforcements arrived on the eighteenth of October. The fleet consisted of seventy-two sail, having on board four thousand Hessians, six thousand Waldeckers, two companies of chasseurs, two hundred English recruits, and two thousand baggage horses.

*** The main body of the Germans landed upon Bauflet's Point, on the east side of Davenport's Neck, where, it is said, the Huguenot settlers of New Roehelle first touched our shores. Davenport's Neck is a beautiful fertile peninsula, jutting into the Sound near the village of New Roehelle. The view here given is from the high rocky bank at Bauflet's Point, looking southeast upon the wooded islands whieh here dot the Sound. The shores of Long Island are seen in extreme distance.

**** William Heath was a native of Roxbury, Massachusetts, near whieh some of his descendants still reside. He was appointed a provincial brigadier in 1775. The Continental Congress gave him the same commission, and on the ninth of August, 1776, made him a major general, together with Spencer, Sullivan, and Greene. He commanded near King's Bridge after the Americans left New York, and in the following year he was in chief command in the Eastern department. Burgoyne's captured army were in his custody. In 1779 he commanded on the Hudson, and there was the principal theater of his military life, until the close of the war. General Heath was a useful officer, but circumstances prevented his making much display. He published an interesting volume, entitled "Heath's Memoirs," which is now mueh sought after by collectors of valuable American books. General Heath died in 1814, the last survivor of the major generals of the Revolution.

* (v) Heath's Memoirs, page 67. For a sketeh of Colonel Prescott, see page 539, vol. i.

* (vi) These heights are now (1852) partly wooded and partly cultivated; then they were covered by the primitive forest, except around the house above delineated, where Howe made his quarters. That house is upon the eastern side of the highway from New Roehelle to White Plains, about a mile from the former village. It was very much dilapidated when I visited it, and was occupied by a colored family. Half a mile beyond this dwelling, on the same side of the road, is the marble monument erected to the memory of Thomas Paine. A sketch of this monument may be found in the Supplement, page 853.

American Army in West Chester.—Skirmishes.—Condition of the Army.

Washington viewed this first planting of the British standard upon the main land in proclaimed free America with great anxiety, for clouds were gathering In the horizon of the future. Nominally, he had an army of nineteen thousand men, but in discipline, order, and all the concomitants of true soldiers * they were not one third of that number. The time of service of many of them was drawing to a close, and cold weather was approaching to chill the ardor of half-clad patriots. A powerful enemy, well provided, was crouched as a tiger within cannon-voice, ready to spring upon its prey. Yet Washington's spirit did not quail, and he resolved to confront the foe with his motley troop, as if with a parity of veterans. He called a council of war at his quarters at Morris's house,Oct 16, 1776 to decide upon the propriety of evacuating Manhattan Island. General Lee, fresh from the field of victory at Charleston, had just arrived and gave his weighty opinion in favor of a total abandonment of the island.

The main army was speedily marched toward the Bronx, in West Chester, leaving a garrison, under Colonel Magaw, of Pennsylvania, sufficient to hold Fort Washington and its dependencies. In four divisions, under Generals Lee, Heath. Sullivan, and Lincoln, the American army moved slowly up the western side of the Bronx, and formed a series of intrenched camps upon the hills from the heights of Fordham to White Plains, a distance of about thirteen miles. While presenting a front parallel to that of Howe, frequent skirmishes occurred, in which the Americans were generally the winners. ** General Greene with a small force garrisoned Fort Lee, situated upon the Palisades, *** nearly opposite Fort Washington, and on the twenty-first of October the commander-in-chief left Morris's house and made his head-quarters near White Plains, where, directed by a French engineer, the Americans

* Cotemporary waiters give a sad picture of the army at that time. Among many of the subordinate officers, greed usurped the place of patriotism. Officers were elected on condition that they should throw their pay and rations into a joint stock for the benefit of a company; surgeons sold recommendations for furloughs, for able-bodied men, at sixpence each, and a captain was cashiered for stealing blankets from his soldiers. Men went out in squads to plunder from friend or foe, and immorality prevailed throughout the American army. Its appointments, too, were in a wretched condition. The surgeon's department lacked instruments According to a general return of fifteen regiments, there were not more than sufficient instruments for one battalion.—See Washington's Letter to Congress, Sept. 24, 1776; Gordon, ii., 114.

** On the night of the twenty-first of October, Lord Stirling sent Colonel Haslet, with Delaware and Maryland troops, to surprise some Loyalists then lying at Mamaroneck, under Colonel Rogers, the ranger during the French and Indian wars. These troops were the Queen's Rangers, afterward commanded by Simcoe. Almost eighty men were killed or captured, and the spoils were sixty stand of arms, and provisions and clothing. Rogers escaped. On the twenty-third, Colonel Hand and his riflemen attacked two hundred and forty Hessian chasseurs near East Chester, and routed them; and almost nightly the British pickets were disturbed by the Americans. These events made Howe cautious and slow in his movements.

*** The high perpendicular rocks extending along the western bank of the Hudson from Weehawken north about twenty-three miles, are so called on account of their resemblance to palisades. Congress had ordered Washington, "by every art and whatever expense, to obstruct effectually the navigation of the North River, between Fort Washington and Mount Constitution [whereon Fort Lee stood], as well to prevent the regress of the enemy's frigates lately gone up, as to hinder them from receiving succors."—Journals, ii., 385.

**** The house occupied by Washington while the army was at White Plains is yet standing. It is a frame building, on the east side of the road, about two miles above the village. This view is from the road, looking northeast. When I last visited it (1851), Miss Jemima Miller, a maiden ninety-three years of age, and her sister, a few years her junior, were living therein, the home of their childhood. A chair and table, used by the chief, is carefully preserved by the family, and a register for the names of the numerous visitors is kept. This house was in the deep solitude of the forests, among the hills, when Washington was there; now the heights and the plain near by smile with cultivation. The present owner of the property is Abraham Miller.

The two Armies at White Plains.—The Battle there.—The Intrenchments.

cast up breast-works, rather as a defense for an intrenched camp in preparation upon the hills of North Castle two miles beyond than as permanent fortifications. * Both armies were near White Plains on the morning of the twenty-eighth of October.1776 The Americans were chiefly behind their breast-works near the village, and the British were upon the hills below, eastward of the Bronx.

Chatterton's Hill, a commanding eminence on the opposite side of the stream, was occupied on the evening of the twenty-seventh by Colonel Haslet, with his Delawares, some Maryland troops and militia, in all about sixteen hundred men. Early the next morning, M'Dougal was ordered to reenforce Haslet with a small corps and two pieces of artillery under the charge of Captain Alexander Hamilton, and to take the general command there.

At ten o'clock the British army moved toward the village in two columns, the right commanded by General Clinton, the left by De Heister and Sir William Erskine; in all thirteen thousand strong. Howe was with the second division, and when near the village, he held a council of war on horseback, which resulted in a change in the point of attack. Inclining to the left, the British placed fifteen or twenty pieces of artillery upon the slope southeast of the rail-way station, and, under cover of their fire, constructed a rude bridge over the Bronx, and attempted to cross and ascend the steep wooded heights to dislodge the Americans from their hastily constructed breastworks upon Chatterton's Hill. Hamilton had placed his two guns in battery, on a rocky ledge, and these swept whole platoons from the margin of the hill they were attempting to ascend.

The British recoiled, fell back to their artillery, and joined another division, under General Leslie (consisting of the second British brigade, the Hessian grenadiers under Colonel Rail, a battalion of Hessian infantry, and two hundred and fifty cavalry), who were then crossing the Bronx a quarter of a mile below. There the assailants joined, and the whole force pushed up the slopes and ravines along the southwestern declivities of Chatterton's Hill.

Gaining a gentle slope toward the top, they endeavored to turn M'Dongal's right flank. His advance, under Smallwood and Ritzema, gallantly opposed them while slowly retreating toward the crown of the eminence, until the British cavalry attacked the American militia on the extreme right and dispersed them. M'Dongal with only six hundred men, consisting chiefly of his own brigade and Haslet's corps, sustained an obstinate conflict for an hour. Twice the British light infantry and cavalry were repulsed, when an attack upon his flank by Rail compelled M'Dougal to give way

* A square redoubt of earth was erected in the main street of the village, the remains of which may yet be seen a little northeast of Mr. Swinburn's Literary Institution, and where now (1852) lies a shattered howitzer, dug up from the trenches a few years ago. From this redoubt-a line of breast-works extended westerly over the south side of Purdy's Hill to the Bronx, and easterly across the hills to Horton's Pond. These were not quite finished when the battle occurred on the twenty-eighth of October.—See Address of J. W. Tompkins, 1845, quoted by Bolton, ii., 368.

** This view is from the southeastern side of the Bronx, a little more than half a mile below the rail-way station at While Plains, looking north. The rail-way bridge is seen on the extreme right. Between that and the barn on the left the British ascended. In the field, seen a little to the left of the telegraph posts, toward the center, and the one on the summit beyond, the hottest of the engagement occurred. The latter is on the land of Mr. Cornelius Horton. In a hollow, near a large hickory-tree, on the southwest side of Chatterton's Hill, are the graves of many of the slain.

Retreat of the Americans.—The Loss.—Withdrawal to North Castle.—Conflagration.

and retreat to the intrenchments at White Plains. This was done in good order down the southeastern side of Chatterton's Hill, and across the Bronx, near the present rail-way station, under cover of troops, led by Putnam.

M'Dougal carried off his wounded and artillery, and left the victors in possession of only the inconsiderable breastworks upon the hill.

The militia, who were scattered among the Greenburg hills, soon collected in the intrenched camp at the village, and there the American army rested, almost undisturbed, until the evening of the thirty-first.Oct, 1778The British troops rested upon their arms all night after the battle, and the next day, after a skirmish with Glover's brigade, they encamped within long cannon shot of the front of the American lines. Awed by the apparent strength of Washington's intrenchments, Howe dared not attack him, but awaited the arrival of Lord Percy, with four battalions from New York and two from Mamaroneck. **

The loss of the Americans, from the twenty-sixth to the twenty-ninth, did not exceed, probably, three hundred men, in killed, wounded, and prisoners; that of the British was about-the same.

Earl Percy arrived in the evening of the thirtieth, and preparations were made to storm the American works the next morning. A tempest of wind and rain arose at midnight, and continued for twenty hours. All operations were delayed, and on the night of the thirty-first, while the storm clouds were breaking and the British host were slumbering, Washington withdrew, and encamped upon the heights of North Castle, toward the Croton River, where he had erected strong breast-works along the hills which loom up a hundred feet above the waters of the Bronx. *** Howe was afraid to attack him there, and on the night of the fourth of November,1776 he retreated toward the junction of the Hudson

* This is a view of the southeastern side of Chatterton's Hill, from the rail-way station. They crossed the Bronx at a point seen on the extreme right. On the top of the hill, in the edge of the woods on the left, Hamilton's cannons were placed.

** The intrenchments, which appeared so formidable through Howe's telescope, were exceedingly weak, composed of earth and sods laid upon heaps of cornstalks. They were no protection against cannon-balls, and had Howe attacked these lines first, instead of the really stronger position on Chatterton's Hill, the complete dispersion, if not loss of the American army, would doubtless have been the result. His caution was too faithful in its promptings, and he wasted time and energy, for two or three days, in attempts to gain Washington's rear.

*** A little southeast of the house occupied by Washington (see sketch on page 821), on the brow of a steep hill overlooking an extensive region of country, are yet (1852) prominent remains of some of these breast-works. These are nearest the village of White Plains, and easiest of access for the student or antiquary. Gordon relates that while the British were at White Plains, the garden of a widow was robbed at night. Her son, a mere boy, asked and obtained leave to catch the thief. With a loaded gun he concealed himself in some bushes, when a British grenadier, a strapping Highlander came, filled a bag with fruit, and placed it on his shoulder. The boy appeared behind him with his gun cocked, and threatened him with instant death if he attempted to lay down the bag. Thus the boy drove him into the American camp. When he laid down his bag, and saw that he had been driven in by a stripling, he was excessively mortified, and could not suppress the exclamation, "A British grenadier made a prisoner by such a damned brat!

*** On the night of the evacuation, the Presbyterian church and other buildings were fired and consumed, but without the knowledge or approval of Washington. Bolton (ii., 366) says the incendiary was Major Osborne, of the Massachusetts line. Gordon (ii., 121) remarks that "Colonel Austin, of the Massachusetts, who commanded the guards and sentries, being heated with liquor, burned the town on White Plains unnecessarily and without any orders."

Retreat to New Jersey.—Fort Washington menaced.—A Surrender refused.—Re-enforced.

and Harlem Rivers, and encamped upon the heights of Fordham, extending his left wing almost to King's Bridge. *

An attack upon Fort Washington, now environed by a hostile force, though at a distance, was to be the next scene in the drama. Washington called a council of war, and it was unanimously resolved to retreat into New Jersey with the larger portion of the army, leaving all the New England troops on the east side of the Hudson to defend the Highlands. This movement was speedily executed. By the twelfthNovember the main army were in New Jersey, some crossing from Tarrytown to Paramus (Sneeden's Landing), and others from Tiller's Croton; Point to the mouth of Tappan Creek (Piermont). The chief, after inspecting places at Peekskill and vicinity, crossed King's Ferry,Nov. 14, 1776 and hastened to form his camp, with his head-quarters at Hackinsack, in the rear of Fort Lee. ** General Heath was left in command in the Highlands, and General Lee, with a dissolving force *** of more than eight thousand men, remained at North Castle, with orders to join the main army in New Jersey if the enemy should aim a blow in that quarter.

On the day of the battle at White Plains, Knyphausen, with six German battalions, marched from New Rochelle, crossed the head of Harlem River, at Dyckman's Bridge, **** took possession of the abandoned works in the vicinity of King's Bridge, and encamped upon the plainNov. 2 between there and Fort Washington.

The Americans in Fort Independence and redoubts near, fled, on his approach, to Fort Washington, and now the whole country beyond Harlem, between Dobbs's Ferry and Morrisania, west of the Bronx, was in the possession of the royal army. Fort Washington was completely environed by hostile forees. On the seventh, three British ships of war passed up the Hudson unharmed, and on the night of the fourteenth, a large number of flat-boats went up and were moored near King's Bridge. The commander-in-chief would now have ordered the evacuation of Fort Washington, had not Greene urged the necessity of holding it, in connection with Fort Lee, for the defense of the river.

On the fifteenthNov. 1776 Howe was informed of the real condition of the garrison and works at Fort Washington, by a deserter from Magaw's battalion, and he immediately sent a messenger with a summons for the commander to surrender, or peril his garrison with the doom of massacre. Magaw, in a brief note, promptly refused compliance, and sent a copy of his answer to Washington at Hackinsack. Confident of success, Howe ordered a cannonade to be opened upon the American outworks from two British redoubts, situated upon the east side of the Harlem River, a little above the High Bridge. The cannonade commenced early on the morning of the sixteenth, to cover the landing of troops which crossed the Harlem there, preparatory to a combined attack at four different points. Expecting this, Magaw made a judicious disposition of his little force. (v) Colonel Rawling's

* Gordon, ii., 116-121. Stedman, i., 210-216. Marshall, i., 110-114.

** This fortification was situated upon a sort of plateau, about three, hundred feet above the river, at the present landing and village of Fort Lee, and opposite the present One hundred and Sixtieth Street, of New York. Some of the mounds are yet visible, covered with low trees. A little above was a redoubt, opposite Jeffery's Hook, to cover the chevaux-de-friese in the river. Few traces of this redoubt now remain.

*** The time of service of seven thousand five hundred of these men would expire within a week, and the remainder would be free on the first of December. When the time of dissolution came, some were induced to remain, but the largest portion went home dispirited.

**** For this and other localities made memorable by military operations between Fort Washington and the Highlands, the reader may profitably consult the map on the preceding page. It is copied from Stedman, whose orthography of proper names, it will be observed is often incorrect. There is an important error in the map, which was not observed, until it was engraved, namely, the transposition of the names of Heights of Fordham and Valentine's Hill. The former is in the vicinity of Morrisania; the latter near Wepperham, or Yonkers. Mile Square should be placed about two and a half miles further up the Bronx.

* (v) The garrison consisted of only about twelve hundred men, when Knyphausen first sat down at King's Bridge. Greene sent a re-enforcement from Mercer's Flying Camp, and when the fort was attacked there were about three thousand men within the lines. When Washington heard of lhe summons to surrender, he hastened from his camp to Fort Lee, and at nine in the evening, while crossing the Hudson, he met Greene and Putnam returning from Fort Washington. They assured him that Magaw was confident of a successful defense, and the chief returned with them to Fort Lee.

Disposition of the Garrison.—Plan of Attack.—Knyphausen's Assault

with his Maryland riflemen, was posted in a redoubt (Fort George) upon a hill north of Fort Washington, and a few men were stationed at the outpost called Cock-hill Fort.

Militia of the Flying Camp, under Colonel Baxter, were placed on the rough wooded hills east of the fort, along the Harlem River, and others, under Colonel Lambert Cadwalader, of Pennsylvania, manned the lines in the direction of New York. Magaw commanded in the fort.

The plan of attack was well arranged.

Knyphausen, with five hundred Hessians and Waldeckers, was to move to the attack on the north simultaneously with a division of English and Hessian troops, under Lord Percy, who were to assail the lines on the south. At the same time, Brigadier Mathews, supported by Cornwallis, was to cross the Harlem River, with the guards, light infantry, and two battalions of grenadiers, and land above Fort Washington, under cover of the guns on the West Chester Hills, just mentioned, * while Colonel Stirling, with the 42d regiment, was to cross at a point a little above the High Bridge. These arrangements were carried out. Knyphausen divided his forces. One division, under Colonel Rall (killed at Trenton seventy days afterward), drove the Americans from Cock-hill Fort, while Knyphausen, with the remainder, penetrated the woods near Tubby Hook, and, after clambering over felled trees and other obstructions, attacked Rawlings in Fort Tryon. The fort was gallantly defended for some time, and many Hessians were slain. Rawlings was finally forced to yield, and retreated to Fort Washington, under cover of its guns, when Knyp-hausen planted the Hessian flag upon Fort Tryon. In the mean while, Percy had crossed near Harlem, swept over the plain, drove in the American pickets at Harlem Cove (Manhattanville), and attacked Cadwalader at the advanced line of intrenchments. *** Percy's force was eight hundred strong; Cadwalader had only one hundred and fifty men, and one eighteen-pounder. Both parties fought bravely, and Percy, yielding, moved toward the American left, behind a wood, and the combat ceased for a while.

While Rawlings and Cadwalader were keeping the as-

* Mathews landed in the cove or creek at about Two hundredth Street.

** This is a view from the site of the interior works at Fort Washington from the foot of the flag-staff, looking southwest. In the foreground are seen the remains of the embankments. The tall mast seen near the river below is the support for telegraph wires which cross the Hudson there, from the rocky point of Jeffery's Hook. In the distance aeross the river are the Palisades, and the mast upon their summit denotes the site of the redoubt north of Fort Lee. This little sketch exhibits the relative position of Forts Washington and Lee.

*** Preparatory to this attack, a cannonade was opened upon the American works by two pieces on the high ground north of Motthaven on the Harlem.

"**** This flag-staff, indicating the center of the fort, is a prominent object to passengers upon the Hudson.

Attack of Stirling and Percy.—Surrender of the Fort.—The Loss.—Mr. Battin.

sailants at bay, Mathews and Stirling landed. The latter pushed up the wooded heights, drove Baxter's troops from their redoubt (Fort George) and rocky defense, and stood victor upon the hills overlooking the open fields around Fort Washington. Stirling, after making a feigned landing, dropped down to an estuary of the river, landed within the American lines, and, rushing up the acclivity by a sinuous road, attacked a redoubt on the summit, and made about two hundred prisoners. * Informed of this, and perceiving the peril of being placed between two fires, Cadwalader retreated along the road nearest the Hudson, closely pursued by Percy, and battling all the way.

When near the upper border of Trinity Cemetery (One hundred and Fifty-fifth Street), he was attacked on the flank by Colonel Stirling, who was pressing aeross the island to intercept him. ** He continued the retreat, and reached the fort, after losing a few killed, and about thirty made prisoners. On the border of the cemetery, and near the fort, severe skirmishes took place, and many of the Hessian pursuers were slain. The defense was gallant; but pike, ball, and bayonet, used by five thousand men, overpowered the weakened patriots, and at meridian they were nearly all gathered within the ramparts of the fort. General Howe now sent another summons to surrender. Perceiving further resistance to be vain, Magaw complied, *** and at half past one o'clockNov. 16, 1776 the British flag was waving where the Union banner was unfurled defiantly in the morning. The garrison, amounting to more than two thousand men, were made prisoners of war, **** and with these the jails of New York were speedily gorged. It was a terrible disaster for the little Republican army. Of all the gallant men who battled there on that day, not one is known among the living. Probably the last survivor of them all, and the last living relic of the British army in America, was the venerable John Battin, who died at his residence in Greenwich Street, in the city of New York, on the twenty-ninth of June, 1852, at the age of one hundred years and four months. His body is entombed in Trinity Cemetery, upon the very ground where he fought for his king seventy-six years before. (v)

Washington, standing upon Fort Lee with his general officers, and the author of "Common Sense," (Thomas Paine) saw some of the slaughter near the doomed fortress, and

* Stirling's landing-plaee was at about the foot of One hundred and Fifty-second Street, at the head of the Eighth Avenue, three fourths of a mile below the High Bridge, "within the third line of defense whieh crossed the island."—Marshall, i., 117. The road up which he passed is still there, and, as mentioned in the note on page 816, the lines of the redoubt on the "wooded promontory' (Stedman, i., 218) are quite visible.

** It was at this stage of affairs that Washington, with Putnam, Greene, and Mercer, crossed the Hudson, ascended the heights, and from Morris's house surveyed the scene of operations. Within fifteen minutes after they had left that mansion, Stirling and his victorious troops approached and took possession of it. It was a narrow eseape for the chief commanders.

*** At this moment Captain Gooch came over from Fort Lee with a note from Washington, assuring Magaw that if he could hold on till night the garrison should be brought off. It was too late.

**** The number of regulars was about two thousand. There were six or seven hundred militia, volunteers, and stragglers, all of whom were probably included in Howe's report of "two thousand six hundred prisoners." The loss of the Americans, in killed and wounded, did not exceed one hundred; that of the royal army was almost one thousand. The Hessians, as usual, suffered most severely. Washington was blamed for yielding to the opinions of Greene in endeavoring to hold this fort. Lee, who was opposed to it from the beginning, wrote to Washington, "O! general, why would you be overpersuaded by men of inferior judgment to your own? It was a cursed affair."

* (v) Mr. Battin came to America with the British army in 1776, and was engaged in the battles near Brooklyn, at White Plains, and Fort Washington. After the British went into winter quarters in New York, and Cornwallis's division (to which he was attached), returned from Trenton and Princeton, he took lessons in horsemanship in the Middle Dutch church (now the city post-office), then converted into a circus for a riding-school. He then joined the cavalry regiment of Colonel Bird, in which he held the offices of orderly sergeant and cornet. He was in New York during the "hard winter" of 1779-80, and assisted in dragging British cannons over the frozen bay from Fort George to Staten Island. He was always averse to fighting the Americans, yet, as in duty bound', he was faithful to his king. While Prince William Henry, afterward William the Fourth, was here, he was one of his body-guard. Twice he was sent to England by Sir Henry Clinton with dispatches, and being one of the most active men in the corps, he was frequently employed by the commander-in-chief in important services. With hundreds more, he remained in New York when the British army departed in 1783, resolved to make America his future home. He married soon after the war, and at the time of his death had lived with his wife (now aged eighty-three) sixty-five years. For more than fifty years, he walked every morning upon first the old, and then the new, or present Battery, unmindful of inclement weather. He always enjoyed remarkable health. He continued exercise in the street near his dwelling until within a few days of his death, though with increasing feebleness of step. The gay young men of half a century ago (now gray-haired old men) remember his well-conducted house of refreshment, corner of John and Nassau Streets, where they enjoyed oyster suppers and good liquors. The preceding sketch of his person is from a daguerreotype by Insley, made a few months before his departure.

Washington's Disappointment.—Wayne's Expedition near Bull's Ferry.—Lee's Attack on Paulus's Hook.

with streaming eyes he beheld the meteor flag of England flashing above its ramparts in the bright November sun. The fort was lost forever, and its name was changed to Knyphausen.

The chief now turned his thoughts toward the defense of the federal city of Philadelphia, for he penetrated the design of Howe to push thitherward. Fort Lee was abandoned, but before its stores could be removed, Cornwallis had crossed the Hudson with six thousand men, and was rapidly approaching it. * The garrison fled to the camp at Hack-

* The Americans lost at Fort Lee the whole of the mounted cannons, except two twelve-pounders, a large quantity of baggage, almost three hundred tents, and about a thousand barrels of flour and other stores. The ammunition was saved.

[Ill 8838]

* Three or four miles below Fort Lee, at the base of the Palisades, is a little village called Bull's Ferry. Just below the village, on Block-house Point, was a block-house, occupied in the summer of 1780 by a British picket, for the protection of some wood cutters, and the neighboring Tories. On Bergen Neck below was a large number of cattle and horses, within reach of the British foragers who might go out from the fort at Paulus's Hook. Washington, then at Hopper's, near Suflferns, sent General Wayne, with some Pennsylvania and Maryland troops, horse and foot, to storm the work on block house Point, and to drive the cattle within the American lines. Wayne sent the cavalry, under Major Lee, to perform the latter duty, while he and three Pennsylvania regiments marched against the block-house with four pieces of artillery. They made a spirited attack, but their cannons were too light to be effective, and after a skirmish, the Americans were repulsed, with a loss, in killed and wounded, of sixty-four men. After burning some wood-boats near, and capturing the men in charge of them, Wayne returned to camp, with a large number of cattle, driven by the dragoons. This expedition was made the subject of a satirical poem by Major André, called The Cow-chase (see page 198), published in Rivington's paper. A copy of this celebrated production may be found in the Supplement. Major Lee made a more successful attack upon the British post at Paulus's Hook (now Jersey City) toward the close of the summer of 1779. The Hook is a sandy peninsula, and at that time was connected with the main by a narrow marshy neck. Upon this peninsula the British erected quite strong military works, and used it as an outpost, while they were in possession of the city of New York. The main works were upon rising ground in the vicinity of the intersection of Grand and Greene Streets. One (A) redoubt was of circular form, and mounted six heavy guns. It had a ditch and abatis. The other (B), a little southeast of it, was of oblong form, and had three twelve-pounders and one eighteen, a a, were block houses; b b b b b, breast-works fronting the bay; c, part of the 57th regiment of five hundred men, under Major Sutherland; d, pioneers; e, carpenters; fff, barracks; g, new bridge built by the British. A deep ditch was dug across the isthmus with a barred gate Thirty feet within this diteh were abatis. This ditch, with the surrounding marshes, made the peninsula an island. After the recapture of Stony Point toward the close of ihe summer of 1779, while Sir Henry Clinton was encamped upon Harlem Heights, a plan was formed for surprising the garrison at Paulus's Hook. The enterprise was intrusted to Major Henry Lee, then on the west side of the Hudson, back of Hoboken. A feeling of security made the garrison careless, and they were unprepared for a sudden attack when it was made. Preparatory to the attack, troops were stationed near the Hudson to watch the distant enemy, who might cross the river and intercept retreat, for it was not designed to hold the post when captured. Lee marched with three hundred picked men, followed by a strong detachment from Lord Stirling's division, as a reserve. Lee's march toward Bergen excited no surprise, for foraging parties of Americans as large as this were often out in that direction. The reserve halted at the new bridge over the Hackinsack, fourteen miles from the Hook, from which point Lee had taken the road among the hills, nearest the Hudson. At three o'clock on the morning of the nineteenth of August (1779), Lee reached the Harsimus Creek, at the point where the railway now crosses it, and within half an hour he crossed the ditch through the loosely-barred gate, and entered the main work undiscovered. The sentinels were either absent or asleep, and the surprise was complete. He captured one hundred and fifty-nine of the garrison, including officers, and then attacked the circular redoubt, into which a large portion of the remainder retreated, with the commander. It was too strong to be effected by small arms, and Lee retreated with his prisoners, with the loss of only two killed and three wounded, and arrived at camp in triumph at about ten o'clock in the morning. This gallant act was greatly applauded in the camp, in Congress, and throughout the country, and made the enemy more cautious. On the twenty second of September following, Congress honored Lee with a vote of thanks, and ordered a gold medal to be struck and presented to him.—See Journals, v., 278. On one side "The American Congress to Henry Lee, colonel of cavalry."

* "Notwithstanding rivers and intrenchments, he with a small band conquered the foe by warlike skill and prowess, and firmly bound by his humanity those who had been conquered by his arms. In memory of the conflict at Paulus's Hook, nineteenth of August, 1779."

Medal awarded to Lee.—American and British near King's Bridge.—Events near Tippett's Creek.

insack, and now commenced the retreat of Washington across the Jerseys, toward the Delaware, noted on pages 221—22 of this volume.

Before leaving these heights consecrated by valor and patriotism, let us turn, toward the distant hills of West Chester, where almost every rood of earth is scarred by the intrencher's mattock, or made memorable by deeds of daring and of suffering, and consider the most important military transactions which occurred within ten leagues of our point of observation.

We can not tarry long; to the local historian we must refer for the whole story in detail.

General Knyphausen held Fort Washington and the neighboring works, while the main British army was operating elsewhere in 1777. The fortifications were strengthened, and King's Bridge and vicinity presented a formidable barrier to the invasion of York Island by land. After the fall of Fort Washington, and the departure of both Americans and British to New Jersey General Heath established a cordon of troopsJanuary, 1777 from the heights at Wepperharn (Yonkers) to Mamaroneck, under the command of Brigadier John Morin Scott.

That officer left the army two months later for civil employment, and the Americans retired, so that their left rested upon Byram River. While the strong detach-

* This view is from the southwest side of the stream, from near the tide-mill. The house beyond, shaded by willows, is the residence of the widow of the late Robert M'Comb. *

* This vicinity was the scene of many stirring events during the Revolution. Near here was a severe skirmish between a detachment of General Heath's troops and some Hessians, on the seventeenth of January, 1777. It was the result of an attempt by the Americans to dislodge the Hessians from Fort Prince. A little west of the bridge, Tippett's brook flows into the Hudson. Following the course of the valley through which this creek passes, on a bright autumn morning in 1850, I reached the vale of Yonkers, and the Van Cortlandt mansion, a beautiful residence in the midst of a broad lawn and profusion of shrubbery. This was the quarters of a Hessian picket-guard in 1777, and here Washington and his staff dined in July, 1781, when the British pickets were driven beyond King's Bridge by Lincoln. North of the man-. sion is Vault Hill, where many of the Van Cortlandt family lie.

* Upon this, hill those American troops were encamped whom Washington left to deceive Sir Henry Clinton, while he marched with the main army southward, to assist La Fayette in Virginia (see page 213). On this estate, and a short distance from Vault Hill, is Indian Field and Bridge, the site of a severe engagement on the thirty-first of August, 1778, between British light troops and some Stockbridge Indians, under the chief, Nimham. Lieutenant-colonel Emmerick, while patrolling in that direction, was attacked and driven back, when he met Simcoe coming to his relief. Emmerick was sent back to take post so as to cover an attack upon the Americans in flank and rear, but on his way fell into an ambush by the Indians. While fighting, Simcoe and Tarleton advanced, and a hot conflict ensued. The Indians fought bravely but were at last obliged to give way. A body of American light infantry, under Stewart (distinguished at Stony Point), were engaged in the skirmish, but escaped. Nimham and about forty of his sixty braves perished.—Simcoe's Journal, page 83. "The scene of the conflict," says Bolton, "lies on the land of the late Frederick Brown, now (1848) occupied by his widow.".

Loyalist Patrols.—The Delanceys and their Movements.

ments of the two armies were occupying their relative positions, many skirmishes took place, especially between the Americans and corps of Loyalists, formed under various leaders. The latter traversed Lower West Chester, annoyed the American outposts and patrols, and distressed the inhabitants. *

In the summer of 1777, Washington, believing the post at New York to be weak, because the main army of the British was in New Jersey and a large detachment was on

* One of the earliest, most influential, and efficient of the Loyalist leaders was Oliver Delancey, who, with his son Oliver, and nephew James, performed active service for the king in Lower West Chester. He was a brother of Chief Justice (also lieutenant governor) Delancey, and was a man of large property and great influence. He was a member of the King's Council before the Revolution; and at the beginning of hostilities, leaned rather to the popular side. Deprecating a separation from Britain, he espoused the royal cause after the Declaration of Independence went forth. He was commissioned a brigadier, and authorized to raise three battalions of Loyalists. This he finally effected. His son Oliver was commissioned a captain of horse in 1776; was present at the capture of General Woodhull; became major of the 17th regiment of dragoons; and, after Major Andre's death, was appointed adjutant general, with the commission of lieutenant colonel. At the close of the war General Delancey went to England, was elected a member of Parliament, and died at Beverly in 1785, at the age of sixty-eight years. His son Oliver accompanied him, and rose gradually to the rank of major general. At the time of his death he was almost at the head of the British army list. James, a nephew of General Delancey, commanded a battalion of horse in his uncle's brigade. Because of his activity in supplying the British army with cattle from the farms of West Chester, his troopers were called Cow-boys. Sir William Draper, "the conqueror of Manilla," married General Delancey's daughter. The Confiscation Act of the New York Legislature swept away the largest portion of the Delancey estate in America. *

* Many attempts were made to destroy or disperse the Delancey Loyalists. On the twenty-fifth of January. 1777, some Americans attacked a block-house, erected hy Delancey on the site of Mapes's Temperance House, at West Farms. Several of the guard were wounded, but none were killed or made prisoners. In the winter of 1779, Colonel Aaron Burr, with some Americans, attacked this block house to destroy it. Provided with hand grenades, combustibles, and short ladders, about forty volunteers approached cautiously, at two o'clock in the morning, and cast their missiles into the fort, through the port-holes. Soon the block house was on fire in several places, and the little garrison surrendered without firing a shot. A few escaped. A corp of Delancey's battalions occupied the house of Colonel Lewis G. Morris, at Morrisania, for a short time. They were attacked there on the fifth of August, 1779, by some of Weedon's and Moylan's horse, a detachment from Glover's brigade, and some militia. Fourteen Loyalists were made prisoners. These attacks becoming frequent, Delancey was compelled to make his head quarters at the house now owned by Mr. Samuel Archer, in the vicinity of the High Bridge, where he was under the guns of fort No. 8, one of the redoubts mentioned on page 825, cast up by the British to cover the landing of their troops on the morning of the attack upon Fort Washington.

* Near the entrance to Mr. Archer's mansion was a building wherein Colonel Hatfield had his quarters in January, 1780, when he was attacked by some levies and volunteers from Horseneck and Greenwich. The assault was made at one o'clock in the morning. Unable to dislodge the enemy, the assailants fired the house. Some escaped after leaping from the windows; the colonel and eleven others were made prisoners.

* In May, 1780, Captain Cushing, of the Massachusetts line, guided by Michael Dyckman, surprised Colonel James Delancey's corps near No. 8. He captured over forty of the corps; the colonel was absent. Cushing retreated, followed some distance by a large number of Yagers and others. In January, 1781, Lieutenant-colonel Isaac Hull (General Hull of the war of 181214), who was in command of a detachment of troops in advance of the American lines, successfully attacked Colonel Oliver Delancey at Morrisania, with three hundred and fifty men. Hull surrounded the Loyalists, forced a narrow passage to their camp, took more than fifty prisoners, cut away a bridge, burned several huts and a quantity of stores, and retreated to camp, closely pursued. A covering party, under Colonel Hazen, attacked the pursuers, and killed and captured about thirty-five more. Hull lost twenty-six men in killed and wounded. At sunrise on the fourth of March, 1782, Captain Hunneywell and a body of cavalry, having a covering party of infantry under Major Woodbridge, entered Delancey's camp at Morrisania, dispersed the Loyalists, and killed and wounded several. Others in the neighborhood were collected and pursued Hunneywell, when they fell into an ambush formed by Woodbridge, and were driven back. In this skirmish Abraham Dyckman was killed.

* At Jefferd's Neck, in the township of West Farms, Colonel Baremore, a notorious Tory marauder, was captured by Colonel Armand (see page 466) on the night of November 7th, 1779. Baremore was at "the Graham Mansion," which stood on the site of the house of William H. Leggett, Esq., and with five others was made a prisoner. The Graham family were dispossessed of their house, to make room for British officers. When Colonel Fowler, who last occupied it, was about to leave, it was fired, and consumed while that officer and his friends were eating dinner in a grove near by. That night Colonel Fowler was mortally wounded while leading a marauding party in East Chester. On another occasion, Armand marched down from Croton to the vicinity of Yonkers, below Cortlandt's house, made a furious charge, with his cavalry, upon a camp of Yagers, and captured or killed almost the whole party.

* The ancestor of the American Delanceys (De Lanci) was Etienne, or Stephen, a Huguenot, who came to New York in 1681. He was descended from a noble French family, known in history in the sixteenth century. He married Ann Van Cortlandt, and became active in public affairs. The chief justice and the general were his sons. Another son, James, married a daughter of Caleb Heathcote, lord of the Manor of Scarsdale. James's third son was the father of William Heathcote Delancey, D.D., the present Protestant bishop of the diocese of Western New York. The seat of General Oliver Delancey was upon the Bronx, opposite the village of West Farms, three miles from the mouth of that stream. There he had extensive mills, which are now the property of Mr. Philip M. Lydig. The old mansion, where British officers were so often entertained, was destroyed by fire several years ago. He owned another residence at Blooming-dale, on York Island, which was burned on the night of the twenty-fifth of November, 1777. It is supposed to have been fired by some daring Whigs, in retaliation for the burning of some houses in the vicinity of Yonkers, by the Tories.

Operations near King's Bridge.—Valentine's Hill and its Associations.

Rhode Island, ordered General Heath to approach King's Bridge, and if circumstances appeared to promise success, to attack the fortifications there. The withdrawal of troops from New Jersey or Rhode Island, if not the possession of New York, were hoped for results. Heath advanced, and summoned Fort Independence, on Tetard's Hill, to surrender. The commandant refused, and while preparing for attack, Heath received intelligence of movements in the East, which made it prudent to withdraw and watch his Highland camp and fortifications. In the succeeding autumn, Sir Henry Clinton captured Forts Clinton and Montgomery, and Kingston was destroyed. Several months before, a British detachment had destroyed stores at Peekskill (see page 173), and Tryon had desolated Danbury and vicinity. * These events, which have already been considered, directed the attention of Washington more to the security of the Highlands than offensive operations against New York.

After the battle at MonmouthJanuary 1778 and the retreat of the British army to New York, Knyphausen again took command near King's Bridge, with his quarters at Morris's house. The Queen's Rangers, under Simcoe, and other Loyal corps, a troop of light horse under Emmerick, and Delancey's battalions, now became active in patroling Lower West Chester. To oppose their incursions, General Charles Scott, of Virginia, with quite a strong force, took post on the Greenburg Hills, and extended his left toward New Rochelle. Sometimes he advanced as far as Valentine's Hill, ** and the foraging parties of the enemy were kept in check. Frequent skirmishes occurred, and the most vigilant and wary were the most successful.

When the French army, marching from New England in the summer of 1781, approached the Hudson, Washington was informed that a large detachment of British troops had left New York for a marauding incursion into New Jersey. Washington had long cherished a desire to drive the enemy from New York Island, and now there appeared to be a favorable opportunity to strike the garrison at King's Bridge and vicinity. Arrangements were made to begin the attack on the night of the second of July,1781 believing

* See page 403, volume i.

** Valentine's Hill, rising on the west of the beautiful vale of Mile Square (a favorite eamp-ground for all parties during the war), affords some of the most charming prospects in West Chester. It is upon the road leading from Yonkers to the Hunt's Bridge Station, on the Harlem rail-way. From its summit the rough hills and cultivated valleys of that region are seen spread out like a panorama, and the eye catches glimpses of the Palisades on the Hudson, and the more distant varieties of feature displayed by Long Island Sound and the villages upon its borders. Southward, stretching away toward King's Bridge, is the beautiful vale, sparkling with Tippett's Brook, famous in the annals of West Chester for deeds of valor in partisan warfare. When I visited this region in 1850, Miss Elizabeth Valentine, aged eighty-three, was yet living there with the present owner of the farm, Elijah Valentine. She well remembers being caressed by Washington, and afterward frightened by the fierce-looking Highlanders and Hessians. The dwelling of the Revolution stood a little northwest of the present mansion. *

* On the summit of Valentine's Hill intrenchments were cast up in the summer of 1776, and here Washington was encamped a few days before the battle at White Plains. Here Sir William Erskine was encamped with a detachment of British troops in January, 1778; and in the autumn, a few weeks before he sailed to attack Savannah, Sir Archibald Campbell was here with the 71st regiment of Highlanders. During the whole war, Colonel James Delancey kept recruiting officers at Mile Square; and in this vicinity Simcoe, with the Queen's Rangers, often traversed, and sometimes penetrated to the Croton River. Heath says that on the sixteenth of September, 1782, foragers, with a covering party five or six thousand strong, accompanied by Sir Guy Carleton, and the young prince William Henry, made an incursion as far as Valentine's Hill. After this, the vicinity was abandoned by the military, and then the lawless marauders of that region harassed the people. Prince Charles's Redoubt and Negro Fort were on the east side of Valentine's Hill. On the second of July, 1779, a skirmish oeeurred in Poundridge between a portion of the corps of Sheldon and Tarleton. The British were repulsed, and, while retreating, set fire to the meeting house and Major Lockwood's dwelling. The chief object of Tarleton was the capture of Lockwood. The Americans lost eighteen in wounded and missing, and twelve horses. On the thirtieth of August, a skirmish occurred near Tarrytown, between some of Sheldon's horse, under Captain Hopkins, and part of Emmerick's corps. The latter were led into an ambuscade, and suffered terribly. Twenty-three of his men were killed, and the remainder were dispersed. Hopkins, while pursuing Emmerick, was in turn surprised by riflemen, and was obliged to retreat toward Sing Sing, across Sleepy Hollow Creek. In Beckman's woods Hopkins wheeled, captured two or three of his pursuers, and retreated in good order to Sing Sing. Near Crompond, Rochambeau encamped with his army in 1781. The spot is still known as French Hill. Remains of some of his ovens may be seen at the present time. On the third of February, 1780, a patrol of the enemy, horse and foot, attacked Lieutenant Thompson, who was stationed at The Four Corners. He was defeated, with a loss of thirteen killed and seventeen wounded. Thompson, six other officers, and eighty nine rank and file, were made prisoners.

Attempted Invasion of New York.—Vigilance of the British.—Yonkers and its Associations.

Rochambeau would arrive by that time. A part of the plan was to cut off Delancey's light troops along the Harlem River. This enterprise was intrusted to the Duke De Lauzun, then approaching, to whose legion Sheldon's dragoons and some Continental troops, under Colonel Waterbery, were to be attached.

On the night of the first of July, a strong detachment, under General Lincoln, went down the river from Tappan, in boats with muffled oars, and landed half a mile below the village of Yonkers, * upon the land now owned by Thomas W. Ludlow, Esq. ** Lincoln marched cautiously over the hills to Tippett's Brook, unobserved by Emmerick, who, with his light horse, was patrolling toward Boar Hill. Also avoiding Pruschanck's corps, stationed upon Cortlandt's Bridge, Lincoln reached the house of Montgomery, near King's Bridge, before dawn, where he was discovered and fired upon by the enemy's pickets. Delancey, at fort No. 8, ever on the alert, heard the firing, and retreated in time for safety, for Lauzun had not approached by West Farms as was intended. Washington had advanced to Valentine's Hill, and when he heard the firing he pressed forward to the aid of Lincoln. The British troops immediately fell back, and withdrew behind their works, near King's Bridge. Lincoln ascertained that the detachment had returned from New Jersey; that the British were re-enforced by some fresh troops; that a large party was on the north end of the island, and that a ship of war was watching at the mouth of the creek, near King's Bridge. In view of these difficulties, Washington withdrew to Dobbs's Ferry, where he was joined by Rochambeau on the sixth, and both armies were soon on their way to Virginia to capture Cornwallis. No other military operations of importance took place in this vicinity until the passage of King's Bridge by American troops in the autumn of 1783, when the British were about to evacuate New York.

Stretching away eastward beyond the Sound, is Long Island, all clustered with historical associations. Almost every bay, creek, and inlet witnessed the whale-boat warfare while

* Yonkers is an old settlement on the Hudson, at the mouth of the Nepera or Saw-mill River, about four miles north of King's Bridge. Here was the later residence of the wealthy proprietor of the Phillipse manor, and here is the spacious stone manor-house where, on one of his rent days, the patroon feasted his friends and tenantry.

* Its exterior is plain, but the interior displays rich wainscotings and cornices, and elaborately wrought chimney-pieces. Here, on the third of July, 1730, Mary Phillipse was born; she was the young lady of whom Washington became enamored (see pages 141, 816) in 1756. She is represented as a beautiful and accomplished woman. She was attainted of treason, and the whole Phillipse estate was confiscated. It is believed that she and her sister (Mrs. Robinson), and the wife of Reverend Charles Inglis, rector of Trinity church, in New York, were the only females who suffered attainder during the war.

* They were guilty of no crime but attachment to the fortunes of their husbands. The last lord of the manor was Colonel Frederick Phillipse, who died in England in 1785. Upon Locust Hill, the high eminence eastward of the manor-house, the American troops were encamped in 1781, when Rochambeau was approaching. Near the eastern base of Boar Hill, a short distance from the village, was the parsonage of Reverend Luke Babcock, occupied by his widow. There Colonel Gist was stationed in 1778, and was attacked by a combined force under Simcoe, Emmerick, and Tarleton. After traversing the vale of Yonkers, they approached at separate points to surround the American camp. The vigilant Gist discovered their approach and escaped. Some of his cavalry were dispersed by Tarleton, his huts were burned, and forage was carried off. At about the same time, Simcoe captured Colonel Thomas near White Plains, whose house he surrounded. In the same neighborhood Captain Sackett was captured (December 4th, 1781), and his command left with Lieutenant Mosher. That brave officer, with eighteen men, beat back and repulsed seventy men, under Captain Kip. The captain was badly wounded. In front of Yonkers, a naval engagement occurred in 1777, between the British frigates Rose and Phoenix, and American gun-boats. The latter had a tender filled with combustibles, in tow, with which they intended to destroy the British vessels. After the exchange of several shots, the gun-boats were compelled to seek shelter in the mouth of the Saw-mill or Nepera River.

** Bolton.

Operations upon Lloyd's Neck.—Simcoe's Fortified Camp at Oyster Bay.

the British occupied the island. * In its swamps and broad forests partisan scouts lurked and ambushed, and almost every fertile field was trodden by the depredator's foot.

Local historians have made the record in detail; we will only glance at two or three of the most important military operations there, in which Major Benjamin Tallmadge was the chief leader. **

On the fifth of September, 1779, Major Tallmadge proceeded from Shipan Point, near Stamford, Connecticut, with one hundred and thirty of his light dragoons, dismounted, and at ten o'clock at night attacked five hundred Tory marauders, who were quite strongly intrenched upon Lloyd's Neck, on Long Island. *** The surprise was complete, and before morning he landed upon the Connecticut shore with almost the whole garrison as prisoners. He did not lose a man.

In the autumn of 1780, some Rhode Island Tory refugees took possession of the manor-house of General John Smith, at Smith s Point, fortified it and the grounds around it, and began cutting wood for the British army in New York.

* The expedition of Colonel Meigs against the enemy at Sag Harbor, and other exploits, will be noticed in the account of the whale-boat warfare, in the Supplement.

** Benjamin Tallmadge was born at Setauket, Long Island, on the twenty-fifth of February, 1754. He graduated at Yale College in 1773, and soon afterward took charge of a high school at Wethersfield. He entered a corps of Connecticut troops as lieutenant, in 1776, and was soon promoted to adjutant. He was one of the rear-guard when the Americans retreated from Brooklyn, and was in several of the principal battles in the Northern States during the war. His field of active exertions was chiefly in the vicinity of Long Island Sound. He had the custody of Major Andre from his arrest until his execution, and after that was actively employed against the enemy on Long Island. He was for a long time one of Washington's most esteemed secret correspondents. He retired from the army with the rank of colonel. He married the daughter of General William Floyd, of Mastic, in 1784. In 1800 he was elected a member of Congress from Connecticut, and served his constituents, in that capacity, for sixteen years. He died on the seventh of March, 1835, at the age of eighty-one years.

*** Lloyd's Neck is an elevated promontory between Oyster Bay and Huntington harbor. It was a strong position, and the fort covered the operation of wood-cutters for miles around. There the Board of Associated Loyalists established their head-quarters after their organization in December, 1780. This board was for the purpose of embodying such Loyalists as did not desire to enter military life as a profession, but were anxious to do service for the king. Governor William Franklin was president of the board, and in the course of 1781, they collected quite a little navy of small vessels in the Sound, and made Oyster Bay the place of general rendezvous. * Their chief operations were against the Whig inhabitants ol Long Island and the neighboring shore, by which a spirit of retaliation was aroused that forgot all the claims of common humanity. The manifest mischief to the royal cause which this association was working, caused its dissolution at the close of 1781. In July of that year, Count Barras, then at Newport, detached three frigates, with two hundred and fifty land troops, to attack this post, then garrisoned by about eight hundred refugee Tories. The enterprise proved unsuccessful, and, after capturing some British marines in Huntington Harbor, returned to New York. The stockade on Lloyd's Neck was called Fort Franklin.

* Oyster Bay was an important point during the British occupation of the island. Sheltered from the Sound by a large island, it afforded a secure place for small vessels, and the fertile country around supplied ample forage. It was the head-quarters of Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe with the Queen's Rangers (three hundred and sixty in number), who made the village of Oyster Bay his cantonment during the winter of 1778-9. He arrived there on the nineteenth of November, 1778, and immediately commenced fortifying his camp. He constructed a strong redoubt upon an eminence toward the west end of the town, now (1851) the property of the Rev. Marmaduke Earle. The diteh and embankments are yet very prominent. This work was capacious enough for seventy men, and completely commanded the bay. These preparations were made chiefly because General Parsons was encamped on the Connecticut shore with about two thousand militia, and controlled a large number of whale-boats. Oyster Bay was made the central point of operations in this quarter. According to Simcoe's account, great vigilance was necessary during the winter, to prevent a surprise. For a sketch and explanation of Simcoe's camp at Oyster Bay, see the next page. Simcoe made his quarters at the house of Samuel Townsend, who was a member of the Provincial Assembly of New York in 1776, and there Major André and other young officers of the army often visited. His daughter, Miss Sarah Townsend, was then about sixteen years of age, and very attractive in person and manner. She was the toast of the young officers, and on Valentine's day, 1779, Simcoe presented her with a poetical address in laudation of her charms. This production may be found in Onderdonk's Revolutionary Incidents of Long Island, i., 215. Miss Townsend died in December, 1842, at the age of eighty years. The dwelling now belongs to her grand-niece, Mrs. Sarah T. Thorne.

Capture of Fort George.—Destruction of Stores at Corum.—Capture of Fort Siongo.—Badge of Military Merit.

At the solicitation of General Smith, and with the approval of Washington, Major Tallmadge proceeded to dislodge them. They had named their fortress Fort George, and appeared too strongly intrenched to be in fear. * Tallmadge crossed the Sound from Fairfield with eighty dismounted dragoons, and landed in the evening at Old Man's, now Woodville.Nov. 21, 1780 On account of a storm, he remained there until the next night, when, accompanied by Heathcote Muirson, he marched toward Fort George.

At the mills, about two miles from the fort, he procured a faithful guide, ** and at dawn he and his gallant soldiers burst through the stockade on the southwestern side, rushed across the parade, and, shouting "Washington and Glory!" they furiously assailed the redoubt upon three sides. The garrison surrendered without resistance. At that moment a volley was fired from the upper windows of the mansion. The incensed Americans burst open the doors, and would have killed every inmate, had not Major Tallmadge interfered.

Having secured his prisoners (three hundred in number), demolished the fort, and burned vessels lying at the wharf, laden with a great amount of stores, Tallmadge set out on his return at sunrise. On his way, leaving his corps in command of Captain Edgar, he proceeded with ten or twelve men to Corum, and there, after overpowering the guard, they destroyed three hundred tons of hay collected for the British army in New York. He arrived at Fairfield with his prisoners early in the evening, without losing a man. This brilliant exploit drew from Washington a very complimentary letter, and from Congress a gratifying resolution. ***

At Treadwell's Neck, near Smithtown, a party of Tory wood-cutters (one hundred and fifty in number) erected a military work, whieh they called Fort Siongo. This Major Tallmadge determined to assail.

On the evening of the ninth of October, 1781, he embarked one hundred and fifty of his dismounted dragoons, under Major Trescott, at the mouth of the Saugatuck Ptiver. They landed at four o'clock the next morning, and at dawn assailed the fort. Some resistance was made, when the garrison yielded, and Trescott was victorious without losing a man. He destroyed the blockhouse and two iron four-pounders, made twenty-one prisoners, and carried off a brass three pounder, the colors of the fort, seventy stand of arms, and a quantity of ammunition. ****

* Explanation of the above Plan of Oyster Bay Encampment.—a, redoubt; b b b, fleches; c c c c c c, quarters separately fortified; d, quarters of the Hussars; c, Townsend's house, Simcoe's quarters.

* This fort was upon Smith's Point, a beautiful and fertile promontory projecting into South Bay, at Mastic. It commands a fine view of the bay, and the village of Bellport. The property now belongs to the sons of General Smith. The fort consisted of a triangular inclosure of several acres of ground, at two angles of which was a strong barricaded house, and at the third was a strong redoubt, ninety-six feet square, with bastions, a deep ditch, and abatis. Between the houses and the fort were stockades twelve feet in height. It was embrasured for six guns; two only were mounted. This fort was intended as a depository of stores for the Tories of Suffolk county.—Onderdonk, ii., 96; Thompson, 289.

** This guide was William Booth, who resided near the mills. Mrs. Smith was also there, having been driven from her home. When Tallmadge informed her that he might be compelled to destroy her house, she at once said, "Do it and welcome, if you can drive out those Tories." The position of the house is seen in the diagram, at the top of the triangle. The dotted lines indicate the line of march in the attack. When I visited the spot in 1851, the lines of the fort might be distinctly traced northwestward of the mansion of the present occupant.

*** Journal, vi., 171.

**** In this enterprise as well as at Fort George, Sergeant Elijah Churchill, of the 2d regiment of dragoons, behaved so gallantly, that Washington rewarded him with the badge of military merit. *

* Washington established honorary badges of distinction in August, 1781.

They were to be conferred upon non commissioned officers and soldiers who had served three years with bravery, fidelity, and good conduct, and upon every one who should perform any singularly meritorious action. The badge entitled the recipient "to pass and repass all guards and military posts as fully and amply as any commissioned officer whatever." A board of officers for making such awards was established, and upon their recommendation the eommander-inchief presented the badge. The board, in Churchill's case, consisted of Brigadier-general Greaton, president; Colonel Charles Stewart, Lieutenant colonel Sprout, Major Nicholas Fish (father of ex-governor Fish, of New York), and Major Trescott. The MS. proceedings of the minutes of the board on this occasion are in the possession of Peter Force, Esq., of Washington City.

British occupation of New York City.—Residences of several of the Officers.—Prisons and Hospitals.

Every where eastward of Hempstead minor events of a similar character, but all having influence in the progress of the Revolution, were almost daily transpiring.

Let us now follow the British army into the city, and take a brief survey of the closing events of the war.

When the British felt themselves firmly seated on Manhattan Island after the fall of Fort Washington, they leisurely prepared for permanent occupation. General Robertson immediately strengthened the intrenchments across the island from Corlaer's Hook, erected barracks along the line of Chambers Street from Broadway to Chatham, and speedily placed the army in comfortable winter quarters. Nearly all of the Whig families whose means permitted them had left the city, and their deserted houses were taken possession of by the officers of the army and refugee Loyalists. *

The dissenting churches were generally devoted to military purposes, ** and the spacious sugar-houses, then three in number, were made prisons for the American captives, when the cells of the City Hall and the provost prison were full. *** Looking with contempt upon the rebels in field and council, the British felt no anxiety for their safety, and every pleasure that could be procured was freely indulged in by the army.

A theatre was established, tennis courts and other kinds of amusements were prepared, and for seven years the city remained a prey to the licentiousness of strong and idle detachments of a well-provided army.

This was the head-quarters of British power in America during that time, and here the most important schemes for operations against the patriots, military and otherwise, were planned and put in motion. The municipal government was overthrown, martial law prevailed, and the business of the city degenerated almost into the narrow operations of suttling.

* Sir Henry Clinton occupied No. 1 Broadway, and Sir William Howe the dwelling adjoining it. Toward the close of the war, Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester) also occupied No. 1. General Robertson resided first in William, near John Street, and afterward in Hanover Square. Knyphausen, when in the city, occupied Verplanck's house in Wall Street, near the Bank of New York, where also Colonel Birch, of the dragoons, resided. Admiral Digby and other naval officers, and also Prince William Henry (afterward William the Fourth of England), when here, occupied the city mansion of Gerardus Beekman, on the northwest corner of Sloat Lane and Hanover Square. Admiral Rodney occupied a house, now 256 Pearl Street, and Cornwallis's residence was three doors below it. Carleton's country residence was the mansion at Richmond Hill, corner of Variek and Charlton Streets, long the property of Colonel Aaron Burr. Admiral Walton occupied his own house (yet standing in Pearl Street, number 326, opposite the publishing house of Harper and Brothers), and there he dispensed generous hospitality.

** The Middle Dutch church (now the city post-office), on Nassau, Liberty, and Cedar Streets, was converted into a riding-school, where the British cavalry were taught lessons in horsemanship. The French Protestant church (Du St. Esprit), built by the Huguenots in 1704, near the corner of Pine and Nassau Streets, and the North Dutch church, corner of William and Fulton Streets, were converted first into prisons and then into hospitals. The quaint old church edifice which stood on the corner of William and Frankfort Streets until 1851 (when it was demolished, and a large hotel was placed upon its site), was a hospital for the Hessians, and all around the borders of the swamp close by, many of the poor Germans were buried.

*** These, and the events connected with them, will be noticed under the head of "Prisons and Prison-Ships," in the Supplement.

Counterfeit Continental Bills.—Expedition to Staten Island.—Second great Fire in New York.

Here many petty depredating expeditions were planned; and from Whitehall many a vessel departed with armed troops to distress the inhabitants of neighboring provinces, * or with secret emissaries to discover the weakness of patriot camps, to encourage disaffection in the Republican ranks, and, by the circulation of spurious paper money ** and lying proclamations, to disgust the people and win their allegiance to the crown.

A record of the stirring incidents of the armed occupation of New York would fill a volume. *** It tempts the pen by many allurements, but I must leave the pleasure of such a task to the local historian, and hasten to a considera-

* We have already noticed most of these expeditions. Staten Island was held by the British during their occupancy of New York, and several schemes were planned to expel them. In the summer of 1777, the British force on the island amounted to between two and three thousand men, nearly one half of whom were Loyalists. General Sullivan, with Colonel Ogden of New Jersey, and a part of the brigades of Smallwood and Deborre.

* (see page 381), crossed from Elizabethtown before daylight on the twenty-second of August. Two of the Tory parties, commanded by Colonels Lawrence and Barton, stationed near the present Factoryville, were surprised, and eleven officers and one hundred and thirty privates were made prisoners. Wanting a sufficient number of boats to convey the captives, a party of British attacked Sullivan's rear-guard, and made many of them prisoners. The whole loss of the Americans was three officers and ten privates killed, fifteen wounded, and nine officers and one hundred and twenty-seven privates made prisoners. General Campbell, who commanded the British on the island, reported two hundred and fifty-nine prisoners. It was during the cold month of January, 1780 ("the hard winter"), that Lord Stirling went on an expedition against the British on Staten Island. It was a re-enforcement of troops after this attack (see page 311, volume i.) that crossed the bay of New York, with heavy cannons, upon the ice.

** Among other schemes for annoying the Americans, and casting discredit upon Congress, the British resorted to the issue of "cart loads" of counterfeit Continental bills, so as to depreciate the currency. This fact is alluded to on page 318, volume i. It was no secret at the time, as appears by an advertisement * in Gaine's New York Mercury, April 14th, 1777. For two or three years these bills were circulated extensively, and doubtless had great effect in depreciating the Continental money. Francis, in his History of the Bank of England, ii., 79-80, says, that Premier Pitt, the younger, resorted to a similar trick, by causing a large number of French assignats to be forged at Birmingham, to depreciate the currency of the French Republic. Napoleon also caused forged notes of the Austrian Bank to be distributed throughout the Austrian Tyrol.

*** A second great conflagration in the city, during the British occupation, occurred on Saturday night, the seventh of August, 1778. It commenced at Cruger's Wharf, Coenties Slip, and before it was subdued three hundred houses were consumed. The next day was excessively hot, and at noon, while the smoke of the smouldering fire was yet rising from the ruins, a heavy thunder-storm burst over the city. At about one o'clock, while raging at its height, the city was shaken as if by an earthquake, and suddenly a column of dense smoke arose in the east and spread over the town. Tiles were shaken from the roofs of houses, and crockery was broken in some houses at Franklin Square. The shock was occasioned by the explosion of the magazine of a powder vessel lying in the East River, which was struck by lightning. The vessel had just arrived from England, and the event was regarded as a special interposition of Providence in behalf of the Americans.—See Dunlap, ii., 164.

* "Advertisement.—Persons going into other colonics may be supplied with any number of counterfeited Congress notes, for the price of the paper per ream. They are so neatly and exactly executed, that there is no risk in getting them off, it being almost impossible to discover that they are not genuine. This has been proven by bills to a very large amount which have already been successfully circulated. Inquire of Q. E. D., at the Coffee-house, from 11 A. M. to 4 P. M., during the present month."

Treaties for Peace.—The Continental Army.—Congress at Princeton.—Mutiny.—Washington's Circular Letter.

tion of the final evacuation of the city by the British army, and the parting of Washington with his officers.

After protracted negotiations for a year and a half, a definitive treaty of peace was signed at ParisSept. 3, 1783 between American and English commissioners. A provisional treaty had been signed about nine months previously,Nov. 30, 1782 and in the mean while preparations for a final adjustment of the dispute had been made. On account of the pecuniary embarrassments of Congress, the arrearages of pay due to the soldiers, and the prospect of a dissolution of the army without a liquidation of those claims, general gloom and discontent prevailed.

We have seen its alarming manifestation at Newburgh in the spring of 1783 (see page 106), and, though suppressed, it was never entirely subdued. It required all the personal influence and sagacity of Washington to keep the remnant of the Continental army in organization until the final evacuation of the British in the autumn of that year, and when that event took place the Republican troops were a mere handful. *

In August, Washington was called to attend upon Congress, then sitting at Princeton. ** He left General Knox in command of the little army at Newburgh and vicinity, and, with Mrs. Washington and a portion of his military family, he made his residence at Rocky Hill, near the Millstone River, about four miles from Princeton, where he remained until November, when he joined Knox and the remnant of the Continental army at West Point, preparatory to entering the city of New York. ****

* The number of soldiers furnished for the Continental army by each state, during the war, was as follows: New Hampshire, 12,497; Massachusetts, 67,907; Rhode Island, 5,908; Connecticut, 31,939; New York, 17,781; New Jersey, 10,726; Pennsylvania, 25,678; Delaware, 2,386; Maryland, 13,912; Virginia, 26,678; North Carolina, 7,263; South Carolina, 6,417; Georgia, 2,679. Total, 231,791.

** The cause of the assembling of Congress at Princeton was the violent spirit manifested by some of the Continental troops of the Pennsylvania line. These had marched in a body (June 21), three hundred in number, surrounded the State House, where Congress was in session, and, after placing guards at the door, demanded action for redress of grievances, within the space of twenty minutes, at the peril of having an enraged soldiery let in upon them. Congress was firm; declared that body had been grossly insulted, and resolved to adjourn to Princeton, where the members assembled on the twenty-sixth. As soon as Washington was informed of this mutiny, he sent General Robert Howe, with fifteen hundred men, to quell it. He soon quieted the disturbance. Some who were found guilty on trial were pardoned by Congress.

*** This is a view of the southwest front of the mansion. The room occupied by Washington is in the second story, opening out upon the piazza. It is about eighteen feet square, and in one corner is a Franklin stove like that delineated on page 328, volume i. The situation of the house, upon an eminence an eighth of a mile eastward of the Millstone River, is very pleasant. It is now quite dilapidated; the piazza is unsafe to stand upon. The occupant, when I visited it in 1850, was Mr. James Striker Van Pelt.

**** A great portion of the officers and soldiers had been permitted during the summer to visit their homes on furlough, and on the eighteenth of October Congress virtually disbanded the Continental army, by discharging them from further service. Only a small force was retained, under a definite enlistment, until a peace establishment should be organized. These were now at West Point, under the command of General Knox. The proclamation of discharge, by Congress, was followed by Washington's farewell address to his companions in arms. He had already issued a circular letter (Newburgh, eighth of June, 1783) to the governors of all the states on the subject of disbanding the army. It was designed to be laid before the several State Legislatures. It is a document of great value, because of the soundness of its doctrines, and the weight and wisdom of its counsels. Four great points of policy constitute the chief theme of his communication, namely, an indissoluble union of the states; a sacred regard for public justice; the organization of a proper peace establishment; and a friendly intercourse among the people of the several states, by which local prejudice might be effaced. "These," he remarks, "are the pillars on which the glorious fabric of our independency and national character must be supported." No doubt this address had great influence upon the minds of the whole people, and made them yearn for that more efficient union which the Federal Constitution soon afterward secured.

British prepare to Evacuate New York.—Washington's Farewell Address to the Army.—The Evacuation.—Clinton and Knox.

On the seventh of August,1783 Sir Guy Carleton, then in chief command of the British army, received instructions to evacuate the city of New York.

This event was delayed in order to make arrangements for the benefit of the Loyalists in the city and state, and it was not until late in October when Carleton notified Washington of his determination to leave our shores.

On the second of November, Washington issued his "Farewell Address to the Armies of the United States" ** from Rocky Hill, and on the fourteenth of the same month he conferred with Governor Clinton, *** and made arrangements to enter and take possession of the city. Clinton issued an appropriate proclamation on the fifteenth, and summoned the officers of the civil government to meet him in council at East Chester. A day or two afterward, Washington, Clinton, and Carleton held a conference at Dobbs's Ferry (see page 195), and the twenty-fifth was fixed upon as the time for the exodus of the British troops. Both parties adopted measures for the preservation of order on the occasion. On the morning of that day—a cold, frosty, but clear and brilliant morning—the American troops, under General Knox, **** who had come down from West Point and encamped at Harlem, marched to the Bowery Lane, and halted at the present junction of Third Avenue and the Bowery. There they remained until about one o'clock in the afternoon, when the British left their posts in that vicinity and marched to Whitehall. (v) The

* The Loyalists, fearful of meeting with unpleasant treatment from the irritated Americans, prepared to leave the country in great numbers, and fled to the British province of Nova Scotia. The delay in question was in consequence of a want of a sufficient number of transports to convey these people and their effects. A further notice of the Loyalists will be found in the Supplement.

** This, like his letter to the governors, was an able performance. After affectionately thanking his companions in arms for their devotedness to him through the war, and for their faithfulness in duty, he gave them sound and wise counsel respecting the future, recommending them, in a special manner, to support the principles of the Federal government, and the indissolubility of the union.

*** George Clinton was born in Ulster eounty, New York, in 1739. He chose the profession of the law for his avocation. In 1768, he was elected to a seat in the Colonial Legislature, and was a member of 'he Continental Congress in 1775. He was appointed a brigadier in the army of the United States in 1776, and during the whole war was active in military affairs in New York. In April, 1777, he was elected governor and lieutenant governor, under the new Republican Constitution of the state, and was continued in the former office eighteen years. He was president of the convention assembled at Poughkeepsie to consider the Federal Constitution in 1788. He was again chosen governor of the state in 1801, and three years afterward he was elected Vice-president of the United States. He occupied that elevated position at the time of his death, which oeeurred at Washington City in 1812.

**** Henry Knox was born in Boston in 1750. He was educated at a common sehool, and at the age of twenty years commenced the business of bookseller in his native town. He was engaged in that vocation when the Revolutionary storm arose, and his sympathies were all with the patriots. He was a volunteer in the battle of Bunker Hill, and for this and subsequent services Congress commissioned him a brigadier, and gave him the command of the artillery department of the army, which he retained during the whole war. He was always under the immediate command of Washington, and was with him in all his battles After the capture of Cornwallis, Congress commissioned him a major general. In 1785, he succeeded Lincoln in the office of Secretary of War, which position he held for eleven years, when he retired into private life. He died at Thomaston, Maine, in 1806, at the age of about fifty-six years. To General Knox is conceded the honor of suggesting that noble organization, the Society of the Cincinnati.

* (v) The British claimed the right of possession until noon of the day of evacuation. In support of this claim, Cunningham, the infamous provost marshal exercised his authority. Dr. Alexander Anderson, of New York, related to me an incident which fell under his own observation. He was then a lad ten years of age, and lived in Murray, near Greenwich Street. A man who kept a boarding-house opposite ran up the American flag on the morning of the twenty-fifth. Cunningham was informed of the fact, and immediately ordered him to take it down. The man refused, and Cunningham attempted to tear it down. At that moment the wife of the proprietor, a lusty woman of forty, came out with a stout broomstick, and beat Cunningham over the head so vigorously, that he was obliged to decamp and leave the "star-spangled banner" waving. Dr. Anderson remembers seeing the white powder fly from the provost marshal's wig.

Entrance of the Americans.—Parting of Washington with his Officers.—Rejoicings in New York.

American troops followed, * and before three o'clock General Knox took formal possession of Fort George amid the acclamations of thousands of emancipated freemen, and the roar of artillery upon the Battery.

Washington repaired to his quarters at the spacious tavern of Samuel Fraunce, and there during the afternoon, Governor Clinton gave a public dinner to the officers of the army, and in the evening the town was brilliantly illuminated.

Rockets shot up from many private dwellings, and bonfires blazed at every corner. On Monday following,Dec. 1,1783 Governor Clinton gave an elegant entertainment to Luzerne (the French embassador), General Washington, the principal officers of the State of New York and of the army, and more than a hundred other gentlemen.

On ThursdayDec. 4 the principal officers of the army yet remaining in service assembled at Fraunce's, to take a final leave of their beloved chief. The scene is described as one of great tenderness. Washington entered the room where they were all waiting, and taking a glass of wine in his hand, he said, "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable." Having drank, he continued, "I can not come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged to you if each will come and take me by the hand." Knox, who stood nearest to him, turned and grasped his hand, and, while the tears flowed down the cheeks of each, the commander-in-chief kissed him. This he did to each of his officers, while tears and sobs stifled utterance.*** Washington soon left the room, and passing through corps of light infantry, b Dec. 4

* The troops entered the city from the Bowery, through Chatham Street, in the following order: 1. A corps of light dragoons. 2. Advanced guard of light infantry. 3. A corps of artillery. 4. A battalion of light infantry. 5. A battalion of Massachusetts troops. 6. Rear-guard.

* Washington with his staff, and Governor Clinton and the state officers, soon afterward made a public entry, as follows: 1. The general and governor, with their suite, on horsebaek, escorted by a body of West Chester light horse, commanded by Captain Delavan. 2. The lieutenant governor and the members of the council for the temporary government of the Southern District of the state, four abreast. 3. Major-General Knox and the officers of the army, eight abreast. 4. Citizens on horsebaek, eight abreast. 5. The speaker of the Assembly and citizens on foot, eight abreast.

* The British army and the refugees who remained were all embarked in boats by three o clock in the afternoon, and at sunset they were assembled upon Staten and Long Islands, preparatory to their final embarkation. * Before they left, the British flag was nailed to the flag-staff in Fort George, the eleets were knocked off, and the pole was greased so as to prevent ascent. New eleets were soon procured, a sailor-boy ascended as he nailed them on, and, taking down the British flag, placed the stripes and the stars there, while the cannons pealed a salute of thirteen guns.

** See note 1, page 796.

*** Gordon, iii., 377; Marshall, ii., 57. Only one of the participators in this interesting scene is now living. That honored man is Major Robert Burnet, whose portrait may be found on page 118. Major Burnet commanded the rear-guard on the entrance of the American army into the city.

* The British left these two islands a few days afterward, and then the evacuation of the sea-board was complete. Western and northern frontier posts (Oswegatchie, Oswego, Niagara, Presque Isle, Sandusky, Detroit, Mackinaw, and others of less note) continued in the possession of British garrisons for some time afterward.

Washington's Departure for, and Journey to Annapolis.—His account current of Expenses.—Lady Washington.

he walked in silence to Whitehall, followed by a a barge to proceed to Paulus's Hook on his way to lay his commission at the feet of Congress, at Annapolis. *

When he entered his barge, he turned to the people, took off his hat, and waved a silent adieu to the tearful multitude. *

Washington remained a few days in Philadelphia, where he delivered in his accounts to the proper officers, ** and then hastened, with his wife, to Annapolis, where he arrived on the evening of the nine-with ladies, among whom was Mrs. Washington vast procession, and at two o'clock entered.Dec. 1783 The next day he informed Congress of his desire to resign his commission as commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States. That body resolved that it should be done at a public audience the following Tuesday,Dec. 23 at meridian. The day was fine, and around the State House (see page 402) a great concourse was assembled. The little gallery of the Senate Chamber was filled. ***

* Congress had adjourned to meet at Annapolis, in Maryland, on the twenty-sixth of November. A quorum was not present until Saturday, the thirteenth of December, when only nine states were represented.

** The account current of his expenditures for the public service during the war, rendered by Washington, was in his own handwriting. The total amount was about seventy-four thousand four hundred and eighty-five dollars. * The disbursements were for reconnoitering and traveling, secret intelligence service, and miscellaneous expenses. It will be remembered that Washington refused to receive any compensation for his own services.

*** Martha Dandridge was born in New Kent county, Virginia, in May, 1732. In 1749 she was married to Colonel Daniel Parke Custis, of New Kent, and settled with her husband on the bank of the Pamunky River, where she bore four children. Her husband died when she had arrived at the age of about twenty-five, leaving her in the possession of a large fortune. In 1758 she became acquainted with Colonel Washington, whose greatness was just budding, and whose fame had spread beyond Virginia. He became her suitor, and they were married. The exact period of their marriage has not been found on record; it is supposed to be in 1759. They removed to Mount Vernon soon after that event, and there was their home during the remainder of their lives. During the war for independence, she occasionally visited her husband in camp. Almost at the very hour of his great victory at Yorktown, a cloud came over her, for then her only surviving child expired. While Washington was President of the United States, Mrs. Washington presided with dignity in the mansion of the chief magistrate. The quiet of private life had more charms for her than the brilliancy of public greetings, and she joyfully sought the banks of the Potomac when her husband's second presidential term was ended. A little more than two years afterward, she was called to mourn his death. **

* The pecuniary cost of the war, exclusive of the vast losses by the ravages of plantations, burning of houses and towns, plunder by Indians and the British soldiery, &c., &c., was not less than one hundred and seventy millions of dollars. Of this sum, Congress disbursed about two thirds; the remainder was spent by the individual states. It had been raised "by taxes under the disguise of a depreciating currency; by taxes directly imposed; by borrowing; and by running in debt."—See Hildreth's History of the United States, iii., 445.

** We have already noted (see page 425) the principal events in the public life of General Washington, until his appointment.

---

[Volume I.]

ANALYTICAL INDEX

A

Abbot, Benjamin, Drum-major, plays Death-march on Execution of Andrè, [203.]

Abercrombie, Colonel, at Siege of Yorktown, [520;] In Expedition to Petersburg, [544.]

Academy, Military, at West Point, established by Act of Congress in 1802--Organized in 1812, [138.]

Acrostic on Arnold, [037;] On Anna Brewster, [113.]

Acts--Stamp Act, [058;] Opposition to, in Philadelphia, in 1764, [258;] Hilarity and Rejoicing on its Repeal, [259;] Effect of, in Virginia, [482;] Repeal of, in 1766, [484,] [569,] [789;] Effect of, in North Carolina, [567;] Effects of, in South Carolina, [747;] Opposed in New York, [786.]

Act, Toleration, in Maryland, in 1649; Against Blasphemy punishable by Death, [397.]

Act, English Navigation, prohibiting foreign Commerce with British Settlements, [640.]

Act, Mutiny, providing for quartering Troops in America at Expense of the Colonists, [790.]

Adamses, Opinions concerning, [270.]

Adams, John, in Committee of Congress to confer with Howe in 1776, [814.]

Adams, Samuel, his course toward Washington in 1778, [336.]

Address of Lord Mayor of London to George III. relative to establishing arbitrary Power in America--Of Common Council to the same, [017;] Of London Merchants and others to George III. concerning acts of Parliament--Counter Addresses and others, [018;] Of Parliament responsive to the King's Speech, [019;] At Dedication of Washington's Head Quarters Newburgh, in 1850, [099;] Of Washington to Officers of the Army at Newburgh, [109,] [116;] To Congress at Annapolis, on Resignation of his Commission, [841;] Of Mifflin to Washington on same Occasion, [841,] [842.]

Advertisement, profligate, of British Officers in Philadelphia in 1778, [303;] For supply of counterfeit Money, [836.]

Agnew, General James, killed at Battle of Germantown in 1777--Biographical Sketch of, [318;] Account of his Death, [319.]

Agreements, Non-importation, [486,] [579,] [749.]

Agriculture in Lower Virginia, [554;] In North Carolina, [556.]

Albemarle County, North Carolina, extent of Territory of, [560.]

Alden, Captain, horsewhips Prescott for Insolence at his Table, [035.]

Alden, John, Passenger in the May Flower, [091.]

Alexander, Abraham, Biographical Sketch of, [617.]

Alexander, Elijah, Biographical Sketch of, [617.]

Alexander, Sagamore of the Wampmoags, [090.]

Alexander, W. J., Notice of, [599.]

Alexander, William (Earl of Stirling), biographical Sketch of, [807.]

Alexandria, Virginia, Notice of--Its Museum and Revolutionary Relics, [413;] Washington's Bier--Autograph Letter--Napkin used at his Christening, [414.]

Allen, Colonel Ethan, Error concerning corrected, [167.]

Allen, Hugh, in Expedition to the Scioto in 1774, [468.]

Allison, Mr.--Interview of Author with, near Stony Point, [184.]

Allison, Reverend Patrick, Chaplain in Continental Army, [393.]

Althouse, Captain, in Battle at Spencer's Ordinary in 1781, [464.]

America, visited by Northmen prior to Discovery by Columbus, [066.]

Amidas, Philip, explores Coast of Carolina, under Raleigh, in 1584, [449.]

Ammunition removed from Magazine at Williamsburg, 1775, [503.]

Anderson, John, name assumed by André, [147.]

André, Major John--His Correspondence with Arnold, [146;] Appointment to confer with Arnold--Fictitious Letter to Col. Sheldon, [147;] First Interview with Arnold, [151;] Their Plan, [152;] Receives Papers from Arnold explanatory of military Condition of Hudson Highlands--Disposition of them, [153;] Smith refuses to take him to the Vulture, [155;] Exchanges Coats--Crosses the Hudson with Smith, [156;] Announcement of his Arrest, [158;] Letter to Washington explaining his position, [160;] Ordered to West Point, [161;] Place of his Capture, [185;] Journey with Smith to Crom Pond--His Uneasiness, [166;] Arrested--Discovery of Papers in his Stockings--Names of the Captors, [187;] Conveyed to Sheldon's Head quarters at North Salem--Letters to Washington, [160,] [189;] Taken to West Point and Tappan--Makes Disclosures to 'Tallmadge, [190;] Place of his Confinement and Execution at Tappan, [196;] Court of Inquiry in his Case--His Conduct--Biographical Sketch of, [197;] His Death-warrant--Will--Disposition of his Remains--Monument, [199;] Equity of his Sentence--Efforts to save him, [200;] Proposition to Exchange him for Arnold by Ogden refused, [201;] His Request to be Shot, [202;] His Composure of Mind--Pen-and Ink Sketch of Himself--Name of his Executioner--Thacher's Account of his Execution, [203;] Place of his Death and Burial, [204;] His Captors rewarded--Disinterment of his Remains, and removal to England in 1831, [205;] His Captors suspected of mercenary motives, [206;] His Place of Residence in Philadelphia in 1777, [310.]

Andrew, Alexander, Account of Death of General Agnew, [318.]

Andross, Sir Edmund, appointed Governor of Virginia in 1692; Succeeded by Nicholson in 1698, [471.]

Anecdote of mysterious Frenchman and Committee of Congress, [022;] Of General Prescott and Timothy Folger, [035;] Ol "Mother Bailey,", [049;] "Daddy Hall" and Paymaster Dexter, [063;] Count Maurepas, [086;] Concerning Washington's Dining Hall and La Fayette, at Newburgh, [100;] Of a Scotchman at Hell Gate, [114;] Of Baron Steuben, near Fishkill Landing. [125;] Of Washington relative to Arnold, [158;] James Larvey, [159;] Of the Author and the Speculating Daughter, [162;] Colonel John Fitzgerald, [239;] Mrs. Whitall, [291;] Mr. Huntington and Duponceau, [313;] Mauritz Rambo and wounded Deer, [330;] Mrs. Ferguson, [351;] Gilbert Tennant's Sermons., [365;] Mrs. Hannah J. Israel, [385;] Of Calvert and his Protestant Servants, [397;] General Washington and Mr. Payne, [413;] President Andrew Jackson and Lieutenant Randolph, [427;] Tilghman and Cornwallis, [429;] President Monroe and Governor Hardy, [439;] Patrick Henry and Hook, [440;] Benjamin Harrison, [442;] Sir Walter Raleigh and his Servant, [450;] Indian Messenger and Mr. Gist, [472;] Braddock and Washington, [478;] Indian Chief and Washington, at Fort Duquesne, [479;] Speaker Robinson and Washington, [481;] Washington and Judge Peters, [509;] Spy Morgan, [511;] Of Sir N. W. Wrax all concerning Lord North, [526;] Negro Hostler and Goat, [541;] Arnold and the Prisoner, [545;] Ninian B. Hamilton, 572 Tryon and Boy Messer, [577;] General Greene and Portrait of George III., [598;] Tarleton and little Rebels, [600;] Cornwallis and Widow Brevard, [618;] Of Senator Preston and old Lady, near King's Mountain, [032;] General Tarleton and the two American Ladies, [642;] Of Captain Ferguson and Colonel Horry, [686;] Of Friday and Colonel Maxwell, [686;] Of Colonel Cruger and Eddins, [693;] Of Manning and Barré, [703;] Concerning Stamp Act, in South Carolina, [747;] Of Mrs. Elliot and Colonel Balfour, [756;] Of Marion and young British Officer, [771;] Of Statue of George III., [801;] Of Boy and British Grenadier, [823.]

Annapolis described, [394;] Early History of, [395;] The Theater of revolutionary Movements in 1765, [399;] Destruction of Tea at, in 1774, [401;] The Scene of military Displays in 1781-83--Visited by Washington in 1783--Continental Congress in Session at, [402;] Portraits of distinguished Persons in Senate Chamber, [403;] Adjournment of Congress to in 1783, [840.] Washington resigns his Commission at, [841.]

Antiquities--old Tower at Newport, [065;] Inscription on Dightor Rock--Its Translation--Stone Cemetery on Rainsford Island, [066;] Runic Inscriptions on Orkney Isles, [067;] Ruins of old Church at Jamestown, [447;] Tombstone at Jamestown, [448;] Pocahontas's Wash-basin, near Archer's Hill, Virginia. [553;] Ancient Stone Wall at Salisbury, North Carolina, [615.]

Apollo Room at Williamsburg, Virginia, [484.]

Arbuthnot, Admiral, in command of British Squadron on American Coast in 1780, [087;] At Siege of Charleston, [764.]

Archdale, John, Governor of the Carolinas in 1695, [561;] His Policy, [745.]

Archer, Mr., Aid of Wayne at Storming of Stony Point, [181.]

Archer's Hill, Notice of, [553.]

Argali, Governor Samuel, Notice of, [447;] Keeps Pocahontas as a Hostage, [454;] Governor of Virginia in 1617--Sails with Fleet to Coast of Maine, to protect Fisheries--Operations on the Eastern Coast--Makes Conquest of Acadia--Enters Bay of New York--Compels Dutch to acknowledge Supremacy of England--Returns to Virginia, [457.]

Arlington, Earl of, his ceded Rights to Domain in Virginia for thirty Years, [460;] Assigns his Interest to Culpepper, [471.]

Armand, Charles, Marquis de la Rouarie in Battle, near Jamestown Island, in 1781--Biographical Sketch of, [466.]

Armed Neutrality, Notice of, [674.]

Arms. Manufacture of, by Americans, in 1776, [018;] Seizure of at New York, in 1775, [793.]

Armstrong, Captain Mark, in Southern Campaign under Greene in 1761, [602;] Killed at Siege of Fort Ninety-six in 1781, [694.]

Armstrong, General John, at Battle of Germantown, in 1777--Biographical Sketch of, [315;] Takes command at Charleston in 1776, [753.]

Armstrong, Major John, Author of Newburgh Addresses, Biographical Sketch of, [106;] Washington's Opinion of his Motives, [111.]

Armstrong, Major, in Battle at Spencer's Ordinary in 1731, [463.]

Armstrong, Rev. James F., biographical Sketch of--Grave of, [216.]

Army, British, Insecurity of, at Boston, in 1776, [012;] Depart for New York--Effective Force of, on evacuating Boston, [014;] Proposed Augmentation of, in 1773, by foreign Troops, [020;] Arrive at Newport in 1776, in Command of General Clinton and Earl Percy, [073;] Condition of, in 1777, [165;] Capture of Fort Washington and three Thousand Americans, in 1776, [221;] Burgoyne not allowed to go to England on Parole--Sent to Interior of Virginia in 1778--Officers sign Parole of honor, [550;] Incidents of March to Charlottesville, [551;] Condition of, [552;] Removal, and final Dispersion in 1762, [553;] Disposition of, under Cornwallis, in North Carolina, in 1781, [506,] [606;] Arrival at New York--Disposition of, after Battle of Long Island, in 1776, [813;] Occupation of New York, [835;] Evacuation of New York in 1783, [838.]

Army, Continental, in 1776, 9; Its Strength, [018;] Cantonment near Newburgh in 1760, [083,] [103,] [104;] Discontents of, in 1783, [105.]106; Proceedings at Newburgh in Relation to Grievances of, 106 to 111 inclusive; Crosses the Hudson, and Encamps at Tappan, in 1761, [145;] Encampment at Middlebrook in 1777, [211;] Marches toward Hudson Highlands, [212;] Encampment at Smith's Clove in 1779, [213;] Marches from Hudson River to Virginia in 1781, [213;] Retreats across New Jersey in 1776--Decrease of its Force--Tardy Movements of General Lee, [222;] Weakness of, when Crossing the Delaware, [224;] Reorganization of, in 1776, [225;] Distress of, in 1780, [311;] Relieved by Women of Philadelphia, [312;] Amount of Contributions to, by Philadelphians, [313;] Encampment of, near Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1781, [446,] [463;] Condition of, in 1781, [509;] Reorganization of, under Greene, in North Carolina, in 1776, [596;] Number and Disposition of, at Guilford Court House, [606;] Disposition of, at Battle of Cowpens, in 1781, [639;] Partial Organization of, in North Carolina, in 1760, [676;] Formation of, under Lincoln, in 1778, [758;] Condition of, after Battle of Long Island, in 1776, [813;] Number of Soldiers furnished by each State during Revolution--Meeting among Troops of Pennsylvania Line, [837;] Washington's Farewell Address to, [838;] Entrance into New York, [839.]

Army, French, Encampment at Providence in 1782, [055;] Encampment at Newport in 1780--Re-enforced--Extent of its Force, [087;] Becomes a Burden to the Americans--Departs for the Hudson in 1781, [088;] Marches to Virginia, [213;] Encampment at Williamsburg after Siege of Yorktown--Joins Continental Army, on the Hudson, in 1782--Proceeds to Boston and Embarks for West Indies, [529.]

Arnold, Benedict, Birth-place of, [036;] Biographical Sketch of, [142;] His early Years--Fights a Duel--Ringleader in Mischief--His Mother--Scorching Acrostic on, [037;] Expedition up the Thames, under British, in 1781, [042;] Lands near New London, [043;] His Infancy, [044;] His Dispatches to Sir Henry Clinton, [045;] Landing-place of, near New London, [043,] [059;] Weakens great Chain across Hudson River, [138;] Appointed by Washington military Governor of Philadelphia--Seeks a Command in the Navy--His Extravagance, [141;] Marries Miss Shippen--Residence and Style of Living--Fraudulent Dealings--Charged with Malfeasance, [142;] Ordered to be tried by Court-martial--Asks Congress for Men to guard his House--Verdict and Punishment--Its Effects, [143;] Interview with Luzerne--Visits American Camp--Deceives Washington--Obtains command at West Point, [145;] Correspondence with André--Proposes Interview with him, [147;] Attempts to hold it--Letter to Washington--Confers with Smith, [148;] Correspondence with Robinson, [149;] First Interview with André, at Long Clove Mountain--Furnishes Smith with Passes, [151;] Arrival at Smith's House, [152;] Supplies André with important Papers, [153,] [156;] His Pass to André, [155;] Composure in Presence of his Aids, [157;] Flight to the Enemy--Effect of his Departure on his Wife, [158;] Passage to the Vulture--Treatment of his Oarsmen--Discovery of his Treason, [159;] Letters from the Vulture imploring Protection of Washington to his Wife and Child, [169;] Curious Coincidence connected with his Death, [186;] Ogden's Proposition to receive him in Exchange for André, [201;] Champe's Attempt to abduct him, [297;] His Quarters in Broadway, New York, [299;] Arnold's Compensation for his Treason--Statesman in House of Commons refuses to speak in his Presence, [299;] Proceeds from New York on Expedition to Virginia in 1781--Lands at Westover, [433;] Marches to Richmond, [434;] Destroys much Property, [435,] [436;] Withdraws to Westover--Re-embarks--Commits other Depredations--Pursued by Americans--Establishes Head-quarters at Portsmouth, [436;] Attempts to capture him while in Virginia, [436,] [545;] Fortifies Portsmouth--Joined by General Phillips--Proceeds with Troops to Osborne's--His Victory there, [545;] Rejoins Phillips--Burns Barracks and Flour at Chesterfield Court House--Marches toward Richmond--Destroys Tobacco and other Property at Manchester--Proceeds to Warwick--Destruction of Property--Burns the Town--Returns to Petersburg, [546,] Takes chief command of Army on Death of Phillips--Joined by Cornwallis--Sends Simeon to the Fords on the Nottaway and Meherrin Rivers, [054.]

Arnold, Hannah, Letter to her Son Benedict, [037.]

Arnold, Hannah. Sister of the Traitor, [169.]

Arnold, General James Robertson, Son of Benedict Arnold, Biographical Sketch of, [158.]

Arnold, Margaret, Marriage of, [142;] On intimate terms with André, [144;] Parting with her Husband at West Point, [158;] Her Distress--Opinions concerning her, [169.]

Arnold, Oliver, Quotation from, [037,] [038.]

Arnold's Path, Notice of, [159.]

Arundel, Captain, in Battle on Gwynn's Island in 1776, [538.]

Argill, Captain, Case of, [366.]

Ashe, General John, Notice of, [568;] Treatment of by the Regulators in 1771, [576;] Biographical Sketch of, [714.]

Ashe, Mrs., and Tarlton, [642.]

Assembly, Colonial, of Virginia, convened at Jamestown in 1699, [457;] Sessions of, [482;] Excitement in--Dissolution, [483;] Meeting of, in Apollo Room of Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, in 1769; Convention formed-- Recommend to the People Articles of Association against Use of British Goods, [484,] Concur with Massachusetts Assembly in 1773--Dissolved by Dunmore in 1773,485; Recommends Continental Congress in 1774--Resolves to import no more Slaves, British Goods, nor Tea--To export no more Tobacco to England--Recommend Improvement of Breed of Sheep, [486;] Convened at Richmond in 1775, [592;] Dissolves forever, [505;] Of Maryland, convened at St. Mary's in 1635--Upper House of, dissolved in 1658, [398;] Votes Statue of the King and Portrait of Lord Camden in 1766, [490;] Of South Carolina, first, convened at Charleston in 1674, [745;] Of Pennsylvania, convenes at Philadelphia in 1683, [255;] Penn's parting Message to, in 1708, [257;] Appoints Delegates to Continental Congress in 1774, [261.]

Assembly, Legislative, first, of North Carolina, convenes at Edenton in 1731, [563.]

Assembly, Provincial, of South Carolina, convened at Charleston in 1776, [752;] Of New York, in May, 1775--Suggests fortifying the Hudson River and Highlands in 1775--Appoints a Committee for the purpose in 1776, [135;] Proceedings of, at White Plains in 1776.

Association, American, Articles of, agreed upon in Congress in 1774, [268;] Eulogized by Abbé Raynal, [288;] Notice of, [725,] [719.]793.

Augusta, Georgia, Notice of, [709;] Local History of, [710;] In Possession of British in 1779, [711;] Siege of, in 1780, [715;] Proposed Monument at, [719.]

Austin, Colonel, burns Church at White Plains, [823.]

Austin, Samuel, Notice of, [013.]

Autographs, of Unkos--Owaneko--Attawauhood, [029;] Roger Williams, [055;] Stephen Hopkins, [057;] Governor Wanton--Daniel Horsmanden--Frederic Smyth--Peter Oliver--Robert Auchmuty, [062;] Munashum--Wonckompawhan-- Captain Annawan,91; Daniel Gookin--John Eliot, [092;] Lewis Nicola, [104;] Sally Jansen--Gitty Winkoop--Maria Colden, [115;] Caleb Gibbs--Henry P. Livingston--William Colfax--Benjamin Grymes, [120;] Thaddeus Kociuszko, [133;] B. Romans, [135;] La Radiere, [136;] Duportail, [136;] "Gustavus" (Arnold) "John Anderson" (André), [146;] Elisha Sheldon, [147;] Villefranche, [153;] S. Bauman, [154;] Benedict Arnold, [155;] Joshua H. Smith, [156;] David S. Franks--Richard Variek, [157.] John Vaughan--J. S. Wallace, [168;] Philip Van Cortland, [170;] Samuel H. Parsons, [174;] Anthony Wayne, [179;] Twenty-three Hessian Officers captured at Trenton, [230;] John Fitzgerald, [239;] John Morgan, [240;] James Craik, [241;] William Penn, [256;] Joseph Galloway, [270;] Fifty-six Signers of the Declaration of Independence, [286,] [287;] James M. Varnum, [292;] Du Ponceau, [398;] John Armstrong, [315;] James Agnew, [319;] Enoch Poor--Baron de Woedtke, [329;] Thomas Conway, [337;] General North, [342;] Adam Ferguson, [349;] H. Clinton-- Carlisle--William Eden, [350;] William Alexander (Earl of Stirling)-- George Washington, [352,] [676;] Charles Scott, [353;] E. Oswald, [357;] James Wesson--William Maxwell, [358;] William Woodlord,363; Thomas Proctor [375;] Moses Hazen--Theodoric Bland, [380;] Du Coudray, [385;] Charles Wilson Peale, [409;] G. W. Fairfax--George Mason, [421;] John Tyler--Martha Jefferson, [442;] Thomas Jefferson--Francis Eppes, [443;] Sir William Berkely, [459;] Charles Armand (Marquis de la Rouarie), [466;] General E. Braddock, [477;] Lord Loudoun, [479;] General J. Forbes, [480;] John Murray (Earl ol Dunmore), [485;] Colonel George U. Clarke, [493;] Simon Kenton, [494;] Major Alexander Scammel, [515;] General Ebenezer Stevens, [516;] Viscount De Noailles, [522;] Lord Cornwallis--Thomas Symonds, [523;] General Edward Stevens, [535;] General Andrew Lewis, [537;] General William Phillips, [546;] H Gerlach--Archibald Edmonstone--Frederic Cleve, [551;] John Locke, [560;] William Tryon--John Hawks, [567;] Maurice Moore, [572;] Edmund Fanning, [573;] Yorke, [574;] Colonel Joseph Leech--Christopher Neale, [575;] James Hasell--John Harvey, [579;] Thomas Rispess--Lewis Henry De Rosset, [581;] Cornelius Harnett, [582;] Colonel James Moore, [584;] Governor Richard Caswell, [586;] General Alexander Lilling ton, [587;] Governor Josiah Martin, [588;] Thomas Person, [589;] General Rutherford, [597;] General William Davidson, [600;] Captain Mark Armstrong, [603;] Colonel Edward Carrington, [604;] Twenty-three Members of Mecklenburg Committee, [619;] Horatio Gates--Isaac Huger--Allen Jones--John Butler, [604;] Joseph Winston, [633;] Captain A. Depeyster--Colonel Benjamin Cleaveland--Colonel Isaac Shelby--Colonel William Campbell, [631;] Colonel Abraham Buford, [664;] William Clajon, [668;] Governor Abner Nash, Colonel Edward Bunenmbe, [675;] General Jethro Sumner, [697;] Colonel Malmedy, [700;] Captain John Rudolph, [700;] Colonel B. Few, [711;] General John Ashe, [714;] Captain Samuel Finley, [718;] Governor J. Houstoun, [709;] General Alured Clarke, [740;] Governor Christopher Gadsden, [748;] Governor Thomas Burke, [777;] Major James H. Craig, [780;] Governor Jacob Leisler, [785;] Reverend Cadwallader Golden, [787;] Captain Isaac Sears, [797;] General John M. Scott, [805;] General Nathaniel Woodhull, [811;] General William Howe, [814;] Colonel John Glover, [815;] General William Heath, [800;] Sir William Erskine--Ritzema, [800;] Knyphausen, [805;] Colonel Lambert Cadwalader, [806;] Sir Guy Carlton, [838.]