CHAPTER VSECRET SERVICE

View of highroad and plains from site of Colonel Ludington’s house

It was not long before there was a still more serious menace than the Danbury raid. In June, 1777, there were indications that the British were planning anew to gain possession of the Hudson River, and thus unite their own northern and southern forces while dividing the eastern from the middle and southern colonies. Colonel Ludington and his regiment were therefore summoned to Peekskill, to strengthen the defenses of the Highlands, and it was not without some difficulty that he was enabled to respond to the call. Some of his men had become half mutinous. They had been willing enough torush to Danbury, but now, in the busy time of the early summer, they objected to leaving their farms when there was no enemy actually in sight. The same trouble was experienced by the other militia commanders. On this occasion the period of service at Peekskill was short. But on July 1, Washington wrote to Clinton that the British were believed to be operating against Ticonderoga and its dependencies; that Howe was preparing to evacuate the Jerseys to coöperate with the northern army, and that there was danger of a sudden attack upon the Highlands and the passes of the Hudson. He urged therefore, in the strongest manner, that all available militia should be called out to strengthen the garrisons at Peekskill and other places on the river. The next day Governor Clinton reported the gist of this letter to the Committee of Safety, adding that in consequence thereof he had “issued Orders to Colonels Brinckerhoff, Ludington, Umphrey & Freeze of Dutchess County to march their Regiments to Peek’s Kill.” But the result was not altogether satisfactory. The men were ready enough for active service; but they demurred at waiting idly in the camp while their farms at home were suffering. On July 9, Clinton, in a quandary, wrote from Fort Montgomery to the president of the Convention:

The Militia which I ordered to this Post & who came in with great Expedition almost to a Man according to Custom begin to be extreamly uneasy. They want to go Home, their Corn issuffering, their Harvest coming on, and they cant see that it is likely there will be any Thing for them to do here suddenly. They have been frequently on the Dunderbergh to look down the River & cant see a single Vessel in it; What shall I do with them?If I consent to their going Home they will Return when ordered again with great Chearfulness. If I dont, they will go (many of them at least) without Leave. I dont know what to do with them &, therefore, shall not do any Thing, without your Honor’s Directions which I should be glad to have this afternoon.

If I consent to their going Home they will Return when ordered again with great Chearfulness. If I dont, they will go (many of them at least) without Leave. I dont know what to do with them &, therefore, shall not do any Thing, without your Honor’s Directions which I should be glad to have this afternoon.

As a result of this appeal, General Putnam on July 11 issued an order to the effect that, “considering the Busy Season of the Year, & how important it is to the public as well as to themselves that the Militia be at home in their Business at this Time, and not being wanted, Altho’ he cannot say how soon they may be,” the three regiments which first responded to the call, to wit, Ludington’s, Humphrey’s and Brinckerhoff’s, were “dismissed with the General’s thanks for their Alertness and for their good Services, relying upon it that the Zeal & Ardor they have shewn in the great Cause we are engaged in will prompt them to turn out without (sic) the utmost Alacrity on all future Occasions.”

Another occasion was quickly supplied by the British, with their activities at the north and their renewed menace against the Highlands. On June 30, General Howe evacuated New Jersey, moved intoStaten Island, and prepared to advance up the Hudson. On July 1, Burgoyne with his army appeared before Ticonderoga, and on July 6, the Americans evacuated that fortress. Washington, then at Morristown, wrote on July 10 to the president of the Continental Congress: “In consequence of the probability that General Howe will push against the Highland passes to cooperate with General Burgoyne, I shall, by the advice of my officers, move the army from hence to-morrow morning towards the North River.” Though delayed somewhat by bad weather, he proceeded to Sufferns, and thence to Galloway’s, in Orange County, New York, where he remained until he ascertained that Howe was not going up the river, but was really making a feint to cover a swift dash upon Philadelphia. Accordingly, on July 23, Washington’s army was set in motion toward the Delaware, leaving the Highlands to their local defenders. The inefficient and half treacherous Gates presently superseded Schuyler in command of the American Army at the north after the disastrous affair at Ticonderoga, and it is probable that Washington doubted his ability to cope with Burgoyne. At any rate, despite what he regarded as Howe’s “unaccountable abandonment” of Burgoyne, Washington regarded the latter’s movements with much apprehension, and frequently warned Clinton at the Highlands to be on his guard against him. On July 31, he urged Clinton to call out the militia to reinforce the garrisons, and Clinton wroteas follows to the Committee of Safety, a letter which throws much light upon the embarrassments from which he suffered:

The Proportion to be furnished by this State is 500 and it shall be my first Business to issue the necessary Orders for march’g them to the respective stations for which they are intended.I am nevertheless apprehensive that I shall find it extremely difficult to compleat even this small Number. The Continental Pay and Rations being far below the wages given for ordinary Labor the Difference becomes a Tax rendered by personal Service and as the Train Band List from the Exemptions arising from Age Office & other Causes consists chiefly of the Middling & lower Class of People this extraordinary Tax is altogether paid by them.Add to this that unless a proportionate Number is called out of each County which in most Cases is inexpedient the County affording the most Men is upon the same Principle charged with a Tax to which the other Parts of the Community do not contribute.These Reasons are so clear as to be generally understood and complained of by the Militia and unless those exercising the Legislative Power of the State shall in their Wisdom devise some Plan in which those Inconveniences will be obviated and the Militia Duty become more equal I am extremely apprehensive that any Orders for calling Detachments to the Field for a limited Time will not hereafter be so duly obeyed as the Nature of Military Command and the good of the service absolutely requires. It wo’d be needless toobserve to you, Gentlemen, that tho my Office as Governor gives me the Command of the Militia I am not vested with authority to promise even the ordinary Continental Pay and subsistance to any greater Number of Men than those required of me by his Excellency the Commander in Chief, whose Requisition entitles those who are called into actual Service in Consequence thereof to a Compensation from the Continent at large.

The Proportion to be furnished by this State is 500 and it shall be my first Business to issue the necessary Orders for march’g them to the respective stations for which they are intended.

I am nevertheless apprehensive that I shall find it extremely difficult to compleat even this small Number. The Continental Pay and Rations being far below the wages given for ordinary Labor the Difference becomes a Tax rendered by personal Service and as the Train Band List from the Exemptions arising from Age Office & other Causes consists chiefly of the Middling & lower Class of People this extraordinary Tax is altogether paid by them.

Add to this that unless a proportionate Number is called out of each County which in most Cases is inexpedient the County affording the most Men is upon the same Principle charged with a Tax to which the other Parts of the Community do not contribute.

These Reasons are so clear as to be generally understood and complained of by the Militia and unless those exercising the Legislative Power of the State shall in their Wisdom devise some Plan in which those Inconveniences will be obviated and the Militia Duty become more equal I am extremely apprehensive that any Orders for calling Detachments to the Field for a limited Time will not hereafter be so duly obeyed as the Nature of Military Command and the good of the service absolutely requires. It wo’d be needless toobserve to you, Gentlemen, that tho my Office as Governor gives me the Command of the Militia I am not vested with authority to promise even the ordinary Continental Pay and subsistance to any greater Number of Men than those required of me by his Excellency the Commander in Chief, whose Requisition entitles those who are called into actual Service in Consequence thereof to a Compensation from the Continent at large.

In consequence of this letter of Clinton’s the Committee of Safety the same day ordered that “Continental pay and rations be advanced on behalf of the Continent, to all such Militia as his Excellency the Governor shall think proper to call out.” Colonel Ludington was not included in the summons to the Highlands, but was selected by Clinton for other and, as it proved, actually more active service, in the borderland of Westchester County. Clinton wrote to him as follows, from Kingston, on August 1, 1777:

The Operations of the Enemy ag’t the State to the Northward as well as the exposed Situation of some of the Southern Counties to the Incursions of the Enemy from that Quarter, render it expedient to call into actual Service, a very considerable Proportion of the Militia in the Classing of the different Regiments for these Services your Regiment & Colo. Fields’ with the other Regiments of W. Chester County are to furnish 310 Men, including Non Commissioned Officers & Privates properly officered armed & accoutred, as you’l see by the inclosed Order; and, as you are appointed to take the command ofthis Detachment, I desire that you will, immediately upon the Receipt hereof, direct and forward to the Commanding Officers of the other Regiments who are to furnish Men towards this Detachm’t, one of the inclosed Resolutions & Orders, and exert yourself in having them raised with all possible Expedition and march them to such Stations in W. Chester County as will tend most to the Protection of the Inhabitants and best conduce to the Public Safety. Taking your Directions occasionally from the Command’g Officer at Peeks Kill.The Inclosed Resolutions of the Council of Safety subjecting Exempts to a Proportion of the Common Burthen will, I hope, enable you to carry these Orders into Execution with greater Ease, especially as every Other Regt. in the State will furnish an equal if not a greater Number of Men for the Service.I am &c.(G. C.)Colo. Ludington.The Troops will be allowed Continental Pay & Rations & a Bounty to be raised agreeable to the within Resolve from the Fines levied on the Exempts refusing Service.

The Inclosed Resolutions of the Council of Safety subjecting Exempts to a Proportion of the Common Burthen will, I hope, enable you to carry these Orders into Execution with greater Ease, especially as every Other Regt. in the State will furnish an equal if not a greater Number of Men for the Service.

I am &c.

(G. C.)

Colo. Ludington.

The Troops will be allowed Continental Pay & Rations & a Bounty to be raised agreeable to the within Resolve from the Fines levied on the Exempts refusing Service.

A few days later another alarm was caused by the uncertainty which attended the movements of the British fleet, which, after sailing from New York to the capes of the Delaware as if to attack Philadelphia, suddenly put to sea again and disappeared for a time. Washington communicated his observations and suspicions to Clinton, and Clinton, onAugust 5, countermanded his orders to Ludington in the following letter:

By Dispatches just Rec’d from his Excellency Genl. Washington dated at Chester in Pensylvania 1st Aug’t, I am informed that the Enemy’s Fleet have left the Capes of Delaware & are steering Eastward & his Excellency is fully of Opinion they intend (proceeding) up Hudson’s River. From this Intelligence & the great Preparations making by the Enemy at Kings Bridge for an Expedition, I have not the least Doubt but that their Designs are against this Quarter & by vigorous Exertion they hope to join their two Armies before ours can arrive to oppose them. His Excellency is apprehensive of this also & has requested me to call out all the Militia of this State to oppose the Enemy till he can arrive with his Army. You will, therefore, on receipt hereof with the utmost Expedition march your Regt. to Fort Montgomery compleatly armed and accoutred, leaving the frontier Companies at Home embodied & on Duty to guard ag’t any small Parties of Tories or Indians. I mean to repair to the Fort with all Expedition & take the Command.

Clinton then notified Putnam at Peekskill that he had ordered Ludington’s and also Field’s and Brinckerhoff’s regiments to join him forthwith, and on August 9 reported this action to Washington. But it was one thing to order and another thing to have the order fulfilled. The militia exhibited their former reluctance to go into camp unless the enemywere actually in sight. This applies, however, to the other regiments rather than to Colonel Ludington’s. No complaint of his inactivity or his inability to furnish his quota of men appears. But on August 20, Colonel Humphrey reported that his regiment was unwilling to march northward, meaning, no doubt, to go up the river beyond the Highlands to the aid of Gates against Burgoyne, as there was some desperate talk of doing; and John Jay and Gouverneur Morris reported that Gates’s army could hope for no militia reinforcements excepting from Albany County, and that garrisons should be provided for the Highland forts when the terms of enlistment of the militia should expire. This was the more essential as the regular garrisons had largely been sent north to aid Gates. A little later, on September 4, Colonel Dirck Brinckerhoff wrote from Fishkill to Clinton in answer to some strictures as follows:

Sir,You Blame me in Your Letter for Disobeying the Orders I first Receiv’d for all the Militia to go to Peekskill, but it was by Consent of General Putnam, that Only part should go, and be Reliev’d by the Same number from time to time in Such Manner as I thought proper, which has Strictly been done.Agreeable to your Last I have Order’d half the Militia out, but it is allmost impossible to get them to go, on account of the Exempts not going, Aledging this is not a General Alarum; therefore, should be Glad of Some further Regulationin that Respect, and Possitive Orders from you how to act in that affair, I am Sir,Your Ob’t. Hble. Serv’tDirck Brinckerhoff.To His Excellency George Clinton Esq.

Sir,

You Blame me in Your Letter for Disobeying the Orders I first Receiv’d for all the Militia to go to Peekskill, but it was by Consent of General Putnam, that Only part should go, and be Reliev’d by the Same number from time to time in Such Manner as I thought proper, which has Strictly been done.

Agreeable to your Last I have Order’d half the Militia out, but it is allmost impossible to get them to go, on account of the Exempts not going, Aledging this is not a General Alarum; therefore, should be Glad of Some further Regulationin that Respect, and Possitive Orders from you how to act in that affair, I am Sir,

Your Ob’t. Hble. Serv’t

Dirck Brinckerhoff.

To His Excellency George Clinton Esq.

Colonel Ludington, meanwhile, was busy elsewhere, in another department of his public duties, of which we shall speak hereafter. At first commissioned to serve in Westchester County, then ordered to the Highlands, he seems to have been permitted to remain in Westchester and lower Dutchess counties, where some strong hand was sorely needed. But on September 15 came news of the battle of the Brandywine, in which the Stars and Stripes was first unfurled in battle, but in which the Americans were defeated. The news was ominous of the fall of Philadelphia and of the martyrdom of Valley Forge, and it caused some consternation along the Hudson. Clinton at once ordered eleven New York militia regiments to reinforce the Highlands, among them Colonel Ludington’s, which was to proceed at once to Peekskill to serve under General Putnam. For the first time Ludington seems to have had some difficulty in complying with orders, for, on September 29, we find Clinton writing to him, as well as to the other colonels of militia, expressing surprise at the circumstance that, although he had ordered the whole of the regiments to reinforce the garrisons, not morethan 300 men of six regiments had responded; and adding a peremptory command that one half of each regiment should go into service immediately for one month, and then be relieved by the other half.

There was indeed cause for these preparations, for the British were at last actually beginning their advance up the Hudson in aid of the hard-pressed Burgoyne, though all too late to save him. At the beginning of October the British fleet appeared in the Hudson, and on October 4 a landing was made at Tarrytown. Of what occurred there, we have two contemporary accounts. One was given in the New York “Journal” of May 11, 1778, by one of the garrison of Fort Montgomery, which, as we shall see, was presently captured by the British. “On Saturday night,” says that narrator, “we had advice that a large number of ships, brigs, armed vessels, &c., had arrived at Tarrytown, where they had landed a considerable body of men, supposed to be about one thousand, and had advanced toward the plains. Colonel Lutlington being posted there with about five hundred militia, they sent in a flag to him requiring him to lay down his arms and surrender himself and men prisoners of war. Whilst he was parleying with the flag they endeavored to surround him, which he perceiving ordered his men to retreat. The British then returned to their shipping, and the next morning we had advice of their being under sail, and coming up as far as King’s Ferry.” The “Colonel Lutlington” referred to was, of course, Henry Ludington.By “the plains” it is to be supposed White Plains was meant, that village being distant from Tarrytown about seven miles.

The second account, much more circumstantial and authoritative, is that of Colonel Ludington himself in his report to General Putnam. He was at that time stationed at Wright’s Mills, between Tarrytown and White Plains, guarding the inhabitants from the depredations of Tory and Indian marauders. He wrote to General Putnam as follows:

Sir. I must acquaint you of my yousage in this place. I find the militia was to join and I have not had the assistance of one man. you must well Remember you ordered Capt Dean and Capt Stephens. Stephens I never have seen. Dean I showed your order and Rote a few days ago Begging him to assist me scouting. I have inclosed his answer to me. You must not depend too much upon my little party, if I am to gard the inhabitants I must be Reinforced speadily or shall be obliged to post my men in some Better place of Securityand am Sir Your obedient Humble ServantHenry Ludington3 oclock october 4th 1777at Rites millsP. S. I beleive the inhabitants are entirely stript where they go.Honoured Sir: in haste I am to acquaint you that they came up Last night with 2 frigets and five or six Royale and tenders and about 40 flat Bottommed boats and landed about 3 thousand men under the command of governor Tryon. They immediately took the heights above Tarrytown and from thence kept the Heights until they thought they had got above our party. But Luckily we had got above them and paused at mr Youngses where we thought Best to move towards them where we were in open view of them and found them vastly superior to us in numbers and moved off to Rights mills, Having no asistance more than our Little party belonging to our Regiment. I found on our Retreat before we got back to Youngses they had sent forward a flag, But found that was in view of trapping us as they had flanking parties who we discovered in order to surround us. But after clearing the Regiment I rode Back and met the flag within a quarter of a mile of their main body. The purport of his errand was that governor Tryon Had sent him to acquaint me that if we would give up our arms and submit they would show us mersy or otherways they were determined to take us and strip the contre (country). Sent in answer that as Long as we had a man alive I was determined to oppose them and they might come on as soon as they pleased. We have not lost a man and the last move of the enemy was from Youngses towards the plains.N. B. the maj. is Gone home on furlowHenry Ludinton.

and am Sir Your obedient Humble Servant

Henry Ludington

3 oclock october 4th 1777at Rites mills

P. S. I beleive the inhabitants are entirely stript where they go.

Honoured Sir: in haste I am to acquaint you that they came up Last night with 2 frigets and five or six Royale and tenders and about 40 flat Bottommed boats and landed about 3 thousand men under the command of governor Tryon. They immediately took the heights above Tarrytown and from thence kept the Heights until they thought they had got above our party. But Luckily we had got above them and paused at mr Youngses where we thought Best to move towards them where we were in open view of them and found them vastly superior to us in numbers and moved off to Rights mills, Having no asistance more than our Little party belonging to our Regiment. I found on our Retreat before we got back to Youngses they had sent forward a flag, But found that was in view of trapping us as they had flanking parties who we discovered in order to surround us. But after clearing the Regiment I rode Back and met the flag within a quarter of a mile of their main body. The purport of his errand was that governor Tryon Had sent him to acquaint me that if we would give up our arms and submit they would show us mersy or otherways they were determined to take us and strip the contre (country). Sent in answer that as Long as we had a man alive I was determined to oppose them and they might come on as soon as they pleased. We have not lost a man and the last move of the enemy was from Youngses towards the plains.

N. B. the maj. is Gone home on furlow

Henry Ludinton.

Fac-simile of Col. Henry Ludington’s signature.

This report is unquestionably authentic, although the “P. S.” has no address, date nor signature, and is on a separate sheet of paper from the letter and the “N. B.” But it is in Henry Ludington’s handwriting, precisely the same as the signed letter, and is on precisely the same kind of paper. Doubtless, then, the “P. S.” was hurriedly written after the letter, the British attack having occurred between the two writings, and was enclosed with the letter without taking time to sign it in any way. The MSS. were in the possession of the late Douglas Putnam, of Harmar, Ohio, a great-grandson of General Putnam, and were left by him to his daughter, Mrs. Francke H. Bosworth, of New York. It is interesting to observe that it was with his old chief, Tryon, that Ludington had on this occasion to deal again. He estimates the number of the British three times as high as does the other and less authoritative chronicler, and is probably more nearly correct. It may be assumed that the former statement that he had “about five hundred militia” was much exaggerated. His own official report of the day before shows his entire force at Wright’s Mills to have comprised “One Colonel, 1 Lt. Colonel, 5 Captains, 10 Leutennants, no Ensign, no Chaplain, 1 Adjutant, 1 Quartermaster, 1 Surgeon, no Surgeons mate, 19 Sergeants, 9 Drummers and Fifers, 182 present fit for duty, 19 sick present, 3 Sick Absent, 19 on command, 10 on Furlough, Total 233.” With such a mere handful, he certainly acquitted himself mostcreditably against the vastly superior force of Tryon.

Putnam was at Peekskill for the express purpose of guarding the passage up the river. He had there about 600 regulars and a much larger number of militia. Governor George Clinton was at Fort Montgomery, and his brother James Clinton at Fort Clinton, with combined forces variously reported at from 600 to 1200 men, mostly militia. Putnam had scout boats along the river, and an elaborate system of scouts on land. Yet, says General De Peyster, “the British Clinton … took advantage of a fog, transferred his troops over to the western side of the river, to Stony Point, made a wonderful march across or rather around the Dunderberg Mountain, and carried Forts Clinton and Montgomery by assault, performing the most brilliant British operation during the seven years’ war.” George Clinton suffered heavy losses in troops, and narrowly escaped capture; the State capital, Kingston, was exposed to the enemy’s advance; and Putnam retired to the mountains, sending word to Gates that he must prepare for the worst as he could not prevent the enemy from advancing up the river to the aid of Burgoyne. “The enemy can go to Albany with great expedition and without any opposition.” In the presence of this disaster two things were uncommonly fortunate for the American cause. One was that Gates was not alone in the north, but had Arnold, Schuyler, and Morgan with him to brace him up. The other was thatthe British did not attempt to go on up to Albany. After garrisoning Fort Montgomery, Sir Henry Clinton returned to New York. On October 15, he sent an expedition, under General Vaughan, up to Kingston, and the next day burned that village, the State government having previously fled to Poughkeepsie. Other ravages, of looting and burning, were committed along the river, to the disgrace of the British arms. But there was some consolation to the stricken patriots in the news that the very day after the burning of Kingston, Burgoyne, beaten by Arnold, Schuyler, and Morgan, surrendered to Gates with all his army.

During the winter of 1777-78 Colonel Ludington was chiefly busied with other features of his public duties, and appeared little in the field. He was a valuable adviser to the State government on military affairs, and, realizing from experience the great difficulty of maintaining a satisfactory militia service in time of actual warfare, urged the formation of another regiment of regulars. On December 18, Governor Clinton referred to this project in a letter to General Putnam. He urged the necessity of strengthening the defenses of the Hudson River, and said that he expected the Committee of Safety at Poughkeepsie in a few days. He would then lay before them the proposal for a new regiment of regulars and added, “I should be glad to have Colo. Ludington’s Plan.” That winter, the winter of Valley Forge, was a hard one in which to raise recruits ofany kind, especially in view of the fact that the troops had received no pay for their services for a long time past. Colonel Ludington felt this keenly, and on being asked by Clinton to furnish a certain number of men from his regiment for the new regiment of regulars, he wrote very frankly on the subject:

Honoured Sir, I am under the Disagrable Nesesity of acqainting you, that I find it to Be out of my power to Comply with your Orders in Regard of Raising the Coto (Quota) of men aloted me to Raise out of my Regiment, and that for Sundry Reasons. In the first place, the money Raised in the other Regments By their asesments amounts to one Hundread pounds Bounty to Each Soldier By Reason of the Exempts Being able and among whom are a number of Quakers. But it is not the Case in my Regment, For, By the Best Computation we Can make, we Cannot Raise more than 30 Dolars a man, though I would not Be understood that we have gone through with the asesments and that for this Reason: the act for asesing the Exempts Expresly says that the officers who aseses the Exempts Shall Be Freeholders, and I have not Such an officer in my Regiment. We have met Sundry times in order to try to Raise the men and I yoused my Best Endevours that they Should Be Raised, But I have not an officer that will asist the Exempts. The officers tell me they posatively will not Call their Companies out until they get pay for their Past Servises in order to avoid Service; on that account I have had their pay roles maid up in time and Signed By thegeneral, and Have weighted on the pay master for the money Everry few Days, and yesterday for the Last time, and He then told He had no prospect in geting the money in Sum months. That Being the Case I am Sory I must Tell your Honour that I know not what further measures to take until I have Sum further instructions in Regard of the matter. It is my opinion that we Shall never Raise the men, unles the State asists us in Raising a part of the Bounty and the Soldiers gets their wages for their past Servises. Sir, a few lines from your Honour in Regard of the above, By way of instructions, will mutch oblige your Humble Servant,Henry Ludinton.Fredricksburgh February 20th 1778.To His Excelency George Clinton Esqr. Governor.P. S. Sir, if there Be a late act past in Regard of Raising the men and a Bounty for them, please to Convey the Same as I have Had no opportunity of acquainting my Self with it. The Returns of the Regment you Shall Have next week, which Should Have Had Before now, Had it not Been for the neglect of sum of the Captains not sending in their Returns.

Henry Ludinton.

Fredricksburgh February 20th 1778.

To His Excelency George Clinton Esqr. Governor.

P. S. Sir, if there Be a late act past in Regard of Raising the men and a Bounty for them, please to Convey the Same as I have Had no opportunity of acquainting my Self with it. The Returns of the Regment you Shall Have next week, which Should Have Had Before now, Had it not Been for the neglect of sum of the Captains not sending in their Returns.

Colonel Ludington had, however, rather better success in holding his own regiment together than did some other colonels of militia, as the following return shows:

Return of the Regiment of Militia of the County of Dutchess and State of New York. Command’d by Collonel Henry Ludinton.Fredricksburgh Precinct March 23rd 1778.Field Officers.Comm’d Officers.COMPANIESCollonel.Lieut’t Coll’l.Major.Capt’ns.Lieut’s.Ensigns.John Crane’s12—David Waterbury’s121John Haight’s121Hezekiah Meed’s121George Lane’s1—1Nathaniel Scribner’s121Joel Meed’s121Total Strength ofthe Regiment7126Staff Officers.Non Comm’d.COMPANIESAdjutant.Surgeon.Quart’r Master.Serg’ts.Drum’rs.Rank and File.John Crane’s4160David Waterbury’s4157John Haight’s4051Hezekiah Meed’s4174George Lane’s4049Nathaniel Scribner’s4258Joel Meed’s3172Total Strength ofthe Regiment266421

Return of the Regiment of Militia of the County of Dutchess and State of New York. Command’d by Collonel Henry Ludinton.

Fredricksburgh Precinct March 23rd 1778.

Colonel Ludington and his regiment were again called to the defense of the Hudson at Fishkill in June, 1779, on the alarm caused by the British seizure of Verplanck’s Point, and a few days later returned to the vicinity of Crom Pond to resume the local police work which formed so large a part of their duties. There, before daylight of June 24, they were surprised by an attack of about two hundred British cavalry, which had made a dash all the way up from New York. Nearly thirty of the militia were killed and wounded in the sharp skirmish which ensued. At the same time 130 British light infantrycame across from Verplanck’s Point and made a demonstration in aid of the cavalry. On another occasion a similar attack was made while the Americans were at breakfast, close by the church, which at the time was used as an arsenal.

After these services the regiment was marched home to Fredericksburgh and for a time disbanded. On this occasion Colonel Ludington wrote to Clinton as follows:

Honoured Sir, I embrace this opportunity of acquainting you that according to Colo. Swartwout’s orders to me of Yesterday I thought Proper to discharge my Regt who I must beg leave to acquaint you have acted with the greatest Spirrit since they have been hear and have gon home with a full determination to turn out at a minute’s warning. In my last I wrote you to know the mode adopted for Punishing those who have not turned out according to their being Warned, for I am highly sensible that if they are not brought to a sevear Punishment it will give offence to those Who have dun their Dutey. I must allso Return your Excellency thanks for Recommending to me Mr. McClennen who has truley answered the Character I have had of him as I have Experienced his services in Spiriting the Militia in these Parts and my Regt in Particular. I remain in the mean timewith Respect your Excellencys most obedient Humble ServtHenry Ludinton.Fredh Burgh Juley 11, 1779.To Governor Clinton.

with Respect your Excellencys most obedient Humble Servt

Henry Ludinton.

Fredh Burgh Juley 11, 1779.

To Governor Clinton.

Later in the same year a radical reorganization of the militia forces was effected under the following orders:

Poughkeepsie Oct. 11th, 1779.Brigade Orders.Agreeable to General Orders of the 10th Instant issued by his Excellency the Govr., 1078 Men, including Non Commissioned Officers, drums and fifes, are to be Detached out of Colo. Comdt. Swartwout’s Brigade of Militia to Continue in Service for the term of three Months unless the particular service for which they are drawn out shall be sooner Completed.The Detachments from the several Regiments in this Brigade to be as follows, viz.—FromColo. Graham’s Regt196MenColo. Frear’s do156Colo. Hopkins do192Colo. Field’s do117Colo. Luddenton’s do144Colo. Van Der Burgh’s do118Colo. Brinckerhoff’s do155Total1078The above Detachment to be formed into Two Regiments under Command of Colos. Graham and Hopkins, in the following manner, viz.,The Detachments of Colos. Graham’s, Frear’s, Van Der Burgh’s and 69 Men of Colo. Field’s Regiments to be formed into one Regiment under Command of Colo. Graham.The Detachments of Colos. Hopkins, Luddenton’s, Brinckerhoff’s, and 48 Men of Colo. Field’sRegts. to be formed into another Regiment under Command of Colo. Hopkins.Colo. Graham’s Field Officers to be Lieut. Colo. Birdsall and Majr. Hill,Captains.Subalterns.Andw. HeermansJames WilsonHustidColo. Graham’s Regt.John SetonAndw. Heermans Junr.John WilsonJonathan Darlingand ⸺Lemuel ConklinHugh Van KleeckColo. Frear’s Regt.MontgomeryWeeksHendricksonVan Der BogartIsrael VailColo. Van Der Burgh’s Regt.TredwellBentlyHallPierceColo. Field’s Regt.ElliotColo. Hopkins Field Officers are Lieut. Colo. Griffen and Majr. Paine.Captains.Subalterns.WheelerWatersTalmadgeColo. Hopkins Regt.Wm. ChamberlainElijah ParksElliotParleyJonas ParksHoskinGeo. BrinckerhoffJno. Van BunschotenColo. Brinckerhoff’s Regt.Christian DuboisAbraham ShultsWilliam SwartwoutAbraham HooglandBarnumColo. Field’s Regt.ChandlerColo. Luddenton and his officers being absent, he will with advice of his field officers nominate and furnish one Captain and Three Subalterns, to join Colo. Hopkins’ Regt.The above Detachments to be Compleated and at the place of Rendevous without Delay, Compleatly Equipped, Agreeable to Genl. Orders, to which the most strictest attention is to be paid.By Order of Colo. Comdr. Jac. SwartwoutHend. Wyckoff MB

Poughkeepsie Oct. 11th, 1779.

Brigade Orders.

Agreeable to General Orders of the 10th Instant issued by his Excellency the Govr., 1078 Men, including Non Commissioned Officers, drums and fifes, are to be Detached out of Colo. Comdt. Swartwout’s Brigade of Militia to Continue in Service for the term of three Months unless the particular service for which they are drawn out shall be sooner Completed.

The Detachments from the several Regiments in this Brigade to be as follows, viz.—

The above Detachment to be formed into Two Regiments under Command of Colos. Graham and Hopkins, in the following manner, viz.,

The Detachments of Colos. Graham’s, Frear’s, Van Der Burgh’s and 69 Men of Colo. Field’s Regiments to be formed into one Regiment under Command of Colo. Graham.

The Detachments of Colos. Hopkins, Luddenton’s, Brinckerhoff’s, and 48 Men of Colo. Field’sRegts. to be formed into another Regiment under Command of Colo. Hopkins.

Colo. Graham’s Field Officers to be Lieut. Colo. Birdsall and Majr. Hill,

Colo. Hopkins Field Officers are Lieut. Colo. Griffen and Majr. Paine.

Colo. Luddenton and his officers being absent, he will with advice of his field officers nominate and furnish one Captain and Three Subalterns, to join Colo. Hopkins’ Regt.

The above Detachments to be Compleated and at the place of Rendevous without Delay, Compleatly Equipped, Agreeable to Genl. Orders, to which the most strictest attention is to be paid.

By Order of Colo. Comdr. Jac. Swartwout

Hend. Wyckoff MB

Thereafter Colonel Ludington and his regiment were frequently engaged in important work, especially during the time of doubt and dread caused by the treason of Arnold, and in the operations preliminary to Washington’s epoch-making march from the Hudson to the Chesapeake. But those services belonged to the other phases of public duty to which reference has been made and of which fuller consideration must be reserved for another chapter.

Another part of Henry Ludington’s services to his country during the Revolution was intimately connected with that little known underworld of the Secret Service—the men who take their lives in their hands perhaps more perilously than the soldier in the open field, who have no stimulus of martial glory, who receive no public recognition, and whose very names are doomed to obscurity. A recent work of fiction, one of the best “historical novels” of our day—“The Reckoning,” by Mr. Robert W. Chambers—gives a singularly dramatic and convincing picture of the work of a Patriot spy in New York City in the Revolution, doing work which was hateful to him and yet which was of the highest importance to Washington himself. It is a picture as true as it is graphic. An earlier work dealing with the same phase of Patriot service, “The Spy,” of Fenimore Cooper, has long been familiar to the American public, and it has generally been assumed that its hero, “Harvey Birch,” was an actual character, drawn from life; even more closely than the genius of “The Pilot” was drawn from the illustrious Paul Jones. Such indeed was the case, and with theoriginal of “Harvey Birch,” Enoch Crosby, Colonel Ludington was intimately associated. Indeed, because of his familiarity with the borderland between the British and American lines, and also because of his knowledge and judgment of men, his discretion, and his known trustworthiness, Colonel Ludington was selected, by Washington’s instructions, to choose the man or men who should do the secret service of the Patriot cause within the British lines at New York, and to make the needed arrangements for his dispatch and for maintaining communication with him.

Reduced Fac-simile of Letter from Nath’l Sackett, a Delegate to the “Provincial Congress of the State of New York,” from Dutchess County and member of the Committee on Conspiracies.(Original paper in possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City.)

Reduced Fac-simile of Letter from Nath’l Sackett, a Delegate to the “Provincial Congress of the State of New York,” from Dutchess County and member of the Committee on Conspiracies.

(Original paper in possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City.)

Accordingly we find Nathaniel Sackett, of whom mention has already been made, addressing to Colonel Ludington this significant letter:

Siryou will proceed on inquiring for a proper person to Remove into the City of New York. in your enquiry you are not to make any use of my name to any Person, but let it appear to be an act of your own unless you find one that in your opinion and skill is possessed of abilitys to carry a secret matter into Execution. upon your finding such a Person and his consenting to Remove into the city you will then desire him to come with you immediately to me, and you will enjoin secrecy upon and direct him not to mention either his business or my name to any Person. any Person that you may converse with in a confidential manner, you will Lay them under the strongest Bonds of secrecy in your Power. and lastly you will conduct the whole Business with theutmost secrecy in your Power and disclose only such parts as you may find absolutely necessary for procuring a proper Person to be imployed for Secret Purposes and will actually Remove to the City of New York.I am Sir your humble Servt.Nathl. Sackett.Frederick Burgh Precinct, Feby. 14th, 1777.To Colonel Henry Ludington Esqr.

Sir

you will proceed on inquiring for a proper person to Remove into the City of New York. in your enquiry you are not to make any use of my name to any Person, but let it appear to be an act of your own unless you find one that in your opinion and skill is possessed of abilitys to carry a secret matter into Execution. upon your finding such a Person and his consenting to Remove into the city you will then desire him to come with you immediately to me, and you will enjoin secrecy upon and direct him not to mention either his business or my name to any Person. any Person that you may converse with in a confidential manner, you will Lay them under the strongest Bonds of secrecy in your Power. and lastly you will conduct the whole Business with theutmost secrecy in your Power and disclose only such parts as you may find absolutely necessary for procuring a proper Person to be imployed for Secret Purposes and will actually Remove to the City of New York.

I am Sir your humble Servt.

Nathl. Sackett.

Frederick Burgh Precinct, Feby. 14th, 1777.

To Colonel Henry Ludington Esqr.

The purport of this was unmistakable. Colonel Ludington was to find some one to serve as a spy in New York, and he was to do it with such prudence and tact that nobody but himself would seem responsible for the negotiations until they had proceeded far enough to give assurance of the fitness and trustworthiness of the man selected for the work. Colonel Ludington proceeded promptly with the undertaking, and with commendable caution, as the following document shows:

I do most solemnly swear by Almighty God Who Liveth forever and ever that I will well and Truly keep every matter and thing Committed to my Charge by Henry Ludington Esqr a profound secret, and that I will not Directly or indirectly either by words or actions signs or Tokens or by any other ways or means whatever disclose or divulge the same to any manner of Person or Persons whatever.Benajah Tubbs.Sworn before me Feb. 23, 1777.

Benajah Tubbs.

Sworn before me Feb. 23, 1777.

Benajah Tubbs was a well-approved military comrade of Colonel Ludington’s, as appears from the records. In the Correspondence of the Provincial Congress of New York there appears a communication from the Dutchess County Committee of Safety, under date of January 3, 1776, recommending Benajah Tubbs to be adjutant of “the regiment of militia lately commanded by Beverly Robinson, Esq.,” together with Henry Ludington as 2nd major and John Kaine as colonel. The extent of Tubbs’s services as a secret agent of the Revolutionary government does not appear, nor is it at this time possible to ascertain how many and what other men were selected by Colonel Ludington for such perilous errands. The career of Enoch Crosby is, however, a matter of specific and exact record. It is to be found related not only in the fascinating pages of Cooper, but also in various affidavits made by Crosby himself, and others who knew him, at the time of his application for a pension for his services. These papers, which have been transcribed from the originals by Mr. Patrick, are in chief as follows:

State of N. Y.Co. Putnam. ss.On this 15th day of October in the year 1832 personally appeared before the Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery of the said County of Putnam, Enoch Crosby, of the town of South East in the Co. of Putnam and State of New York, aged 82 years, who beingduly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832:That he entered the service of the U. S. under the following named officers and served as herein stated:That in the month of April or the fore part of May, 1775, he enlisted in the town of Danbury in the State of Connecticut into Captain Noble Benedict’s Co. in Col. Waterbury’s Regt. of troops to defend the country for 8 mos service. The regiment met at Greenwich in Ct., staid there two or three months, then went to N. Y. under Genl. Wooster. Staid in N. Y. a few weeks. The Regt. was then carried to Albany in sloops & went directly to Half Moon, was there a few days. Went thence to Ticonderoga, where the batteauxs furnished which were to convey them further. Genl. Schuyler had the command of the Isle aux Nois, when Genl. S. being unwell, Genl. Montgomery had the command. The declarant went off to St. John which being by us at time besieged by the Americans in about 5 weeks surrendered and the fort was taken. The decl. then went to Montreal, that he came from there with Col. Waterbury’s regt to Albany, and having served the eight mos. was at that place (Albany) permitted to leave the regt. and return home, and that he had no written discharge. And this dec. further says that in the latter part of the mo. of Aug., 1776, he enlisted into the regt. commanded by Col. Swartwout in Fredericksburgh, now Kent, in the County of Putnam and started to join the army at Kingsbridge.The co. had left F. before declarant started & he started alone after his said enlistment & on his way at a place in Westchester Co. about 2 miles from Pine’s Bridge he fell in company with a stranger who accosted him & asked him if he was goingdown. Decl. replied he was. The stranger then asked if decl. was not afraid to venture alone, and said there were many rebels below and he would meet with difficulty in getting down. The decl. perceived from the observation of the stranger that he supposed the decl. intended to go to the British, and willing to encourage that misapprehension and turn it to the best advantage he asked if there was any mode which he the stranger could point out by which the decl. could get through safely. The stranger being satisfied the decl. was willing to join the British Army told him that there was a company raising in that county to join the British Army, that was nearly completed and in a few days would be ready to go down and that dec. had better join that co. and go down with them. The stranger finally gave to decl. his name, it was Bunker, and told the decl. where and shewed the house in which he lived and also told him that ⸺ Fowler was to be the Captain of the Co. then raising, and ⸺ Kipp Lieut. After having learned this much from Bunker the Decl. told him he was unwilling to wait until the Co. could be ready to march and would try and get through, and parted from him on his way down and continued until night, when he stopped at the house of a man who was called Esy Young, and put up there for the night. In the course of conversation with Esy Young in the eveningdecl. learned that he was a member of the Com. of Safety for the County of Westchester, and then communicated to him the information he had obtained from Mr. Bunker. Esy Young requested the decl. to accompany him the next morning to the White Plains in Westchester Co. as the Com. of Safety for the Co. were on that day to meet at the Court House in that place. The next morning the decl. in company with Esy Young went to the White Plains and found the Com. there sitting. After Esy Young had had an interview with the Com. the decl. was sent for and went before the Com. then sitting in the Court Room and there communicated the information he had obtained from Bunker. The Com. after learning the situation of decl. that he was a soldier enlisted in Col. Swartwout’s regiment and on his way to join it engaged to write to the Col. and explain why he did not join it, if he would consent to aid in the apprehension of the company then raising. It was by all thought best that he should not join the regiment but should act in a different character, as he could thus be more useful to his country. He was accordingly announced to Capt. Townsend, who was then at the White Plains commanding a company of Rangers, as a prisoner and the Captain was directed to keep him until further orders.In the evening after he was placed as a prisoner by Capt. Townsend he made an excuse to go out and was accompanied by a soldier, over a fence into a piece of corn then nearly or quite full grown. As soon as he was out of sight of the soldier he made the best of his way from the soldier and when the soldier hailed him to return hewas almost beyond hearing. An alarm gun was fired but decl. was far from danger. In the course of the night the decl. reached the house of the said Bunker, who got up and let him in. Decl. then related to Bunker the circumstances of his having been taken prisoner, of his going before the Com. at the Court House, of being put under the charge of Capt. Townsend, and of his escape; that he had concluded to avail himself of the protection of the Co. raising in his neighborhood to get down. The next morning Bunker went with decl. and introduced him as a good loyalist to several of the Co. Decl. remained some days with different individuals of the Co. and until it was about to go down, when the decl. went one night to the house of Esy Young to give information of the state and progress of the Co. The distance was four or five miles from Bunker’s. At the house of Esy Young decl. found Capt. Townsend with a great part of his Co., and after giving the information he returned to the neighborhood of Bunker, and that night decl. with a great part of the Co. which was proposing to go down were made prisoners. The next day all of them, about 30 in numbers, were marched to the White Plains and remained there several days, a part of the time locked up in jail with the other prisoners. The residue of the time he was with the Com. The prisoners were finally ordered to Fishkill in the Co. of Dutchess, where the State Convention was then sitting. The decl. went as a prisoner to Fishkill. Capt. Townsend with his Co. of Rangers took charge of the Co. at Fishkill. A Com. for Detecting Conspiracies was sitting, composed of John Jay, afterwardsGov. of N. Y., Zephaniah Platt, afterwards first Judge of Dutchess Co., Col. Duer of the Co. of Albany, and a Mr. Sackett. The decl. was called before that Com., who understood the character of the decl. and the nature of his services. This the Com. must have learned either from Capt. Townsend or from the Com. at White Plains. The decl. was examined under oath and his examination reduced to writing. The prisoners with decl. were kept whilst decl. remained at Fishkill in a building which had been occupied as a Hatter’s shop, and they were guarded by a Co. of Rangers commanded by Capt. Clark. The decl. remained about a week at Fishkill, when he was bailed by Jonathan Hopkins. This was done to cover the character in which the decl. acted. Before the decl. was bailed the Fishkill Com. had requested him to continue in this service, and on decl. mentioning the fact of his having enlisted in Col. Swartwout’s company and the necessity there was of his joining it, he was informed that he should be indemnified from that enlistment, that they would write to the Col. and inform him that decl. was in their service.The Com. then wished decl. to undertake a secret service over the river. He was furnished with a secret pass which was accordingly signed by the Com., which is now lost, and directed to go to the house of Nicholas Brauns, near the mouth of the Wappinger’s Creek, who would take him across the river, and there to proceed to the house of John Russell, about ten miles from the river, and make such inquiries and discoveries as he could. He proceeded according to directions to said Brauns and from thence to John Russell,and there hired himself to said Russell to work for him, but for no definite time. This was a neighborhood of Loyalists and it was expected that a company was there raising but was not completed. Before decl. left Russell on this service a time was fixed for him to recross the river and give information to some one of the Com. who was to meet him. This time having arrived and the Co. not being completed the decl. recrossed the river and met Zephaniah Platt, one of the Com., and gave him all the information he had obtained. Decl. was directed to recross the river to the neighborhood of Russell and on a time fixed again to meet the Com. on the east side of the river. Decl. returned to Russell’s neighborhood, soon became intimate with the Loyalists, was introduced to Capt. Robinson, said to be an English officer and who was to command the Co. then raising. Capt. Robinson occupied a cave in the mountains, and decl. having agreed to go with the Co. was invited and accepted of the invitation to lodge with Robinson in the cave. They slept together nearly a week in the cave, and the time for the Co. to start having been fixed and the route designated to pass Severn’s to Bush Carrick’s, where they were to stop the first night. The time for starting having arrived before the appointed time to meet the Com. on the east side of the river, the decl. in order to get an opportunity to convey information to Fishkill recommended that each man should the night before they started sleep where he chose, and that each should be by himself, for if they should be discovered that night together all would be taken, which would be avoided if they were separated.The proposition was acceded to, and when they separated decl. not having time to go to Fishkill, and as the only and as it appeared the best means of giving information was to go to Mr. Purdy, who was a stranger to decl. and all he knew of him was that the Tories called him a wicked rebel and said he ought to die. Decl. went and found said Purdy and informed him of the situation of affairs, of the time the Co. was to start, and the place which they were to stop the first night, and requested him to go to Fishkill and give the information to the Com. Purdy assured the decl. that the information should be given. Decl. returned to Russell’s and lodged in his house. The following evening the Co. assembled, consisting about 30 men, and started from Russell’s house, which was in the town of Marlborough, County of Ulster, for N. Y., and in the course of the night arrived at Bush Carrick’s, and went into the barn to lodge after taking refreshments. Before morning the barn was surrounded by American troops, and the whole company, including Capt. Robinson, were made prisoners. The troops who took the company prisoners were commanded by Capt. Melancthon Smith, who commanded a company of Rangers at Fishkill. His Co. crossed the river to perform this service. Col. Duer was with Capt. Smith’s Co. on this expedition. The prisoners including decl. were marched to Fishkill & confined in the stone church, in which there was near two hundred prisoners. After remaining one night in the church the Com. sent for decl. and told him it was unsafe for him to remain with the prisoners as the least suspicion of the course he had pursued would be fatal tohim, and advised him to leave the village of Fishkill and to remain where they could call on him if his services should be wanted. Decl. went to the house of a Dutchman, a farmer, whose name is forgotten, about five miles from the village of Fishkill, and there went to work making shoes. After decl. had made arrangements for working at shoes, he informed Mr. Sackett, one of the Com., where he could be found if he should be wanted. In about a week decl. recd. a letter from the Com., requesting him to meet one of the Com. at the house of Dr. Osborn, about one mile from Fishkill. Decl. according to the request went to the house of Dr. Osborn, and soon after John Jay came there, enquired for the Dr., who was absent, enquired for medicine, but found none he wanted. He came out of the house and went to his horse, near which decl. stood, and as he passed he said in a low voice “It won’t do, there are too many around. Return to your work.” Decl. went back and went to work at shoes, but within a day or two was again notified and a horse sent to him, requiring him to go to Bennington in Vt. and from there westerly to a place called Maloonscock, and there call on Hazard Wilcox, a Tory of much notoriety, and ascertain if anything was going on there injurious to the common cause. Decl. followed his instructions, found Wilcox, but could not learn that any secret measure was then projected against the interest of the country. At that place learned from Wilcox a list of persons friendly to the British cause, who could be safely trusted, from that place quite down to the south part of Dutchess County. Decl. followed directions of said Wilcox and called on differentindividuals by him mentioned, but could discover nothing of importance, until he reached the town of Pawlings in Dutchess County, where he called upon a Dr. whose name he thinks was Prosser, and informed him that he wished to go below but was fearful of some trouble. The Dr. informed him there was a Co. raising in that vicinity to go to N. Y. to join the British army, that the Captain’s name was Sheldon, that he had been down and got a commission, that he, Prosser, was doctoring the Lieut., whose name was Chase, that if decl. would wait a few days he could safely go down with that Co., that he could stay about the neighborhood and should be informed when the Co. was ready, that decl. remained in that vicinity, became acquainted with several of the persons who were going with that Co., was acquainted with Lieut. Chase, but never saw the Capt. to form any acquaintance with him. The season had got so far advanced that the Co. was about to start to join the enemy to be ready for an early campaign in 1777. It was about the last of Feb. of that year when a plan was fixed and also a time for meeting. It was situated half a mile from the road and about 3 miles from a house then occupied by Col. Morehouse, a militia Col. After the time was fixed for the meeting of Capt. Sheldon’s Co., the deponent went in the night to Col. Morehouse & informed him of the situation, of the Co., of the time appointed for meeting, of the place, etc., and Morehouse informed decl. that they should be attended to. The decl. remained almost one month in this neighborhood, and once in the time met Mr. Sackett, one of the Com., at Col. Ludington’s,and apprised him what was going on, and was to have given the Com. intelligence when the Co. was to march, but the shortness of the time between the final arrangement and the time of starting was such that decl. was obliged to give the information to Col. Morehouse. The Co., consisting of about 30, met at the time and place appointed, and after they had been there an hour or two two young men of the Co. came in & said there was a gathering under arms at Old Morehouse’s. The inquiry became general, What could it mean? Was there any traitor in the Company? The Captain soon called one or two of the Company out of the door for the purpose of private conversation about the situation, & very soon decl. heard the cry “Stand! Stand!” Those out the door ran, but were soon met by a Co. coming from a different direction, they were taken, the house surrounded & the Co. all made prisoners. The Col. then ordered them to be tied together two by two. They came to decl. and he urged to be excused from going as he was lame and could not travel. The Col. replied “You shall go, dead or alive, & if no other way you shall be carried on the horse with me.” The rest were marched off & decl. put onto the horse with Col. Morehouse and when the prisoners were marched into the house the decl. with the permission of Morehouse left them and made the best of his way to Col. Ludington’s and there informed him about daylight in the morning. From thence he went to Fishkill to the house of Dr. Van Wyck where John Jay boarded, and there informed him of all the occurrences on that northern expedition. Said Jay requested decl. to come before the Com.the next night, when they would be ready to receive him. He accordingly went before the Com., where he declared under oath all that had occurred since he had seen them. The Com. then directed him to go to the house of Col. Van Ness in Albany County, and there take directions from him. He went to Van Ness’s house and was directed by him to go north, but decl. cannot tell the place. The duty was performed, but nothing material discovered further than that the confiscation of the personal property of the Tories and leasing of their lands had a great tendency to discourage them from joining the British army. Decl. then returned to Po’keepsie, where Egbert Benson and Melancthon Smith entered in the room of the Fishkill Com. There was no more business in that town in which they wished to employ decl., and he being apprehensive that a longer continuance in that employment would be dangerous & the time for which he enlisted in Col. Swartwout’s regiment having expired, he came home with the approbation of the Com.This was about the last of May, 1777, and in the course of the fall, after decl. saw Col. Swartwout at his house in Fishkill & then talked over the subject of this employment of the decl. by the Com. & the Col. told decl. that he had drawn his pay the same as if he had been with the Reg’t, that the Paymaster of the Reg’t lived in the town of Hurley in Ulster Co. Decl. went to the Paymaster and rec’d his pay for nine months’ service or for the term for which the regiment was raised. The decl. was employed in the secret service for a period of full 9 months.This decl. further says that in the year 1779 inthe month of May he enlisted in a company commanded by Captain Jonah Hallett for six months. Decl. enlisted as a Sergeant in said Hallett’s Co. The term of enlistment was performed on the lines in the Co. of Westchester, moving from place to place to guard the country and to detect Tories; that the Co. continued in this service until after Stony Point was taken by Genl. Wayne & abandoned & also reoccupied & abandoned by the English troops, when the Co. was ordered over the river & joined the regiment at Stony Point and continued there in making preparations for building a block house until the time of the expiration of the service, when the Co. was ordered to march to Po’keepsie to be discharged by the Governor. When they arrived the Governor was absent, the Co. was billetted out & decl. was billetted upon the family of Dr. Tappen. After remaining a day or two and the Governor not arriving they were discharged. During this service in Westchester Co. the following occurrence took place: A British vessel lay at anchor near Tiller’s Point & a party of sailors & marines came on shore & marched a short distance from the water, where a party of our men got between them & the water & made them prisoners. They were marched to the place where the Co. lay a little east of Tiller’s Point. The number of prisoners decl. thinks was 12 and the captors 6. The prisoners were afterward sent to Po’keepsie.The decl. further says that in the month of May in the year 1780 he again enlisted for 6 months in a Co. commanded by Capt. Ludington in Col. Benschoten’s Regt. He entered as aSergeant in the town of Fredericksburgh, now the town of Kent, Putnam Co. The Regt. assembled at Fishkill & marched to West Point & remained there a few days, some 10 or 15. A call was made for troops to fill up the Brigade or Brigades under the command of General De La Fayette and they were to be raised by drafts or volunteers. A call was made for volunteers and decl. with others volunteered & made a Co. which was put under Capt. Daniel Delavan. The decl. continued to be a Sergeant in Delavan’s Co. Col. Philip Van Courtland commanded the Regt. to which Capt. Delavan’s Co. was attached. Soon after the Co. was formed they crossed the river from West Point and marched to Peekskill, where they remained one night, the next day marched to Verplanck’s Point and crossed over to Stony Point, & from thence made the best of their way to New Jersey where they remained until late in the fall, when the time of enlistment having expired they were discharged, after having fully and faithfully performed the service of 6 months for which he enlisted. During the campaign in New Jersey Major André was arrested, condemned & executed. Several of the soldiers of Capt. Delavan’s Co. went to see him executed. The decl. was Sergeant of the guard that day & could not go to see the execution.The decl. further says that he has no documentary evidence of his service and that he knows of no person who can testify to his services other than those whose depositions are hereto annexed. The decl. hereby relinquishes every claim to a pension or annuity except the present & declares that his name is not on the pension roll agencyof any State. The decl. was born in a place called Harwich in the County of Barnstable and State of Mass. in the year 1750. The decl. has a record of his age. The decl. was living in the town of Danbury in the State of Conn when he enlisted in the service, that service the Revolutionary War. The decl. has resided in the State of New York in what is now the Co. of Putnam, formerly Co. of Dutchess, & now lives in the same Co. & on the same farm where he has lived for the last 50 years. The decl. always volunteered in every enlistment & to perform all the service which he performed as detailed in this declaration. That the decl. was acquainted with the following officers who were with the troops where he served: Genl. Schuyler, Gen. Montgomery, Gen. Wooster, Col. Waterbury, Col. Holmes, Gen. De La Fayette, Gen. Poor, Col. Van Courtland, Col. Benschoten, Col. Ludington. The decl. never rec’d. any written discharge & if he ever received a Sergeant’s warrant it is through time or accident lost or destroyed. This decl. is known to Samuel Washburn, a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the Co. of Putnam; Beneah Y. Morse, a clergyman in his neighborhood and who he believes can testify to his character for veracity & good behavior & thus belief of his services as a Soldier of the Revolution.Enoch Crosby.Sworn to & Subscribed this day and year aforesaid;I. Morehouse, Clerk of said Court.

State of N. Y.Co. Putnam. ss.

On this 15th day of October in the year 1832 personally appeared before the Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery of the said County of Putnam, Enoch Crosby, of the town of South East in the Co. of Putnam and State of New York, aged 82 years, who beingduly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832:

That he entered the service of the U. S. under the following named officers and served as herein stated:

That in the month of April or the fore part of May, 1775, he enlisted in the town of Danbury in the State of Connecticut into Captain Noble Benedict’s Co. in Col. Waterbury’s Regt. of troops to defend the country for 8 mos service. The regiment met at Greenwich in Ct., staid there two or three months, then went to N. Y. under Genl. Wooster. Staid in N. Y. a few weeks. The Regt. was then carried to Albany in sloops & went directly to Half Moon, was there a few days. Went thence to Ticonderoga, where the batteauxs furnished which were to convey them further. Genl. Schuyler had the command of the Isle aux Nois, when Genl. S. being unwell, Genl. Montgomery had the command. The declarant went off to St. John which being by us at time besieged by the Americans in about 5 weeks surrendered and the fort was taken. The decl. then went to Montreal, that he came from there with Col. Waterbury’s regt to Albany, and having served the eight mos. was at that place (Albany) permitted to leave the regt. and return home, and that he had no written discharge. And this dec. further says that in the latter part of the mo. of Aug., 1776, he enlisted into the regt. commanded by Col. Swartwout in Fredericksburgh, now Kent, in the County of Putnam and started to join the army at Kingsbridge.The co. had left F. before declarant started & he started alone after his said enlistment & on his way at a place in Westchester Co. about 2 miles from Pine’s Bridge he fell in company with a stranger who accosted him & asked him if he was goingdown. Decl. replied he was. The stranger then asked if decl. was not afraid to venture alone, and said there were many rebels below and he would meet with difficulty in getting down. The decl. perceived from the observation of the stranger that he supposed the decl. intended to go to the British, and willing to encourage that misapprehension and turn it to the best advantage he asked if there was any mode which he the stranger could point out by which the decl. could get through safely. The stranger being satisfied the decl. was willing to join the British Army told him that there was a company raising in that county to join the British Army, that was nearly completed and in a few days would be ready to go down and that dec. had better join that co. and go down with them. The stranger finally gave to decl. his name, it was Bunker, and told the decl. where and shewed the house in which he lived and also told him that ⸺ Fowler was to be the Captain of the Co. then raising, and ⸺ Kipp Lieut. After having learned this much from Bunker the Decl. told him he was unwilling to wait until the Co. could be ready to march and would try and get through, and parted from him on his way down and continued until night, when he stopped at the house of a man who was called Esy Young, and put up there for the night. In the course of conversation with Esy Young in the eveningdecl. learned that he was a member of the Com. of Safety for the County of Westchester, and then communicated to him the information he had obtained from Mr. Bunker. Esy Young requested the decl. to accompany him the next morning to the White Plains in Westchester Co. as the Com. of Safety for the Co. were on that day to meet at the Court House in that place. The next morning the decl. in company with Esy Young went to the White Plains and found the Com. there sitting. After Esy Young had had an interview with the Com. the decl. was sent for and went before the Com. then sitting in the Court Room and there communicated the information he had obtained from Bunker. The Com. after learning the situation of decl. that he was a soldier enlisted in Col. Swartwout’s regiment and on his way to join it engaged to write to the Col. and explain why he did not join it, if he would consent to aid in the apprehension of the company then raising. It was by all thought best that he should not join the regiment but should act in a different character, as he could thus be more useful to his country. He was accordingly announced to Capt. Townsend, who was then at the White Plains commanding a company of Rangers, as a prisoner and the Captain was directed to keep him until further orders.

In the evening after he was placed as a prisoner by Capt. Townsend he made an excuse to go out and was accompanied by a soldier, over a fence into a piece of corn then nearly or quite full grown. As soon as he was out of sight of the soldier he made the best of his way from the soldier and when the soldier hailed him to return hewas almost beyond hearing. An alarm gun was fired but decl. was far from danger. In the course of the night the decl. reached the house of the said Bunker, who got up and let him in. Decl. then related to Bunker the circumstances of his having been taken prisoner, of his going before the Com. at the Court House, of being put under the charge of Capt. Townsend, and of his escape; that he had concluded to avail himself of the protection of the Co. raising in his neighborhood to get down. The next morning Bunker went with decl. and introduced him as a good loyalist to several of the Co. Decl. remained some days with different individuals of the Co. and until it was about to go down, when the decl. went one night to the house of Esy Young to give information of the state and progress of the Co. The distance was four or five miles from Bunker’s. At the house of Esy Young decl. found Capt. Townsend with a great part of his Co., and after giving the information he returned to the neighborhood of Bunker, and that night decl. with a great part of the Co. which was proposing to go down were made prisoners. The next day all of them, about 30 in numbers, were marched to the White Plains and remained there several days, a part of the time locked up in jail with the other prisoners. The residue of the time he was with the Com. The prisoners were finally ordered to Fishkill in the Co. of Dutchess, where the State Convention was then sitting. The decl. went as a prisoner to Fishkill. Capt. Townsend with his Co. of Rangers took charge of the Co. at Fishkill. A Com. for Detecting Conspiracies was sitting, composed of John Jay, afterwardsGov. of N. Y., Zephaniah Platt, afterwards first Judge of Dutchess Co., Col. Duer of the Co. of Albany, and a Mr. Sackett. The decl. was called before that Com., who understood the character of the decl. and the nature of his services. This the Com. must have learned either from Capt. Townsend or from the Com. at White Plains. The decl. was examined under oath and his examination reduced to writing. The prisoners with decl. were kept whilst decl. remained at Fishkill in a building which had been occupied as a Hatter’s shop, and they were guarded by a Co. of Rangers commanded by Capt. Clark. The decl. remained about a week at Fishkill, when he was bailed by Jonathan Hopkins. This was done to cover the character in which the decl. acted. Before the decl. was bailed the Fishkill Com. had requested him to continue in this service, and on decl. mentioning the fact of his having enlisted in Col. Swartwout’s company and the necessity there was of his joining it, he was informed that he should be indemnified from that enlistment, that they would write to the Col. and inform him that decl. was in their service.

The Com. then wished decl. to undertake a secret service over the river. He was furnished with a secret pass which was accordingly signed by the Com., which is now lost, and directed to go to the house of Nicholas Brauns, near the mouth of the Wappinger’s Creek, who would take him across the river, and there to proceed to the house of John Russell, about ten miles from the river, and make such inquiries and discoveries as he could. He proceeded according to directions to said Brauns and from thence to John Russell,and there hired himself to said Russell to work for him, but for no definite time. This was a neighborhood of Loyalists and it was expected that a company was there raising but was not completed. Before decl. left Russell on this service a time was fixed for him to recross the river and give information to some one of the Com. who was to meet him. This time having arrived and the Co. not being completed the decl. recrossed the river and met Zephaniah Platt, one of the Com., and gave him all the information he had obtained. Decl. was directed to recross the river to the neighborhood of Russell and on a time fixed again to meet the Com. on the east side of the river. Decl. returned to Russell’s neighborhood, soon became intimate with the Loyalists, was introduced to Capt. Robinson, said to be an English officer and who was to command the Co. then raising. Capt. Robinson occupied a cave in the mountains, and decl. having agreed to go with the Co. was invited and accepted of the invitation to lodge with Robinson in the cave. They slept together nearly a week in the cave, and the time for the Co. to start having been fixed and the route designated to pass Severn’s to Bush Carrick’s, where they were to stop the first night. The time for starting having arrived before the appointed time to meet the Com. on the east side of the river, the decl. in order to get an opportunity to convey information to Fishkill recommended that each man should the night before they started sleep where he chose, and that each should be by himself, for if they should be discovered that night together all would be taken, which would be avoided if they were separated.The proposition was acceded to, and when they separated decl. not having time to go to Fishkill, and as the only and as it appeared the best means of giving information was to go to Mr. Purdy, who was a stranger to decl. and all he knew of him was that the Tories called him a wicked rebel and said he ought to die. Decl. went and found said Purdy and informed him of the situation of affairs, of the time the Co. was to start, and the place which they were to stop the first night, and requested him to go to Fishkill and give the information to the Com. Purdy assured the decl. that the information should be given. Decl. returned to Russell’s and lodged in his house. The following evening the Co. assembled, consisting about 30 men, and started from Russell’s house, which was in the town of Marlborough, County of Ulster, for N. Y., and in the course of the night arrived at Bush Carrick’s, and went into the barn to lodge after taking refreshments. Before morning the barn was surrounded by American troops, and the whole company, including Capt. Robinson, were made prisoners. The troops who took the company prisoners were commanded by Capt. Melancthon Smith, who commanded a company of Rangers at Fishkill. His Co. crossed the river to perform this service. Col. Duer was with Capt. Smith’s Co. on this expedition. The prisoners including decl. were marched to Fishkill & confined in the stone church, in which there was near two hundred prisoners. After remaining one night in the church the Com. sent for decl. and told him it was unsafe for him to remain with the prisoners as the least suspicion of the course he had pursued would be fatal tohim, and advised him to leave the village of Fishkill and to remain where they could call on him if his services should be wanted. Decl. went to the house of a Dutchman, a farmer, whose name is forgotten, about five miles from the village of Fishkill, and there went to work making shoes. After decl. had made arrangements for working at shoes, he informed Mr. Sackett, one of the Com., where he could be found if he should be wanted. In about a week decl. recd. a letter from the Com., requesting him to meet one of the Com. at the house of Dr. Osborn, about one mile from Fishkill. Decl. according to the request went to the house of Dr. Osborn, and soon after John Jay came there, enquired for the Dr., who was absent, enquired for medicine, but found none he wanted. He came out of the house and went to his horse, near which decl. stood, and as he passed he said in a low voice “It won’t do, there are too many around. Return to your work.” Decl. went back and went to work at shoes, but within a day or two was again notified and a horse sent to him, requiring him to go to Bennington in Vt. and from there westerly to a place called Maloonscock, and there call on Hazard Wilcox, a Tory of much notoriety, and ascertain if anything was going on there injurious to the common cause. Decl. followed his instructions, found Wilcox, but could not learn that any secret measure was then projected against the interest of the country. At that place learned from Wilcox a list of persons friendly to the British cause, who could be safely trusted, from that place quite down to the south part of Dutchess County. Decl. followed directions of said Wilcox and called on differentindividuals by him mentioned, but could discover nothing of importance, until he reached the town of Pawlings in Dutchess County, where he called upon a Dr. whose name he thinks was Prosser, and informed him that he wished to go below but was fearful of some trouble. The Dr. informed him there was a Co. raising in that vicinity to go to N. Y. to join the British army, that the Captain’s name was Sheldon, that he had been down and got a commission, that he, Prosser, was doctoring the Lieut., whose name was Chase, that if decl. would wait a few days he could safely go down with that Co., that he could stay about the neighborhood and should be informed when the Co. was ready, that decl. remained in that vicinity, became acquainted with several of the persons who were going with that Co., was acquainted with Lieut. Chase, but never saw the Capt. to form any acquaintance with him. The season had got so far advanced that the Co. was about to start to join the enemy to be ready for an early campaign in 1777. It was about the last of Feb. of that year when a plan was fixed and also a time for meeting. It was situated half a mile from the road and about 3 miles from a house then occupied by Col. Morehouse, a militia Col. After the time was fixed for the meeting of Capt. Sheldon’s Co., the deponent went in the night to Col. Morehouse & informed him of the situation, of the Co., of the time appointed for meeting, of the place, etc., and Morehouse informed decl. that they should be attended to. The decl. remained almost one month in this neighborhood, and once in the time met Mr. Sackett, one of the Com., at Col. Ludington’s,and apprised him what was going on, and was to have given the Com. intelligence when the Co. was to march, but the shortness of the time between the final arrangement and the time of starting was such that decl. was obliged to give the information to Col. Morehouse. The Co., consisting of about 30, met at the time and place appointed, and after they had been there an hour or two two young men of the Co. came in & said there was a gathering under arms at Old Morehouse’s. The inquiry became general, What could it mean? Was there any traitor in the Company? The Captain soon called one or two of the Company out of the door for the purpose of private conversation about the situation, & very soon decl. heard the cry “Stand! Stand!” Those out the door ran, but were soon met by a Co. coming from a different direction, they were taken, the house surrounded & the Co. all made prisoners. The Col. then ordered them to be tied together two by two. They came to decl. and he urged to be excused from going as he was lame and could not travel. The Col. replied “You shall go, dead or alive, & if no other way you shall be carried on the horse with me.” The rest were marched off & decl. put onto the horse with Col. Morehouse and when the prisoners were marched into the house the decl. with the permission of Morehouse left them and made the best of his way to Col. Ludington’s and there informed him about daylight in the morning. From thence he went to Fishkill to the house of Dr. Van Wyck where John Jay boarded, and there informed him of all the occurrences on that northern expedition. Said Jay requested decl. to come before the Com.the next night, when they would be ready to receive him. He accordingly went before the Com., where he declared under oath all that had occurred since he had seen them. The Com. then directed him to go to the house of Col. Van Ness in Albany County, and there take directions from him. He went to Van Ness’s house and was directed by him to go north, but decl. cannot tell the place. The duty was performed, but nothing material discovered further than that the confiscation of the personal property of the Tories and leasing of their lands had a great tendency to discourage them from joining the British army. Decl. then returned to Po’keepsie, where Egbert Benson and Melancthon Smith entered in the room of the Fishkill Com. There was no more business in that town in which they wished to employ decl., and he being apprehensive that a longer continuance in that employment would be dangerous & the time for which he enlisted in Col. Swartwout’s regiment having expired, he came home with the approbation of the Com.

This was about the last of May, 1777, and in the course of the fall, after decl. saw Col. Swartwout at his house in Fishkill & then talked over the subject of this employment of the decl. by the Com. & the Col. told decl. that he had drawn his pay the same as if he had been with the Reg’t, that the Paymaster of the Reg’t lived in the town of Hurley in Ulster Co. Decl. went to the Paymaster and rec’d his pay for nine months’ service or for the term for which the regiment was raised. The decl. was employed in the secret service for a period of full 9 months.

This decl. further says that in the year 1779 inthe month of May he enlisted in a company commanded by Captain Jonah Hallett for six months. Decl. enlisted as a Sergeant in said Hallett’s Co. The term of enlistment was performed on the lines in the Co. of Westchester, moving from place to place to guard the country and to detect Tories; that the Co. continued in this service until after Stony Point was taken by Genl. Wayne & abandoned & also reoccupied & abandoned by the English troops, when the Co. was ordered over the river & joined the regiment at Stony Point and continued there in making preparations for building a block house until the time of the expiration of the service, when the Co. was ordered to march to Po’keepsie to be discharged by the Governor. When they arrived the Governor was absent, the Co. was billetted out & decl. was billetted upon the family of Dr. Tappen. After remaining a day or two and the Governor not arriving they were discharged. During this service in Westchester Co. the following occurrence took place: A British vessel lay at anchor near Tiller’s Point & a party of sailors & marines came on shore & marched a short distance from the water, where a party of our men got between them & the water & made them prisoners. They were marched to the place where the Co. lay a little east of Tiller’s Point. The number of prisoners decl. thinks was 12 and the captors 6. The prisoners were afterward sent to Po’keepsie.

The decl. further says that in the month of May in the year 1780 he again enlisted for 6 months in a Co. commanded by Capt. Ludington in Col. Benschoten’s Regt. He entered as aSergeant in the town of Fredericksburgh, now the town of Kent, Putnam Co. The Regt. assembled at Fishkill & marched to West Point & remained there a few days, some 10 or 15. A call was made for troops to fill up the Brigade or Brigades under the command of General De La Fayette and they were to be raised by drafts or volunteers. A call was made for volunteers and decl. with others volunteered & made a Co. which was put under Capt. Daniel Delavan. The decl. continued to be a Sergeant in Delavan’s Co. Col. Philip Van Courtland commanded the Regt. to which Capt. Delavan’s Co. was attached. Soon after the Co. was formed they crossed the river from West Point and marched to Peekskill, where they remained one night, the next day marched to Verplanck’s Point and crossed over to Stony Point, & from thence made the best of their way to New Jersey where they remained until late in the fall, when the time of enlistment having expired they were discharged, after having fully and faithfully performed the service of 6 months for which he enlisted. During the campaign in New Jersey Major André was arrested, condemned & executed. Several of the soldiers of Capt. Delavan’s Co. went to see him executed. The decl. was Sergeant of the guard that day & could not go to see the execution.

The decl. further says that he has no documentary evidence of his service and that he knows of no person who can testify to his services other than those whose depositions are hereto annexed. The decl. hereby relinquishes every claim to a pension or annuity except the present & declares that his name is not on the pension roll agencyof any State. The decl. was born in a place called Harwich in the County of Barnstable and State of Mass. in the year 1750. The decl. has a record of his age. The decl. was living in the town of Danbury in the State of Conn when he enlisted in the service, that service the Revolutionary War. The decl. has resided in the State of New York in what is now the Co. of Putnam, formerly Co. of Dutchess, & now lives in the same Co. & on the same farm where he has lived for the last 50 years. The decl. always volunteered in every enlistment & to perform all the service which he performed as detailed in this declaration. That the decl. was acquainted with the following officers who were with the troops where he served: Genl. Schuyler, Gen. Montgomery, Gen. Wooster, Col. Waterbury, Col. Holmes, Gen. De La Fayette, Gen. Poor, Col. Van Courtland, Col. Benschoten, Col. Ludington. The decl. never rec’d. any written discharge & if he ever received a Sergeant’s warrant it is through time or accident lost or destroyed. This decl. is known to Samuel Washburn, a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the Co. of Putnam; Beneah Y. Morse, a clergyman in his neighborhood and who he believes can testify to his character for veracity & good behavior & thus belief of his services as a Soldier of the Revolution.

Enoch Crosby.

Sworn to & Subscribed this day and year aforesaid;

I. Morehouse, Clerk of said Court.

Appended to this declaration were affidavits of Judge Washburn and the Rev. Mr. Morse, confirming so far as their knowledge extended the statements of Enoch Crosby. There were also similar affidavits of Timothy Wood, Jabez Berry, and Daniel Crawford, who had been fellow soldiers with Crosby in the war.

Enough has been said already to indicate the intimate relations which existed between Crosby and Colonel Ludington. While the spy was on service in Dutchess County, in connection with Prosser and his company, he was a frequent visitor at Ludington’s house, and often lay hidden securely there while Tories were searching for him. (Between Prosser and Colonel Ludington, by the way, as we shall presently see, a peculiarly bitter personal feud existed.) Colonel Ludington’s daughters, Sibyl and Rebecca, were also privy to Crosby’s doings, and had a code of signals, by means of which they frequently admitted him in secrecy and safety to the house, where he was fed and lodged. In addition to Crosby and to Benajah Tubbs, who was mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, Colonel Ludington furnished numerous other members of the Secret Service from the ranks of his own regiment, and was himself the recipient of their clandestine reports, some of which were transmitted by him to the Committee of Safety and some to the headquarters of General Washington.

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