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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.
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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.
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Early the next morningSept. 16intelligence 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. 20-21,1776Soon 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.
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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
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* 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.
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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.
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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 18and marched over Pelham Manor toward New Rochelle.
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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, 1776to 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.
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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.1776The Americans were chiefly behind their breast-works near the village, and the British were upon the hills below, eastward of the Bronx.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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,1776he 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!
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*** 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 twelfthNovemberthe 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, 1776and 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. 2between there and Fort Washington.
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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. 1776Howe 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 calledCock-hill Fort.