Dawson, Henry B. Westchester County, New York, During the American Revolution. Morrisania, NY: (privately printed by the author), 1886.

During Tuesday, the twenty-ninth of October, as we have seen, the Royal Army, " with very little al- " teration " in its position, encamped on the Plain, and awaited the arrival of reinforcements ; 3 and, notwithstanding the loss of Chatterton's-hill, in the opinion of some of the American Officers,* had made 1 In this description of the character of the American defenses, we …

We are not insensible that Bancroft, (Hiftory of the United Stales, original edition, ix., 180 ; the same, centenary edition, v., 444,) has so framed hiB sentence that his readers must suppose the abatis was as extended as the "HneB of entrenchments ;" but the feebleness of the Army and the scarcity of teams could not have secured so great a work, in so short a time ; neither …

For these reasons, we prefer to believe that the American lines were not, generally, furnished with an abatis. 2 Vide page 272, ante. * General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " New-York, 30 November, " 1776." * General Heath said, (Memoirs, 79,) "the British having got posses- " sion of this hill, it gave them a vast advantage of the American lines, "almost down to the center;" …

5 There was something which required explanation in what was written by General Washington's Secretary and, undoubtedly, with his approval, to the President of the OongresB, when he said, " Our post, from " its situation, is not so advantageous as could be wished ; and was only " intended as temporary and occasional, till the Stores belonging to the " Army, which had been …

There is, generally, a prodigality in the expenditure of both money and materials and labor, in all which relates to Armies ; but there seems to have been an excess of prodigality in the use of all these, of which the American Army had such an insufficient supply, if the only purpose of the two lines of entrenchments, one at the foot and the other on the crest of the high …

I do not understand much of the refined art of War: it is said to consist of " strategem and deception." -- (General George Clinton to John McKesson, " Camp near the White Plains, October 31, 1776.") 6 Colonel Robert H. Harrison to the President of the Congress, " White- " Plains, October 31, 1776 ;" Letter from a Gentleman in the Army, dated " Camp near the Mills, about three …

From the best in- " telligence he iB able to obtain, there is not more in Camp and at the " several places where it has been deposited, than will serve the Army " longer than four or five days, provided the utmost care and economy " were used in issuing it out ; but, from the waste and embezzlement, " for want of proper attention to it, as it is reported to him, it is not …

Having been strengthened by the addition of six fresh and effective Regiments to his already powerful command, General Howe determined to attack the American lines, on the following day, [Thursday, October 31 ; ] and, for that purpose, all necessary preparations were duly made ; but the preceding night and the morning of that day were very rainy ; and the proposed movement was …

Supposing that one of the objects of General Howe was to turn the flank of the lines; to seize the bridge over the Croton-river ; and, thereby, to cut off the communication of the Army with the upper country, General Washington detached General Eezin Beall, with three fine Regiments of Marylanders, to occupy that very important pass; and General Lord Stirling was ordered, with …

4 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " New York, 30 November, " 1776 ; " [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 209 ; Stedman's History of the American War, i., 215 ; etc. 6 Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman to William Duer, "White-Plains, October 31, 1776." o" Our Army is decreasing, fast: several gentlemen who have come " to Camp, within a few days, have observed …

post were evidently diligently employed in preparing to move to a new position -- an operation in which the great scarcity of teams added, very greatly, to the personal labor of the men 8 -- and, during the following nigbt, that of Thursday, the thirty-first of Octo^ ber, 9 the entire line of the Army, taking the extreme left of the line for the pivot, 10 swung back, from the …

3 Chief-justice Marshall, (Life of George Washington, ii., 505,) stated, in harmony with what General Howe also stated in his despatches to Lord George Germaine, (vide page 272, ante,) that the American Army was withdrawn from the lines on the night after the engagement on Chatterton's-hill ; and that it was moved, a second time, during the night of the thirty first of …

10 "The left of our General's Division was not to move; but the re- "maiuder of his Division and all the other Divisions of the Army " were to fall back and form," on that stationery pivot, (Memoirs of General Heath, 79 ; ) the whole occupying a new line, without having disturbed the relative positions of any of the Regiments or Divisions of whom the Army was composed. 11 …

Lossing, (Pictorial Field-book of the Revolution, ii., 823,) said, uncertainly, itwas "toward the Croton River." General Knox, in a letter written to his brother, dated " Near Whits- " Plains, 32 miles from New-York, 1 Nov. 1776," said " the enemy's "possession of this hill obliged us to abandon some slight lines thrown "up on the White Plains. This we did, this; morning, [and …

On the morning after the withdrawal of the main body of the American Army from its lines, at the head of the White Plains, [Friday, November 1, 1776,] General Howe gave orders for the occupation of those lines, by the Royal Army; but, again, a violent rain interposed; and the project was abandoned. 3 At a later hour, however, the Hessian Grenadiers were moved from …

See, also, a Letter from a Gentleman in the Army, 'dated " Camp near " the Mills, about three miles North of the White-Plains, November 1, 1776," published in The Pennsylvania Evening Post, No. 280, Philadelphia, Thursday, November 14, 1776; General George Clinton to John McKesson, "Camp at the old place, near the White Plains, 2 " November, 1776 ; " General Howe to Lord …

" to which his Lordship replied, '' I do not apprehend that the attack was presented by the storm of rain being in either of our faces; there are "other effects of a storm, such as spoiling the roads and preventing " the drawing of artillery up steep hills." The Committee continued, by asking, " Whether if the powder was wet, on both sides, the at- •' tacks might not have been …

» Although it was Dot stated, at the time, and notwithstanding it has not been stated, since that time, that General Howe proposed to attack the Americans, in their new position, on the morning after it was taken by them, we are sure that that was his purpose, when he ordered the Hessian Grenadieis from Chatterton's-hill ; and made the preparations for " drawing of artillery …

On the morning of Friday, the first of November, simultaneously with the movement of the Hessian Grenadiers and with other equally important preparations -- the whole, we believe, preparatory to an assault qn the new position of. the American Army, in the high grounds of North Castle, -- a heavy body, from the Right of the Royal Army, with a number of field-pieces, was moved …

He, therefore, ordered " Major Keith, one of his Aides, to gallop over, and order Colonel Mal- " colm to come off. immediately, with Lieutenant Fenno's Artillery ; but, " upon a more critical view of the ground, in the hollow, (at the head "of which there was a heavy stone wall, well-situated to cover a body of "troops to throw a heavy fire directly down it, while an oblique …

His first question to our General, " was, ' How is your Division ? ' He was answered, * They are all in or- " ' der.' ' Have you,' said the Commander-in-chief, ' any troops on the hill, <" over the hollow?' He was answered, 'Malcolm'sRegiment is there.' 'If " ' you do not call them off, immediately, ' says the General, ' you may lose " * them, if the enemy push a column up the …

"The Artillery of the Division was so well directed as to throw the "British artillery-men, several times, into confusion ; and, finding that "they could not, here, make any impression, they drew back their pieces, "the Column not advancing," [probably because of the failure of the main body to advance against the American lines, in cooperation with this detachment, as we have …

Having been thus frustrated in all his efforts to cut off the communications of the American Army with the upper country as well as with New England and to draw General Washington to give him battle, in a general engagement -- in other words, having been completely outgeneraled by the Commander-in-chief of the forces whom his associates in arms had so contemptuously ridiculed …

The two Armies continued in their respective lines, not more than a long cannon-shot from each other, 2 until the following Saturday night, [November 2,] when the American sentries heard what they supposed to havebeen the rumbling sound of moving artillery. 3 On Monday night, the fourth of November, however, the entire encampment of the enemy was broken up ; and, on the …

1 " I did not think the driving their rear-guard further back, an object " of the least consequence," were General Howe's official words, descriptive of that very important determination. See, also, [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 211 ; Stedman's History of the American War, i., 216 ; Memoirs of General Heath, 81 ; Gordon's History of the American Revolution …

6 Vide pages 253, 258, ante. 6 Vide pages 252, 263, ante. over the Bronx-river, near De Lancey's Mill, [now the village of West Farms^\ in the Town of Westchester ; and the Waldeckers whom General Knyphausen had left at New Rochelle, on the preceding Monday, was moved to another bridge, also over the Bronx-river, three miles above the other, [then and now known as Williams' …

The purposes of that party were such as New Englanders of that period were apt to regard as peculiarly " patriotic " -- they evidently went down to see what the merciless Hessian and British soldiery had left, when the Royal Army had retreated ; to select, for their own or their families' uses, and to carry away, into New England, whatever, of that remainder, should best suit …

8 "The question being asked Major Austin, whether he had any " orders for burning said houses, he confessed that he had no orders "for it; but he alleged, as an excuse, his being in company with " some of the General Officers, just before the houses were burnt on the "Plains," [those containing the forage, etc., which had been burned when the Army evacuated the lines, on the …

"The measure convinced them they had little to expect from penetrat- •' lug the country. They saw how much we would sacrifice," [of Die property of othtrs,] "to the safety of our Army and disadvantage of " theirs ; at the same time, it must have struck terrour into the Tories "and influence in our favour, from the strong motive of interest, as "they perceive their dwellings …

The Major and his men entered house after house, as they went down the roadways leading through the Village ; carrying from each, such articles as pleased their cupidity ; ' hastening the occupants from the houses, without suffering them to dress the children, where there were children, " but drove them out of " doors, naked ;" 2 carrying the sick and helpless, outdoors, on …

That great outrage, inflicted on the inhabitants of Westchester-county, called forth the denunciations of the Commander-in-chief, in the General Orders of the Army, 8 and those of the Committee of Safety of the State ; 9 the leader of the band of ruffians who 1 "When she went out of the house, some of the men began to carry " things out of the house ; when she asked them why …

" On the night of the 5th instant, he had been out on a scouting party, "with Major Austin; and,on their return.the Major ordered him back.with '•five men, to thehouses which they burned ; and told him to take good care " of whatever things he got ; to keep them safe ; and bring them off, to his " markee j" etc.-- (Testimony of Sergeant Churchill, at the same trial, " Nov- " …

See, also, the testimony, on the same subject, of Sergeant Churchill, of Tilley How, of James Linzer. and of Captain Keith, at the same trial. • Understood, from aged people, many years since, to have occupied the lower portion of the property now occupied by the respected widow of the late C. Halsey Mitchell-- that portion of that property, indeed, which was occupied, so many …

had inflicted the great wrong, only after the most vigorous effort of General Lee, was mildly "dis- " missed from the service," by the verdict of a second Court-martial, who sat in judgment, on the culprit; 10 and he was turned over to the Convention of the State, to be dealt with, in an action by the State, resulting in his escape from the Jail at Kingston, which closed the …

On Friday, the eighth of November, two Battalions of Light Infantry and the remainder of the Chasseurs, with four field-pieces, took post on the line of communication with Kingsbridge ; 15 and, on the part of the Americans, the troops belonging to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the more Southern States, began to file off, from the lines which were occupied by the American Army …

The Council referred to agreed, unanimously, that, in case the enemy was really retreating towards New York, it would be proper, immediately to throw a body of troops, into New Jersey ; that those troops who were irom the States to the westward of the Hudson, should be thus detached, the others to be subject to " the movements of the enemy and "the circumstances of the …

of the line, which, it had so honorably occupied; and took up its line of march, towards Peekskill, where it was to be permanently posted, for the defense of the Highlands : ' and, on Sunday, the tenth of November, General Washington left the White Plains, to take command of those troops who had crossed the Hudson-river, and who, soon afterwards, were engaged in that …

On Sunday, the tenth of November, a Brigade of Hessians was moved to that place, to increase the strength of General Knyphausen's already strong Division ; * and, two days afterwards, [Tuesday, November 12,] the main body of the Royal Army broke up the encampment, at Dobbs'sferry, which it had occupied since the preceding Wednesday, and, in two columns, moved towards …

The progress of the Royal Army through Westchester-county was distinguished by the outrages which were inflicted on the inhabitants, without respect to persons or sexes, on both those who were entirely conservative and disposed to favor the Royal cause and those who were radically and actively opposed to it -- as General Washington described them, while forewarning the …

"Whig and Tory has been lost in one general scene " of ravage and desolation." ' In that work, the Hessians and the British troops were equally notorious ; and what the soldiery spared, was frequently carried away by the soldiers' wives and mistresses, who formed a part of the retinue of the Army. 8 Indeed, the warmth of controversy called out from one of the most prominent …

We have already alluded, 10 • incidentally, to the robberies of Horses which were inflicted on the farmers of that County, by Officers of the American Army, for their private uses, at their respective homes -- not by the Rank and File, nor by the soldiers' wives and concubines, nor in a foreign country; but by the Commissioned Officers of the Army of Americans who had been …

8 " The people who remained in that part of the country," [ Westchester-cotwty,) " through which they pass'd, have been most cruelly plun " dered ; many helpless women had even their shifts taken from their " backs by the soldiers' wives, after the great plunderers had done ; and, " in this general ravage, no discrimination was made of Whig or Tory." (Letter from Stamford …

He hopes every Officer will set his face "against it, in future; and does insist that the " Colonels and commanding Officers of Regiments im- " mediately inquire into the matter, and report to him " who have been guilty of these practices ; and that " they take an account of the Horses in their re- " spective encampments ; and send to the Quarter- " master-general all that are …

Nothing whatever was unacceptable to the thieves ; and the bags of Feathers and of unmanufactured Wool, the Desks and Tea-tables and Chairs, the Book-cases and Books, the Andirons and brass and copper Kettles, the linen Curtains and Looking-glasses and women's Hats, the Churns and Washtubs, the sets of Sleighharness and skips of Bees, which appear recorded among the articles …

Van Wart, of Greenburgh ; Talman Pugsley, who is said to have lived where the brick School-house now stands, opposite to the residence of Abraham Beare, of Greenburgh; Phoebe Oakley, who was the sister-in-law of Talman Pugsley ; Marmaduke Foster, who was the son-in-law of John Martine ; and Solomon Pugsley and the widow Elizabeth Pugsley, whose places of residence are not …

In view of these great outrages, and of many others of which no records have been preserved, the Committee of Safety for the State addressed a letter to the President of the Continental Congress, in which are these concluding words : " I have the satisfaction " to assure you that the fortitude of this State and " their zeal for the glorious cause in which we are " engaged, is …

Unless there were two Taverns, in the White Plains, with Oakleys for their Landlords, in 1775 and 1776 ; or, unless Miles had succeeded Isaac, as the Landlord of the one Tavern which was " Oakley's "Tavern," between April, 1775, and November, 1776, we were probably in error, in our former statement, concerning the name of the Oakley who was the Landlord of that Tavern which …

a Petition of Miles Oakley to General Washington, " November 9, 1776 J " Deposition of John Martine and Memorandum of Goods plundered from him, " dated November 13, 1776"; Deposition of Talman Pugsley, "dated "the second day of December, 1776 " ; Petition of Phoebe Oakley to the Convention of New-York, and her Deposition, "dated the second of December, " 1776 " ; Deposition of …

At a " time when the utmost resources of this State were " laid open to their wants, and the members of Con- " vention personally submitted to the labour and " fatigue which were necessary, on a sudden emer- " gency, and after frequent losses of Provisions and " Barracks, to supply two numerous Armies, aug- " mented by the Militia, with every article which " they required, the …

He is guilty of the crime of Arson ; and if " he cannot be punished by the Articles of War, he " ought to be given up to the Laws of the land. If " so glaring a violation of every sentiment of human- " ity should be passed over, in silence, if the Army " is not seasonably restrained from such acts of bar- " barity, the consequence must be fatal to the cause " of a people whose …

liament, with want of wisdom, in the formation of their plans ; and with want of vigor and energy, in the execution of those plans. 2 " A connection with "the Opposition, and a resolution, assumed before " their departure from England, to frustrate every " measure of the " [then] " present Administration, " and, thereby, to bring them " [the Administration,'] "into disgrace …

But there were, also, other circumstances, of which their accusers knew nothing and of which the world, to-day, knows only very little, which largely controlled them ; and it is only reasonable and fair, therefore, that the accused should, also, be heard on the subject -- when a Committee of the House of Commons was charged with the grave duty of inquiring into the conduct of …

2 [Galloway's] Letters to a Nobleman, 36; [Galloway's] Reply to (he Observations of Lieut. Gen. Sir William Howe, on a pamphlet, entitled Letters to a Nobleman ; Letter from " Cicero " to Lord Howe, 2, 3 ; Wraxall's Memoirs of his own Time, Edit. Philadelphia : 1845, 163 ; etc. 8 A Letter to the Right Honorable Lord Viscount H e, Edit. London: 1779, 42, 43 ; Letter from " …

But it has been " asserted, that, by my not attacking the lines, on the " day of that action, I lost an opportunity of destroy- " ing the Rebel Army ; and it has been also said, "that I might have cut off the enemy's retreat by the " Croton-bridge. Sir : an assault upon the enemy's " right, which was opposed to the Hessian troops, " was intended. The Committee must give me …

And, Sir, I do not hesitate to confess that, " if I could, by any manoeuvre, remove an enemy " from a very advantageous position, without hazard- " ing the consequences of an attack, where the point "to be carried was not adequate to the loss of men to " be expected from the enterprise, I should certainly " adopt that cautionary conduct, in the hopes of " meeting my adversary …

The careful student of that portion of the history of our own country which relates to the Campaign in Westchester-county, in 1776, will arise from the examination of it with the words on his lips which the Apostle Paul employed, in another connection : " God " hath chosen the foolish things of the world to con- " found the wise, and God hath chosen the weake "things of the …