The Life of George Washington, Vol. 3 (of 5)
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"We are sorry that you should imagine we meant to disobey orders. It
was and still is our determination to march with our regiment, and to
do the duty of officers until the legislature should have a reasonable
time to appoint others, but no longer.
"We beg leave to assure your Excellency, that we have the highest
sense of your ability and virtues;--that executing your orders has
ever given us pleasure;--that we love the service, and we love our
country;--but when that country gets so lost to virtue and justice as
to forget to support its servants, it then becomes their duty to
retire from its service."
This letter was peculiarly embarrassing. To adopt a stern course of
proceeding might hazard the loss of the Jersey line, an event not less
injurious to the service, than painful to himself. To take up the
subject without doing too much for the circumstances of the army,
would be doing too little for the occasion. He therefore declined
taking any other notice of the letter, than to declare through General
Maxwell that, while they continued to do their duty in conformity with
the determination they had expressed, he should only regret the part
they had taken, and should hope they would perceive its impropriety.
The legislature of New Jersey, alarmed at the decisive step taken by
the officers, was at length induced to pay some attention to their
situation; they consenting, on their part, to withdraw their
remonstrance. In the meantime, they continued to perform their duty;
and their march was not delayed by this unpleasant altercation.
In communicating this transaction to congress, General Washington took
occasion to remind that body of his having frequently urged the
absolute necessity of some general and adequate provision for the
officers of the army. "I shall only observe," continued the letter,
"that the distresses in some corps are so great, either where they
were not until lately attached to any particular state, or where the
state has been less provident, that the officers have solicited even
to be supplied with the clothing destined for the common soldiery,
coarse and unsuitable as it was. I had not power to comply with the
request.
"The patience of men animated by a sense of duty and honour, will
support them to a certain point, beyond which it will not go. I doubt
not congress will be sensible of the danger of an extreme in this
respect, and will pardon my anxiety to obviate it."
[Sidenote: Colonel Van Schaick surprises and destroys one of the
Indian settlements.]
Before the troops destined for the grand expedition were put in
motion, an enterprise of less extent was undertaken, which was
completely successful. A plan for surprising the towns of the
Onondagas, one of the nearest of the hostile tribes, having been
formed by General Schuyler, and approved by the Commander-in-chief,
Colonel Van Schaick, assisted by Lieutenant Colonel Willet, and Major
Cochran, marched from fort Schuyler on the morning of the 19th of
April, at the head of between five and six hundred men; and, on the
third day, reached the point of destination. The whole settlement was
destroyed, after which the detachment returned to fort Schuyler
without the loss of a single man. For this handsome display of talents
as a partisan, the thanks of congress were voted to Colonel Van
Schaick, and the officers and soldiers under his command.
[Sidenote: Expedition against the Indians meditated.]
The cruelties exercised by the Indians in the course of the preceding
year, had given a great degree of importance to the expedition now
meditated against them; and the relative military strength and
situation of the two parties, rendered it improbable that any other
offensive operations could be carried on by the Americans in the
course of the present campaign. The army under the command of Sir
Henry Clinton, exclusive of the troops in the southern department, was
computed at between sixteen and seventeen thousand men. The American
army, the largest division of which lay at Middlebrook, under the
immediate command of General Washington, was rather inferior to that
of the British in real strength. The grand total, except those in the
southern and western country, including officers of every description,
amounted to about sixteen thousand. Three thousand of these were in
New England under the command of General Gates; and the remaining
thirteen thousand were cantoned on both sides the North River. The
bare statement of numbers, must show the incompetency of the American
army to the expulsion of the British from either New York or Rhode
Island. On their part, therefore, the plan of the campaign was,
necessarily, defensive; and the hazards and difficulties attending the
execution of even a defensive plan were considerable.
Independent of an extensive coast, at all places accessible to the
invading army, the Hudson, penetrating deep into the country which was
to be the theatre of action, gave great advantages in their military
operations to those who commanded the water.
After the destruction of forts Clinton and Montgomery in 1777, it had
been determined to construct the fortifications intended for the
future defence of the North River, at West Point, a position which,
being more completely embosomed in the hills, was deemed more
defensible. The works had been prosecuted with unremitting industry,
but were far from being completed.
Some miles below West Point, about the termination of the Highlands,
is King's Ferry, where the great road, affording the most convenient
communication between the middle and eastern states, crosses the North
River. The ferry is completely commanded by the two opposite points of
land. That on the west side, a rough and elevated piece of ground, is
denominated Stony Point; and the other, on the east side, a flat neck
of land projecting far into the water, is called Verplank's Point. The
command of King's Ferry was an object worth the attention of either
army; and Washington had comprehended the points which protect it
within his plan of defence for the Highlands. A small but strong work,
termed fort Fayette, was completed at Verplank's, and was garrisoned
by a company commanded by Captain Armstrong. The works on Stony Point
were unfinished. As the season for active operations approached, Sir
Henry Clinton formed a plan for opening the campaign with a brilliant
_coup de main_ up the North River; and, towards the latter end of May,
made preparations for the enterprise.
[Sidenote: May.]
These preparations were immediately communicated to General
Washington, who was confident that the British general meditated an
attack on the forts in the highlands, or designed to take a position
between those forts and Middlebrook, in order to interrupt the
communication between the different parts of the American army, to
prevent their reunion, and to beat them in detail. Measures were
instantly taken to counteract either of these designs. The
intelligence from New York was communicated to Generals Putnam and
M'Dougal, who were ordered to hold themselves in readiness to march;
and, on the 29th of May, the army moved by divisions from Middlebrook
towards the highlands. On the 30th, the British army, commanded by Sir
Henry Clinton in person, and convoyed by Sir George Collier, proceeded
up the river; and General Vaughan, at the head of the largest
division, landed next morning, about eight miles below Verplank's. The
other division, under the particular command of General Patterson, but
accompanied by Sir Henry Clinton, advancing farther up, landed on the
west side within three miles of Stony Point.
[Sidenote: June 1.]
[Sidenote: Fort Fayette surrendered to the British.]
That place being immediately abandoned, General Patterson took
possession of it on the same afternoon. He dragged some heavy cannon
and mortars to the summit of the hill in the course of the night; and,
at five next morning, opened a battery on fort Fayette, at the
distance of about one thousand yards. During the following night, two
galleys passed the fort, and, anchoring above it, prevented the escape
of the garrison by water; while General Vaughan invested it closely by
land. No means of defending the fort, or of saving themselves
remaining, the garrison became prisoners of war. Immediate directions
were given for completing the works at both posts, and for putting
Stony Point, in particular, in a strong state of defence.
It is scarcely supposable that the views of Sir Henry Clinton in
moving up the river, were limited to this single acquisition. The
means employed were so disproportioned to the object, as to justify a
belief that he contemplated farther and more important conquests.
Whatever may have been his plans, the measures of precaution taken by
Washington counteracted their execution; and before Clinton was in a
situation to proceed against West Point, General M'Dougal was so
strengthened, and the American army took such a position on the strong
grounds about the Hudson, that the enterprise became too hazardous to
be farther prosecuted.
[Sidenote: July.]
[Sidenote: Invasion of Connecticut.]
After completing the fortifications on both sides the river, at King's
Ferry, Sir Henry Clinton placed a strong garrison in each fort, and
proceeded down the river to Philipsburg. The relative situation of the
hostile armies presenting insuperable obstacles to any grand
operation, they could be employed offensively only on detached
expeditions. Connecticut from its contiguity to New York, and its
extent of sea coast, was peculiarly exposed to invasion. The numerous
small cruisers which plied in the Sound, to the great annoyance of
British commerce, and the large supplies of provisions drawn from the
adjacent country, for the use of the continental army, furnished great
inducements to Sir Henry Clinton to direct his enterprises
particularly against that state. He also hoped to draw General
Washington from his impregnable position on the North River into the
low country, and thus obtain an opportunity of striking at some part
of his army, or of seizing the posts, which were the great object of
the campaign. With these views, he planned an expedition against
Connecticut, the command of which was given to Governor Tryon, who
reached New Haven bay on the 5th of July, with about two thousand six
hundred men.
General Washington was at the time on the lines, examining in person
the condition of the works on Stony and Verplank's Points; in
consequence of which, the intelligence which was transmitted to head
quarters that the fleet had sailed, could not be immediately
communicated to the governor of Connecticut, and the first intimation
which that state received of its danger, was given by the appearance
of the enemy. The militia assembled in considerable numbers with
alacrity; but the British effected a landing, and took possession of
the town. After destroying the military and naval stores found in the
place, they re-embarked, and proceeded westward to Fairfield, which
was reduced to ashes. The good countenance shown by the militia at
this place is attested by the apology made by General Tryon for the
wanton destruction of private property, which disgraced his conduct.
"The village was burnt," he says, "to resent the fire of the rebels
from their houses, and to mask our retreat."
[Sidenote: July.]
From Fairfield the fleet crossed the Sound to Huntingdon bay, where it
remained until the eleventh, when it recrossed that water, after
which the troops were landed in the night on the low pasture, a
peninsula on the east side of the bay of Norwalk. About the same time,
a much larger detachment from the British army directed its course
towards Horse Neck, and made demonstrations of a design to penetrate
into the country in that direction.
[Sidenote: July.]
On the first intelligence that Connecticut was invaded, General
Parsons, a native of that state, had been directed by General
Washington to hasten to the scene of action. Placing himself at the
head of about one hundred and fifty continental troops, who were
supported by considerable bodies of militia, he attacked the British
in the morning of the twelfth, as soon as they were in motion, and
kept up an irregular distant fire throughout the day. But being too
weak to prevent the destruction of any particular town on the coast,
Norwalk was reduced to ashes; after which the British re-embarked, and
returned to Huntingdon bay, there to wait for reinforcements. At this
place, however, Tryon received orders to return to the White Stone;
where, in a conference between Sir Henry Clinton and Sir George
Collier, it was determined to proceed against New London with an
increased force.
On the invasion of Connecticut, the Commander-in-chief was prompt in
his exertions to send continental troops from the nearest encampments
to its aid; but, before they could afford any real service, Sir Henry
Clinton found it necessary to recall Tryon to the Hudson.
General Washington had planned an enterprise against the posts at
King's Ferry, comprehending a double attack, to be made at the same
time, on both. But the difficulty of a perfect co-operation of
detachments, incapable of communicating with each other, determined
him to postpone the attack on Verplank's, and to make that part of the
plan dependent on the success of the first. His whole attention
therefore was turned to Stony Point; and the troops destined for this
critical service, proceeded on it as against a single object.
[Sidenote: July.]
The execution of the plan was entrusted to General Wayne, who
commanded the light infantry of the army. Secrecy was deemed so much
more essential to success than numbers, that no addition was made to
the force already on the lines. One brigade was ordered to commence
its march, so as to reach the scene of action in time to cover the
troops engaged in the attack, should any unlooked-for disaster befall
them; and Major Lee of the light dragoons, who had been eminently
useful in obtaining the intelligence which led to the enterprise, was
associated with General Wayne, as far as cavalry could be employed in
such a service. The night of the fifteenth, and the hour of twelve,
were chosen for the assault.
Stony Point is a commanding hill, projecting far into the Hudson,
which washes three-fourths of its base. The remaining fourth is, in a
great measure, covered by a deep marsh, commencing near the river on
the upper side, and continuing into it below. Over this marsh there is
only one crossing place; but at its junction with the river, is a
sandy beach, passable at low tide. On the summit of this hill stood
the fort, which was furnished with heavy ordnance. Several
breast-works and strong batteries were advanced in front of the main
work; and, about half way down the hill, were two rows of abattis. The
batteries were calculated to command the beach and the crossing place
of the marsh, and to rake and enfilade any column which might be
advancing from either of those points towards the fort. In addition to
these defences, several vessels of war were stationed in the river,
and commanded the ground at the foot of the hill. The garrison
consisted of about six hundred men, commanded by Colonel Johnson.
General Wayne arrived about eight in the afternoon at Spring Steel's,
one and a half miles from the fort; and made his dispositions for the
assault.
[Sidenote: General Wayne surprises and takes Stony Point.]
It was intended to attack the works on the right and left flanks at
the same instant. The regiments of Febiger and of Meigs, with Major
Hull's detachment, formed the right column; and Butler's regiment,
with two companies under Major Murfree, formed the left. One hundred
and fifty volunteers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Fleury and Major
Posey, constituted the van of the right; and one hundred volunteers
under Major Stewart, composed the van of the left. At half past eleven
the two columns moved to the assault, the van of each with unloaded
muskets, and fixed bayonets. They were each preceded by a forlorn hope
of twenty men, the one commanded by Lieutenant Gibbon, and the other
by Lieutenant Knox. They reached the marsh undiscovered; and, at
twenty minutes after twelve, commenced the assault.
Both columns rushed forward under a tremendous fire. Surmounting every
obstacle, they entered the works at the point of the bayonet; and,
without discharging a single musket, obtained possession of the fort.
The humanity displayed by the conquerors was not less conspicuous, nor
less honourable than their courage. Not an individual suffered after
resistance had ceased.
All the troops engaged in this perilous service manifested a degree of
ardour and impetuosity, which proved them to be capable of the most
difficult enterprises; and all distinguished themselves, whose
situation enabled them to do so. Colonel Fleury was the first to enter
the fort and strike the British standard. Major Posey mounted the
works almost at the same instant, and was the first to give the watch
word--"The fort's our own."--Lieutenants Gibbon and Knox performed
the service allotted to them with a degree of intrepidity which could
not be surpassed. Of twenty men who constituted the party of the
former, seventeen were killed or wounded.
Sixty-three of the garrison were killed, including two officers. The
prisoners amounted to five hundred and forty-three, among whom were
one lieutenant colonel, four captains, and twenty subaltern officers.
The military stores taken in the fort were considerable.[18]
[Footnote 18: The author was in the covering party, visited the fort
next day, and conversed with the officers who had been engaged in
storming the works.]
The loss sustained by the assailants was not proportioned to the
apparent danger of the enterprise. The killed and wounded did not
exceed one hundred men; General Wayne, who marched with Febiger's
regiment in the right column, received a slight wound in the head
which stunned him for a time, but did not compel him to leave the
column. Being supported by his aids, he entered the fort with a
regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Hay was also among the wounded.
Although the design upon fort Fayette had yielded to the desire of
securing the success of the attack on Stony Point, it had not been
abandoned. Two brigades under General M'Dougal had been ordered to
approach the works on Verplank's, in which Colonel Webster commanded,
and be in readiness to attack them the instant General Wayne should
obtain possession of Stony Point. That this detachment might not
permit the favourable moment to pass unimproved, Wayne had been
requested to direct the messenger who should convey the intelligence
of his success to the Commander-in-chief, to pass through M'Dougal's
camp, and give him advice of that event. He was also requested to turn
the cannon of the fort against Verplank's, and the vessels in the
river. The last orders were executed, and a heavy cannonade was opened
on fort Fayette, and on the vessels, which compelled them to fall down
the river. Through some misconception, never explained, the messenger
despatched by General Wayne did not call on M'Dougal, but proceeded
directly to head quarters. Thus, every advantage expected from the
first impression made by the capture of Stony Point was lost; and the
garrison had full leisure to recover from the surprise occasioned by
that event, and to prepare for an attack. This change of circumstances
made it necessary to change the plan of operation. General Howe was
directed to take the command of M'Dougal's detachment, to which some
pieces of heavy artillery were to be annexed. He was ordered, after
effecting a breach in the walls, to make the dispositions for an
assault, and to demand a surrender; but not to attempt a storm until
it should be dark. To these orders, explicit instructions were
added not to hazard his party by remaining before Verplank's, after
the British should cross Croton River in force.
[Illustration: The Ruins of Stony Point--On the Hudson
_Here, on the night of July 16, 1779, Brigadier-General (Mad Anthony)
Wayne led his troops up the hill in darkness, surprised the British
garrison and captured this British stronghold at the point of the
bayonet. Not a shot was fired by the Americans, who lost fifteen
killed and eighty-three wounded; the British sixty-three killed and
533 prisoners. The fortifications were destroyed and the place, being
untenable, was abandoned shortly afterwards by the Americans._]
Through some unaccountable negligence in the persons charged with the
execution of these orders, the battering artillery was not accompanied
with suitable ammunition; and the necessary intrenching tools were not
brought. These omissions were supplied the next day; but it was then
too late to proceed against Verplank's.
On receiving intelligence of the loss of Stony Point, and of the
danger to which the garrison of fort Fayette was exposed, Sir Henry
Clinton relinquished his views on Connecticut, and made a forced march
to Dobbs' Ferry. Some troops were immediately embarked to pass up the
river, and a light corps was pushed forward to the Croton. This
movement relieved fort Fayette.
The failure of the attempt to obtain possession of Verplank's Point
leaving that road of communication still closed, diminished the
advantages which had been expected to result from the enterprise so
much, that it was deemed unadviseable to maintain Stony Point. On
reconnoitring the ground, General Washington believed that the place
could not be rendered secure with a garrison of less than fifteen
hundred men; a number which could not be spared from the army without
weakening it too much for farther operations. He determined therefore
to evacuate Stony Point, and retire to the Highlands. As soon as this
resolution was executed, Sir Henry Clinton repossessed himself of that
post, repaired the fortifications, and placed a stronger garrison in
it; after which he resumed his former situation at Philipsburg.
The two armies watched each other for some time. At length, Sir Henry
Clinton, finding himself unable to attack Washington in the strong
position he had taken, or to draw him from it, and being desirous of
transferring the theatre of active war to the south, withdrew into
York Island, and was understood to be strengthening the fortifications
erected for its defence, as preparatory to the large detachments he
intended making to reinforce the southern army.
Although this movement was made principally with a view to southern
operations, it was in some degree hastened by the opinion, that New
York required immediate additional protection during the absence of
the fleet, which was about to sail for the relief of Penobscot.
[Sidenote: Expedition against Penobscot.]
Early in June, Colonel M'Clean, with six hundred and fifty men, had
penetrated from Nova Scotia into the eastern parts of Maine, and taken
possession of a strong piece of ground on the Penobscot, which he had
begun to fortify.
[Sidenote: July 25.]
The state of Massachusetts, alarmed at an invasion which threatened a
serious diminution of territory, determined to dislodge him. A
respectable fleet, commanded by Commodore Saltonstal, and an army of
near four thousand men, under General Lovell, were prepared with so
much celerity, that the whole armament appeared in the Penobscot as
early as the 25th of July.
M'Clean had taken possession of a peninsula on the eastern side of
Penobscot, and had intrenched the isthmus connecting it with the
continent. The part towards the river was steep and difficult of
access; and was also defended by his frigates and batteries, the
principal of which was constructed about the centre of the peninsula.
After being repulsed in his first attempt, General Lovell effected a
landing on the western part of the peninsula, where he ascended a
precipice of two hundred feet; and, with the loss of only fifty men
killed and wounded, drove the party which defended it from the ground.
A battery was erected within seven hundred and fifty yards of the main
work of the besieged, and a warm cannonade was kept up for several
days on both sides.
Perceiving the difficulty of carrying the place with a militia
impatient to return to their homes, General Lovell represented his
situation to the government of Massachusetts, who applied to General
Gates, then commanding at Providence, for a reinforcement of four
hundred continental troops. This request was readily granted, and
Jackson's regiment was ordered to Penobscot. In the mean time an
ineffectual cannonade was continued, and preparations were made to
storm the works on the arrival of the expected reinforcements.
Such was the posture of affairs on the 13th of August, when Lovell
received information that Sir George Collier had entered the river
with a superior naval force. He re-embarked his whole army the
following night, and drew up his flotilla in a crescent across the
river, as if determined to maintain its position. This show of
resistance was made in the hope of stopping Sir George Collier until
the land forces on board the transports could be conveyed up the
river, and disembarked on the western shore. But the British general
was too confident in his strength to permit this stratagem to succeed;
and, as he approached, the Americans sought for safety in flight. A
general chase and unresisted destruction ensued. The ships of war were
blown up, and the transports fled in the utmost confusion up the
river. Being pursued by the British squadron, the troops landed in a
wild uncultivated country; and were obliged to explore their way,
without provisions, through a pathless wilderness, for more than a
hundred miles. Exhausted with famine and fatigue, they at length
gained the settled parts of the country, after having lost several men
who perished in the woods.