British occupation of New York City. Residences of several of the Officers. Prisons and Hospitals. Every where eastward of Hempstead minor events of a similar character, but all having in fluence in the progress of the Revolution, were almost daily transpiring. Let us now follow the British army into the city, and take a brief survey of the closing events of the war. When the British felt themselves firmly seated on Manhattan Island after the fall of Fort Washington, they leisurely prepared for permanent occupation. General Robertson immediately strengthened the intrenchments across the island from Corlaer's Hook, erected barracks along the line of Chambers Street from Broadway to Chatham, and speedily placed the army in comfortable winter quarters. Nearly all of the Whig families whose means permitted them had left the city, and their deserted houses were taken possession of by the officers of the army and refugee Loyalists.'. The dissenting churches were generally devoted to military purposes, and the spacious sugar-houses, then three in number, were made prisons for the American captives, when the cells of the City Hall and the provost prison were full. Looking with contempt upon the rebels in field and council, the British felt no anxiety for their safety, and every pleasure that could be procured was freely indulged in by the army. A theatre was established, tennis courts and other kinds of amusements were prepared, and for seven years the city remained a prey to the licentiousness of strong and idle detachments of a well-provided army. This was the head-quarters of British power in America during that time, and here the most important schemes for operations against the patriots, military and otherwise, were planned and put in motion. The municipal government was overthrown, martial law prevailed, and the business of the city degenerated almost into the narrow operations of suttling. MIDDLE DUTCH CHURCH. 1 Sir Henry Clinton occupied No. 1 Broadway, and Sir William Howe the dwelling adjoining it. Toward the close of the war, Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester) also occupied No. 1. General Robertson resided first in William, near John Street, and afterward in Hanover Square. Knyphausen, when in the city, occupied Verplanck's house in Wall Street, near the Bank of New York, where also Colonel Birch, of the dragoons, resided. Admiral Digby and other naval officers, and also Prince William Henry (afterward William the Fourth of England), when here, occupied the eity mansion of Gerardus Beekman, on the northwest corner of Sloat Lane and Hanover Square. Admiral Rodney occupied a house, now 256 Pearl Street, and Cornwallis's residence was three doors below it. Carleton's country residence was the mansion at Richmond Hill, corner of Varick and Charlton Streets, long the property of Colonel Aaron Burr. Admiral Walton occupied his own house (yet standing in Pearl Street, number 326, opposite the publishing house of HARPER AND BROTHERS), and there he dispensed generous hospitality. The Middle Dutch church (now the city post-office), on Nassau, Liberty, and Cedar Streets, was converted into a riding-school, where the British cavalry were taught lessons in horsemanship. The French Protestant church (Du St. Esprit), built by the Huguenots in 1704, near the corner of Pine and Nassau Streets, and the North Dutch church, corner of William and Fulton Streets, were converted first into prisons and then into hospitals. The quaint old church edifice which stood 16. on the corner of William and Frankfort Streets until 1851 (when it was demolished, and a large hotel was placed upon its site), was a hospital for the Hessians, and all around the borders of the swamp close by, many of the poor Germans were buried. HESSIAN HOSPITAL 3 These, and the events connected with them, will be noticed under the head of "Prisons and Prison Ships," in the Supplement. ed officers and soldiers who had served three years with bravery, fidelity, and good conduct, and upon every one who should perform any singularly meritorious action. The badge entitled the recipient "to pass and repass all guards and military posts as fully and amply as any commissioned officer whatever." A board of officers for making such awards was established, and upon their recommendation the commander-in-chief presented the badge. The board, in Churchill's case, consisted of Brig adier-general Greaton, president; Colonel Charles Stewart, Lieutenant-colonel Sprout, Major Nicholas Fish (father of ex-gov ernor, Fish, of New York), and Major Trescott. The MS. proceedings of the minutes of the board on this occasion are in the possession of Peter Force, Esq., of Washington City. Counterfeit Continental Bills. Expedition to Staten Island. Second great Fire in New York. Here many petty depredating expeditions were planned; and from Whitehall many a vessel departed with armed troops to distress the inhabitants of neighboring provinces, or with secret emissaries to discover the weakness of patriot camps, to encourage disaffection in the Republican ranks, and, by the circulation of spurious paper money' and lying proclamations, to disgust the people and win their allegiance to the crown. A record of the stirring incidents of the armed occupation of New York would fill a volume. It tempts the pen by many allurements, but I must leave the pleasure of such a task to the local historian, and hasten to a considera We have already noticed most of these expeditions.. Staten Island was held by the British during their occupancy of New York, and several schemes were planned to expel them. In the summer of 1777, the British force on the island amounted to between two and three thousand men, nearly one half of whom were Loyalists. General Sullivan, with Colonel Ogden of New Jersey, and a part of the brigades of Freudhomme D Borre Smallwood and Deborre (see page 175), crossed from Elizabethtown before daylight on the twentysecond of August. Two of the Tory parties, commanded by Colonels Lawrence and Barton, stationed near the present Factoryville, were surprised, and eleven officers and one hundred and thirty privates were made prisoners. Wanting a sufficient number of boats to convey the captives, a party of British attacked Sullivan's rear-guard, and made many of them prisoners. The whole loss of the Americans was three officers and ten privates killed, fifteen wounded, and nine officers and one hundred and twenty-seven privates made prisoners. General Campbell, who commanded the British on the island, reported two hundred and fifty-nine prisoners. It was during the cold month of January, 1780 ("the hard winter"), that Lord Stirling went on an expedition against the British on Staten Island. It was a re-enforcement of troops after this attack (see page 311, volume i.) that crossed the bay of New York, with heavy cannons, upon the ice. 2 Among other schemes for annoying the Americans, and casting discredit upon Congress, the British resorted to the issue of "cart loads" of counterfeit Continental bills, so as to depreciate the currency. This fact is alluded to on page 318, volume i. It was no secret at the time, as appears by an advertisement* in Gaine's New York Mercury, April 14th, 1777. For two or three years these bills were circulated extensively, and doubtless had great effect in depreciating the Continental money. Francis, in his History of the Bank of England, ii., 79-80, says, that Premier Pitt, the younger, resorted to a similar trick, by causing a large number of French assignats to be forged at Birmingham, to depreciate the currency of the French Republic. Napoleon also caused forged notes of the Austrian Bank to be distributed throughout the Austrian Tyrol. 3 A second great conflagration in the city, during the British occupation, occurred on Saturday night, the seventh of August, 1778. It commenced at Cruger's Wharf, Coenties Slip, and before it was subdued three hundred houses were consumed. The next day was excessively hot, and at noon, while the smoke of the smouldering fire was yet rising from the ruins, a heavy thunder-storm burst over the city. At about one o'clock, while raging at its height, the city was shaken as if by an earthquake, and suddenly a column of dense smoke arose in the east and spread over the town. Tiles were shaken from the roofs of houses, * "ADVERTISEMENT.-Persons going into other colonies may be supplied with any number of counterfeited Congress notes, for the price of the paper per ream. They are so neatly and exactly executed, that there is no risk in getting them off, it being almost impossible to discover that they are not genuine. This has been proven by bills to a very large amount which have already been successfully circulated. Inquire of Q. E. D., at the Coffee-house, from 11 A. M. to 4 P. M., during the present month." Treaties for Peace. The Continental Army. Congress at Princeton. Mutiny. Washington's Circular Letter. tion of the final evacuation of the city by the British army, and the parting of Washington with his officers. 1783. Nov. 30, 1782. After protracted negotiations for a year and a half, a definitive treaty of peace a Sept. 3, was signed at Parisa between American and English commissioners. A provisional treaty had been signed about nine months previously, b and in the mean while preparations for a final adjustment of the dispute had been made. On account of the pecuniary embarrassments of Congress, the arrearages of pay due to the soldiers, and the prospect of a dissolution of the army without a liquidation of those claims, general gloom and discontent prevailed. We have seen its alarming manifestation at Newburgh in the spring of 1783 (p. 674, vol. i.), and, though suppressed, it was never entirely subdued. It required all the personal influence and sagacity of Washington to keep the remnant of the Continental army in organization until the final evacuation of the British in the autumn of that year, and when that event took place the Republican troops were a mere handful.' In August, Washington was called to attend upon Congress, then sitting at Princeton.' He left General Knox in command of the little army at Newburgh and vicinity, and, with Mrs. Washington and a portion of his military family, he made his residence at Rocky Hill, near the Millstone River, about four miles from Princeton, where he remained until November, when he joined Knox and the remnant of the Continental army at West Point, preparatory to entering the city of New York.' WASHINGTON'S QUARTERS. and crockery was broken in some houses at Franklin Square. The shock was occasioned by the explosion of the magazine of a powder vessel lying in the East River, which was struck by lightning. The vessel had just arrived from England, and the event was regarded as a special interposition of Providence in behalf of the Americans.-See Dunlap, ii., 164. The number of soldiers furnished for the Continental army by each state, during the war, was as follows: New Hampshire, 12,497; Massachusetts, 67,907; Rhode Island, 5,908; Connecticut, 31,939; New York, 17,781; New Jersey, 10,726; Pennsylvania, 25,678; Delaware, 2,386; Maryland, 13,912; Virginia, 26,678; North Carolina, 7,263; South Carolina, 6,417; Georgia, 2,679. Total, 231,791. The cause of the assembling of Congress at Princeton was the violent spirit manifested by some of the Continental troops of the Pennsylvania line. These had marched in a body (June 21), three hundred in number, surrounded the State House, where Congress was in session, and, after placing guards at the door, demanded action for redress of grievances, within the space of twenty minutes, at the peril of having an enraged soldiery let in upon them. Congress was firm; declared that body had been grossly insulted, and resolved to adjourn to Princeton, where the members assembled on the twenty-sixth. As soon as Washington was informed of this mutiny, he sent General Robert Howe, with fifteen hundred men, to quell it. He soon quieted the disturbance. Some who were found guilty, on trial, were pardoned by Congress. 3 This is a view of the southwest front of the mansion. The room occupied by Washington is in the second story, opening out upon the piazza. It is about eighteen feet square, and in one corner is a Franklin stove like that delineated on page 328, volume i. The situation of the house, upon an eminence an eighth of a mile eastward of the Millstone River, is very pleasant. It is now quite dilapidated; the piazza is unsafe to stand upon. The occupant, when I visited it in 1850, was Mr. James Striker Van Pelt. A great portion of the officers and soldiers had been permitted during the summer to visit their homes on furlough, and on the eighteenth of October Congress virtually disbanded the Continental army, by discharging them from further service. Only a small force was retained, under a definite enlistment, until a peace establishment should be organized. These were now at West Point, under the command of General Knox. The proclamation of discharge, by Congress, was followed by Washington's farewell address to his companions in arms. He had already issued a circular letter (Newburgh, eighth of June, 1783) to the governors of all the states on the subject of disbanding the army. It was designed to be laid before the several State Legislatures. It is a document of great value, because of the soundness of its doctrines, and the weight and wisdom of its counsels. Four great points of policy constitute the chief theme of his communication, namely, an indissoluble union of the states; a sacred regard for public justice; the organization of a proper peace establishment; and a friendly intercourse among the people of the several states, by which local prejudice might be effaced. "These," he remarks, "are the pillars on which the glorious fabric of our independency and national character must be supported." No doubt this address had great influence upon the minds of the whole people, and made them yearn for that more efficient union which the Federal Constitution soon afterward secured. British prepare to Evacuate New York. Washington's Farewell Address to the Army. The Evacuation. Clinton and Knox a 1783. On the seventh of August, a Sir Guy Carleton, then in chief command of the British army, received instructions to evacuate the city of New York. This event was delayed in order to make arrangements for the benefit of the Loyalists in the city and state,' and it was not until late in October when Carleton notified Washington of his Grey Carlton determination to leave our shores. On the second of November, Washington issued his "Farewell Address to the Armies of the United States" from Rocky Hill, and on the fourteenth of the same month he conferred with Governor Clinton, and made arrangements to enter and take possession of the city. Clinton issued an appropriate proclamation on the fifteenth, and summoned the officers of the civil government to meet him in council at East Chester. A day or two afterward, Washington, Clinton, and Carleton held a conference at Dobbs's Ferry (p. 763, vol. i.), and the twenty-fifth was fixed upon as the time for the exodus of the British troops. Both parties adopted measures for the preservation of order on the occasion. On the morning of that day-a cold, frosty, but clear and brilliant morning -the American troops, under General Knox, who had come down from West Point and encamped at Harlem, marched to the Bowery Lane, and halted at the present junction of Third Avenue and the Bowery. There they remained until about one o'clock in the afternoon, when the British left their posts in that vicinity and marched to Whitehall. The The Loyalists, fearful of meeting with unpleasant treatment from the irritated Americans, prepared to leave the country in great numbers, and flee to the British province of Nova Scotia. The delay in question was in consequence of a want of a sufficient number of transports to convey these people and their effects. A further notice of the Loyalists will be found in the Supplement. This, like his letter to the governors, was an able performance. After affectionately thanking his companions in arms for their devotedness to him through the war, and for their faithfulness in duty, he gave them sound and wise counsel respecting the future, recommending them, in a special manner, to support the principles of the Federal government, and the indissolubility of the union. 3 GEORGE CLINTON was born in Ulster county, New York, in 1739. He chose the profession of the law for his avocation. In 1768, he was elected to a seat in the Colonial Legislature, and was a member of the Continental Congress in 1775. He was appointed a brigadier in the army of the United States in 1776, and during the whole war was active in military affairs in New York. In April, 1777, he was elected governor and lieutenant governor, under the new Republican Constitution of the state, and was continued in the former office eighteen years. He was president of the convention assembled at Poughkeepsie to consider the Federal Constitution in 1788. He was again chosen governor of the state in 1801, and three years afterward he was elected Vice-president of the United States. He occupied that elevated position at the time of his death, which occurred at Washington City in 1812. 4 HENRY KNOX was born in Boston in 1750. He was educated at a common school, and at the age of twenty years commenced the business of bookseller in his native town. He was engaged in that vocation when the Revolutionary storm arose, and his sympathies were all with the patriots. He was a volunteer in the battle of Bunker Hill, and for this and subsequent services Congress commissioned him a brigadier, and gave him the command of the artillery department of the army, which he retained during the whole war. He was always under the immediate command of Washington, and was with him in all his battles After the capture of Cornwallis, Congress commissioned him a major general. In 1785, he succeeded Lincoln in the office of Secretary of War, which position he held for eleven years, when he retired into private life. He died at Thomaston, Maine, in 1806, at the age of about fifty-six years. To General Knox is conceded the honor of suggesting that noble organization, the Society of the Cincinnati. 5 The British claimed the right of possession until noon of the day of evacuation. In support of this claim, Cunningham, the infamous provost marshal exercised his authority. Dr. Alexander Anderson, of New York, related to me an incident which fell under his own observation. He was then a lad ten years Entrance of the Americans. Parting of Washington with his Officers. Rejoicings in New York. American troops followed,' and before three o'clock General Knox took formal possession of Fort George amid the acclamations of thousands of emancipated freemen, and the roar of artillery upon the Battery. Washington repair ed to his quarters at private dwellings, and bonfires blazed at every corner. La Luzerne Inox a Dec. 1, 1783. of the On Monday following, a b Dec. 4 On Thursday the principal officers of the army yet remaining in service assembled at Fraunce's, to take a final leave of their beloved chief. The scene is described as one of great tenderness. Washington entered the room where they were all waiting, and taking a glass of wine in his hand, he said, "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable." Having drunk, he continued, "I can not come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged to you if each will come and take me by the hand." Knox, who stood nearest to him, turned and grasped his hand, and, while the tears flowed down the cheeks of each, the commander-in-chief kissed him. This he did to each of his officers, while tears and sobs stifled utterance. Washington soon left the room, and passing through corps of light infantry, of age, and lived in Murray, near Greenwich Street. A man who kept a boarding-house opposite ran up the American flag on the morning of the twenty-fifth. Cunningham was informed of the fact, and immediately ordered him to take it down. The man refused, and Cunningham attempted to tear it down. At that moment the wife of the proprietor, a lusty woman of forty, came out with a stout broomstick, and beat Cunningham over the head so vigorously, that he was obliged to decamp and leave the "star-spangled banner" waving. Dr. Anderson remembers seeing the white powder fly from the provost marshal's wig. 1 The troops entered the city from the Bowery, through Chatham Street, in the following order: 1. A corps of light dragoons. 2. Advanced guard of light infantry. 3. A corps of artillery. 4. A battalion of light infantry. 5. A battalion of Massachusetts troops. 6. Rear-guard. Washington with his staff, and Governor Clinton and the state officers, soon afterward made a public entry, as follows: 1. The general and governor, with their suite, on horseback, escorted by a body of West Chester light horse, commanded by Captain Delavan. 2. The lieutenant governor and the members of the council for the temporary government of the Southern District of the state, four abreast. 3. Majorgeneral Knox and the officers of the army, eight abreast. 4. Citizens on horseback, eight abreast. 5. The speaker of the Assembly and citizens on foot, eight abreast. The British army and the refugees who remained were all embarked in boats by three o'clock in the afternoon, and at sunset they were assembled upon Staten and Long Islands, preparatory to their final embarkation. Before they left, the British flag was nailed to the flag-staff in Fort George, the cleets were knocked off, and the pole was greased so as to prevent ascent. New cleets were soon procured, a sailorboy ascended as he nailed them on, and, taking down the British flag, placed the stripes and the stars there, while the cannons pealed a salute of thirteen guns. See note 1, page 590. Gordon, iii., 377; Marshall, ii., 57. The last survivor of the participators in that interesting scene lived The British left these two islands a few days afterward, and then the evacuation of the sea-board was complete. Western and northern frontier posts (Oswegatchie, Oswego, Niagara, Presque Isle, Sandusky, Detroit, Mackinaw, and others of less note) continued in the possession of British garrisons for some time afterward. |