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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/33419-8.txt b/33419-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8047753 --- /dev/null +++ b/33419-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3024 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of "Evacuation Day", 1783, by James Riker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: "Evacuation Day", 1783 + Its Many Stirring Events: with recollections of Capt. John Van Arsdale + +Author: James Riker + +Release Date: August 13, 2010 [EBook #33419] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "EVACUATION DAY", 1783 *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + "EVACUATION DAY," + + 1783, + + [Illustration: _Sergeant Van Arsdale Tearing Down the British Flag._] + + WITH RECOLLECTIONS OF + CAPT. JOHN VAN ARSDALE + OF THE VETERAN CORPS OF ARTILLERY, + + BY JAMES RIKER. + + 50 CENTS. + + + + + "EVACUATION DAY," + + 1783, + + ITS + + MANY STIRRING EVENTS: + + WITH + + RECOLLECTIONS + + OF + + CAPT. JOHN VAN ARSDALE + + OF THE VETERAN CORPS OF ARTILLERY, + + BY WHOSE EFFORTS ON THAT DAY + + THE ENEMY WERE CIRCUMVENTED, + + AND + + THE AMERICAN FLAG SUCCESSFULLY RAISED ON THE BATTERY. + + WITH ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES. + + BY + + JAMES RIKER, + + Author of the Annals of Newtown, and History of Harlem; Life Member + of the New York Historical Society, Etc. + + PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. + + NEW YORK + + 1883. + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by + +JAMES RIKER, + +In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. + + +CRICHTON & CO., +PRINTERS, +221-225 Fulton St., N. Y. + + + + +EVACUATION DAY. + +CHAPTER I. + + +Our memorable revolution, so prolific of grand and glorious themes, +presents none more thrilling than is afforded by the closing scene in +that stupendous struggle which gave birth to our free and noble +Republic. New York City will have the honor of celebrating, on the 25th +of November, the hundredth anniversary of this event, the most signal in +its history; and which will add the last golden link to the chain of +Revolutionary Centennials. A century ago, on "Evacuation Day," so called +in our local calendar, the wrecks of those proud armies,--sent hither by +the mother country to enforce her darling scheme of "taxation without +representation,"--withdrew from our war-scarred city, with the honors of +_defeat_ thick upon them, but leaving our patriotic fathers happy in the +enjoyment of their independence, so gloriously won in a seven years' +conflict. + +With the expiring century has also disappeared the host of brave actors +in that eventful drama! Memory, if responsive, may bring up the +venerable forms of the "Old Seventy Sixers," as they still lingered +among us two score years ago; and perchance recall with what +soul-stirring pathos they oft rehearsed "the times that tried men's +souls." But they have fallen, fallen before the last great enemy, till +not one is left to repeat the story of their campaigns, their +sufferings, or their triumphs. But shall their memories perish, or their +glorious deeds pass into oblivion? Heaven forbid! Rather let us treasure +them in our heart of hearts, and speak their praises to our children; +thus may we keep unimpaired our love of country, and kindle the +patriotism of those who come after us. To-day they shall live again, in +the event we celebrate. And what event can more strongly appeal to the +popular gratitude than that which brought our city a happy deliverance +from a foreign power, gave welcome relief to our patriot sires, who had +fought for their country or suffered exile, and marked the close of a +struggle which conferred the priceless blessings of peace and liberty, +and a government which knows no sovereign but the people only. Our aim +shall be, not so much to impress the reader with the moral grandeur of +that day, or with its historic significance as bearing upon the +subsequent growth and prosperity of our great metropolis; but the rather +to present a popular account of what occurred at or in connection with +the evacuation; and also to satisfy a curiosity often expressed to know +something more of a former citizen, much esteemed in his time, whose +name, from an incident which then took place, is inseparably associated +with the scenes of Evacuation Day. + +At the period referred to, a century ago, the City of New York contained +a population of less than twenty thousand souls, who mostly resided +below Wall Street, above which the city was not compactly built; while +northward of the City Hall Park, then known as the Fields, the Commons, +or the Green, were little more than scattered farm houses and rural +seats. The seven years' occupation by the enemy had reduced the town to +a most abject condition; many of the church edifices having been +desecrated and applied to profane uses; the dwellings, which their +owners had vacated on the approach of the enemy, being occupied by the +refugee loyalists, and officers and attachés of the British army, were +despoiled and dilapidated; while a large area of the City, ravaged by +fires, still lay in ruins! + +The news of peace with Great Britain, which was officially published at +New York on April 8th, 1783, was hailed with delight by every friend of +his country. But it spread consternation and dismay among the loyalists. +Its effects upon the latter class, and the scenes which ensued, beggar +all description. The receipt of death warrants could hardly have been +more appalling. Some of these who had zealously taken up commissions in +the king's service, amid the excitement of the hour tore the lapels from +their coats and stamped them under foot, crying out that they were +ruined forever! Others, in like despair, uttered doleful complaints, +that after sacrificing their all, to prove their loyalty, they should +now be left to shift for themselves, with nothing to hope for, either +from king or country. In the day of their power these had assumed the +most insolent bearing towards their fellow-citizens who were suspected +of sympathy for their suffering country; while those thrown among them +as prisoners of war, met their studied scorn and abuse, and were usually +accosted, with the more popular than elegant epithet, of "damned rebel!" +The tables were now turned; all this injustice and cruelty stared them +in the face, and, to their excited imaginations, clothed with countless +terrors that coming day, when, their protectors being gone, they could +expect naught but a dreadful retribution! Under such circumstances, Sir +Guy Carleton, the English commander at New York, was in honor bound not +to give up the City till he had provided the means of conveying away to +places within the British possessions, all those who should decide to +quit the country. It was not pure humanity, but shrewd policy as well, +for the king, by his agents, thus to promote the settlement of portions +of his dominions which were cold, barren, uninviting, and but sparsely +populated. + +By the cessation of hostilities the barriers to commercial intercourse +between the City and other parts of the State, &c., were removed, and +the navigation of the Hudson, the Sound, and connected waters was +resumed as before the war. Packets brought in the produce of the +country, and left laden with commodities suited to the needs of the +rural population, or with the British gold in their purses; for all the +staples of food, as flour, beef, pork and butter, were in great demand, +to victual the many fleets preparing to sail, freighted with troops, or +with loyalists. The country people in the vicinity also flocked to the +public markets, bringing all kinds of provisions, which they readily +sold at moderate rates for hard cash; and thus the adjacent country was +supplied and enriched with specie. The fall in prices, which during the +war had risen eight hundred per cent, brought a most grateful relief to +the consumers. Simultaneously with these tokens of better days, the +order for the release of all the prisoners of war from the New York +prisons and prisonships, with their actual liberation from their gloomy +cells, came as a touching reminder that the horrors of war were at an +end. + +Many of the old citizens who had fled, on or prior to the invasion of +the City by the British, and had purchased homes in the country, now +prepared to return, by selling or disposing of these places, expecting +upon reaching New York to re-occupy their old dwellings, without let or +hindrance, but on arriving here were utterly astonished at being +debarred their own houses; the commandant, General Birch, holding the +keys of all dwellings vacated by persons leaving, and only suffering the +owners to enter their premises as tenants, and upon their paying him +down a quarter's rent in advance! Such apparent injustice determined +many not to come before the time set for the evacuation of the City, +while many others were kept back through fear of the loyalists, whose +rage and vindictiveness were justly to be dreaded. Hence, though our +people were allowed free ingress and egress to and from the City, upon +their obtaining a British pass for that purpose, yet but few, +comparatively, ventured to bring their families or remain permanently +till they could make their entry with, or under the protection of, the +American forces. + +Never perhaps in the history of our City had there been a corresponding +period of such incessant activity and feverish excitement. Stimulated by +their fears, the loyalist families began arrangements in early spring +for their departure from the land of their birth (indeed a company of +six hundred, including women and children, had already gone the +preceding fall) destined mainly for Port Roseway, in Nova Scotia, where +they ultimately formed their principal settlement, and built the large +town of Shelburne. Those intending to remove were required to enter +their name, the number in their family, &c., at the Adjutant-General's +Office, that due provision might be made for their passage. They flocked +into the City in such numbers from within the British lines (and many +from within our lines also) that often during that season there were not +houses enough to shelter them. Many occupied huts made by stretching +canvass from the ruined walls of the burnt districts. They banded +together for removing, and had their respective headquarters, where they +met to discuss and arrange their plans. The first considerable company, +some five thousand, sailed on April 27th, and larger companies soon +followed. Many held back, hoping for some act of grace on the part of +our Legislature which would allow them to stay. But the public sentiment +being opposed to it, and expressed in terms too strong to be +disregarded, these at last had to yield to necessity, and find new +homes. The mass of the loyalists went to Nova Scotia and Canada; others +to the Island of Abaco, in the Bahamas; while not a few of the more +distinguished or wealthy retired to England. The bitterness felt towards +this class was to be deplored, but, in truth, the active part taken by +many of them during the war against their country, and above all the +untold outrages committed upon defenceless inhabitants by tories (the +zealous and active loyalists), often in league with Indians, had kindled +a resentment towards all loyalists alike that stifled every +philanthrophic feeling. This exodus was going on when General Carleton, +about the beginning of August, received his final orders for the +evacuation of the City; but it took nearly four months more to complete +it, as a large number of vessels were required to transport the immense +crowds of refugees who left with their families and effects during that +brief period. Hundreds of slaves (ours being then a slave State) were +also induced to go to _Novy Koshee_, as they called it. Their masters +could do little to hinder it, though a committee appointed by both +governments to superintend all embarkations did something towards +preventing slaves and other property belonging to our people from being +carried away. Such negroes as had been found in a state of freedom, +General Carleton held, had a right to leave if they chose to do so, and +many probably got away under this pretext; but to provide against +mistakes the name of each negro (with that of his former owner) was +registered, and also such facts as would fix his value, in case +compensation were allowed. In this, as in the whole ordering of the +evacuation, which was more than the work of a day, General Carleton must +have credit for humanity and a disposition to pursue a fair and +honorable course, which, under the extraordinary difficulties of the +situation, required rare tact and discretion. Of course he was blamed +for much when he was not responsible (natural enough in those who +suffered grievances), and especially for the great delay in giving up +the City, which bore hard on virtuous citizens who had sacrificed +opulence and ease at the shrine of liberty, and had now thrown +themselves out of homes and business in the expectation of an early +return to the City. Yet Carleton's fidelity to the various trusts +committed to him, making one delay after another unavoidable, it may be +doubted whether he could have surrendered the City at an earlier date. + +Closing up the affairs of the army was truly a Herculean task. The +shipment of the troops began early in the season. A portion of the army +was disbanded to reduce it to a peace establishment pursuant to orders +from England. Then there was the settlement of innumerable accounts, +pertaining to every department, and the sale and disposal of surplus +army property, as horses, wagons, harness and military stores, with +several thousand cords of fire wood, which was sold off at half its +cost. Even the prisonships were set up at auction. A sale of draft +horses was begun, October 2d, at the Artillery Stables near St. Paul's +church. + +Auctions on private account were rife; daily, in every street, the red +flag was seen hanging out. And it was alleged that a great deal of +furniture was sold to which the venders had no good title; much of it +being newly painted or otherwise disguised, that its proper owner might +never know and reclaim it! We need not doubt it, for it seemed as if the +refugees would strip the City of every portable article, even to the +buildings, or the brick and lumber composing them; insomuch that the +authorities, in formal orders, forbade the removal or demolition of any +house till the right to do so was shown. + +These irregularities, with the brag and bluster of the enraged tories, +was enough to keep society in a broil. The uppermost themes were the +evacuation, and the removal to Nova Scotia, or elsewhere. They were +irritating topics, and gave rise to endless and hot discussions, in +which tory vexed tory. While one maintained that Nova Scotia was a very +Paradise, another denounced it as unfit for human beings to inhabit. +Disappointed and chagrined at the issue of the war, they would curse the +powers to whom they owed allegiance; as rebellious as those they called +rebels. In other cases, the turn the war had taken had a magic effect +upon their principles; once avowed loyalists, they suddenly became +zealous patriots! It was a witty reply given by a tailor,--the tailor, +in the olden time, we must premise, was often applied to, to rip up and +turn a coat, when threadbare or faded. "How does business go on?" asked +a friend. "Not very well," said he, "my customers have all learned to +turn their own coats!" The shrewd whigs were not to be deceived by +these sudden conversions. They drew the line nicely at a meeting held on +Nov. 18th, at Cape's Tavern, in Broadway, (site of the Boreel Building), +to arrange plans for evacuation day. Before touching their business, +they "_Resolved._ That every person, whatever his political character +may be, who hath remained in this City during the late contest, be +requested to leave the room forthwith." + +Society could not be very secure, when, as is stated, scarcely a night +passed without a robbery; scarcely a morning came, but corpses were +found upon the streets, the work of the assassin or midnight revel. +Indeed at this juncture, there was much underlying apprehension in the +minds of good citizens; the situation was unprecedented, men's passions +had been wrought up to a fearful pitch, and who could foresee the +outcome! Sensible of the danger, and with the approval of the +commandant, a large number of citizens lately returned from exile, +organized as a guard and patrolled the streets, on the night preceding +evacuation day. The vigilance of these returned patriots, and the +protection it afforded, added greatly to the public security at this +threatening crisis. + +A word as to the aspect of the City; sanitary rules being suspended, the +public streets were in a most filthy condition. All the churches, except +the Episcopal, the Methodist, and the Lutheran (spared to please the +Hessians), had been converted into hospitals, prisons, barracks, +riding-schools, or storehouses; the pews, and in some the galleries, +torn out, the window-lights broken, and all foul and loathsome. Fences +enclosing the churches and cemeteries had disappeared, and the very +graves and tombs lay hidden by rubbish and filth! No public moneyed or +charitable institutions, no insurance offices existed; trade was at the +lowest ebb, education wholly neglected, the schools and college shut up! +But the long-wished-for event, which was to light up this dark picture, +and work a happy transformation, was at hand. + +Finally, the day fixed upon for the evacuation, and for the triumphal +entry of Washington and the American army, to take possession of the +city, was Tuesday, the 25th of November. At an early hour, on that cold, +but radiant morning, the whole population seemed to be abroad, making +ready for the great gala day, regardless of a keen nor'wester. During +the forenoon many delegations from the suburban districts began to +arrive, to share in the public festivities, or to witness the exit of +the foreign troops, and the entrance of the victorious Americans; while +with the latter was expected a host of patriots, to re-occupy their +desolate dwellings, from which they had been so long cruelly exiled; or +otherwise, only to gaze upon the charred and blackened ruins of what +was once their homes![1] + +To guard against any disturbance which such an occasion might favor, in +the interval between the laying down and the resumption of authority, +and as rumors were afloat of an organized plot to plunder the town when +the King's forces were withdrawn; the hour of noon had been set for the +Royal troops to move, and by an understanding between the two +commanders-in-chief, the Americans were to promptly advance and occupy +the positions as the British vacated them; the latter, when ready to +move, to send out an officer to notify our advance guard. There was no +longer any antagonism between these, so recently hostile, forces; the +plans for the _evacuation_, on the one part, and the _occupation_, on +the other, being carried out in as orderly a manner, and to all +appearance, with as friendly a spirit, as when, in time of peace, one +guard relieves another at a military post. + +Major Gen. Knox, a large, fine looking officer, had been appointed to +command the American troops which were first to enter and occupy the +city. With his forces, consisting of a corps of dragoons, under Capt. +John Stakes, another of artillery, and several battalions of infantry, +with a rear guard under Major John Burnet, Knox marched from McGown's +Pass, Harlem, early in the morning, halting at the present junction of +the Bowery and Third Avenue. Here he waited--meanwhile holding a +friendly parley with the English officers, whose forces were also +resting a little in advance of him--until about one o'clock in the +afternoon. The British then receiving orders to move, took up their +march, passed down the Bowery and Chatham street, and wheeling into +Pearl, finally turned off to the river, and went on shipboard. The +American forces under Gen. Knox, following on, proceeded through Chatham +street, into and down Broadway, and took possession. As they advanced, +greeted with happy faces and joyful acclamations by crowds of freemen +who lined the streets, or fairer forms drawn to the windows and +balconies by the beat of the American drums and the vociferous cheering, +the march down Broadway to Cape's Tavern (on the site now of the Boreel +Building), was indeed the triumphal march of conquerors! + +Our troops having halted and taken their position opposite and below +Cape's Tavern,[2] Gen. Knox quitted them, and heading a body of mounted +citizens, lately returned from exile, and who had met by arrangement at +the Bowling Green, each wearing in his hat a sprig of laurel, and on the +left breast a Union cockade, made of black and white ribbon, rode up +into the Bowery to receive their Excellencies General Washington and +Governor George Clinton, who were at the Bull's Head Tavern (site of the +Thalia Theatre), they having arrived at Day's Tavern, Harlem, on the +21st inst., the very day on which Carleton had drawn in his forces and +abandoned the posts from Kingsbridge to McGown's Pass, inclusive. + +At the Bull's Head, where the widow Varien presided as hostess, +congratulations passed freely, and a series of hearty demonstrations +began, on the part of the overjoyed populace, which continued along the +whole line of Washington's march, and closed only with the day. The +civic procession having formed began its grand entry in the following +order: + +General Washington, "straight as a dart and noble as he could be," +riding a spirited gray horse, and Governor Clinton, on a splendid bay, +with their respective suites also mounted; and having as escort a body +of Westchester Light Horse, under the command of Capt. Delavan. + +The Lieutenant Governor, Pierre Van Cortlandt, with the members of the +Council for the temporary Government of the Southern District of New +York; four abreast. + +Major Gen. Knox, and the officers of the army; eight abreast. + +Citizens on horseback; eight abreast. + +The Speaker of the Assembly, and citizens on foot; eight abreast. + +[Illustration: MAP + +Showing Washington's line of march from Bull's Head (Bowery), to Cape's +Tavern, in Broadway; and thence to Fort George.] + +Near the Tea-water Pump, (in Chatham street just above Pearl), where the +citizens on foot had gathered to join the procession, Washington halted +the column, while Gen. Knox and the officers of the Revolution drew out +and, forming into line, marched down Chatham street, passing a body of +the British troops which were still halting in the fields (now the City +Hall Park); while Washington and the rest, turning down Pearl street, +proceeded on to Wall street, and up Wall, then the seat of fashionable +residences, to Broadway, where both companies again met, and while our +troops in line fired a _feu-de-joie_, alighted at the popular tavern +before mentioned, kept by John Cape, where now stands the Boreel +Building.[3] + +We must mention here, that when Gen. Knox reached the New Jail, then +known as the Provost (and now the Hall of Records), Capt. Cunningham, +the Provost Marshall, and his deputy and jailor Sergeant Keefe, both +having held those positions during most of the war, and equally +notorious for their brutal treatment of the American prisoners who were +confined there, thought it about time to retreat; and quitting the jail, +followed by the hangman in his yellow jacket, passed between a platoon +of British soldiers and marched down Broadway, with the last detachment +of their troops. When Sergeant Keefe was in the act of leaving the +Provost, (says John Pintard), one of the few prisoners then in his +custody for criminal offences, called out: "Sergeant, what is to become +of us?" "You may all go to the devil together," was his surly reply, as +he threw the bunch of keys on the floor behind him. "Thank you, +Sergeant," was the cutting retort, "we have had too much of your company +in _this_ world, to wish to follow you to the _next_!" Another incident, +which respected Cunningham, was witnessed (says Dr. Lossing), by the +late Dr. Alexander Anderson. It was during the forenoon, that a tavern +keeper in Murray street hung out the Stars and Stripes. Informed of it, +thither hastened Cunningham, who with an oath, and in his imperious +tone, exclaimed, "Take in that flag, the City is ours till noon." +Suiting the action to the word, he tried to pull down the obnoxious +ensign; but the landlady coming to the rescue, with broom in hand, dealt +the Captain such lusty blows, as made the powder fly in clouds from his +wig, and forced him to beat a retreat! The Provost Guard, and the Main +Guard at the City Hall (Wall street, opposite Broad, where the U. S. +Treasury stands), were the last to abandon their posts, and repair on +shipboard. + +The brief reception being over, at Cape's Tavern, (with presenting of +addresses to Gen. Washington and Gov. Clinton), the cavalcade again +formed, and marched to the Battery, to enact the last formality in +re-possessing the City, which was to unfurl the American flag over Fort +George.[5] A great concourse of people had assembled, not only to +witness this ceremony, but to obtain a sight of the illustrious +Washington and other great generals, who had so nobly defended our +liberties. + +But now a sight was presented, which, as soon as fully understood, drew +forth from the astonished and incensed beholders execrations loud and +deep. The royal ensign was still floating as usual over Fort George; +the enemy having departed without striking their colors, though they had +dismantled the fort and removed on shipboard all their stores and heavy +ordnance, while other cannon lay dismounted under the walls as if thrown +off in a spirit of wantonness. On a closer view it was found that the +flag had been nailed to the staff, the halyards taken away, and the pole +itself besmeared with grease; obviously to prevent or hinder the removal +of the emblem of royalty, and the raising of the Stars and Stripes. +Whether to escape the mortification of seeing our flag supplant the +British standard, or to annoy and exasperate our people were the +stronger impulse, it were hard to say. It was too serious for a joke, +however, and the dilemma caused no little confusion. The artillery had +taken a position on the Battery, the guns were unlimbered, and the +gunners stood ready to salute our colors. But the grease baffled all +attempts to shin up the staff. To cut the staff down and erect another +would consume too much time. Impatient of delay, "three or four guns +were fired with the colors on a pole before they were raised on the +flagstaff."[6] But this expedient was premature and humiliating, while +the hostile flag yet waved as if in defiance. The scene grew exciting: +and now appeared another actor, hitherto looking on, but no idle +observer of what was passing. He was a young man of medium height, whose +ruddy honest face, tarpaulin cap and pea-jacket told his vocation. Born +neither to fortune nor to fame, yet by his own merits and exertions he +had won the regard of some in that assembly, having served under +McClaughry, and Willett, and Weissenfels, as also the Clintons, to whom +he had lived neighbor, within that patriotic circle in old Orange, where +these were the guiding spirits, and every yeoman with them, shoulder to +shoulder, in the common cause. As a subaltern officer he had made a good +record during the war, and none present, however superior in station, +had sustained a better character or exhibited a purer patriotism. This +was John Van Arsdale, late a Sergeant in Capt. Hardenburgh's company of +New York Levies. At nineteen years of age, quitting his father's vessel, +where he had been bred a sailor, he enlisted in the Continental Army at +the beginning of the war, and had served faithfully till its close. +Suffering cold and hardship in the Canada expedition, wounded and taken +prisoner at the battle of Fort Montgomery, he had languished weary +months in New York dungeons, and in the foul hold of a British +prisonship, and subsequently braved the perils of Indian warfare in +several campaigns. And with such a record, where expect to find him but +among his old compatriots, on this day of momentous import, when the +struggles of seven years were to culminate in a final triumph. + +Van Arsdale volunteered to climb the staff, though with little prospect +of succeeding better than others, especially when after making an +attempt, sailor fashion, he was unable to maintain his grasp upon the +slippery pole. Now it was proposed to replace the cleats which had been +knocked off; and persons ran in haste to Peter Goelet's hardware store, +in Hanover Square, and returned with a saw, hatchet, gimlets, and nails. +Then willing hands sawed pieces of board, split and bored cleats, and +began to nail them on. By this means Van Arsdale got up a short +distance, with a line to which our flag was attached; but just then, a +ladder being brought to his assistance, he mounted still higher, then +completed the ascent in the usual way, and reaching the top of the +staff, tore down the British standard, and rove the new halyards by +which the Star-spangled Banner was quickly run up by Lieut. Anthony +Glean, and floated proudly, while the multitude gave vent to their joy +in hearty cheers, and the artillery boomed forth a national salute of +thirteen guns![7] On descending, Van Arsdale was warmly greeted by the +overjoyed spectators, for the service he had rendered; but some one +proposing a more substantial acknowledgement than mere applause, hats +were passed around, and a considerable sum collected, nearly all within +reach contributing, even to the Commander-in-Chief. Though taken quite +aback, Van Arsdale modestly accepted the gift, with a protest at being +rewarded for so trivial an act. But the contributors were of another +opinion; he had accomplished what was thought impracticable, and the +occasion and the emergency made his success peculiarly gratifying to all +present. On returning home to his amiable Polly (they had been married +short of six months), the story of "Evacuation Day," and the silver +money which he poured into her lap, caused her to open her eyes, and +fixed the circumstance indelibly in her memory! + +But to return: during the scene on the Battery, which consumed full an +hour, the last squads of the British were getting into their boats, +while many others, filled with soldiers, rested on their oars between +the shore and their ships, anchored in the North River. They kept +silence during this time, and watched our efforts to hoist the colors +(no doubt enjoying our embarrassment), but when our flag was run up and +the salute fired, they rowed off to their shipping, which soon weighed +anchor and proceeded down the bay.[8] + +This scene over, the Commander-in-Chief and the general officers, +accompanied Gov. Clinton to Fraunces' Tavern, also a popular resort, and +which still stands on the corner of Pearl and Broad streets. Here the +Governor gave a sumptuous dinner. The repast over, then came "the feast +of reason and the flow of soul," when the sentiments dearest to those +brave and loyal men found utterance in the following admirable toasts: + +1. The United States of America. + +2. His most Christian Majesty. + +3. The United Netherlands. + +4. The King of Sweden. + +5. The American Army. + +6. The Fleet and Armies of France, which have served in America. + +7. The Memory of those Heroes who have fallen for our Freedom. + +8. May our Country be grateful to her Military Children. + +9. May Justice support what Courage has gained. + +10. The Vindicators of the Rights of Mankind in every Quarter of the +Globe. + +11. May America be an Asylum to the Persecuted of the Earth. + +12. May a close Union of the States guard the Temple they have erected +to Liberty. + +13. May the Remembrance of THIS DAY, be a Lesson to Princes. + +An extensive illumination of the buildings in the evening, a grand +display of rockets, and the blaze of bonfires at every corner, made a +fitting sequel to the events of the day.[9] Great as was the joy, and +lively as were the demonstrations of it, not the slightest outbreak or +disturbance occurred, to mar the public tranquility; and the happy +citizens retired to rest in the sweet consciousness that the reign of +martial law and of regal despotism had ended! But it was remarked, says +an eye-witness of the time, that an unusual proportion of those who in +'76 had fled from New York, had been cut off by death and denied a share +in the general joy, which marked the return of their fellow citizens to +their former habitations. And those habitations, such as had survived +the fires, how marred and damaged, as before intimated; in many cases +mere shells and wrecks. And the sanctuaries, where they and their +fathers had worshipped, all despoiled, save St. Paul's, St. George's in +Beekman street, the Dutch Church, Garden street, the Lutheran church, +Frankfort street, the Methodist Meeting House in John street, (none +remaining at present but the first and last), and some three or four +small and obscure places. Years elapsed, before, in their poverty, the +people were enabled fully to restore some of them to their former sacred +uses. The churches which suffered most at the enemy's hands were the +Middle and North Dutch churches, in Nassau and William streets, the two +Presbyterian churches, in Wall and Beekman streets, the Scotch +Presbyterian church, in Cedar street, the French church in Pine street, +the Baptist church, Gold street, and the Friends' new Meeting House, in +Pearl street; all since removed to meet the demands of trade. Religious +affairs were found in a sad plight when the evacuation took place. The +Dutch, Presbyterian and Baptist ministers had gone into voluntary exile. +The Rev. Charles Inglis, D.D., Rector of Trinity Parish, having made +himself very obnoxious to the patriots, concluded to follow the +loyalists of his flock to Nova Scotia, and therefore resigned his +rectorship Nov. 1st, preceding the evacuation. Dr. John H. Livingston, +arriving with our people, immediately resumed his services in Garden +street. Other pastors were not so favored. Dr. John Rogers, of the +Presbyterian church, returned on the day after the evacuation, and on +the following Sabbath, Nov. 30th, preached in St. George's chapel, "to a +thronged and deeply affected assembly," a discourse adapted to the +occasion from Psalms cxvi, 12,--"What shall I render unto the Lord, for +all His benefits towards me?" The vestry of Trinity church having kindly +offered the use of their two chapels, St. Paul's and St. George's, the +Presbyterians occupied these buildings a part of every Sabbath until +June 27th, 1784, when they took possession of the Brick Church, Beekman +street, which had been repaired. + +On the Friday following the evacuation, the citizens lately returned +from exile, gave an elegant entertainment, at Cape's Tavern, to his +Excellency, the Governor, and the Council for governing the City; when +Gen. Washington and the Officers of the Army, about three hundred +gentlemen, graced the feast. The following Tuesday, Dec. 2d, another +such entertainment was given by Gov. Clinton, at the same place, to the +French Ambassador, Luzerne, and in the evening, at the Bowling Green, +the Definitive Treaty of Peace was celebrated by "an unparallelled +exhibition of fireworks," and when, says an account of it, "the +prodigious concourse of spectators assembled on the occasion, expressed +their plaudits in loud and grateful clangors!" On Thursday, the 4th, +Gen. Washington bade a final adieu to his fellow officers at Fraunces' +Tavern. The scene was most affecting. "With a heart full of love and +gratitude," said he, "I now take leave of you, and most devoutly wish +that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones +have been glorious and honorable." Embracing each one in turn, while +tears coursed down their manly checks, he parted from them, and from the +City, to resign his commission to Congress, and seek again the +retirement of private life. + +The following Thursday, Dec. 11th, was observed by appointment of +Congress, "as a day of public Thanksgiving throughout the United +States." On this occasion Dr. Rogers preached in St. George's chapel, a +sermon from Psalms cxxvi, 3,--"The Lord hath done great things for us, +whereof we are glad." It was afterwards published with the title--"The +Divine Goodness displayed in the American Revolution." + +Thus just eight score years after Europeans first settled on this Island +of Manhattan, our City had its new birth into freedom, and started on +its unexampled career of prosperity and greatness. And as we contemplate +the growth, enterprise, trade, commerce, credit, opulence and +magnificence of the present City, with its hundreds of churches, schools +and other noble institutions, and contrast it with the contracted, +war-worn, desolate town, of which our fathers took possession on the +25th of November 1783, well may we exclaim--"What hath God wrought?" +That day, whose memories were so fondly cherished by our grandsires +while they lived, was one of great significance in the history of our +City and Country. Its anniversary has ever since been duly celebrated by +military parades, and a national salute fired on the Battery at sunrise, +by the "Independent Veteran Corps of Heavy Artillery," composed at first +of Revolutionary soldiers, and of which John Van Arsdale was long an +efficient and honored member, and, at the time of his decease, its First +Captain-Lieutenant.[10] For many years the day was observed with great +_eclat_; the troops, in parading, "went through the forms practiced on +taking possession of the City, maneuvering and firing _feux-de-joie_, +&c., as occurred on the evacuation." All shops and business places were +closed, artisans and toilers ceased their work, and the streets, +decorated with patriotic emblems, and alive with happy people, were +given up to gaiety and mirth. To civic and military displays were added +sumptuous dinners, and convivial parties, while the schoolboy rejoiced +in a holiday; the whole bearing witness to a peoples' gratitude for the +deliverance which that memorable day brought them. And boys of older +growth may yet recall the simple distich: + + "It's Evacuation Day, when the British ran away, + Please, dear Master, give us holiday!" + +In the evening every place of amusement was well attended, but none +better than Peale's American Museum, because, as duly advertised:--"The +Flag hoisted by order of Gen. Washington, on the Battery, the same day +the British troops evacuated this city, is displayed in the upper hall, +as a sacred memorial of that day." This flag was presented to the museum +by the Common Council in 1819. It was raised on the Battery for the last +time in 1846, and when the museum was burned the old flag perished! + +Well deserves this day not merely a local but a national commemoration; +since it inaugurated for the nation an era of freedom, the blessings of +which all could not realize, while the chief city and seaport of our +country were held by foreign armies. + +Another chapter, introducing us to colonial and revolutionary times, +will tell more of Capt. Van Arsdale, what he did and endured for his +country, and ensure him a grateful remembrance so long as "Evacuation +Day" shall cheer us by its annual return. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] THE GREAT FIRE, of September 20, 1776, beginning at Whitehall slip, +swept along the river front and northward, consuming all the buildings +between Whitehall street on the west and Broad street on the east, +extending up Broadway to a point just below Rector street, and up Broad +street as far as Beaver, above which the houses on Broad street escaped; +the fire being confined to a line nearly straight from Beaver, near +Broad, to the point it reached on Broadway. Crossing Broadway, it also +swept everything north of Morris street, including Trinity Church; from +which point passing behind the city (later Cape's) Tavern, it spared the +line of buildings, mainly dwellings, facing Broadway, with a few joining +them on the cross streets, but otherwise made a clean sweep as far up as +Barclay street, where the College grounds stayed its further process. + +The fire of August 3, 1778, which was confined to the blocks between Old +slip and Coenties slip, reaching up to Pearl street, was a small affair +in comparison. + +[2] The orders of Nov. 24, to our troops read: "The Light Infantry will +furnish a company for Main Guard to-morrow. As soon as the troops are +formed in the city, the Main Guard will be marched off to Fort George; +on their taking possession, an officer of artillery will immediately +hoist the American standard. * * * On the standard being hoisted in Fort +George, the artillery will fire thirteen rounds. Afterwards his +Excellency Governor Clinton will be received on the right of the line. +The officers will salute his Excellency as he passes them, and the +troops present their arms by corps, and the drums beat a march. After +his Excellency is past the line, and alighted at Cape's Tavern, the +artillery will fire thirteen rounds." + +As our flag was not raised on Fort George, nor the salute fired until +after Gov. Clinton and Gen. Washington arrived there, the delay, and +failure to carry out the orders strictly as issued, must be accounted +for by the embarrassing incident hereafter noticed. + +[3] Why "the officers of the Revolution" should have taken a different +rout admits of this explanation. The officers referred to were no doubt +the mounted citizens who had ridden up with Knox from Bowling Green, +among whom were colonels, captains, etc., of the late army. The move was +evidently made to reach Cape's Tavern first, and be in position ready to +receive their Excellencies, Washington and Clinton, and present +addresses, which had been prepared. This is referred to in a letter +written by Elisha D. Whitlesey, dated Danbury, Conn., Aug. 24, 1821, "A +committee had been appointed by the citizens to wait upon Gen. +Washington and Gov. Clinton and other American officers, and to express +their joyful congratulations to them upon the occasion. A procession for +this purpose formed in the Bowery, marched through a part of the city, +and halted at a tavern, then known by the name of Cooper's [Cape's] +Tavern, in Broadway, where the following addresses were delivered.[4] +Mr. Thomas Tucker, late of this town [Danbury], and at that time a +respectable merchant in New York, a member of the committee, was +selected to perform the office on the part of the committee." + +[4] For that to Washington, and his reply, see next note. + +[5] ADDRESS TO GENERAL WASHINGTON, + +_Presented at Cape's Tavern._ + +To his Excellency GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esquire, General and Commander in +Chief of the Armies of the United States of America: + +The Address of the Citizens of New York, who have returned from exile, +in behalf of themselves and their suffering brethren: + +SIR: + +At a moment when the arm of tyranny is yielding up its fondest +usurpations, we hope the salutations of long suffering exiles, but now +happy freemen, will not be deemed an unworthy tribute. In this place, +and at this moment of exultation and triumph, while the ensigns of +slavery still linger in our sight, we look up to you, our deliverer, +with unusual transports of gratitude and joy. Permit us to welcome you +to this City, long torn from us by the hard hand of oppression, but now +by your wisdom and energy, under the guidance of Providence, once more +the seat of peace and freedom. We forbear to speak our gratitude or your +praise, we should but echo the voice of applauding millions; but the +Citizens of New York are eminently indebted to your virtues, and we who +have now the honor to address your Excellency, have been often +companions of your sufferings, and witnesses of your exertions. Permit +us therefore to approach your Excellency with the dignity and sincerity +of freemen, and to assure you that we shall preserve with our latest +breath our gratitude for your services, and veneration for your +character. And accept of our sincere and earnest wishes that you may +long enjoy that calm domestic felicity which you have so generously +sacrificed; that the cries of injured liberty may nevermore interrupt +your repose, and that your happiness may be equal to your virtues. + +_Signed at the request of the meeting._ + + THOMAS RANDALL. + DAN. PHOENIX. + SAML. BROOME. + THOS. TUCKER. + HENRY KIPP. + PAT. DENNIS. + WM. GILBERT, SR. + WM. GILBERT, JR. + FRANCIS VAN DYCK. + JEREMIAH WOOL. + GEO. JANEWAY. + ABRA'M P. LOTT. + EPHRAIM BRASHIER. + +NEW YORK, Nov. 25th, 1783. + +THE GENERAL'S REPLY. + +To the Citizens of New York who have returned from exile: + +GENTLEMEN-- + +I thank you sincerely for your affectionate address, and entreat you to +be persuaded that nothing could be more agreeable to me than your polite +congratulations. Permit me in turn to felicitate you on the happy +repossession of your City. + +Great as your joy must be on this pleasing occasion, it can scarcely +exceed that which I feel at seeing you, Gentlemen, who from the noblest +motives have suffered a voluntary exile of many years, return again in +peace and triumph, to enjoy the fruits of your virtuous conduct. + +The fortitude and perseverance, which you and your suffering brethren +have exhibited in the course of the war, have not only endeared you to +your countrymen, but will be remembered with admiration and applause to +the latest posterity. + +May the tranquility of your City be perpetual,--may the ruins soon be +repaired, commerce flourish, science be fostered, and all the civil and +social virtues be cherished in the same illustrious manner which +formerly reflected so much credit on the inhabitants of New York. In +fine, may every species of felicity attend you, Gentlemen, and your +worthy fellow citizens. + +GEO. WASHINGTON. + +[6] Gen. Jeremiah Johnson, who was present, so stated to the writer, +Feb. 15, 1848. + +[7] A patriotic song was composed for that day, entitled, "The Sheep +Stealers," which was distributed and sung with immense gusto in the +evening coteries. Coarse, but designed to cast ridicule on the enemy, it +is given as a specimen of the popular songs of the period: + + KING GEORGE sent his Sheep-stealers, + Poor Refugees and Tories! + King George sent his Sheep-stealers + To fish for mutton here, + To fish for mutton here, + To fish for mutton here, + But Yankees were hard dealers, + Poor Refugees and Tories; + But Yankees were hard dealers, + They sold their sheep-skins dear, + They sold their sheep-skins dear, + They sold their sheep-skins dear, + But Yankees were hard dealers, + They sold their sheep-skins dear! + + At Boston Britons glorious, + The Refugees and Tories, + Made war on pigs and fowls, + But o'er men un-victorious, + They fled by night like owls! + + The Howes came in a huff, Boys, + With Refugees and Tories, + To plunder, burn and sink; + But like a candle-snuff, Boys, + They went--and left a stink! + + Burgoyne, that cunning rogue, ah! + With Refugees and Tories, + Of conquest laid grand schemes; + But Gates at Saratoga, + Awak'd him from his dreams! + + The noble Earl Cornwally, + With Refugees and Tories, + Of southern plunderers chief, + At Yorktown wept the folly + Of stealing "Rebel" beef! + + Clinton, that son of thunder, + With Refugees and Tories, + At New York took his stand. + And swore that he asunder + Would shake the Rebel land! + + Of mighty deeds achieving, + With Refugees and Tories, + He talked, O! _he_ talked big, + But changed his plan to thieving + Of turkey, goose and pig! + + Of conquest then despairing, + With Refugees and Tories, + George for his Bull-dogs sent; + They Yankee vengeance fearing, + _Greased the flagstaff_--and went! + + Then Yorkers, let's remember + The Refugees and Tories, + The five and twentieth day + Of the bleak month, November, + When the Cow-thieves sneaked away! + +[8] The British troops did not take their final departure from Long +Island and Staten Island till the 4th of December. Their flag waved over +Governor's Island till the 3d, when the Island was formally given up to +an officer sent over by Gov. Clinton, for that purpose. (Mag. of Am. +Hist., 1883, p. 430.) Sir Guy Carleton and other officers and gentlemen +sailed in the frigate Ceres, Capt. Hawkins. + +[9] Among the more authentic newspaper accounts of the Evacuation, is +one of which I have here availed myself, contained in the New York _Sun_ +of Nov. 27th, 1850, but copied from the _Observer_. Much valuable +material is also brought together in the _N. Y. Corp. Manual_ for 1870. + +[10] IT caused great surprise, in 1831, that an officer of the +Revolution, Capt. John Van Dyck, of Lamb's artillery, who was present at +the evacuation of New York, and "was on Fort George and within two feet +of the flagstaff," should have stated in the most positive terms, that +"there was no British flag on the staff to pull down:" also that no +ladder was used, and besides, more than intimated that Van Arsdale did +not perform the part ascribed to him! (His letter, in _N. Y. Commercial +Advertiser_, of June 30th, 1831.) We well remember Capt. Van Dyck, and +do not doubt the sincerity of his statements; but it only shows how +effectually facts once well known may be obliterated from the memory by +the lapse of time. For few facts in our history are better authenticated +than that the royal standard was left flying at the evacuation; and it +was afterwards complained of, as the able historian, Mr. Dawson writes +me, by John Adams, our first embassador to England, as an unfriendly +act, to evacuate the City without a formal surrender of it, or striking +their colors. The fact is also mentioned in a pamphlet printed in 1808, +by the "Wallabout Committee," (appointed to superintend the interment of +the bones of American patriots who perished in the prison ships), and +consisting of gentlemen who could not have all been ignorant on such a +point, viz., Messrs. Jacob Vandervoort, John Jackson, Issachar Cozzens, +Burdet Stryker, Robert Townsend, Jr., Benjamin Watson and Samuel +Cowdrey. Hardie, who wrote his account prior to 1825, ("Description of +New York," p. 107,) also makes the same statement, and so does Dr. +Lossing: "Field Book of the Revolution," 2:633. A letter written in New +York _the day after the evacuation_, says "they cut away the halyards +from the flagstaff in the fort, and likewise greased the post; so that +we _were obliged to have a ladder_ to fix a new rope." The use of a +ladder is attested by Lieut. Glean; and also by the late Pearson +Halstead, who witnessed the ascent. Mr. Halstead stated this to me, in +1845, and that, about the year 1805, he was informed that Van Arsdale +was the person who climbed the staff. His association with Mr. Van +Arsdale, both in business and in the Veteran Corps, gave him the best +means of knowing the common belief on that subject, and he said it was +"a fact understood and admitted by the members of the Veteran Corps, who +used often to speak of it." Capt. George W. Chapman, of the Veteran +Corps, then 84 years of age, informed me, in 1845, that he commanded the +Corps when Van Arsdale joined it, and that the fact ascribed to the +latter was well known to the members of the Corps, and never disputed. +John Nixon, a reliable witness, said to me, in 1844, that he saw the +ascent, &c., "by _a short thickset man_ in sailor's dress," and that +_ten years later_ (1793) he became acquainted with Van Arsdale, and then +learned that "_he was the person who tore down the British flag, in +1783_." Gen. Jeremiah Johnson informed me, in 1846, that he "saw the +sailor, in ordinary round jacket and seaman's dress, _shin up_ the +flagstaff; _a middling sized man_, well proportioned." Major Jonathan +Lawrence, who was present; said "a _sailor_ mounted the flagstaff, with +fresh halyards, rigged it and hoisted the American flag." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +The real conservators of the rights of mankind have rarely been found +among the rich or titled aristocracy. They belong to the more ingenuous, +sympathetic, and virtuous middle class of society, so called. This is +not the less true because of the notable exceptions, where the +endowments of wealth, rank, and influence, have added lustre to the +names of some of earth's best benefactors. The fact must remain that the +bone and sinew of a nation, and in which consists its safety in peace, +and its defense in war, are its hardy yeoman who guide the plow, or +wield the axe, or ply the anvil; and without whose practical ideas and +well-directed energies, no community could protect itself, or make any +real advancement. It was most fortunate that the founders of this nation +were so largely of this sterling class; the architects of their own +fortunes, no labor, no difficulties or dangers appalled them; the very +men were they, to break by stalwart blows the fetters which despotism +was fast riveting upon them. + +Such was Captain John Van Arsdale, in the essentials of his character. +It chafed his young, free spirit to see his country, the home of his +ancestors for a century before his birth, bleeding under the iron hand +of tyranny, and invoking the sturdy and the brave to come forth and +strike the blow for freedom. He was one of the first to heed that call, +and to fearlessly enter the lists; nor ceased to battle manfully till +our independence was achieved! If honest, unswerving patriotism, +standing the triple test of manifold hardships and dangers, long and +cruel imprisonment and years of arduous, poorly-requited service, should +entitle one to the love and gratitude of his country; then let such +honor be awarded to the subject of this sketch, and the power of his +example tell upon all those who may read it. + +John Van Arsdale was the son of John and Deborah Van Arsdale, and was +born in the town of Cornwall (then a part of Goshen), Orange County, N. +Y., on Monday, January 5th, 1756.[11] His ancestors for four generations +in this country, as mentioned in the records of their times, were men of +intelligence and virtue, honored and trusted in the communities in which +they lived, and on whom, as God-fearing men, rested the mantles of their +fathers who had battled for their faith in the wars of the Netherlands. +His grandsire, Stoffel Van Arsdalen (for so he and his Dutch +progenitors wrote the name), had removed from Gravesend, Long Island, +to Somerset County, New Jersey, in the second decade of that century, +and eventually purchased a farm of two hundred acres in Franklin +township, where he lived, zealously devoted to the church, and highly +esteemed, till his death near the beginning of the Revolution.[12] He +married Magdalena, daughter of Okie Van Hengelen, and had several +children, of whom, John, born 1722, and Cornelius, born 1729, removed to +the County of Orange, aforesaid.[13] John, by trade a millwright, was +engaged by Mr. Tunis Van Pelt to build a grist mill on Murderer's Creek, +so called from an Indian tragedy of earlier times; and from which name +softened to Murdner, in common usage, came the modern Moodna. While so +occupied, and sharing the hospitalities of Mr. Van Pelt's house, he +wooed and married his daughter, Deborah, in 1744. Associating with his +father-in-law in the milling business, Van Arsdale eventually became +proprietor, assisted, we believe, by his brother Cornelius, who was a +miller. Building up a large trade, he also became known for his private +virtues and public spirit. A lieutenant's commission (in which he is +styled "of Ulster County, Gentleman"), under Capt. Thomas Ellison, and +dated October 10th, 1754, is now in the writer's possession. But +misfortune, the loss of a vessel sent to the Bay of Honduras laden with +flour, and where it was to ship a cargo of logwood, led him to give up +the business and remove to New York, where he took charge of the Prison +in the old City Hall, in Wall street, which was deemed a post of great +responsibility. It was soon after this change that John, the subject of +our sketch, was born, at Mr. Van Pelt's residence, at Moodna, where his +mother had either remained, or was then making a visit. About six weeks +thereafter, having come to the city, with her infant, she sickened and +died of the small pox. After four years (in 1760), Mr. Van Arsdale +married Catherine, daughter of James Mills, deputy-sheriff of New York. +Ten years later, weary of his charge, then at the New Jail, built in +1757-9 (the Provost of the Revolution, and now the Hall of Records); he +resigned it, bought a schooner, and engaged in the more congenial +pursuit of marketing produce. + +The Revolution coming on, Capt. Van Arsdale entered with his vessel into +the American service, supplied our army at New York with fuel brought +from Hackensack (the Asia man-of-war once taking his wood and paying him +in continental bills), and afterwards helped to sink the +_chevaux-de-frize_ in the Hudson, opposite Fort Washington. In this +arduous work he was aided by his son John, then lately returned from the +Canada expedition. The day the enemy entered the City he conveyed his +family to his vessel at Stryker's Bay, and, crowded with fugitives, made +good his escape up the Hudson to Murdner's Creek. Here his companion, +who had borne him eleven children, died in 1779; but he survived not +only to witness the war brought to a happy close, but long enough to see +much of the waste repaired, and the greatness of his country assured. +Respected and beloved for his amiable qualities and exemplary christian +character, Capt. Van Arsdale, the elder, died in 1798 at the residence +of his son-in-law, Mr. William Sherwood, at "The Creek." + +The junior Van Arsdale would have been unworthy of his honest ancestry +had he not possessed in a good degree the same stability of character. +Bereft of a mother's love at so early an age, John was tenderly reared +at his grandfather Van Pelt's till his father married again. Then New +York became his home for ten years or more, during which time his +playground was the Green (now City Hall Park) with the fields adjacent +to the New Jail, of which his father still had the custody. The times +were turbulent, and many stirring scenes passed under his boyish eyes. +One was the Soldiers' Riot, in 1764, when the jail was assaulted and +broken into by a party of riotous soldiers, with design to release a +prisoner, and in which Mr. Mills, in resisting them, was rudely handled +and wounded. And the gatherings, hardly less tumultuous, of the "Sons of +Liberty" to oppose the Stamp Act, or celebrate its repeal, by raising +liberty poles, which were several times cut down and replaced, all +serving to implant in his young mind an abhorrence of foreign rule, with +the germs of that patriotism which matured as he grew in years.[14] But +an elder brother Tunis (his only own brother living, save Christopher, a +brassfounder, who died, unmarried, in the West Indies in 1773), having +served an apprenticeship with Fronce Mandeville, of Moodna, blacksmith, +married, in 1771, Jennie Wear, of the town of Montgomery, and the next +spring began married life on a farm of eighty acres, which he had +purchased, lying in that part of Hanover Precinct (now Montgomery) +called Neelytown. Much attached to Tunis, John thereafter spent several +years with him, attending school. + +But now the growing controversy between the Colonies and the mother +country had ripened into actual hostilities; the first aggressive +movement in which this Colony took part being the expedition against +Canada, planned in the summer of 1775. It fired young Van Arsdale's +patriotism, and about August 25th he enlisted under Capt. Jacobus +Wynkoop, of the Fourth New York Regiment, James Holmes being the colonel +and Philip Van Cortlandt the lieutenant-colonel. These forces, +proceeding up the Hudson, entered Canada by way of lakes George and +Champlain; part of the Fourth Regiment, under Major Barnabas Tuthill, +taking part in the brilliant assault upon Quebec, December 31st, but +unsuccessful, and fatal to the gallant leader, General Montgomery, and +numbers of his men. On their way to Quebec, and especially in crossing +the lakes on the ice, Van Arsdale and his comrades suffered so intensely +from the extreme cold that the hardships and incidents of this, his +first campaign, remained fresh in his memory even till old age. Van +Arsdale having "served his time out in the year's service, returned to +New York," where the Americans were concentrating troops, in order to +oppose the royal forces expected from Europe. Here he assisted his +father on board the schooner in sinking the obstructions in the Hudson, +as before noticed, and when the enemy captured the city, accompanied him +to Orange County. It was on Sept. 16th, 1776, that the British forces +landed at Kip's Bay, on the east side of the island, three miles out of +the city. A great many of the citizens who were friends of their +country, made a precipitate flight, and the roads were lined with +vehicles of every kind, removing furniture, etc. The elder Van Arsdale, +with difficulty, and only by paying down $200, got the use of a horse +and wagon to take his family and effects from his house to the schooner +lying in Stryker's Bay. While drawing a load, a spent cannon ball +knocked off one of the wagon wheels, at which his little son Cornelius, +but eight years old, was so frightened that he never forgot it. The +schooner was crowded to excess with citizens and their families, all +eager to get away, and for fear they might sink her, Capt. Van Arsdale +was obliged to turn off some who applied for a passage. They left deeply +loaded, and in their haste were obliged to take with them a lot of +military stores which were on board. Arriving at Murdner's Creek, John, +at his father's request, and taking his brother Abraham, set out afoot +for Neelytown, to inform their brother Tunis of their arrival. The +journey of twelve miles seemed short, and ere long the well-known +farmhouse hove in sight, seated a little way back, and to which led a +lane between rows of young cherry trees, and near it on the road the +low, dusky smith-shop, with its _debris_ of cinders, old wheel-tires and +broken iron-work strewn about. Entering, as Tunis, with his back towards +them, stood at the forge heating his iron, and his assistant, Aleck +Bodle, lazily blowing the bellows, the first surprize was only +surpassed, when after hearty greetings, they imparted the startling news +of the capture of New York by the British, and that their father, having +barely escaped with his vessel, had arrived at the Creek. At once out +went the fire, and out went Tunis also to harness his horses, in order +to go and bring up the rest of the family; but on second thought, as the +day was far spent, he concluded to await the morrow. The next day there +was a joyous reunion at the farmhouse, but tempered with many sad +comments upon the doleful situation. + +John spent the winter with his brother Tunis, aiding in farm work and at +the forge; he had just reached his majority, and found congenial spirits +in Alexander Bodle and Joseph Elder, then serving apprenticeships with +Tunis, and afterwards much respected residents of Orange County. Around +the evening fireside they indulged in many a joke, when laughter made +the welkin ring, or behind the well-fed pacer, were borne in the clumsy +box sled, with the gingle of merry bells, to the rustic frolic; but the +bounds of decorum were never exceeded, and lips which could tell all +about it, bore us pleasing witness to Van Arsdale's correct habits and +deportment at a stage of life so beset with syren snares for the unwary, +and which commonly moulds the character. + +But nevertheless the winter was one of great military activity, +especially among the organized militia of Orange County, in which (in +the town of New Windsor) was the sub-district of Little Britain, the +home of the Clintons;[15] the menacing attitude of the enemy under Lord +Howe, who had approached as near as Hackensack, and the protection of +the passes of the Highlands, requiring frequent calls upon the yeomanry +to take the field. The inhabitants of Hanover Precinct, which precinct +joined on New Windsor, had from the first shown great spirit; their +Association, dated May 8th, 1775, in which they pledge their support to +the Continental Congress, &c., in resisting "the several arbitrary and +oppressive acts of the British Parliaments," and "in the most solemn +manner resolve never to become slaves," is signed first by Dr. Charles +Clinton and presents 342 names. The Precinct in the winter of 1776-7, +contained four militia companies, under Captains Matthew Felter, James +Milliken, Hendrick Van Keuren and James McBride, and these were attached +to a regiment of which that sterling patriot, James McClaughry, of +Little Britain, brother in law to the Clintons, was lieutenant colonel +commandant.[16] Tunis and John Van Arsdale lived in Capt. Van Keuren's +beat. The Captain was a veteran of the last French war, and it gave him +prestige, in the command to which he had been recently promoted. He had +"warmly espoused the cause of his country, and evinced unshaken firmness +throughout the whole of the contest." Col. McClaughry had taken the +field with his regiment early in the winter, proceeding down into +Jersey, and of which, on his return, Jan. 1st, he gave a humorous +account to Gen. Clinton; but though highly probable, we have no positive +evidence that John Van Arsdale went into actual service till the spring +opened. + +Forts Montgomery and Clinton, begun in 1775, stood on the west side of +the Hudson, opposite Anthony's Nose, at a very important pass, where the +river was narrow, easily obstructed, and from the elevation which the +forts occupied, was commanded a great distance up and down. Fort Clinton +was below Fort Montgomery, distant only about six hundred yards, the +Poplopen Kill running through a ravine between them; the fortress was +small, but more complete than Fort Montgomery, and stood at a greater +elevation, being 23 feet the highest, and 123 feet above the river. +These posts were distant (southeast) from the Clinton mansion only about +sixteen miles. The two fortresses required a thousand men for their +proper defense, but till early in 1777, had usually been in charge of a +very small force under Gen. James Clinton. The time of these soldiers +expiring on the last day of March, Col. Lewis Dubois, with the Fifth New +York Regiment was sent to garrison Fort Montgomery. + +A meeting of the field officers of Orange and Ulster, was held at Mrs. +Falls' in Little Britain, March 31st, 1777, pursuant to a resolve of the +New York Convention empowering General George Clinton, lately appointed +commandant of the forts in the Highlands, to call out the militia "to +defend this State against the incursions of our implacable enemies, and +reinforce the garrisons of Fort Montgomery, defend the post of Sidnam's +Bridge (near Hackensack), and afford protection to the distressed +inhabitants." It was there resolved, with great spirit, to call +one-third of each of the several regiments into actual service, to the +number of 1,200, and to form them into three temporary regiments, of +which two should garrison Fort Montgomery, under Colonel Levi Pawling +(with Lt. Col. McClaughry), and Col. Johannes Snyder. As the men were +raised they were to march in detachments to that post, and were to serve +till August 1st, and receive continental pay and rations. Each captain +was forthwith directed to raise his quota, and "in the most just and +equitable manner." + +John Van Arsdale was among those chosen from his beat, and sometime in +April, borrowing from his brother an old but trusty musket, proceeded to +Fort Montgomery. Being of a resolute, active temperament, with a +knowledge of tactics, and an aptness to command, he was made a corporal; +an evidence of the good opinion entertained of him by his officers, +flattering to one of his years. It was also in his favor that he was a +good penman, and had acquired a fair English education for the times. +Drilling his squad, placing and relieving the guards, and other daily +routine duty, gave our young corporal enough to do, while the courts for +the trial of some notorious tories, held at that post, during the spring +and summer, added to frequent alarms due to indications that the enemy +from below meditated an attack upon the forts, kept everything lively. +On July 2nd, Gen. Clinton, upon a hint from Washington that Lord Howe, +in order to favor Burgoyne, might attempt to seize the passes of the +Highlands, and "make him a very hasty visit," with which view, accounts +given by deserters from New York coincided; immediately repaired to Fort +Montgomery, after first ordering to that post the full regiment of Col. +McClaughry, with those of Colonels William Allison, Jesse Woodhull, and +Jonathan Hasbrouck. The militia came in with great alacrity, almost to a +man. But ten days passed without a sign of the enemy. Parties went daily +on the Dunderbergh (Thunder Mountain) to look down the river, but could +not see a single vessel; then, as usual, when there was no immediate +prospect of any thing to do, the transient militia became uneasy, and +were allowed to go home in the belief that they would turn out more +cheerfully the next time. + +But as the term of service of those called out in April expired on +August 1st, on that date another call was made by Gov. Clinton on the +respective regiments, to make up eight companies, by ballot or other +equitable mode, and to march with due expedition to Fort Montgomery, and +there put themselves under command of Colonel Allison, with McClaughry +as his Lieutenant Colonel. They were to draw continental pay, etc. In +this instance no immediate danger being apprehended, the militia did not +respond very promptly, although much needed to replace part of the +continental force which had been withdrawn for other service. Again, on +August 5th, Clinton, by virtue of threatening news from Gen. Washington, +directed Allison and McClaughry to march all the militia to Fort +Montgomery, except the frontier companies, which were to be left for +home protection. But repeated orders to urge them forward were but +partially successful. September closed, the quotas were far from +complete, orders then issued by Allison, McClaughry, and Hasbrouck (by +direction of Clinton) for half their regiments to repair to Fort +Montgomery were but slowly complied with, and the delay was fatal! Van +Arsdale had re-enlisted and held his former position. It was at this +time that he made the acquaintance of Elnathan Sears, and which ripened +into friendship under very trying circumstances. + +Forts Montgomery and Clinton at this date mounted thirty-two cannon, +rating from 6 to 32 pounders. The garrison consisted of two companies of +Col. John Lamb's artillery, under Capts. Andrew Moodie and Jonathan +Brown (one in each fort) and parts of the regiments of Cols. Dubois, +Allison, Hasbrouck, Woodhull and McClaughry with a very few from other +regiments. Thus matters stood on Sunday, October 5th, 1777. + +Hark! what bustling haste--of people running to and fro,--has suddenly +disturbed the Sabbath evening's repose at Neelytown? Tidings have just +reached them that the enemy's vessels are ascending the Hudson with the +obvious design of attacking Fort Montgomery and the neighboring posts. +The orders are for every man able to shoulder a musket to hasten to +their assistance! This was grave intelligence for the inmates at the Van +Arsdale home (and which may serve to represent many others), but the +call of duty could not be disregarded. For most of the night the good +wife was occupied in baking and putting up provisions for Tunis and his +two apprentices to take with them, while these were as busy cleaning +their muskets, moulding bullets, etc., that naught might be wanting for +the stern business before them. Towards morning, taking one or two hours +rest, they arose, equipped themselves, and made ready for the journey to +the fort, which was full twenty miles distant. As the parting moment had +come, the kind father kissed his three little ones tenderly, then +uttered in the ear of his sorrowing Jennie the sad good-bye, and with +the others hastened from the house, his wife attending him to the road, +and weeping bitterly for she understood but too well that it might be +the final parting. Her longing eyes followed them till they disappeared +beyond an intervening hill. "Oh!" said she to the writer more than sixty +years afterwards, as she related these facts, her eyes even then +suffused with tears, "You may _read_ of these things, but you can never +_feel_ them as I did. I wept much during those seven years." + +During the day, those whose kinsmen had gone to the battle met here and +there in little bands to condole with each other, and talk over the +unhappy situation. Later, the boom of distant artillery awakened their +worst fears, for now were they sure that those dear to them were engaged +in a mortal conflict with the enemy. The shades of evening closing +around, brought no relief to their burdened hearts; but, on the +contrary, the most torturing suspense as to the issue of the battle. To +make the situation more depressing, there came on a cold rain, and the +dreariness without was a fit index of the desolate hearts within. At a +late hour Mrs. Van Arsdale retired to her sleepless pillow; but her case +found its counterpart in many an anxious household over a large section +of country. + +At length morning broke upon that unhappy neighborhood, and with it came +persons from the battle bringing the appalling news that the Americans +had been defeated, and many of them slain, or made prisoners, and that +the enemy were in full possession of the forts. Then other parties +arrived whose woe-stricken faces only confirmed the sad intelligence. +Soon anxious inquiries sped from house to house where any lived who had +escaped from the slaughter, to learn about this one and that, who had +gone to the battle, but had not returned. Jennie could get no tidings of +her husband, though she spent the greater part of the day in watching +on the road, and several times even fancied that she saw him coming; but +alas! only to find it a delusion. It added to her fears for her husband, +when a neighbor named Monell, at whose house she called, met her with +the sorrowful news that his brother, Robert Monell, first lieutenant in +Capt. Van Keuren's company, had been killed in the battle. At length the +apprentices arrived, their faces begrimed with powder, and one of them +crying for his brother, who had been shot down by his side, and died +instantly.[17] The other, who was Joseph Elder, before spoken of, a +young man of giant frame, had narrowly escaped death, having his hat and +jacket pierced with bullets in the engagement! But having been separated +from Mr. Van Arsdale, they had not seen him since the battle, and so +were ignorant as to his fate. The wretched woman was in despair; many of +her neighbors had now returned and the prolonged absence of her Tunis +seemed to forbode that he had either been killed or captured by the +enemy. But now still others arrive, and she is led from their +statements, to hope that Tunis has escaped, and is making his way +homeward through the mountains. Her heart leaps with joy, and she +returns to the house, and even indulges a laugh as her eye gets a sight +of the mush kettle still hanging on the trammel, as she placed it there +in the morning; no meal stirred in, and she having eaten nothing the +whole day. Towards night Tunis arrived, on horseback, with his +brother-in-law William Wear, who at Jennie's request, had gone out some +distance to look for him.[18] He was fast asleep from exhaustion when +they reached the house, (Wear behind him and holding him on the horse), +and his face so blackened with powder that his wife hardly knew him. He +was much depressed in spirits, but grateful to God who had preserved and +restored him to his family and friends. That evening brought in his +captain, Van Keuren, who for some cause was not in the fight, with his +minister, Rev. Andrew King, and many other neighbors--a house +full,--some to congratulate Van Arsdale on his escape, others, with +anxious faces to inquire after missing friends, and others still to +learn the particulars of the battle. The account he gave of what +happened after leaving home for the scene of conflict, was briefly as +follows: + +A walk of several hours brought them to a little stream at the foot of +the hill upon which Fort Montgomery stood, and where they had intended +to stop and eat their dinner; but hearing a great deal of noise and +bustle in the fort, they only took a drink from the brook, and hastened +up into the works, when they soon learned that a large body of the enemy +had landed below the Dunderbergh, and were advancing by a circuitous +route to attack the fort in the rear. About the middle of the afternoon +the British columns appeared, and pressed on to the assault with +bayonets fixed. But our men poured down upon them such a destructive +fire of bullets and grape shot that they fell in heaps, and were kept at +bay till night-fall, when our folks, being worn out by continued +fighting, and overpowered by numbers, were obliged to give way. Then +Gov. Clinton told them to escape for their lives, when many fought their +way out, or scrambled over the wall, and so got away. It must have fared +badly with the rest, as the enemy after entering the fort continued to +stab, knock down and kill our soldiers without pity. Favored by the +darkness, Tunis attempted to escape through one of the entrances, though +it was nearly blocked up by the assailing column, and the heaps of +killed and wounded; but presently, as an English soldier held a +militiaman bayoneted against the wall, Tunis, stooping down, slipped +between the Briton's legs, and escaped around the fort toward the river. +He said he had gone but a little way, when a cry of distress, evidently +from a young person, arrested his attention. A poor boy, in making his +escape, had fallen into a crevice in the rocks, and was unable to +extricate himself. Tunis, at no little risk, crept down to where the lad +was and drew him out, but in doing so hurt himself quite badly, by +scraping one of his legs on a sharp rock. He then gained the river and +found a skiff, in which he and two or three others crossed over. Then a +party of them travelled in Indian file, through the darkness and cold +drizzling rain, stopping once at the house of a friendly farmer, where +they got some food, and as the day broke entered Fishkill; whence they +crossed to New Windsor, and there met Gov. Clinton and many more who had +made good their escape. All felt greatly dispirited, but the Governor +tried to cheer them, remarking: "Well, my boys, we've been badly beaten +this time, but have courage, the next time the day may be ours." Without +much delay Mr. Van Arsdale set out for home, as fast as his lameness +admitted of, knowing how great anxiety would be felt on his account. But +of his brother John; he had no knowledge of what had befallen him, and +indulged the worst fears as to his fate. + +Such in brief was Van Arsdale's account of that sanguinary affair, +divested of many little particulars of the battle and its sequel. But +his limited observation could include but a small part of what passed on +that most eventful day, as we are now able to gather it from many +sources. + +With a view to coöperate with General Burgoyne, who had invaded the +State from the north, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton, having a +force of about 3,000 men, sailed from New York on the 4th of October, +with the design of reducing the forts in the Highlands, and, if +possible, open communication with Burgoyne's army. The same night their +advance as far as Tarrytown was known at Fort Montgomery, and that they +had landed a large force at that place. The next morning (Sunday) +advices were received that they had reached King's Ferry, connecting +Verplank's and Stony Point. That afternoon they landed a large body of +men on the east side of the river, to divert attention from the real +point of attack, but they re-embarked in the night. An extract from Sir +Henry Clinton's report to General Howe, dated Fort Montgomery, October +9th, will begin at this point, and form a proper introduction to our +side of the story. Says he: + +"At day-break on the 6th the troops disembarked at Stony Point. The +_avant-garde_ of 500 regulars and 400 provincials,[19] commanded by +Lieut.-Col. Campbell, with Col. Robinson, of the provincials, under him, +began its march to occupy the pass of Thunder-hill (Dunderbergh). This +_avant-garde_, after it had passed that mountain, was to proceed by a +detour of seven miles round the hill (called Bear Hill), and _deboucher_ +in the rear of Fort Montgomery; while Gen. Vaughan, with 1200 men,[20] +was to continue his march towards Fort Clinton, covering the corps under +Lieut.-Col. Campbell, and _à portée_ to coöperate, by attacking Fort +Clinton, or, in case of misfortune, to favor the retreat. Major-Gen. +Tryon, with the remainder, being the rear guard,[21] to leave a +battalion at the pass of Thunder-hill, to open our communication with +the fleet. + +"Your Excellency recollecting the many, and I may say extraordinary +difficulties of this march over the mountains, every natural +obstruction, and all that art could invent to add to them, will not be +surprised that the corps intended to attack Fort Montgomery in the rear, +could not get to its ground before five o'clock; about which time I +ordered Gen. Vaughan's corps, _à portée_, to begin the attack on Fort +Clinton, to push, if possible, and dislodge the enemy from their +advanced station behind a stone breastwork, having in front for half a +mile a most impenetrable abatis. This the General, by his good +disposition, obliged the enemy to quit, though supported by cannon; got +possession of the wall, and there waited the motion of the coöperating +troops,--when I joined him, and soon afterwards heard Lieut. Col. +Campbell begin the attack. I chose to wait a favorable moment before I +ordered the attack on the side of Fort Clinton, which was a circular +height, defended by a line for musketry, with a barbet-battery in the +centre, of three guns, and flanked by two redoubts; the approaches to it +through a continued abatis of four hundred yards, defensive every inch, +and exposed to the fire of ten pieces of cannon. As the night was +approaching, I determined to seize the first favorable instant. A brisk +attack on the Fort Montgomery side, the galleys with their oars +approaching, firing and even striking the fort, the men-of-war at that +moment appearing, crowding all sail to support us, the extreme ardor of +the troops, in short, all determined me to order the attack; Gen. +Vaughan's spirited behavior and good conduct did the rest. Having no +time to lose, I particularly ordered that not a shot should be fired; in +this I was strictly obeyed, and both redoubts, &c., were stormed.[22] +Gen. Tryon advanced with one battalion to support Gen. Vaughan, in case +it might be necessary, and he arrived in time to join in the cry of +victory! + +"Trumback's Regiment was posted at the stone wall to cover our retreat, +in case of misfortune. The night being dark, it was near eight o'clock +before we could be certain of the success of the attack against Fort +Montgomery, which we afterwards found had succeeded at the same instant +that of Fort Clinton did; and _that_ by the excellent disposition of +Lieut. Col. Campbell, who was unfortunately killed on the first attack, +but was seconded by Col. Robinson, of the loyal American Regiment, by +whose knowledge of the country I was much aided in forming my plan, and +to whose spirited conduct in the execution of it, I impute in a great +measure the success of the enterprise." + +From this official account by the British commander, we shall better +understand the statements (including Gov. Clinton's report) left us by +the brave defenders of the two beleaguered fortresses; and which will +properly begin upon the day preceding the battle. + +On Sunday night Gov. Clinton, who had just arrived and taken command at +Fort Montgomery, (the defense of Fort Clinton being intrusted to his +brother Gen. James Clinton), sent out a party of about 100 men under +Major Samuel Logan of the 5th, or Dubois's regiment, across the +Dunderbergh to watch the motions of the enemy. The party returned in the +morning and reported that they had seen about forty boats full of men +land below the Dunderbergh. The real intention of the enemy was now +apparent. Hereupon the Governor sent out another party of observation, +consisting of 30 men, under Lieut. Paton Jackson (5th regiment) who took +the road that led to Haverstraw; when at about ten o'clock in the +forenoon, having reached a point some two miles and a half below Fort +Montgomery, they suddenly came upon a concealed party of the enemy, +within five rods distant, who ordered them to club their muskets and +surrender themselves prisoners. They made no answer, but fired upon the +enemy and hastily retreated. The fire was returned and our people were +pursued half a mile; but they got off without losing a man, and retired +into Fort Clinton. Soon after, intelligence was received at Fort +Montgomery that the enemy were advancing on the west side of Bear Hill +to attack that work in the rear. Upon this Gov. Clinton immediately sent +out 100 men under Lieut. Col. Jacobus Bruyn (5th regiment) and Lieut. +Col. McClaughry, to take the road around Bear Hill to meet the +approaching enemy; and at the same time dispatched another party of 60 +men, of Lamb's Artillery, with a brass field piece, to occupy a +commanding eminence on the road that diverged westerly to Orange +Furnace, or Forest of Dean. They were not long out, before both parties +were attacked, about two o'clock in the afternoon, by the enemy in full +force. The party under Cols. Bruyn and McClaughry, fell in with them two +miles from the fort, when the enemy hailing McClaughry, who took the +lead, inquired how many men he had. "Ten to your one, d----n you," +replied the undaunted colonel. But the enemy being so superior in +numbers, our people had to retreat, as of course they had expected, yet +keeping up a galling fusilade upon the foe. While doing so, the ground +being very rough and in places steep, Capt. James Humphrey, McClaughry's +brother in law, lost his gun (for then the American captains carried +both a gun and sword), or as others say, and which seems most correct, +had it broken by a shot from the enemy. In this dilemma he asked +McClaughry what he should do. "Throw stones like the devil," replied the +latter in thunder tones! The party on the Furnace road were strengthened +to upwards of an hundred, and kept their field piece playing lively upon +the cautiously advancing foe, doing great execution, till the cannoniers +were driven off with the bayonet, the enemy almost surrounding them. But +spiking the gun, they retreated in good order to a twelve pounder, which +by the Governor's direction had been placed to cover them, and also +keeping up the engagement with small arms, till most of them got within +the breastwork of the fort. The late Lieut. Timothy Mix, of Lamb's +Artillery, and who died at New Haven in 1824, aged 85 years, was of this +party. While in the act of firing the cannon his right hand was disabled +by a musket shot. Instantly seizing the match with his left, he touched +off the piece! + +Clinton immediately posted his men in the most advantageous manner for +defending the works, and before many minutes the enemy, advancing in +several columns, reached the walls and invested them on every side where +possible to do so. Cannon planted at the entrances mowed them down as +they ascended the hill, but the breach was immediately closed up, and +they pressed on to the assault. The attack now became general on both +forts, and was kept up incessantly for some time; though the smallness +of our numbers (about 500, in both forts), which required every man to +be upon continual duty and demanded unremitted exertion, fatigued our +people greatly, while the enemy, whose number was thought to be at least +4,000, continued to press us with fresh troops. Yet notwithstanding +their utmost efforts, the enemy were many times repulsed and beaten back +from our breastworks with great slaughter. Col. Mungo Campbell fell in +leading the first attack on Fort Montgomery, his place being taken by +Col. Beverly Robinson, of the Loyal Americans. This caused a temporary +check. About half-past four, they sent a flag, which Lt.-Col. William +Livingston was deputed by the Governor to go out and receive. They +demanded a surrender in five minutes, to prevent the effusion of blood, +otherwise we should all be put to sword! The gallant young colonel +answered, with irony, that he would accept their proposals if _they_ +meant to surrender, and could assure them good usage; that _we_ were +determined to defend the fort _to the last extremity_! Then the action +was renewed with fresh vigor on both sides; our officers aiding and +encouraging their men to every possible effort. Col. McClaughry was one +of the most active; full of fire, he fought like a tiger; his white coat +was seen, now here, now there, as he kept going about among his men, +inspiring them with his own invincible spirit. The conflict went on +until the dusk of evening, when the enemy stormed the upper redoubt at +Fort Montgomery, which commanded the fort, and after a severe struggle, +and overpowering us with numbers, got possession of it, when our men +were forced to give way. The first to enter the fort were the New York +Volunteers (led by Capt. George Turnbull), a provincial corps, whose +commander, Major Grant, was killed before the assault. At the same time +they stormed and got possession of Fort Clinton, in which, besides a +company of Lamb's Artillery, were none but militia, but who nobly +defended it, till they also were obliged to yield to superior force. The +garrisons, or as many as could, bound not to surrender, gallantly fought +their way out, those of Fort Montgomery retreating across the gully on +the north side; while many others, including Gov. Clinton, escaped over +the south breastwork, and making their way down to the water's edge, +crossed the river on the boom. The darkness of the evening much favored +the escape of our soldiers, as did their knowledge of the various paths +in the mountains, and a large number, with nearly all the officers, got +away. But many were taken prisoners, and about 100 were slain; among the +latter was a son of Colonel Allison, and Capt. Milliken, of McClaughry's +regiment (Mr. Sears' captain); also James Van Arsdale, of Hanover +Precinct, a kinsman of Tunis and John, and a private in Dubois's +regiment. John Thompson was killed, who was nearly related to the +Clintons, and cousin to William Bodle, Esq., late of Tompkins County, N. +Y.[23] The enemy paid dearly for their conquest, both in officers and +men, the total being 41 killed and 142 wounded. Among the officers +killed, besides Col. Campbell, Majors Grant and Sill, and Capt. Stewart, +was Count Grabouski, a Polish nobleman acting as aid-de-camp to Sir +Henry Clinton; and Sir Henry himself narrowly escaped our grape-shot, as +also Maj. Gan. John Vaughan, whose horse was shot under him. + +Many incidents are related of those who met with hair-breadth escapes. +Gen. James Clinton was among the last to leave Fort Clinton, and escaped +not until he was severely wounded by the thrust of a bayonet, pursued +and fired at by the enemy, and his attending servant killed. He slid +down a declivity of one hundred feet to the ravine of the creek which +separated the forts, and proceeding cautiously along its bank reached +the mountains at a safe distance from the enemy, after having fallen +into the stream, by which, the water being cold, the flow of blood from +his wound was staunched. The return of light enabled him to find a +horse, which took him to his house, in Little Britain, where he arrived +about noon, covered with blood, and suffering from a high fever. Capt. +William Faulkner, of McClaughry's regiment, had a bayonet driven in his +breast with such force that, being unfixed at the same moment, it stuck +fast, when he himself drew it out, and threw it back with all his might, +and his man fell. The enemy were pressing into the fort, and the captain +made his way on the ground by the side of the column and got out. +Walking a mile or so he lay down to drink at a brook, the draft stopped +the blood, but he was too weak to rise. He "made his peace with God" (to +use his own expression), and expected there to die. But a man came along +on horseback, who placed him on his horse, and took him to an inn two +miles beyond. There he found a dozen of his own men, by whom he was +taken to his own house on the Walkill, and he finally recovered.[24] + +When the battle had ended, and the enemy had set a guard, Corporal Van +Arsdale, who had shown great spirit in the fight, and was among the last +to cease firing, resolved not to be made a prisoner, and managed to +escape from the fort; but he had only gone a short distance when he was +shot in the calf of the leg, and seized by a British soldier while in +the act of crossing a fence. He was conducted back into the fort, under +a torrent of abuse from his captor, who threatened to take his life, and +he himself expected instant death. His gun was demanded, and when +delivered, the barrel was yet so hot from frequent firing that the +soldier quickly dropped it, with another imprecation. Then the old +musket, its last work so nobly done, was ruthlessly broken to pieces +over the rocks. Van Arsdale and the other prisoners, two hundred and +seventy-five in all, including twenty-eight officers, were kept under +guard for a day or two at the forts, then put on board the British +transports and taken to New York. Forty-four of Van Arsdale's regiment +were among them including the brave colonel McClaughry (who was +suffering from seven wounds),[25] and his brother-in-law Capt. Humphrey, +of whom it was said by one Van Tuyl (among the last to escape from Fort +Montgomery) that, when he left, Humphrey was yet throwing stones! The +prisoners, on arriving at New York, October 10th, were landed, and the +privates marched up to Livingston's Sugar House, in Liberty Street, +between Nassau and William, and put in custody of Sergeant Woolly; +excepting the badly wounded, who were sent to the hospital. The +officers, with similar exception, were taken to the old City Hall, +whence, two days after, they were marched up to the Provost, and placed +in charge of the brutal Cunningham, where they remained till after the +surrender of Burgoyne, when, retaliation being feared, nearly all the +officers were sent (November 1st) to Long Island, upon parole.[26] The +privates had all been removed from the Sugar House, October 24th, and +put on board a prisonship, anchored opposite Governor's Island. Van +Arsdale, and his friend Sears, needing surgical aid, were, with others, +suffering from their wounds, taken directly to the Presbyterian Church +in Beekman Street, known as the "Brick Church," and then used by the +enemy as an hospital. Sears had been very badly hurt in the battle. +After being shot in the leg, and stabbed in the side by a bayonet, which +filled his shoes with blood, he was knocked down with the but of a gun +and trampled upon by the invading column. At the hospital, the bullets +being extracted and their wounds dressed, they began to mend, but only +three weeks and three days elapsed, when they too were sent to the +prisonship, and confined between decks. Winter had set in very +inclement, their food was not only stale and unwholesome, but even this +was limited in quantity to two-thirds of a British soldiers when at sea, +which was one-third less than the allowance upon land; in consequence of +which they suffered everything but death from hunger and cold. Nor was +this the worst. The prisoners, from these and other causes, became very +sickly, and died off in great numbers. Abel Wells and four others of the +Fort Montgomery party, being tailors, were sent from the prisonship to +the Provost, November 24th, to make clothing for the prisoners +there.[27] They informed Judge Fell, a prisoner, that their company was +then reduced to one hundred. This mortality would seem to have been +heavy among Col. Dubois's men, very few of whom ever rejoined their +regiment. Van Arsdale was taken sick about the 20th of December, and had +the good fortune to be sent to the hospital, where he had some care, and +soon recovered. Shortly after going there he was joined by Sears, who +was in a suffering and helpless condition, his feet and legs having been +badly frozen in the prisonship. Fortunately Van Arsdale was getting +better, so that he was of great service to his friend, and which also +tended to divert his mind from his own misfortunes. He even begged +"coppers" from the British officers to buy little comforts for Sears; +but which, had it been for himself, he declared he would have scorned to +do, in any extremity. Sears always held that Van Arsdale saved his life, +and he spoke feelingly of his kindness to him to the day of his death. +Van Arsdale finding his condition in the hospital much more tolerable, +managed to prolong his stay, by tying up his head and feigning illness +when the doctor made his daily call. The latter would leave him some +powders, but only to be thrown away. This did not long avail him, and +when reported well enough to remove, he was taken back to the +prisonship, to endure its indescribable miseries for several weary +months. Words cannot portray the horrors of this prison, which was +loathsome with filth and vermin, and where to the pangs of hunger and +thirst, were aided the alternate extremes of heat and cold. Especially +when the hatches were closed, as was always done at night, the heat and +stench caused by the feverish breath of hundreds of prisoners became +almost suffocating. Consequently dysentery, smallpox and jail fever made +fearful ravages. The ghastly faces of the starved and sick, and the pale +corpses of the dead, the groans of the dying, the commingled voices of +weeping, cursing and praying, joined to the ravings of the delirious; +such were the shocking scenes to which Van Arsdale was a witness, and +which added to his personal sufferings, made his situation one of the +most appalling to be conceived of. Fitly was this dungeon described by +one of its inmates as "a little epitome of Hell!" Kept near to +starvation, Van Arsdale, when allowed with other prisoners, a few at a +time, to go up on the quarter deck, was glad to eat the beans or crusts +he skimmed from the swill kept there to feed pigs, that he might +partially relieve the gnawings of hunger! But we forbear further comment +upon a fruitful topic, the cruel treatment of the American prisoners, +and which has fixed a stain upon the perpetrators never to be wiped out! + +Sears had returned to the prisonship about the last of March, and in the +month of May he and Van Arsdale, with other prisoners, were picked out +and removed again to the Sugar House. This was probably a step towards +an exchange of prisoners, then contemplated, which made it necessary to +separate those belonging to the land service from the naval prisoners. +The Sugar House, with its five or six low stories, was crammed with +American patriots, and the passerby in warm weather could see its little +grated windows filled with human faces, trying to catch a breath of the +external air! But now a little more lenity seems to have been shown some +of the prisoners, perhaps in view of the exchange. Van Arsdale found a +friend in his father's cousin, Vincent Day, who had enlisted in Lamb's +Artillery, in 1775, but did not go to Canada, and was now regarded as a +loyalist. He was permitted to see Van Arsdale, bring him food, etc.,[28] +and a next step was to get leave for him to visit his house. This was a +most grateful relief; but it being suspected that Van Arsdale meditated +an escape (which my informant said was the case), this privilege was cut +off, and Day sent to the Provost for his humanity. This incident was +related to me by Mr. Abraham Van Arsdale, before mentioned. + +Van Arsdale had dragged out some two months of miserable existence in +the Sugar House, and in all nine months and a half as a prisoner, when +the day of happy deliverance arrived. Gen. Washington had long been +trying to effect an exchange of prisoners, but to overcome the scruples +of the British commander took months of negotiation. Terms were at +length agreed upon by which some six hundred Americans were set at +liberty. On July 20th, Van Arsdale was released from his dungeon, and +taken with others in a barge down the bay, and _via_ the Kills to +Elizabethtown Point, where they landed, and were delivered up to Major +John Beatty, the American Commissary. In marching from the Point two +miles to the village of Elizabethtown, Van Arsdale was obliged to +support his friend Sears, who was too feeble to walk alone. Now +breathing the air of freedom, they set out together for their homes in +Hanover Precinct, where Van Arsdale was heartily greeted by his numerous +friends who received him as one risen from the dead, and found a warm +welcome in the house of his brother Tunis. Emaciated to a degree, and +suffering from scurvy, he was for some time under the doctor's care, but +finally regained his health. + +A nation's gratitude is the least tribute it can render to its brave +soldiers who have fought its battles; but if any class of patriots +should be tenderly embalmed in a nation's memory, it is those who, +through devotion to country, have languished in prison walls, whether +the "Sugar House," or a "Libby!" What firmness, and what consecration to +country was required in the Revolutionary prisoners, under the pressure +of their sufferings, to spurn the alluring offers frequently made, to +entice them into the British service; but so rarely successful. Do not +their names deserve to be written in letters of gold, on the proudest +obelisk that national gratitude and munificence united could erect?[29] + +Van Arsdale's bitter experience at the hands of the Britons, had +changed his animosity towards them into unmitigated hate, and we know +that time but partially overcame it. So far from weaning him from the +dangers and hardships of a soldier's life, it only nerved him with +courage, and fixed his purpose to re-enter the service, an opportunity +for which soon offered. + +The frequent atrocities committed by the Indians and Tories upon the +settlers on the frontiers, within New York and Pennsylvania, and +especially the massacres, the preceding year, at Wyoming and Cherry +Valley, led to retributive measures, which took the form of an +expedition into the Indian country. This expedition was to move in two +divisions; one under Major General Sullivan, who was chief in command, +to ascend the Susquehanna river from Easton, the other under General +James Clinton to descend that river from the Mohawk Valley; and the two +meeting at Tioga Point, the united force was to proceed up the Chemung, +to give the Indians battle, should they make a stand, or otherwise to +burn and lay waste their villages, orchards and crops, thus depriving +them of subsistence, and the power to repeat their bloody forays upon +the border settlements. + +This design was scarcely matured, when our legislature, on March 13th, +1779, ordered the raising of two regiments from the militia, to be +called State Levies, for the special defense of the State, and +particularly of the frontiers of Orange and Ulster, which were subject +to the stealthy attacks of roving Indians, and of Tories disguised as +Indians, the fear of which kept the loyal inhabitants in constant alarm, +and called for the maintenance of a military guard to prevent their +falling a prey to these destroyers in the British interest, or their +abandonment of their homes and possessions. One battalion of levies, so +raised, was commanded by Lieut.-Col. Albert Pawling, and under whom, in +the company of Capt. William Faulkner, our Van Arsdale enlisted on the +10th of May. Governor Clinton had assured Washington that Pawling would +reinforce Gen. Clinton on his march, and take part in the expedition. +But the sudden seizure of Stony Point by the British, May 31st, and a +further advance which menaced West Point and obliged Governor Clinton to +take the field with all his available force, together with the burning +of Minisink by red and white savages under the cruel Brant, and the +fatal battle that ensued, July 22d, near the Delaware, in which fell +many of the brave yeomen of Orange, made it so unsafe to withdraw the +levies from these borders that Governor Clinton expressed a fear that he +might not be able to detach them upon the western expedition. + +But eventually Col. Pawling, with his battalion, about five hundred men, +left Lackawack and Shandaken, on the borders of Ulster, upon the 10th of +August. The route lay across the country for a hundred miles, over +mountains and rivers, and through dark forests known only to the guides; +but it so happened that, added to these obstacles, the rains set in and +the rivers became swollen and impassable, except by rafts. This, with +the state of his provisions and other considerations, rendered it +impracticable for him to proceed, and he reluctantly turned back. He, +however, pushed forward a small detachment of sixteen men, under Capt. +Abraham Van Aken, either to advise Gen. Clinton of his approach or of +his inability to join him; but Van Aken reached Aghquaga, or Anquaga, on +the Susquehanna, the day after Clinton had passed, so missed of seeing +him; and remaining there some days, as would appear, then returned to +camp, where he arrived September 1st. It transpired that Clinton had +reached Anquaga on the 14th, and, waiting till the 16th, then sent out +Major Church, with the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, five or six miles +to look for Pawling, but they returned without seeing him, and the next +morning Clinton pursued his march. This was a great disappointment to +Van Arsdale and others, who were full of ardor to share in the +expedition under Sullivan, and our statement must correct the existing +belief that Van Arsdale did take part in it, while it explains how he +failed of the coveted opportunity. + +Major Van Benschoten, with a detachment of the levies, including Van +Arsdale and his company, in which he was serving as corporal, proceeded, +October 31st, to the camp on the Hudson, and were ordered to Stony Point +to augment its garrison. But the winter setting in with severity, the +men through anxiety to reach home, began to desert in great numbers, on +account of which they were ordered to Poughkeepsie, and set out December +16th. At Fishkill, the next day they were paid off, up to October 31st, +the date they arrived in camp. What Capt. Faulkner then paid him was all +that Van Arsdale received in lieu of his services, past or subsequent, +till after the war ended. He remained with his company until it was +disbanded on December 25th, when he was honorably discharged and went +home, having acquitted him as "a good soldier" in the estimation of his +captain. + +He spent the winter at Neelytown, giving spare time to improving his +mind in some useful studies. It was the famous "Hard Winter," and it +made a fearful draft on the woodpile; taking the brothers often to the +woods with their axes, to keep up the supply of fuel. Snow covered the +ground to an average depth of six feet or more, fences and roads were +obliterated, and travel went in all directions over the hard crust. +Being difficult if not dangerous for a team, they drew their wood home +on a hand sled. On the melting of the snow in the spring, the stumps +left were of sufficient length to be used by Tunis for making fence +rails! + +A dark cloud hung over our cause in the spring of 1780; there were no +funds with which to pay the army, or even to supply it with necessary +food and clothing. Pressed by keenest want, officers were resigning, +large bodies of soldiers whose time had expired were leaving, while such +as remained were disheartened,--less by the remembrance of hardships +past, than by what the future seemed to forebode. It was under such +discouragements, when + + "Allegiance wand'ring turns astray + And Faith grows dim for lack of pay." + +that Van Arsdale re-entered the army, to share its fortunes whatever +those might be. An Act had been passed March 11th, 1780, to raise a body +of levies for the defense of the frontiers. It required every +thirty-five male inhabitants, of competent age, to engage and equip one +able-bodied recruit to serve in their stead in said levies. Whether at +the solicitation of his neighbors, liable under this Act, or prompted by +his own devotion to the service, or both combined, we have no means of +knowing, but we find Van Arsdale joining the levies on the 2d of May. +But under an act of June 24th ensuing, which permitted privates serving +in the levies to enlist in either of the continental battalions +belonging to the State Line, provided they engaged to serve for the war, +Van Arsdale with the then common idea that this was the more honorable +service, took his discharge from the levies, and enlisted in the company +of Capt. Henry Vandebergh (being the 1st company) of the 5th New York +regiment, of which Marinus Willett was Lieut.-Col. Commandant, and +belonging to Gen. James Clinton's brigade. This brigade was then in +garrison at West Point, and Van Arsdale's initial service was fatigue +duty on the four redoubts at that post, and guard duty at Fort +Montgomery; the latter reviving but too vividly the campaign of 1777, +and its great disaster, many traces of which were still visible. +Vandebergh, who had had command of the company as lieutenant for the +four months since its captain, Rosecrance, became a major, was now +promoted July 1st, and on the 30th, was officially put in command as +captain. Upon the latter date (it having before been given out that an +attack was to be made upon New York City), the New York brigade was +directed to march next morning at sunrise. They moved accordingly, +crossed the Hudson and took up a position below Peekskill. But the +object of the advance, which was merely strategic, having been served, +the army again crossed the river at Verplank's Point, and on August 7th +made headquarters at Clarkstown. Washington had given orders a week +previous for the immediate formation of a corps of Light Infantry, to be +commanded by General Lafayette. It consisted of two brigades, each of +three battalions, and each battalion composed of eight companies +selected from the different lines of the army, by taking the first or +"light company" of each regiment. Capt. Vandebergh's company was +included in a battalion under Col. Philip Van Cortlandt. Gen. Lafayette +was at great expense to equip this corp which was pronounced as fine a +body of men as was ever formed. They were in neat uniform, and each +soldier wore a leather helmet, with a crest of horsehair, and carried a +fusil. The General took command August 7th, and at three o'clock the +next morning the army marched, with the light infantry in the advance, +and proceeded to Orangetown, where and in the vicinity it lay for some +time, in readiness, should Sir Henry Clinton leave on an expedition +eastward or southward, of which there were indications, to strike a +vigorous blow at New York. Soon after occurred the foul treason of +Arnold, and the capture, trial and execution of Major Andre. The light +infantry were at Tappan, October 2d, when this last sad tragedy took +place.[30] Lafayette felt great pride in this corps, and was at infinite +pains to perfect its discipline, which by the assiduity of the officers +he brought to high proficiency. But the campaign passed without +affording him an opportunity to perform any signal service. The corps +was broken up on November 28th for the winter, and the companies +returned to their respective regiments. + +On December 4th the New York line sailed for Albany to go into winter +quarters, but, the levies which had joined it, being discharged by order +of Gen. Washington, because of a scarcity of provisions and clothing, +Van Arsdale took leave of his regiment, December 15th, much to his +disappointment, having enlisted for the war. But he had won the favor of +Col. Willett, who was pleased to say that he was "a good soldier and +attended to his duties." Except a small gratuity from the State, of +"Twenty Dollars of the Bills of the new emission," received when he +joined the 5th regiment, he returned without any remuneration for his +services in this campaign; but with a patriotism uncooled, and rising +superior to mercenary motives, the winter recess was no sooner past when +Van Arsdale again joined the levies raised for the defense of the State, +under Col. Albert Pawling. One of the captains was John Burnet, of +Little Britain, who had been in the battle at Fort Montgomery. Van +Arsdale entered his company, April 25th, 1781, and was given the +position of sergeant, with ten dollars a month pay, which was an advance +of two dollars. He was posted much of the time on the frontier of Ulster +County, where the levies were billeted on the families, a few in a +house, to protect them from Indians. These had done but little mischief +in this section of the State, since the crushing blow inflicted upon +them by Sullivan's expedition. The principal outrage had been committed +the last year (1780), when a small party under Shank's Ben, on September +17th, attacked the house of Col. Johannes Jansen, in Shawangunk, +intending to capture him, but, failing in this, seized and carried off a +young woman named Hannah Goetschius, and whom, with one John Mack and +his daughter, Elsie, they murdered and scalped in the woods! + +But the present year witnessed a more formidable invasion. Col. Pawling +had sent out Silas Bouck and Philip Hine, on a scout, to watch for the +enemy. Near the Neversink River, they discovered a large body of Indians +and Tories approaching; but, then starting back to give the alarm, were +intercepted by Indian runners and captured. The settlements were +therefore unprepared for a visit; when early on Sunday morning, August +12th, this savage horde stole into Wawarsing and began an attack upon +the stone fort. Being repulsed with loss, they departed to plunder and +burn a dozen scattered dwellings; many others being saved by the bravery +of the levies quartered in them. Pursued by Col. Pawling as soon as he +could collect a force, they had time to escape; but, on September 22d, +returned again to burn Wawarsing. On this occasion, also, they first +attempted to surprise the fort, but an alarm being given by the sentinel +firing his gun, the garrison were warned and the inhabitants fled from +their houses and secured themselves. The enemy, again repulsed with a +number slain, proceeded to pillage and burn the place. Capt. Burnet was +then stationed at a blockhouse at Pinebush (in Mombackus, now town of +Rochester), whence he and Capt. Kortright marched towards Wawarsing, +but, not being in sufficient force to give battle, turned back. Soon +Col. Pawling arrived and they pursued the enemy about 40 miles, being +out seven days, but they could not overtake them. There was a private in +Van Arsdale's company named George Anderson, who three years before had +performed an exploit which marked him as a hero. He and Jacob Osterhout +were seized one evening in a tavern at Lackawack, by some Indians and +Tories, and carried off towards Niagara. When within a day's march of +that place, Anderson, at midnight, effected their release, and with his +own hand tomahawked the three sleeping Indians who then had them in +charge; then, each taking a gun, provisions, etc., set out with all +speed for home, where they arrived exhausted and almost starved, after +seventeen days. The State gave Anderson £100 "for his valor." Van +Arsdale used to relate this adventure, whence has come the mistaken idea +that it happened with himself.[31] + +On Dec. 19th, Van Arsdale's service ended, and he returned home to spend +the winter; with a good conscience, doubtless, but still with empty +pockets! Yet all looked bright and hopeful, great success had crowned +our arms in other quarters; the proud Cornwallis had been humbled, and +his splendid army captured. On the opening of 1782, measures were +concerted to follow up these successes; the army was maintained, and a +body of levies were also raised in this State to afford the usual +protection to our frontiers. In these Van Arsdale enlisted on the 27th +of April, in the company of Capt. John L. Hardenburgh, of Col. +Frederick Weissenfels' regiment. Five days after, he was made sergeant, +and served as such during that campaign, holding the place of first or +orderly sergeant from Sept. 24th. But the season passed in inactivity, +and the magazine of provisions at Marbletown being exhausted, the levies +were disbanded, and on December 28th, Van Arsdale received an honorable +and final discharge from the army. He laid away his musket with a +lighter heart than on any former occasion. True he and his fellow +soldiers _had received no pay during the last three campaigns_! But he +had escaped the thousand perils of the service and was permitted to see +this grievous war practically closed and independence secured. +Recompense ample, yet the State was just to its brave defenders, and +soon afterwards paid them for this service, and also those who had been +prisoners of war, for their time from the day they were captured to the +day of their return from captivity.[32] + +There were more times than one, Van Arsdale being at home, when the +farmhouse at Neelytown, upon sudden news of a victory, echoed with +cheers long and loud, and witnessed a lively jig, enacted then and there +impromptu, with all his early zest for the dance; but how buoyant were +his spirits now, the bitterness of the struggle being past and the final +victory achieved, while the future seemed radiant with promise. + +The ensuing winter, spent with his brother, was one of unusual gayety, +and at a social party given by his old friend, Alexander Bodle, then +married and living at La Grange, he first met with his future wife, Mary +Crawford, a most amiable girl, six years his junior. Escorting her home +in his sleigh, the acquaintance ripened--the bans were published in the +church at Goshen, of which her father, David Crawford, was an elder; and +the Rev. Nathan Ker married them at the hospitable farmhouse, in +Walkill, on the 16th of June, 1783. Van Arsdale now left his brother's, +where he had experienced a kindness almost parental, and with his bride, +who ever proved herself a discreet companion, went to keeping house in +New Windsor. He had found an occupation suited to his robust and active +temperament. The owner of the Black Prince, a vessel used during the war +as a gunboat, but now fitted up for the more peaceful service of +conveying passengers and freight on the Hudson, wanted Van Arsdale as a +partner. The latter assented, he always loved the water; it was moreover +an opportunity to begin life respectably with his Polly, for a living +was not so easily secured just after the war, when the country was +impoverished, money scarce and times hard, while he saw many of his old +comrades in arms wanting employment. So he donned the tarpaulin and +sailor jacket, and entered on a calling in which he was engaged when the +incident of November 25th, 1783, occurred; and at which he became a +veteran, sustaining the character of a safe and skillful captain, and an +honest and noble-hearted man. Affable to and careful of the passengers +who patronized his packet; this in itself was an advertisement, and many +making their annual visit to the City, either for pleasure or to sell +their dairies or other farm produce, or to purchase goods (for the day +of railroads was not yet), much preferred sailing with "Captain John." +His passenger list was full on the trip preceding Evacuation Day, but of +that memorable day we need add nothing; and the sequel of Capt. Van +Arsdale's life will be briefly told. + +After four years the Captain closed his business relations with New +Windsor, and removed to New York, taking command of the "Democrat" for +Col. Henry Rutgers, and where, with the exception of brief residences on +Long Island and in Westchester County, before his final return to the +City in 1811, he made his home for the rest of his life. He was granted +the freedom of the City, April 1st, 1789; and shortly after engaged in a +different calling, but five years later resumed the old one, and +successively sailed (sometimes as part owner), the Deborah--named for +his mother--the Packet, Neptune, Rising-Sun, Ambition, Venus and Hunter. +It was while sailing the Hunter, during the last war with England, that +in coming out of Mamaroneck Harbor (September 17th, 1813), he narrowly +escaped capture by one of the enemy's vessels; a market boat which they +had seized and manned, to more easily entrap ours. The Captain thought +they acted strangely, but discovered their real character only when they +bore down and rounded to, with intent to board him. But the Captain was +too quick for them. Ordering the passengers below, he instantly tacked +about, the bullets now flying thick around him, and shouting to the foe +to _fire away, it was not the first time they had wasted powder on him_, +he was soon beyond their reach, and got in safely, with no other damage +than sails riddled, and a few holes in the hull. The people ashore, +having heard the firing and alarmed for the Captain's safety, were +overjoyed, and came out in small boats to help him in. There were +several little incidents connected with this adventure. A brave woman on +board, a Mrs. Wallace, insisted upon rowing with a sweep, till fairly +forced to desist and go below. The cabin-boy when told to go down, +demurred, saying, "Captain, when your head is off, I'll take the helm." +A few days before, the Captain going into the country to buy produce, +had told his son David to keel up the vessel and give it a coat of +tallow, which preserved the timbers, kept her tight and helped her +sailing. David obeyed orders, but so thoroughly and well, that he ran up +a big score for tallow at the store, to the astonishment of his father +when he came to see the bill, and who gave David a round reprimand for +his extravagance. But after the trial of speed with the enemy, "David," +said the Captain, patting his son on the shoulder, "we hadn't a bit too +much tallow on to-day!" + +Speaking of David, he was in one respect "a chip of the old block," he +relished a joke next the best. And so it happened on an occasion, that +the schooner lay at Cow Harbor, loading with wood, when a Montauk Indian +came aboard, asking a passage to New York. Now the Captain had a kind +heart; but had sworn eternal enmity to the whole race of aborigines. His +ears filled with recitals of Indian outrages, when scouting on the +frontiers; an eye-witness of the cruelties inflicted on peaceable +communities by the firebrand and the tomahawk; yes, his soul harrowed at +the sight of innocent victims, as they lay in their gore, murdered and +scalped; if there was on earth an object at sight of which his very +blood boiled, it was an _Indian_! David knew it well, yet the young +rogue sent the Indian into the cabin to see the Captain. "What do you +want?" asked the latter gruffly. "To go to New York, Captain," said the +poor native. "Get out of this, you Indian dog," was his only answer, +while the Captain's cudgel at his heels, as he scrambled up the +companionway, sent the applicant off at a much livelier gait than "an +Indian trot." But then it was that the joke turned on David, when he had +to meet the scathing question,--How he _dared_ to send an _Indian_ into +the cabin to him! + +But we said the Captain himself enjoyed a joke. In 1821, he and Squire +Daniel Riker took a friendly tour, in the latter's gig, as far as Orange +County; Mr. V. to see his kindred and acquaintances, and one of his +daughters being also there on a visit. Concluding to go as far as +Monticello, they set out from Bloomingburgh, the Squire and Deborah in +the gig, and the Captain on horseback. Shortly before reaching the +Neversink River, the latter stopped to have a shoe set, but told the +Squire to drive on and he would soon follow. Now the Squire was a spruce +widower of fifty, but Deborah just out of her teens. So on they went +reaching the toll-gate in high glee and at a lively pace. The +inquisitive gate-keeper had noticed the speed at which they rode, and +overheard a tell-tale remark let fall by the Squire, that by driving +fast they might reach the Neversink bridge _before the Captain could +catch them_! Soon the Captain arrived in seeming haste, and reigning +his horse at the gate, inquired of the keeper if he had seen a runaway +couple that way; an old man eloping with his daughter. "Yes, yes," said +the man, "they just passed, and were hurrying, to reach the bridge +before you could catch them; but you'll do it if you're only smart." +"Quick, quick, hand me my change," said the Captain, and spurring his +horse, on he went, almost bursting before he could give vent to his +laughter; while the gate-keeper ran in to tell about the wonderful +elopement. But on their return, there was a hearty laugh all round, as +the gate-keeper took in the situation, and the Captain, with a smirk, +remarked, "You see, I caught the runaways." The joke spread, to the +merriment of all, but none enjoyed telling it more than the Captain. + +In 1816, having quit his old occupation the previous year, and being now +sixty years of age, Capt. Van Arsdale was appointed Wood Inspector in +the First Ward, a post he held for twenty years; and which he had +previously enjoyed for a short time, in 1812, under a commission from De +Witt Clinton, then Mayor. Daily at Peck Slip, he was seen, with his +measuring rod in hand, busy at his avocation; till "Uncle John" became +one of the fixed features of the locality. He continued here, indeed, +till the use of coal had so far supplanted that of wood, that business +dwindled to nothing, and he resigned his office in disgust. He was made +a member of the "Independent Veteran Corps of Heavy Artillery," Oct. +6th, 1813. This Corps was organized for the special defense of the City +of New York, and for the whole period Mr. Van Arsdale was connected with +it (except a short interval), was commanded by Capt. George W. Chapman. +Their uniform was a navy blue coat and pantaloons, white vest, black +stock, a black feather surmounted red, black hat, and cockade, bootees +and side arms yellow mounted. Capt. Van Arsdale took great interest in +the corps, rarely if ever missed a parade, and in 1814, for over three +months, ending December 4th, was in active service guarding the Arsenal +in Elm street, a plot being suspected to blow up the building with its +14,000 stand of arms. On Nov. 25th, 1835, he was promoted to the next +position to the commandant, that of First Captain-Lieutenant. + +Capt. Van Arsdale had now reached his eighty-first year, he had survived +his companion four years, his mental faculties were still good, but his +strength was failing; yet he attended to business till near the last. +But borne down by the weight of years, a short illness closed the scene, +and the veteran gently passed away, August 14th, 1836, at his residence +134 Delancey street. He was interred the next day in the cemetery in +First street, with the honors of war, by the corps in which he had held +command; the Napoleon Cadets, Capt. Charles, acting as a guard of honor, +and a concourse of citizens paying their last respects. His remains now +rest in Cypress Hills Cemetery.[33] + +In person Mr. Van Arsdale was of medium height, stoutly built, erect, +and elastic of foot even till old age. Always neat in his person and +dress; we recall his good-natured chiding, when, an urchin, running in +to see Grandpa, heated from our play, and collar, boylike, well sweated +down;--"Go home, you little rascal," he would say, "You've no collar to +your shirt." A democrat of the old school, he was pronounced in his +opinions, and no way sparing of opponents. It was in the autumn of 1834, +that a friend asked him how the party which that year took the name of +_Whig_, got it. "Got it," said the old man, his face kindling with +honest indignation, "Smiley, they got it as their fathers, the Cowboys +of the Revolution, got their beef,--_they stole it!_" The Captain was +then visiting friends in Sullivan County, and was riding out to see his +old war-chum Sears. They met on the road, when Mr. V. springing from the +wagon, Sears instantly recognized him, and overcome with emotion, threw +his arms around him and burst into tears! How flushed up the faded +memories of camp and battle scenes, and dismal prison life; verily a +picture for the limner. At this time also, the Captain had the pleasure +of visiting Mr. Hugh Lindsey, who was captured with him at Fort +Montgomery; he died shortly after Van Arsdale's return. But we have +done. The kind father,--filial affection still cherishes his memory; the +true friend,--alas, but few survive to embalm the friendship so long +sundered; the worthy citizen, whose heart was ever open to the poor and +suffering around him,--let it suffice that the savor of good deeds is +immortal! But more fitting to close this imperfect tribute to his worth +are the apt words of the burial orders, recalling the salient fact in +Capt. Van Arsdale's life,--"A tried Soldier of the Revolution!" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] ARSDALE was formerly pronounced as if written _aurs-daul_; hence +the various modes of spelling it to express the Dutch pronunciation by +English letters, as _Osdoll_, etc. But the growing disposition to +correct such departures by resuming the original form of surnames, leads +us to hope for a reformation in this case also, especially as a large +part of the family have held to the form which early obtained. + +[12] + +[Illustration] + +SIMON JANSEN VAN ARSDALEN, the grandfather of Stoffel, (in English, +Christopher,) was the common ancestor of all in this country bearing the +name of _Van Arsdale_, or its modification, _Van Osdoll_, which latter +preserves the Dutch pronunciation. He was born in Holland in 1629, of an +ancient Helvetian family, emigrated to this country in 1653, and settled +in Flatlands, L.I., where he married Peternelle, daughter of Claes (or +Nicholas) Wyckoff. He acquired property, was a magistrate and repeatedly +chosen an elder of the church, and lived to be over four score years of +age. He had, besides daughters, two sons, Cornelius and John, both of +whom inherited their father's virtues and were prominent in civil and +church affairs. Each of these had six sons (Cornelius had _Derick_, +_John_, _Simon_, _Philip_, _Abraham_ and _Jacobus_ or _James_; and John +had _Simon_, _Stoffel_, _Nicholas_, _Jurian_, or _Uriah_, _John_ and +_Cornelius_), most of whom (except Nicholas who lived in Jamaica, L. +I.,) settled about the Raritan in New Jersey, whence some removed into +Pennsylvania; they were as a family, remarkably attached to the church +and to the elder Frelinghuysens. John, first named, married, 1695, +Lammetie, daughter of Stoffel Probasko, lived for some years in +Gravesend, but died in the town of Jamaica, about 1756, and as will be +seen was the father of Stoffel, named in the text. The family has been +very prolific, and has furnished to society many capable business men, +besides physicians, clergymen, bankers, etc. Of these was the late Dr. +Peter Van Arsdale, of this city. + +[13] ARENT TEUNISSEN, great grandfather of Magdalena Van Hengelen, came +out to this country from Hengelen (now Hengelo), in the County of +Zutphen, in 1653, the same year in which Simon Van Arsdale arrived. He +was under engagement to Baron Vander Capelle, to cultivate his lands on +Staten Island, but was slain in the Indian massacre of 1655. His son +Reynier, was the father of Okie Van Hengelen, named in the text, who +left descendants in New Jersey, called _Van Anglen_, of whom was Capt. +John Van Anglen, of the Revolution. + +[14] Opposite the jail stood, in those days, a public whipping post, +stocks, etc., the terror of law-breakers, and by which lesser crimes +were expiated. The late Abraham Van Arsdale, born the year of the +Soldiers' Riot (and old enough to fly his kite, as he did, from the roof +of the prison, while his father kept it), well remembered these +instruments of justice, and informed me that he had seen gallows erected +and persons executed, in front of the jail. They then hung for +_stealing_! + +[15] To avoid confusion, we speak here and elsewhere of Orange County as +now organized. Previous to 1798, it embraced the present Rockland +County, while the town of New Windsor, and all those towns lying to the +north of a line running west from the southern boundary of New Windsor +belonged to Ulster County. Of course, Little Britain, and the Precinct +of Hanover were then in Ulster. + +[16] JAMES CLINTON had been colonel of this regiment, till appointed a +brigadier general. + +[17] Believed to have been James Thompson, whose brother John was killed +at Fort Montgomery. Others slain in McClaughry's regiment were _Capts._ +James Milliken and Jacobus Roosa, _Lieut._ Nathaniel Milliken, and +_Privates_ Theophilus Corwin, David Benson, James Gage, David Halliday, +etc. + +[18] The WEARS, respectable Protestants from the north of Ireland, were +noted for longevity. William Wear, their ancestor, dying, his widow with +two children, William and Jennie, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1749, and +thence in 1760 to the town of Montgomery. Mrs. Wear died at her +daughter's house December 3, 1803, aged 92 years. Her son William, named +in the text, resided near Orange Lake, had a numerous family, and +attained the age of 97 years. He died November 7, 1828, and was ancestor +of William Wear, Esq. Mrs. Van Arsdale was born March 31, 1746, as +maintained by her brother, who was much the oldest, and hence was in her +100th year at her decease, September 17, 1845. Her husband, Tunis, died +April 9, 1813, aged 67 years. This worthy pair united with the Walkill +Church in 1782. Mrs. V. was a woman of remarkable energy, and retained +her faculties till the last, almost perfectly. Her memory extended back +to the closing events in the life of Steffel Van Arsdale, her husband's +grandfather, and she lived to see his descendants of the sixth +generation. + +[19] The 52d and 27th Regiments, the Royal American Regiment, Col. +Beverly Robinson, the New York Volunteers, Major Grant, and Emerick's +Provincial Chasseurs. + +[20] Grenadiers and Light Infantry, the 26th and 63d Regiments, one +company of the 71st Highlanders, one troop of dismounted dragoons, and +Hessian Chasseurs. + +[21] The Royal Fusileers and Hessian Regiment of Trumback. + +[22] This refers only to the final assault; the enemy fired upon our +people both in the preliminary skirmishes and after they were masters of +the forts. J. R. + +[23] JUDGE BODLE was born only a stone's throw from the Clinton +homestead, in Little Britain (being a second cousin to the Clintons); +but at the time of the battle was a farmer on the Walkill. The distance +made him late, and he reached the vicinity of the forts only to learn +that the enemy had possession. Next morning, going home, he suddenly met +Claudius Smith, the noted Tory robber. They knew each other. Bodle was +perplexed, but putting on a bold front, approached Claudius, who seemed +very friendly. After inquiring the news from the river, Smith said he +had to go away, but added: "Mr. Bodle, you are weary, go to my house +yonder and ask my wife for some breakfast, and say that I sent you." +Seeming to accept his offer, but suspecting a trick, Bodle steered for +home, nor felt quite safe till he reached Chester. Smith was a bold, +accomplished villain, a terror to the people of Orange, and whose career +of brigandage has all the air of romance. He was finally hung at Goshen, +January 22, 1779. Mr. Bodle was one of the citizens who guarded him +while in jail. Smith asked him if he would really shoot him, if a rescue +were attempted. Bodle said his duty would compel him to it. "Ah! Bodle, +I don't believe you," said Smith. See _Eager's Orange County_, for an +account of Smith and his gang, made up in part from an article we wrote +many years ago for the "True Sun." But not a fact in that article (save +the incident above related), came from Judge Bodle, as Mr. Eager +assumes. + +[24] JEPTHA LEE, of Lamb's Artillery, was one of those who escaped out +of the fort with General James Clinton. He served with John Van Arsdale, +under Capt. Faulkner, in 1779, and died in 1855, at Ulysses, N. Y. + +[25] COL. MCCLAUGHRY, though a prisoner and sorely wounded, showed the +same indomitable spirit as before. Left to suffer three days before his +wounds were dressed, in the belief that he could not live, his captors +tried to extort information from him, as to our strength. He replied +curtly that Washington had a powerful army, and would yet whip them, and +he should live to see it! He was soon exchanged, resumed his command and +survived the war. He was made an honorary member of the Cincinnati, and +lived most respectably upon his farm at Little Britain, till his death +in 1790, aged 67 years. He left no children. + +GEN. ALLISON, as later styled, was exchanged during the ensuing winter, +and took home with him to Gov. Clinton $2,000 in gold, loaned by a good +whig on Long Island, to aid the American cause. He died in 1804, at the +Drowned Lands, where he resided; leaving a very respectable family and +an ample estate. His daughter Sarah married William W. Thompson, and +daughter Mary married Dr. William Elmer. + +[26] The exceptions were Col. McClaughry, Capt. Humphrey, Lieut. Solomon +Pendleton and Ensign John McClaughry, both of Dubois's regiment, and +Lieut. John Hunter, of McClaughry's; who were still there Nov. 5th. + +[27] They were, besides Wells, Robert Huston, Francis McBride, and +William Humphrey, of McClaughry's regiment, and John Brooks, of +Woodhull's. Abel Wells sickened and died in the Provost, Dec. 13, 1777. +Benjamin Goldsmith and Garret Miller, worthy residents of Smith's Clove +in Orange County, deserve notice in this connection. Goldsmith had a +valuable horse stolen by Claudius Smith's gang, and some of his +neighbors sustained similar losses. Finally a party went out in pursuit +of the robbers, but some, including Goldsmith and Miller, fell into the +hands of the British, and were sent to the Provost, where both died of +smallpox, Miller on the memorable 6th of October, and Goldsmith on the +20th of October, 1777. Goldsmith was the father of Daniel, who was the +father of the present Mr. Daniel Goldsmith, of Bloomingrove, and of the +late David Goldsmith, of Schuyler Co., N. Y. + +[28] This kindness was repaid a dozen years later (1790) when Mr. Van +Arsdale and his wife took Mr. Day's eight year old motherless daughter +to nurture as their own, they having been bereft the year previous of +their three young children, though seven more were given them +afterwards. And Mary Day, (whose father died Oct. 19, 1802, aged 49), +remained with them till her marriage to William Hutchings, the father of +Mr. John Hutchings, of Norwalk, Ct. Amiable woman, pure and artless as a +child, and to sum up her life in a word, filling her humble sphere with +perfect fidelity,--among the happier days of the writer's boyhood were +those spent in summer recreations at her modest home at Cow Bay, with +the mill pond and Squire Mitchell's old red grist mill, and Uncle +Billy's cooperage near it, and around the bluff the broad sandy beach, +as rambling ground; your pardon, indulgent reader, if thoughts of the +past do force a tear. + +[29] LIST OF THE AMERICANS who were made prisoners at Forts Montgomery +and Clinton, Oct. 6, 1777. + +OFFICERS. + + Col. William Allison. + Lt. Col. James McClaughry. + Lt. Col. Jacobus Bruyn. + Lt. Col. William Livingston. + Major Samuel Logan, 5th Regt. + Major Stephen Lush, Brigade Major to Gen. George Clinton. + Major Daniel Hamil, Brigade Major to Gen. James Clinton. + Major Zachariah Dubois, Woodhull's Regt. + Capt. Henry Godwin, 5th Regt. + Capt. James Humphrey, McClaughry's Regt. + Capt. Lt. Cornelius Swartwout, Lamb's Artillery. + Capt. Lt. Ephraim Fenno, Lamb's Artillery. + Lieut. Solomon Pendleton, 5th Regt. + Lieut. Paton Jackson, 5th Regt. + Lieut. John Furman, 5th Regt. + Lieut. Henry Pawling, 5th Regt. + Lieut. Ebenezer Mott, 5th Regt. + *Lieut. Alexander McArthur, 5th Regt. + Lieut. Samuel Dodge, 5th Regt. + Lieut. John Hunter, McClaughry's Regt. + Lieut. Benjamin Halstead, Allison's Regt. + Lieut. Henry Brewster, Allison's Regt. + Ensign Abraham Leggett, 5th Regt. + Ensign John McClaughry, 5th Regt. + Ensign Henry Swartwout, 5th Regt. + Adj. Dep. Qr. Mr. Gen. Oliver Glean. + Qr. Master Nehemiah Carpenter. + Capt. James Gilliland, Director of Ordnance. + + +PRIVATES AND NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. _5th, or Col. Dubois's +Regiment._ + + David McHollister. Thomas Conklin. + Martin Shay. Ephraim Adams. + Jacobus Tarbush. Francis Sears. + Thaddeus Kennedy. Samuel Garrison. + John McDonald. William Willis. + John Conklin. Abraham Jorden. + James Montanye. John Storm. + Henry Ostrander. Thomas McCarty. + Jacobus Logier. Thomas Hendricks. + David Bovins. John Chamberlin. + Vincent Venney. Zebulon Woodruff. + Jeremiah Dunn. Paul Keizler. + Robert Patrick. George Heck. + William Barber. John Miller. + Benjamin Wiley. John Allison. + Danford Winchester. Samuel Boyd. + *William Mullen. William Weaver. + Lewis Dixon. William Ivery. + John Ivery. John Stanley. + Nathaniel Otter. John Brown. + Eliakim Brush. George Polton. + Robert Gillespie. *Philip Felix. + Abraham Wright. Aaron Knapp. + Jonathan Hallock. James Mitchell. + James Weldon. John Johnston. + Thomas Tinn. Nehemiah Sniffen. + Samuel Turner. Solomon Shaw. + Daniel Dominick. James Montieth. + John Witlock. Daniel Lower. + Jacobus Terwilliger. John Hunt. + James Steel. Michael Johnston. + Thomas Crispell. Joseph Reeder. + Enos Lent. John Price. + Jacobus Lent. Robert Marshall. + John Albright. Scott Travers. + Alexander Ockey. John Satterly. + Thomas Hartwell. James Amerman. + Patrick Dorgan. Harman Crum. + Samuel Crosby. Samuel Griffin. + Moses Shall. Cornelius Acker. + John West. Jacob Lawrence. + John McIntosh. Francis Gaines. + Henry Schoonmaker. Benjamin Griffin. + Joseph Morgan. Enos Sniffen. + Jonathan Stockham. Joseph Bolton. + Abel Randall. James Hannah. + Thomas Kent. William Slott. + William Banker. Benjamin Chichester. + Peter Wells. Francis Drake. + Joseph Deneyck. Jasper Smith. + John Weston. William Casselton. + Michael Burgh. Edward Allen. + Thomas Smith. William Bard. + +COL. LAMB'S ARTILLERY. + + Elisah Petty. Alexander Moffatt. + David Clark. David Hanmore. + Hull Peck. James Shearer. + William Taylor. William Swan. + Edward Keen. John Patterson. + Hugh Lindsey. John Nelson. + David Pembroke. Israel Smith. + Thomas Griffith. Samuel Furman. + Robert English. Alexander Young. + David Stone. John Kelly. + John Twitchell. Alexander McCoy. + Hugh McCall. John Gardner. + Thaddeus Barnes. Timothy Nichols. + +COL. ALLISON'S REGIMENT. + + Samuel Taylor. Peter Jones. + James Bell. Uriah Black. + Robert Eaton. Frederick Nochton. + Richard Sheridan. David Wheeler. + James Koyl. Peter Stage. + *James Lewis. Isaac Ketcham. + James Thompson. Henry Brewster. + Michael Dunning. Frederick Pelliger. + James Sawyer. Caleb Ashley. + Joseph Moore. Timothy Corwin. + Jesse Dunning. + +COL. MCCLAUGHRY'S REGIMENT. + + *John McMullen. Robert Barkley. + Henry Neely. James Wood. + Robert Henry. David Thompson. + William Scott. Elias Wool. + Matthew Dubois. *Robert Wool. + Francis McBride. *Samuel Hodge. + Robert Huston. William McMullen. + Andrew Wilson. Isaac Denton. + Christopher Sypher. Moses Cantine. + John Darkis. George Brown. + William Stinson. Elnathan Sears. + William Humphrey. Philip Millspaugh. + George Humphrey. John Van Arsdale. + James Humphrey. George Coleman. + John Carmichel. Abel Wells. + John Skinner. Hezekiah Kune. + Gerardus Vineger. John Manny. + Baltus Van Kleek. Isaac Kinbrick. + Cornelius Slott. Samuel Falls. + William Howell. James Miller. + John Hanan. + +COL. HASBROUCK'S REGIMENT. + + George Wilkin. Benjamin Lawrence. + Cornelius Roosa. Cornelius Stevens. + Simon Ostrander. John Bingham. + Zachariah Terwilliger. John Snyder. + John Stevenson. Robert Cooper. + William Warren. + +COL. WOODHULL'S REGIMENT. + + John Brooks. James Mitchell. + John Lamerey. John Armstrong. + Henry Cunningham. Peter Gillen. + John Crooks. Edward Tomkins. + William Penoyer. Randle House. + Simon Currens. *Christian House. + Israel Cushman. Isaac Hoffman. + Asa Ramsey. + *Joel Curtiss. + Thomas Harten. _Col. Hammon's_, Zachariah Taylor. + Jesse Carpenter. _Col. Drake's_, John Vantassel. + Benjamin Simmons. _Col. Holme's_, Cornelius Cornelius, + Isaac Cooly. William Randle. + Joshua Currey. _Col. Ogden's_, Thomas Cook. + James Thompson. _Col. Antill's_, Jonathan Nichols. + Stephen Clark. + +CORPS UNKNOWN. + + John Donalds. Tobias Lent. + Joseph Mead. George Depew. + George Peck. Auris Verplank. + Jesse Lockwood. Albert Vantass. + +WAGONERS. + + John Randle. *Jacob Morris. + Elias Vanvolver. *John Tallow. + Samuel Anderson. + +N. B.--The ten with a star are named in a list preserved by Col. Wm. +Faulkner, but are not in that furnished Gov. Clinton, by Joseph Loring, +British Commissary of Prisoners. McArthur returned to his regiment, the +other nine are not found again. + +[30] GEN. LAFAYETTE, upon his last visit to this country, arrived at +Staten Island, on Sunday, August 15, 1824. Capt. Van Arsdale had a +grandson born on the same day. The next morning on landing at the +Battery, the General was received by the Veteran Corps, and passing +along the line, took each member cordially by the hand. Coming to Capt. +Van Arsdale, he looked him intently in the face, as if he knew him, yet +was not quite sure. But the instant the Captain alluded to his service +in the Light Infantry Corps, the General's countenance lightened up, and +there was a full recognition. "Van Arsdale," said he with emotion, as if +the glorious past was flushing his memory, "Van Arsdale, I remember you +well!" Going home, pleased beyond measure, that the General should +recollect him, after a lapse of forty-four years, Capt. Van Arsdale went +to see his little grandson, and being desired to give him a name, called +him _John Lafayette_. This was the late Col. J. Lafayette Riker, of the +62d New York Volunteers, who in defense of the flag for which his +grandsire sacrificed so much, nobly laid down his life at the battle of +Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862. + +[31] Soon after Anderson's escape, the Indians, in retaliation, as was +believed, burnt a house and several barns near Pinebush (in Mombackus), +murdered two men, and carried off a third, named Baker, who was never +heard of again, and was probably reserved for the worst tortures. Two or +three hundred troops then lay at a fort on Honk Hill, under Lt. Col. +Newkerk, of McClaughry's regiment, and volunteers being called for, to +go out and intercept the Indians who were supposed to be few in number, +Lieut. John Graham offered himself, and set out with twenty man. At the +Chestnut Woods (now Grahamsville, Sullivan Co.,) they lay in wait for +the wiley foe, but were themselves drawn into an ambush, and only two +escaped to tell the sad tragedy. Lieut. Graham fell at the first fire. +This happened on September 6th, 1778. Three hundred men went out and +buried the dead where they fell. They had all been scalped. Graham was +an uncle to the lady whom Van Arsdale afterwards married, and a +half-brother to Wm. Bodle, Esq., before mentioned. + +[32] He was entitled to a "Soldier's Right," (500 acres), in the +unappropriated lands of the State, which was promised each recruit +joining the Levies in 1781, to be given him as soon after his term of +service closed, as the survey could be safely made; but it is +traditionary in the family, that thinking it of little value, he +neglected to secure it within the time prescribed by law, three years +after the war should close. Rights sold for only $50, after the war. + +[33] CAPT. VAN ARSDALE had five children who reached adult years; three +of whom, his only son before named, and two daughters, yet survive. His +eldest daughter, married to the late Alderman James Riker, and long +since deceased, was the mother of the writer of this sketch, also of +Col. J. Lafayette Riker, named in a preceding note; another daughter yet +survives her husband, the late estimable John Phillips; another is the +widow of Jacob G. Theall, and mother of Mrs. Dr. Jared G. Baldwin, of +New York, and a fourth daughter married the late, much respected, Capt. +Andrew Dorgan, of Mobile, whose sons Augustus P. and Lyman Dorgan, are +well known merchants at that place. (_See Annals of Newtown_, p. 307.) + + + + +MR. DAVID VAN ARSDALE. + + +This venerable citizen, son of Capt. John Van Arsdale, and to whom some +humorous references have been made in these pages, has suddenly ended +his pilgrimage, as our last sheet was passing from the press. He died +yesterday, (November 14th,) at the age of 87 years. His decease on the +very eve of the Centennial, in the observance of which he was expected +to take a special part causes the deeper regret; but we forbear remark, +while the City Press is teeming with obituaries expressive of respect +for his memory. + + + + + +-----------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 4 delapidated changed to dilapidated | + | Page 8 loathesome changed to loathsome | + | Page 18 weer changed to were | + | Page 18 indellibly changed to indelibly | + | Page 22 wil changed to will | + | Page 22 Getnlemen changed to Gentlemen | + | Page 25 missing word "of" inserted after unworthy | + | Page 30 aquaintance changed to acquaintance | + | Page 32 dispair changed to despair | + | Page 35 gallies changed to galleys | + | Page 35 Trumbach's changed to Trumback's | + | Page 36 fortressess changed to fortresses | + | Page 41 loathesome changed to loathsome | + | Page 42 anp changed to and | + | Page 42 knawings changed to gnawings | + | Page 42 year changed to years | + | Page 47 disappointed changed to disappointment | + | Page 52 grevious changed to grievous | + +-----------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of "Evacuation Day", 1783, by James Riker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "EVACUATION DAY", 1783 *** + +***** This file should be named 33419-8.txt or 33419-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/4/1/33419/ + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: "Evacuation Day", 1783 + Its Many Stirring Events: with recollections of Capt. John Van Arsdale + +Author: James Riker + +Release Date: August 13, 2010 [EBook #33419] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "EVACUATION DAY", 1783 *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1><span class="smcap">"Evacuation Day</span>,"<br /> +1783.</h1> + +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/frontis.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/frontis.jpg" width="45%" alt="Sergeant Van Arsdale Tearing Down the British Flag." /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;"><i>Sergeant Van Arsdale Tearing Down the British Flag.</i></p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>WITH RECOLLECTIONS OF</h4> +<h3>CAPT. JOHN VAN ARSDALE</h3> +<h4>OF THE VETERAN CORPS OF ARTILLERY,</h4> + +<hr style="width: 5%;" /> + +<h2><span class="smcap">BY</span> JAMES RIKER.</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<p><span style="margin-left: 0em;"><b>50 <span class="smcap">CENTS</span>.</b></span> +</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>"Evacuation Day,"<br /> + +1783,</h1> + +<h4> ITS</h4> + +<h2> MANY STIRRING EVENTS:</h2> + +<h4> WITH</h4> + +<h3> RECOLLECTIONS</h3> + +<h4> OF</h4> + +<h3> CAPT. JOHN VAN ARSDALE</h3> + +<h4> OF THE VETERAN CORPS OF ARTILLERY,<br /> + + BY WHOSE EFFORTS ON THAT DAY<br /> + +THE ENEMY WERE CIRCUMVENTED,<br /> + + AND</h4> + +<br /> +<h3> THE AMERICAN FLAG SUCCESSFULLY RAISED ON THE BATTERY.</h3> +<br /> + +<hr style="width: 5%;" /> +<h4> WITH ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.</h4> +<hr style="width: 5%;" /> + +<h4> BY</h4> + +<h2> JAMES RIKER,</h2> + +<h4> Author of the Annals of Newtown, and History of Harlem;<br /> Life Member of the + New York Historical Society, Etc.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 5%;" /> + +<h4>Printed for the Author.<br /> + NEW YORK<br /> + 1883.</h4> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr style="width: 70%;" /> + +<h4>Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by<br /> + +<span class="smcap">James Riker</span>,<br /> + +In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 70%;" /> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<p class="noin"><span style="border-top: .5pt black solid;">CRICHTON & CO., </span><br /> + +<span class="smcap">Printers</span>,<br /> + +<span style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">221-225 Fulton St., N. Y.</span></p> + + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>EVACUATION DAY.</h2> + +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + + +<p>Our memorable revolution, so prolific of grand and glorious themes, +presents none more thrilling than is afforded by the closing scene in +that stupendous struggle which gave birth to our free and noble +Republic. New York City will have the honor of celebrating, on the 25th +of November, the hundredth anniversary of this event, the most signal in +its history; and which will add the last golden link to the chain of +Revolutionary Centennials. A century ago, on "Evacuation Day," so called +in our local calendar, the wrecks of those proud armies,—sent hither by +the mother country to enforce her darling scheme of "taxation without +representation,"—withdrew from our war-scarred city, with the honors of +<i>defeat</i> thick upon them, but leaving our patriotic fathers happy in the +enjoyment of their independence, so gloriously won in a seven years' +conflict.</p> + +<p>With the expiring century has also disappeared the host of brave actors +in that eventful drama! Memory, if responsive, may bring up the +venerable forms of the "Old Seventy Sixers," as they still lingered +among us two score years ago; and perchance recall with what +soul-stirring pathos they oft rehearsed "the times that tried men's +souls." But they have fallen, fallen before the last great enemy, till +not one is left to repeat the story of their campaigns, their +sufferings, or their triumphs. But shall their memories perish, or their +glorious deeds pass into oblivion? Heaven forbid! Rather let us treasure +them in our heart of hearts, and speak their praises to our children; +thus may we keep unimpaired our love of country, and kindle the +patriotism of those who come after us. To-day they shall live again, in +the event we celebrate. And what event can more strongly appeal to the +popular gratitude than that which brought our city a happy deliverance +from a foreign power, gave welcome relief to our patriot sires, who had +fought for their country or suffered exile, and marked the close of a +struggle which conferred the priceless blessings of peace and liberty, +and a government which knows no sovereign but the people only. Our aim +shall be, not so much to impress the reader with the moral grandeur of +that day, or with its historic significance as bearing upon the +subsequent growth and prosperity of our great metropolis; but the rather +to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>present a popular account of what occurred at or in connection with +the evacuation; and also to satisfy a curiosity often expressed to know +something more of a former citizen, much esteemed in his time, whose +name, from an incident which then took place, is inseparably associated +with the scenes of Evacuation Day.</p> + +<p>At the period referred to, a century ago, the City of New York contained +a population of less than twenty thousand souls, who mostly resided +below Wall Street, above which the city was not compactly built; while +northward of the City Hall Park, then known as the Fields, the Commons, +or the Green, were little more than scattered farm houses and rural +seats. The seven years' occupation by the enemy had reduced the town to +a most abject condition; many of the church edifices having been +desecrated and applied to profane uses; the dwellings, which their +owners had vacated on the approach of the enemy, being occupied by the +refugee loyalists, and officers and attachés of the British army, were +despoiled and dilapidated; while a large area of the City, ravaged by +fires, still lay in ruins!</p> + +<p>The news of peace with Great Britain, which was officially published at +New York on April 8th, 1783, was hailed with delight by every friend of +his country. But it spread consternation and dismay among the loyalists. +Its effects upon the latter class, and the scenes which ensued, beggar +all description. The receipt of death warrants could hardly have been +more appalling. Some of these who had zealously taken up commissions in +the king's service, amid the excitement of the hour tore the lapels from +their coats and stamped them under foot, crying out that they were +ruined forever! Others, in like despair, uttered doleful complaints, +that after sacrificing their all, to prove their loyalty, they should +now be left to shift for themselves, with nothing to hope for, either +from king or country. In the day of their power these had assumed the +most insolent bearing towards their fellow-citizens who were suspected +of sympathy for their suffering country; while those thrown among them +as prisoners of war, met their studied scorn and abuse, and were usually +accosted, with the more popular than elegant epithet, of "damned rebel!" +The tables were now turned; all this injustice and cruelty stared them +in the face, and, to their excited imaginations, clothed with countless +terrors that coming day, when, their protectors being gone, they could +expect naught but a dreadful retribution! Under such circumstances, Sir +Guy Carleton, the English commander at New York, was in honor bound not +to give up the City till he had provided the means of conveying away to +places within the British possessions, all those who should decide to +quit the country. It was not pure humanity, but shrewd policy as well, +for the king, by his agents, thus to promote the settlement of portions +of his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>dominions which were cold, barren, uninviting, and but sparsely +populated.</p> + +<p>By the cessation of hostilities the barriers to commercial intercourse +between the City and other parts of the State, &c., were removed, and +the navigation of the Hudson, the Sound, and connected waters was +resumed as before the war. Packets brought in the produce of the +country, and left laden with commodities suited to the needs of the +rural population, or with the British gold in their purses; for all the +staples of food, as flour, beef, pork and butter, were in great demand, +to victual the many fleets preparing to sail, freighted with troops, or +with loyalists. The country people in the vicinity also flocked to the +public markets, bringing all kinds of provisions, which they readily +sold at moderate rates for hard cash; and thus the adjacent country was +supplied and enriched with specie. The fall in prices, which during the +war had risen eight hundred per cent, brought a most grateful relief to +the consumers. Simultaneously with these tokens of better days, the +order for the release of all the prisoners of war from the New York +prisons and prisonships, with their actual liberation from their gloomy +cells, came as a touching reminder that the horrors of war were at an +end.</p> + +<p>Many of the old citizens who had fled, on or prior to the invasion of +the City by the British, and had purchased homes in the country, now +prepared to return, by selling or disposing of these places, expecting +upon reaching New York to re-occupy their old dwellings, without let or +hindrance, but on arriving here were utterly astonished at being +debarred their own houses; the commandant, General Birch, holding the +keys of all dwellings vacated by persons leaving, and only suffering the +owners to enter their premises as tenants, and upon their paying him +down a quarter's rent in advance! Such apparent injustice determined +many not to come before the time set for the evacuation of the City, +while many others were kept back through fear of the loyalists, whose +rage and vindictiveness were justly to be dreaded. Hence, though our +people were allowed free ingress and egress to and from the City, upon +their obtaining a British pass for that purpose, yet but few, +comparatively, ventured to bring their families or remain permanently +till they could make their entry with, or under the protection of, the +American forces.</p> + +<p>Never perhaps in the history of our City had there been a corresponding +period of such incessant activity and feverish excitement. Stimulated by +their fears, the loyalist families began arrangements in early spring +for their departure from the land of their birth (indeed a company of +six hundred, including women and children, had already gone the +preceding fall) destined mainly for Port Roseway, in Nova Scotia, where +they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>ultimately formed their principal settlement, and built the large +town of Shelburne. Those intending to remove were required to enter +their name, the number in their family, &c., at the Adjutant-General's +Office, that due provision might be made for their passage. They flocked +into the City in such numbers from within the British lines (and many +from within our lines also) that often during that season there were not +houses enough to shelter them. Many occupied huts made by stretching +canvass from the ruined walls of the burnt districts. They banded +together for removing, and had their respective headquarters, where they +met to discuss and arrange their plans. The first considerable company, +some five thousand, sailed on April 27th, and larger companies soon +followed. Many held back, hoping for some act of grace on the part of +our Legislature which would allow them to stay. But the public sentiment +being opposed to it, and expressed in terms too strong to be +disregarded, these at last had to yield to necessity, and find new +homes. The mass of the loyalists went to Nova Scotia and Canada; others +to the Island of Abaco, in the Bahamas; while not a few of the more +distinguished or wealthy retired to England. The bitterness felt towards +this class was to be deplored, but, in truth, the active part taken by +many of them during the war against their country, and above all the +untold outrages committed upon defenceless inhabitants by tories (the +zealous and active loyalists), often in league with Indians, had kindled +a resentment towards all loyalists alike that stifled every +philanthrophic feeling. This exodus was going on when General Carleton, +about the beginning of August, received his final orders for the +evacuation of the City; but it took nearly four months more to complete +it, as a large number of vessels were required to transport the immense +crowds of refugees who left with their families and effects during that +brief period. Hundreds of slaves (ours being then a slave State) were +also induced to go to <i>Novy Koshee</i>, as they called it. Their masters +could do little to hinder it, though a committee appointed by both +governments to superintend all embarkations did something towards +preventing slaves and other property belonging to our people from being +carried away. Such negroes as had been found in a state of freedom, +General Carleton held, had a right to leave if they chose to do so, and +many probably got away under this pretext; but to provide against +mistakes the name of each negro (with that of his former owner) was +registered, and also such facts as would fix his value, in case +compensation were allowed. In this, as in the whole ordering of the +evacuation, which was more than the work of a day, General Carleton must +have credit for humanity and a disposition to pursue a fair and +honorable course, which, under the extraordinary difficulties of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>the +situation, required rare tact and discretion. Of course he was blamed +for much when he was not responsible (natural enough in those who +suffered grievances), and especially for the great delay in giving up +the City, which bore hard on virtuous citizens who had sacrificed +opulence and ease at the shrine of liberty, and had now thrown +themselves out of homes and business in the expectation of an early +return to the City. Yet Carleton's fidelity to the various trusts +committed to him, making one delay after another unavoidable, it may be +doubted whether he could have surrendered the City at an earlier date.</p> + +<p>Closing up the affairs of the army was truly a Herculean task. The +shipment of the troops began early in the season. A portion of the army +was disbanded to reduce it to a peace establishment pursuant to orders +from England. Then there was the settlement of innumerable accounts, +pertaining to every department, and the sale and disposal of surplus +army property, as horses, wagons, harness and military stores, with +several thousand cords of fire wood, which was sold off at half its +cost. Even the prisonships were set up at auction. A sale of draft +horses was begun, October 2d, at the Artillery Stables near St. Paul's +church.</p> + +<p>Auctions on private account were rife; daily, in every street, the red +flag was seen hanging out. And it was alleged that a great deal of +furniture was sold to which the venders had no good title; much of it +being newly painted or otherwise disguised, that its proper owner might +never know and reclaim it! We need not doubt it, for it seemed as if the +refugees would strip the City of every portable article, even to the +buildings, or the brick and lumber composing them; insomuch that the +authorities, in formal orders, forbade the removal or demolition of any +house till the right to do so was shown.</p> + +<p>These irregularities, with the brag and bluster of the enraged tories, +was enough to keep society in a broil. The uppermost themes were the +evacuation, and the removal to Nova Scotia, or elsewhere. They were +irritating topics, and gave rise to endless and hot discussions, in +which tory vexed tory. While one maintained that Nova Scotia was a very +Paradise, another denounced it as unfit for human beings to inhabit. +Disappointed and chagrined at the issue of the war, they would curse the +powers to whom they owed allegiance; as rebellious as those they called +rebels. In other cases, the turn the war had taken had a magic effect +upon their principles; once avowed loyalists, they suddenly became +zealous patriots! It was a witty reply given by a tailor,—the tailor, +in the olden time, we must premise, was often applied to, to rip up and +turn a coat, when threadbare or faded. "How does business go on?" asked +a friend. "Not very well," said he, "my customers have all learned to +turn their own coats!" <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>The shrewd whigs were not to be deceived by +these sudden conversions. They drew the line nicely at a meeting held on +Nov. 18th, at Cape's Tavern, in Broadway, (site of the Boreel Building), +to arrange plans for evacuation day. Before touching their business, +they "<i>Resolved.</i> That every person, whatever his political character +may be, who hath remained in this City during the late contest, be +requested to leave the room forthwith."</p> + +<p>Society could not be very secure, when, as is stated, scarcely a night +passed without a robbery; scarcely a morning came, but corpses were +found upon the streets, the work of the assassin or midnight revel. +Indeed at this juncture, there was much underlying apprehension in the +minds of good citizens; the situation was unprecedented, men's passions +had been wrought up to a fearful pitch, and who could foresee the +outcome! Sensible of the danger, and with the approval of the +commandant, a large number of citizens lately returned from exile, +organized as a guard and patrolled the streets, on the night preceding +evacuation day. The vigilance of these returned patriots, and the +protection it afforded, added greatly to the public security at this +threatening crisis.</p> + +<p>A word as to the aspect of the City; sanitary rules being suspended, the +public streets were in a most filthy condition. All the churches, except +the Episcopal, the Methodist, and the Lutheran (spared to please the +Hessians), had been converted into hospitals, prisons, barracks, +riding-schools, or storehouses; the pews, and in some the galleries, +torn out, the window-lights broken, and all foul and loathsome. Fences +enclosing the churches and cemeteries had disappeared, and the very +graves and tombs lay hidden by rubbish and filth! No public moneyed or +charitable institutions, no insurance offices existed; trade was at the +lowest ebb, education wholly neglected, the schools and college shut up! +But the long-wished-for event, which was to light up this dark picture, +and work a happy transformation, was at hand.</p> + +<p>Finally, the day fixed upon for the evacuation, and for the triumphal +entry of Washington and the American army, to take possession of the +city, was Tuesday, the 25th of November. At an early hour, on that cold, +but radiant morning, the whole population seemed to be abroad, making +ready for the great gala day, regardless of a keen nor'wester. During +the forenoon many delegations from the suburban districts began to +arrive, to share in the public festivities, or to witness the exit of +the foreign troops, and the entrance of the victorious Americans; while +with the latter was expected a host of patriots, to re-occupy their +desolate dwellings, from which they had been so long cruelly exiled; or +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>otherwise, only to gaze upon the charred and blackened ruins of what +was once their homes!<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>To guard against any disturbance which such an occasion might favor, in +the interval between the laying down and the resumption of authority, +and as rumors were afloat of an organized plot to plunder the town when +the King's forces were withdrawn; the hour of noon had been set for the +Royal troops to move, and by an understanding between the two +commanders-in-chief, the Americans were to promptly advance and occupy +the positions as the British vacated them; the latter, when ready to +move, to send out an officer to notify our advance guard. There was no +longer any antagonism between these, so recently hostile, forces; the +plans for the <i>evacuation</i>, on the one part, and the <i>occupation</i>, on +the other, being carried out in as orderly a manner, and to all +appearance, with as friendly a spirit, as when, in time of peace, one +guard relieves another at a military post.</p> + +<p>Major Gen. Knox, a large, fine looking officer, had been appointed to +command the American troops which were first to enter and occupy the +city. With his forces, consisting of a corps of dragoons, under Capt. +John Stakes, another of artillery, and several battalions of infantry, +with a rear guard under Major John Burnet, Knox marched from McGown's +Pass, Harlem, early in the morning, halting at the present junction of +the Bowery and Third Avenue. Here he waited—meanwhile holding a +friendly parley with the English officers, whose forces were also +resting a little in advance of him—until about one o'clock in the +afternoon. The British then receiving orders to move, took up their +march, passed down the Bowery and Chatham street, and wheeling into +Pearl, finally turned off to the river, and went on shipboard. The +American forces under Gen. Knox, following on, proceeded through Chatham +street, into and down Broadway, and took possession. As they advanced, +greeted with happy faces and joyful acclamations by crowds of freemen +who lined the streets, or fairer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>forms drawn to the windows and +balconies by the beat of the American drums and the vociferous cheering, +the march down Broadway to Cape's Tavern (on the site now of the Boreel +Building), was indeed the triumphal march of conquerors!</p> + +<p>Our troops having halted and taken their position opposite and below +Cape's Tavern,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Gen. Knox quitted them, and heading a body of mounted +citizens, lately returned from exile, and who had met by arrangement at +the Bowling Green, each wearing in his hat a sprig of laurel, and on the +left breast a Union cockade, made of black and white ribbon, rode up +into the Bowery to receive their Excellencies General Washington and +Governor George Clinton, who were at the Bull's Head Tavern (site of the +Thalia Theatre), they having arrived at Day's Tavern, Harlem, on the +21st inst., the very day on which Carleton had drawn in his forces and +abandoned the posts from Kingsbridge to McGown's Pass, inclusive.</p> + +<p>At the Bull's Head, where the widow Varien presided as hostess, +congratulations passed freely, and a series of hearty demonstrations +began, on the part of the overjoyed populace, which continued along the +whole line of Washington's march, and closed only with the day. The +civic procession having formed began its grand entry in the following +order:</p> + +<p>General Washington, "straight as a dart and noble as he could be," +riding a spirited gray horse, and Governor Clinton, on a splendid bay, +with their respective suites also mounted; and having as escort a body +of Westchester Light Horse, under the command of Capt. Delavan.</p> + +<p>The Lieutenant Governor, Pierre Van Cortlandt, with the members of the +Council for the temporary Government of the Southern District of New +York; four abreast.</p> + +<p>Major Gen. Knox, and the officers of the army; eight abreast.</p> + +<p>Citizens on horseback; eight abreast.</p> + +<p>The Speaker of the Assembly, and citizens on foot; eight abreast.</p> + +<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +<a href="images/imagep011.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep011.jpg" width="60%" alt="Washington's line of march from Bull's Head" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">MAP<br /> +Showing Washington's line of march from Bull's Head (Bowery), to Cape's +Tavern, in Broadway; and thence to Fort George.</p> +</div> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>Near the Tea-water Pump, (in Chatham street just above Pearl), where the +citizens on foot had gathered to join the procession, Washington halted +the column, while Gen. Knox and the officers of the Revolution drew out +and, forming into line, marched down Chatham street, passing a body of +the British troops which were still halting in the fields (now the City +Hall Park); while Washington and the rest, turning down Pearl street, +proceeded on to Wall street, and up Wall, then the seat of fashionable +residences, to Broadway, where both companies again met, and while our +troops in line fired a <i>feu-de-joie</i>, alighted at the popular tavern +before mentioned, kept by John Cape, where now stands the Boreel +Building.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>We must mention here, that when Gen. Knox reached the New Jail, then +known as the Provost (and now the Hall of Records), Capt. Cunningham, +the Provost Marshall, and his deputy and jailor Sergeant Keefe, both +having held those positions during most of the war, and equally +notorious for their brutal treatment of the American prisoners who were +confined there, thought it about time to retreat; and quitting the jail, +followed by the hangman in his yellow jacket, passed between a platoon +of British soldiers and marched down Broadway, with the last detachment +of their troops. When Sergeant Keefe was in the act of leaving the +Provost, (says John Pintard), one of the few prisoners then in his +custody for criminal offences, called out: "Sergeant, what is to become +of us?" "You may all go to the devil together," was his surly reply, as +he threw the bunch of keys on the floor behind him. "Thank you, +Sergeant," was the cutting retort, "we have had too much of your company +in <i>this</i> world, to wish to follow you to the <i>next</i>!" Another incident, +which respected Cunningham, was witnessed (says Dr. Lossing), by the +late Dr. Alexander Anderson. It was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>during the forenoon, that a tavern +keeper in Murray street hung out the Stars and Stripes. Informed of it, +thither hastened Cunningham, who with an oath, and in his imperious +tone, exclaimed, "Take in that flag, the City is ours till noon." +Suiting the action to the word, he tried to pull down the obnoxious +ensign; but the landlady coming to the rescue, with broom in hand, dealt +the Captain such lusty blows, as made the powder fly in clouds from his +wig, and forced him to beat a retreat! The Provost Guard, and the Main +Guard at the City Hall (Wall street, opposite Broad, where the U. S. +Treasury stands), were the last to abandon their posts, and repair on +shipboard.</p> + +<p>The brief reception being over, at Cape's Tavern, (with presenting of +addresses to Gen. Washington and Gov. Clinton), the cavalcade again +formed, and marched to the Battery, to enact the last formality in +re-possessing the City, which was to unfurl the American flag over Fort +George.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> A great concourse of people had assembled, not only to +witness this ceremony, but to obtain a sight of the illustrious +Washington and other great generals, who had so nobly defended our +liberties.</p> + +<p>But now a sight was presented, which, as soon as fully understood, drew +forth from the astonished and incensed beholders execrations loud and +deep. The royal ensign was still floating <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>as usual over Fort George; +the enemy having departed without striking their colors, though they had +dismantled the fort and removed on shipboard all their stores and heavy +ordnance, while other cannon lay dismounted under the walls as if thrown +off in a spirit of wantonness. On a closer view it was found that the +flag had been nailed to the staff, the halyards taken away, and the pole +itself besmeared with grease; obviously to prevent or hinder the removal +of the emblem of royalty, and the raising of the Stars and Stripes. +Whether to escape the mortification of seeing our flag supplant the +British standard, or to annoy and exasperate our people were the +stronger impulse, it were hard to say. It was too serious for a joke, +however, and the dilemma caused no little confusion. The artillery had +taken a position on the Battery, the guns were unlimbered, and the +gunners stood ready to salute our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>colors. But the grease baffled all +attempts to shin up the staff. To cut the staff down and erect another +would consume too much time. Impatient of delay, "three or four guns +were fired with the colors on a pole before they were raised on the +flagstaff."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> But this expedient was premature and humiliating, while +the hostile flag yet waved as if in defiance. The scene grew exciting: +and now appeared another actor, hitherto looking on, but no idle +observer of what was passing. He was a young man of medium height, whose +ruddy honest face, tarpaulin cap and pea-jacket told his vocation. Born +neither to fortune nor to fame, yet by his own merits and exertions he +had won the regard of some in that assembly, having served under +McClaughry, and Willett, and Weissenfels, as also the Clintons, to whom +he had lived neighbor, within that patriotic circle in old Orange, where +these were the guiding spirits, and every yeoman with them, shoulder to +shoulder, in the common cause. As a subaltern officer he had made a good +record during the war, and none present, however superior in station, +had sustained a better character or exhibited a purer patriotism. This +was John Van Arsdale, late a Sergeant in Capt. Hardenburgh's company of +New York Levies. At nineteen years of age, quitting his father's vessel, +where he had been bred a sailor, he enlisted in the Continental Army at +the beginning of the war, and had served faithfully till its close. +Suffering cold and hardship in the Canada expedition, wounded and taken +prisoner at the battle of Fort Montgomery, he had languished weary +months in New York dungeons, and in the foul hold of a British +prisonship, and subsequently braved the perils of Indian warfare in +several campaigns. And with such a record, where expect to find him but +among his old compatriots, on this day of momentous import, when the +struggles of seven years were to culminate in a final triumph.</p> + +<p>Van Arsdale volunteered to climb the staff, though with little prospect +of succeeding better than others, especially when after making an +attempt, sailor fashion, he was unable to maintain his grasp upon the +slippery pole. Now it was proposed to replace the cleats which had been +knocked off; and persons ran in haste to Peter Goelet's hardware store, +in Hanover Square, and returned with a saw, hatchet, gimlets, and nails. +Then willing hands sawed pieces of board, split and bored cleats, and +began to nail them on. By this means Van Arsdale got up a short +distance, with a line to which our flag was attached; but just then, a +ladder being brought to his assistance, he mounted still higher, then +completed the ascent in the usual way, and reaching the top of the +staff, tore down the British standard, and rove the new halyards by +which the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>Star-spangled Banner was quickly run up by Lieut. Anthony +Glean, and floated proudly, while the multitude gave vent to their joy +in hearty cheers, and the artillery boomed forth a national salute of +thirteen guns!<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> On descending, Van Arsdale was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>warmly greeted by the +overjoyed spectators, for the service he had rendered; but some one +proposing a more substantial acknowledgement than mere applause, hats +were passed around, and a considerable sum collected, nearly all within +reach contributing, even to the Commander-in-Chief. Though taken quite +aback, Van Arsdale modestly accepted the gift, with a protest at being +rewarded for so trivial an act. But the contributors were of another +opinion; he had accomplished what was thought impracticable, and the +occasion and the emergency made his success peculiarly gratifying to all +present. On returning home to his amiable Polly (they had been married +short of six months), the story of "Evacuation Day," and the silver +money which he poured into her lap, caused her to open her eyes, and +fixed the circumstance indelibly in her memory!</p> + +<p>But to return: during the scene on the Battery, which consumed full an +hour, the last squads of the British were getting into their boats, +while many others, filled with soldiers, rested on their oars between +the shore and their ships, anchored in the North River. They kept +silence during this time, and watched our efforts to hoist the colors +(no doubt enjoying our embarrassment), but when our flag was run up and +the salute fired, they rowed off to their shipping, which soon weighed +anchor and proceeded down the bay.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>This scene over, the Commander-in-Chief and the general officers, +accompanied Gov. Clinton to Fraunces' Tavern, also a popular resort, and +which still stands on the corner of Pearl and Broad streets. Here the +Governor gave a sumptuous dinner. The repast over, then came "the feast +of reason and the flow of soul," when the sentiments dearest to those +brave and loyal men found utterance in the following admirable toasts:</p> + +<p> 1. The United States of America.</p> + +<p> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>2. His most Christian Majesty.</p> + +<p> 3. The United Netherlands.</p> + +<p> 4. The King of Sweden.</p> + +<p> 5. The American Army.</p> + +<p> 6. The Fleet and Armies of France, which have served in America.</p> + +<p> 7. The Memory of those Heroes who have fallen for our Freedom.</p> + +<p> 8. May our Country be grateful to her Military Children.</p> + +<p> 9. May Justice support what Courage has gained.</p> + +<p>10. The Vindicators of the Rights of Mankind in every Quarter of the +Globe.</p> + +<p>11. May America be an Asylum to the Persecuted of the Earth.</p> + +<p>12. May a close Union of the States guard the Temple they have erected +to Liberty.</p> + +<p>13. May the Remembrance of <span class="smcap">This Day</span>, be a Lesson to Princes.</p> + +<p>An extensive illumination of the buildings in the evening, a grand +display of rockets, and the blaze of bonfires at every corner, made a +fitting sequel to the events of the day.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Great as was the joy, and +lively as were the demonstrations of it, not the slightest outbreak or +disturbance occurred, to mar the public tranquility; and the happy +citizens retired to rest in the sweet consciousness that the reign of +martial law and of regal despotism had ended! But it was remarked, says +an eye-witness of the time, that an unusual proportion of those who in +'76 had fled from New York, had been cut off by death and denied a share +in the general joy, which marked the return of their fellow citizens to +their former habitations. And those habitations, such as had survived +the fires, how marred and damaged, as before intimated; in many cases +mere shells and wrecks. And the sanctuaries, where they and their +fathers had worshipped, all despoiled, save St. Paul's, St. George's in +Beekman street, the Dutch Church, Garden street, the Lutheran church, +Frankfort street, the Methodist Meeting House in John street, (none +remaining at present but the first and last), and some three or four +small and obscure places. Years elapsed, before, in their poverty, the +people were enabled fully to restore some of them to their former sacred +uses. The churches which suffered most at the enemy's hands were the +Middle and North Dutch churches, in Nassau and William streets, the two +Presbyterian churches, in Wall and Beekman streets, the Scotch +Presbyterian church, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>in Cedar street, the French church in Pine street, +the Baptist church, Gold street, and the Friends' new Meeting House, in +Pearl street; all since removed to meet the demands of trade. Religious +affairs were found in a sad plight when the evacuation took place. The +Dutch, Presbyterian and Baptist ministers had gone into voluntary exile. +The Rev. Charles Inglis, D.D., Rector of Trinity Parish, having made +himself very obnoxious to the patriots, concluded to follow the +loyalists of his flock to Nova Scotia, and therefore resigned his +rectorship Nov. 1st, preceding the evacuation. Dr. John H. Livingston, +arriving with our people, immediately resumed his services in Garden +street. Other pastors were not so favored. Dr. John Rogers, of the +Presbyterian church, returned on the day after the evacuation, and on +the following Sabbath, Nov. 30th, preached in St. George's chapel, "to a +thronged and deeply affected assembly," a discourse adapted to the +occasion from Psalms cxvi, 12,—"What shall I render unto the Lord, for +all His benefits towards me?" The vestry of Trinity church having kindly +offered the use of their two chapels, St. Paul's and St. George's, the +Presbyterians occupied these buildings a part of every Sabbath until +June 27th, 1784, when they took possession of the Brick Church, Beekman +street, which had been repaired.</p> + +<p>On the Friday following the evacuation, the citizens lately returned +from exile, gave an elegant entertainment, at Cape's Tavern, to his +Excellency, the Governor, and the Council for governing the City; when +Gen. Washington and the Officers of the Army, about three hundred +gentlemen, graced the feast. The following Tuesday, Dec. 2d, another +such entertainment was given by Gov. Clinton, at the same place, to the +French Ambassador, Luzerne, and in the evening, at the Bowling Green, +the Definitive Treaty of Peace was celebrated by "an unparallelled +exhibition of fireworks," and when, says an account of it, "the +prodigious concourse of spectators assembled on the occasion, expressed +their plaudits in loud and grateful clangors!" On Thursday, the 4th, +Gen. Washington bade a final adieu to his fellow officers at Fraunces' +Tavern. The scene was most affecting. "With a heart full of love and +gratitude," said he, "I now take leave of you, and most devoutly wish +that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones +have been glorious and honorable." Embracing each one in turn, while +tears coursed down their manly checks, he parted from them, and from the +City, to resign his commission to Congress, and seek again the +retirement of private life.</p> + +<p>The following Thursday, Dec. 11th, was observed by appointment of +Congress, "as a day of public Thanksgiving throughout the United +States." On this occasion Dr. Rogers preached in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>St. George's chapel, a +sermon from Psalms cxxvi, 3,—"The Lord hath done great things for us, +whereof we are glad." It was afterwards published with the title—"The +Divine Goodness displayed in the American Revolution."</p> + +<p>Thus just eight score years after Europeans first settled on this Island +of Manhattan, our City had its new birth into freedom, and started on +its unexampled career of prosperity and greatness. And as we contemplate +the growth, enterprise, trade, commerce, credit, opulence and +magnificence of the present City, with its hundreds of churches, schools +and other noble institutions, and contrast it with the contracted, +war-worn, desolate town, of which our fathers took possession on the +25th of November 1783, well may we exclaim—"What hath God wrought?" +That day, whose memories were so fondly cherished by our grandsires +while they lived, was one of great significance in the history of our +City and Country. Its anniversary has ever since been duly celebrated by +military parades, and a national salute fired on the Battery at sunrise, +by the "Independent Veteran Corps of Heavy Artillery," composed at first +of Revolutionary soldiers, and of which John Van Arsdale was long an +efficient and honored member, and, at the time of his decease, its First +Captain-Lieutenant.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> For many <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>years the day was observed with great +<i>eclat</i>; the troops, in parading, "went through the forms practiced on +taking possession of the City, maneuvering and firing <i>feux-de-joie</i>, +&c., as occurred on the evacuation." All shops and business places were +closed, artisans and toilers ceased their work, and the streets, +decorated with patriotic emblems, and alive with happy people, were +given up to gaiety and mirth. To civic and military displays were added +sumptuous dinners, and convivial parties, while the schoolboy rejoiced +in a holiday; the whole bearing witness to a peoples' gratitude for the +deliverance which that memorable day brought them. And boys of older +growth may yet recall the simple distich:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"It's Evacuation Day, when the British ran away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Please, dear Master, give us holiday!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In the evening every place of amusement was well attended, but none +better than Peale's American Museum, because, as duly advertised:—"The +Flag hoisted by order of Gen. Washington, on the Battery, the same day +the British troops evacuated this city, is displayed in the upper hall, +as a sacred memorial of that day." This flag was presented to the museum +by the Common Council in 1819. It was raised on the Battery for the last +time in 1846, and when the museum was burned the old flag perished!</p> + +<p>Well deserves this day not merely a local but a national commemoration; +since it inaugurated for the nation an era of freedom, the blessings of +which all could not realize, while the chief city and seaport of our +country were held by foreign armies.</p> + +<p>Another chapter, introducing us to colonial and revolutionary times, +will tell more of Capt. Van Arsdale, what he did and endured for his +country, and ensure him a grateful remembrance so long as "Evacuation +Day" shall cheer us by its annual return.</p> + + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <span class="smcap">The Great Fire</span>, of September 20, 1776, beginning +at Whitehall slip, swept along the river front and northward, consuming +all the buildings between Whitehall street on the west and Broad street +on the east, extending up Broadway to a point just below Rector street, +and up Broad street as far as Beaver, above which the houses on Broad +street escaped; the fire being confined to a line nearly straight from +Beaver, near Broad, to the point it reached on Broadway. Crossing +Broadway, it also swept everything north of Morris street, including +Trinity Church; from which point passing behind the city (later Cape's) +Tavern, it spared the line of buildings, mainly dwellings, facing +Broadway, with a few joining them on the cross streets, but otherwise +made a clean sweep as far up as Barclay street, where the College +grounds stayed its further process.</p> + +<p class="noin">The fire of August 3, 1778, which was confined to the blocks between Old +slip and Coenties slip, reaching up to Pearl street, was a small affair +in comparison.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The orders of Nov. 24, to our troops read: "The Light +Infantry will furnish a company for Main Guard to-morrow. As soon as the +troops are formed in the city, the Main Guard will be marched off to +Fort George; on their taking possession, an officer of artillery will +immediately hoist the American standard. * * * On the standard being +hoisted in Fort George, the artillery will fire thirteen rounds. +Afterwards his Excellency Governor Clinton will be received on the right +of the line. The officers will salute his Excellency as he passes them, +and the troops present their arms by corps, and the drums beat a march. +After his Excellency is past the line, and alighted at Cape's Tavern, +the artillery will fire thirteen rounds."</p> + +<p class="noin">As our flag was not raised on Fort George, nor the salute fired until +after Gov. Clinton and Gen. Washington arrived there, the delay, and +failure to carry out the orders strictly as issued, must be accounted +for by the embarrassing incident hereafter noticed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Why "the officers of the Revolution" should have taken a +different rout admits of this explanation. The officers referred to were +no doubt the mounted citizens who had ridden up with Knox from Bowling +Green, among whom were colonels, captains, etc., of the late army. The +move was evidently made to reach Cape's Tavern first, and be in position +ready to receive their Excellencies, Washington and Clinton, and present +addresses, which had been prepared. This is referred to in a letter +written by Elisha D. Whitlesey, dated Danbury, Conn., Aug. 24, 1821, "A +committee had been appointed by the citizens to wait upon Gen. +Washington and Gov. Clinton and other American officers, and to express +their joyful congratulations to them upon the occasion. A procession for +this purpose formed in the Bowery, marched through a part of the city, +and halted at a tavern, then known by the name of Cooper's [Cape's] +Tavern, in Broadway, where the following addresses were delivered.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> +Mr. Thomas Tucker, late of this town [Danbury], and at that time a +respectable merchant in New York, a member of the committee, was +selected to perform the office on the part of the committee."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> For that to Washington, and his reply, see next note.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="cen"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Address to General Washington</span>,</p> + +<p class="cen"><i>Presented at Cape's Tavern.</i></p> + +<p class="noin">To his Excellency <span class="smcap">George Washington</span>, Esquire, General and +Commander in Chief of the Armies of the United States of America:</p> + +<p class="noin">The Address of the Citizens of New York, who have returned from exile, +in behalf of themselves and their suffering brethren:</p> + +<p class="noin"><span class="smcap">Sir</span>:</p> + +<p class="noin">At a moment when the arm of tyranny is yielding up its fondest +usurpations, we hope the salutations of long suffering exiles, but now +happy freemen, will not be deemed an unworthy tribute. In this place, +and at this moment of exultation and triumph, while the ensigns of +slavery still linger in our sight, we look up to you, our deliverer, +with unusual transports of gratitude and joy. Permit us to welcome you +to this City, long torn from us by the hard hand of oppression, but now +by your wisdom and energy, under the guidance of Providence, once more +the seat of peace and freedom. We forbear to speak our gratitude or your +praise, we should but echo the voice of applauding millions; but the +Citizens of New York are eminently indebted to your virtues, and we who +have now the honor to address your Excellency, have been often +companions of your sufferings, and witnesses of your exertions. Permit +us therefore to approach your Excellency with the dignity and sincerity +of freemen, and to assure you that we shall preserve with our latest +breath our gratitude for your services, and veneration for your +character. And accept of our sincere and earnest wishes that you may +long enjoy that calm domestic felicity which you have so generously +sacrificed; that the cries of injured liberty may nevermore interrupt +your repose, and that your happiness may be equal to your virtues.</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="padding-right: 3em;"><i>Signed at the request of the meeting.</i></span></p> + +<p class="noin"> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Thomas Randall.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Dan. Phœnix.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Saml. Broome.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Thos. Tucker.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Henry Kipp.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Pat. Dennis.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Wm. Gilbert, Sr.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Wm. Gilbert, Jr.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Francis Van Dyck.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Jeremiah Wool.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Geo. Janeway.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Abra'm P. Lott.</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"><span class="smcap">Ephraim Brashier.</span></span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noin"><span class="smcap">New York</span>, Nov. 25th, 1783.</p> + +<br /> +<p class="cen"><span class="smcap">The General's Reply.</span></p> + +<p class="noin">To the Citizens of New York who have returned from exile:</p> + +<p class="noin"><span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>—</p> + +<p class="noin">I thank you sincerely for your affectionate address, and entreat you to +be persuaded that nothing could be more agreeable to me than your polite +congratulations. Permit me in turn to felicitate you on the happy +repossession of your City.</p> + +<p class="noin">Great as your joy must be on this pleasing occasion, it can scarcely +exceed that which I feel at seeing you, Gentlemen, who from the noblest +motives have suffered a voluntary exile of many years, return again in +peace and triumph, to enjoy the fruits of your virtuous conduct.</p> + +<p class="noin">The fortitude and perseverance, which you and your suffering brethren +have exhibited in the course of the war, have not only endeared you to +your countrymen, but will be remembered with admiration and applause to +the latest posterity.</p> + +<p class="noin">May the tranquility of your City be perpetual,—may the ruins soon be +repaired, commerce flourish, science be fostered, and all the civil and +social virtues be cherished in the same illustrious manner which +formerly reflected so much credit on the inhabitants of New York. In +fine, may every species of felicity attend you, Gentlemen, and your +worthy fellow citizens.</p> + +<p class="right smcap">Geo. Washington.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Gen. Jeremiah Johnson, who was present, so stated to the +writer, Feb. 15, 1848.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> A patriotic song was composed for that day, entitled, "The +Sheep Stealers," which was distributed and sung with immense gusto in +the evening coteries. Coarse, but designed to cast ridicule on the +enemy, it is given as a specimen of the popular songs of the period:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">King George sent his Sheep-stealers,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Poor Refugees and Tories!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">King George sent his Sheep-stealers<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To fish for mutton here,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To fish for mutton here,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To fish for mutton here,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But Yankees were hard dealers,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Poor Refugees and Tories;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But Yankees were hard dealers,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">They sold their sheep-skins dear,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">They sold their sheep-skins dear,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">They sold their sheep-skins dear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But Yankees were hard dealers,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">They sold their sheep-skins dear!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">At Boston Britons glorious,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The Refugees and Tories,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Made war on pigs and fowls,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But o'er men un-victorious,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">They fled by night like owls!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The Howes came in a huff, Boys,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With Refugees and Tories,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To plunder, burn and sink;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But like a candle-snuff, Boys,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">They went—and left a stink!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Burgoyne, that cunning rogue, ah!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With Refugees and Tories,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of conquest laid grand schemes;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But Gates at Saratoga,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Awak'd him from his dreams!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The noble Earl Cornwally,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With Refugees and Tories,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of southern plunderers chief,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At Yorktown wept the folly<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of stealing "Rebel" beef!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Clinton, that son of thunder,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With Refugees and Tories,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">At New York took his stand.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And swore that he asunder<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Would shake the Rebel land!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Of mighty deeds achieving,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With Refugees and Tories,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">He talked, O! <i>he</i> talked big,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But changed his plan to thieving<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of turkey, goose and pig!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Of conquest then despairing,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With Refugees and Tories,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">George for his Bull-dogs sent;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They Yankee vengeance fearing,<br /></span> +<span class="i2"><i>Greased the flagstaff</i>—and went!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Then Yorkers, let's remember<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The Refugees and Tories,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The five and twentieth day<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the bleak month, November,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When the Cow-thieves sneaked away!<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> The British troops did not take their final departure from +Long Island and Staten Island till the 4th of December. Their flag waved +over Governor's Island till the 3d, when the Island was formally given +up to an officer sent over by Gov. Clinton, for that purpose. (Mag. of +Am. Hist., 1883, p. 430.) Sir Guy Carleton and other officers and +gentlemen sailed in the frigate Ceres, Capt. Hawkins.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Among the more authentic newspaper accounts of the +Evacuation, is one of which I have here availed myself, contained in the +New York <i>Sun</i> of Nov. 27th, 1850, but copied from the <i>Observer</i>. Much +valuable material is also brought together in the <i>N. Y. Corp. Manual</i> +for 1870.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <span class="smcap">It</span> caused great surprise, in 1831, that an +officer of the Revolution, Capt. John Van Dyck, of Lamb's artillery, who +was present at the evacuation of New York, and "was on Fort George and +within two feet of the flagstaff," should have stated in the most +positive terms, that "there was no British flag on the staff to pull +down:" also that no ladder was used, and besides, more than intimated +that Van Arsdale did not perform the part ascribed to him! (His letter, +in <i>N. Y. Commercial Advertiser</i>, of June 30th, 1831.) We well remember +Capt. Van Dyck, and do not doubt the sincerity of his statements; but it +only shows how effectually facts once well known may be obliterated from +the memory by the lapse of time. For few facts in our history are better +authenticated than that the royal standard was left flying at the +evacuation; and it was afterwards complained of, as the able historian, +Mr. Dawson writes me, by John Adams, our first embassador to England, as +an unfriendly act, to evacuate the City without a formal surrender of +it, or striking their colors. The fact is also mentioned in a pamphlet +printed in 1808, by the "Wallabout Committee," (appointed to superintend +the interment of the bones of American patriots who perished in the +prison ships), and consisting of gentlemen who could not have all been +ignorant on such a point, viz., Messrs. Jacob Vandervoort, John Jackson, +Issachar Cozzens, Burdet Stryker, Robert Townsend, Jr., Benjamin Watson +and Samuel Cowdrey. Hardie, who wrote his account prior to 1825, +("Description of New York," p. 107,) also makes the same statement, and +so does Dr. Lossing: "Field Book of the Revolution," 2:633. A letter +written in New York <i>the day after the evacuation</i>, says "they cut away +the halyards from the flagstaff in the fort, and likewise greased the +post; so that we <i>were obliged to have a ladder</i> to fix a new rope." The +use of a ladder is attested by Lieut. Glean; and also by the late +Pearson Halstead, who witnessed the ascent. Mr. Halstead stated this to +me, in 1845, and that, about the year 1805, he was informed that Van +Arsdale was the person who climbed the staff. His association with Mr. +Van Arsdale, both in business and in the Veteran Corps, gave him the +best means of knowing the common belief on that subject, and he said it +was "a fact understood and admitted by the members of the Veteran Corps, +who used often to speak of it." Capt. George W. Chapman, of the Veteran +Corps, then 84 years of age, informed me, in 1845, that he commanded the +Corps when Van Arsdale joined it, and that the fact ascribed to the +latter was well known to the members of the Corps, and never disputed. +John Nixon, a reliable witness, said to me, in 1844, that he saw the +ascent, &c., "by <i>a short thickset man</i> in sailor's dress," and that +<i>ten years later</i> (1793) he became acquainted with Van Arsdale, and then +learned that "<i>he was the person who tore down the British flag, in +1783</i>." Gen. Jeremiah Johnson informed me, in 1846, that he "saw the +sailor, in ordinary round jacket and seaman's dress, <i>shin up</i> the +flagstaff; <i>a middling sized man</i>, well proportioned." Major Jonathan +Lawrence, who was present; said "a <i>sailor</i> mounted the flagstaff, with +fresh halyards, rigged it and hoisted the American flag."</p></div> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<p>The real conservators of the rights of mankind have rarely been found +among the rich or titled aristocracy. They belong to the more ingenuous, +sympathetic, and virtuous middle class of society, so called. This is +not the less true because of the notable exceptions, where the +endowments of wealth, rank, and influence, have added lustre to the +names of some of earth's best benefactors. The fact must remain that the +bone and sinew of a nation, and in which consists its safety in peace, +and its defense in war, are its hardy yeoman who guide the plow, or +wield the axe, or ply the anvil; and without whose practical ideas and +well-directed energies, no community could protect itself, or make any +real advancement. It was most fortunate that the founders of this nation +were so largely of this sterling class; the architects of their own +fortunes, no labor, no difficulties or dangers appalled them; the very +men were they, to break by stalwart blows the fetters which despotism +was fast riveting upon them.</p> + +<p>Such was Captain John Van Arsdale, in the essentials of his character. +It chafed his young, free spirit to see his country, the home of his +ancestors for a century before his birth, bleeding under the iron hand +of tyranny, and invoking the sturdy and the brave to come forth and +strike the blow for freedom. He was one of the first to heed that call, +and to fearlessly enter the lists; nor ceased to battle manfully till +our independence was achieved! If honest, unswerving patriotism, +standing the triple test of manifold hardships and dangers, long and +cruel imprisonment and years of arduous, poorly-requited service, should +entitle one to the love and gratitude of his country; then let such +honor be awarded to the subject of this sketch, and the power of his +example tell upon all those who may read it.</p> + +<p>John Van Arsdale was the son of John and Deborah Van Arsdale, and was +born in the town of Cornwall (then a part of Goshen), Orange County, N. +Y., on Monday, January 5th, 1756.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> His ancestors for four generations +in this country, as mentioned in the records of their times, were men of +intelligence and virtue, honored and trusted in the communities in which +they lived, and on whom, as God-fearing men, rested the mantles of their +fathers who had battled for their faith in the wars of the Netherlands. +His grandsire, Stoffel Van Arsdalen (for so he and his Dutch +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>progenitors wrote the name), had removed from Gravesend, Long Island, +to Somerset County, New Jersey, in the second decade of that century, +and eventually purchased a farm of two hundred acres in Franklin +township, where he lived, zealously devoted to the church, and highly +esteemed, till his death near the beginning of the Revolution.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> He +married Magdalena, daughter of Okie Van Hengelen, and had several +children, of whom, John, born 1722, and Cornelius, born 1729, removed to +the County of Orange, aforesaid.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> John, by trade a millwright, was +engaged by Mr. Tunis Van Pelt to build a grist mill on Murderer's Creek, +so called from an Indian tragedy of earlier times; and from which name +softened to Murdner, in common usage, came the modern Moodna. While so +occupied, and sharing the hospitalities of Mr. Van Pelt's house, he +wooed and married his daughter, Deborah, in 1744. Associating with his +father-in-law in the milling <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>business, Van Arsdale eventually became +proprietor, assisted, we believe, by his brother Cornelius, who was a +miller. Building up a large trade, he also became known for his private +virtues and public spirit. A lieutenant's commission (in which he is +styled "of Ulster County, Gentleman"), under Capt. Thomas Ellison, and +dated October 10th, 1754, is now in the writer's possession. But +misfortune, the loss of a vessel sent to the Bay of Honduras laden with +flour, and where it was to ship a cargo of logwood, led him to give up +the business and remove to New York, where he took charge of the Prison +in the old City Hall, in Wall street, which was deemed a post of great +responsibility. It was soon after this change that John, the subject of +our sketch, was born, at Mr. Van Pelt's residence, at Moodna, where his +mother had either remained, or was then making a visit. About six weeks +thereafter, having come to the city, with her infant, she sickened and +died of the small pox. After four years (in 1760), Mr. Van Arsdale +married Catherine, daughter of James Mills, deputy-sheriff of New York. +Ten years later, weary of his charge, then at the New Jail, built in +1757-9 (the Provost of the Revolution, and now the Hall of Records); he +resigned it, bought a schooner, and engaged in the more congenial +pursuit of marketing produce.</p> + +<p>The Revolution coming on, Capt. Van Arsdale entered with his vessel into +the American service, supplied our army at New York with fuel brought +from Hackensack (the Asia man-of-war once taking his wood and paying him +in continental bills), and afterwards helped to sink the +<i>chevaux-de-frize</i> in the Hudson, opposite Fort Washington. In this +arduous work he was aided by his son John, then lately returned from the +Canada expedition. The day the enemy entered the City he conveyed his +family to his vessel at Stryker's Bay, and, crowded with fugitives, made +good his escape up the Hudson to Murdner's Creek. Here his companion, +who had borne him eleven children, died in 1779; but he survived not +only to witness the war brought to a happy close, but long enough to see +much of the waste repaired, and the greatness of his country assured. +Respected and beloved for his amiable qualities and exemplary christian +character, Capt. Van Arsdale, the elder, died in 1798 at the residence +of his son-in-law, Mr. William Sherwood, at "The Creek."</p> + +<p>The junior Van Arsdale would have been unworthy of his honest ancestry +had he not possessed in a good degree the same stability of character. +Bereft of a mother's love at so early an age, John was tenderly reared +at his grandfather Van Pelt's till his father married again. Then New +York became his home for ten years or more, during which time his +playground was the Green (now City Hall Park) with the fields adjacent +to the New Jail, of which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>his father still had the custody. The times +were turbulent, and many stirring scenes passed under his boyish eyes. +One was the Soldiers' Riot, in 1764, when the jail was assaulted and +broken into by a party of riotous soldiers, with design to release a +prisoner, and in which Mr. Mills, in resisting them, was rudely handled +and wounded. And the gatherings, hardly less tumultuous, of the "Sons of +Liberty" to oppose the Stamp Act, or celebrate its repeal, by raising +liberty poles, which were several times cut down and replaced, all +serving to implant in his young mind an abhorrence of foreign rule, with +the germs of that patriotism which matured as he grew in years.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> But +an elder brother Tunis (his only own brother living, save Christopher, a +brassfounder, who died, unmarried, in the West Indies in 1773), having +served an apprenticeship with Fronce Mandeville, of Moodna, blacksmith, +married, in 1771, Jennie Wear, of the town of Montgomery, and the next +spring began married life on a farm of eighty acres, which he had +purchased, lying in that part of Hanover Precinct (now Montgomery) +called Neelytown. Much attached to Tunis, John thereafter spent several +years with him, attending school.</p> + +<p>But now the growing controversy between the Colonies and the mother +country had ripened into actual hostilities; the first aggressive +movement in which this Colony took part being the expedition against +Canada, planned in the summer of 1775. It fired young Van Arsdale's +patriotism, and about August 25th he enlisted under Capt. Jacobus +Wynkoop, of the Fourth New York Regiment, James Holmes being the colonel +and Philip Van Cortlandt the lieutenant-colonel. These forces, +proceeding up the Hudson, entered Canada by way of lakes George and +Champlain; part of the Fourth Regiment, under Major Barnabas Tuthill, +taking part in the brilliant assault upon Quebec, December 31st, but +unsuccessful, and fatal to the gallant leader, General Montgomery, and +numbers of his men. On their way to Quebec, and especially in crossing +the lakes on the ice, Van Arsdale and his comrades suffered so intensely +from the extreme cold that the hardships and incidents of this, his +first campaign, remained fresh in his memory even till old age. Van +Arsdale having "served his time out in the year's service, returned to +New York," where the Americans were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>concentrating troops, in order to +oppose the royal forces expected from Europe. Here he assisted his +father on board the schooner in sinking the obstructions in the Hudson, +as before noticed, and when the enemy captured the city, accompanied him +to Orange County. It was on Sept. 16th, 1776, that the British forces +landed at Kip's Bay, on the east side of the island, three miles out of +the city. A great many of the citizens who were friends of their +country, made a precipitate flight, and the roads were lined with +vehicles of every kind, removing furniture, etc. The elder Van Arsdale, +with difficulty, and only by paying down $200, got the use of a horse +and wagon to take his family and effects from his house to the schooner +lying in Stryker's Bay. While drawing a load, a spent cannon ball +knocked off one of the wagon wheels, at which his little son Cornelius, +but eight years old, was so frightened that he never forgot it. The +schooner was crowded to excess with citizens and their families, all +eager to get away, and for fear they might sink her, Capt. Van Arsdale +was obliged to turn off some who applied for a passage. They left deeply +loaded, and in their haste were obliged to take with them a lot of +military stores which were on board. Arriving at Murdner's Creek, John, +at his father's request, and taking his brother Abraham, set out afoot +for Neelytown, to inform their brother Tunis of their arrival. The +journey of twelve miles seemed short, and ere long the well-known +farmhouse hove in sight, seated a little way back, and to which led a +lane between rows of young cherry trees, and near it on the road the +low, dusky smith-shop, with its <i>debris</i> of cinders, old wheel-tires and +broken iron-work strewn about. Entering, as Tunis, with his back towards +them, stood at the forge heating his iron, and his assistant, Aleck +Bodle, lazily blowing the bellows, the first surprize was only +surpassed, when after hearty greetings, they imparted the startling news +of the capture of New York by the British, and that their father, having +barely escaped with his vessel, had arrived at the Creek. At once out +went the fire, and out went Tunis also to harness his horses, in order +to go and bring up the rest of the family; but on second thought, as the +day was far spent, he concluded to await the morrow. The next day there +was a joyous reunion at the farmhouse, but tempered with many sad +comments upon the doleful situation.</p> + +<p>John spent the winter with his brother Tunis, aiding in farm work and at +the forge; he had just reached his majority, and found congenial spirits +in Alexander Bodle and Joseph Elder, then serving apprenticeships with +Tunis, and afterwards much respected residents of Orange County. Around +the evening fireside they indulged in many a joke, when laughter made +the welkin ring, or behind the well-fed pacer, were borne in the clumsy +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>box sled, with the gingle of merry bells, to the rustic frolic; but the +bounds of decorum were never exceeded, and lips which could tell all +about it, bore us pleasing witness to Van Arsdale's correct habits and +deportment at a stage of life so beset with syren snares for the unwary, +and which commonly moulds the character.</p> + +<p>But nevertheless the winter was one of great military activity, +especially among the organized militia of Orange County, in which (in +the town of New Windsor) was the sub-district of Little Britain, the +home of the Clintons;<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> the menacing attitude of the enemy under Lord +Howe, who had approached as near as Hackensack, and the protection of +the passes of the Highlands, requiring frequent calls upon the yeomanry +to take the field. The inhabitants of Hanover Precinct, which precinct +joined on New Windsor, had from the first shown great spirit; their +Association, dated May 8th, 1775, in which they pledge their support to +the Continental Congress, &c., in resisting "the several arbitrary and +oppressive acts of the British Parliaments," and "in the most solemn +manner resolve never to become slaves," is signed first by Dr. Charles +Clinton and presents 342 names. The Precinct in the winter of 1776-7, +contained four militia companies, under Captains Matthew Felter, James +Milliken, Hendrick Van Keuren and James McBride, and these were attached +to a regiment of which that sterling patriot, James McClaughry, of +Little Britain, brother in law to the Clintons, was lieutenant colonel +commandant.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> Tunis and John Van Arsdale lived in Capt. Van Keuren's +beat. The Captain was a veteran of the last French war, and it gave him +prestige, in the command to which he had been recently promoted. He had +"warmly espoused the cause of his country, and evinced unshaken firmness +throughout the whole of the contest." Col. McClaughry had taken the +field with his regiment early in the winter, proceeding down into +Jersey, and of which, on his return, Jan. 1st, he gave a humorous +account to Gen. Clinton; but though highly probable, we have no positive +evidence that John Van Arsdale went into actual service till the spring +opened.</p> + +<p>Forts Montgomery and Clinton, begun in 1775, stood on the west side of +the Hudson, opposite Anthony's Nose, at a very important pass, where the +river was narrow, easily obstructed, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>from the elevation which the +forts occupied, was commanded a great distance up and down. Fort Clinton +was below Fort Montgomery, distant only about six hundred yards, the +Poplopen Kill running through a ravine between them; the fortress was +small, but more complete than Fort Montgomery, and stood at a greater +elevation, being 23 feet the highest, and 123 feet above the river. +These posts were distant (southeast) from the Clinton mansion only about +sixteen miles. The two fortresses required a thousand men for their +proper defense, but till early in 1777, had usually been in charge of a +very small force under Gen. James Clinton. The time of these soldiers +expiring on the last day of March, Col. Lewis Dubois, with the Fifth New +York Regiment was sent to garrison Fort Montgomery.</p> + +<p>A meeting of the field officers of Orange and Ulster, was held at Mrs. +Falls' in Little Britain, March 31st, 1777, pursuant to a resolve of the +New York Convention empowering General George Clinton, lately appointed +commandant of the forts in the Highlands, to call out the militia "to +defend this State against the incursions of our implacable enemies, and +reinforce the garrisons of Fort Montgomery, defend the post of Sidnam's +Bridge (near Hackensack), and afford protection to the distressed +inhabitants." It was there resolved, with great spirit, to call +one-third of each of the several regiments into actual service, to the +number of 1,200, and to form them into three temporary regiments, of +which two should garrison Fort Montgomery, under Colonel Levi Pawling +(with Lt. Col. McClaughry), and Col. Johannes Snyder. As the men were +raised they were to march in detachments to that post, and were to serve +till August 1st, and receive continental pay and rations. Each captain +was forthwith directed to raise his quota, and "in the most just and +equitable manner."</p> + +<p>John Van Arsdale was among those chosen from his beat, and sometime in +April, borrowing from his brother an old but trusty musket, proceeded to +Fort Montgomery. Being of a resolute, active temperament, with a +knowledge of tactics, and an aptness to command, he was made a corporal; +an evidence of the good opinion entertained of him by his officers, +flattering to one of his years. It was also in his favor that he was a +good penman, and had acquired a fair English education for the times. +Drilling his squad, placing and relieving the guards, and other daily +routine duty, gave our young corporal enough to do, while the courts for +the trial of some notorious tories, held at that post, during the spring +and summer, added to frequent alarms due to indications that the enemy +from below meditated an attack upon the forts, kept everything lively. +On <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>July 2nd, Gen. Clinton, upon a hint from Washington that Lord Howe, +in order to favor Burgoyne, might attempt to seize the passes of the +Highlands, and "make him a very hasty visit," with which view, accounts +given by deserters from New York coincided; immediately repaired to Fort +Montgomery, after first ordering to that post the full regiment of Col. +McClaughry, with those of Colonels William Allison, Jesse Woodhull, and +Jonathan Hasbrouck. The militia came in with great alacrity, almost to a +man. But ten days passed without a sign of the enemy. Parties went daily +on the Dunderbergh (Thunder Mountain) to look down the river, but could +not see a single vessel; then, as usual, when there was no immediate +prospect of any thing to do, the transient militia became uneasy, and +were allowed to go home in the belief that they would turn out more +cheerfully the next time.</p> + +<p>But as the term of service of those called out in April expired on +August 1st, on that date another call was made by Gov. Clinton on the +respective regiments, to make up eight companies, by ballot or other +equitable mode, and to march with due expedition to Fort Montgomery, and +there put themselves under command of Colonel Allison, with McClaughry +as his Lieutenant Colonel. They were to draw continental pay, etc. In +this instance no immediate danger being apprehended, the militia did not +respond very promptly, although much needed to replace part of the +continental force which had been withdrawn for other service. Again, on +August 5th, Clinton, by virtue of threatening news from Gen. Washington, +directed Allison and McClaughry to march all the militia to Fort +Montgomery, except the frontier companies, which were to be left for +home protection. But repeated orders to urge them forward were but +partially successful. September closed, the quotas were far from +complete, orders then issued by Allison, McClaughry, and Hasbrouck (by +direction of Clinton) for half their regiments to repair to Fort +Montgomery were but slowly complied with, and the delay was fatal! Van +Arsdale had re-enlisted and held his former position. It was at this +time that he made the acquaintance of Elnathan Sears, and which ripened +into friendship under very trying circumstances.</p> + +<p>Forts Montgomery and Clinton at this date mounted thirty-two cannon, +rating from 6 to 32 pounders. The garrison consisted of two companies of +Col. John Lamb's artillery, under Capts. Andrew Moodie and Jonathan +Brown (one in each fort) and parts of the regiments of Cols. Dubois, +Allison, Hasbrouck, Woodhull and McClaughry with a very few from other +regiments. Thus matters stood on Sunday, October 5th, 1777.</p> + +<p>Hark! what bustling haste—of people running to and fro,—has suddenly +disturbed the Sabbath evening's repose at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>Neelytown? Tidings have just +reached them that the enemy's vessels are ascending the Hudson with the +obvious design of attacking Fort Montgomery and the neighboring posts. +The orders are for every man able to shoulder a musket to hasten to +their assistance! This was grave intelligence for the inmates at the Van +Arsdale home (and which may serve to represent many others), but the +call of duty could not be disregarded. For most of the night the good +wife was occupied in baking and putting up provisions for Tunis and his +two apprentices to take with them, while these were as busy cleaning +their muskets, moulding bullets, etc., that naught might be wanting for +the stern business before them. Towards morning, taking one or two hours +rest, they arose, equipped themselves, and made ready for the journey to +the fort, which was full twenty miles distant. As the parting moment had +come, the kind father kissed his three little ones tenderly, then +uttered in the ear of his sorrowing Jennie the sad good-bye, and with +the others hastened from the house, his wife attending him to the road, +and weeping bitterly for she understood but too well that it might be +the final parting. Her longing eyes followed them till they disappeared +beyond an intervening hill. "Oh!" said she to the writer more than sixty +years afterwards, as she related these facts, her eyes even then +suffused with tears, "You may <i>read</i> of these things, but you can never +<i>feel</i> them as I did. I wept much during those seven years."</p> + +<p>During the day, those whose kinsmen had gone to the battle met here and +there in little bands to condole with each other, and talk over the +unhappy situation. Later, the boom of distant artillery awakened their +worst fears, for now were they sure that those dear to them were engaged +in a mortal conflict with the enemy. The shades of evening closing +around, brought no relief to their burdened hearts; but, on the +contrary, the most torturing suspense as to the issue of the battle. To +make the situation more depressing, there came on a cold rain, and the +dreariness without was a fit index of the desolate hearts within. At a +late hour Mrs. Van Arsdale retired to her sleepless pillow; but her case +found its counterpart in many an anxious household over a large section +of country.</p> + +<p>At length morning broke upon that unhappy neighborhood, and with it came +persons from the battle bringing the appalling news that the Americans +had been defeated, and many of them slain, or made prisoners, and that +the enemy were in full possession of the forts. Then other parties +arrived whose woe-stricken faces only confirmed the sad intelligence. +Soon anxious inquiries sped from house to house where any lived who had +escaped from the slaughter, to learn about this one and that, who had +gone to the battle, but had not returned. Jennie could get no tidings of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>her husband, though she spent the greater part of the day in watching +on the road, and several times even fancied that she saw him coming; but +alas! only to find it a delusion. It added to her fears for her husband, +when a neighbor named Monell, at whose house she called, met her with +the sorrowful news that his brother, Robert Monell, first lieutenant in +Capt. Van Keuren's company, had been killed in the battle. At length the +apprentices arrived, their faces begrimed with powder, and one of them +crying for his brother, who had been shot down by his side, and died +instantly.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> The other, who was Joseph Elder, before spoken of, a +young man of giant frame, had narrowly escaped death, having his hat and +jacket pierced with bullets in the engagement! But having been separated +from Mr. Van Arsdale, they had not seen him since the battle, and so +were ignorant as to his fate. The wretched woman was in despair; many of +her neighbors had now returned and the prolonged absence of her Tunis +seemed to forbode that he had either been killed or captured by the +enemy. But now still others arrive, and she is led from their +statements, to hope that Tunis has escaped, and is making his way +homeward through the mountains. Her heart leaps with joy, and she +returns to the house, and even indulges a laugh as her eye gets a sight +of the mush kettle still hanging on the trammel, as she placed it there +in the morning; no meal stirred in, and she having eaten nothing the +whole day. Towards night Tunis arrived, on horseback, with his +brother-in-law William Wear, who at Jennie's request, had gone out some +distance to look for him.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> He was fast asleep from exhaustion when +they reached the house, (Wear behind him and holding him on the horse), +and his face so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>blackened with powder that his wife hardly knew him. He +was much depressed in spirits, but grateful to God who had preserved and +restored him to his family and friends. That evening brought in his +captain, Van Keuren, who for some cause was not in the fight, with his +minister, Rev. Andrew King, and many other neighbors—a house +full,—some to congratulate Van Arsdale on his escape, others, with +anxious faces to inquire after missing friends, and others still to +learn the particulars of the battle. The account he gave of what +happened after leaving home for the scene of conflict, was briefly as +follows:</p> + +<p>A walk of several hours brought them to a little stream at the foot of +the hill upon which Fort Montgomery stood, and where they had intended +to stop and eat their dinner; but hearing a great deal of noise and +bustle in the fort, they only took a drink from the brook, and hastened +up into the works, when they soon learned that a large body of the enemy +had landed below the Dunderbergh, and were advancing by a circuitous +route to attack the fort in the rear. About the middle of the afternoon +the British columns appeared, and pressed on to the assault with +bayonets fixed. But our men poured down upon them such a destructive +fire of bullets and grape shot that they fell in heaps, and were kept at +bay till night-fall, when our folks, being worn out by continued +fighting, and overpowered by numbers, were obliged to give way. Then +Gov. Clinton told them to escape for their lives, when many fought their +way out, or scrambled over the wall, and so got away. It must have fared +badly with the rest, as the enemy after entering the fort continued to +stab, knock down and kill our soldiers without pity. Favored by the +darkness, Tunis attempted to escape through one of the entrances, though +it was nearly blocked up by the assailing column, and the heaps of +killed and wounded; but presently, as an English soldier held a +militiaman bayoneted against the wall, Tunis, stooping down, slipped +between the Briton's legs, and escaped around the fort toward the river. +He said he had gone but a little way, when a cry of distress, evidently +from a young person, arrested his attention. A poor boy, in making his +escape, had fallen into a crevice in the rocks, and was unable to +extricate himself. Tunis, at no little risk, crept down to where the lad +was and drew him out, but in doing so hurt himself quite badly, by +scraping one of his legs on a sharp rock. He then gained the river and +found a skiff, in which he and two or three others crossed over. Then a +party of them travelled in Indian file, through the darkness and cold +drizzling rain, stopping once at the house of a friendly farmer, where +they got some food, and as the day broke entered Fishkill; whence they +crossed to New Windsor, and there met Gov. Clinton and many more who had +made good their escape. All felt greatly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>dispirited, but the Governor +tried to cheer them, remarking: "Well, my boys, we've been badly beaten +this time, but have courage, the next time the day may be ours." Without +much delay Mr. Van Arsdale set out for home, as fast as his lameness +admitted of, knowing how great anxiety would be felt on his account. But +of his brother John; he had no knowledge of what had befallen him, and +indulged the worst fears as to his fate.</p> + +<p>Such in brief was Van Arsdale's account of that sanguinary affair, +divested of many little particulars of the battle and its sequel. But +his limited observation could include but a small part of what passed on +that most eventful day, as we are now able to gather it from many +sources.</p> + +<p>With a view to coöperate with General Burgoyne, who had invaded the +State from the north, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton, having a +force of about 3,000 men, sailed from New York on the 4th of October, +with the design of reducing the forts in the Highlands, and, if +possible, open communication with Burgoyne's army. The same night their +advance as far as Tarrytown was known at Fort Montgomery, and that they +had landed a large force at that place. The next morning (Sunday) +advices were received that they had reached King's Ferry, connecting +Verplank's and Stony Point. That afternoon they landed a large body of +men on the east side of the river, to divert attention from the real +point of attack, but they re-embarked in the night. An extract from Sir +Henry Clinton's report to General Howe, dated Fort Montgomery, October +9th, will begin at this point, and form a proper introduction to our +side of the story. Says he:</p> + +<p>"At day-break on the 6th the troops disembarked at Stony Point. The +<i>avant-garde</i> of 500 regulars and 400 provincials,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> commanded by +Lieut.-Col. Campbell, with Col. Robinson, of the provincials, under him, +began its march to occupy the pass of Thunder-hill (Dunderbergh). This +<i>avant-garde</i>, after it had passed that mountain, was to proceed by a +detour of seven miles round the hill (called Bear Hill), and <i>deboucher</i> +in the rear of Fort Montgomery; while Gen. Vaughan, with 1200 men,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> +was to continue his march towards Fort Clinton, covering the corps under +Lieut.-Col. Campbell, and <i>à portée</i> to coöperate, by attacking Fort +Clinton, or, in case of misfortune, to favor the retreat. Major-Gen. +Tryon, with the remainder, being the rear guard,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>leave a +battalion at the pass of Thunder-hill, to open our communication with +the fleet.</p> + +<p>"Your Excellency recollecting the many, and I may say extraordinary +difficulties of this march over the mountains, every natural +obstruction, and all that art could invent to add to them, will not be +surprised that the corps intended to attack Fort Montgomery in the rear, +could not get to its ground before five o'clock; about which time I +ordered Gen. Vaughan's corps, <i>à portée</i>, to begin the attack on Fort +Clinton, to push, if possible, and dislodge the enemy from their +advanced station behind a stone breastwork, having in front for half a +mile a most impenetrable abatis. This the General, by his good +disposition, obliged the enemy to quit, though supported by cannon; got +possession of the wall, and there waited the motion of the coöperating +troops,—when I joined him, and soon afterwards heard Lieut. Col. +Campbell begin the attack. I chose to wait a favorable moment before I +ordered the attack on the side of Fort Clinton, which was a circular +height, defended by a line for musketry, with a barbet-battery in the +centre, of three guns, and flanked by two redoubts; the approaches to it +through a continued abatis of four hundred yards, defensive every inch, +and exposed to the fire of ten pieces of cannon. As the night was +approaching, I determined to seize the first favorable instant. A brisk +attack on the Fort Montgomery side, the galleys with their oars +approaching, firing and even striking the fort, the men-of-war at that +moment appearing, crowding all sail to support us, the extreme ardor of +the troops, in short, all determined me to order the attack; Gen. +Vaughan's spirited behavior and good conduct did the rest. Having no +time to lose, I particularly ordered that not a shot should be fired; in +this I was strictly obeyed, and both redoubts, &c., were stormed.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> +Gen. Tryon advanced with one battalion to support Gen. Vaughan, in case +it might be necessary, and he arrived in time to join in the cry of +victory!</p> + +<p>"Trumback's Regiment was posted at the stone wall to cover our retreat, +in case of misfortune. The night being dark, it was near eight o'clock +before we could be certain of the success of the attack against Fort +Montgomery, which we afterwards found had succeeded at the same instant +that of Fort Clinton did; and <i>that</i> by the excellent disposition of +Lieut. Col. Campbell, who was unfortunately killed on the first attack, +but was seconded by Col. Robinson, of the loyal American Regiment, by +whose knowledge of the country I was much aided in forming my plan, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>to whose spirited conduct in the execution of it, I impute in a great +measure the success of the enterprise."</p> + +<p>From this official account by the British commander, we shall better +understand the statements (including Gov. Clinton's report) left us by +the brave defenders of the two beleaguered fortresses; and which will +properly begin upon the day preceding the battle.</p> + +<p>On Sunday night Gov. Clinton, who had just arrived and taken command at +Fort Montgomery, (the defense of Fort Clinton being intrusted to his +brother Gen. James Clinton), sent out a party of about 100 men under +Major Samuel Logan of the 5th, or Dubois's regiment, across the +Dunderbergh to watch the motions of the enemy. The party returned in the +morning and reported that they had seen about forty boats full of men +land below the Dunderbergh. The real intention of the enemy was now +apparent. Hereupon the Governor sent out another party of observation, +consisting of 30 men, under Lieut. Paton Jackson (5th regiment) who took +the road that led to Haverstraw; when at about ten o'clock in the +forenoon, having reached a point some two miles and a half below Fort +Montgomery, they suddenly came upon a concealed party of the enemy, +within five rods distant, who ordered them to club their muskets and +surrender themselves prisoners. They made no answer, but fired upon the +enemy and hastily retreated. The fire was returned and our people were +pursued half a mile; but they got off without losing a man, and retired +into Fort Clinton. Soon after, intelligence was received at Fort +Montgomery that the enemy were advancing on the west side of Bear Hill +to attack that work in the rear. Upon this Gov. Clinton immediately sent +out 100 men under Lieut. Col. Jacobus Bruyn (5th regiment) and Lieut. +Col. McClaughry, to take the road around Bear Hill to meet the +approaching enemy; and at the same time dispatched another party of 60 +men, of Lamb's Artillery, with a brass field piece, to occupy a +commanding eminence on the road that diverged westerly to Orange +Furnace, or Forest of Dean. They were not long out, before both parties +were attacked, about two o'clock in the afternoon, by the enemy in full +force. The party under Cols. Bruyn and McClaughry, fell in with them two +miles from the fort, when the enemy hailing McClaughry, who took the +lead, inquired how many men he had. "Ten to your one, d——n you," +replied the undaunted colonel. But the enemy being so superior in +numbers, our people had to retreat, as of course they had expected, yet +keeping up a galling fusilade upon the foe. While doing so, the ground +being very rough and in places steep, Capt. James Humphrey, McClaughry's +brother in law, lost his gun (for then the American captains carried +both a gun and sword), or as others <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>say, and which seems most correct, +had it broken by a shot from the enemy. In this dilemma he asked +McClaughry what he should do. "Throw stones like the devil," replied the +latter in thunder tones! The party on the Furnace road were strengthened +to upwards of an hundred, and kept their field piece playing lively upon +the cautiously advancing foe, doing great execution, till the cannoniers +were driven off with the bayonet, the enemy almost surrounding them. But +spiking the gun, they retreated in good order to a twelve pounder, which +by the Governor's direction had been placed to cover them, and also +keeping up the engagement with small arms, till most of them got within +the breastwork of the fort. The late Lieut. Timothy Mix, of Lamb's +Artillery, and who died at New Haven in 1824, aged 85 years, was of this +party. While in the act of firing the cannon his right hand was disabled +by a musket shot. Instantly seizing the match with his left, he touched +off the piece!</p> + +<p>Clinton immediately posted his men in the most advantageous manner for +defending the works, and before many minutes the enemy, advancing in +several columns, reached the walls and invested them on every side where +possible to do so. Cannon planted at the entrances mowed them down as +they ascended the hill, but the breach was immediately closed up, and +they pressed on to the assault. The attack now became general on both +forts, and was kept up incessantly for some time; though the smallness +of our numbers (about 500, in both forts), which required every man to +be upon continual duty and demanded unremitted exertion, fatigued our +people greatly, while the enemy, whose number was thought to be at least +4,000, continued to press us with fresh troops. Yet notwithstanding +their utmost efforts, the enemy were many times repulsed and beaten back +from our breastworks with great slaughter. Col. Mungo Campbell fell in +leading the first attack on Fort Montgomery, his place being taken by +Col. Beverly Robinson, of the Loyal Americans. This caused a temporary +check. About half-past four, they sent a flag, which Lt.-Col. William +Livingston was deputed by the Governor to go out and receive. They +demanded a surrender in five minutes, to prevent the effusion of blood, +otherwise we should all be put to sword! The gallant young colonel +answered, with irony, that he would accept their proposals if <i>they</i> +meant to surrender, and could assure them good usage; that <i>we</i> were +determined to defend the fort <i>to the last extremity</i>! Then the action +was renewed with fresh vigor on both sides; our officers aiding and +encouraging their men to every possible effort. Col. McClaughry was one +of the most active; full of fire, he fought like a tiger; his white coat +was seen, now here, now there, as he kept going about among his men, +inspiring them with his own invincible spirit. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>conflict went on +until the dusk of evening, when the enemy stormed the upper redoubt at +Fort Montgomery, which commanded the fort, and after a severe struggle, +and overpowering us with numbers, got possession of it, when our men +were forced to give way. The first to enter the fort were the New York +Volunteers (led by Capt. George Turnbull), a provincial corps, whose +commander, Major Grant, was killed before the assault. At the same time +they stormed and got possession of Fort Clinton, in which, besides a +company of Lamb's Artillery, were none but militia, but who nobly +defended it, till they also were obliged to yield to superior force. The +garrisons, or as many as could, bound not to surrender, gallantly fought +their way out, those of Fort Montgomery retreating across the gully on +the north side; while many others, including Gov. Clinton, escaped over +the south breastwork, and making their way down to the water's edge, +crossed the river on the boom. The darkness of the evening much favored +the escape of our soldiers, as did their knowledge of the various paths +in the mountains, and a large number, with nearly all the officers, got +away. But many were taken prisoners, and about 100 were slain; among the +latter was a son of Colonel Allison, and Capt. Milliken, of McClaughry's +regiment (Mr. Sears' captain); also James Van Arsdale, of Hanover +Precinct, a kinsman of Tunis and John, and a private in Dubois's +regiment. John Thompson was killed, who was nearly related to the +Clintons, and cousin to William Bodle, Esq., late of Tompkins County, N. +Y.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> The enemy paid dearly for their conquest, both in officers and +men, the total being 41 killed and 142 wounded. Among the officers +killed, besides Col. Campbell, Majors Grant and Sill, and Capt. Stewart, +was Count <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>Grabouski, a Polish nobleman acting as aid-de-camp to Sir +Henry Clinton; and Sir Henry himself narrowly escaped our grape-shot, as +also Maj. Gan. John Vaughan, whose horse was shot under him.</p> + +<p>Many incidents are related of those who met with hair-breadth escapes. +Gen. James Clinton was among the last to leave Fort Clinton, and escaped +not until he was severely wounded by the thrust of a bayonet, pursued +and fired at by the enemy, and his attending servant killed. He slid +down a declivity of one hundred feet to the ravine of the creek which +separated the forts, and proceeding cautiously along its bank reached +the mountains at a safe distance from the enemy, after having fallen +into the stream, by which, the water being cold, the flow of blood from +his wound was staunched. The return of light enabled him to find a +horse, which took him to his house, in Little Britain, where he arrived +about noon, covered with blood, and suffering from a high fever. Capt. +William Faulkner, of McClaughry's regiment, had a bayonet driven in his +breast with such force that, being unfixed at the same moment, it stuck +fast, when he himself drew it out, and threw it back with all his might, +and his man fell. The enemy were pressing into the fort, and the captain +made his way on the ground by the side of the column and got out. +Walking a mile or so he lay down to drink at a brook, the draft stopped +the blood, but he was too weak to rise. He "made his peace with God" (to +use his own expression), and expected there to die. But a man came along +on horseback, who placed him on his horse, and took him to an inn two +miles beyond. There he found a dozen of his own men, by whom he was +taken to his own house on the Walkill, and he finally recovered.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>When the battle had ended, and the enemy had set a guard, Corporal Van +Arsdale, who had shown great spirit in the fight, and was among the last +to cease firing, resolved not to be made a prisoner, and managed to +escape from the fort; but he had only gone a short distance when he was +shot in the calf of the leg, and seized by a British soldier while in +the act of crossing a fence. He was conducted back into the fort, under +a torrent of abuse from his captor, who threatened to take his life, and +he himself expected instant death. His gun was demanded, and when +delivered, the barrel was yet so hot from frequent firing that the +soldier quickly dropped it, with another imprecation. Then the old +musket, its last work so nobly done, was ruthlessly broken to pieces +over the rocks. Van Arsdale and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>the other prisoners, two hundred and +seventy-five in all, including twenty-eight officers, were kept under +guard for a day or two at the forts, then put on board the British +transports and taken to New York. Forty-four of Van Arsdale's regiment +were among them including the brave colonel McClaughry (who was +suffering from seven wounds),<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> and his brother-in-law Capt. Humphrey, +of whom it was said by one Van Tuyl (among the last to escape from Fort +Montgomery) that, when he left, Humphrey was yet throwing stones! The +prisoners, on arriving at New York, October 10th, were landed, and the +privates marched up to Livingston's Sugar House, in Liberty Street, +between Nassau and William, and put in custody of Sergeant Woolly; +excepting the badly wounded, who were sent to the hospital. The +officers, with similar exception, were taken to the old City Hall, +whence, two days after, they were marched up to the Provost, and placed +in charge of the brutal Cunningham, where they remained till after the +surrender of Burgoyne, when, retaliation being feared, nearly all the +officers were sent (November 1st) to Long Island, upon parole.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> The +privates had all been removed from the Sugar House, October 24th, and +put on board a prisonship, anchored opposite Governor's Island. Van +Arsdale, and his friend Sears, needing surgical aid, were, with others, +suffering from their wounds, taken directly to the Presbyterian Church +in Beekman Street, known as the "Brick Church," and then used by the +enemy as an hospital. Sears had been very badly hurt in the battle. +After being shot in the leg, and stabbed in the side by a bayonet, which +filled his shoes with blood, he was knocked down with the but of a gun +and trampled upon by the invading column. At the hospital, the bullets +being extracted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>and their wounds dressed, they began to mend, but only +three weeks and three days elapsed, when they too were sent to the +prisonship, and confined between decks. Winter had set in very +inclement, their food was not only stale and unwholesome, but even this +was limited in quantity to two-thirds of a British soldiers when at sea, +which was one-third less than the allowance upon land; in consequence of +which they suffered everything but death from hunger and cold. Nor was +this the worst. The prisoners, from these and other causes, became very +sickly, and died off in great numbers. Abel Wells and four others of the +Fort Montgomery party, being tailors, were sent from the prisonship to +the Provost, November 24th, to make clothing for the prisoners +there.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> They informed Judge Fell, a prisoner, that their company was +then reduced to one hundred. This mortality would seem to have been +heavy among Col. Dubois's men, very few of whom ever rejoined their +regiment. Van Arsdale was taken sick about the 20th of December, and had +the good fortune to be sent to the hospital, where he had some care, and +soon recovered. Shortly after going there he was joined by Sears, who +was in a suffering and helpless condition, his feet and legs having been +badly frozen in the prisonship. Fortunately Van Arsdale was getting +better, so that he was of great service to his friend, and which also +tended to divert his mind from his own misfortunes. He even begged +"coppers" from the British officers to buy little comforts for Sears; +but which, had it been for himself, he declared he would have scorned to +do, in any extremity. Sears always held that Van Arsdale saved his life, +and he spoke feelingly of his kindness to him to the day of his death. +Van Arsdale finding his condition in the hospital much more tolerable, +managed to prolong his stay, by tying up his head and feigning illness +when the doctor made his daily call. The latter would leave him some +powders, but only to be thrown away. This did not long avail him, and +when reported well enough to remove, he was taken back to the +prisonship, to endure its indescribable miseries for several weary +months. Words cannot portray the horrors of this prison, which was +loathsome <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>with filth and vermin, and where to the pangs of hunger and +thirst, were aided the alternate extremes of heat and cold. Especially +when the hatches were closed, as was always done at night, the heat and +stench caused by the feverish breath of hundreds of prisoners became +almost suffocating. Consequently dysentery, smallpox and jail fever made +fearful ravages. The ghastly faces of the starved and sick, and the pale +corpses of the dead, the groans of the dying, the commingled voices of +weeping, cursing and praying, joined to the ravings of the delirious; +such were the shocking scenes to which Van Arsdale was a witness, and +which added to his personal sufferings, made his situation one of the +most appalling to be conceived of. Fitly was this dungeon described by +one of its inmates as "a little epitome of Hell!" Kept near to +starvation, Van Arsdale, when allowed with other prisoners, a few at a +time, to go up on the quarter deck, was glad to eat the beans or crusts +he skimmed from the swill kept there to feed pigs, that he might +partially relieve the gnawings of hunger! But we forbear further comment +upon a fruitful topic, the cruel treatment of the American prisoners, +and which has fixed a stain upon the perpetrators never to be wiped out!</p> + +<p>Sears had returned to the prisonship about the last of March, and in the +month of May he and Van Arsdale, with other prisoners, were picked out +and removed again to the Sugar House. This was probably a step towards +an exchange of prisoners, then contemplated, which made it necessary to +separate those belonging to the land service from the naval prisoners. +The Sugar House, with its five or six low stories, was crammed with +American patriots, and the passerby in warm weather could see its little +grated windows filled with human faces, trying to catch a breath of the +external air! But now a little more lenity seems to have been shown some +of the prisoners, perhaps in view of the exchange. Van Arsdale found a +friend in his father's cousin, Vincent Day, who had enlisted in Lamb's +Artillery, in 1775, but did not go to Canada, and was now regarded as a +loyalist. He was permitted to see Van Arsdale, bring him food, etc.,<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> +and a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>next step was to get leave for him to visit his house. This was a +most grateful relief; but it being suspected that Van Arsdale meditated +an escape (which my informant said was the case), this privilege was cut +off, and Day sent to the Provost for his humanity. This incident was +related to me by Mr. Abraham Van Arsdale, before mentioned.</p> + +<p>Van Arsdale had dragged out some two months of miserable existence in +the Sugar House, and in all nine months and a half as a prisoner, when +the day of happy deliverance arrived. Gen. Washington had long been +trying to effect an exchange of prisoners, but to overcome the scruples +of the British commander took months of negotiation. Terms were at +length agreed upon by which some six hundred Americans were set at +liberty. On July 20th, Van Arsdale was released from his dungeon, and +taken with others in a barge down the bay, and <i>via</i> the Kills to +Elizabethtown Point, where they landed, and were delivered up to Major +John Beatty, the American Commissary. In marching from the Point two +miles to the village of Elizabethtown, Van Arsdale was obliged to +support his friend Sears, who was too feeble to walk alone. Now +breathing the air of freedom, they set out together for their homes in +Hanover Precinct, where Van Arsdale was heartily greeted by his numerous +friends who received him as one risen from the dead, and found a warm +welcome in the house of his brother Tunis. Emaciated to a degree, and +suffering from scurvy, he was for some time under the doctor's care, but +finally regained his health.</p> + +<p>A nation's gratitude is the least tribute it can render to its brave +soldiers who have fought its battles; but if any class of patriots +should be tenderly embalmed in a nation's memory, it is those who, +through devotion to country, have languished in prison walls, whether +the "Sugar House," or a "Libby!" What firmness, and what consecration to +country was required in the Revolutionary prisoners, under the pressure +of their sufferings, to spurn the alluring offers frequently made, to +entice them into the British service; but so rarely successful. Do not +their names deserve to be written in letters of gold, on the proudest +obelisk that national gratitude and munificence united could erect?<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>Van Arsdale's bitter experience at the hands of the Britons, had +changed his animosity towards them into unmitigated hate, and we know +that time but partially overcame it. So far from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>weaning him from the +dangers and hardships of a soldier's life, it only nerved him with +courage, and fixed his purpose to re-enter the service, an opportunity +for which soon offered.</p> + +<p>The frequent atrocities committed by the Indians and Tories upon the +settlers on the frontiers, within New York and Pennsylvania, and +especially the massacres, the preceding year, at Wyoming and Cherry +Valley, led to retributive measures, which took <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>the form of an +expedition into the Indian country. This expedition was to move in two +divisions; one under Major General Sullivan, who was chief in command, +to ascend the Susquehanna river from Easton, the other under General +James Clinton to descend that river from the Mohawk Valley; and the two +meeting at Tioga Point, the united force was to proceed up the Chemung, +to give the Indians battle, should they make a stand, or otherwise to +burn and lay waste their villages, orchards and crops, thus depriving +them of subsistence, and the power to repeat their bloody forays upon +the border settlements.</p> + +<p>This design was scarcely matured, when our legislature, on March 13th, +1779, ordered the raising of two regiments from the militia, to be +called State Levies, for the special defense of the State, and +particularly of the frontiers of Orange and Ulster, which were subject +to the stealthy attacks of roving Indians, and of Tories disguised as +Indians, the fear of which kept the loyal inhabitants in constant alarm, +and called for the maintenance of a military guard to prevent their +falling a prey to these destroyers in the British interest, or their +abandonment of their homes and possessions. One battalion of levies, so +raised, was commanded by Lieut.-Col. Albert Pawling, and under whom, in +the company of Capt. William Faulkner, our Van Arsdale enlisted on the +10th of May. Governor Clinton had assured <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>Washington that Pawling would +reinforce Gen. Clinton on his march, and take part in the expedition. +But the sudden seizure of Stony Point by the British, May 31st, and a +further advance which menaced West Point and obliged Governor Clinton to +take the field with all his available force, together with the burning +of Minisink by red and white savages under the cruel Brant, and the +fatal battle that ensued, July 22d, near the Delaware, in which fell +many of the brave yeomen of Orange, made it so unsafe to withdraw the +levies from these borders that Governor Clinton expressed a fear that he +might not be able to detach them upon the western expedition.</p> + +<p>But eventually Col. Pawling, with his battalion, about five hundred men, +left Lackawack and Shandaken, on the borders of Ulster, upon the 10th of +August. The route lay across the country for a hundred miles, over +mountains and rivers, and through dark forests known only to the guides; +but it so happened that, added to these obstacles, the rains set in and +the rivers became swollen and impassable, except by rafts. This, with +the state of his provisions and other considerations, rendered it +impracticable for him to proceed, and he reluctantly turned back. He, +however, pushed forward a small detachment of sixteen men, under Capt. +Abraham Van Aken, either to advise Gen. Clinton of his approach or of +his inability to join him; but Van Aken reached Aghquaga, or Anquaga, on +the Susquehanna, the day after Clinton had passed, so missed of seeing +him; and remaining there some days, as would appear, then returned to +camp, where he arrived September 1st. It transpired that Clinton had +reached Anquaga on the 14th, and, waiting till the 16th, then sent out +Major Church, with the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, five or six miles +to look for Pawling, but they returned without seeing him, and the next +morning Clinton pursued his march. This was a great disappointment to +Van Arsdale and others, who were full of ardor to share in the +expedition under Sullivan, and our statement must correct the existing +belief that Van Arsdale did take part in it, while it explains how he +failed of the coveted opportunity.</p> + +<p>Major Van Benschoten, with a detachment of the levies, including Van +Arsdale and his company, in which he was serving as corporal, proceeded, +October 31st, to the camp on the Hudson, and were ordered to Stony Point +to augment its garrison. But the winter setting in with severity, the +men through anxiety to reach home, began to desert in great numbers, on +account of which they were ordered to Poughkeepsie, and set out December +16th. At Fishkill, the next day they were paid off, up to October 31st, +the date they arrived in camp. What Capt. Faulkner then paid him was all +that Van Arsdale received in lieu of his services, past <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>or subsequent, +till after the war ended. He remained with his company until it was +disbanded on December 25th, when he was honorably discharged and went +home, having acquitted him as "a good soldier" in the estimation of his +captain.</p> + +<p>He spent the winter at Neelytown, giving spare time to improving his +mind in some useful studies. It was the famous "Hard Winter," and it +made a fearful draft on the woodpile; taking the brothers often to the +woods with their axes, to keep up the supply of fuel. Snow covered the +ground to an average depth of six feet or more, fences and roads were +obliterated, and travel went in all directions over the hard crust. +Being difficult if not dangerous for a team, they drew their wood home +on a hand sled. On the melting of the snow in the spring, the stumps +left were of sufficient length to be used by Tunis for making fence +rails!</p> + +<p>A dark cloud hung over our cause in the spring of 1780; there were no +funds with which to pay the army, or even to supply it with necessary +food and clothing. Pressed by keenest want, officers were resigning, +large bodies of soldiers whose time had expired were leaving, while such +as remained were disheartened,—less by the remembrance of hardships +past, than by what the future seemed to forebode. It was under such +discouragements, when</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Allegiance wand'ring turns astray<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And Faith grows dim for lack of pay."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>that Van Arsdale re-entered the army, to share its fortunes whatever +those might be. An Act had been passed March 11th, 1780, to raise a body +of levies for the defense of the frontiers. It required every +thirty-five male inhabitants, of competent age, to engage and equip one +able-bodied recruit to serve in their stead in said levies. Whether at +the solicitation of his neighbors, liable under this Act, or prompted by +his own devotion to the service, or both combined, we have no means of +knowing, but we find Van Arsdale joining the levies on the 2d of May. +But under an act of June 24th ensuing, which permitted privates serving +in the levies to enlist in either of the continental battalions +belonging to the State Line, provided they engaged to serve for the war, +Van Arsdale with the then common idea that this was the more honorable +service, took his discharge from the levies, and enlisted in the company +of Capt. Henry Vandebergh (being the 1st company) of the 5th New York +regiment, of which Marinus Willett was Lieut.-Col. Commandant, and +belonging to Gen. James Clinton's brigade. This brigade was then in +garrison at West Point, and Van Arsdale's initial service was fatigue +duty on the four redoubts at that post, and guard duty at Fort +Montgomery; the latter reviving but too vividly the campaign of 1777, +and its great disaster, many traces of which were still visible. +Vandebergh, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>who had had command of the company as lieutenant for the +four months since its captain, Rosecrance, became a major, was now +promoted July 1st, and on the 30th, was officially put in command as +captain. Upon the latter date (it having before been given out that an +attack was to be made upon New York City), the New York brigade was +directed to march next morning at sunrise. They moved accordingly, +crossed the Hudson and took up a position below Peekskill. But the +object of the advance, which was merely strategic, having been served, +the army again crossed the river at Verplank's Point, and on August 7th +made headquarters at Clarkstown. Washington had given orders a week +previous for the immediate formation of a corps of Light Infantry, to be +commanded by General Lafayette. It consisted of two brigades, each of +three battalions, and each battalion composed of eight companies +selected from the different lines of the army, by taking the first or +"light company" of each regiment. Capt. Vandebergh's company was +included in a battalion under Col. Philip Van Cortlandt. Gen. Lafayette +was at great expense to equip this corp which was pronounced as fine a +body of men as was ever formed. They were in neat uniform, and each +soldier wore a leather helmet, with a crest of horsehair, and carried a +fusil. The General took command August 7th, and at three o'clock the +next morning the army marched, with the light infantry in the advance, +and proceeded to Orangetown, where and in the vicinity it lay for some +time, in readiness, should Sir Henry Clinton leave on an expedition +eastward or southward, of which there were indications, to strike a +vigorous blow at New York. Soon after occurred the foul treason of +Arnold, and the capture, trial and execution of Major Andre. The light +infantry were at Tappan, October 2d, when this last sad tragedy took +place.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> Lafayette felt great pride in this corps, and was at infinite +pains to perfect its discipline, which by the assiduity of the officers +he brought to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>high proficiency. But the campaign passed without +affording him an opportunity to perform any signal service. The corps +was broken up on November 28th for the winter, and the companies +returned to their respective regiments.</p> + +<p>On December 4th the New York line sailed for Albany to go into winter +quarters, but, the levies which had joined it, being discharged by order +of Gen. Washington, because of a scarcity of provisions and clothing, +Van Arsdale took leave of his regiment, December 15th, much to his +disappointment, having enlisted for the war. But he had won the favor of +Col. Willett, who was pleased to say that he was "a good soldier and +attended to his duties." Except a small gratuity from the State, of +"Twenty Dollars of the Bills of the new emission," received when he +joined the 5th regiment, he returned without any remuneration for his +services in this campaign; but with a patriotism uncooled, and rising +superior to mercenary motives, the winter recess was no sooner past when +Van Arsdale again joined the levies raised for the defense of the State, +under Col. Albert Pawling. One of the captains was John Burnet, of +Little Britain, who had been in the battle at Fort Montgomery. Van +Arsdale entered his company, April 25th, 1781, and was given the +position of sergeant, with ten dollars a month pay, which was an advance +of two dollars. He was posted much of the time on the frontier of Ulster +County, where the levies were billeted on the families, a few in a +house, to protect them from Indians. These had done but little mischief +in this section of the State, since the crushing blow inflicted upon +them by Sullivan's expedition. The principal outrage had been committed +the last year (1780), when a small party under Shank's Ben, on September +17th, attacked the house of Col. Johannes Jansen, in Shawangunk, +intending to capture him, but, failing in this, seized and carried off a +young woman named Hannah Goetschius, and whom, with one John Mack and +his daughter, Elsie, they murdered and scalped in the woods!</p> + +<p>But the present year witnessed a more formidable invasion. Col. Pawling +had sent out Silas Bouck and Philip Hine, on a scout, to watch for the +enemy. Near the Neversink River, they discovered a large body of Indians +and Tories approaching; but, then starting back to give the alarm, were +intercepted by Indian runners and captured. The settlements were +therefore unprepared for a visit; when early on Sunday morning, August +12th, this savage horde stole into Wawarsing and began an attack upon +the stone fort. Being repulsed with loss, they departed to plunder and +burn a dozen scattered dwellings; many others being saved by the bravery +of the levies quartered in them. Pursued by Col. Pawling as soon as he +could collect a force, they had time to escape; but, on September 22d, +returned again to burn <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>Wawarsing. On this occasion, also, they first +attempted to surprise the fort, but an alarm being given by the sentinel +firing his gun, the garrison were warned and the inhabitants fled from +their houses and secured themselves. The enemy, again repulsed with a +number slain, proceeded to pillage and burn the place. Capt. Burnet was +then stationed at a blockhouse at Pinebush (in Mombackus, now town of +Rochester), whence he and Capt. Kortright marched towards Wawarsing, +but, not being in sufficient force to give battle, turned back. Soon +Col. Pawling arrived and they pursued the enemy about 40 miles, being +out seven days, but they could not overtake them. There was a private in +Van Arsdale's company named George Anderson, who three years before had +performed an exploit which marked him as a hero. He and Jacob Osterhout +were seized one evening in a tavern at Lackawack, by some Indians and +Tories, and carried off towards Niagara. When within a day's march of +that place, Anderson, at midnight, effected their release, and with his +own hand tomahawked the three sleeping Indians who then had them in +charge; then, each taking a gun, provisions, etc., set out with all +speed for home, where they arrived exhausted and almost starved, after +seventeen days. The State gave Anderson £100 "for his valor." Van +Arsdale used to relate this adventure, whence has come the mistaken idea +that it happened with himself.<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> + +<p>On Dec. 19th, Van Arsdale's service ended, and he returned home to spend +the winter; with a good conscience, doubtless, but still with empty +pockets! Yet all looked bright and hopeful, great success had crowned +our arms in other quarters; the proud Cornwallis had been humbled, and +his splendid army captured. On the opening of 1782, measures were +concerted to follow up these successes; the army was maintained, and a +body of levies were also raised in this State to afford the usual +protection to our frontiers. In these Van Arsdale enlisted on the 27th +of April, in the company of Capt. John L. Hardenburgh, of Col. +Frederick <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>Weissenfels' regiment. Five days after, he was made sergeant, +and served as such during that campaign, holding the place of first or +orderly sergeant from Sept. 24th. But the season passed in inactivity, +and the magazine of provisions at Marbletown being exhausted, the levies +were disbanded, and on December 28th, Van Arsdale received an honorable +and final discharge from the army. He laid away his musket with a +lighter heart than on any former occasion. True he and his fellow +soldiers <i>had received no pay during the last three campaigns</i>! But he +had escaped the thousand perils of the service and was permitted to see +this grievous war practically closed and independence secured. +Recompense ample, yet the State was just to its brave defenders, and +soon afterwards paid them for this service, and also those who had been +prisoners of war, for their time from the day they were captured to the +day of their return from captivity.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> + +<p>There were more times than one, Van Arsdale being at home, when the +farmhouse at Neelytown, upon sudden news of a victory, echoed with +cheers long and loud, and witnessed a lively jig, enacted then and there +impromptu, with all his early zest for the dance; but how buoyant were +his spirits now, the bitterness of the struggle being past and the final +victory achieved, while the future seemed radiant with promise.</p> + +<p>The ensuing winter, spent with his brother, was one of unusual gayety, +and at a social party given by his old friend, Alexander Bodle, then +married and living at La Grange, he first met with his future wife, Mary +Crawford, a most amiable girl, six years his junior. Escorting her home +in his sleigh, the acquaintance ripened—the bans were published in the +church at Goshen, of which her father, David Crawford, was an elder; and +the Rev. Nathan Ker married them at the hospitable farmhouse, in +Walkill, on the 16th of June, 1783. Van Arsdale now left his brother's, +where he had experienced a kindness almost parental, and with his bride, +who ever proved herself a discreet companion, went to keeping house in +New Windsor. He had found an occupation suited to his robust and active +temperament. The owner of the Black Prince, a vessel used during the war +as a gunboat, but now fitted up for the more peaceful service of +conveying passengers and freight on the Hudson, wanted Van Arsdale as a +partner. The latter assented, he always loved the water; it was moreover +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>an opportunity to begin life respectably with his Polly, for a living +was not so easily secured just after the war, when the country was +impoverished, money scarce and times hard, while he saw many of his old +comrades in arms wanting employment. So he donned the tarpaulin and +sailor jacket, and entered on a calling in which he was engaged when the +incident of November 25th, 1783, occurred; and at which he became a +veteran, sustaining the character of a safe and skillful captain, and an +honest and noble-hearted man. Affable to and careful of the passengers +who patronized his packet; this in itself was an advertisement, and many +making their annual visit to the City, either for pleasure or to sell +their dairies or other farm produce, or to purchase goods (for the day +of railroads was not yet), much preferred sailing with "Captain John." +His passenger list was full on the trip preceding Evacuation Day, but of +that memorable day we need add nothing; and the sequel of Capt. Van +Arsdale's life will be briefly told.</p> + +<p>After four years the Captain closed his business relations with New +Windsor, and removed to New York, taking command of the "Democrat" for +Col. Henry Rutgers, and where, with the exception of brief residences on +Long Island and in Westchester County, before his final return to the +City in 1811, he made his home for the rest of his life. He was granted +the freedom of the City, April 1st, 1789; and shortly after engaged in a +different calling, but five years later resumed the old one, and +successively sailed (sometimes as part owner), the Deborah—named for +his mother—the Packet, Neptune, Rising-Sun, Ambition, Venus and Hunter. +It was while sailing the Hunter, during the last war with England, that +in coming out of Mamaroneck Harbor (September 17th, 1813), he narrowly +escaped capture by one of the enemy's vessels; a market boat which they +had seized and manned, to more easily entrap ours. The Captain thought +they acted strangely, but discovered their real character only when they +bore down and rounded to, with intent to board him. But the Captain was +too quick for them. Ordering the passengers below, he instantly tacked +about, the bullets now flying thick around him, and shouting to the foe +to <i>fire away, it was not the first time they had wasted powder on him</i>, +he was soon beyond their reach, and got in safely, with no other damage +than sails riddled, and a few holes in the hull. The people ashore, +having heard the firing and alarmed for the Captain's safety, were +overjoyed, and came out in small boats to help him in. There were +several little incidents connected with this adventure. A brave woman on +board, a Mrs. Wallace, insisted upon rowing with a sweep, till fairly +forced to desist and go below. The cabin-boy when told to go down, +demurred, saying, "Captain, when your head is off, I'll take the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>helm." +A few days before, the Captain going into the country to buy produce, +had told his son David to keel up the vessel and give it a coat of +tallow, which preserved the timbers, kept her tight and helped her +sailing. David obeyed orders, but so thoroughly and well, that he ran up +a big score for tallow at the store, to the astonishment of his father +when he came to see the bill, and who gave David a round reprimand for +his extravagance. But after the trial of speed with the enemy, "David," +said the Captain, patting his son on the shoulder, "we hadn't a bit too +much tallow on to-day!"</p> + +<p>Speaking of David, he was in one respect "a chip of the old block," he +relished a joke next the best. And so it happened on an occasion, that +the schooner lay at Cow Harbor, loading with wood, when a Montauk Indian +came aboard, asking a passage to New York. Now the Captain had a kind +heart; but had sworn eternal enmity to the whole race of aborigines. His +ears filled with recitals of Indian outrages, when scouting on the +frontiers; an eye-witness of the cruelties inflicted on peaceable +communities by the firebrand and the tomahawk; yes, his soul harrowed at +the sight of innocent victims, as they lay in their gore, murdered and +scalped; if there was on earth an object at sight of which his very +blood boiled, it was an <i>Indian</i>! David knew it well, yet the young +rogue sent the Indian into the cabin to see the Captain. "What do you +want?" asked the latter gruffly. "To go to New York, Captain," said the +poor native. "Get out of this, you Indian dog," was his only answer, +while the Captain's cudgel at his heels, as he scrambled up the +companionway, sent the applicant off at a much livelier gait than "an +Indian trot." But then it was that the joke turned on David, when he had +to meet the scathing question,—How he <i>dared</i> to send an <i>Indian</i> into +the cabin to him!</p> + +<p>But we said the Captain himself enjoyed a joke. In 1821, he and Squire +Daniel Riker took a friendly tour, in the latter's gig, as far as Orange +County; Mr. V. to see his kindred and acquaintances, and one of his +daughters being also there on a visit. Concluding to go as far as +Monticello, they set out from Bloomingburgh, the Squire and Deborah in +the gig, and the Captain on horseback. Shortly before reaching the +Neversink River, the latter stopped to have a shoe set, but told the +Squire to drive on and he would soon follow. Now the Squire was a spruce +widower of fifty, but Deborah just out of her teens. So on they went +reaching the toll-gate in high glee and at a lively pace. The +inquisitive gate-keeper had noticed the speed at which they rode, and +overheard a tell-tale remark let fall by the Squire, that by driving +fast they might reach the Neversink bridge <i>before the Captain could +catch them</i>! Soon the Captain arrived in seeming haste, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>and reigning +his horse at the gate, inquired of the keeper if he had seen a runaway +couple that way; an old man eloping with his daughter. "Yes, yes," said +the man, "they just passed, and were hurrying, to reach the bridge +before you could catch them; but you'll do it if you're only smart." +"Quick, quick, hand me my change," said the Captain, and spurring his +horse, on he went, almost bursting before he could give vent to his +laughter; while the gate-keeper ran in to tell about the wonderful +elopement. But on their return, there was a hearty laugh all round, as +the gate-keeper took in the situation, and the Captain, with a smirk, +remarked, "You see, I caught the runaways." The joke spread, to the +merriment of all, but none enjoyed telling it more than the Captain.</p> + +<p>In 1816, having quit his old occupation the previous year, and being now +sixty years of age, Capt. Van Arsdale was appointed Wood Inspector in +the First Ward, a post he held for twenty years; and which he had +previously enjoyed for a short time, in 1812, under a commission from De +Witt Clinton, then Mayor. Daily at Peck Slip, he was seen, with his +measuring rod in hand, busy at his avocation; till "Uncle John" became +one of the fixed features of the locality. He continued here, indeed, +till the use of coal had so far supplanted that of wood, that business +dwindled to nothing, and he resigned his office in disgust. He was made +a member of the "Independent Veteran Corps of Heavy Artillery," Oct. +6th, 1813. This Corps was organized for the special defense of the City +of New York, and for the whole period Mr. Van Arsdale was connected with +it (except a short interval), was commanded by Capt. George W. Chapman. +Their uniform was a navy blue coat and pantaloons, white vest, black +stock, a black feather surmounted red, black hat, and cockade, bootees +and side arms yellow mounted. Capt. Van Arsdale took great interest in +the corps, rarely if ever missed a parade, and in 1814, for over three +months, ending December 4th, was in active service guarding the Arsenal +in Elm street, a plot being suspected to blow up the building with its +14,000 stand of arms. On Nov. 25th, 1835, he was promoted to the next +position to the commandant, that of First Captain-Lieutenant.</p> + +<p>Capt. Van Arsdale had now reached his eighty-first year, he had survived +his companion four years, his mental faculties were still good, but his +strength was failing; yet he attended to business till near the last. +But borne down by the weight of years, a short illness closed the scene, +and the veteran gently passed away, August 14th, 1836, at his residence +134 Delancey street. He was interred the next day in the cemetery in +First street, with the honors of war, by the corps in which he had held +command; the Napoleon Cadets, Capt. Charles, acting as a guard of honor, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>and a concourse of citizens paying their last respects. His remains now +rest in Cypress Hills Cemetery.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> + +<p>In person Mr. Van Arsdale was of medium height, stoutly built, erect, +and elastic of foot even till old age. Always neat in his person and +dress; we recall his good-natured chiding, when, an urchin, running in +to see Grandpa, heated from our play, and collar, boylike, well sweated +down;—"Go home, you little rascal," he would say, "You've no collar to +your shirt." A democrat of the old school, he was pronounced in his +opinions, and no way sparing of opponents. It was in the autumn of 1834, +that a friend asked him how the party which that year took the name of +<i>Whig</i>, got it. "Got it," said the old man, his face kindling with +honest indignation, "Smiley, they got it as their fathers, the Cowboys +of the Revolution, got their beef,—<i>they stole it!</i>" The Captain was +then visiting friends in Sullivan County, and was riding out to see his +old war-chum Sears. They met on the road, when Mr. V. springing from the +wagon, Sears instantly recognized him, and overcome with emotion, threw +his arms around him and burst into tears! How flushed up the faded +memories of camp and battle scenes, and dismal prison life; verily a +picture for the limner. At this time also, the Captain had the pleasure +of visiting Mr. Hugh Lindsey, who was captured with him at Fort +Montgomery; he died shortly after Van Arsdale's return. But we have +done. The kind father,—filial affection still cherishes his memory; the +true friend,—alas, but few survive to embalm the friendship so long +sundered; the worthy citizen, whose heart was ever open to the poor and +suffering around him,—let it suffice that the savor of good deeds is +immortal! But more fitting to close this imperfect tribute to his worth +are the apt words of the burial orders, recalling the salient fact in +Capt. Van Arsdale's life,—"A tried Soldier of the Revolution!"</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Arsdale</span> was formerly pronounced as if written +<i>aurs-daul</i>; hence the various modes of spelling it to express the Dutch +pronunciation by English letters, as <i>Osdoll</i>, etc. But the growing +disposition to correct such departures by resuming the original form of +surnames, leads us to hope for a reformation in this case also, +especially as a large part of the family have held to the form which +early obtained.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> + +<div class="img2"> +<a href="images/imagep024.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep024.jpg" width="60%" alt="Arsdalen Coat of Arms" /></a><br /> +</div> + +<p class="noin"><span class="smcap">Simon Jansen Van Arsdalen</span>, the grandfather of Stoffel, (in +English, Christopher,) was the common ancestor of all in this country +bearing the name of <i>Van Arsdale</i>, or its modification, <i>Van Osdoll</i>, +which latter preserves the Dutch pronunciation. He was born in Holland +in 1629, of an ancient Helvetian family, emigrated to this country in +1653, and settled in Flatlands, L.I., where he married Peternelle, +daughter of Claes (or Nicholas) Wyckoff. He acquired property, was a +magistrate and repeatedly chosen an elder of the church, and lived to be +over four score years of age. He had, besides daughters, two sons, +Cornelius and John, both of whom inherited their father's virtues and +were prominent in civil and church affairs. Each of these had six sons +(Cornelius had <i>Derick</i>, <i>John</i>, <i>Simon</i>, <i>Philip</i>, <i>Abraham</i> and +<i>Jacobus</i> or <i>James</i>; and John had <i>Simon</i>, <i>Stoffel</i>, <i>Nicholas</i>, +<i>Jurian</i>, or <i>Uriah</i>, <i>John</i> and <i>Cornelius</i>), most of whom (except +Nicholas who lived in Jamaica, L. I.,) settled about the Raritan in New +Jersey, whence some removed into Pennsylvania; they were as a family, +remarkably attached to the church and to the elder Frelinghuysens. John, +first named, married, 1695, Lammetie, daughter of Stoffel Probasko, +lived for some years in Gravesend, but died in the town of Jamaica, +about 1756, and as will be seen was the father of Stoffel, named in the +text. The family has been very prolific, and has furnished to society +many capable business men, besides physicians, clergymen, bankers, etc. +Of these was the late Dr. Peter Van Arsdale, of this city.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Arent Teunissen</span>, great grandfather of Magdalena +Van Hengelen, came out to this country from Hengelen (now Hengelo), in +the County of Zutphen, in 1653, the same year in which Simon Van Arsdale +arrived. He was under engagement to Baron Vander Capelle, to cultivate +his lands on Staten Island, but was slain in the Indian massacre of +1655. His son Reynier, was the father of Okie Van Hengelen, named in the +text, who left descendants in New Jersey, called <i>Van Anglen</i>, of whom +was Capt. John Van Anglen, of the Revolution.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Opposite the jail stood, in those days, a public whipping +post, stocks, etc., the terror of law-breakers, and by which lesser +crimes were expiated. The late Abraham Van Arsdale, born the year of the +Soldiers' Riot (and old enough to fly his kite, as he did, from the roof +of the prison, while his father kept it), well remembered these +instruments of justice, and informed me that he had seen gallows erected +and persons executed, in front of the jail. They then hung for +<i>stealing</i>!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> To avoid confusion, we speak here and elsewhere of Orange +County as now organized. Previous to 1798, it embraced the present +Rockland County, while the town of New Windsor, and all those towns +lying to the north of a line running west from the southern boundary of +New Windsor belonged to Ulster County. Of course, Little Britain, and +the Precinct of Hanover were then in Ulster.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <span class="smcap">James Clinton</span> had been colonel of this regiment, +till appointed a brigadier general.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Believed to have been James Thompson, whose brother John +was killed at Fort Montgomery. Others slain in McClaughry's regiment +were <i>Capts.</i> James Milliken and Jacobus Roosa, <i>Lieut.</i> Nathaniel +Milliken, and <i>Privates</i> Theophilus Corwin, David Benson, James Gage, +David Halliday, etc.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> The <span class="smcap">Wears</span>, respectable Protestants from the north +of Ireland, were noted for longevity. William Wear, their ancestor, +dying, his widow with two children, William and Jennie, emigrated to +Pennsylvania in 1749, and thence in 1760 to the town of Montgomery. Mrs. +Wear died at her daughter's house December 3, 1803, aged 92 years. Her +son William, named in the text, resided near Orange Lake, had a numerous +family, and attained the age of 97 years. He died November 7, 1828, and +was ancestor of William Wear, Esq. Mrs. Van Arsdale was born March 31, +1746, as maintained by her brother, who was much the oldest, and hence +was in her 100th year at her decease, September 17, 1845. Her husband, +Tunis, died April 9, 1813, aged 67 years. This worthy pair united with +the Walkill Church in 1782. Mrs. V. was a woman of remarkable energy, +and retained her faculties till the last, almost perfectly. Her memory +extended back to the closing events in the life of Steffel Van Arsdale, +her husband's grandfather, and she lived to see his descendants of the +sixth generation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> The 52d and 27th Regiments, the Royal American Regiment, +Col. Beverly Robinson, the New York Volunteers, Major Grant, and +Emerick's Provincial Chasseurs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Grenadiers and Light Infantry, the 26th and 63d Regiments, +one company of the 71st Highlanders, one troop of dismounted dragoons, +and Hessian Chasseurs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> The Royal Fusileers and Hessian Regiment of Trumback.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> This refers only to the final assault; the enemy fired +upon our people both in the preliminary skirmishes and after they were +masters of the forts. J. R.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Judge Bodle</span> was born only a stone's throw from +the Clinton homestead, in Little Britain (being a second cousin to the +Clintons); but at the time of the battle was a farmer on the Walkill. +The distance made him late, and he reached the vicinity of the forts +only to learn that the enemy had possession. Next morning, going home, +he suddenly met Claudius Smith, the noted Tory robber. They knew each +other. Bodle was perplexed, but putting on a bold front, approached +Claudius, who seemed very friendly. After inquiring the news from the +river, Smith said he had to go away, but added: "Mr. Bodle, you are +weary, go to my house yonder and ask my wife for some breakfast, and say +that I sent you." Seeming to accept his offer, but suspecting a trick, +Bodle steered for home, nor felt quite safe till he reached Chester. +Smith was a bold, accomplished villain, a terror to the people of +Orange, and whose career of brigandage has all the air of romance. He +was finally hung at Goshen, January 22, 1779. Mr. Bodle was one of the +citizens who guarded him while in jail. Smith asked him if he would +really shoot him, if a rescue were attempted. Bodle said his duty would +compel him to it. "Ah! Bodle, I don't believe you," said Smith. See +<i>Eager's Orange County</i>, for an account of Smith and his gang, made up +in part from an article we wrote many years ago for the "True Sun." But +not a fact in that article (save the incident above related), came from +Judge Bodle, as Mr. Eager assumes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Jeptha Lee</span>, of Lamb's Artillery, was one of those +who escaped out of the fort with General James Clinton. He served with +John Van Arsdale, under Capt. Faulkner, in 1779, and died in 1855, at +Ulysses, N. Y.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Col. McClaughry</span>, though a prisoner and sorely +wounded, showed the same indomitable spirit as before. Left to suffer +three days before his wounds were dressed, in the belief that he could +not live, his captors tried to extort information from him, as to our +strength. He replied curtly that Washington had a powerful army, and +would yet whip them, and he should live to see it! He was soon +exchanged, resumed his command and survived the war. He was made an +honorary member of the Cincinnati, and lived most respectably upon his +farm at Little Britain, till his death in 1790, aged 67 years. He left +no children. +</p><p class="noin"> +<span class="smcap">Gen. Allison</span>, as later styled, was exchanged during the ensuing +winter, and took home with him to Gov. Clinton $2,000 in gold, loaned by +a good whig on Long Island, to aid the American cause. He died in 1804, +at the Drowned Lands, where he resided; leaving a very respectable +family and an ample estate. His daughter Sarah married William W. +Thompson, and daughter Mary married Dr. William Elmer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> The exceptions were Col. McClaughry, Capt. Humphrey, +Lieut. Solomon Pendleton and Ensign John McClaughry, both of Dubois's +regiment, and Lieut. John Hunter, of McClaughry's; who were still there +Nov. 5th.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> They were, besides Wells, Robert Huston, Francis McBride, +and William Humphrey, of McClaughry's regiment, and John Brooks, of +Woodhull's. Abel Wells sickened and died in the Provost, Dec. 13, 1777. +Benjamin Goldsmith and Garret Miller, worthy residents of Smith's Clove +in Orange County, deserve notice in this connection. Goldsmith had a +valuable horse stolen by Claudius Smith's gang, and some of his +neighbors sustained similar losses. Finally a party went out in pursuit +of the robbers, but some, including Goldsmith and Miller, fell into the +hands of the British, and were sent to the Provost, where both died of +smallpox, Miller on the memorable 6th of October, and Goldsmith on the +20th of October, 1777. Goldsmith was the father of Daniel, who was the +father of the present Mr. Daniel Goldsmith, of Bloomingrove, and of the +late David Goldsmith, of Schuyler Co., N. Y.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> This kindness was repaid a dozen years later (1790) when +Mr. Van Arsdale and his wife took Mr. Day's eight year old motherless +daughter to nurture as their own, they having been bereft the year +previous of their three young children, though seven more were given +them afterwards. And Mary Day, (whose father died Oct. 19, 1802, aged +49), remained with them till her marriage to William Hutchings, the +father of Mr. John Hutchings, of Norwalk, Ct. Amiable woman, pure and +artless as a child, and to sum up her life in a word, filling her humble +sphere with perfect fidelity,—among the happier days of the writer's +boyhood were those spent in summer recreations at her modest home at Cow +Bay, with the mill pond and Squire Mitchell's old red grist mill, and +Uncle Billy's cooperage near it, and around the bluff the broad sandy +beach, as rambling ground; your pardon, indulgent reader, if thoughts of +the past do force a tear.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <span class="smcap">List of the Americans</span> who were made prisoners at +Forts Montgomery and Clinton, Oct. 6, 1777.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Officers"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc smcap" colspan="2">Officers.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">Col. William Allison.</td> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">Lieut. Paton Jackson, 5th Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lt. Col. James McClaughry.</td> + <td class="tdl">Lieut. John Furman, 5th Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lt. Col. Jacobus Bruyn.</td> + <td class="tdl">Lieut. Henry Pawling, 5th Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lt. Col. William Livingston.</td> + <td class="tdl">Lieut. Ebenezer Mott, 5th Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Major Samuel Logan, 5th Regt.</td> + <td class="tdl">*Lieut. Alexander McArthur, 5th Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Major Stephen Lush, Brigade Major</td> + <td class="tdl">Lieut. Samuel Dodge, 5th Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> to Gen. George Clinton.</td> + <td class="tdl">Lieut. John Hunter, McClaughry's Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Major Daniel Hamil, Brigade Major</td> + <td class="tdl">Lieut. Benjamin Halstead, Allison's Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> to Gen. James Clinton.</td> + <td class="tdl">Lieut. Henry Brewster, Allison's Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Major Zachariah Dubois, Woodhull's Regt.</td> + <td class="tdl">Ensign Abraham Leggett, 5th Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Capt. Henry Godwin, 5th Regt.</td> + <td class="tdl">Ensign John McClaughry, 5th Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Capt. James Humphrey, McClaughry's</td> + <td class="tdl">Ensign Henry Swartwout, 5th Regt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> Regt.</td> + <td class="tdl">Adj. Dep. Qr. Mr. Gen. Oliver Glean.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Capt. Lt. Cornelius Swartwout, </td> + <td class="tdl">Qr. Master Nehemiah Carpenter.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> Lamb's Artillery.</td> + <td class="tdl">Capt. James Gilliland, Director of</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Capt. Lt. Ephraim Fenno, Lamb's Artillery.</td> + <td class="tdl"> Ordnance.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lieut. Solomon Pendleton, 5th Regt.</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Non-coms"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Privates and Non-Commissioned Officers</span>.<br /> + <i>5th, or Col. Dubois's Regiment</i>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">David McHollister.</td> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">Thomas Conklin.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Martin Shay.</td> + <td class="tdl">Ephraim Adams.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jacobus Tarbush.</td> + <td class="tdl">Francis Sears.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Thaddeus Kennedy.</td> + <td class="tdl">Samuel Garrison.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John McDonald.</td> + <td class="tdl">William Willis.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Conklin.</td> + <td class="tdl">Abraham Jorden.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">James Montanye.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Storm.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Henry Ostrander.</td> + <td class="tdl">Thomas McCarty.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jacobus Logier.</td> + <td class="tdl">Thomas Hendricks.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">David Bovins.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Chamberlin.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Vincent Venney.</td> + <td class="tdl">Zebulon Woodruff.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jeremiah Dunn.</td> + <td class="tdl">Paul Keizler.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Robert Patrick.</td> + <td class="tdl">George Heck.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">William Barber.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Miller.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Benjamin Wiley.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Allison.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Danford Winchester.</td> + <td class="tdl">Samuel Boyd.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">*William Mullen.</td> + <td class="tdl">William Weaver.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lewis Dixon.</td> + <td class="tdl">William Ivery.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Ivery.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Stanley.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Nathaniel Otter.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Brown.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Eliakim Brush.</td> + <td class="tdl">George Polton.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Robert Gillespie.</td> + <td class="tdl">*Philip Felix.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Abraham Wright.</td> + <td class="tdl">Aaron Knapp.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jonthan Hallock.</td> + <td class="tdl">James Mitchell.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">James Weldon.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Johnston.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Thomas Tinn.</td> + <td class="tdl">Nehemiah Sniffen.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Samuel Turner.</td> + <td class="tdl">Solomono Shaw.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Daniel Dominick.</td> + <td class="tdl">James Montieth.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Witlock.</td> + <td class="tdl">Daniel Lower.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jacobus Terwilliger.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Hunt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">James Steel.</td> + <td class="tdl">Michael Johnston.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Thomas Crispell.</td> + <td class="tdl">Joseph Reeder.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Enos Lent.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Price.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jacobus Lent.</td> + <td class="tdl">Robert Marshall.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Albright.</td> + <td class="tdl">Scott Travers.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Alexander Ockey.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Satterly.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Thomas Hartwell.</td> + <td class="tdl">James Amerman.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Patrick Dorgan.</td> + <td class="tdl">Harman Crum.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Samuel Crosby.</td> + <td class="tdl">Samuel Griffin.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Moses Shall.</td> + <td class="tdl">Cornelius Acker.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John West.</td> + <td class="tdl">Jacob Lawrence.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John McIntosh.</td> + <td class="tdl">Francis Gaines.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Henry Schoonmaker.</td> + <td class="tdl">Benjamin Griffin.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Joseph Morgan.</td> + <td class="tdl">Enos Sniffen.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jonathan Stockham.</td> + <td class="tdl">Joseph Bolton.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Abel Randall.</td> + <td class="tdl">James Hannah.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Thomas Kent.</td> + <td class="tdl">William Slott.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">William Banker.</td> + <td class="tdl">Benjamin Chichester.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Peter Wells.</td> + <td class="tdl">Francis Drake.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Joseph Deneyck.</td> + <td class="tdl">Jasper Smith.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Weston.</td> + <td class="tdl">William Casselton.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Michael Burgh.</td> + <td class="tdl">Edward Allen.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Thomas Smith.</td> + <td class="tdl">William Bard.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Lamb"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc smcap" colspan="2">Col. Lamb's Artillery.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">Elisah Petty.</td> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">Alexander Moffatt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">David Clark.</td> + <td class="tdl">David Hanmore.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hull Peck.</td> + <td class="tdl">James Shearer.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">William Taylor.</td> + <td class="tdl">William Swan.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Edward Keen.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Patterson.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hugh Lindsey.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Nelson.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">David Pembroke.</td> + <td class="tdl">Israel Smith.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Thomas Griffith.</td> + <td class="tdl">Samuel Furman.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Robert English.</td> + <td class="tdl">Alexander Young.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">David Stone.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Kelly.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Twitchell.</td> + <td class="tdl">Alexander McCoy.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hugh McCall.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Gardner.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Thaddeus Barnes.</td> + <td class="tdl">Timothy Nichols.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Allison"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc smcap" colspan="2">Col. Allison's Regiment.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">Samuel Taylor.</td> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">Peter Jones.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">James Bell.</td> + <td class="tdl">Uriah Black.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Robert Eaton.</td> + <td class="tdl">Frederick Nochton.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Richard Sheridan.</td> + <td class="tdl">David Wheeler.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">James Koyl.</td> + <td class="tdl">Peter Stage.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">*James Lewis.</td> + <td class="tdl">Isaac Ketcham.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">James Thompson.</td> + <td class="tdl">Henry Brewster.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Michael Dunning.</td> + <td class="tdl">Frederick Pelliger.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">James Sawyer.</td> + <td class="tdl">Caleb Ashley.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Joseph Moore.</td> + <td class="tdl">Timothy Corwin.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jesse Dunning.</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="McClaughry"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc smcap" colspan="2">Col. McClaughry's Regiment.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">*John McMullen.</td> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">Robert Barkley.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Henry Neely.</td> + <td class="tdl">James Wood.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Robert Henry.</td> + <td class="tdl">David Thompson.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">William Scott.</td> + <td class="tdl">Elias Wool.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Matthew Dubois.</td> + <td class="tdl">*Robert Wool.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Francis McBride.</td> + <td class="tdl">*Samuel Hodge.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Robert Huston.</td> + <td class="tdl">William McMullen.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Andrew Wilson.</td> + <td class="tdl">Isaac Denton.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Christopher Sypher.</td> + <td class="tdl">Moses Cantine.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Darkis.</td> + <td class="tdl">George Brown.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">William Stinson.</td> + <td class="tdl">Elnathan Sears.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">William Humphrey.</td> + <td class="tdl">Philip Millspaugh.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">George Humphrey.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Van Arsdale.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">James Humphrey.</td> + <td class="tdl">George Coleman.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Carmichel.</td> + <td class="tdl">Abel Wells.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Skinner.</td> + <td class="tdl">Hezekiah Kune.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Gerardus Vineger.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Manny.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Baltus Van Kleek.</td> + <td class="tdl">Isaac Kinbrick.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Cornelius Slott.</td> + <td class="tdl">Samuell Falls.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">William Howell.</td> + <td class="tdl">James Miller.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Hanan.</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Hasbrouck"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc smcap" colspan="2">Col. Hasbrouck's Regiment.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">George Wilkin.</td> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">Benjamin Lawrence.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Cornelius Roosa.</td> + <td class="tdl">Cornelius Stevens.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Simon Ostrander.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Bingham.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Zachariah Terwilliger.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Snyder.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Stevenson.</td> + <td class="tdl">Robert Cooper.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">William Warren.</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Woodhull"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc smcap" colspan="2">Col. Woodhull's Regiment.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">John Brooks.</td> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">James Mitchell.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Lamerey.</td> + <td class="tdl">John Armstrong.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Henry Cunningham.</td> + <td class="tdl">Peter Gillen.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">John Crooks.</td> + <td class="tdl">Edward Tomkins.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Willilam Penoyer.</td> + <td class="tdl">Randle House.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Simon Currens.</td> + <td class="tdl">*Christian House.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Israel Cushman.</td> + <td class="tdl">Isaac Hoffman.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Asa Ramsey.</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">*Joel Curtiss.</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Thomas Harten.</td> + <td class="tdl"><i>Col. Hammon's</i>, Zachariah Taylor.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jesse Carpenter.</td> + <td class="tdl"><i>Col. Drake's</i>, John Vantassel.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Benjamin Simmons.</td> + <td class="tdl"><i>Col. Holme's</i>, Cornelius Cornelius,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Isaac Cooly.</td> + <td class="tdl"> William Randle.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Joshua Currey.</td> + <td class="tdl"><i>Col. Ogden's</i>, Thomas Cook.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">James Thompson.</td> + <td class="tdl"><i>Col. Antill's</i>, Jonathan Nichols.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Stephen Clark.</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Corps"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc smcap" colspan="2">Corps Unknown.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">John Donalds.</td> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">Tobias Lent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Joseph Mead.</td> + <td class="tdl">George Depew.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">George Peck.</td> + <td class="tdl">Auris Verplank.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jesse Lockwood.</td> + <td class="tdl">Albert Vantass.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Wagoners"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc smcap" colspan="2">Wagoners.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">John Randle.</td> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">*Jacob Morris.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Elias Vanvolver.</td> + <td class="tdl">*John Tallow.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Samuel Anderson.</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="noin">N. B.—The ten with a star are named in a list preserved by Col. Wm. +Faulkner, but are not in that furnished Gov. Clinton, by Joseph Loring, +British Commissary of Prisoners. McArthur returned to his regiment, the +other nine are not found again.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Gen. Lafayette</span>, upon his last visit to this +country, arrived at Staten Island, on Sunday, August 15, 1824. Capt. Van +Arsdale had a grandson born on the same day. The next morning on landing +at the Battery, the General was received by the Veteran Corps, and +passing along the line, took each member cordially by the hand. Coming +to Capt. Van Arsdale, he looked him intently in the face, as if he knew +him, yet was not quite sure. But the instant the Captain alluded to his +service in the Light Infantry Corps, the General's countenance lightened +up, and there was a full recognition. "Van Arsdale," said he with +emotion, as if the glorious past was flushing his memory, "Van Arsdale, +I remember you well!" Going home, pleased beyond measure, that the +General should recollect him, after a lapse of forty-four years, Capt. +Van Arsdale went to see his little grandson, and being desired to give +him a name, called him <i>John Lafayette</i>. This was the late Col. J. +Lafayette Riker, of the 62d New York Volunteers, who in defense of the +flag for which his grandsire sacrificed so much, nobly laid down his +life at the battle of Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Soon after Anderson's escape, the Indians, in retaliation, +as was believed, burnt a house and several barns near Pinebush (in +Mombackus), murdered two men, and carried off a third, named Baker, who +was never heard of again, and was probably reserved for the worst +tortures. Two or three hundred troops then lay at a fort on Honk Hill, +under Lt. Col. Newkerk, of McClaughry's regiment, and volunteers being +called for, to go out and intercept the Indians who were supposed to be +few in number, Lieut. John Graham offered himself, and set out with +twenty man. At the Chestnut Woods (now Grahamsville, Sullivan Co.,) they +lay in wait for the wiley foe, but were themselves drawn into an ambush, +and only two escaped to tell the sad tragedy. Lieut. Graham fell at the +first fire. This happened on September 6th, 1778. Three hundred men went +out and buried the dead where they fell. They had all been scalped. +Graham was an uncle to the lady whom Van Arsdale afterwards married, and +a half-brother to Wm. Bodle, Esq., before mentioned.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> He was entitled to a "Soldier's Right," (500 acres), in +the unappropriated lands of the State, which was promised each recruit +joining the Levies in 1781, to be given him as soon after his term of +service closed, as the survey could be safely made; but it is +traditionary in the family, that thinking it of little value, he +neglected to secure it within the time prescribed by law, three years +after the war should close. Rights sold for only $50, after the war.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Capt. Van Arsdale</span> had five children who reached +adult years; three of whom, his only son before named, and two +daughters, yet survive. His eldest daughter, married to the late +Alderman James Riker, and long since deceased, was the mother of the +writer of this sketch, also of Col. J. Lafayette Riker, named in a +preceding note; another daughter yet survives her husband, the late +estimable John Phillips; another is the widow of Jacob G. Theall, and +mother of Mrs. Dr. Jared G. Baldwin, of New York, and a fourth daughter +married the late, much respected, Capt. Andrew Dorgan, of Mobile, whose +sons Augustus P. and Lyman Dorgan, are well known merchants at that +place. (<i>See Annals of Newtown</i>, p. 307.)</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h2>MR. DAVID VAN ARSDALE.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This venerable citizen, son of Capt. John Van Arsdale, and to whom some +humorous references have been made in these pages, has suddenly ended +his pilgrimage, as our last sheet was passing from the press. He died +yesterday, (November 14th,) at the age of 87 years. His decease on the +very eve of the Centennial, in the observance of which he was expected +to take a special part causes the deeper regret; but we forbear remark, +while the City Press is teeming with obituaries expressive of respect +for his memory.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> + +Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in +the original document has been preserved.<br /> +<br /> +Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br /> +<br /> +Page 4 delapidated changed to dilapidated<br /> +Page 8 loathesome changed to loathsome<br /> +Page 18 weer changed to were<br /> +Page 18 indellibly changed to indelibly<br /> +Page 22 wil changed to will<br /> +Page 22 Getnlemen changed to Gentlemen<br /> +Page 25 missing word "of" inserted after unworthy<br /> +Page 30 aquaintance changed to acquaintance<br /> +Page 32 dispair changed to despair<br /> +Page 35 gallies changed to galleys<br /> +Page 35 Trumbach's changed to Trumback's<br /> +Page 36 fovrtressess changed to fortresses<br /> +Page 41 loathesome changed to loathsome<br /> +Page 42 anp changed to and<br /> +Page 42 knawings changed to gnawings<br /> +Page 42 year changed to years<br /> +Page 47 disappointed changed to disappointment<br /> +Page 52 grevious changed to grievous<br /> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of "Evacuation Day", 1783, by James Riker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "EVACUATION DAY", 1783 *** + +***** This file should be named 33419-h.htm or 33419-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/4/1/33419/ + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: "Evacuation Day", 1783 + Its Many Stirring Events: with recollections of Capt. John Van Arsdale + +Author: James Riker + +Release Date: August 13, 2010 [EBook #33419] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "EVACUATION DAY", 1783 *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + "EVACUATION DAY," + + 1783, + + [Illustration: _Sergeant Van Arsdale Tearing Down the British Flag._] + + WITH RECOLLECTIONS OF + CAPT. JOHN VAN ARSDALE + OF THE VETERAN CORPS OF ARTILLERY, + + BY JAMES RIKER. + + 50 CENTS. + + + + + "EVACUATION DAY," + + 1783, + + ITS + + MANY STIRRING EVENTS: + + WITH + + RECOLLECTIONS + + OF + + CAPT. JOHN VAN ARSDALE + + OF THE VETERAN CORPS OF ARTILLERY, + + BY WHOSE EFFORTS ON THAT DAY + + THE ENEMY WERE CIRCUMVENTED, + + AND + + THE AMERICAN FLAG SUCCESSFULLY RAISED ON THE BATTERY. + + WITH ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES. + + BY + + JAMES RIKER, + + Author of the Annals of Newtown, and History of Harlem; Life Member + of the New York Historical Society, Etc. + + PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. + + NEW YORK + + 1883. + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by + +JAMES RIKER, + +In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. + + +CRICHTON & CO., +PRINTERS, +221-225 Fulton St., N. Y. + + + + +EVACUATION DAY. + +CHAPTER I. + + +Our memorable revolution, so prolific of grand and glorious themes, +presents none more thrilling than is afforded by the closing scene in +that stupendous struggle which gave birth to our free and noble +Republic. New York City will have the honor of celebrating, on the 25th +of November, the hundredth anniversary of this event, the most signal in +its history; and which will add the last golden link to the chain of +Revolutionary Centennials. A century ago, on "Evacuation Day," so called +in our local calendar, the wrecks of those proud armies,--sent hither by +the mother country to enforce her darling scheme of "taxation without +representation,"--withdrew from our war-scarred city, with the honors of +_defeat_ thick upon them, but leaving our patriotic fathers happy in the +enjoyment of their independence, so gloriously won in a seven years' +conflict. + +With the expiring century has also disappeared the host of brave actors +in that eventful drama! Memory, if responsive, may bring up the +venerable forms of the "Old Seventy Sixers," as they still lingered +among us two score years ago; and perchance recall with what +soul-stirring pathos they oft rehearsed "the times that tried men's +souls." But they have fallen, fallen before the last great enemy, till +not one is left to repeat the story of their campaigns, their +sufferings, or their triumphs. But shall their memories perish, or their +glorious deeds pass into oblivion? Heaven forbid! Rather let us treasure +them in our heart of hearts, and speak their praises to our children; +thus may we keep unimpaired our love of country, and kindle the +patriotism of those who come after us. To-day they shall live again, in +the event we celebrate. And what event can more strongly appeal to the +popular gratitude than that which brought our city a happy deliverance +from a foreign power, gave welcome relief to our patriot sires, who had +fought for their country or suffered exile, and marked the close of a +struggle which conferred the priceless blessings of peace and liberty, +and a government which knows no sovereign but the people only. Our aim +shall be, not so much to impress the reader with the moral grandeur of +that day, or with its historic significance as bearing upon the +subsequent growth and prosperity of our great metropolis; but the rather +to present a popular account of what occurred at or in connection with +the evacuation; and also to satisfy a curiosity often expressed to know +something more of a former citizen, much esteemed in his time, whose +name, from an incident which then took place, is inseparably associated +with the scenes of Evacuation Day. + +At the period referred to, a century ago, the City of New York contained +a population of less than twenty thousand souls, who mostly resided +below Wall Street, above which the city was not compactly built; while +northward of the City Hall Park, then known as the Fields, the Commons, +or the Green, were little more than scattered farm houses and rural +seats. The seven years' occupation by the enemy had reduced the town to +a most abject condition; many of the church edifices having been +desecrated and applied to profane uses; the dwellings, which their +owners had vacated on the approach of the enemy, being occupied by the +refugee loyalists, and officers and attaches of the British army, were +despoiled and dilapidated; while a large area of the City, ravaged by +fires, still lay in ruins! + +The news of peace with Great Britain, which was officially published at +New York on April 8th, 1783, was hailed with delight by every friend of +his country. But it spread consternation and dismay among the loyalists. +Its effects upon the latter class, and the scenes which ensued, beggar +all description. The receipt of death warrants could hardly have been +more appalling. Some of these who had zealously taken up commissions in +the king's service, amid the excitement of the hour tore the lapels from +their coats and stamped them under foot, crying out that they were +ruined forever! Others, in like despair, uttered doleful complaints, +that after sacrificing their all, to prove their loyalty, they should +now be left to shift for themselves, with nothing to hope for, either +from king or country. In the day of their power these had assumed the +most insolent bearing towards their fellow-citizens who were suspected +of sympathy for their suffering country; while those thrown among them +as prisoners of war, met their studied scorn and abuse, and were usually +accosted, with the more popular than elegant epithet, of "damned rebel!" +The tables were now turned; all this injustice and cruelty stared them +in the face, and, to their excited imaginations, clothed with countless +terrors that coming day, when, their protectors being gone, they could +expect naught but a dreadful retribution! Under such circumstances, Sir +Guy Carleton, the English commander at New York, was in honor bound not +to give up the City till he had provided the means of conveying away to +places within the British possessions, all those who should decide to +quit the country. It was not pure humanity, but shrewd policy as well, +for the king, by his agents, thus to promote the settlement of portions +of his dominions which were cold, barren, uninviting, and but sparsely +populated. + +By the cessation of hostilities the barriers to commercial intercourse +between the City and other parts of the State, &c., were removed, and +the navigation of the Hudson, the Sound, and connected waters was +resumed as before the war. Packets brought in the produce of the +country, and left laden with commodities suited to the needs of the +rural population, or with the British gold in their purses; for all the +staples of food, as flour, beef, pork and butter, were in great demand, +to victual the many fleets preparing to sail, freighted with troops, or +with loyalists. The country people in the vicinity also flocked to the +public markets, bringing all kinds of provisions, which they readily +sold at moderate rates for hard cash; and thus the adjacent country was +supplied and enriched with specie. The fall in prices, which during the +war had risen eight hundred per cent, brought a most grateful relief to +the consumers. Simultaneously with these tokens of better days, the +order for the release of all the prisoners of war from the New York +prisons and prisonships, with their actual liberation from their gloomy +cells, came as a touching reminder that the horrors of war were at an +end. + +Many of the old citizens who had fled, on or prior to the invasion of +the City by the British, and had purchased homes in the country, now +prepared to return, by selling or disposing of these places, expecting +upon reaching New York to re-occupy their old dwellings, without let or +hindrance, but on arriving here were utterly astonished at being +debarred their own houses; the commandant, General Birch, holding the +keys of all dwellings vacated by persons leaving, and only suffering the +owners to enter their premises as tenants, and upon their paying him +down a quarter's rent in advance! Such apparent injustice determined +many not to come before the time set for the evacuation of the City, +while many others were kept back through fear of the loyalists, whose +rage and vindictiveness were justly to be dreaded. Hence, though our +people were allowed free ingress and egress to and from the City, upon +their obtaining a British pass for that purpose, yet but few, +comparatively, ventured to bring their families or remain permanently +till they could make their entry with, or under the protection of, the +American forces. + +Never perhaps in the history of our City had there been a corresponding +period of such incessant activity and feverish excitement. Stimulated by +their fears, the loyalist families began arrangements in early spring +for their departure from the land of their birth (indeed a company of +six hundred, including women and children, had already gone the +preceding fall) destined mainly for Port Roseway, in Nova Scotia, where +they ultimately formed their principal settlement, and built the large +town of Shelburne. Those intending to remove were required to enter +their name, the number in their family, &c., at the Adjutant-General's +Office, that due provision might be made for their passage. They flocked +into the City in such numbers from within the British lines (and many +from within our lines also) that often during that season there were not +houses enough to shelter them. Many occupied huts made by stretching +canvass from the ruined walls of the burnt districts. They banded +together for removing, and had their respective headquarters, where they +met to discuss and arrange their plans. The first considerable company, +some five thousand, sailed on April 27th, and larger companies soon +followed. Many held back, hoping for some act of grace on the part of +our Legislature which would allow them to stay. But the public sentiment +being opposed to it, and expressed in terms too strong to be +disregarded, these at last had to yield to necessity, and find new +homes. The mass of the loyalists went to Nova Scotia and Canada; others +to the Island of Abaco, in the Bahamas; while not a few of the more +distinguished or wealthy retired to England. The bitterness felt towards +this class was to be deplored, but, in truth, the active part taken by +many of them during the war against their country, and above all the +untold outrages committed upon defenceless inhabitants by tories (the +zealous and active loyalists), often in league with Indians, had kindled +a resentment towards all loyalists alike that stifled every +philanthrophic feeling. This exodus was going on when General Carleton, +about the beginning of August, received his final orders for the +evacuation of the City; but it took nearly four months more to complete +it, as a large number of vessels were required to transport the immense +crowds of refugees who left with their families and effects during that +brief period. Hundreds of slaves (ours being then a slave State) were +also induced to go to _Novy Koshee_, as they called it. Their masters +could do little to hinder it, though a committee appointed by both +governments to superintend all embarkations did something towards +preventing slaves and other property belonging to our people from being +carried away. Such negroes as had been found in a state of freedom, +General Carleton held, had a right to leave if they chose to do so, and +many probably got away under this pretext; but to provide against +mistakes the name of each negro (with that of his former owner) was +registered, and also such facts as would fix his value, in case +compensation were allowed. In this, as in the whole ordering of the +evacuation, which was more than the work of a day, General Carleton must +have credit for humanity and a disposition to pursue a fair and +honorable course, which, under the extraordinary difficulties of the +situation, required rare tact and discretion. Of course he was blamed +for much when he was not responsible (natural enough in those who +suffered grievances), and especially for the great delay in giving up +the City, which bore hard on virtuous citizens who had sacrificed +opulence and ease at the shrine of liberty, and had now thrown +themselves out of homes and business in the expectation of an early +return to the City. Yet Carleton's fidelity to the various trusts +committed to him, making one delay after another unavoidable, it may be +doubted whether he could have surrendered the City at an earlier date. + +Closing up the affairs of the army was truly a Herculean task. The +shipment of the troops began early in the season. A portion of the army +was disbanded to reduce it to a peace establishment pursuant to orders +from England. Then there was the settlement of innumerable accounts, +pertaining to every department, and the sale and disposal of surplus +army property, as horses, wagons, harness and military stores, with +several thousand cords of fire wood, which was sold off at half its +cost. Even the prisonships were set up at auction. A sale of draft +horses was begun, October 2d, at the Artillery Stables near St. Paul's +church. + +Auctions on private account were rife; daily, in every street, the red +flag was seen hanging out. And it was alleged that a great deal of +furniture was sold to which the venders had no good title; much of it +being newly painted or otherwise disguised, that its proper owner might +never know and reclaim it! We need not doubt it, for it seemed as if the +refugees would strip the City of every portable article, even to the +buildings, or the brick and lumber composing them; insomuch that the +authorities, in formal orders, forbade the removal or demolition of any +house till the right to do so was shown. + +These irregularities, with the brag and bluster of the enraged tories, +was enough to keep society in a broil. The uppermost themes were the +evacuation, and the removal to Nova Scotia, or elsewhere. They were +irritating topics, and gave rise to endless and hot discussions, in +which tory vexed tory. While one maintained that Nova Scotia was a very +Paradise, another denounced it as unfit for human beings to inhabit. +Disappointed and chagrined at the issue of the war, they would curse the +powers to whom they owed allegiance; as rebellious as those they called +rebels. In other cases, the turn the war had taken had a magic effect +upon their principles; once avowed loyalists, they suddenly became +zealous patriots! It was a witty reply given by a tailor,--the tailor, +in the olden time, we must premise, was often applied to, to rip up and +turn a coat, when threadbare or faded. "How does business go on?" asked +a friend. "Not very well," said he, "my customers have all learned to +turn their own coats!" The shrewd whigs were not to be deceived by +these sudden conversions. They drew the line nicely at a meeting held on +Nov. 18th, at Cape's Tavern, in Broadway, (site of the Boreel Building), +to arrange plans for evacuation day. Before touching their business, +they "_Resolved._ That every person, whatever his political character +may be, who hath remained in this City during the late contest, be +requested to leave the room forthwith." + +Society could not be very secure, when, as is stated, scarcely a night +passed without a robbery; scarcely a morning came, but corpses were +found upon the streets, the work of the assassin or midnight revel. +Indeed at this juncture, there was much underlying apprehension in the +minds of good citizens; the situation was unprecedented, men's passions +had been wrought up to a fearful pitch, and who could foresee the +outcome! Sensible of the danger, and with the approval of the +commandant, a large number of citizens lately returned from exile, +organized as a guard and patrolled the streets, on the night preceding +evacuation day. The vigilance of these returned patriots, and the +protection it afforded, added greatly to the public security at this +threatening crisis. + +A word as to the aspect of the City; sanitary rules being suspended, the +public streets were in a most filthy condition. All the churches, except +the Episcopal, the Methodist, and the Lutheran (spared to please the +Hessians), had been converted into hospitals, prisons, barracks, +riding-schools, or storehouses; the pews, and in some the galleries, +torn out, the window-lights broken, and all foul and loathsome. Fences +enclosing the churches and cemeteries had disappeared, and the very +graves and tombs lay hidden by rubbish and filth! No public moneyed or +charitable institutions, no insurance offices existed; trade was at the +lowest ebb, education wholly neglected, the schools and college shut up! +But the long-wished-for event, which was to light up this dark picture, +and work a happy transformation, was at hand. + +Finally, the day fixed upon for the evacuation, and for the triumphal +entry of Washington and the American army, to take possession of the +city, was Tuesday, the 25th of November. At an early hour, on that cold, +but radiant morning, the whole population seemed to be abroad, making +ready for the great gala day, regardless of a keen nor'wester. During +the forenoon many delegations from the suburban districts began to +arrive, to share in the public festivities, or to witness the exit of +the foreign troops, and the entrance of the victorious Americans; while +with the latter was expected a host of patriots, to re-occupy their +desolate dwellings, from which they had been so long cruelly exiled; or +otherwise, only to gaze upon the charred and blackened ruins of what +was once their homes![1] + +To guard against any disturbance which such an occasion might favor, in +the interval between the laying down and the resumption of authority, +and as rumors were afloat of an organized plot to plunder the town when +the King's forces were withdrawn; the hour of noon had been set for the +Royal troops to move, and by an understanding between the two +commanders-in-chief, the Americans were to promptly advance and occupy +the positions as the British vacated them; the latter, when ready to +move, to send out an officer to notify our advance guard. There was no +longer any antagonism between these, so recently hostile, forces; the +plans for the _evacuation_, on the one part, and the _occupation_, on +the other, being carried out in as orderly a manner, and to all +appearance, with as friendly a spirit, as when, in time of peace, one +guard relieves another at a military post. + +Major Gen. Knox, a large, fine looking officer, had been appointed to +command the American troops which were first to enter and occupy the +city. With his forces, consisting of a corps of dragoons, under Capt. +John Stakes, another of artillery, and several battalions of infantry, +with a rear guard under Major John Burnet, Knox marched from McGown's +Pass, Harlem, early in the morning, halting at the present junction of +the Bowery and Third Avenue. Here he waited--meanwhile holding a +friendly parley with the English officers, whose forces were also +resting a little in advance of him--until about one o'clock in the +afternoon. The British then receiving orders to move, took up their +march, passed down the Bowery and Chatham street, and wheeling into +Pearl, finally turned off to the river, and went on shipboard. The +American forces under Gen. Knox, following on, proceeded through Chatham +street, into and down Broadway, and took possession. As they advanced, +greeted with happy faces and joyful acclamations by crowds of freemen +who lined the streets, or fairer forms drawn to the windows and +balconies by the beat of the American drums and the vociferous cheering, +the march down Broadway to Cape's Tavern (on the site now of the Boreel +Building), was indeed the triumphal march of conquerors! + +Our troops having halted and taken their position opposite and below +Cape's Tavern,[2] Gen. Knox quitted them, and heading a body of mounted +citizens, lately returned from exile, and who had met by arrangement at +the Bowling Green, each wearing in his hat a sprig of laurel, and on the +left breast a Union cockade, made of black and white ribbon, rode up +into the Bowery to receive their Excellencies General Washington and +Governor George Clinton, who were at the Bull's Head Tavern (site of the +Thalia Theatre), they having arrived at Day's Tavern, Harlem, on the +21st inst., the very day on which Carleton had drawn in his forces and +abandoned the posts from Kingsbridge to McGown's Pass, inclusive. + +At the Bull's Head, where the widow Varien presided as hostess, +congratulations passed freely, and a series of hearty demonstrations +began, on the part of the overjoyed populace, which continued along the +whole line of Washington's march, and closed only with the day. The +civic procession having formed began its grand entry in the following +order: + +General Washington, "straight as a dart and noble as he could be," +riding a spirited gray horse, and Governor Clinton, on a splendid bay, +with their respective suites also mounted; and having as escort a body +of Westchester Light Horse, under the command of Capt. Delavan. + +The Lieutenant Governor, Pierre Van Cortlandt, with the members of the +Council for the temporary Government of the Southern District of New +York; four abreast. + +Major Gen. Knox, and the officers of the army; eight abreast. + +Citizens on horseback; eight abreast. + +The Speaker of the Assembly, and citizens on foot; eight abreast. + +[Illustration: MAP + +Showing Washington's line of march from Bull's Head (Bowery), to Cape's +Tavern, in Broadway; and thence to Fort George.] + +Near the Tea-water Pump, (in Chatham street just above Pearl), where the +citizens on foot had gathered to join the procession, Washington halted +the column, while Gen. Knox and the officers of the Revolution drew out +and, forming into line, marched down Chatham street, passing a body of +the British troops which were still halting in the fields (now the City +Hall Park); while Washington and the rest, turning down Pearl street, +proceeded on to Wall street, and up Wall, then the seat of fashionable +residences, to Broadway, where both companies again met, and while our +troops in line fired a _feu-de-joie_, alighted at the popular tavern +before mentioned, kept by John Cape, where now stands the Boreel +Building.[3] + +We must mention here, that when Gen. Knox reached the New Jail, then +known as the Provost (and now the Hall of Records), Capt. Cunningham, +the Provost Marshall, and his deputy and jailor Sergeant Keefe, both +having held those positions during most of the war, and equally +notorious for their brutal treatment of the American prisoners who were +confined there, thought it about time to retreat; and quitting the jail, +followed by the hangman in his yellow jacket, passed between a platoon +of British soldiers and marched down Broadway, with the last detachment +of their troops. When Sergeant Keefe was in the act of leaving the +Provost, (says John Pintard), one of the few prisoners then in his +custody for criminal offences, called out: "Sergeant, what is to become +of us?" "You may all go to the devil together," was his surly reply, as +he threw the bunch of keys on the floor behind him. "Thank you, +Sergeant," was the cutting retort, "we have had too much of your company +in _this_ world, to wish to follow you to the _next_!" Another incident, +which respected Cunningham, was witnessed (says Dr. Lossing), by the +late Dr. Alexander Anderson. It was during the forenoon, that a tavern +keeper in Murray street hung out the Stars and Stripes. Informed of it, +thither hastened Cunningham, who with an oath, and in his imperious +tone, exclaimed, "Take in that flag, the City is ours till noon." +Suiting the action to the word, he tried to pull down the obnoxious +ensign; but the landlady coming to the rescue, with broom in hand, dealt +the Captain such lusty blows, as made the powder fly in clouds from his +wig, and forced him to beat a retreat! The Provost Guard, and the Main +Guard at the City Hall (Wall street, opposite Broad, where the U. S. +Treasury stands), were the last to abandon their posts, and repair on +shipboard. + +The brief reception being over, at Cape's Tavern, (with presenting of +addresses to Gen. Washington and Gov. Clinton), the cavalcade again +formed, and marched to the Battery, to enact the last formality in +re-possessing the City, which was to unfurl the American flag over Fort +George.[5] A great concourse of people had assembled, not only to +witness this ceremony, but to obtain a sight of the illustrious +Washington and other great generals, who had so nobly defended our +liberties. + +But now a sight was presented, which, as soon as fully understood, drew +forth from the astonished and incensed beholders execrations loud and +deep. The royal ensign was still floating as usual over Fort George; +the enemy having departed without striking their colors, though they had +dismantled the fort and removed on shipboard all their stores and heavy +ordnance, while other cannon lay dismounted under the walls as if thrown +off in a spirit of wantonness. On a closer view it was found that the +flag had been nailed to the staff, the halyards taken away, and the pole +itself besmeared with grease; obviously to prevent or hinder the removal +of the emblem of royalty, and the raising of the Stars and Stripes. +Whether to escape the mortification of seeing our flag supplant the +British standard, or to annoy and exasperate our people were the +stronger impulse, it were hard to say. It was too serious for a joke, +however, and the dilemma caused no little confusion. The artillery had +taken a position on the Battery, the guns were unlimbered, and the +gunners stood ready to salute our colors. But the grease baffled all +attempts to shin up the staff. To cut the staff down and erect another +would consume too much time. Impatient of delay, "three or four guns +were fired with the colors on a pole before they were raised on the +flagstaff."[6] But this expedient was premature and humiliating, while +the hostile flag yet waved as if in defiance. The scene grew exciting: +and now appeared another actor, hitherto looking on, but no idle +observer of what was passing. He was a young man of medium height, whose +ruddy honest face, tarpaulin cap and pea-jacket told his vocation. Born +neither to fortune nor to fame, yet by his own merits and exertions he +had won the regard of some in that assembly, having served under +McClaughry, and Willett, and Weissenfels, as also the Clintons, to whom +he had lived neighbor, within that patriotic circle in old Orange, where +these were the guiding spirits, and every yeoman with them, shoulder to +shoulder, in the common cause. As a subaltern officer he had made a good +record during the war, and none present, however superior in station, +had sustained a better character or exhibited a purer patriotism. This +was John Van Arsdale, late a Sergeant in Capt. Hardenburgh's company of +New York Levies. At nineteen years of age, quitting his father's vessel, +where he had been bred a sailor, he enlisted in the Continental Army at +the beginning of the war, and had served faithfully till its close. +Suffering cold and hardship in the Canada expedition, wounded and taken +prisoner at the battle of Fort Montgomery, he had languished weary +months in New York dungeons, and in the foul hold of a British +prisonship, and subsequently braved the perils of Indian warfare in +several campaigns. And with such a record, where expect to find him but +among his old compatriots, on this day of momentous import, when the +struggles of seven years were to culminate in a final triumph. + +Van Arsdale volunteered to climb the staff, though with little prospect +of succeeding better than others, especially when after making an +attempt, sailor fashion, he was unable to maintain his grasp upon the +slippery pole. Now it was proposed to replace the cleats which had been +knocked off; and persons ran in haste to Peter Goelet's hardware store, +in Hanover Square, and returned with a saw, hatchet, gimlets, and nails. +Then willing hands sawed pieces of board, split and bored cleats, and +began to nail them on. By this means Van Arsdale got up a short +distance, with a line to which our flag was attached; but just then, a +ladder being brought to his assistance, he mounted still higher, then +completed the ascent in the usual way, and reaching the top of the +staff, tore down the British standard, and rove the new halyards by +which the Star-spangled Banner was quickly run up by Lieut. Anthony +Glean, and floated proudly, while the multitude gave vent to their joy +in hearty cheers, and the artillery boomed forth a national salute of +thirteen guns![7] On descending, Van Arsdale was warmly greeted by the +overjoyed spectators, for the service he had rendered; but some one +proposing a more substantial acknowledgement than mere applause, hats +were passed around, and a considerable sum collected, nearly all within +reach contributing, even to the Commander-in-Chief. Though taken quite +aback, Van Arsdale modestly accepted the gift, with a protest at being +rewarded for so trivial an act. But the contributors were of another +opinion; he had accomplished what was thought impracticable, and the +occasion and the emergency made his success peculiarly gratifying to all +present. On returning home to his amiable Polly (they had been married +short of six months), the story of "Evacuation Day," and the silver +money which he poured into her lap, caused her to open her eyes, and +fixed the circumstance indelibly in her memory! + +But to return: during the scene on the Battery, which consumed full an +hour, the last squads of the British were getting into their boats, +while many others, filled with soldiers, rested on their oars between +the shore and their ships, anchored in the North River. They kept +silence during this time, and watched our efforts to hoist the colors +(no doubt enjoying our embarrassment), but when our flag was run up and +the salute fired, they rowed off to their shipping, which soon weighed +anchor and proceeded down the bay.[8] + +This scene over, the Commander-in-Chief and the general officers, +accompanied Gov. Clinton to Fraunces' Tavern, also a popular resort, and +which still stands on the corner of Pearl and Broad streets. Here the +Governor gave a sumptuous dinner. The repast over, then came "the feast +of reason and the flow of soul," when the sentiments dearest to those +brave and loyal men found utterance in the following admirable toasts: + +1. The United States of America. + +2. His most Christian Majesty. + +3. The United Netherlands. + +4. The King of Sweden. + +5. The American Army. + +6. The Fleet and Armies of France, which have served in America. + +7. The Memory of those Heroes who have fallen for our Freedom. + +8. May our Country be grateful to her Military Children. + +9. May Justice support what Courage has gained. + +10. The Vindicators of the Rights of Mankind in every Quarter of the +Globe. + +11. May America be an Asylum to the Persecuted of the Earth. + +12. May a close Union of the States guard the Temple they have erected +to Liberty. + +13. May the Remembrance of THIS DAY, be a Lesson to Princes. + +An extensive illumination of the buildings in the evening, a grand +display of rockets, and the blaze of bonfires at every corner, made a +fitting sequel to the events of the day.[9] Great as was the joy, and +lively as were the demonstrations of it, not the slightest outbreak or +disturbance occurred, to mar the public tranquility; and the happy +citizens retired to rest in the sweet consciousness that the reign of +martial law and of regal despotism had ended! But it was remarked, says +an eye-witness of the time, that an unusual proportion of those who in +'76 had fled from New York, had been cut off by death and denied a share +in the general joy, which marked the return of their fellow citizens to +their former habitations. And those habitations, such as had survived +the fires, how marred and damaged, as before intimated; in many cases +mere shells and wrecks. And the sanctuaries, where they and their +fathers had worshipped, all despoiled, save St. Paul's, St. George's in +Beekman street, the Dutch Church, Garden street, the Lutheran church, +Frankfort street, the Methodist Meeting House in John street, (none +remaining at present but the first and last), and some three or four +small and obscure places. Years elapsed, before, in their poverty, the +people were enabled fully to restore some of them to their former sacred +uses. The churches which suffered most at the enemy's hands were the +Middle and North Dutch churches, in Nassau and William streets, the two +Presbyterian churches, in Wall and Beekman streets, the Scotch +Presbyterian church, in Cedar street, the French church in Pine street, +the Baptist church, Gold street, and the Friends' new Meeting House, in +Pearl street; all since removed to meet the demands of trade. Religious +affairs were found in a sad plight when the evacuation took place. The +Dutch, Presbyterian and Baptist ministers had gone into voluntary exile. +The Rev. Charles Inglis, D.D., Rector of Trinity Parish, having made +himself very obnoxious to the patriots, concluded to follow the +loyalists of his flock to Nova Scotia, and therefore resigned his +rectorship Nov. 1st, preceding the evacuation. Dr. John H. Livingston, +arriving with our people, immediately resumed his services in Garden +street. Other pastors were not so favored. Dr. John Rogers, of the +Presbyterian church, returned on the day after the evacuation, and on +the following Sabbath, Nov. 30th, preached in St. George's chapel, "to a +thronged and deeply affected assembly," a discourse adapted to the +occasion from Psalms cxvi, 12,--"What shall I render unto the Lord, for +all His benefits towards me?" The vestry of Trinity church having kindly +offered the use of their two chapels, St. Paul's and St. George's, the +Presbyterians occupied these buildings a part of every Sabbath until +June 27th, 1784, when they took possession of the Brick Church, Beekman +street, which had been repaired. + +On the Friday following the evacuation, the citizens lately returned +from exile, gave an elegant entertainment, at Cape's Tavern, to his +Excellency, the Governor, and the Council for governing the City; when +Gen. Washington and the Officers of the Army, about three hundred +gentlemen, graced the feast. The following Tuesday, Dec. 2d, another +such entertainment was given by Gov. Clinton, at the same place, to the +French Ambassador, Luzerne, and in the evening, at the Bowling Green, +the Definitive Treaty of Peace was celebrated by "an unparallelled +exhibition of fireworks," and when, says an account of it, "the +prodigious concourse of spectators assembled on the occasion, expressed +their plaudits in loud and grateful clangors!" On Thursday, the 4th, +Gen. Washington bade a final adieu to his fellow officers at Fraunces' +Tavern. The scene was most affecting. "With a heart full of love and +gratitude," said he, "I now take leave of you, and most devoutly wish +that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones +have been glorious and honorable." Embracing each one in turn, while +tears coursed down their manly checks, he parted from them, and from the +City, to resign his commission to Congress, and seek again the +retirement of private life. + +The following Thursday, Dec. 11th, was observed by appointment of +Congress, "as a day of public Thanksgiving throughout the United +States." On this occasion Dr. Rogers preached in St. George's chapel, a +sermon from Psalms cxxvi, 3,--"The Lord hath done great things for us, +whereof we are glad." It was afterwards published with the title--"The +Divine Goodness displayed in the American Revolution." + +Thus just eight score years after Europeans first settled on this Island +of Manhattan, our City had its new birth into freedom, and started on +its unexampled career of prosperity and greatness. And as we contemplate +the growth, enterprise, trade, commerce, credit, opulence and +magnificence of the present City, with its hundreds of churches, schools +and other noble institutions, and contrast it with the contracted, +war-worn, desolate town, of which our fathers took possession on the +25th of November 1783, well may we exclaim--"What hath God wrought?" +That day, whose memories were so fondly cherished by our grandsires +while they lived, was one of great significance in the history of our +City and Country. Its anniversary has ever since been duly celebrated by +military parades, and a national salute fired on the Battery at sunrise, +by the "Independent Veteran Corps of Heavy Artillery," composed at first +of Revolutionary soldiers, and of which John Van Arsdale was long an +efficient and honored member, and, at the time of his decease, its First +Captain-Lieutenant.[10] For many years the day was observed with great +_eclat_; the troops, in parading, "went through the forms practiced on +taking possession of the City, maneuvering and firing _feux-de-joie_, +&c., as occurred on the evacuation." All shops and business places were +closed, artisans and toilers ceased their work, and the streets, +decorated with patriotic emblems, and alive with happy people, were +given up to gaiety and mirth. To civic and military displays were added +sumptuous dinners, and convivial parties, while the schoolboy rejoiced +in a holiday; the whole bearing witness to a peoples' gratitude for the +deliverance which that memorable day brought them. And boys of older +growth may yet recall the simple distich: + + "It's Evacuation Day, when the British ran away, + Please, dear Master, give us holiday!" + +In the evening every place of amusement was well attended, but none +better than Peale's American Museum, because, as duly advertised:--"The +Flag hoisted by order of Gen. Washington, on the Battery, the same day +the British troops evacuated this city, is displayed in the upper hall, +as a sacred memorial of that day." This flag was presented to the museum +by the Common Council in 1819. It was raised on the Battery for the last +time in 1846, and when the museum was burned the old flag perished! + +Well deserves this day not merely a local but a national commemoration; +since it inaugurated for the nation an era of freedom, the blessings of +which all could not realize, while the chief city and seaport of our +country were held by foreign armies. + +Another chapter, introducing us to colonial and revolutionary times, +will tell more of Capt. Van Arsdale, what he did and endured for his +country, and ensure him a grateful remembrance so long as "Evacuation +Day" shall cheer us by its annual return. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] THE GREAT FIRE, of September 20, 1776, beginning at Whitehall slip, +swept along the river front and northward, consuming all the buildings +between Whitehall street on the west and Broad street on the east, +extending up Broadway to a point just below Rector street, and up Broad +street as far as Beaver, above which the houses on Broad street escaped; +the fire being confined to a line nearly straight from Beaver, near +Broad, to the point it reached on Broadway. Crossing Broadway, it also +swept everything north of Morris street, including Trinity Church; from +which point passing behind the city (later Cape's) Tavern, it spared the +line of buildings, mainly dwellings, facing Broadway, with a few joining +them on the cross streets, but otherwise made a clean sweep as far up as +Barclay street, where the College grounds stayed its further process. + +The fire of August 3, 1778, which was confined to the blocks between Old +slip and Coenties slip, reaching up to Pearl street, was a small affair +in comparison. + +[2] The orders of Nov. 24, to our troops read: "The Light Infantry will +furnish a company for Main Guard to-morrow. As soon as the troops are +formed in the city, the Main Guard will be marched off to Fort George; +on their taking possession, an officer of artillery will immediately +hoist the American standard. * * * On the standard being hoisted in Fort +George, the artillery will fire thirteen rounds. Afterwards his +Excellency Governor Clinton will be received on the right of the line. +The officers will salute his Excellency as he passes them, and the +troops present their arms by corps, and the drums beat a march. After +his Excellency is past the line, and alighted at Cape's Tavern, the +artillery will fire thirteen rounds." + +As our flag was not raised on Fort George, nor the salute fired until +after Gov. Clinton and Gen. Washington arrived there, the delay, and +failure to carry out the orders strictly as issued, must be accounted +for by the embarrassing incident hereafter noticed. + +[3] Why "the officers of the Revolution" should have taken a different +rout admits of this explanation. The officers referred to were no doubt +the mounted citizens who had ridden up with Knox from Bowling Green, +among whom were colonels, captains, etc., of the late army. The move was +evidently made to reach Cape's Tavern first, and be in position ready to +receive their Excellencies, Washington and Clinton, and present +addresses, which had been prepared. This is referred to in a letter +written by Elisha D. Whitlesey, dated Danbury, Conn., Aug. 24, 1821, "A +committee had been appointed by the citizens to wait upon Gen. +Washington and Gov. Clinton and other American officers, and to express +their joyful congratulations to them upon the occasion. A procession for +this purpose formed in the Bowery, marched through a part of the city, +and halted at a tavern, then known by the name of Cooper's [Cape's] +Tavern, in Broadway, where the following addresses were delivered.[4] +Mr. Thomas Tucker, late of this town [Danbury], and at that time a +respectable merchant in New York, a member of the committee, was +selected to perform the office on the part of the committee." + +[4] For that to Washington, and his reply, see next note. + +[5] ADDRESS TO GENERAL WASHINGTON, + +_Presented at Cape's Tavern._ + +To his Excellency GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esquire, General and Commander in +Chief of the Armies of the United States of America: + +The Address of the Citizens of New York, who have returned from exile, +in behalf of themselves and their suffering brethren: + +SIR: + +At a moment when the arm of tyranny is yielding up its fondest +usurpations, we hope the salutations of long suffering exiles, but now +happy freemen, will not be deemed an unworthy tribute. In this place, +and at this moment of exultation and triumph, while the ensigns of +slavery still linger in our sight, we look up to you, our deliverer, +with unusual transports of gratitude and joy. Permit us to welcome you +to this City, long torn from us by the hard hand of oppression, but now +by your wisdom and energy, under the guidance of Providence, once more +the seat of peace and freedom. We forbear to speak our gratitude or your +praise, we should but echo the voice of applauding millions; but the +Citizens of New York are eminently indebted to your virtues, and we who +have now the honor to address your Excellency, have been often +companions of your sufferings, and witnesses of your exertions. Permit +us therefore to approach your Excellency with the dignity and sincerity +of freemen, and to assure you that we shall preserve with our latest +breath our gratitude for your services, and veneration for your +character. And accept of our sincere and earnest wishes that you may +long enjoy that calm domestic felicity which you have so generously +sacrificed; that the cries of injured liberty may nevermore interrupt +your repose, and that your happiness may be equal to your virtues. + +_Signed at the request of the meeting._ + + THOMAS RANDALL. + DAN. PHOENIX. + SAML. BROOME. + THOS. TUCKER. + HENRY KIPP. + PAT. DENNIS. + WM. GILBERT, SR. + WM. GILBERT, JR. + FRANCIS VAN DYCK. + JEREMIAH WOOL. + GEO. JANEWAY. + ABRA'M P. LOTT. + EPHRAIM BRASHIER. + +NEW YORK, Nov. 25th, 1783. + +THE GENERAL'S REPLY. + +To the Citizens of New York who have returned from exile: + +GENTLEMEN-- + +I thank you sincerely for your affectionate address, and entreat you to +be persuaded that nothing could be more agreeable to me than your polite +congratulations. Permit me in turn to felicitate you on the happy +repossession of your City. + +Great as your joy must be on this pleasing occasion, it can scarcely +exceed that which I feel at seeing you, Gentlemen, who from the noblest +motives have suffered a voluntary exile of many years, return again in +peace and triumph, to enjoy the fruits of your virtuous conduct. + +The fortitude and perseverance, which you and your suffering brethren +have exhibited in the course of the war, have not only endeared you to +your countrymen, but will be remembered with admiration and applause to +the latest posterity. + +May the tranquility of your City be perpetual,--may the ruins soon be +repaired, commerce flourish, science be fostered, and all the civil and +social virtues be cherished in the same illustrious manner which +formerly reflected so much credit on the inhabitants of New York. In +fine, may every species of felicity attend you, Gentlemen, and your +worthy fellow citizens. + +GEO. WASHINGTON. + +[6] Gen. Jeremiah Johnson, who was present, so stated to the writer, +Feb. 15, 1848. + +[7] A patriotic song was composed for that day, entitled, "The Sheep +Stealers," which was distributed and sung with immense gusto in the +evening coteries. Coarse, but designed to cast ridicule on the enemy, it +is given as a specimen of the popular songs of the period: + + KING GEORGE sent his Sheep-stealers, + Poor Refugees and Tories! + King George sent his Sheep-stealers + To fish for mutton here, + To fish for mutton here, + To fish for mutton here, + But Yankees were hard dealers, + Poor Refugees and Tories; + But Yankees were hard dealers, + They sold their sheep-skins dear, + They sold their sheep-skins dear, + They sold their sheep-skins dear, + But Yankees were hard dealers, + They sold their sheep-skins dear! + + At Boston Britons glorious, + The Refugees and Tories, + Made war on pigs and fowls, + But o'er men un-victorious, + They fled by night like owls! + + The Howes came in a huff, Boys, + With Refugees and Tories, + To plunder, burn and sink; + But like a candle-snuff, Boys, + They went--and left a stink! + + Burgoyne, that cunning rogue, ah! + With Refugees and Tories, + Of conquest laid grand schemes; + But Gates at Saratoga, + Awak'd him from his dreams! + + The noble Earl Cornwally, + With Refugees and Tories, + Of southern plunderers chief, + At Yorktown wept the folly + Of stealing "Rebel" beef! + + Clinton, that son of thunder, + With Refugees and Tories, + At New York took his stand. + And swore that he asunder + Would shake the Rebel land! + + Of mighty deeds achieving, + With Refugees and Tories, + He talked, O! _he_ talked big, + But changed his plan to thieving + Of turkey, goose and pig! + + Of conquest then despairing, + With Refugees and Tories, + George for his Bull-dogs sent; + They Yankee vengeance fearing, + _Greased the flagstaff_--and went! + + Then Yorkers, let's remember + The Refugees and Tories, + The five and twentieth day + Of the bleak month, November, + When the Cow-thieves sneaked away! + +[8] The British troops did not take their final departure from Long +Island and Staten Island till the 4th of December. Their flag waved over +Governor's Island till the 3d, when the Island was formally given up to +an officer sent over by Gov. Clinton, for that purpose. (Mag. of Am. +Hist., 1883, p. 430.) Sir Guy Carleton and other officers and gentlemen +sailed in the frigate Ceres, Capt. Hawkins. + +[9] Among the more authentic newspaper accounts of the Evacuation, is +one of which I have here availed myself, contained in the New York _Sun_ +of Nov. 27th, 1850, but copied from the _Observer_. Much valuable +material is also brought together in the _N. Y. Corp. Manual_ for 1870. + +[10] IT caused great surprise, in 1831, that an officer of the +Revolution, Capt. John Van Dyck, of Lamb's artillery, who was present at +the evacuation of New York, and "was on Fort George and within two feet +of the flagstaff," should have stated in the most positive terms, that +"there was no British flag on the staff to pull down:" also that no +ladder was used, and besides, more than intimated that Van Arsdale did +not perform the part ascribed to him! (His letter, in _N. Y. Commercial +Advertiser_, of June 30th, 1831.) We well remember Capt. Van Dyck, and +do not doubt the sincerity of his statements; but it only shows how +effectually facts once well known may be obliterated from the memory by +the lapse of time. For few facts in our history are better authenticated +than that the royal standard was left flying at the evacuation; and it +was afterwards complained of, as the able historian, Mr. Dawson writes +me, by John Adams, our first embassador to England, as an unfriendly +act, to evacuate the City without a formal surrender of it, or striking +their colors. The fact is also mentioned in a pamphlet printed in 1808, +by the "Wallabout Committee," (appointed to superintend the interment of +the bones of American patriots who perished in the prison ships), and +consisting of gentlemen who could not have all been ignorant on such a +point, viz., Messrs. Jacob Vandervoort, John Jackson, Issachar Cozzens, +Burdet Stryker, Robert Townsend, Jr., Benjamin Watson and Samuel +Cowdrey. Hardie, who wrote his account prior to 1825, ("Description of +New York," p. 107,) also makes the same statement, and so does Dr. +Lossing: "Field Book of the Revolution," 2:633. A letter written in New +York _the day after the evacuation_, says "they cut away the halyards +from the flagstaff in the fort, and likewise greased the post; so that +we _were obliged to have a ladder_ to fix a new rope." The use of a +ladder is attested by Lieut. Glean; and also by the late Pearson +Halstead, who witnessed the ascent. Mr. Halstead stated this to me, in +1845, and that, about the year 1805, he was informed that Van Arsdale +was the person who climbed the staff. His association with Mr. Van +Arsdale, both in business and in the Veteran Corps, gave him the best +means of knowing the common belief on that subject, and he said it was +"a fact understood and admitted by the members of the Veteran Corps, who +used often to speak of it." Capt. George W. Chapman, of the Veteran +Corps, then 84 years of age, informed me, in 1845, that he commanded the +Corps when Van Arsdale joined it, and that the fact ascribed to the +latter was well known to the members of the Corps, and never disputed. +John Nixon, a reliable witness, said to me, in 1844, that he saw the +ascent, &c., "by _a short thickset man_ in sailor's dress," and that +_ten years later_ (1793) he became acquainted with Van Arsdale, and then +learned that "_he was the person who tore down the British flag, in +1783_." Gen. Jeremiah Johnson informed me, in 1846, that he "saw the +sailor, in ordinary round jacket and seaman's dress, _shin up_ the +flagstaff; _a middling sized man_, well proportioned." Major Jonathan +Lawrence, who was present; said "a _sailor_ mounted the flagstaff, with +fresh halyards, rigged it and hoisted the American flag." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +The real conservators of the rights of mankind have rarely been found +among the rich or titled aristocracy. They belong to the more ingenuous, +sympathetic, and virtuous middle class of society, so called. This is +not the less true because of the notable exceptions, where the +endowments of wealth, rank, and influence, have added lustre to the +names of some of earth's best benefactors. The fact must remain that the +bone and sinew of a nation, and in which consists its safety in peace, +and its defense in war, are its hardy yeoman who guide the plow, or +wield the axe, or ply the anvil; and without whose practical ideas and +well-directed energies, no community could protect itself, or make any +real advancement. It was most fortunate that the founders of this nation +were so largely of this sterling class; the architects of their own +fortunes, no labor, no difficulties or dangers appalled them; the very +men were they, to break by stalwart blows the fetters which despotism +was fast riveting upon them. + +Such was Captain John Van Arsdale, in the essentials of his character. +It chafed his young, free spirit to see his country, the home of his +ancestors for a century before his birth, bleeding under the iron hand +of tyranny, and invoking the sturdy and the brave to come forth and +strike the blow for freedom. He was one of the first to heed that call, +and to fearlessly enter the lists; nor ceased to battle manfully till +our independence was achieved! If honest, unswerving patriotism, +standing the triple test of manifold hardships and dangers, long and +cruel imprisonment and years of arduous, poorly-requited service, should +entitle one to the love and gratitude of his country; then let such +honor be awarded to the subject of this sketch, and the power of his +example tell upon all those who may read it. + +John Van Arsdale was the son of John and Deborah Van Arsdale, and was +born in the town of Cornwall (then a part of Goshen), Orange County, N. +Y., on Monday, January 5th, 1756.[11] His ancestors for four generations +in this country, as mentioned in the records of their times, were men of +intelligence and virtue, honored and trusted in the communities in which +they lived, and on whom, as God-fearing men, rested the mantles of their +fathers who had battled for their faith in the wars of the Netherlands. +His grandsire, Stoffel Van Arsdalen (for so he and his Dutch +progenitors wrote the name), had removed from Gravesend, Long Island, +to Somerset County, New Jersey, in the second decade of that century, +and eventually purchased a farm of two hundred acres in Franklin +township, where he lived, zealously devoted to the church, and highly +esteemed, till his death near the beginning of the Revolution.[12] He +married Magdalena, daughter of Okie Van Hengelen, and had several +children, of whom, John, born 1722, and Cornelius, born 1729, removed to +the County of Orange, aforesaid.[13] John, by trade a millwright, was +engaged by Mr. Tunis Van Pelt to build a grist mill on Murderer's Creek, +so called from an Indian tragedy of earlier times; and from which name +softened to Murdner, in common usage, came the modern Moodna. While so +occupied, and sharing the hospitalities of Mr. Van Pelt's house, he +wooed and married his daughter, Deborah, in 1744. Associating with his +father-in-law in the milling business, Van Arsdale eventually became +proprietor, assisted, we believe, by his brother Cornelius, who was a +miller. Building up a large trade, he also became known for his private +virtues and public spirit. A lieutenant's commission (in which he is +styled "of Ulster County, Gentleman"), under Capt. Thomas Ellison, and +dated October 10th, 1754, is now in the writer's possession. But +misfortune, the loss of a vessel sent to the Bay of Honduras laden with +flour, and where it was to ship a cargo of logwood, led him to give up +the business and remove to New York, where he took charge of the Prison +in the old City Hall, in Wall street, which was deemed a post of great +responsibility. It was soon after this change that John, the subject of +our sketch, was born, at Mr. Van Pelt's residence, at Moodna, where his +mother had either remained, or was then making a visit. About six weeks +thereafter, having come to the city, with her infant, she sickened and +died of the small pox. After four years (in 1760), Mr. Van Arsdale +married Catherine, daughter of James Mills, deputy-sheriff of New York. +Ten years later, weary of his charge, then at the New Jail, built in +1757-9 (the Provost of the Revolution, and now the Hall of Records); he +resigned it, bought a schooner, and engaged in the more congenial +pursuit of marketing produce. + +The Revolution coming on, Capt. Van Arsdale entered with his vessel into +the American service, supplied our army at New York with fuel brought +from Hackensack (the Asia man-of-war once taking his wood and paying him +in continental bills), and afterwards helped to sink the +_chevaux-de-frize_ in the Hudson, opposite Fort Washington. In this +arduous work he was aided by his son John, then lately returned from the +Canada expedition. The day the enemy entered the City he conveyed his +family to his vessel at Stryker's Bay, and, crowded with fugitives, made +good his escape up the Hudson to Murdner's Creek. Here his companion, +who had borne him eleven children, died in 1779; but he survived not +only to witness the war brought to a happy close, but long enough to see +much of the waste repaired, and the greatness of his country assured. +Respected and beloved for his amiable qualities and exemplary christian +character, Capt. Van Arsdale, the elder, died in 1798 at the residence +of his son-in-law, Mr. William Sherwood, at "The Creek." + +The junior Van Arsdale would have been unworthy of his honest ancestry +had he not possessed in a good degree the same stability of character. +Bereft of a mother's love at so early an age, John was tenderly reared +at his grandfather Van Pelt's till his father married again. Then New +York became his home for ten years or more, during which time his +playground was the Green (now City Hall Park) with the fields adjacent +to the New Jail, of which his father still had the custody. The times +were turbulent, and many stirring scenes passed under his boyish eyes. +One was the Soldiers' Riot, in 1764, when the jail was assaulted and +broken into by a party of riotous soldiers, with design to release a +prisoner, and in which Mr. Mills, in resisting them, was rudely handled +and wounded. And the gatherings, hardly less tumultuous, of the "Sons of +Liberty" to oppose the Stamp Act, or celebrate its repeal, by raising +liberty poles, which were several times cut down and replaced, all +serving to implant in his young mind an abhorrence of foreign rule, with +the germs of that patriotism which matured as he grew in years.[14] But +an elder brother Tunis (his only own brother living, save Christopher, a +brassfounder, who died, unmarried, in the West Indies in 1773), having +served an apprenticeship with Fronce Mandeville, of Moodna, blacksmith, +married, in 1771, Jennie Wear, of the town of Montgomery, and the next +spring began married life on a farm of eighty acres, which he had +purchased, lying in that part of Hanover Precinct (now Montgomery) +called Neelytown. Much attached to Tunis, John thereafter spent several +years with him, attending school. + +But now the growing controversy between the Colonies and the mother +country had ripened into actual hostilities; the first aggressive +movement in which this Colony took part being the expedition against +Canada, planned in the summer of 1775. It fired young Van Arsdale's +patriotism, and about August 25th he enlisted under Capt. Jacobus +Wynkoop, of the Fourth New York Regiment, James Holmes being the colonel +and Philip Van Cortlandt the lieutenant-colonel. These forces, +proceeding up the Hudson, entered Canada by way of lakes George and +Champlain; part of the Fourth Regiment, under Major Barnabas Tuthill, +taking part in the brilliant assault upon Quebec, December 31st, but +unsuccessful, and fatal to the gallant leader, General Montgomery, and +numbers of his men. On their way to Quebec, and especially in crossing +the lakes on the ice, Van Arsdale and his comrades suffered so intensely +from the extreme cold that the hardships and incidents of this, his +first campaign, remained fresh in his memory even till old age. Van +Arsdale having "served his time out in the year's service, returned to +New York," where the Americans were concentrating troops, in order to +oppose the royal forces expected from Europe. Here he assisted his +father on board the schooner in sinking the obstructions in the Hudson, +as before noticed, and when the enemy captured the city, accompanied him +to Orange County. It was on Sept. 16th, 1776, that the British forces +landed at Kip's Bay, on the east side of the island, three miles out of +the city. A great many of the citizens who were friends of their +country, made a precipitate flight, and the roads were lined with +vehicles of every kind, removing furniture, etc. The elder Van Arsdale, +with difficulty, and only by paying down $200, got the use of a horse +and wagon to take his family and effects from his house to the schooner +lying in Stryker's Bay. While drawing a load, a spent cannon ball +knocked off one of the wagon wheels, at which his little son Cornelius, +but eight years old, was so frightened that he never forgot it. The +schooner was crowded to excess with citizens and their families, all +eager to get away, and for fear they might sink her, Capt. Van Arsdale +was obliged to turn off some who applied for a passage. They left deeply +loaded, and in their haste were obliged to take with them a lot of +military stores which were on board. Arriving at Murdner's Creek, John, +at his father's request, and taking his brother Abraham, set out afoot +for Neelytown, to inform their brother Tunis of their arrival. The +journey of twelve miles seemed short, and ere long the well-known +farmhouse hove in sight, seated a little way back, and to which led a +lane between rows of young cherry trees, and near it on the road the +low, dusky smith-shop, with its _debris_ of cinders, old wheel-tires and +broken iron-work strewn about. Entering, as Tunis, with his back towards +them, stood at the forge heating his iron, and his assistant, Aleck +Bodle, lazily blowing the bellows, the first surprize was only +surpassed, when after hearty greetings, they imparted the startling news +of the capture of New York by the British, and that their father, having +barely escaped with his vessel, had arrived at the Creek. At once out +went the fire, and out went Tunis also to harness his horses, in order +to go and bring up the rest of the family; but on second thought, as the +day was far spent, he concluded to await the morrow. The next day there +was a joyous reunion at the farmhouse, but tempered with many sad +comments upon the doleful situation. + +John spent the winter with his brother Tunis, aiding in farm work and at +the forge; he had just reached his majority, and found congenial spirits +in Alexander Bodle and Joseph Elder, then serving apprenticeships with +Tunis, and afterwards much respected residents of Orange County. Around +the evening fireside they indulged in many a joke, when laughter made +the welkin ring, or behind the well-fed pacer, were borne in the clumsy +box sled, with the gingle of merry bells, to the rustic frolic; but the +bounds of decorum were never exceeded, and lips which could tell all +about it, bore us pleasing witness to Van Arsdale's correct habits and +deportment at a stage of life so beset with syren snares for the unwary, +and which commonly moulds the character. + +But nevertheless the winter was one of great military activity, +especially among the organized militia of Orange County, in which (in +the town of New Windsor) was the sub-district of Little Britain, the +home of the Clintons;[15] the menacing attitude of the enemy under Lord +Howe, who had approached as near as Hackensack, and the protection of +the passes of the Highlands, requiring frequent calls upon the yeomanry +to take the field. The inhabitants of Hanover Precinct, which precinct +joined on New Windsor, had from the first shown great spirit; their +Association, dated May 8th, 1775, in which they pledge their support to +the Continental Congress, &c., in resisting "the several arbitrary and +oppressive acts of the British Parliaments," and "in the most solemn +manner resolve never to become slaves," is signed first by Dr. Charles +Clinton and presents 342 names. The Precinct in the winter of 1776-7, +contained four militia companies, under Captains Matthew Felter, James +Milliken, Hendrick Van Keuren and James McBride, and these were attached +to a regiment of which that sterling patriot, James McClaughry, of +Little Britain, brother in law to the Clintons, was lieutenant colonel +commandant.[16] Tunis and John Van Arsdale lived in Capt. Van Keuren's +beat. The Captain was a veteran of the last French war, and it gave him +prestige, in the command to which he had been recently promoted. He had +"warmly espoused the cause of his country, and evinced unshaken firmness +throughout the whole of the contest." Col. McClaughry had taken the +field with his regiment early in the winter, proceeding down into +Jersey, and of which, on his return, Jan. 1st, he gave a humorous +account to Gen. Clinton; but though highly probable, we have no positive +evidence that John Van Arsdale went into actual service till the spring +opened. + +Forts Montgomery and Clinton, begun in 1775, stood on the west side of +the Hudson, opposite Anthony's Nose, at a very important pass, where the +river was narrow, easily obstructed, and from the elevation which the +forts occupied, was commanded a great distance up and down. Fort Clinton +was below Fort Montgomery, distant only about six hundred yards, the +Poplopen Kill running through a ravine between them; the fortress was +small, but more complete than Fort Montgomery, and stood at a greater +elevation, being 23 feet the highest, and 123 feet above the river. +These posts were distant (southeast) from the Clinton mansion only about +sixteen miles. The two fortresses required a thousand men for their +proper defense, but till early in 1777, had usually been in charge of a +very small force under Gen. James Clinton. The time of these soldiers +expiring on the last day of March, Col. Lewis Dubois, with the Fifth New +York Regiment was sent to garrison Fort Montgomery. + +A meeting of the field officers of Orange and Ulster, was held at Mrs. +Falls' in Little Britain, March 31st, 1777, pursuant to a resolve of the +New York Convention empowering General George Clinton, lately appointed +commandant of the forts in the Highlands, to call out the militia "to +defend this State against the incursions of our implacable enemies, and +reinforce the garrisons of Fort Montgomery, defend the post of Sidnam's +Bridge (near Hackensack), and afford protection to the distressed +inhabitants." It was there resolved, with great spirit, to call +one-third of each of the several regiments into actual service, to the +number of 1,200, and to form them into three temporary regiments, of +which two should garrison Fort Montgomery, under Colonel Levi Pawling +(with Lt. Col. McClaughry), and Col. Johannes Snyder. As the men were +raised they were to march in detachments to that post, and were to serve +till August 1st, and receive continental pay and rations. Each captain +was forthwith directed to raise his quota, and "in the most just and +equitable manner." + +John Van Arsdale was among those chosen from his beat, and sometime in +April, borrowing from his brother an old but trusty musket, proceeded to +Fort Montgomery. Being of a resolute, active temperament, with a +knowledge of tactics, and an aptness to command, he was made a corporal; +an evidence of the good opinion entertained of him by his officers, +flattering to one of his years. It was also in his favor that he was a +good penman, and had acquired a fair English education for the times. +Drilling his squad, placing and relieving the guards, and other daily +routine duty, gave our young corporal enough to do, while the courts for +the trial of some notorious tories, held at that post, during the spring +and summer, added to frequent alarms due to indications that the enemy +from below meditated an attack upon the forts, kept everything lively. +On July 2nd, Gen. Clinton, upon a hint from Washington that Lord Howe, +in order to favor Burgoyne, might attempt to seize the passes of the +Highlands, and "make him a very hasty visit," with which view, accounts +given by deserters from New York coincided; immediately repaired to Fort +Montgomery, after first ordering to that post the full regiment of Col. +McClaughry, with those of Colonels William Allison, Jesse Woodhull, and +Jonathan Hasbrouck. The militia came in with great alacrity, almost to a +man. But ten days passed without a sign of the enemy. Parties went daily +on the Dunderbergh (Thunder Mountain) to look down the river, but could +not see a single vessel; then, as usual, when there was no immediate +prospect of any thing to do, the transient militia became uneasy, and +were allowed to go home in the belief that they would turn out more +cheerfully the next time. + +But as the term of service of those called out in April expired on +August 1st, on that date another call was made by Gov. Clinton on the +respective regiments, to make up eight companies, by ballot or other +equitable mode, and to march with due expedition to Fort Montgomery, and +there put themselves under command of Colonel Allison, with McClaughry +as his Lieutenant Colonel. They were to draw continental pay, etc. In +this instance no immediate danger being apprehended, the militia did not +respond very promptly, although much needed to replace part of the +continental force which had been withdrawn for other service. Again, on +August 5th, Clinton, by virtue of threatening news from Gen. Washington, +directed Allison and McClaughry to march all the militia to Fort +Montgomery, except the frontier companies, which were to be left for +home protection. But repeated orders to urge them forward were but +partially successful. September closed, the quotas were far from +complete, orders then issued by Allison, McClaughry, and Hasbrouck (by +direction of Clinton) for half their regiments to repair to Fort +Montgomery were but slowly complied with, and the delay was fatal! Van +Arsdale had re-enlisted and held his former position. It was at this +time that he made the acquaintance of Elnathan Sears, and which ripened +into friendship under very trying circumstances. + +Forts Montgomery and Clinton at this date mounted thirty-two cannon, +rating from 6 to 32 pounders. The garrison consisted of two companies of +Col. John Lamb's artillery, under Capts. Andrew Moodie and Jonathan +Brown (one in each fort) and parts of the regiments of Cols. Dubois, +Allison, Hasbrouck, Woodhull and McClaughry with a very few from other +regiments. Thus matters stood on Sunday, October 5th, 1777. + +Hark! what bustling haste--of people running to and fro,--has suddenly +disturbed the Sabbath evening's repose at Neelytown? Tidings have just +reached them that the enemy's vessels are ascending the Hudson with the +obvious design of attacking Fort Montgomery and the neighboring posts. +The orders are for every man able to shoulder a musket to hasten to +their assistance! This was grave intelligence for the inmates at the Van +Arsdale home (and which may serve to represent many others), but the +call of duty could not be disregarded. For most of the night the good +wife was occupied in baking and putting up provisions for Tunis and his +two apprentices to take with them, while these were as busy cleaning +their muskets, moulding bullets, etc., that naught might be wanting for +the stern business before them. Towards morning, taking one or two hours +rest, they arose, equipped themselves, and made ready for the journey to +the fort, which was full twenty miles distant. As the parting moment had +come, the kind father kissed his three little ones tenderly, then +uttered in the ear of his sorrowing Jennie the sad good-bye, and with +the others hastened from the house, his wife attending him to the road, +and weeping bitterly for she understood but too well that it might be +the final parting. Her longing eyes followed them till they disappeared +beyond an intervening hill. "Oh!" said she to the writer more than sixty +years afterwards, as she related these facts, her eyes even then +suffused with tears, "You may _read_ of these things, but you can never +_feel_ them as I did. I wept much during those seven years." + +During the day, those whose kinsmen had gone to the battle met here and +there in little bands to condole with each other, and talk over the +unhappy situation. Later, the boom of distant artillery awakened their +worst fears, for now were they sure that those dear to them were engaged +in a mortal conflict with the enemy. The shades of evening closing +around, brought no relief to their burdened hearts; but, on the +contrary, the most torturing suspense as to the issue of the battle. To +make the situation more depressing, there came on a cold rain, and the +dreariness without was a fit index of the desolate hearts within. At a +late hour Mrs. Van Arsdale retired to her sleepless pillow; but her case +found its counterpart in many an anxious household over a large section +of country. + +At length morning broke upon that unhappy neighborhood, and with it came +persons from the battle bringing the appalling news that the Americans +had been defeated, and many of them slain, or made prisoners, and that +the enemy were in full possession of the forts. Then other parties +arrived whose woe-stricken faces only confirmed the sad intelligence. +Soon anxious inquiries sped from house to house where any lived who had +escaped from the slaughter, to learn about this one and that, who had +gone to the battle, but had not returned. Jennie could get no tidings of +her husband, though she spent the greater part of the day in watching +on the road, and several times even fancied that she saw him coming; but +alas! only to find it a delusion. It added to her fears for her husband, +when a neighbor named Monell, at whose house she called, met her with +the sorrowful news that his brother, Robert Monell, first lieutenant in +Capt. Van Keuren's company, had been killed in the battle. At length the +apprentices arrived, their faces begrimed with powder, and one of them +crying for his brother, who had been shot down by his side, and died +instantly.[17] The other, who was Joseph Elder, before spoken of, a +young man of giant frame, had narrowly escaped death, having his hat and +jacket pierced with bullets in the engagement! But having been separated +from Mr. Van Arsdale, they had not seen him since the battle, and so +were ignorant as to his fate. The wretched woman was in despair; many of +her neighbors had now returned and the prolonged absence of her Tunis +seemed to forbode that he had either been killed or captured by the +enemy. But now still others arrive, and she is led from their +statements, to hope that Tunis has escaped, and is making his way +homeward through the mountains. Her heart leaps with joy, and she +returns to the house, and even indulges a laugh as her eye gets a sight +of the mush kettle still hanging on the trammel, as she placed it there +in the morning; no meal stirred in, and she having eaten nothing the +whole day. Towards night Tunis arrived, on horseback, with his +brother-in-law William Wear, who at Jennie's request, had gone out some +distance to look for him.[18] He was fast asleep from exhaustion when +they reached the house, (Wear behind him and holding him on the horse), +and his face so blackened with powder that his wife hardly knew him. He +was much depressed in spirits, but grateful to God who had preserved and +restored him to his family and friends. That evening brought in his +captain, Van Keuren, who for some cause was not in the fight, with his +minister, Rev. Andrew King, and many other neighbors--a house +full,--some to congratulate Van Arsdale on his escape, others, with +anxious faces to inquire after missing friends, and others still to +learn the particulars of the battle. The account he gave of what +happened after leaving home for the scene of conflict, was briefly as +follows: + +A walk of several hours brought them to a little stream at the foot of +the hill upon which Fort Montgomery stood, and where they had intended +to stop and eat their dinner; but hearing a great deal of noise and +bustle in the fort, they only took a drink from the brook, and hastened +up into the works, when they soon learned that a large body of the enemy +had landed below the Dunderbergh, and were advancing by a circuitous +route to attack the fort in the rear. About the middle of the afternoon +the British columns appeared, and pressed on to the assault with +bayonets fixed. But our men poured down upon them such a destructive +fire of bullets and grape shot that they fell in heaps, and were kept at +bay till night-fall, when our folks, being worn out by continued +fighting, and overpowered by numbers, were obliged to give way. Then +Gov. Clinton told them to escape for their lives, when many fought their +way out, or scrambled over the wall, and so got away. It must have fared +badly with the rest, as the enemy after entering the fort continued to +stab, knock down and kill our soldiers without pity. Favored by the +darkness, Tunis attempted to escape through one of the entrances, though +it was nearly blocked up by the assailing column, and the heaps of +killed and wounded; but presently, as an English soldier held a +militiaman bayoneted against the wall, Tunis, stooping down, slipped +between the Briton's legs, and escaped around the fort toward the river. +He said he had gone but a little way, when a cry of distress, evidently +from a young person, arrested his attention. A poor boy, in making his +escape, had fallen into a crevice in the rocks, and was unable to +extricate himself. Tunis, at no little risk, crept down to where the lad +was and drew him out, but in doing so hurt himself quite badly, by +scraping one of his legs on a sharp rock. He then gained the river and +found a skiff, in which he and two or three others crossed over. Then a +party of them travelled in Indian file, through the darkness and cold +drizzling rain, stopping once at the house of a friendly farmer, where +they got some food, and as the day broke entered Fishkill; whence they +crossed to New Windsor, and there met Gov. Clinton and many more who had +made good their escape. All felt greatly dispirited, but the Governor +tried to cheer them, remarking: "Well, my boys, we've been badly beaten +this time, but have courage, the next time the day may be ours." Without +much delay Mr. Van Arsdale set out for home, as fast as his lameness +admitted of, knowing how great anxiety would be felt on his account. But +of his brother John; he had no knowledge of what had befallen him, and +indulged the worst fears as to his fate. + +Such in brief was Van Arsdale's account of that sanguinary affair, +divested of many little particulars of the battle and its sequel. But +his limited observation could include but a small part of what passed on +that most eventful day, as we are now able to gather it from many +sources. + +With a view to cooperate with General Burgoyne, who had invaded the +State from the north, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton, having a +force of about 3,000 men, sailed from New York on the 4th of October, +with the design of reducing the forts in the Highlands, and, if +possible, open communication with Burgoyne's army. The same night their +advance as far as Tarrytown was known at Fort Montgomery, and that they +had landed a large force at that place. The next morning (Sunday) +advices were received that they had reached King's Ferry, connecting +Verplank's and Stony Point. That afternoon they landed a large body of +men on the east side of the river, to divert attention from the real +point of attack, but they re-embarked in the night. An extract from Sir +Henry Clinton's report to General Howe, dated Fort Montgomery, October +9th, will begin at this point, and form a proper introduction to our +side of the story. Says he: + +"At day-break on the 6th the troops disembarked at Stony Point. The +_avant-garde_ of 500 regulars and 400 provincials,[19] commanded by +Lieut.-Col. Campbell, with Col. Robinson, of the provincials, under him, +began its march to occupy the pass of Thunder-hill (Dunderbergh). This +_avant-garde_, after it had passed that mountain, was to proceed by a +detour of seven miles round the hill (called Bear Hill), and _deboucher_ +in the rear of Fort Montgomery; while Gen. Vaughan, with 1200 men,[20] +was to continue his march towards Fort Clinton, covering the corps under +Lieut.-Col. Campbell, and _a portee_ to cooperate, by attacking Fort +Clinton, or, in case of misfortune, to favor the retreat. Major-Gen. +Tryon, with the remainder, being the rear guard,[21] to leave a +battalion at the pass of Thunder-hill, to open our communication with +the fleet. + +"Your Excellency recollecting the many, and I may say extraordinary +difficulties of this march over the mountains, every natural +obstruction, and all that art could invent to add to them, will not be +surprised that the corps intended to attack Fort Montgomery in the rear, +could not get to its ground before five o'clock; about which time I +ordered Gen. Vaughan's corps, _a portee_, to begin the attack on Fort +Clinton, to push, if possible, and dislodge the enemy from their +advanced station behind a stone breastwork, having in front for half a +mile a most impenetrable abatis. This the General, by his good +disposition, obliged the enemy to quit, though supported by cannon; got +possession of the wall, and there waited the motion of the cooperating +troops,--when I joined him, and soon afterwards heard Lieut. Col. +Campbell begin the attack. I chose to wait a favorable moment before I +ordered the attack on the side of Fort Clinton, which was a circular +height, defended by a line for musketry, with a barbet-battery in the +centre, of three guns, and flanked by two redoubts; the approaches to it +through a continued abatis of four hundred yards, defensive every inch, +and exposed to the fire of ten pieces of cannon. As the night was +approaching, I determined to seize the first favorable instant. A brisk +attack on the Fort Montgomery side, the galleys with their oars +approaching, firing and even striking the fort, the men-of-war at that +moment appearing, crowding all sail to support us, the extreme ardor of +the troops, in short, all determined me to order the attack; Gen. +Vaughan's spirited behavior and good conduct did the rest. Having no +time to lose, I particularly ordered that not a shot should be fired; in +this I was strictly obeyed, and both redoubts, &c., were stormed.[22] +Gen. Tryon advanced with one battalion to support Gen. Vaughan, in case +it might be necessary, and he arrived in time to join in the cry of +victory! + +"Trumback's Regiment was posted at the stone wall to cover our retreat, +in case of misfortune. The night being dark, it was near eight o'clock +before we could be certain of the success of the attack against Fort +Montgomery, which we afterwards found had succeeded at the same instant +that of Fort Clinton did; and _that_ by the excellent disposition of +Lieut. Col. Campbell, who was unfortunately killed on the first attack, +but was seconded by Col. Robinson, of the loyal American Regiment, by +whose knowledge of the country I was much aided in forming my plan, and +to whose spirited conduct in the execution of it, I impute in a great +measure the success of the enterprise." + +From this official account by the British commander, we shall better +understand the statements (including Gov. Clinton's report) left us by +the brave defenders of the two beleaguered fortresses; and which will +properly begin upon the day preceding the battle. + +On Sunday night Gov. Clinton, who had just arrived and taken command at +Fort Montgomery, (the defense of Fort Clinton being intrusted to his +brother Gen. James Clinton), sent out a party of about 100 men under +Major Samuel Logan of the 5th, or Dubois's regiment, across the +Dunderbergh to watch the motions of the enemy. The party returned in the +morning and reported that they had seen about forty boats full of men +land below the Dunderbergh. The real intention of the enemy was now +apparent. Hereupon the Governor sent out another party of observation, +consisting of 30 men, under Lieut. Paton Jackson (5th regiment) who took +the road that led to Haverstraw; when at about ten o'clock in the +forenoon, having reached a point some two miles and a half below Fort +Montgomery, they suddenly came upon a concealed party of the enemy, +within five rods distant, who ordered them to club their muskets and +surrender themselves prisoners. They made no answer, but fired upon the +enemy and hastily retreated. The fire was returned and our people were +pursued half a mile; but they got off without losing a man, and retired +into Fort Clinton. Soon after, intelligence was received at Fort +Montgomery that the enemy were advancing on the west side of Bear Hill +to attack that work in the rear. Upon this Gov. Clinton immediately sent +out 100 men under Lieut. Col. Jacobus Bruyn (5th regiment) and Lieut. +Col. McClaughry, to take the road around Bear Hill to meet the +approaching enemy; and at the same time dispatched another party of 60 +men, of Lamb's Artillery, with a brass field piece, to occupy a +commanding eminence on the road that diverged westerly to Orange +Furnace, or Forest of Dean. They were not long out, before both parties +were attacked, about two o'clock in the afternoon, by the enemy in full +force. The party under Cols. Bruyn and McClaughry, fell in with them two +miles from the fort, when the enemy hailing McClaughry, who took the +lead, inquired how many men he had. "Ten to your one, d----n you," +replied the undaunted colonel. But the enemy being so superior in +numbers, our people had to retreat, as of course they had expected, yet +keeping up a galling fusilade upon the foe. While doing so, the ground +being very rough and in places steep, Capt. James Humphrey, McClaughry's +brother in law, lost his gun (for then the American captains carried +both a gun and sword), or as others say, and which seems most correct, +had it broken by a shot from the enemy. In this dilemma he asked +McClaughry what he should do. "Throw stones like the devil," replied the +latter in thunder tones! The party on the Furnace road were strengthened +to upwards of an hundred, and kept their field piece playing lively upon +the cautiously advancing foe, doing great execution, till the cannoniers +were driven off with the bayonet, the enemy almost surrounding them. But +spiking the gun, they retreated in good order to a twelve pounder, which +by the Governor's direction had been placed to cover them, and also +keeping up the engagement with small arms, till most of them got within +the breastwork of the fort. The late Lieut. Timothy Mix, of Lamb's +Artillery, and who died at New Haven in 1824, aged 85 years, was of this +party. While in the act of firing the cannon his right hand was disabled +by a musket shot. Instantly seizing the match with his left, he touched +off the piece! + +Clinton immediately posted his men in the most advantageous manner for +defending the works, and before many minutes the enemy, advancing in +several columns, reached the walls and invested them on every side where +possible to do so. Cannon planted at the entrances mowed them down as +they ascended the hill, but the breach was immediately closed up, and +they pressed on to the assault. The attack now became general on both +forts, and was kept up incessantly for some time; though the smallness +of our numbers (about 500, in both forts), which required every man to +be upon continual duty and demanded unremitted exertion, fatigued our +people greatly, while the enemy, whose number was thought to be at least +4,000, continued to press us with fresh troops. Yet notwithstanding +their utmost efforts, the enemy were many times repulsed and beaten back +from our breastworks with great slaughter. Col. Mungo Campbell fell in +leading the first attack on Fort Montgomery, his place being taken by +Col. Beverly Robinson, of the Loyal Americans. This caused a temporary +check. About half-past four, they sent a flag, which Lt.-Col. William +Livingston was deputed by the Governor to go out and receive. They +demanded a surrender in five minutes, to prevent the effusion of blood, +otherwise we should all be put to sword! The gallant young colonel +answered, with irony, that he would accept their proposals if _they_ +meant to surrender, and could assure them good usage; that _we_ were +determined to defend the fort _to the last extremity_! Then the action +was renewed with fresh vigor on both sides; our officers aiding and +encouraging their men to every possible effort. Col. McClaughry was one +of the most active; full of fire, he fought like a tiger; his white coat +was seen, now here, now there, as he kept going about among his men, +inspiring them with his own invincible spirit. The conflict went on +until the dusk of evening, when the enemy stormed the upper redoubt at +Fort Montgomery, which commanded the fort, and after a severe struggle, +and overpowering us with numbers, got possession of it, when our men +were forced to give way. The first to enter the fort were the New York +Volunteers (led by Capt. George Turnbull), a provincial corps, whose +commander, Major Grant, was killed before the assault. At the same time +they stormed and got possession of Fort Clinton, in which, besides a +company of Lamb's Artillery, were none but militia, but who nobly +defended it, till they also were obliged to yield to superior force. The +garrisons, or as many as could, bound not to surrender, gallantly fought +their way out, those of Fort Montgomery retreating across the gully on +the north side; while many others, including Gov. Clinton, escaped over +the south breastwork, and making their way down to the water's edge, +crossed the river on the boom. The darkness of the evening much favored +the escape of our soldiers, as did their knowledge of the various paths +in the mountains, and a large number, with nearly all the officers, got +away. But many were taken prisoners, and about 100 were slain; among the +latter was a son of Colonel Allison, and Capt. Milliken, of McClaughry's +regiment (Mr. Sears' captain); also James Van Arsdale, of Hanover +Precinct, a kinsman of Tunis and John, and a private in Dubois's +regiment. John Thompson was killed, who was nearly related to the +Clintons, and cousin to William Bodle, Esq., late of Tompkins County, N. +Y.[23] The enemy paid dearly for their conquest, both in officers and +men, the total being 41 killed and 142 wounded. Among the officers +killed, besides Col. Campbell, Majors Grant and Sill, and Capt. Stewart, +was Count Grabouski, a Polish nobleman acting as aid-de-camp to Sir +Henry Clinton; and Sir Henry himself narrowly escaped our grape-shot, as +also Maj. Gan. John Vaughan, whose horse was shot under him. + +Many incidents are related of those who met with hair-breadth escapes. +Gen. James Clinton was among the last to leave Fort Clinton, and escaped +not until he was severely wounded by the thrust of a bayonet, pursued +and fired at by the enemy, and his attending servant killed. He slid +down a declivity of one hundred feet to the ravine of the creek which +separated the forts, and proceeding cautiously along its bank reached +the mountains at a safe distance from the enemy, after having fallen +into the stream, by which, the water being cold, the flow of blood from +his wound was staunched. The return of light enabled him to find a +horse, which took him to his house, in Little Britain, where he arrived +about noon, covered with blood, and suffering from a high fever. Capt. +William Faulkner, of McClaughry's regiment, had a bayonet driven in his +breast with such force that, being unfixed at the same moment, it stuck +fast, when he himself drew it out, and threw it back with all his might, +and his man fell. The enemy were pressing into the fort, and the captain +made his way on the ground by the side of the column and got out. +Walking a mile or so he lay down to drink at a brook, the draft stopped +the blood, but he was too weak to rise. He "made his peace with God" (to +use his own expression), and expected there to die. But a man came along +on horseback, who placed him on his horse, and took him to an inn two +miles beyond. There he found a dozen of his own men, by whom he was +taken to his own house on the Walkill, and he finally recovered.[24] + +When the battle had ended, and the enemy had set a guard, Corporal Van +Arsdale, who had shown great spirit in the fight, and was among the last +to cease firing, resolved not to be made a prisoner, and managed to +escape from the fort; but he had only gone a short distance when he was +shot in the calf of the leg, and seized by a British soldier while in +the act of crossing a fence. He was conducted back into the fort, under +a torrent of abuse from his captor, who threatened to take his life, and +he himself expected instant death. His gun was demanded, and when +delivered, the barrel was yet so hot from frequent firing that the +soldier quickly dropped it, with another imprecation. Then the old +musket, its last work so nobly done, was ruthlessly broken to pieces +over the rocks. Van Arsdale and the other prisoners, two hundred and +seventy-five in all, including twenty-eight officers, were kept under +guard for a day or two at the forts, then put on board the British +transports and taken to New York. Forty-four of Van Arsdale's regiment +were among them including the brave colonel McClaughry (who was +suffering from seven wounds),[25] and his brother-in-law Capt. Humphrey, +of whom it was said by one Van Tuyl (among the last to escape from Fort +Montgomery) that, when he left, Humphrey was yet throwing stones! The +prisoners, on arriving at New York, October 10th, were landed, and the +privates marched up to Livingston's Sugar House, in Liberty Street, +between Nassau and William, and put in custody of Sergeant Woolly; +excepting the badly wounded, who were sent to the hospital. The +officers, with similar exception, were taken to the old City Hall, +whence, two days after, they were marched up to the Provost, and placed +in charge of the brutal Cunningham, where they remained till after the +surrender of Burgoyne, when, retaliation being feared, nearly all the +officers were sent (November 1st) to Long Island, upon parole.[26] The +privates had all been removed from the Sugar House, October 24th, and +put on board a prisonship, anchored opposite Governor's Island. Van +Arsdale, and his friend Sears, needing surgical aid, were, with others, +suffering from their wounds, taken directly to the Presbyterian Church +in Beekman Street, known as the "Brick Church," and then used by the +enemy as an hospital. Sears had been very badly hurt in the battle. +After being shot in the leg, and stabbed in the side by a bayonet, which +filled his shoes with blood, he was knocked down with the but of a gun +and trampled upon by the invading column. At the hospital, the bullets +being extracted and their wounds dressed, they began to mend, but only +three weeks and three days elapsed, when they too were sent to the +prisonship, and confined between decks. Winter had set in very +inclement, their food was not only stale and unwholesome, but even this +was limited in quantity to two-thirds of a British soldiers when at sea, +which was one-third less than the allowance upon land; in consequence of +which they suffered everything but death from hunger and cold. Nor was +this the worst. The prisoners, from these and other causes, became very +sickly, and died off in great numbers. Abel Wells and four others of the +Fort Montgomery party, being tailors, were sent from the prisonship to +the Provost, November 24th, to make clothing for the prisoners +there.[27] They informed Judge Fell, a prisoner, that their company was +then reduced to one hundred. This mortality would seem to have been +heavy among Col. Dubois's men, very few of whom ever rejoined their +regiment. Van Arsdale was taken sick about the 20th of December, and had +the good fortune to be sent to the hospital, where he had some care, and +soon recovered. Shortly after going there he was joined by Sears, who +was in a suffering and helpless condition, his feet and legs having been +badly frozen in the prisonship. Fortunately Van Arsdale was getting +better, so that he was of great service to his friend, and which also +tended to divert his mind from his own misfortunes. He even begged +"coppers" from the British officers to buy little comforts for Sears; +but which, had it been for himself, he declared he would have scorned to +do, in any extremity. Sears always held that Van Arsdale saved his life, +and he spoke feelingly of his kindness to him to the day of his death. +Van Arsdale finding his condition in the hospital much more tolerable, +managed to prolong his stay, by tying up his head and feigning illness +when the doctor made his daily call. The latter would leave him some +powders, but only to be thrown away. This did not long avail him, and +when reported well enough to remove, he was taken back to the +prisonship, to endure its indescribable miseries for several weary +months. Words cannot portray the horrors of this prison, which was +loathsome with filth and vermin, and where to the pangs of hunger and +thirst, were aided the alternate extremes of heat and cold. Especially +when the hatches were closed, as was always done at night, the heat and +stench caused by the feverish breath of hundreds of prisoners became +almost suffocating. Consequently dysentery, smallpox and jail fever made +fearful ravages. The ghastly faces of the starved and sick, and the pale +corpses of the dead, the groans of the dying, the commingled voices of +weeping, cursing and praying, joined to the ravings of the delirious; +such were the shocking scenes to which Van Arsdale was a witness, and +which added to his personal sufferings, made his situation one of the +most appalling to be conceived of. Fitly was this dungeon described by +one of its inmates as "a little epitome of Hell!" Kept near to +starvation, Van Arsdale, when allowed with other prisoners, a few at a +time, to go up on the quarter deck, was glad to eat the beans or crusts +he skimmed from the swill kept there to feed pigs, that he might +partially relieve the gnawings of hunger! But we forbear further comment +upon a fruitful topic, the cruel treatment of the American prisoners, +and which has fixed a stain upon the perpetrators never to be wiped out! + +Sears had returned to the prisonship about the last of March, and in the +month of May he and Van Arsdale, with other prisoners, were picked out +and removed again to the Sugar House. This was probably a step towards +an exchange of prisoners, then contemplated, which made it necessary to +separate those belonging to the land service from the naval prisoners. +The Sugar House, with its five or six low stories, was crammed with +American patriots, and the passerby in warm weather could see its little +grated windows filled with human faces, trying to catch a breath of the +external air! But now a little more lenity seems to have been shown some +of the prisoners, perhaps in view of the exchange. Van Arsdale found a +friend in his father's cousin, Vincent Day, who had enlisted in Lamb's +Artillery, in 1775, but did not go to Canada, and was now regarded as a +loyalist. He was permitted to see Van Arsdale, bring him food, etc.,[28] +and a next step was to get leave for him to visit his house. This was a +most grateful relief; but it being suspected that Van Arsdale meditated +an escape (which my informant said was the case), this privilege was cut +off, and Day sent to the Provost for his humanity. This incident was +related to me by Mr. Abraham Van Arsdale, before mentioned. + +Van Arsdale had dragged out some two months of miserable existence in +the Sugar House, and in all nine months and a half as a prisoner, when +the day of happy deliverance arrived. Gen. Washington had long been +trying to effect an exchange of prisoners, but to overcome the scruples +of the British commander took months of negotiation. Terms were at +length agreed upon by which some six hundred Americans were set at +liberty. On July 20th, Van Arsdale was released from his dungeon, and +taken with others in a barge down the bay, and _via_ the Kills to +Elizabethtown Point, where they landed, and were delivered up to Major +John Beatty, the American Commissary. In marching from the Point two +miles to the village of Elizabethtown, Van Arsdale was obliged to +support his friend Sears, who was too feeble to walk alone. Now +breathing the air of freedom, they set out together for their homes in +Hanover Precinct, where Van Arsdale was heartily greeted by his numerous +friends who received him as one risen from the dead, and found a warm +welcome in the house of his brother Tunis. Emaciated to a degree, and +suffering from scurvy, he was for some time under the doctor's care, but +finally regained his health. + +A nation's gratitude is the least tribute it can render to its brave +soldiers who have fought its battles; but if any class of patriots +should be tenderly embalmed in a nation's memory, it is those who, +through devotion to country, have languished in prison walls, whether +the "Sugar House," or a "Libby!" What firmness, and what consecration to +country was required in the Revolutionary prisoners, under the pressure +of their sufferings, to spurn the alluring offers frequently made, to +entice them into the British service; but so rarely successful. Do not +their names deserve to be written in letters of gold, on the proudest +obelisk that national gratitude and munificence united could erect?[29] + +Van Arsdale's bitter experience at the hands of the Britons, had +changed his animosity towards them into unmitigated hate, and we know +that time but partially overcame it. So far from weaning him from the +dangers and hardships of a soldier's life, it only nerved him with +courage, and fixed his purpose to re-enter the service, an opportunity +for which soon offered. + +The frequent atrocities committed by the Indians and Tories upon the +settlers on the frontiers, within New York and Pennsylvania, and +especially the massacres, the preceding year, at Wyoming and Cherry +Valley, led to retributive measures, which took the form of an +expedition into the Indian country. This expedition was to move in two +divisions; one under Major General Sullivan, who was chief in command, +to ascend the Susquehanna river from Easton, the other under General +James Clinton to descend that river from the Mohawk Valley; and the two +meeting at Tioga Point, the united force was to proceed up the Chemung, +to give the Indians battle, should they make a stand, or otherwise to +burn and lay waste their villages, orchards and crops, thus depriving +them of subsistence, and the power to repeat their bloody forays upon +the border settlements. + +This design was scarcely matured, when our legislature, on March 13th, +1779, ordered the raising of two regiments from the militia, to be +called State Levies, for the special defense of the State, and +particularly of the frontiers of Orange and Ulster, which were subject +to the stealthy attacks of roving Indians, and of Tories disguised as +Indians, the fear of which kept the loyal inhabitants in constant alarm, +and called for the maintenance of a military guard to prevent their +falling a prey to these destroyers in the British interest, or their +abandonment of their homes and possessions. One battalion of levies, so +raised, was commanded by Lieut.-Col. Albert Pawling, and under whom, in +the company of Capt. William Faulkner, our Van Arsdale enlisted on the +10th of May. Governor Clinton had assured Washington that Pawling would +reinforce Gen. Clinton on his march, and take part in the expedition. +But the sudden seizure of Stony Point by the British, May 31st, and a +further advance which menaced West Point and obliged Governor Clinton to +take the field with all his available force, together with the burning +of Minisink by red and white savages under the cruel Brant, and the +fatal battle that ensued, July 22d, near the Delaware, in which fell +many of the brave yeomen of Orange, made it so unsafe to withdraw the +levies from these borders that Governor Clinton expressed a fear that he +might not be able to detach them upon the western expedition. + +But eventually Col. Pawling, with his battalion, about five hundred men, +left Lackawack and Shandaken, on the borders of Ulster, upon the 10th of +August. The route lay across the country for a hundred miles, over +mountains and rivers, and through dark forests known only to the guides; +but it so happened that, added to these obstacles, the rains set in and +the rivers became swollen and impassable, except by rafts. This, with +the state of his provisions and other considerations, rendered it +impracticable for him to proceed, and he reluctantly turned back. He, +however, pushed forward a small detachment of sixteen men, under Capt. +Abraham Van Aken, either to advise Gen. Clinton of his approach or of +his inability to join him; but Van Aken reached Aghquaga, or Anquaga, on +the Susquehanna, the day after Clinton had passed, so missed of seeing +him; and remaining there some days, as would appear, then returned to +camp, where he arrived September 1st. It transpired that Clinton had +reached Anquaga on the 14th, and, waiting till the 16th, then sent out +Major Church, with the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, five or six miles +to look for Pawling, but they returned without seeing him, and the next +morning Clinton pursued his march. This was a great disappointment to +Van Arsdale and others, who were full of ardor to share in the +expedition under Sullivan, and our statement must correct the existing +belief that Van Arsdale did take part in it, while it explains how he +failed of the coveted opportunity. + +Major Van Benschoten, with a detachment of the levies, including Van +Arsdale and his company, in which he was serving as corporal, proceeded, +October 31st, to the camp on the Hudson, and were ordered to Stony Point +to augment its garrison. But the winter setting in with severity, the +men through anxiety to reach home, began to desert in great numbers, on +account of which they were ordered to Poughkeepsie, and set out December +16th. At Fishkill, the next day they were paid off, up to October 31st, +the date they arrived in camp. What Capt. Faulkner then paid him was all +that Van Arsdale received in lieu of his services, past or subsequent, +till after the war ended. He remained with his company until it was +disbanded on December 25th, when he was honorably discharged and went +home, having acquitted him as "a good soldier" in the estimation of his +captain. + +He spent the winter at Neelytown, giving spare time to improving his +mind in some useful studies. It was the famous "Hard Winter," and it +made a fearful draft on the woodpile; taking the brothers often to the +woods with their axes, to keep up the supply of fuel. Snow covered the +ground to an average depth of six feet or more, fences and roads were +obliterated, and travel went in all directions over the hard crust. +Being difficult if not dangerous for a team, they drew their wood home +on a hand sled. On the melting of the snow in the spring, the stumps +left were of sufficient length to be used by Tunis for making fence +rails! + +A dark cloud hung over our cause in the spring of 1780; there were no +funds with which to pay the army, or even to supply it with necessary +food and clothing. Pressed by keenest want, officers were resigning, +large bodies of soldiers whose time had expired were leaving, while such +as remained were disheartened,--less by the remembrance of hardships +past, than by what the future seemed to forebode. It was under such +discouragements, when + + "Allegiance wand'ring turns astray + And Faith grows dim for lack of pay." + +that Van Arsdale re-entered the army, to share its fortunes whatever +those might be. An Act had been passed March 11th, 1780, to raise a body +of levies for the defense of the frontiers. It required every +thirty-five male inhabitants, of competent age, to engage and equip one +able-bodied recruit to serve in their stead in said levies. Whether at +the solicitation of his neighbors, liable under this Act, or prompted by +his own devotion to the service, or both combined, we have no means of +knowing, but we find Van Arsdale joining the levies on the 2d of May. +But under an act of June 24th ensuing, which permitted privates serving +in the levies to enlist in either of the continental battalions +belonging to the State Line, provided they engaged to serve for the war, +Van Arsdale with the then common idea that this was the more honorable +service, took his discharge from the levies, and enlisted in the company +of Capt. Henry Vandebergh (being the 1st company) of the 5th New York +regiment, of which Marinus Willett was Lieut.-Col. Commandant, and +belonging to Gen. James Clinton's brigade. This brigade was then in +garrison at West Point, and Van Arsdale's initial service was fatigue +duty on the four redoubts at that post, and guard duty at Fort +Montgomery; the latter reviving but too vividly the campaign of 1777, +and its great disaster, many traces of which were still visible. +Vandebergh, who had had command of the company as lieutenant for the +four months since its captain, Rosecrance, became a major, was now +promoted July 1st, and on the 30th, was officially put in command as +captain. Upon the latter date (it having before been given out that an +attack was to be made upon New York City), the New York brigade was +directed to march next morning at sunrise. They moved accordingly, +crossed the Hudson and took up a position below Peekskill. But the +object of the advance, which was merely strategic, having been served, +the army again crossed the river at Verplank's Point, and on August 7th +made headquarters at Clarkstown. Washington had given orders a week +previous for the immediate formation of a corps of Light Infantry, to be +commanded by General Lafayette. It consisted of two brigades, each of +three battalions, and each battalion composed of eight companies +selected from the different lines of the army, by taking the first or +"light company" of each regiment. Capt. Vandebergh's company was +included in a battalion under Col. Philip Van Cortlandt. Gen. Lafayette +was at great expense to equip this corp which was pronounced as fine a +body of men as was ever formed. They were in neat uniform, and each +soldier wore a leather helmet, with a crest of horsehair, and carried a +fusil. The General took command August 7th, and at three o'clock the +next morning the army marched, with the light infantry in the advance, +and proceeded to Orangetown, where and in the vicinity it lay for some +time, in readiness, should Sir Henry Clinton leave on an expedition +eastward or southward, of which there were indications, to strike a +vigorous blow at New York. Soon after occurred the foul treason of +Arnold, and the capture, trial and execution of Major Andre. The light +infantry were at Tappan, October 2d, when this last sad tragedy took +place.[30] Lafayette felt great pride in this corps, and was at infinite +pains to perfect its discipline, which by the assiduity of the officers +he brought to high proficiency. But the campaign passed without +affording him an opportunity to perform any signal service. The corps +was broken up on November 28th for the winter, and the companies +returned to their respective regiments. + +On December 4th the New York line sailed for Albany to go into winter +quarters, but, the levies which had joined it, being discharged by order +of Gen. Washington, because of a scarcity of provisions and clothing, +Van Arsdale took leave of his regiment, December 15th, much to his +disappointment, having enlisted for the war. But he had won the favor of +Col. Willett, who was pleased to say that he was "a good soldier and +attended to his duties." Except a small gratuity from the State, of +"Twenty Dollars of the Bills of the new emission," received when he +joined the 5th regiment, he returned without any remuneration for his +services in this campaign; but with a patriotism uncooled, and rising +superior to mercenary motives, the winter recess was no sooner past when +Van Arsdale again joined the levies raised for the defense of the State, +under Col. Albert Pawling. One of the captains was John Burnet, of +Little Britain, who had been in the battle at Fort Montgomery. Van +Arsdale entered his company, April 25th, 1781, and was given the +position of sergeant, with ten dollars a month pay, which was an advance +of two dollars. He was posted much of the time on the frontier of Ulster +County, where the levies were billeted on the families, a few in a +house, to protect them from Indians. These had done but little mischief +in this section of the State, since the crushing blow inflicted upon +them by Sullivan's expedition. The principal outrage had been committed +the last year (1780), when a small party under Shank's Ben, on September +17th, attacked the house of Col. Johannes Jansen, in Shawangunk, +intending to capture him, but, failing in this, seized and carried off a +young woman named Hannah Goetschius, and whom, with one John Mack and +his daughter, Elsie, they murdered and scalped in the woods! + +But the present year witnessed a more formidable invasion. Col. Pawling +had sent out Silas Bouck and Philip Hine, on a scout, to watch for the +enemy. Near the Neversink River, they discovered a large body of Indians +and Tories approaching; but, then starting back to give the alarm, were +intercepted by Indian runners and captured. The settlements were +therefore unprepared for a visit; when early on Sunday morning, August +12th, this savage horde stole into Wawarsing and began an attack upon +the stone fort. Being repulsed with loss, they departed to plunder and +burn a dozen scattered dwellings; many others being saved by the bravery +of the levies quartered in them. Pursued by Col. Pawling as soon as he +could collect a force, they had time to escape; but, on September 22d, +returned again to burn Wawarsing. On this occasion, also, they first +attempted to surprise the fort, but an alarm being given by the sentinel +firing his gun, the garrison were warned and the inhabitants fled from +their houses and secured themselves. The enemy, again repulsed with a +number slain, proceeded to pillage and burn the place. Capt. Burnet was +then stationed at a blockhouse at Pinebush (in Mombackus, now town of +Rochester), whence he and Capt. Kortright marched towards Wawarsing, +but, not being in sufficient force to give battle, turned back. Soon +Col. Pawling arrived and they pursued the enemy about 40 miles, being +out seven days, but they could not overtake them. There was a private in +Van Arsdale's company named George Anderson, who three years before had +performed an exploit which marked him as a hero. He and Jacob Osterhout +were seized one evening in a tavern at Lackawack, by some Indians and +Tories, and carried off towards Niagara. When within a day's march of +that place, Anderson, at midnight, effected their release, and with his +own hand tomahawked the three sleeping Indians who then had them in +charge; then, each taking a gun, provisions, etc., set out with all +speed for home, where they arrived exhausted and almost starved, after +seventeen days. The State gave Anderson L100 "for his valor." Van +Arsdale used to relate this adventure, whence has come the mistaken idea +that it happened with himself.[31] + +On Dec. 19th, Van Arsdale's service ended, and he returned home to spend +the winter; with a good conscience, doubtless, but still with empty +pockets! Yet all looked bright and hopeful, great success had crowned +our arms in other quarters; the proud Cornwallis had been humbled, and +his splendid army captured. On the opening of 1782, measures were +concerted to follow up these successes; the army was maintained, and a +body of levies were also raised in this State to afford the usual +protection to our frontiers. In these Van Arsdale enlisted on the 27th +of April, in the company of Capt. John L. Hardenburgh, of Col. +Frederick Weissenfels' regiment. Five days after, he was made sergeant, +and served as such during that campaign, holding the place of first or +orderly sergeant from Sept. 24th. But the season passed in inactivity, +and the magazine of provisions at Marbletown being exhausted, the levies +were disbanded, and on December 28th, Van Arsdale received an honorable +and final discharge from the army. He laid away his musket with a +lighter heart than on any former occasion. True he and his fellow +soldiers _had received no pay during the last three campaigns_! But he +had escaped the thousand perils of the service and was permitted to see +this grievous war practically closed and independence secured. +Recompense ample, yet the State was just to its brave defenders, and +soon afterwards paid them for this service, and also those who had been +prisoners of war, for their time from the day they were captured to the +day of their return from captivity.[32] + +There were more times than one, Van Arsdale being at home, when the +farmhouse at Neelytown, upon sudden news of a victory, echoed with +cheers long and loud, and witnessed a lively jig, enacted then and there +impromptu, with all his early zest for the dance; but how buoyant were +his spirits now, the bitterness of the struggle being past and the final +victory achieved, while the future seemed radiant with promise. + +The ensuing winter, spent with his brother, was one of unusual gayety, +and at a social party given by his old friend, Alexander Bodle, then +married and living at La Grange, he first met with his future wife, Mary +Crawford, a most amiable girl, six years his junior. Escorting her home +in his sleigh, the acquaintance ripened--the bans were published in the +church at Goshen, of which her father, David Crawford, was an elder; and +the Rev. Nathan Ker married them at the hospitable farmhouse, in +Walkill, on the 16th of June, 1783. Van Arsdale now left his brother's, +where he had experienced a kindness almost parental, and with his bride, +who ever proved herself a discreet companion, went to keeping house in +New Windsor. He had found an occupation suited to his robust and active +temperament. The owner of the Black Prince, a vessel used during the war +as a gunboat, but now fitted up for the more peaceful service of +conveying passengers and freight on the Hudson, wanted Van Arsdale as a +partner. The latter assented, he always loved the water; it was moreover +an opportunity to begin life respectably with his Polly, for a living +was not so easily secured just after the war, when the country was +impoverished, money scarce and times hard, while he saw many of his old +comrades in arms wanting employment. So he donned the tarpaulin and +sailor jacket, and entered on a calling in which he was engaged when the +incident of November 25th, 1783, occurred; and at which he became a +veteran, sustaining the character of a safe and skillful captain, and an +honest and noble-hearted man. Affable to and careful of the passengers +who patronized his packet; this in itself was an advertisement, and many +making their annual visit to the City, either for pleasure or to sell +their dairies or other farm produce, or to purchase goods (for the day +of railroads was not yet), much preferred sailing with "Captain John." +His passenger list was full on the trip preceding Evacuation Day, but of +that memorable day we need add nothing; and the sequel of Capt. Van +Arsdale's life will be briefly told. + +After four years the Captain closed his business relations with New +Windsor, and removed to New York, taking command of the "Democrat" for +Col. Henry Rutgers, and where, with the exception of brief residences on +Long Island and in Westchester County, before his final return to the +City in 1811, he made his home for the rest of his life. He was granted +the freedom of the City, April 1st, 1789; and shortly after engaged in a +different calling, but five years later resumed the old one, and +successively sailed (sometimes as part owner), the Deborah--named for +his mother--the Packet, Neptune, Rising-Sun, Ambition, Venus and Hunter. +It was while sailing the Hunter, during the last war with England, that +in coming out of Mamaroneck Harbor (September 17th, 1813), he narrowly +escaped capture by one of the enemy's vessels; a market boat which they +had seized and manned, to more easily entrap ours. The Captain thought +they acted strangely, but discovered their real character only when they +bore down and rounded to, with intent to board him. But the Captain was +too quick for them. Ordering the passengers below, he instantly tacked +about, the bullets now flying thick around him, and shouting to the foe +to _fire away, it was not the first time they had wasted powder on him_, +he was soon beyond their reach, and got in safely, with no other damage +than sails riddled, and a few holes in the hull. The people ashore, +having heard the firing and alarmed for the Captain's safety, were +overjoyed, and came out in small boats to help him in. There were +several little incidents connected with this adventure. A brave woman on +board, a Mrs. Wallace, insisted upon rowing with a sweep, till fairly +forced to desist and go below. The cabin-boy when told to go down, +demurred, saying, "Captain, when your head is off, I'll take the helm." +A few days before, the Captain going into the country to buy produce, +had told his son David to keel up the vessel and give it a coat of +tallow, which preserved the timbers, kept her tight and helped her +sailing. David obeyed orders, but so thoroughly and well, that he ran up +a big score for tallow at the store, to the astonishment of his father +when he came to see the bill, and who gave David a round reprimand for +his extravagance. But after the trial of speed with the enemy, "David," +said the Captain, patting his son on the shoulder, "we hadn't a bit too +much tallow on to-day!" + +Speaking of David, he was in one respect "a chip of the old block," he +relished a joke next the best. And so it happened on an occasion, that +the schooner lay at Cow Harbor, loading with wood, when a Montauk Indian +came aboard, asking a passage to New York. Now the Captain had a kind +heart; but had sworn eternal enmity to the whole race of aborigines. His +ears filled with recitals of Indian outrages, when scouting on the +frontiers; an eye-witness of the cruelties inflicted on peaceable +communities by the firebrand and the tomahawk; yes, his soul harrowed at +the sight of innocent victims, as they lay in their gore, murdered and +scalped; if there was on earth an object at sight of which his very +blood boiled, it was an _Indian_! David knew it well, yet the young +rogue sent the Indian into the cabin to see the Captain. "What do you +want?" asked the latter gruffly. "To go to New York, Captain," said the +poor native. "Get out of this, you Indian dog," was his only answer, +while the Captain's cudgel at his heels, as he scrambled up the +companionway, sent the applicant off at a much livelier gait than "an +Indian trot." But then it was that the joke turned on David, when he had +to meet the scathing question,--How he _dared_ to send an _Indian_ into +the cabin to him! + +But we said the Captain himself enjoyed a joke. In 1821, he and Squire +Daniel Riker took a friendly tour, in the latter's gig, as far as Orange +County; Mr. V. to see his kindred and acquaintances, and one of his +daughters being also there on a visit. Concluding to go as far as +Monticello, they set out from Bloomingburgh, the Squire and Deborah in +the gig, and the Captain on horseback. Shortly before reaching the +Neversink River, the latter stopped to have a shoe set, but told the +Squire to drive on and he would soon follow. Now the Squire was a spruce +widower of fifty, but Deborah just out of her teens. So on they went +reaching the toll-gate in high glee and at a lively pace. The +inquisitive gate-keeper had noticed the speed at which they rode, and +overheard a tell-tale remark let fall by the Squire, that by driving +fast they might reach the Neversink bridge _before the Captain could +catch them_! Soon the Captain arrived in seeming haste, and reigning +his horse at the gate, inquired of the keeper if he had seen a runaway +couple that way; an old man eloping with his daughter. "Yes, yes," said +the man, "they just passed, and were hurrying, to reach the bridge +before you could catch them; but you'll do it if you're only smart." +"Quick, quick, hand me my change," said the Captain, and spurring his +horse, on he went, almost bursting before he could give vent to his +laughter; while the gate-keeper ran in to tell about the wonderful +elopement. But on their return, there was a hearty laugh all round, as +the gate-keeper took in the situation, and the Captain, with a smirk, +remarked, "You see, I caught the runaways." The joke spread, to the +merriment of all, but none enjoyed telling it more than the Captain. + +In 1816, having quit his old occupation the previous year, and being now +sixty years of age, Capt. Van Arsdale was appointed Wood Inspector in +the First Ward, a post he held for twenty years; and which he had +previously enjoyed for a short time, in 1812, under a commission from De +Witt Clinton, then Mayor. Daily at Peck Slip, he was seen, with his +measuring rod in hand, busy at his avocation; till "Uncle John" became +one of the fixed features of the locality. He continued here, indeed, +till the use of coal had so far supplanted that of wood, that business +dwindled to nothing, and he resigned his office in disgust. He was made +a member of the "Independent Veteran Corps of Heavy Artillery," Oct. +6th, 1813. This Corps was organized for the special defense of the City +of New York, and for the whole period Mr. Van Arsdale was connected with +it (except a short interval), was commanded by Capt. George W. Chapman. +Their uniform was a navy blue coat and pantaloons, white vest, black +stock, a black feather surmounted red, black hat, and cockade, bootees +and side arms yellow mounted. Capt. Van Arsdale took great interest in +the corps, rarely if ever missed a parade, and in 1814, for over three +months, ending December 4th, was in active service guarding the Arsenal +in Elm street, a plot being suspected to blow up the building with its +14,000 stand of arms. On Nov. 25th, 1835, he was promoted to the next +position to the commandant, that of First Captain-Lieutenant. + +Capt. Van Arsdale had now reached his eighty-first year, he had survived +his companion four years, his mental faculties were still good, but his +strength was failing; yet he attended to business till near the last. +But borne down by the weight of years, a short illness closed the scene, +and the veteran gently passed away, August 14th, 1836, at his residence +134 Delancey street. He was interred the next day in the cemetery in +First street, with the honors of war, by the corps in which he had held +command; the Napoleon Cadets, Capt. Charles, acting as a guard of honor, +and a concourse of citizens paying their last respects. His remains now +rest in Cypress Hills Cemetery.[33] + +In person Mr. Van Arsdale was of medium height, stoutly built, erect, +and elastic of foot even till old age. Always neat in his person and +dress; we recall his good-natured chiding, when, an urchin, running in +to see Grandpa, heated from our play, and collar, boylike, well sweated +down;--"Go home, you little rascal," he would say, "You've no collar to +your shirt." A democrat of the old school, he was pronounced in his +opinions, and no way sparing of opponents. It was in the autumn of 1834, +that a friend asked him how the party which that year took the name of +_Whig_, got it. "Got it," said the old man, his face kindling with +honest indignation, "Smiley, they got it as their fathers, the Cowboys +of the Revolution, got their beef,--_they stole it!_" The Captain was +then visiting friends in Sullivan County, and was riding out to see his +old war-chum Sears. They met on the road, when Mr. V. springing from the +wagon, Sears instantly recognized him, and overcome with emotion, threw +his arms around him and burst into tears! How flushed up the faded +memories of camp and battle scenes, and dismal prison life; verily a +picture for the limner. At this time also, the Captain had the pleasure +of visiting Mr. Hugh Lindsey, who was captured with him at Fort +Montgomery; he died shortly after Van Arsdale's return. But we have +done. The kind father,--filial affection still cherishes his memory; the +true friend,--alas, but few survive to embalm the friendship so long +sundered; the worthy citizen, whose heart was ever open to the poor and +suffering around him,--let it suffice that the savor of good deeds is +immortal! But more fitting to close this imperfect tribute to his worth +are the apt words of the burial orders, recalling the salient fact in +Capt. Van Arsdale's life,--"A tried Soldier of the Revolution!" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] ARSDALE was formerly pronounced as if written _aurs-daul_; hence +the various modes of spelling it to express the Dutch pronunciation by +English letters, as _Osdoll_, etc. But the growing disposition to +correct such departures by resuming the original form of surnames, leads +us to hope for a reformation in this case also, especially as a large +part of the family have held to the form which early obtained. + +[12] + +[Illustration] + +SIMON JANSEN VAN ARSDALEN, the grandfather of Stoffel, (in English, +Christopher,) was the common ancestor of all in this country bearing the +name of _Van Arsdale_, or its modification, _Van Osdoll_, which latter +preserves the Dutch pronunciation. He was born in Holland in 1629, of an +ancient Helvetian family, emigrated to this country in 1653, and settled +in Flatlands, L.I., where he married Peternelle, daughter of Claes (or +Nicholas) Wyckoff. He acquired property, was a magistrate and repeatedly +chosen an elder of the church, and lived to be over four score years of +age. He had, besides daughters, two sons, Cornelius and John, both of +whom inherited their father's virtues and were prominent in civil and +church affairs. Each of these had six sons (Cornelius had _Derick_, +_John_, _Simon_, _Philip_, _Abraham_ and _Jacobus_ or _James_; and John +had _Simon_, _Stoffel_, _Nicholas_, _Jurian_, or _Uriah_, _John_ and +_Cornelius_), most of whom (except Nicholas who lived in Jamaica, L. +I.,) settled about the Raritan in New Jersey, whence some removed into +Pennsylvania; they were as a family, remarkably attached to the church +and to the elder Frelinghuysens. John, first named, married, 1695, +Lammetie, daughter of Stoffel Probasko, lived for some years in +Gravesend, but died in the town of Jamaica, about 1756, and as will be +seen was the father of Stoffel, named in the text. The family has been +very prolific, and has furnished to society many capable business men, +besides physicians, clergymen, bankers, etc. Of these was the late Dr. +Peter Van Arsdale, of this city. + +[13] ARENT TEUNISSEN, great grandfather of Magdalena Van Hengelen, came +out to this country from Hengelen (now Hengelo), in the County of +Zutphen, in 1653, the same year in which Simon Van Arsdale arrived. He +was under engagement to Baron Vander Capelle, to cultivate his lands on +Staten Island, but was slain in the Indian massacre of 1655. His son +Reynier, was the father of Okie Van Hengelen, named in the text, who +left descendants in New Jersey, called _Van Anglen_, of whom was Capt. +John Van Anglen, of the Revolution. + +[14] Opposite the jail stood, in those days, a public whipping post, +stocks, etc., the terror of law-breakers, and by which lesser crimes +were expiated. The late Abraham Van Arsdale, born the year of the +Soldiers' Riot (and old enough to fly his kite, as he did, from the roof +of the prison, while his father kept it), well remembered these +instruments of justice, and informed me that he had seen gallows erected +and persons executed, in front of the jail. They then hung for +_stealing_! + +[15] To avoid confusion, we speak here and elsewhere of Orange County as +now organized. Previous to 1798, it embraced the present Rockland +County, while the town of New Windsor, and all those towns lying to the +north of a line running west from the southern boundary of New Windsor +belonged to Ulster County. Of course, Little Britain, and the Precinct +of Hanover were then in Ulster. + +[16] JAMES CLINTON had been colonel of this regiment, till appointed a +brigadier general. + +[17] Believed to have been James Thompson, whose brother John was killed +at Fort Montgomery. Others slain in McClaughry's regiment were _Capts._ +James Milliken and Jacobus Roosa, _Lieut._ Nathaniel Milliken, and +_Privates_ Theophilus Corwin, David Benson, James Gage, David Halliday, +etc. + +[18] The WEARS, respectable Protestants from the north of Ireland, were +noted for longevity. William Wear, their ancestor, dying, his widow with +two children, William and Jennie, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1749, and +thence in 1760 to the town of Montgomery. Mrs. Wear died at her +daughter's house December 3, 1803, aged 92 years. Her son William, named +in the text, resided near Orange Lake, had a numerous family, and +attained the age of 97 years. He died November 7, 1828, and was ancestor +of William Wear, Esq. Mrs. Van Arsdale was born March 31, 1746, as +maintained by her brother, who was much the oldest, and hence was in her +100th year at her decease, September 17, 1845. Her husband, Tunis, died +April 9, 1813, aged 67 years. This worthy pair united with the Walkill +Church in 1782. Mrs. V. was a woman of remarkable energy, and retained +her faculties till the last, almost perfectly. Her memory extended back +to the closing events in the life of Steffel Van Arsdale, her husband's +grandfather, and she lived to see his descendants of the sixth +generation. + +[19] The 52d and 27th Regiments, the Royal American Regiment, Col. +Beverly Robinson, the New York Volunteers, Major Grant, and Emerick's +Provincial Chasseurs. + +[20] Grenadiers and Light Infantry, the 26th and 63d Regiments, one +company of the 71st Highlanders, one troop of dismounted dragoons, and +Hessian Chasseurs. + +[21] The Royal Fusileers and Hessian Regiment of Trumback. + +[22] This refers only to the final assault; the enemy fired upon our +people both in the preliminary skirmishes and after they were masters of +the forts. J. R. + +[23] JUDGE BODLE was born only a stone's throw from the Clinton +homestead, in Little Britain (being a second cousin to the Clintons); +but at the time of the battle was a farmer on the Walkill. The distance +made him late, and he reached the vicinity of the forts only to learn +that the enemy had possession. Next morning, going home, he suddenly met +Claudius Smith, the noted Tory robber. They knew each other. Bodle was +perplexed, but putting on a bold front, approached Claudius, who seemed +very friendly. After inquiring the news from the river, Smith said he +had to go away, but added: "Mr. Bodle, you are weary, go to my house +yonder and ask my wife for some breakfast, and say that I sent you." +Seeming to accept his offer, but suspecting a trick, Bodle steered for +home, nor felt quite safe till he reached Chester. Smith was a bold, +accomplished villain, a terror to the people of Orange, and whose career +of brigandage has all the air of romance. He was finally hung at Goshen, +January 22, 1779. Mr. Bodle was one of the citizens who guarded him +while in jail. Smith asked him if he would really shoot him, if a rescue +were attempted. Bodle said his duty would compel him to it. "Ah! Bodle, +I don't believe you," said Smith. See _Eager's Orange County_, for an +account of Smith and his gang, made up in part from an article we wrote +many years ago for the "True Sun." But not a fact in that article (save +the incident above related), came from Judge Bodle, as Mr. Eager +assumes. + +[24] JEPTHA LEE, of Lamb's Artillery, was one of those who escaped out +of the fort with General James Clinton. He served with John Van Arsdale, +under Capt. Faulkner, in 1779, and died in 1855, at Ulysses, N. Y. + +[25] COL. MCCLAUGHRY, though a prisoner and sorely wounded, showed the +same indomitable spirit as before. Left to suffer three days before his +wounds were dressed, in the belief that he could not live, his captors +tried to extort information from him, as to our strength. He replied +curtly that Washington had a powerful army, and would yet whip them, and +he should live to see it! He was soon exchanged, resumed his command and +survived the war. He was made an honorary member of the Cincinnati, and +lived most respectably upon his farm at Little Britain, till his death +in 1790, aged 67 years. He left no children. + +GEN. ALLISON, as later styled, was exchanged during the ensuing winter, +and took home with him to Gov. Clinton $2,000 in gold, loaned by a good +whig on Long Island, to aid the American cause. He died in 1804, at the +Drowned Lands, where he resided; leaving a very respectable family and +an ample estate. His daughter Sarah married William W. Thompson, and +daughter Mary married Dr. William Elmer. + +[26] The exceptions were Col. McClaughry, Capt. Humphrey, Lieut. Solomon +Pendleton and Ensign John McClaughry, both of Dubois's regiment, and +Lieut. John Hunter, of McClaughry's; who were still there Nov. 5th. + +[27] They were, besides Wells, Robert Huston, Francis McBride, and +William Humphrey, of McClaughry's regiment, and John Brooks, of +Woodhull's. Abel Wells sickened and died in the Provost, Dec. 13, 1777. +Benjamin Goldsmith and Garret Miller, worthy residents of Smith's Clove +in Orange County, deserve notice in this connection. Goldsmith had a +valuable horse stolen by Claudius Smith's gang, and some of his +neighbors sustained similar losses. Finally a party went out in pursuit +of the robbers, but some, including Goldsmith and Miller, fell into the +hands of the British, and were sent to the Provost, where both died of +smallpox, Miller on the memorable 6th of October, and Goldsmith on the +20th of October, 1777. Goldsmith was the father of Daniel, who was the +father of the present Mr. Daniel Goldsmith, of Bloomingrove, and of the +late David Goldsmith, of Schuyler Co., N. Y. + +[28] This kindness was repaid a dozen years later (1790) when Mr. Van +Arsdale and his wife took Mr. Day's eight year old motherless daughter +to nurture as their own, they having been bereft the year previous of +their three young children, though seven more were given them +afterwards. And Mary Day, (whose father died Oct. 19, 1802, aged 49), +remained with them till her marriage to William Hutchings, the father of +Mr. John Hutchings, of Norwalk, Ct. Amiable woman, pure and artless as a +child, and to sum up her life in a word, filling her humble sphere with +perfect fidelity,--among the happier days of the writer's boyhood were +those spent in summer recreations at her modest home at Cow Bay, with +the mill pond and Squire Mitchell's old red grist mill, and Uncle +Billy's cooperage near it, and around the bluff the broad sandy beach, +as rambling ground; your pardon, indulgent reader, if thoughts of the +past do force a tear. + +[29] LIST OF THE AMERICANS who were made prisoners at Forts Montgomery +and Clinton, Oct. 6, 1777. + +OFFICERS. + + Col. William Allison. + Lt. Col. James McClaughry. + Lt. Col. Jacobus Bruyn. + Lt. Col. William Livingston. + Major Samuel Logan, 5th Regt. + Major Stephen Lush, Brigade Major to Gen. George Clinton. + Major Daniel Hamil, Brigade Major to Gen. James Clinton. + Major Zachariah Dubois, Woodhull's Regt. + Capt. Henry Godwin, 5th Regt. + Capt. James Humphrey, McClaughry's Regt. + Capt. Lt. Cornelius Swartwout, Lamb's Artillery. + Capt. Lt. Ephraim Fenno, Lamb's Artillery. + Lieut. Solomon Pendleton, 5th Regt. + Lieut. Paton Jackson, 5th Regt. + Lieut. John Furman, 5th Regt. + Lieut. Henry Pawling, 5th Regt. + Lieut. Ebenezer Mott, 5th Regt. + *Lieut. Alexander McArthur, 5th Regt. + Lieut. Samuel Dodge, 5th Regt. + Lieut. John Hunter, McClaughry's Regt. + Lieut. Benjamin Halstead, Allison's Regt. + Lieut. Henry Brewster, Allison's Regt. + Ensign Abraham Leggett, 5th Regt. + Ensign John McClaughry, 5th Regt. + Ensign Henry Swartwout, 5th Regt. + Adj. Dep. Qr. Mr. Gen. Oliver Glean. + Qr. Master Nehemiah Carpenter. + Capt. James Gilliland, Director of Ordnance. + + +PRIVATES AND NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. _5th, or Col. Dubois's +Regiment._ + + David McHollister. Thomas Conklin. + Martin Shay. Ephraim Adams. + Jacobus Tarbush. Francis Sears. + Thaddeus Kennedy. Samuel Garrison. + John McDonald. William Willis. + John Conklin. Abraham Jorden. + James Montanye. John Storm. + Henry Ostrander. Thomas McCarty. + Jacobus Logier. Thomas Hendricks. + David Bovins. John Chamberlin. + Vincent Venney. Zebulon Woodruff. + Jeremiah Dunn. Paul Keizler. + Robert Patrick. George Heck. + William Barber. John Miller. + Benjamin Wiley. John Allison. + Danford Winchester. Samuel Boyd. + *William Mullen. William Weaver. + Lewis Dixon. William Ivery. + John Ivery. John Stanley. + Nathaniel Otter. John Brown. + Eliakim Brush. George Polton. + Robert Gillespie. *Philip Felix. + Abraham Wright. Aaron Knapp. + Jonathan Hallock. James Mitchell. + James Weldon. John Johnston. + Thomas Tinn. Nehemiah Sniffen. + Samuel Turner. Solomon Shaw. + Daniel Dominick. James Montieth. + John Witlock. Daniel Lower. + Jacobus Terwilliger. John Hunt. + James Steel. Michael Johnston. + Thomas Crispell. Joseph Reeder. + Enos Lent. John Price. + Jacobus Lent. Robert Marshall. + John Albright. Scott Travers. + Alexander Ockey. John Satterly. + Thomas Hartwell. James Amerman. + Patrick Dorgan. Harman Crum. + Samuel Crosby. Samuel Griffin. + Moses Shall. Cornelius Acker. + John West. Jacob Lawrence. + John McIntosh. Francis Gaines. + Henry Schoonmaker. Benjamin Griffin. + Joseph Morgan. Enos Sniffen. + Jonathan Stockham. Joseph Bolton. + Abel Randall. James Hannah. + Thomas Kent. William Slott. + William Banker. Benjamin Chichester. + Peter Wells. Francis Drake. + Joseph Deneyck. Jasper Smith. + John Weston. William Casselton. + Michael Burgh. Edward Allen. + Thomas Smith. William Bard. + +COL. LAMB'S ARTILLERY. + + Elisah Petty. Alexander Moffatt. + David Clark. David Hanmore. + Hull Peck. James Shearer. + William Taylor. William Swan. + Edward Keen. John Patterson. + Hugh Lindsey. John Nelson. + David Pembroke. Israel Smith. + Thomas Griffith. Samuel Furman. + Robert English. Alexander Young. + David Stone. John Kelly. + John Twitchell. Alexander McCoy. + Hugh McCall. John Gardner. + Thaddeus Barnes. Timothy Nichols. + +COL. ALLISON'S REGIMENT. + + Samuel Taylor. Peter Jones. + James Bell. Uriah Black. + Robert Eaton. Frederick Nochton. + Richard Sheridan. David Wheeler. + James Koyl. Peter Stage. + *James Lewis. Isaac Ketcham. + James Thompson. Henry Brewster. + Michael Dunning. Frederick Pelliger. + James Sawyer. Caleb Ashley. + Joseph Moore. Timothy Corwin. + Jesse Dunning. + +COL. MCCLAUGHRY'S REGIMENT. + + *John McMullen. Robert Barkley. + Henry Neely. James Wood. + Robert Henry. David Thompson. + William Scott. Elias Wool. + Matthew Dubois. *Robert Wool. + Francis McBride. *Samuel Hodge. + Robert Huston. William McMullen. + Andrew Wilson. Isaac Denton. + Christopher Sypher. Moses Cantine. + John Darkis. George Brown. + William Stinson. Elnathan Sears. + William Humphrey. Philip Millspaugh. + George Humphrey. John Van Arsdale. + James Humphrey. George Coleman. + John Carmichel. Abel Wells. + John Skinner. Hezekiah Kune. + Gerardus Vineger. John Manny. + Baltus Van Kleek. Isaac Kinbrick. + Cornelius Slott. Samuel Falls. + William Howell. James Miller. + John Hanan. + +COL. HASBROUCK'S REGIMENT. + + George Wilkin. Benjamin Lawrence. + Cornelius Roosa. Cornelius Stevens. + Simon Ostrander. John Bingham. + Zachariah Terwilliger. John Snyder. + John Stevenson. Robert Cooper. + William Warren. + +COL. WOODHULL'S REGIMENT. + + John Brooks. James Mitchell. + John Lamerey. John Armstrong. + Henry Cunningham. Peter Gillen. + John Crooks. Edward Tomkins. + William Penoyer. Randle House. + Simon Currens. *Christian House. + Israel Cushman. Isaac Hoffman. + Asa Ramsey. + *Joel Curtiss. + Thomas Harten. _Col. Hammon's_, Zachariah Taylor. + Jesse Carpenter. _Col. Drake's_, John Vantassel. + Benjamin Simmons. _Col. Holme's_, Cornelius Cornelius, + Isaac Cooly. William Randle. + Joshua Currey. _Col. Ogden's_, Thomas Cook. + James Thompson. _Col. Antill's_, Jonathan Nichols. + Stephen Clark. + +CORPS UNKNOWN. + + John Donalds. Tobias Lent. + Joseph Mead. George Depew. + George Peck. Auris Verplank. + Jesse Lockwood. Albert Vantass. + +WAGONERS. + + John Randle. *Jacob Morris. + Elias Vanvolver. *John Tallow. + Samuel Anderson. + +N. B.--The ten with a star are named in a list preserved by Col. Wm. +Faulkner, but are not in that furnished Gov. Clinton, by Joseph Loring, +British Commissary of Prisoners. McArthur returned to his regiment, the +other nine are not found again. + +[30] GEN. LAFAYETTE, upon his last visit to this country, arrived at +Staten Island, on Sunday, August 15, 1824. Capt. Van Arsdale had a +grandson born on the same day. The next morning on landing at the +Battery, the General was received by the Veteran Corps, and passing +along the line, took each member cordially by the hand. Coming to Capt. +Van Arsdale, he looked him intently in the face, as if he knew him, yet +was not quite sure. But the instant the Captain alluded to his service +in the Light Infantry Corps, the General's countenance lightened up, and +there was a full recognition. "Van Arsdale," said he with emotion, as if +the glorious past was flushing his memory, "Van Arsdale, I remember you +well!" Going home, pleased beyond measure, that the General should +recollect him, after a lapse of forty-four years, Capt. Van Arsdale went +to see his little grandson, and being desired to give him a name, called +him _John Lafayette_. This was the late Col. J. Lafayette Riker, of the +62d New York Volunteers, who in defense of the flag for which his +grandsire sacrificed so much, nobly laid down his life at the battle of +Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862. + +[31] Soon after Anderson's escape, the Indians, in retaliation, as was +believed, burnt a house and several barns near Pinebush (in Mombackus), +murdered two men, and carried off a third, named Baker, who was never +heard of again, and was probably reserved for the worst tortures. Two or +three hundred troops then lay at a fort on Honk Hill, under Lt. Col. +Newkerk, of McClaughry's regiment, and volunteers being called for, to +go out and intercept the Indians who were supposed to be few in number, +Lieut. John Graham offered himself, and set out with twenty man. At the +Chestnut Woods (now Grahamsville, Sullivan Co.,) they lay in wait for +the wiley foe, but were themselves drawn into an ambush, and only two +escaped to tell the sad tragedy. Lieut. Graham fell at the first fire. +This happened on September 6th, 1778. Three hundred men went out and +buried the dead where they fell. They had all been scalped. Graham was +an uncle to the lady whom Van Arsdale afterwards married, and a +half-brother to Wm. Bodle, Esq., before mentioned. + +[32] He was entitled to a "Soldier's Right," (500 acres), in the +unappropriated lands of the State, which was promised each recruit +joining the Levies in 1781, to be given him as soon after his term of +service closed, as the survey could be safely made; but it is +traditionary in the family, that thinking it of little value, he +neglected to secure it within the time prescribed by law, three years +after the war should close. Rights sold for only $50, after the war. + +[33] CAPT. VAN ARSDALE had five children who reached adult years; three +of whom, his only son before named, and two daughters, yet survive. His +eldest daughter, married to the late Alderman James Riker, and long +since deceased, was the mother of the writer of this sketch, also of +Col. J. Lafayette Riker, named in a preceding note; another daughter yet +survives her husband, the late estimable John Phillips; another is the +widow of Jacob G. Theall, and mother of Mrs. Dr. Jared G. Baldwin, of +New York, and a fourth daughter married the late, much respected, Capt. +Andrew Dorgan, of Mobile, whose sons Augustus P. and Lyman Dorgan, are +well known merchants at that place. (_See Annals of Newtown_, p. 307.) + + + + +MR. DAVID VAN ARSDALE. + + +This venerable citizen, son of Capt. John Van Arsdale, and to whom some +humorous references have been made in these pages, has suddenly ended +his pilgrimage, as our last sheet was passing from the press. He died +yesterday, (November 14th,) at the age of 87 years. His decease on the +very eve of the Centennial, in the observance of which he was expected +to take a special part causes the deeper regret; but we forbear remark, +while the City Press is teeming with obituaries expressive of respect +for his memory. + + + + + +-----------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 4 delapidated changed to dilapidated | + | Page 8 loathesome changed to loathsome | + | Page 18 weer changed to were | + | Page 18 indellibly changed to indelibly | + | Page 22 wil changed to will | + | Page 22 Getnlemen changed to Gentlemen | + | Page 25 missing word "of" inserted after unworthy | + | Page 30 aquaintance changed to acquaintance | + | Page 32 dispair changed to despair | + | Page 35 gallies changed to galleys | + | Page 35 Trumbach's changed to Trumback's | + | Page 36 fortressess changed to fortresses | + | Page 41 loathesome changed to loathsome | + | Page 42 anp changed to and | + | Page 42 knawings changed to gnawings | + | Page 42 year changed to years | + | Page 47 disappointed changed to disappointment | + | Page 52 grevious changed to grievous | + +-----------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of "Evacuation Day", 1783, by James Riker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "EVACUATION DAY", 1783 *** + +***** This file should be named 33419.txt or 33419.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/4/1/33419/ + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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