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THE
MAGAZINE
OF
AMERICAN HISTORY
WITH
NOTES AND QUERIES
VOLUME IV
A. S. BARNES & COMPANY
NEW YORK AND CHICAGO 1880
Copgrigbttb, 1880, bg % ,§. ^arnes ^ €o.
CONTENTS
The Operations of the Allied Armies before New York, 1781, with Appen- dix, by John Austin Stevens, ....
Rochambeau's Headquarters in Westchester County, N. Y., 1781, by Charles A. Campbell, .......
Lady and Major Ackland, by William L. Stone, .
An Affair of Honor ; Daniel Webster and John Randolph,
Notes, Queries and Replies, . . . . 57, 145, 214, 308, 386, 453
Literary Notices, 73,230,314,395,469
The Letters of Washington, by John Austin Stevens, . . . . .81 A National Standard for the Likeness of Washington, by William J. Hubard, S^ Robinson's House in the Hudson Highlands — Headquarters of Washington,
by Charles A. Campbell,
The Saint-Memin Washington, by John Austin Stevens,
Letters of Washington, now for the first time published (thirty), i78i»
Itinerary of General Washington, additions, .....
Washington's Headquarters during the Revolution, additions,
The Scotch-Irish in America, by George H. Smyth,
The Mound-Builders of America, by R. S. Robertson, .
Benedict Arnold and his Apologist, by John Austin Stevens,
The Chews of Pennsylvania, by Elizabeth Read, ....
Diary of a French Officer, Aid to Rochambeau, presumed to be Baron
Cromot du Bourg, translated from the original MS., . 205, 293, 376, 44 The Pawnee Indians ; their History and Ethnology, by John B. Dunbar, Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, Connecticut Line, by Henry P. Johnston The Battle of San Jacinto, by Captain R. M. Potter, U. S. A., . The Battle of Harlem Plains, with an Appendix, by John Austin Stevens, The Hudson River and its Early Names, by Susan Fenimore Cooper, . Brevet Brigadier-General Samuel Blatchley Webb, by John Austin Stevens, 416 Engineer's Journal of the Seige of York, in Virginia ; translated from the
French original, 448
109 119 121
158 159 161 172 181 192
241 282 321
351 401
Lo^^^
ILLUSTRATIONS
Portrait of Washington, from the Atheneum Head ; steel etching by Hall, i
Map showing the scene of attempt on the British posts at Kingsbridge, . 2
Position of the Allied Armies at Philipsburg, from a French chart, . . 10 Map of Operations before New York, from Erskine's MS. survey, . . 23 Odell House ; Rochambeau's Headquarters, Westchester, N. Y., by A. Hosier, 46
Partial plan of Westchester Co., N Y., 48
Four Washington Heads — Peale, Houdon, Trumbull, Stuart — steel etchings,
H. B. Hall, 81
Fac-simile of Gilbert Stuart's bill for the Pierrepont portrait of Washington, 104 Beverley Robinson House. — Washington Headquarters — by Abram Hosier, 109 The Arms of Robinson, . . . . . . . . -n?
Portrait of Washington, from the Saint Memin Crayon Head in the posses- sion of J. Carson Brevoort, steel engraving by Hall, Portrait of Benedict Arnold, steel etching by Hall, ....
Cliveden — the Chew House— Germantown, Pa., by Abram Hosier, The Old Stone Well at Cliveden, from a drawing by Miss Howard, Drawing by Andre of a Knight of the Mischianza, by Miss Howard, The Chew Arms, ...........
French Chart of Newport and its defences in 178 1, . . .
An Ancient Gold Medal, New Magdeburg, property of Henry Remsen, View of the Interior and Exterior of Pawnee Lodges, .... 263, 264
Portrait of Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, steel etching by Hall, . French Plans of Morrisania and Frogs Point, .....
French Chart of the Camp of the Allies at Philipsburg,
French Route from Providence to King's Ferry, .....
French plan of West Point, 1781, ........
French Map of the Northern Defences of New York Island, Portrait of Santa Ana, from original in N. Y. Hist. Soc, wood engraving by Richardson, ..........
Plan of San Jacinto battle ground, .......
Sauthier's Map of the Northern part of New York Island, 1776, . Map of New York Island from McGowan's Pass to the Morris House, Part of Map of the Campaign of 1776, from an English original, 1780, .
French Plan of the Battle of Trenton,
Map of the Hudson River, with its early names,
Portrait of Brev. Brig.-Gen. Samuel Blatchley Webb, steel etching by Hall, 427 The Webb House, Wethersfield, Conn., j^lace of conference between Wash- ington and Rochambeau, by Abram Hosier, 439
The Arms of Webb, 440
French Plan of the Siege of Yorktown, ....... 448
119 181 192
199 200 201 213
282 294 296 298
304 306
321 337 351 362 S68
37S 419
MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY
Vol. IV JANUARY 1880 No 1
THE OPERATIONS OF THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE
NEW YORK, 1781
I.— THE ATTEMPT UPON THE BRITISH POSTS AT KINGSBRIDGE
THE frigate Concorde arrived at Boston on the 8th May, 1781 with dispatches from the French Ministry withdrawing the restric- tions, which had before controlled the action of de Rochambeau and held the French contingent in complete quiet on Rhode Island. The brilliant officers of the small, but splendidly appointed force, chafing under the restraint, hailed with joy the prospect of an active campaign. The news of the sailing of the Count de Grasse from Brest with a strong squadron and reinforcements of troops assured a suffi- cient naval co-operation for any movement which the allied commanders should agree upon.
A conference between Washington and Rochambeau was held at Weathersfield, near Hartford, on the 22d May, 1 781, to concert a plan of joint operation. At this interview Washington was attended by General Knox and Brigadier-General du Portail of the artillery, and Rochambeau, by the Chevalier de Chastellux. The Count de Barras, who had arrived by the Concorde to take the command of the fleet, vacant by the death of de Ternay, was detained at Newport by the English fleet, which still held its post of observation at Gardner's Bay. To the conference de Rochambeau brought word that de Grasse would dis- patch from the latitude of the Azores a reinforcement of six hundred recruits for his army under convoy of the Sagittaire, and the remainder of the funds necessar}^ for the payment of the army, a part of which had already arrived by the Concorde ; and the French General further declared his readiness to move so soon as these were received.
At the same interview Washington produced dispatches of Lord George Germaine to Sir Henry Clinton of the 7th February and 7th
2 THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, I/Sl
March, which had been intercepted by an American privateer. In these the English Minister gave directions to Sir Henry to turn his immediate attention to the conquest of the Southern States. Thus advised of the plans of the enemy, Washington was in favor of striking a decisive blow by a direct attack upon New York, where the British forces under Clinton had already been weakened by the several detachments made to the southward during the Spring. Rochambeau, on the contrary, hesitated to adopt a plan which involved the crossing of the Sandy Hook bar, the passage of which was pronounced by experienced pilots dangerous, if not impossible, for the heavy French ships of the line, and leaned towards a renewal of the operations in the Chesapeake, which had onlv failed because of the inferior force of the fleet under Destouches. A compromise plan Avas agreed upon, which excluded neither of the two opinions. The allied armies were to march from their respective encampments, and form a junction on the east bank of the Hudson, whence New York might be menaced, any further diversion of British troops to the southward arrested, and freedom given for a Southern campaign. The result of the conference was communicated by Washington to Genisral Sullivan, then a member of Congress, sitting in Philadelphia, and by de Chastellux to the French Ministry. Both of these letters fell into the hands of Sir Henry Clinton ; a fortunate circumstance, in which, to use the words of Dumas, who was an actor in the campaign, ** chance served better than the ablest spies could have done." How completely Sir Henry Clinton was deceived concerning the purposes of the allied Generals, appears in his own manuscript notes on this period of the war, in which he writes that ** there were a thousand circumstances to prove that New York was their object, till de Grasse's pilots refused to carry his long-legged ships over the bar of New York."
On his return to his camp at Newport, de Rochambeau immediately organized the movement of his troops. Marching orders were issued on the 9th June, and a first rendezvous had at Providence, where the army halted for eight days. On the i6th the Baron de Viomenil, second in command, held a general review at Providence.
On the 18th the line of march was again taken up; the regiment of Bourbonnais, under de Rochambeau and M. de Chastellux, leading the van; on the 19th, that of Royal Deux-Ponts, under the Baron de Yiomenil ; the 20th, that of Soissonnais, under the Count de Viomenil ; the 2ist, that of Saintonge, under M. de Custine. Keeping a distance from each other of a day's march, they encamped the first day at Wa-
THE SOUND
SCENE OF ATTEMPT ON THE BRITISH POSTS AT KINGSBRIDGE, JULY 3, I/^^
THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, I781 3
terman's Tavern, the second at Plainfield, the third at Windham, the fourth at Bolton, and the fifth at Hartford. These places were distant from each other about fifteen miles. The roads were heavy for the artillery, and the baggage was left behind. Arrived the 22d June at Hartford, the regiment of Bourbonnais broke camp on the 2;th ; that of Deux-Ponts, the 26th ; of Soissonnais, the 27th, and of Saintonge, the 28th. They encamp>ed the first day at Farmington, twelves miles dis- tant : the second day, at Barons Tavern, thirteen miles ; the third day, at Break-neck, thirteen miles, and the fourth, at Newtown, thirteen miles. Here the route was better. The artillery was far in the rear.
By the orders of M. de Beville, the Quartermaster-General, the Count de Dumas, of his staff, went in advance of the line to reconnoitre the country, prepare lodgings and select the camping grounds. For this he was particularly well qualified. He had already been over the route from Rhode Island in the winter of 1780, once on a mission from Rochambeau to West Point after Arnold's defection, and again making a careful reconnoissance of the country when sent into Connecticut to establish the headquarters of Lauzun.
To cover this movement of the infantry, the Ehike de Lauzun left Lebanon, where his legion had winter quarters, and keeping the French army about fifteen miles to his right, moved between their line of march and the coast of Long Island Sound. Until the arrival at Newtown there was no necessity of any special precaution, but here in the midst of a tory population, and in close proximity to the enemy, more care was required. It was the original intention of de Rochambeau to mass kis forces at Newtown and march towards the Hudson in closer column, but on the evening of the 30th a courier arrived from General Wash- ington with a message, urging him not to halt at Newtown, as he pro- posed, but to double the march of his first half brigade and Lauzun's corps. Accordingly the first division, composed ot the regiments of Bourbonnais and Deux-Ponts left Newtown at dawn on the ist July for Ridgebury. It was formed in one brigade. The second brigade, formed of the regiments of Soissonnais and Saintonge. marched the next day for the same point. The road, fifteen miles long, they found hilly and bad.
On the morning of the 2d June the grenadiers and chasseurs of the regiment of Bourbonnais left Ridgebury for Bedford, which they reached, after a hard march across a hilly country, a distance of fifteen miles. At Bedford this detachment made a junction with the legion of Lauzun, which had until this point marched on the left flank of the army.
4 THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1781
but now took a strong position beyond Bedford. Beyond his lines there was also an advanced post, consisting of a body of one hundred and sixty horse of Sheldon's legion.
On the 15th June, Washington issued his General Orders from his headquarters at West Point, congratulating the army on the successes of the American arms under General Greene in South Carolina, reciting the forced evacuation of Camden by Lord Rawdon, the surrender of Orangeburgh to General Sumter, of Fort Mott to General Marion and Fort Granby to Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, and the investment of the posts of Augusta and Ninety-six by General Pickering; and declaring these brilliant successes to be a presage, that, with proper exertions, the enemy would soon be expelled from every part of the Continent. On the 17th a detachment was drawn from the different brigades for the garrison of West Point, and on the i8th all the troops were brigaded for a move- ment to Peekskill. The annexed diagram is taken from a General Order book of the period :
The American army had lain at New Windsor during the winter and spring. On the 26th June Washington broke camp, and moved to Peekskill, where he invited Rochambeau to visit him in person. On the 27th he sent Lieutenant-Colonel David Cobb, one of his aids-de-camp, to Hartford to attend the French General on his forward move- ment.
Intelligence reaching him as to the probable purposes of Sir Henry Clinton he resolved to make an offensive movement. Hearing, also, that Colonel Delancey Avas lying at Morrisania with a party of dragoons, and had burned some houses in the neighborhood of Bedford, he determined to cut him off. Without waiting for the arrival of de Rochambeau, he at once entered on the campaign, and on the 30th June, organized a l)lan to surprise the British posts on the north end of New York Island, and began to concentrate his forces.
Major-General James Clinton, in command at Albany, was ordered to send down the regular troops, and Governor George Clinton, then at Poughkeepsie, was notified to hold himself in readiness to march down with the militia towards Kingsbridge, upon signals given, by alarm guns and beacons, of the success of the co7ip de main.
At the same time he sent a courier to Lieutenant-Colonel Cobb with a despatch for the Count de Rochambeau informing him of the movement, urging him to push on his troops to cover and support the attack ; advising him, also, that he had sent a courier to Lauzun to hasten his march with his hussars. On the arrival of the courier at Newtown
THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1 78 1
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6 THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1 78 1
the Marquis de Chastellux was immediately sent for by de Rochambeau, a consultation had with the Chiefs of Staff upon the new route advised by Washington, and orders issued for the march of the First Brigade the next morning. The Legion of Lauzun, then at New Stratford, was directed to march at the same time.
On the ist of July, Washington, from his headquarters at Peekskill, gave his instructions to Major-General Lincoln, to whom the command of the expedition was entrusted. The force consisted of two regiments, formed into four battalions, under the comm.and of Colonel Scammel and Lieutenant-Colonel Sprout, of the corps of watermen, under the command of Major Darby ; a detachment of artillery under Captain Burbeck ; the water-guard under command of Captain Pray; the object of the expedition to attempt the seizure of the enemy's posts upon the north end of York Island. Fort George on Laurel Hill was desig- nated as the primary object of attack, because success at that point would open a communication with the mainland, and afford a rallying point and secure place of retreat in case of disappointment. Should the prosecution of the plan prove unadvisable upon reconnoitering the enemy, the boats were to be secured, and if necessary destroyed. General Lincoln was directed to support an attempt to be made on the morning- of the 3d, by the Duke de Lauzun, upon Delancey's corps, which were lying at Morrisania. This was to be effected by landing his men above Spuyten Devil Creek, and marching them to a cover in the high ground in front of Kingsbridge to wait the attack of Lauzun, and cut off the retreat of Delancey's party. To cooperate in this plan, Brigadier-General Waterbury was ordered to march with all the troops he could collect to a rendezvous at Clapp's Tavern, in King street [Rye], with Colonel Sheldon, where they were to be joined by the Duke de Lauzun, who was to take command of the expedition.
On the 2d he advised de Rochambeau to move to North Castle and concentrate his whole force. North Castle was selected as beinsr in a direct route by which to receive provisions from Crompond, and also on the road for an advance to White Plains, if circumstances should warrant. By Colonel Hull, the messenger who carried the despatch, he also sent his instructions to the Duke de Lauzun. Washingfton rec- ommended him as a confidential and competent officer, informed as to the intended movement and the scene of operations.
Three accounts have been given of this movement; the report of Washington to Congress, written from his Headquarters at Dobbs' Ferry on the 6th ; the British account of the Skirmish at Kingsbridge,
THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1 78 1 7
which appeared in Rivington's Royal Gazette on the 14th, and was copied in Ahnon's Remembrancer for the year 1781, and Lauzun's narrative printed in his posthumous memoirs.
The account of Washington relates the movement of Lincoln in detail. The army marched from camp near Peekskill on the morning of the 2d without tents or baggage, and reached Valentine's Hill, about four miles from Kingsbridge, a little after daybreak the morning follow- ing. General Lincoln, with a detachment of eight hundred men, fell down the North River in boats (they had embarked the night before, after dark, at or near Teller's Point), and took possession of the ground north of Harlem River near where Fort Independence stood. The Duke de Lauzun, notwithstanding the heat of the day of the 2d, marched from Ridgebury, in Connecticut, and reached East Chester very early next morning. Here he found that General Lincoln had been attacked and the alarm given. General Lincoln skirmished with the enemy in order to draw them into the country far enough to permit the Duke de Lauzun to turn their right and cut them off from the east side of Hudson River, and prevent their repassing the river in boats. Gen- eral Parsons had possession of the heights immediately commanding Kingsbridge, and could have prevented their escape by that passage- Washington adds that on going down himself he found that all the main body of the enemy had withdrawn to New York Island, but that he had made a thorough reconnoissance of the works on the north end of the island with General du Portail. He gives Lincoln's loss at five or six killed and thirty wounded. He expresses to the President of Congress the warmest obligations to the Count de Rochambeau for the readiness with which he detached the Duke de Lauzun, and for the rapidity with which he pushed the march of his main body to bring it within supporting distance in case a favorable stroke upon the enemy had allowed the pursuing of any advantage which might have been gained.
The British account explains the failure of the attempt at surprise- In the evening of the 2d Colonel Emmerich went up from the British lines with a picked body of one hundred men to the Philipse's House at Yonkers, as an advance guard for a party which was to march the next morning as an escort for wagons sent to the same point for hay. Late in the evening word was brought into the British outposts that the American troops had been seen at Sing Sing in the afternoon. This was the army on the march. The wagon movement was abandoned^ and Lieutenant-Colonel de Preuschenck went out before dav break with
8 THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1 78 1
a body of two hundred Hessians and thirty Yager horse. Arrived at Kingsbridge about dawn on the morning of the 3d, the wary com- mander determined to reconnoitre the abandoned Fort Independence, on the heights beyond the river, before pushing further up into the mainland. Here his party fell upon the command of General Parsons, who were lying in a covert behind the dismantled parapets. A brisk skirmish ensued. The Hessians, pursued by a superior force, and driven by the bayonet, endeavored to fall back within the range of the guns of Fort Charles, but being hard pressed, and their cavalry aiding on the low ground, rallied, and the Americans in turn retreated, falling back, in the h(jpe of drawing the enemy from their cover, until they reached the main body of the army, which was already arrived, after a forced march from Tarrytown, within two miles of Kingsbridge. Meanwhile Lieu- tenant-Colonel Von Wurmb reached the scene of action from Kings. bridge with the remainder of the Yager corps, and posted his force on the rising ground between the bridge and Fort Independence. Recon- noitering the American position before venturing further, he found them in force, their lines extending from the Mile-Square road over the height to Williams' bridge, their left covered by a body of French horse. An offensive movement was out of the question, but some action was neces- sary to relieve Colonel Emmerich from his precarious situation at Fhilipse's house, four miles in the rear. A reinforcement of two hundred men from the line arriving from the forts on the island, and Delancey's Refugee corps coming in from Williams' Bridge and Morrisania, the Yagers moved forward and took possession of Cortlandt's bridge, driv- ing the advanced posts of the Americans, who fell back towards Will- iams' Bridge on their left. This opened the wa}^ for Colonel Emmerich to join his command. He had dropped down from Fhilipse's house, about four miles above, by the old Kingsbridge road (the Albany post-road), with the purpose of crossing the Spuyten Devil, but found himself cut off by the enemy, who held Cortlandt's house. Colonel Emmerich brought in some prisoners who had fallen into his hands at Fhilipse's house. 1 Ic brouglit in word to General Von Losberg, who had gone out in person 10 take command, that the Americans were moving in two columns, one of which he had seen on Valentine's Hill, towards Cortlandt's bridge. T!i(' Hessians then fell back to their former position, leaving one hundred Yagers nt Fort Independence to watch the movement of the Americans. They observed the reconnoitre of the Spuyten Devil by Washington in person in the afternoon at three o'clock, and at four withdrew within their lines and to their encampment.
THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1781 9
The Duke de Lauzun describes his movement in a very general way. He marched with great rapidity, and reached the rendezvous at the hour appointed for the junction. From his narrative it would appear that General Washington gave him his orders in person, but at what point he does not mention, and confirmation of this is lacking, while it is not improbable that such was the case. He does not mention the purpose to surprise Delancey's corps, which fell through ; that wary partisan having shifted his quarters from Morrisania. Of the attack of Lincoln he speaks almost with contempt, saying of him that he was beaten, and would have been cut off from the army but for his own prompt succor ; but facts do not support this judgment. He exaggerates, also, the number of killed and wounded in Lincoln's command, which he states at two or three hundred. Other French accounts give a lesser figure. De Fersen and de Vauban, aids-de-camp of Rochambeau, reported that Lincoln had only four killed and fifteen wounded. They also reported that Delancey was found at Williams' bridge, and not at Morrisania, where it was supposed he would be surprised, and that he had notice of the attack. This is not improbable, as the neighborhood was infested with tory refugees.
In his diary, Washington sets down that he moved from Peekskill with the Continental army at three o'clock on the morning of the 2d, made a small halt at the New Bridge over Croton, about nine miles from Peeks- kill, another by the church at Tarrytown, nine miles more, and completed the remaining part of the march, arriving at Valentine's Hill (Mile Square) about sunrise. The baggage and tents were left standing in the camp at Peekskill. Disappointed in the object of the expedition, Washington withdrew his troops to Valentine's Hill on the afternoon of the 3d, where they lay on their arms; the Duke de Lauzun and General Waterbury, on the east side of the Bronx River, on the East Chester road. On his arrival at Valentine's Hill, Washington issued a General Order, thanking the '* Duke de Lauzun, his officers and men for the very extraordinary zeal manifested by them in the rapid performance of their march to join the American army." In the evening he wrote from Valentine's Hill, inviting Rochambeau to join him at White Plains witli his troops on the 5th.
On the 4th the American army again marched, and took position a little to the left of Dobbs' Ferry, and marked out a camp for the French army on their left. The Duke de Lauzun marched to White Plains and Gen. Waterbury to Horseneck. Apparently satisfied that Sir Henry Clinton had no intention of coming out from his defences, Wash-
10 THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1781
ington wrote again to Rochambeau, apprising him that there was no further reason to fatigue his troops by long and rapid marches, and leaving the time of his arrival at North Castle entirely to his own dis- cretion, only desiring notice of his approach, that he might have the happiness of meeting and conducting him to the camp laid out for him, which, he says, '' will be about four miles on this (the west) side of the village of White Plains."
De Rochambeau, whose experience had taught him the value of promptness, had not lost a moment on the march. His entire army was already at North Castle, where the first division, under his personal command, went into camp on the morning of the 3d. They were joined in the afternoon by the second ; this excellent brigade, which was composed of the regiments of Soissonnais and Saintonge, had made a forced march of twenty miles. Their fine discipline was here apparent, as the weather was intensely hot, and they had not had a day's rest since leaving Providence. Their commanders, the Count de Custine and the Vicomte de Noailles, set their troops the example of endurance, marching on foot at their head. On the evening of the 3d de Rochambeau reported his arrival to Washington, and expressed his readiness to execute his orders. The position of the camp was excellent, and the troops found grateful relief in the cool breezes of the summer nights.
On the 5th Washington visited the French camp at North Castle; de Rochambeau, notified of his approach, rode out to meet him. After visiting the camp, the party dined together, and he was again escorted several miles on his return by his polished hosts, who were charmed with his mein and breeding.
II. — THE CAMP OF THE ALLIES AT PHILLIPSBURG
On the 6th the French troops broke camp at North Castle, and marched to make a junction with the main body of the American army at Philipsburg. The roads were good and the distance not over sev- enteen miles, but the heat of the day was intense, and the French troops, who had never experienced the torrid heat of a July day in these lati- tudes, suffered terribly ; more than four hundred men fell on the march. The junction was made in the evening on the grounds which had been marked out on the left of the American lines. The legion of Lauzun was already in position on Chatterton's Hill, in advance of the plains, on the west of the river Bronx. The same day the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the Minister of France, arrived in camp from Philadelphia. Washington issued a General Order, expressing his thanks to Count de
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lO THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1781
ington wrote again to Rochambeau, apprising him that there was no further reason to fatigue his troops by long and rapid marches, and leaving the time of his arrival at North Castle entirely to his own dis- cretion, only desiring notice of his approach, that he might have the happiness of meeting and conducting him to the camp laid out for him, which, he says, '' will be about four miles on this (the west) side of the village of White Plains."
De Rochambeau, whose experience had taught him the value of promptness, had not lost a moment on the march. His entire army was already at North Castle, where the first division, under his personal command, went into camp on the morning of the 3d. They were joined in the afternoon by the second; this excellent brigade, which was composed of the regiments of Soissonnais and Saintonge, had made a forced march of twenty miles. Their fine discipHne was here apparent, as the weather was intensely hot, and they had not had a day's rest since leaving Providence. Their commanders, the Count de Custine and the Vicomte de Noailles, set their troops the example of endurance, marching on foot at their head. On the evening of the 3d de Rochambeau reported his arrival to Washington, and expressed his readiness to execute his orders. The position of the camp was excellent, and the troops found grateful relief in the cool breezes of the summer nights.
On the 5th Washington visited the French camp at North Castle; de Rochambeau, notified of his approach, rode out to meet him. After visiting the camp, the party dined together, and he was again escorted several miles on his return by his polished hosts, who were charmed with his mein and breeding.
II.— THE CAMP OF THE ALLIES AT PHILLIPSBURG
On the 6th the French troops broke camp at North Castle, and marched to make a junction with the main body of the American army at Philipsburg. The roads were good and the distance not over sev- enteen miles, but the heat of the day was intense, and the French troops, who had never experienced the torrid heat of a July day in these lati- tudes, suffered terribly ; more than four hundred men fell on the march. The junction was made in the evening on the grounds which had been marked out on the left of the American lines. The legion of Lauzun was already in position on Chatterton's Hill, in advance of the plains, on the west of the river Bronx. The same day the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the Minister of France, arrived in camp from Philadelphia. Washington issued a General Order, expressing his thanks to Count de
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THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1 78 1 II
Rochambeau for the unremitting zeal with which he had prosecuted his march, in order to form the long wished for junction between the French and American forces. He pays a special compliment to the regiment of Saintonge for the '' spirit with which they continued and supported their march without one day's respite." This regiment brought up the rear.
The Abbe Robin, who crossed the Atlantic to follow the army in the campaign, and the next year published a narrative of his expe- rience, bears testimony to the admirable conduct of the French troops, and the fatherly and prudent care of their officers. " In this march of two hundred and fifteen miles in extreme heat, and through a country almost without resources, upon which the soldiers often lacked for bread, and were forced to carry several days' provisions, there was less sickness than even in French garrisons. The care exercised by the superior officers, in not permitting the soldiers to drink the water with- out rum to counteract its unwholesome properties, no doubt greatly contributed to this result. The Count de Saint-Maime, Colonel com- manding the Soissonnais, at each halt sent forward cider, which he caused to be distributed to the soldiers at a trifling price. This example was followed by the other corps with the most satisfactory results."
The position chosen for the camp was admirably suited for defence, and to restore the vigor of the troops after their severe march. Every inch of the ground was familiar to Washington, who had here first shown his great capacities as a commander, in the quiet, masterly withdrawal of his army from the toils in which Howe had attempted to entrap him in the fall of 1776. The country about Phillipsburg is everywhere hilly, but yet nowhere mountainous. It may be described as rolling land on an elevated plateau. Below lay the famous White Plains, on which an army might deploy in perfect symmetry ; to the north the rocky hills of North Castle, and behind, still rising to greater height, the impregnable fastnesses of the Highlands ; the secure gate through which the British forces had looked often wistfully, but ever in vain. Through the mountain vallies ran abundant streams of clear, pure water. An old settlement, a part of an hereditary manor, which, from the earliest colonial days, had been the favorite residence of one of the wealthiest and most powerful families of the New York province, the land about Phillipsburg was in admirable cultivation ; forest and field covering its entire extent ; but when the allied forces here pitched their tents this beautiful landscape presented a strange mixture of luxuriance and ruin. The county of Westchester, during the entire
12 THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1 78 1
war of the revolution, was debateable ground ; hostile armies marched and countermarched over it, from its northernmost rock-bound limit to its southern extremity, where its hills descend in easy slope to the waters of the Harlem and the Sound.
The position now taken lay between the American and British lines, and the farms were deserted by their owners. In consequence '' the roads and commons, as well as the fields and pastures, were covered with grass ; while the many deserted houses and ruined fences depicted the horrid devastation of war." So wrote Heath, whose simple, soldierly narrative rarely bends to sentiment or pathos. More glowing the enthusiastic description of Dr. Thacher, whose heart warmed with delight at leaving the winter cantonments at West Point, where the vegetation of a late spring was but just appearing. He marched with the troops through the Highlands, and found all nature in animation with color and fra- grance and song. But it needs not to dwell on the scenic beauties of a country which Irving has hallowed and Drake has sung.
Washington describes the military position in a few words. '' The American army was encamped in two lines, the right resting on Hud- son's River. The French army was stationed on the hills at the left, in a single line, reaching to the Bronx River. There was a valley of con- siderable extent between the two armies." Gordon says that the French left extended towards the Sound. To this knowledge of the topo- graphical situation of the respective camps, little addition was made by subsequent investigation, until the discovery in Paris, about a quarter of a century ago, of a chart entitled " Position de I'Armee Americaine et Frangaise a Phillipsbourg," which is now reproduced bv the kind permission of Mr. James F. D wight of New York. It w^as found on a little bookstand on one of the Paris quays. The name of the officer who made the survey is not known, but he was evidently not only a thorough engineer, but an admirable draughtsman. The chart is a model of delicate drawing, and is besides beautifull}^ colored, pre- senting almost a landscape effect. Its remarkable precision of detail is so great that it is even now a perfect guide to the ground ; each eleva- tion and depression, ever}^ road, and even the smallest stream being plainly indicated.
The headquarters of the Commanders are both laid down. The house occupied by the Count de Rochambeau is still standing on the high ground a little to the west of Hart's Corners, on the Harlem railroad. It was then owned by Colonel John Odell, a noted guide of Washington. Rivington, however, in his Royal Gazette of July 21st,
THE ALLIED ARMIES BEFORE NEW YORK, 1 78 1 I3
says : '' The Compte de Rochambault's headquarters is at Capt. Ged- ney's, near Chatterton Hill, west of the Bronx." On this occasion the Tory printer was probably misinformed. De Lauzun may perhaps have had his quarters at the house named, but there is no record of de Rochambeau having had his headquarters so far from his lines, nor is it probable. The house occupied by Washington was destroyed some years ago, but a house built on its site was occupied in 1877 by Mr. Barker; it stood on a little elevation to the south of west of the French headquarters. The hill on which it stood is still called Washington's Hill. In Rivington's Royal Gazette, July 14, 1781, it is described as at •'Joseph Appleby's seven miles from Colonel Philipse's Manor House." This gives correctly the distance to the spot marked upon the French chart. The Appleby Place was a well-known place. It is laid down on Erskine's Map on the cross road from Dobb's Ferry to White Plains, a little east of the point where it is joined by the road from Philipse's Manor House, the road lying between the roads known as the Sawmill River road and the Tuckahoe road. It is marked as the house of John Appleby.
Heath gives the disposition of the American forces. The Connecti- cut and Rhode Island lines and six regiments of the Massachusetts lines composed the front lines ; the New Hampshire line, four regiments of Massachusetts, Crane's and Lamb's regiments of artillery, with the sap- pers and miners, the second line ; the right wing commanded by Major- General Heath, the left wing by Major-General Lord Stirling ; the advance of the American army on a height a little advanced of Dobb's Ferry under the command of Colonel Scammel, and Sheldon's dragoons near Dobb's Ferry. The French army in one line on the left of the Americans, with the Legion under the Duke de Lauzun at White Plains. General Waterbury with the militia under his command towards New Rochelle.
This information has been also completely supplemented by a dis- covery quite