Part 3 (1/2)

In the mean time a colonel Hussecker, of the continental army, as he then reported, was taken prisoner, and brought to New-York, who gave out that the country was almost universally submitting to the English king's authority, and that there would be little or no more opposition to Great-Britain. This at first gave the officers a little shock, but in a few days they recovered themselves; for this colonel Hussecker, being a German, was feasting with general De Heister, his countryman, and from his conduct they were apprehensive that he was a knave; at least he was esteemed so by most of the officers; it was nevertheless a day of trouble. The enemy blasphemed. Our little army was retreating in New-Jersey, and our young men murdered by hundreds in New-York. The army of Britain and Heshland prevailed for a little season, as though it was ordered by Heaven to shew, to the latest posterity, what the British would have done if they could, and what the general calamity must have been, in consequence of their conquering the country, and to excite every honest man to stand forth in the defence of liberty, and to establish the independency of the United States of America forever.

But this scene of adverse fortune did not discourage a Was.h.i.+ngton. The ill.u.s.trious American hero remained immoveable. In liberty's cause he took up his sword. This reflection was his support and consolation in the day of his humiliation, when he retreated before the enemy, through New-Jersey into Pennsylvania. Their triumph only roused his indignation; and the important cause of his country, which lay near his heart, moved him to cross the Delaware again, and take ample satisfaction on his pursuers. No sooner had he circ.u.mvallated his haughty foes, and appeared in terrible array, but the host of Heshland fell. This taught America the intrinsic worth of perseverance, and the generous sons of freedom flew to the standard of their common safeguard and defence; from which time the arm of American liberty hath prevailed.*

* The American army being greatly reduced by the loss of men taken prisoners, and by the departure of men whose inlistments had expired, General Was.h.i.+ngton was obliged to retreat towards Philadelphia; General Howe, exulting in his successes, pursued him, notwithstanding the weather was severely cold. To add to the disasters of the Americans, General Lee was surprised and taken prisoner at Baskenridge.

In this gloomy state of affairs, many persons joined the British cause and took protection. But a small band of heroes checked the tide of British success. A divisions of Hessians had advanced to Trenton, where they reposed in security. General Was.h.i.+ngton was on the opposite side of the Delaware, with about three thousand men, many of whom were without shoes or convenient clothing; and the river was covered with floating ice. But the general knew the importance of striking some successful blow, to animate the expiring hopes of the country; and on the night of December 25th, crossed the river, and fell upon the enemy by surprise, and took the whole body consisting of about nine hundred men. A few were killed, among whom was colonel Rahl the commander.

This surprise and capture of the Hessians enraged the enemy, who were still vastly more numerous than the continental troops. They therefore collected, and marched from Princeton, to attack general Was.h.i.+ngton, who was then at Trenton, having previously left a detachment from their main body at Princeton, for the support of that place. This was a trying time, for our worthy general, though in possession of a late most astonis.h.i.+ng victory, was by no means able to withstand the collective force of the enemy; but his sagacity soon suggested a stratagem to effect that which, by force, to him was at that time impracticable. He therefore amused the enemy with a number of fires, and in the night made a forced march, undiscovered by them, and next morning fell in with their rear-guard at Princeton, and killed and took most of them prisoners. The main body too late perceived their rear was attacked, hurried back with all speed, but to their mortification, found that they were out-generalled and baffled by general Was.h.i.+ngton, who was retired with his little army towards Morristown, and was out of their power.*

These repeated successes, one on the back of the other, chagrined the enemy prodigiously, and had an amazing operation in the scale of American politics, and undoubtedly was one of the corner stones, on which their fair structure of Independency has been fabricated, for the country at no one time has ever been so much dispirited, as just before the morning of this glorious success, which in part dispelled the gloomy clouds of oppression and slavery, which lay pending over America, big with the ruin of this and future generations, and enlightened and spirited her sons to redouble their blows on a merciless, and haughty, and I may add perfidious enemy.

* On the 2d of January, 1777, Lord Cornwallis appeared near Trenton, with a strong body of troops. Skirmis.h.i.+ng took place, and impeded the march of the British army, until the Americans had secured their artillery and baggage; when they retired to the southward of the creek, and repulsed the enemy in their attempt to pa.s.s the bridge. As General Was.h.i.+ngton's force was not sufficient to meet the enemy, and his situation was critical, he determined, with the advice of a council of war, to attempt a stratagem. He gave orders for the troops to light fires in their camp, (which were intended to deceive the enemy,) and be prepared to march.

Accordingly at twelve o'clock at night the troops left the ground, and by a circuitous march, eluded the vigilance of the enemy, and early in the morning appeared at Princeton. A small action ensued, but the British troops gave way. A party took refuge in the college, a building with strong stone walls, but were forced to surrender. The enemy lost in killed, wounded and prisoners, about five hundred men. The Americans lost but few men; but among them was a most valuable officer, general Mercer.

Farthermore, this success had a mighty effect on General Howe and his council, and roused them to a sense of their own weakness, and convinced them that they were neither omniscient nor omnipotent. Their obduracy and death-designing malevolence, in some measure, abated or was suspended. The prisoners, who were condemned to the most wretched and crudest of deaths, and who survived to this period, though most of them died before, were immediately ordered to be sent within Gen.

Was.h.i.+ngton's lines for an exchange, and, in consequence of it, were taken out of their filthy and poisonous places of confinement, and sent from New-York to their friends in haste; several of them fell dead in the streets of New-York, as they attempted to walk to the vessels in the harbor, for their intended embarkation. What numbers lived to reach the lines I cannot ascertain, but, from concurrent representations which I have since received from numbers of people who lived in and adjacent to such parts of the country, where they were received from the enemy, I apprehend that most of them died in consequence of the vile usage of the enemy. Some who were eye witnesses of that scene of mortality, more especially in that part which continued after the exchange took place, are of opinion, that it was partly in consequence of a slow poison; but this I refer to the doctors that attended them, who are certainly the best judges.

Upon the best calculation I have been able to make from personal knowledge, and the many evidences I have collected in support of the facts, I learn that, of the prisoners taken on Long-Island, Fort Was.h.i.+ngton, and some few others, at different times and places, about two thousand perished with hunger, cold and sickness, occasioned by the filth of their prisons, at New-York, and a number more on their pa.s.sage to the continental lines. Most of the residue, who reached their friends, having received their death wound, could not be restored by the a.s.sistance of physicians and friends; but like their brother prisoners, fell a sacrifice to the relentless and scientific barbarity of Britain.

I took as much pains as my circ.u.mstances would admit of, to inform myself not only of matters of fact, but likewise of the very design and aims of General Howe and his council. The latter of which I predicated on the former, and submit it to the candid public.

And lastly, the aforesaid success of the American arms had a happy effect on the continental officers who were on parole at New-York. A number of us a.s.sembled, but not in a public manner, and with full bowls and gla.s.ses, drank Gen. Was.h.i.+ngton's health, and were not unmindful of Congress and our worthy friends on the continent, and almost forgot that we were prisoners.

A few days after this recreation, a British officer of rank and importance in their army, whose name I shall not mention in this narrative, for certain reasons, though I have mentioned it to some of my close friends and confidants, sent for me to his lodgings, and told me, ”That faithfulness, though in a wrong cause, had nevertheless recommended me to Gen. Sir William Howe, who was minded to make me a colonel of a regiment of new levies, alias tories, in the British service; and proposed that I should go with him, and some' other officers, to England, who would embark for that purpose in a few days, and there be introduced to Lord G. Germaine, and probably to the King; and that previously I should be clothed equal, to such an introduction, and, instead of paper rags, be paid in hard guineas; after this, should embark with Gen. Burgoyne, and a.s.sist in the reduction of the country, which infallibly would be conquered, and, when that should be done, I should have a large tract of land, either in the New-Hamps.h.i.+re grants, or in Connecticut, it would make no odds, as the country would be forfeited to the crown.” I then replied, ”That, if by faithfulness I had recommended myself to Gen. Howe, I should be loth, by unfaithfulness, to lose the General's good opinion; besides, that I viewed the offer of land to be similar to that which the devil offered Jesus Christ, To give him all the kingdoms of the world, if he would fall down and wors.h.i.+p him; when at the same time, the d.a.m.ned soul had not one foot of land upon earth.” This closed the conversation, and the gentleman turned from me with an air of dislike, saying, that I was a bigot; upon which I retired to my lodgings.*

Near the last of November, I was admitted to parole in New-York, with many other American officers, and on the 22d of January, 1777, was with them directed by the British commissary of prisoners to be quartered on the westerly part of Long-Island, and our parol continued. During my imprisonment there, no occurrences worth observation happened. I obtained the means of living as well as I desired, which in a great measure repaired my const.i.tution, which had been greatly injured by the severities of an inhuman captivity. I now began to feel myself composed, expecting either an exchange, or continuance in good and honorable treatment; but alas! my visionary expectations soon vanished. The news of the conquest of Ticonderoga by general Burgoyne,** and the advance of his army into the country, made the haughty Britons again feel their importance, and with that, their insatiable thirst for cruelty.

The private prisoners at New-York, and some of the officers on parole, felt the severity of it. Burgoyne was to them a demi-G.o.d. To him they paid adoration: in him the tories placed their confidence, ”and forgot the Lord their G.o.d,” and served Howe, Burgoyne and Knyphausen,*** ”and became vile in their own imagination, and their foolish hearts were darkened,” professing to be great politicians and relying on foreign and merciless invaders, and with them seeking the ruin, bloodshed and destruction of their country; ”became fools,” expecting with them to share a dividend in the confiscated estates of their neighbors and countrymen who fought for the whole country, and the religion and liberties thereof. ”Therefore, G.o.d gave them over to strong delusions, to believe a lie, that they all might be d.a.m.ned.”

* This conduct of Colonel Allen, though springing from duty, ought not to be pa.s.sed over without tributary praise. The refusal of such an offer and in such circ.u.mstances, was highly meritorious. Though the man of strict honor, and rigid integrity, deems the plaudit of his own conscience an ample reward for his best actions, it is a pleasing employment, to those who witness such actions, to record them. It is an incentive to others to 'go and do likewise.'

** In June, 1777, the British army, amounting to several thousand men, besides Indians and Canadians, commanded by general Burgoyne, crossed the lake and laid siege to Ticonderoga. In a short time, the enemy gained possession of Sugar Hill, which commanded the American lines, and general St. Clair, with the advice of a council of war, ordered the post to be abandoned. The retreat of the Americans was conducted under every possible disadvantage--part of their force embarked in batteaux and landed at Skenesborough--a part marched by the way of Castleton; but they were obliged to leave their heavy cannon, and on their march, lost great part of their baggage and stores, while their rear was hara.s.sed by the British troops. An action took place between colonel Warner, with a body of Americans, and general Frazer, in which the Americans were defeated, after a brave resistance, with the loss of a valuable officer, colonel Francis.

*** Knyphausen, a Hessian general.

The 25th day of August, I was was apprehended, and, under pretext of artful, mean and pitiful pretences, that I had infringed on my parole, taken from a tavern, where there were more than a dozen officers present and, in the very place where those officers and myself were directed to be quartered, put under a strong guard and taken to New-York, where I expected to make my defence before the commanding officer; but, contrary to my expectations, and without the least solid pretence of justice or a trial, was again encircled with a strong guard with fixed bayonets, and conducted to the provost-goal in a lonely apartment, next above the dungeon, and was denied all manner of subsistence either by purchase or allowance. The second day I offered a guinea for a meal of victuals, but was denied it, and the third day I offered eight Spanish milled dollars for a like favor, but was denied, and all I could get out of the sergeant's mouth, was that by G.o.d he would obey his orders. I now perceived myself to be again in substantial trouble. In this condition I formed an oblique acquaintance with a Capt. Travis, of Virginia, who was in the dungeon below me, through a little hole which was cut with a pen-knife, through the floor of my apartment which communicated with the dungeon; it was a small crevice, through which I could discern but a very small part of his face at once, when he applied it to the hole; but from the discovery of him in the situation which we were both then in, I could not have known him, which I found to be true by an after acquaintance. I could nevertheless hold a conversation with him, and soon perceived him to be a gentleman of high spirits, who had a high sense of honor, and felt as big, as though he had been in a palace, and had treasures of wrath in store against the British. In fine I was charmed with the spirit of the man; he had been near or quite four months in that dungeon, with murderers, thieves, and every species of criminals, and all for the sole crime of unshaken fidelity to his country; but his spirits were above dejection, and his mind unconquerable. I engaged to do him every service in my power, and in a few weeks afterwards, with the united pet.i.tions of the officers, in the provost, procured his dismission from the dark mansion of fiends to the apartments of his pet.i.tioners.

And it came to pa.s.s on the 3d day, at the going down of the sun, that I was presented with a piece of boiled pork, and some biscuit, which the sergeant gave me to understand, was my allowance, and I fed sweetly on the same; but I indulged my appet.i.te by degrees, and in a few days more, was taken from that apartment, and conducted to the next loft or story, where there were above twenty continental, and some militia officers, who had been taken, and imprisoned there, besides some private gentlemen, who had been dragged from their own homes to that filthy place by tories. Several of every denomination mentioned, died there, some before, and others after I was put there.

The history of the proceedings relative to, the provost only, were particular, would swell a volume larger than this, whole narrative.

I shall therefore only notice such of the occurrences which are mostly extraordinary.

Capt. Vand.y.k.e bore, with an uncommon fort.i.tude, near twenty months'

confinement in this place, and in the mean time was very serviceable to others who were confined with him. The allegation against him, as the cause of his confinement, was very extraordinary. He was accused of setting fire to the city of New-York, at the time the west part of it was consumed, when it was a known fact, that he had been in the provost a week before the fire broke out; and in like manner, frivolous were the ostensible accusations against most of those who were there confined; the case of two militia officers excepted, who were taken in their attempting to escape from their parole; and probably there may be some other instances which might justify such a confinement.

Mr. William Miller, a committee man, from West Chester county, and state of New York, was taken from his bed in the dead of the night by his tory neighbors, and was starved for three days and nights in an apartment of the same gaol; add to this the denial of fire, and that in a cold season of the year, in which time he walked day and night, to defend himself against the frost, and when he complained of such a reprehensible conduct, the word rebel or committee man was deemed by the enemy a sufficient atonement for any inhumanity that they could invent or inflict. He was a man of good natural understanding, a close and sincere friend to the liberties of America, and endured fourteen months' cruel imprisonment with that magnanimity of soul, which reflects honor on himself and country.

Major Levi Wells, and Capt.. Ozias Bissel, were apprehended and taken under guard from their parole on Long-Island, to the provost, on as fallacious pretences as the former, and were there continued till their exchange took place which was near five months. Their fidelity and zealous attachment to their country's cause, which was more than commonly conspicuous was undoubtedly the real cause of their confinement.