Part 12 (1/2)
Bergen, first lieutenant; William Brower, second lieutenant; Jacob Stellenwerth, ensign. Kings County was further represented by Rutgert Van Brunt, colonel; Nich. Cowenhoven, lieutenant-colonel; Johannes t.i.tus, first major; John Vanderbilt, second major; Geo. Carpenter, adjutant.[46]
The names of the military officers of this period were and have remained familiar in the history of Brooklyn. The Johnson estate was in the present seventh and nineteenth wards, being in the neighborhood of Kent Avenue, Hewes Street, and Bedford Avenue, a narrow strip also extending along Graham Street to Myrtle Avenue. The Lefferts property was in Flatbush and Bedford. The Schenck farm was situated on the site of the Wallabout Bay, and a portion of it is now occupied as the site of the United States Marine Hospital. The Suydam tract was situated in what was then known as Bushwick, and the Debevoise estate was also in the same section of the city. The Cowenhoven property was situated in what is now the heart of the city. The old house stood in a hollow near where the Atlantic avenue railroad depot now stands. It was an old-fas.h.i.+oned Dutch house, whose ma.s.sive beams and quaint mantelpieces attracted considerable attention some twenty years ago when it was taken down. The history of this mansion and its occupants would form a very interesting chapter in the history of Brooklyn. The Bergen property was situated at Gowa.n.u.s. The Vanderbilt farm was in the twentieth ward, between Clermont Avenue and Hamilton Street.
In consequence of the requisition made for troops, the colony of New York presented the appearance of military activity. Steps were taken to erect fortifications. The colony at this time had two governments, each of which was antagonistic to the other, and each one proclaimed the acts and resolutions of the other void and of no effect. Tryon represented the Crown as colonial governor, and the brave General Nathaniel Woodhull, of Long Island, as president _pro tem._ of the Provincial Congress, also acted as governor, and was so recognized by the party of patriots. Between these claimants for power, a collision soon occurred.
The Provincial Congress desired to obtain the removal of the guns on the Battery to the fortifications on the Highlands. Captain John Lamb, the invincible, was directed by the Provincial Congress to secure their removal, and on the 23d of August proceeded, with some of his faithful liberty boys and other citizens, to execute the order. With his band was Alexander Hamilton, then a lad of eighteen, whose life was dedicated to the sacred cause of freedom.
During the early part of the campaign the Tory party had many friends on Long Island. When the British evacuated Boston through the instrumentality of Was.h.i.+ngton, who succeeded in compelling them to leave, and occupied their deserted quarters, it was supposed that the defeated Royalists would endeavor to retrieve their fortunes by an effort to gain possession of New York. The policy and actions of the troops were closely watched by Was.h.i.+ngton, who readily saw that the object was to make New York the seat of government, to surround it with a large force, and thereby cut off all communication with the southern colonies. Thus they expected to divide the country and prevent a.s.sistance being sent from one section to another. Had this plan been successfully accomplished a continual fire could have been kept up both north and south. Scouts and rangers would have been used to prey upon the people, doing great damage, and intercourse between the different colonies would have been effectually prevented. In order to avoid this calamity, Was.h.i.+ngton accepted the offer made by General Lee, who proposed to raise a force for the defense of New York. General Lee immediately collected 1200 efficient men, and proceeded to New York, where he arrived in January, 1776, to the great gratification of the patriots, who did not expect to receive so valuable an addition to their population.
Lee was no novice. A man of executive ability and military skill, he saw at once that energetic measures were necessary in order to tread under foot the existing latent love of royalty, which only needed a little encouragement to burst forth into living activity. It is a singular coincidence that on the very day General Lee entered New York with his forces, the British fleet which had been expected arrived at Sandy Hook, under command of Sir Henry Clinton. The British officer did not seem to like the appearance of things in New York, and for some inexplicable reason changed his course somewhat toward the coast of Virginia.
General Lee had realized the height of his ambition in being in command of so important a station. At once steps were taken to garrison and fortify the city and its suburbs.
Long Island and Staten Island were justly looked upon as the natural protectors of the harbor of New York, and prudence dictated the advisability of erecting fortifications and posting troops in these localities to watch the approach of belligerent vessels. The patriots were actuated by one spirit, and widely rendered aid and a.s.sistance to the heroic commander. Scouts were placed at prominent points at the Narrows, and fortifications erected at Red Hook Point and elsewhere.
Some 400 troops were sent to Brooklyn, and performed patrol duty from the settlement at the Wallabout to Gowa.n.u.s.
Lee was not permitted to remain very long in command in New York, being transferred, March 6, 1776, to the command of the Department of the South. The transfer did not please him. He was possessed of the egotistical idea that the people of New York desired his presence, and believed him to be the only man who could successfully cope with the forces of the enemy. In this he was greatly mistaken. The people were ready to follow any leader who would inspire confidence.
Lee was succeeded by General Lord Stirling, who vigilantly carried on the work initiated by his predecessor. He, too, saw and appreciated the fact that, if New York was to be successfully defended, the approaches on Long Island should be properly garrisoned. To accomplish this desirable end, he appointed Colonel Ward to erect suitable fortifications on Long Island, and placed him in command of a regiment of 519 men.
The second Provincial Congress, which at this time was holding its second session, with Nathaniel Woodhull as president, issued an order to the authorities in Kings County, directing them to give Colonel Ward a.s.sistance in the work, and ”to turn out for service at least one half the males (negroes included) every day, with spades, hoes, and pickaxes.” The inhabitants of Kings County were also required to furnish all the necessary lumber and wood for the barricades and fortifications.
The directions given to Colonel Ward were full and explicit. Beside erecting fortifications and providing defenses, he was also required to detail men for the particular duty of preventing communications between the British s.h.i.+ps in the harbor and the sh.o.r.e. To make this effectual they either destroyed the small rowboats or rendered them unseaworthy, and seized all suspected pilots who were supposed to be identified with the Royalists by sentiment or self-interest.
Kings County hors.e.m.e.n were honored with the important office of a corps of observation. It became their duty to observe the approach of the British fleet at Sandy Hook from prominent points on Long Island, and to give information of the appearance of suspicious vessels. The Kings County hors.e.m.e.n occupied the west end of the county, and the Brooklyn light horse, under the command of Captain Waldron, were employed on the southern coast of the county, in which service they were employed about a month, when they were relieved by Colonel Hand, April 10, 1776, with a regiment of riflemen. These riflemen took their station at New Utrecht.
A battery of eight guns was also erected on Brooklyn Heights.
Onderdonk, referring to Captain Waldron's company, gives the following names of members as being connected with it: Adolph Waldron, captain; William Boerum, first lieutenant; Thomas Everitt, second lieutenant; Jacob Sebring, Jr., cornet; Isaac Sebring, quartermaster; Samuel Etherington, John Reade, Rob. Galbraithe, Rem. A. Remsen, Daniel t.i.tus, Jos. Smith, Jacob Kempor, Nich. Van Dam, Geo. Powers, William Everitt, John Hicks, William Chardavogne, and Thomas Hazard.
Waldron, the captain of the little company, was a very popular man, and for a long time kept a famous hostelry at the Brooklyn Ferry. During many years he was the proprietor of the ferry between Brooklyn and New York.
William Boerum was a well-known citizen, and has left behind him a host of descendants. After the war he served in the Legislature. George Powers was a butcher, and had a stand at one time in the famous old Fly Market. He owned considerable property in the neighborhood of State and Powers streets. The latter street was named in his honor.
The name of George Powers appears as secretary of the first independent meeting-house erected in Brooklyn in 1785. He was a warm-hearted, generous man, donating large sums to the cause of religion and charity.
He retired from business in 1790, and thereafter devoted his time to raising stock on his lands in Brooklyn. It is reported in one of the old journals that in the month of February, 1793, ”a calf was brought to the Oswego market (on Broadway and Maiden Lane), yesterday, raised by Mr.
George Powers, of Brooklyn, but twenty-two months old, the four quarters of which weighed 744 pounds; hide, 100 pounds; tallow (rough fat), 87 pounds; total, 931 pounds.” In March, 1812, the following notice appeared: ”Fat Beef for St. Patrick's Day. The three year old steer exhibited at the Coffee House (corner of Wall and Pearl streets), this day, supposed to be one of the best ever seen of his age, and fatted by George Powers, at Brooklyn, will be offered for sale by (one of his apprentices) David Marsh, at No. 38 Fly Market, on Sat.u.r.day next.”
Powers, who was a warm friend of George Hall, the first mayor of Brooklyn, died full of years, honored and respected by all who knew him.
The estate he left behind him was estimated to be worth half a million.
John Hicks lived near the ferry, on Fulton Street. He was a large landed proprietor. Hicks Street derives its name from his family. He subsequently was one of the proprietors of the old ferry to New York.
The Remsen family were well known in the community. It is a remarkable fact that during the entire time from 1727 to 1776, the Board of Trustees of Kings County had a Rem Remsen for one of its members. A period of fifty years presents a remarkable instance of family succession in one office.
Waldron's troop was first enlisted in the service of General Greene, who ordered them to seize and take possession of all the fat stock of the disaffected inhabitants who sympathized with the Tories, and to deliver the stock so taken to Commissary Brown, on Long Island. The troop was subsequently employed under General Woodhull in the same capacity.
Early in January, 1776, the Continental Congress had pa.s.sed a resolution, ”that it be recommended to the Committee of Safety of the Province of New York to appoint proper persons to inquire into the propriety and practicability of obstructing or lessening the depth of the water in the Narrows, or at any other place at the entrance of New York, or of any way of fortifying that pa.s.s so as to prevent the entrance of the enemy.”
On the 26th January, 1776, a committee was appointed by the Continental Congress to consult with General Lee and the Committee of Safety in reference to the immediate defense of the province.
The importance of defending and protecting the approaches to the harbor of New York was fully attested by Congress on March 14, 1776, when 8000 men were voted for its defense. On the following day the Governors of Connecticut and New Jersey were requested to hold their militia in readiness for that service, to be paid, when on duty, as Continental troops. Congress went still further, and on the 9th of April directed $200,000 to be sent to New York for the use of the Continental troops in the province.