Wednesday, August 1, 2012

The Neutral Ground in 1778


Westchester County during the American Revolution was under terrible constraints. As Washington retreated through Westchester in the autumn of 1776, with General Howe in plodding pursuit, the area patrolled by the 1st Westchester militia was trampled, dismantled, looted, burned and despoiled by both American and crown forces. When the lines around New York City stabilized the Westchester region was caught between the lines. British pickets defending the city reached into the Bronx and Yonkers; American lines defending the Hudson Highlands reached down towards Peekskill and Tarrytown. The region between these lines was known as the “Neutral Ground” –a phrase given to areas under similar conditions in New Jersey and on the littoral of Long Island Sound. By the winter of 1776 -1777 the Neutral Ground of Westchester was a scene of desolation as both sides skirmished and foraged for supplies. The 1st Westchester militia covered a large area that was on the fringe of British occupation to the south and within the American lines to the north.
            In 1778 Katherine Farnham Hay of Newburyport, Massachusetts traveled through the Westchester Neutral Ground under a flag of truce (a “White Handkerchief, Sew’d upon a Stick”) in order to join her husband, a British merchant sea captain, in occupied New York City. Her descriptions of the areas that were home to the 1st and 2nd Westchester militias, given in two letters and a brief journal, are revealing. Passing through the Connecticut towns of Lebanon, Wethersfield, New Haven, Fairfield and Stamford Mrs. Hay encountered “fine Cultivated, Fertile Country” of “very pretty Towns” with “every View…agreeable”. Despite almost three years of war the Connecticut families she met were “very agreable” and provided “very good beds” and “entertain’d us, Genteelly, Civilly, & Polite”. Despite “the bad roads” Mrs. Hay was “really Charm’d with Connecticut” proclaiming it “the Garden of America”. A similar view reached her eyes as she passed through northern Manhattan well within the safety of British lines. Here she had “a most Beautifull View” of “Elegant Country Seats” along the Hudson and East Rivers. Like rebel Connecticut, British Manhattan was “a Fertile Country” and the sight of New York City was “delightfull” though not untouched by war: Mrs. Hay’s British guide kept her entertained on the trip by “shewing…the Forts…on the way”.
            Mrs. Hay’s journey through the Neutral Ground was very different. Her first stop was White Plains which she described as “all distroy’d” and “a dreary Wilderness”, the result of the battle in October of 1776 during which the city was burnt by Massachusetts troops. Mrs. Hay spent the night not in a private house, but in “the Guard House” a busy military outpost where in one room “a Tory is taken & brought here a prisoner” while “in the Next apartment a poor soldier groaning with his thigh broke to pieces”.  Unlike the carefully tended farms of Connecticut and Manhattan in Westchester “most of the inhabitants have left” Those who remained were not infrequently “robbed of everything he possessed” as Robert Bolton wrote in his 1848 History of Westchester; those with connections amongst the British garrison sent their furniture and carriages “to Town” as Mrs. Hay explained. While meals in Connecticut and Manhattan mentioned, they are not described; the particular attention paid to the foods she was served in the Neutral Ground and the context in which she described them reflect her discomfort with the fare. At a home a mile from Kingsbridge the homeowner could provide “nothing but Gammon & eggs” and at a “publick House” near the Van Cortland estate in Yonkers, Mrs. Hay was offered “some Bohea tea…Sugar Near the Colour of Mollasses…some fried Bacon & Eggs & Broil’d Mutton”. The setting and service likewise horrified the traveler who recoiled at the tea being “Boil’d in a porridge pot & laded out” with “pewter Spoons the Colour of led” all served on a “large Square pine table” in a room with “as much Dirt as you cou’d well Wade thro”. Where the better provisions could be found is suggested by her narrative. As her journey approached the British lines, Mrs. Hay came under the protective watch of Lt. Col. Andrea Emmerick and was a guest of the Delancey and the Van Cortland families. Emmerick and Lt. Col. James Delancey officered corps of loyalist refugees infamous for their plundering. Unlike the spartan fare found in the common homes along her journey through the Neutral Ground, Mrs. Hay was provided by Emmerick’s light horsemen with “a fine joint of Mutton & 2 Bottles of Wine”on one occasion and “green tea Loaf Sugar White Wine & everything to make it agreeable” on another. One cannot help wonder from whom these had been looted.
            Mrs. Hay felt considerable fear in her travels through Westchester; none of which is apparent in her entries from Connecticut. Traveling through the war-torn county, Mrs. Hay feared they “might have been taken” by, it would seem, the marauding irregulars known as Skinners. Being amongst regular troops did little to ease her anxiety. Passing from the American lines to the British Mrs. Hay felt she was “in the Midst of an Army almost” for the scenes before her eyes made it “seem as if I was in a Camp”.  Along the way she was “Stopt by a Hessian regiment & with great difficulty cou’d make him understand my Business” and was forced “to convince the World I was not a Spy, for they are very Suspicious of Ladies”. When brought before the British General Sir John Vaughan she was “receiv’d…in a very rough Manner” as the general thundered that “he wou’d have no Damn’d Smuggling work” and “if the Damn’d Rebels wanted to get Intelligence it should not be by Ladies”.
            After many trials Katherine Hay was taken in by friends of her seafaring husband in New York City. I think it appropriate to end with a final quote from our correspondent: “I assure you it is not a trifle to get to Newyork

Katherine Farnham Hay. The Journal of the “Rebel Lady”: Katherine Farnham Hay’s Account of her Trip to New York City, 1778. Ondine E. LeBlanc, ed. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, Vol. 109 (1997) 102-122.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Roster for the 1st Westchester

Finding the names for militiamen in the Revolution is not an easy task. Men served in the militia for as little as 10 days and often served in militia, levies, state line and continental units throughout the war. The pension records are a great source of information, but by the time the men applied for the pensions in the 1830s many had forgotten the specific details of their militia unit. New information is regularly appearing online as older records are taken off dusty shelves and transcribed for online use. Here is a list of men found in the NY State Archives from Col. Joseph Drake's 1st Regiment of the Westchester Militia, thanks to New Horizons Genealogy.  Some of the names were misspelled so I made a few corrections. When this list was compiled is not recorded, but many famous members of the 1st Westchester are included such as John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart and David Williams (the men who captured Major Andre) and Jacob "Rifle Jack" Acker.
A long list, I know, but an important one.


COLONEL JOSEPH DRAKE
COLONEL JAMES HAMMOND
MAJOR JONATHAN HORTON
MAJOR JONATHAN H. PAULDING
QUARTERMASTER RICHARD GARRISON
Capt. Jesse Baker
Capt. Nicholas Berrien
Capt. George Comb
Capt. Gilbert Dean
Capt. Joseph Drake
Capt. Israel Honeywell
Capt. Daniel Martling
Capt. Jonas Orsor
Capt. Gabriel Requaw
Capt. Richard Sackett
Lieut. Benjamin Brown
Lieut. William Davis
Lieut. Daniel DeVoe
Lieut. Nathan Fish
Lieut. Nathaniel Garrison
Lieut. Jonathan Knapp
Lieut. Henry Lambert
Lieut. Hezekiah Miller
Lieut. William Mosher
Lieut. Isaac ReQua
Lieut. Cornelius Van Tassell
Lieut. Jacob Van Tassell
Lieut. John Van Wort
Lieut. William Warner
Lieut. Daniel Williams
Ensign, Thomas Boyce
Ensign, John Oakley
Ensign, Peter Paulding
Ensign, Stephen Sherwood
Ensign, Isaac Valentine, Jr.
ADDITIONAL NAMES ON STATE TREASURER'S PAY BOOKS
Lieut. Dennis Lent
Lieut. Gershom Sherwood
Lieut. William Vail
ENLISTED MENAaron, Blak
Acker, Abraham
Acker, Benjamin
Acker, Isaac
Acker, Jacob
Acker, John
Acker, Stephen
Acker, Sybert
Acker, Tobias
Ackerman, John
Alair, Peter
Allen, Samuel
Applebe, Elnathan
Archer, Benjamin
Archer, John
Armstrong, Edward
Aster, Jonathan
Baker, Daniel
Baker, Gilbert
Baker, John
Baker, Moris
Baker, William
Baley, John
Bancker, Nicoles
Banton, Samuel
Barrett, Samuel
Baxter, Ray
Berrien, Cornelius
Berrien, George
Bertholf, Crines
Bertholf, Henry
Bertholf, Peter
Bertine, John
Besser, Teunis
Beyle, Jacob
Bice, Abraham
Bice, James
Bice, John
Bice, Peter
Bice, Thomas
Binker, Hendrick
Bishop, John
Boice, Abraham
Bont, Peter
Boughton, Timothy
Bout, Peter
Brewer, Deliverance
Brewer, Matthew
Brewer, Nazareth
Britt, William
Brook, Michel B.
Brooks, Michael
Brooks, -roms
Brower, Jacob
Brown, Abraham
Brown, Albert
Brown, Isaac
Brown, John
Bruce, Robert
Buckhout, Jacob
Buckhout, Jacob, Jr.
Bugby, John
Bugby, Thomas
Buice, Aaron
Buice, Abraham
Buice, John
Buill, Abraham
Buill, Johannas
Buise, Peter
Burdet, Elethar
Burgess, Archer
Burgess, Archibald
Burgess, James
Burling, Ebinezer
Burns, Edward
Bussing, Henry
Bussing, Peter
Bussing, Peter, Jr.
Buyl, William
Buyse, Genie
Buyse, Jacob
Buyse, William
Byce, John
Byse, William
Carr, Jacob
Chanpenois, Andrew
Chanpenois, Nommay
Chanpenois, Thomas
Chanpenois, William
Chapman
Chapman, Danel
Charpanat, Simon
Chatterdon, James
Cillet, David
Clark, Daniel
Clark, Isaac
Clark, Othaniel
Clark, Titus
Conklin, Joseph
Cookstone, John
Corter, Willcom
Courtract, John
Covenhoven, Edward
Cowen, Danunt
Croft, -mes
Cronk, Garret
Cronk, Harclos
Cuningham, Abraham
Cuningham, John
Currin, Patrick
Cursor, Benjamin
Cursor, Isaac
Cursor, John
Cypher, Jacob
Cypher, John
Cypher, John, Jr.
Daton, Joseph
David, William
Davids, David
Davids, Isac
Davids, William
Davis, William
Dean, Isaac
Dean, John
Dean, Samuel
Dean, Thomas
Dee, David
Delamater, Abraham
Delamater, Isaac
Delanoy, Abraham
Delevier, Hendrick
De Pew, Henry
Derevere, Hendrick
Dereviere, John
Deriver, Cornilous
Derivine, Henry
Devoe, David
Devoe, James
De Voe, John
Devoe, William
Dicerman, Joseph
Dickinson, Ezekeal
Dingy, Eliga
Dodge, Nathaniel
Dolem
Drake, Samuel
Ducker, Abraham
Dutcher, Abraham
Dutcher, John
Dyckman, Garret
Eacker, Jacob
Edget, Joel
Elit, David
Embre, John
Embre, John, Jr.
Embre, Joseph, Jr.
Embre, Samuel
Fancher, John
Farrington, Jonas
Ferris, John
Ferris, Peter
Ferris, Samuel
Finch, Jonathan
Fish, Nathan
Fisher, Elijah
Fisher, James
Fisher, John
Fisher, Samuel
Fork, Daniel
Forshee, James
Forshee, John
Forshu, William
Fosha, John
Foster, Reduke
Fowler, Joshua
Fowler, Marton
Fowler, Moses
Frasher, John
Frazier, William
Gall, Stephen
Garrison, Dennis
Garrison, John
Garrison, Tunis
Gilmore, Robert
Gravestine, Garret
Gravestine, John
Green
Green, Isaac
Green, William
Hadley, Frederick
Hadley, Isaac
Hadley, Joseph
Hadley, Moses
Hadley, Stephen
Haight, Reuben
Haight, Walter
Hait, Abijah
Hait, Daniel
Hait, Phineas
Hamman, James, Jr.
Hammon, John
Hammond, John
Hammond, States
Hanis, Moses
Har, Abraham
Haris, Moses
Haroods
Harper, George
Harris, Edward
Harris, William
Hatfield, Joshua
Hawks, _athan
Hayes, Jesse
Hayes, Nathaniel
Hedger, Thomas
Hegby, Jacob
Helker, John
Hichcock, John
Higday, George
Hill, James
Hitchcock, David
Holmes, Jeremiah
Holmes, Rubin
Holmes, Samuel
Hornbeck, Henry
Horton, Caleb
Horton, John
Horton, Thomas
Horton, William
How, Silvanus
Howell, Siles
Hughsted, Noah
Humphey, Thomas
Hunt, Arnold
Hunt, Eliab
Hunt, Jacob
Hunt, Philip
Hunt, Robert
Hunt, Samuel
Hunt, Thomas, Jr.
Hunter, John
Hutter, William
Hyat, Thomas
Hyde, Diah
Ingersol, John
Israel, John
Jackling, Truman
Jacobs, Cornelius
Jacobs, -uha
Jewel, John
Johnson, Levi
Johnson, Samuel
Jones
Jones, Corneles
Jones, _msa
Jonel, John
Kanker, Nicoles
Keiff, Andrew
Knap, Joel
Knapp, Jonathan
Lafferjea, Tunis
Lamberdson, Lambert
Lambert, Abraham
Lambert, Cornelius
Lambert, Henry
Lambert, Lambert
Lamberth, William
Lauser, Samuel
Lawrence, Isaac
Lawrence, Thomas
Lawson, Samuel
Learure, Samuel
Lefurgy, Peter
Legget, Ebenezer
Legget, Elijah
Legget, Gabriel
Legget, William
Lent, Isaac
Lewis, John
Light, Josiah
Livurgis, Peter
Lounsbury, Joseph
Lovebury, Jonathan
Lownsbury, Joshua
Lyon, Esteal
McChain, John
McCloud, Alexander
McCord
McCord, Robert
McFarding, Gabriel
McFarding, James
Mainer, Stephen
Mangam, Daniel
Marshall, James
Martine, John, Jr.
Martine, Samuel
Martling, David
Martling, Peter
Mead, Joseph
Mead, Joshua
Mead, Marsel
Mead, Mortchet
Mead, Paschel
Mener, A.
Miller, Abraham
Miller, Ebenetus
Miller, Moses
Miller, Peter
Miller, Samuel
Mills, -----on
Miner, Albert
Minner, James
Mirtine, John
Money, --lum
Morrill
Morris, Abraham
Mouer, Alburt
Mullin, Richard
Maviring, --es
Neal, William
Nelson, John
Newman, Jonathan
Newman, Platt
Nicols, Abram
Northrup, Eli
Oakley, Caleb
Oakley, Isaac
Oakley, John
Oakly, Myles
O'Brian, Morger
Odel, Jacob
Odell, Isaac
Onsar, Abraham
Orcer, Elbert
Orser, After
Orser, Isaac
Orser, Solomon
Orsor, Niccles
Osbon, John
Osborn, Danvers
Osburn, John
Pain, Joseph
Palding, John
Palding, Joseph
Palmer, Aaron
Parsall, Devenport
Paulding, John
Paulding, John, Jr.
Paulding, Joseph
Paulding, William
Peterson, John
Pever, Cornelius
Phillips, Samuel
Pinkney, David
Place, Uriah
Plase, Freeman
Porday, John
Poulding, Reoger
Poulding, Thomas
Pugley, Tolman
Pugsly, Toloman
Purday, Esrael
Purday, James
Purdy, Anthony
Purdy, Solomon
Rafter, William
Ragen, Jeremiah
Ransen, Henry
Rassque, Ab'm
Ratton, William
Raymond, Sands, Jr.
Rayrdon, Patrick
Reed, Isaac
Reed, James
Repua, James
Requa, Isaac
Requaw, Abraham
Requaw, Daniel
Requaw, James
Requaw, James, Sr.
Requaw, James, Jr.
Requaw, John
Requaw, Joseph
Retong, William
Revere, Cornelius
Robeson, John
Rockwell, William
Romer, Hendrick
Romer, Hendrick, Jr.
Romer, James
Roomer, Henry
Rull, John
Rundel, David
Rundel, Abraham
Rundel, --nes
Russell, Abraham
Russell, John
Russell, Timothy
Ryer
Ryer, Hendrick
Ryer, John
Ryer, Tunis
Sackett
Sands, Stephen
Saxton, --n
Schofield
Schofield, Elisa
Scofield, Silas
Sedore, Isaac
See, Abraham
See, David
See, Isaac
See, Isaac, Jr.
See, James
See, James, Sr.
See, John
Sergeants, James
Shearwood, Isaac
Shearwood, Joshua
Sheerman, Joseph
Sherewood, Moses
Sherewood, William
Sherman, Adrian
Sherman, Jacob
Sherwood, Elijah
Sherwood, Job
Sherwood, Samuel
Sherwood, Solomon
Shute, Ezekiel
Sice, James
Sice, Paul
Sice, Peter
Sider, Stephen
Sidore, Coonrod
Sifer, Jacob
Sifer, John
Siffer, John
Siffer, John, Sr.
Silbay
Simmons, Isaac
Simon, --nail
Slater, David
Smith, Isaac
Smith, Stephen
Snell, Stephen
Soodor, Stephen
Standard, Richard
Stantin, Elijah
Stater, --d
Stephens, John
Stevenson, Frederick
Steves, Jerimiah
Steward, Gershem
Stingrod, --non
Storm, Abraham
Storm, David
Storm, Gorus
Storm, John
Storms, David
Storms, Nicholas
Storms, Stotts
Stuart
Stuart, --arts
Stuart, John
Stuart, Solomon
Swain, James
Syfer, Peter
Syper, Jeremiah
Sypher, John
Tailer, Gilbert
Taylor, Elijah
Taylor, Elnathan
Taylor, Henry
Terup, James
Tice, John
Tippet, James
Tippet, Thomas
Tompkins, Jeremiah
Tompkins, Ab'm
Tompkins, Elijah
Trusdel, Samuel
Tucker, --and
Turbush, --nry
Turnier, John
Tuttil, James
Underhill, Nathan
Vahe, Godfray
Valentine, Jacob
Van Buer, Marten
Vanhouten, Peter
Van Norstrand, William
Van Osterand, William
Vanscoy, Cornelius
Vantassel, Abraham
Van Tassel, Cornelious
Van Tassel, Cornelius, Jr.
Van Tassel, Jacob
Vantassel, John
Van Tassel, Stephen
Van Tessel, David
vantessel, Isaac
Vantessell, Peter
Van Wart
Van Wart, Abraham
Van Wart, Garret
Van Wart, Henry
Van Wart, Isaac
Van Wart, Jacob
Van Wart, Jacob, Jr.
Van Wart, James
Van Wart, John
Vanwart, William
Van Wormer, Cornelius
Van Wormer, Peter
Varden, John
Varney, Abraham
Veach, Andrew
Veach, John
Veal, Abraham
Vearin, James
Veel, William
Veil, William
Vermillia, Joshua
Voke, Henry
Wagenor, Tobias
Waldron, Isaac
Ward, Charles
Ward, Daniel
Ward, Hezekiah
Ward, Nathan
Ward, William
Washburn, David
Washburn, Joseph
Washburn, Silas
Webbers, Isaac
Weed, Nathan
Weeks, __ames
Weeks, Jonathan
Weeks, Reuben
Weeks, William
West, Zephaniah
Weston, Joseph
Wheteen, Benjamin
Wheteen, Luthel
Whitny, Titus
Wilday, James
Wildey, Jacob
Williams
Williams, Abraham
Williams, David
Williams, Daze
Williams, John
Williams, Marcus
Wolsey, Daniel
Wood, Jonah
Woolsey, Abraham
Yerkis, William
Yerks, John
Yorks, James
Yorks, John
Youngs, Joseph
Youngs, Samuel

Thursday, June 21, 2012

       New York, like all the 13 colonies, had a militia system that required men between the ages of 16 and 60 to serve in the militia in times of need. New Yorkers were required by law to have own a musket, cartridge box, knapsack and a sword or tomahawk. Despite this law the militia in lower New York was not a very efficient system. The militia often drilled no more than four hours once a month and the equipment brought from home was often of poor quality -or nonexistent. There was little attempt to demand militia attendance and few did. When the Revolution began in 1775, the militia of Westchester County, New York was reorganized into three regiments. The 1st Westchester Regiment -also known as the South Battalion- drew men from Yonkers, Pelham, New Rochelle and the vast estate known as Philipsburg Manor. Despite the reorganization and the zeal of some in the state and the county most men in lower Westchester did not participate. 
    The 1st Westchester Regiment or South Battalion was placed under the control of Colonel Joseph Drake and was composed of 8 companies: one from Yonkers, one from Eastchester, one from Pelham and New Rochelle and five from Philipsburg Manor. The other Regiments of the Westchester militia were similar in composition. The 2nd Regiment or Middle Battalion under Colonel Thomas Thomas had  companies from Harrison, North Castle, Bedford, Pound Ridge, Salem and one company for Scarsdale and White Plains and one for Rye and Mamaroneck. The 3rd Regiment or North Battalion under Colonel Pierre Van Cortland boasted eight companies all from Cortland Manor.