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 l^overty and patnotism 
 of the ]Veutral Grounds 
 
p 
 
 OVERTY AND PATRIOTISM 
 OF THE NEUTRAL GROUNDS 
 
 A PAPER READ BEFORE THE WESTCHESTER 
 COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY UPON THE 
 ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THIRD ANNI- 
 VERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF WHITE PLAINS 
 
 By J. C: Lf'HAMILTON 
 
 , OCTOBER THE TWENTY-EIGHTH 
 EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND NINETY-NINE 
 
 ELMSFORD, NEW YORK 
 1900 
 
TWO COPIES HE.C£.iVEj3, 
 
 Library of UCBgpe8% 
 Office of tisv^ 
 
 JAM 24 1900 
 
 Reglttcr of Gop;rlgE^& 
 
 a. Ob^-^ 
 
 ^:;^v 
 
 Copyright, 1899, by 
 J. C. L. HAMILTON 
 
Poverty and Patriotism of the 
 Neutral Grounds. 
 
 The Neutral Grounds, comprising all of the central 
 towns and manors of Westchester County, sustained and 
 endured more of the real hardships and calamities inci- 
 dent to a long, relentless war than perhaps all other 
 sections of similar dimensions combined. Its inhabitants, 
 from the most reliable accounts, were nearly equally 
 divided in their political affiliations. 
 
 Those in affluent and comfortable circumstances, to a 
 very large degree were Tories by choice, while the poor, 
 who had long suffered the pangs of poverty and oppres- 
 sion of tyranny, became Whigs of the most loyal type. 
 
 History, in a general way, has made familiar the diverg- 
 ing lines of loyalty to the King and liberty of the 
 people. Only a brief reference can be made, upon an 
 occasion commemorating the anniversary of the first 
 real conflict at arms between the opposing forces upon 
 the Neutral Grounds, of some of the causes that made 
 poverty the corner-stone of patriotism. 
 
 Adrian Van Der Donck, the first historian this New 
 Netherland " which we have christened the Empire State " 
 ever knew, dwelt within its borders. He was the true and 
 tried friend of the first settlers, when the mismanagement 
 of government and the obnoxious and avaricious plans of 
 a grasping monopoly imposed burdens that doomed to a 
 life of serfdom those who had longed for liberty in other 
 lands. He interceded in their behalf, and became instru- 
 mental in correcting the evils complained of. 
 
 Government was reformed. Trade was fostered. Emi- 
 gration was encouraged. Children from the overcrowded 
 almshouse of Amsterdam were sent over, and a speedy 
 shipment of others of like import was promised, along 
 
 3' *^" 
 
with some of those sturdy agriculturists, called Boers, from 
 the Rhine frontier, who were then seeking Hberty and 
 freedom in remote lands, and whose descendants are now 
 valiantly upholding their love of independence in the 
 Orange Free State of South Africa. 
 
 Thus we see a glad, eager multitude of the poorest of 
 poor wending their way to these inviting wild, western 
 shores. 
 
 The names of some of them and their descendants who 
 took up their abode upon these Neutral Grounds and 
 dwelt among the original occupants of the soil have 
 been rescued from the neglected and forgotten archives 
 of two centuries of the past. This ancient official tax 
 list* of the first white tillers of the soil clearly indicates 
 that they were exceedingly economical as well as poor. 
 The small amount of nine York pounds ($221^^) which 
 these one hundred and eighteen inhabitants were required 
 to pay upon their possessions, that comprised all of the 
 present towns of Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant, and Os- 
 sining, toward defraying their proportion of the public 
 and necessary charges of the county of Westchester, in ac- 
 cordance with the quota directed by the warrant of the su- 
 pervisors for the upper part of the manor of Philipsburgh, 
 cannot be called extravagant, no matter how generous 
 or profligate the tax of $274,4491^^0 for the year 1898 for 
 the same territory may appear. 
 
 The official assessors, without favoritism, executed the 
 law, which frequently required payments to be made 
 upon the instalment plan, evidently for the purpose of 
 allowing the cultivator of the soil to harvest and dispose 
 of his various products. Unfortunately for him, however 
 propitious the seasons, seed-time and harvest could not 
 keep up in the unequal race. Before the eighth, ninth, and 
 tenth instalment of a certain tax could be liquidated, the 
 fourth, fifth, and sixth, and the first, second, and third, of 
 other taxes became payable. They were levied ostensibly 
 for the purpose of purchasing presents for the Indians, 
 erecting forts upon the frontiers, and for the ever in- 
 * See Appendix. 
 4 
 
creasing expenses in support of government, at home and 
 abroad, which were constantly augmented, in order to 
 provide adequate positions with remunerative salaries to 
 an army of itinerant seekers. 
 
 The inhabitants of the towns and manors of West- 
 chester County, as well as the isolated white settler resid- 
 ing among the Indians at the close of the seventeenth 
 century, were not overlooked, as the following receipts 
 disclose : 
 
 Received from John Cornelius Van Tesxell by the hands of Col. 
 Stephen Van Cortlandt, the sum of Nine Pounds, out of the four first 
 taxes, and of such proportion of the same as becomes payable out of 
 Westchester County and Town of Appamacpo. 
 
 I say received this 31st of July, 1694. 
 
 Chidley Brook, Collector. 
 
 Twenty-six days pass by, and the following becomes a 
 matter of historic interest : 
 
 Received from John Van Tesxell by the hands of Col. Stephen 
 Van Cortlandt, the sum of Four Pounds ten shillings out of the six 
 thousand pound tax, and of such proportion of the same as becomes 
 payable out of Westchester County and Town of Appamacpo. 
 
 I say received this 26th of August, 1694. 
 
 Chidley Brook, Collector. 
 
 No mention of the name or location of this Indian 
 town has appeared in any history of this county yet pub- 
 lished. The amounts forwarded to the colonial treas- 
 urer indicate that a considerable number of white people 
 were dwelling among the native Indians, and that they 
 were prospering at that early period. 
 
 From the most reliable information obtainable, the 
 town of Appamacpo comprised what is now known as 
 the town of Ossining. 
 
 John Cornelius Van Tesxell, Senior, married about the 
 year 1630 Cephani, an Indian princess of Eider's Neck, 
 near Huntington, Long Island. 
 
 Their son, John Cornelius Van Tesxell, Junior, was 
 baptized in the Dutch Church within Fort Amsterdam, 
 and afterward settled at what is now known as Sing 
 Sing with his family, consisting of three sons and two 
 
 5 
 
daughters, all of whom married in this county, and became 
 members of the old Dutch Church at Sleepy Hollow. 
 
 In the year 1705, their father having died, they made 
 application and received from the colonial government 
 a grant of land at Huntington, Long Island, four miles 
 by six, in right of their grandmother, who had received 
 the same through her tribal relations. The names of 
 six of her descendants appear upon the tax-roll of 1732, 
 and forty-six others are enrolled among the patriots of 
 the Revolution. 
 
 Colonel Stephen Van Cortlandt, lord of the adjoining 
 manor of Cortlandt, obtained license to purchase lands 
 from the Indians and others in the year 1677. He had 
 secured at the date of his manor grant in 1697, 86,213 
 acres, but had barely time to make any permanent ar- 
 rangement for the development of these vast properties 
 before all plans were set at naught by his death, which 
 occurred in the year 1700, when this estate reverted in 
 entail to his children, who by the terms of his will were 
 required to pay his just debts and funeral expenses, 
 amounting to about $5,000. This payment was no easy 
 matter for them to make, as it took not only fifty-eight 
 years, but a special act of the colonial legislature to 
 legally accomplish it. The special act directed that suf- 
 ficient property should be sold at public vendue at Kings- 
 bridge to liquidate the debt. 
 
 John Tompkins — a resident of the manor of Philips- 
 burgh, who had erected, in 1732, his dwelling, which is 
 still in existence, and which was used in the summer of 
 1781 as the headquarters of General Rochambeau — be- 
 came the purchaser. 
 
 The indenture of agreement, bearing date of January 
 31, 1758, between Pierre Van Cortlandt and John 
 Tompkins, required the purchaser of real estate, in order 
 to be able to receive a warranty deed, to be in actual 
 possession for twelve months, for which period he was 
 to pay, if legally demanded, one pepper-corn. The agree- 
 ment describes the property purchased, which is still 
 owned and occupied by Mr. Tompkins's descendants, the 
 
 6 
 
legal title of which can, with the evidence here produced, 
 be traced back to the original Indian proprietors. 
 
 They can also admire on the Poverty Ridge of Philips- 
 burgh that venerable and historic headquarters erected 
 by their ancestor upon the farm, for which the lord of 
 the manor of Philipsburgh gave the following receipt : 
 
 Received this 3rd Feby 1737-8 of John Tomkins twelve bushels of 
 wheat it being for a years rent due to me for the farm He lives on 
 
 Fred Philipse. 
 
 Captain John Harmse, an ofificer in the French colonial 
 war, kept the first general store. The history of the 
 quaint old building, still standing, and the many interest- 
 ing scenes that have transpired there, are matters the in- 
 mates of the palatial homes of the immediate vicinity 
 know very little about. The following store account gives 
 an accurate record of the prices and articles kept for sale 
 at that period : 
 
 1736 Den may mantHendrckWillse debt aen Jan harmse . £i\ o:0 
 
 Ditto Voor Jacops Willse debt 2:2:o 
 
 Ditto aen ein par Schonne voor u Self o: 7:0 
 
 Ditto aen ein bossel tarwe 0:3:6 
 
 Bitto aen Matthis Cancklin betalt ein galling Rom . . o: 3:6 
 
 Ditto aen en par half soolen o; o:g 
 
 Ditto aen 4 bossel bocquyt o: 6:0 
 
 Ditto November aen gelt i:o:o 
 
 1737 aen Jan Hughsen betalt O: 6:0 
 
 voor ein par pomps 0:6:o 
 
 Ditto aen 6% lb noil 0:9:9 
 
 Ditto aen I >^ lb kaettoen 0:1:9 
 
 Ditto aen Matthis Cancklin betault voor drank . . . . o: 2:9 
 
 Ditto aen Noeg en ^ bossel tarwe 0:1:9 
 
 Ditto aen Noeg ein bossel bocquyt voor salt o: 2:o 
 
 Ditto aen Gelt noeg 2:iO:o 
 
 Ditto aen Mr Gaberyel Ledelo betalt o:io:o 
 
 Ditto aen noeg en Soeg gehuet voor o:io:o 
 
 Ditto aen ein bossel Rocq o:02:6 
 
 ^9:19:3 
 Ditto aen noeg ein par Sehonne voor u Self o:' 7:0 
 
 Yan harmse 
 
 Ditto woch meer vor dranck o: i:io 
 
 7 
 
After Captain Harmse's death the farm and store came 
 into the possession of Colonel Jonathan Odel, who kept 
 a noted hostelry at the old stand during the Revolution- 
 ary period. It was here the Committee of the Provincial 
 Congress, when obliged to evacuate their quarters in the 
 church in Harlem, remained over night and held a session 
 of their committee October, 1776. 
 
 Captain John Buckhout was Captain Harmse's neigh- 
 bor, and also a captain in the French colonial war. He 
 was too advanced in years to take an active part in the 
 Revolution, and continued to reside upon his farm, now 
 occupied in part by the Cosmopolitan Magazine, until his 
 death, which occurred in the year 1785, as appears by the 
 inscription upon his tombstone in the old Sleepy Hollow 
 city of the dead, which reads as follows : 
 
 In Memory of Cap 
 
 lOHN BUCKHOUT, who 
 
 Departed this life 
 
 April the ioth 1785 Aged 
 
 103 years and left behind 
 
 HIM WHEN HE DIED 240 CHILd 
 
 and grand children, also 
 
 Mary the wife of Iohn Buct 
 
 Died August 1755 Aged 
 
 73 Years 
 
 Joost Phauldench (Paulding), the ancestor of that noted 
 and patriotic family who became heroes in the cause of 
 liberty, was a merchant of New York City. He became 
 a tenant upon Philip's manor about the year 1700, and 
 was for a short period a member and officer of the Dutch 
 Church, which he was obliged to relinquish on account 
 of his business in New York. His son Joseph taking the 
 farm, Mr, Paulding, having accumulated a considerable 
 fortune in his various business relations, composed one 
 of the syndicate of the twenty-four grantees of that large 
 section which Judge Walters and Colonel Caleb Heath- 
 coat obtained from the crown, situated in the northeast 
 portion of the county and known as the Walters patent. 
 
 The celebrated Flour Bolters' Trust having been re. 
 
 8 
 
pealed by the legislature, permission to legalize and 
 equip privateers to prey upon the commerce of the com- 
 mon enemy gave renewed impetus for the investment of 
 capital. Mr. Paulding, in connection with Captain Abra- 
 ham Van Laer, a noted son of Neptune, residing in New 
 York, fitted out a privateer sloop. 
 
 Mr. Paulding's interest, by the terms of the written 
 agreement, were to be represented by his special super- 
 cargo, and required all captures and treasure trove to 
 be taken to the nearest port and sold, the proceeds to 
 be remitted immediately. 
 
 The name given to this piratical rover of the seas was 
 
 " The Wheel of Fortune." 
 
 Time and space forbid a further review of those early 
 pioneers whose descendants were about to usher in a 
 new era of existence, the dormant energy of whose 
 brawn and muscle could no longer endure the burdens 
 and suffering that were imposed by unwise and vicious 
 legislation that had overcrowded the gaols of the colony 
 with insolvent debtors, many of whom, their families could 
 no longer support, being destitute even of the common 
 necessaries of life. 
 
 When voluntary subscriptions from the charitable be- 
 came inadequate to pay the fines imposed upon those 
 confined for considerable amounts, a portion of the 
 money so obtained was used to procure them wood to 
 keep them from freezing. 
 
 To such a fearful extent had this imprisonment for 
 debt proceeded that the county officials took the precau- 
 tion to employ a special guard around the court-house of 
 thirteen men to prevent the public from making a threat- 
 ened general gaol delivery. 
 
 The legislature, finding the Insolvent Debtor Act 
 passed in 1766 inadequate, passed an act on March 8, 
 1773, requiring creditors who would not consent to dis- 
 charge the debtor to pay to each prisoner so confined at 
 their instance three shillings and sixpence per week, pay- 
 
 9 
 
able to the prisoner, every Monday, so long as he, or she, 
 shall continue in prison. 
 
 This pittance of six cents per day must have been very 
 generally paid by the creditor, as the legislators, instead 
 of amending their slow starvation legislation, found it 
 necessary to pass, during the following two years, fourteen 
 similar acts of so-called relief. 
 
 Thus we can begin to realize that poverty, pure and 
 simple, was the impelling force that organized the Sons 
 of Liberty, who, in 1766, were the first to demand, with 
 their lives, the liberation of their countrymen. 
 
 They were inured to privations and hardship, and were 
 ripe for a rebellion that gave promise in the dim future 
 of liberty and independence. Conventions were called, 
 delegates were elected, resolutions were passed, and regi- 
 ments and companies of armed men were recruited, as if 
 by magic. The inmates of the patriot homes and fire- 
 sides, scattered all over this beautiful county, scarcely 
 realized that a war, such as they had never dreamed of, 
 had already commenced. 
 
 They had counted and nourished the legacy years of 
 toil and poverty had bequeathed, and were determined, 
 come what may, to cast their all in one grand effort to 
 accomplish and conquer, while the lessons they had been 
 taught by the light of the burning faggots in the great 
 chimneys of their ancestors had prepared and qualified 
 them for the supreme effort. 
 
 The knell of liberty's bell had scarcely sounded the 
 call to arms before the Mohawks, in their native disguise, 
 cast the forbidden tea to the waters of an unfriendly 
 port, and armed men everywhere stood ready to obey 
 the mandates of the chosen leaders. This Empire State 
 furnished upwards of 52,000 defenders. This county 
 was divided into four districts, and the colonel of the 
 regiment in each district was given almost unlimited 
 jurisdiction in military matters. All male persons of 
 from sixteen to sixty years of age were enrolled, who 
 were required to serve when warned, under penalty of 
 fine and imprisonment ; those incapacitated had to con- 
 
 10 
 
tribute toward furnishing and equipping others in their 
 stead with musket, blanket, powder-horn, flint, and fre- 
 quently a tomahawk if required. They were called out 
 when wanted, kept as long as wanted, and the soldiers 
 then sent to their homes. 
 
 Sometimes a regiment, or part of a regiment, would be 
 ordered out half a dozen times in the course of a year, 
 and for a few days or weeks at a time, as they were 
 needed, while ofificers and men served indiscriminately in 
 different organizations, as the urgency of the occasion 
 demanded. The rapid organization of the troops into 
 regiments and companies, which were armed and uni- 
 formed with whatever could be obtained, and commanded 
 by officers with very little or no experience, gave at the 
 commencement of hostilities little, if any, promise of suc- 
 cess. The want of drill and discipline, that the officers 
 and men alike were deficient in, caused the militia to be 
 looked upon as unreliable, especially as they had upon 
 several occasions made precipitate retreats. 
 
 General Washington, who had personally conducted 
 the retreat from Long Island, witnessed their stampede 
 through New York, and again upon the southern bound- 
 ary of these soon to be Neutral Grounds. Upon this latter 
 occasion he is said to have thrown his hat upon the 
 ground and exclaimed : "Am I to fight the battles of my 
 country with such men as those?" When they were again 
 marshalled in battle array this historic county seat was 
 the scene upon which the opposing forces met; and upon 
 this 123d anniversary of that event I present to you for 
 the first time a complete record of Captain Alexander 
 Hamilton's battery of artillery,* that is said to have done 
 efficient service upon yonder Chatterton Hill, and although 
 the militia broke and ran away, the stubborn resistance of 
 those engaged caused the British general to delay his 
 plan of attack until the arrival of other troops, which 
 delay gave General Washington opportunity to execute 
 one of those strategic movements the successful execution 
 of which placed him among the great generals of the age. 
 *See Appendix. 
 11 
 
It also caused the Parliament of Great Britain to ap- 
 point a committee to investigate the conduct of General 
 Howe and Lord Cornvvallis for their failure to capture 
 .General Washington and his army, and thus terminate the 
 rebellion of the colonies. 
 
 This investigating committee, although conducted by 
 that staunch friend of the colonies, Isaac Barr6, the former 
 adjutant-general of General Wolfe, who had, on account of 
 his distinguished services and wounds received upon the 
 Plains of Abraham, been elected to a seat in Parliament, 
 was unable, after the most searching examination, which 
 lasted several days, to ascertain the real cause of their 
 failure. General Howe, General Lord Cornwallis, and the 
 chief engineer of the British forces all many times reit- 
 erated that they had excellent reasons, which would, if 
 made known, be satisfactory to the British public, but 
 which each of them repeatedly declared he was not at 
 liberty to disclose. 
 
 Therefore, while future anniversary gatherings will con- 
 tinue to study and admire the strategy displayed by the 
 American commander-in-chief, they must be content with 
 surmises and speculation for the unexplained reasons of 
 his opponents. 
 
 It must, however, have been very aggravating for the 
 rank and file of the American army to have witnessed the 
 pride of the British forces, in all their bright military 
 array, form in battle upon the plain, and then quietly seat 
 themselves upon the ground, while they observed the prog- 
 ress of the action upon the adjoining hill. 
 
 It was, no doubt, equally exasperating for the victors, 
 elated by their previous successes, to learn that their com- 
 mander had abandoned his plan of attack and was about 
 to retrace his steps, leaving these intervening valleys and 
 hills to become the Neutral Grounds, where tragic scenes 
 of almost numberless combats made desolation everywhere 
 the order by day, while the nights were illumined by the 
 conflagrations of patriot and Tory homes. 
 
 A guerrilla war, the like of which has never been fully 
 understood, made heroes of those early defenders. They 
 
 12 
 

 
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who first ran upon the discharge of their own flintlocks 
 now became the chosen guides and leaders of the most 
 hazardous expeditions. 
 
 Tories, emboldened by the successes of the British forces 
 and encouraged by the promise of liberal pay, bounties, 
 and reward, organized a troop of light horse, which was 
 commanded by Colonel James DeLancy, former sheriff 
 of the county. This troop, on account of their intimate 
 knowledge of the highways and the location of the patri- 
 ots, soon became a troublesome as well as formidable ad- 
 versary. Their propensity to carry off everything portable, 
 especially cattle, gave them the familiar name of " Cow- 
 boys," on account of which Governor Tryon, command- 
 ing the king's advanced outpost, encouraged this com- 
 mand, composed of the elite of the county, for their 
 spirited behavior by offering one guinea for each deserter 
 brought in, and for every acting committeeman he was 
 willing to pay twenty silver dollars. 
 
 On the night of Monday, November 17, 1777, Captains 
 Emmerrick and Barnes, of the Queen's Rangers of Gov- 
 ernor Tryon's command, captured Lieutenant Cornelius 
 Van Tassel and his kinsman, Peter Van Tassel, a member 
 of the county committee, at their homes in the Neperan 
 Valley. Upon this occasion they removed Mrs. Cornelius 
 Van Tassel with her infant daughter, scantily clothed, and 
 left them upon the frozen ground to care for themselves 
 in the frigid cold as best they could. 
 
 Cornelius Van Tassel, Jr., a noted marksman, had 
 upon the first alarm taken refuge in the attic, but when 
 the smoke and flames began to envelop him, he de- 
 liberately assumed the roll of a marauder, by throwing 
 a blanket over his head and seizing some household 
 plunder, with which he marched in the midst of his en- 
 emies, and at the first opportunity made a sudden dash 
 toward the Sawmill River, eluding his pursuers by 
 breaking a passage through the ice and rapidly proceed- 
 ing to The Farcus Hott,* the patriots' place of retreat. 
 The enemy, having collected all the Van Tassels' horses 
 * See illustration. 
 13 
 
and cattle, tied their hands to their horses' tails, and in 
 this ignominious manner compelled them to drive their 
 own cattle to the British camp at Kingsbridge, from 
 which they were conveyed to prison, where they re- 
 mained eleven months. Mrs. Van Tassel and her infant 
 daughter, Leah, took refuge in a dirt cellar, it being the 
 only place not destroyed. On the night of November 
 25th, Abraham Martling, a continental soldier residing 
 upon a portion of Lieutenant Van Tassel's farm, with a 
 number of his neighbors, proceeded to Bloomingdale, 
 within the British lines, and totally destroyed Governor 
 DeLancy's residence in retaliation. 
 
 So frequent and daring had the Cowboys become that 
 bands of deserters and others composed of the worst 
 characters of both armies set up an organized band to 
 prey upon friends and foes alike, that were called " Skin- 
 ners," and between these hostile forces the patriots soon 
 had but little of worldly goods they could call their own. 
 
 The latch-string of welcome had disappeared from 
 their midst, while poverty at home, in the fields, camps, 
 and everywhere almost quenched the flickering spark of 
 liberty. 
 
 This sad portrayal of privation, apparent in every por- 
 tion of this neutral territory, gave the chief commissary, 
 with the aid of the military authority to assist him, no 
 end of trouble to secure barely enough subsistence to last 
 from day to day, as appears by the following orders : 
 
 Mr Ebenezer Boyd 
 
 Sir I would have you go out in the country immediately, and 
 secure all the salt provisions you hear of Press teams and send it 
 down here Joshua Inmann has some beef in barrels, which you 
 will order down immediately 
 
 It must be down to day as we are out of provisions, and the stores 
 at Danbury destroyed William Paulding 
 
 Peekskill, April 27, 1777 
 
 Mr. Boyd 
 
 Sir You must send by the bearer the Five Barrels of Pork at 
 your House I am sir yours, 
 
 William Paulding 
 Peekskill, April i^, 1777 
 
 14 
 
Mr. Boyd 
 Sir Please send by the bearer a load of Pork or Beef. 
 
 William Paulding, C. 
 Peekskill, April io\h ijyy 
 
 Peekskill, May 5th 1777 
 Received from Major Strang by the hands of Conrad Miller Seven 
 Barrels of Pork and Beef. 
 
 William Paulding, C. 
 
 Received from Ebenezer Boyd 
 
 One Skail Beam 
 
 Two Weights Each 56 lbs 
 
 Said to be the property of the Continent, taken from the estate of 
 Nathaniel Merritt, for the use of William Pauldings Commissary 
 Store. 
 
 per Peter Garson, D. C. 
 
 Peekskill, 22 December, 1776. 
 
 But what did the patriot soldiers of the Neutral Grounds, 
 who had become inured to hunger and privation of al- 
 most every nature, care for a scarcity of pork and beef? 
 They were minutemen, unwilling to relinquish one 
 particle of their territory, who, when the charred remains 
 of their former homes offered no shelter, sought the caves 
 and rocks, from which, at a moment's notice, they sallied 
 forth to engage in mortal combat, frequently with superior 
 and well-equipped numbers. Many skirmishes, seldom 
 officially reported, occurred that would have been classed 
 genuine actions, and passed into history with equal promi- 
 nence with others of less import occurring at the present 
 time. 
 
 There was at no period a cessation of hostilities upon 
 these scarred battle-fields. The enemy was alert and 
 frequently successful in destroying and capturing the 
 magazines of stores and supplies secured at such great 
 sacrifice by the patriots. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Young, a prominent patriot, who resided on 
 and occupied the farm adjoining that of Col. James Ham- 
 mond, of the First Regiment, now belonging to the estate 
 
 15 
 
of Mr. Robert Bonner, was early in 1776 appointed by the 
 Provincial Congress one of the three commissioners to 
 secure and remove all the hay, straw, cattle, and provi- 
 sions in the lower portion of the county to Wright's Mills, 
 the rendezvous selected at the north side of the present 
 Kensico Lake. The inhabitants were permitted to r.etain 
 a small supply for immediate consumption, and were 
 given receipts for all other articles taken, which they could 
 secure again from time to time as required. 
 
 Upon the withdrawal of the American army at White 
 Plains to the high grounds, General Lee, commanding the 
 right wing, made his headquarters at Mr. Young's house, 
 and it was from his division that Colonel Austin's Massa- 
 chusetts troops made their midnight raid, and burned the 
 court-house, Presbyterian church, and a few other build- 
 ings situated between the former entrenched lines, and 
 upon their return to camp plundered the houses of Mr. 
 Martine and Pugsley of a large number of articles, the 
 discovery of which in their possession caused the arrest 
 and dismissal of the guilty parties, in obedience to a general 
 order issued by General Washington, who confirmed the 
 verdict of the court-martial held at Peekskill, of which 
 General Pierre Van Courtlant was president. 
 
 Mr. Young's location at the Four Corners, upon the 
 lower cross roads, continued throughout the Revolution 
 to be a very important military outpost upon the border 
 of the Neutral Grounds and was the scene of a number of 
 desperate encounters. During the winter of 1777 the 
 dwelling was burned by the British in one of their raids. 
 In 1778 Colonel Aaron Burr, who commanded on the lines, 
 had his quarters here ; also, during the same year, General 
 Thaddeus Kosciuszko. It was near these headquarters 
 where General Gates and Colonel Wilkins, on September 
 6, 1778, settled their affair of honor after exchanging 
 two shots without bloodshed ; and it was also here, on 
 February 3, 1780, that Colonel Norton, with a consider- 
 able number of infantry and Colonel DeLancy's mounted 
 Cowboys and refugees, after an all night's toilsome march 
 through the snow, which was so deep that they were 
 
 16 
 
obliged to abandon their improvised sleighs and artillery, 
 succeeded in surprising Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson, 
 commanding the post, before he could concentrate his 
 small force of five companies, composed principally of 
 Massachusetts troops, for effectual resistance. The Ameri- 
 can loss in this action was eighty-nine privates and seven 
 ofificers taken prisoners, fourteen killed, and seventeen 
 wounded, several of whom died, and were buried in the 
 adjoining field, opposite the ruins of the burned head- 
 quarters. Their final resting place does not even boast 
 of a simple tablet to designate a desperate and sangui- 
 nary battle fought when the Neutral Grounds were buried 
 under a deep mantle of snow. 
 
 During the fall of 1780 General Stark gathered all the 
 wagons that could be obtained in North Castle and sur- 
 rounding country at the depot of supplies (Wright's 
 Mills) for the purpose of making a grand forage, which 
 was very successful, some of the mounted troops pene- 
 trating as low down as East Chester, returning with a 
 large quantity of corn, hay, cattle, etc. 
 
 The enemy were, however, bent upon the same errand. 
 On February ij, 1781, they made an extended excursion 
 within the American lines toward Bedford, capturing 
 Lieutenants Carpenter, Wright, and Peacock, with five 
 other inhabitants, burned five dwellings, stripped several 
 others of their belongings, and returned without mishap. 
 Their excursions, as they were called, were, by the sys- 
 tems of communication in use by the patriots, frequently 
 rapidly communicated to the various patrols and guards. 
 Abraham Odell, one of the most active and useful of the 
 Westchester scouts and guides, during the daytime kept 
 himself employed in his blacksmith shop, situated oppo- 
 site his father's house on Broadway, a short distance 
 below Irvington. He, being a personal acquaintance of 
 Colonel DeLancy, had no difftculty in securing immunity 
 from arrest by the British, especially as they made his 
 shop a regular place for shoeing their horses, which gave 
 him an excellent opportunity to ascertain from the private 
 soldiers the intended destination of many of their raids. 
 
 17 
 
By this means these excursions, as they were called, were 
 frequently interrupted, while others became very san- 
 guinary affairs. Jacob Acker, a noted marksman living 
 in the Sawmill Valley, appears to have been seldom off 
 duty. On the 17th of December, 1779, he was severely 
 wounded in the chin, gullet, and right shoulder, and on 
 May I, 1780, less than five months, was again wounded. 
 At the action which occurred at Storm's Bridge (Elms- 
 ford), where he was, as usual, upon picket duty, by his 
 unerring aim two of the enemy, that were returning with 
 a large quantity of cattle and plunder, were killed. The 
 balance of the command, twenty-four in number, under 
 Lieutenant Baremore, were taken prisoners, after a des- 
 perate hand-to-hand struggle in the open fields directly 
 east of the present Reform Church, by the patriot com- 
 pany of that locality. 
 
 The Neutral Grounds, above all others, could be relied 
 upon to furnish patriots, with or without provision, and 
 without pay or promise of reward, for instant action. 
 
 In the fall of 1780 there appears to be very little, 
 except poverty and. love of home and country, that 
 sustained the soldiers of the republic. The terms of 
 enlistment of a large number were rapidly expiring. 
 Continental money had depreciated from 40 to 75, and 
 finally it required $128 of the old to equal one of new 
 emission. During the month of July five companies of 
 the South Battalion, under command of Major Jonathan 
 Paulding Horton, returned from a year's active service 
 with the main army. 
 
 While waiting at home for the State to procure the 
 bounty of ten bushels of wheat for ninety days' service 
 and one and one-half bushels per month for a longer 
 period, in the absence of money, which would keep their 
 families from absolute want, some of them voluntarily 
 spent their brief vacation patrolling and guarding the 
 highways, which resulted in the capture of Major John 
 Andr6, and gave these Neutral Grounds the proud dis- 
 tinction of producing the first medal of honor presented to 
 soldiers of the republic. Three alone out of the seven 
 
 18 
 
which composed this small band of patriots were awarded 
 a medal inscribed " Fidelity " : 
 
 John Paulding, 
 Isaac Van Wart, 
 David Williams, 
 Isaac See, 
 James Romer, 
 John Yerks, 
 John Dean, Sergeant. 
 
 Note. — These captors, in accordance with an agreement, sold the watch, 
 horse, saddle, and bridle taken from Major Andre and made equal division 
 of the proceeds between the seven, after which they all contributed an 
 equal amount toward defraying the expenses of one of their number to 
 Philadelphia in order to lay the importance of the service rendered before 
 Congress, with the expectation that all of them would be suitably rewarded. 
 The member entrusted with this mission, after arrival in Philadelphia, 
 came in contact with a member of Congress from the State of New Jersey, 
 said to be not very friendly to the cause of independence, who, learning 
 the particulars of the capture, advised that no mention of the four additional 
 members should be made, for fear that Congress would refuse to grant any 
 reward. 
 
 The foregoing explains the bitter resentment and ill feeling toward, 
 three of the captors that existed throughout the county during their remain- 
 ing days. 
 
 The patriotism of the army and the inhabitants all over 
 the colonies at this trying period, when their finances and 
 resources had become reduced to the lowest scale of 
 poverty, quickly came to the rescue. The clouds that 
 obscured their standard by united effort began to gradu- 
 ally disappear, and once more the faint outlines of the 
 rainbow of hope infused new life and energy among all 
 classes. 
 
 The organized efforts of the ladies and private indi- 
 viduals were supplemented by renewed energy in the 
 halls of Congress. The legislature of the Empire State, 
 in lieu of money, gave wheat and vacant lands, and 
 directed a tax of 2,400 pairs of good woollen stockings 
 and 2,000 pairs of strong leather shoes to be levied for 
 the use of its needy soldiery. The supervisors of West- 
 chester County were directed to meet at the house of 
 
 '9 
 
John Furman in Bedford (lieutenant in Colonel Louis Du- 
 bois' Fifth Regiment of the line), and there apportion 
 the quota among the towns of Poundridge, Salem, Bed- 
 ford, North Castle, and the manor of Cortlandt. The 
 balance of the county comprised the Neutral Grounds, 
 where it was impossible for the civil authorities to exer- 
 cise control. The assessors were directed to designate 
 and apportion the quantities among those of the inhabi- 
 tants who, in their judgment, could best spare or procure 
 the same, allowing for each pair of shoes furnished six- 
 teen shillings, and for every pair of stockings fourteen 
 shillings. A forfeit of $io per pair, to be recovered in 
 a summary manner before any justice of the peace, was 
 provided for a refusal to furnish within thirty days after 
 demand made by the various collectors. 
 The apportionment to town of Poundridge, 6 pair slioes, 7 pair 
 
 stockings. 
 The apportionment to town of Salem, 9 pair shoes, 10 pair stock- 
 ings. 
 The apportionment to town of North Castle, 27 pair shoes, 33 pair 
 
 stockings. 
 The apportionment to town of Bedford, 23 pair shoes, 27 pair 
 
 stockings. 
 The apportionment to manor of Cortlandt, 39 pair shoes, 48 pair 
 stockings. 
 
 These timely efforts by the Empire State to provide and 
 strengthen its military forces w^ere the all-important sub- 
 jects under consideration by the various governors and 
 legislatures of the confederation, who were urgently im- 
 portuned and notified of the desperate situation. 
 
 General Glover, on the nth of December, 1780, in- 
 formed the Massachusetts authorities that four days had 
 expired since their line of the army had even one mouth- 
 ful of bread. " We have no money, nor will anybody trust 
 us. The best of wheat is at this moment selling in the 
 State of New York at three-fourths of a dollar per bushel, 
 and your army is starving for want. 
 
 "On the 1st of January something will turn up, if not 
 speedily prevented, which your oflficers cannot be held 
 responsible for." 
 
 20 
 
The 1st of January, the New Year's Day of 1781, came, 
 but brought no glad sound of joy, good cheer, or gladness 
 to the starving soldier in the desolate camp. Its morn- 
 ing, noon, and evening came and departed much the same 
 as others— taps sound, lights are extinguished, Avhile the 
 lonely sentinel continues to plod through the deep snow, 
 keeping vigilant watch the same as other days and nights 
 of the past. Suddenly, however, that something pre- 
 dicted disturbs and alarms the entire camp at Morristown, 
 New Jersey, as if caused by an earthquake. The rumbling 
 noise of " mutiny in the American army " awakens the 
 lethargy of Congress and the legislatures, grieves the com- 
 mander-in-chief, encourages and delights the opponents of 
 liberty, and becomes the all-absorbing topic in the camps, 
 by the fireside of the patriots, and the closet of prayer. 
 
 The Pennsylvania line, on account of the intolerable 
 sufferings of the army, the want of pay — of which eleven 
 months were due — the want of clothing — many of the 
 troops being almost naked— the want of provisions, and 
 the majority being held beyond the terms of their enlist- 
 ment, mutinied, and, under the lead of their non-commis- 
 sioned ol^cers, carried off the hors«s of their general, and 
 with six field-pieces and their muskets proceeded to de- 
 mand redress from Congress. The British authorities, 
 learning their intentions, despatched troops to Staten 
 Island and sent forward envoys, who offered, upon condi- 
 tion that they come within their lines, to give them all 
 arrearages of pay due and exemption from further mili- 
 tary duty. 
 
 These Pennsylvanians, however, though poor, ragged, 
 and hungry, disdain to barter their longed-for liberty, but 
 arrest, try, condemn, and hang without delay the envoys 
 as spies, and proceed on their journey. President Reed, 
 learning of the situation, soon arrived and quickly rem- 
 edied the complaints, while troops were despatched over 
 the mountains and through the deep snow from' West 
 Point, which quieted the disaffected New Jersey troops, 
 while General Putnam quelled a similar disturbance in the 
 Connecticut line by appealing in a powerful address to 
 
their manhood and patriotism and for their wives and 
 children in their desolate homes. 
 
 Through all these thrilling scenes and sufferings the 
 poverty and patriotism of the defenders of the Neutral 
 Grounds continued without murmur or hesitation to re- 
 main at the post of duty. 
 
 The following muster roll of a company of the First 
 Westchester County Regiment, which was originally com- 
 manded by Captain Gilbert Deane, was ordered on active 
 duty in Colonel Louis Dubois' Fifth Regiment of the line, 
 under command of Captain Gabriel Requa. Its former 
 headquarters was at Captain Requa's residence, which 
 still remains at Pocantico Hills. The three justices of the 
 peace who attached their signatures to the document 
 declared it to be a true enrollment of Captain Gabriel 
 Requa's company, composed of Whigs and Tories, the 
 sick, lame, lazy, and distressed of sixteen years of age 
 and upward. 
 
 General Putnam reported that Colonel Dubois' regi- 
 ment, to which this company was attached, was unfit to 
 be ordered on duty, "there being not one blanket in the 
 regiment ; very few have either a shoe or a shirt and most 
 of them have neither stockings, breeches, nor overalls." * 
 
 General Lafayette wrote that it takes citizens to sup- 
 port hunger, nakedness, toil, and the total want of pay, 
 which constitutes the condition of our soldiers — the 
 hardiest and most patient that are to be found in the 
 world. 
 
 A general officer wrote that the army wants, above all, 
 the true meaning of the words liberty, independence, etc., 
 that the child may not make use of them against his 
 father or the soldier against his officer. Notwithstanding 
 this long array of trials and difficulties, active efforts were 
 made for the approaching campaign of 1781, although it 
 gave little promise of success, as scarcely one-eighth of the 
 quota of troops promised had been furnished up to June 
 1st. General Washington and staff, however, at a meeting 
 with General Rochambeau at Weathersfield, on the 21st 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 22 
 
of May, arranged for the concentration of the allied armies 
 upon the Neutral Grounds. This arrangement was made 
 possible by the contribution of continental money con- 
 tributed by the private soldiers to defray the general's 
 expenses. At the hotel in Hartford, where he and stafT 
 were sumptuously entertained over night, he was agree- 
 ably surprised to learn that Governor Trumbull had di- 
 rected all bills for his entertainment while in the State of 
 Connecticut to be forwarded to him. 
 
 Relief, however, soon appears and shattered hope re- 
 vives, when the long-expected French allies set foot upon 
 our shores, and orders were issued for the American army 
 to meet and greet them upon the plateau of Philipsburgh. 
 General William Heath, who arrived upon this Poverty 
 Ridge of the Neutral Grounds on July 27th to take com- 
 mand of the right wing of the American army, states that 
 he found the position the American army now occupied 
 was between the lines of the preceding campaigns at 
 Philipsburgh. 
 
 Consequently the roads and commons, as well as fields 
 and pastures, were covered v/ith grass, while the many 
 desolate houses and ruined fences depicted the horrid 
 desolations of war. He reports that upon August 6th 
 the army continued in the same position — the right 
 wing commanded by himself; the left, by Major-General 
 Lord Sterling. The advance of the American forces, 
 under Colonel Scannel, on a height a little advanced of 
 Dobb's Ferry, and Sheldon's dragoons near that village. 
 The French army on one line on the left of the Ameri- 
 cans, with their legion under the Duke de Luzun at White 
 Plains, and General Waterbury with the militia toward 
 New Rochelle. Here we find the unreliable militia of 
 1776, the recognised veterans, occupying the posts of 
 honor and danger, while the commander-in-chief quietly 
 consummates his plans for the future campaign, and gave 
 opportunity to become acquainted and make the best of 
 the desolate surroundings, which were not entirely devoid 
 of the little courtesies of life, although the poverty of the 
 continent was so complete that General Washington was 
 
 23 
 
obliged to obtain a loan of money from the French com- 
 mander to pay his troops. 
 
 While the American officers were powerless from the 
 same causes to reciprocate the many compliments and 
 feasts extended to them by their French allies, that 
 patriot, General Baron Steuben, upon one occasion, it 
 is stated, actually sold a portion of his camp equi- 
 page in order to provide an entertainment for the officers 
 of the French army, declaring that he would give one 
 grand dinner, should he eat his soup with a wooden spoon 
 forever after. These were pleasant days for the rank 
 and file of the allied armies. No more appropriate camp 
 could have been selected within these Neutral Grounds 
 than the Poverty Ridge of Philipsburgh, centrally situ- 
 ated, with commanding views in all directions ; it gave 
 the commander-in-chief opportunity to consummate one 
 of those famous strategic plans that made him first in war, 
 first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen. 
 These movements required that his adversary should 
 speedily learn that the American forces proposed to 
 remain and become the aggressors in this Empire State. 
 Consequently redoubts were constructed and batteries 
 placed in conspicuous places, while deceptive letters 
 were written and forwarded by his trusted carriers and 
 guides, to be purposely captured by the enemy. Five 
 brick ovens were erected far in advance of the French 
 camp instead of their rear, showing full well that their 
 construction would be speedily communicated, by the 
 system of wireless telegraphy then in vogue, to the British 
 commander. General Washington, having completed his 
 works which had deceived and prevented his adversary 
 from leaving New York, communicated in confidence, on 
 August 17th, his plans to his trusted general. Heath; 
 and upon the 19th gave him minute written orders, 
 entrusting the command of the main army to his watch- 
 ful care, specifying the various regiments that were to 
 remain, with explicit directions to dismantle and demolish 
 the redoubt upon the east side of Dobb's Ferry, and trans- 
 porting the platforms up the river. The block-house on 
 
 24 
 
the other side, which, with the water guards, etc., that 
 had been under the special command of Captain Pray, 
 was to be retained or destroyed as he may think proper. 
 
 Note. — Dobb's Ferry of the Revolution was a very important military 
 post, consisting of some half-dozen dwellings. It contained one redoubt, 
 mounted with two eighteen-pounders, and two small batteries, in addition to 
 the redoubt upon the east side directed to be dismantled, the precise location 
 of which has not been ascertained. It was named in the year 1723, by the 
 lord of the manor, " New Wales," and was occupied by Thomas Hughson 
 (alias the Earl of Warwick). Only a portion of one of the original dwellings 
 now remains ; this was occupied previous to 1697 by Jan Heyert ; his 
 daughter Rebecca being the first child baptized in the old Dutch Church 
 at Sleepy Hollow, on April 21, 1697. He was living at the same place in 
 1732, and upon his death it was occupied by Richard Dusenbury, who con- 
 tinued to reside there until 1785, when the property was sold by the Com- 
 missioners of Forfeiture, since which it has had various owners. It is now 
 owned by Dr. Joseph Hasbrouck. 
 
 It is now the hour of noon. The commander and staff 
 leave their headquarters to the care of its former occu- 
 pant. Lieutenant Joseph Appleby, and proceed to the 
 camps, now all astir with bustle and activity, preparing to 
 take up their line of march toward the ferries. The secret 
 of their ultimate destination was unknown among them 
 when their general delivers his final orders and sets his 
 face once more toward his native State. Rapidly crossing 
 New Jersey, the army made a brief rest near the identi- 
 cal locality where the commander had discovered a large 
 herd of emaciated cattle, interspersed with a goodly 
 number of yearlings and calves. Upon learning from the 
 contractors that they were destined to be converted into 
 beef for the use of his army by the chief commissary, 
 orders were issued upon the spot, directing that officer 
 to kill only the largest and fattest of the herd, and turn 
 the others out, as it was a shame to waste salt and bar- 
 rels in trying to preserve the meat, which was already 
 so tough his soldiers could not eat it. 
 
 There were no political influences in that capital City 
 of Brotherly Love, where Congress held sway. Who dare 
 question the complete authority it had given the chief 
 of the army, who, by his clear judgment, his silence under 
 
 25 
 
difficulties, his heroic endurance, his calmness in the 
 hour of danger or defeat, and, above all, his lofty and 
 serene sense of duty that never swerved from its task 
 through resentment or jealousy, that knew no aim, save 
 that of guarding the freedom of his fellow countrymen, 
 caused not only loyal Americans to cling to him with a 
 trust and faith such as no other patriot has won', but 
 gave to him that irresistible aid and love of the loyal 
 American daughters of liberty, whose sentiments, labors, 
 and achievements throughout the confederation of States, 
 herewith published, brought joy and hope to these be- 
 nighted Neutral Grounds and materially hastened the 
 dawn of that preliminary peace that soon acknowledged 
 without reserve the 
 
 Independence of America. 
 
 THE SENTIMENTS OF AN AMERICAN WOMAN. 
 
 On the commencement of actual war the women of 
 America manifested a firm resolution to contribute as 
 much as could be expected of them to the deliverance of 
 their country. Animated by the purest patriotism, they 
 are sensible of sorrow at this day in not offering more 
 than barren wishes for the success of so glorious a revo- 
 lution. They aspire to render themselves more really 
 useful ; and this sentiment is universal from the north to 
 the south of the thirteen United States. Our ambition 
 is kindled by the fame of those heroines of antiquity 
 who have rendered their sex illustrious, and have proved 
 to the universe, that, if the weakness of our constitution, 
 if opinion and manners did not forbid us to march to 
 glory by the same paths as the men, we should at least 
 equal, and sometimes surpass, them in our love for the 
 public good. I glory in all that which my sex has done 
 great and commendable. I call to mind with enthusiasm 
 and with admiration all those acts of courage, of con- 
 stancy and patriotism, which history has transmitted to 
 
 26 
 
us ; the people favored by heaven, preserved from de- 
 struction by the virtues, the zeal, and resolution of Deb- 
 orah, of Judith, of Esther; the fortitude of the mother 
 of the Maccabees in giving up her sons to die before her 
 eyes ; Rome saved from the fury of a victorious enemy 
 by the efforts of Volumnia and other Roman ladies — so 
 many famous sieges where the women have been seen 
 forgetting the weakness of their sex ; building new walls ; 
 digging trenches with their feeble hands; furnishing arms 
 to their defenders, they themselves darting the missile 
 weapons on the enemy ; resigning the ornaments of their 
 apparel, and their fortune, to fill the public treasury, and 
 to hasten the deliverance of their country ; burying them- 
 selves under its ruins ; throwing themselves into the 
 flames, rather than submit to disgrace or humiliation 
 before a proud enemy. 
 
 Born for liberty, disdaining to bear the irons of a tyran- 
 nic government, we associate ourselves to the grandeur 
 of those sovereigns, cherished and revered, who have held 
 with so much splendor the sceptre of the greatest States ; 
 the Batildas, the Elizabeths, the Maries, the Catharines, 
 who have extended the empire of liberty, and contented 
 to reign by sweetness and justice, and broken the chains 
 of slavery forged by tyrants in the times of ignorance 
 and barbarity. The Spanish women, do they not make, 
 at this moment, the most patriotic sacrifices to increase 
 the means of victory in the hands of their sovereign ? 
 He is a friend to the French nation. They are our allies. 
 We call to mind, doubly interested, that it was a French 
 maid who kindled amongst her fellow-citizens the flame 
 of patriotism, buried under long misfortunes. It was 
 the Maid of Orleans who drove from the kingdom of 
 France the ancestors of those same British whose odi- 
 ous yoke we have just shaken off ; and whom it is necessary 
 that we drive from this continent. 
 
 But I must limit myself to the recollection of this smalt 
 number of achievements. Who knows if persons dis-' 
 posed to censure, and sometimes too severely with regard 
 to us, may not disapprove our appearing acquainted even 
 
 27 
 
with the actions of which our sex boasts? We are at 
 least certain that he cannot be a good citizen who will 
 not applaud our efforts for the relief of the armies which 
 defend our lives, our possessions, our liberty. The situa- 
 tion of our soldiery has been represented to me ; the evils 
 inseparable from war, and the firm and generous spirit 
 which has enabled them to support these. But it has 
 been said that they may apprehend that, in the course 
 of a long war, the view of their distresses may be lost, 
 and their services be forgotten. Forgotten ! Never ! 
 I can answer in the name of all my sex. Brave Ameri- 
 cans, your disinterestedness, your courage, and your con- 
 stancy will always be dear to America as long as she 
 shall preserve her virtue. 
 
 We know that, at a distance from the theatre of war, 
 if we enjoy any tranquillity, it is the fruit of your watch- 
 ing, your labors, your dangers. If I live happy in the 
 midst of my family; if my husband cultivates his iield, 
 and reaps his harvest in peace ; if, surrounded with my 
 children, I myself nourish the youngest, and press it to 
 my bosom, without being afraid of seeing m.yself sepa- 
 rated from it by a ferocious enemy ; if the house in which 
 we dwell, if our barns, our orchards are safe at the pres- 
 ent time from the hands of those incendiaries, it is to 
 you that we owe it. And shall we hesitate to evidence 
 to you our gratitude ? Shall we hesitate to wear a cloth- 
 ing more simple, hair-dresses less elegant, while at the 
 price of this small privation we shall deserve your bene- 
 dictions ? Who amongst us will not renounce with the 
 highest pleasure those vain ornaments, when she shall 
 consider that the valiant defenders of America will be 
 able to draw some advantage from the money which she 
 may have laid out in these ; that they will be better de- 
 fended from the rigors of the seasons; that after their 
 painful toils they will receive some extraordinary and 
 unexpected relief; that these presents will perhaps be 
 valued by them at a greater price when they will have 
 it in their power to say : This is the offering of the Ladies ? 
 The time is arrived to display the same sentiments which 
 
 28 
 
animated us at the beginning of the Revolution, when 
 we renounced the use of teas, however agreeable to our 
 taste, rather than receive them from our persecutors ; 
 when we made it appear to them that we placed former 
 necessaries in the rank of superfluities when our liberty- 
 was interested ; when our republican and laborious hands 
 spun the flax, prepared the linen intended for the use of 
 our soldiers ; when, exiles and fugitives, we supported 
 with courage all the evils which are the concomitants of 
 war. Let us not lose a moment ; let us be engaged to 
 offer the homage of our gratitude at the altar of military- 
 valor; and you, our brave deliverers, while mercenary- 
 slaves combat to cause you to share with them the irons 
 with which they are loaded, receive with a free hand 
 our offering, the purest which can be presented to your 
 virtue. 
 
 An American Woman. 
 
 IDEAS RELATIVE TO THE MANNER OF FORWARDING 
 TO THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS THE PRESENTS OF 
 THE AMERICAN WOMEN. 
 
 All plans are eligible when doing good is the object ; 
 there is, however, one more preferable ; and when the 
 operation is extensive, we can not give it too much uni- 
 formity. On the other side, the wants of our army do 
 not permit the slowness of an ordinary pace. It is not 
 in one month, nor in eight days, that we would relieve 
 our soldiery. It is immediately ; and our impatience 
 does not permit us to proceed by the long circuity of 
 collectors, receivers, and treasurers. As my ideas in re- 
 gard to this have been approved by some ladies of my 
 friends, I will explain them here ; every other person 
 will not be less at liberty to propose and to adopt a differ- 
 ent plan. 
 
 1st. All women and girls will be received, without ex- 
 ception, to present their patriotic offering; and, as it is 
 absolutely voluntary, every one will regulate it according 
 
 29 
 
to her ability and her disposition. The shilling offered 
 by the widow or the young girl will be received as well 
 as the most considerable sums presented by the women 
 who have the happiness to join to their patriotism greater 
 means to be useful. 
 
 2d. A lady chosen by the others in each county shall 
 be the Treasuress ; and to render her task more simple, 
 and more easy, she will not receive but determinate sums, 
 in a round number, from twenty hard dollars to any 
 greater sum. The exchange forty dollars in paper for 
 one dollar in specie. 
 
 It is hoped that there will not be one woman who will 
 not with pleasure charge herself with the embarrassment 
 which will attend so honorable an operation. 
 
 3d. The women who shall not be in a condition to send 
 twenty dollars in specie, or above, will join in as great a 
 number as will be necessary to make this or any greater 
 sum, and one amongst them will carry it, or cause it to 
 be sent, to the Treasuress. 
 
 4th. The Treasuress of the county will receive the 
 money, and will keep a register, writing the sums in her 
 book, and causing it to be signed at the side of the whole 
 by the person who has presented it. 
 
 5th. When several women shall join together to make 
 a total sum of twenty dollars or more, she amongst them 
 who shall have the charge to carry it to the Treasuress 
 will make mention of all their names on the register, if her 
 associates shall have so directed her ; those whose choice 
 it shall be v.'ill have the liberty to remain unknown. 
 
 6th. As soon as the Treasuress of the county shall 
 judge that the sums which she shall have received de- 
 serve to be sent to their destination, she will cause them 
 to be presented, with the lists, to the wife of the Governor 
 or President of the State, who will be the Treasuress- 
 General of the State; and she will cause it to be set 
 down in her register, and have it sent to Mistress Wash- 
 ington, If the Governor or President is unmarried, all 
 will address themselves to the wife of the Vice-President, 
 if there is one, or of the Chief-Justice, etc. 
 
 30 
 
7th. Women settled in the distant parts of the country, 
 and not choosing for any particular reason, as for the sake 
 of greater expedition, to remit their capital to the Treas- 
 uress, may send it directly to the wife of the Governor, 
 or President, etc., or to Mistress Washington, who, if she 
 shall judge necessary, will in a short answer to the sender 
 acquaint her with the reception of it. 
 
 8th. As Mrs. Washington may be absent from the 
 camp when the greater part of the banks shall be sent 
 there, the American women, considering that General 
 Washington is the father and friend of the soldiery; that 
 he is himself the first soldier of the Republic, and that 
 their offering will be received at its destination as soon as 
 it shall have come to his hands, they will pray him to take 
 charge of receiving it, in the absence of Mrs. Washington. 
 
 9th. General Washington will dispose of this sum in 
 the manner that he shall judge most advantageous to the 
 soldiery. The American women desire only that it may 
 not be considered as to be employed to procure to the 
 army the objects of subsistence, arms, or clothing, which 
 are due to them by the continent. It is an extraordinary 
 bounty, intended to render the condition of the soldier 
 more pleasant, and not to hold place of the things which 
 they ought to receive from the Congress, or from the 
 States. 
 
 loth. If the General judges necessary, he will publish 
 at the end of a certain time an account of that which 
 shall have been received from each particular State. 
 
 nth. The women who shall send their offerings will 
 have in their choice to conceal or to give their names ; 
 and if it shall be thought proper, on a fit occasion, to 
 publish one day the lists, they only who shall consent 
 shall be named ; when with regard to the sums sent, 
 there will be no mention made if they so desire it. 
 
 The American Daughters of Liberty were organized 
 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 22, 1780, in conse- 
 quence of the publication of the " Sentiments of an 
 American Woman." 
 
 31 
 
The Philadelphia branch appointed committees to 
 make a house-to-house canvass in every ward of that city 
 to solicit contributions, with which they purchased mate- 
 rials and made 2,030 shirts. The society in New Jersey 
 made 70 shirts and knit 380 pairs of stockings, all of which 
 first contribution was delivered to a special ofificer sent 
 by General Washington to receive them, and who delivered 
 General Washington's letter of thanks to the ladies, 
 dated December 26, 1780. 
 
 32 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Westchester County, 
 
 State of New York. 
 
 Permit the bearers hereof ABRAHAM ACKER & JOHN BUCK- 
 HOUT, to pass to their homes at or near Tarrytown on Phillips 
 Manor. The above Abraham Acker I recommend to be a rail 
 frind to the Independence of America likewise by the best accounts 
 the aforesaid Buckhout. 
 
 Given under my hand this sixth day of Febuary, 1783, at Peeks- 
 kill per me 
 
 John Van Tassel, 
 
 Justice of the Peace. 
 
 PAY BOOK 
 
 OF 
 
 THE STATE COMPANY OF ARTILLERY, 
 
 COMMANDED BY ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, Captain. 
 James Moore, Captain Lieutenant. 
 James Gilliland, First Lieutenant. 
 John Bane, Second Lieutenant. 
 Thomas Thompson, Third Lieutenant. 
 Samuel Smith, Sergeant. 
 Richard Taylor, Sergeant. 
 James Deasy, Sergeant. 
 Robert Barber, Corporal. 
 James Stakes, Corporal. 
 Martin Johnson, Corporal. 
 Thomas Lewis, Bombardier. 
 
 33 
 
 L«fa 
 
Lawrence Barry, Bombardier.' 
 Isaac Sayers, Bombardier. 
 Martin Lauler, Bombardier. 
 Joseph Peach, Bombardier. 
 Samuel Thurston, Bombardier. 
 Thomas Taylor, Gunner. 
 Joseph Haight, Gunner. 
 Aris Remsen, Gunner. 
 Jacob King, Drummer. 
 Adam King, Drummer. 
 Christopher Putt, Fifer. 
 James Galloway, Fifer. 
 Robert Burrage, Motross.* 
 Michael Bowers, Motross. 
 John Burnside, Motross. 
 Uriah Crawford, Motross. 
 Thomas Ryan, Motross. 
 John Martin, Motross. 
 Matthew O'Harro, Motross. 
 James Forbes, Motross. 
 David Miller, Motross. 
 Aaron Robins, Motross. 
 William Van Lile, Motross. 
 William Hackett, Motross. 
 James Bradley, Motross. 
 Elisha Shell, Motross. 
 Hugh Cameron, Barber. 
 William Higgins, Motross. 
 David Johnson, Motross. 
 James Mootry, Motross. 
 John Heyer, Motross. 
 John Davis, Motross. 
 James McGeers, Motross. 
 James McGee, Motross. 
 Thomas Delanoy, Motross. 
 James Swan, Motross. 
 John Hervey, Motross. 
 John Wood, Motross. 
 Henry Dely, Motross. 
 John Peling, Motross. 
 George Garland, Motross, 
 John Griffiths, Motross. 
 Thomas Harwood, Motross. 
 Isaac Johnson, Motross. 
 
 * Assistant to a gunner. 
 34 
 
William Lockhart, Motross. 
 
 John Hammond, Motross. 
 
 Joseph Mason, Motross. 
 
 Stephen Morris, Motross. 
 
 Thomas Stratford, Motross. 
 
 Gilbert Wood, Motross. 
 
 Christopher Brangen, Motross. 
 
 Robert Higgins, Motross. 
 
 Andrew 'Westerfield, Motross. 
 
 Bernard Hudson^ Motross. 
 
 Robert Graham, Motross. 
 
 Henry McDermot, Motross. 
 
 William Scott, Motross. 
 
 Robert Cunningham, Motross. 
 
 Michael Fortisque Higginson, Motross. 
 
 John Mays, Motross. 
 
 Patrick Kelly, Motross. 
 
 John Cockran, Motross. 
 
 Joseph Boice, Motross. 
 
 Elijah Sherwood, Motross. 
 
 Farrel Sommers, Motross. 
 
 Donald McLean, Motross. 
 
 John Kelly, Motross. 
 
 John Lilly, Motross. 
 
 Richard Kitchen, Motross. 
 
 William Sharpe, Motross. 
 
 Alexander Matthey, Motross. 
 
 Joseph Compton, Motross. 
 
 Peter Cavalier, Motross. 
 
 Cornelius Ouackenbos, Motross. 
 
 Daniel Halstead, Motross. 
 
 John Brown, Motross. 
 
 MORINUS Van Winkle, Motross. 
 
 Thomas Dunn, Motross. 
 
 Samuel Sealy, Motross. 
 
 Hugh McEun, Motross. 
 
 John Stanton, Motross. 
 
 Robert Brown, Motross. 
 
 James Watson, Motross. 
 
 James Higgins, Motross. 
 
 New York, August jist, iTj6. 
 
 35 
 
ENROLLMENT OF CAPTAIN GABRIEL RE- 
 QUAW'S COMPANY OF THE SOUTH 
 BATTALION OF THE FIRST REGIMENT 
 OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY MILITIA. 
 
 James Hammond, Colonel. 
 Jonathan P. Horton, Major. 
 Gabriel Requaw, Captain. 
 William Veal, Lieutenant. 
 John Dean, Sergeant. 
 John Helker, Sergeant. 
 
 Joseph Requaw. 
 Benj. Oakley. 
 Elija Leggett. 
 William Fosha, Sen. 
 James Fosha. 
 Peter Fosha. 
 Nicolas Cooper, 
 Simon Sharpanat. 
 Daniel Requaw. 
 Abraham Requaw. 
 John Requaw. 
 Asm. Van Tassel. 
 William Davids. 
 Jacob Van Wart. 
 Abraham Delanoy. 
 Cornelius Joons. 
 Abm Devoe. 
 John Devoe. 
 Ned Bugbee. 
 Ram Vanfore. 
 Harma Williams. 
 Isaac Hammon. 
 Undrel Lynch. 
 Jonothan Lynch. 
 Thomas Uphra. 
 James Hammon. 
 John Ackerman. 
 Tunis Cusser, Sen. 
 
 Tunis Cusser, Jun. 
 Dan Darbesshee. 
 WiLHAM Waterman. 
 William Tomkins. 
 Hendrick Banker. 
 Abosolom Merot. 
 John Williams. 
 Neremiah Baker. 
 Jeremiah Baker. 
 Jonothan Baker, 
 Isaac See. 
 David Fowler. 
 Henry Crawford. 
 Mathew Brower. 
 Lewis Apoine. 
 Josh Hatful. 
 James See. 
 Peter See. 
 John See. 
 John Sifer. 
 John Forsha. 
 Abraham See. 
 Miles Oakley. 
 Jonothan Clark. 
 Samuel Purdy. 
 Joseph Maybee. 
 John Hall, 
 Myers Hall. 
 
 36 
 
Gores Storms. 
 Lewis Sniffin. 
 Andrew Champenois. 
 Thomas Polden. 
 John Stoorms. 
 David Davis. 
 Gilbert Horton. 
 Caleb Horton. 
 John Horton. 
 Gabriel Macfarden. 
 James Macfarden. 
 Aaron Bise. 
 William Fields. 
 Asa Read. 
 John Hammon, Sen. 
 Stephen Williams. 
 Jacob Stimets. 
 Thomas Champenois. 
 
 Samuel Fisher. 
 JooATHAN Polden, Sen. 
 John Yerks, Sen. 
 William Yerks. 
 John Yerks. 
 James Yerks. 
 Abraham Sifer. 
 Jacob Brower. 
 John Britt. 
 William Britt. 
 Caleb Oakley, Sen. 
 Joseph Conklin. 
 Richard Peacock. 
 Thomas Dean, 
 
 one of the Justices of the Peace. 
 James Requa, 
 
 one of the Justices of the Peace. 
 
 A true Return of Capt. Requa's Company, Wigs, Torys, Sick, 
 Lame, Lasy and Detrest from the age of sixteen and upwards. 
 
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