A Bronx (and Yonkers) Tale of Two Valentines

Detail from a map of a portion of Westchester County NY
showing fortifications and localities in the 1770s

References to Valentine's Hill during the Revolutionary War might pertain to either of two different localities near the lower end of the Hudson Valley just north of Manhattan.  Each was significant during this period, featuring maneuvers, skirmishes, and occupations from time to time by both Crown and Whig forces.  Both were in what was then lower Westchester County. One site lies in the Bronx and refers to a hillside just North of the stone house owned during the war by Issac Valentine, and the other is just a few miles away in Yonkers and named for the family of Matthias Valentine (1698-1781), a freeholder whose leasehold of the property from Philipse Manor dates to 1720. Just to make things even more interesting, also Isaac Valentine was also originally from Yonkers, both men were apparently unrelated.

Having two places within a few miles of each other called Valentine's Hill can make things confusing for the unwary researcher.  Boatner's brief entry for Valentine's Hill in his Encyclopedia of the American Revolution identities it as the site of Mount Independence but makes no mention the more prominent Valentine's Hill northwest of Mile Square in Yonkers where there were a number of significant skirmishes and where Washington twice made his headquarters.  Claude Joseph Sauthier's 1777 map, A Plan of the Operations of the Kings Army Under the Command of Sr. William Howe K.B., not only located Fort Independence in the wrong area, but also mistakenly places Mile Square by the southern of the two Valentine's Hills at the actual location of William's Bridge.

Detail from the Saultier map (1777) that misidentifies Mile Square

As a service to students of the history of this period and region, here is a listing of significant episodes that took place during the Revolution at what I will refer to as Isaac Valentine's Hill near Kingsbridge and at what I will call Matthias Valentine's Hill near Mile Square in Yonkers .

Matthias Valentine's Hill
(Nearby localities: Valentine's Bridge, Mile Square, Mile Square Road, Tippett's Brook, Post's Hill, Saw Mill River, Philipses' Manor)

The eminence  known as Valentine's Hill took its name from Matthias Valentine, whose grandsons Thomas and Gilbert lived here as tenants of the Philipse Manor during the Revolution.  The area was contested territory deep within "The Neutral Ground" and was occupied at various times by each of the opposing forces.  Col. Frederick Philipse was a staunch loyalist whose lands were confiscated in 1779.  The Valentines subsequently acquired more than two hundred acres of Valentine's Hill in 1785 when the Philipse lands were broken up and sold. Today, Valentine's Hill is the site of St. Joseph's Seminary, which is bounded on the north by the Cross County Parkway and on the south and west by Valentine Street.  Nearby, Mile Square Road echos that long forgotten settlement.

[Summer 1775] The summit of Valentine's Hill is entrenched for the first time with a hill fort that will be expanded and re-occupied at subsequent periods by both Whig and Crown forces.

[October 21- 22, 1776] George Washington made his headquarters with General Lincoln at "Valentine's at Mile Square" a week before the Battle of White Plains. His expenses were 20 dollars.  While there, his correspondence included a letter to Elizabeth Williams Philipse, wife of the patroon.  Elizabeth Valentine (1767 - 1854) is the source of an apocryphal account of a morning prayer lead by Washington with his staff.

[January 27, 1777] Once again making his headquarters at Valentine's Hill, General Benjamin Lincoln wrote:

" These may certify, that on or about the 25th day of October last, I ordered Thomas Valentine's one yoke of oxen and cart, to be taken for the public service. They carried a load to the White Plains. There I discharged them. I am informed they were further taken on their return, and that Mr. Valentine hath not received them."

[January 1778] William Erskine encamped on Valentine's Hill.

[August 31, 1778]  The decimation of the Native American company of Stockbridge Militia that took place along the Mile Square road between Cortland's Woods and what is now Woodlawn cemetery in the Bronx.  This was about midway between the two Valentine's Hills, and as Brigadier General Charles Scott's letter of that date to General Washington makes clear, the Stockbridge men marched south from Matthias Valentine's Hill prior to the ambush:

"...about 8 oClock this morning Colo. Gist Fell in with a partie of the enemy about two mile Below Philaps’s hous and after exchanging a fiew Shot they gave way leaving one killed Dead & Making three prisoners the Colo. Returnd to his Usial post without any loss—But I am sorry To inform Your Excellency that they retalliated on us in a Very fiew hours, Majr Steward with a partie of about forty, and Capt. Nimham with about the Same number parted at Volentines hill and appointed to meet at the forks of a road near the Enemys Picquet, but before or Rather about their meeting they saw a partie of horse In front after exchanging a fiew Shot the Horse Gave way the indians persued when they war led Into an ambucade Serounded by a large body of Horse and foot, as was also the Majrs partie there are not more than fourteen Indians Yet com in among the missing is Capt. Nimham his father and the whole of the officers of that Corps, Majr Steward tells me that he misses a Capt. Sub. & About twenty men from his partie, I am in Hopes it is not so bad as it at Preasant appears But I cant promise my self that it will be much Short of it..."

[September, 1778] During the Grand Forage, General Kyphausen deployed his forces between Philipse Hall and Valentine's Hill as shown on the following contemporary map.

[July 2-4 1781] Washington returns to Valentine's Hill and makes his headquarters here while the combined Franco-American forces encamp at Philipsburgh.

Isaac Valentine's Hill
(Nearby localities: Kingsbridge, Fort Independence, Boston Road; Negro Fort, Valentine's house, Williams' house, William's Bridge and Fordham Manor)

Isaac Valentine was a successful blacksmith and farmer from Yonkers who purchased his land on the Boston Road from the financially insolvent Dutch Reformed Church and build a two story stone house there in 1758. Isaac Valentine's family remained in residence during most of the war after an 11 months hiatus in 1776, but financial hardship in the early 1790's compelled him to sell his home and land to Isaac Varian.  His house still survives and is the second oldest residence in the Bronx.  It was moved in 1965 about 100 yards to its current location on the West side of the Williams Reservoir Oval as the home of the Museum of Bronx History at the Valentine-Varian House.

[1/17/1776] A large number of American field pieces that had been stockpiled in Valentine's fields and on adjacent Williams' lands were spiked or "loaded with stones and other rubbish" by local Tories.  More than 82 guns were unspiked in the following months. [Edsell, T.H.: History of the Town of Kingsbridge (1887) pg. 23].

Portion of a map from October, 1776 prepared for General Sullivan by Alexander Scammell
[Fort Independence is Number 11 on the map, and "Volentine's" lies to the East]

[1/17/1777 - 1/29/1777] The short-lived siege of Fort Independence by 6,000 CT state troops and New York militia included an engagement on January 25th in which a force of Hessians and the Kings Rangers drove the Americans off Valentine's Hill until they brought up artillery support and later retook the ground.   John Woodruff of Litchfield, CT served in Captain Shubel Griswold's Company in Col. Whiting's State Regiment in 1777 and described his part in the action as follows:

"Our Comp’y was then stationed at Delancy’s Mills for a month or longer, and while we were there we were attacked by the enemy in the month of January or February, and driven back to Valentine’s Hill where we had an action. Our Compy was the only compy stationed at the Mills, but several other companies were stationed at or near the Hill. The attack at the Mills was very sudden and we had hardly time to escape leaving our packs and baggage behind us. When we reached the Hill we met the other troops where a stand was made. Genl Wooster commanded during the engagement, and soon commanded a retreat to the Hollow, where we formed and brought up some field pieces to bear on the enemy when they retreated. One from our compy, Levi Smith was killed in this action. After the action our Compy were stationed for a few days at Valentine’s Hill, and then returned towards Saw Pits... [Pension S.15721"

[August 26, 1777] The Orderly Book of Delancey's (Loyalist) Brigade contains the following entry:

Detail from A Map of the Country Adjacent to Kingsbridge (1781)
Prepared for General Clinton

"A Detachment of the Rebel Light Horse having carried off on Friday Morning last [August 22, 1777] part of the Picquet at Valentines Hill, through the Negligence of the Officer Commanding that out Post, the General desires to return his Thanks Major Genl Tryon, then Genl of the day for the disposition he made to check further the Insult of the Enemy who were lurking in some Force about our out Posts near Kingsbridge."

[July 21-23,1781]  During the Grand Reconnaissance, in which a combined American and French force considered an attack on Manhattan, General Rochambeau found accommodation on July 22, 1781 at Issac Valentine's House.  The allied forces briefly occupied territory that included Isaac Valentine's Hill and stretched from Fort Independence to Williams Bridge and south to Delancey's Mills.

There are still some episodes from the war that require further confirmation before determining to which Valentine's Hill they refer.  One of these is contained within the memoirs of General Heath, who recorded on September 16, 1782:

"The enemy made a grand forage near Valentine's Hill; Sir Guy Carlton was out in person, as was the young prince [William Henry]. The covering party, it was said, consisted of 5 or 6,000 men."

Sgt Enos Barnes Recalls His Miraculous Deliverance During Tryon's Raid and the Burning of Norwalk Connecticut

Sergeant Enos Barn[e]s lived in the South Farms area of what was then Litchfield and is now Morris Connecticut.  The Morris Historical Society has a transcript of an unpublished diary or memoir written by Barnes to record his service during the American Revolution.  Running more than 36 pages, the transcript offers a unique perspective on several well-known events between 1776 and 1783, including participation in the attack on Trenton and the Battle of Princeton and Monmouth.  It also includes episodes that were of particular significance to him as a participant.  Among these was his service, with a detachment from the Connecticut line, in the defense of Norwalk Connecticut during Tryon's raid in July 1779.  The following excerpt provides one of the very few first-hand accounts that we have today by an enlisted participant in that fight.

“…The enemy lay very still in New York, and our army received orders to march to Fredericksborough [1], where we lay taking the pleasures that soldiers in a military life could expect. At length we received orders to march to a place called Second Hill in Connecticut State [2] where we stayed till some time in November [1778], then we received orders to march to Redding where we built huts and tarried there during the winter.
At this time we had but little news from the enemy, but however when Spring came and the weather grew warm, we had orders to take the field so marching from our old quarters, going to a place called Crumford [3] where we took quarters for some days. At length we received orders to march to Peek’s[kill] but our stay here was short for we soon moved to a place called Nelson’s Point [4] where we pitched again. At length news came that the enemy was moving to the eastward, but their destination was as yet unknown to us. Immediately from this, orders came that a detachment from the Connecticut Line should be sent to Bedford. With this party it happened to be my lot to go. So we marched to the place with all haste imaginable and took quarters. But about 12 o’clock that night we had orders to turn out and with all speed. We marched off and came into Stamford about sunrise. Then the news came that the enemy had landed at Fairfield [5] and set the town on fire, and consumed it to ashes. But soon there was speedy news come that the enemy was come along the sound and was lying off against Norwalk. We then received orders to march there as soon as possible which we cheerfully obeyed. After we arrived there we perceived by the motions of the enemy that they were about to land. Accordingly next morning about break of day they began to land and they continued it till the sun was about an hour high and it was not in our power to prevent it for they landed under cover of their shipping. By this time there was some thousands of militia collected in bodies around the town and the continental troops that was there consisted of about 120 [6]. Now it being 7 o’clock in the morning we had orders to advance and begin the attack. Dividing the detachment of Continental troops into three parts, advancing up we gave them a salute, which they returned in the warmest terms. We kept up the fire for some hours hot and heavy till some fired upwards of 50 cartridges. At last we were obliged to give back by reason of the militia not being disciplined and did not conduct themselves like experienced warriors.

One thing I will mention and thanks be to the Almighty for my Deliverance which was very miraculous. I was ordered to move a little to the left to see if the enemy was likely to advance upon our flanks, and as I was getting over a fence I found myself almost in an ambush of the enemy, for they let fly a shower of balls upon me. But providentially a man was getting over the fence on my right with his musket in his left hand which brought his bayonet close to my head and a ball struck that, took a piece out of it and glanced the ball by my head, which in all probability would have gone through my head provided the bayonet had not been there.
By this time the whole town was on fire, which was a terrible sight to behold, to see a whole town consumed in flames. The enemy now began to draw near the water, and so went on board again and fell down to the sound westward [7]. We then was ordered to march back to Stamford where we stayed one night. After this we made again to Peekskill where we pitched out tents and lay till the weather grew so cold it that was time to go for winter quarters. We then received orders to march for Morristown where we built huts in order to take quarters for that winter. But we did not enjoy our huts long for the Connecticut line received orders to march down and guard the line going into a place called Springfield [New Jersey], where we took quarters during the winter…”

[1] Fredericksburgh was an area in the eastern portion of the Philipse Manor, now part of Patterson and Southeast, Putnam County, New York. The Continental Army encampment in 1778 was located here.

[2] The October 1778 muster roll for Wright’s company was dated 11/4/1778 at Second Hill, possibly a locality by than name in Stratford, CT.  By the next muster December 2^nd, they were at Redding.

[3] Crum Pond or Crompond was located to the east of Cortlandt Manor in what is now Yorktown, Westchester County, NY, and a popular rendezvous place for CT state troops during the war.  The 5/15/1779 muster for Wright’s company of the 5^th CT Continentals was taken at this place.

[4] Nelson’s or Nielson’s Point was located opposite West Point on the East side of the Hudson River.  Wright’s company of the 5^th CT was mustered here in August and September 1779

[5] Fairfield was burned on July 7, 1779 during General Tryon’s punitive raid on Coastal Connecticut.  Tryon attacked New Haven and East Haven July 5 and 6^th; Fairfield on July 7^th, and Norwalk on July 11^th.

[6]  Enos Barnes was during this period was a Sergeant in Captain Jonathan A. Wright’s company of Col. Philip Burr Bradley’s 5^th Connecticut Continental regiment.  According to an account of the battle written by Brigadier General Parsons [ see note 7, below] , the Continental Troops available to him at Norwalk were commanded by three Captains: Betts, Eels and Sherman.  Captain Stephen Betts of Stamford was in Webb's, later Butler's 2nd CT Regiment. Captain Edward Eells of Middletown was in Wylly's 3rd CT Regiment.  These officers commanded detachments comprising men from different units and companies, as is evident from Barnes's service from the 5th CT. About a dozen men from his company are listed "on Duty" during this period, including two Sergeants and a Corporal, and perhaps some of these were with Parsons at Norwalk under one or more of these Captains.

[7] The battle of Norwalk was the last action of Tryon’s Raid on coastal Connecticut.  His official report of the action reads as follows:

“The sun being nearly set before the 54^th, the Landgrave’s Regiment and the Jagers were in the boats, it was near nine in the evening when I landed them at the Cow Pasture, a Peninsula on the east of the Harbour within a mile and a half of the bridge, which formed a communication between the east and west parts of the village, nearly equally divided by a salt creek. The King’s American Regiment being unable to join us before three next morning,  we lay that night on our arms. In our march at the dawn of day, the 54^th lead the column and soon fell in with the rebel outposts, and driving the Enemy with great alacrity and spirit, dispossessed them of Drummond Hill, the heights at the end of the village, east from and commanding the bridge.  It being now but four o’clock in the morning and the rebels having taken post within random cannon shot upon the hills of the north, I resolved to halt until the Second Division landed at the Old Wells, on the west side of the harbour, had advanced and formed the junction. Gen. Garth’s division passed the bridge by nine, and at my desire, proceeded to the north end of the village, from whence, and especially from the houses, there had been a fire for five hours upon our advanced guards. The Fuzileers, supported by the Light Infantry of the Guards, began the attack, and soon cleared that quarter, pushing the main body, and an hundred cavalry, from the northern heights, and taking one piece of their cannon.
   After many salt pans were destroyed, whale boats carried on board the flied, and the magazines, stores and vessels set in flames, with the greatest part of the dwelling houses, the advanced corps were drawn back, and the troops relieved in two columns, to the place of our first debarkation, and unassaulted took ship and returned to Huntington Bay.…The rebels in arms at new Haven were considerable, more numerous at Fairfield, and still more so at Norwalk. There were two hundred and fifty Continental troops had now joined their militia, under Gen. Parsons, and together were said to be upwards of two thousand. The accounts of their loss are vague. It could not be trifling.”

Brigadier Samuel Parsons wrote to George Washington later that day after the British had withdrawn:

Wilton [Conn.] 11th July 79

Dr Genl

In my last, I informd that the Enemy landed last Night: at four this Morning the Enemy on their Advance were met by the Militia & some Skirmishing insued, but without any considerable Effect on either Side; at about Six o’Clock the Troops under Genl Wolcott, & my Small Detachment of 150 Conl Troops were joind & took possession of an Emminece the North End of the Town. the Enemy advanced in our Front & on our left Flank until about 9 o’Clock when they were checkd in their Progress by the Vigorous Exertions of the Parties of Militia & Conl Troops sent out to oppose them; and in Turn were compeld to retire from Hill to Hill at some Times in great Disorder; we continued to advance upon them until near 11 o’Clock when a Column having nearly gaind our Right Flank; the Militia in the Center gave Way & retreated in Disorder; this gave the Enemy Possession of our Ground. Genl Wolcott who commanded exerted himself on this Occasion to raly the Troops & bring them to Order again; but without Effect until they had retird about Two Miles when some Troops being again formd returnd to the Aid of the Right & left Wings who had retird but a Small Distance & in Order with these the Enemy were pursued again and retreated with Precipitation to their ships. I have the Pleasure to assure your Excellency the Conl Troops without Exception, they being all ingagd behavd with the greatest Bravery. Capt. Betts who was the first engaged with the Enemy & who continued longest in Action deserves Particular Notice for his great Fortitude & prudent Conduct in the Battle, he continued Advancing on the Enemy until the Center of the main Body gave way & he with his Party advancd near a Mile at the Time by his Prudence were able to effect a regular Retreat without any considerable Loss. Capt. Eells on the Right & Cpt. Sherman on the Left were also ingagd & when obliged to retire kept their Order & retreated with Regularity. A Body of the Militia I think they were commanded by Major [Phineas] Porter & another Considerable Detachment deserve honorable mention to be made of them. I am not yet able to assertain our own or the Enemy’s Loss but in my next shall be able to give a more particular Account. in my handful of Conl Troops, I have lost five Men kild; Lieut. [Samuel] Gibbs [of the 3rd CT] & Six Privates Wounded. I don’t know of any missing; some Loss the Militia have sustain’d. I am satisfied the Loss of the Enemy must have been considerable. About Twenty Boats landed on the West Side the Harbour at five o’clock & immediately began to set fire to the Buildings, they compleated burning the Town at about twelve o’Clock; this appears to have been their sole Business as they ⟨did⟩ not stay to carry off any Plunder of con⟨side⟩rable Value A few Tory Houses are left which I hope our People will burn, as the Owners are here and have committed no Act by which the public can seise them: I imagine Stamford will be the next object to wreck their hellish Malice upon, to that Place I shall repair to Morrow. I am fully persuaded that five Hundred more Men such as the brave Militia I have before mentiond & the 150 Conl Troops would have given the Enemy a total defeat. the Numbers of the Enemy were about 2000. our Numbers between 900 & 1100. I am Dr Genl yr Obedt Servt

Saml H. Parsons

 Captain Stephen Betts later gave the following deposition at Norwalk on July 26^th, 1779:

“That on the 11th Instant, while the Enemy invaded Norwalk, he with about Fifty Continental Troops, and some Militia ingaged a superior Number of the Enemy, which oblidged them to give way to an unequal Force, as they retreated John Waters a continental Soldier fell into the Enemys Hands and delivered up his Arms and begged for Life, but the Enemy notwithstanding assaulted him with Bayonets with which they stabed him in sundry places, and then one of them presented his piece, and aimed (as the Captive supposed) at his Body, but missing that the Ball shattered his Arm whereupon finding no Qua⟨r⟩ter he made a strong Effort to escape which he happily effected, soon after the above Accident, John Rich an other Continental Soldier was shot so as to fall and as the Enemy were nigh and Crowded fast on our People he desired Capt. Betts to leave him, as they could not take him off without the greatest Hazard, Capt. Betts saw Rich no more, but says Capt. Eeles of Colonel Wyllys’s Regiment told him he saw Rich after the Enemy had retreated, about two Hours after Capt. Betts saw him, he was then dead, and the Top of his Skull torn off supposed to be blown off by a Musquet to dispach him and further saith not”

The First Cruise of the USS Ranger in 1777-1778 as Remembered in Veterans' Pension Applications (Part I)

The first cruise of the United States Sloop of War Ranger under Captain John Paul Jones is celebrated in the annals of US Naval History for its daring and audacious raids on the British home islands, the taking of six prizes and the destruction of several more, and the defeat and capture of the 20-gun Sloop of War Drake after a bloody engagement in the Irish Sea.  The cruise is well-documented in Volumes 10-12 of the Naval Documents of the American Revolution (NDAR), but there are other details-some of them unique in the surviving record - preserved within the pension application files on the service of some of the officers, seamen and marines who served on the Ranger in 1777 and 1778.

Perhaps the most comprehensive and revealing of these accounts lies in the narrative of Revolutionary service presented by Solomon Hutchins of Kittery Maine, who made not one but three voyages on the Ranger and was one of the last of her crew to apply for and receive a pension in 1832 (S.2504).  Hutchins was no fan of Captain Jones - he omits the honorific "Esq." which most of the other applicants appended to their Captain's name - and some of the fo'c'sle gossip he offers in his account as explanations for John Paul Jones' behavior during the cruise should be considered in the light of other conflicting documentation.  Nonetheless his narrative on the whole is remarkably consistent with other declarations by Ranger veterans and official accounts and Hutchins provides a wealth of eye-witness detail that makes it clear that he was either an observer or participant in the episodes he describes.

In this, the first of a multi-part series on the first cruise of the USS Ranger in 1777-1778 as remembered in their pension applications by those who served on board during this time, we follow Solomon Hutchins from his enlistment in Portsmouth as a marine through his service as a seaman under Captain Jones and then with Captain Simpson on the return home across the Atlantic, and his subsequent service under Simpson that resulted in his twice being captures and his saving a part of the Ranger's pennant by fashioning it into a handkerchief.  This transcription has being broken up into paragraphs for ease of reading but is otherwise as recorded in 1832 in Hutchin's pension application:

"…he entered as a marine aboard the ship Ranger for twelve months the time he does not recollect but it was while the said ship was lying at Portsmouth N.H. that he served as a sailor aboard said ship – that he sailed from said Portsmouth in the fall of the year [Novemner 1, 1777] and returned the next fall [October 1778] that when he sailed said ship was commanded by John Paul Jones    [Thomas] Simpson of said Portsmouth was first Lieutenant – [Elijah] Hall of said Portsmouth was second Lieutenant  - and [David] Cullam was sailing master That he does not recollect the name of the captain of Marines [1.] – [Samuel] Wallingford was Lieutenant of Marines and killed in the battle between the Ranger and Drake [on April 24, 1778] by a musket ball entering his forehead and passing through his head that all of the officers of the Ranger are dead

– that when the Ranger sailed from Portsmouth as aforesaid she sailed for France on her way took a brig loaded with Malaga Wine raisins & grapes [2] and entered a place called Piu Beef [Paimboeff near the mouth of the River Loire] below Nantes] that the Ranger then sailed to Brest

after that he cruised in the Irish Channel and when opposite a fort the name of which he does not recollect [Carrickfergus near Belfast, Northern Ireland] a ship was discovered lying close under the guns of the fort [the 18-gun Sloop of War Drake] – that in the night the Ranger run in and attempted to cut the ship out and run in with close reefed topsails throwed out her anchor ahead in order to enable her to lay along side or cut the ship out the Ranger swung under the stern of the ship the cable of the Ranger was cut and she was put about and stood out for White haven [3].  When opposite White haven Capt. Jones went ashore in the night time with two boat crews he returned aboard the next morning and brought one or two prisoners and it was expected aboard the Ranger that Jones had spiked the cannon – That he the said Hutchins did not accompany the party [4].

that the Ranger then went down the Channel and it was said aboard robbed his old master of his plate and brought it aboard in bags that the said Hutchins did not see the plate [5].

that he the said Hutchins sailed for the port where the said ship was lying and run in as near as they durst then put about crowded all sail and the ship weighed her anchor at the same time took up the one the Ranger had lost when her cable was cut as aforesaid and followed the Ranger and came up with her an action commenced that continued an hour and five minutes that the Ranger took the ship which was the Drake after the battle Jones took the boat of the Drake and give it to a fisherman whose boat Jones had lost Jones put the fore top sail of the Drake aboard the boat also a number of boys and sent the sail as it was said as a present to Governor [6].

after repairing the vessels they sailed for Brest and in passing the Channel having the Drake in toe (sp) they saw a large ship about day break and Jones commanded Simpson to cut the hawser for he was going to give chance Jones gave Simpson no orders to follow him and Simpson stood for Brest Jones in the Ranger run the Drake out of sight and made signals for the Drake to come up that he the said Hutchins went up into the top and help make the signals – the next morning the Drake was right ahead of the Ranger The vessels were hove to and Simpson was confined to the cabin of the Drake and Hall put aboard as commander – They were then opposite some rocks called Scylla [Scilly] as he the said Hutchins things – they then stood for Brest where they arrived and Jones put Simpson in prison afterwards on petition of the officers and even to the agent Simpson was taken from prison put into command of the Ranger and Jones taken out of the ship [7].

that they remained at Brest til the ships Boston and Providence arrived and that he then returned in the Ranger to Portsmouth New Hampshire where he was discharged having served more than his time he returned home to Kittery in the County of York and the District of Maine and there remained two or three months that he then entered again aboard said ship Ranger  the lying at said Portsmouth that he entered as a sailor for one year and was appointed coxswain of one of her boats The officers of the Ranger were the same as in the first cruise except Jones and the Lieutenant of Marines –that he sailed in the Ranger in company with the Boston, Providence and Queen of France and they took nine sail of the Jamaica Fleet –that he was put aboard one of the prizes and the prize retaken and carried to Halifax where he remained a prisoner till a cartel arrived when he was redeemed carried to Boston Ms and from there returned to said Portsmouth where the Ranger was lying and went aboard the Ranger and there remained and was aboard her when she sailed for Charlestown South Carolina in company with the Boston and Providence & Queen of France where they arrived were blockaded and finally taken by the British that he struck the Ranger’s pennant and remained a prisoner till he was exchanged sent to Philadelphia and from there returned home the time for which he had enlisted having expired that he returned home in June or July and enlisted in the spring the year before that he wore the star part of said pennant home on his neck [8]…” 

[1.] Marine Captain Matthew Clarke, the only one of Jones' officers whom he himself appointed, was dismissed in February, 1778, after the Ship's Lieutenants and Sailing Master complained that a marine officer of his rank being carried on the rolls of a 20-gun ship was an infringement on their 3/20th share of prize money.  This was but one of the divisions between Captain Jones and his junior officers and crew that would lead to a state of near mutiny during this voyage.  It is evident that Hutchins sided with those who felt the Captain was in the wrong.

[2]  Ranger took two brigantines on her outbound voyage, both on route from Málaga, Spain to England with wine and fruit.  The first was the Mary, taken on November 23rd, and the second was the George, taken on the 26th.  The Mary made port at Nantes, while the George sailed to Bordeaux. The names of the prize crew on board the George are recorded in the Ranger's log and Hutchins is not among their number.  Possibly he was put on board the Mary with Midshipman Joseph Green as prize master, or he may simply have neglected to record the second ship taken.

[3] This episode is very consistent with John Paul Jones own account of his attempt to cut out the Drake, including the lost of the "best bower anchor" which the Drake subsequently recovered.

[4]  The raid on White Haven in Cumberland, England during the night of April 22-23 included an attempt by Captain Jones with his shore party to set fire to the shipping in the port, which by various mishaps and the less than attentive efforts of some of the Ranger's crew resulted in the lost of only a couple of British vessels.  The guns of the fort were spiked, except for one or two which fired belatedly on the Ranger's withdrawing boats.

[5]  Although he was once an apprentice to a Whitehaven shipowner and was born at nearby Kirkdean in nearby Scotland, there is no evidence that his master was ever the Earl of Selkirk, whose family silver was taken (and later returned by Jones) after the Captain and a party from the Ranger landed on St Mary's Isle the morning after the White Haven raid in an effort to capture the Earl who was not to be found.

[6]  Jones gave the boat to the fisherman, whose own craft he had detained on his first approach to Carrickfergus and had subsequently drifted away.  The sail was not a gift to the Governor, though a prize taken earlier that month did contain furniture belonging to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.  Jones describes the incident with the fishermen in his May 27, 1778 report of his recent cruise to the American Commissioners in France; "It was now time to release the honest Fishermen whom I took up here on the 21st.—And as the poor fellows had lost their Boat, she having sunk in the late stormy Weather, I was happy in having it in my Power to give them the necessary Sum to purchase every thing new which they had lost.—I gave them also a good Boat to transport themselves ashore and sent with them Two infirm Men on whom I bestowed the last Guinea in my Possession to defray their travelling Expences to their proper home at Dublin—they took with them One of the Drakes Sails which would sufficiently explain what had happened to the Volunteers.—The grateful Fishermen were in Raptures and expressed their Joy in three Huzzas as they passed the Rangers Quarter."

[7]  The arrest and imprisonment of Lt. Simpson, who had earlier been made Prize master of the Drake, brought tensions between the junior officers of the Ranger and their Captain to a head.  Petitions by the prize crew of the Drake and from Lt. Hall, Sailing master Cullam and the ship's doctor in favor of Lieutenant Simpson denounced captain Jones's actions as unjust, while Jones felt that his junior officers had encouraged a state of near mutiny.  Arguments have been made on both sides by historians ever since.  Captain Jones did remain in France, because he had always wanted a larger ship and expected command of a Frigate, and Lt. Simpson was restored from prison and sailed the Ranger home has her captain at the end of the cruise, retaining commander of her thereafter.

[8]  This amazing detail indicates that Coxswain Hutchins not only struck the Ranger's pennant before she was taken after the fall of Charleston on May 12, 1780, but he at least managed to conceal a portion of it - its blue ensign and white stars - during his time as a prisoner, wearing it a s a handkerchief about his neck when he was released.  In order to have done so, it must have been one of the top mast pennants, rather than the Ranger's largest naval flag, which Hutchins took down.  Perhaps it was made of silk.  The image of this veteran sailor returning from war with the famous stars of his ship's flag knotted jauntily about his neck like a bandana in true sailor fashion is truly marvelous and may very well have happened that way.

The Memoirs of Ebenezer Foot, Revolutionary War Veteran (Part II)

[Part I can be read here]

After I got home my Master received my wages and I continued to work for him until April, at which time I was twenty one years of age.  I then worked two months with Mr. Wells, received my wages and went to Colchester, where I informed my father of my inclination to go to sea.  He appeared Rather Mortified at my Resolution, but to demonstrate that he wished my success he proposed my Postponing the Measure until he could provide me with necceries [neccesities], and engage a birth on board some Vessel, commanded by a man of good Character, he accordingly went to New London and engaged the Steward’s place for me on board the Industrious Bee [1.] , Privateer, commanded by Captain George Allen [2.] of [Providence] Rhode Island.  I embarked on board and engaged for a cruise of 6 months.  We had not been long out of port, until I had occasion to suspect our Commander was not a man of Courage.  After the novelty of the business I was engaged in, had subsided, and I began to reflect on my employment, being only a licensed Robber, and associated with some of the most infamous characters on Earth, our crew of 80 men consisting of some of the most abandoned rascals of all Nations, I grew heartily sick of my situation, and on falling in with the French Fleet under the command of Comte de Estang (sic), I obtained my discharge of the Captain and accompanied the French Fleet into the harbor of New-Port, where I continued until the retreat & disaster that Befel (sic) the Fleet in the Storm off the Coast.  After arriving at Boston with the ships dismasted and shattered, I returned to my father Moneyless, and ashamed of the employment I had been engaged in, and sincerely hope none of my Posterity will ever engage in Robbing and Plundering their fellow Creatures, on account of it being sanctioned by law or custom – It is in my opinion both wicked and base. 



After residing at my father about two weeks, I was employed by Col. Henry Champion in the Purchasing Commissary Department [Champion was made Commissary General in May, 1781, which does not accord with the timeline of this narrative], and being ordered to camp to receive Beef Cattle and deliver to the Army  I contracted an acquaintance with a number of Respectable Military Characters – being stationed in the county of Westchester in the winter of 1778 -9.  I contracted an acquaintance with Jerusha Purdy [of Yorktown, Westchester County, New York], who I married the October following.  The Enemy that summer having ravaged almost the whole Country, I removed her to my Father’s in Connecticut, where I left her and returned to Camp.  The winter following winter I was stationed at Fish Kill – appointed Superintendent of Live Stock for the whole army, in which station I continued until the Purchasing Commissaries Department was abolished in 1782.  I then returned to Crumpond [Crum Pond village, now part of Yorktown, NY] resided with my wife in the house of her Brother.  I being unqualified in some degree to Labour by habits [imbibed?] in the Army, concluded to commence trader or merchant, and began to traffic in such line as my finances would enable, which to be sure was not large, having very little Property at my Command.  My accounts being unsettled, and the greater part of the property bequeathed to my wife being destroyed, and sunk in paper Money,  I however made shift to support myself and her without getting into debt – until the year 1784 at which time my accounts were settled, and I had the pleasure to procure sufficient vouchers for all the Public property that was ever committed to my care, and rec’d a certificate from the Commissioners for settling the Public accounts certifying that there was due to me 3795 dollars and 55-90^th of a dollar, to which sum I was entitled to at an Interest rate of 6 per cent pr annum.  This was the amount of all my property & was hardly earned by faithful services performed for my Country.  I contemplated having justice done me by my Country, and ventured to embark in trade on a much larger scale than I had hitherto done – this proved my ruin as to Property.”

[1.]  Industrious Bee is listed, briefly, as a Rhode Island privateer, George Allen, Master, in William P. Sheffield's 1882 address to the Rhode Island Historical Society entitled Rhode Island Privateers and Privateersmen.  This in not to be confused with the prize Brigantine "Industrious Bee" that was bought into Continental service and renamed "General Gates".

[2.]  George Allen is an elusive figure.  He may also have been the Master of another equally difficult to document Rhode Island privateer, "Opdyke."

The Memoirs of Ebenezer Foote, Connecticut Revolutionary War Veteran (Part I)

The following [annotated] transcript was copied from the voluminous veteran's pension claim on the Revolutionary War service of Ebenezer Foote (1756 - 1829) of Colchester Connecticut.  It is a lively and engaging account of service on land and sea, with anecdotes of incidents during the Siege of Boston, the defense of Long Island and the loss of Manhattan, and subsequent service on a Rhode Island privateer, with the French Fleet off Newport, and in the Commissary Department in Westchester County, New York.  Some of Foote's quite detailed account can be independently corroborated.  I have tried to transcribe it accurately, with only minor standardization of spelling and adding paragraph breaks where they assist the narrative.  I have divided it into two parts and will post them sequentially.

“Memoirs of the Life of Ebenezer Foote” [Siege of Boston 1776, New York-Trenton 1776]

I was the 6^th child of Daniel Foote, the son of Nathaniel, whose father came from Durham in England and settled in a town of the same name in Connecticut.  My grandfather was one of the proprietors, and first settlers of the town of Colchester where I was born on the 12^th day of April, 1756.  My father having a numerous family, and barely possessing a competency to support them was unable to give his children an education equal to their wishes, They were however taught to read and write a legible hand I was allowed to go to school until I was eleven years old , after which I never was at school a day.  When I was in my tenth year, having a desire to see the world, I left my Father’s house in the night and traveled to New London, a seaport town about 20 miles distant, with an intent to embark for the West Indies with my oldest brother, but after spending two nights in a barn in the month of December, the Captain discovered and sent me back to my father, who received me without correction, a think rather uncommon as he was severe in his discipline.

The following Spring I was sent alone and on foot to Brookfield, in order to learn the trade of House Carpenter & Chaise Maker of one Hitchcock, a relative of my Mother’s, he being a morose, unjovial fellow, I soon got sick of him and his trade.  In the Fall I had a severe fit of the bilious Cholic (sp), which nearly deprived me of life, but getting better My Father sent for Me home.  In the Spring I was bound an apprentice to one Chamberlin of East Windsor to learn the trade of Hat Makeing (sp), where I continued to serve him faithfully until the year 1775, when the unhappy affair at Lexington announced the approaching war.  By consent of my Master I enlisted as a private soldier in [Lt.-Col] Col.  George Pitkin’s Company [of Hinman’s 4^th Connecticut Regt.] and arrived at Camp at Roxbury, time enough to share in the famous Battle of Bunker Hill, where the brave Warren fell.  Just after the British entered the works, after we retreated from the Hill, I repaired immediately to Roxbury and joined my Company, where I was severely reprimanded for absenting myself and going to Cambridge and Bunker Hill without leave of my officers.

During the Campaign but few opportunities offered of seeing the enemy out of their entrenchments, and being a private soldier I had no means of gratifying the inclination I then felt.    However one afternoon I got leave to go out in Boston bay a fishing with two others of the company in two whale Boats.  During the time we were a fishing, I discovered a few of the British on Moon Island [in Quincy Bay], and after a little persuasion prevailed on my comrades to land, which we did, and found the enemy consisting of a Sergeant’s guard on the retreat, we proceeded on and set fire to about 40 thousand Rails and 20 tons of hay they had collected to carry to Boston.  The alarm was given and boats were dispatched by the Boyne ship of war [3^rd Rate, Captain Hartwell] and the Castle.  My comrades by the persuasion of one [Aaron] Olmsted the Adjutant embarked while I was setting fire to the furthermost bale of Hay, and left me, but on coming to the point and calling to them one boat returned and we got safe to Squantum [in Quincy] though the British were very near overtaking us, and kept up a heavy fire which generally went over us.  The Troops on shore were alarmed & paraded on our landing.  The officers after enquiring (sp) the Cause of alarm gave me a severe reprimand and ordered that I should go no more on fishing voyages, as the whole was charged to my account. 

The next Spring I went a volunteer on Dorchester Point, when the first works were erected on that and Nook Point, where I stayed seven days and caught a violent cold which almost deprived me of my eye sight for 2 months.  Our terms of enlistment being expired, I returned Home and settled with my Master who received all my wages and bounty money. I worked about six weeks at my trade, and then enlisted in Captain Simon Woolcots Company [of Fisher Gay's Regiment of Connecticut Levies]  raised in East Windsor to go to New York, I set out in capacity of Corporal.  After we arrived at New York I was ordered by the Col. Fisher Gay to learn the officers of the Regiment the Manual Exercise, which I found was a very hard task, as they were generally very ignorant and by no means willing to submit to discipline, being generally old honest Farmers who thought it inconsistent with the character for freemen to submit to the strict discipline necessary to form the character of a soldier.  I was however releived (sic) from that duty about two weeks after we were ordered on Long Island, as the British landed there and gave us other business to transact. 

The night that it was said the British were landing there was a most violent Thunder storm, and there being no artillerymen at Brooklyn, I turned out a volunteer with others to assist Captain [Thomas?] Randall [of the 3rd Continental Artillery?] in taking 2 Brass 6 pounders and one nine inch Brass Howitzer to Graves End in order to oppose the landing of the British.  We had a Horrid night of it, being obliged to draw the pieces ourselves, and the frequent flashes of Lightning rendering us blind to the road.  We arrived at the high ground near Graves End, about 4 oclock in the Morning, where we continued until the next day, when we were ordered to occupy the high ground to the Eastward overlooking the flat land [Flat Bush] near the church, which station we kept until the battle of Long Island, frequently going down and fireing (sic) on the British, at and near the Church.  In one of those excursions we were covered by a party of Rifle men under the command of Maj. Green [ I have been unable to positively identity this officer] , and had orders to burn the wheat stacks where the enimy’s (sic) picket guard was kept, which was performed, but not without the loss of some men killed, and a few men wounded amongst which was Maj. Green and Captain Thompson [I am unable to positively identity these officers or their unit(s)] of the Rifle Men, we had one of our guns dismounted by a shot, which struck the barrel over the trunnion (sic), but we saved it.  Our howitzer was struck on one side of the muzzle by a shot and battered 6 inches.  Three horses we had received the day before were killed, so that we were obliged once more to draw our pieces back by hand. 


Soon after the Enemy made a general attack on the advance part of our army, in which we were driven back to our lines with the loss of our field artillery, and some of our best troops.  The seven succeeding days our duty was constant and very fatiguing, being obliged to stand great part of the time in the water up to our Middle and being kept under arms night and day, until we retreated from the Island which happily effected with very little loss although the enemy pressed our rear very hard and fired on the boats from the shore.  I being overcome with fatigue and want of sleep, set myself down by the side of a stoop near the Fly Market [at Dock St. a block from the Long Island Ferry] and fell asleep.  In the afternoon when I woke up I found myself at least 2 rods from the place where I sat down, without discovering when I was removed. Three days later this our Regiment was all ordered on guard to Turtle Bay and the Marsh south of it, we took our posts about sunset, at 12 oclock at night we discovered four or five of the Enemys (sic) ships under way coming up the East River, they passed us and came to anchor in Turtle Bay, on the morning of 15^th September we were ordered into a small ditch opposite the above ships within half pistol shot of two of them, we got possession of our ground just before sunrise and could with truth say that a worse place was never occupied by any troop, The ditch was so narrow that two could not lay abreast in it, nor could we cover ourselves from the Enemies Musquetry.  When we were flat on the ground in the bottom our our Intrenchment (as it was termed) consequently we lost a number of Men during the time of the Enemies landing, which commenced about 10 oclock in the morning and was completed about 1 oclock P.M. during all which time a most tremendous fire was kept up by all the ships, five in number, though fortunately for us their Common shot were all directed over us and we were annoyed only with small arms and swivels which however killed and wounded an great number of our men.  About half an hour after they had landed their last Division the Shiping ceased  fireing (sic) upon which all our troops who were able, left the ditch and marched up the Hill in the utmost confusion and disorder, the men being almost famished with hunger and thirst, were More desirous of allaying it than of preparing to defend themselves against the enemy they knew was in their rear.  Consequently as soon as we had reached the level ground on top of the hill and were all trying to get water from a Neighboring well, The Hessian Grenadiers who had been concealed in a thick wood adjoining the orchard in which we were began the attack, and in about 15 minutes the whole regiment were cut to pieces and made prisoners, except as few cowardly souls who quit their ground the first onset, and with the Brigadier General and Major made their escape.  The General name was [James] Wadsworth from Durham in Connecticut, and the Major’s name was [Edward] Mott [ of Gay's Regiment] from Plainfield in the same State, and two greater Poltroons never has commissions.  After the enemy had done killing those who they though refractory, they Marched on toward the City with their prisoners of which I was one. 



We were extremely ill used and not allowed either victuals or drink that day.  At night the[y] were shut up in Bridwell [Prison, located at what is now City Hall Park] and a Guard of Hessians placed on the outside of the yard.  Myself and eleven others watching an opportunity when the Guard were carousing, and inattentive, made an escape over the fence, and proceeded along the Bank of the North River as far as Greenwich in hopes of getting a boat in which we might cross the River, the whole of us being strangers to the way to King’s Bridge, we were however disappointed there being none to be found, we then held a consultation what to do, and finally a large majority agreed to go back and give themselves up, but Myself and one John Wood Sergeant Major of the Regiment [ Col. Gay's, enlisted June 24, 1776, discharged Dec 29th, 1776] determined on attempting an escape by way of the River we took an affectionate leave of our fellow prisoners who accompanied us to the waters edge and saw us set off on each of us a Pine Board numbers of which lay near the River, and after about Five and a half hours exertion we had the good fortune to reach the Jersey Shore at a village called  Communipaw below Powles Hook, but at the time of our landing I was so Much exhausted that I could not stand & had it not been for the assistance of my Comrade, who was a stout hearty man, I could never have landed, by his assistance I got to a House near the waters Edge, where by being dried by the fire & having my body & limbs rubbed, I recovered strength sufficient to set off from thence a little before day light.  The good man at whose house we were gave us a little Milk which was the only nourishment I had taken for more than 48 hours, except my own urine and the Salt water out of the River.  He also gave us such directions as enabled us to cross the Marsh and get into Bergen Wood before day light. 

About 10 oclock in the Morning we arrived at the English Neighbourhood where we got refreshment & found many sick belonging to the Army.  In the Afternoon we crossed the River at Fort Washington and joined the army again, where I continued through all the fatigues and hardships until after the Hessians were taken at Trenton with no other clothing but what I had on when I crossed the [River] consisted of a Shirt, Hat, overalls, one Flow’d vest, Handkerchief & pair of old Linen Stockings – General Washington discharged us with his thanks after taking the Hessians at Trenton, and I arrived in Connecticut on the 7^th day of February – From the 15^th of September my shirt had never been washed without being put on again wet, or I had remained naked until it was dry, and the greater part of the time I was tormented with Lice & the Itch.  
[Part 2 continues here]

A Memorial for Litchfield's Soldiers of the Revolutionary War

Americans did not erect statues of Continental soldiers in their town squares in the decades following the American Revolution, nor list the names of their war dead on pedestals.  Such commemorations belong to a later time and reflect the sensibilities and mourning customs of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  The revolutionary generation had other priorities after the war.

It is true that Congress authorized a memorial in January, 1776 to the fallen Brigadier General Montgomery, and had Benjamin Franklin oversee the contract with a French sculptor, but it honored one individual and was installed in 1788 within New York’s St. Paul’s chapel rather than the public square.  The Prison Ship Martyrs monument began in 1808 as a modest effort to collect and inter the bones of those who had died on prison ships in Wallout Bay, but the crypt and memorial were relocated and redesigned on an increasingly grand scale in 1867, 1873 and 1908. 


Like many New England communities, Litchfield Connecticut has a number of war memorials on its Town Green, as well as a monument to the 2^nd CT Heavy Artillery near the field where the regiment mustered in 1862. Aside from a tree planted in 1902 on Arbor Day by the Mary Floyd Tallmage Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, there is nothing on the Green dedicated to the memory of the men of Litchfield who served in the Revolution.   There is now an effort in the community to erect such a monument, anticipating Litchfield’s tercentenary in 2019, and I have been invited to assist.


There are a number of challenges to overcome, in addition to the financial cost of commissioning a new memorial and the intricacies of the various stakeholder interests involved in its design and approval.  There is also the question of which names should be included on the monument.  It becomes a problem of geography, of documentation, and above all of accuracy, for what we write in stone has authority.


The D.A.R. compiled a list in 1912 of 507 names associated with Litchfield on its Honor Roll of Revolutionary War soldiers, including reference citations for each name.  Among these are men like Ethan Allen who were born here but moved away and whose service is associated with other places.  It also includes prominent veterans like Benjamin Tallmage who moved to Litchfield after the war and whose notable service gave luster to the community.  Some of the men on the list served with distinction, while others deserted.  Some died in service.  Some served from Morris that was once part of Litchfield but was later incorporated with the name of one of its illustrious veterans.   Some men, though perhaps not very many, should have been included on the Honor Roll as veterans from Litchfield but were not.  This will all have to be sorted out.


Names on a plaque do not tell the story.   30 men from Litchfield in a company of 36 either died during the capture of Fort Washington in November, 1776, or of disease and neglect in captivity over the next few months.  Several more were missing in action at Germantown with no record of subsequent captivity.  One, a man of 78 years, responded to the Danbury Alarm and was shot in the head after helping pursue the Crown forces back to Long Island Sound.  One died in the taking of Stony Point.  One served in the Carolinas and fought at Guildford Court House and the Siege of Ninety Six.  One transferred from the 5^th Connecticut to the Georgia battalion in 1777 and may have previously been a British deserter.  One was a bombardier with Lamb’s Artillery.  One was carried half a mile by his brother before being captured after Germantown.  Three were African Americans.  Ten received supplies for their families as part of an enlistment incentive in 1777.


In subsequent posts, I will share some of their stories.