Chapter One
Prelude to Invasion

To place any dependence upon Militia, is, assuredly, resting upon a broken staff.

In March 1776, patriot fortunes in the War for American Independence were at high tide. After sustaining a siege of almost a year, the Bridsh army hastily abandoned the city of Boston. On March 17, they boarded warships and transports in Boston harbor and set sail for the Royal Navy base at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The evacuation was a galling retreat for the King's troops, and the news sent patriots cheering into the streets of the rebellious Thirteen Colonies while British sympathizers drew their curtains and waited.

The amateur army under George Washington had effectively besieged Boston. Washington's adversary, General William Howe, fully understood that offensive operations against the well-entrenched rebels would be costly, if even possible, and that New England was a hot-bed of patriot support. If he was to regain the initiative, he needed to regroup and reinforce his army, and then resume the offensive and crush the upstart Americans on ground of his own choosing.

General Howe's departure from Boston left the colonies completely in rebel hands, and patriot optimists, some of whom had stayed on the lines since the fghting at Lexington and Concord the year before, could be excused for thinking that the War for Independenae was in ite final stages.

George Washington's assessment was more sober. He had reason enough to be pleased with the successful operations at Boston, but he fully understood that the British had retreated only to reorganize, await reinforcements, and counterattack on a new front. The patriot commander was even sure he knew where they would strike. It would be to the South, at New York City.

A British initiative at New York made solid military sense. With a population of 22,000, New York was the second largest city in America; only Philadelphia, with 34,000, was larger. The city had a history as a British military base by the outbreak of the American Revolution. The British used it as their headquarters during the French and Indian War, and it had remained so until the shift to Boston shortly before the start of the Revolution. New York had an excellent harbor, which was free of ice in the winter, and had ample docks, ship repair facilities, warehouses and buildings which could be commandeered for the use of the military if necessary. The city also had a strategic location. Its position on the Hudson River was the key to commmications and trade with New Eogland and Canada; land routes to the interior lay across the river in New Jersey; and shipping from New York had relatively easy routes to the south in addition, New York was a pleasant, tolerant city. It offered many diversions and a lively social life for officers and soldiers alike. Certainly the occupation of New York would offer the British better prospects than any attempt to recapture Boston.

The importance of New York City to the British was obvious to Washington even before Howe's evacuation of Boston. Thus, as he fenced with the redcoats in Massachusetts, his thoughts turned south and to how he might keep the great port on the Hudson in rebel hands. Unable to leave the Boston front himself, Washington ordered the army's most experienced officer, Major General Charles Lee, to go to New York and to take a look at the situation. Lee faced an arduous task, but he was the best man for thc job, and he would play a major role in the subsequent events of 1776. His mission was one of the frst key American steps in preparing for what both sides saw as the crucial showdown of the war. The army that emerged victorious at New York could well claim the final victory.

The man of the hour was Major General Charles Lee. In fact, Lee was one of the most extraordinary officers in the Amaican army. Born in England in 1732, he was the son of a British colonel. He was the youngest of seven children, but only he and a sister, to whom he remained closely attached, survived to adulthood. Commissioned into his father's regiment as early as eleven years old, he was carried on the army roster while attending school. His education was extensive for the day. He studied in Switzerland and probably in France, and he emerged a well-read young man fluent in French and conversant in German, Italian, and Latin. Books were his constant companion throughout his life, and he enjoyed lacing his witty and often engaging letters and conversations with quotations from the classics. By any measure, he was one of the best educated and most intellectually acoomplished men in Washington's army.

He was also a considerable soldier. By 1750, when his father died, and when he was eighteen, Lee began his active-duty career. In 1755, he came to America when fighting broke out between Britain and France, and he served on the ill-fated Braddock Expedition. During the march into western Pennsylvania, Lee met George Washington, then a Colonel of Virginia militia. Like Washington, he survived the disaster, which saw the French and their Indian allies decimate the British column in the vicinity of what is now Pittsburgh. He served with distinction through the rest of the French and Indian War, including some hard fighting in northern New York, and in 1760 returned, as a captain, to England. Promoted to major the following year, he fought with great credit in Portugal, where he served until the war ended in 1763. He then went on half-pay when his regiment disbanded. By that time, Major Lee was a hardened veteran.

Without prospects for further glory or advancement with the British, Lee became a soldier of fortune in the Polish army. Poland was dominated by Russia, and Empress Catherine the Great had installed her Polish lover, Stanislaus Poniatowski, as King of Poland. Lee became an intimate of the puppet king and eventually rose to major general. His adventures included accompanying a Turkish army to Constantinople in 1766, during which his health suffered, several years recovering while roaming through Europe, fighting duels, and serving with the Russian army. In 1770, Lee returned to England, and although promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1772, the small peacetime British army offered him little hope for further advancement. Bored, he devoted himself to horses, politics, and land speculation in America.

In fact, politics became a serious interest, as Lee had developed some radical sympathies. He had come to hate monarchies. Perhaps he had seen the common people of eastern Europe suffering at the hands of tyrannical kings. But Lee especially came to despise George III, who had failed to fulfill promises to advance his career. As early as 1766, when the American colonies resisted the Stamp Act, Lee's anger was evident. "May God prosper the Americans in their resolutions," he wrote to his sister from Constantinople, "that there may be one Asylum at least on the earth for men, who prefer their natural rights to the fantastical perogative of a foolish, perverted head because it wears a Crown." [1]

The growing political unrest in America suited Charles Lee's restless temperament and radical politics perfectly. In 1773, Lee returned to America after an absence of twelve years. Although his stated intention was to advance his land speculations, he promptly leaped into colonial politics, and his broad knowledge and military reputation gained him introduction to the most powerful men in America. Many of them, including his fellow survivor from the Braddock Expedition of 1755, Colonel George Washington, was spellbound by Lee's stories of his military adventures. Lee had lived the dashing military life that Washington had dreamed of as a boy. Citing the example of the Polish partisans, who waged "la petite guerre" against conventional European armies, Lee endlessly argued that the American colonists could defeat British regulars. [2] He became known in America as a military expert and a true friend of liberty.

Lee's first years back in America, from 1773 to 1775, were probably the happiest years of his life. Well regarded by a wide circle of acquaintances, reactions to him varied. At forty-three years old, few thought he was much to look at, for Lee was tall and skinny, with a large nose and small hands and feet. He was married, although he had taken a Mohawk mistress during the French and Indian War, with whom he had twin boys. Lee left her when his regiment moved on and he never saw her or his children again. He seemed incapable of a sustained romance with any woman, although some later thought him a libertine, and there are some hints in his correspondence that he may have been homosexual. [3]

He had a moderate income from inheritances and was a man of modest tastes. Over the years his manners deteriorated, and although he could be a perfect gentlemen when he wanted, he was more commonly vulgar, sloppy and rude. He developed a strange passion for dogs and a troop of them followed him everywhere; Lee once quipped that he preferred the company of dogs to that of men. He was an egotist, a man of extreme moods and tempers. His new intimate in America, Colonel George Washington, politely called him "fickle," although others were less diplomatic. The powerful William Schuyler of New York thought Lee a sloppy and unwashed eccentric. John Adams, with no small ego himself, thought Lee the only man in America who knew more than he did about military affairs. He described him privately as "a queer creature. But you must love his dogs if you love him and forgive a thousand whims for the sake of the soldier and the scholar." [4]

The perceptive Mercy Otis Warren, one of the most acute observers of the American scene, found Lee "plain in his person even to ugliness, and careless in his manner to a degree of rudeness. He possessed a bold genius and an unconquerable spirit, his voice was rough, his garb ordinary, his deportment morose. He was frequently agreeable in narration, and judicious and entertaining in observation." [5]

Yet however they found him, Americans thought more of Charles Lee than the British ever did. Certainly the more radical members of the Continental Congress, including John Adams and Benjamin Rush, admired him immensely.

At the outbreak of the Revolution, Lee's reputation was such that some Americans seriously considered him for Commander-in-Chief of the rebel army. But his English birth and the need to make political appointments precluded any chance he had for the top spot. The command went to Washington, the well-known and distinguished Virginian, while Artemus Ward of Massachusetts became second in command. Ward was elderly for a soldier, and few had much confidence in his military skills, but he was popular with patriots in New England and his appointment gave the army a necessary political balance. Lee, with the rank of major general, became the third highest ranking officer in the rebel army; it was a post of real significance, and as one of the few American officers with extensive military experience, patriots expected much of him.

Following his appointment to the Continental Army, Lee resigned his commission in the British army. He also insisted on a large compensation from the rebel Congress for the inevitable confiscation of his property in England where he would be declared a traitor. He then accompanied General Washington from Philadelphia to the siege at Boston. Washington was happy to have his eccentric but brilliant English friend at his side; as the war progressed, the commanding general was confirmed in his belief that Lee was an exceptional officer.

Ordered by Washington to prepare a defense of New York City, Lee left Boston in mid-January 1776. He arrived on Pebruary 14, bringing with him some zealous Connecticut militia recruited en route to help deal with New York Loyalists. Lee realized that the area around the city, with its waterways and islands, offered an almost endless combination of sea approaches and landing places. "What to do with the city puzzles me," he quickly wrote to Washington. "It is so encircled with deep navigable water that whoever commands the sea must command the town." [6]

Lee expected a powerful Royal naval squadron to support any British invasion; but the Americans had no navy and faced the dangerous prospect of having to mount a static defense against an enemy which enjoyed every advantage. Yet Washington's determination to defend New York City was fixed; it was as much a political as a military decision. The Continental Congress wanted the city held and Washington felt obliged to carry out the wishes of his fellow delegates.

Lee began fortifying New York in late February, but within a few weeks he received a new assignment. The Continental Congress ordered him to go to South Carolina to help organize the defense of Charleston. Because of its milder winters, Charleston was under more immediate threat of attack than New York. Lee would do yeoman work in the South--in fact, he was instrumental in turning back a strong British assault in the spring of 1776 and his influence left its mark on New York's defenses.

Soon after the British evacuated Boston, Washington started for New York with the rebel army. He arrived with the vanguard on April 13 and quickly put his soldiers to work on Lee's defensive plan. Lee's scheme called for extensive fortifications on the western tip of Long Island (modern Brooklyn) and Manhattan plus a gun battery on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River at Paulus Hook (today's Jersey City). Work went forward quickly, and the patriots had acted not a moment too soon.

In the midst of American preparations, the first British warships appeared in the waters off New York on June 25. Additional men-of-war and transports arrived and anchored off Staten Island in such numbers that, to some American defenders, their masts looked like a floating forest. On July 2, General William Howe landed his army unopposed on Staten Island.

The appearance of 25,000 British and Hessian troops among a Staten Island civilian population of 3,000 fueled Loyalists sentiments. On July 6, Howe gathered the local population to sign an oath of allegiance to the crown. A few days later, the Staten Island militia assembled at Richmondtown and were reviewed by Howe. They were estimated at 200 men and commanded by Colonel Christopher Billop, the island's largest landowner. The militia offered their services to General Howe, who gratefully accepted. Throughout the summer of 1776, Howe continued to assemble his army on Staten Island. He proved to be a cautious and meticulous planner, and the unexpected lull was a blessing for the rebels, giving them additional time to prepare their defenses. [7]

In fact, Washington needed all of the time he could get. By the end of July, he had assembled an army of 12,333 officers and men to defend New York City and Brooklyn. An additional 3,677 rebel troops were stationed nearby in New Jersey under the command of General Hugh Mercer. [8] The number looked impressive, but the Army of the United Colonies consisted of untested Continentals and short term militia. [9] They were poorly armed and equipped, lacked cavalry, had no naval support, and were led by officers still learning their business.

Fortunately, some of the rebel officers displayed exceptional talent. In addition to Lee, there was Colonel Henry Knox, the talented and self-taught chief of artillery, as well as General Nathanael Greene. Only thirty-four when the war began, Greene was the son of a prominent Rhode Island family. Ambitious and headstrong, he was heavily built with graying hair and walked with a limp caused by a stiff right knee. Without previous military experience, Greene nevertheless was a splendid organizer whose talents soon brought him to Washington's attention. By August 1776, the Rhode Islander was a major general and one of the Commander-in-Chief's closest advisors. But a few capable men could not substitute for a veteran staff or competent support services, a fact that bitter experience would soon drive home. [10]

Just how unready the Americans were quickly became apparent. On August 21, the patriot Constitutional Gazette of New York reported that "for some days past, the British army on Staten Island, have been embarking on board the transports; so that we expect their whole force before this city every tide. We hope to give them a reception, worthy of the free born sons of America, and may every freeman of America make this his Toast "That New York is now an asylum for American Liberty." It was not to be.

The following day British troops landed unopposed on the western tip of Long Island (modern Brooklyn), and a few days later Howe and a column of Hessians down the Flatbush Road to probe the American defenses. The move was only a feint. While the Hessians occupied the Americans at the Flatbush Road, a second column composed of British troops marched undetected further onto Long Island during the night of August 26-27 and outflanked the American defenses. Washington had no cavalry to patrol his exposed right, and British flanking troops got behind the American defenders in Brooklyn. Upon hearing the sound of gunfire to their right, the Hessians at the Flatbush Pass pressed their attack. The ensuing Battle of Long Island was a disaster for Washington, who was lucky to get his beaten command across the East River to Manhattan Island.

New York City was in chaos as frightened civilians fled the city in the midst of frantic military activity to defend the place. An English traveler who arrived in New York in the turmoil left a vivid account of conditions there: "Landed in New York about nine o'clock," he recalled, "when one Collins, an Irish merchant, and myself rambled about the town till three in the afternoon before we could get anything for breakfast." They finally got "a little Dutch tippling house" to serve them an almost unpalatable stew, but in general there was "nothing to be got here. All the inhabitants are moved out. The town is full of soldiers." [11]

The British were elated with their victory on Long Island, and many of them wanted to strike again quickly before Washington could regain his balance. But Howe waited almost a month following the battle before taking further offensive action against the rebels, probably hoping to bring them to terms without furtber combat. The general and his older brother, Admiral Lord Richard Howe, had been empowered as peace commissioners by the British govenunent, with the authority to offer the colonists most of what they wanted short of independence. [12]

The Howes were sympathetic towards the colonists and may have hoped to end the war through negotiation and return to England as heroes. Congress was willing to talk, but negotiations ultimately broke down in mid-September over the issue of independence.

Meanwhile, the unexpected but welcomed lull in the fighting gave George Washington valuable time to reorganize and decide what to do next. Ralizing that any further defense of New York City was doomed, the rebel chief used the time to move his sick and wounded out of harm's way, along with some of the army's baggage, in preparation for abandoning the city. But until they could get everything away, Washington had to continue to defend New York City and the rest of Manhattan Island. Consequently, he divided his army into three parts. He ordered General William Heath with 9,000 men to Harlem Heights, on the rugged northern and of the island, to dig fortifications; these would serve as a fall-back position should the rest of the army have to evacuate positions further south. General Israel Putnam was posted with 5,000 men to defend the city itself. Between Putnam's and Heath's corps, Washington placed General Nathanael Greene with 5,000 men to protect the center of the island. The result was an American army of three isolated corps, strewn over a 13-mile area: a situation fraught with risk.

The extent of the risk soon became all too clear. On September 15, Howe made his move to capture New York. From his new bases on Long Island, the British commander bypassed Putnam's relatively strong defenses on lower Manhattan and launched an amphibious attack against Greene. Howe picked Kip's Bay Cove on the East River (presently East 34th Street) for his landing. The location was ideal for an amphibious assault a somewhat rocky shore behind which lay a long flat meadow with few natural defenses. The attack was textbook perfect. The inexperienced militia defending Kip's Bay were quickly routed by bayonet-wielding infantry. Other American troops soon joined the terrified militia in their flight, all running as fast as they could towards the safety of Heath's fortifications at Harlem Heights. The enemy were close behind mockingly sounding horns and bugles as if on a fox chase. As the British army pushed across Manhattan Island, Putnam's troops in New York City narrowly escaped capture by retreating up the Greenwich Road, on the Hudson River side of the island, to the safety of Heath's lines. For the Americans, the Kip's Bay affair was a fiasco.

Washington arrived in mid-Manhattan in the midst of the turmoil. He was shocked and furious as he watched the panic-stricken defenders of Kip's Bay throwing away their muskets and running and shoving their way towards the safety of Harlem Heights. The general rode among the frightened militia, screaming at them to form behind nearby farm fences and stone walls, but he was unable to stop them. According to one American officer who witnessed the scene, Washington became so angry that he flew into an uncontrollable rage and began striking the militiamen with his riding crop. "The General was so exasperated that he struck several officers in their flight, three times dashed his hat on the ground, and at last exclaimed, 'Good God, have I got such troops as those!' It was with difficulty his friends could get him to quit the field, so great was his emotions." [13]

Footnotes