Gleanings 2010, No.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Revolutionary Days
Even though I’ve been working in White Plains, New York for many years, I had neve
r taken the opportunity to visit the site of the Revolutionary-era Battle of Whi
te Plains.€ So, this past Spring (during warm weather), I left work and visited th
e site on Chatterton Hill.€ All that’s preserved is a sliver of a park, since the re
st of the place is now a congested residential area.
This was where Washington’s troops held off the British forces long enough for the
American soldiers to escape to Dobbs Ferry.€ It was fought on October 28, 1776, t
wo months after the defeat at Brooklyn Heights and the series of defeats that fo
llowed.€ The British led by General Howe captured New York and gave chase wanting
to “bag the fox”.€
However, the fox that was George Washington was continuously elusive.€ This little
visit to a little park of a little-known battle then inspired me to visit other
Revolutionary War sites within driving distance (namely Northeast US minus New
England).
So, a few days after that, I drove a couple of hours to the Saratoga Battlefield
.€ I had visited the beautiful town of Saratoga before, but not the battle site.€ Th
e battle fought there on September 19 and October 7, 1777 is considered to be th
e turning point in the War for Independence because it led to the complete surre
nder of British forces and was a major American victory.€ This then convinced Fran
ce to join America in their fight.€ (France had its own reasons to join, namely to
give their arch enemy a bloody nose.)
The Saratoga Campaign was supposed to be a three-pronged attack by the British t
o capture Albany and then isolate New England.€ However, two of the prongs faltere
d.€ General Howe was supposed to attack north from New York City, but he decided t
o go south into New Jersey instead.€ Meanwhile, another British force was supposed
to be coming from the west from Lake Ontario, but they were stopped at the Batt
le of Oriskany and the Siege of Fort Stanwix in central New York State (at and n
ear the city of Rome, New York).€ At the time, I didn’t think I would get a chance t
o visit this region, but I happened to be able to combine business with pleasure
(which is another story).
So, only one leg of the campaign was left, and General Burgoyne marched his men
from Montreal toward Albany.€ However, the Americans blocked the direct route alon
g the Hudson River by placing cannon on the bluffs near Saratoga.€ Burgoyne attemp
ted to capture these heights, but was able to only capture a portion of the fiel
d (September 19).€ Burgoyne considered this a victory even though the Americans st
ill held the high ground.€ On October 7, the British again attempted to march sout
h, but the Americans again stopped them, and subsequently pushed back across the
field.€ It wasn’t too long that Burgoyne realized his predicament and bid a hasty r
etreat north where he and his army surrendered six days later.€ It was a bold vict
ory for the Americans and a bitter defeat for the British.
Meanwhile, I continued my Revolutionary War pilgrimage by taking a day trip to r
etrace the ten crucial days from Washington’s crossing of the Delaware to the subs
equent Battle of Trenton and the victory at Princeton a week later.€ Again, I went
there in the Spring, and not in the dead of Winter as Washington and his men di
d on December 25, 1776.
As President Obama stated in his Inaugural Address (my real inspiration for this
visit), the British were ready to advance on the colonial capital of Philadelph
ia while the ragtag army was huddled just north of there on the banks of the Del
aware River.€ Washington needed a victory and he needed to do it quickly.€ So, on Ch
ristmas night, he read from Tom Paine’s "The Crisis" and the army made a series of
crossings in long boats to the New Jersey side of the river.€ (Among the troops w
ere a future Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, and a future President, Jam
es Monroe.)
By early morning, all had crossed and marched south toward Trenton, There, they
surprised the Hessian troops who were the frontline soldiers and would have been
the first to fight in the planned capture of Philadelphia.€ The Hessians came fro
m the German province of Hesse and were hired by the British as mercenaries.€ It w
as their ruler’s way of giving his army real-time experience to prepare for the co
nstant wars fought in Europe.€ (It was also a way to add to his fiefdom’s treasury.)
Since this was a daytrip for me, I visited Washington’s Crossing both in Pennsylva
nia and New Jersey, I then drove down to Trenton and toured the Old Soldiers Bar
racks and some of the streets of old Trenton near the Statehouse.€ The battle was
fought along these very same streets.
What I didn’t know until I went there was a later battle at Trenton fought on Janu
ary 2, 1777.€ Even though Trenton was a major American victory, the British weren’t
exactly going to lie down just yet.€ So, they sent forces from Princeton led by Lo
rd Cornwallis to try to recapture the town.€ The fighting took place along the ban
ks of the Assunpink River, a tributary of the Delaware.€ Needless to say, the Amer
icans held on.
What followed though was nothing but audacity.€ If the crossing of the Delaware an
d the capture of Trenton wasn’t audacious enough for Washington, his decision to t
ake the bulk of his forces from Trenton and head for Princeton beat that.
Princeton, like Trenton, was a garrison town where the British kept their troops
in their attempt to capture Philadelphia and to bag the fox.€ The British also ha
d troops in New Brunswick and other towns all the way to Elizabeth.€ (This was alo
ng what is now Route 1, and what was then called the King’s Highway.)€ It was like a
string of pearls, and Washington aimed to pluck as many of them as he could.
So, in a bold move, on January 3, 1777, Washington sent his troops to engage the
British Army at Princeton.€ They met the enemy just outside of the campus of the
College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).€ Just when his men seemed to fal
ter, Washington boldly rode his horse between the lines, almost daring to get sh
ot, and encouraged his men onward.€ The Americans led by Hamilton chased the Briti
sh all the way to Nassau Hall (where we can still see the bullet holes from the
fighting).€ These ten days saved the cause which would eventually lead to the vict
ories at Saratoga, Monmouth Courthouse, and finally at Yorktown.
Continuing on my journey, since I had already visited Saratoga and Yorktown (in
an earlier time), I then went to Monmouth Courthouse, considered to be the large
st battle fought in the war.€ The place is actually not near the courthouse (which
is in Freehold, New Jersey), but just north of there.
Again, the British advanced into New Jersey from New York to capture Washington
and his army once again.€ This time, Washington met them before they had the chanc
e to go halfway across the state.€ Plus, he did it by marching his men from their
quarters in Valley Forge east of Philadelphia (which was finally captured by the
British), across that famed Delaware River and across much of the state.€ This ti
me, his men were more than ready having been trained by a Prussian (German) offi
cer named Baron Von Steuben.
One of the problems Washington’s army had was not being able to fight in close qua
rters with fixed bayonets.€ The British and their German mercenaries were experts
at this, and most American troops feared this.€ The Americans’ strength up to that t
ime was their use of artillery ably led by Henry Knox (the future Secretary of W
ar).€ What Von Steuben did was drill the soldiers into an actual fit fighting forc
e.€ The methods he used would be used down to this day by American drill sergeants
whose job it is to turn meek civilians into fighting men.€ What Von Steuben essen
tially did was create the Continental Army.
It was this army that marched from Valley Forge and met the British at Monmouth
on June 28, 1778. At first, the Americans faltered, but, once again Washington r
allied his men and the battle was tactically fought to a draw.€ However, this turn
ed out to be a strategic victory for the Americans since the British once again
withdrew to New York City.€ (Even the British loved the Big Apple!)
As I walked across the Monmouth Battlefield, I was struck by how the terrain und
ulated.€ A good commander could take advantage of these ridges and surprise the en
emy.€ It was something I noticed at Saratoga as well.€ Seeing this, I could easily u
nderstand how a foot soldier must feel wondering what was on the other side of t
hat ridge.
With this, I had thought this was the end of my Revolutionary sojourn.€ Alas, I wa
s called for business in our Central New York offices.€ It so happened that my mee
tings were scheduled where I was free in the early morning of one day and late a
fternoon of another.€ So, taking advantage of that, I visited the Battlefield at O
riskany and Fort Stanwix in Rome.€ Unless one is a student of the Revolutionary Wa
r (which, full disclosure, I really wasn’t), one would never know either of these
places.€ But, they happen to be places that led to the substantial victory at Sara
toga.
As mentioned earlier, as part of the Saratoga Campaign, the British under Genera
l St. Leger marched from the shores of Lake Ontario toward Albany to meet with B
urgoyne and Howe (or that was the plan).€ Prior to this, he needed to capture Fort
Stanwix which was occupied by American troops.€ He and his Native American allies
(Mohawk and Seneca) laid siege to the fort in August 1777.€ Wanting to lift the s
iege, a group of New York State militiamen and Oneida tribesmen led by General H
erkimer marched from Troy.€ Hearing about this, St. Leger sent troops to ambush th
em at a ravine along Oriskany Creek.€ At first, it was a near massacre, but the Am
erican troops were able to rally and push back the British forces long enough to
escape.€ Although seriously wounded, Herkimer was able to direct his men.€ He would
subsequently die from his wounds.
Meanwhile, at Fort Stanwix, because most of the enemy was at Oriskany, the Ameri
can soldiers destroyed the now-unarmed camp.€ This discouraged the Mohawks and Sen
ecas since their families were in that camp, so they immediately withdrew.€ Since
the British depended on their Indian allies, they too had to withdraw since they
didn’t have enough soldiers to continue the siege and the march to Albany.€ The fig
hting at Oriskany also began a civil war among the native tribesmen because the
Mohawks, Senecas and Oneidas were part of the Iroquois Confederacy.€ This civil wa
r would ultimately destroy the Confederacy once and for all.
In terms of numbers, Oriskany was but a mere skirmish.€ However, in terms of perce
ntage of casualties, it is considered the bloodiest battle fought because of the
high proportion of dead and wounded.€ In fact, because both sides bid hasty retre
ats, there was no one to bury those who were killed.€ People would pass that ravin
e many months later and know that a huge battle was fought there.€ Remains would b
e found many years later.€ Of all the places that I had visited in my sojourn, the
ravine at Oriskany was the most haunting.
Thus, for many months, I hadn’t visited any more Revolutionary War sites, until th
e fall when I went to see Valley Forge, a place that I had not seen since I was
a child.€ No real fighting took place here, but this was the place where the Conti
nental Army was born.€ My family used to go to picnics here.€ When I went to the old
picnic grounds, I took a walk to the now empty fields where Von Steuben drilled
the nascent army into a true fighting force.
It was this fighting force that also camped in my hometown two years later.€ Washi
ngton had encamped there after the Battle of Princeton and liked it so much that
he went back.€ Of course, like Oriskany, not too many people know about Jockey Ho
llow as they do Valley Forge, but it was just as important since the winter at t
he former was much harsher than at the latter.
What is also little known was that there was a battle fought outside of Morristo
wn in nearby Springfield on June 7, 1780.€ Just as the Continental Army was about
to meet the French Army led by Rochambeau (and thus leave for the South), the Br
itish once again crossed from New York into New Jersey and attack Morristown.€ The
Americans were able to see this and Washington sent Nathaniel Greene’s brigade to
meet them at Springfield.€ (For those familiar with the area, the route they took
is now Route 24.)
This battle is largely forgotten except for one incident when the army chaplain
Parson James Caldwell (“The Fighting Parson”) entered into the local church and coll
ected all the hymnals.€ The soldiers would then tear pages from these books to use
as wadding for their rifles (since they were running out of their own).€ Having h
eard that some of the hymns were written by Isaac Watts, Parson Caldwell yelled
out “Give ‘em Watts, Boys!” and “Put Watts into them!”€ I had heard this story many years a
o, but did not know that it happened not too far from me.€ (For further proof that
the Battle of Springfield is little known, the place where the major fighting t
ook place is now a shopping center and parking lot.€ In fact, the shopping center
is named after General Greene, but, alas, they spelt the name wrong....)€ The majo
r significance of the battle was that it was the last one fought in the north.€ Th
e major fighting would then take place
in the south and final victory at Yorktown, Virginia.
Thus endeth my Revolutionary pilgrimage...although, the year isn’t over yet.€ I’m not
quite sure what possessed me to do this.€ I am more of a Civil War buff, and am aw
are of those battles (and visited a few of them).€ The Revolution interested me, b
ut it was mostly as local lore, and, even then, badly remembered.€ (Even I didn’t kn
ow the significance of the Battle of Springfield.)
It may have been the hijacking of American history by mind-numbing hysteria.€ It m
ay also just be that I have a history bug in me, and I need to scratch it whenev
er it itches.€ It could just as well be a combination of the two.
One thing that I learned is that there is more than one side to American history
(or to any history, for that matter).€ Victory in our eyes was defeat for the Bri
tish.€ We may have seen the war as one for freedom and independence, but the Briti
sh and their Loyalist (Tory) allies saw the fighting as preserving order.€ They co
uld not see how a nation could exist without a king of some kind.
I got a hint of this perspective when I visited Saratoga where the National Park
Service had exhibits showing the Tory perspective as well as the more familiar
Patriot one.€ The Old Barracks at Trenton had a similar perspective where they sho
wed what happened to New Jerseyans who served in the French and Indian War fough
t more than decade earlier.€ From what I could see, half of them joined the Patrio
t/Rebel cause, while the other half remained Loyalist/Tory.
It is this dichotomy that helped define this nation.€ Of course, many of these Loy
alists moved north and became Canadians (eh?).€ However, America’s many dichotomies
are what make this country what it is.€ Sure, there is tension, but it’s from this t
ension that we get consensus.€ And, it is from this consensus that we grow as a na
tion.
So, for all this hysteria about what is a “Real American”, I think this was a major
lesson that I learned in my pilgrimage.€ American history belongs to all of us, no
t just the superpatriots who talk about the Constitution and our Founders, but d
on’t read them (or read them out of context).
As I walked the fields where brave men on both sides fought, I thought that this
is my history as much as it is the superpatriot’s.€ My ancestors may not have fough
t there (let alone be anywhere near there), but I’m as much an heir to that herita
ge as anyone else.€ America is a nation of ideas, not of blood and soil.€ That is a
lesson that we should all learn.
Meanwhile, in my mind’s eye, I wander to that haunting ravine at Oriskany and reme
mber....
Siva Jonnada