The Means of Saving the Army
The Means of Saving the Army
The real person who warned the garrison of Fort Lee
Few things in Bergen County Revolutionary War History draw more debate than who it was that warned the garrison of Fort Lee that the British had crossed the Hudson and were on their way to attack them. Legend and lore have often been brought to the front as facts, often because the stories have been told so many times they have simply been accepted as such. This aspect of the story was indeed just one more controversy of the invasion, added to: where did the British actually land? who were the three guides for Cornwallis? and was the Kearney house really “Cornwallis’ Headquarters.”
We are fortunate that historians such as John Spring and Eric Nelsen have stepped forward in our lifetime to examine the true facts of some of these events, often at the risk of heated arguments or worse. One of the reasons I have always respected the Bergen County Historical Society is its fundamental desire to seek, accept and support the truth of real history, even at the risk of not supporting popular legend. Perhaps the last legend unresolved from the invasion is that which the subject of this article is.
Fort Lee in November 1776 was a post with little future ahead of it. Often described as two distinct posts, Fort Lee and Fort Constitution (the former the redoubt located in what is now the town of Fort Lee; the latter the batteries along the cliffs where the historic park lies,) this work was act in conjunction with Fort Washington, located on the opposite side of the Hudson, diagonally to the north. Ships sunk in the river would theoretically channel British warships into an area where the guns of both forts would prevent their advancing further up-river. The Royal Navy frigates Phoenix and Roebuck along with the smaller HMS Tartar sailed successfully through these defenses in October 1776, much to the dismay of the garrisons in the forts. Further probes of the river proved equally fruitless in defending against, and in one instance at least was deadly for the defenders, as referenced in this newspaper account from Rhode Island:
In discharging a Cannon at some of the Enemy’s Ships, that were, on the 5th Instant, endeavouring to pass Fort Lee, at New-York, it missed Fire, when the brave (though very young) the intrepid, and the gallant, Capt. Hardy Peirce, of this Town, stepping nimbly before it, to give Orders, it, on a Sudden, went off, when he received the whole Charge in his Body, which put a Period to his Existance.[1]
During the period of July through November, particularly during the last eight weeks or so, thousands of troops, Continentals, Flying Camp and Militia, either passed through the fort, built or defended it. At its height, over 3,600 officers and men occupied the works and environs of Fort Lee.[2] Some of the troops remained in garrison for an extended period, but most moved over to the New York side, either to garrison Fort Washington or join Washington’s Army.
The fort and batteries were built upon the property of Mr. Peter Bourdet, who ran a ferry at the base of the Palisades. Although Bourdet was sympathetic to the Rebel cause, one of the ferry operators there certainly was not. Isaac Perkins of English Neighbourhood, who owned a pettiauger (a common Hudson River small vessel) to “ply” the ferry across the river, would be one of Cornwallis’ guides on his invasion.[3]
After the British victory at the Battle of White Plains on 28 October 1776, Washington led the bulk of his army across the Hudson and down to Bergen County to await the next moves of the British. Establishing his headquarters in Hackensack, he left Major General Nathanael Greene in charge of Fort Lee. Greene on 13 November 1776 had twelve regiments and one independent company under his command, with a total of about 3,500 officers and men present and fit for duty under his command.[4] It is at this point the strength of the garrison goes into flux, with regiments being detached and new regiments arriving on a daily basis. These troops were all Continental or state troops. While several Bergen County Militiamen stated they were in garrison at the post when Fort Washington was taken, none stated they were there when the British invaded New Jersey. Indeed, the last return of troops at Fort Lee that explicitly mentions the Bergen County Militia there was at the end of September. An examination of numerous pension applications shows these men were primarily involved in constructing the fort, which would correspond with the earlier time period.
The attack on Fort Washington, which occurred on 16 November 1776, was clearly an incident forever etched in the memory of not only those who took part in it, but those who witnessed it across the river. Major General Greene had sent the better part of six regiments from Fort Lee across the river to aid Colonel Magaw in the defense of Fort Washington. Greene held back one man in five from each of the corps he sent over, most likely to tend to their camps and baggage, but it left him briefly with just over 500 privates at Fort Lee present and fit for duty. That ended within forty eight hours, as the regiments of Heard’s NJ Brigade and the Maryland Flying Camp joined the garrison, having crossed the river earlier with Washington. These corps probably swelled Greene’s command to somewhere between 2,500-3,000 officers and men, to which could be added Colonel Ebenezer Williams’ regiment of Connecticut Militia which lay in adjacent English Neighbourhood.
With his numbers increasing, Greene was about to compound his error of sending over 1,600 officers and men to certain doom, by mustering more units to make the journey to cross the Hudson. Isaac Clinkenbeard, a soldier in Captain Andrew Hines’ Company of the Maryland Flying Camp, had arrived in Fort Lee on 15 November 1776. He recalled the next morning, that of the attack, his regiment was formed “with the intention to cross over to fort Washington, but there we were met by General George Washington, who ordered that no more troops should cross over.”[5] Lt. John Longstreth, also of Captain Hines’ Company, recalled that he and his men “expected to cross the river early in the morning to assist at the Battle of Fort Washington, whilst taking a little Breakfast, an armed vessel came up the river, took command of the Ferry prevented our crossing; Fort Washington was taken that day in our view…”[6] George Shall, a soldier in Colonel Michael Swope’s Regiment of the Pennsylvania Flying Camp, recalled either the same incident, or a similar one happening the previous day. Swope’s corps was one of those sent over to Fort Washington a few days earlier by Greene; Shall had been sent back on the 14th or 15th with a few other men to deliver dispatches. Shall recalled “The next day we were ordered to parade to cross the river, when Gen. Washington rode up & asked what we were paraded for, & being told it was for the purpose of crossing to the island, forbade it, & said he was sorry so many had already gone over for they would probably be lost. The next day was the battle & Capture of Fort Washington.”[7] The incident described by Shall was probably the same as that related by Clinkenbeard and Longstreth, only altered by the passage of time.
Not all the troops at Fort Lee remained passive while Fort Washington was under attack. Thomas Jones, a soldier in the Maryland Flying Camp later noted “Ge[enera]l Bells regiment fired cannon and threw bombs across the North river at the British while they were attacking the Fort [Washington] – but the distance was too great for them to take Effect.”[8] Daniel Parkison of Colonel Frederick Watts’ battalion of the Pennsylvania Flying Camp “assisted in drawing up upon a Rock they called Fort Constitution two 36 Pounders, there was some small cannon and a bomb, I think the cannon were to annoy the British vessels on the North River; we used the 36s against the British when they marched against Fort Washington.”[9]
For the troops at Fort Washington, the British and Hessian attack was very quick and in the end, unstoppable. Some, not wishing to surrender with the garrison made their way to the water’s edge in an attempt to flee across the river. Amongst them was Pennsylvanian George Owrey who later recalled his terrifying experience: “I was Stationed at Fort Washington under Colonel Magaw and when the Fort was Surrendered made my escape across the River to Fort Lee, in company with some others, where I joined again my own Regiment under Colonel Broadhead. As we crossed the Hudson River from Fort Washington the British fired upon us and one small cannon Shot passed through our Boat. Some of us Stuffed our Clothes into the hole and others bailed the water with their Hats…”[10] One young New Yorker and his family had already made the crossing. Benjamin Romaine, whose family would settle in Bergen County and he himself take up arms for the United States, described their ordeal: “ In or about the month of August 1776 my Father, mother and myself fled from this City to Fort Washington, a few miles above on the Hudson River. On the approach of the enemy, we crossed the Hudson to Fort Lee, on the opposite shore, while the cannon balls were flying over our heads, from Fort Lee, directed at the enemy’s ships, which were endeavouring to ascend the river in aid of the storming Fort Washington.”[11]
The refugees above described were not the only ones on the water that day. Nathanael Greene, along with Washington and other senior officers had been ferried over from Fort Lee the morning of the battle. Greene, feeling “mad, vext, sick and sorry” the next day, described the harrowing details to Colonel Henry Knox of the Artillery:
Yesterday morning General Washington, General Putnam, General Mercer and myself went to the Island to determine what was best to be done – but Just at the instant we stept on board the Boat the Enemy made their appearance on the Hill where the Monday action was – and began a severe Cannonade with several field pieces – our Guards soon fled, the Enemy advanced up to the second line, this was done while we were crossing the River and geting upon the Hill. The Enemy made several marches to the right and to the left I suppose to reconnoiter the fortifications and lines.
There we all stood in a very awkward situation, as the disposition was made and the Enemy advancing we durst not attempt to make any new disposition – indeed we saw nothing amiss. We all urged his Excellency to come off – I offered to stay, General Putnam did the same and so did General Mercer, but his Excellency thought it best for us all to come off together – which we did about half an hour before the Enemy surrounded the fort. The Enemy came up Harlam River and landed at Party at Head Quarters which was upon the back of our People in the lines, a disorderly retreat soon took place without much fireing the People retreated into the fort. On the north side of the fort there was a very heavy fire for a long while – and as they had the advantage of the ground – I apprehend the Enemies loss must be great. After the Troops retreated in the fort very few Guns was fired, the Enemy approached within smallarm fire of the lines and sent in a flagg – and the Garrison cappitulated in an hour.[12]
The Battle of Fort Washington had ended; the battle to take Fort Lee was about to begin.
With the loss of Fort Washington, there was little strategic need for Fort Lee, but neither was there apprehended a rapid need to abandon it. Washington had established his headquarters at Hackensack with part of his army[13]; an additional guard occupied New Bridge, carefully watching the comings and goings of the inhabitants. Bergen would become known by the Continental troops (and even the state’s governor) as the “disaffected” county for the large number of Loyalist inhabitants living there. Guards from the fort were certainly on the watch for any friends to the King making their way to the British, as evidenced in this extract of a letter written from Fort Lee on 13 November 1776:
Last night I went tory hunting with a party of 50 men, but the birds had flown before we arrived; however, we were repaid by a sight of the enemy’s encampment, whose fires being very numerous, and greatly extended, exhibited a delightful appearance.
I was just now interrupted by the sergeant of the guard we left at the river side opposite to the ships. He informs me, they have taken a red hot tory coming from the enemy’s vessels, so our expedition was not entirely fruitless.[14]
These patrols and detachments from the fort would be key over the coming few days. The return of 14 November 1776 shows “1 Captain, 2 1st Lieutenants, 2 2nd Lieutenants, 2 Ensigns, 6 Sargeants, 10 Drums & Fifes, [and] 145 Privates” scattered on guards at Bergen, Hobuck, Bull’s Ferry, Hackensack and “opposite Spiten Devil.”[15] It is this last-mentioned guard post that will be the focus of our attention.
Washington correctly realized the situation and announced his intentions to Congress on the 19th of November:
As Fort Lee was always considered, as only necessary in conjunction with that on the East side of the River, to preserve the communication across, & to prevent the Enemy from a free navigation, It has become of no importance by the loss of the other, or not so material as to employ a force for its defence. Being viewed in this, light and apprehending that the Stores there would be precariously situated, their removal has been determined on, to Boundbrook, above Brunswic, Prince Town, Springfield & Acquackinac Bridge, as places that will not be subject to sudden danger in case the Enemy should pass the River, & which have been thought proper, as repositories for our Stores of Provision & Forage.[16]
Washington had the correct plan. But having just started hauling away stores within the previous 48 hours, he was too late.
Sir William Howe, commander in chief of the British Army in America, has been criticized in history for moving too slowly during the New York Campaign. His movement on Fort Lee however has never been a part of that assessment. On the night of the 19th, soon after Washington announced his intention to evacuate Fort Lee, eleven battalions of British & Hessian troops, totaling 5,000 men in two divisions, embarked on board flat boats and slipped out north from Spuyten Duyvil Creek towards the west bank of the Hudson. The invasion was begun. But who actually would warn the garrison, and what was the scene like on that autumn morning? Using the accounts of those that were actually there on the scene, we now have a reasonably clear picture.
Years of research have tracked down some 72 veterans from the war that were present at Fort Lee the day of the invasion. These veterans submitted pension applications to the United States government, typically in 1818 or 1832, depending upon their circumstances. Some accounts were mere mentions, such as Rowland Cotton of the 20th Continental Regiment, who recalled being stationed at Fort Lee “until the general Retreat of the army through the State of New Jersey to the Pennsylvania Shore…”[17] There are a handful though who provided rich details, which we will examine now.
The first thing that strikes you when reading the accounts is the confusion that must have reigned by the common, young soldiers. Jonathan Clayton, a Monmouth County soldier in Forman’s Regiment of Heard’s Brigade recalled “while at Fort Lee the British army landed both above & below them, & were permitted to take the Fort without much resistance.”[18] Obviously, history shows there was no landing below Fort Lee, but this is an excellent example of the rumors and fears that no doubt spread that day, and in some cases believed for years afterwards. Another incorrect assumption or memory that carried on for years was that the fort knew the British were coming fro their breakfast cook-fires! This tale was told by Mahlon Pitney, a Morris County soldier in Ephraim Martin’s Regiment: “one morning we Saw a large Smoke Rising two or three miles up the River & our Lighthorseman Said it was the British cooking there Breakfast. Immediately there was a council of of [sic] officers held on horseback with Washington in the center and we were ordered to march without delay.” Aside from the fact that the British had marched with cooked rations and didn’t build giant bonfires to heat a meal, Washington never made it to Fort Lee that day.[19]
The best clue as to at least what type of person warned the garrison comes from Thomas Paine, who wrote in The American Crisis that “an officer arrived with information that the enemy with 200 boats had landed about seven miles above.” If it was an officer, it was then most likely to have been one of the at least seven officers detailed as being detached on guard. With the increase of the garrison after the date of that final return, there is the possibility the number of guards was correspondingly increased. Frederick F. Van Liew, a Somerset soldier in Heard’s Brigade, was indeed one of the guards north of the fort and discovered the British, as he describes it:
Deponent…was made Second Sergeant, and sent out with a guard up the river about three miles. About day break deponent discovered the River full of boats of Brittish and as they landed deponent with his men fired and immediately run for Fort Lee. When we came to the Fort, Washington had left the Fort with his army, for Hackensack in New Jersey, and only about seventy men remained at the Fort of straggling appearance, drinking liquor that was left by the Sutlers. Deponent and his men filled their cantines & left the Fort and went after the army, and overtook them on the hights near Hackensack town, and remained their over night.[20]
If Van Liew’s distance was relatively accurate, that would have put him in the northern part of present-day Englewood Cliffs. He and his guard would have seen the boats on their way north to the Lower Closter Dock. His mention of firing muskets would not have been to harm the British (the muskets would have been hopelessly out of range) but rather in the hopes that the sound would alarm the garrison. Significantly, he notes that by the time he and his guard had gotten there, the garrison was gone. The time it would have taken to get to the fort probably would have been in the range of 45-60 minutes, but no more, working on the assumption they set off immediately upon their discovery of the British. Someone else, almost certainly on horseback, had already warned the garrison.
The two great myths and legends of who warned the garrison of Fort Lee center around a young slave girl named Polly Wyckoff, and an unidentified “countryman” from Closter. The legends still regrettably are told and written as fact, Polly Wyckoff’s most recently by David Hackett Fischer’s The Crossing and before him (and whom Fischer cited) Arthur Lefkowitz in The Long Retreat. Ignoring the fact there was no one in Bergen County at the time named Polly Wyckoff, these authors also ignored Paine’s observation that the garrison was warned by an officer. The “Closter Countryman” was an invention of the 20th Century and not based on any actual facts of the landing. If Thomas Paine was correct in his observation, the officer who warned Fort Lee has now most likely been found.
John Clifford was born 10 January 1749 in Bethlehem Township, Hunterdon County. At the time the war broke out, he was living in Pittstown, in Kingwood Township and was later commissioned a lieutenant in Captain Houten’s Company of Colonel Philip Johnson’s battalion of Brigadier General Nathaniel Heard’s Brigade of New Jersey State Troops. With his battalion he fought at the Battle of Long Island, where his colonel was killed. The corps was evacuated to New York City with the rest of Washington’s Army, then north to Fort Washington before proceeding with the army to White Plains. After the battle there on 28 October 1776, in which Clifford took part, Washington, the brigade, and other corps crossed the river and headed south, some to Fort Lee, others to Hackensack. Clifford and Heard’s Brigade headed to Fort Lee.
Lieutenant Clifford appears to have been one of the officers of the guard laying at an outpost north of Fort Lee. Exactly where is not known. When dawn broke, Clifford must have rubbed his eyes at the sight of flat boats crossing from Philip’s house, transporting 5,000 troops under Lord Cornwallis. If he was in the area where Sergeant Van Liew and his post was, he would have been located 3-4 miles south of Lower Closter Dock, close enough to peer up the river from the Palisades and view the impending danger. Clifford quietly recorded the event in his 1832 pension application: “The ennemy landed on the Same Side that we was, he was officer of the guard and by Strict watching discovered them when he pressed a Horse and gave Genl. Green information immediately, which was of very essential service to the army, we then retreated under Genl. Washington threw the State of New Jersey…” The pressing of a horse refers basically to taking by force or coercion a horse from an inhabitant’s farm. This part of the story may actually be incorporated in the legends of Polly Wyckoff and the Closter Countryman. Clifford, as an officer in the state troops, would have had no uniform, and as such might easily be described by some as “a countryman.” But of importance to historians… did anyone support Clifford’s claim? Yes.
Jacob Anderson was a soldier under Clifford’s command in 1776. On 28 August 1832, he testified before Judge Benjamin Egbert that the British “Landed in a few days on the Same side of the River we were and John Clifford was officer of the Guard and by Strict watching discovered them who immediately pressed a Horse and gave Gel. Green information, which was thought was the means of Saving the Army at that time…”[21]
The process of finding Clifford as the mysterious officer took years of searching through thousands of pension applications. Starting in 1818, the United States government provided for some of the veterans of the country’s founding. Clifford’s particular pension was administered under a law passed 7 June 1832, which provided for most veterans, regardless of their current financial situation and establishment of service.[22] One pension application led to another, which gave more names and led to another, which… There are thousands more pension applications to go through. Who knows what fascinating secrets they may hold?
In our next installment: the aftermath of Clifford’s discovery. Was there an actual confrontation between the retreating army and Cornwallis’s forces? Washington wrote on the 21st that the “retreat was secured.” But did the armies in fact meet? Tune in next time…
Todd W. Braisted
Past President BCHS
March 29, 2011
[1] The Freeman’s Journal or New-Hampshire Gazette (Portsmouth,) November 26, 1776, republishing a piece from a Providence newspaper of November 5, 1776.
[2] “Return of Troops in General Green’s Division, English Neighbourhood Sept. 29 1776.” Record Group M246, Revolutionary War Rolls, RG 93, Reel 137, Folder 7-7, No. 59, National Archives and Records Administration. (Hereafter cited as NARA.)
[3] Perkins’ vessel was worth either £ 40, £ 50 or £ 55 currency. It later sunk while transporting some of the captured stores from Fort Lee. “Evidence on the Claim of Isaac Perkins, late of Hackensack, New Jersey,” Saint John, New Brunswick, 8 February 1787. Audit Office, Class 12, Volume 16, Pages 267-268, Great Britain, The National Archives.
[4] “A Return of the Forces encamp’d on the Jersey Shore Commanded by Major Genl. Greene, Nov. 13, 1776.” Record Group M246, Revolutionary War Rolls, RG 93, Reel 137, Folder 7-7, No. 61, NARA.
[5] Pension Application of Isaac Clinkenbeard. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, MD/VA S15380, NARA.
[6] Pension Application of John Longstreth. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. S23778, NARA.
[7] Pension Application of George Shall. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. S7493, NARA.
[8] Pension Application of Thomas Jones. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. S2655, NARA.
[9] “36 Pounder” refers to the weight of shot fired by a particular gun. This would be a very large artillery piece. The area described by Parkison is where Fort Lee Historic Park now stands. Pension Application of Daniel Parkison. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. S18542, NARA.
[10] Pension Application of George Owrey. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. S17613, NARA.
[11] Pension Application of Benjamin Romaine. Collection M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. W18839, NARA.
[12] Greene to Knox, Fort Lee, 17 November 1776. No. GLC02437.00488, The Gilder Lehrman Collection at the New-York Historical Society.
[13] Exactly how many men were at Hackensack is not known. In all likelihood it was not considerable. In a letter from Washington to Congress on 19 November, he noted that the troops at Fort Lee would soon have their enlistments expire, leaving him with Haslet’s Delaware Regiment, Hand’s 1st Continental Regiment, some remnants of Smallwood’s Marylanders, and some corps arriving from Virginia. The first three were probably those with him at Hackensack. Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, Reel 167, i152, Volume 3, Pages 265-268, NARA.
[14] The Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser (Philadelphia), November 20, 1776.
[15] “Return of Detachments and Out Guards furnish’d from Fort Lee Novr. 14 1776.” Record Group M246, Revolutionary War Rolls, RG 93, Reel 137, Folder 7-7, No. 62, NARA.
[16] Washington to Congress, Hackensack, 19 November 1776. Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, Reel 167, i152, Volume 3, Pages 265-268, NARA.
[17] Pension Application of Rowland Cotton. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. S11170, NARA.
[18] Pension Application of Jonathan Clayton. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. S16717, NARA.
[19] Pension Application of Mahlon Pitney. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. S1080, NARA.
[20] Pension Application of Frederick F. Van Liew. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. S23035, NARA.
[21] Pension Application of John Clifford. M-804, Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, No. S970, NARA.
[22] The 1818 law was only open to destitute veterans who had served in the Continental Army.