Stephen M. Ostrander

“ Becoming satisfied during the day that there was no intention on the part of the fleet to attack the city, he passed over to Brooklyn and took his station at Fort Putnam.
Here he witnessed the terrible rout and slaughter which befell Sullivan, with no means at his command to send succor or assistance. He also beheld the heroic conduct of the men under Stirling, and was convinced that resistance on their part was in vain. As Washington noticed the bravery of the Maryland troops in the bayonet charge, he exclaimed, "Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose." ”

“ Turn now to New York, and see what the Indian was under different conditions. The upper Hudson and the valley of the Mohawk were first settled by the Dutch. They simply treated the Indian as a man. Tolerant in religion, they respected his rude faith; truthful among themselves, to him they never broke their word; honest in all their dealings with him, they kept good faith. They suffered from no thefts, because they took nothing except by purchase. Their land titles were respected, because for every tract they had an Indian deed. ”

“ Johnson was ever distinguished as a patriot, and attested his love of liberty, not only by words but also by actions. On every occasion he fearlessly and boldly advocated the revolutionary movement, and was one of the officers of the Kings County militia who would not truckle to power, and who refused "to sell his heritage for a mess of pottage." When the American army retreated from Brooklyn he followed their fortunes, and was encamped with them at Harlem in 1776, and ever testified his love of country by his willingness to serve her in her hour of danger and trial. ”

“ The day of execution was cold and dismal. In the drizzling rain the prisoners were led out to meet their fate. The scaffold was erected in the park opposite the City Hall. Friends of Leisler gathered round him in the trying hour, bewailing the doom of their leader, and in bitter words execrated those who had sought and obtained the death warrant. Leisler lamented the fate of his son-in-law, and with his dying breath addressed his son and friend in words of tenderness. Turning to Milburne he said: "Why must you die? ”

“ Had Howe with his fleet besieged the city, and landed the military forces, their success would have been complete, as the Americans were not prepared to resist the invasion. Such a policy would have resulted disastrously to the patriotic cause. As we have already stated, the battle of Brooklyn was never looked upon by British authorities as at all creditable. Whatever glory gathers round the engagement centres in the exhibition of military skill displayed by Washington in the management of the masterly retreat of the American army from Long Island, and its safe arrival in the city of New York. ”

“ When, in 1685, the Duke of York succeeded to the throne of England under the title of James II., he instructed Governor Dongan to assert the prerogative of the Crown as a natural right, to impose taxes, and also prohibited the establishment of printing presses in the colony. He was opposed to the diffusion of information, and evidently thought that education and knowledge would weaken and destroy his power over the people. Thus, selfishness marked his whole course. In August, 1685, the provincial council was dissolved by order of the Governor, and no other was chosen or summoned. ”

“ To be sure, the West India Company commended freedom of belief, and the early Governors, partly, doubtless, because they were too busy with other matters, and partly because occasion had not yet arisen, caused little trouble by any attitude toward questions of faith or worship. But when the colony grew to considerable proportions, and the mixture of races brought about by the advertised liberality of the Dutch settlements began to bring up the social and religious questions inevitable in such a community, there were many clashings and disputes and bitternesses. ”

“ It is easy to belittle it, as historians have done, by saying that upon no other conditions could they have lived among the natives. Of course it was politic, but the world has discovered that honesty is the best policy, without concluding that it is any the less a Christian virtue. These early settlers in New York were traders, offshoots from what was the greatest commercial nation of the world. They made no pretense of doing missionary work. They were simply in pursuit of gain. But they had learned that the only permanent success in life rests on honesty and justice. ”

“ Washington himself superintended the embarkation of the troops, who began to move about ten o'clock. The darkness of the night aided materially in the accomplishment of the work. To add to the deception, fires were kept burning until the last moment. All the troops were safely embarked. The boatmen labored cheerfully during the night watches, and when at last the fog passed away, and they beheld the clear cerulean sky above them, they also rejoiced that a kind Providence had directed their boats to a safe harbor on the shores of the upper part of the city of New York. ”

“ A man of executive ability and military skill, he saw at once that energetic measures were necessary in order to tread under foot the existing latent love of royalty, which only needed a little encouragement to burst forth into living activity. It is a singular coincidence that on the very day General Lee entered New York with his forces, the British fleet which had been expected arrived at Sandy Hook, under command of Sir Henry Clinton. ”

“ Terror seized the Long Island settlers in common with all outlying colonists, many of whom lost no time in seeking the shelter of the Fort. Kieft was bewildered by the consequences of his act. Realizing that the chief offenses had been against Long Island tribes, he sent to these a propitiatory message, which was met by shouts of "corn thieves!" by the Indians. Those settlers who held their posts on Long Island were forced to adopt measures of fortifying their homes, which they did after the methods of inclosure peculiar to the time, and to preserve the utmost vigilance to save their lives. ”

“ The extreme severity of the Puritan religious temper found expression in distressing exactions and persecutions. Driven from England by intolerance, the Puritans, when placed in control of social and political conditions, exhibited a degree of paternalism not less despotic than that from which they themselves had suffered. And as the Puritans of England had found shelter and liberty in Holland, the victims of Puritanical intolerance in America fled to the friendly support of Dutch authority within the New Netherland jurisdiction. ”

“ In the light of present knowledge it was passing strange that Generals Howe and Clinton and Admiral Howe should have committed so fatal a blunder as to attempt the subjugation of the city of New York by a passage of the army across Long Island. The [264] situation of Manhattan Island, extending into the bay, with a wide expanse of water on each side, presented an inviting field for an attack upon the city. Admiral Howe, with his large and well-equipped fleet, could have readily besieged New York, and forced Washington with his little band of patriots to evacuate the place. ”

“ In the annals of the Revolutionary period in Brooklyn, a conspicuous place is occupied by the famous Rising Sun tavern. It stood (and still stands) at the junction of the Bedford and Jamaica turnpikes in East New York, and was an old-fashioned farm-house of the Dutch type. This famous tavern, from its prominent position on the King's highway, [275] was a resort for the burghers and farmers of the island. The host, William Howard, was very popular amongst the people, and the old landmark, so prominent in the early history of Kings County, has long been an object of interest. ”

“ Others considered the change in England as a complete revolution, which extended to every province belonging to the kingdom. They held that all things were in a state of anarchy, and that no one possessed the power to control; that all officials were functus officio, and consequently the power rested with the people, and that they alone could devise measures or means of government, until the sovereign will should be expressed. ”

“ The Assembly and the citizens were destined to be severely punished for the bravery they displayed in the defense of their rights. The action of the Assembly resulted in the total suspension of legislative prerogatives, and deprived the people of their representation in the government of the colony. The neighboring colonies also sent petitions on the subject to Parliament. These were received because they were couched in feebler language, and after consideration were rejected. To the credit of New York it must be said that she presented her objections in a bold and fearless manner. ”

“ The position of Kings County, while actually close to the rapidly growing city on Manhattan Island, was relatively so much aloof in many of its interests from that storm centre of colonial activity in the middle colonies, that it was natural, perhaps, that there should be less enthusiasm over the independent cause than in New York itself, or than in certain other regions less sequestered geographically and by local condition. ”

“ In the code of general instructions which the West India Company had sent for the guidance of the Provincial Council, those in authority were urged "to do all in their power to induce the colonists to establish themselves in some of the most suitable places, with a certain number of inhabitants, in the manner of towns, villages, and hamlets, as the English are in the habit of doing." ”

“ The unwillingness of the early settlers to part with their land, when land was so cheap, accounts in a great measure for our present narrow and crooked street. These early settlers, in their opposition to the widening of the street, might have desired to preserve some favorite fruit or shade tree. It has been given as a reason why Broadway, New York, makes a turn or diverges at Grace Church, that a Dutchman had a favorite cherry tree on the line of the thoroughfare as proposed, and, if the street was continued in a direct line, the tree would have felt the woodman's axe. ”

“ Early in January, 1776, the Continental Congress had passed a resolution, "that it be recommended to the Committee of Safety of the Province of New York to appoint proper persons to inquire into the propriety and practicability of obstructing or lessening the depth of the water in the Narrows, or at any other place at the entrance of New York, or of any way of fortifying that pass so as to prevent the entrance of the enemy." ”

“ Howe and Tryon rejoiced greatly over these manifestations on [286] the part of the people of Kings County. Such acts encouraged them greatly in their labors, and led them to suppose that the war was being carried on by a few zealous but hot-headed fanatics, who desired to enrich themselves by a continuance of the rebellion. They believed that they could control the rich, who did not wish to part with their property to be used in a prolonged campaign, and the poor, who did not desire to be separated from their families by compulsory service in the army. ”

“ They firmly believed in a future state of existence, in a far distant country to the west, where the brave and good would enjoy themselves eternally in singing, feasting, hunting, and dancing; while the coward and traitor, the thief and liar, would be eternally condemned to servile labor—so much despised by the Indian—which in its results should be attended with endless disappointment. ”

“ When Admiral Howe was sent with his fleet to New York he was directed by his government to treat for peace with the rebellious subjects. Acting upon his instructions, after landing at Staten Island, and placing his fleet in close proximity to the city, he opened negotiations to this end. At the start he made a great blunder, by mistaking the character of the general-in-chief with whom he had to deal. An autocrat in temper and disposition, and [241] infused with the traditional pride of a British commander, he neglected to address Washington by his military title. ”

“ This continent of ice covered the whole of the northern part of North America, burying mountains beneath its bulk and hollowing the beds of the great fresh-water seas that Chicago and its sister cities front upon to-day, burying, too, for aught we know, the remains of civilizations, though nothing at present has been taken out of the glacial drift, except rude stone implements, to show what the probable condition of man was at that time. ”

“ No concession but acknowledgment of independence would satisfy the people. A conference was held at Staten Island, whereat Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Francis Rutledge, the commissioners appointed by Congress to attend the negotiations, refused to listen to any terms of peace, except such as should recognize the full and complete independence of the colonies. Howe, having failed in his effort, issued another proclamation to the people, and resolved to proceed and take the city of New York. ”

“ The legislative committee, assisted by a committee from the Continental Congress, went to work to disarm all suspected persons on Long Island, and to suppress every exhibition of Tory spirit. The public records were placed in the care of Congress, then in session in Philadelphia; and women and children, and all persons not needed for the defense of the city, were quickly removed to safe quarters. A corps of riflemen was stationed at Fort Hamilton to prevent the landing of the enemy in that quarter, to watch the approach of their fleet, and to give information as to their movements. ”

“ Settlers had been living on the Brooklyn side of the East River for a [xii] little more than twenty years, and the Indians were still a formidable obstacle to the peace of the struggling young communities. Dutch immigration had not yet been checked by that bloodless conquest of the British, which five years later transformed New Amsterdam from a Dutch to an English colony, and changed its name to New York. ”