Fort Washington

“ Greene had urged the retention of the [Pg 282] fort as necessary, both to command the passage of the river, and because it would be a threatening obstacle to the enemy's future operations. For them to advance into the country with such a fortification in their rear would be a hazardous move. These reasons were sound, and, as already stated, when the main army evacuated Harlem Heights, Washington's council voted to retain Fort Washington. ”

“ The only obstruction to the passage of the fleet on which the Americans might place the least reliance, was Fort Washington, on the Maryland side of the Potomac, about twelve miles below the national capital. It was a feeble fortress, but capable of being made strong. So early as May 1813, a deputation from Alexandria, Georgetown and Washington waited upon the Secretary of War, and represented the importance of strengthening the post. ”

“ Fort Washington was completely environed by hostile forees. On the seventh, three British ships of war passed up the Hudson unharmed, and on the night of the fourteenth, a large number of flat-boats went up and were moored near King's Bridge. The commander-in-chief would now have ordered the evacuation of Fort Washington, had not Greene urged the necessity of holding it, in connection with Fort Lee, for the defense of the river. ”

“ The loss of Fort Washington has been a frequent topic of discussion, as if its retention or loss had determining value. As already indicated by Washington’s letters, there was no substantial benefit to be realized by the detachment of troops to retain it, so long as British ships controlled its water-front. Behind it was New England, which could furnish no base of American operations for a general war; and yet, in order to prosecute the war to success, the American army must be established where it could harass and antagonize British operations at and out from New York. ”

“ Fort Washington was carried by storm, after a severe struggle. Twenty-six hundred men and all the munitions of war fell into the hands of the enemy. It was a serious and most depressing loss, and was felt throughout the continent. Meantime Washington had crossed into the Jerseys, and, after the loss of Fort Lee, began to retreat before the British, who, flushed with victory, now advanced rapidly under Lord Cornwallis." H. C. Lodge, George Washington, volume 1, chapter 6. ALSO IN: H. B. Carrington, Battles of the American Revolution, chapters 33-36. ”

“ You are moving, now, with the thin line of scarlet uniformed Virginians; you are standing in the hastily constructed earthen fort; if it rains, you look up to the dim outlines of the wooded hills as the tireless young Washington did when his ignorant interpreter betrayed him to the intriguing French commander; you march with Braddock's thin red line to that charnel ground beyond the bloody ford—you stand at Braddock's grave while the army wagons hurry over it to obliterate its sight from savage eyes. ”

“ He turned southward and occupied the east shore of the Hudson River. On the 16th of November took place the worst disaster which had yet befallen American arms. Fort Washington, lying just south of the Harlem, was the only point still held on Manhattan Island by the Americans. In modern war it has become clear that fortresses supposedly strong may be only traps for their defenders. Fort Washington stood on the east bank of the Hudson opposite Fort Lee, on the west bank. These forts could not fulfil the purpose for which they were intended, of stopping British ships. ”

“ On the return of the steamer I visited Fort Washington, which is situated on the left bank of the Potomac. I found everything in a state of neglect—gun carriages rotten, shot piles rusty, furnaces tumbling to pieces. The place might be made strong enough on the river front, but the rear is weak, though there is low marshy land at the back. A company of regulars were on duty. The sentries took no precautions against surprise. [86] Twenty determined men, armed with revolvers, could have taken the whole work ”

“ Long trains were seen moving over the hilly country towards Dobb's Ferry on the Hudson.
"A feint!" said General Lee, as soon as he discovered the situation.
"A retreat, more like," replied another officer. "The enemy sees little hope in attacking this stronghold."
"I can hardly believe that so large and well-disciplined an army is going to withdraw without giving battle," responded Washington. "No doubt an attack upon Fort Washington is the immediate purpose; and then, perhaps an invasion into the Jerseys." ”

“ By eleven o'clock the French and Indians, spreading throughout the forests on the northwest, began firing at six hundred yards' distance. Finally they circled to the southeast where the forests approached nearer to the English trenches. Washington at once drew his little army out of the fort and boldly challenged assault on the narrow neck of solid land on the south which formed the only approach to the fort. ”

“ Fort Washington, a small redoubt or earth, is not far from the Arch and has been carefully preserved against the encroachments of Time. The lines of the earthworks may also be made out.
A historic site is Yorktown, Virginia, the sleepy little village on the peninsula between the James and York rivers Cornwallis surrendered to Washington and the French allies in 1781, thus making sure of American Independence, and where the Army of the Potomac encamped under McClellan in 1862, throwing up massive earthworks. ”

“ Aye, but it is memorials of that daring young Virginian, to whom whistling bullets were charming, that we seek in the Alleghanies today. We catch a similar glimpse of his ardent, boyish spirit in a letter written from Fort Necessity later. Speaking of strengthening the fortifications, Washington writes: "We have, with nature's assistance, made a good intrenchment, and by clearing the bushes out of these meadows, prepared a charming field for an encounter." ”

“ Of the beginning of Washington’s fort on Mount Braddock nothing whatever remains save the record of it, which should be enough—though it is not—to silence all who, with gross ignorance of the facts, have imputed to the young commander a lack of military skill in choosing the site in Great Meadows for Fort Necessity. ”

“ Washington writes to General William Livingston (now governor of the Jerseys) : "They have gone towards the North River and King's Bridge. Some suppose they are going into winter quarters, and will sit down in New York without doing more than investing Fort Washington. I cannot subscribe wholly to this opinion myself. That they will invest Fort Washington, is a matter of which there can be no doubt; and I think there is a strong probability that General Howe will detach a part of his force to make an incursion into the Jerseys, provided he is going to New York. ”

“ Scouts galloped off to gain intelligence. We will anticipate their report.
Two of the British frigates, at seven o'clock in the morning, had moved up the Hudson, and come to anchor near Bourdett's Ferry, below the Morris House, Washington's old head-quarters, apparently with the intention of stopping the ferry, and cutting off the communication between Fort Lee and Fort Washington. At the same time, troops made their appearance on Harlem Plains, where Lord Percy held command. Colonel Morgan immediately manned the lines with troops from the garrison of Fort Washington. ”

“ The embankments of Fort Washington, and all of the works mentioned in this paragraph, are yet visible. Those of the Citadel of Fort Washington (indicated at the foot of the flag-staff, page 826) are well defined. The military works mentioned in this note, with those in the note on page 799, composed the whole of the Revolutionary fortifications upon Manhattan Island, except sortie breast-works at M'Gowan's Pass, between One hundred and Fifth and One hundred and Eighth Streets and the Fifth and Sixth Avenues, now known as Mount St. ”

“ The Americans had repulsed the British at King's Bridge, but Lord Howe sent gunboats up the Hudson River to cut off Washington from his supplies, which [Pg 48] were stored in Connecticut. Washington thought he might be forced to surrender if he remained, so he decided to leave a garrison at Fort Washington and take the army into camp at White Plains (New York) . A great many of his men were sick or wounded, and the hospital arrangements were poor and insufficient. The disabled men were lying in crowded sheds, stables and any other places of shelter that could be found. ”

“ Washington served as aide-de-camp to the general, whose ideas of warfare had been gained on the battlefields of Europe, and who could not understand that these ideas did not apply to warfare in a wilderness. In consequence, when only a few miles from the fort, he was attacked by a force of French and Indians, his army all but annihilated and he himself wounded so severely that he died a few days later. During that fierce battle, Washington seemed to bear a charmed life. ”

“ Washington began the removal of valuable stores. He acted as quickly as if he were in Howe’s place, seeking the earliest possible possession of New York. On the twelfth, a Council of War decided that a force of eight thousand men should be left for the defence of Fort Washington and its dependencies. Of eight regiments of the very best troops, reporting three thousand three hundred and twenty-two present, the sick-roll reduced the effective strength twelve hundred and nine men. On the fourteenth, additional British vessels passed up East River, landing troops at Kipp’s Bay on the sixteenth. ”

“ My Dear Gates: The ingenious manœuvre of Fort Washington has completely unhinged the goodly fabrick we had been building. There never was so —— a stroke. Entre nous, a certain great man is —— deficient. He has thrown me into a position where I have my choice of difficulties. If I stay in the Province, I risk myself and my army; and if I do not stay, the Province is lost forever.... Our councils have been weak, to the last degree. As to what relates to yourself, if you think you can be in time to aid the general, I would have you, by all means, go. You will at least save your army. ”

“ He was to “make prisoners, kill or destroy,” all Frenchmen who should try to get possession of land on the Ohio River. He built a small log fort, which he named Fort Necessity. Here the French attacked him. They had five men to his one. Colonel Washington fought like a man who liked to hear the bullets whistle past his ears,—as he said he did,—but in the end he had to give up the fort.
Then General Braddock, a noted English soldier, was sent over to Virginia, by the king, to drive the French out of the country. He started with a fine army, and Washington went with him. ”

“ Satisfied that General Howe intended to capture Fort Washington, he advised its evacuation. He wrote to General Greene:
"If we cannot prevent vessels from passing up the river, and the enemy are possessed of all the surrounding country, what valuable purpose can it answer to hold a post from which the expected benefit cannot be had? I am, therefore, inclined to think that it will not be prudent to hazard the men and stores at Mount Washington ”

“ What an example to young men is this first public performance of Washington, to do as much more than their mere duty as lies in their power! Washington did far more than was expected of him, for, besides getting a clear idea of the genuineness of French hostility, did he not report the strategic value of the point of land at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela, the future sites of Fort Duquesne and Pitt, and the present Pittsburg? And that point of land has been, since Washington's attention was turned to it, the strategic military position of the Central West. ”

“ After stating that he should deposit his stores, etc., in a place fully as safe, and more central than Peekskill, he adds: "As to ourselves, light as we are, several retreats present themselves. In short, if we keep a good look-out, we are in no danger; but I must entreat your Excellency to enjoin the officers posted at Fort Lee, to give us the quickest intelligence, if they observe any embarkation on the North River." As to the affair of Fort Washington, all that Lee observed on the subject was: "Oh, general, why would you be over-persuaded by men of inferior judgment to your own? ”

“ I propose to stay in this neighborhood a few days; in which time I expect the design of the enemy will be more disclosed, and their incursions made in this quarter, or their investure of Fort Washington, if they are intended.” While the assault was in preparation, Washington took boat to cross and examine for himself the condition of the works; but meeting Generals Putnam and Greene, who satisfied him that there would be a stout defence, he returned without landing. Three assaults were made, Generals Knyphausen, Percy, Cornwallis and Matthews commanding divisions. ”

“ Just as the last tree went crashing down, the French and their Indian allies, nine hundred strong, came in sight, and opened a scattering fire upon the fort, but from so great a distance as made it little more than an idle waste of powder and lead. Suspecting this to be but a feint of the crafty foe to decoy them into an ambuscade, Washington ordered his men to keep within the shelter of the fort, there to lie close, and only to shoot when they could plainly see where their bullets were to be sent. ”