Memoirs Of Aaron Burr, Volume 1, Matthew L. Davis [book club suggestions .txt] 📗

Of Friends, I Wrote To General

Putnam, Who Instantly Answered My Letter By A Very Kind Invitation To

His House, Assuring Me That He Respected My Father, And Was Only His

Enemy In The Field Of Battle; But That, In Private Life, He Himself,

Or Any Part Of His Family, Might Always Command His Services. On The

Next Day He Sent Colonel Webb, One Of His Aid-De-Camps, To Conduct Me

To New-York. When I Arrived In The Broadway (A Street So Called),

Where General Putnam Resided, I Was Received With Great Tenderness,

Both By Mrs. Putnam And Her Daughters, And On The Following Day I Was

Introduced By Them To General And Mrs. Washington, Who Likewise Made

It Their Study To Show Me Every Mark Of Regard; But I Seldom Was

Allowed To Be Alone, Although Sometimes, Indeed, I Found An

Opportunity To Escape To The Gallery On The Top Of The House, Where My

Chief Delight Was To View, With A Telescope, Our Fleet And Army At

Staten Island. My Amusements Were Few;

Chapter VII Pg 70

The Good Mrs. Putnam Employed

Me And Her Daughters Constantly To Spin Flax For Shirts For The

American Soldiers; Indolence, In America, Being Totally Discouraged;

And I Likewise Worked Some For General Putnam, Who, Though Not An

Accomplished _Muscadin_, Like Our Dilletantis Of St. James'S-Street,

Was Certainly One Of The Best Characters In The World; His Heart Being

Composed Of Those Noble Materials Which Equally Command Respect And

Admiration. * * * * * *

 

 

"Not Long After This Circumstance, A Flag Of Truce Arrived From Staten

Island, With Letters From Major Moncrieffe, Demanding Me; For He Now

Considered Me As A Prisoner. General Washington Would Not Acquiesce In

This Demand, Saying That I Should Remain A Hostage For My Father'S

Good Behaviour. I Must Here Observe, That When General Washington

Refused To Deliver Me Up, The Noble-Minded Putnam, As If It Were By

Instinct, Laid His Hand On His Sword, And With A Violent Oath Swore

That My Father'S Request Should Be Granted. The Commander-In-Chief,

Whose Influence Governed Congress, Soon Prevailed On Them To Consider

Me As A Person Whose Situation Required Their Strict Attention; And

That I Might Not Escape They Ordered Me To Kingsbridge, Where, In

Justice I Must Say, That I Was Treated With The Utmost Tenderness.

General Mifflin There Commanded. His Lady Was A Most Accomplished,

Beautiful Woman; A Quaker," &C.

 

 

Mrs. Coghlan Then Bursts Forth In Expressions Of Rapture For A Young

American Officer, With Whom She Had Become Enamoured. She Does Not

Name Him; But That Officer Was Major Burr. "May These Pages" (She

Says) "One Day Meet The Eye Of Him Who Subdued My Virgin Heart. * * *

* * To Him I Plighted My Virgin Vow. * * * * * * With This Conqueror

Of My Soul, How Happy Should I Now Have Been! What Storms And Tempests

Should I Have Avoided" (At Least I Am Pleased To Think So) "If I Had

Been Allowed To Follow The Bent Of My Inclinations. Ten Thousand Times

Happier Should I Have Been With Him In The Wildest Desert Of Our

Native Country, The Woods Affording Us Our Only Shelter, And Their

Fruits Our Only Repast, Than Under The Canopy Of Costly State, With

All The Refinements Of Courts, With The Royal Warrior" (The Duke Of

York) "Who Would Fain Have Proved Himself The Conqueror Of France. _My

Conqueror_ Was Engaged In Another Cause; He Was Ambitious To Obtain

Other Laurels. He Fought To Liberate, Not To Enslave Nations. He Was A

Colonel In The American Army, And High In The Estimation Of His

Country. _His_ Victories Were Never Accompanied With One Gloomy,

Relenting Thought. They Shone As Bright As The Cause Which Achieved

Them."

Chapter VII (The Letter From General Putnam) Pg 71

 

 

 

The Letter From General Putnam Of Which Mrs. Coghlan Speaks Is Found

Among The Papers Of Colonel Burr, And Is In The Following Words:--

 

 

New-York, July 26Th, 1776.

 

 

I Should Have Answered Your Letter Sooner, But Had It Not In My Power

To Write You Any Thing Satisfactory.

 

 

The Omission Of My Title, In Major Moncrieffe'S Letter, Is A Matter I

Regard Not In The Least; Nor Does It In Any Way Influence My Conduct

In This Affair; As You Seem To Imagine. Any Political Difference

Alters Him Not To Me In A Private Capacity. As An Officer, He Is My

Enemy, And Obliged To Act As Such, Be His Private Sentiments What They

Will. As A Man, I Owe Him No Enmity; But, Far From It, Will, With

Pleasure, Do Any Kind Office In My Power For Him Or Any Of His

Connexions.

 

 

I Have, Agreeably To Your Desire, Waited On His Excellency To

Endeavour To Obtain Permission For You To Go To Staten Island. He

Informs Me That Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson, Who Came With The Last

Flag, Said He Was Empowered To Offer The Exchange Of ----- ----- For

Governor Skeene. As The Congress Have Reserved To Themselves The Right

Of Exchanging Prisoners, The General Has Sent To Know Their Pleasure,

And Doubts Not They Will Give Their Consent. I Am Desired To Inform

You, That If This Exchange Is Made, You Will Have Liberty To Pass Out

With Governor Skeene; But That No Flag Will Be Sent Solely For That

Purpose.

 

 

Major William Livingston Was Lately Here, And Informed Me That You Had

An Inclination To Live In This City, And That All The Ladies Of Your

Acquaintance Having Left Town, And Mrs. Putnam And Two Daughters Being

Here, Proposed Your Staying With Them. If Agreeable To You, Be

Assured, Miss, You Shall Be Sincerely Welcome. You Will Here, I Think,

Be In A More Probable Way Of Accomplishing The End You Wish--That Of

Seeing Your Father, And May Depend Upon Every Civility From,

 

 

Miss,

 

 

Your Obedient Servant,

 

 

Israel Putnam.

Chapter VII (The Letter From General Putnam) Pg 72

This Letter Is In The Handwriting Of Major Burr, And Undoubtedly Was

Prepared By Him For The Signature Of The General. Miss Moncrieffe Was,

At This Time, In Her Fourteenth Year. She Had Travelled, And, For One

Of Her Age, Had Mingled Much In The World. She Was Accomplished, And

Was Considered Handsome. Major Burr Was Attracted By Her Sprightliness

And Vivacity, And She, According To Her Own Confessions, Penned Nearly

Twenty Years Afterward, Had Not Only Become Violently In Love With,

But Had Acknowledged The Fact To Him. Whether The Foundation Of Her

Future Misfortunes Was Now Laid, It Is Not Necessary To Inquire. Her

Indiscretion Was Evident, While Major Burr'S Propensity For Intrigue

Was Already Well Known.

 

 

Burr Perceived Immediately That She Was An Extraordinary Young Woman.

Eccentric And Volatile, But Endowed With Talents, Natural As Well As

Acquired, Of A Peculiar Character. Residing In The Family Of General

Putnam With Her, And Enjoying The Opportunity Of A Close And Intimate

Intercourse, At All Times And On All Occasions, He Was Enabled To

Judge Of Her Qualifications, And Came To The Conclusion,

Notwithstanding Her Youth, That She Was Well Calculated For A Spy, And

Thought It Not Improbable That She Might Be Employed In That Capacity

By The British. Major Burr Suggested His Suspicions To General Putnam,

And Recommended That She Be Conveyed To Her Friends As Soon As Might

Be Convenient. She Was, In Consequence, Soon After Removed To

Kingsbridge, Where General Mifflin Commanded. This Change Of

Situation, In The Work Which She Has Published, Is Ascribed To General

Washington, But It Originated With Major Burr.

 

 

After A Short Residence At Kingsbridge, Leave Was Granted For Her

Departure To Staten Island. She Accordingly Set Off In A Continental

Barge, Under The Escort Of An American Officer, Who Was Ordered To

Accompany Her To The British Headquarters. As The Boat Approached The

English Fleet, She Was Met By Another, Having On Board A British

Officer, And Was Notified That She Could Proceed No Further, But That

The King'S Officer Would Take Charge Of The Young Lady, And Convey Her

In Safety To Her Father, Who Was Six Or Eight Miles In The Country

With Lord Percy. She Says, In Her Memoirs, "I Then Entered The British

Barge, And Bidding An Eternal Farewell To My Dear American Friends,

_Turned My Back On Liberty_."

 

 

Miss Moncrieffe, Before She Had Reached Her Fourteenth Year, Was

Probably The Victim Of Seduction. The Language Of Her Memoirs, When

Taken In Connexion With Her Deportment Soon After Her Marriage, Leaves

But Little Room For Doubt. Major Burr, While Yet At College, Had

Acquired A Reputation For Gallantry. On This Point He Was Excessively

Vain, And Regardless Of All Those Ties Which Ought To Control An

Honourable Mind. In His Intercourse With Females He Was An

Unprincipled Flatterer, Ever Prepared To Take Advantage Of Their

Weakness, Their Credulity, Or Their Confidence. She That Confided In

Him Was Lost. In Referring To This Subject, No Terms Of Condemnation

Would Be Too Strong To Apply To Colonel Burr.

 

 

It Is Truly Surprising How Any Individual Could Have Become So Eminent

As A Soldier, As A Statesman, And As A Professional Man, Who Devoted

So Much Time To The Other Sex As Was Devoted By Colonel Burr.

Chapter VII (The Letter From General Putnam) Pg 73

For More

Than Half A Century Of His Life They Seemed To Absorb His Whole

Thoughts. His Intrigues Were Without Number. His Conduct Most

Licentious. The Sacred Bonds Of Friendship Were Unhesitatingly

Violated When They Operated As Barriers To The Indulgence Of His

Passions. For A Long Period Of Time He Seemed To Be Gathering, And

Carefully Preserving, Every Line Written To Him By Any Female, Whether

With Or Without Reputation; And, When Obtained, They Were Cast Into

One Common Receptacle,--The Profligate And Corrupt, By The Side Of The

Thoughtless And Betrayed Victim. All Were Held As Trophies Of

Victory,--All Esteemed Alike Valuable. How