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

This Corps I Attached

Myself As A Volunteer, But Did Not Receive Pay. He Employed Discreet

And Faithful Persons, Living Near The Enemy'S Lines, To Watch Their

Motions, And Give Him Immediate Intelligence. He Employed Mounted

Videttes For The Same Purpose, Directing Two Of Them To Proceed

Together, So That One Might Be Despatched, If Necessary, With

Information To The Colonel, While The Other Might Watch The Enemy'S

Movement. He Established Signals Throughout The Lines, So That,

Whether By Night Or By Day, Instant Notice Could Be Had Of An Attack

Or Movement Of The Enemy. He Enforced Various Regulations For

Concealing His Positions And Force From The Enemy. The Laxity Of

Discipline Which Had Before Prevailed Enabled The Enemy Frequently To

Employ Their Emissaries To Come Within The Lines, And To Learn The

Precise State Of Our Forces, Supplies, &C. Colonel Burr Soon Put An

End To These Dangerous Intrusions, By Prohibiting All Persons Residing

Below The Lines, Except A Few Whom He Selected, Such As Parson Bartow,

Jacob Smith, And Others, Whose Integrity Was Unimpeachable, From

Approaching The Outposts, Without Special Permission For The Purpose.

If Any One Had A Complaint Or Request To Make Of The Colonel, He

Procured One Or More Of The Persons He Had Selected To Come To His

Quarters On His Behalf. This Measure Prevented Frivolous And Vexatious

Applications, And The Still More Dangerous Approach Of Enemies In

Disguise. All These Measures Were Entirely New; And, Within Eight Or

Ten Days, The Whole System Appeared To Be In Complete Operation, And

The Face Of Things Was Totally Changed.

 

 

A Few Days After The Colonel'S Arrival, The House Of One Gedney Was

Plundered In The Night, And The Family Abused And Terrified. Gedney

Sent His Son To Make A Representation Of It To The Colonel. The Young

Man, Not Regarding The Orders Which Had Been Issued, Came To The

Colonel'S Quarters, Undiscovered By The Sentinels, Having Taken A

Secret Path Through The Fields For The Purpose. For This Violation Of

Orders The Young Man Was Punished. The Colonel Immediately Took

Measures For The Detection Of The Plunderers; And Though They Were All

Disguised, And Wholly Unknown To Gedney, Yet Colonel Burr, By Means

Which Were Never Yet Disclosed, Discovered The Plunderers, And Had

Them All Secured Within Twenty-Four Hours. Gedney'S Family, On

Reference To His Register, Appeared To Be Tories; But Burr Had

Promised That Every Quiet Man Should Be Protected.

 

 

He Caused The Robbers To Be Conveyed To Gedney'S House, Under The

Charge Of Captain Benson, There To Restore The Booty They Had Taken,

To Make Reparation In Money For Such Articles As Were Lost Or Damaged,

And For The Alarm And Abuse, The Amount Of Which The Colonel Assessed,

To Be Flogged Ten Lashes, And To Ask Pardon Of The Old Man; All Which

Was Faithfully And Immediately Executed.

 

 

These Measures Gave Universal Satisfaction, And The Terror They

Inspired Effectually Prevented A Repetition Of Similar Depredations.

From This Day Plundering Ceased. No Further Instance Occurred During

The Time Of Colonel Burr'S Command, For It Was Universally Believed

That Colonel Burr Could Tell A Robber By Looking In His Face, Or That

He Had Supernatural Means Of Discovering Crime. Indeed, I Was Myself

Inclined To These Opinions. This Belief Was Confirmed By Another

Circumstance Which Had Previously Occurred. On The Day Of His Arrival,

After Our Return From Visiting The Posts, Conversing With Several Of

His Attendants, And, Among Others, Lieutenant Drake, Whom Burr Had

Brought With Him From His Own Regiment, He Said, "Drake, That Post On

The North River Will Be Attacked Before Morning; Neither Officers Nor

Men Know Any Thing Of Their Duty; You Must Go And Take Charge Of It;

Keep Your Eyes Open, Or You Will Have Your Throat Cut." Drake Went.

The Post Was Attacked That Night By A Company Of Horse. They Were

Repulsed With Loss. Drake Returned In The Morning With Trophies Of

War, And Told His Story. We Stared, And Asked One Another--How Could

Burr Know That? He Had Not Then Established Any Means Of Intelligence.

 

 

The Measures Immediately Adopted By Him Were Such That It Was

Impossible For The Enemy To Have Passed Their Own Lines Without His

Having Immediate Knowledge; And It Was These Very Measures Which Saved

Major Hull, On Whom The Command Devolved For A Short Time, When The

State Of Colonel Burr'S Health Compelled Him To Retire.

 

 

These Measures, Together With The Deportment Of Colonel Burr, Gained

Him The Love And Veneration Of All Devoted To The Common Cause, And

Conciliated Even Its Bitterest Foes. His Habits Were A Subject Of

Admiration. His Diet Was Simple And Spare In The Extreme. Seldom

Sleeping More Than An Hour At A Time, And Without Taking Off His

Clothes, Or Even His Boots.

 

 

Between Midnight And Two O'Clock In The Morning, Accompanied By Two Or

Three Of His Corps Of Horsemen, He Visited The Quarters Of All His

Captains, And Their Picket-Guards, Changing His Route From Time To

Time To Prevent Notice Of His Approach. You May Judge Of The Severity

Of This Duty, When I Assure You That The Distance Which He Thus Rode

Every Night Must Have Been From _Sixteen_ To _Twenty-Four_ Miles; And

That, With The Exception Of Two Nights Only, In Which He Was Otherwise

Engaged, He Never Omitted These Excursions, Even In The Severest And

Most Stormy Weather; And, Except The Short Time Necessarily Consumed

In Hearing And Answering Complaints And Petitions From Persons Both

Above And Below The Lines, Colonel Burr Was Constantly With The

Troops.

 

 

He Attended To The Minutest Article Of Their Comfort; To Their

Lodgings; To Their Diet: For Those Off Duty He Invented Sports, All

Tending To Some Useful End. During Two Or Three Weeks After The

Colonel'S Arrival, We Had Many Sharp Conflicts With The Robbers And

Horse-Thieves, Who Were Hunted Down With Unceasing Industry. In Many

Instances We Encountered Great Superiority Of Numbers, But Always With

Success. Many Of Them Were Killed, And Many Were Taken.

 

 

The Strictest Discipline Prevailed, And The Army Felt The Fullest

Confidence In Their Commander And In Themselves, And By These Means

Became Really Formidable To The Enemy. During The Same Winter,

Governor Tryon Planned An Expedition To Horse Neck, For The Purpose Of

Destroying The Salt-Works Erected There, And Marched With About 2000

Men. Colonel Burr Received Early Information Of Their Movements, And

Sent Word To General Putnam To Hold The Enemy At Bay For A Few Hours,

And He (Colonel Burr) Would Be In Their Rear And Be Answerable For

Them. By A Messenger From Him, Colonel Burr Was Informed By That

General That He Had Been Obliged To Retreat, And That The Enemy Were

Advancing Into Connecticut. This Information, Which Unfortunately Was

Not Correct, Altered Colonel Burr'S Route Towards Mamaroneck, Which

Enabled Tryon To Get The Start Of Him. Colonel Burr Then Endeavoured

To Interrupt Him In Eastchester, According To His First Plan, And

Actually Got Within Cannon-Shot Of Him; But Tryon Ran Too Fast, And In

His Haste Left Most Or All Of His Cattle And Plunder Behind Him, And

Many Stragglers, Who Were Picked Up.

 

 

I Will Mention Another Enterprise, Which Proved More Successful,

Though Equally Hazardous. Soon After Tryon'S Retreat, Colonel

Delancey, Who Commanded The British Refugees, In Order To Secure

Themselves Against Surprise, Erected A Block-House On A Rising Ground

Below Delancey'S Bridge. This Colonel Burr Resolved To Destroy. I Was

In That Expedition, And Recollect The Circumstances.

 

 

He Procured A Number Of Hand-Grenades, Also Rolls Of Port-Fire, And

Canteens Filled With Inflammable Materials, With Contrivances To

Attach Them To The Side Of The Block-House. He Set Out With His Troops

Early In The Evening, And Arrived Within A Mile Of The Block-House By

Two O'Clock In The Morning. The Colonel Gave Captain Black The Command

Of About Forty Volunteers, Who Were First To Approach. Twenty Of Them

Were To Carry The Port-Fires, &C., &C. Those Who Had Hand-Grenades Had

Short Ladders To Enable Them To Reach The Port-Holes, The Exact Height

Of Which Colonel Burr Had Ascertained. Colonel Burr Gave Captain Black

His Instructions, In The Hearing Of His Company, Assuring Him Of His

Protection If They Were Attacked By Superior Numbers; For It Was

Expected That The Enemy, Who Had Several Thousand Men At And Near

Kingsbridge, Would Endeavour To Cut Us Off, As We Were Several Miles

Below Them. Burr Directed Those Who Carried The Combustibles To March

In Front As Silently As Possible. That, On Being Hailed, They Should

Light The Hand-Grenades, &C., With A Slow Match Provided For The

Purpose, And Throw Them Into The Port-Holes. I Was One Of The Party

That Advanced. The Sentinel Hailed And Fired. We Rushed On. The First

Hand-Grenade That Was Thrown In Drove The Enemy From The Upper Story,

And Before They Could Take Any Measure To Defend It, The Block-House

Was On Fire In Several Places. Some Few Escaped, And The Rest

Surrendered Without Our Having Lost A Single Man. Though Many Shot

Were Fired At Us, We Did Not Fire A Gun.

 

 

During The Period Of Colonel Burr'S Command, But Two Attempts Were

Made By The Enemy To Surprise Our Guards, In Both Of Which They Were

Defeated.

 

 

After Colonel Burr Left This Command, Colonel Thompson, A Man Of

Approved Bravery, Assumed It, And The Enemy, In Open Day, Advanced To

His Headquarters, Took Colonel Thompson, And Took Or Killed All His

Men, With The Exception Of About Thirty.

 

 

My Father'S House, With All His Outhouses, Were Burnt. After These

Disasters Our Troops Never Made An Effort To Protect That Part Of The

Country. The American Lines Were Afterwards Changed, And Extended From

Bedford To Croton Bridge, And From There, Following The Course Of That

River, To The Hudson. All The Intermediate Country Was Abandoned And

Unprotected, Being About Twenty Miles In The Rear Of The Ground Which

Colonel Burr Had Maintained.

 

 

The Year After The Defeat Of Colonel Thompson, Colonel Green, A Brave,

And In Many Respects A Valuable Officer, Took The Command, Making His

Headquarters At Danford'S, About A Mile Above The Croton. This

Position Was Well Chosen. But Colonel Green Omitted To Inform Himself

Of The Movements Of The Enemy, And Consequently Was Surprised.

Himself, Major Flagg, And Other Officers Were Killed, And A Great Part

Of The Men Were Either Killed Or Taken Prisoners: Yet These Officers

Had The Full Benefit Of Colonel Burr'S System.

 

 

Having Perused What I Have Written, It Does Not Appear To Me That I

Have Conveyed Any Adequate Idea Of Burr'S Military Character. It May

Be Aided A Little By Reviewing The Effects He Produced. The Troops Of

Which He Took Command Were, At The Time He Took The Command,

Undisciplined, Negligent, And Discontented. Desertions Were Frequent.

In A Few Days These Very Men Were Transformed Into Brave And Honest

Defenders; Orderly, Contented, And Cheerful; Confident In Their Own

Courage, And Loving To Adoration Their Commander, Whom Every Man

Considered As His Personal Friend. It Was Thought A Severe Punishment,

As Well As Disgrace, To Be Sent Up To The Camp, Where They Had Nothing

To Do But To Lounge And Eat Their Rations.

 

 

During The Whole Of This Command There Was Not A Single Desertion. Not

A Single Death By Sickness. Not One Made Prisoner By The Enemy; For

Burr Had Taught Us That A Soldier With Arms In His Hand Ought Never,

Under Any Circumstances, To Surrender; No Matter If He Was Opposed To

Thousands, It Was His Duty To Fight.

 

 

After The First Ten Days There Was Not A Single Instance Of Robbery.

The Whole Country, Under His Command, Enjoyed Security. The

Inhabitants, To Express Their Gratitude, Frequently Brought Presents

Of Such Articles As The Country Afforded; But Colonel Burr Would

Accept No Present. He Fixed Reasonable Prices, And Paid In Cash For

Every Thing That Was Received, And Sometimes, I Know, That These

Payments Were Made With His Own Money. Whether These Advances Were

Repaid, I Know Not.

 

 

Colonel Simcoe, One Of The Most Daring And Active Partisans In The

British Army, Was, With Colonels Emerick And Delancey, Opposed To Burr

On The Lines, Yet They Were Completely Held In Check.

 

 

But Perhaps The Highest Eulogy On Colonel Burr Is, That No Man Could

Be Found Capable Of Executing His Plans, Though The Example Was Before

Them.

 

 

When Burr Left The Lines A Sadness Overspread The Country, And The

Most Gloomy Forebodings Were Too Soon Fulfilled, As You Have Seen

Above.

 

 

The Period Of Colonel Burr'S Command Was So Full Of Activity And Of

Incident, That Every Day Afforded Some New Lesson Of Instruction. But

You Will Expect Only A General Outline, And This Faint One Is The Best

In My Power To Give.

 

 

With Esteem, Yours,

 

 

Samuel Young.