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

Chapter XI Pg 166

It Has Been Seen That Colonel Burr, While He Commanded At White

Plains, On The Frontier, Not Only Kept The Adjacent Country In A State

Of Security, But That He Kept The Enemy In Complete Check. He Was

Succeeded In His Command By Colonel Littlefield, Who Was Soon

Captured, And The Post Abandoned. Major Hull, In A Letter To Colonel

Burr, Dated The 29Th Of May, 1779, Says, "_The Ground You So Long

Defended Is Now Left To The Depredations Of The Enemy, And Our Friends

In Distressing Circumstances_."

 

 

In The Beginning Of June, Sir Henry Clinton Captured The Forts At

Stony Point And Verplanck'S Point, And Threatened West Point. His

Force In This Direction Was Upwards Of Six Thousand Rank And File. The

Communication Between General Washington, Who Was In New-Jersey, And

General Mcdougall, Who Was At Newburgh, Was Greatly Embarrassed.

Bandits Were Placed By The British In Or Near The Passes Through The

Chains Of Mountains Leading To Sussex, For The Purpose Of Capturing

The Expresses Charged With Despatches. At This Critical Moment Colonel

Burr Was On A Visit To Mcdougall, Who Informed Him That He Had Made

Various Unsuccessful Attempts To Communicate With Washington, And That

His Expresses Had Either Been Captured Or Had Deserted. After

Apologizing To Burr, Who Was No Longer In Active Service, The General

Stated The Importance Of The Commander-In-Chief'S Knowing The Position

And Movements Of The Enemy, As Well As The State Of The American Army.

He Then Very Courteously Requested Burr To Be The Bearer Of A Verbal

Communication To Washington On The Subject. To This, Notwithstanding

His Ill Health And The Danger Of The Enterprise, He Assented. The

Mission Was Undertaken And Succeeded. He Was Also Charged At The Same

Time With _Verbal_ Orders From General St. Clair, Of A Confidential

Character, To Officers Commanding At Different Posts.

Chapter XI Pg 167

_To Whom It May Concern_:--

 

 

Colonel Burr, Being On Urgent Public Business, Is To Be Put Across The

Ferry To New-Windsor Without Delay. Given This Second Day Of June,

1779.

 

 

Alexander Mcdougall, Major-General.

 

 

 

 

 

_To Whom It May Concern_:--

 

 

Colonel Burr, Being On Very Pressing Public Business, Every Magistrate

Will Assist Him In Changing Horses, And All Friends Of The Country

Will Also Assist Him.

 

 

June 2D, 1779. Alexander Mcdougall, Major-General.

 

 

 

 

 

_To Whom It May Concern_:--

 

 

Colonel Burr, Being On Urgent Public Business, Must Be Put Across The

Ferry To Fishkill Landing Without A Moment'S Delay. Given At Pompton,

3D June, 1779.

 

 

Arthur St. Clair, Major-General.

 

 

 

 

 

_To Whom It May Concern_:--

 

 

The Quartermaster And Commissary, At Newburgh Or New-Windsor, Will

Receive And Observe, As My Orders, The Verbal Directions Given By

Colonel Burr. Given At Pompton, 3D June, 1779.

 

 

Arthur St. Clair, Major-General.

 

 

 

On This Enterprise A Most Amusing Incident Occurred. Colonel Burr

Arrived At The Iron-Works Of The Elder Townsend, In Orange County,

With A Tired And Worn-Out Horse. No Other Could Be Obtained; But,

After Some Detention, A Half-Broken Mule, Named _Independence_, Was

Procured, And The Colonel Mounted. But _Independence_ Refused To Obey

Orders, And A Battle Ensued.

Chapter XI Pg 168

The Mule Ran Off With His Rider, And

Ascended A High Bank, On The Side Of Which Stood A Coal-House, Filled

With Coal Through An Aperture In The Top. At Length, _Independence_,

In The Hope Of Clearing Himself Of His Encumbrance, Entered The

Coal-House At Full Speed, The Colonel Firmly Keeping His Seat, And

Both Came Down An Inclined Plane Of Coal, Not Less Than Thirty Feet In

Height. On Reaching The Ground Without Injury, Burr Hired A Man To

Lead The Animal A Mile Or Two, And Then Again Mounted Him And Pursued

His Journey. This Scene Was Exhibited On A Hot Day In The Month Of

June, Amid A Cloud Of Coal-Dust. The Anecdote Burr Occasionally

Repeated To His Friends, And Some Of The Younger Branches Of The

Townsend Family.

 

 

About The First Of July, 1779, Colonel Burr, Then In Feeble Health,

Visited His Friends In Connecticut. He Was At New-Haven When, On The

5Th Of July, The British Landed, With 2600 Men, In Two Divisions; One

Under Governor Tryon, At East Haven, And The Other Under Garth, At

West Haven. At East Haven, Where Tryon Commanded, Great Excesses Were

Committed, And The Town Set On Fire. Colonel Burr Was At This Moment

Confined To His Bed; But, On Hearing That The Enemy Were Advancing,

Rose And Proceeded To A Part Of The Town Where A Number Of Persons Had

Collected. He Volunteered To Take Command Of The Militia, And Made An

Unsuccessful Attempt To Rally Them. At This Moment He Was Informed

That The Students Had Organized Themselves, And Were Drawn Up In The

College-Yard. He Immediately Galloped To The Ground, And Addressed

Them; Appealing, In A Few Words, To Their Patriotism And Love Of

Country; Imploring Them To Set The Example, And March Out In The

Defence Of Those Rights Which Would, At A Future Day, Become Their

Inheritance. All He Asked Was, That They Would Receive And Follow Him

As Their Leader.

 

 

The Military Character Of Colonel Burr Was Known To The Students. They

Confided In His Intrepidity, Experience, And Judgment. In Their Ranks

There Was No Faltering. They Promptly Obeyed The Summons, And

Volunteered. Some Skirmishing Soon Ensued, And Portions Of The Militia

United With Them. The British, Ignorant Of The Force That Might Be

Presented, Retired; But Shortly Returned, With Several Pieces Of

Artillery, When A Cannonading Commenced, And The Boys Retreated In

Good Order. An American Historian Says,--"The British Entered The Town

After Being Much Galled And Harassed." The Slight Check Which They

Thus Received Afforded An Opportunity For The Removal Of Some

Valuables, And Many Of The Women And Children.

 

 

Trifling And Unimportant As This Skirmishing Appears To Have Been,

Colonel Burr Never Referred To The Incident But With Exultation And

Pride. Perhaps No Event In His Military Life Has He More Frequently

Mentioned. The Confidence Evinced By These Young Men He Considered

Complimentary To Himself As A Soldier; And Usually Alluded To The

Circumstance As Evidence Of The Effect Which The Character Of An

Officer Would Ever Have Upon Undisciplined Men, When Called To Command

Them Upon Trying Occasions.

Chapter XI Pg 169

The Following Letter, Written By Colonel Platt, Will Close All That Is

Intended To Be Said Of Colonel Burr As A Soldier. More Space Has Been

Occupied With An Account Of His Military Character Than Would Have

Been Thus Occupied, If It Was Not Known That He Felt Proud Of His Own

Career As An Officer. For History Mr. Burr Entertained A Great

Contempt. He Confided But Little In Its Details. These Prejudices Were

Probably Strengthened By The Consideration That Justice, In His

Opinion, Had Not Been Done To Himself.

Chapter XI (Colonel Richard Platt To Commodore Valentine Morris) Pg 170

 

 

 

New-York, January 27Th, 1814.

 

 

Dear Sir,

 

 

In Reply To Yours Of The 20Th Of November Last, Requesting To Be

Informed What Was The Reputation And Services Of Colonel Burr During

The Revolutionary War? I Give You The Following Detail Of Facts, Which

You May Rely On. No Man Was Better Acquainted With Him, And His

Military Operations, Than Your Humble Servant, Who Served In That War

From The 28Th Of June, 1775, Till The Evacuation Of Our Capital On The

Memorable 25Th Of November, 1783; Having Passed Through The Grades Of

Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Major Of Brigade, Aid-De-Camp, Deputy

Adjutant-General, And Deputy Quartermaster-General; The Last Of Which

By Selection And Recommendation Of Generals Greene, Mcdougall, And

Knox, In The Most Trying Crisis Of The Revolution, Viz., The Year

1780, When The Continental Money Ceased To Pass, And There Was No

Other Fiscal Resources During That Campaign But What Resulted From The

Creative Genius Of Timothy Pickering, At That Crisis Appointed

Successor To General Greene, The Second Officer Of The American Army,

Who Resigned The Department Because There Was No Money In The National

Coffers To Carry It Through The Campaign, Declaring That He Could Not,

And Would Not Attempt It, Without Adequate Resources, Such As He

Abounded In During The Term Of Nearly Three Years Antecedently As

Quartermaster-General.

 

 

In Addition To The Foregoing, By Way Of Elucidation, It Is To Be

Understood By You, That So Early As From The Latter Part Of The Year

1776, I Was Always Attached To A Commanding General; And, In

Consequence, My Knowledge Of The Officers And Their Merits Was More

General Than That Of Almost Any Other In Service. My Operations Were

Upon The Extended Scale, From The Remotest Parts Of Canada, Wherever

The American Standard Had Waved, To The Splendid Theatre Of Yorktown,

When And Where I Was Adjutant-General To The Chosen Troops Of The

Northern Army.

 

 

At The Commencement Of The Revolution, Colonel Burr, Then About

Eighteen Years Of Age, At The First Sound Of The Trump Of War (As If

Bred In The Camp Of The Great Frederick, Whose Maxim Was "To Hold His

Army Always In Readiness To Break A Lance With, Or Throw A Dart

Against, Any Assailant"), Quit His Professional Studies, And Rushed To

The Camp Of General Washington, At Cambridge, As A Volunteer From

Which He Went With Colonel Arnold On His Daring Enterprise Against

Quebec, Through The Wilds Of Canada (Which