Elsie on the Hudson Part 6

"No; as I have told you, it was the revocation of the Edict of Nantes which drove them from their native land to this foreign sh.o.r.e, and that did not take place until 1685--more than twenty years later."

"Were the Indians all gone from about Kingston by that time, grandma?"

asked Eric.

"Oh, no!" she said. "They as well as the Tories gave a great deal of trouble to the Patriots during the Revolutionary War--that hard struggle for freedom. At the time of the Revolution the New York Legislature, then called 'Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York,' migrated from place to place, being compelled to do so by the movements of the enemy, and finally, in February, 1777, took up their quarters in Kingston until May of that year. They were making a Const.i.tution for the State. It proved a very excellent one, and was adopted. And the first session of the legislature of the State was appointed to meet at Kingston in July. So Kingston was the capital of the State when Sir Henry Clinton took the forts in the Hudson Highlands; and because it was the capital he marked it out for special vengeance.

"The British fleet, under Sir James Wallace, came up the river with 3600 men under the command of General Vaughan. The order given them was to scatter desolation in their track; and they obeyed--destroying all vessels on the river and firing from the s.h.i.+ps upon the houses of known Patriots. Also small parties landed and desolated whole neighborhoods with fire and sword. They landed near Kingston on the 13th of October in two divisions, each taking a different road to the town, and burning and destroying as they went. They joined upon a gentle eminence and marched into the town,--then but a small village,--began setting the houses on fire, and soon had almost every one laid in ashes."

"Was Kingston only a very little place then, grandma?" asked Eric.

"A town of only three or four thousand inhabitants," she replied.

"Some of the people--warned of the approach of the British--had succeeded in hiding their most valuable effects, but others lost all they had. A large quant.i.ty of provisions and stores was destroyed.

After doing all that mischief, the British--fearing the American people would gather together and come upon and punish them for all this wanton cruelty--hastily retreated."

"Did it do them any good to burn down the town, grandma?" asked Eric hotly.

"No; there was nothing gained by it."

"And as they burned the town, there are no Revolutionary houses to be seen there now, I suppose?"

"A few houses escaped the fire," she said. "One is the 'Const.i.tution House'--called so because it was there the Convention met which framed the Const.i.tution for the government of the State. I think we will visit it to-day. Perhaps, too, the old graveyard where many of the Huguenots lie buried. Will we not, captain?" addressing him as he drew near their little group, as if interested to learn what was the topic of her discourse.

"We will visit any spot that you wish us to, mother," he answered in his pleasant tones.

"Were you giving the boys a history of Kingston?"

"A slight sketch," she said; "and they want to see the Const.i.tution House; perhaps the old graveyard too."

"Ah! I think we will visit both; certainly, if all our party wish it."

At that, several of the others gathered about them, asking of what places they were speaking; and, on being told, they one and all expressed themselves as desirous to see everything connected with the history of the town to which they were going. So that was what they did on their arrival at Kingston. They remained there for some hours; then returned to their yacht, and greatly enjoyed the trip back to Evelyn's pretty cottage, which they reached in time for tea.

CHAPTER V.

"How many would like to take another trip up or down the river to-morrow?" asked Captain Raymond, as they sat together on the front porch after leaving the tea table.

"Every one of us, I presume, captain," said Grandma Elsie, with a smiling glance from one to another of the eager, interested faces about them.

"Oh, yes; yes, indeed, we would!" exclaimed several voices, Mrs.

Leland adding, "We could hardly contrive a more delightful way of spending the time; there are a number of historic spots which would be interesting ones to visit."

"Tarrytown and the other places connected with Arnold's treachery,"

suggested Violet.

"Fishkill, too, is a historically interesting place," said her mother.

"West Point also," remarked Lucilla. "Papa took Max and me there once, but I should not at all object to going again."

"I think we can visit all the places mentioned within the next few days," said her father; "and we need not decide until to-morrow morning which we will take first."

"In the meantime we may talk the matter over, I suppose, and see what the majority is in favor of?" remarked Lucilla inquiringly.

"I think that would be a good plan," said her father. "Let everyone feel at perfect liberty to give his or her opinion."

"I think we could hardly find a more interesting locality to visit than Fishkill," said Grandma Elsie. "Though perhaps a longer sail may be thought desirable."

"We could supplement it with as long a one as we might find agreeable, by pa.s.sing on either up or down the river, upon returning from the sh.o.r.e to the yacht," said the captain.

"Why, yes, so we could," said Violet; "and I think it would be very enjoyable."

"Papa, what is there to see at Fishkill? and what happened there in the Revolution?" asked Elsie Raymond.

"Quite a good deal," replied the captain. "Fishkill village lies five miles eastward from the landing of that name, on a plain near the foot of the mountains. Those high mountains sheltered it from invasion in the time of the Revolution, and it was chosen as a place of safe deposit for military stores. Also for the confinement of Tory prisoners and others captured by strategy or in skirmishes upon the neutral ground in West Chester. For a while too a portion of the Continental Army was encamped there; also the State Legislature met there at one time."

"Was the camp in the town, papa?" asked Grace.

"No; the barracks were about half a mile south of the village. The officers had their quarters at the house of a Mr. Wharton, and the barracks extended along the road from there to the foot of the mountains."

"Is not that vicinity the scene of many of the incidents given in Cooper's 'Spy'?" asked Mr. Leland.

"Yes," replied the captain. "Enoch Crosby was a spy who did good service to his country in that capacity, and is supposed to have been the original of Cooper's spy--Harvey Birch. In the Wharton House, Crosby at one time went through a mock trial by the Committee of Safety, and was then confined in irons in the old Dutch church in the village. It was in the autumn of 1776 he began his career as spy in the service of his country by learning the plans and purposes of the Tories and revealing them to his Whig friends. In that neighborhood, at that time, secret foes were more to be feared than open enemies, but for a long time Crosby mingled with the Tories, learning their plans and purposes, without being suspected by them; they thought him as much an enemy to his and their country as they were themselves.

Lossing tells us that while on one of his excursions he asked lodging for the night of a woman who proved to be a Tory; and that from her he learned that a company of Tories was being formed in the neighborhood with the intention of marching to New York and joining the British Army. He seemed delighted with the idea and most anxious to join the company. He gained the confidence of its captain and learned all his plans. It seems that after their talk they retired to bed; but Crosby did not immediately fall asleep. When all had grown quiet, so that there was reason to suppose everyone else was asleep, he rose and stealthily left the house, hastened to White Plains, where lived the Committee of Safety, and told them what he had just learned of the plans of the Tories. He also suggested that they should hold a meeting the following evening and send a band of Whigs to arrest the Tories and himself as though believing him to be one of them. That plan was carried out; they were all made prisoners, taken to Fishkill, and confined in the old stone church. I believe that church is one of the relics of the Revolution which yet remain.

"When the arrested men were taken there the Committee of Safety was already at the Wharton House prepared to try them. They held an examination of the prisoners after which they--Crosby among the rest--were sent back to their prison. Seemingly by accident, he was left alone with the Committee for a few minutes and the plan was concerted by which he might escape.

"At the northwest corner of the church was a window hidden by a willow. He reached the ground through that, got rid of his loose manacles, sprang out of his concealment, and rushed away past the sentinels with the speed of a deer. The sentinels fired a few shots after him, but missed him in the gloom; and he escaped unhurt to a swamp."

"Oh, that was good!" cried Eric. "Did he have any more such escapes, uncle?"

"Yes; twice after that he was made a prisoner with Tories, but managed to escape each time. At one time Colonel Van Cortlandt was stationed with a detachment of troops on the east side of the Hudson, to watch what was going on upon the Neutral Ground. One day Crosby was with a part of that detachment near Teller's Point and the mouth of the Croton River, when they saw a British sloop of war come sailing up the stream. It cast anchor in the channel opposite. Crosby and six others then went to the Point, where all but one concealed themselves in the bushes, while the other, dressed in infantry uniform, paraded the beach. Of course the officers on the sloop soon saw and determined to capture him. They promptly sent a boat with eleven men to take him.

But as the British landed the American ran. They pursued, not thinking of any danger. Then Crosby and his companions began making a noise in the bushes that made it seem as though they were half a regiment; then they rushed out and called on the enemy to surrender--which they did without firing a shot. The next day the stone church at Fishkill held them as prisoners."

"I suppose Crosby was a born American, uncle?" Eric said inquiringly.

"Yes; born in Ma.s.sachusetts early in January, 1750."

"That would make him twenty-five a few months before the war began.

But he did not live in Ma.s.sachusetts?"

"No; his parents moved to New York while he was still an infant. When he grew up he learned the trade of a shoemaker; but when the war broke out he gave up his trade and shouldered a musket. He was living at Danbury then, and was one of the hundred men who in 1775 marched to Lake Champlain and fought battles in that quarter until Quebec was stormed. It was after his return from that expedition that he engaged in the secret service."

"Being a spy?" queried Neddie.

"Yes; but at length finding that his many escapes after being taken prisoner by the Whigs had excited the suspicions of the Tories, he gave up that work and joined a detachment of the Continental Army then stationed in the Highlands."