HomeMy WebLinkAboutRevolutionary War in SoutholdRevolutionary War History by Amy Folk, Southold Town Historian
Continental Congress
New York Provincial
Congress
County Committees of
Correspondence
Town Committees of
Correspondence and
Observation
Revolutionary War
“Between 1763 and 1776, a deep-rooted consensus among provincial Americans on the value of
citizenship in the British Empire had been shattered.” [Martin, 112] While most people think
that the American Revolution was centered in Boston and Philadelphia, the Revolution was a
complex situation with many events and battles happening in a multiple places up and down the
eastern seaboard from the northern reaches of New England to the Carolinas. Part of the war
was fought on Long Island, and the British forces occupied Southold Town from 1776 to 1780.
Like most inhabitants of the colonies in late 1760s, the majority of people in Southold and
throughout the thirteen colonies were becoming dissatisfied with British rule, but hoped that the
government would hear their pleas for relief from the burdens of taxes being levied on them.
The growing tension between the people and government found some temporary relief in small
bursts of violence starting in January 1770, when British soldiers stationed in New York City
decided to remove a liberty pole erected by the local Sons of Liberty causing a street riot. [Polf,
21] Two months later a larger outbreak occurred when Boston exploded with the Boston
Massacre.
It wasn’t until 1774 that the general discontent of the people found a voice when the first
Continental Congress formed in Philadelphia. “…October 20 … the delegates…passed an
embargo on British goods… effective on December 1. To insure compliance, colonists were to
sign an “association,” or pledge, promising that they would adhere to the embargo. The
Continental Congress further ordered, that “a committee be chosen in every county, city, and
town… whose business it shall be attentively to observe the conduct of all persons touching this
association.” [Luke & Venables, 5]1
Washington leading a group of volunteers occupied the heights surrounding Boston in March
1775, and the British in a vulnerable position, evacuated the city and left for Halifax. The
following month as the battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts happened parts of
Long Island created local Committees of Correspondences to organize the resistance. Many
towns in Suffolk selected representatives to attend the County organization. At the Southold
town meeting of April 1775, Ezra L’Hommedieu, Thomas Terry of Oysterponds, Barnabas
Tuthill, Thomas Youngs, Samuel Landon and Robert Hempstead the Town Clerk were selected
by the citizens of the area to represent Southold at the meeting, which was held at the County
Courthouse in Riverhead.2 [Southold Town Records vol. III:223]
The New York Colonial Assembly was dissolved and the following
month the Second Continental Congress formed.
Violence broke out again in Massachusetts in June with the battle at
Bunker Hill. Two days later George Washington was commissioned
by Congress to lead the American forces. At the same time, the
British fleet, left Halifax and arrived in Gardiner’s Bay. The troops
needing supplies began raiding the South Fork and Gardiner’s
Island. Alarmed, residents of East Hampton wrote to the New York
Provincial Congress requesting troops to help protect the livestock
of the area.3
Revolutionary War History by Amy Folk, Southold Town Historian
In Southold, in reaction to the increasing tensions, a small fort was constructed at Oysterponds
(Orient) Point by Colonel Livingston for the Americans. The fort was manned by a brigade led
by General David Wooster and had several cannons that overlooked Plum Gut. In August,
Robert Hempstead urgently wrote to the New York Provincial Congress that the British had sent
thirteen war ships to the area and that local troops had no powder for their guns. The Provincial
Congress responded by sending more men and powder.[Onderdonk,19-20] By September,
Southold joined Huntington, Brookhaven, Smithtown, and Islip Towns in creating the Suffolk
County Militia and raised men to serve under Captain Nathan Rose for the patriot forces.4 Soon
after 4 more companies formed under Captain Jonathan Bayley, Captain Paul Reeve, Colonel
Thomas Terry, and Captain Moses Case. Livestock on Plum Island and Fisher’s Island were
ordered moved onto the mainland to keep the British from using the animals as a food supply.5
[Onderdonk, 20]
In March 1776 Washington’s army took control of Boston and ousted the Crown’s forces, the
British then turned their focus on maintaining control of New York City and Long Island.
Residents on Manhattan and the western end of Long Island mostly leaned towards maintaining
the status quo and supported the crown.6 Southold, like most of eastern Long Island wanted
change and actively supported the revolutionaries.
In August of 1776, Washington seeking to force the British out of New York, gathered every
man he could from Long Island and the mainland. The Americans confronted the superior
British forces in Brooklyn in what came to be known as the Battle of Long Island - and lost.
[Mather, 27-60] Washington and his army were forced to retreat across the Hudson, the New
York Provincial Congress sent word to the residents of Long Island that those loyal to the cause
of independence should evacuate north as soon as possible.7 “August 29, 1776 - Resolved, that
it be recommended to the Inhabitants of Long Island, to remove as many of their women,
children and slaves, and as much of their live stock and grain to the main, as they can and that
this convention will pay the expense of removing the same.” The artillery
installed at the Oysterponds Fort was also hastily removed and shipped
across the Sound to Saybrook. [Mather, 694]
Both armies seeking supplies sought to draw them from Long Islanders.
For a while anarchy seemed to reign as British, American and bands of
thieves plundered homes, farms and businesses seeking food, wood for
fires and anything else they could carry away. Augustus Griffin of
Oysterponds remembered as a child, “They left their houses and farms to
the mercy of the British. But alas for their empty houses and fertile farms!
The shrubbery, trees, and fences! What a picture! Dwellings with broken
windows, hingeless doors, and dilapidated walls!” [Griffin, 96]
In Southold, the majority of residents gathered what they could and began moving in droves to
Connecticut. Generally, families either left one family member to try and care for the buildings
and properties or they hired one of the hardy souls who were determined to stay and wait out the
political unrest.
Augustus Griffin of
Oysterponds
Revolutionary War History by Amy Folk, Southold Town Historian
By 1777, the British settled in to several encampments along the North Fork, with the main site
encompassing 200 acres on the south side of the Main Road and stretched from Maratooka pond
to what is now Wickham Avenue. That spring, Southold’s annual Town Meeting was moved to
Mattituck, not only so they could be held under the eagle eye of the occupying forces, but
because the Town Supervisor, Parker Wickham, was an ardent loyalist.
The war on Long Island was fought as a series
of guerilla raids by both sides. Most of the
raids were not aimed at gaining a military foot
hold but preventing the other side from getting
supplies. The landscape of the island was
quickly denuded of trees, wooden fences were
disassembled and shipped by the British to New
York City and to Newport to build barracks and
to supply wood for heating and cooking.
Likewise the two forces struggled for control
over animals, food and other supplies.
The American forces were entrenched in
Connecticut. General Samuel Parsons, Colonel Samuel B. Webb and Return Jonathan Meigs
planned and launched several raids on Long Island. The most well know of the raids being
Meigs’ whaleboat attack on British forces at Sag Harbor in May 1777. 160 of Meigs’ men after
rowing across Long Island Sound, landed at Town Beach in Southold,
portaged their boats to Hashamomuck Pond and continued rowing to Sag Harbor. There they
attacked and captured 90 British soldiers, seized arms, destroyed ships and
supplies at the docks in Sag Harbor then returned over the same route with their
captives. [Onderdonk, 64-65] Another raid in December 1777 yielded not only
supplies but also loyalist civilian prisoners for the Americans. Orange Webb,
Obadiah Hudson, Matthew Wells and the Town Supervisor Parker Wickham
were captured and brought back to Connecticut. In retaliation, Jared Landon,
son of Samuel Landon of Southold, who had
stayed behind when his family fled to across the
Sound was arrested and imprisoned in New
York City. [Holbrook, 83]
William Tryon, the former governor of New York, now the
Major General in charge of the occupying forces on Long Island,
likewise launched raids against civilian targets along the
Connecticut shoreline seeking to disrupt the patriotic forces. His
raids horrified the professional military men of both sides. Tryon,
deliberately targeted civilians and put few controls on his men,
allowing them to rape, pillage and destroy entire communities
with few repercussions. 8
It wasn’t until after the town meeting in 1778, that former Town
Governor& Major General of the
70th Regiment of Foot and
Commander of British forces on
Long Island William Tryon (1729-
1788)
Courtesy of the Oysterponds Historical Society
The British periodically sent out demands for wood and
supplies to the remaining population. Above is an order
for residents of Shelter Island to gather wood in Sag
Harbor for shipment to British troops in Newport, Rhode
Island.
Top: Return
Jonathan Meigs
Bottom: Samuel
B. Webb
Revolutionary War History by Amy Folk, Southold Town Historian
Supervisor Parker Wickham was released from his imprisonment and returned to Long Island.
He had been replaced in office by Daniel Osborn, of whom the British demanded the Town
prevent further loss of cattle and horses to New England. [Southold Town Records, Liber D,
228]
Martial law became draconian, when in an effort to root out suspected patriotic sympathizers
British military officials selected three soldiers whose orders were to go the homes of Stephen
Vail, Lester Beebe and James Griffin. Their orders were to convince the homeowners that they
were deserters seeking to flee the army and that they needed shelter. That night, after the
“deserters” were settled in at Vail and Beebe’s home, a squad of soldiers arrived and arrested the
homeowners; and in Vail’s case the soldiers also detained Vail’s elderly father who was visiting
his son. At James Griffin’s home the laugh was on the British, when the soldier selected to
entrap Griffin, really deserted and never arrived at the Griffin home. When the British arrived to
arrest James Griffin, he realized that the soldiers were there to take him into custody and made
his escape from a second floor window while Jerusha Corwin who was working with his wife,
delayed the soldiers searching the house for him. Beebe and the Vails, who were taken into
custody, were given the choice of paying a £70 fine or suffering 30 day imprisonment and 500
lashes. When Jonathan Howell of Mattituck, expressed his disgust, upon hearing of the British
trick, he was arrested and whipped by military officials. [Griffin, 96-98, 155-157].
On September 4, 1778, William Tryon arrived in Mattituck along with a detachment of 1000
men to, “…secure the peaceable behavior of the disaffected inhabitants in that quarter, and assist
the Commissary in obtaining about 1000 fat cattle for the army.” [Onderdonk, 76] Quartered in
a house across from the encampment, Tryon forcibly required residents to sign an oath to the
Crown.
The British felt secure enough of their hold on Southold in 1779, that they began a drawdown of
troops. By April only 500 foot and 50 horse troops remained. [Onderdonk, 83] In 1780, the
British withdrew the last of their troops from the East End. By the spring, Southold town
residents began to petition Connecticut officials to begin returning to their homes on Long
Island. Many pleaded that desperate financial conditions after being cut off from their main
livelihood necessitated their return.
At first all was quiet in Southold, then in 1781, a number of large scale raids happened. Town
residents were attacked by armed men, irregulars from Connecticut. The raiders justified their
actions to the patriotic courts that any resident residing on Long Island was a crown sympathizer
and thus fair game to plunder. In September residents east of Southold were accosted by 40
armed men, the raiders fired at unarmed people, robbed the home of David Gardiner, “…knocked
down Jos. Peck. On their way down to the shore, they beat with a gun-breech Mr. and Mrs.
Lommedieu [sic] an aged couple, threatened to burn Widow Moore’s house, because armed men
had assemble there to resist them, flashed a gun at John Vail, aged 60; said they had some of
Delancey’s cowboys9 with them, would burn the whole town if opposition were made, and put
men, women and children to death.” [Onderdonk,103]. In another raid, Selah Haven’s goods for
his store including 50 pounds of chocolate were stolen by plunderers from New London.
[Overton, 54]
Revolutionary War History by Amy Folk, Southold Town Historian
While these raids happened through 1781 and 1782, the life and death struggles of the revolution
also continued on in three fronts, South Carolina, Virginia and Connecticut. Benedict Arnold,
after switching sides, first led an attack in Virginia, then commanding British forces attacked
Fort Griswold, in Groton, Connecticut, not far from his birth place of Norwich. Fanny Ledyard
of Southold searching for her uncle, the commander of the fort, was among the first to witness
the carnage left by the British soldiers.
In 1783, the British forces had had enough and the revolution was over. In the aftermath,
although it was against the Treaty of Paris, in New York and on Long Island, the property of
wealthy Loyalists were seized and sold. “Article V of the Paris Treaty stipulated that Congress
should recommend to the states the return of the confiscated property to loyalists who had not
borne arms against the United States. Article VI exempted loyalists from further prosecution
and loss of property.” [Martin 188] Politics on the national scale meant little to locals of
Southold, who were perhaps eager to exact some revenge. Men such as Parker Wickham, former
Town Supervisor and ardent Loyalist, was forced to forfeit his extensive land holdings in
Cutchogue.10 The land was quickly auctioned off and the proceeds used by the new government
to pay down their war debts.
1 From Mather, 1049-1050: “Forms of Association- At the suggestion of the Continental Congress, the following
Form of Association to support Congress and the Provincial Convention was adopted, by the Freemen, Freeholders,
and inhabitants of the city and county of New York, on Saturday 29th of April 1775, and transmitted for signing to
all the Counties in the Province: -
Persuaded, that the Salvation of the Rights and liberties of America, depends, under GOD, on the firm Union of its
Inhabitants, in a vigorous Prosecution of the Measures necessary for its Safety; and convinced of the Necessity of
preventing the Anarchy and Confusion, which attend a Dissolution of the Powers of Government; We, the
Freeholders, and Inhabitants, of County Hall [Southold] being greatly alarmed at the avowed Design of the
Ministry, to raise a Revenue in America; and shocked, by the bloody Scene, now acting in the Massachusetts Bay,
DO, in the most solemn Manner resolve, never to become Slaves; and do Associate under all the Ties of Religion,
Honour, and Love to our Country, to adopt and endeavor to carry into Execution, whatever Measures may be
recommended by the Continental Congress; or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention, for the Purpose of
preserving our Constitution, and the opposing the Execution of the several arbitrary, and oppressive Acts of the
British Parliament; until a Reconciliation between Great-Britain and America, on Constitutional Principles, (which
we most ardently Desire) can be obtained; And that we will, in all Things follow the Advice of our General
committee, respecting the Purposes aforesaid, the Preservation of Peace and good Order, and the Safety of
Individuals, and private property.
Dated in __ May, 1775” 2 The Courthouse was located at what is today the northwestern corner of West Main Street and Roanoke Avenue in
Riverhead. Ezra L’Hommedieu of Southold goes on as a representative in the 1st-4th Provincial Congresses which
met from 1775-1777. He then became the New York representative to the Continental Congress from 1779-1782. 3 Mather, 27-28. 4 Mather, 990-991. The officers of the Southold Company were Captain Nathan Rose, 1st Lt. Hugh Smith, 2nd Lt.
David Fanning and Ensign John Smith. 5 It is estimated that Fisher’s Island had approximately 12 farm families and a fluctuating number of hired men.
Pierce Rafferty, Executive Director Henry Ferguson Museum Fishers Island, email. 6 William Polf, Garrison Town, 2. 7 The New York Provincial Congress is sometimes referred to in history books as the New York Provincial
Convention. They were two separate entities- the Convention’s job was to select the delegates for Congress. The
New York Provincial Congress was to govern and was created as the alternative government body to the Governor’s
Assembly which was dissolved in 1775.
8 Paul David Nelson, William Tryon and the Course of Empire, 171.
Revolutionary War History by Amy Folk, Southold Town Historian
9 Civilian raiders, sometimes called Irregular troops, were called Cowboys if they were Loyalist, and Skinners if
they were Patriots. Both groups were active in robbing and murdering Long Island residents, with little
repercussions. [Abbot, 244]
10 Wickham owned an extensive swath of land south of the Main Road in Cutchogue, which encompassed New
Suffolk as well as Robbins Island.
For Further Reading:___________________________________________________________________
Abbot, Wilbur C. New York in the American Revolution. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
1929.
Adair, Douglass & Schutz, John A. ed. Peter Oliver's Origin & Progress of the American
Rebellion. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1961.
Case, J. Wickham, ed. Southold Town Records volume II, Liber "C". Southold, New York: Town
of Southold, 1884.
Dohla, Johann Congrad, and Bruce E. ed. Burgoyne. A Hessian Diary of the American
Revolution. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.
Giffin, Phillip R. "The Setauket Raid - December 1777." allthingsliberty.com. May 22, 2017.
www.allthingsliberty.com/2017/05/setauket-raid-december-1777 (accessed June 14,
2017).
Goodrich, Magdaline, ed. Southold Town Records 1683-1856 volume 3 Liber "D". Southold,
New York : Town of Southold, 1983.
Griffin, Augustus. Griffin's Journal. Orient, New York: Privately Published, 1857.
Holbrook, Dwight. The Wickham Claim. Riverhead, New York: Suffolk County Historical
Society, 1986.
Ketchum, Richard M. "England's Vietnam: The American Revolution." In Forging the American
Character vol 1, by John R. M. Wilson, 57-67. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-
Hall Inc. , 1991.
Martin, James Kirby. In the Course of Human Events. Arlington Heights, Illinois: Harlan
Davidson Inc., 1979.
Mather, Frederic Gregory. The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut. Albany, New
York: J.B. Lyon Company, 1913.
Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause. New York, New York: Oxford University Press,
1982.
Nelson, Paul David. William Tryon and the Course of Empire. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The
University of North Carolina Press, 1990.
Onderdonk, Henry Jr. Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties. New York City,
New York: Leavitt & Company, 1849.
Overton, Albert G. Plunderers From Across the Sound. Florissant, MO: Micro-Records
Publishing Company, 1980.
Polf, William. Garrison Town. Albany, New York: New York State American Revolution
Bicentennial Commisson, 1976.
Venables, Robert W., and Myron Luke. Long Island in the American Revolution. Albany, New
York: New York State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1976.
Revolutionary War History by Amy Folk, Southold Town Historian