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Columbia County’s role in the Revolution
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| Andrew Amelinckx/Hudson-Catskill Newspapers A flag and plaque marks the grave of Revoltionary War veteran and officer, William Truesdail, one of 43 veterans of that war buried at the Hudson City Cemetery. Across the county there are close to 200 men who fought against the British during the Revolution. |
By Andrew Amelinckx
COLUMBIA COUNTY — In honor of the July Fourth weekend the Register-Star is presenting a brief account of the many ways in which the area did its part for the cause of independence, from the men who fought and the women who kept the home fires burning to the houses that saw history unfold within their walls.
Across the rolling lawn and tucked away between trees twisted with age 43 graves mark where men who helped severe the ties between America and England. Numbered among the 43 was a Brigadier General, Samuel Edmonds, a Naval Commander, Alexander Coffin, and a Captain, John Kemper, who served at Valley Forge, the winter quarters of the Continental Army from December 1777 to June 1778.
Across what is now Columbia County, and at the time was part of Albany County, close to 200 men battled the British in a hard-fought war that lasted for eight years.
One local man who fought and died for the cause did so not on the battlefield, but on a bridge near Chatham at the hands of Tories in the summer of 1777.
Abraham Van Ness, a commissioned officer on furlough from the Continental Army, was killed on Malden Bridge by colonists who sided with the British during the Revolution. They considered the rebels, referred to as Whigs, to be outlaws.
The area was sharply divided and neighbor fought neighbor over the issue of severing ties with Britain and when Van Ness came home to help his family with the harvest that August, he and his family were attacked. He was taken prisoner and later shot to death.
Retribution for the murder was swift. A neighbor of the Van Ness family remembered that within three hours of receiving the alarm a 30-man posse was on the road looking for the band of Tories.
“That very night we had three of them hanging on trees, and the next day we caught more. We did not stop to try them. Most of them were hung near Albany,” William Van Ness, Abraham’s nephew, remembered the old man saying.
Abraham Van Ness’s murder and other incidents created a real fear in the community.
Committees of safety, which established night watches, sprang up to protect the lives and property of the residence who had aligned with the rebels.
“It would appear that the patriotic portion of the people here were compelled, in order to guard their lives and property, to perform service at home nearly as arduous as that which was required of soldiers in the field,” local historian Capt. Franklin Ellis wrote in his “History of Columbia County, New York.”
1777 was an important year for what is now Columbia County. That summer Gen. John Burgoyne had swept down into New York from Canada with a large army and was slowly moving south.
The Hudson River Valley was considered an important strategic location by the British during the war because it played a vital roll as a transportation and supply route for the American armies.
Gen. William Howe, who was Commander-in-Chief of the entire British force in America, planned to come up north from New York City, which had been in British control since the fall of 1776.
Howe changed his mind after Burgoyne left Canada and instead marched the bulk of his army on Philadelphia, leaving only a small force in New York City under the command of Brigadier General Henry Clinton.
In October 1777 British Major John Vaughan marched north from New York City and burned Clermont, the home of arguably the most important family in the region — the Livingstons.
Robert R. Livingston Jr., was a delegate to the New York state constitutional convention and a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence.
He later served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1781 to 1783 and administered the first oath of office to George Washington, the first President of the United States.
Margaret Beekman Livingston, mother of Robert, managed the estate during most of the war years and oversaw the rebuilding of the house.
Clermont was the furthest north that Clinton’s 1777 invasion from New York City went and without support from the south Burgoyne’s march didn’t go as planned. He was surrounded near Saratoga by the Americans under the command of General Horatio Gates.
The second Battle of Saratoga is believed by many to be the turning point in the war. After the battle France joined the fight on the side of the Americans.
General Benedict Arnold helped secure an American victory at the battle. After disobeying Gates’ orders he almost single-handedly rallied the troops. Burgoyne and 5,200 of his soldiers were taken prisoner that October day in 1777.
Arnold was wounded and spent some time recovering in Kinderhook. This time marks the turning point in Arnold’s career from hero to traitor to the American cause.
Arnold was passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress while other generals took credit for his accomplishments. This, mounting debts and personal attacks by his enemies finally turned Arnold against his country. He took the command at West Point in order to give it to the British. His plan was found out, but he escaped to England.
The house down the street from where Arnold recovered held Burgoyne before he was taken to Boston as a prisoner of war.
There were two other men who played a part in the Revolution with ties to the area. One retired and is buried here, while the other spent only a brief time here on his way to help save Boston from the British.
General Samuel Webb, Washington’s aide-de-camp, retired in Claverack and is buried in the churchyard of the Reformed Dutch Church in Claverack. Webb began his military career as a lieutenant with the second regiment Connecticut Infantry in 1775. He was wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill and again at White Plains. He ended his career as a general. Like Livingston, he was in New York City when Washington took the oath of office. While Livingston swore the first president in, Webb — Grand Marshal of the event — held the Bible while Washington took his oath.
A Boston book seller also spent some time in the area, albeit briefly. Gen. Henry Knox and his men hauled 60 tons of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga in Upstate New York to Dorchester Heights just outside Boston In the dead of winter 1775-76 passing through the county and into Massachusetts through Hillsdale.
The trip of over 200 miles took almost two months but was all important in convincing the British to abandon Boston to the Rebels. Which they did March 17, 1776, a day that has become known as Evacuation Day.
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call (518) 828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com
Across the rolling lawn and tucked away between trees twisted with age 43 graves mark where men who helped severe the ties between America and England. Numbered among the 43 was a Brigadier General, Samuel Edmonds, a Naval Commander, Alexander Coffin, and a Captain, John Kemper, who served at Valley Forge, the winter quarters of the Continental Army from December 1777 to June 1778.
Across what is now Columbia County, and at the time was part of Albany County, close to 200 men battled the British in a hard-fought war that lasted for eight years.
One local man who fought and died for the cause did so not on the battlefield, but on a bridge near Chatham at the hands of Tories in the summer of 1777.
Abraham Van Ness, a commissioned officer on furlough from the Continental Army, was killed on Malden Bridge by colonists who sided with the British during the Revolution. They considered the rebels, referred to as Whigs, to be outlaws.
The area was sharply divided and neighbor fought neighbor over the issue of severing ties with Britain and when Van Ness came home to help his family with the harvest that August, he and his family were attacked. He was taken prisoner and later shot to death.
Retribution for the murder was swift. A neighbor of the Van Ness family remembered that within three hours of receiving the alarm a 30-man posse was on the road looking for the band of Tories.
“That very night we had three of them hanging on trees, and the next day we caught more. We did not stop to try them. Most of them were hung near Albany,” William Van Ness, Abraham’s nephew, remembered the old man saying.
Abraham Van Ness’s murder and other incidents created a real fear in the community.
Committees of safety, which established night watches, sprang up to protect the lives and property of the residence who had aligned with the rebels.
“It would appear that the patriotic portion of the people here were compelled, in order to guard their lives and property, to perform service at home nearly as arduous as that which was required of soldiers in the field,” local historian Capt. Franklin Ellis wrote in his “History of Columbia County, New York.”
1777 was an important year for what is now Columbia County. That summer Gen. John Burgoyne had swept down into New York from Canada with a large army and was slowly moving south.
The Hudson River Valley was considered an important strategic location by the British during the war because it played a vital roll as a transportation and supply route for the American armies.
Gen. William Howe, who was Commander-in-Chief of the entire British force in America, planned to come up north from New York City, which had been in British control since the fall of 1776.
Howe changed his mind after Burgoyne left Canada and instead marched the bulk of his army on Philadelphia, leaving only a small force in New York City under the command of Brigadier General Henry Clinton.
In October 1777 British Major John Vaughan marched north from New York City and burned Clermont, the home of arguably the most important family in the region — the Livingstons.
Robert R. Livingston Jr., was a delegate to the New York state constitutional convention and a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence.
He later served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1781 to 1783 and administered the first oath of office to George Washington, the first President of the United States.
Margaret Beekman Livingston, mother of Robert, managed the estate during most of the war years and oversaw the rebuilding of the house.
Clermont was the furthest north that Clinton’s 1777 invasion from New York City went and without support from the south Burgoyne’s march didn’t go as planned. He was surrounded near Saratoga by the Americans under the command of General Horatio Gates.
The second Battle of Saratoga is believed by many to be the turning point in the war. After the battle France joined the fight on the side of the Americans.
General Benedict Arnold helped secure an American victory at the battle. After disobeying Gates’ orders he almost single-handedly rallied the troops. Burgoyne and 5,200 of his soldiers were taken prisoner that October day in 1777.
Arnold was wounded and spent some time recovering in Kinderhook. This time marks the turning point in Arnold’s career from hero to traitor to the American cause.
Arnold was passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress while other generals took credit for his accomplishments. This, mounting debts and personal attacks by his enemies finally turned Arnold against his country. He took the command at West Point in order to give it to the British. His plan was found out, but he escaped to England.
The house down the street from where Arnold recovered held Burgoyne before he was taken to Boston as a prisoner of war.
There were two other men who played a part in the Revolution with ties to the area. One retired and is buried here, while the other spent only a brief time here on his way to help save Boston from the British.
General Samuel Webb, Washington’s aide-de-camp, retired in Claverack and is buried in the churchyard of the Reformed Dutch Church in Claverack. Webb began his military career as a lieutenant with the second regiment Connecticut Infantry in 1775. He was wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill and again at White Plains. He ended his career as a general. Like Livingston, he was in New York City when Washington took the oath of office. While Livingston swore the first president in, Webb — Grand Marshal of the event — held the Bible while Washington took his oath.
A Boston book seller also spent some time in the area, albeit briefly. Gen. Henry Knox and his men hauled 60 tons of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga in Upstate New York to Dorchester Heights just outside Boston In the dead of winter 1775-76 passing through the county and into Massachusetts through Hillsdale.
The trip of over 200 miles took almost two months but was all important in convincing the British to abandon Boston to the Rebels. Which they did March 17, 1776, a day that has become known as Evacuation Day.
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call (518) 828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com
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