Object Number:
INV.5631.1 New-York Historical Society
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British Army buttons were found at Fort Richmond in Staten Island. The buttons were worn on the uniforms of privates.
1963.25.1-10. New-York Historical Society
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Shoe Buckle Military artifacts excavated from the British Revolutionary War fort and campsite at Richmond, Staten Island
Shoe Buckle Military artifacts excavated from the British Revolutionary War fort and campsite at Richmond, Staten Island; including brass scabbard points and scabbard hooks, a silver wire tassel from an officer’s uniform, a bronze officer’s shoe buckle impressed with a floral decorative design, an inscribed bronze shoe buckle, rectangular bronze belt plates with inscriptions, and a cartridge box badge cast in open work brass, with a design of the British crown cast above a circular body.
View from Staten Island 2d July 1777. Archibald Robertson: His Diaries and Sketches in America, 1762-1780.
Plan of New York and Staten Islands with part of Long Island, surveyd in the years 1781, & 82.
Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA dcu |
The Reenactment Unit is The 4th Battalion New Jersey Volunteers (a Loyalist Unit). I participated as a common soldier from 2008 to 2014.
Reenactment of Peace Conference at Christopher Billopp’s Bentley Manor (Conference House), Staten Island, September 11, 1776.
The Reenactment Unit is The 4th Battalion New Jersey Volunteers (a Loyalist Unit). I participated as a common soldier from 2008 to 2014.
Todd Braisted, noted Historian of all things Loyalist. For more info, see Revolutionary War Loyalist history and genealogy |
Getting SI signatures to Loyalty Oaths to King George III |
A beautiful Loyalist walking the grounds of the Conference House |
Me, Native Staten Islander loyal to the King of England |
Loyalists troops standing guard |
View of Perth Amboy |
Frankin, Adams and Rutlege arrive from across the Authur Kill to participate in the Peace Conference |
Front Parlor for Dining |
Best Front Parlor |
Best Front Parlor |
300-year-old Mulberry Tree |
300-year-old Mulberry Tree |
300-year-old Mulberry Tree |
2007 Event |
2007 Event |
2007 Event |
2007 Event |
The Revolutionary War in Richmond County, New York (Prelude) 1760 to 1774
The somewhat secluded nature of Staten Island in the 17th and 18th centuries afforded its citizens with relative peace and prosperity after the first Dutch settlers battled with the local Indians and struggled to gain a foothold at Oud Dorp (Old Towne).
1775
Since there were no delegates being sent to the Second Continental Congress in 1775, Richmond became notorious for its Loyalist sympathies. Christopher Billoppe, the wealthiest of the Loyalists, owned Bentley Manor at the extreme southern tip of the Island. The opinion which George Washington had formed of the people of Staten Island, as well as of their immediate neighbors at Amboy, may be learned from the following extract from one of his letters:
“The known disaffection of the people of Amboy, and the treachery of those of Staten Island, who, after the fairest professions, have shown themselves our inveterate enemies, have induced me to give directions that all persons of known enmity and doubtful character should be removed from these places”
The New York Provincial Congress had swayed the merchants and farmers to appoint members to a committee of safety or risk continuing their goods being boycotted by other local towns in New Jersey.
In June 1776 the ships began to arrive off of Staten Island, and slowly entered the Narrows into Upper New York Bay. By the beginning of August, an estimated 30,000 ships were anchored in the harbor and directly off of Staten Island. The soldiers disembarked and started to set up camp all over the Island, chopping down the forests for their cabins and fire wood and foraging for cattle and food on the small farms that dotted the Island. General Howe had explicitly forbade foraging and stealing from the local farmers, but the soldiers served themselves to the generous amounts of apples, peaches and cherries from the numerous orchards along the south shore.
General Howe set up his headquarters near the Decker Ferry on the shore road along the Kill van Kull at the Adrian Bancker house. British troops were billeted in the Rose & Crowne Inn at New Dorpe, where the Olde King’s Highway crosses the main road of the town. The Black Horse Tavern nearby was also commandeered for the use of the Officers and their Aides-de-Camp while stationed on the Island.
General Howe set up his headquarters near the Decker Ferry on the shore road along the Kill van Kull at the Adrian Bancker house. British troops were billeted in the Rose & Crowne Inn at New Dorpe, where the Olde King’s Highway crosses the main road of the town. The Black Horse Tavern nearby was also commandeered for the use of the Officers and their Aides-de-Camp while stationed on the Island.
A Hessian soldier named Baurmeister recorded a description of the British forces encamped at Staten Island for the 14th and 15th of August. His division had sent 132 soldiers to the Hospital encampment, due to scurvy:
“We found the Eglish troops, which had been driven out of Boston encamped on Staten Island on eight different heights.
At Amboy Ferry, Lieutenant General Clinton with two brigades and half of an artillery brigade.
Between Amboy Ferry and the Old Blazing Star (now Rossville), Brigadier General Leslie with three brigades and half an artillery brigade.
At the Old Blazing Star, Brigadier General Farrington with two brigades and two 12-pounders and also half a troop of light dragoons to carry dispatches.
At the New Blazing Star (at Long Neck, now Travis), Brigadier Generals Smith, Robertson and Agnew with three brigades and the other half of light dragoons.
At Musgrower’s Lien [?](Lane?), Lieutenant General Percy and Brigadier general Erkine with two brigades and four 6-pounders and one officer and twnty-five light dragoons.
At the point opposite Elizabeth town Ferry, Major General Grant with one brigade, two light guns, and fifteen dragoons.
At the Morning Star (the country seat of Henry Holland, on the northern side of the island), Lieutenant General Cornwallis with two and a half brigades, six 12-pounders, four howitzers, and fifteen dragoons.
At Decker’s Ferry (now Port Richmond), Major General William James with the 37th and 52nd Regiments and two light guns.
To the right of Decker’s Ferry, in a country house close to the shore opposite New Jersey, Major General Vaughan with six grenadier battalions, the 46th Regiment, the rest of the disembarked artillery, the rest of the light dragoons, and General Howe’s headquarters.
Lieutenant-Colonel Dalrymple was in command if the trenches thrown up on Staten Island, which is fifteen English miles long and five wide.”
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Quoted From: Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals 1776-1784 of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces. Translated and annotated by Bernhard A. Uhlendorf. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1957.
All images from: Archibald Robertson: His Diaries and Sketches, 1762-1780. Spencer Collection, The New York Public Library.
The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
British Army at Staten Island, N.Y.
Lieutenant Colonel Edward Vaughn Dongan (Loyalist Staten Islander)
Lieutenant Colonel Edward Vaughn Dongan, commander of the 3rd Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers in Skinner’s Loyalist brigade was mortally wounded in a skirmish, midway between the Old Blazing Star Ferry and Prince’s Bay. He was taken to a local farm (which I have yet to identify). It may very well be The Abraham Manee Farmhouse in Prince’s Bay, where British redoubts have been discovered nearby.
Edward Vaughan Dongan was born January 3, 1749. After his father’s death, he went with his mother to live in Elizabeth. He was brought up a lawyer and lived at New Brunswick, N. J., where he married a daughter of Squire La Grange, a lawyer of that place. On the outbreak of the revolution, he made himself obnoxious on account of his adherence to royalty and was driven from his home before the British landed in New York. His father-in-law and family were in sympathy with him, and their estate was afterward forfeited.
Lt. Col. Edward Vaughan Dongan, along with Major Robert Drummond of the 3rd Battalion New Jersey Volunteers, had participated in Loyalist Foraging Raids into the New Jersey countryside from the Winter and early Spring of 1777. They successfully captured prisoners and livestock in one Foraging Raid into New Jersey from Staten Island on August 19, 1777.
It was now known that the rebels on this side had gone off towards Richmond; they were eagerly pursued, and on the road beyond that village an account was received from Lieutenant-Colonel Dongan, that his post had been attacked by the second division of the enemy, and obliged to retire, (which they did with very little loss,) towards Lieutenant-Colonel Allen, who had himself very seasonably retired, and taken post on a height near Prince’s Bay, where Lieutenant-Colonel Dongan had joined him. A large body of the rebels had twice made a show of attacking them, but finally declined it, and marched off towards the Old Blazing Star. Those two gallant officers soon determined to pursue them, and now gave information to Brigadier-General Skinner that they were on the way and requested orders which were immediately despatched to them, to proceed, and at all events to attack the enemy as soon as possible, informing them at the same time, that their brother volunteers from the right were coming up with all speed to join them, and that the regular troops, with General Campbell, were at hand to support them. These orders were executed with equal spirit and success. Notwithstanding a great disparity of numbers, these new troops attacked the rear of the enemy, consisting of Smallwood’s and other corps that are foremost in reputation among the rebels, with an intrepidity and perseverance that would have done honor to veterans. A considerable number of the enemy were killed, and about three hundred taken prisoners, including twenty-one officers, viz., one lieutenant colonel, three majors, two captains, ten lieutenants, three ensigns, one surgeon, and one officer wounded. By this time, General Campbell had got up one piece of cannon with a detachment of the artillery. That piece was soon followed by two or three more, and a well-directed fire of round and grape shot had a great effect on the rebel boats, and on those of their people who had got over to the Jersey shore. Our loss, in the whole affair, is five killed, seven wounded, and eighty-four missing. Among the wounded were Lieutenant-Colonel Dongan1 and Major Barnes, both officers of distinguished bravery.
The rebels, by this attempt, have, indeed, got a good deal of plunder, chiefly from the inhabitants, of which they may possibly be ready to boast, for they have often boasted of exploits which honest men would deem a disgrace; and they have reason on this occasion to blush for their conduct.
Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Vaughan Dongan died of his wounds soon after the action. He was the commandant of the third battalion of New Jersey Volunteers; the youngest son of Walter Dongan, Esq., late of Staten Island; was bred to the law, and supported a most amiable character. He was in his twenty-ninth year and left a young distressed widow to lament the death of an affectionate husband. Their only child died a few hours before him.
‘Gaine’s Mercury, September 1. * In New Jersey.
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Excerpts from: Frank Moore, Diary of the American Revolution: From Newspapers and Original Documents, Volume 1, C. Scribner, 1860.
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The Narrows, the entrance to New York Harbor
This view is from inside the harbour, with Staten Island on the right, and Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the left foreground.
Fountain House and a Flirtatious Loyalist
The Fountain House, built in 1668 and used as Richmond’s first courthouse, stood across from The Black Horse Tavern during the American Revolution. Generals Percy and Carleton, along with Captain Montresor (a British Military engineer) often stopped here. A flirtatious young Loyalist, Margaret Moncrieffe resided here with her father, Major Thomas Moncrieffe in the summer of 1776. She was introduced to General Howe and his staff, and was frequently seen cavorting with the best men on the General’s staff. Sheeventually married Captain John Coughlen. It was demolished in 1937.
One of Montresor’s maps of Lower Manhattan during the Revolution.
The General Howe Map of Staten Island, 1776
The resulting map of Staten Island was ordered by General Howe shortly after the British landed at Staten Island in July of 1776. According to the Staten Island Historian, the map was found in the Duke of Northumberland’s collection in England, and is claimed to have been surveyed without any surveying instruments; hence the inaccurate shape of the Island. It also shows a conflict as to where General Howe’s headquarters were located. The Howe map marks the Bancker house, located near the Decker Ferry in Port Richmond as his headquarters. Legend has it that General Howe was staying at the Rose & Crowne at Newe Dorpe. He may have been using both the Bancker residence and the Tavern at different intervals during his stay on Staten Island. The Taylor and Skinner map, another British map commissioned in 1783 is an extremely accurate depiction of the Island! I have yet to see this map, as it is in the U.K. archives.
This was used on shore by military and naval officers busily engaged in surveying the colony of British Columbia. Light, portable and easier to transport, it was one of essential the tools for Colonial expansion and mapping. Like a nautical sextant, the box sextant measures angles, but it is smaller, enclosed version placed inside a cylindrical box. Its graduated arc is at half degrees from 0° to 120°. The readings on its vernier were read to single minutes using a magnifying glass. The small removable telescope was used to take long sights, but ordinary observations were usually made through a peephole in the glass. The top (lid) of the cylindrical brass box has been removed to show the knobs that work the sextant. The large knob operates a pinion that engages the toothed, circular segment inside the sextant that mounts the index glass and index arm. The smaller knobs are adjusting screws to eliminate index error and adjust the horizon glass.
Old Mill Road, Richmondtown, Staten Island, in Summer (c. 2007)
The Black Horse Tavern, New Dorpe, Staten Island, N.Y.
Morris’s Memorial History of Staten Island, New York By Ira K. Morris:
British Troops were billeted in the Black Horse Tavern (left, drawing @ 1800) during the American Revolution. The picture at right is dated @ 1906. It has been since been demolished.
Morris’s Memorial History of Staten Island,
New York By Ira K. Morris:
General William Howe read the Declaration of Independence to his troops while billeted in this farm-house/Inn, a few days after the 4th of July, 1776. It was demolished in 1854. All that remains is a marker on a stone at the corner of New Dorpe Lane and Richmond Road (The King’s Highway). Many British Officers participated in raucous and debauched behavior while garrisoned at Staten Island. One particular event one a nearby hillside lead to a duel with one officer being mortally wounded. Many Courts Martial were issued in the ensuing seven-year British occupation.
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