GOVERNORS.

GEORGE CLINTON,

YOUNGEST SON OF CHARLES CLINTON,

Was born at Little Britain, in the county of Ulster (afterward Orange), on the 26th of July, 1739.

When he was about sixteen (in 1755), he entered on board a privateer which sailed from the port of New York, and endured many trials and hardships.

In 1758, at the age of nineteen, he joined, as a subaltern (with his father, Colonel Charles Clinton, and Captain James Clinton, his brother), the successful expedition of Colonel Bradstreet against Fort Frontenac, near Lake Ontario, and with his brother, succeeded, at the head of a small force, in capturing one of the French vessels.

He then entered the office of William Smith, historian of the New York Colony, and subsequently Chief Justice of Canada.

On the 30th of August, 1759, he was appointed by letters patent, under the great seal of the Province, from George II, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Clerk of the Peace and of the Court of Sessions of the Peace of Ulster county, in room of John Crook, deceased. Christopher Tappan was his Deputy.

In 1760 (December 12th), Mr. Clinton was reappointed as above, during good behavior, and held the reappointment until his death.

On the 12th of September, 1764, he was commissioned by the Governor, attorney at law, to practice in the Mayor's Court in

Albany, and inferior Courts of Common Pleas in the counties of the Province, except in the Mayor's Court of the city of New York.

In 1765 (26th of August), he was appointed surrogate in room. of Petrus E. Elmendorph, and on the 27th of October, 1768, he took his seat as a member of the General Assembly from Ulster county.

The next year, on the fourth of April, he again entered the General Assembly as a representative from the same county, on a reëlection (the preceding Assembly having been dissolved by Governor Sir Henry Moore), and continued a member until its adjournment on the 3d of April, 1775, which proved its final dissolution.

In 1775, he was a member of the Provincial Convention which, by a previous call from a Committee of the city and county of New York, assembled on the twentieth of April, at the Exchange in the said city, to choose delegates to represent the New York Colony in the second Continental Congress, and on the twentysecond of April was elected one of the delegates.

On the fifteenth of May following, he took his seat in the above body, which had assembled on the fifth previous, at Smith's tavern in Philadelphia, and afterward at Carpenter's hall in said city.

On the nineteenth of the succeeding December, the second New York Provincial Congress, appointed him Brigadier-General of the militia of Ulster and Orange counties, formed into one brigade.'

In the following year he was present at the Continental Congress and voted for the resolutions introduced in that body on the seventh of June,' which finally resulted, on the fourth of July, in the Declaration of Independence. His duties as Brigadier-General, however, compelling him to leave for New York before that instrument was regularly signed, his name is not attached to it.

In 1776, he was appointed a Deputy to the fourth New York Provincial Congress, which assembled on the ninth of July at White Plains, Westchester county; changed their name to "Convention of Representatives of the State of New York," July tenth, on occasion of receiving and adopting the Declaration of Indepen

1 See Journal of New York Provincial Congress, vol. 1, p. 226. 2 Journal of Congress, 1776, vol. 2, p. 204.

dence, the day before; and dissolved finally on the 13th of May, 1777.

This Convention framed and adopted the first Constitution of the State of New York.

On the 8th of August, 1776, he was, as Brigadier-General, appointed to the command of all the levies raised and to be raised in Ulster, Orange and Westchester counties, and directed to march them to the posts at and above the Highlands.' This was to prevent the ascent of the river by the British from the city of New York.

On the following first of January, he was directed to raise one thousand men from the counties of Dutchess, Ulster, Orange and Westchester. On the succeeding twenty-fifth of March, the New York Convention requested the General Congress to appoint a commandant of the forts in the Highlands. General Clinton received this appointment, and was made also Brigadier-General in the continental service."

On the 13th of May, 1777 (the last day of the session), he received the thanks of the New York Convention for "long and faithful services, as a delegate in the Continental Congress, to the Colony of New York, and to the State."

In 1777 (July 9th), the Council of Safety (invested by the Convention of that year with powers to carry on the Government of the State till the meeting of the Legislature) declared that on examination of the poll lists and ballots, returned by the sheriffs of the respective counties, of the elections held in said counties, Mr. Clinton was elected both Governor and LieutenantGovernor of the State." He accepted the former station, and on the thirtieth of July took the oath of office administered to him by the President of the Council of Safety. Pierre Van Cortlandt, President of the Council, discharged the duties of LieutenantGovernor.

6

1 Journal New York Provincial Convention, vol. 1, p. 563.

* Journal of New York Committee of Safety, 754. Jour. N. Y. Prov. Cong. * Journal of Congress, vol. 3, 100.

'Journal of New York Provincial Convention, 1, 931.

* Journal of New York Council of Safety, 1, 990. Jour. N. Y. Prov. Cong.

• Journal of New York Council of Safety, 1, 1021. Jour. N. Y. Prov. Cong.

The Legislature assembled on the tenth of September following, and Governor Clinton delivered his Message orally, chiefly confined to matters of the war.

On the succeeding fourth of October, Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander, left the city of New York with five thousand men in flat boats and transports, on his way to coöperate with Burgoyne at Bemis Heights.

There were at that time four American posts at the Highlands, viz.: Forts Montgomery and Clinton on the west side of the Hudson, separated only by a small stream called Poplopen's Kill emptying into the river; Fort Independence south of Fort Clinton and on the east side of the river, and Fort Constitution opposite West Point. From the mouth of the above kill, and extending across so as to obstruct the river, were chevaux de frise and a boom with a heavy iron chain, placed there by the Americans.

Governor Clinton left the Legislature about the fourth of October, and took command at Fort Montgomery. His brother Colonel Charles Clinton commanded at Fort Clinton (both Forts numbering about six hundred men, one half without bayonets), while General Putnam with about one thousand five hundred troops had his head-quarters at Peekskill.

On the sixth, about ten in the morning, an advanced party of about thirty Americans was attacked by the vanguard of the British force at Doodletown, two and a half miles from Fort Montgomery. The enemy, on the party's refusal to surrender, fired upon them; the Americans returned the fire and retreated to Fort Clinton. Soon after, Governor Clinton received intelligence that the British were advancing on the west side of the Dunderberg or Thunder mountain to attack the forts in the rear. He immediately threw out a detachment of over a hundred men, under Lieutenant-Colonels Bruyn and McClaghry, toward Doodletown, with another of sixty and a brass field piece, who took post in Bear Hill defile, a rough pass, skirted with forest. These detachments were soon attacked by the enemy with his whole force, which attack was resisted gallantly by the Americans. The party at the defile were reinforced to a hundred, and they swept the pass with their field-piece, but were soon obliged to give way before the advance of the British through the bordering woods.

They spiked their piece, being driven from it by the bayonet, and retreated in good order to a twelve-pounder under Colonel Lamb, which Clinton had ordered to cover their retreat, and thence to Fort Montgomery.

It was now afternoon. Governor Clinton had previously dispatched a messenger to General Putnam for reinforcements, but the treacherous messenger (one Waterbury) had delayed his movements, and consequently no aid or tidings were received by Clinton. He, however, posted his men in the most advantageous manner for the defense of his fort. At about four o'clock, the British invested both posts, and the commander sent a flag, the sun an hour high, with summons for the posts to surrender within five minutes to prevent slaughter. Governor Clinton dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Livingston to receive the flag, but was informed there were no orders to treat except on proposals to surrender the whole force as prisoners of war, in which case good usage was assured. Governor Clinton determined to defend the forts to the last. Ten minutes after, they were invested on all sides (the British vessels also firing upon the forts), and a desperate conflict ensued. Roused by the firing, a detachment from General Putnam's force hastened toward the scene of conflict, but did not reach the river until twilight and when it was too late to aid Clinton.

Soon after dusk, the British, by their superior numbers, forced the lines and redoubts at both posts. The garrisons fought their way out, and it being a cloudy night, many of the men escaped. Both officers and men behaved with great gallantry. Colonel Charles Clinton was wounded, but eluded the enemy by fleeing down a precipice clinging to the shrubs, and the next day reached his residence in Orange county, sixteen miles distant. The Governor escaped by mingling with the enemy as they rushed into the fort; crossed the Hudson in a boat and reached General Putnam the same night at Continental village, three miles from Peekskill, there to concert further plans for resistance. The loss of Americans in killed, wounded and prisoners (among the latter Lieutenant-Colonels Livingston, Bruyn and McClaghry), was about three hundred; that of the enemy about one hundred and forty, among the killed being Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, command