CHAPTER TWENTY—"PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION"

  

The chestnut tree and large boulder on Gallows Hill where Edmund Palmer was hung on or about August 7, 1777. Illustration by Benson John Lossing.

   Richard McConnell, my 8th grade classmate at Assumption elementary school, used to borrow books from the Peekskill Public Library, which was located near the school. He bragged that he could read four books in a week. Feeling the urge to compete, I began borrowing books too. I never read as many as he did. I think I read about two books every week. However I read the books from cover to cover as if I were eating a hearty meal, and my curiosity made me digest the characters and stories and their meaning.

     At some point in this reading experience, I came across an illustrated book called "Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution" by Benson John Lossing. There were references to Gallows Hill and Continental Village, as well as inclusion of a laconic letter written by Major General Israel Putnam to Sir Henry Clinton:

     "To Sir Henry Clinton: Headquarters, 7 August 1777. Edmund Palmer, an officer in the enemy's service, was taken as a spy, lurking within our lines. He has been tried as a spy, and shall be executed as a spy, and the flag is ordered to depart immediately. Israel Putnam. P.S. He has accordingly been executed."

     There are other versions of this letter which describe the spy as Nathan Palmer, not Edmund Palmer. One version is addressed to British General and Governor Tryon, and ends: "P. S. Afternoon. He is hanged."

     The hanging took place on Gallows Hill. Lossing visited the site of the execution and published his book in 1852. He describes the site as follows:

     "From the old church yard I rode to the summit of Gallows Hill, a lofty ridge on the north, and bared of trees by the hand of cultivation. It is famous as a portion of the campground of the division of the American army under Putnam in 1777, and also as the place where a spy was executed, from which circumstances the hill derives its name. Leaving my vehicle (horse and buggy) at the gate of a farmhouse by the road side, I crossed the fields to the place designated by tradition as the spot where the old chestnut tree stood, near which the spy was hanged. It is about one hundred rods west of the road, on the southeastern slope of the hill, and is marked by a huge bowlder (Lossing's spelling) lying upon the surface, by the side of which is the decayed trunk of a chestnut, as seen in my illustration, said to be a spout of the memorable tree.

     "From the top of Gallows Hill there is a glorious prospect of the surrounding country, particularly southward, in which direction the eye takes in glimpses of Peekskill Village, the Hudson river and its rocky shores on the west, and the fertile estates of West Chester as far as the high grounds of Tarrytown. On the southeast of the ridge is the beautiful undulating Peekskill Hollow (Hollow Brook or Peekskill River), and on the north, between it and the rough turrets of the Highland towers, is scooped the Canopus Valley, deep and rich, wherein is nestled Continental Village, the scene of one of Tryon's desolating expeditions. We are upon historic ground…

     "Near the banks of Canopus Creek (Sprout Brook), and overlooked by Gallows Hill, is Continental Village. It is about three miles from Peekskill, at the main entrance to the Highland passes northward. There, in 1777, were constructed barracks sufficient to accommodate two thousand men. A large number of cattle, and a great quantity of military stores under the charge of Major Campbell, were completed there. Two small redoubts were erected on the high ground, for the double purpose of protecting the public property and guarding the mountain road (Old Albany Post Road). Hither, on the morning of the 9th of October, 1777, three days after the capture of Forts Clinton and Montgomery, General Tryon was detached with Emerick's chasseurs and other Germans, with a three pounder, to destroy the settlement. He accomplished the object most effectively. The barracks, and nearly every house in the little village, together with the public stores, were consumed by fire, and many of the cattle were slaughtered. The inhabitants fled to the hills, while the few troops who were left when Putnam and the main force retired to Fishkill on the fall of the mountain forts, were compelled to fly to safety. In a few hours the smiling little valley was a scene of utter desolation. General Parsons marched down from Fishkill with two thousand men a few days afterward."

     This attack by the British was part of a much larger plan to take control of New York. While General Clinton pushed up the Hudson with His Majesty's ships Preston, Dependence, Mercury, Tartar, Diligent, Spitfire, Hotham and Crane, General Burgoyne was proceeding from Canada toward Saratoga, and General St. Leger was proceeding against Fort Stanwix near the Mohawk River. On the Hudson the British fleet cut the chain which stretched across the river near Cold Spring on October 6, 1777 and took Fort Constitution unopposed. When the British retreated down river several months later, a stronger iron-link chain was forged at Sterling Iron Works and stretched across the river each spring until the end of the war.

     In a foot note, Lossing describes an incident at Soldier's Spring, which is today the location of a Revolutionary War Monument at Continental Village.

     "This is a little fountain bubbling up by the road side, and named 'The Soldier's Spring,' from the circumstance that an American soldier, while retreating before the enemy, stooped at the fountain to quench his thirst. While so doing, a cannon ball, that struck the rocky hill above him, glanced obliquely, hit and shattered his thigh, and left him dying beside the clear waters. He was conveyed in a wagon that passed soon afterward to Fishkill, where he expired."

     Another reference to Edmund Palmer [no relation of the author] is contained in the following letter from General Israel Putnam to General George Washington:

     "Head Quarters, Peekskills [N.Y.] July 19th, 1777.

     "Dear Genl:

     "I herewith Send you a Copy of a letter Just received from Col. Mead containing some intelligence respecting the Enemy's fleet. I have taken One Edmund Palmer, who went to the Enemy Some time past, who belonged at Crumpond, has ever Since been lurking about here plundering & driving off cattle to the Enemy, breaking up & robbing houses—he broke Open a house in the Night belonging to an Officer in our Army presented his Pistol to his wife’s breast as She Sat in bed, Strip'd the rings from her fingers, then fell upon the father an old Gentleman, abused, beat, & left him, to appearance dead, he took an Express as he was Coming from Connecticut to me, he has been about recruiting for the Enemy & Spying our Army—he was taken in arms with a Villian who escaped from the Guard house, under Sentence of death, Sometime past. Palmers brother that was with him is Supposed to be killed—he Says he is a Leiut. in Hows Army appointed by Genl Orders, but has no Commission I have ordered him in Irons & directed his Trial to be next Tuesday.

     "A Question is made, wheither he may be Tried by a Genl Court martial by the articles of war—because he belonged to this State & Owed Allegiance to it, I think, the Speedy Execution of Spie's is agreable to the laws of Nature & nations & absolutely necessary to the preservation of the Army & without Such power in the Army, it must be incompetent for its own Safety—Should be glad of your Excellency's Advice & direction in the premises.

     "I have ordered a board of Officers to Set next Monday to enquire into the claims of the Candidates for the two vacant Cols. in Genl Parson's Brigade agreable to your Orders. With the highest esteem & affection I am your Excellency's Obedt humble Servt, Israel Putnam."

     History unmasked. I remember playing neighborhood pick-up football in a field near Billy Wert's house at the crest of Gallows Hill and alongside Gallows Hill Road. It was about 500 yards from the hanging site—an American chestnut tree long gone and a large boulder still there.