Objects of the Revolution: The Silver Oar

Sailing through Deep Waters

Images from Document 259, February 1941, "Gift of the Silver Oar to the United States District Cour
for the Southern District of New York.  Court en banc, Room 506, February 14, 1941, 10:30 a.m.

This object forms a bridge between pre-Revolutionary New York Province and post-Revolution New York City.  What is it, who made it, and where is it now?

What?

This is the Silver Oar, formerly the mace of the Vice-Admiralty Court of the Province of New York until the court was dissolved in 1775.  At that time, Thomas Ludlow, Jr., the Marshal of the Court, took the oar “into his own possession, doubtless for safekeeping.”  It remained in his family until around 1939.  It was put up as collateral for a loan and then sold in October 1940 to a silversmith (Robert Ensko), who sold it to a group of Columbia University men and friends.  (By the way, Columbia beat out Yale for the purchase of the oar. Roar, Lion, roar!)

Who made it?

Preeminent silversmith Charles LeRoux (1689-1745) served for many years as the official silversmith of New York City.  He made many gold and silver boxes to contain seals that granted the freedom of the City, and is noted for engraving the plates for bills of credit issues from 1715-1737.  The bills for 1737 show a version of the Seal of New York, still in use today.

Who led the effort to purchase it?

Charles Culp Burlingham (1858-1959) spearheaded the fund-raising effort.  He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1879 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Columbia University in 1881.  (He received an honorary Juris Doctor degree from Columbia in 1933).

Where is it now?

On 14 February 1941, the silver oar was presented to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, document no. 259.  I don’t know where the Court keeps the oar, or even if the Court still owns it.  That is a subject for further research.  A copy was exhibited in New Hampshire in 2010.

Notes:  More details about LeRoux and the silver oar are available. The writer has done a great deal of research on colonial silversmiths, especially Charles LeRoux and his family.  Post a comment here if you would like more information about him or other silversmiths in New York City before the Revolution.

Prepared by Maria A. Dering
Member, Board of Governors
American Revolution Round Table of New York

Vacation

Your e-newsletter blogger will be on vacation next week, but please check back after Labor Day for new posts on Objects of the Revolution (the silver oar, for sure) and exciting fall events.  See you soon!

The Battle of Brooklyn -- Part Two

The Battle of Brooklyn (Long Island):  August 27, 1776

British military map from 1776 showing the marching routes and battle sites
during the Battle of Long Island.  Public domain, courtesy of www.wikipedia.com.

Here is the conclusion to our summary of the Battle of Brooklyn (Long Island), thoughtfully prepared by our Book Review Chair and Board of Governors Member Lynne Saginaw. Thank you, Lynne!

When we left off, the sudden appearances of 10,000 British troops behind their lines had thrown the Continentals into a panic. Many ran for their lives. They and those who stood were shepherded into a defensive line on Brooklyn Heights. There they shivered in flooded emplacements as the British dug their way ever closer and Washington tried to figure out how to save what was left of the army.

Fortunately, one of the men Washington had at hand was a stocky, hard-bitten member of the “codfish aristocracy,” Colonel John Glover. A militia officer since 1759, Glover was colonel of the 14th Continental Regiment, the “Marbleheaders.” He had raised ten companies of some 500 fishermen and sailors; Spanish, Native American, Jewish, and African-American, as well as local Massachusetts men. Those men -- many of whom Glover knew personally – were to remain together throughout the year, an example of discipline and courage for the rest.

At 5 o’clock on the morning of August 28^th, the regiment crossed to Brooklyn from Manhattan. Glover directed the manning of the vessels and rafts that had been brought down through the Harlem River from the North River, as the Hudson was then known.

During the first part of the night, the men worked with great difficulty because of the ebb tide and a strong northeast wind. Later, when the wind changed and a heavy fog covered the Long Island side, Glover and his soldiers were able to complete the evacuation of the last 700 of Washington’s 9,000 men, plus field pieces, heavy ordinance, and all ammunition, as well as horses, cattle, and provisions. All this was accomplished in nine hours across the mile-wide East River, oars muffled against the splashing of the water. By the official record, only three men did not make it back, and they were stragglers who failed to board with their comrade.

By 7 a.m. it was done. Washington crossed in the last boat. While pleased with their success, the British were nevertheless nonplussed at the miraculous escape of their foe. This was not going to be as easy as they had assumed.

Postscript: Washington’s most iconic moment again found him on the water, crossing the Delaware on a brutal December night. And who was there, ten miles below Trenton, on the night of December 25^th?

Of course! Glover and his extraordinary “Marbleheaders” ferried 2,400 troops -- again with horses, artillery and wagons -- across the Delaware River under extreme weather conditions. After marching several miles, they fought in the Battle of Trenton, and then transported the army and about 1,000 Hessian prisoners back across the river, all on the same day.                                                  
                                           
Sources: 
www.nps.gov/sapa
Ellis, Joseph J.  Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence. Knopf, 2013
Kelly, Jack. Band of Giants: The Amateur Soldiers who won America’s Independence. Palgrave-Macmillan, 2014.

EXTRA! The Boston Tea Party ... Opera ... 2014

Photo courtesy of www.bostonteapartyopera.com

Round Tabler Treasurer Jon Carriel submitted this review about an opera in New York City that might interest our readers.  But note:  The last performance is this Friday, August 22nd.  The Boston Tea Party Opera is presented as part of the New York Fringe Festival.  Details follow.

And now for something … completely different!  An opera about the Boston Tea Party composed (story, lyrics, and music) by ARRT-NY member Matthew Zachary (“Matt”) Johnson! 

Its time frame is not just the title December 1773 event, but includes many years leading up to it, including the Boston Massacre of March 1770. The story line involves a cross-section of Boston’s citizens in a series of sometimes-realistic, sometimes-fantastical vignettes, but is dominated by the dramatic conflict of Samuel Adams and Thomas Hutchinson. 

How well the opera will play to those with only faint memories of American History 101 I don’t know, but most Round Tablers should have little problem following the progression of events, which also involved the audience in the real debate of the era regarding the dangers and opportunities of defiance of the British Empire for the men and women of the time.

Musically, it’s radical only in the sense of being contrary to one’s expectation of it being annoying. (I confess to approaching any “classical” effort created in my lifetime with huge trepidation.)  There’s much to enjoy in its rhythmic riffs, vocal pyrotechnics, and harmonic sonorities. And the music is extremely well served by a young, enthusiastic cast of a dozen or so prodigious vocal talents. 

In short, it was certainly worth my time and may well be worth yours. 

Unfortunately, what I saw this afternoon was the fourth of only five performances of the current production. The last is this Friday, August 22^nd, at 5:15 PM, at the very comfortable Sheen Center Loretto Theatre, which is a short walk from the Broadway-Lafayette subway station.

For more information, visit Matt Johnson's website: http://www.bostonteapartyopera.com/

Objects of the Revolution

For the past year or two, the American Revolution Round Table of New York has been working on a project called "15 Objects of the Revolution."  We invited our members to contribute images of weapons, clothing, grave sites, artifacts, and other curious, interesting, and little-known items.  Documents were not solicited, as there are so many great repositories online that highlight our founding documents, letters, newspapers, and other printed matter.

In this post, we present our first Object of the Revolution, the Sword of Honor of Marinus Willett.  Long-time member of the Board of Governors Michael Harris contributed this piece.  Mike is retired from the United States Navy; Queens, New York, is his home port.

Object of the Revolution #1: Marinus at the Met

Marinus Willett
Portrait by Ralph Earl circa 1791
Public domain, courtesy of www.wikipedia.com

Marinus Willett came from a family of dirt farmers who were among the original “Freeholders of Flushing.” Two of the men of the Willett clan were signers of the “Flushing Remonstrance.” This document, addressed to Dutch Governor General of New Amsterdam Peter Stuyvesant, demanded freedom of religion in the colony. It is recognized by the United States Congress as one of the first documents of American Freedom.

The land the Willett boys farmed was located in what is modern day Queens County, in areas now called Fort Totten and Willetts Point. The American Revolution on Long Island and in Queens County in particular was a complete disaster for the Patriots’ cause. (See the Battle of Brooklyn.) Our Mr. Willett, however, was no quitter.

Marinus was a street leader in the New York Chapter of the Sons of Liberty, located on Manhattan Island. It was here that he wholeheartedly launched himself into a lifelong career which foreshadowed the propensity of the district’s later denizens for forced acquisitions and hostile takeovers.  

  

Over on Wall Street just off Broad, was an arsenal, where, on April 23, 1775, our Marinus appropriated 600 muskets, along with their bayonets. Just a month later, also on Broad Street, about a two minute walk from today’s South Street Seaport; he commandeered several carts loaded with weapons which His Majesty’s troops were trying to evacuate from town. He let the troops go, but kept the guns.

You can imagine the expression on General Washington’s face when all these new toys were dropped into his lap. For these and other acts of daring-do, in his turn, the general presented our Marinus with the traditional warrior’s trophy, a sword of honor, as authorized by Congress in 1777. Today you can see that same sword, next to a full length portrait of Marinus Willett, on the magnificent stairway leading from the main floor of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.  For more information, visit www.metmuseum.org/content/interactives/knights/america_1.html and www.revolutionarywararchives.org/willett

Next time:  The Silver Oar

Battle Week Is Here

Each year, a number of organizations in New York City (and, yes, that includes Brooklyn) commemorate the Battle of Long Island (or, if you prefer, the Battle of Brooklyn).  The Old Stone House, an historic site, and Green-Wood Cemetery host a number of them.  Here's a link to the calendar:  http://theoldstonehouse.org/event/battle-week-the-237thcommemoration-of-the-battle-of-brooklyn/

Round Tabler Lynne Saginaw offers this summary of the beginning of the Battle, below:

Rendering of the Battle of Long Island, Alonzo Chappell, 1858
Courtesy of www.wikipedia.com

Also known at the Battle of Long Island (both perfectly appropriate), this engagement pitted a large but inexperienced Colonial force against the best that Britain could sire or hire. The engagement was too long and too complicated to cover fully in this modest blog. Look into the sources listed below; you’ll find a remarkable story.

The most compelling aspect of that story is what happened after it became clear that the British had broken American lines, that the day was lost. What followed has been described by historian Joseph Ellis as “one of the most brilliant tactical withdrawals in the annals of military history.”

Back to the beginning:  On August 22, 1776, the British landed 15,000 troops in Gravesend, Brooklyn, following up with 5,000 Hessians three days later. The Colonials, having had a week’s warning from deserters, met them with a defensive alignment which would allow the Americans to fight from cover, avoiding the need to give battle on open ground, where superior British discipline and experience would be a significant advantage.

Astonishingly, a gap in the American lines was left undefended. Guided by loyalists, the British penetrated Jamaica Pass under cover of darkness on the night of August 26^th. At nine in the morning on the 27th, the inexperienced Colonials were astonished to find 10,000 British soldiers behind their lines. Panic ensued.

A brave stand by experienced Maryland and Delaware troops provided some cover for the retreat. By noon, when the British halted, hundreds on both sides lay dead, and the Continental forces were traumatized by the sight of British (mostly Hessian) forces roaming the battlefield, bayoneting the wounded without mercy.

For two days Washington tried to rally the troops remaining on Brooklyn Heights, but it became apparent that his only options were flight or surrender. Neither course squared with Washington’s vision on honorable conduct in time of war. On August 29^th, the solution was found when Gen. Thomas Mifflin suggested to Washington that honor would be well served with a careful, clever evacuation, under Washington’s personal direction.

It wasn’t going to be easy. Major Benjamin Tallmadge described it thus: “To move so large a body, across a river full a mile wide, with a rapid current, in face of a victorious well disciplined army nearly three times as numerous as his own and a fleet capable of stopping the navigation, so that not one boat could have passed over, seemed to present most formidable obstacles.”¹
Such obstacles could only be tackled by experts. Fortunately for the army and the course of our history, we had them.

Sources: Ellis, Joseph. Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence. Knopf, 2013.
¹Papers of George Washington, August 29, 1776 Council of War.

Next time: How it was done, and by whom

Around Town

Good morning, friends.  This week's post includes an item on Hamilton Grange, more on T-shirts (both from Lynne Saginaw), and links to August events in our area.  If you have news, please go to our Facebook page (American Revolution Round Table of New York) to add it and I will transfer it to the blog.  Or, post your comment below; all comments are moderated.

Here we go!  First up ...

The Peripatetic Adventures of Hamilton Grange

Photo by Jim Henderson
downloaded from wikipedia.com under Creative Commons CCO1.0

The following information is based on Myron Magnet's book, The Founders at Home: The Building of America, 1735-1817.  New York:  W.W. Norton & Company, 2014.

When Alexander Hamilton built his handsome country house, the Grange, he likely did not envision that the city of New York would grow up around  -- and eventually engulf -- it.  Herewith, how the Federal government freed it and redeemed the legacy of one of our greatest men.

By 1889, the handsome views and genteel placement of Hamilton Grange were already obscured. That year, a developer bought part of the thirty-five acre property to build row houses. Hamilton Grange was in the way. The developer offered the house, free of charge, to anyone who would move it. The original location, 143^rd Street and Convent Avenue, was two blocks from a local Episcopal Church. They moved it to 141^st Street to serve as the rectory.

To fit the site, the house had to be turned sideways. The verandas were removed, and the front door was moved to the side. The results were pitiful. The building grew more and more rundown. Pictures on the National Park Service website tell the tale.

In 2008, however, the National Park Service (NPS) found the funds and the energy to make good on its fifty-year-old ambition to restore Hamilton Grange to its’ proper place and beauty. The church, alas, was partially blocking the building, and refused to let the Park Service take down the apse (and later rebuild it) to get the house out.

Instead, the NPS had to jack up the house ten feet, which took several days, and slide it across a temporary steel bridge onto Convent Avenue. Then they jacked it most of the way down and put it on rollers, slowly moving the house around the corner. This took another two days.

The new site is on land that is part of the original Hamilton property and The Grange now looks out over a wooded hillside, as it did originally. The porticos and veranda are back, the front door is once again in the right place, and brilliant, sensitive restoration has given the American people a house to treasure, one that Hamilton would recognize.

  

The Hamilton Grange National Memorial is open Wednesday to Sunday year round, except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission to Hamilton Grange is free, but space is limited. (Only 15 people are allowed in the historic rooms at any given time.) It is handicapped accessible. No parking is permitted on West 141^st Street in front of the house; but there is ample public transportation in the area. Check the website for details:  http://www.nps.gov/hagr/ 

More great slogans for those late summer T-shirts:

“…the opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction.”   Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom. Written in 1777, proposed to the Virginia Legislature in 1779.

 “If you are afraid, you have the liberty to step back”  George Washington (1732-99), in response to an aide who was worried about the exposed position in which the general stood to watch the siege of Yorktown, October 14, 1781.)

Stay tuned:

Alonzo Chappel, 1858; courtesy wikipedia.com

In late August, the Battle of Long Island will be commemorated with a series of events in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  Complete schedule at:  http://theoldstonehouse.org/event/battle-week-the-237thcommemoration-of-the-battle-of-brooklyn/

New feature coming:  15 Objects of the American Revolution.
Next week, this blog will feature unusual objects that tell the story of the American Revolution.  Visit us again next Friday, August 8.