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COLONEL HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 a flDemoir 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIS FLETCHER JOHNSON 
 
 A.M., L.H.D. 
 I 
 
 WITH PORTRAITS, VIEWS, 
 FACSIMILES, ETC. 
 
 PRINTED BY HIS GRANDCHILDREN 
 
 LAVINIA ELIZABETH LUDINGTON AND 
 
 CHARLES HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 1907 
 
LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
 Two Copies Received 
 
 SEP ** 1907 
 
 fc Copyright Entry 
 
 classJA 'xxc. n6, 
 
 COPY A. 
 
 - 
 
 Copyright, 1907, by 
 
 Lavinia Elizabeth Ludington and 
 
 Charles Henry Ludington 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 PREFACE vii 
 
 I GENEALOGICAL 3 
 
 II BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 24 
 
 III THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION ... 47 
 
 IV THE REVOLUTION 77 
 
 V SECRET SERVICE 114 
 
 VI BETWEEN THE LINES 133 
 
 VII AFTER THE WAR 191 
 
 VIII SOME LATER GENERATIONS 215 
 
 INDEX 230 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Grist mill at Fredericksburgh, now Kent (Ludingtonville post- 
 office), built by Col. Henry Ludington about the time of the 
 Revolution Frontispiece 
 
 Old gun used by Henry Ludington in the French and Indian War 29 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 Henry Ludington's commission, from Governor Tryon, as captain 
 in Col. Beverly Robinson's regiment 30 
 
 Old Phillipse Manor House at Carmel, N. Y., in 1846 36 
 
 View of Carmel, N. Y 38 
 
 Map of Quaker Hill and vicinity, 1778-80, showing location of 
 Colonel Ludington's place at Fredericksburgh 50 
 
 Letter from Committee on Conspiracies to Colonel Ludington . . 56 
 
 Order of arrest from Committee on Conspiracies to Colonel Lud- 
 ington 58 
 
 Maps of Phillipse patent, showing original divisions and territory 
 covered by Colonel Ludington's regiment 60 
 
 Henry Ludington's commission as colonel from Provincial Con- 
 gress, 1776 70 
 
 Henry Ludington's commission as colonel from State of New 
 York, 1778 72 
 
 Letter from Abraham B. Bancker to Colonel Ludington about 
 militia 74 
 
 View of highroad and plains from site of Colonel Ludington's 
 house 90 
 
 Facsimile of Colonel Ludington's signature 102 
 
 Letter from Col. Nathaniel Sackett to Colonel Ludington on secret 
 service 114 
 
 v 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 Home of the late George Ludington on site of Colonel Luding- 
 ton's house 132 
 
 Home of the late Frederick Ludington, son of Colonel Ludington, 
 at Kent 134 
 
 Mahogany table used by Colonel Ludington, at which, according to 
 family tradition, Washington and Rochambeau dined .... 165 
 
 Letter from Governor Clinton to Colonel Ludington about militia 170 
 
 Pay certificate of a member of Colonel Ludington's regiment . . 188 
 
 Colonel Ludington's tombstone at Patterson, formerly part of 
 Fredericksburgh, N. Y 208 
 
 Portrait of Frederick Ludington, son of Colonel Ludington . . 216 
 
 Portrait of Gov. Harrison Ludington, grandson of Col. Ludington 218 
 
 Old store at Kent, built by Frederick and Lewis Ludington about 
 1808 220 
 
 Home of the late Lewis Ludington, son of Colonel Ludington, at 
 Carmel 222 
 
 Portrait of Lewis Ludington, son of Colonel Ludington .... 224 
 
 Portrait of Charles Henry Ludington, grandson of Colonel Lud- 
 ington 226 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The part performed by the militia and militia offi- 
 cers in the War of the Revolution does not seem al- 
 ways to have received the historical recognition which 
 it deserves. It was really of great importance, espe- 
 cially in southern New England and the Middle 
 States, at times actually rivaling and often indis- 
 pensably supplementing that of the regular Conti- 
 nental Army. It will not be invidious to say that of 
 all the militia none was of more importance or ren- 
 dered more valuable services than those regiments 
 which occupied the disputed border country between 
 the American and British lines, and which guarded 
 the bases of supplies and the routes of communica- 
 tion. There was probably no region in which border- 
 land friction was more severe and intrigues more 
 sinister than that which lay between the British in 
 New York City and the Americans at the High- 
 lands of the Hudson, nor was there a highway of 
 travel and communication more important than that 
 which led from Hartford in Connecticut to Fishkill 
 and West Point in New York. 
 
 It is the purpose of the present volume to present 
 the salient features of the public career of a militia 
 colonel who was perhaps most of all concerned in 
 holding that troublous territory for the American 
 
PREFACE 
 
 cause, in guarding that route of travel and supply, 
 and in serving the government of the State of New 
 York, to whose seat his territorial command was so 
 immediately adjacent. It is intended to be merely a 
 memoir of Henry Ludington, together with such a 
 historical setting as may seem desirable for a just 
 understanding of the circumstances of his life and its 
 varied activities. It makes no pretense of giving a 
 complete genealogy of the Ludington family in 
 America, either before or after his time, but con- 
 fines itself to his own direct descent and a few of his 
 immediate descendants. The facts of his life, never 
 before compiled, have been gleaned from many 
 sources, including Colonial, Revolutionary and 
 State records, newspaper files, histories and diaries, 
 correspondence, various miscellaneous manuscript 
 collections, and some oral traditions of whose authen- 
 ticity there is substantial evidence. The most copious 
 and important data have been secured from the 
 manuscript collections of two of Henry Ludington's 
 descendants, Mr. Lewis S. Patrick, of Marinette, 
 Wisconsin, who has devoted much time and pains- 
 taking labor to the work of searching for and secur- 
 ing authentic information of his distinguished an- 
 cestor, and Mr. Charles Henry Ludington, of New 
 York, who has received many valuable papers and 
 original documents and records from a descendant 
 of Sibyl Ludington Ogden, Henry Ludington's 
 first-born child. It is much regretted that among 
 all these data, no portrait of Henry Ludington 
 
PREFACE 
 
 is in existence, and that therefore none can 
 be given in this book. In addition, the old 
 records of Charlestown and Maiden, Massachu- 
 setts, and of Branford, East Haven and New 
 Haven, Connecticut, the collections of the Connec- 
 ticut Historical Society, the early annals of New 
 York, especially in the French and Indian and the 
 Revolutionary wars, and the publications of the New 
 England Genealogical Society, have also been util- 
 ized, together with the Papers of Governor George 
 Clinton, Lossing's "Field Book of the Revolution," 
 Blake's and Pelletreau's histories of Putnam County, 
 Smith's "History of Dutchess County," Bolton's 
 "History of Westchester County," and other works, 
 credit to which is given in the text of this volume. It 
 is hoped that this brief and simple setting forth of 
 the public services of Henry Ludington during the 
 formative period of our country's history will prove 
 of sufficient interest to the members of his family and 
 to others to justify the printing of this memoir. 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 H flDemoir 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 GENEALOGICAL 
 
 THIS family of the Ludingtons," says Gray in 
 his genealogical work on the nobility and 
 gentry of England, "were of a great estate, of whom 
 there was one took a large travail to the seeing of 
 many countries where Our Saviour wrought His 
 miracles, as is declared by his monument in the Col- 
 lege of Worcester, where he is interred." The im- 
 mediate reference of the quaint old chronicler was to 
 the Ludingtons of Shrawley and Worcester, and the 
 one member of that family whom he singled out for 
 special mention was Robert Ludington, gentleman, 
 a merchant in the Levantine trade. In the pursuit of 
 business, and also probably for curiosity and pleas- 
 ure, he traveled extensively in Italy, Greece, Turkey, 
 Egypt and Syria, at a time when such journeyings 
 were more arduous and even perilous than those of 
 to-day in equatorial or polar wildernesses. In accord 
 with the pious custom of the age he also made a pil- 
 grimage to Palestine, and visited the chief places 
 made memorable in Holy Writ. He died at Worces- 
 ter at the age of 76 years, in 1625, a few years before 
 the first colonists of his name appeared in North 
 America. The exact degree of relationship between 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 him and them is not now ascertainable, but it is sup- 
 posable that it was close, while there is no reason 
 whatever for doubting that the American Luding- 
 tons were members of that same family "of a great 
 estate," whether or not they came from the particular 
 branch of it which was identified with Shrawley and 
 Worcester. 
 
 For the Ludington family in England antedated 
 Robert Ludington of Worcester by many genera- 
 tions, and was established elsewhere in the Midlands 
 than in Worcestershire. Its chief seat seems to have 
 been in the Eastern Midlands, though its name has 
 long been implanted on all the shires from Lincoln 
 to Worcester, including Rutland, Leicester, Hunt- 
 ingdon, Northampton, and Warwick. There is a 
 credible tradition that in the Third Crusade a Lud- 
 ington was among the followers of Richard Coeur de 
 Lion, and that afterward, when that adventurous 
 monarch was a prisoner in Austria, he sought to visit 
 him in the guise of a holy palmer, in order to devise 
 with him some plan for his escape. Because of these 
 loyal exploits, we are told, he was invested with a 
 patent of nobility, and with the coat of arms there- 
 after borne by the Ludington family, to wit ( accord- 
 ing to Burke's Heraldry) : Pale of six argent and 
 azure on a chief, gules a lion passant and gardant. 
 Crest, a palmer's staff, erect. Motto, Probum non 
 penitet. 
 
 Authentic mention of other Ludingtons, honor- 
 able and often distinguished, may be found from 
 
 [4] 
 
GENEALOGICAL 
 
 time to time in English history, especially in the an- 
 nals of Tudor and Stuart reigns. In the reign of 
 Henry VIII a Sir John Ludington was a man of 
 mark in the north of England, and his daughter, 
 Elizabeth Ludington, married first an alderman of 
 the City of London, and second, after his death, Sir 
 John Chamberlain. In the sixteenth century, the 
 Rev. Thomas Ludington, M.A., was a Fellow of 
 Christ Church College, Oxford, where his will, dated 
 May 28, 1593, is still preserved. In the next century 
 another clergyman, the Rev. Stephen Ludington, 
 D.D., was married about 1610 to Anne, daughter of 
 Richard Streetfield, at Chiddington, Kent. After- 
 ward he was made prebendary of Langford, Lin- 
 coln, on November 15, 1641, and in June, 1674, re- 
 signed that place to his son, the Rev. Stephen Lud- 
 ington, M.A. He was also rector of Carlton Scrope, 
 and archdeacon of Stow, filling the last-named place 
 at the time of his death in 1677. His grave is to be 
 seen in Lincoln Cathedral. His son, mentioned 
 above, was married to Ann Dillingham in Westmin- 
 ster Abbey in 1675. 
 
 It will be hereafter observed in this narrative that 
 the family name of Ludington has been variously 
 spelled in this country, as Ludington, Luddington, 
 Ludinton, Ludenton, etc. Some of these variations 
 have appeared also in England, together with the 
 form Lydington, which has not been used here. 
 These same forms have also been applied to the sev- 
 eral towns and parishes which bear or have borne the 
 
 C5] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 family name, and especially that one parish which is 
 so ancient and which was formerly so closely identi- 
 fied with the Ludingtons that question has risen 
 whether the parish was named for the family or the 
 family derived its name from the parish. This place, 
 at one time called Lydington, was first mentioned in 
 the Domesday Book of William the Conqueror, 
 where it was called Ludington — whence we may 
 properly regard that as the original and correct form 
 of the name. It was then a part of the Bishopric of 
 Lincoln and of the county of Northampton; Rut- 
 landshire, in which the place now is, not having been 
 set off from Northampton until the time of King 
 John. The Bishop of Lincoln had a residential 
 palace there, which was afterward transformed into 
 a charity hospital, and as such is still in existence. In 
 the chapel of the hospital is an ancient folio Bible 
 bearing the inscription "Ludington Hospital Bible," 
 and containing in manuscript a special prayer for 
 the hospital, which is regularly read as a part of the 
 service. The name of Loddington is borne by par- 
 ishes in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, that 
 of Luddington by parishes in Lincolnshire and War- 
 wickshire (the latter near Stratford-on-Avon and in- 
 timately associated with Shakespeare), and that of 
 Luddington-in-the-Brook by one which is partly in 
 Northamptonshire and partly in Huntingdonshire; 
 all testifying to the early extent of the Ludington 
 family throughout the Midland counties of England. 
 The earliest record of a Ludington in America oc- 
 
 161 
 
GENEALOGICAL 
 
 curs in 1635. On April 6 of that year the ship Hope- 
 well, which had already made several voyages to these 
 shores, sailed from London for Massachusetts Bay, 
 under the command of William Bundock. Her com- 
 pany of eleven passengers was notable for the youth- 
 fulness of all its members, the youngest being twelve 
 and the oldest only twenty-two years of age. Seven 
 of them were young men, or boys, and four were 
 girls. One of the latter, whose age was given as 
 eighteen years, was registered on the ship's list as 
 "Christiom" Ludington, but other records, in Lon- 
 don, show that the name, although very distinctly 
 written in that form, should have been "Christian." 
 Concerning her origin and her subsequent fate, all 
 records are silent. In John Farmer's "List of An- 
 cient Names in Boston and Vicinity, 1630-1644," 
 however, appears the name of "Ch. Luddington"; 
 presumably that of this same young woman. Again, 
 in the Old Granary burying ground in Boston, on 
 Tomb No. 108, there appear the names of Joseph 
 Tilden and C. Ludington; and a plausible conjec- 
 ture is that Christian Ludington became the wife of 
 Joseph Tilden and that thus they were both buried in 
 the same grave. But this is conjecture and nothing 
 more. So far as ascertained facts are concerned, 
 Christian Ludington makes both her first and her 
 last recorded appearance in that passenger list of the 
 Hopewell. 
 
 The next appearance of the name in American 
 annals, however, — passing by the mere undated men- 
 
 m 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 tion of one Christopher Ludington in connection 
 with the Virginia colony, — places us upon assured 
 ground and marks the foundation of the family in 
 America. William Ludington was born in England 
 — place not known — in 1608, and his wife Ellen — 
 her family name not known — was also born there in 
 1617- They were married in 1636, and a few years 
 later came to America and settled in the Massachu- 
 setts Bay colony, in that part of Charlestown which 
 was afterward set off into the separate town of Mai- 
 den. The date of their migration hither is not prec- 
 isely known. Savage's "Genealogical Register" 
 mentions William Ludington as living in Charles- 
 town in 1642; which is quite correct, though, as Mr. 
 Patrick aptly points out, the date is by no means con- 
 clusive as to the time of his first settlement in that 
 place. Indeed, it is certain that he had settled in 
 Charlestown some time before, for in the early re- 
 cords of the colony, under date of May 13, 1640, ap- 
 pears the repeal of a former order forbidding the 
 erection of houses at a distance of more than half a 
 mile from the meeting house, and with the repeal is 
 an order remitting to William Ludington the penalty 
 for having disobeyed the original decree. That 
 restriction of building was, of course, a prudent and 
 probably a necessary one, in the early days of the 
 colony, for keeping the town compact and thus af- 
 fording to all its inhabitants greater security against 
 Indian attacks. It seems to have been disregarded, 
 however, by the actual building of some houses out- 
 
GENEALOGICAL 
 
 side of the prescribed line, and in such violation a 
 heavy penalty was incurred. By 1640 the law be- 
 came obsolete. Boston had then been founded ten 
 years. The colonies of New Hampshire, Rhode 
 Island, and Connecticut had been settled and organ- 
 ized. And three years before the Pequods had been 
 vanquished. It was therefore fitting to rescind the 
 order, and to let the borders of Charlestown be en- 
 larged. We may assume that it was with a realiza- 
 tion that this would speedily be done that William 
 Ludington, either at the very beginning of 1640 
 or previous to that year, built his house on the for- 
 bidden ground, and thus incurred the penalty, which, 
 however, was not imposed upon him; and we may 
 further assume that it was this act of his which finally 
 called official attention to the obsolete character of 
 the law and thus brought about its repeal. In the 
 light thus thrown upon him, William Ludington ap- 
 pears as probably a man of considerable standing in 
 the community, and of high general esteem, else his 
 disregard of the law would scarcely have been thus 
 condoned. 
 
 Reckoning, then, that William Ludington was 
 settled in his house in the outskirts of Charlestown — 
 on the north side of the Mystic River, in what was 
 later called Maiden — before May 13, 1640, the date 
 of his arrival in America must probably be placed as 
 early as 1639, if not even earlier. He remained at 
 Charlestown for a little more than twenty years, and 
 was a considerable landowner and an important 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 member of the community. Many references to him 
 appear in the old colonial records, with some appar- 
 ent conflicts of date, which are doubtless due to the 
 transition stage through which the calendar was then 
 passing. Most of the civilized world adopted the 
 present Gregorian calendar in the sixteenth century, 
 but it was not until 1751 that Great Britain and the 
 British colonies did so. Consequently during most of 
 our colonial history, including the times of William 
 Ludington, the year began on March 25 instead of 
 January 1, and all dates in the three months of Jan- 
 uary, February and March (down to the 24th) were 
 credited to a different year from that to which we 
 should now credit them. In many cases historians 
 have endeavored to indicate such dates with accuracy 
 by giving the numbers of both years, thus: March 1, 
 1660-61. But in many cases this has not been done 
 and only a single year number is given, thus causing 
 much uncertainty and doubt as to which year is 
 meant. There were also other disturbances of chro- 
 nology, and other differences in the statement of 
 dates, involving other months of the year ; especially 
 that of two months' difference at what is now the end 
 of the year. Thus the birth of William Ludington's 
 daughter Mary is variously stated to have occurred 
 on December 6, 1642, December 6, 1642-43, Feb- 
 ruary 6, 1643, and February 6, 1642-43. Also the 
 birth and death of his son Matthew are credited, 
 respectively, to October 16, 1657, and November 12, 
 1657, and to December 16, 1657, and January 12, 
 
 Ciol 
 
GENEALOGICAL 
 
 1658. There is record of the purchase, on October 
 10, 1649, of a tract of twenty acres of land at Mai- 
 den, by William Ludington, described in the deed as 
 a weaver, from Ralph Hall, a pipe-stave maker, and 
 also of the sale of five acres by William Ludington to 
 Joseph Carter, a currier. The deed given by Ralph 
 Hall is entitled "A Sale of Land by Ralph Hall 
 unto William Luddington, both of Charlestowne, 
 the 10th day of the 10th moneth, 1649," and runs as 
 follows : 
 
 Know all men by these presents, That I, Ralph 
 Hall, of Charletowne in New England, Pipe 
 stave maker, for a certaine valluable considera- 
 tion by mee in hand Received, by which I doe 
 acknowledge myselfe to be fully satisfied, and 
 payed, and contented; Have bargained, sould, 
 given, and granted, and doe by these presents 
 Bargaine, sell, give, and grant unto william Lud- 
 dington of Charletowne aforesayd, Weaver, 
 Twenty Achors of Land, more or less, scituate, 
 Lying, and Beeing in Maulden, That is to say, 
 fifteen Acres of Land, more or less which I, the 
 sayd Ralph formerly purchased at the hand of 
 Thomas Peirce, of Charltowne, senior, Bounded 
 on the Northwest by the land of Mr. Palgrave, 
 Phisition, on the Northeast by the Lands of John 
 Sybly, on the South Easte by the Lands of 
 James Hubbert, and on the South west by the 
 Land of widdow Coale, And the other five Acres 
 herein mencioned sould to the sayd William, Are 
 five Acres, more, or less, bounded on the south- 
 east by the Land of Widdow Coale aforesaid, on 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 the southwest by Thomas Grover and Thomas 
 Osborne, Northeast by the Ground of Thomas 
 Molton, and Northwest by the forsayde flfeteen 
 Acres: which five acres I formerly purchased of 
 Mr. John Hodges, of Charltowne. To Have 
 and to hould the sayd fifeteen acres, and five 
 Acres of Lands, with all the Appurtenances 
 and priviledges thereoff To Him, the sayd Wil- 
 liam Luddington his heigres and Assignees for 
 ever: And by mee, the sayd Ralph Hall, and 
 Mary my wife, to bee bargained sould, given, 
 and confirmed unto him, the sayd william, and his 
 heigres and assignes for him, and them peasable 
 and quietly to possess, inioy, and improve to his 
 and their owne proper use and usses for ever, and 
 the same by us by vertue hereoff to bee war- 
 rantedtised (sic) mayntained, and defended 
 from any other person or persons hereafter Lay- 
 ing clayme to the same by any former contract or 
 agreement concerning the same: In witness 
 whereof, I, the sayd Ralph Hall with Mary my 
 wife, for our selves, our heires, executors and Ad- 
 ministrators, have hereunto sett our hands and 
 seales. 
 
 Dated this Tenth day of December 1649. 
 
 This is testified before the worshipfull Mr. 
 Richard Bellingham. 
 
 On November 30, 1651, William Ludington was 
 mentioned in the will of Henry Sandyes, of Charles- 
 town, as one of the creditors of his estate, and in 1660 
 he was enrolled as a juror in Maiden. Early in the 
 latter year, however, he removed from Maiden or 
 Charlestown to the New Haven, Connecticut, col- 
 
 [12] 
 
GENEALOGICAL 
 
 ony, and there settled at East Haven, adjoining 
 Branford, on the east side of the Quinnipiac River. 
 Five years before there had been established at that 
 place the first iron works in Connecticut. The raw 
 material used was the rich bog ore which was then 
 found in large quantities in the swamps of North 
 Haven and elsewhere, precisely like that which at a 
 still later date was abundantly found and worked in 
 the swamps of southern New Jersey, where the name 
 of "Furnace" is still borne by more than one village 
 on the site of a long-abandoned foundry. This in- 
 dustry flourished at East Haven until about 1680, 
 when the supply of bog ore was exhausted and the 
 works were closed. Although William Ludington 
 had been a weaver at Maiden, he appears to have 
 been interested in these iron works, and indeed prob- 
 ably removed to East Haven for the sake of connect- 
 ing and identifying himself with them. But his 
 career there was short. On March 27, 1660, evidently 
 soon after his arrival there, he was complainant in a 
 slander suit, and in either the same year or the next 
 year he died, at the East Haven iron works. The 
 manner of his death, whether from sickness or from 
 accident, is unknown. But it evidently produced 
 some impression in the community, since it is the only 
 death specially recorded in the early annals of the 
 place. 
 
 The precise date of his death, even the year in 
 which it occurred, is a matter of uncertainty. Mr. 
 Patrick quotes a passage from the East Haven rec- 
 
 C1S3 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 ords which says: "In 1662 John Porter obtained a 
 piece of land to set his blacksmith shop upon . . . 
 and about the same time William Ludington died." 
 Therefore he concludes that William Ludington 
 died in 1662. But was it 1662 according to the chro- 
 nology of those times or according to that of our 
 time? Wyman's records of Charlestown and Mai- 
 den, which mention William Ludington's departure 
 thence for East Haven, relate that on October 1, 
 1661, John White made petition for the appointment 
 of an administrator of William Ludington's estate 
 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and Pope's 
 "Pioneers of Massachusetts" confirms that record, 
 giving the name of the petitioner as Wayte or Waite, 
 and adding that the inventory of the estate was filed 
 by James Barrat, or Barret, on April 1, 1662. Mr. 
 Patrick has the name Bariat and the date February 
 1, 1662. Here we have, then, the same discrepancy 
 of exactly two months in statement of date which was 
 noticed in the case of Matthew Ludington's birth 
 and death. Of course, if the petition for administra- 
 tion of William Ludington's estate was made on 
 October 1, 1661, his death must have occurred before 
 that date, instead of in 1662 as the East Haven re- 
 cords suggest. The explanation of the apparent 
 conflict of dates is doubtless to be found in the 
 changes of calendar to which reference has been 
 made, one historian giving the date according to the 
 chronology then prevailing and another according to 
 that of the present day. Concerning the date of the 
 
 C143 
 
GENEALOGICAL 
 
 probating of his estate at East Haven, however, there 
 is apparently no doubt, since in the records of it the 
 dual year-dates are given. That estate was inven- 
 toried and appraised by John Cooper and Matthew 
 Moulthrop, and their inventory, according to Hoad- 
 ly's "New Haven Colonial Records," was filed in 
 court at New Haven on March 3, 1662, according to 
 the chronology of that time, or 1663 according to 
 ours. This interesting document was entitled "An 
 Inventory of ye Estate of William Ludington, late 
 of New Haven, deceased, amounting to £183 and 
 10s., upon Oath attested yt ye Aprizents was just 
 to the best of their light, by John Cooper, Sen., 
 and Matthew Moulthrop in Court at New Haven, 
 1662—63." It ran in detail as follows : 
 
 lbs sh d. 
 
 Inv'ty sP bd's, boulsters pillows, 
 coverlits, rugs, cur- 
 tains — value 
 
 $ sheets, pillow covers, table 
 clothes and a blanket . 
 
 W five yards % of krosin . . 
 
 W four yards of red kersey . 
 
 ^P six yards of kersey . . . 
 
 $ five yards of serze at 7s . 
 
 W eight yards blew kersey at 
 7s 
 
 $ twelve yards of serge at 6s 
 
 $ l 3 /4th of wosted yarns . . 
 
 $ l^th of woolen yarns . . 
 
 C15H 
 
 20 
 
 05 
 02 
 01 
 02 
 01 
 
 02 
 00 
 00 
 00 
 
 38 
 
 07 
 
 16 
 00 
 00 
 14 
 15 
 
 16 
 18 
 12 
 05 
 
 02 
 
 00 
 00 
 00 
 00 
 00 
 
 00 
 00 
 00 
 00 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 lbs sh d. 
 
 Brought Forward, 38 
 
 Inv'ty $ 4 guns, 2 swords and a 
 
 piece of a sword . . 05 16 00 
 
 $ 3 chests and three boxes . 02 00 00 
 
 $ pewter, chamber pots, 
 spoons and 2 sauce 
 pans 
 
 $ 2 dripping pans, 1 cup, 4 
 cream pots, some 
 eartyn ware . . . . 00 08 02 
 
 $ 3 bottles and a tu mill . . 00 02 06 
 
 sP warming pan, 2 iron pots, 
 kettle, brass pot 2 skil- 
 lets, frying pan . . j 03 15 00 
 
 $ iron dogs, tramell, share 
 and coulter and a iron 
 square 01 
 
 $ tooles, wedges, sithes & a 
 payre of still yards & 
 a 71b waight . . . 
 
 $ a smoothing iron, a parcell 
 of wayles, a hogshead 
 & 2 chests .... 
 
 $ sheeps wooll and cotton 
 
 wooli 
 
 $ Indyan corne, 7lb 10s; 10 
 
 bush turnips, 18s . . 08 
 
 $ 2 loomes and furniture, 3 
 
 chayres 05 
 
 ^ wooden ware, a table & 
 forme, a sieve, some 
 trenches & bagges . . 01 09 04 
 
 » 
 
 men 
 
GENEALOGICAL 
 
 lbs sh d 
 
 78 
 60 
 
 16 
 30 
 
 185 
 00 
 02 
 
 183 
 
 9 
 00 
 
 06 
 
 07 
 
 02 
 15 
 07 
 10 
 
 1 
 00 
 
 08 
 
 00 
 
 09 
 00 
 09 
 00 
 
 Brought Forward, 
 
 Inv'ty P house and land 60lbs . . 
 
 $ 3 cowes & two calves, 2 
 sowes & 3 shoates . 
 
 sP 6 loads of hay, 50s, and 
 some other thinges in 
 all 
 
 The Estate Cr 
 
 The Estate Dr 
 
 Which being deducted there remains 
 
 The marke, i. e. of ) 
 
 John Cooper, > Apprisers. 
 
 Mathew Moulthrop, ) 
 
 Again, in the "Records of the Proprietors of New 
 Haven" we find that "At a Court held at New 
 Haven March 3, 1662-3 ... an inventory of the 
 Estate of Willm. Luddington deceased whas pre- 
 sented . . . The widdow upon oath attested to the 
 fulness of it to the best of her knowledge. . . . The 
 widdow being asked if her husband made noe will 
 answered that she knew of none for she was not at 
 home when he died . . . The matter respecting the 
 childrens portions was deferred till next court & the 
 . . . widdow with him that shee was to marry & all 
 her children above fourteen years of age was ordered 
 then to appear ..." At this date, therefore, Wil- 
 liam Ludington's widow was engaged to be married 
 again, and that engagement was publicly announced. 
 
 ClT] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Moreover, she was actually married to her second 
 husband, John Rose, a few weeks later, for on May 5 
 following, in 1662-63, according to the "Proprietors' 
 Records," the court was again in session, and "John 
 Rose who married widdow Ludington was called to 
 know what security he would give for the childrens 
 portions that was not yet of age to receive them." It 
 is true that in those days the period of mourning be- 
 fore remarriage was sometimes abbreviated, but it is 
 scarcely conceivable that this widow's marriage took 
 place within a few months of her husband's death, or 
 sooner than a year thereafter. It may therefore be 
 assumed that William Ludington's death, at the 
 East Haven iron works, occurred at least as early as 
 March or April, 1661-62. 
 
 There is reason to believe that William Ludington 
 was not only a man of note in the East Haven com- 
 munity but that also he was a man of considerable 
 property — more than would be suggested by the item 
 of "house and land 60 lbs." in the inventory. For 
 the New Haven Land Records show that in 1723 his 
 son, William Ludington, 2nd, sold to Thomas Robin- 
 son "part of that tract of land set out to my father, 
 William Luddington, which tract contains 100 
 acres." This property was in East Haven, just 
 across the river from Branford. 
 
 The children of William and Ellen Ludington 
 were seven in number. The first was Thomas, who 
 was born (probably in England) in 1637. He re- 
 moved to Newark, New Jersey, in 1666, and became 
 
 [18] 
 
GENEALOGICAL 
 
 a farmer— since when in 1689 he sold some land with 
 a house and barn at New Haven he described himself 
 in the deed as a husbandman. He was an assessor 
 and a surveyor of highways at Newark, and left chil- 
 dren whose descendants are now to be found in the 
 northern part of New Jersey. His oldest child, 
 John, remained at New Haven, married, and had 
 issue, his first-born, James, being a soldier in the 
 French and Indian war and being killed in battle on 
 September 8, 1756. The second child of William and 
 Ellen Ludington was John Ludington, who was 
 born (probably at Charlestown, Massachusetts) in 
 1640. He was living at East Haven in 1664, and 
 afterward, Mr. Patrick thinks, removed to Vermont. 
 The third child was Mary, of whose birth various 
 dates are given, as already noted. The fourth was 
 Henry Ludington, the date of whose birth is not 
 known, but who was killed in the war with King 
 Philip, at the end of 1675 or beginning of 1676, as 
 appears in the "New Haven Probate Records," 
 where is found an inventory of the estate of "Henry 
 Luddington late of N. haven slayne in the warre 
 taken & apprised by Mathew Moulthrop & John 
 Potter Janry. 3, 1676." The fifth child was Han- 
 nah, the dates of whose birth and death are unknown. 
 The sixth child was William Ludington, 2nd, who 
 was born about 1655 and died in February, 1737. 
 His first wife was Martha Rose, daughter of his step- 
 father, John Rose, and his second was Mercy White- 
 head. According to Dodd's "East Haven Register" 
 
 C19] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 he was a man of means, of intelligence, of ability, and 
 of important standing in the community. He had 
 two sons and one daughter by his first wife, and two 
 sons and six daughters by his second. His first-born, 
 the son of Martha Rose, was Henry Ludington, who 
 was born in 1679, was a carpenter, married Sarah, 
 daughter of William Collins, on August 20, 1700, 
 had eight sons and four daughters, and died in the 
 summer of 1727 — of whom, or of his descendants, we 
 shall presently hear much more. Finally, the sev- 
 enth child of William and Ellen Ludington was 
 Matthew, who as already related was born at Maiden 
 and died in infancy. Despite the removal of Thomas 
 Ludington to Newark, and that of John Ludington 
 (probably) to Vermont, they appear to have re- 
 tained much interest in the New Haven colony, since 
 in the "Colony Record of Deeds" of Connecticut we 
 find Thomas, John, and William Ludington enum- 
 erated among the proprietors of New Haven in 
 1685, who were, presumably, the above mentioned 
 first, second, and sixth children of William and 
 Ellen Ludington. 
 
 Recurring for a moment to the family of William 
 Ludington, 2nd, and passing by for the time his 
 first-born, Henry Ludington, it is to be observed 
 that his second child, Eleanor, married Nathaniel 
 Bailey, of Guilford, Connecticut, and had issue; his 
 third, William Ludington, 3rd, married Anna 
 Hodge, lived at Waterbury and Plymouth, Connec- 
 ticut, and had issue, his sixth son, Samuel, serving in 
 
 C20H 
 
GENEALOGICAL 
 
 the French and Indian war, and his grandson, Tim- 
 othy, son of William 3rd's first-born, Matthew, alsa 
 serving in that war and being killed in battle at East 
 Haven in the War of the Revolution; the fourth, 
 Mercy, married Ebenezer Deanes or Dains, of Nor- 
 wich, Connecticut, and had issue; the fifth, Mary, 
 married John Dawson, of East Haven, and had 
 issue; the sixth, Hannah, married Isaac Penfield, of 
 New Haven, and had issue ; the seventh, John, mar- 
 ried Elizabeth Potter, and had issue, his son Jude 
 serving in the French and Indian war; the eighth, 
 Eliphalet, married Abigail Collins, and had issue, his 
 third son, Amos, serving in the French and Indian 
 war; the ninth, Elizabeth, died in childhood; the 
 tenth, Dorothy, married Benjamin Mallory and had 
 issue ; and the eleventh, Dorcas, married James Way 
 and had issue. 
 
 Returning now to Henry Ludington, eldest son of 
 William Ludington, 2nd, who was the sixth child of 
 the original William Ludington, it is to be observed 
 that his first child, Daniel, married first Hannah 
 Payne, and second Susannah Clark, and had issue, 
 his second child, Ezra, serving in the French and In- 
 dian war, and his ninth, Collins, in the War of the 
 Revolution; his second, William Ludington, mar- 
 ried first Mary Knowles, of Branford, and second 
 Mary Wilkinson, of Branford, and had issue — of 
 whom we shall hereafter hear much more ; his third, 
 Sarah, died in childhood ; his fourth, Dinah, married 
 Isaac Thorpe; his fifth, Lydia, married Moses 
 
 [si : 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Thorpe; his sixth, Nathaniel, married first Mary 
 Chidsey, and second Eunice (Russell) Smith, and 
 had issue; his seventh, Moses, married Eunice Chid- 
 sey ; his eighth, Aaron, died at sea ; his ninth, Elisha, 
 died in infancy; his tenth, also named Elisha, settled 
 in Phillipse Precinct, Dutchess County, New York, 
 married, and had a daughter, Abigail, of whom more 
 hereafter; his eleventh, Sarah, probably died unmar- 
 ried, though Dodd's "East Haven Register" says 
 she married Daniel Mead ; and his twelfth, Thomas, 
 was drowned, unmarried. 
 
 Turning back, once more, to the William Luding- 
 ton last mentioned, who was the second son of Henry 
 Ludington, we find that he was born at Branford, 
 Connecticut, on September 6, 1702. He married 
 Mary Knowles, of Branford, on November 5, 1730. 
 She died on April 16, 1759, and on April 17, 1760,— 
 just a day after the year of mourning had elapsed! — 
 he married for his second wife Mary Wilkinson, also 
 of Branford. His eight children, all of his first wife, 
 were as follows : First, Submit, who married Stephen 
 Johnson, of Branford; second, Mary; third, Henry, 
 of whom we shall hear more, since he forms the chief 
 subject of this book; fourth, Lydia, who married 
 William (or, according to Dodd, Aaron) Buckley, of 
 Branford; fifth, Samuel; sixth, Rebecca; seventh, 
 Anne; and eighth, Stephen. On the night of Mon- 
 day, May 20, 1754, part of William Ludington's 
 house at Branford was destroyed by fire, and his 
 sixth and seventh children, Rebecca and Anne, aged 
 
GENEALOGICAL 
 
 seven and four years, respectively, perished in the 
 flames. 
 
 Attention is thus finally centered upon the second 
 Henry Ludington, who was the third child of Wil- 
 liam Ludington, who was the second child of the first 
 Henry Ludington, who was the first child of the sec- 
 ond William Ludington, who was the sixth child of 
 the first William Ludington, who was the founder of 
 the Ludington family in America. The sources of 
 information concerning him and his career, which 
 have been mentioned in the preface to this volume, 
 are varied and numerous rather than copious or com- 
 prehensive ; but they are sufficient to indicate that he 
 was a man of more than ordinary force of character 
 and of more than average importance and influence 
 in his time and place, and that he is entitled to re- 
 membrance and to enrolment among those who con- 
 tributed materially, and with no little sacrifice of self, 
 to the making of the State of New York and of the 
 United States of America. 
 
 Wl 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 HENRY LUDINGTON, the third child of 
 William and Mary (Knowles) Ludington, 
 was born at Branford, Connecticut, on May 25, 
 1739. Some records give the date as 1738, but the 
 weight of authority indicates the later year. Bran- 
 ford, originally called Totoket, was a part of the 
 second purchase at New Haven in 1638, but was not 
 successfully settled until two years later, when a dis- 
 satisfied company from Wethersfield, headed by 
 William Swayne, secured a grant of it. Together 
 with Milford, Guilford, Stamford, Southold (Long 
 Island), and New Haven, it made up the separate 
 jurisdiction of New Haven, under an ecclesiastical 
 government, until 1665, when all were merged into 
 the greater Colony of Connecticut, Branford being 
 erected into an organized town with representation 
 in the General Court, in 1651. The place won last- 
 ing distinction in 1700, when it was the scene of the 
 practical founding of Yale College; ten ministers, 
 who had been named as trustees of "The School of 
 the Church," each laying upon the table in their 
 meeting-room a number of books, with the words, "I 
 give these books for the founding of a college in this 
 
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 colony." The next year the college was chartered 
 and was formally opened at Saybrook, and in 1716- 
 17 it was permanently removed to New Haven. At 
 the time of Henry Ludington's birth, therefore, New 
 Haven had become fully established as the metropolis 
 of that part of the colony, and Branford, which had 
 at first been its peer and rival, had become reconciled 
 to the status of a suburban town. The educational 
 facilities of Branford were similar to those of other 
 colonial towns; to wit, primitive in character and 
 chiefly under church control. To what extent young 
 Ludington availed himself of them does not appear, 
 but so far as may be judged from his letters and 
 other papers in after years he was an indifferent 
 scholar, probably thinking more of action than of 
 study. 
 
 Such as his schooling was, however, it was ended 
 at an early date and the school-boy became a man of 
 action when only half-way through his teens. The 
 epoch-making struggle commonly known as the 
 French and Indian War, which was really a part of 
 the Seven Years' War in Europe, and which secured 
 for the English absolute dominance in North Amer- 
 ica and transformed the maps of two continents, be- 
 gan when he was fifteen years old, and made a strong 
 appeal to his adventurous and daring disposition; 
 and at an early date, probably in 1755, though the 
 meager records now in existence are not conclusive 
 on that point, he enlisted in those Colonial levies 
 which formed so invaluable an adjunct to the regular 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 British Army in all the campaigns of that war. No 
 complete roster of the Connecticut troops is now in 
 existence, but the "East Haven Register" tells us 
 that many men from East Haven and Branford were 
 enlisted for service with the British Army near the 
 Great Lakes, of whom the greater part were lost 
 through sickness and in battle. In these levies were 
 several members of the Ludington family, beside 
 Henry Ludington. Our genealogical review has al- 
 ready indicated the service in that war of James, 
 Ezra, Timothy, Samuel, Jude, and Amos Luding- 
 ton, uncles and cousins of Henry Ludington. As 
 some of the Ludingtons had, years before the war, 
 removed from Connecticut to Dutchess County, New 
 York, some members of the family were also among 
 the troops from the latter region. Old records tell 
 that in Captain Richard Rea's Dutchess County 
 regiment were two young farmers, Comfort Loudin- 
 ton and Asa Loudinton — obviously meaning Lud- 
 ington — respectively 19 and 17 years old; the former 
 with brown eyes and dark complexion, the latter with 
 brown eyes and fresh complexion. 
 
 Henry Ludington enlisted in Captain Foote's 
 company of the Second Connecticut Regiment, a 
 notable body of troops which was put forward to 
 bear much of the brunt of the campaign. The regi- 
 ment was at first commanded by Colonel Elizur 
 Goodrich, and later by Colonel Nathan Whiting, one 
 of the most distinguished Colonial officers of that 
 war. The regiment was assigned to duty under 
 
 C263 
 
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Major-General (afterward Sir) William Johnson, 
 who, with a Colonial army and numerous Indian 
 allies under the famous Mohawk chieftain Hendrick, 
 was moving to meet the French at Lake George. 
 The march from New Haven was made by way of 
 Amenia and Dover, in Dutchess County, New York, 
 to the Hudson River, and thence northward to the 
 ''dark and bloody ground" of the North Woods. 
 Young Ludington was of a lively and venturesome 
 disposition and, as family traditions show, had a pro- 
 pensity to practical joking which more than once put 
 him in peril of not undeserved punishment, which, 
 however, he managed to avoid. 
 
 It was early in September, 1755, when he was in 
 only his seventeenth year, that the young soldier re- 
 ceived his "baptism of fire" in the desperate battle of 
 Lake George, near the little sheet of water afterward 
 known as Bloody Pond because of the hue its water 
 took from the gory drainage of the battlefield. Gen- 
 eral Johnson, with his Colonial troops and Indian 
 allies, was moving northward. Baron Dieskau, with 
 a French and Indian army, moving southward, em- 
 barked at Fort Frederick, Crown Point, came down 
 the lake in a fleet of small boats, and landed at 
 Skenesborough, now Whitehall. On the night of 
 Sunday, September 7, word came to Johnson that 
 the enemy was marching down from Fort Edward to 
 Lake George, and early the next morning plans were 
 made to meet them. It was at first suggested that 
 only a few hundred men be sent forward to hold the 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 enemy in check until the main army could dispose 
 and fortify itself, but Hendrick, the shrewd Mohawk 
 warrior, objected to sending so small a force. "If 
 they are to fight," he said, "they are too few; if they 
 are to be killed, they are too many." Accordingly 
 the number was increased to 1,200, comprising and, 
 indeed, led by the Connecticut troops. Colonel 
 Ephraim Williams, a brave and skilful officer, was in 
 command, with Colonel Nathan Whiting, of New 
 Haven, as his chief lieutenant. They came upon the 
 enemy at Rocky Brook, about four miles from Lake 
 George, and found the French and Indians arrayed 
 in the form of a crescent, the horns of which extended 
 for some distance on both sides of the road which 
 there led through a dense forest. The devoted Col- 
 onial detachment marched straight at the center of 
 the crescent, and was quickly attacked in front and 
 on both flanks at the same time. Williams and Hen- 
 drick were among the first to fall, and their followers 
 were cut down in great numbers. Thereupon Col- 
 onel Whiting succeeded to the general command, and 
 perceiving that the Colonials were outnumbered and 
 outflanked, ordered a retreat, which was skilfully 
 conducted, with little further loss. When the army 
 was thus reunited, hasty preparations were made to 
 meet the onslaught of the foe, and at noon the con- 
 flict began in deadly earnest. The forces were com- 
 manded, respectively, by Johnson and Dieskau in 
 person, until the former was disabled by a wound, 
 when his place was taken by General Lyman, who 
 
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 fulfilled his duties with singular ability and success. 
 After four hours of fighting on the defensive, the 
 English and Colonials leaped over their breastworks 
 and charged the foe with irresistible fury. The 
 French and Indians were routed with great slaugh- 
 ter, and Baron Dieskau himself, badly wounded, was 
 taken prisoner. 
 
 ^=s 
 
 Old gun used by Henry Ludington in the French and Indian War. Now 
 
 owned by Frederick Ludington, son of the late Governor 
 
 Harrison Ludington, of Wisconsin. 
 
 (From sketch made by Miss Alice Ludington, great-great-granddaughter 
 of Henry Ludington. 
 
 Henry Ludington was in the thickest of both parts 
 of this battle, having been in the detachment which 
 was sent forward in advance. He came off un- 
 scathed, but he had the heartrending experience of 
 seeing both his uncle and his cousin shot dead at his 
 side. These were probably his uncle Amos Luding- 
 ton (called Asa in the "East Haven Register," as al- 
 ready noted), son of Eliphalet Ludington, and his 
 cousin Ezra, son of Daniel Ludington. The uncle 
 fell first, pierced by a French bullet. The cousin 
 sprang to his side and stooped to lift him, and in the 
 act was himself shot, and a few moments later both 
 died. Soon after this battle the term of enlist- 
 ment of the Connecticut militia expired, but reenlist- 
 
 H29] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 ments were general. According to the French and 
 Indian War Rolls, and the Connecticut Historical 
 Collections as searched by Mr. Patrick, Henry Lud- 
 ington again enlisted on April 19, 1756, served under 
 Colonel Andrew Ward at Crown Point, and was dis- 
 charged at the expiration of his term on November 
 13, 1756. Again, he was in Lieutenant Maltbie's 
 company, under Colonel Newton, at the time of the 
 "general alarm" for the relief of Fort William Hen- 
 ry, in August, 1757, on which occasion his time of 
 service was only fifteen days. Finally, he was in the 
 campaign of 1759, in the Second Connecticut Regi- 
 ment, under Colonel Nathan Whiting, being a mem- 
 ber of David Baldwin's Third Company. In this 
 year he enlisted on April 14, and was duly discharged 
 on December 21, 1759. During this memorable 
 period of service the young soldier marched with the 
 British and American troops to Canada, and partici- 
 pated in the crowning triumph at Quebec, on Sep- 
 tember 13, 1759, and a little later was intrusted with 
 the charge of a company of sixty wounded or invalid 
 soldiers, who were to return to New England. The 
 march was made across country, from Quebec to Bos- 
 ton, in the dead of the very severe winter of 1759-60, 
 and the labors and perils of the journey were suffi- 
 cient to tax to the utmost the skill and resourcefulness 
 of the youth of only twenty years. For many nights 
 their camp consisted of caves or burrows in the snow- 
 drifts, where they slept on beds of spruce boughs, 
 wrapped in their blankets. Provisions failed, too, 
 
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BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 and some meals were made of the bark and twigs of 
 birch trees and the berries of the juniper. Through 
 all these hardships young Ludington led his com- 
 rades safely to their destination. Then, in the spring 
 of 1760, he proceeded from Boston to Branford, and 
 thus terminated for the time his active military 
 career. In recognition of his services he received 
 from King George II the commission of a lieutenant 
 in the British Colonial Army, which he held until, in 
 the succeeding reign, news came of the enactment of 
 the Stamp Act, when he resigned it. Later, on Feb- 
 ruary 13, 1773, he accepted a captain's commission 
 from William Tryon, the last British governor of 
 New York, which he held until the beginning of the 
 Revolution. This commission was in the regiment 
 commanded by Beverly Robinson, that eminent Brit- 
 ish Loyalist who was the intermediary between Sir 
 Henry Clinton and Benedict Arnold. It was at 
 Robinson's country mansion that much of Arnold's 
 plotting was done, and it was there, while at dinner, 
 that the traitor received the news of the failure of his 
 treason through the capture of his agent, Major 
 Andre. 
 
 One other incident of Henry Ludington's service 
 demands passing attention. In one of the returns of 
 his regiment, in connection with the fifteen days' ser- 
 vice in August, 1757, he is recorded as "Deserted." 
 Generally speaking, no worse blot than that can well 
 be put upon a soldier's record. But it is quite ob- 
 vious that in this case it is devoid of its usual serious 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 significance. It is certain that he did not actually 
 desert in the ordinary present meaning of that term. 
 This we know, because there is no record nor intima- 
 tion of any steps ever being taken to punish him for 
 what would have been regarded as a heinous crime; 
 because soon after that entry against him he was 
 serving with credit in the army and continued so to 
 do; because thereafter he was intrusted with the im- 
 portant march to Boston which has been described; 
 and because, after having honorably completed his 
 service in the army, he received a royal commission as 
 an officer. In those early days, when an army was 
 campaigning in an almost trackless wilderness and 
 warfare was largely of the most irregular description, 
 it was not difficult for a soldier to become detached 
 and practically lost from the rest of his army, and 
 perhaps not be able to rejoin it for some time. Such 
 a mishap might the more easily have befallen an im- 
 petuous and adventurous youth such as Henry Lud- 
 ington was. And of course the record "Deserted" 
 might naturally enough have been put against his 
 name when he failed to respond to roll-call and no 
 explanation of his absence was forthcoming. 
 
 In the French and Indian War the Colonial troops 
 were paid for their services by the various Colonial 
 governments, which latter were afterward reim- 
 bursed for such expenditures by the British Govern- 
 ment. It was, however, with a view to compelling 
 the Colonies to bear the cost of the war, by levying 
 taxes upon them at the will of Parliament, that the 
 
 C32] 
 
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 British Government entered upon the fatal policy 
 which a few years later cost it the major part of its 
 American possessions. Because of that change of 
 government, no pension system was ever created for 
 the veterans of that war. In 1815, however, near the 
 close of Henry Ludington's life, such pensions were 
 proposed, and with a view to establishing his eligibil- 
 ity to receive one, in the absence of the authoritative 
 records of the Connecticut troops, he secured from 
 two of his former comrades in arms the following 
 affidavits — here reproduced verbatim et literatim: 
 
 State of New York 
 Putnam County 
 
 Jehoidah Wheton, of the town of Carmell in 
 said county, being duly sworn doth depose and 
 say that he is now personally acquainted with 
 Henry Ludington, who lives in the Town of 
 Fredericks in said county and that the deponent 
 has known him for many years past. The de- 
 ponent knows that the above named Henry Lud- 
 ington was in the service in the years 1756 and 
 1757 under the King's pay, and belonged to the 
 State troops of Connecticut, and that the de- 
 ponent was personally acquainted with the said 
 Henry Ludington during the service above 
 stated, and the deponent was with him the two 
 campaigns, and further the deponent saith that 
 from certain information which he the deponent 
 knows to be true from the above named Henry 
 Ludington of certain transactions which took 
 place in the year 1759 to me the deponent now 
 
 [333 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 told he verrily believes that the said Henry Lud- 
 ington was in the service that year, and that the 
 deponent places confidence in the truth and verac- 
 ity of the said Henry Ludington, and the de- 
 ponent saith that he together with the above 
 named Henry Ludington was under Capt. Foot 
 in Colonel Nathan Whiting's Ridgement in the 
 service aforesaid ; and further this deponent saith 
 
 not. 
 
 his 
 
 Jehoidah X Wheaton 
 
 mark 
 
 Sworn and subscribed the 14th day of September 
 1815 before me John Phillips, one of the masters 
 in the cort of Chy. in and for sd. State. 
 
 I, John Byington, of Redding in Fairfield 
 County and State Connecticut, of lawful age de- 
 pose and say 
 
 that I am well acquainted with Henry Luding- 
 ton of Fredericks, state of New York, that he en- 
 listed under the King's proclamation and served 
 with the Connecticut troops in the war with 
 France, three campaigns, in the company of 
 Capt. Foot, under whom I also served; that he 
 rendered the above service between the year 1756 
 & 1764, and further say not. 
 
 John Byington. 
 
 State Connecticut, County Fairfield, Ss. Red- 
 ding the 15th day of September 1815 personally 
 apperd John Byington the above deponent & 
 made oath to the truth of the above deposition. 
 Lemuel Sanford, Justice Peace. 
 [34^ 
 
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Both of the foregoing affidavits or depositions are 
 taken from copies of the originals, made by Lewis 
 Ludington, son of Henry Ludington, on September 
 19, 1815, and now in possession of Lewis Luding- 
 ton's son. 
 
 We have seen that Henry Ludington, at the age 
 of twenty-one, escorted a company of invalided sol- 
 diers from Quebec to Boston in the winter of 1759- 
 60, and thereafter returned to civil life. One of his 
 first acts was to get married, his bride being his 
 cousin, Abigail Ludington, daughter of his father's 
 younger brother, Elisha Ludington. As already 
 noted, Elisha Ludington upon his marriage had re- 
 moved from Connecticut to Dutchess County, New 
 York, and had settled in what was known as the 
 Phillipse Patent. The exact date of that migration 
 is not recorded, but it was probably some years be- 
 fore the French and Indian war. As the Connecticut 
 troops on their way to that war marched across 
 Dutchess County, through Dover and Amenia, it is 
 to be presumed that Henry Ludington on that mo- 
 mentous journey called at his uncle's home, and saw 
 his cousin, afterward to be his wife, who had been 
 born on May 8, 1745, and was at that time conse- 
 quently a child of about ten years. Whether they 
 met again until his return from Quebec is not surely 
 known, but we may easily imagine the boy soldier's 
 carrying with him into the northern wilderness an 
 affectionate memory of his little cousin, perhaps the 
 last of his kin to bid him good-by, and also her cher- 
 
 H35] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 ishing a romantic regard for the lad whom she had 
 seen march away with his comrades. At any rate, 
 their marriage followed close upon his return, taking 
 place on May 1, 1760, when he was not yet quite 
 twenty-one and she just under fifteen. Soon after- 
 ward the young couple, apparently accompanied by 
 the rest of Henry Ludington's immediate family, re- 
 moved to Dutchess County, New York, to be there- 
 after identified with that historic region. 
 
 Dutchess County was one of the twelve counties 
 into which the Province of New York was divided 
 on November 1, 1683, the others being Albany, 
 Cornwall ( now a part of the State of Maine ) , 
 Duke's (now a part of Massachusetts) , King's, New 
 York, Orange, Queen's, Richmond, Suffolk, Ulster, 
 and Westchester. Dutchess then comprised what is 
 now Putnam County, which was set off as a separate 
 county in 1812 and was named for General Israel 
 Putrjam, who was in command of the forces there 
 during much of the Revolutionary War. In 1719 
 Dutchess County was divided into three wards, 
 known as Northern, Middle, and Southern, each ex- 
 tending from the Hudson River to the Connecticut 
 line. Again, in 1737, these wards were subdivided 
 into seven precincts, called Beekman, Charlotte, 
 Crom Elbow, North, Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, and 
 Southeast; and at later dates other precincts, or 
 towns, were formed, to wit: North East in 1746; 
 Amenia in 1762; Pawlings in 1768; and Fredericks- 
 town in 1772. Fishkill and Rombout were also con- 
 
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BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 stituted in colonial times. Frederickstown, where 
 the Ludingtons settled and with which we have most 
 to do, was a part of the Phillipse Patent, in the 
 Southern Ward of Dutchess County, now Putnam 
 County. It derived its name from Frederick Phil- 
 lipse, a kinsman of Adolphe Phillipse, the patentee 
 of Phillipse Manor or Patent. It has now been di- 
 vided and renamed, its old boundaries comprising 
 the present towns of Kent, Carmel, and Patterson, 
 and a part of Southeast, the present village of Pat- 
 terson occupying the site of the former Fredericks- 
 burgh. The name of Kent was taken from the family 
 of that name, of which James Kent, the illustrious 
 jurist and chancellor of the State of New York, was 
 a member. It may be of interest to recall at this 
 point, also, that a certain strip of land at the eastern 
 side of Dutchess County was in dispute between 
 New York and Connecticut. This was known as 
 The Oblong, or the Oblong Patent, from its config- 
 uration, and comprised 61,440 acres, in a strip about 
 two miles wide, now forming parts of Dutchess, Put- 
 nam, and Westchester counties and including part 
 of the Westchester town of Bedford, and also Quaker 
 Hill, near Pawling, in Dutchess County, which was 
 once suggested as the capital of the State, and which 
 gets its name from having been first settled by Quak- 
 ers. The dispute over the New York-Connecticut 
 boundary and the consequent ownership of this land 
 arose before 1650, when the Dutch were still owners 
 of New York, or New Netherlands as the latter was 
 
 [37] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 then called, and it was continued between the two 
 Colonies when they were both under British rule. 
 The settlement was effected by confirming New 
 York in possession of The Oblong, and granting to 
 Connecticut in return a tract of land on Long Island 
 Sound, eight miles by twelve in extent, which was 
 long called the "Equivalent Land," and which is now 
 occupied by Greenwich, Stamford, and other towns. 
 The final demarcation of the boundary was not, how- 
 ever, effected until as late as 1880. 
 
 The precise date of Henry Ludington's settlement 
 in Dutchess County is not now known. Neither his 
 nor his father's name appears in the 1762 survey of 
 Lot No. 6 of the Phillipse Patent, and it has been as- 
 sumed that therefore his arrival there must have been 
 at a later date than that. This reasoning must, how- 
 ever, be challenged on the ground that — as we shall 
 presently see— on March 12, 1763, he was officially 
 recorded as a sub-sheriff of Dutchess County. It is 
 scarcely likely that he would have been appointed to 
 that office immediately upon his arrival in the county, 
 and we must therefore conclude that he settled there 
 at least early in 1762, if not before that year. He 
 made his home on a tract of 229 acres of land in 
 Frederickstown, at the north end of Lot No. 6 of the 
 Phillipse Patent, on the site of what was afterward 
 appropriately, though with awkward etymology, 
 called Ludingtonville. This land he was not able to 
 purchase outright, but leased for many years from 
 owners who clung to the old feudal notions of tenure ; 
 
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BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 but at last, on July 15, 1812, he effected actual pur- 
 chase and received title deeds from Samuel Gouver- 
 neur and his wife. On that property he built the first 
 grist- and saw-mills in that region, there being no 
 others nearer than the "Red Mills" at Lake Mahopac 
 and those built by John Jay on the Cross River, in 
 the town of Bedford, Westchester County — which 
 latter, by the way, remained in continuous operation, 
 with much of the original framework and sheathing, 
 until 1906, when they were destroyed to make room 
 for one of the Croton reservoirs. Ludington's mills 
 were of course operated by water power, generated 
 by a huge "overshot" wheel, supplied with water con- 
 veyed from a neighboring stream in a channel or 
 mill-race made of timber. 
 
 Near-by stood the house, which was several times 
 enlarged. The main building was two stories in 
 height, with an attic above. Through the center ran 
 a broad hall, with a stairway broken with a landing 
 and turn. At one side was a parlor and at the other a 
 sitting or living room, and back of each of these was 
 a bedroom. The parlor was wainscoted and ceiled 
 with planks of the fragrant and beautiful red cedar. 
 Beyond the sitting room, at the side of this main 
 building, was the "weaving room," an apartment un- 
 known to our modern domestic economy, but essen- 
 tial in colonial days. It was a large room, fitted with 
 a hand-loom, and a number of spinning wheels, 
 reels, swifts, and the other paraphernalia for the 
 manufacture of homespun fabrics of different kinds. 
 
 C393 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 This room also contained a huge stone fireplace. 
 Beyond it, at the extreme east of the house, was the 
 kitchen, with its great fireplace and brick or stone 
 oven. The house fronted toward the south, and com- 
 manded a fine outlook over one of the picturesque 
 landscapes for which that region is famed. Years 
 ago the original house was demolished, and a new 
 one was built on the same site by a grandson, George 
 Ludington. The location was a somewhat isolated 
 one, neighbors being few and not near, and the near- 
 est village, Fredericksburgh, on the present site of 
 Patterson, being some miles distant. The location 
 was, however, important, being on the principal route 
 from Northern Connecticut to the lower Hudson 
 Valley, the road leading from Hartford and New 
 Milf ord, Connecticut, through Fredericksburgh, past 
 Colonel Ludington's, to Fishkill and West Point— 
 a circumstance which was of much interest and im- 
 portance to Colonel Ludington in the Revolution, as 
 we shall see. The population of the county at that 
 time was small and scattered. In 1746, or about the 
 time when Elisha Ludington went thither and Abi- 
 gail Ludington was born, the census showed a popu- 
 lation of 8,806, including 500 negro slaves. By 1749 
 the numbers had actually diminished to 7,912, of 
 whom only 421 were negroes. In 1756, however, 
 there were 14,148 inhabitants, including 859 negroes, 
 and Dutchess was the most populous county in the 
 colony, excepting Albany, which had 17,424 inhabi- 
 tants. The county was at that time able to contribute 
 
 C40] 
 
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 to the army about 2,500 men. It had enjoyed ex- 
 emption from the Indian wars which had ravaged 
 other parts of the colony, and its situation and nat- 
 ural resources gave it the advantages of varied in- 
 dustries. It had the Hudson River at one side for 
 commerce, it was well watered and wooded, its open 
 fields were exceptionally fertile, it had abundant 
 water-power for mills, and it had — though this was 
 not realized until after the colonial period — much 
 mineral wealth. 
 
 Such was the community in which Henry Luding- 
 ton established himself at the beginning of his man- 
 hood and married life, and in which he quickly rose to 
 prominence. The extent of his holdings of land, and 
 the fact of his proprietorship of important mills, 
 made him a leading factor in business affairs, while 
 his bent for public business soon led him into both 
 the civil and the military service. At that time, from 
 1761 to 1769, James Livingston was sheriff of 
 Dutchess County, and early in 1763 Henry Luding- 
 ton became one of his lieutenants, as sub-sheriff. The 
 Protestant dynasty in England was so newly estab- 
 lished that elaborate oaths of abjuration and fealty 
 were still required of all office-holders, of whatever 
 rank or capacity, and on March 12, 1763, Henry 
 Ludington, as sub-sheriff, took and subscribed to 
 them, as follows: 
 
 I, Henry Ludington, Do Solemnly and Sin- 
 cerely, in the Presence of God, Profess, Testify, 
 
 £413 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 and Declare, That I do Believe, that in the Sacra- 
 ment of the Lord's Supper, there is not any 
 Transubstantiation, of the Elements of Bread 
 and Wine, in the Body and Blood of Christ at or 
 after the Consecration Thereof, by any Person 
 whatsoever. And that the Invocation, or Adora- 
 tion, of the Virgin Mary, or Any other Saint, and 
 the Sacrifice of the Mass, as they are now Used 
 in the Church of Rome, are Superstitious and 
 Idolatrous, and I do Solemnly in the presence of 
 God, Profess, Testify, and Declare, that I make 
 this Declaration, and Every Part thereof, in the 
 plain and Ordinary Sence of the Words read to 
 me, as they are Commonly Understood by Eng- 
 lish Protestants, Without any Evasion, Equivoca- 
 tion, or Mental Reservation whatsoever, and With- 
 out any Dispensation Already Granted to me for 
 this purpose by the Pope, or any other Authority 
 Whatsoever, or Without Thinking that I am Ac- 
 quitted, before God or Man, or Absolved of this 
 Declaration, or any Part thereof, Although the 
 Pope, or any Person or Persons, or Power What- 
 soever, Should Dispence with or Annul the same 
 and Declare that it was Null or Void, from the 
 Beginning. 
 
 I, Henry Ludington, do Sincerely Promise & 
 Swear, that I will be faithful and bear true Al- 
 legiance to his Majesty King George the Third, 
 and I do Swear that I do from my heart Abhor, 
 Detest, and Abjure, as Impious and Heretical, 
 that Damnable Doctrine and Position, that 
 Princes Excommunicated and Deprived by the 
 Pope, or Any Authority of the See of Rome, 
 May Be Deposed by Their Subjects or any other 
 
 [423 
 
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Whatsoever, and I do Declare that no Foreign 
 Prince, Person, Prelate, State or Potentate hath 
 or ought to have, any Jurisdiction, Power, Supe- 
 riority, Pre-eminence, or Authority Ecclesiastical 
 or Spiritual, Within this Realm, and I do Truly 
 and Sincerely acknowledge and profess, Testify 
 and Declare, in my conscience before God and 
 the World, That Our Sovereign Lord King 
 George the Third of this Realm, and all other 
 Dominions and Countrys Thereunto Belonging, 
 and I do Solemnly and Sincerely Declare, that I 
 do believe in my conscience that the person pre- 
 tended to be Prince of Wales During the Life of 
 the Late King James the Second, and since his 
 Decease, Pretending to be and Taking upon him- 
 self the Stile and Title of King of England, by 
 the Name of James the Third, or of Scotland by 
 the name of James the Eighth, or Stile and Title 
 of the King of Great Britain, hath not any right 
 or Title whatsoever, to the Crown of this Realm, 
 or any other Dominions Thereunto Belonging, 
 and I do Renounce, Refuse, and Abjure, any Al- 
 legiance or Obedience to him, and I do Swear, 
 that I will bear Faith, and True Allegiance to his 
 Majesty King George the Third and him will 
 defend, to the utmost of my Power, against all 
 Traiterous Conspiracies and Attempts Whatso- 
 ever, which shall be made Against his Person, 
 Crown or Dignity, and I will do my Utmost En- 
 deavors to Disclose and Make Known to his 
 Majesty and his Successors all Treasons and 
 Traiterous Conspiracies which I shall know to be 
 against him, or any of them, and I faithfully 
 promise to the Utmost of my Power to Support, 
 Maintain and Defend the Successors of the 
 
 [4311 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Crown against him the said James and all other 
 Persons Whatsoever, Which Succession by an 
 Act entitled An Act for the further Limitation 
 of the Crown Limited to the Late Princess 
 Sophia, Electress and Dowager of Hanover, and 
 the Heirs of Her Body, being Protestants, and 
 all these things I do plainly and Sincerely Ac- 
 knowledge and Swear according to the Express 
 words by me spoken and according to the Plain 
 and Common Sence and Understanding of the 
 same Words Without any Equivocation, Mental 
 Evasion, or Sinister Reservation Whatsoever, 
 and I do make this Recognition, Acknowledge- 
 ment, Abjuration, Renunciation and Promise 
 heartily, Willingly and Truly, upon the True 
 Faith of a Christian. So help me, God ! 
 
 Thus qualified by the taking of these oaths, Henry 
 Ludington began public services which lasted, in one 
 capacity and another, for more than a generation in 
 the Colony and State of New York. The first entry 
 in his ledger bears date of "May, A.D. 1763," and 
 runs as follows: "James Livingston Sheriff Dr to 
 Serving county writs (seven in number) the price 
 for serving each writ being from lis. 9d. to £l — 
 10—9." There follow, under dates of October, 1763, 
 and May, 1764, entries for serving other writs. 
 Among the names of attorneys in the suits appear 
 those of Cromwell, Livingston, Jones, Snedeker, 
 Ludlow, Snook, and Kent ; and among those of par- 
 ties to suits, etc., are those of Joseph Weeks, Jacob 
 Ellis, Uriah Hill, Jacob Griffen, George Hughson^ 
 
 cm: 
 
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Ebenezer Bennett, and Joseph Crane. In 1764 first 
 appears the name of Beverly Robinson, as the plain- 
 tiff in a suit against one Nathan Birdsall. There is 
 also mention of a suit brought in the name of the 
 "Earl of Starling" as plaintiff before the Supreme 
 Court of the colony— probably William Alexander, 
 or Lord Stirling, the patriot soldier of the Revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 At this home in Frederickstown the children of 
 Henry and Abigail Ludington, or all of them but 
 the eldest, were born. These children, with the dates 
 of their births, were as follows, as recorded by Henry 
 Ludington in his Family Register, which was in- 
 scribed on a fly-leaf of the ledger already quoted : 
 
 Sibyl, April 5, 1761. 
 
 Rebecca, January 24, 1763. 
 
 Mary, July 31, 1765. 
 
 Archibald, July 5, 1767. 
 
 Henry, March 28, 1769. 
 
 Derick, February 17, 1771. 
 
 Tertullus, Monday night, April 19, 1773. 
 
 Abigail, Monday morning, February 26, 1776. 
 
 Anne, at sunset, March 14, 1778. 
 
 Frederick, June 10, 1782. 
 
 Sophia, May 16, 1784. 
 
 Lewis, June 25, 1786. 
 
 Of these it is further recorded in the same register 
 that Sibyl was married to Edward Ogden (the name 
 is elsewhere given as Edmund or Henry Ogden) on 
 
 C45] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 October 21, 1784; that Mary was married to David 
 Travis on September 12, 1785; that Archibald was 
 
 married to Elizabeth on September 23, 1790; 
 
 and that Rebecca was married to Harry Pratt on 
 May 7, 1794. 
 
 1*61 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 IN order justly to appreciate the circumstances in 
 which Henry Ludington and his young family 
 found themselves about fifteen years after his return 
 from the French and Indian war, it will be desirable 
 to recall briefly the political and social conditions 
 generally prevailing throughout the Colonies at that 
 time, which were nowhere more marked than in New 
 York City and the rural counties lying just north of 
 it. During the two or three years before the actual 
 declaration of American independence, or secession 
 from England, the people of the Colonies were di- 
 vided into two parties, the Patriots and the Loyalists 
 or Tories. The latter maintained the right of Eng- 
 land to govern the Colonies as she pleased, and re- 
 garded even a protest against the maladministration 
 of George Ill's ministers as little short of sacrilege. 
 The former were by no means as yet committed to the 
 idea of American separation from the mother coun- 
 try, but they were most resolute in their demand for 
 local self-government, and for government according 
 to the needs of the Colonies rather than the caprices 
 of English ministers. When they first placed the 
 legend "Liberty and Union" upon their colonial flag, 
 and called it the "Grand Union Flag," they had in 
 
 C47] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 mind liberty under the British constitution and con- 
 tinued union with England. Nevertheless, antago- 
 nism between the two parties became as bitter as ever 
 it was between Roundhead and Cavalier in Stuart 
 days; and while in some respects Boston and Phila- 
 delphia figured more conspicuously in the pre-revolu- 
 tionary agitation and operations than did New York, 
 there was probably no place in all the Colonies where 
 the people were more evenly and generally divided 
 between the two parties, or where passions rose higher 
 or were more strongly maintained, than in and about 
 the last-named city. No ties of neighborliness, friend- 
 ship, or even family relationship sufficed to prevent or 
 to quell the animosities which arose over the political 
 interests of the Colonies. Nowhere had the Patriots a 
 more ardent or persuasive leader than young Alex- 
 ander Hamilton, or the Tories a more uncompromis- 
 ing champion than Rivington, the printer, whose of- 
 fice was at last sacked and gutted by wrathful Pa- 
 triots. An illuminating side-light is thrown upon 
 the New York state of mind by an item in the New 
 York "Journal" of February 9, 1775, as follows: 
 
 A company of gentlemen were dining at a 
 house in New York. One of them used the word 
 Tory several times. His host asked him, "Pray, 
 
 Mr. , what is a Tory?" He replied, "A Tory 
 
 is a thing whose head is in England, and its body 
 in America, and its neck ought to be stretched!" 
 
 Nor were these passions by any means confined to 
 the urban but not always urbane community on 
 
 C483 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Manhattan Island. They prevailed with equal force 
 in the rural regions of Westchester and Dutchess 
 counties. During the Revolutionary War that bor- 
 der region, between the British garrison on Manhat- 
 tan Island and the American strongholds in the 
 Highlands of the Hudson, was the fighting ground 
 of the belligerents, and was also unmercifully harried 
 and ravaged by the irregular succors of both sides, 
 the "Cow Boys" and "Skinners," and others, cele- 
 brated in the unhappy Andre's whimsical ballad of 
 "The Cow Chase." Patriots from Westchester 
 County were foremost among those who wrecked 
 Rivington's Tory printing shop, and an aggravated 
 sequel to the item just cited from the New York 
 "Journal" is provided in the annals of Dutchess 
 County a little later in the same year. At that time 
 a County Committee, or Committee of Safety— of 
 which we shall presently hear much more— had been 
 formed in that county, for the purpose of holding the 
 Tories in check, and it had forcibly deprived some 
 men of their arms and ammunition. The despoiled 
 Tories made appeal to the Court of Common Pleas 
 for redress, and James Smith, a justice of that court, 
 according to a contemporary narrative, "undertook to 
 sue for and recover the arms taken from the Tories 
 by order of said committee, and actually committed 
 one of the committee who assisted at disarming the 
 Tories ; which enraged the people so much that they 
 rose and rescued the prisoner, and poured out their 
 resentment on this villanous retailer of the law." The 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 "resentment" seems to have been poured out of buck- 
 ets and pillows, for we are told that Justice Smith 
 and his relative, Coen Smith, were "very handsomely 
 tarred and feathered, for acting in open contempt of 
 the resolves of the County Committee!" 
 
 In or near that part of Dutchess County in which 
 Henry Ludington lived a third small but not insig- 
 nificant factor was involved in the problem. This 
 was provided by the members of the Society of 
 Friends, who were settled at Quaker Hill, near 
 Pawling, in The Oblong. This was the first com- 
 munity in America to abolish negro slavery, in 1775, 
 and on that account it was probably regarded with 
 some suspicion. But worse still was the regard given 
 to it in the strife between Patriots and Tories. There 
 can be little doubt that the sentiments and wishes of 
 the Quakers were largely with the Patriots. Yet 
 their religious principle of non-resistance forbade 
 them to take up arms or to engage in forcible conflict 
 of any kind. They were therefore generally looked 
 upon by the Patriots as Tories, and were on that ac- 
 count sometimes fined and otherwise punished, while 
 on the other hand, the Tories made themselves free to 
 quarter troops upon them and to demand aid of them 
 at will. On the whole, however, they appear to have 
 commanded the respect of the Patriots, for their sin- 
 cerity, and thus to have been far more leniently 
 dealt with than were the more militant Tories outside 
 the Society of Friends. 
 
 The earliest organization of the Patriots in and 
 
 L503 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 about New York was a Committee of Vigilance, the 
 chief functions of which were to watch for oppressive 
 acts of the British Government and incite colonial 
 protests against them. This was in 1774 superseded 
 by a Committee of Fifty-One, and it in turn in the 
 same year gave place to a Committee of Inspection, 
 of sixty members. In both of these latter John Jay, 
 who was a neighbor and friend of Henry Ludington, 
 was conspicuous, and it is to be presumed that Henry 
 Ludington himself was either a member of the com- 
 mittees or at least was in active sympathy with their 
 work. In April, 1775, came a crisis and the turning 
 point in the movement for independence. The old 
 Colonial Assembly of New York went out of exist- 
 ence on April 3. Then came the news of the first 
 clash of arms at Lexington and Concord, acting as a 
 spark in a powder-magazine. "Astonished by ac- 
 counts of acts of hostility in the moment of expecta- 
 tion of terms of reconciliation," said the lieutenant- 
 governor of New York in his account of the occur- 
 rence, "and now filled with distrust, the inhabitants 
 of the city burst through all restraint on the arrival of 
 the intelligence from Boston, and instantly emptied 
 the vessels laden with provisions for that place, and 
 then seized the city arms and in the course of a few 
 days distributed them among the multitude, formed 
 themselves into companies and trained openly in the 
 streets ; increased the number and power of the com- 
 mittee before appointed to execute the association of 
 the Continental Congress, convened themselves by 
 
 C513 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 beat of the drum for popular resolutions, have taken 
 the keys of the custom house by military force ; shut 
 up the port, drawn a small number of cannon into the 
 country; called all parts of the country to a Pro- 
 vincial Convention; chosen twenty delegates for this 
 city, formed an association now signing by all ranks, 
 engaging submission to committees and congresses, 
 in firm union with the rest of the continent, and 
 openly avow a resolution not only to resist the acts of 
 Parliament complained as grievances, but to with- 
 hold succors of all kinds from the troops and to repel 
 every species of force, wherever it may be exerted, 
 for enforcing the taxing claims of Parliament at the 
 risk of their lives and fortunes." This only half co- 
 herent but wholly intelligible and graphic narrative 
 tells admirably how the Patriot sentiment of New 
 York startled into life and action. A year later it 
 was forcibly repressed by the British garrison on 
 Manhattan Island, but in the counties at the north it 
 continued dominant and triumphant. 
 
 The "association now signing by all ranks" was 
 promptly entered into by Henry Ludington and his 
 neighbors in Dutchess County, as the following 
 transcript, from the MS. collection of Mr. Patrick, 
 shows, the date of the original being April 29, 1775 : 
 
 A General Association agreed to and sub- 
 scribed by the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the 
 County of Dutchess : 
 
 Persuaded: That the Salvation of the Rights & 
 Liberties of America depends, under God, on the 
 H521 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 firm Union of its Inhabitants in a Vigorous Pro- 
 secution of the Measures necessary for its Safety ; 
 and Convinced of the Necessity of preventing the 
 Anarchy & Confusion which attend the Dissolu- 
 tion of the Powers of Government, We, the Free- 
 holders and Inhabitants of the County of Dut- 
 chess, being greatly alarmed at the avowed 
 Design of the Ministry to raise a Revenue in 
 America, and shocked by the bloody Scene now 
 acting in the Massachusetts Bay, Do, in the most 
 solemn Manner, Resolve, never to become Slaves ; 
 and do associate under all the Ties of Religion, 
 Honour and Love to our Country, to adopt and 
 endeavor to carry into execution, whatever Meas- 
 ures may be recommended by the Continental 
 Congress, or resolved upon by our Provincial 
 Conventions, for the Purpose of preserving our 
 Constitution and opposing the execution of the 
 several arbitrary and oppressive Acts of the Brit- 
 ish Parliament, until a Reconciliation between 
 Great Britain and America, on Constitutional 
 Principles (which we most ardently desire) can 
 be obtained : And that we will in all things, follow 
 the Advice of our General Committee, respecting 
 the Purposes aforesaid : the Preservation of peace 
 and good Order and the Safety of Individuals,, 
 and private property. 
 
 Mathew Paterson Malcolm Morison 
 
 Joseph Chandler Alexr. Kidd 
 
 Comfort Ludinton Henry Ludinton 
 
 Ruben Miers Elijah Oakley 
 
 James Dickinson Junr. William alkin. 
 
 Isaiah Bennett David Atkins 
 
 Stephen Baxter. 
 
 [53] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 One other signature is illegible. Those of the two 
 Ludingtons are clear and firm. 
 
 The new Provincial Congress of New York met in 
 the New York City Hall on May 22, 1775, and re- 
 mained in session until May 29, its most important 
 act being the adoption of the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That it be and hereby is recom- 
 mended to all counties in this colony (who have 
 not already done it) to appoint County Commit- 
 tees and also sub-committees for their respective 
 townships and districts without delay, in order to 
 carry into execution the resolutions of the Con- 
 tinental and this Provincial Congress; And that 
 it is also recommended to every inhabitant of this 
 colony who has neglected to sign the general asso- 
 ciation to do it with all convenient speed, and for 
 this purpose that the committees in the respective 
 counties do tender the said association to every in- 
 habitant within the several districts in each coun- 
 ty; And that the said committees and persons 
 respectfully do return the said associations and 
 the names of those who shall refuse to sign the 
 same to this Congress by the 15th day of June 
 next, or sooner if possible. 
 
 This obviously "meant business." It compelled 
 every inhabitant of the colony to align himself, either 
 with the Patriots or with the Loyalists; with a cer- 
 tainty that if he chose the former, he would be held as 
 a traitor by the British Government, and if he chose 
 the latter, he would be subject to whatever pains and 
 penalties his incensed Patriot neighbors might see 
 
 C54] 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 fit to impose upon him. Into the work thus recom- 
 mended by the Congress, Henry Ludington entered 
 with zeal and ardor. He was at the head of the local 
 committee, in Fredericksburgh Precinct, and also a 
 member of the Dutchess County Committee, among 
 his colleagues being John Jay, William Duer, Jac- 
 obus Swartwout, and other eminent Patriots. 
 
 How vigorously and unsparingly these committees 
 went to work will appear if we anticipate for a 
 moment the chronological record by a year. On a 
 motion offered by John Jay on June 16, 1776, the 
 Provincial Congress of New York declared guilty of 
 treason, with the penalty of death, all persons inhab- 
 iting or passing through the colony, or state, as it 
 then began to be called, who should give aid or com- 
 fort to the enemy. A week later the Continental 
 Congress adopted a similar resolution. It does not 
 appear that this penalty was ever actually imposed, 
 but the terror of it was held as a powerful measure of 
 restraint over the Tories. Again, at Conner's tavern, 
 at Fishkill, Dutchess County, on October 8, 1776, 
 there was organized a secret committee "for inquir- 
 ing into, detecting and defeating conspiracies . . . 
 against the liberties of America," with full power to 
 send for persons and papers, call out the militia, and 
 arrest or expel persons regarded as dangerous to 
 the state, apparently without any judicial process. 
 Thereafter numerous parties of suspects were sent in 
 by the various local committees, including men, 
 women, and children. All who consented to sign an 
 
 C55H 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 oath of allegiance to Congress were dismissed. The 
 others were variously dealt with. Some were exiled 
 from the State, some were imprisoned, and some re- 
 leased on parole, to remain near Fishkill within call 
 and surveillance of the committee. The chairman of 
 this committee was William Duer, and if Henry 
 Ludington was not actually among its members he 
 was certainly one of its most trusted and efficient 
 agents. It continued in existence and action until 
 February 27, 1777, when it was dissolved by the 
 State Convention and was replaced by a Board of 
 Commissioners. Two minutes of the proceedings of 
 this committee will serve the double purpose of show- 
 ing the character of its activities and the part which 
 Henry Ludington played in executing its decrees. 
 The first is dated only four days after the organiza- 
 tion of the committee : 
 
 In Committee appointed by a Resolution of 
 the Convention of the State of New York for en- 
 quiring into, detecting and defeating all Conspir- 
 acies which may be form'd in the said State 
 against the Liberties of America. Fish Kill 
 Octr. 12. 1776. 
 
 This Committee taking into Consideration 
 Coll. Ludington's Letter respecting Thomas 
 Menzes Esqr. received yesterday — 
 
 Ordered that Coll. Ludington carry into Exe- 
 cution the former Orders of this Committee re- 
 specting Thomas Menzes Esqr. in such manner 
 as to him shall appear most prudent. — 
 
 Ordered that the Secretary transmit to ColL 
 
 [56: 
 
c W ■{? 077*77/ prfit*-. Qs{Ji r; wi/Ve-J /fry ^ 
 ffi ' &0<rt tvfc-cni off, l ?AJ- & 07?st'<&>vfo<rti a/" 
 
 
 9 
 
 '■'£**& y%<r>^<^<7 isrfb^ed? Mf/?"t^ & /*(y^L 
 
 nc surest >r J t/ij£<r>T* e^-o tyrfbrt^eb J?f/ 
 
 - — ¥ f 
 
 Reduced Fac-simile Df LettEr, tram Committee on Conspiracies, 
 tn Col. Henry Ludington. 
 
 i Original in possession of Charles H Liid)a«ton. New York City I 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Ludington by Express a Copy of the above 
 Order. 
 
 Extract from the Minutes, 
 
 A. W. D. Peyster Secry. 
 
 The second is dated eight days later : 
 
 warrant from commite to aprhend sundry per- 
 sons 
 
 In Committee of the Convention of the State 
 of New York appointed for enquiring into, de- 
 tecting and defeating all Conspiracies which may 
 be form'd in the said State against the Liberties 
 of America. Fish Kill Octr. 20, 1776. 
 
 Whereas this Committee did on the 17th inst. 
 resolve that the following persons, Inhabitants 
 of South East and Frederick Precincts in the 
 County of Dutchess, should forthwith be dis- 
 arm'd apprehended and secured, to witt, Uriah 
 Townsend, Ebenezer Rider, Charles Cullen*, 
 Barns Hatfield, Uriah Wright, Joseph Hitch- 
 cock, Eli Crosby, Dr. Daniel Bull*, Charles 
 Theal, and Gilbert Dickeson — o 
 
 Ordered that Coll. Luddington do forthwith 
 apprehend and bring before this Committee the 
 above mentioned Persons and that he secure the 
 Papers of such whose Names are mark'd with an 
 Asterisk in order that the same be examined by 
 this Committee. — 
 
 Ordered that Capt. Clarke detach Leut. 
 Haight with a Party of 15 Men, to repair to Coll. 
 Luddington and to follow such orders as they 
 may receive from him. 
 
 Signed by Order of the Committee, 
 
 Wm. Duer Chairman. 
 C57] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 In the margin of this warrant, which is here copied 
 from the original in the possession of Charles H. 
 Ludington, are these additional names : 
 
 oDaniel Babbit Jeremiah Birch Junr. David 
 Nash Samuel Towner William Merrit Thomas 
 Carl* Daniel Brundage Moses Fowler. 
 
 The Charles Cullen mentioned in the warrant was 
 a brother-in-law of the distinguished jurist, Chancel- 
 lor Kent. 
 
 In order to understand clearly the geographical 
 scope of the operations already and hereafter cred- 
 ited to Henry Ludington, the division of that part 
 of Dutchess County into precincts should here be 
 explained, with the aid of a map. The reference is 
 to that southern part of Dutchess County which was 
 afterward set off, as at present, into Putnam County. 
 From 1737 down to March 24, 1772, it was known as 
 the South Precinct. On the latter date it was divided 
 into three longitudinal strips, that along the Hudson 
 being called Phillipse, or Philipsburgh Precinct ; that 
 in the central and east central part being called Fred- 
 ericksburgh Precinct; and the smallest strip at the 
 extreme east, consisting of part of The Oblong 
 hitherto mentioned, being known as South East Pre- 
 cinct. It may be added, in anticipation of the narra- 
 tive, that on March 17, 1788, these names were 
 changed to Philipstown, Frederickstown, and South 
 East, respectively; that on March 17, 1795, the towns 
 of Carmel and Franklin were formed from Freder- 
 
 [58] 
 

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 Reduced Fac-sirnilE Df ordEr of arrsst issuEd by 
 
 Win. Duet, Chairman of Cammittse an ConspiraclES, Df th.B "Provincial Congress 
 
 of the State of New York" to Col, Henry Ludington, 
 
 (OrigiDal paper in possession of Charles H Ludington. New York City.) 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Ickstown, and the remainder of the last named was 
 called Fredericks; that on April 6, 1808, Franklin 
 was changed to Patterson, and on April 15, 1817, 
 Fredericks was changed to Kent. It may further be 
 explained that the Philipsburgh Precinct was sub- 
 divided into two nearly equal longitudinal strips, and 
 the one along the Hudson River was again divided 
 laterally into three parts, making four lots in all, 
 which were numbered from 1 to 4, and which in the 
 partition of the original Phillipse Patent were ap- 
 portioned as follows: No. 1, at the extreme south- 
 west, Susannah Robinson; No. 2, next at the west 
 center, Philip Phillipse; No. 3, at the northwest, 
 Mary Phillipse; and No. 4, the long strip inland 
 from the river, Susannah Robinson. The Freder- 
 icksburgh Precinct was likewise divided into three lon- 
 gitudinal strips, and the easternmost of them into three 
 laterally, making five lots in all, numbered from 5 to 
 9, and these were apportioned as follows : No. 5, the 
 long strip next to No. 4 of Philipsburg, to Mary 
 Phillipse ; No. 6, a long strip next to No. 5, to Philip 
 Phillipse; No. 7, a "short lot" at the northeast, to 
 Susannah Robinson; No. 8, a short lot at the east 
 center, to Philip Phillipse; and No. 9, a short lot at 
 the southeast, to Mary Phillipse. When, as we shall 
 presently see, Henry Ludington became colonel 
 commanding a militia regiment, his territorial com- 
 mand included all of these nine lots excepting Nos. 7 
 and 8. He was thus of all the militia commanders 
 nearest to the seat of government when it was at 
 
 [593 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Fishkill, and was brought much into contact with 
 state officials there. 
 
 Appreciating the important part which the militia 
 would play in the conflict which was then seen to be 
 impending and inevitable, the Provincial Congress 
 of New York, in session at New York City on Au- 
 gust 22, 1775, adopted an elaborate measure for the 
 enlistment, organization and equipment of such 
 troops. Every county, city, manor, town, precinct, 
 and district within the colony was to be divided by a 
 local committee into districts or beats, in such a man- 
 ner that in each beat might be formed one military 
 company, ordinarily to consist of eighty-three able- 
 bodied men and officers, between the ages of sixteen 
 and fifty — afterward sixty — years. Not less than 
 five nor more than ten such companies were to form 
 a regiment, and the regiments were to be organized 
 into brigades. One brigade was to be formed of 
 the militia of Dutchess and Westchester counties, 
 commanded by a brigadier-general. It was also 
 ordered — 
 
 That every man between the ages of 16 and 50 
 do with all convenient speed furnish himself with 
 a good Musket or firelock & Bayonet Sword or 
 Tomahawk, a Steel Ramrod, Worm, Priming 
 Wire and Brush fitted thereto, a Cartouch Box to 
 contain 23 rounds of cartridges, 12 flints and a 
 knapsack agreeable to the directions of the Con- 
 tinental Congress under forfeiture of five shill- 
 ings for the want of a musket or firelock and of 
 one shilling for want of a bayonet, sword or 
 
 [60] 
 
Map of Philipse patent, showing original divisions 
 
 Map showing- territory (shaded portion) covered by 
 Colonel Ludington's regiment 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 tomahawk, cartridgebox, cartridge or bullet. 
 That every man shall at his place of abode be also 
 provided with one pound of powder and three 
 pounds of bullets of proper size to his musket or 
 firelock. 
 
 There were numerous additional prescriptions, 
 concerning discipline and drill, the duties and re- 
 sponsibilities of officers, and the penalties to be im- 
 posed for non-compliance. In case of any alarm, 
 invasion or insurrection, every man thus enrolled was 
 immediately to repair to headquarters, to wit, the 
 home of his captain, and the captain was to march the 
 company straight to the scene of invasion or insur- 
 rection "to oppose the enemy," at the same time send- 
 ing word to the regimental or brigade commander. 
 A little later, to wit, on December 20, the Provincial 
 Congress ordered that the militia of Dutchess and 
 Westchester counties should form two separate brig- 
 ades ; whence we may assume that a larger enrolment 
 of militia men was secured in those counties than had 
 at first been expected. 
 
 The militia were called out whenever needed, and 
 were kept out as long as they were needed, but they 
 could be taken outside of the colony or state for no 
 more than three months at a time. Sometimes, as 
 Mr. James A. Roberts explains in his work on "New 
 York in the Revolution," a regiment or half of a 
 regiment would be called out half a dozen times 
 in the course of a year, perhaps for half a dozen days 
 at a time ; and again might not be called out once for 
 
 £61] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 a whole year. The regiments were commonly desig- 
 nated first by their colonels' names and next by their 
 counties. Officers and men seem to have served, says 
 Mr. Roberts, in different organizations almost indis- 
 criminately. At one call they were in one and at an- 
 other they were in another regiment or company. 
 Each colonel had almost unlimited powers in the dis- 
 trict to which his regiment belonged, and he was 
 specially required to see that every able-bodied male 
 inhabitant between the ages of sixteen and sixty 
 years was enrolled. Moreover, every such person 
 must serve whenever called upon to do so, under pen- 
 alty of fine and imprisonment; and if incapacitated, 
 he must contribute toward the cost of securing and 
 equipping another man. Among the rations served 
 to all were tobacco, sugar, and tea, and in addition 
 the colonels and chaplains received liberal allowances 
 of rum. A colonel's pay was $75 a month, and a pri- 
 vate soldier's pay $6.66 a month; not always in 
 money, but sometimes in state scrip and sometimes 
 in authority to "impress" cattle and goods; for all 
 which things taken receipts were to be given to the 
 owners in the name of the state, so that payment 
 could afterward be made. 
 
 This enactment by New York was made in pur- 
 suance of an act of the Continental Congress, on 
 July 18, 1775, which "recommended to the inhabi- 
 tants of all the united English Colonies in North 
 America that all able-bodied, effective men between 
 sixteen and fifty years of age, in each Colony, might 
 
 1621 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 form themselves into regular companies of Militia, 
 to consist of one captain, two lieutenants, one ensign, 
 four sergeants, four corporals, one clerk, one drum- 
 mer, one fifer, and about sixty-eight privates." 
 
 Each company was permitted to elect its own offi- 
 cers ; the companies were to be formed into regiments 
 or battalions, officered with a colonel, lieutenant- 
 colonel, two majors, an adjutant or quartermaster. 
 All officers above the rank of captain were to 
 be appointed by the respective Provincial Assem- 
 blies, or Conventions, or by the Committees of 
 Safety. 
 
 One fourth part of the militia in every county was 
 to consist of minute men, who were ordered "to be 
 ready on the shortest Notice to march to any Place 
 where their Assistance may be required for the De- 
 fence of their own or a neighboring Colony." As the 
 minute men were expected to be called into action be- 
 fore the body of the militia were sufficiently trained, 
 it was recommended "that a more particular and 
 diligent attention be paid to their instruction in mili- 
 tary discipline." 
 
 The equipment of these militia companies was 
 at first painfully meager, and their muster-rolls, 
 "spelled by the unlettered Muse," were such as 
 would drive the modern officer to despair. As an ex- 
 ample, the muster-roll of Captain Nathaniel Scrib- 
 ner's company may be cited, copied verbatim et lite- 
 ratim from an original MS. in the possession of Mr. 
 Charles H. Ludington : 
 
 C63I] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Capt. Scribner's muster role. 
 
 Capt Nathaniel Scribner gun 
 
 sword 
 
 [ o 
 
 Ltn Daniel martine 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 catrig be 
 
 In David merrick 
 
 o 
 
 sword 
 
 . o 
 
 St. Thomas grigrory 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 St. Caleb hazen 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 St makis Brundige 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 CI Thomas willson 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 catrig bo 
 
 CI Isaac Evritt 
 
 gun 
 
 sword 
 
 o 
 
 Benianan hamblon 
 
 fiffer 
 
 
 
 Stephen Hyatt 
 
 Drummer 
 
 
 Joshua grigrory 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 gilbirt ganung 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Samuel Pears 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Caleb Pears 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Rusel grigrory 
 
 gun 
 
 sword 
 
 o 
 
 freman hopkins 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Samuel horton 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Joseph hopkins 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 alexander pears 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 henery Bolding 
 
 gun 
 
 sword 
 
 o 
 
 John f erguson 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Noah robinson 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Joseph ganung 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Jesse ganung 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Elezur hazen 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 william haighson 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Lewis Furguson 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 abiiag Barker 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Samuel Jinkins 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Jacob mead 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 John mcLean 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 John Lounsbury 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 John thrustin 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 C64] 
 
 
 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Nathanel finch 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Jona Carle 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Thomas Furguson 
 Richard p e grigrory 
 James Carle 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 Nathaniel Jinkins 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 David Storms 
 
 gun 
 
 sword 
 
 [ o 
 
 John Sloot 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 John frost 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 gorge Evritt 
 Edward Vermilyea 
 John Stedel 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 sword 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 Jonathan hustice 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Thomas Hall 
 
 gun 
 
 sword 
 
 o 
 
 James Barker 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 John wright 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Thadeus Ramond 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 robint wright 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Beniaman Birdsel 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Isaac ganung 
 Job Veail 
 
 gun 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 Isaac Sloot 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 adonija carle 
 Samuel Conkling 
 Elisha Bolding 
 Jeremiah hughson 
 Jerediah davis 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 gun 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 alaxander Brown 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 gedien Simkins 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 David Fowler 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Daniel worden 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 abraham Furguson 
 Jones Semans 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 Nathanel Robinson 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 John Sloot 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 C65] 
 
 
 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Annexed to the muster roll was the following ad- 
 dendum : 
 
 These air men What is gon into the servis 
 
 Leftenant John munrow 
 St. Josiah grigrory 
 Jacob birdsel 
 Jacob ganung 
 John Shaw 
 Solomon hustice 
 parce holding 
 John Vermilya 
 Richard Barker 
 Daniel grigrory 
 Zebulon wright 
 Isaac merick 
 Eli hopkins 
 James mcf arling 
 Rhubin finch 
 Timothy wood 
 Jonathan Semans 
 william Virmilya 
 Thomas hagson 
 Jonathan hopkins 
 moses hazen 
 Samuel bouton 
 Isaac Lounsbury. 
 
 In the work of enlisting and organizing these 
 militia levies the most efficient men were naturally 
 those who had already had military experience and 
 command as officers in some of the colonial wars. 
 Henry Ludington was among these. He had had 
 such experience in a noteworthy degree, and to it 
 
 1661 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 he added both physical and temperamental aptitude 
 for military labors, and an ardent spirit of patriot- 
 ism. Leaving the service in 1759 as a lieutenant, he 
 had, as already related, resigned his commission in 
 indignation at the Stamp Act. On February 13, 
 1773, however, he accepted a commission as captain 
 in Colonel Beverly Robinson's Dutchess County 
 regiment, and this commission, which was signed by 
 William Tryon, the last British governor of New 
 York, he held until 1775, or possibly 1776, when he 
 cast it aside and entered the "Rebel" or Patriotic 
 service. The militia of Dutchess County was organ- 
 ized, under the law already cited, in the fall of 1775, 
 and on October 17 Petrus Ten Broeck, the colonel 
 of the First or Rhinebeck and Northwest regiment, 
 was commissioned brigadier-general commanding. 
 Of the Second regiment of Dutchess County, Jac- 
 obus Swartwout was colonel, and when in time the 
 militia of the county was so increased as to form two 
 brigades, he was, on March 3, 1780, appointed brig- 
 adier-general commanding one of them. Swart- 
 wout's commission as colonel was also issued on Oc- 
 tober 17, 1775, and at the same time Malcolm Morri- 
 son was commissioned first major and Henry Lud- 
 ington was commissioned second major of his regi- 
 ment. Ludington seems also to have served as cap- 
 tain of the company raised in his home district, and 
 to have been prompt and energetic in his service ; for 
 on February 20, 1776, we find Colonel Swartwout 
 in a letter to the Provincial Congress reporting that 
 
 C67: 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 he was in hourly expectation of Captain Luding- 
 ton's appearance at regimental headquarters, to- 
 gether with Captains Woodford from Pawling's, 
 Clearck from Beekman's, and Durling from 
 Rombout Precinct. The Congress the next day or- 
 dered that all the men thus reported should serve un- 
 til May 1 of that year, unless sooner discharged. 
 
 Soon afterward came Ludington's first promo- 
 tion. On March 8, 1776, Malcolm Morrison, the 
 first major of Swartwout's regiment, addressed to 
 the Provincial Congress of New York this letter: 
 
 Gentlemen: Whereas the gentlemen of the 
 Provincial Congress has been pleased to appoint 
 me First Major in Colo. Swartwout's regiment, 
 and as my situation and business is such, that it 
 is not within my power to serve without doing 
 injustice to myself and creditors, having a con- 
 siderable interest in my hands to settle, and hav- 
 ing a large family to take care of without any 
 person to assist me in settling my affairs, and 
 whereas Major Henry Ludington, appointed in 
 the militia, is prevailed upon to accept the com- 
 mission sent me, and if agreeable to you, do re- 
 sign in his favor. He can be recommended by 
 Colo. Swartwout or the Committee of Dutchess 
 County, and I hope you will be prevailed upon 
 to appoint him in my stead, he being a person 
 that has served in the last war and well ac- 
 quainted in the military service, and, Gentlemen, 
 your compliance will greatly oblige, 
 
 Your Very Humble Servant, 
 
 Malcolm Morrison. 
 
 nesn 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Mr. Ludington waits for an answer. 
 N.B. Gentlemen, enclosed you have the com- 
 mission. 
 
 This extraordinarily naive and unconventional let- 
 ter was received on March 9, apparently being borne 
 by Major Ludington himself as messenger. It was 
 favorably acted upon, and the next day, March 10, 
 Ludington was made first major of the regiment in 
 Morrison's place. At this time the companies were 
 not yet filled, and the regiment was small. But re- 
 cruiting went on rapidly, so that by the first of May, 
 1776, the regiment was actually too large. Accord- 
 ingly on May 6 the Committee of Dutchess County 
 took action for the formation of another regiment in 
 that part of the county, as reported in the following 
 letter to the Provincial Congress : 
 
 Sir: — It having been represented to the Gen- 
 eral Committee of this County, that the Southern 
 Regiment of Militia was too large and exten- 
 sive, containing 12 companies and covering a 
 space of country upwards of 30 miles in length, 
 we have, therefore, not only because in other 
 respects it was expedient, but also in compliance 
 with the Resolution of Congress prohibiting a 
 Regiment to consist of more than 10 Companies, 
 divided it, and instead of one have formed the 
 Militia in that quarter into 2 regiments, together 
 with a list of persons nominated for Field Offi- 
 cers. As this part of our Militia will remain un- 
 regimented till the Officers receive their Commis- 
 sions, we must request that the Commissions be 
 
 1691 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 made out as soon as possible and sent to the Com- 
 mittee in Rombout's Precinct with directions to 
 forward them to the Officers immediately. 
 I remain, by order of the Committee, 
 Your very humble servant, 
 
 Egbert Benson Chairman. 
 
 The new regiment, as described in an enclosure in 
 Mr. Benson's letter, was to consist of all the militia 
 in Phillipse Precinct, and in all of Fredericksburgh 
 Precinct "except the Northern and Middle Short 
 Lots" — at the northeast, as hitherto explained. The 
 field officers nominated were as follows: Colonel, 
 Moses Dusenbury; lieutenant-colonel, Henry Lud- 
 ington; first major, Reuben Ferris; second major, 
 Joshua Nelson; adjutant, Joshua Myrick; quarter- 
 master, Solomon Hopkins. These nominations were 
 promptly confirmed. A little later Henry Luding- 
 ton was commissioned colonel of this regiment, to 
 succeed Colonel Dusenbury. The exact date is not 
 now ascertainable, but according to the mutilated re- 
 mains of the commission, a facsimile of which is given 
 in this volume, it was some time in June, 1776. The 
 commission — his first as colonel — was issued by the 
 Provincial Congress of the Colony of New York, 
 and was one of the last acts of that body, which in 
 that month of June, 1776, went out of existence, and 
 on July 9 following was succeeded by a new Pro- 
 vincial Congress, meeting at White Plains, which the 
 next day, July 10, changed its name to the Conven- 
 tion of the Representatives of the State of New 
 
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 "^ <u £fl 'T' t«3 <P: 12 2 s 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 York. With this change of government new com- 
 missions were issued to officers, Henry Ludington 
 receiving one as colonel, which is now in the posses- 
 sion of his grandson, Charles H. Ludington. His 
 regiment, the seventh of the Dutchess County mili- 
 tia, was thereafter popularly known and indeed 
 often officially designated as Colonel Ludington's 
 regiment. Unfortunately its earliest muster-rolls and 
 record of organization have not been preserved, or 
 cannot now be found, but it is known to have con- 
 sisted of six companies. The minutes of the Council 
 of Appointment do not mention it until May 28, 
 1778, when it is called Colonel Henry Ludington's 
 regiment. At this latter date Stephen Ludington 
 was a second lieutenant in Captain Joel Mead's 
 (1st) company. We may here add that in various 
 rosters of New York troops the following names of 
 members of the Ludington family appear, in ad- 
 dition to Colonel Ludington : 
 
 Stephen Ludington, and also Stephen Ludenton 
 (doubtless the same person), private, in Brincker- 
 hoff's company of Brinckerhoff 's regiment — the sec- 
 ond regiment of Dutchess County, Rombout Pre- 
 cinct. 
 
 Elisha Luddington, private, of Livingston's com- 
 pany of Malcolm's regiment— the first regiment of 
 New York levies in the United States Army. Also, 
 Elisha Luddington, private, in Barnum's company 
 of Hopkins's regiment — the sixth regiment of 
 Dutchess County. 
 
 [71] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 William Luddington, private, in Westfall's com- 
 pany of Wessenfels's regiment. 
 
 Comfort Ludington, private, in Hecock's com- 
 pany of Field's regiment — the third regiment of 
 Dutchess County. Also, Comfort Ludington, pri- 
 vate, in Mead's company of Ludington's regiment — 
 the seventh regiment of Dutchess County. Also, 
 Comfort Luddington, captain of a company of the 
 second regiment of minute men of Dutchess County, 
 commissioned on February 26, 1776. 
 
 Early in June, 1776, probably at about the time of 
 Colonel Ludington's appointment, and a month be- 
 fore the formal declaration of American independ- 
 ence, the Continental Congress called for 13,800 
 militia from the Colonies, to reenforce the army at 
 New York, in addition to other levies for the army 
 which was to invade Canada. New York's share of 
 this levy was 3,750, of whom 3,000 were for service 
 at New York and 750 for the expedition to Canada. 
 The latter were naturally selected from the northern 
 counties, while the 3,000 for local service were taken 
 from the counties along the Hudson and around the 
 city of New York. Among the latter were 335 men 
 from Dutchess County, a larger number than was 
 contributed by any other county excepting New 
 York and Albany. The Dutchess County con- 
 tingent was ordered to be ready to march on 
 June 21. 
 
 The local needs of Dutchess County were not, 
 however, to be overlooked. A committee of the New 
 
 [72] 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 York Congress on June 20 reported that there were 
 many disaffected and dangerous persons in Dutchess 
 and Westchester counties, who greatly disturbed the 
 peace, and who would probably take up arms when- 
 ever the enemy should make a descent upon that 
 region, and that the requisitions of troops made by 
 the Continental Congress had left the militia incap- 
 able of keeping peace and order "without great in- 
 convenience to themselves and much injury to and 
 neglect of their private property." It was therefore 
 recommended, and ordered, that 100 men and officers 
 in Dutchess County and 50 in Westchester County 
 be taken into the service of the Provincial Congress 
 "and confined to the Service of those Counties." The 
 100 men in Dutchess County were organized in two 
 companies. On July 16 the Provincial Congress, or 
 Convention, was in session at White Plains, and it 
 there ordered that one fourth of the militia of those 
 two counties should be summoned into active service, 
 until the end of the year; each man receiving $20 
 bounty, and the same pay and subsistence as the Con- 
 tinental soldiers. Among those thus drawn into the 
 service was Colonel Ludington. 
 
 The first care of Colonel Ludington on assuming 
 command of his regiment was to fill up its ranks and 
 organize a complete staff of officers. In reporting to 
 the Convention — or Provincial Congress, as he still 
 called it — upon this work, he wrote under date of 
 July 19, 1776, from Fredericksburgh, as follows, this 
 letter being transformed into modern and corrected 
 
 C733 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 orthography, and others which follow being thus 
 edited only enough to insure intelligibility : 
 
 These may inform Your Honors that I meet 
 with some difficulty in furnishing my quota of 
 men for the present emergency, for want of com- 
 missions in the regiment which I have the honor 
 to command. We have a number of officers 
 chosen already that have no commissions, and 
 several more must be chosen in order to have the 
 regiment properly officered. And whereas I have 
 applied to the County Committee for blanks to be 
 filled up, and there are none to be had, therefore 
 I, in conjunction with the committee of this Pre- 
 cinct, would desire that there might be about 
 twenty blank commissions sent up by Mr. 
 Myrick, the bearer hereof. I would further ac- 
 quaint Your Honors that the regiment is desti- 
 tute of Majors, and would be glad if Your Hon- 
 ors would appoint two gentlemen to that office 
 and fill up commissions for them. There are two 
 gentlemen that I do, with the advice of the Com- 
 mittee, nominate, viz., Mr. Gee — his Christian 
 name I am not able to tell — of Phillipse Pre- 
 cinct, and Captain Ebenezer Robinson of this 
 Precinct. These gentlemen are doubtless known 
 by several of the members of the honorable 
 House. 
 
 From Your Humble Servant, 
 
 Henry Ludenton, Colonel. 
 To the Honorable Provincial Congress. 
 
 The annals of the New York Convention, under 
 date of July 20, 1776, relate that this letter was re- 
 ceived, read, and filed, and that — 
 
tfl 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 •1 ? , & 
 
 m 4 %\ 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 On reading the said letter from Colonel 
 Ludenton, of Dutchess County, and considering 
 the state of his Regiment at this critical time, 
 
 Resolved, That Commissions be issued to the 
 two gentlemen therein named in said letter, and 
 that 20 other Commissions be signed by the Presi- 
 dent and countersigned by one of the Secretaries 
 and transmitted to Colonel Ludenton, to be filled 
 up for the Captains and Subalterns of his Regi- 
 ment when necessary, by the Precinct Committee 
 and himself; that said Precinct Committee and 
 Colonel Ludenton return to this Convention an 
 exact list of the names, rank and dates of the 
 Officers commissioned, which they shall fill up 
 and deliver. 
 
 And Resolved, That the sending blank com- 
 missions to a Precinct Committee shall not from 
 this instance be drawn into precedent. 
 
 In this fashion Colonel Ludington prepared for 
 the stern activities before him. The "critical time" 
 referred to in the resolutions of the Convention was 
 indeed critical. New York was in imminent danger 
 of being occupied by the British, and British war- 
 ships were likely soon to ascend the Hudson River. 
 John Jay was intrusted with the making of plans for 
 the defense of the Hudson Highlands. On August 
 1, Jay, Duer, and others, were made a committee to 
 draft a plan for a new government for the State of 
 New York. The battle of Long Island was fought 
 on August 27, and a little later the British were in 
 full possession of New York and its environs. The 
 Convention was driven to Harlem, to Kingsbridge, 
 
 C75] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 to Odell's in Phillipse Manor, to Fishkill, to Pough- 
 keepsie, and to Kingston. On October 20 the battle 
 of Chatterton Hill was fought, at White Plains, in 
 which Colonel Ludington's regiment was engaged, 
 and in which he himself served as one of Washing- 
 ton's aides, and thus began his acquaintance with the 
 commander-in-chief. When Washington's army 
 crossed the Hudson River, however, for the "devil's 
 dance across the Jerseys," and the superb turning at 
 bay at Trenton, the New York militia levies re- 
 mained at home, where indeed they were sorely 
 needed. The Tory element in Westchester and 
 Dutchess counties had from the first been ominously 
 strong. With the British victories in and around 
 New York, and with the American Army in appar- 
 ently hopeless rout and flight, they were emboldened 
 to open hostility to the Patriot cause. A report to 
 the Convention, or to the Committee of Safety, on 
 September 4, made it appear that in the four coun- 
 ties of Dutchess, Westchester, Orange and Ulster 
 there were only 3,100 armed and trustworthy militia, 
 while there were 2,300 disaffected Tories and 2,300 
 slaves to be held in order. A month later the situa- 
 tion was much worse, and it was then that there was 
 formed the committee already mentioned, "for in- 
 quiring into, detecting and defeating conspiracies 
 against the liberties of America." The war was now 
 on, in earnest, and "malice domestic, foreign levy," 
 were both at once to be grappled with by the Patriot 
 soldiers. 
 
 £7611 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE REVOLUTION 
 
 THE public services of Henry Ludington during 
 the war for independence were threefold in 
 character. Each of the three parts was of much im- 
 portance, each was marked with arduous toil and fre- 
 quent perils, and each was performed to the full 
 extent of his ability. Nor was the sacrifice of per- 
 sonal welfare inconsiderable. We have seen that he 
 was the father of a large family, eight children hav- 
 ing been born to him prior to the signing of the 
 Declaration of Independence, and was the leasehold 
 occupant of extensive lands. It was no light thing 
 to absent himself from these. There was before 
 him, moreover, the example of another and senior 
 officer, who, because of family interests and engage- 
 ments, had resigned his commission. That same 
 commission had been passed on to Henry Ludington, 
 who might with equal grace and reason have declined 
 it or presently resigned it. There is, however, no in- 
 dication that he ever contemplated such a step. 
 Leaving his lands and home in the charge of his wife 
 and children, the eldest of whom in 1776 was only 
 fifteen, while the youngest was a babe in arms, he 
 gave himself with whole-hearted devotion to what- 
 ever tasks his country might require of him. 
 
 £7711 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 The distinctively military services of Henry Lud- 
 ington began at an early date. The first clash of 
 arms after the Declaration of Independence oc- 
 curred on the shores of New York Bay. The retire- 
 ment of the American Army, after unsuccessful en- 
 gagements, from Long Island, and then from Man- 
 hattan Island, brought the theater of war closer and 
 closer to Dutchess County, and made the active par- 
 ticipation of the militia more imminent. Indeed, even 
 before those operations, the militia was called out to 
 assist in securing the passes of the Hudson High- 
 lands, and thus preventing any communication be- 
 tween the British at New York and those in Canada 
 and the North Woods. The Convention or Legis- 
 lature of the State, in session at Harlem, on August 
 8, 1776, adopted the following war measure: 
 
 RESOLVED unanimously that Brigadier 
 General Clinton be, and he hereby is, appointed 
 to the Command of all the Levies raised, and to 
 be raised in the Comities of Ulster, Orange and 
 West Chester, agreeable to the Resolutions of 
 this Convention of the sixteenth day of July last. 
 
 RESOLVED that General Clinton be in- 
 formed of this Appointment and directed imme- 
 diately to send Expresses to the Counties of Ul- 
 ster, Dutchess, Orange and West Chester, and 
 order them to hasten their Levies and to march 
 them down to the Fort now erected on the North 
 side of Kings Bridge, leaving two hundred men 
 under the Command of a Brave & alert Officer to 
 take possession of and throw up works at the pass 
 of Anthonys Nose. 
 
 [78] 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 RESOLVED that General Clinton be re- 
 quested to order the Troops of Horse belonging 
 to the Counties of Ulster, Orange and West 
 Chester immediately to march to such posts as he 
 may think proper that they should Occupy, in 
 order to watch the motions of the Enemies Ships 
 of war now in Hudsons River. 
 
 Extracts from the Minutes. 
 
 John McKesson Secry. 
 
 When the ships of war had landed an army, and 
 this was moving irresistibly northward, a committee 
 of the Convention, meeting at Fishkill as a Com- 
 mittee of Safety, on October 10, further ordered: 
 
 RESOLVED, that the Commanding officer 
 of the militia of Ulster County, do immediately 
 send down 300 men of the Militia of the County 
 of Ulster, to Peekskill well armed and accoutred 
 w T ith three days provisions. 
 
 RESOLVED, that the Commanding Officer 
 on the south side of the Mountains or High-Lands 
 in the County of Orange, be directed to order 
 such a number of the militia from that part of the 
 said County which lays on the south side of the 
 High Lands as will be sufficient to Guard their 
 shores, and to appoint a commissioner to supply 
 them with provisions. 
 
 And that the Commanding Officer on the north 
 side of the Highlands, in the said County, Order 
 one hundred of the Militia from the north side of 
 the High Lands of the said County to march 
 without Delay to Peekskill taking with them 
 three days provisions. 
 
 C793 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 RESOLVED that Benjamin Haight and 
 Mathew Harper be commissioners to supply 
 them with provisions, and that this Convention 
 will provide means for defraving the Expense. 
 
 ORDERED, that the Brigadier Generals of 
 the Counties of Albany, Dutchess, Ulster and 
 Orange, give orders to the several Colonels in 
 their Brigades to hold the one half of their sev- 
 eral Regiments in Readiness to march at an 
 hour's notice with five days provisions. 
 
 RESOLVED, that all Ranges raised in the 
 County of Ulster repair immediately to Fishkill 
 and be subject to the direction of the Committee 
 for enquiring into, detecting, and defeating all 
 conspiracies formed in this State against the Lib- 
 erties of America. 
 
 Extract from the Minutes of this Afternoon. 
 John McKesson, Secr'y. 
 
 The turning-point in the campaign which began 
 at Brooklyn occurred on October 28, at White 
 Plains. There, at Chatterton Hill, Washington 
 once more engaged the British, and once more was 
 compelled to retire before them. With the masterly 
 strategy in which he was unrivaled by any soldier of 
 his time, however, instead of falling back upon the 
 defenses of the Hudson Highlands and thus inviting 
 a conflict which might have cost him the possession of 
 that crucial point, he retreated in another direction, 
 south and west, thus drawing the British away from 
 the Highlands and leaving the latter secure. Had 
 the British, instead of pursuing him in that fruitless 
 chase across the Jerseys, only to meet with disaster at 
 
 H80] 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Trenton, hurled themselves against the forts at 
 West Point and elsewhere along the Hudson, they 
 might easily have gained control of the Hudson, and 
 thus have effected a junction with their northern 
 forces and have altered the whole story of the war. 
 We may suppose that that is what Washington would 
 have done had he been in Clinton's place. The British 
 did not do so, but fell into the trap which the wily 
 American had set for them. In the battle at White 
 Plains, however, — which is more to our purpose than 
 the subsequent campaign, — the militia was largely 
 used, and acquitted itself with credit. In an appli- 
 cation for a pension made by Joshua Baker of 
 Dutchess County, it was set forth that "On or about 
 the 1st day of August, 1776, he enlisted at a place 
 called Fredericksburgh in the County of Dutchess 
 and State of New York at which place he was resid- 
 ing. That he entered the company commanded by 
 Captain Luddenton in the regiment commanded by 
 Col. Swartwout. That from Fredericksburgh afore- 
 said he marched with the said company to Peekskill 
 and after a short time from thence to Kingsbridge 
 in the county of Westchester, that he remained at 
 Kingsbridge until the month of October, when they 
 were ordered to White Plains, where he was in the 
 engagement generally known as the battle of White 
 Plains. In this engagement one of the Chaplains 
 named Van Wyck was killed. Soon after the battle 
 of White Plains he marched with the said regiment 
 to New Windsor where he was discharged." The 
 
 [81] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 "Captain Luddenton" mentioned was presumably 
 Comfort Ludington, who, as we have already seen, 
 was an officer of the Dutchess County militia, and 
 the statement of Baker is clear indication that that 
 militia was engaged in the battle of White Plains. 
 
 Further evidence to the same effect, directly con- 
 necting Henry Ludington with that battle, is found 
 in the affidavit of Elisha Turner, who declared 
 "That in the fall of 1776 he was drafted for three 
 months in Captain Joel Mead's Company, Lieut. 
 Porter, and Seargents Fisher and Brewsters in 
 Colonel Ludington's Reg't New York State troops. 
 That he joined his company and marched to White 
 Plains and then joined his regiment and the Army, 
 that he was present at the battle of White Plains and 
 afterward retired with the army up the river. That 
 he remained with his Regiment and company until 
 his term of three months expired, when he received a 
 verbal discharge from his Colonel and Captain and 
 returned home." Much other evidence to the same 
 effect might be cited, were it needed, which it is not. 
 There can be no doubt that Henry Ludington with 
 his regiment was engaged at White Plains, and that 
 he, himself, as a representative officer of the Dutchess 
 County levies, was chosen to serve as an aide on the 
 staff of Washington. The commander-in-chief ap- 
 pears to have recognized in Colonel Ludington a man 
 upon whose brain and arm he might with confidence 
 depend. It is a credible tradition that during that 
 battle Washington complimented him upon his sol- 
 
 C82] 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 dier-like bearing, and indirectly paid a tribute to his 
 vigilance. A family tradition tells that as the two 
 stood side by side, with the rest of the staff about 
 them, Colonel Ludington noticed the British tak- 
 ing up a new position and placing their artillery, 
 screened behind shrubs and trees, and directed Wash- 
 ington's attention to the fact, which had been en- 
 tirely unperceived by the others. "Yes," said Wash- 
 ington, approvingly, "I have been watching them 
 this long time." 
 
 On November 6, the British began their fatuous 
 movement toward New Jersey, imagining that the 
 American Congress at Philadelphia, rather than the 
 American Army and fortresses along the Hudson, 
 was the strategical objective. The American Coun- 
 cil of War unanimously agreed that Washington's 
 army should thereupon cross into New Jersey, antici- 
 pating the British advance, while three thousand 
 troops, including Colonel Ludington's Dutchess 
 County militia, should be sent to reinforce the de- 
 fenses of the Highlands. Washington left White 
 Plains on the morning of November 10, and reached 
 Peekskill at sunset of the same day, Colonel Lud- 
 ington's regiment presumably accompanying him. 
 After a careful inspection of the works as far up the 
 river as West Point, and after giving directions for 
 the disposition of the troops, on November 12 he 
 passed over into New Jersey, and went his way to 
 the disaster of Fort Washington, and the more than 
 redeeming victory of Trenton. Meanwhile, Colonel 
 
 C833 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Dudington remained at Peekskill, where there pres- 
 ently was a prospect of strenuous work. For hav- 
 ing, as they imagined, put Washington to hopeless 
 flight in New Jersey, the British turned a part of their 
 attention to the very thing to which their chief at- 
 tention should at the outset have been given. Plans 
 were made for an advance up the Hudson, by land 
 and water. West Point was to be avoided by 
 marching up the east shore, where the defenses were 
 not so strong. Such a movement must, of course, be 
 resisted at all hazards. Washington, from his camp 
 on the Delaware, in what Thomas Paine described as 
 "the times that try men's souls," was able to spare 
 enough attention from his own pressing extremities 
 to write words of warning and exhortation to Gov- 
 ernor Clinton, and in pursuance of his wise counsels 
 the New York Convention, at Fishkill, on December 
 21, adopted the following resolutions: 
 
 WHEREAS, from various Intelligence re- 
 ceived of the motions and Designs of the Enemy's 
 Army, it appears highly probable that they medi- 
 tate an attack upon the Passes in the Highlands 
 on the East side of Hudson's River, 
 
 AND WHEREAS, the Term of the Enlist- 
 ment of the militia under the command of Briga- 
 dier General George Clinton which is at present 
 stationed to defend the Pass at Peeks Kill ex- 
 pires on the last of this month, and that a great 
 part of the Division commanded by Major Gen- 
 eral Spencer, which is stationed at North Castle 
 on the 29th inst. 
 
 C843 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 AND WHEREAS, his Excellency GenL 
 Washington by his Letter of the 15th instant has 
 warmly recommended to this state to exert them- 
 selves in procuring temporary supplies of militia 
 'till the new Levies of the continental army can 
 be brought into the Field, 
 
 RESOLVED, that the whole militia of the 
 Counties of Westchester, Dutchess and that part 
 of the County of Albany which lies to the south- 
 ward of Beeren Island be forthwith marched to 
 North Castle in Westchester County, well 
 equipped with arms and ammunition and fur- 
 nished with Blankets & six days Provisions & a 
 Pot or Camp Kettle to every six men, except 
 such Persons as the field Officers of the Respec- 
 tive Regiments shall judge cannot be called into 
 service without greatly distressing their families, 
 or who may be actually engaged in the manufac- 
 turing of salt Petre, or of shoes and Cloathing 
 for the use of the army. 
 
 RESOLVED, that the said militia be allowed 
 continental Pay and Rations, and that such men 
 as cannot furnish themselves with arms shall be 
 supplied from the continental store. 
 
 Colonel Ludington and his regiment therefore re- 
 mained on duty at North Castle until word came of 
 the rout of the British at Trenton and Princeton, and 
 Washington's triumphant return to the hills of Mor- 
 ristown for the winter. All imminent danger of a 
 British attack upon the Highlands was then past, and 
 the militia was permitted to return home for a time. 
 The respite was brief, however. On January 3, 
 1777, Nathaniel Sackett was authorized by the Com- 
 
 C85: 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 mittee of Safety "to employ such detachments of the 
 militia of Dutchess County as are not in actual ser- 
 vice, as he may deem expedient, for inquiring into, 
 detecting and defeating all conspiracies which may 
 be found against the liberties of America." Also, 
 on March 25, the Convention took further action, re- 
 sulting in the issuance of this order by Governor 
 Clinton : 
 
 To Colonel Morris Graham, 
 
 Pursuant to a Resolve of the Honorable the 
 Convention of the State of New York, dated the 
 25th day of March last, impowering & requiring 
 me until the first of August next to call into 
 actual Service all or any Part or proportion of the 
 Militia as well Horse as Foot of the Counties of 
 Ulster, West Chester, Dutchess and Orange, for 
 the Defence of the Posts and Passes of the High- 
 lands, & frustrating the Attempts of the Enemy 
 to make Incursions into this State you are for 
 these Purposes forthwith, to draft by Ballot or 
 other equitable Manner, one hundred & thirty 
 three Men of your Regiment & them compleatly 
 armed & equiped, cause to march, properly Offi- 
 cered, to Fort Independence near Peek's Kill 
 there to join the Field Officers who shall be ap- 
 pointed to command them. The Companies to 
 consist as nearly as may be of Sixty two Privates 
 & to have a Captain & two Lieutenants. 
 Given under my Hand at Poughkeepsie this 3d 
 Day of April 1777. 
 
 Geo. Clinton, B. Gen. 
 
 Colonel Ludington appears at this time not to have 
 been among those called to duty at Peekskill, but to 
 
 1861 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 have been left for a few weeks among those "not in 
 actual service" who were to act under Nathaniel 
 Sackett, as already related, for the suppression of 
 conspiracies. The call to duty was not very well 
 responded to by the other officers and men. The 
 militia had been in the field in the early part of the 
 winter longer than they had expected to be, and now, 
 in the spring, they were desirous of remaining at 
 home as much as possible to attend to the season's 
 work on their farms. This reluctance to respond to 
 the call provoked this action of the Convention, taken 
 at Kingston on April 24 : 
 
 WHEREAS it appears that a great Part of 
 the militia of Dutchess County have neglected to 
 obey the orders of General Clinton issued in con- 
 sequence of a resolve of this House, for calling 
 out a part of the militia of the Counties of Ul- 
 ster, Orange and Dutchess to Garrison the forts 
 and Guard the passes in the Highlands. 
 
 RESOLVED that Major Lawrence and Mr. 
 Zephaniah Piatt be & they are hereby appointed 
 a Committee to repair forthwith to Dutchess 
 County to enquire into the reasons of such neg- 
 lect, that they use their utmost endeavours to con- 
 vince the People of the necessity of exerting 
 themselves at this critical Juncture, and that they 
 make report to this Convention with all conven- 
 ient Dispatch in order that the most effectual 
 measures may be taken to induce a compliance 
 with the aforesaid Resolve. 
 
 RESOLVED that General Clinton be & he 
 hereby is empowered to make such disposition 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 with respect to the officers of the militia under his 
 Command as he shall judge most advansive of 
 the Public Service and where any extra expense 
 shall accrue in consequence of this Resolve which 
 cannot be considered as a Continental Charge 
 this Convention will pay the same. 
 
 Extract from the Minutes. 
 
 Robt. Benson, Secry. 
 
 There was, however, no question concerning the 
 activity and zeal of Colonel Ludington at this time. 
 On April 25, the very day after the adoption of the 
 foregoing resolution by the Convention, a force of 
 two thousand British troops landed at Compo, near 
 Fairfield, Connecticut, under command of General 
 Tryon, the former British governor of New York, 
 under whom Henry Ludington had once held a com- 
 mission. It marched hastily inland, and on the after- 
 noon of the next day reached D anbury, Connecticut, 
 where there were large stores of provisions, tents, 
 etc., for the American Army, many of which had 
 been sent thither from Peekskill for— as was sup- 
 posed — greater security. Not only these, but also 
 most of the private houses in the town, were at once 
 set afire, while the soldiers made themselves drunk 
 with looted spirits, and gave themselves up to an 
 unrestrained orgy. It was one of the most brutal 
 and disgraceful performances of British arms in all 
 the war, and was unhesitatingly denounced as such 
 by self-respecting British officers. It does not appear 
 that the raid had any other object than the destruc- 
 
 [88: 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 tion of D anbury, or the stores at that place, for as 
 soon as the soldiers could be sufficiently sobered up 
 thereafter, a retreat toward the British shipping on 
 the Sound was begun. But on the American side the 
 incident gave occasion for one of the most thrilling 
 and gallant exploits of the war. 
 
 It was on Friday afternoon that the landing was 
 made at Compo, and it was on Saturday afternoon 
 that Danbury was burned. Patriot messengers rode 
 at top speed in three directions— toward New Haven 
 to hasten Generals Arnold and Wooster, who were 
 already on their way; to meet General Silliman, to 
 expedite his juncture with the others; and to Freder- 
 icksburgh to tell the news to Colonel Ludington, that 
 he might furnish the troops which the generals would 
 need. Railroads, telegraphs and other annihilators 
 of time and space were unknown in those days. But 
 the personal factor, which after all dominates all the 
 problems of this world, was active and effective. At 
 four o'clock Danbury was fired. At eight or nine 
 o'clock that evening a jaded horseman reached Col- 
 onel Ludington's home with the news. We may 
 imagine the fire that flashed through the veteran's 
 veins at the report of the dastardly act of his former 
 chief. But what to do? His regiment was dis- 
 banded, its members scattered at their homes, many 
 at considerable distances. He must stay there, to 
 muster all who came in. The messenger from Dan- 
 bury could ride no more, and there was no neighbor 
 within call. In this emergency he turned to his 
 
 C893 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 daughter Sibyl, who, a few days before, had passed 
 her sixteenth birthday, and bade her to take a horse, 
 ride for the men, and tell them to be at his house by 
 daybreak. One who even now rides from Carmel to 
 Cold Spring will find rugged and dangerous roads, 
 with lonely stretches. Imagination only can picture 
 what it was a century and a quarter ago, on a dark 
 night, with reckless bands of "Cowboys" and "Skin- 
 ners" abroad in the land. But the child performed 
 her task, clinging to a man's saddle, and guiding her 
 steed with only a hempen halter, as she rode through 
 the night, bearing the news of the sack of Danbury. 
 There is no extravagance in comparing her ride with 
 that of Paul Revere and its midnight message. Nor 
 was her errand less efficient than his. By daybreak, 
 thanks to her daring, nearly the whole regiment was 
 mustered before her father's house at Fredericks- 
 burgh, and an hour or two later was on the march for 
 vengeance on the raiders. They were a motley com- 
 pany, some without arms, some half dressed, but all 
 filled with a certain berserk rage. That night they 
 reached Redding, and joined Arnold, Wooster and 
 Silliman. The next morning they encountered the 
 British at Ridgefield. They were short of ammuni- 
 tion and were outnumbered by the British three to 
 one. But they practised the same tactics that Paul 
 Revere's levies at Lexington and Concord found so 
 effective. Their scattering sharpshooter fire from 
 behind trees and fences and stone walls, harassed the 
 British sorely, and made their retreat to their ships 
 
 1:90] 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 at Compo resemble a rout. Nor were instances of in- 
 dividual heroism in conflict lacking. Arnold had his 
 norse shot under him as, almost alone, he furiously 
 charged the enemy, and the gallant Wooster received 
 a wound from which he died a few days later. There 
 were far greater operations in the war than this, but 
 there was scarcely one more expeditious, intrepid and 
 successful. Writing of it to Gouverneur Morris, 
 Alexander Hamilton said: "I congratulate you on 
 the Danbury expedition. The stores destroyed there 
 have been purchased at a pretty high price to the 
 enemy. The spirit of the people on the occasion does 
 them great honor — is a pleasing proof that they have 
 lost nothing of that primitive zeal with which they 
 began the contest, and will be a galling discourage- 
 ment to the enemy from repeating attempts of the 
 kind. . . . The people of New York considered the 
 affair in the light of a defeat to the British troops." 
 It was not long before there was a still more 
 serious menace than the Danbury raid. In June, 
 1777, there were indications that the British were 
 planning anew to gain possession of the Hudson 
 River, and thus unite their own northern and south- 
 ern forces while dividing the eastern from the middle 
 and southern colonies. Colonel Ludington and his 
 regiment were therefore summoned to Peekskill, to 
 strengthen the defenses of the Highlands, and it 
 was not without some difficulty that he was enabled 
 to respond to the call. Some of his men had become 
 half mutinous. They had been willing enough to 
 
 C913 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 rush to D anbury, but now, in the busy time of the 
 early summer, they objected to leaving their farms 
 when there was no enemy actually in sight. The 
 same trouble was experienced by the other militia 
 commanders. On this occasion the period of service 
 at Peekskill was short. But on July 1, Washington 
 wrote to Clinton that the British were believed to be 
 operating against Ticonderoga and its dependencies ; 
 that Howe was preparing to evacuate the Jerseys to 
 cooperate with the northern army, and that there 
 was danger of a sudden attack upon the Highlands 
 and the passes of the Hudson. He urged therefore, 
 in the strongest manner, that all available militia 
 should be called out to strengthen the garrisons at 
 Peekskill and other places on the river. The next 
 day Governor Clinton reported the gist of this letter 
 to the Committee of Safety, adding that in conse- 
 quence thereof he had "issued Orders to Colonels 
 BrinckerhofF, Ludington, Umphrey & Freeze of 
 Dutchess County to march their Regiments to 
 Peek's Kill." But the result was not altogether sat- 
 isfactory. The men were ready enough for active 
 service; but they demurred at waiting idly in the 
 camp while their farms at home were suffering. On 
 July 9, Clinton, in a quandary, wrote from Fort 
 Montgomery to the president of the Convention : 
 
 The Militia which I ordered to this Post & 
 who came in with great Expedition almost to a 
 Man according to Custom begin to be extreamly 
 uneasy. They want to go Home, their Corn is 
 
 [92] 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 suffering, their Harvest coming on, and they 
 cant see that it is likely there will be any Thing 
 for them to do here suddenly. They have been 
 frequently on the Dunderbergh to look down the 
 River & cant see a single Vessel in it ; What shall 
 I do with them ? 
 
 If I consent to their going Home they will Re- 
 turn when ordered again with great Chearful- 
 ness. If I dont, they will go (many of them at 
 least) without Leave. I dont know what to do 
 with them &, therefore, shall not do any Thing, 
 without your Honor's Directions which I should 
 be glad to have this afternoon. 
 
 As a result of this appeal, General Putnam on 
 July 11 issued an order to the effect that, "consider- 
 ing the Busy Season of the Year, & how important it 
 is to the public as well as to themselves that the 
 Militia be at home in their Business at this Time, and 
 not being wanted, Altho' he cannot say how soon they 
 may be," the three regiments which first responded 
 to the call, to wit, Ludington's, Humphrey's and 
 Brinckerhoff's, were "dismissed with the General's 
 thanks for their Alertness and for their good Ser- 
 vices, relying upon it that the Zeal & Ardor they have 
 shewn in the great Cause we are engaged in will 
 prompt them to turn out without (sic) the utmost 
 Alacrity on all future Occasions." 
 
 Another occasion was quickly supplied by the 
 British, with their activities at the north and their re- 
 newed menace against the Highlands. On June 30, 
 General Howe evacuated New Jersey, moved into 
 
 C93] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Staten Island, and prepared to advance up the Hud- 
 son. On July 1, Burgoyne with his army appeared 
 before Ticonderoga, and on July 6, the Americans 
 evacuated that fortress. Washington, then at Mor- 
 ristown, wrote on July 10 to the president of the 
 Continental Congress: "In consequence of the prob- 
 ability that General Howe will push against the 
 Highland passes to cooperate with General Bur- 
 goyne, I shall, by the advice of my officers, move the 
 army from hence to-morrow morning towards the 
 North River." Though delayed somewhat by bad 
 weather, he proceeded to Sufferns, and thence to 
 Galloway's, in Orange County, New York, where he 
 remained until he ascertained that Howe was not 
 going up the river, but was really making a feint to 
 cover a swift dash upon Philadelphia. Accordingly, 
 on July 23, Washington's army was set in motion 
 toward the Delaware, leaving the Highlands to their 
 local defenders. The inefficient and half treacher- 
 ous Gates presently superseded Schuyler in com- 
 mand of the American Army at the north after the 
 disastrous affair at Ticonderoga, and it is probable 
 that Washington doubted his ability to cope with 
 Burgoyne. At any rate, despite what he regarded 
 as Howe's "unaccountable abandonment" of Bur- 
 goyne, Washington regarded the latter's movements 
 with much apprehension, and frequently warned 
 Clinton at the Highlands to be on his guard against 
 him. On July 31, he urged Clinton to call out the 
 militia to reinforce the garrisons, and Clinton wrote 
 
 C94] 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 as follows to the Committee of Safety, a letter which 
 throws much light upon the embarrassments from 
 which he suffered : 
 
 The Proportion to be furnished by this State 
 is 500 and it shall be my first Business to issue the 
 necessary Orders for march'g them to the respec- 
 tive stations for which they are intended. 
 
 I am nevertheless apprehensive that I shall 
 find it extremely difficult to compleat even this 
 small Number. The Continental Pay and Ra- 
 tions being far below the wages given for ordi- 
 nary Labor the Difference becomes a Tax ren- 
 dered by personal Service and as the Train Band 
 List from the Exemptions arising from Age Of- 
 fice & other Causes consists chiefly of the Mid- 
 dling & lower Class of People this extraordinary 
 Tax is altogether paid by them. 
 
 Add to this that unless a proportionate Num- 
 ber is called out of each County which in most 
 Cases is inexpedient the County affording the 
 most Men is upon the same Principle charged 
 with a Tax to which the other Parts of the Com- 
 munity do not contribute. 
 
 These Reasons are so clear as to be generally 
 understood and complained of by the Militia and 
 unless those exercising the Legislative Power of 
 the State shall in their Wisdom devise some Plan 
 in which those Inconveniences will be obviated 
 and the Militia Duty become more equal I am ex- 
 tremely apprehensive that any Orders for calling 
 Detachments to the Field for a limited Time will 
 not hereafter be so duly obeyed as the Nature of 
 Military Command and the good of the service 
 absolutely requires. It wo'd be needless to ob- 
 
 C95J 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 serve to you, Gentlemen, that tho my Office as 
 Governor gives me the Command of the Militia I 
 am not vested with authority to promise even the 
 ordinary Continental Pay and subsistance to any 
 greater Number of Men than those required of 
 me by his Excellency the Commander in Chief, 
 whose Requisition entitles those who are called 
 into actual Service in Consequence thereof to a 
 Compensation from the Continent at large. 
 
 In consequence of this letter of Clinton's the Com- 
 mittee of Safety the same day ordered that "Con- 
 tinental pay and rations be advanced on behalf of the 
 Continent, to all such Militia as his Excellency the 
 Governor shall think proper to call out." Colonel 
 Ludington was not included in the summons to the 
 Highlands, but was selected by Clinton for other 
 and, as it proved, actually more active service, in the 
 borderland of Westchester County. Clinton wrote 
 to him as follows, from Kingston, on August 1, 1777: 
 
 The Operations of the Enemy ag't the State 
 to the Northward as well as the exposed Situa- 
 tion of some of the Southern Counties to the In- 
 cursions of the Enemy from that Quarter, render 
 it expedient to call into actual Service, a very 
 considerable Proportion of the Militia in the 
 Classing of the different Regiments for these 
 Services your Regiment & Colo. Fields' with the 
 other Regiments of W. Chester County are to 
 furnish 310 Men, including Non Commissioned 
 Officers & Privates properly officered armed & 
 accoutred, as you '1 see by the inclosed Order; 
 and, as you are appointed to take the command of 
 
 C963 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 this Detachment, I desire that you will, immedi- 
 ately upon the Receipt hereof, direct and forward 
 to the Commanding Officers of the other Regi- 
 ments who are to furnish Men towards this De- 
 tachm't, one of the inclosed Resolutions & Orders, 
 and exert yourself in having them raised with all 
 possible Expedition and march them to such Sta- 
 tions in W. Chester County as will tend most to 
 the Protection of the Inhabitants and best con- 
 duce to the Public Safety. Taking your Direc- 
 tions occasionally from the Command 'g Officer 
 at Peeks Kill. 
 
 The Inclosed Resolutions of the Council of 
 Safety subjecting Exempts to a Proportion of 
 the Common Burthen will, I hope, enable you to 
 carry these Orders into Execution with greater 
 Ease, especially as every Other Regt. in the State 
 will furnish an equal if not a greater Number of 
 Men for the Service. 
 
 I am &c. 
 Colo. Ludington. (G. C.) 
 
 The Troops will be allowed Continental Pay 
 & Rations & a Bounty to be raised agreeable to 
 the within Resolve from the Fines levied on the 
 Exempts refusing Service. 
 
 A few days later another alarm was caused by the 
 uncertainty which attended the movements of the 
 British fleet, which, after sailing from New York to 
 the capes of the Delaware as if to attack Phila- 
 delphia, suddenly put to sea again and disappeared 
 for a time. Washington communicated his observa- 
 tions and suspicions to Clinton, and Clinton, on 
 
 C97] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 August 5, countermanded his orders to Ludington in 
 the following letter : 
 
 By Dispatches just Rec'd from his Excellency 
 Genl. Washington dated at Chester in Pensyl- 
 vania 1st Aug't, I am informed that the Enemy's 
 Fleet have left the Capes of Delaware & are 
 steering Eastward & his Excellency is fully of 
 Opinion they intend (proceeding) up Hudson's 
 River. From this Intelligence & the great Pre- 
 parations making by the Enemy at Kings Bridge 
 for an Expedition, I have not the least Doubt but 
 that their Designs are against this Quarter & by 
 vigorous Exertion they hope to join their two 
 Armies before ours can arrive to oppose them. 
 His Excellency is apprehensive of this also & has 
 requested me to call out all the Militia of this 
 State to oppose the Enemy till he can arrive with 
 his Army. You will, therefore, on receipt hereof 
 with the utmost Expedition march your Regt. to 
 Fort Montgomery compleatly armed and ac- 
 coutred, leaving the frontier Companies at Home 
 embodied & on Duty to guard ag't any small 
 Parties of Tories or Indians. I mean to repair to 
 the Fort with all Expedition & take the Com- 
 mand. 
 
 Clinton then notified Putnam at Peekskill that he 
 had ordered Ludington's and also Field's and 
 Brinckerhoff's regiments to join him forthwith, and 
 on August 9 reported this action to Washington. 
 But it was one thing to order and another thing to 
 have the order fulfilled. The militia exhibited their 
 former reluctance to go into camp unless the enemy 
 
 C98] 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 were actually in sight. This applies, however, to the 
 other regiments rather than to Colonel Ludington's. 
 No complaint of his inactivity or his inability to fur- 
 nish his quota of men appears. But on August 20, 
 Colonel Humphrey reported that his regiment was 
 unwilling to march northward, meaning, no doubt, 
 to go up the river beyond the Highlands to the aid of 
 Gates against Burgoyne, as there was some desperate 
 talk of doing ; and John Jay and Gouverneur Morris 
 reported that Gates's army could hope for no militia 
 reinforcements excepting from Albany County, and 
 that garrisons should be provided for the Highland 
 forts when the terms of enlistment of the militia 
 should expire. This was the more essential as the 
 regular garrisons had largely been sent north to aid 
 Gates. A little later, on September 4, Colonel Dirck 
 Brinckerhoff wrote from Fishkill to Clinton in an- 
 swer to some strictures as follows : 
 
 Sir, 
 
 You Blame me in Your Letter for Disobeying 
 the Orders I first Receiv'd for all the Militia to 
 go to Peekskill, but it was by Consent of General 
 Putnam, that Only part should go, and be Re- 
 liev'd by the Same number from time to time in 
 Such Manner as I thought proper, which has 
 Strictly been done. 
 
 Agreeable to your Last I have Order'd half the 
 Militia out, but it is allmost impossible to get 
 them to go, on account of the Exempts not going, 
 Aledging this is not a General Alarum; there- 
 fore, should be Glad of Some further Regulation 
 
 £99: 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 in that Respect, and Possitive Orders from you 
 how to act in that affair, I am Sir, 
 
 Your Ob't. Hble. Serv't 
 
 Dirck Bktnckerhoff. 
 
 To His Excellency George Clinton Esq. 
 
 Colonel Ludington, meanwhile, was busy else- 
 where, in another department of his public duties, of 
 which we shall speak hereafter. At first commis- 
 sioned to serve in Westchester County, then ordered 
 to the Highlands, he seems to have been permitted to 
 remain in Westchester and lower Dutchess counties, 
 where some strong hand was sorely needed. But on 
 September 15 came news of the battle of the Brandy- 
 wine, in which the Stars and Stripes was first un- 
 furled in battle, but in which the Americans were de- 
 feated. The news was ominous of the fall of Phila- 
 delphia and of the martyrdom of Valley Forge, and 
 it caused some consternation along the Hudson. 
 Clinton at once ordered eleven New York militia 
 regiments to reinforce the Highlands, among them 
 Colonel Ludington's, which was to proceed at once to 
 Peekskill to serve under General Putnam. For the 
 first time Ludington seems to have had some diffi- 
 culty in complying with orders, for, on September 
 29, we find Clinton writing to him, as well as to the 
 other colonels of militia, expressing surprise at the 
 circumstance that, although he had ordered the whole 
 of the regiments to reinforce the garrisons, not more 
 
 noon 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 than 300 men of six regiments had responded; and 
 adding a peremptory command that one half of 
 each regiment should go into service immediately 
 for one month, and then be relieved by the other half. 
 There was indeed cause for these preparations, for 
 the British were at last actually beginning their ad- 
 vance up the Hudson in aid of the hard-pressed 
 Burgoyne, though all too late to save him. At the 
 beginning of October the British fleet appeared in 
 the Hudson, and on October 4 a landing was made 
 at Tarrytown. Of what occurred there, we have two 
 contemporary accounts. One was given in the New 
 York "Journal" of May 11, 1778, by one of the gar- 
 rison of Fort Montgomery, which, as we shall see, 
 was presently captured by the British. "On Satur- 
 day night," says that narrator, "we had advice that a 
 large number of ships, brigs, armed vessels, &c, had 
 arrived at Tarrytown, where they had landed a con- 
 siderable body of men, supposed to be about one 
 thousand, and had advanced toward the plains. Col- 
 onel Lutlington being posted there with about five 
 hundred militia, they sent in a flag to him requiring 
 him to lay down his arms and surrender himself and 
 men prisoners of war. Whilst he was parleying with 
 the flag they endeavored to surround him, which he 
 perceiving ordered his men to retreat. The British 
 then returned to their shipping, and the next morn- 
 ing we had advice of their being under sail, and com- 
 ing up as far as King's Ferry." The "Colonel Lut- 
 lington" referred to was, of course, Henry Luding- 
 
 dOl] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 ton. By "the plains" it is to be supposed White 
 Plains was meant, that village being distant from 
 Tarrytown about seven miles. 
 
 The second account, much more circumstantial 
 and authoritative, is that of Colonel Ludington him- 
 self in his report to General Putnam. He was at 
 that time stationed at Wright's Mills, between Tar- 
 rytown and White Plains, guarding the inhabitants 
 from the depredations of Tory and Indian maraud- 
 ers. He wrote to General Putnam as follows : 
 
 Sir. I must acquaint you of my yousage in 
 this place. I find the militia was to join and I 
 have not had the assistance of one man. you 
 must well Remember you ordered Capt Dean 
 and Capt Stephens. Stephens I never have seen. 
 Dean I showed your order and Rote a few days 
 ago Begging him to assist me scouting. I have 
 inclosed his answer to me. You must not depend 
 too much upon my little party, if I am to gard 
 the inhabitants I must be Reinforced speadily or 
 shall be obliged to post my men in some Better 
 place of Security 
 
 and am Sir Your obedient 
 Humble Servant 
 
 Henry Ludington 
 
 3 oclock October 4th 1777 
 at Rites mills 
 
 P. S. I beleive the inhabitants are entirely 
 stript where they go. 
 
 [102] 
 
1 * VH 
 
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 <l 
 
 
 
 • -i s 
 
 V 
 
 K 5 
 
 ^ J VJ >. 
 
 
 
 
 >4 * \£ '* 
 
 u v.. ^s, \ w 
 
 C 
 
 ^ 
 
 si 
 
 
 ^ < fc S ^ ^ N 
 
 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Honoured Sir: in haste I am to acquaint you 
 that they came up Last night with 2 frigets and 
 five or six Royale and tenders and about 40 flat 
 Bottommed boats and landed about 3 thousand 
 men under the command of governor Tryon. 
 They immediately took the heights above Tarry- 
 town and from thence kept the Heights until they 
 thought they had got above our party. But 
 Luckily we had got above them and paused at 
 mr Youngses where we thought Best to move 
 towards them where we were in open view of 
 them and found them vastly superior to us in 
 numbers and moved off to Rights mills, Having 
 no asistance more than our Little party belong- 
 ing to our Regiment. I found on our Retreat 
 before we got back to Youngses they had sent 
 forward a flag, But found that was in view of 
 trapping us as they had flanking parties who we 
 discovered in order to surround us. But after 
 clearing the Regiment I rode Back and met the 
 flag within a quarter of a mile of their main body. 
 The purport of his errand was that governor 
 Tryon Had sent him to acquaint me that if we 
 would give up our arms and submit they would 
 show us mersy or otherways they were deter- 
 mined to take us and strip the contre (country). 
 Sent in answer that as Long as we had a man 
 alive I was determined to oppose them and they 
 might come on as soon as they pleased. We have 
 not lost a man and the last move of the enemy 
 was from Youngses towards the plains. 
 
 N. B. the maj.-is Gone home on furlow 
 
 Henry Ludinton. 
 
 D03] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 This report is unquestionably authentic, although 
 the "P. S." has no address, date nor signature, and 
 is on a separate sheet of paper from the letter and 
 the "N. B." But it is in Henry Ludington's hand- 
 writing, precisely the same as the signed letter, and 
 is on precisely the same kind of paper. Doubtless, 
 then, the "P. S." was hurriedly written after the let- 
 ter, the British attack having occurred between the 
 two writings, and was enclosed with the letter with- 
 out taking time to sign it in any way. The MSS. 
 were in the possession of the late Douglas Putnam, 
 of Harmar, Ohio, a great-grandson of General Put- 
 nam, and were left by him to his daughter, Mrs. 
 Francke H. Bosworth, of New York. It is interest- 
 ing to observe that it was with his old chief, Tryon, 
 that Ludington had on this occasion to deal again. 
 He estimates the number of the British three times 
 as high as does the other and less authoritative chron- 
 icler, and is probably more nearly correct. It may 
 be assumed that the former statement that he had 
 ''about five hundred militia" was much exaggerated. 
 His own official report of the day before shows his 
 entire force at Wright's Mills to have comprised 
 "One Colonel, 1 Lt. Colonel, 5 Captains, 10 Leuten- 
 nants, no Ensign, no Chaplain, 1 Adjutant, 1 Quar- 
 termaster, 1 Surgeon, no Surgeons mate, 19 Ser- 
 geants, 9 Drummers and Fifers, 182 present fit for 
 duty, 19 sick present, 3 Sick Absent, 19 on com- 
 mand, 10 on Furlough, Total 233." With such a 
 mere handful, he certainly acquitted himself most 
 
 C 10411 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 creditably against the vastly superior force of 
 Tryon. 
 
 Putnam was at Peekskill for the express purpose 
 of guarding the passage up the river. He had there 
 about 600 regulars and a much larger number of 
 militia. Governor George Clinton was at Fort 
 Montgomery, and his brother James Clinton at Fort 
 Clinton, with combined forces variously reported at 
 from 600 to 1200 men, mostly militia. Putnam had 
 scout boats along the river, and an elaborate system 
 of scouts on land. Yet, says General De Peyster, 
 "the British Clinton . . . took advantage of a 
 fog, transferred his troops over to the western side of 
 the river, to Stony Point, made a wonderful march 
 across or rather around the Dunderberg Mountain, 
 and carried Forts Clinton and Montgomery by as- 
 sault, performing the most brilliant British operation 
 during the seven years' war." George Clinton suf- 
 fered heavy losses in troops, and narrowly escaped 
 capture; the State capital, Kingston, was exposed 
 to the enemy's advance; and Putnam retired to the 
 mountains, sending word to Gates that he must pre- 
 pare for the worst as he could not prevent the enemy 
 from advancing up the river to the aid of Burgoyne. 
 "The enemy can go to Albany with great expedition 
 and without any opposition." In the presence of this 
 disaster two things were uncommonly fortunate for 
 the American cause. One was that Gates was not 
 alone in the north, but had Arnold, Schuyler, and 
 Morgan with him to brace him up. The other was that 
 
 [105] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 the British did not attempt to go on up to Albany. 
 After garrisoning Fort Montgomery, Sir Henry 
 Clinton returned to New York. On October 15, he 
 sent an expedition, under General Vaughan, up to 
 Kingston, and the next day burned that village, the 
 State government having previously fled to Pough- 
 keepsie. Other ravages, of looting and burning, 
 were committed along the river, to the disgrace of the 
 British arms. But there was some consolation to the 
 stricken patriots in the news that the very day after 
 the burning of Kingston, Burgoyne, beaten by Ar- 
 nold, Schuyler, and Morgan, surrendered to Gates 
 with all his army. 
 
 During the winter of 1777-78 Colonel Ludington 
 was chiefly busied with other features of his public 
 duties, and appeared little in the field. He was a 
 valuable adviser to the State government on military 
 affairs, and, realizing from experience the great diffi- 
 culty of maintaining a satisfactory militia service in 
 time of actual warfare, urged the formation of an- 
 other regiment of regulars. On December 18, Gov- 
 ernor Clinton referred to this project in a letter to 
 General Putnam. He urged the necessity of 
 strengthening the defenses of the Hudson River, and 
 said that he expected the Committee of Safety at 
 Poughkeepsie in a few days. He would then lay be- 
 fore them the proposal for a new regiment of reg- 
 ulars and added, "I should be glad to have Colo. Lud- 
 ington's Plan." That winter, the winter of Valley 
 Forge, was a hard one in which to raise recruits of 
 
 [10611 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 any kind, especially in view of the fact that the troops 
 had received no pay for their services for a long time 
 past. Colonel Ludington felt this keenly, and on 
 being asked by Clinton to furnish a certain number 
 of men from his regiment for the new regiment of 
 regulars, he wrote very frankly on the subject: 
 
 Honoured Sir, I am under the Disagrable 
 Nesesity of acqainting you, that I find it to Be 
 out of my power to Comply with your Orders in 
 Regard of Raising the Coto (Quota) of men 
 aloted me to Raise out of my Regiment, and that 
 for Sundry Reasons. In the first place, the 
 money Raised in the other Regments By their 
 asesments amounts to one Hundread pounds 
 Bounty to Each Soldier By Reason of the Ex- 
 empts Being able and among whom are a number 
 of Quakers. But it is not the Case in my Reg- 
 ment, For, By the Best Computation we Can 
 make, we Cannot Raise more than 30 Dolars a 
 man, though I would not Be understood that we 
 have gone through with the asesments and that 
 for this Reason: the act for asesing the Exempts 
 Expresly says that the officers who aseses the 
 Exempts Shall Be Freeholders, and I have not 
 Such an officer in my Regiment. We have met 
 Sundry times in order to try to Raise the men 
 and I yoused my Best Endevours that they 
 Should Be Raised, But I have not an officer that 
 will asist the Exempts. The officers tell me they 
 posatively will not Call their Companies out until 
 they get pay for their Past Servises in order to 
 avoid Service; on that account I have had their 
 pay roles maid up in time and Signed By the gen- 
 
 mo7] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 eral, and Have weighted on the pay master for 
 the money Everry few Days, and yesterday for 
 the Last time, and He then told He had no pros- 
 pect in geting the money in Sum months. That 
 Being the Case I am Sory I must Tell your Hon- 
 our that I know not what further measures to 
 take until I have Sum further instructions in Re- 
 gard of the matter. It is my opinion that we 
 Shall never Raise the men, unles the State asists 
 us in Raising a part of the Bounty and the Sol- 
 diers gets their wages for their past Servises. 
 Sir, a few lines from your Honour in Regard of 
 the above, By way of instructions, will mutch ob- 
 lige your Humble Servant, 
 
 Henry Ludinton. 
 Fredricksburgh February 20th 1778. 
 
 To His Excelency George Clinton Esqr. Gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 P. S. Sir, if there Be a late act past in Regard 
 of Raising the men and a Bounty for them, please 
 to Convey the Same as I have Had no opportu- 
 nity of acquainting my Self with it. The Returns 
 of the Regment you Shall Have next week, 
 which Should Have Had Before now, Had it 
 not Been for the neglect of sum of the Captains 
 not sending in their Returns. 
 
 Colonel Ludington had, however, rather better 
 success in holding his own regiment together than 
 did some other colonels of militia, as the following 
 return shows : 
 
 C108] 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Return of the Regiment of Militia of the 
 County of Dutchess and State of New York. 
 Command'd by Collonel Henry Ludinton. 
 
 Fredricksburgh Precinct March 23rd 1778. 
 
 
 Field 
 
 Comm'd 
 
 Staff Non 
 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Comm'd. 
 
 COMPANIES. 
 
 1> 
 a 
 o 
 
 o 
 O 
 
 "o 
 O 
 
 3 
 
 V 
 
 o 
 'c? 
 
 09 
 
 a 
 
 "8 
 
 4-> 
 
 & 
 
 U 
 
 to 
 
 4-> 
 t 
 
 V 
 
 3 
 
 CO 
 
 C 
 
 .SP 
 
 "co 
 
 C 
 
 w 
 
 3 
 
 c 
 o 
 <u 
 
 bC 
 3 
 
 u 
 
 <U 
 
 4-1 
 CO 
 
 eS 
 
 s 
 
 S- 
 4-> 
 
 e3 
 
 CO 
 
 4-> 
 
 c 
 a 
 
 CD 
 bD 
 >-. 
 V 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 u 
 
 'a 
 
 3 
 
 Q 
 
 4> 
 
 a 
 3 
 
 J* 
 
 c 
 
 John Crane's 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 60 
 
 David Waterbury's 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 57 
 
 John Haight's 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 Hezekiah Meed's 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 74 
 
 George Lane's 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 49 
 
 Nathaniel Scribner's 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 58 
 
 Joel Meed's 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 72 
 
 Total Strength 
 of the Regiment 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 6 
 
 421 
 
 Colonel Ludington and his regiment were again 
 called to the defense of the Hudson at Fishkill in 
 June, 1779, on the alarm caused by the British 
 seizure of Verplanck's Point, and a few days later 
 returned to the vicinity of Crom Pond to resume the 
 local police work which formed so large a part of 
 their duties. There, before daylight of June 24, they 
 were surprised by an attack of about two hundred 
 British cavalry, which had made a dash all the way 
 up from New York. Nearly thirty of the militia 
 were killed and wounded in the sharp skirmish which 
 ensued. At the same time 130 British light infantry 
 
 C109H 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 came across from Verplanck's Point and made a de- 
 monstration in aid of the cavalry. On another occa- 
 sion a similar attack was made while the Americans 
 were at breakfast, close by the church, which at the 
 time was used as an arsenal. 
 
 After these services the regiment was marched 
 home to Fredericksburgh and for a time disbanded. 
 On this occasion Colonel Ludington wrote to Clinton 
 as follows : 
 
 Honoured Sir, I embrace this opportunity of 
 acquainting you that according to Colo. Swart- 
 wout's orders to me of Yesterday I thought 
 Proper to discharge my Regt who I must beg 
 leave to acquaint you have acted with the greatest 
 Spirrit since they have been hear and have gon 
 home with a full determination to turn out at a 
 minute's warning. In my last I wrote you to 
 know the mode adopted for Punishing those who 
 have not turned out according to their being 
 Warned, for I am highly sensible that if they are 
 not brought to a sevear Punishment it will give 
 offence to those Who have dun their Dutey. I 
 must allso Return your Excellency thanks for 
 Recommending to me Mr. McClennen who has 
 truley answered the Character I have had of him 
 as I have Experienced his services in Spiriting 
 the Militia in these Parts and my Regt in Par- 
 ticular. I remain in the mean time 
 
 with Respect your Excellencys most obedient 
 Humble Servt 
 
 Henry Ludinton. 
 
 Fredh Burgh Juley 11, 1779. 
 To Governor Clinton. 
 
 CllOU 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Later in the same year a radical reorganization of 
 the militia forces was effected under the following 
 orders : 
 
 Poughkeepsie Oct. 11th, 1779. 
 Brigade Orders. 
 
 Agreeable to General Orders of the 10th In- 
 stant issued by his Excellency the Govr., 1078 
 Men, including Non Commissioned Officers, 
 drums and fifes, are to be Detached out of Colo. 
 Comdt. Swartwout's Brigade of Militia to Con- 
 tinue in Service for the term of three Months un- 
 less the particular service for which they are 
 drawn out shall be sooner Completed. 
 
 The Detachments from the several Regiments 
 in this Brigade to be as follows, viz. — 
 
 From Colo. Graham's Regt 196 Men 
 
 Colo. Frear's do 156 
 
 Colo. Hopkins do 192 
 
 Colo. Field's do 117 
 
 Colo. Luddenton's do 144 
 
 Colo. Van Der Burgh's do . . . . 118 
 
 Colo. Brinckerhoff's do 155 
 
 Total 1078 
 
 The above Detachment to be formed into Two 
 Regiments under Command of Colos. Graham 
 and Hopkins, in the following manner, viz., 
 
 The Detachments of Colos. Graham's, Frear's, 
 Van Der Burgh's and 69 Men of Colo. Field's 
 Regiments to be formed into one Regiment un- 
 der Command of Colo. Graham. 
 
 The Detachments of Colos. Hopkins, Ludden- 
 ton's, Brinckerhoff's, and 48 Men of Colo. Field's 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Regts. to be formed into another Regiment under 
 Command of Colo. Hopkins. 
 
 Colo. Graham's Field Officers to be Lieut. 
 Colo. Birdsall and Majr. Hill, 
 
 Captains 
 
 Andw. Heermans 
 James Wilson 
 Hustid 
 
 Lemuel Conklin 
 Hugh Van Kleeck 
 
 Israel Vail 
 
 Colo. Graham's 
 Regt. 
 
 Colo. Frear's 
 Regt. 
 
 Colo. Van Der Burgh's 
 Regt. 
 
 Pierce 
 
 Colo. Field's 
 Regt. 
 
 Colo. Hopkins Field Officers are Lieut, 
 and Majr. Paine. 
 
 Captains 
 
 Wheeler 
 
 Waters 
 
 Talmadge 
 
 Colo. Hopkins 
 Regt. 
 
 Geo. Brinckerhoff Colo. Brinckerhoff 's 
 Jno. Van Bunschoten Regt. 
 
 Barnum 
 
 Colo. Field's 
 Regt. 
 
 ciisn 
 
 Subalterns. 
 John Seton 
 Andw. Heermans Junr. 
 John Wilson 
 Jonathan Darling 
 and 
 
 Montgomery 
 Weeks 
 Hendrickson 
 Van Der Bogart 
 
 Tredwell 
 
 Bently 
 
 Hall 
 
 Elliot 
 
 Colo. Griffen 
 
 Subalterns. 
 Wm. Chamberlain 
 Elijah Parks 
 
 Elliot 
 
 Parley 
 Jonas Parks 
 
 Hoskin 
 
 Christian Dubois 
 Abraham Shults 
 William Swartwout 
 Abraham Hoogland 
 
 Chandler 
 
THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Colo. Luddenton and his officers being absent, he 
 will with advice of his field officers nominate and 
 furnish one Captain and Three Subalterns, to 
 join Colo. Hopkins Regt. 
 
 The above Detachments to be Compleated and 
 at the place of Rendevous without Delay, Com- 
 pleatly Equipped, Agreeable to Genl. Orders, to 
 which the most strictest attention is to be paid. 
 By Order of Colo. Comdr. Jac. Swartwout 
 
 Hend. Wyckoff MB 
 
 Thereafter Colonel Ludington and his regiment 
 were frequently engaged in important work, espe- 
 cially during the time of doubt and dread caused by 
 the treason of Arnold, and in the operations pre- 
 liminary to Washington's epoch-making march from 
 the Hudson to the Chesapeake. But those services 
 belonged to the other phases of public duty to which 
 reference has been made and of which fuller con- 
 sideration must be reserved for another chapter. 
 
 CH33 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 SECRET SERVICE 
 
 ANOTHER part of Henry Ludington's services 
 h to his country during the Revolution was in- 
 timately connected with that little known under- 
 world of the Secret Service — the men who take their 
 lives in their hands perhaps more perilously than the 
 soldier in the open field, who have no stimulus of 
 martial glory, who receive no public recognition, and 
 whose very names are doomed to obscurity. A recent 
 work of fiction, one of the best "historical novels" of 
 our day — "The Reckoning," by Mr. Robert W. 
 Chambers — gives a singularly dramatic and con- 
 vincing picture of the work of a Patriot spy in New 
 York City in the Revolution, doing work which was 
 hateful to him and yet which was of the highest im- 
 portance to Washington himself. It is a picture as 
 true as it is graphic. An earlier work dealing with 
 the same phase of Patriot service, "The Spy," of 
 Fenimore Cooper, has long been familiar to the 
 American public, and it has generally been assumed 
 that its hero, "Harvey Birch," was an actual char- 
 acter, drawn from life; even more closely than the 
 genius of "The Pilot" was drawn from the illustrious 
 Paul Jones. Such indeed was the case, and with the 
 
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 *%£4*t*e JZ-*y(y/^< : ,**'<&■ -'* 
 
 
 
 Reduced Fac-simlle of Letter from Nath'l Sackett, 
 
 a Delegate to the "Provincial Congress of the State of New York," from 
 
 Dutchess County and member of the Committee on Conspiracies. 
 
 (Original pa.per in possession of Charles H. Ludington, New York City. 
 
SECRET SERVICE 
 
 original of "Harvey Birch," Enoch Crosby, Colonel 
 Ludington was intimately associated. Indeed, be- 
 cause of his familiarity with the border-land between 
 the British and American lines, and also because of 
 his knowledge and judgment of men, his discretion, 
 and his known trustworthiness, Colonel Ludington 
 was selected, by Washington's instructions, to choose 
 the man or men who should do the secret service of 
 the Patriot cause within the British lines at New 
 York, and to make the needed arrangements for his 
 dispatch and for maintaining communication with 
 him. 
 
 Accordingly we find Nathaniel Sackett, of whom 
 mention has already been made, addressing to Col- 
 onel Ludington this significant letter: 
 
 Sir 
 
 you will proceed on inquiring for a proper per- 
 son to Remove into the City of New York, in 
 your enquiry you are not to make any use of my 
 name to any Person, but let it appear to be an act 
 of your own unless you find one that in your opin- 
 ion and skill is possessed of abilitys to carry a 
 secret matter into Execution, upon your finding 
 such a Person and his consenting to Remove into 
 the city you will then desire him to come with you 
 immediately to me, and you will enjoin secrecy 
 upon and direct him not to mention either his 
 business or my name to any Person, any Person 
 that you may converse with in a confidential man- 
 ner, you will Lay them under the strongest 
 Bonds of secrecy in your Power, and lastly 
 you will conduct the whole Business with the 
 
 C115] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 utmost secrecy in your Power and disclose only 
 such parts as you may find absolutely necessary 
 for procuring a proper Person to be imployed 
 for Secret Purposes and will actually Remove 
 to the City of New York. 
 
 I am Sir your humble Servt. 
 
 Nathl. Sackett. 
 Frederick Burgh Precinct, 
 
 Feby. 14th, 1777. 
 To Colonel Henry Ludington Esqr. 
 
 The purport of this was unmistakable. Colonel 
 Ludington was to find some one to serve as a spy in 
 New York, and he was to do it with such prudence 
 and tact that nobody but himself would seem re- 
 sponsible for the negotiations until they had pro- 
 ceeded far enough to give assurance of the fitness 
 and trustworthiness of the man selected for the 
 work. Colonel Ludington proceeded promptly 
 with the undertaking, and with commendable cau- 
 tion, as the following document shows : 
 
 I do most solemnly swear by Almighty God 
 Who Liveth forever and ever that I will well 
 and Truly keep every matter and thing Com- 
 mitted to my Charge by Henry Ludington Esqr 
 a profound secret, and that I will not Directly or 
 indirectly either by words or actions signs or 
 Tokens or by any other ways or means whatever 
 disclose or divulge the same to any manner of 
 Person or Persons whatever. 
 
 Benajah Tubbs. 
 Sworn before me Feb. 23, 1777. 
 CH63 
 
SECRET SERVICE 
 
 Benajah Tubbs was a well-approved military 
 comrade of Colonel Ludington's, as appears from 
 the records. In the Correspondence of the Pro- 
 vincial Congress of New York there appears a com- 
 munication from the Dutchess County Committee of 
 Safety, under date of January 3, 1776, recommend- 
 ing Benajah Tubbs to be adjutant of "the regiment 
 of militia lately commanded by Beverly Robinson, 
 Esq.," together with Henry Ludington as 2nd 
 major and John Kaine as colonel. The extent of 
 Tubbs's services as a secret agent of the Revolution- 
 ary government does not appear, nor is it at this time 
 possible to ascertain how many and what other men 
 were selected by Colonel Ludington for such peril- 
 ous errands. The career of Enoch Crosby is, how- 
 ever, a matter of specific and exact record. It is to 
 be found related not only in the fascinating pages of 
 Cooper, but also in various affidavits made by Crosby 
 himself, and others who knew him, at the time of his 
 application for a pension for his services. These 
 papers, which have been transcribed from the orig- 
 inals by Mr. Patrick, are in chief as follows : 
 
 State of N. Y. 
 Co. Putnam. 
 
 ss. 
 
 On this 15th day of October in the year 1832 
 personally appeared before the Court of Oyer 
 and Terminer and General Jail Delivery of the 
 said County of Putnam, Enoch Crosby, of the 
 town of South East in the Co. of Putnam and 
 State of New York, aged 82 years, who being- 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 duly sworn according to law doth on his oath 
 make the following declaration in order to ob- 
 tain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed 
 June 7, 1832: 
 
 That he entered the service of the U. S. under 
 the following named officers and served as herein 
 stated : 
 
 That in the month of April or the fore part of 
 May, 1775, he enlisted in the town of Danbury 
 in the State of Connecticut into Captain Noble 
 Benedict's Co. in Col. Waterbury's Regt. of 
 troops to defend the country for 8 mos service. 
 The regiment met at Greenwich in Ct., staid 
 there two or three months, then went to N. Y. 
 under Genl. Wooster. Staid in N. Y. a few 
 weeks. The Regt. was then carried to Albany in 
 sloops & went directly to Half Moon, was there 
 a few days. Went thence to Ticonderoga, 
 where the batteauxs furnished which were to con- 
 vey them further. Genl. Schuyler had the com- 
 mand of the Isle aux Nois, when Genl. S. being 
 unwell, Genl. Montgomery had the command. 
 The declarant went off to St. John which being 
 by us at time besieged by the Americans in about 
 5 weeks surrendered and the fort was taken. The 
 deck then went to Montreal, that he came from 
 there with Col. Waterbury's regt to Albany, 
 and having served the eight mos. was at that 
 place (Albany) permitted to leave the regt. and 
 return home, and that he had no written dis- 
 charge. And this dec. further says that in the 
 latter part of the mo. of Aug., 1776, he enlisted 
 into the regt. commanded by Col. Swartwout 
 in Fredericksburgh, now Kent, in the County of 
 Putnam and started to join the army at Kings - 
 
 C118] 
 
SECRET SERVICE 
 
 bridge. The co. had left F. before declarant 
 started & he started alone after his said enlist- 
 ment & on his way at a place in Westchester Co. 
 about 2 miles from Pine's Bridge he fell in com- 
 pany with a stranger who accosted him & asked 
 him if he was going down. Decl. replied he 
 was. The stranger then asked if decl. was not 
 afraid to venture alone, and said there were 
 many rebels below and he would meet with diffi- 
 culty in getting down. The decl. perceived from 
 the observation of the stranger that he supposed 
 the decl. intended to go to the British, and will- 
 ing to encourage that misapprehension and turn 
 it to the best advantage he asked if there was any 
 mode which he the stranger could point out by 
 which the decl. could get through safely. The 
 stranger being satisfied the decl. was willing to 
 join the British Army told him that there was a 
 company raising in that county to join the Brit- 
 ish Army, that was nearly completed and in a 
 few days would be ready to go down and that 
 dec. had better join that co. and go down with 
 them. The stranger finally gave to decl. his 
 name, it was Bunker, and told the decl. where 
 and shewed the house in which he lived and also 
 
 told him that Fowler was to be the Captain 
 
 of the Co. then raising, and Kipp Lieut. 
 
 After having learned this much from Bunker 
 the Decl. told him he was unwilling to wait until 
 the Co. could be ready to march and would try 
 and get through, and parted from him on his way 
 down and continued until night, when he stopped 
 at the house of a man who was called Esy Young, 
 and put up there for the night. In the course of 
 conversation with Esy Young in the evening 
 
 [1193 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 decl. learned that he was a member of the Com. 
 of Safety for the County of Westchester, and then 
 communicated to him the information he had ob- 
 tained from Mr. Bunker. Esy Young requested 
 the decl. to accompany him the next morning to 
 the White Plains in Westchester Co. as the Com. 
 of Safety for the Co. were on that day to meet at 
 the Court House in that place The next morn- 
 ing the decl. in company with Esy Young went to 
 the White Plains and found the Com. there sit- 
 ting. After Esy Young had had an interview 
 with the Com. the decl. was sent for and went be- 
 fore the Com. then sitting in the Court Room 
 and there communicated the information he had 
 obtained from Bunker. The Com. after learning 
 the situation of decl. that he was a soldier enlisted 
 in Col. Swartwout's regiment and on his way to 
 join it engaged to write to the Col. and explain 
 why he did not join it, if he would consent to aid 
 in the apprehension of the company then raising. 
 It was by all thought best that he should not join 
 the regiment but should act in a different char- 
 acter, as he could thus be more useful to his coun- 
 try. He was accordingly announced to Capt. 
 Townsend, who was then at the White Plains 
 commanding a company of Rangers, as a pris- 
 oner and the Captain was directed to keep him 
 until further orders. 
 
 In the evening after he was placed as a pris- 
 oner by Capt. Townsend he made an excuse to go 
 out and was accompanied by a soldier, over a 
 fence into a piece of corn then nearly or quite full 
 grown. As soon as he was out of sight of the 
 soldier he made the best of his way from the sol- 
 dier and when the soldier hailed him to return he 
 
SECRET SERVICE 
 
 was almost beyond hearing. An alarm gun was 
 fired but decl. was far from danger. In the 
 course of the night the decl. reached the house of 
 the said Bunker, who got up and let him in. 
 Decl. then related to Bunker the circumstances 
 of his having been taken prisoner, of his going 
 before the Com. at the Court House, of being 
 put under the charge of Capt. Townsend, and of 
 his escape ; that he had concluded to avail himself 
 of the protection of the Co. raising in his neigh- 
 borhood to get down. The next morning Bunker 
 went with decl. and introduced him as a good 
 loyalist to several of the Co. Decl. remained 
 some days with different individuals of the Co. 
 and until it was about to go down, when the decl. 
 went one night to the house of Esy Young to 
 give information of the state and progress of the 
 Co. The distance was four or five miles from 
 Bunker's. At the house of Esy Young decl. 
 found Capt. Townsend with a great part of his 
 Co., and after giving the information he returned 
 to the neighborhood of Bunker, and that night 
 decl. with a great part of the Co. which was pro- 
 posing to go down were made prisoners. The 
 next day all of them, about 30 in numbers, were 
 marched to the White Plains and remained there 
 several days, a part of the time locked up in jail 
 with the other prisoners. The residue of the time 
 he was with the Com. The prisoners were finally 
 ordered to Fishkill in the Co. of Dutchess, where 
 the State Convention was then sitting. The decl. 
 went as a prisoner to Fishkill. Capt. Townsend 
 with his Co. of Rangers took charge of the Co. at 
 Fishkill. A Com. for Detecting Conspiracies 
 was sitting, composed of John Jay, afterwards 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Gov. of N. Y., Zephaniah Piatt, afterwards first 
 Judge of Dutchess Co., Col. Duer of the Co. of 
 Albany, and a Mr. Sackett. The decl. was called 
 before that Com., who understood the character 
 of the decl. and the nature of his services. This 
 the Com. must have learned either from Capt. 
 Townsend or from the Com. at White Plains. 
 The decl. was examined under oath and his ex- 
 amination reduced to writing. The prisoners 
 with decl. were kept whilst decl. remained at 
 Fishkill in a building which had been occupied as 
 a Hatter's shop, and they were guarded by a Co. 
 of Rangers commanded by Capt. Clark. The 
 decl. remained about a week at Fishkill, when he 
 was bailed by Jonathan Hopkins. This was done 
 to cover the character in which the decl. acted. 
 Before the decl. was bailed the Fishkill Com. had 
 requested him to continue in this service, and on 
 decl. mentioning the fact of his having enlisted 
 in Col. Swartwout's company and the necessity 
 there was of his joining it, he was informed that 
 he should be indemnified from that enlistment, 
 that they would write to the Col. and inform him 
 that decl. was in their service. 
 
 The Com. then wished decl. to undertake a 
 secret service over the river. He was furnished 
 with a secret pass which was accordingly signed 
 by the Com., which is now lost, and directed to go 
 to the house of Nicholas Brauns, near the mouth 
 of the Wappinger's Creek, who would take him 
 across the river, and there to proceed to the house 
 of John Russell, about ten miles from the river, 
 and make such inquiries and discoveries as he 
 could. He proceeded according to directions to 
 said Brauns and from thence to John Russell, 
 
 [122 3 
 
SECRET SERVICE 
 
 and there hired himself to said Russell to work 
 for him, but for no definite time. This was a 
 neighborhood of Loyalists and it was expected 
 that a company was there raising but was not 
 completed. Before decl. left Russell on this ser- 
 vice a time was fixed for him to recross the river 
 and give information to some one of the Com. 
 who was to meet him. This time having arrived 
 and the Co. not being completed the decl. re- 
 crossed the river and met Zephaniah Piatt, one of 
 the Com., and gave him all the information he 
 had obtained. Decl. was directed to recross the 
 river to the neighborhood of Russell and on a 
 time fixed again to meet the Com. on the east side 
 of the river. Decl. returned to Russell's neigh- 
 borhood, soon became intimate with the Loyal- 
 ists, was introduced to Capt. Robinson, said to be 
 an English officer and who was to command the 
 Co. then raising. Capt. Robinson occupied a 
 cave in the mountains, and decl. having agreed 
 to go with the Co. was invited and accepted of the 
 invitation to lodge with Robinson in the cave. 
 They slept together nearly a week in the cave, 
 and the time for the Co. to start having been 
 fixed and the route designated to pass Severn's 
 to Bush Carrick's, where they were to stop the 
 first night. The time for starting having arrived 
 before the appointed time to meet the Com. on the 
 east side of the river, the decl. in order to get an 
 opportunity to convey information to Fishkill 
 recommended that each man should the night be- 
 fore they started sleep where he chose, and that 
 each should be by himself, for if they should be 
 discovered that night together all would be taken, 
 which would be avoided if they were separated. 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 The proposition was acceded to, and when they 
 separated decl. not having time to go to Fishkill, 
 and as the only and as it appeared the best means 
 of giving information was to go to Mr. Purdy, 
 who was a stranger to decl. and all he knew of 
 him was that the Tories called him a wicked rebel 
 and said he ought to die. Decl. went and found 
 said Purdy and informed him of the situation of 
 affairs, of the time the Co. was to start, and the 
 place which they were to stop the first night, and 
 requested him to go to Fishkill and give the in- 
 formation to the Com. Purdy assured the decl. 
 that the information should be given. Decl. re- 
 turned to Russell's and lodged in his house. The 
 following evening the Co. assembled, consisting 
 about 30 men, and started from Russell's house, 
 which was in the town of Marlborough, County 
 of Ulster, for N. Y., and in the course of the 
 night arrived at Bush Carrick's, and went into 
 the barn to lodge after taking refreshments. Be- 
 fore morning the barn was surrounded by Amer- 
 ican troops, and the whole company, including 
 Capt. Robinson, were made prisoners. The 
 troops who took the company prisoners were com- 
 manded by Capt. Melancthon Smith, who com- 
 manded a company of Rangers at Fishkill. His 
 Co. crossed the river to perform this service. Col. 
 Duer was with Capt. Smith's Co. on this expedi- 
 tion. The prisoners including decl. were marched 
 to Fishkill & confined in the stone church, in 
 which there was near two hundred prisoners. 
 After remaining one night in the church the Com. 
 sent for decl. and told him it was unsafe for him 
 to remain with the prisoners as the least suspicion 
 of the course he had pursued would be fatal to 
 
 [124 3 
 
SECRET SERVICE 
 
 him, and advised him to leave the village of Fish- 
 kill and to remain where they could call on him if 
 his services should be wanted. Decl. went to the 
 house of a Dutchman, a farmer, whose name is 
 forgotten, about five miles from the village of 
 Fishkill, and there went to work making shoes. 
 After decl. had made arrangements for working 
 at shoes, he informed Mr. Sackett, one of the 
 Com., where he could be found if he should be 
 wanted, In about a week decl. reed, a letter from 
 the Com., requesting him to meet one of the Com. 
 at the house of Dr. Osborn, about one mile from 
 Fishkill. Decl. according to the request went to 
 the house of Dr. Osborn, and soon after John Jay 
 came there, enquired for the Dr., who was absent, 
 enquired for medicine, but found none he wanted. 
 He came out of the house and went to his horse, 
 near which decl. stood, and as he passed he said 
 in a low voice "It won't do, there are too many 
 around. Return to your work." Decl. went back 
 and went to work at shoes, but within a day or 
 two was again notified and a horse sent to him, 
 requiring him to go to Bennington in Vt. and 
 from there westerly to a place called Maloons- 
 cock, and there call on Hazard Wilcox, a Tory 
 of much notoriety, and ascertain if anything was 
 going on there injurious to the common cause. 
 Decl. followed his instructions, found Wilcox, 
 but could not learn that any secret measure was 
 then projected against the interest of the coun- 
 try. At that place learned from Wilcox a list of 
 persons friendly to the British cause, who could 
 be safely trusted, from that place quite down to 
 the south part of Dutchess County. Decl. fol- 
 lowed directions of said Wilcox and called on diff- 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 erent individuals by him mentioned, but could 
 discover nothing of importance, until he reached 
 the town of Pawlings in Dutchess County, where 
 he called upon a Dr. whose name he thinks was 
 Prosser, and informed him that he wished to go 
 below but was fearful of some trouble. The Dr. 
 informed him there was a Co. raising in that 
 vicinity to go to N. Y. to join the British army, 
 that the Captain's name was Sheldon, that he had 
 been down and got a commission, that he, Pros- 
 ser, was doctoring the Lieut., whose name was 
 Chase, that if decl. would wait a few days he 
 could safely go down with that Co., that he could 
 stay about the neighborhood and should be in- 
 formed when the Co. was ready, that decl. re- 
 mained in that vicinity, became acquainted with 
 several of the persons who were going with that 
 Co., was acquainted with Lieut. Chase, but never 
 saw the Capt. to form any acquaintance with him. 
 The season had got so far advanced that the Co. 
 was about to start to join the enemy to be ready 
 for an early campaign in 1777. It was about the 
 last of Feb. of that year when a plan was fixed 
 and also a time for meeting. It was situated half 
 a mile from the road and about 3 miles from a 
 house then occupied by Col. Morehouse, a militia 
 Col. After the time was fixed for the meeting of 
 Capt. Sheldon's Co., the deponent went in the 
 night to Col. Morehouse & informed him of the 
 situation, of the Co., of the time appointed for 
 meeting, of the place, etc., and Morehouse in- 
 formed decl. that they should be attended to. 
 The decl. remained almost one month in this 
 neighborhood, and once in the time met Mr. 
 Sackett, one of the Com., at Col. Ludington's* 
 
SECRET SERVICE 
 
 and apprised him what was going on, and was to 
 have given the Com. intelligence when the Co. 
 was to march, but the shortness of the time be- 
 tween the final arrangement and the time of start- 
 ing was such that decl. was obliged to give the in- 
 formation to Col. Morehouse. The Co., consist- 
 ing of about 30, met at the time and place ap- 
 pointed, and after they had been there an hour 
 or two two young men of the Co. came in & said 
 there was a gathering under arms at Old More- 
 house's. The inquiry became general, What 
 could it mean? Was there any traitor in the 
 Company? The Captain soon called one or two 
 of the Company out of the door for the purpose 
 of private conversation about the situation, & 
 very soon decl. heard the cry "Stand! Stand!" 
 Those out the door ran, but were soon met by a 
 Co. coming from a different direction, they were 
 taken, the house surrounded & the Co. all made 
 prisoners. The Col. then ordered them to be tied 
 together two by two. They came to decl. and he 
 urged to be excused from going as he was lame 
 and could not travel. The Col. replied "You 
 shall go, dead or alive, & if no other way you shall 
 be carried on the horse with me." The rest were 
 marched off & decl. put onto the horse with Col. 
 Morehouse and when the prisoners were marched 
 into the house the decl. with the permission of 
 Morehouse left them and made the best of his 
 way to Col. Ludington's and there informed him 
 about daylight in the morning. From thence he 
 went to Fishkill to the house of Dr. Van Wyck 
 where John Jay boarded, and there informed him 
 of all the occurrences on that northern expedition. 
 Said Jay requested decl. to come before the Com. 
 
 cm: 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 the next night, when they would be ready to re- 
 ceive him. He accordingly went before the Com., 
 where he declared under oath all that had oc- 
 curred since he had seen them. The Com. then 
 directed him to go to the house of Col. Van Ness 
 in Albany County, and there take directions from 
 him. He went to Van Ness's house and was di- 
 rected by him to go north, but decl. cannot tell 
 the place. The duty was performed, but nothing 
 material discovered further than that the confisca- 
 tion of the personal property of the Tories and 
 leasing of their lands had a great tendency to dis- 
 courage them from joining the British army. 
 Decl. then returned to Po'keepsie, where Egbert 
 Benson and Melancthon Smith entered in the 
 room of the Fishkill Com. There was no more 
 business in that town in which they wished to em- 
 ploy decl., and he being apprehensive that a 
 longer continuance in that employment would be 
 dangerous & the time for which he enlisted in Col. 
 Swartwout's regiment having expired, he came 
 home with the approbation of the Com. 
 
 This was about the last of May, 1777, and in 
 the course of the fall, after decl. saw Col. Swart- 
 wout at his house in Fishkill & then talked over 
 the subject of this employment of the decl. by the 
 Com. & the Col. told decl. that he had drawn his 
 pay the same as if he had been with the Reg't, 
 that the Paymaster of the Reg't lived in the town 
 of Hurley in Ulster Co. Decl. went to the Pay- 
 master and rec'd his pay for nine months' service 
 or for the term for which the regiment was raised. 
 The decl. was employed in the secret service for a 
 period of full 9 months. 
 
 This decl. further says that in the year 1779 in 
 
 c i28:i 
 
SECRET SERVICE 
 
 the month of May he enlisted in a company com- 
 manded by Captain Jonah Hallett for six 
 months. Decl. enlisted as a Sergeant in said 
 Hallett's Co. The term of enlistment was per- 
 formed on the lines in the Co. of Westchester, 
 moving from place to place to guard the country 
 and to detect Tories; that the Co. continued in 
 this service until after Stony Point was taken by 
 Genl. Wayne & abandoned & also reoccupied & 
 abandoned by the English troops, when the Co. 
 was ordered over the river & joined the regiment 
 at Stony Point and continued there in making 
 preparations for building a block house until the 
 time of the expiration of the service, when the Co. 
 was ordered to march to Po'keepsie to be dis- 
 charged by the Governor. When they arrived the 
 Governor was absent, the Co. was billetted out & 
 decl. was billetted upon the family of Dr. Tap- 
 pen. After remaining a day or two and the Gov- 
 ernor not arriving they were discharged. During 
 this service in Westchester Co. the following oc- 
 currence took place: A British vessel lay at an- 
 chor near Tiller's Point & a party of sailors & 
 marines came on shore & marched a short distance 
 from the water, where a party of our men got 
 between them & the water & made them pris- 
 oners. They were marched to the place where the 
 Co. lay a little east of Tiller's Point. The num- 
 ber of prisoners decl. thinks was 12 and the cap- 
 tors 6. The prisoners were afterward sent to 
 Po'keepsie. 
 
 The decl. further says that in the month of 
 May in the year 1780 he again enlisted for 6 
 months in a Co. commanded by Capt. Ludington 
 in Col. Benschoten's Regt. He entered as a 
 
 [129;] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Sergeant in the town of Fredericksburgh, now 
 the town of Kent, Putnam Co. The Regt. as- 
 sembled at Fishkill & marched to West Point & 
 remained there a few days, some 10 or 15. A call 
 was made for troops to fill up the Brigade or 
 Brigades under the command of General De La 
 Fayette and they were to be raised by drafts or 
 volunteers. A call was made for volunteers and 
 decl. with others volunteered & made a Co. which 
 was put under Capt. Daniel Delavan. The decl. 
 continued to be a Sergeant in Delavan's Co. Col. 
 Philip Van Courtland commanded the Regt. to 
 which Capt. Delavan's Co. was attached. Soon 
 after the Co. was formed they crossed the river 
 from West Point and marched to Peekskill, 
 where they remained one night, the next day 
 marched to Verplanck's Point and crossed over 
 to Stony Point, & from thence made the best of 
 their way to New Jersey where they remained 
 until late in the fall, when the time of enlistment 
 having expired they were discharged, after hav- 
 ing fully and faithfully performed the service of 
 6 months for which he enlisted. During the cam- 
 paign in New Jersey Major Andre was arrested, 
 condemned & executed. Several of the soldiers 
 of Capt. Delavan's Co. went to see him executed. 
 The decl. was Sergeant of the guard that day & 
 could not go to see the execution. 
 
 The decl. further says that he has no documen- 
 tary evidence of his service and that he knows of 
 no person who can testify to his services other 
 than those whose depositions are hereto annexed. 
 The decl. hereby relinquishes every claim to a 
 pension or annuity except the present & declares 
 that his name is not on the pension roll agency 
 
 C130 3 
 
SECRET SERVICE 
 
 of any State. The decl. was born in a place called 
 Harwich in the County of Barnstable and State 
 of Mass. in the year 1750. The decl. has a record 
 of his age. The decl. was living in the town of 
 Danbury in the State of Conn when he enlisted in 
 the service, that service the Revolutionary War. 
 The decl. has resided in the State of New York 
 in what is now the Co. of Putnam, formerly Co. 
 of Dutchess, & now lives in the same Co. & on the 
 same farm where he has lived for the last 50 years. 
 The decl. always volunteered in every enlistment 
 & to perform all the service which he performed 
 as detailed in this declaration. That the decl. was 
 acquainted with the following officers who were 
 with the troops where he served: Genl. Schuyler, 
 Gen. Montgomery, Gen. Wooster, Col. Water- 
 bury, Col. Holmes, Gen. De La Fayette, Gen. 
 Poor, Col. Van Courtland, Col. Benschoten, Col. 
 Ludington. The decl. never rec'd. any written 
 discharge & if he ever received a Sergeant's war- 
 rant it is through time or accident lost or de- 
 stroyed. This decl. is known to Samuel Wash- 
 burn, a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of 
 the Co. of Putnam ; Beneah Y. Morse, a clergy- 
 man in his neighborhood and who he believes can 
 testify to his character for veracity & good be- 
 havior & thus belief of his services as a Soldier of 
 the Revolution. 
 
 Enoch Crosby. 
 
 Sworn to & Subscribed this day and year afore- 
 said; 
 
 I. Morehouse, Clerk of said Court. 
 
 nisi: 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Appended to this declaration were affidavits of 
 Judge Washburn and the Rev. Mr. Morse, confirm- 
 ing so far as their knowledge extended the state- 
 ments of Enoch Crosby. There were also similar 
 affidavits of Timothy Wood, Jabez Berry, and 
 Daniel Crawford, who had been fellow soldiers with 
 Crosby in the war. 
 
 Enough has been said already to indicate the in- 
 timate relations which existed between Crosby and 
 Colonel Ludington. While the spy was on service 
 in Dutchess County, in connection with Prosser and 
 his company, he was a frequent visitor at Luding- 
 ton's house, and often lay hidden securely there 
 while Tories were searching for him. (Between 
 Prosser and Colonel Ludington, by the way, as we 
 shall presently see, a peculiarly bitter personal feud 
 existed. ) Colonel Ludington's daughters, Sibyl and 
 Rebecca, were also privy to Crosby's doings, and had 
 a code of signals, by means of which they frequently 
 admitted him in secrecy and safety to the house, 
 where he was fed and lodged. In addition to Crosby 
 and to Benajah Tubbs, who was mentioned at the 
 beginning of this chapter, Colonel Ludington fur- 
 nished numerous other members of the Secret Service 
 from the ranks of his own regiment, and was himself 
 the recipient of their clandestine reports, some of 
 which were transmitted by him to the Committee of 
 Safety and some to the headquarters of General 
 Washington. 
 
o 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 BETWEEN the lines" is always a place of pe- 
 culiar difficulty and danger. The Border States 
 in our Civil War were the deadliest battle-grounds, 
 not only the meeting-places of the contending armies 
 but also the scene of innumerable local feuds and 
 conflicts between the inhabitants, half of whom in- 
 clined to one side and half to the other. A similar 
 position was held in the Revolution by Westchester 
 and Dutchess counties, lying between the British at 
 the south and the Americans at the north. As this 
 was the most fertile and productive agricultural 
 region easily accessible from New York, it was fre- 
 quently invaded by British foraging parties, seek- 
 ing the supplies which were needed by the army in 
 the city and which were not easily to be got else- 
 where. Nor did the region altogether escape similar 
 attentions from the American Army. More than 
 once, indeed, organized raids were made by the latter 
 southward into the part of the debatable ground 
 lying nearest to the British lines, not only to secure 
 forage and other supplies for American use but also 
 to prevent them from falling into the hands of the 
 British. Himself a resident of that region, Colonel 
 
 C133] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Ludington was well fitted to deal with such local 
 conditions, and accordingly a large third part of his 
 public services were thus rendered. Entries in his 
 ledger indicate that he was a member of the Dutch- 
 ess County Committee of Safety on June 11, 1776, 
 and for some time thereafter. This was the commit- 
 tee which was constituted for the purpose of "in- 
 quiring into, detecting and defeating all conspiracies 
 formed in this State against the liberties of Amer- 
 ica." When he was no longer a member of the com- 
 mittee he was one of its most efficient executive 
 agents, and much of the services of himself and his 
 regiment were given in pursuance of the plans of 
 that committee. 
 
 In the records of the Committee of Safety under 
 date of October 14, 1776, we find that "Col. Luding- 
 ton informed a member that he has 20 or more Arms, 
 taken from disaffected persons, now in his possession, 
 and requests to know how they shall be disposed of. 
 Ordered, That Col. Ludington send all arms in his 
 possession, taken from disaffected persons, to this 
 Committee without delay, and that he sends his ac- 
 count for repairing to the Auditor-General." The 
 "account for repairing" refers to the work done by 
 Colonel Ludington on the captured weapons to 
 make them serviceable for use in the American 
 Army; many of the Tories deliberately breaking 
 their muskets or depriving them of essential parts, 
 before surrendering them. A little later William 
 Duer, one of the foremost members of the Commit- 
 
 C134] 
 
w 
 
 u 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 tee, reported that "large quantities of hay and corn 
 were purchased by the Quarter Master General for 
 use of the Continental Army in the eastern part of 
 this (Dutchess) County and the western part of 
 Connecticut, that it would be hardly practicable to 
 convey the same to the army unless the roads leading 
 from the Oblong and Fredericksburgh towards 
 Pine's Bridge and North Castle were better repaired. 
 He therefore in behalf of General Mifflin, Quarter 
 Master General of the Continental Army, prayed 
 that this House would devise ways and means of 
 facilitating the above mentioned communication, not 
 doubting but so necessary an expenditure would be 
 cheerfully reimbursed from the Continental Treas- 
 ury. On taking the application of Mr. Duer into 
 consideration, Resolved, That it will be necessary to 
 repair the following Roads in order to facilitate the 
 cartage of forage to the Continental Army, from the 
 house of Col. Henry Ludington thence to Samuel 
 Washburn's, being 8 miles ; the road which runs east 
 from Col. Harry Ludington's to the Store of Mal- 
 colm Morrison's and thence south to the Mills of 
 Samuel Washburn, being 12 miles. Resolved That 
 Col. Ludington detach from his Regiment 100 men 
 for the purpose of repairing that part of the road 
 which is first mentioned, being in distance 8 Miles 
 . . . Ordered, that copies of these Resolutions be 
 immediately transmitted to the Supts. above men- 
 tioned, who are directed to communicate them with- 
 out loss of time to Cols. Fields and Luddington." 
 
 ClSSH 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 For this road-mending work the Committee fixed 
 the price of labor at ten shillings a day, exclusive of 
 subsistence, for the superintendents, and four shill- 
 ings a day for the men, the latter to provide their 
 own sustenance. They had power to impress teams 
 and carts, and to pay for each ox-cart and two yoke 
 of cattle sixteen shillings, and for each wagon twelve 
 shillings. Those who remember the common condi- 
 tion of roads in that part of the State a score of years 
 ago, will appreciate what need there must have been 
 a century before of repairs and improvements. 
 
 The varied character of Colonel Ludington's ser- 
 vices in the first years of the Revolution is indicated 
 by the entries in his ledger. Thus in November, 
 1776, we find him charging the Committee for in- 
 quiring into and detecting conspiracies against the 
 State of New York with "4 days service riding with 
 Nathaniel Sackett in order to collect evidence, at 21 
 shillings, 4 days, <£4 — 5 — 4." On November 21, 
 1776: "Then began the service of buying hay and 
 grain for the use of the Continental Army by an 
 agreement with Wm. Duer." On January 1, 1777: 
 "Then stopped the service of buying hay, being in 
 all 41 days at 20 shillings per day." In November, 
 1777: "Then engaged in the Commissary Depart- 
 ment under Deputy Commissary General and con- 
 tinued on the service until the 8th of January, 48 
 days in all at 32 shillings per day, 58 £ 16 s." 
 
 A number of persons were arrested and taken be- 
 fore the Committee at Fishkill in December, 1776, 
 
 [1363 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 and on December 20 one of them, David Aikins, 
 made affidavit: "That on or about the 29th day of 
 November last, he set out from home with a pass 
 from Colonel Henry Ludington to go to Horse 
 Neck to buy rum; and further stated he was disap- 
 pointed in getting it. He then proceeded to find 
 one Barnes Hatfield who owed him a considerable 
 sum of money, but not finding him he went to see 
 Isaac Williams who had married his cousin, and 
 while there he was captured by Rogers's Rangers 
 (British) and afterwards was taken before a Major 
 near King's Bridge. The Major asked him how he 
 could clear himself from the rebel pass found upon 
 him. He said he came down upon a particular er- 
 rand from Captain Alexander Grant's wife to him 
 and if he would send him to Capt. Grant or Capt. 
 Archbd. Campbell he would prove his character. 
 Upon his arrival to Capt. Campbell said he was a 
 prisoner and it was in his power to discharge him. 
 Campbell said he would discharge him if he would 
 carry some papers and errands to certain persons in 
 his neighborhood and be secret about it. He prom- 
 ised and Captain Campbell gave him two printed 
 papers and protections from General Howe for Mal- 
 colm Morrison, John Kain, Alexander Kidd, Mat- 
 thew Patterson, Charles Collins and one for him- 
 self." In an affidavit two days later the Patterson 
 mentioned declared: "That he told Akins that he did 
 not chuse to have anything to do with such things, 
 and further saith that there was a Man in the room, 
 
 [137] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 meaning Colo. Luddinton, who if he knew what 
 Aikins said would immediately send him to Con- 
 gress, but did not deem it expedient to mention to 
 Col. Ludington." 
 
 Malcolm Morrison appears to have been ap- 
 prehended on suspicion and to have been held for a 
 time at Kingston jail, whence he sent, on February 
 19, 1777, a petition in which he said: "Your peti- 
 tioner has always been ready in assisting both officers 
 and soldiers in their publick business of the States 
 and in a most generous manner has advanced them 
 Cash for their Different Reliefs, and is at present a 
 very considerable sum out of pocket on that account 
 and has received no part of such sum except six 
 pounds lent to Colo. Luddleton and Wm. Griffin to 
 enable them to find out that pernicious plot of John 
 Miller and Constant Nickerson, Reference being had 
 to these gentlemen for the truth of his advice & as- 
 sistance in bringing that plot to light." Morrison 
 took the oath of allegiance and was released. The 
 Nickerson referred to was doubtless Captain "Josh" 
 Nickerson, of the Swamp, near Fredericksburgh, a 
 notorious Tory. He enlisted and drilled a large 
 number of men, with the design of taking them to 
 join General Howe's army in New York. Their 
 plans and meetings were all supposed to be kept a 
 profound secret, but Colonel Ludington learned of 
 them and made counter plans for the capture of the 
 whole party. To that end he sent one of his tenants 
 as a spy to ascertain the number, place of meeting, 
 
 ni38] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 etc., of the Tories. This spy, after some difficulty, 
 fell in with one of the party and pretended to him 
 that he was desirous of enlisting in the British Army. 
 He was thereupon taken to Nickerson and enrolled. 
 He ascertained that a certain night had been ap- 
 pointed for their setting out for New York, and also 
 that the roster of the company was kept concealed in 
 a hollow walking-stick which Nickerson always had 
 by him. This information was promptly conveyed 
 to Colonel Ludington, who forthwith assembled his 
 regiment, surrounded Nickerson and his company on 
 the night set for their departure for New York, and 
 took them all prisoners. The documentary evidence 
 of their guilt was found on the written roll, and 
 Nickerson was vastly chagrined when Colonel Lud- 
 ington bade him give up the cane and then opened it 
 and took out the hidden paper. 
 
 The southern part of Dutchess County, now Put- 
 nam County, was, in fact, one of the most critical 
 danger spots in the whole country, as a passage in 
 the Journal of the Convention of the State of New 
 York shows, under date of Sunday morning, May 4, 
 1777: 
 
 Capt. Delavan, who being called before the 
 Convention, after giving information upon the 
 subject contained in the letters brought by him, 
 further informed the House, That the disaffected 
 persons are very numerous in the southern parts 
 of Dutchess County, and that without doubt they 
 will fall upon the Whigs whenever the enemy 
 
 C 139 II 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 attack our army at Peekskill or at the forts in the 
 Highlands; they therefore request the Conven- 
 tion to take some measure in the premises. There- 
 upon Resolved, That Mr. Jay, Colo. Thomas, 
 Colo. Ludington be Commissioners to prevent^ 
 quell and subdue all insurrections and disaffec- 
 tions in the Counties of Dutchess and Westches- 
 ter, and to take every measure for that pur- 
 pose which they shall deem necessary; and that 
 they cooperate with Messrs. Robert R. Living- 
 ston, Zephaniah Piatt and Matthew Cantine, a 
 committee appointed yesterday, for the like pur- 
 pose in the Manor of Livingston and Rhinebeck 
 Precinct. Resolved, That the said Commissioners 
 immediately collect with the assistance of Gen- 
 eral McDougall, or General George Clinton, or 
 from the militia of the County of Dutchess, 
 whichever shall appear to them most expeditious, 
 a force sufficient for the purpose and also to com- 
 ply with the following instructions, to wit: Gen- 
 tlemen : You are to begin in the southern part of 
 the County of Dutchess and proceed to the north- 
 ward, and in your progress secure the disaffected, 
 call out the whole militia, and destroy all such as 
 shall be found in arms to oppose you. When you 
 shall meet with the Committee above mentioned 
 you are to act in concert with them, to secure the 
 prisoners you shall have respectively made, to 
 dismiss such of the militia as you may think 
 proper, and with the remainder march into the 
 County of Westchester by different ways, con- 
 certing at the same time such measures with Gen- 
 eral McDougall or other commanding officer at 
 Peekskill as will effectually clear said county of 
 Westchester of all dangerous and disaffected 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 persons. You are on every occasion, by every 
 means in your power (torture excepted) to com- 
 pel the discovery and delivery of spies or other 
 emissaries of the enemy, who you may have 
 reason to believe are concealed in any part of the 
 country through which you may make progress 
 and upon due proof immediately execute them in 
 terror em. 
 
 A copy of the resolutions was sent to Livingston, 
 Piatt, and Cantine, with additional instructions to 
 conform with the resolutions sent them, and after 
 having cleared the manor of Livingston and the pre- 
 cinct of Rhinebeck of all dangerous and disaffected 
 inhabitants, to proceed southward until they met 
 with Jay, Thomas, and Ludington, conducting 
 themselves in accordance with the resolutions; and 
 when they had met with them, immediately to form 
 a proper plan and endeavor to carry the plan into 
 immediate execution. Discretion was given to vary 
 from instructions as the circumstances might re- 
 quire. Copies of the intelligence received by the 
 Convention were sent to the commissioners. A few 
 days later, under date of May 8, Livingston, Piatt 
 and Cantine reported that the number of conspira- 
 tors was far greater than they had imagined, almost 
 everybody in the upper manor, particularly the east- 
 ern part of it, being disaffected, and they urged that 
 courts martial were absolutely necessary for dealing 
 with the chief offenders. As for Jay, Thomas, and 
 Ludington, they entered upon their part of the work 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 with zeal, but found themselves somewhat hampered 
 by other demands made upon them and by the un- 
 willingness of some of the militia to engage in the 
 service of the Continental Army. On June 25 this 
 matter was brought before the Convention, and it 
 was— 
 
 Resolved, That whereas information hath been 
 given to this Congress that certain Captains in 
 Col. Luddington's regiment of militia in Dutch- 
 ess County have refused to draft out of their 
 respective companies for the purpose of brigade 
 of militia to be raised in this county for the Con- 
 tinental service as recommended by this Congress 
 in pursuance of the resolves of the Continental 
 Congress of the 1st, 3rd and 4th inst. Resolved, 
 That the general committee of the said county be 
 requested to make inquiry into the premises, and 
 upon due proof of the charge against the said 
 captains, to send them under proper guard to this 
 Congress to be dealt with according to their de- 
 serts. 
 
 During that summer Colonel Ludington seems to 
 have been much engaged with duties in Westchester 
 County. Thus in General Putnam's general orders 
 we find, under date of White Plains, September 19, 
 1777, the following: 
 
 Colo. Ludington to furnish guards and pa- 
 troles from the camp to the North River. Ma jr. 
 Gray to Send a guard and patrole on the road 
 between Stephen Woods and the North River. 
 
 [142] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 Two days later, on September 21, the order ran: 
 
 Officer of the Day to-morrow Colo Ludenton 
 the same No to go on Piquit to-night as Last 
 night & on the same roads great care to be taken 
 not to put any on this Piquit but such in whose 
 Fidelity the greatest Confidence may be Placed. 
 Colo Ludington & Major Gray will guard the 
 same Roads as yesterday. Patroleing Partys 
 are Constantly to be kept up. 
 
 Again, the next day, the order ran: "The guards 
 and Piquits are to be kept up also Ma jr. Gray & 
 Colo Ludington as has been kept before." 
 
 The work of detecting and arresting traitors with- 
 in the American lines occupied much of Colonel Lud- 
 ington's attention, and in it he seems to have been 
 particularly energetic and effective. His wide know- 
 ledge of men and affairs in Westchester and Dutch- 
 ess counties caused frequent appeal to be made to 
 him for information concerning suspicious persons. 
 Thus Lieutenant-Colonel Dimon in September, 
 1777, wrote to General Putnam as follows: 
 
 Harrison's Purchase Sept'r 12th 1777. 
 
 Hon'd Sir, 
 
 Enclosed I have sent a Return of the Regt. 
 Also have sent for your Honor's Examination, 
 three Prisoners (viz) John Crabb, an Inhabitant 
 of Fredericsburg, taken up at White-plains, who 
 said he was going to Horseneck to buy Salt, but 
 on being searched, it appeared that 2/6 in paper 
 & 4/6 or 5/ in hard Mony was all the Mony he 
 had in Possession, & what renders his Conduct 
 
 [143 3 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 still more suspicious, was that, James Knox, an- 
 other of the Prisoners, was in Company with him, 
 when first discovered by our Men, but made his 
 Escape from them, & was next Day taken up 
 near New Rochelle, & who confesses he was going 
 to the Enemy: s'd Crabb desiring a Man might 
 be sent to Col. Luddington, to obtain his Char- 
 acter, to whom he said he was known; I acord- 
 ingly desired Col. Luddington (to) send his 
 Character, which he did, & which I have sent en- 
 closed. But the third, as I imagine the greatest 
 Villian of three, named Hachaliah Merrit was 
 taken in East Chester early in the Morning after 
 being out all Night with his Great Coat & 
 Blanket, & armed with a loaded Pistoll, & who 
 does not pretend to say any thing in his own Jus- 
 tification. I am with great Esteem, your Hon- 
 our's most humble Servant. 
 
 David Dimon, Lt. Col. 
 Major Genl. Putman. 
 
 Accompanying this was Colonel Ludington's 
 reply to the appeal for a "character" for the prisoner 
 Crabb, which could have given that worthy little 
 comfort : 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I have Inquired into the Character of the Said 
 
 Jno. Crabb and find him to be an Enemy to his 
 
 Country therefore shall Expect he will be 
 
 Treated as Such and am Sir 
 
 Your Very humble Serv't 
 
 Henry Ludinton, Colo. 
 Sept'r 10: 1777. 
 
 To Colo. David Demmon. 
 
 [144] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 A few days later Colonel Ludington himself wrote 
 to Putnam : 
 
 Philipse Burgh Sept'r 12th 1777. 
 Sir, 
 
 I have sent you one Elijah Taylor; his Crime 
 is as Follows: he pretends he came from below 
 our Lines because he was Suspected to be a friend 
 to us; a few days after he came to me with his 
 Brother in Law from Milesquare pretending he 
 had lost a Horse and applied to me for Orders to 
 take him where he could find him. I gave him 
 permission to search for his Horse any where he 
 pleased above our Lines but not to Return home 
 without calling on me, but Instead of Calling, 
 Returned home and soon after came up again. I 
 found by his Conduct that was not his Arrent 
 (errand) for at the Same time he and the said 
 Taylor was Laying a Plan to steal our horses. 
 The way I got Information was that one Dudely 
 Bailey, a Sutler to our Regiment, was in Con- 
 versation with the said Taylor concerning their 
 Losing Horses, whereupon the said Taylor told 
 him they had Lost Horses and knew where to 
 find them but did not care about them for he 
 could take them off in the Night; then he ask'd 
 Bailey where the Horses belonging to the Regi- 
 ment were kept, and where our Centenals were 
 posted, in order that he might Carry his plan in 
 Execution; and he further told him it would not 
 be Long before we should be Routed, for a few 
 men might do it, as we were Obliged to post our- 
 selves in Houses. He further agread with Baily 
 for him to go down as far as Milesquare to 
 one Benjamin Taylor's and there stay until the 
 
 D45] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 s'd Taylor could go to the Hessian Generals and 
 when he Return'd he would put him in good 
 Business where he might Earn a Dollar pr day. 
 he further said that When he makes his Report 
 to the General that he might live like a Gentle- 
 man without doing any work. He further Ac- 
 quainted him he had been through your Camps 
 at Peekskill as far up as Poughkeepsy and there 
 were Several Spies out among whom was an 
 Hessian Officer, and upon them Circumstances I 
 have sent you the Said Taylor. For further In- 
 formation Refer you to the said Bailey as an 
 Evidence to the truth of the Matter who shall be 
 sent up to you whenever I Receive your Order 
 for that purpose. 
 
 I have Likewise sent up three other prisoners, 
 Jacob Read, Abraham Aston & Joseph Brown, 
 the two former were taken up on Suspicion of 
 Carrying on a dangerous Correspondence with 
 the Enemy and the Latter is a deserter from 
 Colo. Willis's Regt. and Capt. Champion's 
 Comp'y of the Continental Troops. I am your 
 honour's Humble Serv't 
 
 Henry Ludinton, Col. 
 
 P. S. Should be Oblig'd to your Honour to give 
 the Bearer some direction where he may draw 
 some Cordage for the use of the Teams. I am as 
 above H. L. 
 
 To Genl. Putnam at Head Quarters Peekskill. 
 
 Jacob Read, or Rhead, promptly wrote to Clinton, 
 protesting that he had always been a true friend of 
 his country and had repeatedly been employed in its 
 
 C1463 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 service, and that therefore he conceived himself to 
 have been most unjustly treated in being arrested as 
 a traitor. He begged to be examined immediately 
 and to be set at liberty on proof of his innocence. 
 
 In the fall of 1777 there was a scarcity of pro- 
 visions in Westchester and Dutchess counties, and 
 the Tories sought further to embarrass the American 
 cause by shipping all provisions they could secure to 
 the British Army. On this account the following let- 
 ter was addressed by Colonel Ludington and others 
 to the Council of Safety for the State of New York: 
 
 Dutchess Co. 
 
 _, 3rd December, 1777. 
 
 Gent m : 
 
 Nothing but the strongest necessity could in- 
 duce us to trouble you with an application of so 
 extraordinary a nature, but if we are esteemed 
 worthy of your confidence as friends to our strug- 
 gling country our sincerity will atone for what in 
 common cases might appear indecent. Our in- 
 vaded State has not only been an object of the 
 special designs of our common enemy, but ob- 
 noxious to the wicked, mercenary intrigues of a 
 number of engrossing Jockies who have drained 
 this part of the State of the article of bread to such 
 a degree that we have reason to fear there is not 
 enough left for the support of the inhabitants. We 
 have for some months past heard of one Holmes 
 who has been purchasing wheat and flour in these 
 parts with which the well affected are universally 
 ill-provided. This man with us is of doubtful char- 
 acter, his conversations are of the disaffected sort 
 entirely. He has now moving from Fishkill to- 
 ll 147 3 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 ward Newark we think not less than one hundred 
 barrels of flour, for which he says he has your per- 
 mit, the which we have not seen. However we 
 have, at the universal call of the people, concluded 
 to stop the flour and Holmes himself until this 
 express may return. We ourselves think from 
 the conduct of this man that his designs are bad. 
 We have the honor to be your humble servants, 
 
 Henry Ludington, 
 Joseph Crane Jr., 
 Jonathan Paddock, 
 Elijah Townsend. 
 
 To the Honorable the Council of Safety for the 
 State of N. Y. 
 
 More than two months later Crane and Luding- 
 ton wrote to Governor Clinton on the same matter : 
 
 Southeast Precinct, 16th February, 1778. 
 May it Please Your Excellency, 
 
 We about Two Months ago presumed to stop 
 a parcel of Flour said to be the property of one 
 Helmes made immediate Report thereof to the 
 Council of Safety in answer we were favoured 
 with a coppy of the Licence Granted by the 
 Council to the said Helms, with a Coppy of the 
 Oath on which said Licence was Granted & with 
 Directions from the Council that in Case the Con- 
 duct of sd Helms was not Correspondant with 
 the Tennor of sd Oath and Licence to apprehend 
 and committ him for Tryal and Detain the Flour. 
 Previous to the Return of the Express Dis- 
 patched with our Report to the Council Helms 
 made his Escape and has not appeared here since. 
 
 ri48] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 The Flour was Hurried up some in old Cyder 
 Hogsheads the Rest in Barrels not well secured 
 has been exposed to wett and is in Danger of 
 Spoiling. Your Excellencies Directions Respect- 
 ing this matter will be Esteemed as a favour done 
 to your most Obedient and Humble Servants 
 
 Joseph Crane Junr 
 Henry Ludinton 
 His Excellency Governor Clinton. 
 
 The man Holmes mentioned was Colonel John 
 Holmes, one of the most wary and energetic Tories 
 in that part of the country. He was famed as a 
 breeder and racer of horses, and had a stock farm 
 near Colonel Ludington's. Indeed, he and Luding- 
 ton were neighbors and friends before the outbreak 
 of the war, but in the animosities engendered by that 
 conflict they were involved as bitter foes. Holmes 
 had a commission from the British authorizing him to 
 enlist men for their service, and for this purpose he 
 had a recruiting station on Fishkill Plains in an out- 
 of-the-way place — a field covered with scrub oak. 
 There he gathered Tories and drilled them for the 
 British service. He often boasted privately that his 
 friend Ludington would one day accompany him on 
 a visit to General Howe at New York — meaning, of 
 course, as a prisoner. Colonel Ludington, however, 
 completely turned the tables upon his old neighbor 
 and would-be captor. Learning from his secret 
 agents that Holmes was collecting a company of 
 Tories on the Fishkill Plains, he quietly gathered his 
 
 [149] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 own regiment for what he warned them was to be an 
 undertaking of much activity and danger. After 
 several days of preparation, he led his men at night 
 to the Tory rendezvous. Dividing them into com- 
 panies, he caused them completely to encircle the 
 scrub oak field and close in upon it from all sides. So 
 quietly and effectively was the work done that 
 Holmes and every one of his followers were cap- 
 tured, without the loss of a life or the firing of a 
 single shot. There were, however, several severe hand- 
 to-hand struggles, in one of which Colonel Luding- 
 ton himself had a brand new suit of clothes almost 
 entirely torn from his back. Holmes was furious at 
 being thus trapped, and the more so when he found 
 that Ludington was his captor. He was compelled 
 to give up as spoils of war his watch and purse, and a 
 large sum of British money which had been given to 
 him for the conduct of his recruiting operations. Col- 
 onel Ludington then marched the whole party off to 
 Poughkeepsie and deposited them in jail. He ap- 
 pears to have had no personal grudge against 
 Holmes, however, and on a subsequent occasion 
 saved his life at much danger to himself. 
 
 The ardent patriots of the border counties were not 
 content with merely these acts of forcible suppres- 
 sion of traitorous conduct, but desired to strike still 
 more strongly and effectively at the foes of their own 
 neighborhood. An act of the Convention had already 
 authorized the occupation and leasing at moderate 
 rentals of all lands owned by those who had entered 
 
 [150] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 the British service. At first there was little disposi- 
 tion to enforce the measure, but as the Revolution 
 proceeded, and the "pernicious activity" of the 
 Tories became more marked, the people of Dutchess 
 County moved for the execution of the law. The 
 following letter was accordingly addressed to Gov- 
 ernor Clinton by the Board of Sequestration of that 
 county : 
 
 To his Excellency George Clinton, Esq. 
 
 Governor of the State of New York, General 
 of the Militia, and Admiral of the Navy of the 
 same. 
 
 The Memorial of Theodoras Van Wyck and 
 Henry Livingston Jun. Commissioners of Se- 
 questration for the County of Dutchess. 
 
 Sheweth, That, whereas, on the 13th day of 
 May, 1777, The honorable the Convention of the 
 Representatives of the State of New York came 
 to the following resolution "Resolved that the 
 Commissioners of sequestration be directed & im- 
 powered to lease out the lands & Tenements of all 
 such persons as already have gone, or hereafter 
 shall go, unto & Join the Enemies of this State, 
 under Moderate rent, from year to year, to per- 
 sons friendly to the cause of America & who will 
 Covenant to keep the same in repair & to suffer 
 no waste to be done thereon" — And again "Re- 
 solved, that in all such leases the Inhabitants of 
 this State who have been driven from their Habi- 
 tations by the Enemy should be preferred by the 
 Commissioners to others who have not that claim 
 to the favor of the public." 
 
 Agreeable to the above resolutions your Me- 
 
 C1513 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 morialists have put numbers of well affected 
 Refugees Inhabitants of this State into the pos- 
 session of lands and tenements deserted by the 
 former disaffected proprietors. As yet your Me- 
 morialists have stipulated with but very few of 
 the Refugees aforesaid, what rent they shall pay 
 for the lands & tenements they Occupy. Your 
 Memorialists wish to have pointed out to them, 
 what proportion of the highest rent they could 
 obtain from others, for lands and tenements 
 above described, the said Refugees should pay. 
 
 Your Memorialists would also beg leave to 
 represent to your Excellency, that numbers of 
 persons now with our Enemies own large tracts 
 of land in this County; Many of the tenants on 
 which are desirous of discharging their rents, and 
 have in many instances applyed to your Me- 
 morialists for direction. By virtue of any 
 Resolutions made by the Legislature your 
 Memorialists do not think themselves authorized 
 to receive the Same. 
 
 If the Legislature see fit to direct to have the 
 above rents collected your Memorialists wish the 
 Estates may be particularized. 
 
 Your Memorialists would also inform your 
 Excellency that they have in their possession a 
 quantity of plate late the property of Mess. John 
 Livingston, Peter Stuyvesant and Stephen 
 Crossfield, and be given direction in the disposi- 
 tion of it. 
 
 And your Memorialists will &c. 
 
 Theodorus Van Wyck, 
 Henry Livingston Jun'r. 
 
 March 16th 1778. 
 
 C152] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 The governor's reply to this appeal was not alto- 
 gether satisfactory to the more ardent patriots, who 
 were suffering much in their private estates from the 
 ravages of British irregulars and their Tory allies, 
 and accordingly a memorial was soon presented to 
 the Convention asking for further legislation of a 
 particularly stringent kind. Made by the freehold- 
 ers and citizens of Dutchess County, this memorial 
 was doubtless signed by Colonel Ludington together 
 with many others, and expressed his vigorous opin- 
 ions. It ran as follows : 
 
 To the Honorable the Senate and Assembly of 
 the State of New York, 
 
 The respectful address and petition of the Free- 
 holders and Others, Inhabitants of the County of 
 Dutchess, Friends to the freedom and Independ- 
 ence of the United States of America, 
 
 Humbly Sheweth: 
 That the nefarious and most cruel Designs of 
 the King and parliament of Great Britain, to re- 
 duce our Country to Vasalage, have been and still 
 continue to be executed with a degree of Malice 
 and Rancour, altogether inconsistent with the 
 character of a Nation professing Christianity, or 
 even a regard to common Justice and humanity; 
 that while your petitioners in defence of their 
 Rights and freedom have opposed the devices in- 
 spired by Tyranny, and have suffered severely, 
 many of them in their own proper persons, and 
 effects, and all in those of their friends and fellow 
 citizens; they have always had, as they hope, a 
 
 C15S3 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 well grounded confidence in the Wisdom and 
 Justice of an honest, impartial Legislature, by 
 whom they trust such an adequate adjustment of 
 forfeited property will be effected as may duly 
 punish the authors of the publick Calamities, re- 
 lieve the distressed and be the most conducive to 
 the General good of the State. 
 
 That as you are now entering upon the Busi- 
 ness of the second year of the Legislature of this 
 State, we Doubt not but a Variety of important 
 matters presents themselves to your considera- 
 tion, among which, in our opinion, one of the 
 greatest is the confiscation and sale of the prop- 
 erty of the Traitorous Enemies of this State ; that 
 our Debts contracted in prosecuting this neces- 
 sary War, are become enormous; that the whole 
 of this Burden will be as intolerable for us and 
 our children to bear, as it will be cruel to exact it 
 of us ; That the only expedient for our relief will 
 be the appropriation of the property within this 
 State, of those unnatural Enemies, (whether now 
 within or out of it ) by whose wicked practices the 
 War, with all its horrors, Calamities and conse- 
 quent charges, was brought upon us and is con- 
 tinued to this present period in the American 
 States by them devoted to destruction. To this 
 end have they not exerted every faculty, cancelled 
 every social and sacred Obligation, and to the ut- 
 most assisted the Enemies of their Country, irri- 
 tated them against it, and urged them to com- 
 pleat its distinction? Have not many of them 
 embodied with the British Troops, assisted in 
 their councils, aided and abetted them in contriv- 
 ing and executing all their infernal measures? 
 
 Lenity to such atrocious offenders, we conceive 
 
 [154] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 to be cruelty to the State in General, and to man- 
 kind, unwarrantable either by the Laws of God 
 or Man. 
 
 These are, therefore, with all due deference and 
 respect, to desire and request you, as the rep- 
 resentative body of this State, forthwith to pro- 
 ceed upon, and before the close of the present 
 Session, effectually form and accomplish a Law 
 for the confiscation and sale of the Real and per- 
 sonal property of the Enemies of this State, in 
 such way and manner as may be for the good of 
 the people at Large, and we Doubt not, in the 
 Completion of so important an Act, but you will 
 readily forego every private Conveniency to 
 yourselves and particular families. 
 
 We have with surprise and concern under- 
 stood that several members of your honorable 
 Houses are impatient to close the Session, on ac- 
 count of their Domestic concerns. We would 
 humbly beg leave to remind such gentlemen that, 
 however pressing their private affairs may be, the 
 publick Demands ought to be first attended to, 
 as in them the Interest of every Individual is de- 
 volved; and in particular this Act ought by no 
 means to be postponed. The publick Debts, the 
 alarming Depreciation of our paper money, are 
 pressing, and will admit of no delay. The pres- 
 ent and not the future is in your power, and were 
 it necessary to use arguments on this subject to 
 patriots, it would be easy to show that the delay 
 of this Act to another Session is big with uncer- 
 tainty of its passing at all, and therefore of the 
 most dangerous consequences to this State. 
 Especially as it will occasion universal uneasiness 
 and in all probability produce Tumults and in- 
 
 D55] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 surrections, and tend to a Domestic Tyranny and 
 confusion as much to be dreaded as the evils 
 brought upon us by our connections with Great 
 Britain, the Effects of which we thus wofully ex- 
 perience. Tho' thro' the smiles of Heaven upon 
 our past endeavors, we are now arrived within 
 view of our native inheritance, the promised 
 Land of peace and freedom, to which we look 
 with longing Eyes. But our unremited exertions 
 are still necessary to bring us to the Haven of 
 rest. Else all our past Labors may still prove in 
 vain, all our fair prospects be darkened by Inter- 
 vening Clouds, that may drive us again upon a 
 tempestuous sea of trouble till we are over- 
 whelmed and Lost. To prevent this we and all 
 your Constituents look up with Anxious Expec- 
 tations to you, on whom is devolved the care of 
 the State Vessel, and on whom we depend to 
 pilot it into a port of safety; and we trust your 
 vigilance and unwearied application to the im- 
 portant Duties of your Station will be continued 
 till the great End is Obtained, for which as in 
 Duty bound we shall ever pray, &c. 
 
 Poughkeepsie, October 22nd, 1778. 
 
 It was inevitable that his activity and zeal in pro- 
 moting and executing such measures should make 
 Colonel Ludington an object of especial antipathy 
 to the local Tories and also to the British authorities 
 in New York. He was regarded by them as one of 
 the chief obstacles to the raising of troops and the 
 securing of supplies for the British Army in the 
 border region. Accordingly the strongest efforts 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 were made to get rid of him, either by death or cap- 
 ture. On more than one occasion he was shot at by 
 hidden marksmen by the wayside and narrowly 
 escaped being killed. The British authorities offered 
 a reward of three hundred guineas for his person, 
 and more than one of his disaffected neighbors 
 sought to win that prize. Much of the time his house 
 was guarded by a detachment of his regiment, but 
 often for days and weeks when he was at home his 
 only sentinels were his two older daughters, Sibyl 
 and Rebecca. These children would sit for hours, 
 armed with heavy muskets, at the upper windows, 
 behind casks on the piazza, or in a neighbor- 
 ing cornfield, watching for the approach of sus- 
 picious or openly hostile characters and ready to give 
 their father warning. One night they espied a num- 
 ber of moving figures, lurking behind trees and 
 fences, and at once waked their father with the warn- 
 ing that Tories were surrounding the house. Colonel 
 Ludington, having no aid at hand sufficient to offer 
 defense, resorted to a ruse. He hurriedly aroused 
 the inmates and distributed them through all the 
 rooms, each with a musket and a lighted candle. The 
 general illumination of the building, the signs of com- 
 motion, and the shadows of moving and armed fig- 
 ures on every window blind, persuaded the Tories 
 that a company of soldiers was in the house. They 
 therefore feared to make the attack which they had 
 intended, but contented themselves with yelling and 
 hooting in the adjoining woods until day began to 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 break, when they retired down the road to the south- 
 ward, through the little settlement which then oc- 
 cupied the present site of the village of Carmel. 
 
 The next day Colonel Ludington ascertained that 
 his nocturnal visitors were Tories from Quaker Hill 
 and Pawling, under the leadership of Dr. Prosser, 
 who has already been mentioned in this narrative, 
 and were about forty in number. Prosser was a 
 neighbor of Colonel Ludington's, but was also his 
 bitter enemy, and was one of the most virulent Tories 
 in all that region. He was that night leading his 
 company down to New York to join the British 
 Army, and had planned to kill or capture Colonel 
 Ludington and thus secure the reward of three hun- 
 dred guineas which General Howe had offered. 
 After the war Prosser returned to Dutchess County 
 to live, thinking his Toryism would be forgotten or 
 condoned. But Colonel Ludington had not forgot- 
 ten nor forgiven his midnight attempt at murder or 
 capture. One day the two men met on the highway 
 at Patterson, both being on horseback. As soon as 
 Prosser caught sight of the man whom he had tried to 
 "remove," he turned and attempted to avoid him. 
 But Colonel Ludington and his horse were too quick 
 for him. Overtaking him the Colonel belabored him 
 with a heavy rawhide whip and gave him a most 
 thorough flogging, which of course Prosser could not 
 venture to resent by legal means. 
 
 On another occasion during the war two gentle- 
 men and their servants, strangers, stopped at Colonel 
 
 C158 3 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 Ludington's house and asked for entertainment for 
 the night. They were received with some misgivings 
 as to their loyalty. Some time after they had retired 
 the watching members of the family perceived that 
 the house was surrounded by armed men. Suspect- 
 ing that the strangers were in league with the be- 
 siegers, they went to their room, roused them, and at 
 the muzzles of muskets demanded to know who they 
 were and what was their business. The strangers 
 managed to assure them that they were friends, and 
 thereupon joined the family in lighting up the house 
 and giving it the appearance of a well-garrisoned 
 stronghold. As on the former occasion the ruse was 
 effective and the attacking party withdrew. 
 
 Colonel Ludington's activities and also his diffi- 
 culties in raising troops for various purposes are sug- 
 gested in some of his correspondence with Governor 
 Clinton : 
 
 I would inform your Excelency that I have 
 proceeded to Raise the Companey aloted me to 
 Raise as my Quota and Expect them to march on 
 Munday next; in Regard of officering the Com- 
 paney I have Been obliged to Borow a point, and 
 thought it my Duty to acquaint his Excelency in 
 that manner ; the man apointed as Capt. Did not 
 Belong to the militia — who is Capt. Elijah 
 Tounsand the Barer — But has Been the most of 
 the time in Service Since the war Began and has 
 Been Captain with me in the 3 months Service at 
 the Plains and I Conceive him to Be more Suit- 
 able to Command a companey than one of the 
 
 C1593 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 militia Captains; would therefore take it as a 
 favour if you would give him his Comision ; the 1 
 Lieut, is John Berrey, a militia officer; the 2 
 Lieut, is Mr. William McTine a young man who 
 formerly Lived at the White Plains and now has 
 moved among us, has never Born a commision in 
 the militia, But is Lookt upon to Be a proper 
 person for it, as he is a man well acquainted with 
 the part of the Country where he is going and 
 very Capable of performing the office. Sir I 
 hope it will Be agreable to his Excelency to grant 
 Commisions to the above mentioned persons and 
 in So doing you will mutch oblige your Humble 
 Servant 
 
 Henry Ludinton. 
 
 Fredricksburgh May Id 1778. 
 
 To his Excelency George Clinton Esqr. Gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 To this Clinton promptly replied : 
 
 Poughkeepsie 1st May 1778. 
 Sir, I have rec'd your Letter of equal Date. 
 By the Law for raising the 700 Men for the De- 
 fence of the State the Officers are to be taken 
 from the Militia. If, therefore, Capt. Townsend 
 is to Command the Company you must have him 
 appointed a Capt. in your Regt. & the other 
 Gentleman a Lieut., otherwise it will be impos- 
 sible to give them the Command tho' I wish to do 
 it. I have convened the Council of Appointment 
 to meet at this Place this Day to compleat the 
 Military Appointments. I must, therefore, 
 
 C160] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 again call upon you for the proper Returns of 
 your Regiment, agreable to former Orders to 
 enable us to perfect the Appointments therein. 
 I think it would be best for you to attend here in 
 Person on Monday next at farthest. I am your 
 Most Obed't Serv't 
 
 Geo. Clinton. 
 Colo. Ludington. 
 
 The British raid up the Hudson, with the burning 
 of Kingston, already mentioned, provoked much ac- 
 tivity throughout the border region, and resulted in 
 added suffering to the unfortunate inhabitants. Im- 
 mediately after the burning of Kingston the Com- 
 mittee of Safety, meeting at Marbletown, adopted 
 the following : 
 
 Whereas, The late destruction of the town of 
 Kingston, and a vast number of dwelling houses, 
 improvements, grain and fodder on either side of 
 Hudson's River, by a cruel, inhuman and merci- 
 less enemy, has deprived many persons and fam- 
 ilies, the good subjects of the State, of shelter and 
 subsistence for themselves and their cattle — 
 calamities which by the blessing of God on the 
 fruits of this land those who have not shared in so 
 uncommon a misfortune are enabled in a great 
 measure to relieve ; 
 
 Resolved, Therefore, that it be, and it is hereby 
 most earnestly recommended to the several and 
 respective general and district committees of the 
 counties of Ulster, Dutchess, Orange and West- 
 chester, to make, or cause to be made, a proper 
 and proportionate distribution of the aforesaid 
 
 H611 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 distressed persons and families, and their cattle, 
 to the end that they may all be provided for as the 
 circumstances of the country will permit; and it 
 is hereby most strenuously urged on all those who 
 may not have shared with them in their afflictions 
 to receive the aforesaid persons, families and cat- 
 tle, and furnish them with shelter and subsistence 
 at a moderate rate. 
 
 To this humane appeal the patriotic part of the 
 population cordially responded, but of course the 
 British sympathizers were reluctant to do so. Their 
 reluctance and refusal brought upon them, however, 
 the increased wrath of the patriots, and incited to in- 
 creased zeal the committees whose province it was to 
 deal with the disaffected. Among these, Colonel 
 Ludington was prominent, though he exercised his 
 powers with a certain humane discretion and was not 
 inclined to be cruelly vindictive even toward the most 
 malignant Tories. A letter of his to the Commis- 
 sioners of Sequestration, now in the possession of 
 Mr. William E. Dean, of Fishkill, runs as follows, 
 its reference being to the "Red Mills," near Lake 
 Mahopac : 
 
 Gentlemen 
 
 Mr. Cox has been with me this day and in- 
 formed me that the Mills are likely to be taken 
 from him and to Be put into the Hands of Mrs. 
 Cammels and 2 other persons, the two Mrs Cam- 
 els I am well acquainted with and would do Every- 
 thing in my power to serve them But when you 
 come to consider upon this matter You may find 
 
 Cl62n 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 they may Be Settled at preasent in such a manner 
 that they may Remain where they are for a while 
 and be Less Damidge to them than it will be to 
 Mr. Cox to turn out at this season of the year and 
 so sudden as he is Required to Do. it will Be 
 easy for you to Judg what a bad plight it will 
 naturally put him to. therefore should take it as a 
 favour if you would Let Him Remain until he 
 can have an oportunity of settling Himself in 
 Some other place, this far can be said of Mr. Cox 
 it is generally Believed that He Has done Justice 
 to the publick while He has occupyed the mills 
 and in the Commisary Department which he has 
 been in since Last fall. But However gentlemen 
 I would not Be understood that I am to dictate 
 you in those affairs and am and remain your Real 
 Friend 
 
 and Humble Servant 
 
 Henry Ludinton. 
 Fredericksburgh January 29th, 1779 
 
 Mr Henery Livingston 
 & Theds Van Wick 
 
 The Comitioners Sequestration 
 Dutchess County. 
 
 Another letter, also in the possession of Mr. Dean, 
 runs as follows : 
 
 Dear Sir 
 
 I have just had an information of a score of 
 Sheep in the hands of one Josiah Swift Rented to 
 him By a person who Hath Been Sundry years 
 
 ci63: 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 with the Enemy and Likewise Sum Cattell in the 
 Hands of Henry Charlick which Belonged to one 
 Ellston which the Bearer can inform you of, and 
 the Bearer is the person who moved Ellston's wife 
 and family and John Millars and wishes that the 
 Discovery he had maid of those Cattel might be 
 an inducement to the Commisoners to give him 
 Sum Satisfaction for moving the 2 families 
 Down to the Lines 
 
 am Sir your very humble Servant 
 
 Henry Ludinton 
 
 To Theodorus Van wayk Esqs 
 
 P S I believe I am on track of a very Con- 
 siderable deal of property conseald Belonging to 
 Kain and Morison 
 
 This letter was addressed to "Theodorus Vanwayk 
 Esqs pr Mr. Daniel Haselton For want of wafer 
 this is not seald" 
 
 The sternness of the dealings of the State with 
 British sympathizers was strikingly shown in the law 
 which was made by the State Convention on October 
 22, 1779, which ran in part: 
 
 Whereas during the present war . . . divers 
 persons holding or claiming property within this 
 State have voluntarily been adherent to the King, 
 his fleets and armies, enemies of this State . . . 
 whereof the said persons have severally and 
 justly forfeited all right to the protection of the 
 State and the benefit of laws under which prop- 
 erty is held or claimed ... Be it enacted that 
 
 C164] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 the said several persons hereinbefore particularly 
 named shall be and are hereby declared forever 
 banished from this State, and each and every one 
 of them who shall at any time hereafter be found 
 in any part of this State shall be and are hereby 
 declared guilty of felony, and shall suffer death 
 as in cases of felony, without benefit of clergy. 
 
 A mahogany table belonging to Colonel Ludington, at which, 
 
 according to family tradition, Washington 
 
 and Rochambeau dined 
 
 (Now in the possession of Charles Henry Ludington) 
 
 Fredericksburgh and the neighborhood were fre- 
 quently traversed by officers and bodies of troops, 
 especially in making the journey from Hartford and 
 New Haven to Fishkill. Washington himself often 
 made that journey, and was a familiar guest at Col- 
 
 [165] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 onel Ludington's house. On one occasion Washing- 
 ton and Rochambeau, on their way from Hartford 
 to Fishkill, called there for dinner. 
 
 In the journal of Captain William Beatty, of the 
 Maryland Line, the following entry occurs under 
 date of Sunday, September 20, 1778: 
 
 "We marched about four miles past Fredericks- 
 burgh, where we lay until the 22nd, on which day our 
 division marched about 12 miles towards Fishkill. 
 At this place we lay until the 28th, when we marched 
 to Fishkills." It seems probable that on this march 
 the troops, presumably under Baron De Kalb, passed 
 by Colonel Ludington's house, and were halted there 
 for the two days mentioned. If so, their stopping 
 there and paying in scrip for the food supplied by 
 the Ludingtons form the basis of the tradition in the 
 Ludington family, that at one time Colonel Luding- 
 ton received so much depreciated currency from the 
 soldiers that he scarcely knew what to do with it, and 
 finally stored it under the floor boards of his house 
 for safe keeping. Mrs. Ludington collected it from 
 the soldiers in her apron, and got her apron running 
 over full. Long afterward Colonel Ludington 
 burned a trunkful of the stuff, as worthless litter. 
 
 The Ludington house, standing, as before men- 
 tioned, on the great highway from Hartford to the 
 Hudson, was often resorted to by travelers as an inn, 
 and while the British held New York City, the 
 greater part of all travel between New England and 
 the other colonies passed that way. William Ellery, 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 of Massachusetts, a signer of the Declaration of In- 
 dependence, traveled that road and stopped at Col- 
 onel Ludington's in the fall of 1777, on his way from 
 his home at Dighton, Massachusetts, to York, Penn- 
 sylvania, to attend the session of the First Conti- 
 nental Congress. He was accompanied by the Hon. 
 Francis Dana and his servant, whom he calls, in his 
 whimsical diary, respectively Don Quixote and 
 Sancho Panza, while to himself he gives the title of 
 Pill Garlick. Under date of "Road to Danbury, 
 Nov. 5th," he records : 
 
 We intended when we reached Litchfield to 
 have gone to Peekskill, and there crossed the 
 North River, but when we got to Danbury we 
 were dissuaded from it by the Person at whose 
 house we breakfasted, who told us that there were 
 Tories and Horse stealers on that road. This ac- 
 count occasioned us to take the Fishkill road. 
 Accordingly we set off, baited at the foot of 
 Quaker Hill, about 7 miles from Danbury, and 
 reached Colonel Ludington's 8 miles from the 
 foregoing stage at night. Here mens meminisse 
 horret! We were told by our landlady the Col. 
 was gone to New Windsor, that there was a 
 guard on the road between Fishkill and Peeks- 
 kill, that one of the guard had been killed, about 
 6 miles off, and that a man not long before had 
 been shot at on the road to Fishkill not more than 
 three miles from their house and that a guard had 
 been placed there for some time past, and had 
 been dismissed only three days. We were now in 
 a doleful pickle, not a male in the house but Don 
 
 C167J 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Quixote and his man Sancho and poor Pill Gar- 
 lick, and no lodging for the first and last but in a 
 lower room without any shutters to the windows 
 or locks to the doors. What was to be done? 
 What could be done ? In the first place we forti- 
 fied our Stomachs with Beefsteak and Grogg 
 and then went to work to fortify ourselves against 
 an attack. The Knight of the woeful counte- 
 nance asked whether there were any guns in the 
 house. Two were produced, one of them in good 
 order. Nails were fixed over the windows, the 
 Guns placed in a corner of the room, a pistol un- 
 der each of our pillows, and the Hanger against 
 the bedpost, thus accoutered and prepared at all 
 points our heroes went to bed. Whether the val- 
 iant Knight slept a wink or not, Pill Garlick can- 
 not say, for he was so overcome with fatigue, and 
 his animal spirits were so solaced with the beef 
 and the grogg, that every trace of fear was utterly 
 erased from his imagination and he slept soundly 
 from evening till morning, save that at midnight, 
 as he fancieth, he was waked by his companion, 
 with this interesting Question, delivered with a 
 tremulous voice, "What noise is that?" He lis- 
 tened and soon discovered that the noise was oc- 
 casioned by some rats gnawing the head of a 
 bread cask. After satisfying the Knight about 
 the noise, he took his second and finishing nap. 
 
 Again, in Colonel Israel Angell's diary, cited by 
 Mr. Patrick, we find : 
 
 29th Nov, 1779. This morning after breakfast 
 I got my horses Shodd, Crost the North River 
 over to fishkill. Went on for Danbury, Col 
 
 C168] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 Greene and Mr. Griff en. Greene went for 
 Springfield so we parted about six miles from 
 fishkill, but Still could get nothing for our horses, 
 till riding ten or twelve miles, there Dind and fed 
 our horses, then went to Colo Luttentons Tavern 
 among the Mountains 21 miles from fishkills 
 there put up for the night, one of Col. Livings- 
 ton's Officers came to this Tavern in the Evening 
 on his way home on a furlough. 
 
 Nov. 30th, 1779. Left my lodgings this morn- 
 ing after breakfast went on for D anbury. 
 
 It is probable, indeed, that for a time Washington 
 himself made Colonel Ludington's house his head- 
 quarters. In the late summer and fall of 1778 he 
 had his army in that region, and made his own head- 
 quarters at Fredericksburgh, as related by Irving 
 and Lossing. He wrote, under date of Fredericks- 
 burgh on September 12 and 23, describing the dis- 
 position of his army, "the second line, with Lord 
 Sterling, in the vicinity of Fredericksburgh." He 
 was there with the exception of a week from Sep- 
 tember 12 to the end of November. Part of the time 
 his headquarters were at the house of John Kane — 
 also spelled Kain and Keane. This house stood on the 
 site since occupied by the house of Mr. Charles H. 
 Roberts, at Pawling, and was a large house, con- 
 nected by a stone-walled passageway with another 
 large stone building, the ground floor of which was 
 used as a store and the upper story for dwelling pur- 
 poses. The land was a part of Beverly Robinson's 
 estate. Kane, of whom mention has already been 
 
 11691 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 made in Colonel Ludington's correspondence, was a 
 Tory and was particularly obnoxious to the patriots. 
 Under the law of October, 1779, his estate was con- 
 fiscated, and he, a dignified and venerable magistrate, 
 was tied to the tail of a cart and drummed out of 
 town. 
 
 We have already quoted correspondence between 
 Governor Clinton and Colonel Ludington, showing 
 the difficulties which were encountered in raising 
 troops for various services. As time went on these 
 difficulties increased rather than diminished, so that 
 now and then the governor was impatient at the un- 
 avoidable delay. Thus he wrote on one occasion as 
 follows : 
 
 Pokeepsie 9th June 1779. 
 Sir, 
 
 I wrote to you a few Days ago requesting you 
 to expedite the raising of the Levies to be fur- 
 nished by your Regiment but as I have not since 
 heard from you I conclude the Letter has mis- 
 carried. I have now therefore to repeat my Or- 
 ders that your Quota be raised with all Dispatch 
 and marched down under the Command of an 
 active subaltern to join the Detachment from 
 Major Crane's and Colo. Drake's Regimts (sta- 
 tioned at Crompond, to cover the Country there 
 from the Depredations of the Enemy) until my 
 further Orders. 
 
 I will send an Officer to relieve, as soon as pos- 
 sible, the subaltern you shall appoint for this ser- 
 vice. 
 
 As I think it more than probable that I shall 
 
 C1703 
 
it 
 
 g^ u * •& ■ ■■ ~ r*^ 
 
 / | 
 
 > 
 fay. «£ A~*~~~&~ l ~- -Mr cC, ■--■£■ * t-^'c£ TT;. : .-.~ 
 
 <■) >-' 
 
 -^ 
 
 {&*£ 
 
 Reduced Fac-slrnilE of Letter, frnm Govemnr George Clinton, 
 tD Col. Henry Ludington, 
 
 (Original in pORsesmion of Charles H. Ludington. New York City.) 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 be under a Necessity of employing the Levies 
 from your Regiment, in the Quarter to which 
 they are now directed, I expect it will be an In- 
 ducement to the Officers to exert themselves in 
 raising them and that the Men may more easily be 
 obtained. I have only to add that I expect also 
 a speedy and effectual Compliance with these 
 Orders and that you will make me immediate 
 Report of what shall be done in consequence of 
 them. 
 I am 
 Sir 
 
 Your most obed 
 
 Geo. Clinton. 
 Colo. Ludington. 
 
 Public Service, Geo. Clinton. 
 
 To Colo. Henry Ludington Fredericksburgh. 
 By Express. 
 
 Colonel Ludington was, however, more successful 
 in securing recruits than some other militia com- 
 manders in that region. Colonel Roswell Hopkins, 
 at Amenia, seems to have met with many troubles, 
 which ultimately led to his resignation of his commis- 
 sion. In the summer of 1780 much trouble arose 
 over trafficking in certificates of exemption, and this 
 correspondence took place : 
 
 Amenia, July 12th, 1780. 
 
 Sir, In Obedience to Brigade Orders of the 
 30th ult. I now return to your Excellency the num- 
 
 tvni 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 ber of Classes in my regiment for raising the 
 present Levies for three months; the number is 
 Sixty -two; the men are to be Delivered the 14th 
 Instant at Major Cook's & the 15th at Capt. 
 Roger Sutherland's to such Officer as your Ex- 
 cellencey shall appoint. I am, Sir, your most 
 obedient Hum. Serv't, 
 
 Roswell Hopkins, Colo. 
 His Excellency Gov'r. Clinton. 
 
 May it please your Excellency, We, the Sub- 
 scribers, beg leave to inform your Excellency 
 that Difficulties have arose in this Regiment re- 
 specting Exemption from Militia Drafts Certifi- 
 cates which have been transferred for a valuable 
 Consideration by the procurer to another Person 
 — that is whether the Purchaser of such Certifi- 
 cate is by act of the Legislature, Pass'd the 25th 
 of March 1778, for Exempting persons from 
 Drafts are as much exempted from Militia Duty 
 as the first Procurers would be in case he had not 
 transfer'd it. There being several such Instances 
 in the Regiments and different Opinions in the 
 Matter which is likely to produce uneasiness, and 
 we being Inform'd that it has been the Practice in 
 other Regiments to exempt the Purchasers of 
 such Certificates. There is James Hildreth & 
 Lemuel Brush — under this predicament the men 
 that they purchas'd of have done duty in this 
 regiment ever since they transfer'd their Certifi- 
 cates to the present Holders. As their appears 
 to be no fraud or collusion respecting the said 
 James Hildreth and Brush, we pray your Excel- 
 
 [172] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 lency's advice and Direction respecting such 
 purchas'd Certificates which will oblige your Ex- 
 cellency's Most Obedient Humble Servants 
 
 Roswell Hopkins, Colo. 
 William Barker, Lt. Colo. 
 Brinton Paine, Major. 
 Eben. Husted, Maj'r. 
 
 Amenia, July 12 1780. 
 
 His Excellency Gov'r Clinton. 
 
 thes may sartify that I am knoing to the truth 
 of what is in the above, as I then Commanded the 
 Ridgment, & am knoing to theas 2 men mench'ed 
 dus now due duty in the Ridgment. 
 
 David Sutherland. 
 
 Poukeepsie 13th July 1780. 
 Sir, I am this Moment favoured with your two 
 Letters of equal Date. His Excellency Genl. 
 Washington in Consideration of the Busy 
 Season of the year & other Reasons has pro- 
 longed the Day for the Levies to rendevous at 
 Fishkill till 25th Instant. This I notified Brig'r 
 Genl. Swartwoudt of by after Orders which I 
 concluded he had issued to his Brigade. I will 
 send an Officer to receive & take Charge of your 
 men in Season to march them to the Place of 
 Rendevous. This Delay I flatter myself will be 
 agreable as they may be employed in gathering 
 in the Harvests & it will afford them Time fully 
 to prepare & provide themselves for the Cam- 
 paign which is the more necessary as they are not 
 to be relieved. 
 
 [173] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 I wish it was in my Power to relieve Mr. Brush & 
 Hildridge as I believe they meant to act honestly 
 & uprightly; but it is not as they have not pro- 
 ceeded agreeable to Law and none but such are 
 exempted — neither am I vested with any Dis- 
 cretionary Power of determining in such Cases. 
 I have explained myself more fully to Mr. Brush 
 & am, Sir, your &c. 
 
 (G. C.) 
 (to Colonel Hopkins) 
 
 A little later Colonel Hopkins had a lively ex- 
 perience with a press-master from Connecticut, 
 which he reported to the governor — his letter being 
 of interest for the picture which it gives of the times 
 and customs in which Colonel Ludington was a par- 
 ticipant : 
 
 Amenia Aug't 19th 1780. 
 May it please your Excellency, I beg leave to 
 trouble your Excellency with a Remonstrance 
 Concerning a certain Press-master, one George 
 Tremble, who is a transient person that lives in 
 Connecticut, who came to me on the 8th Instant 
 and told me he wanted my team to carry forrage 
 to the Fishkills. I told him my Circumstances 
 was such that I could not let them go, for it 
 would Ruin me for my wheat, about 130 bushels, 
 all I had was in the field and it would spoil. My 
 oats, 200 or 300 busshels all lay in the Swarth, 
 and would be lost, for I had no help but one Son, 
 and could not hire any man ; my flax a fine Crop 
 was all in the field and some hay in the meadow, 
 and my grass lodged and rotting, but he said he 
 
 emu 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 cared not for that, but I should go myself with 
 my team the next day. I told him if I could 
 secure my grain I would send my son and team 
 the next week, but he said I should go the next 
 day. I told him I would not; he showed me a 
 Coppy of a press warrent from your Excellency 
 to Colo. Hay with a line from him on the back 
 authorizing said Tremble to impress teams & 
 drivers in this state. 
 
 I told him that was no legal warrent to him; 
 he rode off saying he would get a warrent for me, 
 & then told all about he had got a warrent for 
 me; but on the 14th he came again with a Ser- 
 geant & 8 men & entered my field, Siezed my son 
 & confined him under guard, drove out my fatten 
 oxen that I was fattening for the army, took my 
 horses & forced my son to drive them with a lode 
 of my own oats to the Fishkills, altho I consented 
 if they must go they might carry my oats, he told 
 me I was a disaffected Person, had done nothing 
 to support the cause, held bad Princeples, was a 
 dam'd Lyer and a dam'd Rascal. 
 
 I have fined him for cursing ; sued him for tres- 
 pass & issued a warrant against him in order to 
 bind him to his good behaviour & recorded a riot 
 against him. 
 
 I think its a pity that there is not a man in this 
 Precinct County or state that can be trusted with 
 a press warrant, but such an outlandish Irish, 
 malicious, abusive fellow must be sent into this 
 Precinct to press all the whiggs teams, & none in 
 Charlotte, which is near 3 times as big, and half 
 tories, for I cant learn of one being pressed there ; 
 after all the malicious fellow wrote a letter to 
 Colo. Hay sent by the Soldiers that my team 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Capt. Shepherd's & Mr. Ingersoll's teams were 
 disaffected teams, and requested they might be 
 kept in Service a month ; he abused others besides 
 me. I am, Sir, your most obedient Hum'e Serv't 
 
 Roswell Hopkins. 
 
 P. S. One Stack of my wheat is spoiled being 
 wet thro & grown & I shall loose about six tons 
 of hay. R. H. 
 
 His Excellency Governour Clinton. 
 
 At the beginning of May, 1781, however, Colonel 
 Hopkins gave up the struggle to maintain his quota 
 of men in the field, and insisted upon resigning his 
 commission : 
 
 Amenia, May 1st 1781. 
 
 Sir, I wrote to your Excellency about a fort- 
 night ago to acquaint you that the Classes of my 
 Regiment were to Deliver their men yesterday, 
 and requested an officer might be sent to recive 
 them agreeable to general orders, but no man or 
 orders came. I was greatly non-plushed & knew 
 not what to do, but have mustered the men and 
 ordered them to meet at Peleg Tabors near Mr. 
 David Johnston, on Saturday this week at 10 
 O'clock, to march immediately off, when and 
 where I hope your Excellency will give some one 
 orders to take care of them. I fear they will not 
 appear at that time as no one has the care of 
 them. I fear they will desert, they have got their 
 bounties. 
 
 Sir, I must still insist on resigning my Mili- 
 tary commission as I am wore out with the 
 
 £176] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 trouble & expence of it. I think it unaccountable 
 that the vacancies in my Regt. are not filled up, 
 when I have made so many returns and requests, 
 and have had no adjutant for near 2 years and 
 orders to send to my Capts. very offen indeed. 
 Sir, I desire if any officers are appointed this way 
 to go with these Levies, I might be informed by 
 the bearer who they be ; pray excuse the want of 
 Paper for I have wrote up 4 quire in a short time 
 lately in orders &c. all gratis, and know not where 
 I can get more. I have collected some money 
 from the delinquent classes for during the war. 
 I am, Sir, your most Obed't Serv't 
 
 Roswell Hopkins, Colo. 
 His Excellency Gover'r Clinton. 
 
 Colonel Ludington also appears to have had many 
 troubles and vexations at this time, though his "stay- 
 ing qualities" were superior to those of Colonel Hop- 
 kins. He wrote to the governor on the very day on 
 which Colonel Hopkins resigned, as follows : 
 
 Fredericks Burgh, May 1st 1781. 
 
 Honoured Sir, I was yesterday a Coming to 
 wait on your Excellency, but hearing of my little 
 Son (who is at School at Danbury) lying very 
 dangerous with the plurisy, was obliged to turn 
 my Course that way, for which Reason obliges 
 me to commit my Errand in writing. Your Ex- 
 cellency no dought has been inform'd of our 
 troubles of late in Regard of a large party of 
 Robbers being for four weeks past near me in the 
 
 H1773 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 mountains, which has occasioned me in some 
 measure of being behind hand in turning out my 
 men for the nine months Service, for the chief 
 part of my Regiment has been out ever since the 
 Robbers came among us, And, Sir, were you to 
 be fully acquainted with the Difficulty I now 
 labour under you would think is impossible for 
 me to do it, as I have but one field officer, which is 
 Major Robinson who lives so near the lines that 
 he has enough to take care of himself, The Cir- 
 cumstances of my wife and family renders it in- 
 convenient for me to move immediately if I intend 
 to save my life, or anything for my family's sup- 
 port. My Captains seeing the Distresses that is 
 daily comeing upon themselves by Reason of 
 haveing their Sergents sued and torn to pieces 
 for what Necessity required them to do among 
 the tories, while we was under the authority of 
 Committees, and many of their best men are beat 
 and robbed by persons who say they are Refugees 
 from below. It is only for them to call a man a 
 tory, be him ever so good a man, himself, wife 
 and Children get beat in such a manner that he 's 
 obliged to turn out his Substance to save their 
 lives. And at best the Regiment are verry poor 
 when compared with other Regiments and are 
 call'd on to raise an eaquil number with the others, 
 when I can affirm that ten farmers in Coll. 
 BrinckerhofF s Regiment is able to purchase the 
 whole of mine. In this uneaquil way, I have been 
 obliged to turn out my men untill they are so 
 much impoverish'd that they almost dispair. 
 
 It seems the power of Earth and Hell was let 
 loose against me and my Regiment, Even one 
 of the most abandant Ruffins is indulged to hold 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 me up to public view for Cowardice, for challeng- 
 ing him to fight a Duel. It is what I never 
 thought on, neither did he think I did, but was let 
 loose upon me by the Instigation of a set of Ruf- 
 fins who Conspired together to take my life, and 
 I knowing this Kees to be a transient person who 
 had neither Connection, Credit, Money or 
 friends, nor no place of Residence here, that it 
 was out of my power to get Recompence from 
 such a fellow as he, unless it was by giveing him 
 a floging, and that he had put out of my power 
 by Secreting himself. This being my Situation 
 shall expect from your Excellency some Direc- 
 tions and advice by a line what will be best for me 
 to doe. I something expect that General Swart- 
 wout will wait on you this day, who will be able 
 to state some of the Difficulties I have mentioned 
 and whether it will not be best to anex my Regi- 
 ment to some other Regiment, or give me some 
 field officers, who in time of turning out my men 
 will be better able and more willing to assist me. 
 Am, Sir, with due Regard your Excellency's 
 Most Obed't and verry Hum'e Serv't 
 
 Henry Ludinton. 
 His Excelency George Clinton, Esqr. 
 
 The governor regarded Colonel Ludington's re- 
 quest for more officers as reasonable, and promptly 
 complied with it as follows : 
 
 Sir, In Answer to yours of the 1st Instant I 
 have to inform you that Lieuts. Johnson, Duel & 
 Becker of your Regt. are appointed Officers in 
 
 Cran 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 the Levies. These will have orders to receive & 
 march your Quota to the Place of Rendevouz. 
 The last I received from you I answered a Day 
 or two after it came to Hand. My Letter was 
 forwarded by Judge Paine. If you apply to the 
 Secry. I imagine you will find that the appoint- 
 ments for your Regt. agreable to your Return 
 have long since been perfected. Agreable to a 
 Notification in the public News Papers the Coun- 
 cil mett at this Place on the 26th Instant. It 
 would have been proper to have applied to them at 
 that Time either to have had the vacancies in your 
 Regt. filled up or to have made your Resignation 
 as they only have the Power of doing the former 
 or of accepting of the latter. I am &c. 
 
 (G. C.) 
 
 There may be some other gentlemen residing 
 within your Regt. appointed officers for the 
 Levies but of this I cant be certain as I am 
 neither acquainted with its Limits or their Places 
 of Residence. ( To Colonel Ludinton. ) 
 
 A fortnight later new orders as to the distribution 
 of levies were issued. Colonel Ludington was to be 
 retained on duty in Westchester County, where he 
 was much needed. But a sharp controversy arose 
 over his alleged dilatoriness in raising his quota of 
 men. These letters indicate the general trend of 
 affairs at that time : 
 
 Fishkeels 13th May 1781. 
 
 D'r Governor, I have just Returnd from three 
 days fortague receving Colo. Vanderburgh Le- 
 vies. 
 
 nison 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 I beg to no what part of Ulster County I shall 
 derect that part of the Levis to purposed for that 
 Quarter. I have proposed Capt. Livingston for 
 that Command & beg he may be as ney my post as 
 posable. I am your Excel'cy most Obt. HbL 
 Serv't ^ T 
 
 L. V. BUNSCHOTEN. 
 
 His Ex'ly G. Clinton. 
 
 N. B. I expose my poverty as to paper. 
 
 May 13th 1781. 
 
 S'r, I have rec'd your Letter by Capt. Liv- 
 ingston. The Detachm't intended for the fron- 
 tiers of Ulster are to proceed to Kingston. Colo. 
 Graham's Regt. will furnish 50 so that no more 
 are to be sent than with them will make up 100. 
 I am anxious that those for Albany be dispatched 
 as soon as possible, and it is my wish that a Part 
 of those already on the ground be sent there as 
 their appearance on the Frontier will give Con- 
 fidence to the Inhabitants. Field's & Ludington's 
 Levies are intended for West Chester. Call in all 
 the absent Officers immediately. Capts. Marshall 
 & Whelp who belong to Willet's Regt. ought to 
 join & take Charge of the Detachm't intended for 
 
 Albany - (G. C.) 
 
 (Major Van Bunschoten.) 
 
 Poughkeepsie, May 13th 1781. 
 
 Sir, I am informed by Letter from Colo. Lud- 
 denton that he has not yet done any Thing to- 
 ll 181 1 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 wards raising the Levies from his Regt., that they 
 are not even formed into Classes. I must, there- 
 fore, insist that you immediately take the meas- 
 ures directed by Law for drawing forth his Pro- 
 portion of men, together with the Deficiencies 
 from all the other Regiments, a Return of which 
 will be furnished you by Major Buntschoten on 
 your application. The Service will by no means 
 admit of Delay in this Business. I, therefore, 
 expect your utmost exertions. I am &c. 
 
 Geo. Clinton. 
 Brig'r. Genl. Swartwout. 
 
 Fishkill May 16th 1781. 
 
 D'r Sir, Agreable to your Exlancey's order, I 
 wated on Colo. Luddenton to Receive the Levies 
 from his Ridgment; he promisd to have them 
 Ready the next week, but hearing he made no 
 stur, I sent Lt. Dyckman to know when I might 
 expect them, but he could not see him. I then 
 went myself several times before I could see him ; 
 he at length set a day to Receive them but 
 neighther he nor his men mad ther appearance. I 
 cald on him the nex day to know the Reason, but 
 he was out of the way. I then concluded to report 
 to him but by chance I met him on the Road ; he 
 then promised to turn them out the twenty first 
 of the month. Should I bee disapointed again, I 
 shall wait on your exlancey with the perticulars 
 and remain, with the greatest esteem, your ex- 
 lancey's most obediant and most umble serv't 
 
 D'nl Williams. 
 
 His exlancey Governor Clinton. 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 Colonel Ludington appears to have fulfilled his 
 word and to have completed his quota in a satis- 
 factory manner, for there is no indication of any 
 further complaints, and he is known to have con- 
 tinued in the service in the best of standing. His 
 next correspondence with Governor Clinton had to 
 do with the petitions of two deserters for clemency, 
 and with the case of a woman who had become an 
 outlaw. Colonel Ludington's letter and the petition, 
 and the governor's reply, were as follows : 
 
 Fredericksburgh, September 21d, 1781. 
 
 Honored Sir: Being acquainted with the con- 
 tents of the petition sent you enclosed from Sem'r 
 Arnold and Cowin should esteam it as a favour 
 Dun unto them and my Self if it should have its 
 Desired efect. But be that as it may an answer 
 from His Excelenz Consearning the Same will 
 Mutch oblige your very Humble Servant 
 
 To his Excellency George Clinton, Esqr. Gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 Petition of Daniel Cowing and Seymour Arnold. 
 
 To his Excellency George Clinton Esquire 
 Governor of the State of New York : 
 
 The Humble Petition of Daniel Cowing & 
 Seymour Arnold. 
 
 Humbly Sheweth — That your Petitioners 
 were by undue influence and evil Example un- 
 
 d83^ 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 happily led to desert their Station in the levies 
 under Captain Williams on the Lines in the 
 county of Westchester and though your Peti- 
 tioners upon the first reflection were sensible of 
 the enormity of their Crime & inclined to return 
 to their Duty, the dread of Corporal punishment 
 prevented them till pardon could be procured 
 from their officers; that many applications for 
 that purpose have been made by persons em- 
 ployed by your Petitr. without Effect, that your 
 Petitr. are heartily sorry for, and ashamed of 
 their conduct, are fully determined and solemnly 
 promise never to be guilty of the same Crime 
 again under any Circumstances or treatment 
 whatsoever, that your Petrs. hope some indul- 
 gence from their known attachment to the Pub- 
 lic cause as your petrs. have been in the service a 
 great part of the time since the war Commenced 
 and are now willing to make every amend in 
 their power to the state by serving longer than 
 the time limited or Otherways as your Excel- 
 lency or their officers may appoint, if by your 
 Excellency's interposing in their favour your 
 petrs. may be exempted from Corporal punish- 
 ment for this offence and at Liberty to return to 
 their duty immediately this your Petitrs. im- 
 plore & hope from your Excellencys known 
 Clemency. 
 
 And your Petrs. as in duty bound will ever Pray. 
 
 Poughkeepsie, Septr, 21st 1781. 
 
 Sir, I have rec'd your letter of this Date with 
 the Petition of the Deserters from Capt. Wil- 
 li 184] 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 liams' Company & the request of the Overseers 
 of Poor relative to Mrs. Webb. 
 
 The levies you may remember are by the Law 
 put under the Command of the Commander in 
 Chief & made subject to the Continental Articles 
 of War. Genl. Heath has now the command of 
 the Department & the application in behalf of the 
 Petitioners should be to him. I cannot with 
 Propriety interfere in the matter. But at any 
 Rate they ought first to deliver themselves up & 
 offer to return to their duty before they can ex- 
 pect a remission of the Punishment they have in- 
 curred. 
 
 With respect to Mrs. Webb— the law makes it 
 the duty of the Justices to warn her out of the 
 State and she is to depart within twenty Days 
 after Notice given her accordingly, or be out of 
 the protection of the law, I am, 
 
 (G. C.) 
 Colo. Luddinton Fredericksburgh. 
 
 Later in the war, much difficulty was again ex- 
 perienced in raising the desired levies : 
 
 Fredricksburgh, aprill 14th, 1782. 
 
 Honoured Sir, it will be neadles for me to 
 State to your Excelency the Difficulties and 
 Disadvantiges my Distresd Regment Labours 
 under as in Regard of Raising their quota of men, 
 
 C1853 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 for Sure I am that if it was Consistant his Ex- 
 celency would give us every Asistance in his power. 
 This one Request I shall atempt to make that we 
 should Have an offisar or two apointed in the 
 Regiment. If that should Be the case I think it 
 would Have a tendancy to aleviate us in the pain 
 of Raising them and prevent Desartions which 
 hath Been verry preverlent 2 or 3 of the Last 
 Campains. The men I Raised the Last year were 
 as good men as I would Evr wish to Command, 
 were put under Capt. Williams And Desarted 
 all to a man. As it is so Burthensom to Rase the 
 Money to pay their Bounties pray Let us in- 
 deavour they shall Do the Service intended. It is 
 my opinion that Lt. Charles Stewart that was 
 with Colo. Wesenfell Last year will answer well 
 for a capt. and his son for a 2 L'dtant. 
 
 am Sir His Excelencys 
 
 verry Humble Servant 
 
 Henry Ludinton. 
 Governor Clinton. 
 
 A few days later he wrote again : 
 
 Fredricksburgh Aprill 23, 1782. 
 
 Honoured Sir, 
 
 I must Beg Leave to trouble his Excelency 
 this once more with my Request that Lt 
 Charles Stuart shall Be indulged with the Same 
 
 H861 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 offise he held last year under Colo. Wiesenfelt. I 
 should not so Strenuously insist upon it only that 
 I am Sensable it will have a tendancy to induce 
 the young men of his aquantance to inlist and 
 that for a mutch les sum than if they were to go 
 with Strangers. Sir for the Reasons above Re- 
 sited I shall hope his Excelency will grant this 
 my Request as well as others. I am Sir his Excel- 
 encys 
 
 most obedient and Humble Servant 
 
 Henry Ludinton. 
 
 To George Clinton Esqr. 
 Governor. 
 
 P. S. Sir a line By way of answer if it should be 
 agreable. 
 
 Thus Colonel Ludington served through the war 
 to its close, in his various capacities, and at the end 
 was much concerned with securing settlements of the 
 pay due to himself and his troops. His own rate of 
 pay is indicated in several entries on the pay-rolls. 
 Thus we find — 
 
 Abstract of Pay & Rations due Col. Henry 
 Luddington's Regt. of Dutchess County Militia 
 in the Service of the United States at different 
 Periods between March 1779 & November 1780. 
 
 emu 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Time 
 Names. Rank Commencing Ending 
 
 Months days 
 
 1779 1780 
 Henry Luddington Colonel March Novemr. 1 5 
 
 Dollars pr Rations Amount of Amount of Pay 
 
 Month Rations Price Rations. and Rations. 
 
 75 210 10 d 8:15:-. 43:15:-. 
 
 Apparently it was long after the war before all 
 these matters were fully adjusted, as the date of the 
 following affidavit shows : 
 
 I Henry Ludinton do solemnly and sincerely 
 swear that the List hereunto annexed contains 
 an Account of all Certificates that remained in 
 my Hands of those that were issued by the Treas- 
 urer and delivered to me for Paying my Regi- 
 ment ; That the remainder were to the best of my 
 knowledge and belief delivered to the Persons 
 who performed the services or their legal repre- 
 sentatives and that the names subscribed to the 
 vouchers produced were bona fide subscribed by 
 
 m ' Henry Ludenton. 
 
 Sworn before me this 13th Day 
 of Septr. 1792. 
 
 Gerard Bancker Treasr. 
 
 Voucher No. 306, of "The United States to the 
 State of New York, Dr. for payments on Certifi- 
 cates for Military Services performed in the late 
 War," presumably covering all payment made to 
 
 [188] 
 

 CJ 
 
 /:>:.: 
 
 w 
 
 tv< 
 
 5~i 
 
 h .<*NL 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 fj 
 
 It 
 
 
 Ski 
 
 O 
 
 h 
 
 & 
 
 «& 
 
 3sS | 
 
 i. rs 
 
 
 u 
 
 5 NJ 
 fe": X 
 
 >K 
 
 £."-V y -'':' , "''--i £i?£*/< 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES 
 
 Colonel Ludington for federal services, shows a total 
 of £1330 :19s :2d. 
 
 Colonel Ludington appears to have been the pur- 
 chaser, for cash, of some of the lands apportioned to 
 soldiers as bounties for their services. Thus in the 
 "Manuscripts of the Colony and State of New York 
 in the Revolutionary War," on file in the controller's 
 office at Albany, Mr. Patrick has found this entry: 
 
 We the subscribers members of a class in 
 Capt. William Pierce's Company and Colo. John 
 Field's Regiment who have Procured a man to 
 wit Christian Null to serve in the Levies of this 
 State Until the First Day of January Next who 
 has been Delivered and a Certificut Taken for 
 Such Delivery According to Law whereby the 
 said Class Is Entitled to two hundred acres of 
 Unappropriated Land we do therefore in Con- 
 sideration of the sum of five Pounds to us in 
 hand paid By Henry Ludenton Esqr the Receipt 
 Whereof we do acknowledge and Do grant and 
 transfer unto the said Henry Ludenton Esqr. his 
 heirs and assigns the Whole Right of the said 
 two hundred acres of Land which said Class is 
 Entitled To In persuance of a Law of this State 
 Entitled an act for Raising Troops to Complete 
 the Line of this State In the service of the United 
 States And the two Regiments to Be Raised on 
 Bounties of Unappropriated Lands and for the 
 Further Defence of the frontiers of this State 
 Passed the 25th of March 1782 To have and to 
 hold the sd two hundred Acres of Land Unto the 
 sd Henry Ludinton His heirs and assigns to his 
 
 [189: 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 and their proper use and Benefit and behoof for- 
 ever as witness our hands and seals this the 3d of 
 March 1783. 
 
 Henry Ludinton 
 
 Assignee and Assignor 
 
 Edmund Ferris 
 Asa Sabin 
 John Caswell. 
 John Peaslee 
 Richd Furniss 
 James Ferris 
 Stephen Stevenson 
 Warren Ferris. 
 
 Seald and Delivered 
 in presence of 
 
 Jathro Sherman 
 James Ferriss 
 
 This document is endorsed as follows : 
 
 Be it remembered that I Henry Ludinton do 
 Assign over this within Conveyance unto Ben- 
 jamin Conklin and to his Heirs and Assigns to- 
 Reserve and in joy the Land therein mentioned. 
 
 Henry Ludinton. 
 Dated November 1st 1783 
 in presence of Eleazar weed. 
 
 With such transactions the military service of Col- 
 onel Ludington was concluded, and the remainder 
 of his busy life was reserved for civil duties and his 
 private affairs. 
 
 Cl90: 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 AFTER THE WAR 
 
 WITH the return of peace in the triumph of the 
 cause for which he had battled, Colonel Lud- 
 ington by no means lapsed into inactivity or obscur- 
 ity, but continued to serve the State in various ways 
 with the same earnestness which he had shown in war. 
 For some time he was again a deputy sheriff of 
 Dutchess County, and in the performance of his duties 
 on one occasion was severely stabbed by a desperado 
 named Brown, whom he was arresting. For many 
 years he was a justice of the peace, his long service 
 being ample evidence of the confidence which his fel- 
 low citizens reposed in his probity and of the esteem 
 in which they held his intelligence. He had not a 
 legal education. Indeed, as has already been ob- 
 served and as the composition of his letters clearly 
 shows, his schooling in even the ordinary branches 
 was slight. His rulings as justice of the peace were 
 therefore based more upon common sense and prac- 
 tical, elementary justice than upon technical famil- 
 iarity with statute law or with the prescribed forms of 
 judicial procedure. His shrewd sense and his just 
 disposition, however, guided him so well that his ad- 
 ministration of the office was satisfactory to those 
 
 C 19111 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 who had occasion to use his court, and it was a rare 
 thing for an appeal to be taken against any of his 
 decisions, and still more rare for a higher court to re- 
 verse his judgment. After many years of satisfac- 
 tory service, one of his friends persuaded him that he 
 should pay more attention to the technical conven- 
 tionalities of judicial procedure, and to that end pro- 
 vided him with a compendium of legal practice. This 
 treatise, admirably comprehensive yet concise, cover- 
 ing a number of foolscap pages of manuscript, is 
 among Colonel Ludington's papers now in the pos- 
 session of his grandson, Charles H. Ludington. Col- 
 onel Ludington accepted the advice with some mis- 
 givings, but studied the compendium, and when the 
 next case came before him he conducted court in a 
 more technically correct way than before. On this 
 occasion an appeal was made by the defeated party 
 to a higher court, and that court reversed Colonel 
 Ludington's judgment and ordered a new trial. 
 That was something which had never before hap- 
 pened, and was naturally a cause of chagrin to him. 
 He indignantly declared that it was all because of 
 the new-fangled methods of procedure which his 
 friend had persuaded him to adopt, and he thereafter 
 persisted in conducting his court in the old-fashioned 
 way. 
 
 Among the records of the Dutchess County jus- 
 tices' courts, or courts of special sessions, are many 
 entries of cases tried before him. In October, 1803, 
 Henry Ludington, Cyrus Benjamin and Stephen 
 
 cm: 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 Hayt occupied the bench when "Ruamy Shaw was 
 brought before the court charged with feloniously 
 stealing, taking and carrying away from the house of 
 Isaac Russell a pair of shoes and a Tea Kettle 
 Holder, whereupon the said Court after hearing wit- 
 nesses for and against the prisoner are of the opinion 
 that the said Ruamy Shaw is guilty, . . that she 
 therefore pay a fine of five dollars and stand commit- 
 ted until judgement be complied with." The fine 
 was promptly paid, in the form of a due bill by Wil- 
 liam Shaw. In July, 1806, before the same justices, 
 "Else Lake, Spinster, was convicted . . for feloni- 
 ously stealing taking & carrying away one Plad 
 Chinz gown out of the dwelling house of Frances 
 Mead . . . and that the said court lay a fine of $5, 
 and that she stand committed until the same is paid. 
 She refusing to pay the same, Metimas (mittimus) 
 wrought and delivered to John GrifFen const.." That 
 plaid chintz gown was a source of much trouble, for 
 on that same day before the same court, "Phebe 
 Davis, wife of Solomon Davis, was . . . convicted 
 for feloniously stealing one Plad Chinz gown to the 
 value of $3.50 cents, the property of Frances Mead, 
 and that the said Court lay a fine on the said Phebe 
 of $6 and that she stand committed until the same is 
 paid. She refusing to pay the same, Metimas 
 wrought and delivered to John Griff en const." 
 
 It will be of some quaint, antiquarian interest to 
 recall the phraseology of the commissions which were 
 in those days issued to justices of the peace. One 
 
 [193] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 of those issued to Henry Ludington, now in the 
 MS. collection of Mr. Patrick, runs as follows, 
 being practically identical, mutatis mutandis, with 
 others issued to him by later governors. 
 
 THE PEOPLE of the State of New York, 
 by the Grace of GOD, Free and Independent. 
 
 To David Brooks, . . . Henry Ludington, 
 . . . and Ahab Arnold, in our County of Dutch- 
 ess, Esquires, Greeting: 
 
 Know Ye, that We have appointed and as- 
 signed; and by these Presents, do appoint and 
 assign, you and every of you, jointly and sever- 
 ally, Justices to keep Our Peace, in our County 
 of Dutchess, and to keep, and cause to be kept, all 
 Laws and Ordinances, made or to be made, for 
 the good of the Peace, and for the Conservation 
 of the same, and for the quiet Rule and Govern- 
 ment of the Citizens and Inhabitants of our said 
 State, in all and every the Articles thereof, in our 
 said County, as well within Liberties, as without 
 according to the Force, Form and Effect of the 
 same Laws and Ordinances; and to chastise and 
 punish all Persons offending against the Form of 
 those Laws and Ordinances, or any of them, in 
 the County aforesaid, in such Manner, as, accord- 
 ing to the Form of those Laws and Ordinances, 
 shall be fit to be done ; and to cause to come before 
 you, or any or either of you, all those Persons 
 who shall break the Peace, or have used, or shall 
 use Threats, to any one or more of the Citizens or 
 Inhabitants of our said State, concerning their 
 Bodies, or the firing of their Houses, or Barns, to 
 
 D94 3 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 find sufficient Security for the Peace, or their 
 good Behaviour towards the People and Inhabi- 
 tants of our said State ; and if they refuse to find 
 such Security, then them in Prison, until they shall 
 find such Security, to cause to be safely kept : And 
 further, We have also appointed and assigned 
 you the said Justices, or any three or more of you, 
 to enquire, by the Oath of good and lawful Men, 
 of our County aforesaid, by whom the Truth 
 may be the better known, of all, and all manner 
 of Larcenies, Thefts, Trespasses, Forestallings, 
 Regratings, Engrossings and Extortions whatso- 
 ever, and of all and singular other Crimes and 
 Offences, of which Justices of the Peace may or 
 ought lawfully to enquire, by whomsoever, and 
 after what Manner soever, in the County afore- 
 said, done or perpetrated, or which shall happen 
 to be there done or attempted: And also, of all 
 those who in the said County have gone or rode, 
 or hereafter shall presume to go or ride, in Com- 
 panies with armed Force, against the Peace, to 
 the Disturbance of the Citizens and Inhabitants 
 of our said State : And also, of all those who have 
 there lain in Wait, or hereafter shall presume to 
 lie in Wait, to maim, or cut and kill, any Citizen 
 or Inhabitant of our said State : And also, of all 
 Victuallers and Innholders, and all and singular 
 other Persons, who have offended or attempted 
 to offend, or hereafter shall presume or attempt 
 to offend in the said County, in the Abuse of 
 Weights or Measures, or in the Sale of Victuals, 
 against the Form of the Laws and Ordinances of 
 our said State, or any of them, made for the com- 
 mon Good of our said State, and the Citizens and 
 Inhabitants thereof: And also of all Sheriffs, 
 
 [195:1 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Bailiffs, Constables, Gaolers and other Officers 
 whatsoever, who, in the Execution of their Offices 
 about the Premises, or any of them, have unduly 
 demeaned themselves, or hereafter shall presume 
 to behave themselves unduly, or have been, 
 or hereafter shall happen to be careless, re- 
 miss or negligent, in the County aforesaid; 
 and of all and singular Articles and Circum- 
 stances, and all other Things whatsoever, that 
 concern the Premises or any of them, by whom- 
 soever, and after what Manner soever in the said 
 County, done or perpetrated, or which shall here- 
 after happen to be done or attempted, in what 
 Manner soever, and to inspect all Indictments 
 whatsoever, so before you or any of you taken, or 
 to be taken, or before others late Justices of the 
 Peace in the said County, made or taken and not 
 determined; and to make and continue Processes 
 thereupon, against all and singular the Persons 
 so indicted, or who, before you, shall happen to 
 be indicted, until they be taken, surrender them- 
 selves, or be out-lawed; and to hear and deter- 
 mine all and singular the Larcenies, Thefts, 
 Trespasses, Forestallings, Regratings, Engross- 
 ings, Extortions, unlawful Assemblies, Indict- 
 ments aforesaid, and all and singular other the 
 Premises, according to the Laws, Ordinances and 
 Statutes, of our said State; as in the like Case it 
 has been accustomed or ought to be done ; and the 
 same Offenders and every of them, for their Of- 
 fences, by Fines, Ransoms, Amerciaments, For- 
 feitures and other Means, according to the Laws 
 and Customs of our said State, and the Form of 
 the Ordinances and Statutes aforesaid, it has been 
 accustomed or ought to be done, to chastise and 
 
 C196II 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 punish. You, therefore, and every of you are 
 diligently to attend to the keeping of the Peace, 
 Laws and Ordinances, and all and singular other 
 the Premises, and at certain Days and Places, 
 which you, or any three of you shall, in that be- 
 half, appoint, or by Law shall be appointed, you 
 enquire into the Premises, and hear and deter- 
 mine all and singular the Premises, and perform 
 and fulfil the same in form aforesaid; doing 
 therein what to Justice appertaineth, according to 
 the Laws and Ordinances aforesaid: Saving to 
 Us our Amerciaments and other Things to Us 
 thereof belonging : And the Sheriff of our Coun- 
 ty of Dutchess aforesaid, at certain Days and 
 Places, which you the said Justices of the Peace 
 of the said County, or any three or more of you 
 shall make known to him, shall cause to come be- 
 fore you, the said Justices of the Peace of the said 
 County, so many such good and lawful Men of 
 his Bailiwick or County, as well within Liberties 
 as without, by whom the Truth of the Matter in 
 the Premises shall be the better known and en- 
 quired into : For all and singular which this shall 
 be your Commission, for and during our good 
 Pleasure, to be signified by our Council of Ap- 
 pointment. In Testimony whereof, We have 
 caused these our Letters to be made Patent, and 
 the Great Seal of our said State to be hereunto 
 affixed: Witness, our trusty and well-beloved 
 George Clinton, Esquire, Governor of our said 
 State, General and Commander in Chief of all 
 the Militia, and Admiral of the Navy of the 
 same ; by and with the Advice and Consent of our 
 said Council of Appointment, at our City of Al- 
 bany, the fifteenth day of August, in the Year of 
 
 [197 3 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and one, 
 and in the twenty-sixth year of our Independ- 
 
 ence * Geo. Clinton. 
 
 Colonel Ludington also served with some distinc- 
 tion as a member of Assembly in the State Legis- 
 lature, for Dutchess County, some of such service 
 being during the Revolutionary War. He thus 
 served in the Third Session, which met at Kingston 
 from August 18, 1777, to October 25, 1779, at Al- 
 bany from January 27 to March 14, 1780, and at 
 Kingston again from April 22 to July 2, 1780 ; in the 
 Fourth Session, which met at Poughkeepsie from 
 September 7 to October 10, 1780, at Albany from 
 January 17 to March 31, 1781, and at Poughkeepsie 
 from June 15 to July 1, 1781 ; in the Ninth Session, 
 which met in New York City from January 12 to 
 May 5, 1786; and in the Tenth Session, which met in 
 New York City from January 12 to April 21, 1787- 
 He appears to have been a prominent and influential 
 member. At the meeting of January, 1786, he was 
 made a member of the Ways and Means Committee, 
 and of a special committee to prepare a bill for the 
 regulation of the militia and the establishment of 
 magazines. The records of that meeting show that 
 Colonel Ludington was in constant attendance and 
 was an active participant in the business of the 
 House. He is recorded as voting at almost every di- 
 vision, and generally appears to have been a member 
 of the majority. On March 1 it was represented to 
 
 [19811 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 the Legislature that a number of prisoners confined 
 in the jail of New York for debt were reduced to 
 great extremity for want of wood and firewood, and 
 were in danger of perishing for want of such neces- 
 saries ; wherefore a committee of three, Colonel Lud- 
 ington being one, was appointed to inquire into the 
 matter — one of the first steps toward the abolition of 
 imprisonment for debt. On March 6, 1787, the Leg- 
 islature proceeded to the nomination and appoint- 
 ment of "delegates to meet with delegates as may be 
 appointed from other States, for the sole purpose of 
 revising the Articles of Confederation" — to wit, the 
 Constitutional Convention of the United States. 
 Colonel Ludington, who was a staunch Federalist, 
 voted for the appointment of Alexander Hamilton, 
 Robert Yates, and John Lansing, Jr. 
 
 Soon after there arose a remarkable illustration of 
 the dilatory disposition of governments of that day 
 in dealing with some matters of real importance in 
 which honor and good faith were involved. Away 
 back in April, 1784, Colonel Ludington had sub- 
 mitted to the Legislature a petition relative to cer- 
 tain certificates for depreciation of soldiers' pay, 
 which he had lost or which had been stolen from him. 
 Mr. Pell, of the committee to which the petition was 
 referred, had reported that the facts were as stated 
 in the petition, and that the petition for relief ought 
 to be granted. Leave was granted for the introduc- 
 tion of a bill to that effect, and the bill was introduced 
 and passed by the Assembly. Either it was not con- 
 
 C1993 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 curred in by the Senate, however, or for some reason 
 it was not put into effect. For now, on April 14, 
 1787, we find Colonel Ludington again presenting 
 to the Assembly, of which he was a member, a peti- 
 tion setting forth that certain depreciation certifi- 
 cates, amounting in all to 407 pounds 4 shillings, had 
 been stolen from him, and that after passing through 
 divers hands were paid to the Commissioners of For- 
 feitures for the purchase of a forfeited estate, and 
 were then in the treasury of the State, wherefore he 
 prayed for a law directing the treasurer to return 
 them to him. Mr. Hamilton, from the committee to 
 which the petition was referred, reported that the 
 facts were found to be as stated, that the petitioner's 
 case would be very unfortunate if he were to be finally 
 deprived of the benefit of the certificates which had 
 been stolen from him, and that it would be a proper 
 act of generosity in the State to direct the treasurer 
 to return them to him. The committee recommended 
 that a clause to that effect be inserted in some bill 
 then before the House. The House, however, voted 
 not to concur in the report of the committee, and it 
 does not appear that any further step toward doing 
 him justice was taken at that time. Finally, how- 
 ever, on March 12, 1792, the Legislature adopted the 
 following act : 
 
 Whereas certain certificates issued by the au- 
 ditors appointed to liquidate and to settle the ac- 
 counts of the troops of this State in the service of 
 the United States have been received by the Com- 
 
 C200] 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 missioners of Forfeitures, and are now in the 
 treasury of this State, which it appears to this 
 Legislature were lost by Henry Ludenton, and 
 which certificates at the time they were lost were 
 not transferable, otherwise than by assignment; 
 And whereas the said Henry Ludenton has 
 prayed relief in the premises; Therefore, Be it 
 enacted by the people of the State of New York, 
 represented in Senate and Assembly, That when- 
 ever the United States shall direct that the resi- 
 due of the twelve hundred thousand dollars may 
 be subscribed, which by the act of the United 
 States entitled "An act for making provision 
 for the debt of the United States," passed the 4th 
 day of January, 1790, had not been subscribed 
 before the last day of September last, then the 
 Treasurer of this State is hereby authorized and 
 directed to deliver unto Henry Ludenton the 
 aforesaid certificates . . being the certificates 
 lost by the said Henry Ludenton. 
 
 Thus nearly eight years after the original appeal 
 for relief, which was acknowledged to be valid and 
 worthy, the Legislature voted to grant such relief at 
 some indefinite time in the future, conditioned upon 
 the fulfilment of obligations by the federal govern- 
 ment, which had already shown itself dilatory in the 
 matter ! 
 
 One of the most important divisions in which Col- 
 onel Ludington voted in the minority was that con- 
 cerning the independence of the State of Vermont, 
 a matter over which there had been danger of a civil 
 war. Said the "County Journal and Poughkeepsie 
 
 [2013 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Advertiser" for April 4, 1787: "Last Wednesday 
 morning the important question for declaring the In- 
 dependence of Vermont was debated in the House of 
 the Assembly. It was carried in the affirmative, as 
 follows:" The poll of the House as given shows 32 
 votes in the affirmative, and 21 in the negative, Col- 
 onel Ludington' s name being among the latter, al- 
 though his friends Hamilton and Lansing voted in 
 the affirmative. 
 
 In the "New York Packet and American Adver- 
 tiser" of February 27, 1783, appeared this notice: 
 
 "Notice is hereby given to the Debtors and 
 Creditors of Stephen Ludinton, deceased, who 
 was by a jury of inquest said to have been mur- 
 dered by John Akins, to meet me at the House of 
 Alexander Mills in Fredericksburgh on Monday 
 the 10th day of March next, at 10 o'clock in the 
 morning, in order to discharge the debts due the 
 said estate, and receive payment as far as the 
 estate will go as it is supposed he died insolvent. 
 
 "Henry Ludington Executor." 
 
 An act of the Legislature on March 9, 1810, made 
 Colonel Ludington one of the incorporators of "a 
 body corporate and politic" for the purpose of "mak- 
 ing a good and sufficient turnpike road to begin at 
 the Highland turnpike road near the house of Joseph 
 C. Voight in the town of Cortlandt and County of 
 Westchester, and from thence to or near the house of 
 James Mandeville and to or near the house of Sam- 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 uel Owens, in the town and county aforesaid; from 
 thence to or near the house of Jonathan Ferris, and 
 to or near the house of Edward Bugby and Solomon 
 Avery in Philipstown in the county of Dutchess; 
 from thence running up Peekskill Hollow, to or near 
 the house of Rowland Bailey, and to or near the 
 house of Henry Ludington in the town of Fred- 
 erick ; from thence running to the great road west of 
 Quaker Hill, to or near the house of Thomas How- 
 ard." 
 
 It should be added, to complete the record, that 
 Colonel Ludington was in 1771 an overseer of the 
 poor for South Precinct; in 1772 he was assessor of 
 Fredericksburgh ; and in 1776, 1777, and 1778 he 
 was supervisor of the town of Fredericksburgh. 
 
 Colonel Ludington was commonly known by his 
 military title to the end of his life. As a matter of 
 fact, however, he ceased to exercise the functions of 
 a colonel on September 27, 1786. An act of the Leg- 
 islature of New York of April 4, 1782, provided that 
 "in case of the death, resignation or other inability to 
 serve, of any Colonel now commanding a regiment 
 ( of militia ) , no Colonel shall thereafter be appointed 
 thereto; that such regiment and all others not now 
 commanded by a Colonel shall henceforth be com- 
 manded by a Lieutenant- Colonel. ' ' This act was doubt- 
 less largely the outcome of the deliberations of the 
 committee on reorganization of the militia of which 
 Colonel Ludington was a member. At the date named 
 in 1786, accordingly, he retired from the command 
 
 C 203;] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 of the regiment with which he had so long been iden- 
 tified, and was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Drake. In this regiment Archibald Ludington and 
 Henry Ludington, Jr., sons of Colonel Ludington,. 
 were, respectively, paymaster and ensign. Henry 
 Ludington, Jr., became lieutenant in the regiment 
 commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Elias Van Ben- 
 schoten, and on June 7, 1793, when John Drake 
 moved away from Dutchess County and was suc- 
 ceeded in command of Ludington's old regiment by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Elijah Townsend, Henry Lud- 
 ington, Jr., became a captain and Archibald Luding- 
 ton paymaster in it. Henry Ludington, Jr., filled 
 that place until March 16, 1797, when, owing to his 
 removal from Dutchess County, he resigned and was 
 succeeded by Samuel Smith. Archibald Ludington 
 was succeeded by Stephen Waring on March 23, 
 1803. The commission of Henry Ludington, Jr., as 
 lieutenant, is preserved in the possession of Charles 
 H. Ludington, and reads as follows: 
 
 THE PEOPLE of the State of NEW-YORK, 
 By the Grace of GOD, free and independent; 
 
 To Henry Ludinton, Junior, Gentleman, Greet- 
 ing: 
 
 We, reposing especial Trust and Confidence, 
 as well in your Patriotism, Conduct and Loyalty, 
 as is your Valour and Readiness to do us good 
 and faithful Service ; HAVE appointed and con- 
 stituted, and by these Presents, DO appoint and 
 constitute you, the said Henry Ludinton, Junior, 
 C204] 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 Lieutenant of a Company in the Regiment of 
 Militia in the County of Dutchess, whereof John 
 Drake, Esquire, is Lieutenant-Colonel Com- 
 mandant. 
 
 You are therefore, to take the said Company 
 into your Charge and Care, as Lieutenant there- 
 of, and duly to exercise the Officers and Soldiers 
 of that Company in Arms, who are hereby com- 
 manded to obey you as you shall from Time to 
 Time receive from our General and Commander 
 in Chief of the Militia of our said State, or any 
 other your superior Officer, according to the 
 Rules and Discipline of War, in Persuance of the 
 Trust reposed in you ; and for so doing, this shall 
 be Your Commission, for and during our good 
 Pleasure, to be signified by our Council of Ap- 
 pointment. IN TESTIMONY whereof, We 
 have caused Our Seal for Military Commissions 
 to be hereunto affixed. WITNESS our Trusty 
 and Well-beloved GEORGE CLINTON, Es- 
 quire, our Governor of our State of New- York, 
 General and Commander in Chief of all the Mili- 
 tia, and Admiral of the Navy of the same, by and 
 with the Advice and Consent of our said Council 
 of Appointment, at our City of New- York, the 
 twenty-seventh Day of March, in the Year of our 
 LORD, One Thousand Seven Hundred and 
 Eighty-seven, and in the eleventh Year of our 
 Independence. 
 
 Passed the Secretary's Office, 7th April, 1787- 
 Robt. Harpur, D., Secretary. 
 
 Geo. Clinton. 
 (Governor's signature in margin, under seal.) 
 
 C205: 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 Colonel Ludington, as has already been stated, at 
 first occupied his estate at Fredericksburgh under a 
 lease, and did not actually buy the land until July 
 15, 1812, when Samuel Gouverneur and wife made 
 to him a deed for 229 acres. Long before the latter 
 date, however, he had acquired other lands in Dutch- 
 ess County, at least as early as 1781, when he was 
 the owner of a large tract in the eastern part of the 
 county several miles from his home. It was one of 
 the perilous duties of his daughters Sibyl and Re- 
 becca frequently to ride thither on horseback, through 
 the Great Swamp, to see that all was well on the 
 property. After the war he disposed of that land, as 
 the following notice, in the "County Journal and 
 Dutchess and Ulster Farmer's Register," of March 
 24, 1789, shows: 
 
 To Be Sold By The Subscriber: 
 
 A Farm of about 104 acres of land in Fredericks- 
 town in the County of Dutchess lying on the east 
 side of the Great Swamp near the place where 
 David Akins formerly lived. There are about 30 
 tons of the best kind of English hay cut yearly on 
 such place, and considerable more meadow hay 
 may be made, a sufficient quantity of plough and 
 timber land, a good bearing orchard of the best 
 of fruit, a large convenient new dwelling house 
 and a stream of water running by the door. The 
 place is well situated for a merchant or tavern 
 keeper. Whoever should incline to purchase said 
 place may have possession by the first of May 
 next; the payments made as easy as possible and 
 
 C2063 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 an indisputable title given for the same. For 
 further particulars inquire of the subscriber or 
 Mr. Edmund Ogden who keeps a public house on 
 the Premises. 
 
 Henry Ludinton. 
 March 9th, 1789. 
 
 The result of this advertisement was the sale of the 
 farm in question to a man from the former home of 
 the Ludingtons in Connecticut. This appears from 
 a document in the possession of Mr. Patrick, the 
 original of an agreement made on November 5, 1790, 
 between Colonel Ludington and James Linsley, of 
 Branford, Connecticut, by which the former cove- 
 nanted and agreed with the latter "to sell a certain 
 farm situate, lying and being in Fredericksburgh 
 butted and bounded as follows adjoining Croton 
 River on the west side and on the south by Abijah 
 Starr & Ebenezer Palmer and on the north by P. 
 Starr & Samuel Huggins, Containing about one 
 hundred and five acres." The price to be paid at 
 various times and in various sums was "414 pounds, 
 New York currency." "And furthermore the said 
 Ludinton doth further agree with the said Linsley 
 to Enter on the Farm of him the said Ludinton 
 where he now Dwells to Cut and Carry away a suffi- 
 ciency of timber for the framing of a Barn of the fol- 
 lowing Dimentions forty feet in Length and thirty 
 feet in Breadth and the said Linsley hath further 
 Liberty to enter upon the home farm of the said Lud- 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 inton and Cutt sufficient quantity of sawmill logs for 
 to cover said Barn and after the said Linsley has 
 drawn said logs to the saw mill of the sd Ludinton 
 he the said Ludinton will saw sd Logs without delay 
 free from all cost and charges of said Linsley." 
 
 Colonel Ludington was much interested in the 
 Presbyterian church at Frederickstown, now Patter- 
 son, and was one of its trustees. On May 22, 1793, 
 he and his fellow trustees purchased for the church 
 from Stiles Peet and his wife Lydia a plot of about 
 a quarter of an acre of land for a burying ground 
 for the church, the price being at the rate of forty 
 shillings an acre. He also personally gave most of 
 the lumber required for building the first academy at 
 Patterson, an edifice which was in later years de- 
 stroyed by fire. 
 
 In person Colonel Ludington was of more than 
 ordinary stature, and of robust frame and dignified 
 and commanding presence. He was of an eminently 
 social disposition, and in the later years of his life he 
 and John Jay and Colonel Crane were accustomed 
 often to meet at their neighbor Townsend's, for social 
 evenings over their pipes and mugs, to exchange 
 memories of the stirring days of the Revolution. 
 Throughout his entire life he commanded in a high 
 degree the respect and confidence of all who knew 
 him, and when he died at the goodly age of 78 he was 
 universally mourned. He died of consumption, after 
 a prolonged illness, on January 24, 1817. His re- 
 mains were buried in the churchyard of the Pres- 
 
Colonel Ludington's tombstone at Patterson (formerly part of 
 Frederieksburgh), N. Y. 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 byterian church at Patterson, of which he had been a 
 trustee, and his grave was marked with a simple 
 stone bearing only this inscription : 
 
 H. L. 
 
 In Memory of 
 
 Henry Ludington. 
 
 Jany. 24, 1817. 
 
 Aged 78 years. 
 
 So simple was the epitaph of one of whom Blake, 
 the historian of Putnam County, truly says: "Col. 
 Ludington was one of the most active, energetic and 
 unflinching patriots found in this part of the country 
 during the Revolution, and much do we regret our 
 inability to do justice to the character and sterling 
 virtues of this Revolutionary patriot. The Govern- 
 ment records, however, show him to have been one of 
 the bold defenders of our country's rights." 
 
 Colonel Ludington's wife, Abigail, survived him 
 eight years, and then on August 3, 1825, was laid 
 beside him, at the age of more than 80 years. 
 
 The will of Colonel Ludington, now on file in the 
 surrogate's office of Putnam County, reads as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 In the Name of God, Amen ! 
 
 I, Henry Ludenton of the Town of Fredericks 
 County of Putnam and State of New York, 
 being feeble in body but of perfect mind and 
 
 C209] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 memory, thanks be given unto God, calling into 
 mind the mortality of my body and knowing that 
 it is appointed for all men once to die, do make 
 and ordain this my last will and testiment, that is 
 to say principly and first of all I give and recom- 
 mend my Soul unto the hands of Almighty God 
 That gave it, and my body I recommend to the 
 earth to be buried in a decent Christian burial at 
 the discretion of my executors, nothing doubting 
 that I shall receive the same again at the general 
 Resurrection by the mighty power of God. And 
 as touching such worldly property wherewith it 
 has pleased God to bless me with in this life, I do 
 give, demise and dispose of in the following man- 
 ner. And farm first of all, I do order my ex- 
 ecutors to sell and dispose of so much land off the 
 north end of my farm with the grist mill theron 
 that will be sufficient to pay the debt that is owing 
 from me to Samuel Governier's the landlord, the 
 line beginning at the east side of my farm on the 
 line betwixt me and the aforesaid Governier and 
 running westwardly to the north of my barn and 
 dwelling house and all other buildings except the 
 aforesaid mill until it crosses the Mill Brook, and 
 line then to run more to the south in course (case) 
 a straight line will not make land enough to dis- 
 charge said debt, but to run no further west than 
 the east fence of the old lot known by the name of 
 the Old Ridge Lot, and secondly all the re- 
 mainder and residue of my said farm dwelling 
 house and buildings and all and singular the ap- 
 purtenances thereunto belonging to remain in the 
 hands of my executors for the use and benefit of 
 Abigail Ludenton my wife and Abigail Luden- 
 ton my daughter and Derie Ludenton my son 
 
 nsioi! 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 and Cornelia Ludenton my Grand Daughter so 
 long as Abigail Ludenton remains my widow or 
 in case she should not marry, until her decease, 
 unless the said Abigail Ludenton my daughter 
 or said Derrick Ludenton my son or Cornelia 
 Ludenton should marry or either of them should 
 marry the said farm to remain only for the use 
 and benefit of those who are unmarried untill my 
 widdow should marry or untill her disceas as is 
 above expressed; and in case my daughter Abi- 
 gail should not marry before the disceas of my 
 widow she then at the deceas of my widow to take 
 her choice of the Rooms in the Dwelling house 
 wherein I live or when my widdow should marry 
 which room she is to have and to hold as long as 
 she remains single. All the remainder of my 
 farm that is not set off for my executors to sell to 
 discharge the debt of Samuel Governier, which 
 land lying and being in the town of Frederick 
 county aforesaid, I do give and bequeath unto 
 my four sons Archibald Ludenton, Derrick Lud- 
 enton, Frederick Ludenton, Lewis Ludenton, to 
 be equally divided amongst them in which case 
 the said Ludinton and Ludenton is to pass unto 
 Derrick Ludenton at the division thereof one 
 hundred dollars wich farm of land they the said 
 Archibald, Derrick, Frederick and Lewis Lud- 
 enton and their heirs is to have and to hold for- 
 ever with all the appertinances thereunto belong- 
 ing ; but it is my will that Derrick Ludenton my 
 son's proportion of the farm to remain in the 
 hands of my executors and for them to do as they 
 shall judge best for him with it. And I do will 
 and bequeath Tartulus Ludenton my son Fifteen 
 Dollars to be paid out of removable property, and 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 after said fifteen dollars is paid and all my debts 
 that my land is not sold to pay is paid and dis- 
 charged, to pay which debts is my will that my 
 executors should sell such and so much of the 
 movable property they shall judge will least dis- 
 commode the heirs which the residue is left to and 
 share who is to have the property, and it is my 
 will that all movable property should remain in 
 the hands of my widdow for her use and the use 
 of Derrick Ludenton my son, Abigail my daugh- 
 ter, to remain as the use of the farm is above 
 discribed to remain in the hands of my executors 
 for the use and benefit of Abigail Ludenton my 
 wife and Abigail Ludenton my daughter and 
 Derrick Ludenton my son and Cornelia Luden- 
 ton my grand daughter untill my wife marries or 
 untill her disceas, unless Abigail, Derrick or Cor- 
 nelia or one of them should marry, and the one 
 that marries is to have use and benefit no longer 
 of said property until disposed of as is hereafter 
 directed. And I do will and bequeath unto my 
 six daughters at the deceas or marriage of my 
 widow all my movable property to be equally di- 
 vided amongst them, that is to say Sibyl Ogden, 
 Rebecca Pratt, May Ferris, Anna Colwell, Abi- 
 gail Ludenton and Sophiah Caverly my daugh- 
 ters. 
 
 And for the further surety of this my last will 
 and testament I nominate and appoint John Hop- 
 kins of the town of Fishkill, County of Dutch- 
 ess and State of New York, and Elijah Wixon 
 of the town of Fredericks and County of Putnam 
 and State aforesaid my sole executors of this my 
 last will and testiment and I do hereby disallow, 
 revoke and annull all and singular every other 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 former will testament and bequeath and executors 
 by me in any wise before mentioned willed and 
 bequeath, ratifying and allowing this and no 
 other to be my last will and testiment. In witness 
 whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 
 seventh day of April in the year of Our Lord one 
 thousand eight hundred and thirteen. 
 
 Henry Ludenton. L. S. 
 
 Signed sealed and pronounced 
 in presence of us 
 
 Stephen Merritt 
 John Burtch. 
 
 An interesting side-light is cast upon one feature 
 of this will, as well as upon the later years of Col- 
 onel Ludington's life and the years following his 
 death, by a letter written in April, 1881, to Mr. Pa- 
 trick by Mrs. Julia L. Comfort, of Catskill, New 
 York, a daughter of Colonel Ludington's son, Ter- 
 tullus Ludington. Speaking of the old homestead 
 at Frederickstown, and the members of the family 
 there, Mrs. Comfort said : 
 
 I was so young when last there, and conse- 
 quently do not remember much about them. It 
 was the winter before Grandma Luddington 
 died. She gave my Mother Grandfather's gun 
 and sword, and I think the powder horn to my 
 brother Henry because he was named after him. 
 They were all mounted with silver. The first 
 
 t:213: 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 time we were there was in the fall when chestnuts 
 were ripe. There was a very large tree in the rear 
 of the house, and Uncle Fred's children, my sister 
 and myself wished to get the chestnuts but could 
 not. Grandma wanted Uncle Derrick to cut the 
 tree down for us, but he said it would take two 
 weeks to do it, it was so large. 
 
 My Father was with us, and Grandfather said 
 to him, (he always called him Tarty,) "I am 
 going to make a will, and I owe you for five bar- 
 rels of pork, but as I have not got the money just 
 now I will remember it in my will." (It was in 
 war time (War of 1812) and pork was selling 
 for thirty dollars a barrel.) Father told him he 
 might give it to Archie, as he was very poor and 
 Father was doing a good business and did not 
 need it, but Archie said he never rec'd a cent of it. 
 
 The last time Aunt Ogden was here, she was 
 telling us how she and Aunt Sophia (probably 
 a slip of the pen for Rebecca) were alone in the 
 house in war time (Revolutionary War). They 
 had had a fence built around the house, and they 
 each had a gun, and once in a while they would 
 fire one off to make the soldiers think there were 
 men in the house. 
 
 [214:1 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SOME LATER GENERATIONS 
 
 IT has already been observed that the earlier gen- 
 erations of the Ludington family, in colonial 
 days, were prolific ; as, indeed, the Ludingtons of the 
 Old Country are said to have been. In revolutionary 
 days, Comfort, Elisha, Stephen, and other collateral 
 relatives of his were the comrades of Henry Luding- 
 ton in the war and his neighbors in Dutchess and the 
 adjoining counties. Their descendants, and the de- 
 scendants of those of Colonel Ludington's twelve 
 children who married and had issue, have been nu- 
 merous, and many of them have made their mark in 
 contemporary affairs in various parts of the land. It 
 is not the purpose of this work, nor would its compass 
 permit it, to give any detailed chronicle of all the 
 ramifications of the family. Brief notices of a few 
 of its members follow. Let us first deal with some of 
 a collateral line. 
 
 Colonel Henry Ludington married, as already 
 noted, his cousin Abigail Ludington. Her brother, 
 Comfort Ludington, who has been mentioned as a 
 soldier in the Revolution, had a son named Zalmon, 
 
 C 215 II 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 who in turn had a son also named Zalmon. The last 
 named was a soldier in the War of 1812; in 1818 he 
 went to Virginia, and four years later married Lo- 
 vina Hagan, of Preston County. Three of his chil- 
 dren are still living, namely: Mrs. M. L. Patrick, of 
 Louisville, Kentucky; Dr. Horace Ludington, of 
 Omaha, Nebraska; and General Marshall I. Lud- 
 ington, U. S. A. Another, Colonel Elisha H. Lud- 
 ington, U. S. A., died in 1891. Zalmon Ludington 
 himself lived to be more than ninety years of age, 
 and at the age of eighty-eight was able to make an 
 important public address in the city of Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 One of the sons of Zalmon Ludington, Elisha H. 
 Ludington, entered the United States Army as a cap- 
 tain in 1861, did important field service with the 
 Army of the Potomac in 1863, being engaged in the 
 battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and for 
 "gallant and meritorious service" in the latter con- 
 flict was brevetted a major on July 2, 1863. On 
 March 13, 1865, he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel 
 "for meritorious services during the war," and also 
 colonel on the same date "for faithful and merito- 
 rious services in his department." He served at 
 Washington and elsewhere as assistant inspector- 
 general until his retirement for disability on March 
 27, 1879, and died on January 21, 1891. 
 
 Marshall I. Ludington was born in Somerset 
 County, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1839, and entered 
 the army as captain of volunteers and acting quar- 
 
 [2163 
 
FREDERICK LUDINGTDN, 
 Son of Col. Henry Ludington, 
 
SOME LATER GENERATIONS 
 
 termaster-general on October 20, 1862. Like his 
 brother he served in the Chancellorsville and Gettys- 
 burg campaigns, in the Wilderness, and at Peters- 
 burg, and then became chief quartermaster at Wash- 
 ington. In January, 1867, he became major and 
 quartermaster in the regular army, and served in 
 various places and was successively promoted until 
 in 1898 he was made brigadier-general and quarter- 
 master-general of the United States Army, with 
 headquarters at Washington. For several years he 
 had been acting quartermaster-general, but had not 
 enjoyed full authority to organize the department 
 according to his own ideas. Consequently, when he 
 became quartermaster-general, only four days before 
 the declaration of war with Spain, he was confronted 
 with a task of peculiar difficulty, for which he had 
 not been able to make satisfactory preparations such 
 as had been made in other branches of the service. 
 Before he retired from the office, however, he had so 
 perfected the organization and equipment as to make 
 the department a model which military experts from 
 Europe were glad to study. He served until July 4, 
 1903, when he was retired under the law for age, with 
 the rank of major-general, U. S. A. Since his re- 
 tirement he has lived at Skaneateles, N. Y. 
 
 Mention has been made of Frederick Ludington, 
 son of Colonel Henry Ludington, who with his 
 brother Lewis engaged for a time in general mer- 
 chandising at Frederickstown, or Kent, N. Y. He 
 married Susannah Griffith, and among their children 
 
 C217] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 was a son to whom they gave the name of Harrison, 
 in honor of the general who was just then winning 
 distinction in the United States Army and who after- 
 ward became President. Harrison Ludington was 
 born at Kent, New York, on July 31, 1812, and 
 served for a time as a clerk in his father's and uncle's 
 store. In 1838 he removed to Milwaukee, Wiscon- 
 sin, in company with his uncle, Lewis Ludington, 
 and there engaged in general merchandising, in part- 
 nership witli his uncle Lewis and later with his 
 younger brother, Nelson. They also had extensive 
 interests in the lumber trade. Withdrawing from 
 their firm, he formed a partnership with Messrs. D. 
 Wells and A. G. Van Schaick, in the same business, 
 with extensive lumber mills on Green Bay. He was 
 for many years conspicuously identified with the de- 
 velopment of the city of Milwaukee, and as the pro- 
 prietor of a "general store" is said to have purchased 
 the first bag of wheat ever brought to market at that 
 place. He served for two terms as an alderman of 
 Milwaukee, and in 1872-75 was mayor of that city. 
 His admirable administration of municipal affairs 
 fixed the attention of the whole State upon him, and 
 as a result he was elected governor for the two years 
 1876 and 1877. He filled that office with distin- 
 guished success, but at the end of his single term re- 
 tired from public life and resumed his manufactur- 
 ing pursuits, in which he continued until his death, 
 which occurred at Milwaukee on June 17, 1891. 
 George Ludington, second son of Frederick Lud- 
 
 C218 3 
 
HON", HARRISON LUDINGTDN, 
 
 Governor Df Wisconsin, 1B7B-7B. 
 Grandson of CdI. Henry Ludington 
 
SOME LATER GENERATIONS 
 
 ington, and grandson of Colonel Henry Ludington, 
 was born in Putnam County and spent his life there. 
 He married Emeline C. Travis. For some years he 
 occupied and conducted the store which had formerly 
 been managed by his father and uncle, as already 
 related, and afterward became cashier of the Bank 
 of Kent, later known as the Putnam County 
 National Bank, a place which he filled until his 
 death. 
 
 A great-grandson of Colonel Henry Ludington, 
 through his son Frederick and the latter's daughter 
 Caroline, is Lewis S. Patrick, formerly in govern- 
 ment service at Washington but now and for many 
 years living at Marinette, Wisconsin. To his pains- 
 taking and untiring labors must be credited the col- 
 lection of a large share of the data upon which this 
 memoir of his ancestor is founded. 
 
 Sibyl Ludington, Colonel Ludington's oldest 
 daughter, who married Henry Ogden, a lawyer of 
 Catskill, N. Y., (elsewhere called Edward and Ed- 
 mund,) went to live at Unadilla, N. Y., and bore 
 four sons and two daughters. The distinguished 
 career of one of these sons may well be told in a 
 quotation from the "New York Observer" of October 
 18, 1855, as follows: 
 
 Major Edmund A. Ogden, of the United 
 States army, who recently died of cholera at Fort 
 Riley, Kansas Territory, was born at Catskill, 
 N. Y., Feb. 20th, 1810. Soon after, he removed 
 
 C219: 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 to Unadilla, N. Y., where he remained until he 
 entered the United States Military Academy. 
 On graduating, he was attached as brevet Second 
 Lieutenant to the First Regiment of Infantry, 
 then stationed at Prairie du Chien. He was sub- 
 sequently appointed a First Lieutenant in the 
 Eighth Infantry, where he served until appointed 
 a Captain in the Quartermaster's Department, in 
 which corps he remained until his death. He 
 served with credit and distinction through the 
 Black Hawk, Florida and Mexican wars, and 
 was created a Major by brevet, for meritorious 
 conduct in the last named of these wars. 
 
 His services, ever faithfully performed, have 
 been arduous and responsible. He has disbursed 
 for the government millions of the public money ; 
 he has labored hard, and always to the purpose, 
 and after giving to his country five and twenty 
 years of hard and useful service, he has died poor. 
 
 For the last six years previous to last spring, 
 Major Ogden was stationed at Fort Leaven- 
 worth, where he has rendered important service 
 to the army in his capacity of Quartermaster. 
 From this post he was ordered to California, and 
 he removed with his family to New York with the 
 expectation of embarking on the 20th of April 
 last, when his orders were suddenly suspended, 
 and he was sent back to assist in outfitting the ex- 
 pedition against the Sioux Indians. He was 
 afterwards charged with the arduous duty of 
 erecting, within three months, barracks, quarters 
 and stables for a regiment of troops at Fort Riley 
 — a point about 150 miles west of Leavenworth, 
 and which he had himself selected as a suitable 
 place for a government post, when stationed at 
 
SOME LATER GENERATIONS 
 
 Fort Leavenworth. This place was not settled, 
 and was an almost perfect wilderness. He took 
 with him about five hundred mechanics and la- 
 borers, with tools and provisions, and commenced 
 his labors. In a new and unsettled country, so 
 destitute of resources, many obstacles were en- 
 countered, but just as they were being overcome, 
 and the buildings were progressing, cholera in its 
 most fatal and frightful form made its appear- 
 ance among the men, from two to four of them 
 dying every day. Far removed from homes and 
 kindred, and accustomed to depend upon Major 
 Ogden for the supply of their daily wants, they 
 turned to him in despair for relief from the pesti- 
 lence. He labored among them night and day, 
 nursing the sick and offering consolation to the 
 dying. At last the heavy hand of death was laid 
 upon him, and worn out with care, watching 
 and untiring labors, he fell a victim to the 
 disease whose ravages he had in vain attempted 
 to stay. 
 
 In the death of this officer the army has lost one 
 who was an ornament to its list ; his own corps has 
 lost one of its most efficient members — one whom 
 they appreciated, and whom they delighted to 
 praise. Among his associates in the army there is 
 but one sentiment — that of regret for his loss and 
 admiration for his professional and private char- 
 acter, and love for his estimable qualities. His 
 associates in the army are not the only sufferers; 
 but many and many in various parts of the 
 land have lost a warm and true friend, and the 
 country has lost an honest man and a Christian 
 soldier. . . . 
 
 In the hour of death, far from all he most loved 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 on earth, he was cheered by his Christian hope. 
 His faith was unshaken and enduring, and 
 proved capable of supporting him in that last sad 
 hour. Although weak and exhausted, he repeated 
 the Lord's Prayer audibly, and said to his friend 
 the chaplain, who was by his side, "Tell my 
 dear wife and children to try and meet me in 
 heaven," and then sank sweetly and quietly to 
 rest. 
 
 So died the Christian soldier, in the vigor of 
 manhood, and at the post of duty. Bound as he 
 was by so many tender ties to this earth, not a 
 murmur escaped his lips, but he met his summons 
 with a cheerful resignation to that Providence 
 whose dealings he had recognized through life, 
 and in whom he trusted in death. . . . 
 
 It is interesting to note the evidences of the 
 estimation in which Major Ogden was held at 
 Fort Riley by the residents and the men in his 
 employ. The following is an extract from The 
 Kansas Herald of the 10th: 
 
 "The death of Major Ogden left a deep gloom 
 upon the spirits of all the men, which time does 
 not obliterate. His tender solicitude for the 
 spiritual and bodily welfare of those under him; 
 his unceasing labors with the sick, and his forget - 
 fulness of self in attendance upon others, until 
 he was laid low, have endeared his memory to 
 every one there. And, as a token of affection, 
 they are now engaged in erecting a fine monu- 
 ment which shall mark their appreciation of the 
 departed. The monument, which will be of the 
 native stone of the locality, is to be placed on one 
 of the high promontories at Fort Riley, and can 
 be seen from many a distant point by those ap- 
 
SOME LATER GENERATIONS 
 
 proaching the place. It will bear the following 
 inscription : 
 
 "Erected to the memory of 
 BREVET MAJOR E. A. OGDEN, 
 
 the founder of Fort Riley ; 
 
 a disinterested patriot and a generous friend ; 
 
 a refined gentleman; a devoted husband 
 
 and father, 
 
 and an exemplary Christian. 
 
 Few men were more respected in their lives, or 
 more lamented in their deaths. As much the vic- 
 tim of duty as of disease, he calmly closed a life, 
 in the public service, distinguished for integrity 
 and faithfulness. 
 
 BREVET MAJOR E. A. OGDEN, 
 
 Assistant Quartermaster, United States Army, 
 departed this life, at Fort Riley, August 3d, 
 1855, in the forty-fourth year of his age. 
 
 'And I heard a voice saying unto me, write, 
 blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from 
 henceforth. Yea, saith the spirit, that they may 
 rest from their labors ; and their works do follow 
 them.' " 
 
 A younger brother of Major Edmund Ogden was 
 Richard Ludington Ogden, who became a captain in 
 
 nassn 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 the United States Army, and was an extensive and 
 adventurous traveler. 
 
 The sixth son and youngest child of Colonel Henry 
 Ludington was Lewis Ludington, who was born 
 in Fredericksburgh on June 25, 1786. At the age of 
 twenty he engaged with his elder brother Frederick 
 in conducting a general store near their home. A 
 few years later he married Polly Townsend, the 
 daughter and oldest child of Samuel Townsend and 
 his wife Keturah Crosby. The Townsends had come 
 to Dutchess County many years before from Long 
 Island, and Polly Townsend's great-grandfather, 
 Elihu Townsend, settled on a farm in South East 
 Precinct, close to the Westchester County line. He 
 died about 1804, at the age of 102 years, and was able 
 to walk about the yard six weeks before his death. 
 For several years after their marriage Lewis and 
 Polly Townsend Ludington lived in a cottage near 
 the Ludington homestead at Fredericksburgh, or 
 Kent, as it was then renamed. Then, in the spring 
 of 1816, they removed to the village of Carmel, where 
 soon after Lewis Ludington bought property which 
 is still owned by members of the family. In the fall 
 of 1855 he completed and occupied the house which 
 is still the family homestead. The wood of which this 
 house was built was cut on lands owned by Mr. Lud- 
 ington in Wisconsin, was sawed in his mills at 
 Oconto in that State, and was shipped from Green 
 Bay to Buffalo in the lake schooner Lewis Luding- 
 ton. This circumstance suggests the fact that Lewis 
 
LEWIS LUDINGTDN, 
 Son of Col. Henry Ludington. 
 (From portrait by Frank B. Carpenter, i 
 
SOME LATER GENERATIONS 
 
 Ludington was strongly identified with business in- 
 terests in Wisconsin. He went West in the fall of 
 1838, in company with his nephew, Harrison Lud- 
 ington, already mentioned, and Harvey Burchard, 
 of Carmel, N. Y. They visited Milwaukee, which 
 was then a mere village, and during that winter made 
 several long trips on horseback through the interior 
 of Wisconsin, for the purpose of selecting govern- 
 ment lands. They purchased extensive tracts, largely 
 with a view to the lumber trade, and in 1839 they 
 formed at Milwaukee the general mercantile firm of 
 Ludington, Burchard & Co., of which Lewis Lud- 
 ington was the eldest and Harrison Ludington the 
 youngest member. A year or two later Burchard re- 
 tired and the firm became Ludington & Co., Harri- 
 son's younger brother Nelson being taken into it. 
 Nelson Ludington, by the way, was afterward presi- 
 dent of the Fifth National Bank of Chicago, and for 
 many years was at the head of large and successful 
 lumbering and manufacturing interests and was 
 prominent in commercial life in Chicago. For nearly 
 twenty years Lewis Ludington was the head of 
 the firm of Ludington & Co., which was one of the 
 foremost in Milwaukee, and which conducted what 
 was for those days a business of great magnitude. 
 The firm also had lumber mills at Oconto and docks 
 at Milwaukee. About 1843, Lewis Ludington 
 bought a tract of land in Columbia County, Wiscon- 
 sin, and in July of the following year laid out there- 
 on the city of Columbus. For many years he per- 
 il 225 ] 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 sonally directed and encouraged the development of 
 the new community, which grew to be a city of con- 
 siderable population and wealth. 
 
 Thus for almost a quarter of a century Mr. Lud- 
 ington conducted a number of enterprises in Wiscon- 
 sin, enjoying at all times the respect and confidence 
 of those who knew him and ranking among the best 
 representative citizens of the two States with which 
 he was identified. He was a Whig in politics, and ex- 
 erted much influence in party councils, especially 
 opposing the extension of slavery, but would never 
 accept public office, though frequently urged to do 
 so. He died on September 3, 1857, at Kenosha, Wis- 
 consin, and his remains were interred in the family 
 lot in Raymond Hill Cemetery, at Carmel, N. Y. 
 
 The fifth child of Lewis Ludington is Charles 
 Henry Ludington, who was born at Carmel, N". Y., 
 on February 1, 1825. Among the schools which he 
 attended in boyhood was one conducted in the former 
 home of "Peter Parley" at Ridgefield, Conn. In 
 1842 he became a clerk in a wholesale dry-goods 
 store in New York, and later was for many years a 
 member of a leading firm in that same business — 
 the firm of Lathrop, Ludington & Co., at first on 
 Cortlandt Street, and afterward on Park Row. A 
 considerable portion of the business of this firm was 
 with the southern States, but a few years before the 
 Civil War its name was published in the notorious 
 "black-list" of the pro-slavery Secessionists, as an 
 "Abolitionist" concern, and as a result all trade with 
 
CHARLES HENRY LUDINGTDN, 
 Grandson nf CdI, Henry Ludington. 
 
SOME LATER GENERATIONS 
 
 that section of the country was ended. The "black- 
 list" at first comprised only the names of Bowen, 
 Holmes & Co., Lathrop, Ludington & Co., and a few 
 others, but in time was increased until it embraced 
 about forty of the leading houses in wholesale lines 
 in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, and was 
 widely published throughout the South, to injure if 
 possible the business of those who, like Bowen, 
 Holmes & Co., "sold their goods but not their prin- 
 ciples." Of course the outbreak of the war ended 
 what little trade remained for these houses in the 
 South, but Lathrop, Ludington & Co. more than re- 
 couped elsewhere the losses of their southern trade, 
 and before the end of the war had become the third 
 leading firm in that line in New York. Mr. Luding- 
 ton was an ardent upholder of the Union. Unable 
 himself to go to the war as a soldier, he employed and 
 sent a substitute, and his firm contributed large sums 
 for the recruiting and equipping of troops in New 
 York City and in Putnam County. Retiring in 
 1868, he has since that time been engaged in various 
 personal enterprises in New York and in the West. 
 
 James Ludington, the sixth child of Lewis Lud- 
 ington, was born at Carmel, on April 18, 1827, went 
 to Milwaukee in 1843, worked in the establishment 
 of Ludington & Co., aided his father in founding the 
 town of Columbus, and was for a time his father's 
 resident agent there. Later, at Milwaukee, he was 
 treasurer of a railroad company and vice-president 
 of the Bank of the West at Madison, Wisconsin. In 
 
 C2273 
 
HENRY LUDINGTON 
 
 1859 he acquired extensive sawmills at the mouth of 
 the Pere Marquette River, in Michigan, and there 
 founded the city of Ludington. He died on April 1, 
 1891. 
 
 In addition to the impress thus widely made upon 
 the military, political, business and other history of the 
 United States by members of the family, the name of 
 Ludington, in memory of the influence and achieve- 
 ments of those who have borne it, is honorably in- 
 scribed upon the maps of no fewer than four of the 
 States. A village of Putnam County, at the site of 
 the old homestead of colonial and revolutionary times, 
 bears, as we have seen, the name of Ludingtonville — 
 at once a tribute to the Ludington family and an un- 
 fortunate example of the unhappy American habit, 
 now less prevalent than formerly, of adding "ville" 
 to local names. Far better was the bestowal of the 
 simple and sufficient name of Ludington upon the 
 lake port in Michigan, referred to in the preceding 
 notice of James Ludington's life. The same name is 
 borne by a village in the parish of Calcasieu, in south- 
 western Louisiana, while the part the Ludington 
 family played in the settlement and upbuilding of 
 the State of Wisconsin is commemorated in the name 
 of a village in Eau Claire County, which retains an 
 old and familiar variant of spelling, Luddington. 
 
 The quoted tribute to the English Ludingtons of 
 former centuries, with which this volume was begun, 
 might well, mutatis mutandis, be recalled at its close 
 for application to the Ludingtons of America. The 
 
 C228H 
 
SOME LATER GENERATIONS 
 
 boast of being of "great estate" is worthily matched 
 with the record of having contributed something of 
 substantial value to the common wealth of the Great 
 Republic, and travels in Eastern lands are rivalled 
 with travels and labors in the greater regions of the 
 West; while even wars against the Paynim and loy- 
 alty to the King did not surpass in merit the war for 
 liberty and independence and loyalty to the intrinsic 
 rights of man. In this view of the case, it is con- 
 fidently hoped that not only for the sake of family 
 affection, but also for its historical interest, it will be 
 deemed worth the while to have told thus briefly and 
 simply the story of Henry Ludington. 
 
 [2293 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aikins, David, affidavit of, 137 
 Angell, Col. Israel, quoted, 168 
 Arnold, Seymour, petition of, 183 
 
 Beatty, Col. W., 166 
 
 "Birch, Harvey," 114 
 
 Border Warfare in Revolution, 133 
 
 Branford, Conn., 24 
 
 Brinekerhoff, Col. Dirck, replies to 
 
 Clinton, 99 
 Burgoyne's surrender, 106 
 Burke's Heraldry, quoted, 4 
 Byington, John, affidavit of, 34 
 
 Chatterton Hill, see White Plains 
 Clinton, Fort, capture of, 105 
 Clinton, George, commander of 
 militia, 178; order to Colonel 
 Graham, 86; troubled by dis- 
 affection of militia, 92; diffi- 
 culties in raising levies, 94; or- 
 ders to Colonel Ludington, 96; 
 orders countermanded, 97 ; meets 
 disaster at Fort Montgomery, 
 105; urges defense of Hudson, 
 106; letters to Colonel Luding- 
 ton, 160, 170, 179, 185; to Col- 
 onel Hopkins, 173; to Colonel 
 Van Bunschoten, 181; to General 
 Swartwout, 181 
 Clinton, Sir Henry, 105 
 Clinton, James, 105 
 Colony Record of Deeds, of Con- 
 necticut, quoted, 20 
 Comfort, Mrs. Julia L., letter to 
 
 Mr. Patrick, 213 
 Cooper, James Fenimore, quoted, 
 
 114 
 Cowing, Daniel, petition of, 183 
 Crabb, John, arrest of, 143 
 Crosby, Enoch, original of "Har- 
 vey Birch," 115; narrative of his 
 services as American spy, 118 
 
 Dana, Francis, at Colonel Luding- 
 ton's, 167 
 
 Danbury, Conn., raiding of, 88 
 
 Dates, uncertainties of, 10 
 
 De Kalb, Baron, 166 
 
 De Peyster, General, quoted, 105 
 
 Dieskau, Baron, 27, 28, 29 
 
 Dimon, Lieutenant Colonel, arrests 
 traitors, 143 
 
 Dodd's "East Haven Register," 
 quoted, 19, 22, 26 
 
 Domesday Book, Ludington men- 
 tioned in, 6 
 
 Duer, William, 55, 56, 57, 75, 134 
 
 Dutchess County, N. Y., divisions 
 of, 36, 58 ; population of, 40 ; offi- 
 cers of and their oaths, 41 ; revo- 
 lutionary passions in, 49; Com- 
 mittee of Safety of, 49; text of 
 patriotic compact in, 52; militia 
 organizations of, 61, 70; services 
 of miltia of, 72; militia urged to 
 service in, 87; scene of border 
 warfare and raids, 133; a danger 
 spot, 139; freeholders' address to 
 the Legislature, 153 
 
 East Haven, Conn., 13 
 
 Ellery, Williamj, whimsical account 
 
 of a night at Colonel Luding- 
 
 ton's, 166 
 
 Farmer's List of Ancient Names, 
 
 quoted, 7 
 Foote's company, 2nd Connecticut 
 
 Regiment, 26 
 Fredericksburgh, town of, 37; 
 
 much visited by troops, 165 
 Frederickstown, 36, 58, 59 
 
 Goodrich, Col. Elizur, 26 
 Gray's genealogical work, quoted, 
 3 
 
 [23in 
 
INDEX 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, on burning 
 of Danbury, 91 ; voted for by 
 Colonel Ludington, 199; report 
 in behalf of Colonel Ludington, 
 200 
 
 Hendrick, Mohawk chieftain, 27, 28 
 
 Hoadly's New Haven Colonial 
 Records, quoted, 15 
 
 Holmes, Col. John, Tory agent, 
 147; Colonel Ludington's letter 
 about, 148; captured by Colonel 
 Ludington, 150 
 
 Hopewell, ship, 7 
 
 Hopkins, Col. Roswell, letter to 
 Clinton, 171; experience with a 
 press master, 174; resigns com- 
 mission, 176 
 
 Iron works at East Haven, Conn., 
 
 13 
 Irving, Washington, quoted, 169 
 
 Jay, John, 51, 55, 75, 125, 141, 208 
 Johnson, Major General Sir Will- 
 iam, 27 
 
 Kane, Kain, or Keane, John, 
 
 treated as a Tory, 169 
 "Kansas Herald," quoted, 222 
 Kent, N. Y., town of, 37 
 Kingston, N. Y., state capital, 
 
 menaced by the British, 105; 
 
 burned, 106, 161 
 
 Lake George, Battle of, 27 
 Lossing, Benson J., quoted, 169 
 Loyalists, or Tories, 47, 73 
 Luddington, Wisconsin, 228 
 Ludington, Louisiana, 228 
 Ludington, Michigan, 228 
 Ludingtonville, N. Y, origin of, 
 
 38; name of, 228 
 Ludington family, 3, 4, 5 
 Ludington Hospital, 6 
 Ludington, various forms of the 
 
 name, 5 
 Ludington, Abigail, 22, 35, 209 
 Ludington, Archibald, 45, 204 
 Ludington, Charles Henry, MS. 
 
 collections quoted, 192, 204; 
 
 career of, 226 
 Ludington, Christian, 7 
 
 Ludington, Christopher, 8 
 
 Ludington, Comfort, Revolution- 
 ary soldier, 72, 82, 215 
 
 Ludington, Elisha, Revolutionary 
 soldier, 71 
 
 Ludington, Col. Elisha H., 216 
 
 Ludington, Ellen, 8; remarriage, 17 
 
 Ludington, Frederick, birth, 45; 
 career, 217 
 
 Ludington, George, 218 
 
 Ludington, Harrison, Governor, 218 
 
 Ludington, Henry 1st, son of 
 William 2nd, 20, 21; his chil- 
 dren—Daniel, 21; Ezra, 21; Col- 
 lins, 21; William, 21; Sarah, 21; 
 Dinah, 21 ; Lydia, 21 ; Nathaniel, 
 22; Moses, 22; Aaron, 22; Elisha, 
 22; Sarah, 22; Thomas, 22 
 
 Ludington, Col. Henry, birth of, 
 22; at Branford, Conn., 24; boy- 
 hood and schooling, 25; enlists in 
 French and Indian War, 25; at 
 Battle of Lake George, 27; dates 
 of reenlistments, 30; at Quebec, 
 30; winter march to Boston, 30; 
 commissioned lieutenant, 31 ; 
 captain in Beverly Robinson's 
 regiment, 31 ; recorded as "De- 
 serted," 31 ; affidavits concern- 
 ing his service, 33; marriage and 
 settlement in New York, 35; 
 house and mills, 39; important 
 location of his home, 40; oaths 
 as sub-sheriff, 41 ; service as sub- 
 sheriff, 44; his children, 45; en- 
 ters revolutionary movement, 52; 
 under orders of Committee of 
 Safety, 56; territorial command 
 as militia colonel, 59; work in 
 organizing militia, 66; various 
 commissions in army, 67; suc- 
 ceeds Colonel Morrison, 68; for- 
 mation of his regiment, 70; 
 organization, 73; letter to Pro- 
 vincial Congress of New York, 
 74; enters Revolutionary War, 
 77; at Battle of White Plains, 
 81 ; intercourse with Washing- 
 ton, 82; stationed at North 
 Castle, 85; avenges burning of 
 Danbury, 89; summoned to de- 
 fend the Highlands of the Hud- 
 
 [232 3 
 
IXDEX 
 
 son, 91 ; sent to Westchester 
 County, 96; recalled to PeekskilL 
 98; difficulty in complying with 
 orders, 100; foils British at 
 Tarrytown, 101 ; plans defense of 
 Highlands, 106; letter to Clin- 
 ton about difficulty of raising 
 troops, 107; returns of his regi- 
 ment, 109; action at Crom Pond, 
 109; temporary disbandment of 
 regiment, 110; secret service, 
 114; relations with "the spy, 
 Harvey Birch," otherwise Enoch 
 Crosby, 115; instructions from 
 Colonel Sackett, 115; engage- 
 ment of Benajah Tubbs, 116; 
 gives letter to Enoch Crosby, 
 132; services in border warfare, 
 134; road-building for forage 
 parties, 135; captures Nicker- 
 son's party, 138; in Westchester 
 County, 142; gives "character" to 
 a Tory, 144; arrests Elijah 
 Taylor, 145; address to Council 
 of Safety, 147 ; letter to Clinton 
 about Col. John Holmes, 148; 
 captures Holmes, 150; hated by 
 the Tories, 156 ; prize offered for 
 his capture, 157; feud with Dr. 
 Prosser, 158; letter to Clinton, 
 159; humanity toward Tories, 
 162; embarrassed with depre- 
 ciated currency, 166; William 
 Ellery and Francis Dana at his 
 house, 166; letter to Clinton 
 about militia, 177; challenged to 
 fight a duel, 179; retained on 
 duty in Westchester County, 
 180; letter to Clinton with peti- 
 tion of deserters, 183; letters to 
 Clinton on burdens of militia, 
 185, 186; abstract of pay-roll, 
 187; affidavit on accounts, 188; 
 purchase of bounty lands, 189; 
 end of military service, 190; 
 deputy sheriff and justice of the 
 peace, 191 ; text of commission as 
 justice of the peace, 194; service 
 in New York Legislature, 198; 
 Federalist and friend of Hamil- 
 ton, 199; petition for relief in 
 case of missing certificates, 199; 
 
 votes against independence of 
 Vermont, 202; builder of im- 
 proved road, 202; retires from 
 colonelcy, 203; buys and sells 
 land at Frederickstown, 206; in- 
 terest in church and school, 208; 
 personal traits, 208; death and 
 burial, 208; simple epitaph, 209; 
 Blake's tribute, 209; text of his 
 will, 209 
 Ludington, Henry, Jr., 45, 204 
 Ludington, Horace, M.D., 216 
 Ludington, James, 227 
 Ludington, Lewis, 45, 217, 218; his 
 
 career, 224; death, 226 
 Ludington, Gen. Marshall I., 216 
 Ludington, Nelson, 218, 225 
 Ludington, Rebecca, birth, 45; 
 marriage, 45; service as sentry, 
 157 
 Ludington, Robert, 3; Sir John, 5; 
 Thomas, 5; Stephen, 5; Eliza- 
 beth, 5 
 Ludington, Sibyl, birth, 45; mar- 
 riage, 45; ride to summon troops 
 to avenge burning of Danbury, 
 90; aids Enoch Crosby the spy, 
 132; service as sentry, 157; her 
 children, 219 
 Ludington, Stephen, Revolutionary 
 
 soldier, 71 
 Ludington, Tertullus, 45, 213 
 Ludington, Thomas, of Newark, 
 N. J., 18; John, 19; James, 19; 
 John, of Vermont, 19; Mary, 19; 
 Henry, 19; Hannah, 19; Mat- 
 thew, 20 
 Ludington, William 1st, at Charles- 
 town and Maiden, 8; deed of 
 land from Ralph Hall, 11; cred- 
 itor of Henry Sandyes, 12; re- 
 moval to East Haven, 12; death, 
 13; inventory of estate, 15; chil- 
 dren, 18 
 Ludington, William 2nd, 19; Hen- 
 ry, 20; Eleanor, 20; William 3rd, 
 20; Samuel, 20; Timothy, 21; 
 Mercy, 21; Mary, 21; Hannah, 
 21 ; John, 21 ; Jude, 21 ; Eliphalet, 
 21; Amos, 21; Elizabeth, 21; 
 Dorothy, 21 ; Dorcas, 21 
 Ludington, William, son of Henry, 
 
 
 C 23311 
 
INDEX 
 
 21, 22; Submit, 22; Mary, 22; Patrick, Lewis S., MS. collections 
 
 Henry, 22; Lydia, 22; Samuel, and researches, quoted, 8, 13, 19, 
 
 22; Rebecca, 22; Anne, 22; 30, 52, 168, 189, 194, 207, 213; 
 
 Stephen, 22 ancestry and genealogical work, 
 
 Ludington, William, Revolutionary 219 
 
 soldier, 72 Patrick, Mrs. M. L., 216 
 
 Ludington, Zalmon, 215 Pawling, N. Y., town of, 36 
 
 Ludington, Zalmon, Jr., 216 Pope's Pioneers of Massachusetts, 
 
 Lyman, General, 28 quoted, 14 
 
 Prosser, Dr., Tory conspirator, 126, 
 
 Militia, organization of, in New I 32 }. tries to capture Colonel 
 
 York, 60; in Dutchess and Ludington, 157; their feud, 158 
 
 Westchester counties, 61 ; pay Putnam County, N. Y, origin of, 
 
 of, 62; a sample muster-roll, 63; 3 " 
 
 Colonel Ludington's regiment Putnam, Gen. Israel, order to mili- 
 formed, 70; called out by Con- tla ' 93 ? abandons Peekskill, 105; 
 gress, 72; commanded by George orders to Colonel Ludington, 142 
 Clinton, 78; ordered to High- 
 lands of Hudson, 79 ; at White Quaker Hill, 37, 50 
 Plains, 81; defending the Hud- Quakers, attitude of, in Revolu- 
 son, 84; restless when waiting, tion, 50 
 92; difficulties in raising levies, 
 
 95; reluctance to serve, 98; radi- Read Jacob arregt of U6 
 
 cal reorganization 111 ; abolition Records of the p roprie t ors f New 
 
 of office of colonel, 203 H fed tf lg 
 
 Montgomery Fort, capture of, 105 Revolution H 5 The beginning of, 47; 
 
 Morrison, Malcolm, resigns com- R Ludingto °» s ser vices in, 
 
 mission, 68; arrested on suspi- 77 
 
 cion of treason, 138 Robinson, Beverly, 31, 45, 169 
 
 Rochambeau, Count, guest at Col- 
 New Haven Probate Records, onel Ludington's, 166 
 
 quoted, 19 Rose, John, 18 
 New York, counties of, 36; boun- 
 dary dispute with Connecticut, Sackett, Col. Nathaniel, commis- 
 37; sentiment at beginning of sioned to Sl ,pp re ss conspiracies, 
 Revolution, 47; patriotic organ- 83? 87 . secret service instructions 
 izations, 51; action of Provincial to Colonel Ludington, 115 
 Congress, 54; vigilance commit- Savage's Genealogical Register, 
 tees against Tories, 55 ; organiza- quoted 8 
 
 tion of militia, 60; changes of Scribner,' Col. Nathaniel, muster- 
 government, 70; militia called ro u 53 
 
 °ut, i* Secret service in the Revolution, 
 
 Nickerson, "Josh," 138 114 . Benajah Tubbs, 116; Enoch 
 
 Crosby's narrative, 117 
 
 Oblong, The, 37 Sequestration of lands, 150; com- 
 
 "Observer, The New York," missioners of, 151 
 
 quoted, 219 Shrawley, Ludingtons of, 3 
 
 Ogclen, Major Edmund A., 219 "Spy, The," 114 
 
 Ogden, Edward, Edmund, or Stirling, Lord, 45 
 
 Henry, 45 Sutherland, David, 173 
 
 Ogden, Richard Ludington, 223 Swartwout, Jacobus, General, 67 
 
 » [234:1 
 
INDEX 
 
 Tarrytown, British landing at, 101 
 Taylor, Elijah, arrest of, 145 
 Tories, definition of, 48; their 
 hatred of Colonel Ludington, 
 156; his humanity toward them, 
 162; severe decree against them, 
 164 
 Tryon, William, last British gov- 
 ernor of New York, 31; raids 
 Danbury, 88; lands at Tarry- 
 town, 103 
 Tubbs, Benajah, employed as a 
 spy, 116 
 
 Van Bunschoten, Col. E., letter to 
 
 Clinton, 180 
 Vaughan, General, burns Kingston, 
 
 106 
 
 Washington, George, has Colonel 
 Ludington for aide at White 
 
 Plain, 83; marches across New 
 Jersey, 83; urges defense of 
 Highlands, 92; gives warning of 
 Howe's designs, 94 ; guest at Col- 
 onel Ludington's, 165; head- 
 quarters at Colonel Ludington's, 
 169 
 Westchester County, N. Y., militia 
 in, 76; Colonel Ludington's ser- 
 vices in, 96, 142 
 Wheaton, Jehoidah, affidavit of, 33 
 White Plains, Battle of, 76, 80; 
 
 Colonel Ludington at, 81 
 Whiting, Col. Nathan, 26, 28 
 Williams, Daniel, letter to Clin- 
 ton, 182 
 Williams, Col. Ephraim, 28 
 Worcester, Ludington memorial at, 
 
 3 
 Wyman's Records of Charlestown 
 and Maiden, 14 
 
 12351 
 
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