Simeon Goff, and the Key to the Whole Continent

Simeon Goff, a fourth great grandparent of my spouse, served four tours of duty during the revolutionary war.  During 1776 he served from July 1 to December 1.  His Massachusetts company, and regiment, from Rehoboth, was sent to New York where they would be in the struggle for New York. This blog post is a continuation of Simeon's service in the Revolutionary War.  Private Goff would serve his company and regiment as a drum major during 1776 in various engagements of the Revolutionary War in the area of New York. This blog post will be the first part of his service in 1776 and a subsequent post will deal with his service in autumn. His enlistment on July 1, would be one day earlier then when the colonies declared independence. Although, as we all know, July 4 is now the recognized date. 

John Adams of Massachusetts early in the Revolutionary War once described New York as “a kind of key to the whole continent.” General George Washington would also hold New York as important, saying it is “a post of infinite importance” (Atkinson, p 304). Why was New York viewed as a key  location in the war such as to have two leaders of the American Revolution claim its importance? The reason, at least during the Revolutionary War, was the North River, and the belief that if the British gained control of New York they had the capability to, as Washington said “they can stop the intercourse between the northern & southern colonies, upon which depends the safety of America” (Atkinson, 304). Given the archipelago on which the city was located, it had a lot of water, and water was a main carrier of large items of transport during this age of trails rather than highways. People and goods would make their way between colonies by use of water, when readily available. 

Painting of part of the Battle for New York

Due to geography, New York was important, and due to that position, it also would commandeer militias from other states. New Yorkers themselves tended to identify more with the Britain, and hence were loyolists or Tories. Ten colonies had sent militias to New York, where Washington hoped for a battle to end the conflict. Fewer than half the colonial forces were continentals, that is the new regular army, the rest were state militia members. Simeon Goff, my wife’s fourth great grandfather, made his way, with his militia regiment from Massachusetts to New York and would find himself engaged with his unit in the battles of White Plains, Long Island and Pelham Point. Colonel Thomas Carpenter would, in 1776 take the reins of this Rehoboth regiment and lead it into these battles as part of the colonial army. Simeon would serve four tours of duty. His first tour of duty in 1775 is described here and here, where he enrolled on the 28th of April 1775. His first tour was either 3 months and eleven days, or six months, depending upon the record examined. Simeon’s second tour of duty lasted five months from July 1 to Dec 1, 1776. What would the war experience in New York be like for Simeon? This post, and a subsequent post, is an attempt to provide an answer to that question.

One historian has said of the citizen soldiers, that “the great mass knew nothing of war.” In this sense it would be a very rude awakening for the mass of troops gathered. The regiment to which Simeon belonged would be one of the few at or near full strength. Summer diseases had killed or made very ill a large number of men. Dysentery, typhoid, and even malaria would be the main killer in this part of the war, not battle wounds themselves. Diseases were misdiagnosed, and treatment was even more primitive, making for a dangerous combination. One Connecticut continental group had available only 214 of its authorized 728 men. Disease and death left such a horrid smell which permeated both place and people, leading one doctor to comment that the air of the whole city was bad, by saying that in almost “every street there is a horrid smell'' (Atkinson, 358). The battle for Long Island, even with the difficulty of obtaining fit men, would still provide an army of 40,000 souls making it the largest engagement for the long eight year Revolutionary War. We don’t know if Simeon became ill, but we do know that he lived to another day.

John Adams

Logistically, stocking an overseas army, as was the British issue, was more difficult as they had to haul men, horses, food and even forage from overseas. Not to mention, waste, spoilage, and just plain fraud on the part of suppliers. That did not mean that logistics were not also a problem for the colonies. Atkinson (306) notes the following comment by a North Carolina congressman, Joseph Hewes: “ ...but it is a melancholy fact that near half our men, cannon muskets, powder, clothes, etc is to be found nowhere but on paper.” Washington calculated the food needs of a 15,000 man army to be 100,000 barrels of flour, 10,000 tons of meat annually. The concerns arose not just for food, but for flint, blankets, tents, wagons, shoes, and a whole host of other daily items.

I wonder how much of this food was for Washington and his upper echelon. Atkinson (p 431) notes that while Washington was staying five weeks at the Morris house in Westchester County, that “The commander in chief’s household expense ledger...showed a hearty appetite for goose, mutton, veal, turkey pork and duck; the provisions also included a half dozen six-pound loaves of bread daily, apples, green tea, cider, and 163 bottles of good Madeira.” Over 13 cases of wine, assuming 12 bottles to a case, in just a five week period. Washington was living high on the hog, so to speak. While he did not claim a salary, he was reimbursed for his expenses. Party hearty, and the upper echelon of men did.

George Washington

While Washington was well supplied, the one supply for the common soldier in good supply was gunpowder. Gunpowder was had by a few different methods. First, the colonies raided ships, often by falsely flying French colors to board and raid, or pirate, the second avenue was smuggling gun powder, from places in the West Indies or Europe. I guess they viewed it as an acceptable level of piracy with the means justifying the end.

Simeon’s role in the Rehoboth regiment would be like the gunpowder production in 1776, stopping and starting. For his second tour, Simeon was the regimental drummer. He drummed to alert the troops of the regiment as to when to wake, when to put down for the night, when to eat and when to go to church. But, his role was much more important in the thick of battle. His drum would let the regiment know when and where to gather, when to attack and when to retreat. The drummer was to the Revolutionary War what the colors and bugles were for the Civil War. He would likely have been armed with his drum and two drumsticks, hence he was vulnerable, although perhaps he carried a pistol or rifle slung over his back. Often during war, the opponents try to take out the lead staff, and Simeon would have been kept near the Captain of his local unit, to make note of the order given in the heat and fog of battle.

New York Campaign

 
The battles at Long Island over a few days were ferocious, and left both armies at times in a tenuous position. The American left and center fell, leaving a valiant effort by the commander of the American right, General Lord Stirling to fight it out, showing courage and capability that would surprise a biographer who had claimed him a pompous, vain, obese man. The group of Marylanders under his control would fall, seeing over 250 dead or captured. Three of five groups from Maryland fighting in the rear guard would be obliterated, and the other two almost so. As Atkinson quotes: “A chaplain watching from the redoubt on Brooklyn Heights told his journal, ‘O doleful! Doleful! Blood! Carnage! Fire!’ Lieutenant Enoch Anderson of Delaware, who escaped by wading to his chin past a milldam despite a wound in his neck, wrote simply, ‘A hard day this.’” (371)

British commander Howe would record over 1,200 prisoners including three generals, three colonels, and four lieutenant colonels. There were so many the British did not really know what to do with them. The total American wounded and killed was estimated by Howe as over 3,300 men. However, showing the nature of the American army these captured officers were a surprise to the mercenary professional Hessian Soldiers who noted that they “are nothing but mechanics, tailors, shoemakers, wigmakers, barbers, etc.” (Atkinson 372) Unlike the British army, the leaders of the American army were common men, most of whom had to self learn what war was like. Recall that Connecticut regiment with only 214 of its total 728 fit for battle? Well, 208 of the number were killed or missing in action. It was a one sided battle, fully in favor the forces brought by the crown.

Monument Base in Brooklyn, NY
Inscription reads:
"Good God! What brave fellows I must this day lost."

 
It would be a carnage that few could forget. It would bring the 18th century version of PTSD, it would bring about total exhaustion, and a despondency that made soldiers question officers, and officers question soldiers, and field officers question their generals. One Lt Colonel would write that “less generalship never was shown in any army since the art of war was understood.” (Atkinson, 373) Washington had misread the situation on the ground, during and throughout each day of the battle. While he realized the key was New York for its water, he failed because he had no navy to assist. Showing lack of faith in his men, as all around him men fell he would tell John Hancock, that “he could still defend New York ‘if the men would do their duty.’” (Atkinson, 373)

The one thing Washington did right within this whole battle, was his retreat. Although the colonial forces were assisted by a British general who failed to pursue the colonial army as that colonial army licked its wounds in retreat. The British general provided the road map for General Meade in the Civil War when he chose not to go after the retreating confederate army after the Union victory at Gettysburg. The following morning, British pickets would find no one in the American camp. Simeon would gather his drum, and meager belongings during the retreat from the battle for Long Island, and move to a more distant shore.  He, and his company would wait for another battle. Tune in for another episode of Simeon Goff and the Revolutionary War.

Images from Google

Sources:  

History.com

Historyis fun.org

Atkinson, Rick, 2019, The British Are Coming, Henry Holt & Co. NY NY

https://www.historyisfun.org/yorktown-victory-center/militia-in-the-revolutionary-war/