Celebrating 250: The Evacuation to Manhattan Island

In the evening of August 29th, Washington made the wise decision to evacuate his remaining forces in Brooklyn across to Manhattan Island. Using the cover of heavy rain and fog for the last two days, the boats crossed near silently under the guns of British warships and troops pressing on their lines. Chester's regiments was one of the last ones to evacuate.

In his own words:

It was one of the most anxious, busy nights that I ever recollect, and being the third in which hardly any of us had closed our eyes to sleep, we were greatly fatigued. As the dawn of the next day approached, those of us who remained in the trenches because very anxious for our own safety, and when the dawn appeared there were several regiments still on duty. At this time a very dense fog began to rise, and it seemed to settle in a peculiar manner over both encampments. I recollect this peculiar providential occurrence perfectly well; and so very dense was the atmosphere that I could scarcely discern a man at six yards distance.

Washington was one of the last boats to cross, but Tallmadge was one of the last ones to actually get across.

Because he went back for his horse (the same horse he lost during the Battle of White Plains in October).

The troops having now all safely reached New York, and the fog continuing as thick as ever, I began to think of my favorite horse, and requested leave to return and bring him off. Having obtained permission, I called for a crew of volunteers to go with me, and guiding the boat myself, I obtained my horse and got off some distance into the river before the enemy appeared in Brooklyn. As soon as they reached the ferry we were saluted merrily from their musketry, and finally by their field pieces; but we returned in safety.

So the start of my research into the 2nd Light and also Major Tallmadge, that whole recollection and retrieval of his horse sparked me to the idea that there was a story here. A very, very compelling one of a bold officer and spymaster. Intrepid and willing to take risks, but also exercise caution (Bedford ambush not withstanding in 1778), Tallmadge was very determined.

The second compelling information that made me realize I had a story on my hands was the broadside published by Stoddard's brother that denounced Colonel Sheldon and signed by almost all of the subalterns. Like who does that? Who has such a pissing match that they bring it out into the public for all of its ugly glory? More telling - what the heck was Tallmadge's reaction to said broadside?

(It's notable he did not say a single word about it in his memoir, but I will write a post about that later on as part of the Celebrating 250 series.)

So yes, readers, Tallmadge going back for his horse and barely escaping the incoming British forces during the evacuation to Manhattan Island is not fiction. It is fact.

Celebrating 250: The Battle of Long Island (and the "Pilot" episode of "TURN: Washington's Spies")

A dual post throwing a few tidbits about our favorite Major and spymaster along with my thoughts on the "Pilot" episode of "TURN: Washington's Spies".

So the Battle of Long Island (or Battle of Brooklyn) officially happened yesterday, August 27th and by now Tallmadge was posted with Chester's regiment at Bedford Pass. They were part of the forces posted forward of the small forts erected around Brooklyn Heights (which included Jamaica Pass). Perhaps it was fortunate that his regiment was not one of the pickets that were instantly overrun by British forces when they attacked in earnest, but they were certainly part of the chaos and retreat of all forward lines in an attempt to get back to the safety of the heights and barricades.

Bedford Pass, for context, is to the right of Jamaica Pass where the line was completely broken during the fighting. (Howe landed his 24,000 force at Gravesend Bay for the attack.) In the battle, Tallmadge says in his memoir:

Before such and overwhelming force of disciplined troops, our small band could not maintain their ground, and the main body retired within their lines at Brooklyn, while a body of Long Island Militia under Gen. Woodhull, took their stand at Jamaica. Here Gen. Woodhull was taken prisoner and inhumanly killed. The main body of our army, under Major-Gen. Sullivan and Lord Stirling, fought in detached bodies, and on the retreat both of those officers were made prisoners. I also lost a brother the same day, who fell into their hands, and was afterwards literally starved to death in one of their prisons; nor would the enemy suffer relief from his friends to be afforded to him.

He talks about the infamous prison ships in New York Harbor where a lot of the Rev War non-commissioned soldiers were placed. Officers were granted a more gentlemanly parole and quarters, but for others, they were sent to the prison ships or placed in inhumane conditions.

Tallmadge also mentions in his memoir that it is his first time witnessing battle and the horrors that accompany it. Based on what he wrote, it seems like it both hardened him, but also embolded him to prevent further bloodshed when he could (he'll continue that mentality throughout the war by going on the offensive to stop civilian casualties, but also led his men in bold attacks on forts with the understanding that they will die).

I well remember my sensations on the occasion for they were solemn beyond description, and very hardly could I bring my mind to be willing to attempt the life of a fellow-creature.

So, what do all of this have to do with the "Pilot" episode of "TURN: Washington's Spies"? Well...if you've seen it, you'll notice that they introduce Tallmadge squarely in the middle of being the lone survivor of an ambush in New Jersey of all things. (Much more suited for Belden since he was posted to Fort Washington and fled across to Jersey to escape the British overrun in Oct./Nov. of 1776.)

I had thoughts. And very strong feelings about his character introduction. It shows tenacity and his willingness to deceive, etc. and all of that fun stuff about a future spymaster, but military campaign-wise, I think this became my biggest pain point and issue with "TURN: Washington's Spies".

It's also one of the biggest reasons why I wrote 4 novels about the 2nd Light with Tallmadge as one of the central characters. To reduce Tallmadge to just a mere spymaster (and making him very naive until the final season) instead of what he truly was - a commando and spymaster - smacked of bad character writing. It's also why between the "Pilot" episode and the 2nd episode, Tallmadge's character went from person who was able to be charismatic, deceive and act on actionable intelligence of his own initiative to dumb, idiot and flailing around with spy stuff with little to no charisma makes for poor writing and treatment.

I think "TURN: Washington's Spies" would have been better served with giving Tallmadge that dual role that he was known for in history instead of just regulating him to mere spymaster. (Don't get me started on the attempted romantic plotlines they gave him.) I get it was probably for budgetary reasons they stuck to single character archtypes, but I kind of wished there was a bit more...meat on "TURN: Washington's Spies" when it came to characters and motivations.

Honestly the only compelling thing that I did like from the "Pilot" episode that did not have me instantly dismissing the TV series when it first aired was the scenes involving Tallmadge's recruiting of Woodhull and then using the intelligence to plot action against Simcoe (I mean, it did not happen, but that sequence was nice). It wasn't until Ian Kahn showed up as Washington in Episode 5 that I was truly invested. He really brought Washington to life and made me continue to watch the series. If the filler stuff was condensed, it probably would have been a very strong series. It was only the end of Season 3 and all of Season 4 that the series felt like it had gotten a very good groove with strong plotlines and no filler.

Btw - the only episode that was mostly correct when it came to historical facts (with some errors like Jameson's character) was "Blade on a Feather" - the episode where Arnold sells West Point, Andre is caught and Arnold escapes.