After their first battle in late June, the war settled into a bit of routine for Stephen Dusenbury and the NY Volunteers.  Once Howe chased the Continental Army away to the east, the British left General Clinton in charge of New York City and the armies stationed there.  Westchester County continued as a no-mans land with British armies to the south and the remaining Continental soldiers above them under General Putnam.

The remaining populace of the area faced constant threat from both sides.  Raids took whatever food and forage could be raised.  And, for the Torys, a new problem arose.  A group of fishermen in whale boats had been cruising up and down the local waterways capturing suspected toys in the middle of the night and spiriting them away to confinement in Connecticut or Massachusetts.  A certain Joel Stone later escaped to tell of a dungeon-like prison at Simsbury copper mine where loyalists were being held under horrible conditions. 

In late July the first reports of battle filtered in from General Burgoyne’s invasion of New York from Canada.  The news sent chills and anxiety through Putnam’s headquarters near Peekskill.  They reacted with renewed harshness toward the local loyalist population.  A man suspected of toryism named Edmund Palmer was picked up behind the Continental lines.  He was “arraigned & tried upon a charge of Plundering, robbing & carrying off Cattle, Goods, etc from the well-affected Inhabitants & for being a Spy for the Enemy.”  A few days later, poor Edmund was found to have been a spy ‘lurking within our lines’ and scheduled for execution.  The gallows tree saw a good bit of activity around that time as Amos Rose joined Edmund in a one-way trip.  A letter from Brigadier General Mumford Brown on July 31st identified Edmund as a Commissioned Officer.  It caused Putnam to reconsider briefly but he determined to execute Mr. Palmer anyway.  Putnam’s letter of August 7 indicated at the bottom:  “P. S.  He has been accordingly executed.”

Despite a growing desire to seek revenge for acts done to their friends and relatives, the NY Volunteers manned picket lines and underwent bayonet training while the other British armies gained glory and respect.  However, within a month the Saratoga campaign began to sour and reports requesting action from Clinton’s army in New York City poured in from Burgoyne.

elijahchapman American History, American Revolution, General History