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The Forgotten General

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The Forgotten General FOR REFERENCE Do Not Take From This Room 9 8 1391 3 6047 09044977 7 REF NJ974.9 HFIIfnKi.% SSf?rf?ttr" rn.fg f ° United St.?.. The Forgotten General BY ALBERT H. HEUSSER,* PATERSON, NEW JERSEY Foreword—We have honored Lafayette, Pulaski and Von Steu- ben, but we have forgotten Erskine. No monument, other than a tree planted by Washington beside his gravestone at Ringwood, N. J., has ever been erected to the memory of the noble young Scotchman who did so much to bring the War of the Revolution to a successful issue. Robert Erskine, F. R. S., the Surveyor-General of the Conti- nental Army and the trusted friend of the Commander-in-chief, was the silent man behind the scenes, who mapped out the by-ways and the back-roads over the mountains, and—by his familiarity with the great "middle-ground" between the Hudson Highlands and the Delaware—provided Washington with that thorough knowledge of the topography of the country which enabled him repeatedly to out- maneuver the enemy. It is a rare privilege to add a page to the recorded history of the American struggle for independence, and an added pleasure thereby to do justice to the name of one who, born a subject of George III, threw in his lot with the champions of American lib- erty. Although never participating in a battle, he was the means of winning many. He lost his life and his fortune for America; naught was his reward save a conscience void of offense, and the in- *Mr. Heusser, historian, author, and lecturer, is the historian of the Captain Abra- ham Godwin Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, the curator of the recently or- ganized Passaic County Historical Society, and a member of the New Jersey Historical Society. He is the author of "In the Footsteps of Washington," (1921), "Homes and Haunts of the Indians," (1924), and his deep study of American history, particularly that bearing upon New Jersey during the Revolutionary period, has placed him in pos- session of much authoritative data and manuscript material relating to the northern part of the state. Mr. Heusser has traveled widely abroad, has lectured extensively (at one time as a member of the lecture staff of the New York City Department of Education), and in addition to the above-mentioned works is the author of "The Land of the Prophets," a volume dealing with Palestine which had the distinction of being the only book upon that region included in the United States Shipping Board's 1919 list of "One Hundred Best Books Upon Foreign Travel." I 145 SKYLANDS ROAD RINGWOOD, iVcW Jt-RSBY 07456 THE FORGOTTEN GENERAL timate friendship and confidence of great Washington. The story of Erskine, the master of the Ringwood iron mines, is worthy of the pen of a great novelist; but I am persuaded that, in this case, even prosaic history will be illumined by the light of that great love which inspires a man to give his all—himself—to the cause of free- dom and justice for his fellow-men. Prefatory Summary—Robert Erskine was born at Dunferm- line, Scotland, in 1735. Half-trained to the engineering profession, he engaged while very young in commercial pursuits and failed mis- erably. Escaping the debtors gaol because of his high character and sincerity of purpose, he was given an extension of credit. Sup- plementing his education forthwith, and devoting himself whole- heartedly to the task of beginning life anew, he was soon on the road to advancement as a practical and efficient hydraulic engineer; gradually paying off his indebtedness, winning influential recogni- tion in the London neighborhood, and being elected a fellow of the Royal Society. Then there came to him, in 1770, a call to journey to far-distant America to salvage the investments of prominent Brit- ish capitalists who had sunk many thousands of pounds sterling in the "American Iron Co." After preparing himself for this com- mission by a personal survey of the major iron-mining and manu- facturing operations of Great Britain, he emigrated to America in 1771, and took charge of the depleted resources of the syndicate at Ringwood, N. J. Scarcely had he begun to bring order out of chaos when the American struggle for independence interrupted opera- tions. Realizing the justice of the patriot cause, Erskine threw in his lot with the struggling colonies, devoted the output of the Eng- lish-owned mines to the Continental Congress and its poorly equipped armies, and soon thereafter placed at the disposal of Gen- eral Washington his professional skill as a topographer and map- maker. Appointed by Congress in 1777 as Surveyor-General of the American armies, he not only continued to operate the Ringwood mines, but executed a series of over two hundred beautifully correct military maps of the "war-zone" in New York, New Jersey, Con- 2 THE FORGOTTEN GENERAL necticut and Pennsylvania. He died in 1780, having contracted a fatal illness while prosecuting his surveys, and was buried on the beautiful estate at Ringwood. Because of the intensely valuable na- ture of his work, which was almost "secret service" in character, neither Erskine's name nor his official title have oft appeared in our Revolutionary chronicles. This, in brief, is the story of "the forgotten general." CHAPTER I ROBEET ERSKINE—THE MINISTEB'S SON ENEATH the ruined towers of Dryburgh Abbey, not far distant from the last resting place of Sir Walter Scott, is a tablet commemorating the Reverend Ralph Erskine a Scottish divine,—eminent in his day—who passed from the affairs of earth November 6th, 1752.1 Few tourists, wan- dering through the green aisles of this roofless sanctuary, whose ponderous arches and ivy-mantled walls are precious because of seven centuries of history and devotion, are aware that the name of Erskine is one most singularly connected with the history of our own country in that the son of him whose memory is here perpetu- ated was a trusted friend of Washington and an ardent participant in the struggle for American independence. The tale to be related is a singular narrative, for the life of Robert Erskine reads like romance. It was a career in which Provi- dence seems to have exercised a guiding hand—turning talents and misfortunes into character, and giving the result to the American colonies in the form of an eminently useful and God-fearing man. It affords an inspiring biographical study, replete with interest; and "The Reverend Ralph Erskine (according to the "Scottish Nation," Vol. 2; page IS3). was born at the village of Monilaws, near Cornhill in the county of Northumber- land, March 15, 1685 (o. s.). He was a son of the Rev. Henry Erskine of Chirnside and Margaret Halcro, his second wife. He married first, Margaret, daughter of Mr. John Dewar of Lassoddie, by whom he had ten children; second, Margaret Simson, daughter of Mr. Simson (the writer of the Signet of Edinburgh), by whom he had four children. After studying at the University of Edinburgh, he was licensed as a preacher in 1709, and two years later, was ordained as assistant minister at Dunfermline. With his brother Ebenezer (likewise an eminent clergyman) he supported the cause of the dissenters from the Church of Scotland, who ultimately banded together as the United Presbyterian Church. His literary productions consist of sermons, poetical paraphrases and gospel sonnets, besides a diary, edited by Rev. Donald Fraser many years later. Robert Erskine was one of his children by the second marriage. Rev. Ralph Erskine is actually interred in the churchyard of Dunfermline Abbey, but the burial place of the family was in one of the aisles of the north transept of Dryburgh. Hence we there find the memorial tablet, above referred to, reading as follows: "Sacred to the memory of the Revds. Henry Erskine and his sons, Ralph and Ebenezer, Ministers of the Secession Church of Scotland. Henry was born at Dryburgh, the last of thirty-three children of Ralph Erskine of Sheilfield and Dryburgh; descended from a brother of the Earl of Mar, Regent of Scotland in James VI's reign. Henry was Minister of Cornhill; died, after being imprisoned to the towers of the Bass, Aug. 10, 1696. Ralph, Minister of Dunfermline, died Nov. 6, 1752. Ebenezer, Minister of Port- moak, died June 2, 1754. Erected by Sir David Erskine of Dryburgh Abbey." THE FORGOTTEN GENERAL —after having enriched myself through a most minute and intimate digest of historic fragments gathered from many sources, and cor- respondence heretofore entirely unpublished—I should be guilty of injustice to the character of the man I have learned to love did I not submit the facts as an humble contribution to American history at this time, when—celebrating the sesqui-centennial of Revolution- ary events—the hearts of all of us are warmed by a recollection of patriot lives and deeds. Robert Erskine, born at Dumfermline, sixteen miles from Edin- burgh, on the 7th of September, 1735, was naturally endowed with those sturdy qualities which are inherent to the Scotch. Thrift, de- termination, a respect for God, and a well developed mentality came not by accident into Caledonian blood. One has but to consider the rugged land of Scotia, with its physical peculiarities, to understand the development of these characteristics in the sons of the Pent- lands. Scotland, but two hundred and fifty miles in length, and in some places not over thirty in width, has ever been the home of stalwart men. The rocky highlands and narrow valleys, the rigors of a far northern latitude, the long evenings of the summer and the whirl- ing snows of winter—all have tended toward the making of men, canny and brave and true to the core.
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