Historic Pelham: Where Were the Stone Walls Used by American Troops During the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776?

On October 18, 1776, American troops led by Colonel John Glover of the Marblehood Mariners fought British and German troops in the Battle of Pelham. Four days later, Colonel Glover wrote a letter from Mile Square describing the progress of the battle. At the outset of his letter, Glover described how the opposing troops deployed on an "eminence" and how he placed his troops behind three stone walls and had additional men and artillery pieces bringing up the rear. The pertinent excerpt of the letter reads as follows:

""Mile Square, October 22, 1776.

You no doubt heard the enemy landed all their army on Frog's Point, the 11th instant, leaving only twelve hundred men in York, and there remained until the 18th, which was Friday. I arose early in the morning and went on the hill with my glass, and discovered a number of ships in the Sound, under way; in a short time saw the boats, upwards of two hundred sail, all manned and formed in four grand divisions. I immediately sent off Major Lee express to General Lee, who was about three miles distant, and without waiting his orders, turned out the brigade I have the honor to command, and very luckily for us I did, as it turned out afterwards, the enemy having stole a march one and a half miles on us. I marched down to oppose their landing, with about seven hundred and fifty men, and three field pieces, but had not gone more than half the distance, before I met their advance guard, about thirty men; upon which I detached a captain's guard of forty men to meet them, while I could dispose of the main body to advantage. This plan succeeded very well as you will hereafter see. The enemy had the advantage of us, being posted on an eminence which commanded the ground we had to march over. However, I did the best I could, and disposed of my little party to the best of my judgment: Colonel Reed's on the left of the road; Colonel Shepard's in the rear, and to the right of him, Colonel Baldwin's in the rear and on the right of Shepards, my own regiment, commanded by Captain Courtis. (Col. Johonnot being sick and Major Lee being Brigade Major), bringing up the rear with three field-pieces of artillery. Thus disposed of, I rode forward . . ."

Source: Sanborn, Nathan P., Gen. John Glover and his Marblehead Regiment in the Revolutionary War - A Paper Read Before the Marblehead Historical Society May 14, 1903, pp. 47-50 (Marblehead, MA: Marblehead Historical Society, 1903).

A critical issue in trying to understand the progress of the battle is the lack of information regarding the layout of the countryside at the time of the battle. Where were the stone walls? Where was the "eminence which commanded the ground we had to march over" on which the British and Germans placed their troops?

There are two maps from the period that shed light on the Battle of Pelham and what the countryside may have looked like at the time. The first is a map created by Joseph Claude Sauthier in 1776 entitled "A plan of the operations of the King's army under the command of General Sir William Howe, K.B. in New York and east New Jersey, against the American forces commanded by General Washington from the 12th of October to the 28th of November 1776, wherein is particularly distinguished the engagement on the White Plains the 28th of October." The accuracy of the map with regard to the area of the Manor of Pelham in question has been thoroughly discredited both with respect to the improper placement of local roads and the improper placement and relationships among locally-known landmarks. In any event, a detail from the map of the area in question shows that it does not reflect the placement of stone walls.

Detail from 1776 Map by Claude Joseph Sauthier Showing
Area Around the "Skirmish of the 18th of October".
Source: Sauthier, Claude Joseph, A plan of the operations of the
King's army under the command of General Sir William Howe, K.B.
in New York and east New Jersey, against the American forces
commanded by General Washington from the 12th of October
to the 28th of November 1776, wherein is particularly distinguished
the engagement on the White Plains the 28th of October (1776)
(Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington,
D.C. 20540-4650 USA; Digital Id g3804w ar105400;
Library of Congress Catalog Number gm71000649).
NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.

The second map, created at about the time of the Battle of Pelham, was prepared by British Engineer Charles Blaskowitz and is entitled "A survey of Frog's Neck and the rout[e] of the British Army to the 24th of October 1776, under the command of His Excellency the Honorable William Howe, General and Commander in Chief of His Majesty's forces, &ca, &ca, &ca." The map is considered by most historians and experts to be a far more accurate depiction of the area in October, 1776 as well as a more accurate depiction of the progress of the Battle of Pelham.

A detail from the so-called Blaskowitz map showing the area where the skirmish began contains a number of dotted lines that may be Blaskowitz's effort to depict stone walls in the area. A detail from the map appears immediately below.

Detail from 1776 Map by Charles Blaskowitz Showing

Area Around the Skirmish of October 18, 1776.

Source: Blaskowitz, Charles, A survey of Frog's Neck and

the rout[e] of the British Army to the 24th of October 1776,

under the command of His Excellency the Honorable William Howe,

General and Commander in Chief of His Majesty's forces, &ca, &ca, &ca.

(1776) (Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington,

D.C. 20540-4650 USA; Digital Id g3802t ar115200; Library of

Congress Catalog Number gm71000648).

NOTE: Click to Enlarge Image.

It appears that Blaskowitz depicts stone walls as dashed lines, most extending perpendicular from the roadway later known as Split Rock Road, although there are a few that appear to be parallel to the roadway. It is, of course, impossible today to know whether the dashed lines accurately depict the location of stone walls at the time of the engagement on October 18,1776. Today much of the area is covered by the Split Rock Golf Course and the Pelham Bay and Split Rock Golf Courses Clubhouse. Additionally, I-95 now cuts across the upper portion of the map and, near Split Rock, the Hutchinson River Parkway and the entrance ramp from the Hutchinson River Parkway to I-95 North cut across the left side and upper portion of the map. However . . . . much of the area is within today's Split Rock Golf Course which, though landscaped, has remained undeveloped for the most part since the Battle of Pelham 239 years ago.

Interestingly, in 1905 the Topographical Bureau of the Office of the President of the Borough of the Bronx created a topographical "Map of Pelham Bay Park City of New York." A low resolution image of the entire map appears immediately below, followed by a citation to its source.

1905 Map of Pelham Bay Park.

Source: Office of the President of the Borough

of the Bronx Topographical Bureau, Topographical

Survey Sheets of the Borough of the Bronx Easterly

of the Bronx River, Sheet 29 "Map of OPelham Bay Park

City of New York Forming Sheet 29 of the

Topographcial Atlas of the Territory East of the

Bronx River" (1905) (Lionel Pincus and Princess

Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library).

NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.

A high resolution detail from the Map of Pelham Bay Park showing the area in which we are interested is fascinating. It shows stone walls as they existed at the time the map was created, 129 years after the Battle of Pelham. There is, of course, no way to know whether any of the walls depicted in the early 20th century map existed at the time of the Battle of Pelham. It is, however, at least possible that some of the walls did exist at the time of the battle, particularly since the area was very sparsely populated throughout the 19th century, remained relatively undeveloped, and landowners knew as early as the 1880s that New York City was working to acquire the area and turn it into Pelham Bay Park (so they refrained from further improvements). For purposes of discussion, for now it will be interesting to consider the possibility that some or all of the stone walls depicted in the map detail below existed at the time of the Battle of Pelham. Moreover, I have rotated the detail from the map to place it in essentially the same direction as the detail from the Blaskowitz Map set forth above.

Rotated Detail from 1905 Map of Pelham Bay Park.

Source: Office of the President of the Borough

of the Bronx Topographical Bureau, Topographical

Survey Sheets of the Borough of the Bronx Easterly

of the Bronx River, Sheet 29 "Map of OPelham Bay Park

City of New York Forming Sheet 29 of the

Topographcial Atlas of the Territory East of the

Bronx River" (1905) (Lionel Pincus and Princess

Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library).

NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.

When the detail from the Blaskowitz Map is placed next to the detail from the 1905 Map of Pelham Bay Park, things become even more interesting. The scale of the maps, of course, is slightly different. Moreover, the more recent map is far more accurate and a far better depiction of the area. There are, however, interesting similarities in the number of and placement of many of the stone walls depicted in both maps.

Juxtaposition of Detail from the Blaskowitz Map

on the Left and Detail from the Map of Pelham

Bay Park on the Right. Source: Created by the Author.

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

Near the top of both map details, there is a slight bend in the road later known as Split Rock Road. Split Rock sits just to the left of that bend in the roadway. Indeed, if you enlarge the detail sufficiently, you will barely be able to see in the map detail on the right the words "Split Rock" and a tiny circle with a line that depicts split rock. In that immediate area there appear to be four stone walls perpendicular to the roadway in both map details, although one of the four in the map detail on the right is very short compared to what may be its counterpart on the left.

The upper three stone walls nearest split rock and closest to the New York City line appear to be prime candidates for debate and consideration as to whether they may be the three stone walls referenced in Colonel Glovers letter from Mile Square. A rise (or "eminence" as Glover's letter indicates) appears in front of the three walls when viewed from Glover's perspective. Moreover, Glover's letter says he placed "Colonel Reed's on the left of the road; Colonel Shepard's in the rear, and to the right of him, Colonel Baldwin's in the rear and on the right of Shepards".

It is possible to imagine the placement of American troops behind stone walls that appear on the map details (particularly the detail from the Pelham Bay Park Map), in such a way so as to fit Glover's description of how he placed his men. The Pelham Bay Park map detail immediately below depicts one interpretation of Glover's description of his placement of troops, assuming stone walls depicted in that map detail existed at the time of the battle. Interestingly, Glover's description of his troop placement and my imagined placement below both depict a type of military formation known as a "right echelon" where each unit is stationed behind and to the right to form a diagonal series of steps. Typically the right or left echelon formations are used because of the excellent range of vision they offer to each individual of each unit that together make up such formations.

Detail of 1905 Map of Pelham Bay Park Proposing

One Possible Placement of American Troops

Consistent with Glover's Description in His Letter from Mile Square.

NOTE: Click to Enlarge.

Of course, it is not possible to know what stone walls existed at the time of tne Battle of Pelham, nor where such walls were located. Nor is there any way to know if the stone walls depicted in the Map of Pelham Bay Park created nearly 130 years after the battle were remnants of walls that existed at the time of the battle or were walls that had been built at some point after the battle. Yet, the purpose of today's posting is to propose one possible theory as to how Glover may have placed his troops during the battle in the hope that it will prompt additional creative thinking about such issues, will promote knowledgeable debate about these issues, and eventually will promote work that will further our understanding of the battle.

* * * * *

I have written before about work by the Park Department of the City of New York to restore and preserve a potion of the ancient roadway once known as Split Rock Road and a section of an ancient stone wall that stood alongside the roadway in 1938. See Fri., Jan. 09, 2015: The Closing of Split Rock Road in December, 1937.

During the week that began on Monday, December 27, 1937, work to tear up the asphalt pavement of the roadway started. The then-historian of the Town of Pelham, William R. Montgomery, immediately began lobbying the Park Department of the City of New York to restore and preserve a portion of the ancient roadway as well as stone walls that stood along the same portion of the roadway. He argued that a portion of the roadway with walls should be restored and preserved because they marked the site where a portion of the Battle of Pelham was fought on October 18, 1776 with Americans using such stone walls to slow the advance of British and German troops attempting to cut off the Continental Army's retreat toward White Plains.

The Park Department agreed and restored a potion of the roadway within the Split Rock Golf Course and associated stone walls. On October 18, 1938, The Park Department also erected a Historic Marker dedicated to the “Old Indian Path” long known as Split Rock Road.

Today the area restored by the Park Department is overgrown and difficult to access because it lies along one of the fairways of the Split Rock Golf Course.