Religion, Wealth, and Geographic Location: The Loyalists of Newburgh, New York

Abstract

Religion, Wealth, and Geographic Location: The Loyalists of Newburgh, New York Kieran J. O’Keefe (bio) It was April 9, 1777, and John Flewelling was on the run. Flewelling, a shoemaker and devout Anglican living in Newburgh, New York, in the Hudson River Valley, had decided to flee to British-occupied New York City. He was a Loyalist, and New York City offered protection from escalating Patriot persecution. Flewelling feared for his safety and organized an escape attempt among some of the community’s other Loyalists. They were to rendezvous at a location near the New York-New Jersey border where they would meet a pilot who had agreed to take the group of eighteen men to New York City. On the night of April 8, Flewelling put his plan into action. It was the night after the new moon, making it pitch black as he traveled south. As Flewelling neared where he was scheduled to meet the other Loyalists on April 9, he encountered a company of unknown men. Flewelling asked the men if they were also Loyalists seeking safety in New York City, and they answered yes. Flewelling invited the group to join him, telling them he was meeting other Loyalists and that he had procured a pilot. Upon reaching the rendezvous location, the unknown men revealed themselves to be Patriots. They had heard of Flewelling’s plan and determined to stop him. All eighteen Loyalists were arrested, and Flewelling was initially jailed twenty-five miles to the north in Goshen.1 Within a week Flewelling was sent to Kingston, where he was incarcerated in a prison ship on the Hudson River. On the evening of August 26, after more than four months in jail, Flewelling escaped the prison ship and trekked ninety miles south to New York City, arriving there safely several days later.2 [End Page 158] Newburgh and the Hudson Valley played vital roles in the American Revolution. The town was the site of General George Washington’s headquarters for much of the war, and was also the scene of the Newburgh Conspiracy in 1783, a threatened uprising among Continental Army officers. The Hudson Valley was often home to the Continental Army, which warily watched the British based just to their south in New York City. As a strategic location connecting the colonies with Canada, both sides vied for control of the region around Newburgh, leading to numerous battles, including Saratoga, White Plains, and Fort Montgomery. As Flewelling’s story indicates, the region also had an active and influential Loyalist population, but relatively little is known of these individuals. What are the origins of Newburgh’s Loyalist population? What were their wartime experiences? How did they adjust to life after the Revolution? Answering these questions enables us to better understand the Loyalist experience not only in the Hudson Valley, but throughout the thirteen colonies. The Newburgh Loyalists show that men loyal to the king were often from the lower ranks of society, and that geography, religion and wealth were critical to both the composition of Loyalist communities and their wartime and post-war experiences. Hudson Valley loyalism has received scant scholarly attention to date. Studies of loyalism in New York have generally examined either New York City or all of New York State. Alexander Flick’s Loyalism in New York and Philip Ranlet’s The New York Loyalists fall into the latter category.3 The authors disagree on the strength of loyalism in New York State, with Flick arguing that Loyalists comprised half the population and Ranlet arguing that they amounted to no more than 15 percent; but neither devotes much attention to Newburgh. Recent scholarship has considered loyalism more closely in and around New York City. Judith Van Buskirk’s Generous Enemies explores the interaction between the Patriot and Loyalist civilian communities there, concluding that these communities, despite living under governments hostile to one another, were in constant and frequent contact. Another recent work, Unnatural Rebellion by Ruma Chopra, examines loyalism in New York City itself. She argues that the Loyalist [End Page 159] community expected to work with the British as equal partners, only to be placed in a subservient role. The...