The Old Patroon

The Dutch settlers of New York and East Jersey were among the most industrious Europeans to settle in North America. Thrifty, ambitious, and organized, they managed to grow their foothold on Manhattan into a range of settlements that dwarfed the tiny homeland they left. They named the colony New Netherlands. It was ruled by a network of exceedingly wealthy landholders, called patroons, who had been granted large tracts of land to cultivate and manage. 

The Dutch Way

Originally these patroons had the right to establish courts and taxes. Things changed when the British arrived in the late 17th century, and in 1775 the patroonships were abolished and renamed estates. By that time, a sizeable middle class had blossomed from Long Island and Manhattan, along the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. Many had spilled across the Hudson and settled along the Hackensack River of East Jersey. The cultural and economic power of the Dutch still permeated the renamed colony of New York, and they played an influential role in the War for Independence.

Roots Deep and Wide

Philip Schuyler was born into a wealthy Dutch patroon family on 20 November 1733 in Albany, New York. His parents, Cornelia Van Cortlandt and Johannes  Schuyler Jr. had wide and deep connections to the most prosperous patroon families. His maternal grandfather was Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the 17th Mayor of New York City. Educated by tutors at the Van Cortlandt family estate at New Rochelle, he mastered Mathematics and French, in addition to his native fluency in Dutch and English. Young Schuyler actively traded with the Indians and cultivated strong bonds with the leaders of the nearby Iroquois of the Mohawk nation. He became fluent in their language.

First Fight

Like many of his generation, he cut his military teeth during the French and Indian War, where Schuyler served as a captain in the New York militia. His cousin, Lieutenant Governor James Delancey, had commissioned him. His connections indeed ran wide and deep. The wealthy young Schuyler raised a local company. Schuyler took part in some of the key battles of upper New York, including Lake George, Oswego River, Carillon, and Fort Frontenac. At Oswego, he served as a quartermaster until it fell to the French.

Prosperous Patroon

Post-war saw him build on his wealth as a patroon until he was among the wealthiest and most prominent men in New York. In 1768 he parlayed his wealth and prominence into a political career and won a seat in the New York legislature. Although not a radical Son of Liberty, Schuyler spoke against British policy. He managed to get himself on a commission to settle a boundary dispute with New Hampshire. This would gain him enemies among the New Hampshire and Massachusetts elites. Enemies who would haunt him in years to come.

Philip Schuyler

Continental Congress

At the outbreak of hostilities with Britain in April 1775, Schuyler became a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. His French and Indian War experience found him on a committee developing rules and regulations for the new United Colonies Army. This resulted in a friendship with General George Washington, who later petitioned Congress to appoint him one of the new Army's major generals. 

Continental Congress

All In

Despite his wartime experience, his appointment was more to secure New York's support for the Cause than to utilize his military potential. This kind of regional quid pro quo was common and engaged in to ensure the disparate colonies were "all in." Virginia's Colonel George Washington had edged out Massachusetts John Hancock as commander-in-chief of the Army for the same reason.

John Hancock

First  Command

Schuyler's background and experience with upper New York made him a natural to command the Northern Department, with its headquarters in Albany, his old stomping ground. But the mission was daunting – gather an army and invade Quebec (Canada), where it was assumed the local "Habitants" (French settlers) would rally to the Cause. But his first move was political. Schuyler was able to gain the neutrality of the powerful Iroquois Confederation – or at least delay their entering the fray.

Schuyler leveraged strong Iroquois connections

Quebec Disaster

While thus engaged, Brigadier General Richard Montgomery gathered the forces and began his advance without awaiting Schuyler's approval. Faced with a fait accompli and debilitated by a gout attack, Schuyler approved Montgomery's plans and set to work on the logistics support the fiery Irishman would need. The campaign started late in the season, so although initially successful, it collapsed in the deep of December when Montgomery and Benedict Arnold were cut down while storming Quebec City. Montgomery died, but Arnold recovered. Schuyler's New England foes quickly cast blame on the old Dutchman.

Night Assault of Quebec

Defending the North

The British, suitably reinforced, went on the offensive in the spring. While Schuyler once more ran political interference, gathered men and supplies, and coordinated the overall effort, General John Sullivan, who fought a desperate retreating action from Canada, tried to garrison mighty Fort Ticonderoga – The Gibraltar of the North.

John Sullivan

A British fleet gathered at the mouth of the Richelieu River, so Schuyler directed Benedict Arnold (who had recovered from his wounds at Quebec) to take command of the forward defenses on Lake Champlain. The next phase of America's struggle would be fought on that long, icy body of water. Schuyler directed Arnold to put together a fleet to stop the armada of men and boats descending from the north under General Guy Carleton, Governor-General of Canada.

Lake Champlain Basin

Arnold performed a "rock soup" miracle, gathering a small flotilla of gunboats and, using his unique and aggressive cunning, surprised the fleet at Valcour Island. He fought the larger British boats gallantly, but the Americans were blasted to pieces by the heavier guns and ships. Still, the stubborn resistance slowed Carleton's advance, and as it was now October, he withdrew to winter quarters, intent on finishing the campaign in the spring of 1777. The Americans had bought some time.

American defeat at Valcour Island 

Winter of Discontent

Schuyler was distracted from his preparations by a winter of bitter political infighting as his New England detractors blamed him for the northern failures. General Horatio Gates replaced him in March 1777, but the New York delegation in Congress raised a ruckus, and Schuyler was reinstated shortly after that. But the bitter infighting would continue even as Schuyler strove to bolster Ticonderoga and begged his New England foes for more regiments to take on the British onslaught forming in Canada.

Gibraltar of the North

By Land and Sea

Despite Schuyler's measures to blunt another British thrust, General John Burgoyne's 8,000-strong armada sailed down Lake Champlain and marched uncontested into Fort Ticonderoga. Its commandant, General Arthur St. Clair, realizing his under-strength forces would only march off to British prison ships,  had evacuated hours before the British arrived – a fateful decision. Schuyler approved St. Clair's move and ordered a "Fabian Defense." The garrison melted into the dense forest, felling trees and building abatis and other obstacles hoping to slow Burgoyne's forces, who were in hot pursuit. The British were being sucked into the wilderness and away from the waterways that provided their route south and supplies.

Arthur St. Clair

Rallying the Militia

The Americans diverted the British, and Burgoyne's advance slowed, allowing time for the militias to finally rally to Schuyler's call for men. British thrusts toward New England and reports of Iroquois depredations helped stir this. From his headquarters in Albany, Schuyler issued pleas for powder, lead, guns, and supplies. But primarily for men. His plans called for another line of defense some 30 miles north of Albany. 

Major General Schuyler

But the blame for Ticonderoga fell on Schuyler's shoulders, and General Horatio Gates once more replaced him. Gates stopped the British in two pitched battles near Saratoga, where he would accept their surrender in October 1777.

Horatio Gates

Court Martial and Politics

Schuyler demanded and received a court martial in 1778, which cleared him of wrongdoing, but he resigned his commission and returned to Congress in 1779. Philip Schuyler's legacy was to be the only major general in the Continental Army never to fight a pitched battle. He continued to provide advice to his friend, General Washington, as his grasp of strategy and logistics was acknowledged. His understanding of Indian matters also helped Washington, who solicited his counsel during the 1779 campaign against the Iroquois.

General Washington valued Schuyler's counsel

Enemy of the British?

Despite New England rumors calling him a Tory, Schuyler was a target of the British. He lived under the threat of personal attack. General John Burgoyne's retreating forces burned Schuyler's country home in October 1777. He later rebuilt it, and it is open to the public. 

Schuyler's Estate Home rebuilt 

In another incident in 1780, British agents attacked Schuyler's Albany mansion under cover of darkness. The attempt, whether kidnapping or murder, was thwarted. Following the incident, Schuyler was under the protection of a bodyguard of Continental Army soldiers. But he remained a target. On 7 August 1781, Schuyler foiled a kidnapping plot led by John Walden Meyers. It failed when Schuyler managed to flee his Albany mansion. The Albany mansion variously served as his home,   Northern Army headquarters, political center, and business office.

Schuyler Mansion in Albany

Post-War and Politics

The old patroon had powerful New York connections, and post-war, he concentrated on local politics by serving in the New York State Senate. He also served as a delegate to the state Constitutional Convention in 1789 and lobbied strongly on behalf of the new American Constitution. Schuyler was a businessman as well as a soldier and politico. He grew the size of his estate near Saratoga after the War, reaching tens of thousands of acres, a score of slaves and tenant farmers, plus a store and mills for flour, flax, and lumber. To move his goods down the Hudson to market, he constructed schooners, naming the first Saratoga.

Schuyler had his own fleet

Federalist

Unsurprisingly, Schuyler was one of the first two US Senators appointed to represent the state in the new Congress. Naturally, the long-time ally of George Washington now supported his president as a staunch Federalist. He especially supported the solid economic policies put forth by the Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, who had married Schuyler's daughter, Elizabeth (more on her below). The whirl and swirl of New York politics saw him lose his seat in1792 but regain it in 1797. State legislatures, not the people elected senators then – connections got you in or threw you out. Schuyler was the first New Yorker to join the controversial Society of Cincinnati, a fraternity of Revolutionary War officers viewed by some as a burgeoning aristocracy. But most senior officers, including George Washington, had joined the organization.

President George Washington

Domestic Life

Schuyler had married into the uber-wealthy and powerful Van Rensselaer family when he took the hand of Catherine Van Rensselaer on 7 September 1755 at Albany. They would have a large brood of 15 – eight who lived to adulthood. His second child, Elizabeth, would later marry young Continental Army officer Alexander Hamilton. She would gain modern fame through the musical Hamilton. Still, during her life, she used his legacy and family connections to engage in philanthropic projects, not the least being the first orphanage in New York City.

The Hamiltons

Old Patroon

Schuyler's ill health caused him to resign from political life in 1798. He died at his home in  Albany in 1804, leaving a mixed legacy of success and failure. His critics considered him too cautious or reticent to fight. Some called him treasonous – especially his New England enemies – constantly wary of his aristocratic Dutch heritage. And regional strife played a role here. They viewed Schuyler as supporting his own New York's land claims over those of Vermont. Ironically, Schuyler later supported the Vermonters, drawing the ire of influential New York Governor George Clinton. Fame, wealth, and power brought powerful enemies to the Old Patroon.

Schuyler Grave and Memorial

Albany Rural Cemetery