the disarming force too greatly outnumbered them for any hope of success, and those who could not endure the hateful submission of the oath, fled to the swamps and forests. Everywhere the march of the invading force spread dismay; and the inhabitants, abandoning all ideas of resistance, surrendered their arms and made their submission, or concealed themselves in the pathless thickets of the great bush-plains. A considerable number, to whom the oath was oppressive, or who apprehended sharp treatment, exiled themselves, rowing their boats at night through some of the narrow passages which intersected the salt marshes, and making their way to the ships in the harbor.

Two days were occupied in these operations at Jamaica, and as many at Hempstead, during which period three hundred firearms were delivered, and four hundred and seventy-one names were subscribed to the declaration of submission. Three hundred and forty-nine persons subscribed to an oath that they had neither concealed nor destroyed any arms or ammunition. Such of these as the disarming force obtained were so nearly worthless as to induce the remark from Major De Hart " that it was possible they would be worth the freight to New York, provided they were conveyed by water." It was a ready mode of cultivating the favor of the disarming officers, for the prisoners to express great irritation against those who had led them into opposition, and had deserted them in the hour of danger. This is a favorite means of defense with weak insurgents; and, although the credulity of the governmental authorities is rarely imposed upon by it, they never fail to publish it with sound of trumpets, not only to bring the insurgent leaders into contempt as cowards,

but in order to induce the popular conviction that the actual disaffection has been confined to a small number.

At Hempstead, the detachment of regulars and volunteers, under De Hart, was ordered back to New York, their outrageous conduct having become intolerable, and their aid unnecessary. Col. Heard, the commanding officer of the expedition, was admirably fitted for his ungrateful mission. While he was indefatigable in pursuit of the objects of the movement, he never forgot that his opponents were his countrymen; and, although his circumspection permitted nothing essential to escape his notice, he was humanely blind to much that a more tyrannical officer might have seized as a pretext for persecution. All who approached him were treated with civility and kindness, and, so far as lay in his power, the rigors of their imprisonment were ameliorated.' He was anxious to be rid of his half savagè and wholly ungovernable reinforcement. Their excesses must have greatly pained him, and he accordingly seized the excuse that their services were no longer necessary.2

1In some instances Col. Heard relaxed the severity of his orders to such an extent as to cause the delinquents to be notified of the time and place at which he would meet them, and they were permitted to remain at home until the time specified. The royalists resorted to all the devices, in which conquered but unsubdued enemies find refuge from the inquisitorial measures of the dominant power. While Col. Heard was quartered at the house of Nathaniel Sammis in Hempstead, from which village almost the whole male population had fled on his approach, one Anthony was brought before him; who escaped both imprisonment and the oath, by simulating the actions of an idiot. When asked what he knew of the Asia man of war, he replied "Asia? what kind of an animal is that;" and when ordered to remove his hat, he stood perfectly heedless of the direction until it was removed by a soldier. The form of the oath was then placed before him on the table, and he was directed to put his hand to the paper. In literal obedience he laid his broad hand upon it, when he was thrust out of the room as a fool, having fairly outwitted his captors.

It is but just to record that Major De Hart attributed the disorderly conduct entirely to the volunteers, and asserted that the regulars behaved well.

As soon as he found himself unembarrassed by this band of marauders, he proceeded through the county, and reached Jericho on Thursday, with nearly seven hundred men. Scouting parties were detached to Cedar swamp, Hempstead harbor, and Flushing, while he swept his drag net through Norwich and Oyster Bay. From this wide circle he gathered, as the result of this expedition, one thousand arms, of all sorts, and nineteen of the proscribed loyalists, seven of whom, however, evaded his grasp. The merits of Col. Heard, in the conduct of the expedition, were fully acknowledged by the Committee of Safety on his return to New York, and a formal vote of thanks was tendered him for his prudence in the execution of his unenviable duty.

The nineteen Long Island gentlemen who had indulged themselves in voting according to their sense of duty, or their inclination, and who had thus incurred the jealous dislike of the predominant party, were taken as prisoners to Philadelphia, where it was expected that their fate would be decided by the continental Congress. This body, however, after a detention of the unfortunate gentlemen for two weeks, was glad to be quit of them, and ordered their return to New York; thus throwing the responsibility of their final disposition upon the provincial

'Although the expedition had met with no open resistance and large numbers had made their submission, yet the result was far from satisfactory. Not more than half of the disaffected, who had cast their votes against the election of deputies, had appeared before the military tribunal. Numbers of the most obnoxious had fled or secreted themselves, before the expedition reached the insurrectionary district, and it was found that a copy of the list of the proscribed had by some means been transmitted to Hempstead in advance of the arrival of Col. Heard. Most of the guns and side-arms obtained during the expedition were worthless, as the loyalists hid their best weapons.

Congress, which was requested to examine the prisoners, and report the result of their inquest to the continental body. They were accorded the privilege of occupying a house in New York, of their own selection, on the easy condition, enjoyed in common with other citizens, of paying for it from their own purse; but they were likewise compelled to pay the expenses of the guard. During the period of their detention, which terminated in ten days, the town Committees were requested to furnish evidence of their criminality; but the shrewd recusants had not been so complaisant as to commit any act that could be construed into treason against a government which they had never acknowledged. At the end of this time they were permitted to return to their homes, with the thrifty condition, which the economical authorities always attached to the privileges they granted, of paying all the expenses attending their deportation and imprisonment, and giving a bond to preserve the peace and to present themselves when summoned,1

An incident of the campaign is recorded in a newspaper (Jan. 20, 1776), which is illustrative of the temper of the tories, as well as of the lack of purpose and union in their resistance. "On Tuesday last, seven hundred Jersey militia, and three hundred of the Jersey regulars, entered Queens county, solely to disarm those who are opposed to American liberty; and although they (the tories) have repeatedly declared their resolution of defending their arms at the risk of their lives, yet such is the badness of their cause (which no doubt rendered them cowards), that they were disarmed without opposition; and the generality of them have sworn to abide by the measures of the Congress.

"Two young men brought seventeen prisoners into Hempstead, with their arms; and a boy of twelve years of age demanded a pair of pistols of a man who had threatened to shoot the first person that attempted to disarm him, but with fear and trembling delivered his pistols to the boy, who brought them away in triumph."

CHAPTER II.

EXPEDITIONS AGAINST THE LOYALISTS OF QUEENS
COUNTY.

Amid the acrimony and bitterness which filled the breasts of the partisans on either side, on Long Island, it is pleasant to record the occasional exercise of gentler emotions. Many an earnest whig would not sacrifice his humanity to the dictates of party; though it was a dangerous virtue for the most pronounced of revolutionists to exhibit toward a tory. Timothy Smith, a quiet farmer of Hempstead, was styled an "inactive whig," by the Committee of Safety of the seceded district of Great Neck, and fell under their ban, because, when cited before them to give evidence against his neighbors, he forbore to come, on the pretense of urgent business. He was at once reported to Gen. Woodhull, president of the provincial Congress, as a person to be sharply dealt with. The words of his condemnation are so peculiar, in their demure suggestiveness, that they must be transcribed literally, in order to convey an idea of the social tyranny of the time: "We think him too good an evidence to escape your notice, as well as to convince him that all business must bend to the preservation of our country."

So little satisfactory was the result of Colonel Heard's expedition, that he had returned barely a month when another was contemplated. In the meanwhile the most