On October 15, 1776, Captain A. Hawkes Hay commanding repulsed an attack by the British on Nyack. By the fall of 1776, the British were not only in control of the City of New York, they had also gained control of Harlem, Bloomingdale and the other communities on Upper Manhattan and Fort Lee on the Jersey side. The Patriots firmly controlled the Hudson above West Point, but there was a struggle to keep the lower Hudson from coming under British control.
Hay reported that the ships attempting to land at Nyack were prevented by the men under his command, including the use of the Swivel Gun emplacement in Upper Nyack. Severe damage was done to the house and barn of PHILIP SARVENT (see yesterday’s post about the Old Palmer Burial Ground) showing us that Sarvent was indeed working the emplacement in Upper Nyack – and though only a few men were injured in this encounter (no deaths) there were several other attacks on the area in 1777 and 1780. Hay’s own home would be targeted by the British from the River and destroyed in one of these raids, Major John Smith’s house in Upper Nyack destroyed in another. So it is entirely possible that Sarvent IS the reputed ghost of the Old Palmer Burial Ground as his gun emplacement was there and several of the attacks came in the form of raids – stealthy enough to sneak up behind an exhausted sentry and do him in before he could respond? Who knows?
Hi John!
Discovered your blog via my Google Alerts for “Nyack” which I like to read when I am traveling. Small world; I’m also the child of (two!) librarians.
Great blog, fascinating stuff. Love the history and especially the ghostly stuff.
Melissa