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Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 11
by Carol Whitfield Stephen and Solomon Van RensselaerThe Van Rensselaer Family Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, one of the founders of Dutch settlement in North America, persuaded the Dutch West India Company to encourage farming and settlement by granting feudal domains to patroons (wealthy Dutch citizens who settled a minimum of 50 people in North America). Patroon Kiliaen, who did himself emigrate, was given a domain 24 by 48 miles in extent, called Rensselaerwyck, in the vicinity of Albany, New York. Stephen and Solomon Van Rensselaer, the subjects of this paper, were fifth generation descendants of Kiliaen. When Stephen, the eighth patroon, inherited Rensselaerwyck, the estate was intact and the numerous feudal dues were still applicable.1 Solomon Van Rensselaer The man who led the first American contingent to cross the Niagara River on 13 October 1812 had two careers during his lifetime, but neither was an unqualified success. The military career of Solomon Van Rensselaer fluctuated with the prevailing attitude toward militarism in the United States, and his second vocation, that of Albany postmaster, was largely dependent upon whether his political friends or enemies held office in Washington.
Solomon Van Rensselaer was born 6 August 1774 to Alida and Henry Kiliaen Van Rensselaer in Rensselaer County, New York. He was a fifth-generation descendant of the first patroon and a cousin of the last one, Stephen Van Rensselaer. Because of these family connections, throughout his life Solomon was accorded a degree of deference and prestige which was probably advantageous in securing him positions. Solomon chose to imitate his father, who had been a general in the American Revolutionary War. On 15 May 1792, he was commissioned a cornet of dragoons in the 4th Cavalry and was posted to Albany as a recruiting officer. Promoted to captain on 28 March 1794, Solomon served under General "Mad Anthony" Wayne in his campaign against the Indians. Although he was seriously wounded at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, Solomon showed his leadership qualities by taking command on the field and was rewarded with a promotion to major in 1799, after he had recovered.2 However, the American attitude toward the military was changing; danger seemed less imminent and a large military establishment less essential. When Jefferson became a presidential candidate, he promised a "chaste reformation" and one of the casualties was Solomon. He was honourably discharged on 15 June 1800, never to serve again in the federal armed services.3 Being discharged by the federal government did not end Solomon's military career. If the federal government did not want his services, the state of New York was eager to use them. There is no reason to believe that influence or pressure was used to secure Solomon the position of adjutant general of New York, although his being a Van Rensselaer may well have worked in his favour. On 23 January 1801, he was appointed adjutant general, a post he held until 1809, and again from 1810 to 1811, and finally from 1813 until 12 February 1821.4 There is no known reason for the break between 1809 and 1810. From 1811 to 1813, Solomon's political opponent, Tompkins, was governor of New York, and he may have had Solomon removed for political reasons. He was most likely reappointed by Tompkins in 1813 because he was a popular, injured war hero. The position of adjutant general involved organizing the secretariat of the military establishment. It therefore was not a job which drew attention, either favourable or condemnatory, to the individual. While Solomon made no impression on the public as adjutant general, he received a new military appointment which brought him into prominence. Shortly after Madison declared war on Great Britain, Governor Tompkins made a political manoeuvre. He appointed Stephen Van Rensselaer, his probable opponent in the next election, to the command of the army on the state's northern frontier. Tompkins knew he had Stephen, a man of no military experience, in a quandary. He had to accept and pull the Federalist support behind the war or be discredited in the eyes of the electorate. Stephen accepted on condition that Solomon would be named his aide-de-camp.5 This appointment took effect on 13 July 1812, the day the two cousins left for the front. Their first destination was Sackets Harbor. While there, Solomon proposed that a group of volunteers under his command should try to capture a British vessel on the St. Lawrence River. Preparations were made but in the end the volunteers refused to cross the state border.6 Following this raid, Stephen transferred his headquarters to Lewiston on the Niagara frontier. Almost immediately an armistice was signed which lasted until early September. Under the terms arranged, both sides were granted unhindered access to Lake Ontario. Accordingly some supplies were shipped to the Niagara frontier. There is a very interesting account of a conversation between Solomon and the British officer who arranged the armistice. Major Evans reported that Solomon admitted that both he and Stephen were opposed to the war and that they were confident the pacifists would control the state government after the spring election.7 Solomon's confession was both disloyal and un-military, even though it was truthful. The available documents suggest there were no repercussions: probably his superiors, military and political, never learned of these remarks. After the armistice was terminated, Stephen began planning an offensive manoeuvre. Although he was ill for the last half of September,8 Solomon probably participated in the meetings which arranged an assault under his leadership. Solomon was, therefore, partially responsible for the unwise decision to attack only at Queenston, after Brigadier General Smyth refused to participate in a two-pronged assault. Even if the Americans had succeeded at Queenston, they would still have had to besiege Fort George and Erie before their position in the Niagara area would be tenable. On 13 October 1812, Solomon led his vanguard of 300 New York militia across the Niagara River. Almost immediately he was severely wounded and had to be transported back to Lewiston; however, he did not re-cross the river before he had either ordered or agreed to the flanking movement which resulted in the capture of the redan. He had wisely recognized that the Americans' only chance was a long shot — to gain the heights, since further progress into the village was blocked by the British defenders. Since he was removed to the American side, Solomon was in no way culpable for the disaster which American arms later suffered. When Stephen resigned after the defeat, the recuperating Solomon also resigned to help Stephen campaign for the governorship of the state of New York.9 The Battle of Queenston Heights was Solomon's last experience with active warfare. Reinstated in the post of adjutant general, Solomon eventually decided to combine his military career with a political one. Albany County elected him to the House of Representatives in 1818 and 1820. In Washington, he sat on the Congressional Military Affairs Committee10 but he resigned from Congress in January of 1822 to hold a patronage job. Despite the protests of Martin Van Buren, Tompkins and Rufus King, Solomon was appointed Albany postmaster in January. 1822. One month later his home, Mount Hope, on the outskirts of Albany, was burned. Arson was suspected and rewards totalling $1,250.00 were offered by the governor, city council and Solomon.11 There is no evidence that the culprit was caught. If the fire was caused by Solomon's political enemies, it was not their only action. After Andrew Jackson's election to the presidency, Solomon went to Washington and begged to be retained as Albany postmaster. "Old Hickory" probably kept him because of his war record. However, his injuries could not save him from his long-time political opponent, Martin Van Buren, who removed Solomon from the post office on 18 March 1839.12 Later in the year, Solomon was a delegate to the Whig convention and helped nominate his old companion in arms, William H. Harrison. "Tippecanoe" rewarded him with the Albany post office in March of 1841, but he was removed by Tyler on 2 April 1843 and denied the office again by Tyler in 1849.13 When Solomon died on 23 April 1852 he was a rather bitter man.14 Despite occurrences like the public dinner in his honour at Detroit on 12 July 1825, he felt cheated.15 In 1836, he published A Narrative of the Affair at Queenstown: In the War of 1812, With a Review of the Strictures on that Event in a Book Entitled, "Notices of the War of 1812," in which he sought to justify the behaviour of Stephen Van Rensselaer and by inference remove any blame from himself. As a young man Solomon had a hot temper, which in 1812 nearly involved him in a duel over local politics,16 and in later life this temper cooled to disappointment over not being justly rewarded for his military exploits. Unfortunately for Solomon, he was simply a pawn in a period of bitter politics both between parties and within them. Stephen Van Rensselaer Stephen Van Rensselaer, the unfortunate gentleman who was in command of the army which attacked at Queenston on 13 October 1812, was not a soldier by desire or inclination. He was not a politician either, although he filled that role with more success than he did his military one: rather, he was one of those few wealthy men who devoted their time and fortunes to benevolent and educational activities. As a benefactor Stephen was a success: he earned the devotion which the people of New York State felt for him. Stephen Van Rensselaer, the eighth and last patroon, was born 1 November 1764. When Stephen was five his father died, leaving the young heir and his vast estate in the care of his maternal grandfather, Philip Livingston,17 and his uncle, General Ten Broeck. Mr. Livingston sent Stephen to Princeton University until the Revolutionary armies began to campaign in New Jersey, when Stephen transferred to Harvard. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1782. In 1825, Yale conferred upon him the honourary degree of Doctor of Laws.18
His education completed, Stephen returned to the Albany district to settle on his estate. On 6 June 1783, he married Margaret Schuyler, daughter of General Philip Schuyler. Margaret died in 1801 and a year later Stephen married Cornelia Patterson.19 Meanwhile he became involved with the management of his estate. Realizing that much of his domain was lying dormant, he granted more perpetual leases at moderate rents but did not sell any land. Although he maintained the feudal dues, Stephen was lax about collecting them. He was not lax, however, about protecting his property rights. In December of 1794, Stephen prohibited all those who had not obtained prior permission from cutting firewood on Rensselaerwyck. Apparently some individuals had been abusing this privilege, which had been granted by the Van Rensselaers two centuries before.20 Stephen's military career began in 1786 when he was commissioned a major in the New York infantry. In 1801, he was promoted to the rank of major general of the cavalry. Despite these high ranks, Stephen had no real military experience. He was probably commissioned in the state's militia because of his prestige as patroon. Meanwhile Stephen also became involved in state politics. After being defeated in 1787, he was elected to the state assembly in 1789 and to the state senate in 1791. A state senator from 1791 to 1795,21 he was elected John Jay's lieutenant governor in 1795 and remained in that position until 1801. The Federalist party then nominated him for the state's highest office but he was defeated by George Clinton. Clinton's election was helped, no doubt, by the prior election of Jefferson to the presidency of the United States. Stephen then sat in several subsequent sessions of the assembly and was chosen a member of the state constitutional conventions of 1801 and 1821.22 One of the issues to be decided at the constitutional convention of 1821 was the extent of suffrage. Stephen opposed the property qualification, thereby favouring a wide extension of suffrage, since much of New York State was owned by a few wealthy men like himself. In effect he was voting to end the hegemony of his own class. He did, however, oppose universal suffrage, arguing that wandering individuals should not be allowed to vote. Stephen's proposals were defeated and he declined to sign the new constitution.23 When Madison declared war in June of 1812, the Republican party under Daniel D. Tompkins was in power in New York State. Tompkins and his party rallied quickly to aid the war effort but the Federalists, who planned to nominate Stephen for the governorship in the spring elections of 1813, opposed the war. Tompkins accordingly made a very cunning political manoeuvre; he asked Stephen to command the army on the state's northern frontier. Tompkins knew that if Stephen refused he would discredit himself in the eyes of the electorate. On the other hand, if he accepted, the Federalists would have to end their opposition to the war; and if he accepted and blundered, which was likely considering his lack of experience, he would also discredit himself. Tompkins and the Republicans could not lose even if he accepted and performed brilliantly, for then he would be compelled to remain in command of the army. Stephen accepted on condition that his cousin Solomon, who had some military experience, could be his aide-de-camp.24 Stephen probably realized that he was not qualified for the command he held. In a letter to Tompkins on 17 September 1812, he wrote:
Stephen's task could have been much easier if he had received co-operation from Tompkins and Dearborn, commander of the Northern Department. Although an armistice was signed in August between Major General Sheaffe and Stephen, which allowed both nations unhampered use of Lake Ontario to bring up troops and supplies to the Niagara frontier where Stephen had established his headquarters, Solomon claimed no reinforcements arrived until 4 September, the day the armistice ended. Yet Stephen had no ordnance larger than 6-pounders and he was begging for help for himself and for Hull's army, which was incarcerated at Fort George.26 It is very clear that Dearborn and Tompkins were not overly eager to assist him. Solomon, in a long letter to a friend, General Lewis, definitely claims that the Republicans were trying to sabotage Stephen's army.
Hampered though he was, Stephen was not idle. At Fort Niagara he removed the roof of the mess house, then mounted cannon on the roofless structure, and had a new battery constructed on the river bank. In addition he cut a new road away from the Niagara River in case he was forced to retreat—a plausible tactic if Brock's army should attack, since Stephen had negligible artillery support and the commanding engineer, Totten, had advised Stephen that Fort Niagara could never be made tenable.28 Dearborn finally realized that Stephen needed substantial assistance if, as he wrote Stephen, they were to "calculate on possessing Upper Canada before winter sets in."29 Throughout September and October, Van Rensselaer's army was considerably reinforced with men and supplies.30 With this assistance Stephen began to plan an offensive. He decided upon a two-pronged attack with the regular forces leaving Fort Niagara to besiege Fort George and the militia to attack Queenston from Lewiston. An excellent plan that would have divided the smaller British forces, it depended, however, upon the assistance of Brigadier General Smyth's army, which was stationed at Buffalo. But Smyth refused to help and would not even meet Stephen to discuss the proposal.31 Unfortunately Stephen did not abandon the plan when Smyth failed to co-operate. Instead he succumbed to the pressure of his troops, who wanted to fight. Stephen claimed he was given an alternative by the men: they would fight or they would go home.32 Accordingly Stephen altered his proposals: a combined force of regulars and militia would attack Queenston. The first attack in the morning of 11 October was abortive because the first man to cross the river, Lieutenant Sim, apparently deserted, taking the oars of the other boats with him. The second attack on 13 October nearly succeeded. Despite some understandable confusion at the place of embarkation, the first troops crossed successfully and captured the heights and redan in a brilliant manoeuvre. Unfortunately from that time onward, the American assault began to falter because Stephen did not understand logistics and because he was unable to inspire most of the New York militia to cross the river. Although there were 40 boats at Gill Creek,33 Stephen did not bring them up to Lewiston, nor did he provide enough boats to ferry the men across the river. Furthermore he did not ensure that Lieutenant Totten would receive his entrenching tools so the Americans could fortify their position on the heights. He also failed to ensure that the attacking force would receive sufficient ammunition. Most important, though, was Stephen's failure to inspire the militia to participate in the battle. Secretary of State Monroe called Van Rensselaer a "weak and incompetent man with high pretensions"34 but there is more truth in Babcock's evaluation that, "He seems to have been a brave gentleman who was faced with a task to which his talents were not equal."35 The amazing fact is that he came as close to succeeding as he did. Stephen should never have been offered the command of an army. When he offered his resignation after the disaster at Queenston, it was accepted. His resignation from the army was not a resignation from public life. The Federalist party still wanted him as their gubernatorial candidate. Stephen lost by 3,600 votes out of the 83,000 votes cast,36 a narrow margin for a recently defeated general. Even this defeat did not end Stephen's public career. In 1817, he was elected to the state assembly with the highest number of votes cast for any of the candidates in that election. Stephen remained a member of the state assembly until his cousin Solomon resigned from his congressional seat to be Albany postmaster. In 1822, Stephen was elected to replace Solomon, remaining in Congress until he resigned on 4 March 1829.37 Generally Stephen made little impact upon Washington. On one occasion, however, he helped decide the course of American history for several years. In 1824, the four presidential candidates divided the votes cast so evenly that no one received a majority and the election was turned over to the House of Representatives in accordance with the Constitution. In the House each state had one vote based upon the majority vote of the state delegation.
Nevertheless Stephen did break the tie in the New York delegation by voting for John Quincy Adams at the last moment. Supposedly he looked up after praying for guidance and saw a ballot with Adams written on it.39 Stephen's vote decided the New York delegation in favour of Adams, who won the election by one state. Stephen's major contribution to the United States was not, however. in politics: rather it was the numerous charitable and educational institutions he supported or founded. On 24 May 1818 Stephen gave 50 dollars to start a Sunday School in Ward 5 of Albany, and on 20 April 1837 he gave the ground for the new Third Dutch Church, to which he belonged. He also gave several acres of land for the Dudley Observatory.40 Stephen was also an officer of the following organizations:41
Although he was obviously a man of diversified interests, the above organizations were of peripheral concern to Stephen. The majority of his time was devoted to canals and agriculture. On 13 or 15 March 1810,42 Stephen and several other gentlemen were appointed canal commissioners to consider means of improving New York's inland navigation. The commissioners made their first report on 2 March 1811, and a year later an act was passed to allow the commission to buy all the stock of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company toward the eventual construction of a canal between the Hudson River and Lake Ontario. The Erie Canal was finally authorized on 15 April 1817, and when it was completed in 1825 Stephen had already served one year as president of the Canal Board. Elected in April of 1824, Stephen remained in that position until his death. From the very beginning he had supported the canal and it is partly due to his "foresight, personal influence and application" that the canal was realized.43 Stephen also devoted his time, wealth, and energy to improving agriculture in the state. In 1818, he was elected president of the New York Agricultural Society and began working for the creation of a state board of agriculture. The board was founded in 1820 with Stephen acting as president. At the same time he personally paid Amos Eaton to make a geological survey of the land along the proposed Erie Canal to determine the quality of the soil and the agricultural possibilities.44 Still unsatisfied, Stephen took even more positive steps to improve agriculture. On 5 November 1824, he founded the Rensselaer Institute of Troy, New York, to "qualify teachers for instructing the sons and daughters of mechanics, in the application of experimental chemistry, philosophy, and natural history, to agriculture, domestic economy, and the arts and manufactures." The school was incorporated in 1826 and became the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1849. Besides establishing this pioneer school, Stephen established a scholarship for one student from each county and a classical medal for Latin and Greek.45 This desire to combine education with agriculture is not surprising. Stephen had become involved with education when he was appointed to the board of regents of the University of the State of New York in 1819 and he was chancellor of the same institution from 1835 until his death.46 Thus the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was a natural outcome of his position on the state agriculture board and the board of regents. When Stephen died on 26 January 1839, the feudal era in New York State ended. In trying to collect the hundreds of thousands of dollars his tenants owed the estate, Stephen's sons touched off the Anti-Rent War which persisted until the constitutional convention of 1846 abolished all feudal tenures.47 Fortunately these disturbances could not obliterate the organizations to which Stephen had devoted his time; especially the Erie Canal and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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