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Poor, deprived of food and supplies, subject to a harsh military occupation, the English colonists of eastern Long Island nevertheless fought for the freedom to become Americans—right here on the same ground, in the very places, where we live and shop and play.
The settlements that now form the Hamptons had been early and strong in declaring their support for independence. In April of 1775 every man in East Hampton signed a petition supporting the Continental Congress and vowing “never to be enslaved.” But in September of 1776 local residents were forced to swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown. Contemporary documents indicate it was done with great reluctance, and an interesting expression, “afraid of the British,” survived locally from revolutionary times into the twentieth century. It was used metaphorically to relay dread at someone’s coming.
Their patriot sentiments, not to mention their unprotected cattle and food stores, destined the local towns for British occupation. The strategic importance of Long Island, both east and west, was established when Washington’s army was forced to flee from Brooklyn in the Battle of Long Island, just two months after the Declaration of Independence was ratified in Philadelphia.
Life under martial law was extremely difficult for local residents but they resisted when they could. When General Washington sent word that a British fleet was on its way to Montauk, a militia set out from the Bridgehampton church. With the help of Minutemen from East Hampton they marched round the cliffs and hills of Montauk in different formations until the fleet was fooled into thinking that an army was on guard. The British then sailed to Gardiner’s Island where they succeeded in capturing vast quantities of supplies.
Sag Harbor, the essential port for the villages along the ocean, was the scene of the most important local operation of the war. On May 22, 1777, in a raid launched from New Haven across Long Island Sound, and aided by local patriots, Americans rebels seized the British garrison in Sag Harbor. One hundred prisoners were taken and, according to some histories, six were killed. Twelve British warships and large amounts of ammunition and supplies were destroyed. It was a desperately needed tactical victory for the Americans, and even if it did not change the strategic course of the war, it must have greatly boosted morale.
The Continental Congress of 1776 urged local residents to flee to Connecticut, at least in part to deprive the British of provisions. Many left from the wharf at Sag Harbor, some so hastily that it is said that bread mixed in East Hampton was baked in Connecticut. And in what may be a unique footnote in military history, Southampton Village raised a company of grandfathers, including men in their seventies, who joined the Revolution.
For most of us, the Fourth of July means that the golden days of summer are here. It’s the end of the local strawberry season and the start of the corn season. It’s parties and fireworks and barbecues and celebration. That’s the existential holiday.
But there is also the historical holiday, with particular meaning for us in the Hamptons. The legacy of the struggling settlements, so different from what we now know, should give us reason to look back, to recall and to pay tribute to those Southampton grandfathers and all the other local patriots who made it possible for us to not only live free—but to live here.