Murder or Malignment? | Oliver De Lancey and the Death of General Woodhull

"You can't believe everything you hear, but it's fun to repeat it anyway." - Milton Berle

The American Revolution is full of fascinating history, but it is also filled to the brim with patriotic fervor, which leads to legends and tales that become engrained in the American psyche. Which can be a fun to repeat but might not be strictly speaking... well... true.

Death of Nathan Hale, 1776, Woodcut, 19th Century

One example many people can relate to is the infamous story of the American Spy Nathan Hale and his even more famous words, "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country." Words which we have no concrete evidence he ever actually uttered. In fact, the only source we really have for this assumption is the word of an American officer reporting years after the fact that he heard them a few hours after the hanging from a British officer who was there. And this is hardly the first time we have a story of historical-telephone. And yet in a sense, it almost doesn't matter if Hale actually said the words or not; they became deeply associated with his name, his story, and the history of the American Revolution and it's Revolutionary Spirit that still exists to this day.

And so in the spirit of such tales, we'd like to introduce you to another legend that surrounds an officer in our own regiment: Enter Oliver De Lancey.

Captain Oliver De Lancey Later In Life

Oliver De Lancey was born in New York to Major General Oliver De Lancey (1718–1785) and Phila Franks. Oliver’s grandfather, a wealthy Huguenot immigrant from Caen, came to New York after the Edict of Nantes. As the years went by the family ranked among the wealthiest and most powerful citizens of the colony. Oliver’s mother was the daughter of a prominent Ashkenazi Jewish family, one of the oldest in New York, and these ties connected his family to many other powerful and affluent French, Jewish, and English families in colonial America, helping both he and his brother Stephen’s career, who became the Chief Justice of the Bahamas and Governor of Tobago.

Oliver was sent to England to be educated and joined the British Army as a cornet in the 14th Dragoons on 1 October 1766. After four years of service he had attained the rank of lieutenant by December of 1770, and was made a captain in the 17th Dragoons on 16 May 1773.

Captain de Lancey accompanied his regiment during the siege of Boston, possibly leading his men during the Battle of Bunker Hill. Upon the evacuation of the city he traveled to Halifax with the regiment and then led his men as the New York campaign formulated to attacked Washington’s fledgling army. He was involved in the battles on Staten Island in June 1776, followed by the expedition to Long Island.

It was during the fighting at Long Island where Captain De Lancey was involved in a murky snippet of history during the smart action of 28 August,

American General Nathaniel Woodhull was the colonial brigadier general of the Suffolk and Queen's County militia, (and cousin to Washington’s Spy, Abraham Woodhull made famous by the AMC drama Turn: Washington's Spies). Before the Battle of Long Island, Woodhull had organized and driven 1,400 cattle from the Hempstead Plains to keep the cattle from falling into the British Hands. While arranging to drive an additional three-hundred head, a severe thunderstorm forced Woodhull to take refuge at Increase Carpenter’s tavern two miles east of Jamaica.

Though Woodhull had requested reinforcements, they were not forthcoming due to the perilous situation of the battle for the rebels. The legend that percolated after the event, the storm was so loud, it wasn’t until De Lancey’s dragoons had arrived that Woodhull heard the horses outside the tavern door along with a detachment of Fraser's Highlanders.

What happened next is hard to say, as the documentation for the event is largely obscured by family legend that was passed down in the Woodhull family. According to the tale, Woodhull fled the house and made for his horse to clear the rail-fence and escape the British, but some of the dismounted dragoons intercepted and captured him. At this point, an officer of the dragoons approached the general and demanded his surrender. Woodhull reportedly offered the officer his sword. But when the officer further demanded the general say “God save the King.”

Death of Nathaniel Woodhull

According to the legend, General Woodhull replied, 'God save us all.' Enraged, the unnamed officer proceeded to hack at Woodhull with his own saber.the legend has it that the saber cuts were at least ten in number, with seven deep gashes on his arm nearly severing it and three wounds on his head. After the attack, his wounded body was put on a horse and led behind one of the British troopers. He was hurried to a century-old house built by Nicasius di Sille in Brooklyn, what was then a small Dutch town called New Utrecht. His arm was amputated in an effort to save his life, where one account claims a British surgeon dressed Woodhull's wounds "with much kindness and skill” but to no avail. He had just enough time to call for his wife Ruth, who was the sister of William Floyd, one of the signer’s of the Declaration of Independence. With his wife by his side, Nathaniel Woodhull died from his wounds on September 20, 1776.

The only things known with certain clarity is that the detachment of dragoons that intercepted Woodhull were from De Lancy’s troop, and he was attacked and wounded, leading to his death almost a month later. What is not known with certainty is the identity of the officer that supposedly struck Woodhull down. Some accounts claim it was De Lancy himself who hacked away at the general, while others attribute De Lancy with being the officer ordering his transfer to Brooklyn to be treated.

We may never know with certainty what happened outside that tavern, but regardless of the facts the story became an iconic piece of propaganda for the rebel cause that circulated through Washington’s army and passed into family legend. Regardless of the role De Lancy actually served in the story, his name was forever attached to the tale.