Philip Van Cortlandt (September 1, 1749 – November 5, 1831) was an American surveyor, landowner, and politician from Westchester County, New York. Van Cortlandt was the son of Pierre Van Cortlandt and brother of Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. He was a Continental Army officer during the American Revolution, and later served several terms in the United States House of Representatives.
Early life
Philip Van Cortlandt was born in New York City in the Province of New York on September 1, 1749, in the Van Cortlandt ancestral home located on Stone Street, near the Battery. He died unmarried, on November 5, 1831, at Van Cortlandt Manor, and was a member of one of New York's most prominent families. He was the eldest son of Pierre Van Cortlandt and Joanna Livingston, daughter of Gilbert Livingston, a son of Robert Livingston. His great-grandfather was Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the first native-born Mayor of New York City, and his family were the patroons of Van Cortlandt Manor.
Philip Van Cortlandt attended Coldenham Academy. In addition to exercising manorial rights while assisting in the management of the estate's farming and manufacturing activities, Philip Van Cortlandt was a civil engineer, and was active in New York's pre-Revolutionary War loyalist militia as a major. At the start of the Revolution, he resigned from the militia, and became active in politics as a founding member of the New York Provincial Congress in 1775. He owned slaves.
American Revolution
During the Revolutionary War, Van Cortlandt commanded 4th Battalion of the New York Continental Infantry, served on George Washington's staff, and commanded the Continental Army's 2nd New York Regiment. He fought at the Battle of Saratoga, was with the Army at Valley Forge, and took part in the Sullivan Expedition.
In his memoir, Van Cortlandt recalled his activities during the 1777 Saratoga campaign. In the course of attempting to capture a British gunboat on the Hudson River on the night of the September 17, he and his men stumbled upon an advance guard of Burgoyne's British forces at a place he designated as "Blind Mores". Upon realizing that a main enemy encampment was nearby, Van Cortlandt dispatched messengers to Continental Army commanders in the area, including Benedict Arnold and Enoch Poor, and Daniel Morgan, informing them that "the Enemy was advancing so that they (the Continental Army) might make arrangements Immediately to check their (Burgoyne's troops) advance."
Van Cortlandt's regiment occupied a position on the left flank, and played a significant role in the fighting on September 19 and in the subsequent Battle of Bemis Heights on October 7, which led to Burgoyne's surrender on October 17.
After Burgoyne's surrender, Van Cortlandt moved his regiment moved to Kingston, which Sir Henry Clinton had burned before his hasty retreat to New York; Van Cortlandt subsequently joined Washington at White Marsh, and then went into winter quarters at Valley Forge.
Van Cortlandt subsequently commanded the post at Radnor Friends Meetinghouse; his regiment pursued the British during their retreat from Philadelphia, and took part in the June 1778 Battle of Monmouth. He rejoined the regiment in Poughkeepsie, and resumed the command during the winter of 1778 in the cantonments at New Windsor.
Sullivan Expedition
In the summer of 1779, Van Cortlandt's regiment took part in the Sullivan Expedition. Sullivan's adversary was the Mohawk war chief Joseph Brant, who combined his forces with those of Loyalist John Butler to attack the frontier settlements of New York and Pennsylvania. Van Cortlandt came to respect Brant's abilities, and hung his portrait at Van Cortlandt Manor after the war.
The immediate task confronting Van Cortlandt was to clear a road from Easton through the Wyoming Territory, a distance of some sixty-five miles. He completed his portion of the road in thirty days. The difficulty of this project was recognized by Sullivan when he thanked Van Cortlandt and Colonel Oliver Spencer of the Fifth New Jersey Regiment for their "unparalleled exertions in clearing and repairing the road to Wyoming."