Shortly after the capture of HMS Viper’s 30-foot tender vessel, a second ship in the service of the British military beached on the Monmouth shore. On December 23, 1775, the Polly & Anne ran aground on Manasquan beach during a storm. 

John Graham, a passenger on board the vessel, reported that the “vessel was laden by his Excellency Governor Tryon [New York’s Royal Governor William Tryon]” for the British Army at Boston. The vessel beached and was discovered by a party of Monmouth Countians that included John Morris. Morris was a former British Army officer who would become a battalion commander in the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers, but, at this time, Morris was supporting the Continental cause. Morris apparently notified the Shrewsbury Township Committee of Observation, acting as the de facto local government for the Manasquan neighborhood.

The committee considered the stranded vessel being on December 26, 1775: 

Whereas information to this Committee is made that a sloop is come on shore at Manasquan loaded with fresh provisions entirely, such as beef in quarters, hogs and fowls, etc., and that there is reason to suspect that the cargo was intended for the use of the enemy at Boston as the persons on board of said vessel refuse to give any account of themselves or their intention. Therefore: Resolved, that David Knott and James Davis be a subcommittee to repair to the spot and make inquiry concerning the above affair and if they find sufficient reason therefore to secure the cargo at least and if necessary some or all of the persons until a hearing before this or the County Committee, and if assistance be wanting, that they call upon Capt. [Aaron] Longstreet and Capt. [Moses] Shepherd to attend with a sufficient party of militia.

Militia apparently arrived at the stranded ship quickly—but whether the militia were from Shrewsbury or from Freehold is an open question. According to a surviving document, Graham “immediately was taken prisoner, by order of the Committee of Freehold, in Monmouth County.”  A deposition taken from James Webb, another passenger, confirmed that the vessel’s cargo was intended for the British Army in Boston. 

A report compiled after the capture revealed that the Polly & Anne’s cargo consisted of dry goods and “a quantity of beef, pork, and other provisions.” As such, the Monmouth County Committee instructed Colonel David Forman to impound the cargo “except such articles as were perishable, which the Committee directed to be sold by Doctor Scudder [Nathaniel Scudder] and Doctor Henderson [Thomas Henderson].” The perishables were promptly sold and the proceeds were turned over to “the Congress of this Colony.” 

As for the ship’s crew, the Monmouth County Committee asked the New Jersey Committee of Safety to assist: “It is expected a number of persons belonging to said sloop will fall into the hands of this Committee; will be glad of advice on how to dispose of them.” The county committee received instruction to ”deliver to the seamen and passengers, all such clothing and other effects as belong to them.” Because the crew were New Yorkers, the Committee would deliver the prisoners “to the Provincial Congress or Committee of Safety” of New York.

Dr. Thomas Henderson (also a militia major) brought the prisoners to New York, where he was deposed. Henderson’s testimony revealed that the Polly & Anne was captained by a man named Haines, a known Loyalist who escaped confinement in New York in order to take the vessel and provisions into British lines. Henderson further testified that: “The casks and boxes found on board of the said sloop had labels nailed to them, but that all the labels were torn off. That among the labels torn off, he found one directed to General Howe, Boston.” Henderson further testified that three casks of wine on board the vessel were personally shipped by Royal Governor Tryon. Another Monmouth Countian, David Rhea, who accompanied Henderson, offered additional information on Captain Haines: 

He broke jail by breaking six grates out of a window, and stole a boat about midnight, and got on board of the man-of-war; that the sloop Polly and Ann was purchased for him about three days, or less, before the time of her sailing, and that she was purchased of Isaac Gidney.

As of January 23, Captain Gaines and John Graham were still confined in New York. Graham petitioned for an early release from confinement due to his declining health. Their fate, and the fate of the other passengers on the Polly & Anne, is not known. The Polly & Anne was sold at public auction by Dr. Nathaniel Scudder, but money from the sale was taken by Loyalists, presumably during the Loyalist insurrection of December 1776. As late as June 1778, the New Jersey Legislature was still seeking to settle accounts related to the capture of the ship with Forman, Scudder and Henderson. Another capture of a British ship would soon occur.

Related Historical Sites: New Jersey Maritime Museum

Sources: Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 4, P818; Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 4, P1059; Proceedings of the Committees of Freehold and Shrewsbury, Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, First Series, 1846, pp. 192-3; Franklin Kemp, The Capture of Enemy Vessels by Ground Troops in New Jersey (privately printed) p 19; William James Morgan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969) vol. 3, pp. 886-7; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Coll., State Library Manuscript Coll., #83; "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v4: p 1058-9; "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v4, p 1059-60; Calendar of New York Historical Transcripts, (Albany, NY: privately printed, 1868) vol. 1, 220; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 11, 1777, p 203-4; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, June 5, 1778, p 134, 165.