Monmouth Militia Takes Control of the Ship, Polly & Anne

Monmouth Militia Takes Control of the Ship, Polly & Anne

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]” for the British Army at Boston. The vessel beached and was discovered by a party that included John Morris (a former British Army officer who would become Colonel of the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers). 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.

New York Governor William Tryon

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 and Doctor 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 as part of a plot 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.

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; 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.

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