Associated Loyalists Raze Toms River

In early 1782, Toms River was the most solidly Whig (pro-Revolution) village along Monmouth County’s sixty-mile Atlantic shoreline. According to antiquarian sources, the village included 12-15 homes, including the houses of four officers (John Cook, Jacob Fleming, David Imlay, Ephraim Jenkins) and two civil officeholders, Daniel Randolph and Abiel Aiken. The village also included the house of Mary Studson, whose husband, Joshua Studson was killed by London Traders in December 1780.

The village had two taverns (belonging to Daniel Griggs and Aiken), a few warehouses and the gristmill of Abraham Schenck. On the south end of the village was a boatyard for repairing and constructing vessels. On the edge of the village was the Block House, an open fort described as “about six or seven feet high, made of large logs, with loop holes in between, and a number of brass swivels on top, which was entirely open, nor was there any way of entering, but climbing over.” Toms River had a wharf capable of holding up to twenty oar-powered and small sailing vessels. The port was too shallow for large vessels. They had to anchor in the bay and shuttle cargo to shore via oar-powered boats.

Toms River was at a junction of three roads—one south to Little Egg Harbor, one north to Shrewsbury, and one northwest to Freehold. Travel on any of the roads was complicated by storms that felled trees and rutted the sandy roadbeds. Their poor condition caused a strong indictment of county Highway Overseers. One antiquarian source claims that the road to Shrewsbury was non-continuous. Travel on any of these roads was made dangerous by Pine Robbers and other thieves who preyed on travelers.

New Jersey had three privateer ports—Cape May, Chestnut Neck (upriver from Little Egg Harbor), and Toms River. Local militia conducted patrols in boats. Dover’s long shoreline was sparsely populated and swampy—travel by boat was faster and more likely to yield encounters with London Traders. Interdicting the London Trade and providing a check against Loyalist Pine Robbers were the primary responsibilities of the local militia. Dover militia also acted as privateers when wounded British vessels came near shore. Dover militia officers took several prizes into Toms River during the war.

The war brought an unprecedented amount of visitors and capital to Toms River. The Pennsylvania government built a large saltworks south of the village and a second saltwork was established at Mosquito Cove north of the village. The saltworks created jobs and purchased large amounts of provisions from locals. Privateering would prove to be the shore’s true boom industry. Over the course of the war, more than a dozen prizes were brought into Toms River. These captures filled the village’s warehouses with valuable goods and filled the taverns with deep-pocketed buyers.

In late 1781, the Pine Robber gangs of John Bacon and William Davenport menaced Toms River. The village’s principal defenders were 30 state troops whose terms were expiring. Amidst a wave of complaints, a new guard was raised under Joshua Huddy of Colts Neck. It arrived in February 1782. But Huddy’s twenty men and the Block House would be no match for a large raiding party.

The Toms River Raid in Original Documents

On March 24, 1782, a large party of Associated Loyalists raided Toms River. The Loyalist New York Gazette printed the longest report of the raid. It is excerpted below and printed in full in Appendix 1 of this article. The Loyalists, under Lieutenant Blanchard, consisted of “armed whale-boats, and about eighty men belonging to them, with Capt. Thomas and Lieut. Roberts, both of the late Buck’s County Volunteers, and between thirty or forty other refugee Loyalists.” They assembled at Sandy Hook on March 20 but were detained until March 23 by “unfavorable winds.” 

On the 23rd, they left for Toms River “under convoy of Captain Stewart Ross, in the armed brig Arrogant.”

At dawn on March 24, “the party landed near the mouth of Tom’s River, and marched to the block house… just at day light.” The march on Toms River was not easy:

They were challenged and fired upon, and when they came to the works they found the rebels, consisting of twenty-five or six twelve-months men and militia, apprised of their coming, and prepared for defence.

Blanchard called on the outnumbered defenders to surrender. He was “not only refused” but Huddy showed “defiance.” Blanchard then “ordered the place to be stormed… though defended with obstinacy, it was soon carried.” The report claimed nine defenders were killed (including Major John Cook) and twelve men were captured, including Huddy. “The rest made their escape in the confusion.” The Loyalists also suffered losses: “Two were killed: Lieut. Iredell of the armed boatmen and Lieut. Inslee of the loyalists, both very brave officers… Lieut. Roberts and five others are wounded.”

The report described the “piratical set of banditti” living at Toms River whose past acts merited rough treatment. Accordingly, the fort was “burned to the ground and an iron cannon spiked and thrown into the river.” Two large boats, one reportedly owned by Adam Hyler, “were brought off.” Captain Ross of the British navy was thanked for his “spirit through the whole service” including “the politeness and tender treatment of the wounded while onboard his brig.”

The New Jersey Gazette printed an anonymous letter describing the raid. Interestingly, the report did not portray the attack as led by the Associated Loyalists, but stated that “about one hundred refugees under the command of one Davenport” attacked Toms River. The report suggested a brave but doomed defense of the Block House:

On the alarm, Capt. Huddy repaired to the Block House, in which some of the inhabitants joined him, and others remained outside: The house was defended until the ammunition was expended, when it surrendered. Major Cook, who was out of the house, fell; five others were killed and two wounded. Capt. Huddy, Daniel Randolph, Esq., and several more were carried off.

A Monmouth County petition drafted three weeks after the attack on Toms River claimed that “five of Captain Huddy's men were most inhumanly murdered after his surrender."

The razing of Toms River was near complete: “The enemy then burnt the village, except the houses of Aaron Buck and Mrs. Studson, after which they went off immediately. The unfortunate inhabitants have not saved more than two horses.” This is not correct. The report incorrectly stated that “Davenport was wounded, supposed since dead.” Davenport was killed three months later in a battle with militia at Forked River.

The same report was printed in the Pennsylvania Evening Post. The Maryland Gazette also reported:

The Refugees have paid Toms River a visit. They have burnt most of the houses, stripped and plundered the inhabitants of most everything. Mr. Daniel Randolph is carried to New York. Moses Robins is badly wounded and stripped of everything. The inhabitants are in great distress.

Colonel Samuel Forman, commanding the local militia, wrote Governor William Livingston on March 25. The letter is similar to a report printed in the New Jersey Gazette, with some additional facts and innuendo. Forman accused Abiel Aiken, the port marshal and township magistrate, of fleeing the fight: "Abiel Aiken took his crooked leg out of the way on the alarm." He (incorrectly) claimed that "Capt. Davenport was wounded (supposed since dead) and one Negro killed." Forman had ordered out four militia companies from Dover and Stafford townships, plus "the 34 you requested from my regiment [from Upper Freehold], I shall also send for to reinforce them."

Randolph was captured and was still in jail a month later when he gave a deposition at the court martial trial of Richard Lippincott (who had hanged Huddy). Randolph claimed that locals had warned Huddy "that a body of refugees were approaching this port.” Huddy dispatched a scout party but it “entirely missed the enemy" and provided the village no warning of the Loyalist landing. Randolph called the Block House "small and unfinished” and claimed that the attack “commenced without a previous demand for a surrender.”

Randolph said “that Capt. Huddy did all that a brave man could do to defend himself against so superior a number” and claimed the Loyalist behaved horribly after quarter was called:

This deponent saw a negro, one of the refugee party, bayonet major John Cook, and he also saw a number of refugees jump into the block house and heard them say that they would bayonet them [the defenders], but did not see the deed done to any person save major Cook.

Eight Monmouth County militiamen recalled the attack on Toms River in their postwar veterans’ pension applications. John Wilbur, one of Huddy’s men, was posted as a sentry a half mile from the village. He provided the most vivid description:

One John Eldridge and David Dodge were stationed sentry on the road about seven or eight hundred yards from my and [James] Kinsey's station; about daylight or a little after, we heard the enemy advancing by the noise they made in walking, and in a minute or two I heard the sentry hail them and fire. I retreated with Kinsey toward the Block House, he in advance of me. When I arrived at the Block House, I found that it was surrounded by the enemy and Kinsey was killed on the outside of the Block House; I did not attempt then to enter, but retreated across the bridge where I met Captain Brown, a sea captain, and George Cook. Dodge & Eldridge did not get in, the brother of George, whom I met on a bridge, was also killed before he got into the Block House; after the alarm of the advance of the enemy, myself and John Eldridge, and one Joseph Parker, were all who made their escape.

Another small party also escaped "by being out on a scouting party.”

John Eldridge, a sentry with Wilbur, wrote that “the whole party, comprised of thirty men - with the exception of himself and two- were killed or taken prisoner." Henry Applegate recalled that he was “wounded in the thumb on his left hand by a musket" at the battle but continued serving in the State Troops. Brothers, Joseph Parker and George Parker, served under Huddy. Joseph recalled that he “joined his [Huddy’s] company at Colts Neck, from whence they marched to Toms River and was there until the Block House at Toms River was taken and Captain Huddy was taken prisoner.” Geoge Parker recalled:

They had been at that place a short time [when] they were attacked by a party of Refugees in a Block House and were all taken, except one man by the name John Eldridge, who got out and made his escape and one other that was left for dead, being badly wounded.

George Parker was "confined in prison for about 7 months mostly in the Sugar House, he then got exchanged - returned home” with a festering wound, but he “got the vermin cleaned” and recovered. Parker referred to the Block House attackers as "a party of refugees, Negroes and sailors."

Not all locals engaged in the battle. David Imlay, who commanded state troops at the Block House in 1781, wrote that he was "posted at the north end of Toms River Bridge, some forty rods from the Block House" and never engaged. Aaron Bennett of Dover Township recalled that "Toms River was their headquarters... a number of militia were constantly stationed there." But Bennett’s tour of duty expired two days before the attack. He did not return for the fight. Similarly, Aaron Chamberlain of Stafford recalled getting the alarm and marching for Toms River, but arriving too late, "He and a few others got a few shots at the Refugees before they got off, but did not kill any of them."

Militia from other counties came to the defense of Toms River but word spread slowly on the sparsely populated shoreline, and they arrived too late to engage the Loyalists. Enoch Young of the Gloucester County militia recalled:

He marched through the counties of Gloucester and Burlington and Monmouth to Toms River, at the Block House, to assist against the enemy in the engagement there, but was too late, the enemy had fled before they arrived.

One Loyalist briefly discussed the Block House fight in his postwar Loyalist Compensation Application. David Lewis, formerly of Metticonk (present-day Jackson), recalled serving in the Associated Loyalists. He was at Toms River for the Block House raid where he was "very dangerously wounded."

The Toms River Raid in Later Accounts

Antiquarian sources provide several additional details on the Toms River raid. However, these sources must be regarded with some skepticism. An antiquarian newspaper account from 1868, for example, includes many false details. (See Appendix 2 for this article.) But other details in antiquarian accounts are illuminating, and likely true or mostly true. Some are summarized below.

With respect to the Loyalists, one source claims that the Pine Robber leader, John Bacon, participated in the raid. Another claims that Davenport’s Pine Robbers carried off a great deal of plunder after the village was razed. A few antiquarian accounts note the role of William Dillon, formerly a boatman at Toms River, serving as a guide to the attackers. Dillon served as a pilot on Loyalist privateers and a boat belonging to him was taken and brought into Toms River shortly before the raid. So, he had strong motivation to help the raiders. His cousin was Aaron Buck, whose house was spared when the village was fired. Another source claims that Loyalists had planned to raid Manasquan and Shark River on their way back to New York, but gave that up in order to get prompt medical care for the wounded.

Antiquarian sources also provide information on Toms River’s defenders. One source singles-out David Imlay (the former commander of the State Troops at Toms River) for cowardice—claiming that he fled the Block House and hid in a swamp. Imlay may have fled because he feared for his life if captured—having killed the Pine Robber, Richard Bird, a few months earlier. Other sources detail casualties:

Killed: Maj. Cook (bayoneted after surrender), John Farr (killed in first volley from Loyalists), Lt. Ephraim Jenkins, James Kennedy (mortally wounded, dies that night), James Kinsley (shot and mortally wounded at swivel gun), Moses Robbins (shot in face, dies) and John Wainwright (shot five times).

Captured: Lt. Huddy, Sgts. David Langdon, Luke Story; Privates: Daniel Applegate, William Case, David Dodge, James Edsall, John Eldridge, Jacob Fleming, Cornelius McDonald, James Mitchell, John Morris, John Nivison, George Parker, John Parker, Joseph Parker, John Pellimore, Moses Robins (shot in face, survives), Thomas Raftsnider, Daniel Randolph, Jacob Stillwagon, Seth Story, John Wainwright (shot six times but survives), John Wilbur.

The accounting of men listed as killed and captured in antiquarian does not fully align names in contemporary sources. Antiquarians also disagree on the killed and captured—two men, John Wainwright and Moses Robins, are listed as either killed or captured depending upon the source.

One modern historian has written a full account of the Toms River attack. Historian Donald Shomette wrote that the Loyalists were led by Captain Evan Thomas and Lt. Owen Roberts of the Bucks County Volunteers in whaleboats commanded by a Lt. Blanchard. Shomette concluded that the party was 120 Loyalists, supplemented by Pine Robbers who met the Loyalists at Toms River. Despite the size of the party, they evaded a scouting party sent out by Huddy on word of enemy landing.

Shomette noted that the attack began at dawn. The battle was brief but bloody; two Loyalist officer fell during the battle—Lieutenants Insley and Lt. Iredell. Shomette concluded that the raiders outnumbered the defenders "six or seven to one” but the defenders held out until their ammunition ran out. After the surrender, the Loyalists committed "an orgy of destruction and revenge.” Shomette also wrote that Huddy was "mistreated with blows, slaps, etc." by the Loyalists. Due to the need to bring injured back to New York, the raiders did not stop at Manasquan on their return, as originally planned.

Retaliation after the Razing of Toms River

The attack on Toms River in March 1782 was the last significant Loyalist raid from New York. This is because it set in motion a chain of events that resulted in the British reining in their vengeful Loyalist allies. A few days after the raid on Toms River, a small Loyalist party landed at Long Branch. It included the veteran Loyalist raider, Philip White. Angered by the razing of Toms River and the capture of Huddy’s state troops there, the men who took White separated him from the other prisoners. They harassed White into attempting an escape. When he ran, they murdered him. Enraged Loyalists then took Huddy from jail in New York, brought him to the Navesink Highlands, and hanged him with a note proclaiming his murder an act of retaliation for White’s murder. The murders caused a diplomatic bonfire that reverberated to the highest levels of the British, French and American governments. All of these escalations are detailed in other articles.

Caption: The Block House fort at Toms River was attacked by a 100-man Loyalist party that overwhelmed the defenders. The fort and the village were razed after the defenders surrendered.

Related Historic Site: Joshua Huddy Park Historic Markers

Appendix 1: "An authentic account of the Expedition against the Rebel Post on Tom’s River, New-Jersey (printed in the Loyalist New York Gazette)

On Wednesday, the 20th instant, Lieut. Blanchard of the armed whale-boats, and about eighty men belonging to them, with Capt. Thomas and Lieut. Roberts, both of the late Buck’s County volunteers, and between thirty or forty other refugee Loyalists, the whole under the command of Lieutenant Blanchard, proceeded to Sandy Hook, under convey of Captain Steward Ross, in the armed brig Arrogant, where they were detained by unfavourable winds until the 23rd; about twelve o’clock on that night, the party landed near the mouth of Tom’s River, and marched to the block house, at the town of Dover, and reach it just at day light. On the way, they were challenged and fired upon, and when they came to the works they found the rebels, consisting of twenty-five or six twelve-months men and militia, apprised of their coming, and prepared for defence. The post into which they had thrown themselves was about six or seven feet high, made of large logs, with loop holes in between, and a number of brass swivels on top, which was entirely open, nor was there any way of entering, but climbing over-- They had, besides the swivels, muskets with bayonets, and long pikes for their defence. Lieutenant Blanchard called on them to surrender, which they not only refused, but bid the party defiance; on which he immediately ordered the place to be stormed, which was accordingly done, and, though defended with obstinacy, it was soon carried. The rebels had nine men killed in the assault and twelve made prisoners, two of whom are wounded. The rest made their escape in the confusion. Among the killed was a Major of the militia [John Cook] and two captains and one Lieutenant. The Captain of the twelve-months men [Joshua Huddy] is among the prisoners, who are all brought safe to town. On our side, two were killed: Lieut. Iredell of the armed boatmen and Lieut. Inslee of the loyalists, both very brave officers, who distinguished themselves on the attack, and whose loss is much lamented. Lieut. Roberts and five others are wounded, and it is thought some of them in a dangerous way.

The town, as it is called, consisting of about a dozen houses, in which none but a piratical set of banditti resided, together with a grist and saw mill, were, with the block house, burned to the ground and an iron cannon spiked and thrown into the river. A fine large boat (called Hyler’s boat) and another boat, which the rebels used to make their excursions on our coast, were brought off. The appearance of bad weather and the condition of our wounded, being without either a surgeon or medicines, induced the party to return, where they arrived on the 25th."

I should not do justice to the Loyalists who were with me, without expressing the highest prohibition of their behaviour and spirit through the whole service; and I beg leave to mention the very great obligation I am under to Captain Ross for his advice, attention to the convoy, and, in a particular manner, for the politeness and tender treatment of the wounded while onboard his brig.

Capt. Ross has likewise mentioned in his report the Loyalists, during the service, paid every attention, and were willing to assist in every point."

Appendix 2: THE OCEAN EMBLEM, JANUARY 30, 1858

On Toms River raid:

“Woodmansee immediately returned to New York, when the plan was laid over until March 18th, 1782, when a second vessel was sent from New York with 100 picked British regulars, and about 25 or 30 refugees of the blackest dye. They arrived at the mouth of the river on the night of the 19th, where they landed and proceeded to the house of James Lippincott (now James Cook’s residence). They forced Mr. Lippincott to march as their guide to the village. Mr. Edward Flinn [Edward Flynn], a son-in-law of Mr. L., was let out of the chamber window by the females, and took a different route, to inform the villagers of the enemy’s approach. The enemy entered the field north-east of the place where John J. Irons’ residence now stands, and marched behind a barn of Abel Akins, Esq., near the present site of the Presbyterian Church some two hundred yards east from the block house. About this time day began to dawn, and the enemy finding himself discovered, rushed to the charge, when the sentinel fired his alarm, and rushed into the fort, calling for someone to go for Capt. Huddy, as there was but one round of ammunition in the fort. The enemy charged on the four men in the fort, murdered John Farr and all the citizens who fell in their way, burned all the houses except three in the village, one of which was the residence of Mrs. Mary Studson, widow of the noble Joshua, which was preserved through the influence of a tory whom she recognized, although in disguise. While a part were satiating their revenge on the north side of the river, others had crossed the bridge and burned the mills of Williams & Randolph, near the mills, they found Capt. Joshua Huddy snugly stored in bed after a pleasant dance that he had attended the night previous, and made him a prisoner. He had commanded the fort only about four weeks. Considering discretion the better part of valor, they beat a retreat before Captain Tilton could arrive with his command, although he lay at Schenck’s Mill, four miles north. The end of the gallant Huddy is known as a part of our Revolutionary struggle, while no one has ever had patriotism sufficient to even point out the grave of Studson, although Woodmansee was subsequently taken, and tied to a stake in front of the widow’s house; his captors said to her, “your will is our pleasure;” she replied with all the magnanimity that woman’s soul is endowed with, “his life will not bring back the life of my husband; besides, his wife would be left with several fatherless children, while I have but one.” Woodmansee was compelled to furnish provision for her for one year, which he did, and then left the country. Mrs. Studson subsequently married Chamberlain; she survived him many years, and died in 1824.”

Sources: Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution, 2 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1864), vol. 1, p 566; William Fischer, The Toms River Block House Fight, March 24, 1782; Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, vol. 14, p423-5; Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 38-9; James Levitt, New Jersey Revolutionary Economy (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1975) pp. 19-2-, 22. James Levitt, For Want of Trade: Shipping and the New Jersey Ports, 1680-1783 (Newark: New Jersey Historical Society, 1981) pp. 141-9; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 45; Rutgers University, Special Collections, Loyalist Compensation Applications, David Lewis, Coll. D96, PRO AO 13/18, reel 6; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Library of Congress, Early American Newspapers, Pennsylvania Evening Post; and New Jersey Gazette, March 27, 1782; Henry Beck, More Forgotten Towns, p86-8; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 164; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 222; Howard H. Peckham, ed, The Toll of Independence: Engagements and Battle Casualties of the American Revolution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) p 95; Donald Shomette, Privateers of the Revolution: War on the New Jersey Coast (Shiffer: Atglen, PA, 2015); National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Enoch Young of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#  24155756; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 17-8; Stryker, comp., Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Naar, Day, Naar, 1872); Samuel Forman to William Livingston, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 4, pp. 388-9; Alfred Heston, South Jersey: A History 1664-1923 (Lewis Historical Publishing, 1923) pp. 233-5; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Henry Applegate of Monmouth, www.fold3.com/image/#12036438; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Aaron Chamberlain; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Daniel Applegate; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Eldridge; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - David Imlay; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Wilbur; William Fischer, Biographical Cyclopedia of Ocean County (Philadelphia: A.D. Smith, 1899) pp. 55-56; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - George Parker; Casualty List, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #3854; Francis Bazley Lee, New Jersey as a Colony and as a State (New York: The Publishing Society of New Jersey, 1902), vol 2, pp. 244-6; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Aaron Bennett of New Jersey; Maryland Gazette, April 11, 1782; Contained in: National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Parker of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#  NJ 25397561; Correspondence with Jeff Brown, The Ocean Emblem, January 30, 1858; Alfred Heston, South Jersey: A History 1664-1923 (Lewis Historical Publishing, 1923) p 241; Library of Congress, Richard Lippincott, Court Martial, reel 1, pp. 201-4.