Henry Lee's Continentals Raid Sandy Hook

As noted in prior articles, Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee commanded a regiment of Virginia cavalry. Lee’s regiment was first sent into Monmouth County in early 1779, setting up camp at Freehold. Lee spent much of 1779 in Monmouth County. During that time, he sent scouts parties along the shore to search for and establish contact with the French fleet, which was expected to anchor on the Monmouth shore. Lee was also active in local affairs, which put him at odds with some local leaders. For example, Lee’s men supported some magistrates in collecting provisions from disaffected neighborhoods—a controversial practice that split Monmouth leaders. His men also hunted down the notorious Pine Robber, Lewis Fenton, and they launched a bold raid against the British naval base at Sandy Hook.

Even in the cold of winter, Lee camped or boarded men near Sandy Hook. On January 5, 1780, Lee wrote George Washington that "I have heard from one of my officers on the shore, who has taken a British officer with five others, & 80,000 counterfeit dollars, I hope this capture will lead to some useful discoveries." Lee informed Washington that he had sent the money and prisoners to Philadelphia. Washington responded "I am exceedingly glad to hear of the capture of a British officer and his associates." But then, on January 8, ordered Lee’s men to leave the county—likely in response to a letter of complaint from Governor William Livingston about Lee’s conduct.

However, Lee did not leave immediately. The captured British party likely provided information on the weak condition of the British garrison at Sandy Hook, as did the capture of the Loyalist brig, Britannia, near Sandy Hook on December 30. The weather grew colder, punctuated by a storm that drove several ships onto Monmouth County’s beaches, and the Sandy Hook Bay froze over. Colonel Lewis Nicola (stationed at Egg Harbor) noted a new weakness of Sandy Hook: "Seven deserters from the guard ship at the Hook made their escape on the ice."

Desertions from the guard ship at Sandy Hook had been a problem for several months. Three times in 1779, Nicola recorded incidents in which a total of nine sailors deserted from the Hunter, which was the guard ship at Sandy Hook through most of the year. Successful small raids on Sandy Hook by Captain John Burrowes demonstrated that small attacks on the base could be successful when the goal was to carry off a single vessel.

Lee’s Continentals Raid Sandy Hook

Lee wrote Washington on January 12: "I detached an officer & party for the purpose of taking advantage of the ice to transport troops to the Hook for important business of collecting supplies for the support of the Army... committed the enterprise to Capt. Peyton, an officer of singular worth." Other sources note that a winter storm occurred that day, driving three ships ashore on the Jersey coast.

The Pennsylvania Evening Post first reported on Lee’s raid on January 16:

We hear that a large quantity of Counterfeit Continental money was taken a few days ago by a Party of Lee's Light Dragoons in Monmouth County… there was also found a considerable quantity of goods which had been sent from New York for sale at the same time.  Several persons were taken, among whom was Anthony Woodward's son [Thomas Woodward].

Lee wrote Washington more about the raid on January 16. He noted that the raid was led by a Captain Peyton, who landed on Sandy Hook and hoped to attack the light house:

The noise of the men marching occasioned by the snow, alarmed the garrison; of course the attempt at the Light House was [therefore] omitted, agreeable to orders. Their shipping was assaulted, and three officers were taken some time since, will be sent to Philadelphia. The counterfeit money I sent to be burnt.

Another officer in Lee’s raiding party, Alan McLane, recalled the counterfeit money. They "took it by surprise, brought off prisoners with a large quantity of Continental bills so well executed that Mr. Smith, the loan officer in Philadelphia could not discover the difference between them & regular bills."

Follow-up newspaper accounts provided additional details on Captain’s Peyton’s raid. The Pennsylvania Evening Post published a second account:

Major Lee detached from Burlington [Freehold] forty men under command of Captain Patten [Peyton], in sleighs, who before the next morning were beside the guard ship, lying frozen in ice at Sandy Hook, so that they could not board her; they retired a small distance unperceived, where they surprised two schooners and a sloop, made the men prisoners, burnt the vessels, and returned without the least loss, bringing with them the prisoners and all the plunder they thought proper.

The New Jersey Gazette also reported on the Sandy Hook raid with somewhat different details:

We are informed that on Thursday night, Captain Rudolph of Lee's Rangers, a sergeant, a corporal and eight men, landed at Sandy Hook within a half mile of the Light House--surrounded a house and made seven of the enemy prisoners; they also brought off $45,000 in counterfeit Continental dollars, a quantity of hard money, and several parcels of dry goods, without any loss.

Transporting the prisoners all the way to Philadelphia in the middle of the winter was a miserable task. So, Lee apparently commandeered space in the Monmouth County jail (in the basement of the county courthouse at Freehold). This put Lee at odds with William Lawrence, the county jailkeeper. On March 1, Lawrence petitioned the New Jersey Assembly:

Setting forth that Major Lee had, in contempt of the law, taken possession of his dwelling room and quartered a number of men against his consent; that he [Lee] had also taken charge of and maintained a number of different prisoners confined for different crimes and misdemeanors; and praying that his [Lee's] account [counter-charges] may be discharged.

It is unclear if the Assembly acted on the matter.

Leading forty-men in sleighs over a frozen bay during a winter storm to attack an enemy that, if alarmed, possessed substantially more men and firepower, was a daring endeavor. Major Lee’s men executed this raid flawlessly. They filled their sleighs with booty, burned three small ships, captured several prisoners, and took tens of thousands of dollars in counterfeit money—and then retreated without the loss of a man. Throughout the Revolutionary War, few actions were as bold and successful. In the local war in and around Monmouth County, perhaps only William Marriner’s June 1778 raid of Brooklyn was bolder and more successful than the exceptional raid-by-sleigh undertaken by Lee’s men on January 12, 1780.

Caption: As recently as 2018, Sandy Hook Bay froze-over, making it impassable. The frozen bay in January 1780 permitted a daring over-ice raid against the British naval base by Continental soldiers.

Related Historic Site: Sandy Hook Lighthouse

Sources: Allan McLane, Army and Navy Chronicle (New York: Benjamin Homans, 1838) p130-1; Henry Lee to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 63, January 5, 1780; George Washington to Henry Lee, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence; George Washington’s General Orders, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 17, p 362; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 68-9; Library of Congress, Early American Newspapers, Pennsylvania Evening Post, January 1780;

Henry Lee to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw4/063/0700/0735.jpg; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, pp. 154-5. Howard Peckham, The Toll of Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) p 67;

Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930, January 1780; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, March 1, 1780, p 132; Lewis Nicola to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 187, item 169, #35, 116, 136, 191; State of the Rebel Army, William Clements Library, Henry Clinton Papers, vol. 86.