The Confusing Case of Captain Benjamin Weatherby

In order to understand the Revolutionary War and government during this period, it is necessary to remember that norms were lacking and communications were terrible. Lacking the ability to quickly corroborate information, leaders frequently acted based on a single piece of evidence—and the evidence that drove actions was often wrong. Leaders did the best they could under trying circumstances, and, in so doing, often contradicted each other.

On June 18, 1777, Governor William Livingston informed George Washington that one of his captains, Benjamin Weatherby, was in detention. Pending further investigation, Livingston had determined Weatherby was a Loyalist, or at least a former Loyalist:

I take the Liberty to enclose you a discharge from Capt. Wetherby to one Sharp, a soldier in the service of the United States; and Sharp’s affidavit of his having paid the Capt. 100 Dollars to obtain it. I cannot learn with any certainty to whose battalion Wetherby belongs, but am told that he belongs to Collo. [David] Forman’s. If he was an officer in one of the regiments raised by this State, I should be agreeable to a resolution of Congress of the 14 of April last, have spared your Excellency the trouble of ordering an inquiry in the matter.

Livingston leveled the allegation based on a May 23 affidavit from Henry Sharp, sworn before Justice John Sparks of Gloucester County. Sharp swore that Weatherby had enlisted him into the Continental Army and, after Sharp thought better of it, insisted on a bribe to let him out of the enlistment. In Sharp’s own words: “He was inlisted [sic] by Capn Benjamin Watherby [sic] and that he give to said captain [Weatherby] for his discharge the sume [sic] of one hundered [sic] Dowllers [sic].”

Livingston had also remembered that in October 1776, Weatherby had participated in raising a company of men from the Monmouth shore for the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers. Were it not for a party of Virginia Continentals (under General Adam Stephen) intercepting Weatherby’s boat on its way to Staten Island, Weatherby would have returned with a British transport and carried the men away.

Based on this, Livingston informed Washington that he was detaining Weatherby under guard. Washington promptly forwarded the note to General John Sullivan, Forman’s superior officer in the Continental chain of command.

By a lucky coincidence, Forman had just arrived at Sullivan’s camp when Washington’s note arrived. Forman had mustered the Monmouth County militia as part of a 2,000-man detachment that Sullivan would use to harass the British Army as it quit New Jersey. Sullivan discussed Weatherby with Forman and was likely surprised by what Forman told him.

The next day, Sullivan politely informed Washington:

I have enquired of General Forman. He knows of no Captain Weatherby. There is a person of that name [Henry Weatherby] at Shrewsbury who had orders to enlist the King's troops for the British service -- he enlisted some & was detected & was put in irons by General Stephen last summer, where he remained until about six weeks hence, when the General Assembly of this State released him -- Perhaps, he may since have taken the business your Excellency mentions?

Washington did not debunk Livingston’s allegation about Weatherby right away. Although there is no documentation to prove it, it is likely Washington asked a staff officer to make further inquiries about Weatherby. Two things are clear from surviving documents—Captain Benjamin Weatherby’s name does not appear in the muster rolls or other documents of Forman’s Additional Regiment. And his name does appear in the rolls of Oliver Spencer’s regiment—another recently-commissioned New Jersey Continental Army regiment that competed for recruits with Forman.

On July 12, Washington informed Livingston:

I duly received your favor of the 18th Ult. respecting a Mr. Weatherby, and upon enquiry find, that he has been this long time dismissed from our Service for bad behavior. Colo Forman says he is of opinion that any Men he may have enlisted since, were for the Enemy, as he has been in Irons on that Account.

But Washington was only partially correct. While he let the Governor know that Benjamin Weatherby was not a captain under Forman, he did not find out about Weatherby’s service and good standing under Spencer. According to the Society of the Cincinnati, Benjamin Weatherby of Billingsport, New Jersey served under Spencer from February 1777 through January 1781. No bad conduct by Weatherby is noted in his service record.

It is unknown how long Benjamin Weatherby was detained, but his good name was eventually restored. His imprisonment seems to be a simple case of mistaken identity. In another remarkable coincidence, Captain Weatherby served under Sullivan and Spencer in a campaign against the Iroquois in summer-fall 1779. In so doing, he likely commanded the remnants of Forman’s Additional Regiment, which had been transferred under Spencer in 1778.

As for Sharp and his curious allegation, his motivations are unclear. Perhaps Sharp was settling a score; perhaps he (and Livingston) honestly confused Benjamin Weatherby with Henry Weatherby—the Loyalist recruiter from the Monmouth shore. Either way, an innocent man actively serving his country was detained for weeks because of a single allegation that could have been quickly debunked.

Related Historic Site: Morristown National Historical Park

Sources: William Livingston to George Washington, in Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, p 357; John Sullivan to George Washington, Sullivan, John, Letters and Papers of Major John Sullivan, Otis G. Hammond, ed. , 2 vols. (Concord, NH: 1930-31) vol. 2, p 394; Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw080334)); George Washington to William Livingston, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 10, 11 June 1777 – 18 August 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000, pp. 66–67; Various genealogical resources on Captain Benjamin Weatherby of Billingsport, New Jersey.