The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Colonel Tye's Final Raid by Michael Adelberg Captain Joshua Huddy and 20-year-old Lucretia Emmons were attacked at Huddy’s tavern in Colts Neck by a Loyalist party co-led by Colonel Tye. They bravely resisted before Huddy was taken. - August 1780 - On August 30, 1780, a 72-man raiding party comprised of New Jersey Volunteers (Loyalist soldiers led by Lieutenants Josiah Parker and William Hullet) and African American Loyalist irregulars led by Colonel Tye, left Sandy Hook in barges. (Historian Rick Geffken’s research suggests that Tye’s party actually left Sandy Hook in early September.) Tye was already well-known in Monmouth County, having led several smaller raids over the previous three months that carried off several prominent Whigs (supporters of the Revolution) and a large amount of plunder. According to a report published in the Pennsylvania Packet and elsewhere, Tye was a “brave Negro” and who had previously served in Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Brigade —though It is open to debate whether Tye served in this Virginia unit. The Loyalists landed at Black Point (Rumson) and headed ten miles inland for Colts Neck. The Packet reported that the raiders, "about an hour before day, attacked the house of Captain Joshua Huddy...staving the window to pieces, and ordering the damned rebels to turn out.” Huddy was among Monmouth County’s most zealous Whigs. He had commanded a company of State Troops and, more notoriously, participated in the extra-legal hanging of the Loyalist Stephen Edwards. According the Packet , Huddy stubbornly resisted the attack, “having loaded two guns at hand, made use of them...by the assistance of a young woman [20-year-old Lucretia Emmons], who carried his cartridges and rammed, he interchanged his firing up and down the stairs." Huddy and Emmons held off the attackers until they "fired the house, which induced him [Huddy] to capitulate.” Antiquarian sources suggest that Huddy negotiated his surrender in exchange for sparing his house and Emmons. Emmons was likely a servant of Huddy; though an antiquarian source claims she was his mistress. The raiding party plundered the house (one antiquarian account claims they burned it). Emmons may have alerted the militia. According to the Packet , “six militia men pursued and came up with them...and killed the refugee commander. After this, they embarked.” But as the Loyalists embarked at Black Point (present-day Rumson), they were attacked by a larger Monmouth County militia party. In the skirmish that followed, militia fired into the heavily-loaded barges which “threw them into confusion." A Loyalist boat overset and twenty men reportedly drowned (this figure is likely exaggerated). The Packet further reported that “Capt. Huddy was wounded but is like to do well. This Huddy was able to swim to safety.” Antiquarian sources add that Huddy was shot in the thigh. He shouted "I am Huddy! I am Huddy!" to avoid being shot while swimming to shore. The Loyalists would experience more trouble. As they rowed north to Sandy Hook “passing the Gut between Sandy Hook and the main, Ensign William Vincent, with 16 of the State Regiment, Salem men ” attacked them again. Middlesex County militia also battled the raiders. The harried Loyalists lost their main hostage and several men, but they did make it back to Sandy Hook. The Packet reported that the militia and state troops had one man killed and one man wounded. Nathaniel Scudder, Monmouth County’s leading political figure, heard of the raid. He wrote of it as well: On Saturday night, a party of Refugees came as high as Colts Neck and took Captain Huddy with the loss of one of their party, killed three. It is said Col Tye being wounded in the wrist -- their design was to surprise the guard at Colts Neck or to come and burn the Court House & town of Freehold, where we were prepared to give them a warm reception. Scudder further described the skirmish between the militia and raiders, and Huddy’s escape: I hear that a party of Middletown militia waylaid the enemy on their retreat and fired on them in their boats with such effect that a considerable number, at least 8 or 9, were killed, and one of their boats overset, in which Captain Huddy happened to be, by which means he made his escape and swam on shore, having however received a ball from our people in his thigh. Sources describe Tye’s wound as fatal, but disagree as to whether Tye was killed by tetanus and gangrene. Militiamen Recall the Colts Neck Raid Three militiamen recalled counter-attacking the raiders in their postwar veteran pension applications. Rick Geffken, who has studied Tye’s last raid exhaustively, notes that some of the details in these accounts are not likely to be true. John Johnson recalled engaging the raiders near Eatontown (though the skirmishing likely climaxed at Black Point). He exaggerated the size of the raiding party: The refugees were about 150 in number, that John Dennis was the captain in the engagement, in this skirmish, Col Tye, a back refugee who, by his depredations had become the terror of the neighboring country, was killed. John Dennis was dead by the time of this skirmish, but his brothers continued to captain Shrewsbury militia companies. Samuel Johnson recalled the raid vividly; he recalled the raiders escaping with the assistance of a British frigate: He was called off his bed by his under officer & commanded immediately to repair to headquarters at Colts Neck; that the refugees had that night made an attack on Captain Huddy's house at Colts Neck and wounded him under the command of a negro; deponent went to headquarters and marched with the company in the direction of the Highlands where the refugees fled to in order to effect their escape in their route to New York. That just as the company had arrived at the Highlands, the refugees reached their boats & were plying up to a place called the Gut, a few miles downwind from Sandy Hook; that the company & deponent, among the rest, fired several rounds at them until a British frigate from Sandy Hook bore down toward them & fired on them and forced them to break off the attack. Oakey Van Osdol of Middlesex County was stationed in Monmouth County at the time. He “was attached to a company commanded by Captain Thomas Chadwick.” Van Osdol “volunteered on an alarm occasioned by the landing of a company of refugees from Sandy Hook at Black Point, who marched from there in the night to Colts Neck in order to go to Monmouth County to rescue some prisoners in jail there.” Colts Neck did not have a jail; Van Osdol was likely referring to militiamen detained at Colts Neck for courts-martial . Shrewsbury militia officers were imposing massive fines against disaffected militiamen—making it probable that the raiders hoped to take the officers or at least break up the courts-martial. Van Osdol recalled that “the militia and David Rhea’s Company of Light horse from Monmouth [Freehold] pursued them & overtook a part of them in a cornfield in Rumson under the command of a Lieutenant Hulet and a negro called Colonel Tye.” He recalled the death of the Loyalist leader Hullet: He heard Lieutenant Joseph Hulet [actually William Hullet] call out 'come on boys' – some of his men said he had better come back and Hulet said 'damn their blood we can catch some of them' upon which declarant with the other two with him fired at Hulet – one ball struck him in the hip & came out at his groin – he took a few steps fell on his face and died. One of Hulet’s refugees returned our fire & his ball struck a post near where we were standing. Van Osdol further described the pursuit of the raiders and the skirmish in which Huddy escaped: Captain David Rhea with his troop of horse pursued the refugees to Black Point. The Middlesex Militia had collected at Sandy Hook between the Highlands of Neversink and lay in ambush at the Gut & when the boats with the refugees came along they fired upon them & killed several of the men & wounded Captain Huddy in the thigh but not mortally. In the confusion the boat in which Captain Huddy was, overset & he swam ashore. Interestingly, Van Osdol’s account reveals that the dead Loyalist leader, Hullet, was from Eatontown. Van Osdol wrote that after the skirmish he “went up to Eatontown and told Joseph Hulet that his son was killed. He came & took the corpse away." For the African-American Loyalists, the non-capture of Huddy was compounded by another defeat. In the mid-1800s, Edwin Woolley would write "An Account of the Massacre of Negro Refugees.” Sam, formerly a slave of the Wooley family, ran off to Sandy Hook to join the Loyalists. Sam was in a party that raided near Tinton Falls; they were pursued to Long Branch on their retreat. The entire party was bayoneted to death by militia except Sam, who was stabbed several times and left for dead. He was found by locals and returned to the Woolley family. He recovered and lived the rest of his life as a slave. Woolley claimed that Sam "carried with him to the grave marks of eleven bayonets on his hands and breast." It is probable that some African-American Loyalists left Sandy Hook for the lower Monmouth shore after these defeats, where they merged into the Pine Robber gangs of that region. Joshua Huddy Bestowed Hero Status The raid on Colts Neck was a failure. The Loyalists lost Tye, Hullett, and other men. They did not prevent the courts-martial from occurring. The raid also raised the public esteem of Joshua Huddy—a man they loathed. Huddy’s increased standing was reflected in legal proceedings on November 2. The Shrewsbury Township Magistrate, John Longstreet, had taken possession of "three horses, two cows, eight hogs, twenty bushels of Indian corn and several acres of grain still in the ground, five feather beds & sundry articles of household furniture" which Huddy claimed. A writ ordered Sheriff David Forman (an ally of Huddy) to return Huddy's goods to him in exchange for "sufficient security." The writ was signed by Governor William Livingston. It was unusual for the Governor to involve himself in a petty case—and this suggests that Huddy’s newfound “hero” status may have influenced the Governor’s involvement. Huddy would again command a company of State Troops in 1781 and was assigned to Toms River in 1782. In March of that year, a Loyalist party came for him again—they razed the village and took him. Three weeks after that, he was taken from jail , brought back into New Jersey, and hanged. Huddy’s hero status likely contributed to his death. Related Historic Site : Colts Neck Inn Appendix: Pennsylvania Packet Report on Tye’s Colts Neck Raid On Sunday morning, the 29th instant, 72 men, composed of New-Levies, Refugees and Negroes, under the command of Lieuts. Josiah Parker and William Hewlet, about an hour before day, attacked the house of Captain Joshua Huddy in the following manner, viz. staving the windows to pieces, and ordering the damned rebels to turn out-This awoke Capt. Huddy, who, having two loaded guns at hand, made use of them in a proper manner through the windows; and by the assistance of a girl, who carried his cartridges and rammed, he interchanged his firing up and down stairs, in such a manner, that the assailants took it for granted a small scouting party must be there; by this means he repulsed them, but they renewed the attack again, and fired the house, which induced him, on the entreaty of Mrs. Huddy and another woman, to capitulate on honorable terms and be delivered himself up a prisoner. On their entering the house, when they found none but himself had defended it, and their brave Negro Tye, (one of Lord Dunmore's crew) wounded, it was with the greatest difficulty he was prevented from being murdered. They broke the honor they had pledged, by not leaving Capt. Huddy and his family, a second change of cloathes; and, after near two hours spent in taking this one man, they made a shameful and silent retreat. A short time after, six militia men pursued and came up with them and killed their refugee Commander. After this they embarked in their boat, and passing the gut between Sandy Hook and the main, Ensign William Vincent, with 16 of the state regiment, Salem men, attacked them again. The first fire, Capt. Huddy, their prisoner was wounded, but is like to do well. This threw them into such confusion, that they overset their boats, four in number, and about twenty were killed and drowned. This gave Capt. Huddy an opportunity of attempting to make his escape by swimming, which he with much difficulty accomplished. We had but one man shot and wounded. This account is taken from Captain Huddy himself. Sources : National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Johnson of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#24148566 ; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p214; Claghorn, Charles E. Women Patriots of the American Revolution, (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press Inc., 1994) p 72; Benson Lossing, Pictorial Fieldbook of the Revolution (reprint: Kessinger Publishing, NY, 2006) v2, p366 n3; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Samuel Johnson of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#24646107 ; Nathaniel Scudder to John Scudder, New Jersey Historical Society, Letters: Nathaniel Scudder; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Van Note of Ohio, S.9507; Library of Congress, Early American Newspapers, Pennsylvania Packet, September 3, 1780; Virginia Gazette, October 21, 1780; Writ to Sheriff David Forman, Catalog of the Exhibition: Joshua Huddy and the American Revolution, Monmouth County Library Headquarters, October 2004; Wolley’s account is in Monmouth County Historical Association, Steen Collection, box 1, folder 13. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Refugee Women Listed in Monmouth County Militia Returns by Michael Adelberg Women picked up the pieces after raids laid waste to villages and farms. Sometimes they packed up their families and fled, as when 19 Tinton Falls women became refugees at Colts Neck. - June 1779 - Following April and June raids, the village of Tinton Falls was abandoned. All of its militia leaders were captured or killed, the public and military stores were taken, the buildings were looted or destroyed, and most or all of the livestock from the farms around the village were taken. Robert Morris, the Chief Justice of New Jersey, worried that people were becoming refugees in the inland countryside. He wrote: “Some are quitting their habitations, and others declare they are willing to do so, observing that if they must go on by starving, they had rather do it in the country than in the Provost Jail." Evidence that this did, in fact, happen is in a militia return compiled by Captain James Green. Green captained the Colts Neck militia, six miles west of Tinton Falls. His June 1780 militia return lists his 95 men and nineteen women—eleven of whom clearly were not from Colts Neck in boldface. (The others probably were not from Colts Neck either, but evidence is lacking.) See table 9 The women were not part of Green’s militia company. His decision to include them on his militia return is likely because they (and their families) were living as refugees at Colts Neck; Green was providing rations for them. Each township had Overseers of the Poor, but the Shrewsbury Township Overseers of the Poor in 1778 (1779 township records have not survived) were Joseph Parker, Joseph Throckmorton, and Thomas White—each of whom was either disaffected or residing near the shore. In either event, these men—who likely were neutrals or disaffected—were not politically aligned with families made refugee by Loyalist raiders. Green’s June 1780 return was compiled a year after the June 10, 1779, Tinton Falls raid, providing evidence that refugees were at Colts Neck for at least a year. It is important to note that none of these women were prosperous at war’s end, and at least three ended the war with less wealth than they had before the Tinton Falls raid (noted with an asterisk). Other Women in Militia Returns Seven women are listed in Upper Freehold militia returns from 1778-1780. They are Mary Perrine, Elizabeth Mooney, Elizabeth Rue, Martilla Clayton, Eleanor Reynolds, Elizabeth Mount, and Rebecca Mount. Of the seven, only one—Rue—is likely a refugee. She was from Freehold Township and her husband, Matthias Rue, was killed at the Battle of Navesink in 1777. Two of the women—Mary Perrine and Rebecca Mount were wives of Upper Freehold Loyalists who owned 225 and 200 acre farms with 12 and 11 head of livestock respectively. At war’s end, they were moderately prosperous yeoman farmers. The reason that Colonel Samuel Forman and Captain John Covenhoven (not the legislator of the same name) felt the need to list these women on militia returns is unknown. But the most likely reason is that these women (even the prosperous ones) and their families were displaced for a period of time and in need of support. Perhaps their estates were damaged when the British Army came through Upper Freehold in June 1778. There might be another case of a woman being included on a militia return. A genealogist, Marjy Wienkop, noted that the Stafford Township militia company of Captain Reuben Randolph lists Jeany Sutton as serving with him for 35 days at Perth Amboy. While "Jeany" is a female name, it can be wondered if this is a nickname of the French "Jean"—and potentially a male name (although Sutton is not a French name). Assuming that Jeany Sutton was a woman, the reason that Randolph felt a need to include her on his militia return is unknown. Women often went with military companies as “camp followers” but they were not paid for doing so beyond pay earned performing jobs for the soldiers. While the decimation of Tinton Falls may have forced dozens of people to become refugees, the Battle of Navesink was the event that produced the most deaths and captures of Monmouth Countians. Intermittently throughout the war, Monmouth Countians petitioned the state legislature for assistance for the suffering families of militiamen. On June 5, 1781, the New Jersey Assembly voted to grant half-pay military pensions to the wives of five Monmouth militiamen who died at Battle of Navesink or endured long term imprisonment after the battle. The women were: Isabella Hibbetts [widow of James], Mary Stillwell [widow of Obadiah], Elizabeth Cole [widow of William], Mary Winter [widow of James], and Penelope Davis [widow of Joseph]. The pensions were of a modest monthly amount of £2 S5. It is unknown why these five women were granted pensions while the wives of most of the militiamen killed or captured at the battle went unmentioned. While the state took like action to support a few women and families rocked by the local war in Monmouth County, militia officers provided support for many other impoverished, vulnerable women. If all of Monmouth County’s Revolutionary War militia returns had survived to this day, it is probable that more women would have been listed on a scattering of additional returns. Militia officers had no authority to provide rations or pay to these women. But under dire circumstances, these officers did what they thought was necessary. There is no reason to think they were punished for exceeding their authority. Sources : Morris, Robert, “Letters of Chief Justice Morris, 1777–1779,” Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, vol. 38 (1920), pp. 175-6; Upper Freehold Militia Muster Rolls, National Archives, Revolutionary War Rolls, Coll. 70, p2, 4, 9; Muster rolls posted at the Continental Line, http://www.continentalline.org/articles/article.php?date=0002&article=000202 ; National Archives, Continental Army Records, Samuel Forman's Militia Regiment; Militia Return, June 1780, Captain James Green, Stryker-Rodda, Harriet, “Militia Women of 1780, Monmouth County, New Jersey,” N.S.D.A.R. Magazine, vol. 113, n. 4, April 1979, pp. 308-12; Harriet Stryker-Rodda, “Militia Women of 1780,” Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, vol. 113 (1979) p 310; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, June 5, 1781, p 34; Michael Adelberg, Biographical File (on file at the Monmouth County Historical Association Library). Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Samuel Lippincott, Man-Stealing, and Jailed Militiamen in New York by Michael Adelberg Lists like this one show that hundreds of prisoners were exchanged. But prisoner exchanges also fueled the “man stealing” of Monmouth County patriots who served as chips in later exchanges. - February 1780 - On a cold night in February 1780, Samuel Lippincott was kidnapped from his bed. He recalled: While in bed in his residence in Monmouth County, applicant’s residence was plundered by two black Refugees, who laid ready upon his house and took him out of his bed. After having tied his hands behind him, they, in the company of several Tories, conveyed him and two other prisoners to Sandy Hook, from whereabouts [on] the third day they were conveyed to New York. Lippincott was jailed three months in the notorious Sugar House prison until "that place becoming so crowded with prisoners, he was conveyed to the North Church where he remained until he was exchanged.” While there, Lippincott recalled a friend escaping from North Church "having procured a new civilian set of clothes with the connivance of two Hessian guards, passed through the board fence by which the church was surrounded, where a plank was missing, and mingled with the citizens." Lippincott was exchanged “after having been a prisoner for seven months and seven days.” The kidnapping of Lippincott represented an important pivot in the local war in Monmouth County in two ways. It is the first documented case of a party of Black Loyalists conducting a raid on their own, and it appears to be the first recorded “man-stealing” in Monmouth County. Man-stealing was the name given to small raids conducted primarily to carry off hostages. Monmouth Countians had been imprisoned in New York City jails at least since February 1777 when more than 70 Monmouth militiamen were captured by British regulars at the Battle of Navesink . At least four of the men taken that day were still imprisoned when Lippincott was taken. But Lippincott represented a new kind of Monmouth County prisoner—one taken not as a result of battle, but because Loyalists desired revenge for rebel abuses, and because new prisoners were needed for additional prisoner of war exchanges. Other Man-Stealings Captain Moses Shepherd led a militia company from Middletown Township. After the war, his widow, Rebecca Shepherd, wrote of his capture and imprisonment at about the same time as Lippincott’s capture: He was once made a prisoner taken in his own house by a party of Tories about dawn… he was taken to New York paroled as an officer on Long Island, stayed about six weeks, he, in company with Captain Thomas Chadwick took a small boat or skiff and came home, but was afterwards exchanged. William Morris testified to seeing Shepherd while he was detained in New York. “He was passing the prison in New York - Captain Moses Shepherd called to him from one of the windows. He [Morris] stayed and conversed with but was afraid to go in.” Two of Moses Shepherd’s nephews, Elisha Shepherd and Jacob Shepherd, were also captured in 1780. Elisha Shepherd recalled serving in the militia “until taken prisoner by the refugees under Col. Tye when he was taken to New York and put in the provost’s or hangman’s jail… and continued confined in said prison to the end of the war.” His brother, Jacob Shepherd, testified that “himself and his brother… were kept prisoners for about five months and he thinks they were exchanged in the month of March.” Two other militiamen, in their postwar pension applications, described being captured in small raids and taken to New York. Abraham Lane recalled that "he was taken prisoner by a company of Refugees of whom William Gillian was Captain, and was carried to the City of New York and confined in the Sugar House; from there he was removed to the North Church and detained prisoner from March to September 1781." He was paroled home and promptly re-joined the militia as a Lieutenant. Elijah Clayton recalled being taken at Colts Neck on May 14, 1781 “and confined in North Church, and from thence to the Sugar House, where he was kept prisoner until New Year's following, when he was exchanged." Thomas Clayton recalled meeting his brother, Elijah, while in jail: He did not know what had become of his brother until he was informed that he was a prisoner in the same city; that he obtained permission to go see said Elisha and asked for and received a dollar from a Black fellow in some office under the British... That the party that took him prisoner also took a horse from him, from which he never received any compensation. Of course, Monmouth militiamen continued to be taken in military encounters as well. Joseph Johnson was captured on March 16, 1780, on the Raritan Bayshore, while under serving Capt. Joseph Stillwell. Johnson "was taken prisoner... he was kept a prisoner of war in close confinement for 9 1/2 months at which time he took with small pox and very nearly died and then exchanged at Elizabethtown." He returned to militia service in July 1781. In April 1780, John Brown, recalled participating in a skirmish at Manasquan during which he "was taken prisoner by the British at Shrewsbury & carried to New York, where he remained a prisoner in close confinement for 7 months & suffered cruelly from his captors." He also returned to militia service in 1781. Prisoner Backlog in Brooklyn An important purpose of man-stealing was to gain chips to be used in subsequent prisoner exchanges. As noted in a prior article, one of the primary powers granted to the vigilante Associated Loyalists by the British was the ability to capture their own prisoners and conduct their own exchanges. Exchanges are the subject of another article , but it is important to note that the pace of exchanges was slower than captures and prisoners backlogged. From September 1780 until the end of 1782, there was a backlog of Monmouth County militia officers as prisoners. Lists of militia officers paroled to Loyalist houses in Brooklyn exist from September 1780 through war’s end. A "List of New Jersey Officers taken by British, 1776-1780," was compiled in September 1780. It lists 26 New Jersey militia officers confined in Brooklyn. Fourteen of the men were from Monmouth County. They are noted below along with information on their capture and status in September 1780. Six of these men were at home and not in service when taken, three were exchanged, and one was dead: Col. Daniel Hendrickson: taken June 11, 1779, "at his house...exchanged"; Lt. Col. John Smock: taken May 27, 1778, "at Monmouth Cty…not in service"; Lt. Col. Aucke Wikoff: taken June 11, 1779 "at his house...in Provost [jail]"; Maj. Hendrick Van Brunt: taken June 11, 1779 "at his house...in Shrewsbury"; Capt. Stephen Fleming: taken May 27, 1778 at "Monmouth Cty...exchanged"; Capt. Barnes Smock: taken February 13, 1777 "near Light House...exchanged"; Capt. Jacob Covenhoven: taken May 27, 1778 "in Monmouth Cty"; Capt. Richard McKnight: taken June 11, 1779 "in home...not in service, died 1780"; Lt. Thomas Cook: taken February 13, 1777 "near Light House"; Lt. James Whitlock: taken February 13, 1777 "near Light House"; Lt. Theophilus Little: taken May 27, 1778 "in Monmouth Cty...not in service"; Lt. [Moses] Shepherd: taken [no date] "at home in Monmouth Cty"; Lt. Thomas Little: taken June 27, 1778 "in Monmouth Cty"; Lt. Tobias Polhemus: taken February 13, 1777 "near Light House." At least two additional militia officers were captured in 1780 but are not included in this report. Captain Thomas Wainwright spent eighteen months in prison before he was exchanged. Captain Barnes Smock was captured in June 1780 and was exchanged in December. The condition of the prisoners of war in New York was a frequent concern of Continental officials. On September 9, 1780, Commandant of Prisoners, Abraham Skinner, wrote to Governor William Livingston about "the peculiar situation of prisoners of war belonging to this State." Skinner worried that the New Jersey government was not supporting its prisoners of war. Of the officers, he wrote: The officers who are prisoners on Long Island [Brooklyn] have not had the least supply or support from this office since the Spring of 1779; since which many of them have been at board on Long Island, and many of them are destitute of a single farthing, are liable to the daily insult from their landlords, who seem tired of supporting them without fee or reward, and if their exchange could be effected, they would be detained for payment of the debts. Of the enlisted men, Skinner wrote: The citizens and Privates of this State are confined in the Sugar House and churches in a wretched situation, many of them without a shirt or blanket, and no allowance except what they receive from the enemy, about 3 1/2 pounds of bread, which is issued to them by the Continental agent. Skinner wrote that the Jersey prisoners "feel mortification in seeing their fellow sufferers receive supplies from the neighboring States" while they receive nothing from New Jersey. That same month, Hendrick Van Brunt co-authored a petition to Governor William Livingston requesting provisions for prisoners. This included a request for £50 in cash for each officer on parole on Long Island to settle debts. The petitioners noted that nothing had been sent from New Jersey in more than a year, and a prior request for support had been ignored. The petition was signed by 30 New Jersey officers. Seventeen of these men were militia officers of which nine were from Monmouth County (Lt. Col. John Smock, Lt. Col. Aucke Wikoff, Van Brunt, Capt. Barnes Smock, Capt. Jacob Covenhoven, Lt. James Whitlock, Lt. Thomas Little, Lt. Tobias Polhemus, Lt. Thomas Cook). On August 5, 1782, Skinner, compiled a list of "Debts incurred by Sundry Americans Owing to their Captivity to Inhabitants on Long Island." Eleven prisoners on the list were "Jersey Militia" and six of those were Monmouth Countians: Little, McKnight (dead), Polhemus, John Smock, Van Brunt, and Whitlock. They had accumulated debts as high as £65. Skinner’s November 1782 "Schedule of Debts Accumulated by Paroled Prisoners on Long Island" listed the same six officers plus Jacob Covenhoven, Thomas Cook, Barnes Smock (re-captured), and Aucke Wikoff. Lt. Whitlock had been exchanged. The prisoners were prone to disease and privations. Some died. Mathias Mount, a prisoner who was exchanged, returned to Monmouth County and testified on April 24, 1781, about the death of Captain John Dennis while they were prisoners in New York: The deponent was a prisoner in New York in 1778, and was well acquainted with Capt. John Dennis of the 3rd Regiment of the militia of Monmouth County, and saith that John Dennis' wounds were not cured, and that the said Dennis after his death lay several days in the corner of the yard, before he was buried. The kidnapping of Samuel Lippincott presaged the appearance of Colonel Tye and the Black Brigade and the man-stealings that would punctuate the Revolutionary War in Monmouth County in 1780. Man-stealings advanced the local war in Monmouth County to a more brutal stage, leading a cycle of retribution between the vigilante Associated Loyalists and Monmouth County’s Retaliators . Sources : National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Samuel Lippincott; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Moses Shepherd of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 16276047; -- National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Elisha Shepherd of OH, www.fold3.com/image/# 16277477; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Joseph Johnson; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Brown; List of Officers Taken, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #3971; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p229-32; Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of New Jersey, From 1776 to 1786 (Newark, NJ: Newark Daily Advertiser, 1848) pp. 260-1; Edward Roser, "American Prisoners Taken at the Battle of the Navesink," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, vol. 45, n 2, May 1970, p57; Hendrick Van Brunt to William Livingston, Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of New Jersey, From 1776 to 1786 (Newark, NJ: Newark Daily Advertiser, 1848) pp. 261-3; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Abraham Lane; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Elihu Clayton; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 303; List of Debts of Prisoners on Long Island, National Archives, M246, RG93, reel 135, folder 4, pages 4-10; Schedule of Debts, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #4125. 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The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Dr. John Lawrence and the Crime of Having Loyalist Kin by Michael Adelberg Dr. John Lawrence was a physician prominent Loyalists in his family. Although he was not an active Loyalist, he was forced to live out the war away from his home. - July 1776 - As discussed in a prior article, John Lawrence, Sr., was one of Monmouth County’s leading citizens before the Revolution—a lawyer, judge, surveyor, and member of New Jersey Assembly. He was supportive of the Continental Association and boycott of British goods. However, when protesting British policies shifted to declaring independence, John Sr. became an active Loyalist. In July, he led a bloodless insurrection against the new government in Upper Freehold. John Sr. was arrested for "holding treasonable intercourse with the enemy" and detained in Burlington County. On July 5, the New Jersey Convention ordered that "Mr. John Lawrence, of the County of Monmouth, not to depart the house of Mr. [Rensselaer] Williams [of Trenton]; and if Mr. Lawrence should refuse…. order him confined under such guard as the Committee may deem necessary." He would remain under house arrest for nine months. John Lawrence, Sr., had two sons. Elisha Lawrence was the Monmouth County sheriff under the Royal government. He played an active role in his father’s insurrection and led 60 Upper Freehold Loyalists to join the British Army on Sandy Hook. He would soon become Colonel of the 1st Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers, a Provincial Corps of the British Army. John Lawrence, Jr., was John’s other son, a Princeton graduate and prominent physician who owned a home at Perth Amboy but spent a great deal of time at his father’s house in Upper Freehold. There is no evidence that John Jr. (Dr. John Lawrence) was active in his father’s insurrection, but there is no evidence that he opposed it. Actions Taken Against Dr. John Lawrence On July 9, the New Jersey Convention took action against Dr. John Lawrence and seven other New Jerseyans from prominent Loyalist families. They were arrested and brought to Trenton. Lawrence and the others were ordered "not to depart the town of Trenton.” But later that day, the Convention reconsidered the status of Dr. John Lawrence. "Pursuant to order, Dr. John Lawrence, appeared before Congress and was permitted to return home on his parole, to attend this House whenever called upon." But Dr. Lawrence’s final parole agreement shows that he was not allowed to return home. Instead, he was required to go to Morristown. Perth Amboy was within sight of the British Lines and Upper Freehold was simmering with Loyalist insurrectionists. If Dr. John Lawrence wanted to actively oppose the Revolution, he could cause considerable mischief in either place. Morristown, on the other hand, was 25 miles inland from British lines and thoroughly controlled by Whigs (supporters of the Revolution). Though not as dangerous as his brother or father, New Jersey authorities were not willing to let Dr. John Lawrence live where he pleased. Dr. Lawrence’s July 13 parole oath is below: I do hereby give my parole of honor to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey that… I will return to Morristown, in Morris County, & there remain in a circle of six miles of the Court House in town, & that I will not carry on any political correspondence whatsoever on the subject of the dispute between Great Britain & the United Colonies, neither will I furnish any provisions or given any intelligence to the enemies of the Colony. In September, Continental Army defeats in New York raised expectations that the British Army would soon invade New Jersey. Amidst the resulting panic, men were punished for the crime of having Loyalist kin; Dr. Lawrence was jailed at Trenton. On September 26, Dr. Lawrence wrote a letter of protest to Governor William Livingston: After having complied with every requisition of the Congress - paying my proportions of the tax raised & signing the Association - I was exceedingly surprised to find myself made a prisoner by an order from Genl. Washington [George Washington] in consequence of which I have been carried to Trenton where the Provincial Congress was then sitting, and flatter myself that had I the opportunity: such a defense might have been made as would have discharged me entirely from my imprisonment - Taken from my business & put to very heavy expense. I therefore request that instead of continuing [within a circle of six miles of Morris[town], I may be removed to Allentown in Monmouth, under a parole similar to what I have given at this place, where my father's house will prevent any extraordinary charges occurring to me & where from its situation so remote from the British Army, I apprehend there can be no objection offered. However, Dr. Lawrence was not permitted to return to Upper Freehold. He returned to Morristown, where, while drunk, he engaged in spreading the word about the defeat of the Continental Army. On February 7, 1777, testimony was given against his conduct shortly before the British crossed into New Jersey: One Wm. Stewart [William Stewart] an assistant to these fals harted [sic] smooth tong’d fellows, went off to the Enemy, (as I am Well inform’d) I am affraid [sic] of the Conciquence [sic]. These fellows with two Tory Prisoners at McKee’s the Night after Long Island was given up was all drunk in taken of their Joy. Capt. Canedy & one Doctor Lawrence [Dr. John Lawrence] was the Prisoners—this Club of traitors has been riding all times of night just before some expedition of the Enemy, from Morristown to Prinstown [sic] or somewhere near their, where [there] was a member of the Convention, a friend of theirs. Another of them at the same time [was] going down to Newark, to their friends, their Every one of them most active in their several departments. I have many other reasons for my present opinion of these fellows, which would make them Blush to hear of. However, these fellows & their Influence is failing & will Continew [sic] to fail with all the rest of that abandoned crew of trators [sic] to their Country. Dr. John Lawrence at War’s End Despite this testimony, it appears that Dr. Lawrence was permitted to live out the war as a non-participant in New Jersey. Some sources suggest that he spent parts of the war behind British lines in New York as a non-combatant Loyalist refugee. Although surviving records are incomplete, there appears to be no further evidence of bad conduct from Dr. Lawrence or punishments from the New Jersey government. By 1783, it was clear that the British would be leaving New York. At this time, Dr. Lawrence considered his fate and whether he belonged with his brother (and three members of his extended family) behind British lines. He visited New York and may have offered himself up for a patronage position with the British government. On September 15, 1783, John Colden, a prominent New York Loyalist, wrote of Dr. Lawrence to Guy Carleton, the British commander in chief in New York and Governor of Canada: I am informed Mr. Lawrence supports a favorable character—is pushing himself forward and bids fair to rise in his profession. He has been two or three times in New York since the cessation of hostilities but I have not seen him. He will probably be a useful man to you; he designs to settle in New York. But it appears that this flirtation was temporary. Dr. Lawrence returned to Upper Freehold after the war, where he kept a low profile and lived out his life without incident. Outside of a night of loose talk while drunk, there is no evidence that he acted against the Continental cause. The support of his influential cousin, also named Elisha Lawrence, may have facilitated his peaceful reintegration. Cousin Elisha Lawrence was a Lt. Colonel in the militia and served in the upper house of the New Jersey legislature. Related Historic Site : Morristown National Historical Park Sources : Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p138 and 200-1; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1638-9; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009) pp. 497-8; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, 4 vols, Genealogical Publishing Co, 1970, v3, p411-21; John Lawrence, New Jersey State Archives, Collective Series, Revolutionary War Documents, #4; The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 22, March 23, 1775, through October 27, 1776, ed. William B. Willcox. New Haven and London:: Yale University Press, 1982, pp. 517–518; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1652; New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 3, September 26, 1776; NJ Council of Safety, New Jersey State Archives, box 2; The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 8, 6 January 1777 – 27 March 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 266–267; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v3, p417; John Colden to Guy Carleton, Alfred Jones, “Letter of David Colden, Loyalist, 1783”, American Historical Review, October 1919, vol. 25, p80-6. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Lewis Bestedo Kills Loyalist and Exposes Loyalist Outlaws by Michael Adelberg Jesse Woodward led a small band of Loyalist outlaws into the woods of Upper Freehold Township in early 1777. Here, the men lived in small hunting cabins similar to this one still standing in Virginia. - April 1777 - When the Upper Freehold Loyalist insurrection and other insurrections collapsed in January 1777, the less committed insurrectionists received amnesty in exchange for taking a loyalty oath to the New Jersey government. Among the more committed insurrectionists, 200+ were captured and jailed ; at least as many others went to New York as Loyalist refugees and recruits into the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers . And a few committed Loyalists went underground, living as outlaws in the thinly-populated cedar forests and salt marshes along the shore. The best-documented of these Loyalist outlaw bands—numbering ten or fewer—went into the woods of southern Upper Freehold township in early 1777. These men, more or less led by Jesse Woodward, lived in modest hunting cabins for several weeks until the desire for revenge lured one member of the group, Nicholas Williams, to expose them and lose his life in the process. Lewis Bestedo Kills and Captures Loyalist Outlaws A devoted Whig (supporter of the Revolution), Lewis Bestedo, was the first man known to hunt down these Loyalist outlaws. On March 20, 1777, Colonel Israel Shreve of the Continental Army recorded "Lewis Bastedo brot [sic] three deserters viz. Jacob Fagan and his brother” and “6 Tories” to the Army’s prison. A year later Fagan would re-emerge as the first of Monmouth County’s notorious Pine Robber gang leaders. This incident may have induced other Loyalists-in-hiding to go after Bestedo. According to Bestedo’s deposition before the New Jersey Council of Safety : On or about the 9th of April, as he, the deponent, was riding the public road between the dwelling house of Alexander Howard and Crosswicks, two men, namely Nicholas Williams and Thomas Fowler, who were till then concealed in the bushes, started up near the deponent, when said Williams said 'God Damn your blood, stop!' and immediately said Williams and Fowler both presented their guns at this deponent, who instantly alighted for his horse... That one or both said persons did fire directly at him, and that a ball discharged from one of the guns came so near his head that he thinks it brushed his hair. Upon which the deponent, having also a loaded gun in his hand, did immediately take aim and shot the said Nicholas Williams through the head... and then rushing toward the said Thomas Fowler, took him a prisoner, and conveyed him to Allentown, where he delivered him to Capt. [Francis] Wade. The captured Loyalist, Fowler, was also deposed by Wade a Continental Army commissary officer , at Allentown: He heard Nicholas Williams, who Lewis Bestedo shot this morning in his own defense, says that he would shoot Bestedo the first time he could do it, and as Bestedo was passing the road, going to Crosswicks from Allentown on his lawful business, sd Williams and Fowler lay in ambush along some brush on the road, & started up on sd Bestedo when sd Williams cried out to sd Bestedo 'Damn you, stop' & fired at sd Bestedo directly out of a loaded rifle, & on a missing, sd Bestedo, having a loaded musket with him on his horseback, immediately alighted & fired at sd Williams & shot him there in the head & took sd Thomas Fowler prisoner. Fowler described that outlaw bands "kept in a cabin for two months past, near to Joshua Gibbs." Fowler lived near Williams and Samuel Woodward. “Jesse Woodward also lived in the woods with them in a cabin along Crosswicks Creek.” Jesse Woodward had encouraged Fowler and Williams to stay in hiding "as the regulars would soon return, when they would be at liberty to go where they pleased & that Little Anthony Woodward promised they would be rewarded." John McGinnis was also listed as one of the outlaws, but he remained living in the community. McGinnis had warned Fowler "not to betray him.” With Fowler as an informant, Captain Wade was apparently able to capture Jesse Woodward, who he examined on April 10 at Allentown. Wade wrote of Woodward, "I find he is very backward in giving any information. You will find by his confession and Fowler's, that they differ much... it however plainly appears that there is a gang of them living in the pines and no doubt in readiness to show themselves whenever an opportunity offers.” Wade said he would write George Washington about the Loyalist outlaws in hiding. He also suggested that Bestedo should be allowed to keep the firearms of Fowler and Williams as a reward for his actions. In his statement, Jesse Woodward admitted to disarming Whigs during the Loyalist insurrection the prior December under guidance from his cousin, Anthony Woodward, who was acting under order from the British Army. He then "went from his house last December into the Pines about ten miles from his house, and living in one of the cabins for about a week at a time, and sometimes went home, and removed to a cabin on Crosswick's Creek above Waln's Mill, where he has lived about three or four weeks past.” On Fowler and Williams, “he understood from his children they were under the same circumstances that he was.” Fowler was brought before the New Jersey Council of Safety on April 11 and confessed that he, Samuel Woodward and Nicholas Williams went to Shrewsbury with plan to go off to Sandy Hook, but were turned back by a patrol. After the insurrection collapsed, Fowler went with Jesse Woodward to a cabin. Tedium in the woods may have prompted rash action. Fowler deposed that, “he has done no work for two months, but was persuaded that the regulars would make it all up to him if he lay still... was persuaded by sd Williams to go with him & assist him in taking Lewis Bestedo, whom he said he would carry to the Hook, when Bestedo returned the fire & shot Williams dead & took him prisoner." Other Loyalist Outlaws Captured With Jesse Woodward and Fowler captured and Williams dead, the Loyalist outlaws grew desperate. Thomas Woodward and Thomas Williams attempted to escape to New York. However, they were taken outside of New Brunswick on May 10 and brought before the Council of Safety on May 21: This affirmant further saith that sd Williams did then and there undertake to conduct him, this affirmant, to the city of New Brunswick & that in pursuance thereof, they, this affirmant and sd Williams, did that night set off with a design to go to the said city & traveled nightly (laying still by day) until they arrived within a few miles of sd city, where they were both apprehended and made prisoners - This affirmant further saith that being himself a stranger to the country & roads through which they passed, he trusted himself entirely to the guidance and direction of him, sd Williams, and that altho' there was no previous agreement between of reward, yet the sd Williams did immediately after their sd apprehension demand of him, the affirmant, the sum of two dollars for his services, which he paid to sd Williams. Another member of the Loyalist gang, Giles Williams, was captured on May 19. Upper Freehold’s David Brearley, a Continental Army officer, sent him to Governor William Livingston, with the note: Your Excellency will have delivered herewith a certain Giles Williams, who left this State last summer with Elisha Lawrence and others, and joined the Enemy on Staten Island; he has sometime past been lurking in the Pines with a set of villains, but was very luckily taken last night in the edge of the Pines by Lieut. Barton [Gilbert Barton] and sent to this place [Allentown]. It is interesting that Giles Williams was part of the first wave of Loyalist insurrectionaries who left Upper Freehold in July 1776 to join the New Jersey Volunteers under Lt. Colonel Elisha Lawrence. Williams apparently deserted the New Jersey Volunteers but remained a committed Loyalist. A number of Loyalists who became so-called Pine Robbers later in the war followed this same pattern. The fate of the few remaining Loyalist outlaws in the Upper Freehold group is unknown; it is possible they remained outlaws and drifted into more violent outlaw activities. By the summer of 1778, and for the rest of the war, Loyalist outlaw gangs, including the one led by Jacob Fagan, resided in the pine forests and salt marshes of coastal Monmouth County. These Pine Robbers terrorized locals and made large swaths of land largely ungovernable. Historian David Fowler (no relation to Thomas Fowler) examined the Upper Freehold Loyalist outlaws and identified them as the starting point of the Pine Robber phenomenon. While this early Loyalist outlaw group was less violent than later outlaw gangs, Fowler’s hypothesis is instructive. Related Historic Site : Nothnagle Log Cabin (early log home in New Jersey, but not representative of one-room hunting cabin) Sources : The Journal of Colonel Israel Shreve, March 20, 1777, Louisiana Technical University, Special Collections (excerpted by David J. Fowler); Deposition of Lewis Bestedo, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, pp. 306-7.New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, Thomas Fowler; Jesse Woodward’s Statement, taken by Francis Wade, Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of New Jersey, From 1776 to 1786 (Newark, NJ: Newark Daily Advertiser, 1848) p 51-3; Confession of Thomas Fowler, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #74; Deposition, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, Thomas Woodward; David Brearley to William Livingston, Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of New Jersey, From 1776 to 1786 (Newark, NJ: Newark Daily Advertiser, 1848) pp. 60-1. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Demise and Sale of the Pennsylvania Salt Works at Toms River by Michael Adelberg Thomas Wharton was Pennsylvania’s Governor (called “President”) in early 1778 when the state determined the Pennsylvania Salt Works were a failure. The state sold the salt works in 1779. - November 1777 - As discussed in prior articles, because of the British blockade of American ports, there was an acute salt shortage in the fledgling United States. Salt was critical for preserving foods—without it, people would starve each winter. In 1776 and 1777, approximately twenty salt works started up along the Jersey shore. The most ambitious of these was the Pennsylvania Salt Works at Toms River, financed by the Pennsylvania government. Though started in summer 1776, the Pennsylvania salt works were still not producing salt in 1777—as other salt works were at least modestly productive. In fall 1777, the British Army defeated the Continental Army at Brandywine and Germantown , and occupied Philadelphia. The Continental Congress fled west to York, Pennsylvania and Washington’s army hunkered down for the winter at Valley Forge. The British navy patrolled the Delaware River. Given the crisis in Pennsylvania and the lack of production at its salt works, it is not surprising that the Pennsylvania government lost patience with its grandiose project at Toms River. Pennsylvania Government Sours on Pennsylvania Salt Works Thomas Savadge managed the salt works. His letter of November 11 to the state’s Council of Safety proved a tipping point. He detailed his continued labor shortage. Specifically, he lacked six carpenters, one smith, one bricklayer, one wheelwright, three cart men, laborers, and two guards who “must go on day and night; one must always be on duty that nothing be embezzled” by untrustworthy laborers . Savadge had further obligated the Pennsylvania government ($3,500) to harvest wood from James Mott's land. And he informed the Council that he sent Daniel Griggs of Toms River to Pennsylvania to collect the funds. Finally, Savadge called for fresh troops to protect the works: “Capt. Sutter's people's time will be up the first of January… should be glad to know whether they leave their arms and ammunition here or not.” Before responding to Savadge, the Council asked Colonel John Cox of Gloucester County (stationed at Little Egg Harbor) to assist them: “We have at length employed the bearer, Mr. Davison, to visit the works and furnish us… with a distinct account of the matters there." James Davison was at Little Egg Harbor and would proceed up the shore to Toms River. Along the way, he could observe other works. Davison’s November 19 orders told him that, upon reaching Toms River, if the Pennsylvania Salt Works lacked salt, he should "purchase [salt], if in his power, from other salt works, as will make up the deficiency." He should also report back to the Council on why the salt works remained unproductive. Finally, Davison was told to keep the mission secret "lest the forestallers should get notice of it." That same day, Thomas Wharton, President (Governor) of Pennsylvania and Chair of its Council of Safety, informed Savadge of Davison's mission. Wharton said that Davison "has directions from the Council to inspect the books and papers relating to the works." Wharton put Savadge on notice: We had reason to believe you would have furnished this State long since with considerable quantities of salt, we have however been most egregiously disappointed and are almost induced to give up the matter and pursue some other method to furnish this State with that article. The Council of Safety next considered the Pennsylvania Salt Works in January 1778. Despite its misgivings, it ordered another detachment to protect its investment at Toms River. On January 16, Commodore John Hazelwood of the state navy was directed to send 30 men to the salt works. The Council wrote Savadge on the same day. Despite "unaccountable delays… it is not the design of the Council to sell the salt works." The Council reminded Savadge of his prediction that the salt works would produce 30,000 bushels of salt a year. It informed Savadge that he would now report to Davison: "he is empowered and instructed to do everything that may be effectual in attaining the much desired end." The Council sent corresponding orders to Davison, noting that the salt works have “not produced any salt, tho' a very considerable sum has been invested.” Davison should “go to the works, take up the management and direction of them as fully and amply as the Council would do were they present.” On February 5, Savadge complained to the Council. Hazelwood's men had not arrived; the works were unguarded. Further, "such men as Commodore Hazelwood could furnish are not the men I want, neither will I pretend to carry on the works with such men." Savadge threatened to quit, "I cannot think of carrying them on any longer, for it is only deceiving the public, myself and my family, and getting an ill name for what I have not deserved." And he was predictably unhappy with Davison: The appointment of Mr. Davison as an agent here can be of no use to me or the works, it will be an additional expense on them and there is no use for such a person here; furnish me with proper men and I will take care of the rest... I think, agreeable to my contract, I can have no superintendent over me, but the Council themselves. Savadge wrote again on April 4. He informed the Council that British-Loyalist raiders had just razed the Union Salt Works at Manasquan (the other large salt works on the Jersey shore). Savadge stated that the raiders were "expected here this morning, but am informed that ye are returned to the Hook, but intend these works a visit very soon." Savadge was still waiting on Hazelwood’s guard and noted that the "the militia under Col Forman [David Forman] were here today" but had left for Manasquan. He complained: I have but a few men at the works, and them going to leave me on the above account -- I have heard nothing of Mr. Davison since he left about two months ago -- am without the cash to pay the people or purchase provisions of which I have no kind, other than the bread & pork -- am not able to make any salt for want of hands. Savadge followed up two days later: "We learnt this morning that the enemy, after leaving Squan, went to Shark River and destroyed the salt works there." He pleaded for a guard: "I apprehend it should be done so immediately, as in all likelihood they will make an attempt to destroy them [the salt works] in a few days." The Council’s response was prompt and unsympathetic. As [for] guards being sent to defend the salt works under your care, there does not appear to be any propriety in it -- these works have been greatly long in hand, and been altogether fruitless. This greatly discourages the Council from pursuing the business any further until they are satisfied that there is a reasonable prospect of something effectual being done. The Council would send no additional money until "they are satisfied of the propriety of the disposal of that already issued for that purpose. You are hereby directed to lay your accounts before the Council as soon as may be." Davison was sent back to the salt works in May 1778, and it appears that 20 bushels of salt (a modest amount) were produced that month. The End of the Pennsylvania Salt Works After May, there is a gap in surviving documents until November 25, 1778. Savadge had left Toms River and was in Philadelphia. He offered a weak excuse for not providing the Council with the requested financial records of the salt works: They were sent by a man who said he lived between Reading and Lancaster… [He] promised to deliver them with his own hand to the President [Wharton]. I do not recollect his name but have a copy of the letter I wrote him to the President, which I believe will give his name. On December 7, Savadge wrote to see if the Council might again invest in the salt works or, alternatively, reimburse him for past outlays: If the Council should think proper to carry the works into execution, it will be necessary that a further sum should be granted for that purpose... the sum of five hundred pounds should be sufficient to complete the five pans and carry them on so far as to satisfy your Honor... If on the other hand, the Council should decline carrying on the works any further, I beg they would inform me with whom I settle my accounts. Savadge likely met with the Council. He was again asked for his books and his original contract with the State. Savadge apologized: “I must confess with shame that I have used [the Board] extremely ill by inadvertently imposing a falsehood, by saying I had a copy of articles from Mr. Biddle, I cannot but with the greatest shame account for [them].” Savadge was similarly unable to produce the contract to harvest wood from James Mott. He called on the Council to “appoint a committee of judicious men” to consider “my character, my conduct and my accounts, respecting the works." On December 12, Savadge wrote the Council yet again: I beg your pardon for interrupting you so often, but necessity has no law. I have family in town, and I have not one stick of wood for them to burn nor money to buy any; I have been for almost seven weeks waiting to know when I am able to settle the ration bill and sundry other matters... I beg to know when I am to settle for my family cannot be wanting the necessities of life. It is not clear if Savadge’s account were ever settled; he was dead within the year. On November 5, 1779, the Council issued its last order respecting the Pennsylvania Salt Works: Whereas the Salt works belonging to this State in the State of New Jersey have been attended with great expense and no advantage to the Public, and the manager [Thomas Savadge] being dead, Resolved--that the said works be sold at public vendue. A few days later, the Pennsylvania Packet advertised: “To be sold at public vendue, the salt works belonging to the State of Pennsylvania on Barnegat Bay… These works have been erected on an extensive plan, calculated to produce a great quantity of salt.” They were purchased by John Thompson of Burlington for £15,000, and produced some salt until they were destroyed by Loyalist raiders in March 1782. Some financial records of the Pennsylvania Salt Works survived. They list expenditures for land, equipment, foods, and labor. The records offer no evidence of incoming revenues from salt sales. There are at least two substantial accounting errors noted (credits to Daniel Wilson and James Randolph). The Jersey shore salt works did not bring great wealth to investors. The two large scale works, the Pennsylvania and Union salt works, were less productive than hoped, and then destroyed by the enemy. Smaller salt works were more successful, but many of these were also destroyed. With the entry of France into the war in 1778, the British naval blockade weakened and salt returned to American ports. Salt prices fell; only a few salt works outlasted the war. Related Historic Site : State Museum of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, PA) Sources : Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 237; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 5, p 763-4; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 6, pp. 16-8; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 6, p 236; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 6, p 398; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 6, p 417; Orders to James Davison, January 16, 1778, in Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 6, pp. 181-2, 186; Thomas Savadge to Vice President Bryan, Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 7, pp. 96-116; Thomas Savadge to PA Council of Safety, Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 7, pp. 96-116; Thomas Savadge to PA Council of Safety, Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 7, pp. 96-116; Pennsylvania Historical Society, Pennsylvania Salt Works Account Books; Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 237; Pennsylvania Council of Safety, Instructions in Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 237; Library Company, Minutes of the Pennsylvania Council of Safety, vol. 12, p160; Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg: Theo. Fenn, 1853) vol. 12, pp. 160; The concurrent sale of the Union and Pennsylvania Salt works is in Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 234 and 238; Charles Thomson purchase is discussed in Harry B. Weiss, The Revolutionary Saltworks of the New Jersey Coast (Trenton: Past Times Press, 1959) p 44. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Continental Army Draft in Monmouth County by Michael Adelberg Thirty Monmouth Countians were drafted into the Continental Army in May 1778. They arrived at Valley Forge just in time to march back into New Jersey for the Monmouth Campaign in June. - April 1778 - In early 1778, New Jersey was responsible for filling four regiments (about 2,400 men) for the Continental Army. Washington’s Army, following demoralizing defeats in Pennsylvania and the harrowing winter at Valley Forge, was vastly understrength and recruiting had slowed to a trickle. In February 1778, the Continental Congress, at the urging of Nathaniel Scudder (a newly-arrived delegate from Freehold) and a few others, admonished the states to fill their quotas “by a draft of the militia or any other way that shall be effectual.” George Washington underscored Congress’s resolution with direct appeals to several state governors. He wrote William Livingston of New Jersey about the need to meet the state’s quota via a strictly-enforced draft: The Government must have recourse to coercive measures; for if quotas cannot be had by voluntary enlistment and the powers of the Government are not adequate to drafting, there is an end to this contest and opposition becomes vain. Livingston supported the draft and, after some debate, the New Jersey Legislature acted accordingly. New Jersey Drafts Men into the Continental Army On April 3, 1778, New Jersey passed a law instituting a draft. Under the law, each militia company in the state would divide into 18-man classes (three such classes to a full-sized company), and each class would select one man for nine months service in Continental Army. The means of selection would be determined locally, but, as a last resort, would consist of drawing lots. The law included a $300 fine for any draftee who did not show up for service, but permitted draftees to find substitutes. The law was controversial and compliance was not uniform because it put military impressments into effect—a British practice that was loathed in the colonies prior to the war. To make the law more palatable and reduce the number of needed draftees, New Jersey reduced its Continental Army obligation to fill-out regiments from four to two. The two undersized Additional Regiments of the Continental Army created for the defense of New Jersey—under David Forman and Oliver Spencer—were also merged into the New Jersey Line to help fill the remaining regiments. The Draft in Monmouth County In Monmouth County, compliance with the draft was higher than in much of the state. The county had 26 militia companies , the majority of which were full-sized on paper, but turnout was spotty. If compliance was complete, the county would have raised about 60 men through the draft; instead, 30 draftees were raised from Monmouth County (another list records 24-men raised, but is presumed to be pre-final). While 30 men was only half of what the law called for, Monmouth’s draftees were more than one-fourth of all of the impressments from across the state. The list of Monmouth County draftees has survived. They ranged in age from 16-year old Bedford Boltenhouse and 17-year old William Tennent (presumably the son of the recently-deceased Presbyterian minister of the same name) to 40-year old George Smith. The majority of the recruits (19) were aged between 19 and 27. Two men, William Hall and William Starkey (from Middlesex County), served as substitutes for draftees. Draftees were officially raised on May 14 and given until June 2 to report for duty. Given that these men had to walk from Monmouth County to Valley Forge in that time, the window to report was quite narrow. Records are incomplete, but at least one Monmouth draftee did not arrive in camp until June 11. The men had little time to train; Washington’s Army left Valley Forge to pursue the British Army across New Jersey on June 19 and engaged the British at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28. With Wiliam Tennent as the notable exception, none of the draftees were from the families of leaders. No Formans, Scudders, Smocks, Motts, Holmes, Schenks, Andersons, etc., were among the draftees. Based on the review of tax lists, none of the draftees (except one discussed below) owned a significant estate. This in line with research from historian Mark Lender who demonstrated that, following an initial burst of patriotism in 1776, the rank & file of the Continental Army was comprised of poor people. Besides Tennent, the most noteworthy draftee was Josiah Halstead. A man of this name owned the leading tavern in Shrewsbury. Halstead hosted the township’s annual meeting and his tavern boarded military officers intermittently stationed in Shrewsbury. It would be extraordinary to draft a prominent tavern keeper. This raises a few possibilities: 1.) Halstead, a supporter of the Revolution, believed himself to be in danger in Shrewsbury and allowed himself to be drafted in order to gain relative safety with the Army; 2.) Halstead was drafted as a punishment from local militia officers, perhaps for not being sufficiently accommodating to the local war effort; 3.) Halstead had fallen into debt and military service kept his creditors at bay for nine months; 4.) a different man named Josiah Halstead was drafted (although county tax lists record only one man with this name). The relatively high turnout of Monmouth County draftees is an indicator of the county’s turnaround from a year earlier when the county’s civil government was non-existent and its militia was largely dysfunctional . Another reason for the high turnout may have been the growing understanding in May that the British Army would soon be leaving Philadelphia and marching across New Jersey—with a probable path through Monmouth County. The strength and competence of Washington’s Army would soon have direct bearing on the welfare of Monmouth County. The 1778 draft was greatly unpopular and New Jersey would never again use a draft to fill its Continental Army ranks. However, in 1781, Monmouth County was permitted to conduct a local draft to fill a regiment of State Troops (state-financed soldiers for the defense of the state) established to guard the Monmouth shoreline. That draft raised seventeen men—four of whom—Boltenhouse, Tennent, Smith, and John Robins—were among the Monmouth Countians drafted in 1778. Related Historic Site : Valley Forge National Historical Park Sources : Mark Lender, “The Enlisted Line: The Continental Soldiers of New Jersey”(Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, 1975) p 86; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #3628; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #7199; Mark Lender, “The Enlisted Line: The Continental Soldiers of New Jersey”(Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, 1975) pp. 87-9; Lender, Mark, “The Conscripted Line: The Draft in Revolutionary New Jersey,” New Jersey History, vol. 103 (1985), pp. 28-37; List of Recruits, New Jersey State Archives, Dept of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #2325-2330; List of Draftees, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #2328. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > William Marriner's Second Brooklyn Raid and Later Career by Michael Adelberg Daring privateer William Marriner captured Simon and Jacques Courtylou at Simon’s house in New Utrecht, Brooklyn. Marriner remained an active privateer for two more years after this capture. - November 1778 - In June 1778, William Marriner co-led a remarkable raid against Brooklyn. He and militia captain John Schenck led two boats that left Middletown Point (Matawan), rowed through the night, landed in Brooklyn, captured Loyalist prisoners, and returned to Middletown Point without the loss of a man. One observer called it “perhaps the most extraordinary circumstance which ever took place.” To New Jerseyans living along the Raritan Bayshore who had been victimized by Loyalist raids, Marriner was a hero. Two months later, Marriner and his business partner, Henry Remsen, received a Letter of Marque (more or less, a privateer license ) from the State of New Jersey. On August 18, the state licensed Marriner to attack and capture enemy ships in the sloop Enterprise , with 15 crew and an unstated number of “carriage guns” (very small cannon). But there is no record of Marriner immediately capturing enemy vessels. Marriner’s Later Actions On November 3, Marriner again raided Brooklyn. According to a report published in the New Jersey Gazette and Pennsylvania Evening Post , Marriner went to Brooklyn with a small raiding party that included seven Continental soldiers. He "landed at New Utrecht [Brooklyn] and brought off Simon [Simon Courtylou] and Jacques Courtylou, two famous Tories, and in specie and property to the amount of 5000 dollars." The prisoners were brought to New Brunswick. A Loyalist newspaper suggested that the Courtylou brothers were targeted because they had been "uncivil to some Whigs who were prisoners." A few weeks later, Marriner apparently attempted another raid. Courtland Skinner, the general commanding the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers wrote from Staten Island on December 4: "Marriner, who took Mr. Bache, is out on another escapade." The details of this action are unknown. With winter coming and prize money in his pocket, Marriner apparently purchased an inn near New Brunswick. He hosted an auction of Loyalist property there in February 1779. Marriner was inactive well into 1779. In July, however, rumors of him putting to sea began again. The Loyalist New York Gazette reported that "William Marriner, late a cordwainer & oyster fryer of this city" was expected to attack Staten Island or Brooklyn. Citizens were warned to be alert. It was noted Marriner was spotted in sixteen-foot boats “between Sandy Hook and the Narrows." Just two weeks later, the British issued a new rule that small boats nearing New York must first obtain a pass from "the commanding officer at an Out-Post" (of which there were six including Sandy Hook). It is possible that this regulation was calculated to curtail the stealthy Marriner from going to New York undetected. One of Marriner’s men, Benjamin Coddington of Middlesex County, recalled a successful privateer action that August. Coddington exaggerated some of the details, but described Marriner taking two vessels: In August 1779, I volunteered under Capt. Marraner [Marriner] to go privateering on an expedition which took two months; during my term under Capt Marraner we took a privateer brig belonging to the British carrying 16 guns & 24 swivels on her …. We took the brig by surprise in the night while the crew was asleep after we captured the brig and got her underway and went about ten miles. We run foul of a schooner with 60 to 70 refugees going to join the enemy, Capt Marraner and crew had nothing more than our gun boat; these two vessels was captured off Sandy Hook near the light house, we took the brig & schooner and about one hundred prisoners into Egg Harbour. Marriner took two more prizes six months later, in April 1780. The New Jersey Gazette reported: The privateer Black Snake was captured by the British, but Capt. [William] Marriner, with nine men, retook her. Capt. Marriner then took to sea in his prize, and captured the Morning Star, of 6 swivels and 33 men, after a sharp resistance, in which he lost three killed and five wounded; he carried both prizes into Egg Harbor. The prize vessels were sold at auction on May 16. Historian Richard Koke wrote that in July 1780 Marriner and Captain Thomas Clark of Middlesex County co-led a raid on Jamaica Bay. There, they were captured by the local Loyalist militia. Joseph Vanderveer of Middletown was with Marriner on this raid: I volunteered in a gunboat under Capt. William Marriner (in company of Capt. Alexander Dickey who commanded another boat) and was taken prisoner by the British on the fifth of August, and taken to N. York where I was confined until the latter part of December, when I was exchanged. Marriner was detained several months longer than Vanderveer before he was exchanged. He was paroled in early 1781, but did not return to New Jersey until October 1781. A celebration was held on his return to New Brunswick. He was not active after that. Marriner’s legacy would be continued by one of his men, Alexander Dickey, who took prizes in the Raritan Bay in 1782. And Marriner’s exploits were ultimately eclipsed by the dramatic exploits of Adam Hyler, who made numerous successful assaults on British shipping in Raritan and New York bays in 1781 and 1782. Related Historic Site : American War of Independence Privateer Museum (in progress) Sources : Privateer Bond, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, pp. 415-6; Richard J. Koke, "War, Profits, and Privateers Along the Jersey Coast," New York Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 41, 1957, p 295; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Evening Post, November 20, 1778; Courtland Skinner to Henry Clinton, William Clements Library, Henry Clinton Papers, vol. 47; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; New Jersey Gazette report in Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 79; Alfred Heston, South Jersey: A History 1664-1923 (Lewis Historical Publishing, 1923) p 226; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Joseph Vanderveer; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, p 358-9, 385; Richard J. Koke, "War, Profits, and Privateers Along the Jersey Coast," New York Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 41, 1957, p 295-6 note 30; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of Benjamin Coddington of Maryland, National Archives, p19. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Salt Works Begin on the Monmouth Shore by Michael Adelberg Sketch of a saltwork shows pools for trapping salt water and drying it to brine, and a boiling house for steaming water out of brine. Saltworks needed continual re-supplies of food and wood. - May 1776 - Salt was far more than a seasoning in 18th-century America. Foods, particularly meats, were salted and dried in order to preserve them. A winter-store of food was essential to surviving the long winter and large quantities of salt were essential to creating a winter-store. Soldiers, unable to produce their own food, were particularly dependent upon salt-dried food. Prior to the American Revolution, Americans imported nearly all of their salt from England. In early 1776, a British naval blockade choked off imported salt and Americans experienced a severe salt shortage. For example, in Philadelphia, the price of salt jumped from £2 to £7 a bushel as the boycott of British goods became complete. The Reverend Muhlenberg noted "the people push and jostle each other whenever there is a small quantity of salt to be found." In 1776, American leaders started actively promoting domestic salt making. The Continental Congress passed a resolve encouraging American salt production and one of its delegates authored a booklet on salt-making. Shallow bays, from which salt water could be trapped in drying pans at high tide, were ideal for salt-making. The Monmouth shore was dotted with such bays. On May 28, the New Jersey Provincial Congress passed an act to encourage salt production, putting "a bounty of 1/3 a dollar per bushel upon all such salt... manufactured within one year of the date hereof.” It also granted militia-service exemptions to salt work owners with "500 gallons of boiling vessels" or more. But it was neighboring Pennsylvania that was first to establish a large salt making project on the Jersey shore. Establishing the Pennsylvania Salt Works On May 31, the Pennsylvania Convention (its new legislature), considered a proposal from an entrepreneur, Thomas Savadge, to establish a large salt works on the Jersey shore. On June 12, the committee charged with considering the proposal reported favorably: The Committee appointed to take into consideration the proposals of Thomas Savadge regarding the making of salt, &c., reported that they had examined the plan of said Thomas Savadge for making annual on the sea-coast about sixty thousand bushels, and are of the opinion that the said works may be completed in a short time, at an expense to exceeding two thousand five hundred pounds. The committee recommended that the project go forward but noted that private investment would be needed to supplement any public investment. On July 19, the Pennsylvania Council of Safety provided Savadge with a L400 advance to begin work. Interestingly, Savadge was already in New Jersey, and he had already spent more than his advance on the purchase of land near Toms River. Historian Harry Weiss wrote that the Pennsylvania Salt Works were "located at Coates Point on the north bank of the Toms River about one-half mile from its junction with Barnegat Bay, and six hundred yards inland." Savadge proceeded to purchase the materials necessary to build a large salt works. He hired laborers and purchased supplies on credit with little regard for his limited funding. In October, he optimistically reported on his progress: “I have nearly completed a boiling house… two drying houses, [and] a mill for the pump." But he also reported a litany of problems that included a lack of funds, laborers leaving every second month for militia service, and the non-delivery of purchased boiling pans. Savadge also noted that the salt works were vulnerable to British attack. The Pennsylvania Council of Safety resolved to advance Savadge more funds and protect the salt works: That an officer and twenty-five men be sent to the Salt Works at Toms River as a guard, and twenty-five spare muskets and two howitzers, and sufficient amount of ammunition to defend in case of attack. The Council of Safety also wrote the Continental Congress to ask the government of New Jersey to help protect the Pennsylvania Salt Works. Dr. Samuel Bard’s and Other Monmouth County Salt Works By August, New Jersey was actively promoting its own salt works. The New Jersey Assembly rolled out a plan to support a salt works owned by Dr. Samuel Bard of Shrewsbury. Bard would receive a L500 loan "for the term of two years without interest." The legislature further agreed to buy all salt produced at $1 a bushel. And the legislature agreed that "if any of the works shall be destroyed by the enemy" the legislature would reimburse Bard for half of his losses. Finally, it offered ten militia exemptions for Bard’s laborers. The plan was approved on September 11. Later that month, the New Jersey Assembly considered the salt works project of William Parker (also of Shrewsbury) and his partners. They requested a loan from the state “on easy terms.” On October 5, the legislature passed "An Act to Encourage William Parker & Others to Erect Salt Works." Loan terms included a provision that the loan would convert to a grant if the salt works were producing three bushels of salt a day within 90 days, and 50% loan forgiveness if the salt works were destroyed by the enemy. Interestingly, Bard and Parker would flirt with disaffection throughout the war, and one of Parker’s partners, Richard Lippincott, would become one of New Jersey’s most notorious Loyalists. Over the next year, several other saltworks started along the present-day Monmouth and Ocean County shore. According to one study that attempted to locate them all, there were nine salt works in total: 1. the mouth of the Shrewsbury River (The River Works, likely owner Samuel Bard); 2. Shark River (name unknown, likely owner William Parker); 3. Brielle bank of the Manasquan River (Union Salt Works , co-owned by David Forman); 4. Squan Inlet (name and owner unknown); 5. Mosquito Cove, north of Toms River (Randolph's Works owned by James Randolph); 6. Toms River (Pennsylvania Salt Works managed by Thomas Savadge); 7. Forked River (name unknown, owned by Samuel Brown); 8. Waretown (name unknown, owned by Trevor Newland); and 9. Tuckerton (name and owner unknown). There were also ten other salt works south of Monmouth County along the New Jersey shore. The two largest salt works, the Pennsylvania Salt Works and the Union Salt Works, would be marred by scandal and destruction from Loyalist attacks. But a number of the smaller salt works steadily produced small quantities of salt. Related Historic Site : Historic Salt Park (Saltville, VA) Sources : Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 225-6; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Ledger, vol. 1, Jan. 1775-Nov. 1776; Peter Force, American Archives, v6: 856; K. Braddock-Rogers, "Salt Works of New Jersey during the American Revolution," Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 15 (December, 1938), p 586; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 4, p 771; Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Colony of Pennsylvania, 1767-1776 (Philadelphia: Henry Miller, 1776) p735, 739; Peter Force, American Archives, v1:1297; Library of Congress, J. Turner Coll., Folder - John Hart; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 2, 1776, p 3.; Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 235; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 5, p 55; Weiss cited in Thomas Foster, The Coastal War in Monmouth County, 1778-1782 (MA Thesis, U. of Pennsylvania, 1961), p13-14; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 419; Peter Force, American Archives, 4th series, vol. 3, pp. 182-183; Journals of the Continental Congress, p925-6 ( www.ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html ); Library of Congress, Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. 6, p 925; C.C. Smith, "Scarcity of Salt During the Revolutionary War", Proceedings of the Mass. Hist. Soc., 1856-7, vol. 15, p224; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 14, #23; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 11, 1776, p 8; Journals of the Legislative Council of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: State of New Jersey, 1776) p29-30; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 20, 1776, p 17 and September 27, p 23; The Library Company, Acts of the General Assembly of New Jersey, pp. 6-7, 47; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, November 22, 1776, p 42; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, p 173, 182-4; J. Reuben Clark, Emergency Legislation Passed Before December 1917 Dealing with the Control and Taking of Private Property for the Public Use and Benefit to which is Added a Reprint of Analagous Legislation Since 1775 (Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1918), p501-2; K. Braddock-Rogers, "Salt Works of New Jersey during the American Revolution," Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 15 (December, 1938), p 590. Harold Wilson, The Jersey Shore: A Social and Economic History of the Counties of Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, and Ocean (Lewis, 1953) vol. 1, p 171; K. Braddock-Rogers, "Salt Works of New Jersey during the American Revolution," Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 15 (December, 1938), pp. 586-7, 591; Journals of the Continental Congress, American Memory, Library of Congress, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/hlawquery.html ; Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 232. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Difficult Service of Forman's Flying Camp by Michael Adelberg British soldiers rowed ashore, assembled, and attacked the ill-prepared Continental Army in present-day Brooklyn. David Forman’s regiment saw limited action during the battle. - June 1776 - In June 1776, with momentum building for a declaration of independence and a massive British Army on its way, the Thirteen Colonies renewed their efforts to raise men for the Continental Army. Among other measures, on June 3, the New Jersey Provincial Congress passed an act to raise up to 3,300 “Flying Camp” to join the Continental Army. Flying Camp were like other Continental soldiers but, importantly, their enlistments would run for only five months—the expected length of time of the 1776 military campaign season. Raising Forman’s Regiment One Flying Camp regiment would be raised from Middlesex and Monmouth Counties--Nathaniel Heard of Woodbridge and David Forman of Freehold were charged with raising four companies each from their home counties. Recruiting began in May, prior to the passage of the act, and the regiment reached critical mass by mid-June. Thomas Henderson (a major in the newly-raised regiment) recalled that the first part of the Flying Camp left for “Long Island and joined General Washington's army” on June 14. (Brooklyn and Queens were discussed as part of Long Island in the 1700s.) A month later on July 15, as additional Monmouth County company raised from Upper Freehold left for New York. Forman’s recruits left Monmouth County at an inopportune time. As they left, a Loyalist insurrection bubbled up in Upper Freehold township. The departure of 200 supporters of the Revolution left the Monmouth militia weakened at its first moment of crisis. Noting the militia’s weakness, the New Jersey Provincial Congress resolved on July 2 that no additional Monmouth County militia would leave the county beyond Forman’s men: Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Congress, the Militia of Monmouth County ought, for the present, to remain in their own County, excepting such part thereof as by the late Ordinance of this Congress were required to form their proportion of the New-Jersey Brigade of three thousand three hundred men. Surviving documents do not reveal exactly when the full Middlesex-Monmouth regiment, now commanded by David Forman, its colonel, reached Long Island. However, one of the men, Isaac Vredenburgh, recalled their line of march and initial responsibilities upon reaching Brooklyn: His company was attached to the Regiment commanded by Col David Forman. A few days after the company marched to Elizabeth Town and from thence by Bergen Point & Staten Island, to Long Island [Brooklyn], and that they labored there and were engaged in constructing redoubts, and breastworks. Forman’s Regiment in the New York Campaign Forman’s regiment was assigned to a brigade commanded by General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island. Greene’s first order mentioning Forman’s regiment concerned gathering "slaw bunks [sick beds] from the different regiments” for Forman. Greene’s order continued “two companies that have been with Col. Forman's Regiment are exceedingly sick, great numbers taken down every day." Indeed, sickness would prove far more dangerous to Forman’s Flying Camp than British soldiers. Periodic muster rolls from Forman’s regiment show the impact of sickness on the regiment during its five months of service. July 1776 – 451 men (42 sick & present, 0 sick & home) September, 352 total (25 sick & present, 131 sick & home); October – 253 men (20 sick & present, 115 sick & home) By October, Forman’s regiment had lost roughly 40% of its men. While there were a few captures and deaths, sickness caused the large majority of losses. After the Continental Army’s disastrous first battle with the British in Brooklyn, the Continental Army began retreating across New York. With the Army in motion, desertions also became a problem. On September 9, Forman advertised a 40-shilling reward for the return of sixteen deserters. He re-advertised for their return in two New York newspapers again on September 28, suggesting little initial success in locating and capturing the deserters. Other men left the regiment for various reasons. Muster rolls record six men being furloughed home (presumably they would return). Forman furloughed himself in September, perhaps to search for the deserters. Other men were listed as “on command” – a catch-all term used for men on temporary assignments away from their company. Common reasons men were listed “on command” include service at a military hospital, gathering supplies for the Army, and recruiting. Combat deaths were a relatively small problem – there were only two combat deaths across the four Monmouth companies. Other documents provide glimpses into the ill-discipline of the rank and file. Orderly books from junior officers and sergeants in Forman’s regiment provide glimpses into the Army’s disorder: July 10: “The General doubts not the person that took and mutilated the statue in the Broadway last night was actuated by zeal in the public cause, yet it was so much the appearance of riot & want of order in the Army that he directs that in the future these things may be avoided by the soldiers & left to be executed by the proper authority.” July 13: [Soldiers] “instead of attending to their duty at the beating of a drum, continued along the banks of the North River, gazing at the ships”; July 17: “Complaints having been frequently made that the Sentries, especially those posted along the river, fire wantonly at boats and persons passing - officers are to be careful upon this head and acquaint Sentries that they are not to molest or upset the ferry boats”; August 3: Warning issued regarding "the foolish & wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing"; August 6: Men chastised for "bad behavior" towards locals "taking and destroying their things." The first time Forman’s regiment saw battle was at the Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn). Several of Forman’s men discussed it in their postwar veteran’s pension applications (written in the 1820s). Some anecdotes about the Battle of Long Island are offered below: David Baird recalled that he “marched to Flatbush where a battle was fought -- that he was not in the main battle, but was engaged in a skirmish with the British during the day, and made a narrow escape with his life, being shot at by a Hessian of whom some of his men killed afterwards, the bullet passing his temple but doing no serious harm." John Bruce recalled that he “was employed in making entrenchments and fortifications in Brooklyn, at which place they continued until a few days after the battle of Flatbush... Saw the engagement but was not in the battle." Isaac Childs recalled that he "was in the battle of Long Island when the British took it, and saved myself from being prisoner by swimming to the Yellow Mill." James Craig recalled that “when the British Army attacked the Americans at Long Island… were placed in a piece of woods that skirted the roads which the British Army had to come.” His friend, Jacob Pettenger, recalled that Craig “induced a fleeing soldier” to return and stay in formation. Samuel Mundy recalled the hurried retreat of Forman’s regiment after the battle: He recalled the regiment fleeing suddenly at 11 pm "leaving their tents standing.” After the Battle of Long Island, Washington’s Army, with Forman’s regiment in it, spent the fall retreating across New York and into New Jersey. Isaac Vrendenburgh recalled the regiment’s line of march: Remained in the New York a very short time when the whole army move towards Harlem, and from thence marched to Fort Washington and while there had several recontres with the enemy – Shortly after marched up to the White Plains, where the American forces were collected, and where he remained until the battle at that place occurred, in which he was engaged. After this affair, marched some distance further north and crossed the Hudson, and then marched down southerly through Haverstraw to Fort Lee, and from thence through Bergen County to Newark and Elizabethtown in Essex. With only a week remaining in their enlistment, on November 24, Forman was permitted to pull his regiment away from the Army and return to Monmouth County. This was done in order to suppress a burgeoning Loyalist insurrection. Samuel Mundy recalled: The Colonel of the regiment received orders to take his regiment to Perth Amboy & cross over into Monmouth County to disarm certain disaffected persons in that county - immediately after this service he was discharged with the rest by the Colonel, their term of service expired. Forman’s campaign against the Monmouth insurrectionaries is discussed in another article. Related Historic Site : Brooklyn Battlefield (Battle of Long Island, Brooklyn, NY) Sources : Anderson, John R. "Militia Law in Revolutionary New Jersey." Proceedings of the New Jersey historical Society, vols. LXXVI and LXXVII (July 1956 and January 1959), pp. 291, 293-4; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Henderson of New Jersey, www.fold3.com/image/#23877525 ; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009) pp. 550-1; Charles H. Lesser, The Sinews of Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976), pp. 26-34; New York Historical Society, Orderly Books Collection, Captain Henry Weatherhill, reel 3, #32 and American Book #32; Library of Congress, William Walton, Orderly Book; Nathanael Greene, The Papers of General Nathanael Greene (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina Press, 1976) vol. 1, pp. 270-1; Peter Kinnan, Orderly Book Kept by Peter Kinnan, pp. X, 19-56; New York Gazette & Weekly Mercury, September 9, 1776; David Forman returns, National Archives, Collection 881, R 640; New Jersey Provincial Congress, July 2, 17776, in Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1632, 1635; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Samuel Mundy of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#25890437 ; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, p 197; David Forman returns, National Archives, Revolutionary War Rolls, Coll. 69, p2, 5, 7, 11; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - David Baird; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p228; John Rees, Eyewitness to Battle: The Pension Depositions of Frederick Van Lew and Isaac Childs, Brigade Dispatch, vol 29, n 3, 1999, p 18-21; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Bruce of New York, www.fold3.com/image/#11713958 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Jacob Pettinerger of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 25952031. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Vigilante Acts of the Association for Retaliation by Michael Adelberg In 1781, from Independence Hall, the Continental Congress promised eye-for-an-eye retaliation for each abuse against an American. In Monmouth County, vigilante Retaliators put this into practice. - October 1781 - Prior articles discussed the establishment of the Association for Retaliation , the New Jersey Legislature’s investigation of them, and Retaliator inference in the October 1781 Monmouth County election. The violence and robbery against perceived enemies (often the kin of Loyalists still living in New Jersey) practiced by the Retaliators was scolded by New Jersey leaders. However, their tactic of eye-for-an-eye retaliation was supported, at times, by frustrated Continental leaders. The Continental Congress Endorses Retaliation In September 1781, Arthur Middleton, a South Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress, urged the body to support eye-for-an-eye retaliation. Americans were tired of “cruelties and devastations” from the enemy and they demanded “retaliation in kind.” The retaliation should be practiced upon “all British Officers and soldiers or others in their service now prisoners.” Unlike the extra-legal actions of the Retaliators, Middleton wanted retaliation to be supervised by Congress’s Board of War. Congress issued a manifesto on retaliation on October 1. That day, Congress took into “consideration the various scenes of barbarity” committed by “British arms ...burning our towns and villages, desolating our Country, and sporting with the lives of our captive citizens.” Congress therefore resolved that: The Commander in Chief, the commanding officers of separate Departments, cause exemplary retaliation to be executed on the enemy for all acts of cruelty committed by them against the citizens and inhabitants of these states. It further resolved: “That British officers now prisoners... shall answer with their lives for every further destruction by fire of any town or village within any one of the United States... put to instant death." Congress then issued a manifesto that: Resolved, and do hereby declare, that British officers now prisoners to American arms, or which hereafter may be made prisoner, shall answer with their lives for every further destruction by fire of any town or village within any one of the United States which shall be made by the enemy contrary to the laws of war observed among civilized nations; and the Department of War is hereby ordered to cause all the officers in the service of the King G. B. now in their custody to be duly secured, and on the first authentic notice of the burning of any town or village in any one of the U. States unauthorized by the laws of war, to cause such and so many of the said officers as they shall judge expedient to be put to instant death. Buoyed by Congress, Thomas Henderson, a Monmouth County delegate to the New Jersey Assembly and a Retaliator, introduced an "An Act to Procure Reparations to the Loyal Citizens of this State for Damages they may Sustain from Nocturnal Plunderers." The bill would have put a tax on disaffected citizens to pay for the “damages done to the well-affected.” But the bill violated the legal principle of double jeopardy by re-punishing those already punished. The bill failed to pass by a 10-19 vote. That December, Henderson wrote a report to the Continental Congress on the Associated Loyalists , calling them "a new fangled body of Executioners.” Henderson further wrote: These men, who have assumed the title about two years ago with the declared intention of distressing the Country have commissioned a body of ruffians for the express purpose of plundering and destroying the well-affected inhabitants and kidnapping the most active defenders of the Country... and of carrying them into the loathsome dungeons of New York where, deprived of the necessities of life, they linger out a few days of painful existence till nature, overpowered by hardships, at least finds its relief to its sufferings in death. Henderson noted that the Associated Loyalists were ungoverned by military convention, illegal, and motivated solely by revenge. The same accusations could be leveled at the Retaliators. Henderson instructed New Jersey’s delegates to "press Congress not to make any empty declarations of purposes never to be executed"—an apparent swipe at inaction following the October 1 manifesto. He called for eye-for-eye retaliation so that "the vengeance of an injured people may fall on British officers and others whose citizens whose credit and influence may induce the British Commander in Chief to the do justice." Henderson personally delivered the report to Philadelphia. The Journals of the Continental Congress , note the Congress considered Henderson’s report. On December 20, the Congress: "Resolved, that the Commander in Chief be directed to obtain the fullest information he can, respecting the powers and conduct of a set of men who style themselves the board of directors to the Associated Loyalists in New York, and report thereon to Congress." It is unclear if Congress acted beyond this request for further information. The Association for Retaliation as Active Vigilantes The Association for Retaliation required its members to keep the actions of the association a secret. Initially, the Retaliators maintained a low profile, perhaps due to repeated setbacks in the New Jersey Legislature. That changed on October 10, 1781, when a gang of Retaliators bullied voters and beat an election official at Monmouth County’s annual election. According to 83 petitioners, the Retaliators engaged in scandalous and violent conduct: At the late election, when a number of men (some in arms) appeared in a hostile manner, threatening all such persons at they called Tories and Traders, if they should vote; A writing was put up at the Court House to the same effect; several persons were inhumanly beaten, some of them after they had voted, and some of them drove away who were legally entitled to vote, and went away without voting, not thinking themselves safe, as they did not confine their abuse to people they judged disaffected, but beat and abused several… and at the close of the election, one of the inspectors was attacked going down the stairs, and most barbarously beaten. A full discussion of the tainted election of 1781 is in the prior article . As a secretive vigilante society, the full actions of the Retaliators are not recorded in any surviving document. We have only an incomplete picture of the group’s activity. Examples are below: Joseph Allen was a wealthy landholder from Dover Township who supported the Loyalist insurrection of 1776. He “was plundered by a scout of about 30 men commanded by Capt. [Reuben] Randolph, and [they] carried away clothing" in 1780. Then, he "was taken by a scout of about 20 men commanded by Capt. [Samuel] Bigelow and confined, from which he run away, soon after his house was plundered by said scout of a considerable amount of corn, cheese, butter & grain, and sundry household furniture, and oxen & cows." Allen was forced to flee; retaliation pushed him to become an active Associated Loyalist in 1781. On December 29, 1780, the New Jersey Legislative Council, read a petition from Daniel Van Mater of Monmouth County "setting forth that he has been cruelly and unjustly treated, by having his property clandestinely taken from him by a certain Captain [James] Green and others belonging to a celebrated number called and known by the name of Retaliators." The petition was referred to the Assembly without action. Other Retaliator actions include the murder of the Loyalist, Philip White; the plundering of Joseph Salter and Richard Hartshorne; the jailing and extortion of Peter Stout, and the beating of British sailors from the HMS Vixen. All are discussed in other articles. These and other incidents led the Loyalist New York Gazette to report on the "many daring acts…which have been perpetrated with impunity by a sett of vindictive rebels well known by the designation of Monmouth Retaliators." In September 1782, 24 Retaliator victims petitioned the New Jersey Legislature. The petitioners claimed they “have always contributed their proportion to the support of government, and are, at all times amenable to the law.” Despite this: Your petitioners have been in a wanton & cruel manner, spoiled of their property by order of a body of men, who title themselves ‘the Association for Retaliation’ - our doors have been forced open, our houses rifled of our beds & other furniture - our stock drove away, and our teams totally broke up. - we have been deprived of the means of tilling our land - and many of us, who lived in a degree of affluence, now find it difficult to procure sustenance for our families. The petitioners claimed the Retaliators were acting “in defiance of the law and good government.” The petitioners then discussed the imprisonment of John Taylor (a leader in the 1776 Middletown Loyalist insurrection ). Taylor was “confined in the common gaol, in the course of which time a court of Oyer & Terminer was sitting over his head” but he remained in jail without trial. The petitioners complained of inadequate legal protections and corrupt courts led by David Forman: Writs of habeus corpus have been disregarded by the Sheriff - in short, every attempt for relief by course of law has been of no effect, owing, as we firmly believe, to the prevailing influence of sd association; that the first judge of the court of common pleas, David Forman, esq., has been at the head of the sd association - a chairman of their committee and has signed divers orders whereby we have been plundered aforesaid. They concluded that “we have no form of tryal - if any crimes are laid to our charge, we have no chance of defending ourselves, nor any account of how our property, thus torn away, is disposed of.” The petitioners noted that prior petitions did not produce any check against the Retaliators, so they requested to be “heard in support of the facts alleged in their petition - that the protection of the laws may extend to them.” Petition signers included a number of pre-war gentry who were disaffected at one point or another during the war including: James Grover, Esek Hartshorne, John Hartshorne, Robert Hartshorne, Daniel Hendrickson (not the militia colonel), Joseph Salter, John Taylor, Edward Taylor, John Van Mater, and John Wardell. As noted by the petitioners, the Retaliators mixed vigilantism with lawful government activity. In February 1782, a public advertisement went up by “order” of the Retaliators. The advertisement called for a posse to form under the direction of Sheriff John Burrowes, Jr., to march after John Bacon, the infamous Pine Robber . Cornelius Suydam recalled a tour of duty for his militia company “in pursuit of the Tories to punish their villainies.” These are two examples of the intermingling of Retaliator activity with lawful government activity. The Retaliators and the Court Martial of Richard Lippincott In April 1782, a party of Associated Loyalists took Captain Joshua Huddy of Colts Neck to the Navesink Highlands and hanged him . Huddy’s corpse was left swinging with a note stating his murder was retaliation for the murder the Associated Loyalist, Philip White. George Washington threatened to hang a British officer in retaliation for Huddy’s hanging. Seeking to defuse the situation, the British Commander in Chief, Henry Clinton, charged Lippincott with murder and convened a court martial. Loyalists produced evidence to exonerate Lippincott, some of which discussed the murder of Loyalists in Monmouth County and abuses by the Retaliators. On April 27, the Board of Directors of the Associated Loyalists wrote Clinton complaining of: “A sett of vindictive rebels well known by the designation Monmouth Retaliators, who fired our party with an indignation only to be felt by men who have beheld many of their friends and neighbors butchered in cold blood.” The Loyslists concluded, “We thought it high time to convince the rebels we would no longer tamely submit to such glaring acts of barbarity.” On May 1, 1782, British Governor General James Robertson compiled accounts "detailing the murder of fifteen Loyalists from Monmouth County" by the "Retaliators of Monmouth" which he forwarded to General Washington. In May, Clinton was replaced by Guy Carleton as the British Commander in Chief. He drydocked the vigilante Associated Loyalists and wrote Washington that "the same spirit of revenge has mutually animated the people of New Jersey and the Refugees under our command, [both] are equally criminal and deserving of punishment." Governor William Livingston of New Jersey thanked Carleton for his "benevolent sentiments" but claimed there was not “a single instance in which the militia or any other citizens of this State have treated a prisoner with inhumanity, or contrary to the law of arms." Livingston did, however, pledge to suppress "all such acts of private passion and resentment." This may have been a tacit acknowledgement of Retaliator misdeeds. But Livingston did not move against the Retaliators. Loyalist attorney William Smith wrote in August that Carleton would be writing Livingston: It was a very good opportunity to complain of committees, and particularly of General Forman and the Sheriff of Monmouth County, and it would be a good service to get these promoters of Committees disgraced by the loss of their offices. Forman is an inferior court judge. Perspective Historian David Fowler wrote of the Retaliators, “there was nothing quite like it elsewhere in New Jersey.” Indeed, outside of the Carolinas there likely was not a vigilante group as prolific as Monmouth County’s Retaliators. But for all of their excesses, the Retaliators were tolerated by the New Jersey and Continental governments because the Retaliators supported the Revolution. The combat death of Nathaniel Scudder shows that Retaliator leaders fought and died fighting the enemy. Pragmatically speaking, the Continental and New Jersey governments did not want to lose the support of the Retaliators. War materials and troops were in short supply—to divert these scarce resources for a campaign against rogue allies was politically unwise and militarily risky. Related Historic Site : Independence Hall (Philadelphia) Appendix: Continental Congress Manifesto on Retaliation, October 1, 1781 “The United States in Congress assembled, taking into serious consideration the various scenes of barbarity by which the present war has from its beginning been characterized on the part of the British arms, in burning our towns and villages, desolating our Country, and sporting with the lives of our captive citizens... Resolved and hereby order that the Commander in Chief, the commanding officers of separate Departments, cause exemplary retaliation to be executed on the enemy for all acts of cruelty committed by them against the citizens and inhabitants of these states, And whereas it is essentially and particularly necessary that the barbarous and savage practice of destroying by fire the towns and villages of these United States... further Resolved, and do hereby declare, that British officers now prisoners to American arms shall answer with their lives for every further destruction by fire of any town or village within any one of the United States, to cause such and so many of the said officers as they shall judge expedient to be put to instant death. The Committee to whom were referred the several papers concerning retaliation delivered in their several reports. The Committee to whom was referred the several papers concerning retaliation recommend the following, Manifesto: The United States in Congress assembled, taking into serious consideration the various scenes of barbarity by which the present war has from its beginning been characterized on the part of the British arms, and the perseverance of British commanders in carrying into execution the sanguinary and vindictive denunciations of the Commissioners of their King by a redoubled licentiousness in burning our towns and villages, desolating our Country, and sporting with the lives of our captive citizens, notwithstanding the multiplied warnings and the humane example which have been placed before them, and judging it inconsistent with the dignity of the United States with the just expectations of the people thereof, and with the respect due to the benevolent rules by which civilized nations have tempered the severities and evils of war, any longer to suffer these rules to be outrageously violated with impunity, have: Resolved and hereby order that the Commander in Chief, the commanding officers of separate Departments, cause exemplary retaliation to be executed on the enemy for all acts of cruelty committed by them against the citizens and inhabitants of these states, And whereas it is essentially and particularly necessary that the barbarous and savage practice of destroying by fire the towns and villages of these United States, should be restrained fetal by means more immediately within our power than a specific retaliation on the towns and villages belonging to the enemy, and it is even more consonant to the spirit of justice and humanity that such as have made themselves instruments of these incendiary purposes should be objects of vengeance than the remote and unoffending inhabitants of all such towns and villages. The United States in Congress have further Resolved, and do hereby declare, that British officers now prisoners to American arms, or which hereafter may be made prisoner, shall answer with their lives for every further destruction by fire of any town or village within any one of the United States which shall be made by the enemy contrary to the laws of war observed among civilized nations; and the Department of War is hereby ordered to cause all the officers in the service of the King G. B. now in their custody to be duly secured, and on the first authentic notice of the burning of any town or village in any one of the U. States unauthorized by the laws of war, to cause such and so many of the said officers as they shall judge expedient to be put to instant death.” Sources : Journals of the Legislative Council of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: State of New Jersey, 1780) p49; Letters of Delegates to Congress: Volume 18 March 1, 1781 - August 31, 1781, p90, Arthur Middleton's Draft Resolves; Journals of the Continental Congress, p1029-30 ( www.ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html ); The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 3, 1781, p 22; Larry Gerlach, New Jersey in the American Revolution 1763-1783 A Documentary History (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1975) pp. 397-9. New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #10948 and 11036, and Collective Series, Revolutionary War, document #114; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, December 15, 1781, p 58; Journals of the Continental Congress, p1181-2 ( www.ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html ); The Royal Gazette is quoted in David Fowler, egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) p 199; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Cornelius Suydam of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 18861757; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; The advertisement is in Dennis Ryan, New Jersey in the American Revolution, 1763-1783: A Chronology (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1974) p 74; William Gordon, The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of Amerca, (New York, 1801) vol 3, p316-7; Petition, New Jersey State Archives, Collective Series, Revolutionary War documents, September 1782, #32; The statement from the Board of Associated Loyalists is printed in Howard Peckham, Sources of American Independence: Selected Manuscripts from the Collections of the William L. Clements Library (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978) pp. 610-2; Guy Carleton to George Washington, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, v105, reel 8, #209; James Robertson, The Twilight of British Rule in Revolutionary America: The New York Letter Book of General James Robertson, 1780-1783 (New York: New York State Historical Association, 1983) pp. 243-4; George Washington to William Livingston, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw240240)) ; Guy Carleton to William Livingston in Richard J. Koke, "War, Profits, and Privateers Along the Jersey Coast," New York Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 41, 1957, p 324-5; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, May 25 and 31, 1782, p 13-20; William Smith, Historical Memoirs of William Smith: From 26 August 1778 to 12 November 1783 (New York: Arno, 1971) p 598; Information on Joseph Allen is in Peter W. Coldham, comp., American Loyalist Claims (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1980), p 9. Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 11. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984) p 13. Rutgers University Library Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Application Claims, D96, AO 13/17, reel 5; Peter Stout, Affidavit, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #9154, 9177. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > State Troops Raised to Defend Monmouth County by Michael Adelberg Starting in June 1779, Asher Holmes commanded a regiment of 200 State Troops. He spent most of the next two years away from his home in Marlboro with his men on the county’s shores. - June 1779 - As noted in prior articles, a succession of Continental troops under Colonels Caleb North, Mordecai Gist, and Benjamin Ford were stationed in Monmouth County through the first half of 1779. They were sent in order to curb illegal trade and protect the county from Loyalist raiders , but, for the most part, they were not successful in either regard. A troop mutiny and massive raid against Middletown and Tinton Falls in April 1779 convinced George Washington to pull troops out of Monmouth County. In addition to troops’ lack of success, he worried that “active emissaries” of the British were “corrupting” his men while stationed in Monmouth County. On June 2, the New Jersey government moved to fill the gap by authorizing 1,000 State Troops to be raised to protect the New Jersey shore. State Troops were militiamen who volunteered for continuous service of six, nine, or twelve months during which they were paid by the state. This force would include a regiment in Monmouth County, to be raised and commanded by Colonel Asher Holmes. However, it would take weeks to recruit these men, much less arm and provision them. Before these men were raised, Loyalist raiders launched at least one more punishing raid. The New Jersey Legislature had authorized State Troops previously. In November 1776, it sought to raise three battalions of State Troops, including one from Monmouth County under Lt. Colonel Thomas Seabrook—but little came from this effort, as the county’s patriots were soon laid low by Loyalist insurrectionaries . Then, in September 1777, Joshua Huddy was authorized to raise an artillery company of State Troops. Huddy’s men fought at the Battles of Germantown and Monmouth , but were never numerous enough to provide meaningful protection to the county. Raising Monmouth County’s State Troops Three militiamen recalled volunteering for Holmes’ regiment in June 1779. James Bowne recalled enlisting on June 15 and serving for six months. During that time, "he was in a scrimmage [skirmish] when the 500 and the Tory Lieutenant Lawrence was wounded, of which wound he died." John Maxson recalled being stationed at Black Point (Rumson) and “the Gut” (the temporary channel of water separating Sandy Hook from the New Jersey mainland). William Van Pelt recalled enlisting in June 1779 and "his company took a prize, two horse load of contraband goods belonging to John Raltoone, near Spotswood, which were condemned, sold and divided among the company." On July 24, Colonel Holmes wrote Governor William Livingston to complain about being ordered to send his men outside the county. That letter has not survived, but the Governor’s response has: There is not a single post at which the State Regiment is placed but the inhabitants complain that they do not have their full complement and are constantly importuning me with their letters for more men; the truth is that there is not sufficient number of troops at any of them, nor can be got out of 1,000 men; and as I would do equal justice to all by having the Regiment apportioned to the danger & importance of their respective posts, I must in a great measure leave the matter to the commanding officer, who has direction of the whole. Livingston refused to rescind the order to send Monmouth men to Middlesex County, but did order militia from Hunterdon County into Monmouth to help: “I have herewith directed the Coll to send to Monmouth as many of the militia of his regiment as amount to the deficiency [of State Troops]." As noted in prior articles , most of these call-ups produced few men. Van Pelt recalled that he had to provide for himself while serving in the State Troops. He deposed that he "procured his own horse, saddle, bridle, carbine, pistols, holster, sword and other accoutrements” and was “allowed twenty shillings a month for his horse over and above the pay allowed to [other] soldiers.” The poor provisioning of Monmouth’s State Troops hurt their effectiveness. In August, Courtland Skinner, commanding New Jersey Loyalists on Staten Island, wrote of a skirmish with the Monmouth State Troops near Woodbridge. He reported “finding that they had no ammunition, they withdrew.” Holmes’ troops were apparently on their way to Elizabethtown to respond to an alarm. The Loyalist New York Gazette reported on August 16: "A party of rebel militia commanded by two Captains, in going from Monmouth County to Elizabethtown, to act as six months men, were fired upon near Woodbridge by a few people unknown, when the commanding officer was wounded in the thigh, and the rest put to rout, several of them being wounded." Skinner further noted that the skirmish occurred on August 10: “In less than 15 minutes, they [the Monmouth State Troops] were fired upon by about 20 men, a Captain and several others were wounded and nobody as yet can find out who fired on them." While Monmouth men occasionally served in Middlesex County, Middlesex County men frequently served in Monmouth County. A prior article documents that Middlesex men were sent into Monmouth County at least five times . Abraham Vreeland of Middlesex County, who joined the State Troops in 1779 and served through the end of the 1780, was based in Cheesequake, on the border of the two counties. His duty consisted of “guarding the lines, the frontier, from Sandy Hook to South Amboy.” He also recalled that he “was stationed at Monmouth Court House and served there as fifer to the said term one month.” As noted above by the men who served in Holmes’ State Troops, the Monmouth State Troops camped on the military frontier line (“the Gut” and Black Point) and engaged Loyalist raiders at least twice in 1779. While camped there, Major Patrick Ferguson, who had already led two large raids into Monmouth County (Little Egg Harbor/Osborn Island in October 1778 and Middletown/Tinton Falls in April 1779) proposed a 2,000-man raid into Monmouth County and neighboring areas. While this major raid did not occur, it proves that there was a high potential for a raid that would have overwhelmed the state troops. However, small raids into Monmouth County continued, as did calls for greater assistance. In December 1779, Governor Livingston wrote Nathaniel Scudder, Monmouth’s leading political figure , that the State Troops were the state’s tool for helping the county: A guard of two hundred men [State Troops] under Col. Holmes has been ordered for the defense of your county, which I hope will prevent the predatory visits of the British, and protect the patriotic borders from the freebooting Tories. The New Jersey Legislature reauthorized Holmes’ regiment of State Troops again in 1780 and 1781. State Troops continued to serve in Monmouth County into midyear 1782. While the State Troops lost more clashes than they won, they, unlike Continental units, were a consistent force that never mutinied or refused to engage the enemy. Related Historic Site : National Guard - Militia Museum of New Jersey Sources : Mark Lender, “The Enlisted Line: The Continental Soldiers of New Jersey”(Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, 1975) p 54; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Van Note of Ohio, W.22540; William S. Stryker, Officers and Men of New Jersey in the American Revolution (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co, 1967); National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Maxson; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - James Bowne; Courtland Skinner to Henry Clinton, William Clements Library, Henry Clinton Papers, vol. 64; New York Roay Gazette quoted in William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 406; William Livingston to Asher Holmes, Monmouth County Historical Association, Cherry Hall Papers, box 5, folder 9; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - William Van Pelt; Patrick Ferguson to Henry Clinton, Clements Library, U Michigan, Henry Clinton Papers, November 15, 1779; William Livingston to Nathaniel Scudder, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 279-80, 281 note. 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