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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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 for the Defense of Monmouth County by Michael Adelberg In May 1778, 74 men were recruited as State Troops for the defense of the Monmouth shoreline. 32 of these men were from Middlesex County, mostly from Perth and South Amboy. - May 1778 - The April 5, 1778 British-Loyalist raid of Manasquan, during which 140 men completely destroyed the salt works there, proved that the Monmouth County shore was easily penetrated by a mid-sized raiding party. David Forman’s undersized and scandal-plagued regiment of Continental soldiers were recently removed from the area; local militia, stationed at Tinton Falls and Toms River, were too weak and distantly-posted to effectively defend the county’s long coastline. The New Jersey government had previously allowed Monmouth County’s militia colonels to raise companies of State Troops for the county’s defense (including an “Artillery Company ” raised by Joshua Huddy in late 1777). State Troops were militiamen who volunteered for six, nine or twelve months of continuous service during which the state paid them as Continental soldiers. Unlike Continental soldiers, State Troops remained under the command of local militia officers for local defense. Following the April 5th raid, Monmouth County’s militia officers sought to raise two companies of State Troops. Recruiting occurred in May (with service to begin on June 1) amidst difficult circumstances. The imminent British withdrawal from Philadelphia would bring their army into New Jersey and preparing for that march was the top priority of the Continental and New Jersey governments. Defending the shore was not on the minds of state and national leaders. Further, Monmouth County had just sent thirty draftees into the Continental Army—men who would have been likely State Troop enlistees. A handful of surviving lists document the recruiting efforts. The most complete is the list compiled by Colonel Samuel Forman, commanding the militia from Upper Freehold, Dover and Stafford townships. Forman recruited 45 men in total. The majority were young, 27 recruits were under 25 years old, including three 16-year-olds. The oldest recruit was 47-year-old Alexander Stewart, an Irish immigrant. Interestingly, the majority of Forman’s recruits were not from the townships where he led the militia: 14 were from Monmouth County’s other townships (Freehold, Middletown and Shrewsbury) and 18 were from Middlesex County. Concurrently, Colonel Asher Holmes was raising men for the state troops. Holmes raised 29 men from May 14 – May 29. Thirteen recruits were from Freehold and Middletown townships (where commanded the militia), 14 were from Middlesex County (of which 9 were from South Amboy), one was from Shrewsbury Township, and one was from Salem County. As with Forman’s recruits, the majority of Holmes’s recruits were young men (18 or the 29 were younger than 25). An overlapping list shows 24 recruits being raised from captains who reported to Colonel Holmes—showing that Holmes delegated recruiting to several of his company captains. The remaining militia regiment, under Colonel Daniel Hendrickson of Shrewsbury Township, apparently did not raise men for the State Troops. This was likely because much of Shrewsbury was disaffected. In contrast to the four men raised from Shrewsbury Township, 32 of the 74 State Troop recruits were raised from Middlesex County, mostly from the port towns of South Amboy, Perth Amboy and New Brunswick. The British naval blockade likely depressed the economies in these towns; short term military service was likely attractive for underemployed sailors and teamsters in these towns. The most curious of the recruits was 25-year old Alexander Eastlick of Freehold. He enlisted on May 14 (the first day of recruiting) and then was listed as “absconded.” He likely collected a recruitment bounty and then went into hiding. Eastlick had been previously indicted for riot, suggesting volatile or even criminal behavior. However, by 1783 Eastlick had integrated back into the community—signing a petition urging the New Jersey Legislature to compensate citizens holding inflationary war-time currency. Another interesting recruit was David Hill of Middletown. He applied for a military pension after the war in which he described his service in the State Troops: "joined a company of state troops raised… for six months… duties were to guard the shores & frontier of Middletown from the depredations of the enemy who were continually landing on the shores in small parties for the purpose of foraging and plundering the inhabitants.” Hill had been "taken prisoner in the early part of the war [at the Battle of the Navesink ] and remained a prisoner until the month of May 1778, when he returned home." He apparently went right into the State Troops. Perhaps out of patriotism, but more likely because of the relative safety of living amongst a body of soldiers. Hill would rejoin the State Troops in 1779 and 1780. The specific service of these State Troops in 1778 is unknown because they were treated as part of the militia in the orders and reports of the senior officers. However, they were not ready to offer resistance when a Loyalist raiding party attacked Middletown Point on May 27. Related Historic Site : The Proprietary House Sources : List of Recruits, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #3634; Samuel Forman, New Jersey State Troops, National Archives, Collection 881, reel 593; Muster Roll, Asher Holmes, National Archives, Revolutionary War Rolls, New Jersey, folder 58, #137; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Daniel Hill of NY, www.fold3.com/image/#24262324 . 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 > First Skirmish at Sandy Hook by Michael Adelberg Caption: The HMS Asia was among the first British warships to anchor off Sandy Hook. A party of men from the ship were surprised and captured on the peninsula in April 1776. - April 1776 - On April 7, the British Navy disembarked and subsequently occupied the undefended Sandy Hook peninsula. In retrospect, it seems a grave oversight that Continental and New Jersey authorities had not sought to garrison the strategically important peninsula. Those same authorities quickly sought to lessen that error by harassing the British. With large British warships anchored toward the northern end of Sandy Hook, the British must have felt secure in their ownership of the Hook. An April 16 letter from New York’s Royal Governor William Tryon, now at Sandy Hook, suggested as much. But on April 23, a party of sailors from the Asia was attacked while inside the Sandy Hook lighthouse. A New Jersey militia detachment surprised the sailors and captured them. While one source suggests that the militia captured 35 men, that seems to be an exaggeration. A more sober narrative of the event published in the New York Journal numbered the British party at sixteen. A report published in the Pennsylvania Evening Post on April 27 was more complete: We hear from Sandy Hook that sixteen men from one of the ships of war, having landed there in order to get some water, had all got into the upper room of the Light House where they were carousing; when a party of the New Jersey militia surprised them, and taking away the lower part of the stairs, made all them prisoners, burnt their boat and filled up the well. A somewhat contrasting account of the attack was published in the Providence Gazette : On Tuesday last, a Party of our brave Rifle-Men surrounded and took 35 men belonging to the Asia Man of War, who had landed from a Boat near Sandy-Hook to take in Water; the Boat and Water-Casks were likewise secured. British accounts of the clash on Sandy Hook tell a different story. New York’s Royal Governor, William Tryon, living in exile on a British warship near Sandy Hook at the time, reported on “the Spirited behaviour of Captain [Hugh] Bromedge in the attack at the Watering place… when the Enemy treacherously fired upon the Seamen on Shore.” Tryon claimed that the rebels “secreted their loss” from the attack. “Twenty four men [were] killed and sixteen wounded” according an affidavit taken from “a countryman who was on the spot a few hours after the action.” These figures were almost certainly exaggerated. A Swedish officer, Hans Fredrick Wachmeister, serving aboard the Phoenix, recorded the attack on the British sailors and the efforts to relieve them, in his journal: “We sent our boats to assist the Asia 's watering boat, which the enemy with a swarm of boats, was attempting to attack, but which they ceased once we arrived." Captain George Vandeput of the Asia , probably embarrassed by the incident, provided only a minimal mention of the incident: "The rebels attacked our watering sloop." Wachmeister provided an additional detail on the attacking militia that would foreshadow the coming maritime warfare around Sandy Hook. He noted the militia attacked via oar-powered whaleboats: These boats are called whaleboats, are armed in the bow with a rather long gun of an inch and a half in caliber [swivel gun] and carry eight or ten men with muskets. They are rowed with ease, are built of good timber, but are not very strong. Whaleboats had been used by Lord Stirling during the capture of the Blue MountainValley three months earlier; they would remain the favorite vessel of sheltered-water privateers and local militia parties. The identity of the militia party that surprised the British sailors is unknown. However, there is no documentation that indicates that the Monmouth militia took this bold action. As noted elsewhere, the Monmouth militia, at this time, was largely dysfunctional due to disloyalty and many of its militia companies probably would have refused to instigate combat with the Royal Navy. It seems more likely that the militia involved were from Essex County. Four months earlier, Essex militia, in whale boats, had captured the British vessel, Blue Mountain Valley just south of Sandy Hook. The Essex militia had the whaleboats, experience, and bravado to land on Sandy Hook and capture the British sailors. The capture of the British party at the lighthouse embarrassed the British and this forced a reaction. Captain Hyde Parker of the frigate, Phoenix , on guard at Sandy Hook, immediately took steps to better protect Sandy Hook. This included permanently stationing an armed party in the light house. He reported to his superior, Vice Admiral to Molyneux Shuldham, on April 29, that he had "put the Light House in a state of defense." Parker’s defensive measures would soon be tested by a Continental Army attack on the lighthouse. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : Howard Peckham, The Toll of Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) p 16; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Evening Post; William James Morgan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969) vol. 4, p 1253; William James Morgan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969) vol. 4, pp. 1310-3; Providence Gazette, April 27, 1776; Gov. William Tryon to Vice Adm. Shuldham – Great Britain Public Record Office, Admiralty 1/484. Accessed via https://navydocs.org/ ; Gustav Johnson, "Two Swedes under the Union Jack," Swedish-American Historical Quarterly, vol. 7 (1956), pp. 100-1; William James Morgan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969) vol. 5, p 203.. 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 > Monmouth Militia Join Continental Army to Shadow British Retreat by Michael Adelberg The Monmouth Militia marched west to Princeton and then north into the rugged Sourland Hills to join the Continental Army in shadowing the British Army on its withdrawal from New Jersey. - June 1777 - Following defeats at Trenton (December 25, 1776) and Princeton (January 3, 1777), the British Army retreated across New Jersey into a small perimeter of encampments around Perth Amboy and New Brunswick. General William Howe, the British commander-in-chief in America, had always considered the stretch of British winter camps across New Jersey to be “too extensive.” He later claimed that he had moved across the state in order to provide cover to Loyalist insurrectionists in Monmouth County. When he retreated, the insurrections quickly collapsed . But even the small perimeter in New Jersey was too much to defend when the British decided to use their naval advantage to attack Philadelphia by sailing around New Jersey and take it from the south. By June 1777, Continental Army leaders knew the British were preparing to move, but did not know their destination. General John Sullivan, commanding troops closest to the British camps, worried about an overland march across New Jersey, writing George Washington: “Surmise probably they may turn off for Philadelphia.” Alarms went out across New Jersey for the county militias to muster and support the Continental Army in this moment of uncertainty and potential danger. The first time the British invaded New Jersey in November 1776, New Jersey’s county militias, pre-occupied by local unrest, were generally unresponsive to Continental calls for assistance. But in June 1777, the counties across northern New Jersey answered the call. This prompted Washington to write Sullivan on June 15: “I am happy to hear that the Militia join you in such numbers, and are in so good spirits.” Washington continued: In this situation, you will have it in your power to harass the rear and left flank of the Enemy, while we oppose them upon their Front and Right. If, notwithstanding this, they are determined to push forward, always cross them and keep upon their right Flank, by which means you will join this Army at pleasure. Washington knew his army—lacking arms and filled by untrained recruits—was too weak to attack the British. He concluded on June 17 that “an attack upon them [the British] wou’d not be warranted by a sufficient prospect of success; and might be attended with the most ruinous consequences.” Instead, Washington planned to keep the main body of the army a safe distance from the British and use the New Jersey militia to annoy the British: “I intend by light Bodies of militia, seconded and encouraged by a few Continental Troops, to harass and diminish their number by continual Skirmishes.” Washington gave orders to Sullivan to attach one thousand Continentals to the one thousand New Jersey militia assembled. Noting the fickleness of militia, Washington further instructed Sullivan: “As an encouragement to the Militia, let them know that whatever Baggage or Spoils of any kind they can take from the Enemy shall be appropriated to their Benefit.” Those same orders noted the recent arrival of “the Monmouth Militia” which would “go with the detachment.” On June 21, Sullivan’s command assembled in the Sourland Hills of Somerset County and marched east toward the enemy. Militiamen Report on the March to Shadow the British Retreat There is a disappointing lack of documentation on the Monmouth militia who joined Sullivan. No officer letters or muster rolls exist from this campaign. Newspaper and later accounts discuss “the militia” but make no particular mention of the Monmouth County participants. Fortunately, a dozen Monmouth militiamen reported on the campaign in their post-war veteran’s pension applications. These pension narratives reveal that the Monmouth militia was late arriving because it had to circle around the British. After mustering at Freehold, they had to march 25 miles west before turning and marching 22 miles north to the rendezvous point at Pluckemin. The circuitous march is mentioned in a few of the pension narratives but most explicitly laid out by John Hulsart of Freehold: “he marched from Freehold to Princeton through Amwell Township to Sourland Mountain to Pluckemin.” It does not appear that the Monmouth militia saw any considerable combat during the campaign. Only one pensioner mentions “skirmishing” during the operation and only one pensioner suggests close contact with the enemy (“pursuit” of a British party). One pensioner notes the Monmouth militia was split up during the march. “They divided and part under the command of Major Garrett Longstreet marched on the south side of the Raritan River to New Brunswick, which was just deserted by the British Army” while the rest of the militia stayed with the main body of men under Sullivan. There are no mentions of picking up British deserters, difficult encounters with locals, sickness or privations during the march—all of which are mentioned in pensioner narratives of other campaigns. From this, it can be inferred that Sullivan did not press the militia too hard and that the militia were welcomed as liberators as they went into formerly-British occupied territory. There is no count of how many Monmouth Countians marched from Freehold. However, militia participants were drawn from all of Monmouth County’s townships—Dover, Freehold, Middletown, Shrewsbury, Upper Freehold—except for secluded and sparsely-populated Stafford Township. Two militiamen recall volunteering for the campaign; one said he was “drafted.” It is likely that Monmouth’s three militia regiments were asked to turn out a quota of men—calling for volunteers but drafting men to reach their quota when necessary. Documentation does not indicate that David Forman’s Additional Regiment marched with the Monmouth militia, but it is possible that some did. Pensioners recalled being commanded by Brigadier General David Forman, Colonel Samuel Forman (of Upper Freehold), and Nathaniel Scudder of Freehold during the march. Scudder’s mention is curious. Scudder had last commanded Monmouth militia at the disastrous Battle of the Navesink . By June 1777, he was serving on the New Jersey Council of Safety and representing Monmouth County in the Legislative Council (the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature). By law, Scudder was not permitted to hold a militia commission and civil government position that took him out of the county. Scudder likely accompanied the militia without any formal authority. He may have continued to carry himself as a militia colonel and because he was friends with David Forman, there was no rebuke. The length of time the men claim to have been out for the campaign ranges from two weeks to two months. It is possible that the two months refers to the entirety of activity from first call-up in Monmouth County to the safe return home, while two weeks refers to the time spent directly under Sullivan. It is also possible that the two months is an embellished figure written by an older man with an incentive to aggrandize his service for posterity and to increase his chances of being awarded a pension. Weak documentation makes it hard to be more precise. There is more precise documentation on the route taken by the Monmouth militia while under Sullivan. Joseph Van Note recalled marching from Pluckemin and then shadowing the British through “Steele's Gap, New Brunswick, & Woodbridge” (28 miles). Several militiamen recalled being dismissed at Woodbridge, but two pensioners recalled being discharged at New Brunswick—this likely reflects the Monmouth men being split after leaving Sourland Mountain. By the time the Monmouth militia reached Woodbridge, the militiamen had come nearly full circle. The march from Woodbridge back to the muster point at Freehold was only 23 miles; this was a short walk home in comparison to the 75 miles already covered by the men. On top of this, some of the men faced long marches to and from the muster point at Freehold. William Williams of Dover Township, for example, marched an additional 36 miles from Toms River to Freehold at the start of the call-up and that many miles again at the end. While David Forman’s shortcomings were many, he successfully mustered and marched the Monmouth militia without incident at a time when the county still lacked a functioning civil government and large parts of the militia were dysfunctional . This was likely his most impressive moment as a military leader. Forman would again turn out the Monmouth militia in September 1777 and march them all the way to Germantown , Pennsylvania, but personal scandal and the problems caused by the uniforms of his men during that campaign would complicate his record. Related Historic Sites : Historical Society of Princeton Sources : George Washington to Major General John Sullivan, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 10, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000, pp. 45–46; George Washington to Major General Benedict Arnold, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 10, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000, pp. 58–61; George Washington to Major General John Sullivan, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 10, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000, pp. 64–65; George Washington from Major General John Sullivan, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 10, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000, pp. 78–79; Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw080245)) ; John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 8, p 279; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Joseph Vanderveer. Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of William McBride of NJ, National Archives, p3-4, 20-2; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, James Hendrickson of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#23341082 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - William Williams. National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Van Note of Ohio, S.2895; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Van Note of Ohio, S.1129 National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Kenneth Gordon of NY, www.fold3.com/image/#21884413 ; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of Benjamin Berry of VA, National Archives, p4-6; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application,Thomas Henderson of of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#23389962 ; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of William West of NJ, National Archives, p3; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John McBride of Middlesex Co, www.fold3.com/image/#26202857 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Daniel Dey of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#15489356 ; Contained in: National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Reid of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 14359840. 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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 > The Death of the Pine Robber, Jacob Fagan by Michael Adelberg The first Pine Robber gangs, including that of Jacob Fagan, laired in the marshes between Shrewsbury and Manasquan. Fagan was only an outlaw a few months when he was killed by militia. - September 1778 - The Pine Robbers were Loyalist outlaws who lived in the coastal marshes and interior pine forests of Monmouth, Burlington, and Gloucester counties. While many of these outlaws made a living primarily by acting as middlemen in the illegal trade between disaffected farmers and the British commissary at Sandy Hook, others engaged in multiple violent robberies and burglaries. A lot that has been written about the Pine Robbers is improbable and not supported by original documents. One account, for example, claims that Jacob Fagan’s Pine Robber gang had a sophisticated fortress-lair: Fagan's gang had a state-of-the-art hideout in the pine barrens. Trap doors hidden under leaves and branches in steep hillsides admitted the pine robbers into 30 foot tunnels. These ended in storerooms that were large enough to hold six men. Buried beneath their floors was thousands of dollars worth of patriot loot. Romantic depictions aside, living in swamps and subsisting off the occasional robberies of people who were, themselves, not wealthy, was a very difficult way to live. Fagan’s outlaw existence, which lasted only a few months, was not “state of the art.” Many Pine Robbers did not survive the war; of those who did, there is no reason to think they were anything other than poor at war’s end. Historian David Fowler, who wrote the defining work on the Pine Robbers, traces their origin to early 1777 when some of the defeated Upper Freehold Loyalist insurrectionists hid in the woods after their insurrection was toppled. A few of these men were captured and jailed . Others may have stayed in the woods. These men laid low and convinced themselves that the British would return as liberators. But when the British Army traversed Monmouth County and quit New Jersey in July, 1778, any flickering hopes of liberation were dashed. Now, these Loyalist recluses mixed with British Army deserters and pre-war ne’er do wells. They emerged in outlaw gangs that have been imprecisely labeled Wood Rangers, Tory Banditti, and especially, Pine Robbers. In June 1778, a dozen men received death sentences for treason, robbery, and burglary at Monmouth County’s Court of Oyer and Terminer —half were pardoned. Two of these Loyalists, William Dillon and Robert McMullan, either became Pine Robbers or consorted with them after their pardon. In August 1778, Major Richard Howell, from his camp at Black Point, wrote about marching after a Pine Robber gang to his south, but it is unclear if he ever did so. What is clear is that Pine Robbers gangs—swelled by deserters from the British Army—grew increasingly bold in summer 1778. The Rise of Jacob Fagan and Attempts Take Him Jacob Fagan was a criminal who was twice indicted for larceny before the war. In 1776, he stole a horse, and then joined the Continental Army some months later (perhaps in exchange for a pardon). Fagan did not serve long. On March 20, 1777, Jacob, his brother, Perrine Fagan, and a third deserter were “brot [sic] in” to the Continental Army camp with six other “Tories.” The men were likely hiding in the woods following the collapse of the Loyalist insurrections in January. The man who took them, Lewis Bestedo, was an ardent Whig who would capture another group of Tories-in-hiding two weeks later. Though returned to the Army or jailed, Fagan escaped. He likely lived as a vagrant or outlaw in Monmouth County’s swamps through the summer of 1777. With winter coming, Fagan joined the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers in November 1777. Fagan’s battalion of Loyalists was with the British Army during the march across New Jersey in June 1778. In the days before the Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778), Fagan and a few other Monmouth County Loyalists with the British Army, deserted and camped in the marshes a few miles inland from Shrewsbury. They became the core of the first notorious Pine Robber gang. Fagan and his gang must have been active robbers in summer 1778 based on the many steps taken to counter him. Daniel Dey of the Monmouth County militia recalled in his veterans' Pension Application: I volunteered for one month under Capt Walton at the time the British Army evacuated Philadelphia and marched through the State of New Jersey, was in the battle of Monmouth - was one week in the service under Col. [David] Forman hunting Tories through the pines, capturing more than 20 of them and fastened them together, two by two by the neck with a strong rope. William Lloyd also recalled going "in pursuit of the Refugees of the Pines” in 1778. He further recalled that “they broke into the house of a man I knew and killed the man and his wife." Jacobus Van Zandt of New York rode to Shrewsbury on July 16 to deliver pilots to the French fleet that was anchored off shore. He likely heard stories about Fagan’s gang and probably had to take precautions that made his trip unpleasant. He wrote: “I am much Fateagued and almost Burnt up with hot sand, in going through a Villanous Tory country.” On August 10, with Fagan’s infamy building, the New Jersey Legislative Council (the Upper House of the legislature) asked Governor William Livingston to "order out one class of militia from each of the counties of Burlington and Monmouth, to be stationed in Monmouth” to protect residents from “the disaffected persons skulking in the pines." Two weeks later, Major Richard Howell, stationed at Black Point with a small guard of Continental soldiers, attempted to infiltrate Fagan’s gang and then proposed to attack them: I sent out two men who pass for deserters to join the wood Tories, but could not join them, from their caution, having been deceived before. Since that measure was defeated, I now propose to go down by night & surround the swamp in which they are from, with this intelligence, and burn their cabins. However, there is no evidence that Howell went after Fagan. Fagan’s Most Notorious Incident and Death The primary documented incident involving Fagan was the robbery of the house of Captain Benjamin Dennis. Amelia Dennis, the 15-year-old daughter of Captain Dennis, later recalled Fagan and Stephen Emmons (who used the alias “Burke”) and two others coming to the family home near Manasquan. Dennis was a target because he was a strong supporter of the Revolution and because he was holding money from a sale of a captured Loyalist vessel. Captain Dennis was not home when the Pine Robbers approached, but his wife and daughter were. The first man to enter the house was a man named Smith, who, according to Amelia Dennis, was secretly an informer against Fagan. He warned Amelia to gather her father's valuables and flee into the woods. Amelia “hid a pocketbook containing eighty dollars in a bed-tick.” She and her little brother hid in the woods. Fagan and Emmons entered the house and became frustrated when they could not find any money. They found Rebecca Dennis, Amelia’s mother, and “took her to a young cedar-tree and suspended her to it by the neck with a bed cord” to force her to reveal the money's location. The potential hanging was disrupted by a passerby (John Holmes) who fled when the robbers descended on him. During the distraction, Mrs. Dennis freed herself and ran off. The robbers left with only a few household items. Afterward, Captain Dennis moved his family to the village of Shrewsbury for safety. According to Amelia Dennis, Smith informed Captain Dennis of Fagan's plan to return to the Dennis home in order to more thoroughly search for the hidden cash. The militia set up an ambush and fired upon both Fagan and Burke when they came, but the Pine Robbers escaped. However, Fagan was apparently wounded and his body was recovered a few days later in a swamp. Fagan's body was brought to Freehold where: The people assembled, disinterred the remains, and after heaping indignities upon it, enveloped it in a tarred cloth and suspended it in chains with iron bands around it, from a large chestnut tree, about a mile from the Court-house, on the road to Colt's Neck. There hung the corpse in mid-air, rocked to and fro by the winds, a horrible warning to his comrades. Amelia Dennis’ full account is an appendix to this article. Fagan’s death was reported in the New Jersey Gazette and Pennsylvania Evening Post . Jacob Fagan, the chief of a number of villains of Monmouth County, terror of travelers, was shot. Since which his body was gibbeted on the public highway in that County, to deter others from perpetrating like detestable crimes. The near-hanging of an innocent woman was an outrage that stirred the New Jersey Government. On September 30, the New Jersey Assembly, not knowing Fagan was already dead, concurred with a request from Governor Livingston: To issue proclamations offering such reward or rewards as his Excellency and the Privy Council shall deem proper for the apprehension of Jacob Fagan and Stephen Emmons, alias Burke, and certain other disaffected and disorderly persons in the County of Monmouth, who have for the time past committed, and still continue to commit, diverse felonies & depredations on the persons & property of the inhabitants thereof. The upper house of the legislature, the Council, recommended that Governor Livingston place bounties on the heads of: Jacob Fagan ($500), Stephen Emmons, alias Burke ($500), Samuel Wright of Shrewsbury, William Van Note, Jacob Van Note, Jonathan Burdge, and Elijah Groom ($100 each). The New Jersey Gazette published the Governor’s proclamation accordingly on October 7: Whereas it has been represented to me that a number of persons in the County of Monmouth, and particularly those herein mentioned, have committed diverse robberies, violences and depredations on the persons and the property of the inhabitants thereof, and in order to screen themselves from justice, secret themselves from justice in the said County: I have therefore thought proper, by and with the advice of the Council of this State, to issue this Proclamation, hereby promising rewards herein mentioned to any person or persons who shall apprehend and secure, in any gaol of this State, the following person or persons to wit: for JACOB FAGAN and STEPHEN EMMONS, alias BURKE, five hundred dollars each; and for SAMUEL WRIGHT, late of Shrewsbury, WILLIAM VAN NOTE, JACOB VAN NOTE, JONATHAN BURDGE and ELIJAH GROOM, one hundred dollars each. The militia had already killed Fagan—so, Dennis and the other militia were ineligible to collect on his bounty. In November, Dennis petitioned for the Jersey Assembly for the bounty anyway. Governor Livingston was sympathetic to Dennis and wrote a letter on his behalf. Livingston noted that he could not give Dennis the bounty, but urged the Assembly to "recompense [Dennis’ party] for their risque and trouble as may be suitable encouragement for others to undertake the like enterprises." On December 1, the Assembly voted to award Dennis £187 for his efforts—this amount was likely reimbursement for expenses related to mustering the militia to go after Fagan. The Council concurred on December 12, though it called the sum “a reward for taking Jacob Fagan” rather than reimbursement for expenses. This was less than the bounty on Fagan’s head, but still a significant sum. Fagan’s death was re-reported in the New Jersey Gazette on January 29, 1779, after three other members of his gang (including Stephen Emmons) were killed. The newspaper wrote: "the destruction of the British fleet could not diffuse more joy through the inhabitants of Monmouth County then has the above deaths of these three most egregious villains." The death of Emmons is the subject of another article . The death of the Pine Robbers was big news. It was reported as far away as Williamsburg, Virginia, where the Virginia Gazette reported on February 26: We hear from East Jersey that a desperate gang of murderers, chiefly refugees, deserters from New York, were lately brought to condign punishment in a most striking manner. For months past these miscreants had plundered Monmouth County with impunity, all means used to curb their excesses being eluded, by their vigilance and sudden retreat to the pine forests. At length, however, they were way layed by a party of armed men, who put the whole to death. However, other Pine Robber gangs led by Lewis Fenton, William Davenport, John Bacon and others would form and prove more destructive and durable than Fagan’s gang. The swamps of the Monmouth shore would remain, in the words of historian Donald Shomette, “lightly populated and altogether wild... the haunt of rowdies, smugglers, and highwaymen.” Pine Robbers would remain a significant problem for local governments and militia for the remainder of the war. Related Historic Site : Bear Swamp Natural Area Appendix: Amelia Dennis’ Account the Pine Robber Attack on Her Family One Monday in the autumn of 1778, Fagan, Burke [actually Stephen Emmons], and Smith came to the dwelling of Major Dennis, on the south side of the Manasquan River, four miles below what is now the Howell Mills, to rob it of some plunder captured from a British vessel. Fagan had formerly been a near neighbor. Smith, an honest citizen, who had joined the other two, the most notorious robbers of that time, for the purpose of betraying them, prevailed upon them to remain in their lurking place while he entered the house to ascertain if the way was clear. On entering he apprised Mrs. Dennis of her danger. Her daughter Amelia, a girl of fifteen, hid a pocketbook containing eighty dollars in a bed-tick, and with her little brother hastily retreated to a swamp near. She had scarcely left when they entered, searched the house and bed, but without success. After threatening Mrs. Dennis, and ascertaining she was unwilling to give information where the treasure was concealed, one of them proposed murdering her 'No!' replied his comrade, 'let the d—d rebel b—h live. The counsel of the first prevailed. They took her to a young cedar-tree and suspended her to it by the neck with a bed cord. In her struggles she got free and escaped. Amelia, observing them from her hiding place, just then descried John Holmes approaching in her father's wagon over a rise of ground two hundred yards distant, and ran toward him. The robbers fired at her; the ball whistled over her head and buried itself in an oak. Holmes abandoned the wagon and escaped to the woods. They then plundered the wagon and went off. The next day Major Dennis removed his family to Shrewsbury under the protection of the guard. Smith stole from his companions and informed Dennis they were coming the next evening to more thoroughly search his dwelling, and proposed that he and his comrades should be waylaid at a place agreed upon. On Wednesday evening the Major, with a party of militia, lay in ambush at the appointed spot. After a while Smith drove by in a wagon intended for the plunder, and Fagan and Burke came behind on foot. At a given signal from Smith, which was something said to the horses, the militia fired and the robbers disappeared. On Sunday, the people assembled, disinterred the remains, and after heaping indignities upon it, enveloped it in a tarred cloth and suspended it in chains with iron bands around it, from a large chestnut tree, about a mile from the Court-house, on the road to Colt's Neck. There hung the corpse in mid-air, rocked to and fro by the winds, a horrible warning to his comrades." Sources : Stephen Davidson, The Pine Barrens: Jacob Fagan's Gang, United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada, http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Trails/2012/Loyalist-Trails-2012.php?issue=201243 ; David Fowler, Egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987); Journal of Colonel Israel Shreve, Louisiana Technical University, Special Collections (excerpted by David Fowler); Muster Roll of 2 nd Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers, February 24, 1778, Library and Archives of Canada, Loyalist Muster Rolls, New Jersey Volunteers, vol. 1855, reel C3874; JohnJohn Raum, The History of New Jersey (Philadelphia: John Potter, 1872) v2,p72-4 Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p196-7; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Freehold, NJ: Moreau Brothers, 1887) p 36; Donald Shomette, Privateers of the Revolution: War on the New Jersey Coast (Shiffer: Atglen, PA, 2015); National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Daniel Dey of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#15489356 ; William Lloyd’s pension application contained in John C. Dann, The Revolution Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts of the War for Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980) pp 135-16; Jacobus Van Zandt to George Clinton, Clinton Papers 3: 560–6. Accessed via https://navydocs.org/ ; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 83-4; Richard Howell to William Maxwell, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress, Series 4, Reel 5; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 30, 1778, p 180-1; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 91-2; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Evening Post; Library of Congress, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; William Livingston to New Jersey Assembly, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, pp. 487-8; New Jersey Legislature notice, Monmouth County Historical Association, J. Amory Haskell Collection, folder 13, Document A; John C. Paterson, The Pine Robbers of Monmouth County, unpublished manuscript in the collection of the Monmouth County Historical Association, 1834, p 3; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 3, p 54; Virginia Gazette, February 26, 1779, 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 > Monmouth Whigs Form New Associations by Michael Adelberg The New Jersey Gazette was the state’s official newspaper. In 1782, the people of Upper Freehold used it to announce the founding of two associations focused on halting trade with the British. - August 1782 - We cannot fully understand the local political environment in Revolutionary Monmouth County because documents provide only limited glimpses into the activities and perspectives of ordinary citizens. What we do know, based on surviving documents, is that from 1780 through the end of the war, Monmouth County had two competing factions of leaders—a “Machiavellian” group led by David Forman was centered in Freehold and a “Due Process” group more or less led by Asher Holmes and James Mott was centered in Middletown. Apart from both, the shore townships had several disaffected local leaders . Leaders lined up popular support through voluntary associations. In 1780, Machiavellian Whigs embodied their supporters in the Association for Retaliation —a vigilante society that punished Loyalists and kin of Loyalists (often engaged in trading illegally with the British and Loyalists) with or without due process of the law. Due Process Whigs were more numerous but less united—they lacked a unifying association. Some joined the Monmouth County Whig Society in 1781. They focused on stopping illegal trade with the enemy (“London Trading ”) and protecting the value of currency. The anti-inflation mission made the Whig Society a creditor-focused association. Anti-London Trading Associations Form in August 1782 In summer 1782, discussions of peace and Loyalist re-integration in the air. A few Loyalists, such as Ezekiel Forman, had returned to New Jersey to settle accounts and plan for an eventual return . In this context, many of Monmouth County’s Due Process Whigs, particularly those in Upper Freehold Township, embodied themselves in new associations. On August 21, 1782, the New Jersey Gazette , printed the resolves of a new Whig association that first met at Allentown on July 29. John Imlay, an admiralty court judge, was its chair. Building on a prior crackdown against London Traders in late 1780, the association would combat London Trading and "bring exemplary justice to all who may be…in this pernicious traffic." Associators committed to "strengthen the hands of all officers, civil or military" in combating the illegal trade and "prevent persons passing through this state without passports." They would ostracize anyone engaged in illegal trade, and "treat as mean, false and designing" anyone who insinuated that illegal trade had an element of "good citizenship" (by bringing desired goods like tea and fabrics into the county). Imlay’s associators drew a difference between themselves and the Retaliators. Imlay’s association would "discountenance and oppose all acts of oppression and violence and whatever may be inconsistent with the peace and good order of the community." They established a committee to guide their activities consisting of John Imlay, Peter Imlay, Sr., and Peter Imlay, Jr.; Elisha Lawrence (the legislator); Colonel Daniel Hendrickson; Tax Collector Abraham Hendricks; Captain Peter Wikoff; Magistrate Gilbert Longstreet; and Benjamin Rogers. The founding document of the group is provided in the appendix of this article. At approximately the same time, a second association formed with the same stated mission as Imlay’s association—preventing illegal trade. On August 14, the New Jersey Gazette , printed an announcement from John Cox, the new Chairman of "the Association of Inhabitants of Allentown and Burlington for preventing illicit trade and intercourse with the Enemy." The association promised to: Attend particularly to the vigorous execution of the law against vagrant and idle persons, the Act to prevent illicit trade and intercourse with the enemy, and the law passed 10th Jan'y 1779 to prevent persons traveling through this state without a passport; and, in a word, use their every possible means in their power to effect the grand purpose of disappointing the Enemy in this, their last dastardly effort to corrupt and enslave the virtuous inhabitants of the independent States of America. The relationship between Cox’s Allentown-Burlington association and Imlay’s Allentown association is unknown. It is curious that Allentown’s residents would join two separate associations that formed at the same time for the same purpose. Perhaps this is merely a reflection of a local rivalry between the Imlay and Cox families. But the members of both associations likely viewed themselves as opponents of the Retaliators. Many of the leaders of Imlay’s and Cox’s associations signed petitions complaining of Retaliator conduct at one time or another. As such, by August 1782, Monmouth County had four associations committed to battling the London Trade. Three of those associations—the Whig Society and John Imlay’s and John Cox’s associations—were composed of Due Process Whigs committed to acting within the law. The fourth—the Retaliators—embraced vigilantism . But, interestingly, the appointment of Retaliator-leader David Forman as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in early 1782 gave the Retaliators an opportunity to punish their enemies through the courts . Shrewsbury Township, the most populous in the county, was not the center of any association, though some of its people joined the Whig Society, Imlay’s association, and the Retaliators. Parts of Shrewsbury were known to be disaffected and supportive of the London Trade—these men would not be welcome in an association committed to stamping-out the illegal trade. It is also possible that some Shrewsbury Whigs felt vulnerable to enemy capture and therefore were reluctant to join any Whig association that might draw the attention of the enemy. The success of these associations in curbing illegal trade or accomplishing any other goal is unclear. As late as November 1782, George Washington was writing colleagues about continued illegal trade in New Jersey. He called for London Trading to be made a capital offense. In one letter, he wrote: Every day's experience convinces me more and more of the truth of it, that nothing short of Laws making the supply of the enemy with provisions or stores, or holding any kind of illicit intercourse with them, Felony of Death, will check the evil so justly complained of. Washington was doubtful that his Army could prevent illegal trade. Detachments sent into Monmouth County in 1779 had failed miserably at preventing illegal trade. Washington worried that detaching men again “would so dissipate my force” and “would invite and be at the mercy of the enemy.” Instead, he advocated for the strict enforcement of anti-trading laws: “Rigid Laws, rigidly executed, are the only remedies that can be applied.” The Association to Oppose the Return of Tories In early 1783, hundreds of Monmouth Countians considered joining yet another association. 253 Monmouth Countians ultimately joined the "Association of Inhabitants for United Action Opposing the Return of Tories." The associators wrote: We think it the duty of everyone who wishes to perpetuate the inestimable blessings of independence to exert himself in order that the holders of Government and all civil and military offices be kept in the hands of such men as have been most instrumental in effecting the Glorious Revolution; and also by every means in his power to discountenance and treat with neglect all such persons who uniformly oppose the same. The association promised to enforce all existing laws that would permit the prosecution of Loyalists and seek new laws that would permanently banish Loyalists. By pledging to act within the boundaries of the law, the associators distanced themselves from the extralegal violence of the Retaliators. They further pledged: “We will prevent the return of every individual former inhabitant of this State who hath any time since the Revolution gone off and joined the British Army" and will always "cast and jealous and watchful eye" over the disaffected living in the county. The associators agreed to only vote for zealous Whigs. The association was signed by several leaders from Freehold and Middletown Township, including: David Forman (the former leader of the Retaliators, now a judge), merchant Samuel Forman, Captain Samuel Carhart, Judge John Anderson and Sheriff John Burrowes. Two of the most important Retaliators—Legislator Thomas Henderson and Captain Kenneth Hankinson (the new Retaliator Chairman)—did not join. Neither did the two highest ranking Due Process Whigs—Colonel Asher Holmes and Lt. Colonel John Smock. It is difficult to know how this association re-aligned or perhaps further split the pre-existing Machiavellian and Due Process Whig factions. The Monmouth County Association to Oppose the Return of Tories may have influenced activity in another county. The New Jersey newspaper, Political Intelligencer , in October 1783, printed a letter from Morristown about the establishment of an anti-Tory association similar in its charter to the one in Monmouth County. Regardless of the activities of the Monmouth and Morris County associations, some Loyalists were returning home . They are discussed in another article. Related Historic Site: Old Yellow Meeting House Appendix "Pursuant to a short notice by advertisement, a great number of the Whig inhabitants of the township of Upper Freehold in the county of Monmouth, met in Allentown—July 29, 1782. John Imlay was appointed Chairman, and the following association was entered into. We have therefore associated ourselves for the following purposes: 1st, We do hereby mutually pledge our faith and honour to support each other in endevouring to detect and bring to exemplary justice all who amy be in any wise concerned in this pernicious traffick, and use every lawful means to prevent and suppress it. 2nd, To which end we will, to the utmost of our power and influence, strengthen the hand of all officers, civil and military, in the discharge of their duty, and support the full and vigorous execution of the laws for preventing illicit trade, and to prevent persons passing through this State without proper passports. 3rd, We will avoid, as far as possible, all intercourse, communication and dealings with such as may be concerned with trading with the enemy, or who may be justly suspected of being so concerned. 4th, We will give every support and assistance in our power to those who shall exert themselves to detect and bring justice to those persons concerned, either directly or indirectly, in trading with the enemy; and treat as mean, false and designing, every insinuation that such endeavours are in the least degree inconsistent with honour and good citizenship, or that they are not highly becoming and praiseworthy. 5th, In prosecution of these objects we will at the same time discountenance and oppose all acts of oppression and violence, and whatever may be inconsistent with the peace and good order of the community, being determined not to resort to force, except when the same may be indispensably necessary. The meeting then went into the appointment of a committee for the purpose of carrying the objects of the association into the most effectual execution. The following gentlemen were elected, John Imlay, Esquire, Col. Elisha Lawrence, Mr. Gilbert Longstreet, Col. Daniel Hendrickson, Mr. Abraham Hendricks, Mr. Peter Imlay, Senior, Captain Peter Wikoff, Mr. Peter Imlay, Jr., Mr. Benjamin Rogers." Sources : Michael Adelberg, “The Transformation of Local Governance in Monmouth County, New Jersey during the War of the American Revolution,” Journal of the Early Republic , 2011; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, August 21, 1782, reel 1930; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, August 14, 1782, reel 1930; George Washington to Jonathan Trumball, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw250382)) ; Association to Oppose the Return of Tories, New York Public Library, New Jersey Collection, Folder: Monmouth County; New Jersey Political Intelligencer, October 28, 1783; Michael Adelberg, Biographical File, unpublished at the Monmouth County Historical Association. 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 Decision to Station Continental Troops in Monmouth County by Michael Adelberg Throughout 1778, Gov. William Livingston lobbied George Washington to camp Continental soldiers in Monmouth County, near Sandy Hook. In January 1779, Washington finally agreed to do it. - November 1778 - Three major raids against the New Jersey shoreline in 1778—the Manasquan salt work s in April, against Middletown Point in May, and against Little Egg Harbor and Osborn Island in October—demonstrated that local militia, though increasingly competent, were unable to protect the shoreline against large enemy attacks. On top of that, dozens of disaffected Monmouth County farmers continued to trade illegally with the British through Loyalist middlemen and internal Loyalist gangs. Loyalist partisans living on the shore, so-called Pine Robbers , made large parts of the shore unsafe for travelers and small militia parties. Following the transfer of David Forman’s Additional Regiment out of Monmouth County, stationing a regiment of Continental soldiers in Monmouth County was discussed frequently. Governor William Livingston first requested troops for Monmouth County in April, but George Washington was opposed. He wrote that a regiment of Continentals would “do rather more harm than good” by attracting a larger British raiding party and then not having the strength to resist it. A Continental regiment that would not withdraw when attacked by a larger party would risk the same fate as Pulaski’s Legion on Osborn Island (the slaughter of 50 men). In July 1778, immediately after the Battle of Monmouth , Washington dispatched Colonel Daniel Morgan’s regiment to shadow the British Army on its withdrawal to Sandy Hook but Morgan left the county within two weeks. After that, Washington committed a 30-man guard under Major Richard Howell to Shrewsbury, but Howell was there more to monitor the movements of the British fleet than to enhance the security of the area. In November 1778, a British fleet gathered at Sandy Hook. It would head to Georgia to begin the British invasion of the southern states. But its destination at the time was unknown. Washington was irritated by the irregularity of Howell’s reports and Howell’s guard was too weak to stand any kind of attack if the British should attack from Sandy Hook. This rekindled talk of sending troops into Monmouth County. The Decision to Send Troops into Monmouth County Nicholas Biddle, a commissary officer , wrote his superior, Moore Furman, on November 14 "that Col. Moylan's horse [Stephen Moylan] for present be sent to Monmouth - this I think will be some relief." The next day, Lord Stirling (General William Alexander) speculated about going to the shore, “I would willingly go into Monmouth County, and with Small Vessels out of the Inlets on that Coast, give him [Washington] Intelligence of everything that passes at Sandy Hook.” Stirling did not, however, go into Monmouth County; Moylan likely did not go into Monmouth County either. In December, rumors of an impending British attack on Monmouth County spread. This prompted Livingston to again write Washington to request troops. On December 15, the Governor wrote of the county militia: One of their militia battalions has gone through a severe course of duty, as to be almost worn out and dispirited. The other principally consist of disaffected persons and should not be depended upon. Perhaps about 400 Continental troops stationed in that County at Middletown Point, the other at Middletown and the third at Shrewsberry [sic] might be sufficient guard, & prevent that insufferable communication and traffic constantly carried on between New York & the first and last of the places mentioned. Washington turned away the request: “I have already distributed largely for the security of the State, and that the security of inhabitants has been a particular consideration, but it is impossible to include every place." He said that his troops were already spread thin and set up in winter quarters. He repeated his prior concern about unsupported Continental detachments being an attractive target for the British, "small and unsupported cantonments might become objects of the Enemy.” A month later, new intelligence circulated. The Pennsylvania Packet reported on December 19: "It is reported that the Britons and Tories intend shortly to make an excursion from New York to Shrewsberry.” Rather than send troops, local authorities were carting away endangered livestock: It has been deemed proper to be prepared, and with this view, we are told an order has been issued to drive off the cattle from the neighborhood where it is most probable the enemy may attempt to land. That same month, Livingston wrote Washington in greater detail about the problem posed by illegal trade from Monmouth County to New York: Considering the number of disaffected in the County of Monmouth, it will be difficult for the Loyal citizens of that county to oppose an enemy aided by the open junction or at least secret cooperation of the Tories... I should therefore think a few Continental troops might be posted in that County to great advantage, particularly to prevent trade with New York. Conrad Alexandre Gerard, the French Diplomat at Philadelphia, also wrote of the threat to Shrewsbury and an apparent strategy not to defend it: It is reported that English and Tories intend to make an excursion from New York into Shrewsbury. Although it is not thought the excursion will be dangerous, and a considerable portion of the American Army is currently in the State, and an order has been given to withdraw the battle from those environs where it is most probable the enemy will try to attack. For the third time, Governor Livingston asked Washington to station a regiment in Monmouth County. This time, Washington was sympathetic: I find every disposition not only to afford security to the people of Monmouth and to lessen the duty of their militia, but to prevent the illicit trade and correspondence complained of between the disaffected in that county and the city of New York. Nonetheless, Washington declined to send troops saying that he had none to spare. But he did make a request of Livingston: The distance of any Continental troops… obliges me to desire your Excellency to give orders to the militia in that County to remove the stock near the coast, and to have particular regard for the houses of the disaffected, who always have previous notice to the designs of the enemy and lay up stores of provisions that may be at hand when they [the British] make their descent. By doing this, they screen themselves from the charge of having voluntarily contributed. Washington was probably prompted by an anonymous letter in his possession about illegal trading through Shrewsbury. The letter claimed that "not less than one thousand sheep, five hundred hogs and eight hundred quarters or upwards of good beef, a large parcel of cheese, besides poultry" were all likely to end up in British hands. A major action against Shrewsbury did not occur in December 1778, but intelligence continued to reach Washington about the pervasive trade with the British. Finally, on January 8, 1779, Washington was persuaded to send troops into Monmouth County. He wrote Lord Stirling: I have received such repeated information of the trade that is carried on between Monmouth and New York… that I find it an absolute necessity of sending down a party to that quarter to put a stop to that intercourse. Be pleased therefore, to order about 250 men of the line under the command of a field officer... to go immediately upon that service. Howell’s small guard would return to Morristown. However, it apparently took a few weeks to identify the best regiment for the Monmouth assignment. It was not until January 30 that Washington wrote Livingston, "I had ordered a party under Colo. North into Monmouth County with a view of restraining the malpractices which prevailed there, the measure may lighten the service of the militia." Colonel Caleb North commanded a regiment of Pennsylvania Continentals that would soon arrive in Monmouth County. North’s men would be the first of three Continental regiments (including Mordecai Gist’s mixed command and Benjamin Ford’s Marylanders ) sent to northeastern Monmouth County in 1779. All three would struggle while stationed there. Related Historic Site : Liberty Hall Sources : Nicholas Biddle to Moore Furman in William Mauer, Dragoon Diary, The History of The Third Light Dragoons (Author House, 2005) p186; Clement Biddle to Moore Furman in C.F. Maurer, Dragoon Diary: The History of the Third Continental Light Dragoons (Bloomington, IN: Author House, 2005) note on p 184; Lord Stirling, Report, Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, v10-0437http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr13-0396; William Livingston to George Washington, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, pp. 512, 513-4; William Livingston to George Washington, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, p 510.Pennsylvania Packet, December 19, 1778; George Washington to William Livingston, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 13, p 404; Conrad Alexandre Gerard, Despatches and Instructions of Conrad Alexandre Gerard, 1778-1780, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1939) p 439; George Washington to William Livingston, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 13, pp. 379-80; Leonard Lundin, Cockpit of the Revolution (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950) p 408; George Washington to Lord Stirling, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 5, p 388. 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