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 Capture of the Outlaws John and Robert Smith by Michael Adelberg Out-of-state and British deserters committed various crimes against Monmouth County’s farm families as they sought to go to and from Sandy Hook throughout the Revolutionary War. - May 1780 - Prior articles have demonstrated the rise in violence and felonies during the Revolutionary War in Monmouth County. County courts of Oyer and Terminer were held in 1778 and 1779, resulting in several capital convictions. Pine Robber gangs committed numerous violent crimes along the shore and interior pinelands. Loyalist raiding parties conducted numerous “manstealings” —including more than a dozen militia officer kidnappings in the summer of 1780 alone. On top of all of this, small bands of British and Loyalist prison escapees and outlaws traversed Monmouth County on their way to and from British lines via Sandy Hook. This was known by state and local authorities. On January 20, 1779, the New Jersey Gazette published a notice about these roving men: It appears that a constant correspondence is kept up, and traffic carried on between the Refugees of New York and disaffected persons in this State and Pennsylvania, chiefly by way of Shrewsbury. Magistrates and other officers would do well to examine suspicious people traveling to and from that place. The Capture of John and Robert Smith On May 27, the Pennsylvania Gazette printed a brief account written from the jail in Philadelphia: John Smith and Robert Smith, charged with the murder of Mr. Boyd, a collector of the County of Chester, are taken and secured in the gaol of this city. The vigilance of the good people of Freehold in New Jersey on this occasion does them honor, and particularly the Sheriff of Monmouth County, David Forman, Esq., [cousin of Colonel David Forman] whose son, a youth of nineteen, after receiving the fire of Robert Smith, at twenty yards distance, took them both, and drove them before him to the guard. The Pennsylvania Evening Post further reported that "the two Smiths…were brought to this city. They were near Shrewsbury on their way to New York. They made their escape by force of arms from the party that first took them, but were afterwards both taken by a single man." On May 31, Colonel Samuel Forman, commanding the Upper Freehold militia, wrote an account of the same incident that was published in the New Jersey Gazette . He wrote that the family of Sheriff David Forman was at breakfast when: A soldier almost out of breath burst into the room, and stated that he and another soldier were conducting to the Court House, two men, taken up on suspicion at Colts Neck; they had knocked down his comrade, seized his musket and escaped. Sheriff Forman rode off for the courthouse to raise a posse while his seventeen-year-old son, Tunis Forman, loaded a musket with bird shot. Tunis was not with his father when "he discovered the men sitting on a fence, who, on perceiving him, ran into a swamp." Tunis pursued the men for a mile. Smith fired on Tunis but missed, then young Tunis Forman “compelled the men to throw down the musket by threatening them with death if he did not instantly comply.” Forman then “drove them to the court house, careful, however, to keep them far apart to prevent conversation." Sheriff David Forman and Tunis brought the men to Philadelphia on May 24, where they were handsomely rewarded. That day, the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, drew up an order, "in favor of David Forman, Esq., County of Monmouth… for the sum of £20,000, the reward offered by the Board for securing John Smith and Robert Smith." There are two additional accounts of the capture of John and Robert Smith from the early 1800s. Samuel Forman (not the militia Colonel, but a cousin of Tunis Forman) wrote a memoir that included a mention of the capture: A cousin of his, Tunis Forman, about seventeen years of age, met two robbers; after one fired at him and missed, he, getting advantage of them in the adjustment of his gun, forced them to throw down their weapons, when he marched them several miles, and lodged them in jail at Freehold; for this brave act, young Forman received a large reward. In his postwar veteran’s pension application, John Staatesor, a private in the State Troops in May 1780, recalled capturing John and Robert Smith while serving as a sentry at the Colts Neck farm of Captain Jacob Fleming. He found the outlaws on the road and asked them for papers or the countersign. When they produced neither; he arrested them and took them to Fleming's farm. The Smiths were unarmed but carrying bridles in their packs (suggesting they were planning to steal horses). Staatesor was ordered to take them to the county jail at Freehold. However, the next day, while being walked to Freehold, the Smiths escaped their two guards. That is when the Forman family was alerted, leading to Tunis Forman’s remarkable capture of the two outlaws. Other Out-of-County Outlaws The capture of John and Robert Smith is the best-documented incident of Monmouth Countians capturing roving outlaws heading to New York, but it certainly was not the only such incident. Historians Harry Ward and David Fowler both noted a connection between Upper Freehold Loyalist partisans, John Woodward and Samuel Woodward, and the notorious Doane Gang of Pennsylvania. They collaborated in robbing John Hart, the Burlington County Collector in October 1781, taking £2,000 in currency. Elizabeth Woodward sheltered members of the gang. Burlington County court papers read, “The jurors here conclude that Elizabeth Woodward… did conceal Moses Doane, Nathan Tomlinson and divers others" while they were armed with "guns & pistols and other weapons" despite knowing them to be "notorious thieves and robbers." The Pine Robber , Lewis Fenton, on the day after the Battle of Monmouth, sought to rob the Cooper family south of Freehold only to be chased off by a band of German soldiers, deserted from the British Army, who may have had more ambitious larceny in mind. Later in the war, Lt. Colonel Klein, a German officer who deserted the British for the Continental Army, was arrested in Monmouth County while attempting to illegally go to New York. African Americans were also lured to Sandy Hook by British promises of freedom . One example was documented in the New Jersey Gazette , which advertised: "taken up at Toms River on July 20th [1779] a Negro man who called himself John Thomas, but made his escape." Over the course of the war, there are more than a dozen documented cases of military officers picking up deserters from British ships at Sandy Hook. The first deserter was taken in Monmouth County on May 14, 1776, three weeks before the Declaration of Independence was signed. As the British Army traversed Monmouth County during the Battle of Monmouth campaign, hundreds of deserters wandered parts of the county. No doubt, they committed many petty crimes on their way toward eventually surrendering. British navy deserters came over from Sandy Hook throughout the war. Loyalists from as far away as South Carolina came through the county on their way into British lines. Colonel Lewis Nicola recorded taking up deserters from the Hunter , a guard ship at Sandy Hook: five on June 14, 1779, six more on August 12, three more on September 10, and seven more on January 12, 1780. On April 5, 1779, Continental Army Captain Walter Finney reported chasing a Loyalist party near Shrewsbury. The Loyalists eluded Finney’s troops but Finney’s men took others: The whole detachment set out in quest of them [Loyalist raiders], missed the main object, but in our route took two negroes and one deserter and two suspected persons, put the whole, with one other deserter, into one room--the two most noted villains in irons. Deserters were not always trouble, some attempted to integrate into civilian life. A British navy deserter, Charles Jackson, settled at “Clamtown” just south of Monmouth County. He served faithfully in the local militia, even battling a British raiding party at “the Battle of Little Egg Harbor ” and serving on the privateer, Two Sisters . Other deserters were apparently living at Freehold in early 1780; Loyalist William Smith, on February 21, recorded that British offers of amnesty to German deserters who "have got into rebel lines at Freehold." But the experience with Peter Berry may have been more typical. Berry deserted from the British Army during the Battle of Monmouth Campaign and settled at Allentown where he was employed as a tailor under an indenture. On September 10, William Lloyd, the township constable, advertised him as “absconded”—Berry had broken the indenture that bound him to Allentown. Deserters were still being picked up by militia late in 1782. John Little, a Justice of the Peace for Shrewsbury Township, recorded receiving seven deserters on October 15, another deserter on November 16, and one more on December 21, 1782. More than once, British prisoners who escaped from inland prisons traveled across Monmouth County on their way to Sandy Hook. David Brearley wrote on September 1, 1779, that: "A few days ago, three British soldiers were apprehended making their way through the pines to the Monmouth seashore, in order to get to New York." On examination, the men were found to have walked all the way from the jail in Frederick, Maryland (which had housed fifty Monmouth Loyalists two years earlier). Armed robberies in Upper Freehold Township continued into 1780. On May 31, the New Jersey Gazette reported: A number of armed villains supposed to be about twelve broke open the house of Mr. John Holmes of Upper Freehold in Monmouth County, and robbed him of 400 or 500 Pounds Continental money, a silver watch, a gold ring, silver buckles, a fire lock, a pair of pistols, clothing, provisions and ammunition. Upper Freehold Township remained unsafe into summer 1782. On June 18, New Jersey’s Upper House (the Legislative Council) recorded receiving: Affidavit from Abraham Hendricks, Collector of the Township of Upper Freehold, proving robbery having been committed on his house on the evening of June 12th last by a number of armed men, who robbed the house of cash and effects to considerable value… Robbed by a number of persons unknown, armed and associated into a party, two of whom entered the said house with muskets, and putting the family in fear, robbed said Hendricks of considerable sums of money and effects. Two months later, the New Jersey Gazette published an announcement from John Cox of Upper Freehold, Chairman of an association of citizens living from Allentown and Burlington. He called on local magistrates and militia officers: 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. By war’s end, there was at least one robber gang that combined Pennsylvania and Monmouth County Loyalists. On August 6, 1782, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Executive Council recorded interrogating two robbers, Jesse Vickers and Solomon Vickers. The Council learned that “it appears probable that Caleb Paul [of Pennsylvania] is now confined in gaol in the County of Monmouth, under some other name.” It also warned the New Jersey Government that two members of the Woodward family were robbing with the Vickers family in Bucks County Pennsylvania: Ordered, that a communication be made to Governor [William] Livingston, with a request that he may be delivered to this state, and also inform Governor Livingston that two men named Woodward, who lived near Crosswicks, have been concerned in robbing the Treasurer of the County of Bucks. The same gang of robbers—the Vickers brothers, two members of Upper Freehold’s Woodward family , and perhaps a few others—killed a militia sentry, Richard Wilgus, near Allentown, before heading west to Bucks County. The New Jersey Gazette reported: One Richard Wilgus, with several others were watching the road below Allentown in order to detect person with contraband goods, were attacked by a number of armed men, when the said Wilgus fell sacrifice to their cruelty; he was shot through the bowels and in one of his arms, of which he is since dead. Monmouth Countians seeking to live normal lives faced many dangers during the American Revolution—including militia service and clashes with various Loyalist enemies. These included military clashes and Loyalist raids. All of these dangers and disruptions were considerable—but so was the increase in violent crime related to external outlaws coming through the county on their way to or from British lines. Related Historic Site : Covenhoven House Sources : Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p 387; The New Jersey Gazette notice is printed in William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 136; Pennsylvania Archives, Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council,1859, v 12, p396; Library of Congress, Early American Newspapers, Pennsylvania Evening Post; Pennsylvania Gazette, May 31, 1780 (CD-ROM at the David Library, #28071); Samuel Forman, Narrative of a Journey down the Ohio and Mississippi, (reprint) Wentworth Press, 2016, p6; Samuel Forman’s account, published in the New Jersey Gazette, and reprinted in William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 129-30; Chester County Historical Society, Diary of Walter Finney; Pennsylvania Gazette, September 19, 1778 (CD-ROM at the David Library, #25766); New Jersey Archives, (Call Printing: Paterson, NJ, 1903) vol. 2, p 438; National Archives, Charles Jackson, R.5513, State Ohio, Ross County; Continental Congress accounts, Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 6, p1667; Records of John Little, Justice of the Peace, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Gloucester County Docket Book, coll. 860; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; William Smith, Historical Memoirs of William Smith: From 26 August 1778 to 12 November 1783 (New York: Arno, 1971) p 234; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Notice from David Brearley in Pennsylvania Archives, Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1859, p285; Papers Relating to the War of the Revolution, v3, p285; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 222-3; The robbery of John Holmes is in William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 137; William Nelson, Austin Scott, et al., ed., New Jersey Archives (Newark, Trenton, Somerville, 1901-1917) vol. 4, p 401; Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (New Jersey Archives, 3d ser., Trenton, 1974), vol. 5, p 458; Records of Lewis Nicola, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 187, item 169, #35, 116, 136, 191; Information on the Doane Gang is in Harry Ward, Between the Lines, 120, 130-3; Pennsylvania Archives, Minutes of the Supreme Executive, v 13, p344; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, August 7, 1782, reel 1930. . 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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 > Loyalist Raiding Party Murders John Russell by Michael Adelberg Long Branch was within easy reach of Loyalist raiders at Sandy Hook. One party, lured by a nearby privateer, landed at the house of John Russell and killed him. The party’s leader was also killed. - March 1780 - Prior articles discussed that Loyalist raids increased in number and ferocity in 1779 and 1780 as irregulars (non-soldiers) started raiding Monmouth County with impunity. These raids were ungoverned by officers and lacked military objective—the common end-result were “man-stealings ” of particular Whigs, often to settle an old score. The raiders were financed by the plunder they carried off, creating a cohort of raiders who were financially dependent on raiding. The Attack on John Russell’s House The first well-documented raid of this type was the March 30, 1780, attack on the house of John Russell, Sr., of Long Branch. The New Jersey Gazette reported that on March 30: A party of Negroes and Refugees from the Hook landed at Shrewsbury in order to plunder. During the excursion, a Mr. Russell, who attempted to make some resistance, was killed and his grandchild has five balls shot through him, but is yet living. Mr. Russell, however, previous to his death, shot one of the ring leaders. Capt. Warner of the privateer brig Elizabeth was made prisoner by these ruffians, but got released by them two half-Joes. This banditti also took off several persons, among whom were Capt. James Green and Ensign John Morris of the militia. John Russell, Jr., later recalled the attack on his family. Parts of his account differ from the newspaper account: His father persuaded him not to fire, but did so when they broke into the house. When they broke into the house, the father fired first, but missed his aim; he was fired upon and then was killed. John Russell then fired upon the man [William Gillian] who shot his father. During the fray, young Russell was shot in the side, after being wounded he fell on the floor and pretended to be dead. The refugees went to plundering the house. The mother and wife of John Russell were lying in the bed with a child; the child was awoke... a refugee pointed his gun and fired. Whether he really intended to wound the child or only frighten is uncertain, but the child as before stated, was badly wounded but recovered. As the refugees were preparing to leave, one of the number [John Farnham] pointed his musket at John Russell as he lay on the floor and was about firing, saying he did not believe he was dead yet, whereupon another [Richard Lippincott] knocked up his musket, saying it was a shame to fire upon a dying man. John Russell ominously noted that he later "aided in visiting merited retribution on the refugees for their doings." This is a reference to Russelll’s participation in the murder of Philip White (who was captured at Long Branch in March 1782). White was a member of the party that killed his father. Antiquarian sources add details to the narrative: a party of seven Loyalists entered the home of John Russell. John Russell, Sr., shot at them but missed. The party’s leader, William Gillian, retaliated by shooting and killing John Sr. at close range. John Russell, Jr., was also shot and survived by feigning death. John Russell, III, a boy, was shot while in bed. The Loyalist party reportedly included Richard Lippincott (who would become infamous for hanging Captain Joshua Huddy two years later). Lippincott restrained another Loyalist, John Farnham, from murdering John Rusell, Jr. Sources disagree on some details, particularly with respect to when William Gillian, the Loyalist leader, was shot. One source claimed that Gillian, "when about to stab an aged Whig by the name of Russell, into whose house he had broken, he was shot by Russell's son, who lay wounded on the floor." If Russell, Jr. had shot Gillian, then Farnham’s desire to kill Russell, Jr., is explainable. The postwar veteran’s pension application of William Talman corroborates Gillian’s death, but suggests Gillian was killed in a skirmish with Shrewsbury militia after leaving Russell’s house. Talman wrote of skirmishing with the Loyalists after the Russell house attack. They skirmished with "Bill Galleon [William Gillian], a Captain of the Refugees. whom they killed at John Russell's in Shrewsbury near Long Branch." Why was the Russell family targeted? John Russell, Sr., was an ascending member of the Christ Church in Shrewsbury—being first named to the vestry in 1778. That congregation went from Loyalist-led to Whig-led by 1778 and Russell certainly played a role in this transition. John Russell Jr. was also a militiaman in the part of the county where militia service, though officially mandatory, was not enforced. So, the Russells were likely disliked by local Loyalists. Important details on the Russell House raid are only hinted at in the sources above. It appears that the raiders were lured to Long Branch, and the Russell house in particular, by the presence of a privateer and its captain. It also appears that the Loyalist party battled with militia after leaving the Russell House—likely alerted by family members who escaped. The capture of two militia officers—including Captain James Green, the most active of Shrewsbury’s militia captains—was a significant blow to the Shrewsbury militia. It lacked active officers and was already missing several of its senior officers, captured nine months earlier at Tinton Falls . The raiders likely understood that the leaderless militia would be impaired in responding to their attack. John Russell, Jr., After the Attack The killing of his father and wounding of himself and son, made John Russell, Jr., a strident Whig. In August 1780, Russell, Jr., was one of a few men listed as a “collector” of fines against militia delinquents —a dangerous assignment in disaffected Shrewsbury Township, where Whigs known to be carrying cash were vulnerable to attack. Russell, serving under Richard Laird, also seized the goods of suspected London Trader, Samuel Cories, which was challenged before the state’s Supreme Court. Russell testified in May 1781: The plaintiff being on duty near the lines, he seized the wagon & two horses of the defendant with lead boards going into enemy lines and the defendant not giving the plaintiff proper satisfaction what he was going to do with said boards, plaintiff ordered the wagons & drove toward Colts Neck. Like many other Whigs living along the shore, Russell Jr., eventually moved inland for safety. In January 1782, he joined Captain John Walton’s company of State Troops . He is listed as living in Freehold on the enlistment roll. Three months later, he would participate in murdering the captured Loyalist, Philip White, a member of the Loyalist party that killed his father. The raid on the Rusell family merits its own article because it was well enough documented to support an article, not because it was an exceptional event. On April 5, the New Jersey Gazette reported on two other small raids that occurred within days of the Russell House raid: Last week, a party of the enemy landed at Tinton Falls and carried off six or seven of the inhabitants prisoner. Another small party which landed at Middletown carried off a Mr. Bowne, who had but three days before been exchanged and just returned home. Beyond this brief mention in the New Jersey Gazette , these other two raids—both of which were roughly equivalent to the Russell House raid—went undocumented. Thus, it is not possible to write about these other raids. It must be wondered how many similar raids went completely undocumented. Related Historic Site : Long Branch Historic House & Farm Sources : Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of William Talman of NJ, National Archives, p9-11; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; John Russell’s recollection is in Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 65-6; Christ Church Vestry List, Monmouth County Historical Association, Vault, Shelf 4, Christ Church (Shrewsbury) - Vestry Book; List of Warrants, Shrewsbury Militia, Holmes Family Papers, Revolutionary War Series, New Jersey Historical Society; Samuel Corlies vs. Richard Laird, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #7595; State Troops Muster Rolls, National Archives, Revolutionary War Rolls, Coll. 89, p2, 6, 9, 11. 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 Countians Fight at Battle of Germantown by Michael Adelberg Gen. William Smallwood commanded about 400 Monmouth troops at the Battle of Germantown. In the confusion of battle, red-coated Monmouth men took fire from Continental soldiers. - September 1777 - In August 1777, the main body of the British Army in America landed at Elk Head, Maryland and began marching north toward Philadelphia. George Washington’s Continental Army rushed south to face the advancing British. A call went across New Jersey for patriots to join them. First Monmouth Countians March to the Defense of Philadelphia Although documentation is lacking, at least one company of Monmouth County militia marched into Pennsylvania in early September to join the Continental Army as it prepared to defend the capital along the Brandywine Creek in southeastern Pennsylvania. Two Monmouth County militiamen recorded participating in the Battle of Brandywine on September 11 and were at the Paoli Massacre on September 20. Joseph Kelly of Middletown recalled: As many as could be spared from the shore went and, as fast as we could go, we arrived there in the beginning of September 1777, some miles below Philadelphia. Captain Smith went with us. He was one of Washington’s captains (regulars). We were placed under General Wayne [Anthony Wayne] at the Battle of Brandywine, which was a few days after we got there. It was a hot siege that we had there. That same night we left the battleground and filed off towards Philadelphia. We arrived there next morning, it rained and we were tired and had a very bad time. We soon encamped on French Creek. Shortly afterwards, we were sent into General Wayne’s detachment near the Paoli tavern. He remembers the night of the massacre well and a horrid night it was too, the British used the bayonet only and made a terrible slaughter. Kelly’s narrative is corroborated by Thomas Patten of Shrewsbury who recalled "working on artillery carriages for the purpose of forming a flying company” in August “to march to the main army which was making head against the British.” Patten went “with seven others, were selected from said village on account of our activity & spryness. We marched toward the main body & joined the division under the command of General Greene [Nathanael Greene]." Patten manned a cannon at the Battle of Brandywine, which lasted eleven hours. The long day took its toll: “My head was so severely injured by the repeated explosions as to cause the blood to gush from my ears & create a deafness that has continued to this day." After the Paoli Massacre, most of the Monmouth men fell back to Philadelphia and marched to Trenton, where they were dismissed. But some of the men stayed in Philadelphia and then marched west to guard the fleeing Continental Congress. Stephen Seabrook recalled his company "guarding the Congress from Philadelphia when the British was advancing on that city." David Forman Raises a Large Force Even before this first group of Monmouth men returned home, another call went out for more support. Governor William Livingston ordered out militia from across New Jersey. Beyond the militia call-out, Major Thomas Mifflin of the Continental Army, who participated in toppling the Loyalist insurrections in Monmouth County eight months earlier, made a direct appeal to Colonel David Forman for help. Mifflin knew Forman commanded an (undersized) Continental Regiment in Monmouth County. As Continentals, they would not be subject to the militia alarm. On September 14, Mifflin wrote directly to Forman about the need to protect Philadelphia and then appealed for help: I believe that forty or fifty light cavalry from your state will be of infinite aid to us -- if they can be formed into a troop & sent forward without delay they will render essential service to America. I will supply them with forage. It is not clear if Forman responded to Mifflin, but Forman, who was also the militia general over Monmouth, Middlesex, and Burlington counties, raised 900 men and crossed into Pennsylvania on September 25. The exact number of Monmouth Countians is unknown, but Monmouth militiaman Zachariah Hankins recalled marching with “Captain [Michael] Sweetman's company and some other companies of militia [Captains William Schenck and Benjamin Van Cleave], Captain [John] Burrowes's company of regulars, and [Joshua] Huddy's artillery company, all under the command of Col. Holmes [Asher Holmes] and Genl. Forman.” Solomon Ketchum of Middletown recalled the march: Marched from Shrewsbury to Freehold when they were joined by some companies from Middletown and Freehold and, under the command of Colonel Asher Holmes, proceeded to Allentown where they stayed all night. Next day they marched to Burlington and crossed the Delaware at Bristol... Was ordered to cook three days provisions, which was done. One company of Forman’s Continentals joined the militia on the march, including the company of Captain Burrowes, the largest in the regiment. In all, the Monmouth Countians may have numbered about half of Forman’s 900. But some of these men never made it to Pennsylvania. Tunis Aumack recalled, "he marched part of the way to Germantown… but his company was sent back to drive off the British and Tories who were pillaging along the shore in their absence.” While Forman’s force was considerable, its size disappointed General Washington. He wrote Forman on the 26th: "I am sorry to find you cannot bring on so respectable a force as we both could wish & had reason to expect.” He asked Forman to “collect your scattered parties as soon as possible." In a letter to Elbridge Gerry, Washington confided that he had expected Forman to bring at least 1,500 men. The British Army took Philadelphia the next day. Forman circled around the British Army in the city and joined up with General William Smallwood’s Maryland regiment west of Philadelphia on September 27. They stayed with the Marylanders for the next week. Monmouth Countians Fight at the Battle of Germantown On the morning of October 4, Forman’s militia, together with Smallwood's Marylanders, were ordered by General John Sullivan, to “march a further circuit to the rear of the right wing to attack the British right flank.” The longer march and unfamiliarity with the land caused the Smallwood-Forman brigade to arrive later than expected. Foggy weather and smoke from cannon fire caused low visibility on the battlefield. In the confusion, Continental troops fired on each other. Forman’s regiment, wearing red uniforms taken from the British six months earlier, may have added to the confusion within the Continental ranks. One of Forman’s men, Koert Schenck, recalled that Captain Burrowes' company “who all wore red coats and were fired at by some of our troops by mistake." The next day, Major Asher Holmes of the Monmouth Militia (soon to be Colonel) wrote his wife about the battle. He recalled being in a brigade with "the Jersey militia and Red Coats under Gen. Forman and the Maryland militia" under Smallwood. Initially, the New Jersians and Marylanders "drove the enemy" but "by thickness of the fog the enemy got in our rear" and the Continentals around them retreated. According to Holmes, “the enemy was within a 120 yards of us in the hottest fire." Despite this: The Monmouth militia and Forman's Red Coats stood firm and advanced upon the British Red Coats until our ammunition was nearly exhausted and the enemy advancing on our right flank, Gen. Forman then ordered us to retreat which we did in pretty good order. Holmes noted that “the officers are all well since the battle, our army is in good spirits... we have lost very few, if any, killed and not many wounded.” Other sources add to Holmes’s account. An anonymous eyewitness recalled the brave (and perhaps exaggerated) action of a Monmouth man named Barkalow: During the heat of the Battle of Germantown, while bullets flew as thick as hail stones, one Barkalow (of Monmouth) was leveling his musket at the enemy, when his lock was carried away by a ball. Undismayed, he caught up the gun of a comrade just killed at his side, and taking aim, a bullet entered his muzzle and twisted it around like a corkscrew. Still undaunted, our hero immediately kneeled down, unswerved the lock from the twisted barrel, screwed it into the barrel from which the lock had been torn, and blazed away at the enemy. The newly-raised artillery company of Captain Joshua Huddy made the march to Germantown but did not make it into the battle. Jerusa Sanford, wife of one of Huddy’s men, William Sanford, recalled that “their piece was an iron one and very heavy so they were kept out of the battle." William Stryker, who extensively researched New Jersey’s Revolutionary War soldiers in the late 1800s, determined that one of Forman’s men, Gershom Vanderhull, was fatally wounded and two other men (Andrew Mains and Jesse Vanderule) were wounded at Germantown. But Stryker did not record the wounding of Thomas Patten, who wrote: “Received a wound with musket ball in my side so severe as to disable me until the later period of the spring [1778]." He was taken back to Freehold "and remained there until late fall when I was taken to the hospital at New Brunswick until the latter part of May." After the battle, the Monmouth men briefly stayed with the Army. Ketchum recalled that his “company became much scattered” during the battle and it likely took some time for the men to find each other after the retreat. Catherine Reid recalled that her husband, John Reid, took part in “burying two soldiers killed at Germantown.” Jerusa Sanford also wrote that her husband buried the dead after the battle. Forman’s men soon returned to New Jersey. Hankins recalled: "After the battle, they remained a few days with the army and came back to Trenton under Genl. Forman, his company was discharged at Monmouth Court House and he went home." The total period of the call-out was six weeks, according to Benjamin Berry of Captain Sweetman’s Company (Freehold Township), but different companies mustered at different times, so Berry’s time estimate was not universal for all of the Monmouth men. In total, Monmouth Countians responded well to the call to defend Philadelphia. Their conduct demonstrates a considerable turnaround from ten months earlier when the county militia “laid down its arms” rather than face Loyalists emboldened by the British advance across New Jersey. That the Monmouth militia advanced on the enemy in pitched battle, despite lacking munitions and training, is noteworthy. However, Monmouth County paid a price for marching so many of its patriots out of state; the county suffered (at least) two Loyalist attacks during the absence of its most patriotic Whigs. Postscript: David Forman and the Defense of Red Bank Even before David Forman left Pennsylvania, George Washington requested his return. He wrote Forman on October 6: You having informed me that the time of your present brigade of militia is near expiring, and that many others who came out here for no certain amount of time are anxious to return home, you have my permission to march... When they cross the river, you may discharge them. But I must beg that you will use your utmost endeavors to collect a number equal to what you have brought to join the army under my command. Two days later, the New Jersey Assembly passed an act to raise 2,000 militia under Forman. Governor Livingston accordingly called out the militias of Hunterdon, Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth & Sussex counties to assemble at Princeton. However, Forman was not optimistic. He wrote Washington from Freehold on October 11: “Your Excellency observes that the order calls for 2,000, neither the Legislative body nor myself expect that so many will march." Forman wrote Washington from Princeton on October 15: “I do not believe I shall collect three hundred men.” Only the Burlington County militia turned out, Forman noted needing to keep many of his own men on the Jersey shore to protect the salt works (in which he was heavily invested). He reported of the Monmouth militia: The Monmouth militia turned out quite well as before, but from the interruptions of several enemy pillaging parties into that County during my late absence, the inhabitants have been led to petition the Legislative body that no part of their militia may march off, and have succeeded for the present. In an October 19 letter, Washington acknowledged the need to protect the salt works requested whatever men Forman could spare. He was more forceful in his next letter to Forman on October 21. “I request in the most urgent manner that you use your utmost exertions immediately to collect a large body of your militia and hasten to the relief of that post [Red Bank on the Delaware River].” Washington argued that the immediate threat to Red Bank was more important than theoretical threat to the salt works: What I have said is on supposition that the danger to the salt work is not so great as to require the whole force you may be able to gather to defend it. I do not mean to neglect the precaution necessary for their security, they are of too much importance; but the defence of Red Bank is an object of the greatest moment. Forman marched for Red Bank on October 21 and arrived at Red Bank on October 26 with an unknown number of Monmouth men. He sent for the assembled Burlington militia. On his arrival, he began quarreling with Silas Newcomb, the militia general commanding the New Jersey militia from the southern counties. Forman complained about Newcomb to Washington who responded: “Your complaints respecting the conduct of Gen Newcomb give me more concern.” But Washington deferred to the New Jersey government to consider the dispute. Governor Livingston sided with Forman and, two weeks later, ordered Newcomb to transfer his command to Forman. As late as October 29, Forman was still collecting men. He wrote Washington from Red Bank: The Excessive rainy weather has prevented the troops from Monmouth and Burlington coming forward as fast as I could have wished—They are however some of them this day advanced as far as Haddonfield and will in the morning be down, when I will Immediately incorporate them with the two Garrisons—They will not be equal to our wants. On November 1, Washington wrote Henry Laurens, President of the Continental Congress, about the situation at Red Bank. He complimented the efforts of Philemon Dickinson (senior general of the New Jersey militia) and Forman “whose conduct and zeal upon every occasion, give them a claim to the Public esteem.” But he was still disappointed with the New Jersey militia’s turnout. David Forman’s Controversies Cloud the Defense of Red Bank Meanwhile, Forman’s troubles with the New Jersey Legislature were coming to a head. Forman had left Red Bank to rally more men to its defense. He wrote Washington from Princeton on November 7 complaining about his continued quarrels with General Newcomb and new quarrels with the New Jersey Legislature: Two Petitions ware handed into the Assembly most unjustly charging me and sundry other Gent. with undue practices on the day of election & praying the election to be set aside—The Petition was read in the House and a hearing ordered on Tewsday [sic] next and a notice served on me to attend. I immediately went to the Assembly, informed them of my situation and requested the hearing might be deferred for a few days until the militia ware assembled and put in some order—My request was denyed [sic]. Forman told the Assembly, “it was impossible” for him to attend the Legislature while rallying the militia and leading the defense of Red Bank. Forman then informed Washington that he had “returned” his militia Brigadier General’s commission to the legislature. Forman also accused the legislature of insufficiently supporting the war: I have long been disgusted with the indolence and want of attention to military matters in the Legislature of this State; I was determined to spin out this campaign in my Slavery until I found a set of Men plotting by the most unfair means to stain my reputation. Washington was saddened by Forman’s resignation. He wrote Livingston, "General Forman has, to my great concern, and contrary to my warmest solicitations, resigned his commission upon some misunderstanding with the Assembly." Forman returned to Red Bank. Despite having resigned from the New Jersey militia, Newcomb was removed and it appears Forman continued on as the de facto commander of the assembled New Jersey militia. On November 24, General Nathanael Greene noted that the New Jersey militia “under Forman” was leaving Red Bank. However, militiamen who had been recruited into the army during their service at Red Bank would have to stay. Related Historic Sites : Battle of Brandywine Visitor Center (Brandywine, PA); Cliveden (Germantown, PA); Red Bank Battlefield Park Sources : Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography, David Forman, American Historical Society, New York City, 1921 Page 25-29; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of Benjamin Berry of VA, National Archives, p4-6; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Van Note of Ohio, S.3114; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Zachariah Hawkins of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#22623931 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Patten of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#27227091 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Kelley of PA, www.fold3.com/image/# 26180227; David Forman to [?], Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collection; Donald Brownlow, A Documentary History of the Battle of Germantown (Germantown, PA: Germantown Historical Society, 1955) pp. 11, 47; George Washington to David Forman, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 44, September 26 and 29, 1777; George Washington to Elbridge Gerry, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 11, 19 August 1777 – 25 October 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase and Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001, pp. 326–327; Mary Hyde, Jersey at Germantown, New York Times, May 3, 1896, p1-2; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Tunis Aumock; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Jonthan Hildreth of NY, www.fold3.com/image/#22779401 ; Contained in: National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Reid of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 14359840; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Benjamin Van Cleave; William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1872); Anonymous Account, Hezekiah Niles, “Centennial Offering” (New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1876), p 497; Charles Lefferts, Uniforms of American, British, French & German Armies in the Revolution (New York: 1926) p 31; Sullivan, John, Letters and Papers of Major John Sullivan, Otis G. Hammond, ed., 2 vols. (Concord, NH: 1930-31) vol. 2, p 543; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Reid; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Koert Schenck; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Stephen Seabrook; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Solomon Ketchum of NY, www.fold3.com/image/#25013139 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Patten of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#27227091 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - George Taylor; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of William Sanford of NJ, National Archives, p3-5, 22-3; Asher Holmes, Letter Concerning the Battle at Germantown, 1777, Proceedings of the NJHS, vol 7, 1922, p34-5; George Washington to David Forman, Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p163. Postscript Sources : David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 44, October 5 and 9, 1777; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 8, 1777, p 195; William Livingston to David Forman, in Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, pp. 89-90, 93, 94-5; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 44, October 10 - 16, 1777; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 44, October 10 - 16, 1777; George Washington to David Forman, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections; George Washington to David Forman, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections; George Washington to David Forman, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 9, pp. 402, 411; George Washington to David Forman, Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 232; Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 3B, reel 17, October 20, 1777; George Washington to David Forman, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 11, 19 August 1777 – 25 October 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase and Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001, pp. 572–573; George Washington to David Forman, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 45, October 25 - 31, 1777; George Washington to David Forman, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 45, October 25 - 31, 1777; David Forman to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 13–16; David Forman to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 49–51, 59; 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. 9, pp. 485-6. Library of Congress, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 168, item 152, vol. 5, p 161; George Washington to Henry Laurens, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 78–85; William Livingston to Silas Newcomb, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, pp. 99-100; David Forman to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 151–154; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, p 108; Nathanael Greene, The Papers of General Nathanael Greene (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina Press, 1976) vol. 2, p 206. 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 County Intersects with the Yorktown Campaign by Michael Adelberg British attempts to rescue their trapped army at Yorktown were reported by David Forman, observing their fleet at Sandy Hook. Rumors and real information mixed during the Yorktown siege. - July 1781 - After the defeat of Loyalists at Kings Mountain in fall 1780, the tide of the war in the South turned against the British. By summer 1781, General Charles Cornwallis’s Army had marched north into Virginia in search of local support and supplies. Lacking both, he camped his army on the York Peninsula and waited for relief from the sea. The British were soon trapped by Continental and local forces. In July, George Washington and Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau (leading the French Army in America) decided to march for Virginia to finish off Cornwallis. The move was risky—as it left New Jersey largely open to British incursions from New York and the plan was dependent on the French fleet arriving at the mouth of the Chesapeake in time to turn back any British fleet that might attempt to rescue Cornwallis. As noted in prior articles, the poor communications and long distances made the whereabouts of the French fleet a frequent mystery . Preparations for the French Fleet On July 21, Washington wrote to Colonel David Forman of Manalapan, his best intelligence source for British movements at Sandy Hook. "Under the strictest injunctions of secrecy," he informed Forman that the French fleet under Admiral Francois DeGrasse was expected. Washington asked Forman to report “with the utmost dispatch” on British movements at Sandy Hook and the arrival of the French fleet: You will be pleased to take some militia horse into pay and station them at such distance from New York to Dobbs Ferry that they may perform the ride in twelve to fifteen hours - the horsemen need not know the particular purpose for which they are stationed. On August 1, Forman reported to Washington that he had executed the general’s orders. Forman wrote again on August 3. He requested supplies for "sixteen artificers of the French Army" who landed on the Monmouth shore. Forman also reported that "these men tell me that the whole of the French Army are on the march to this State, that 20 ships have arrived at the Hook, and that New York will soon be invaded." Forman was correct that the French Army (marching from Rhode Island) was in motion, but wrong that the French intended to attack New York. The French would soon link up with Washington’s Army and march for Virginia. As he had done before, on July 31, Washington sent for Captain William Dobbs of the New York Line. Before the war, Dobbs was the resident pilot at Sandy Hook. Washington sent him into New Jersey to pilot the French ships in July 1778 . Dobbs was sent two more times when the French fleet was expected on the Jersey shore (but did not arrive). Washington ordered Dobbs: I wish to procure a number of those Pilot[s] you formerly engag’d, and who are particularly acquainted with the Navigation of the Hook & North River, and with them repair, as soon as possible to Capt. [Patrick] Dennis’s at Baskenridge [sic], where you’ll continue ’till you receive further orders from Genel Foreman of Monmouth. Like Forman, Dobbs was ordered to keep the mission secret, “I must enjoin upon you to not [give] your thoughts to anybody, and as much as possible to prevent the Pilots you engage making known their business." The pilots were to meet and remain at the ready at Baskin Ridge. Washington likely did not send the pilots to the shore because the presence of Sandy Hook pilots at the shore would likely be reported to the British by disaffected locals. That, in turn, would raise the alarm in New York. On August 13, Washington sent an additional order to another pilot in the Continental Army, Captain Patrick Dennis. He was to link up with Dobbs at Baskin Ridge and await Forman’s orders. The pilots were to head to Monmouth County on word from Forman that the French had arrived: There will be no danger between Baskin Ridge and Monmouth Court House, and from thence to the shore an escort will be easily procured, especially when it shall be found that a French Fleet is off. Boats will undoubtedly be sent from the Fleet sufficient to carry you off—Genl Forman will have gone on board before you can get down and will have informed the Admiral that you are in waiting. As intelligence from Forman arrived, Washington passed it along to his French allies. On August 3, he wrote Jacques DeBarras, a French naval officer, that the French fleet under Count de Grasse "should come immediately to Sandy Hook.” Therefore: I have lodged dispatches for him with General Forman of the Militia of Monmouth on the coast of New Jersey not far from Sandy Hook, a Gentleman in whom the utmost confidence may be placed. In these I have given the Count information of our position, strength and prospects, as also of the probable force and divided situation of the enemy. Washington wrote of “Captain Dobbs, one of our most experienced pilots.” Dobbs was waiting “with as many more as he can obtain at a secure place contiguous to the Hook, that they may be ready to go on board the Fleet the moment they are assured it is that of our Ally.” A week later, Washington forwarded DeBarras more intelligence from Forman: "By a letter from General Forman of the 3rd of this Month, I am informed that Admiral Rodney [British Admiral George Rodney] is expected upon this Coast, and he mentions a circumstance which seems to corroborate the opinion; it is, that a large store ship is kept at Sandy Hook with provisions and vegetables." Forman’s next surviving report to Washington was dated on August 23. He noted the arrival of a British fleet at Sandy Hook where "they appear to be very busy overhauling their rigging & c." Forman had interrogated a deserter who informed him that the French fleet was at Rhode Island. On August 29, Forman suggested that the French would take losses if they attacked Sandy Hook "occasioned by the narrowness of the passage that would only admit their coming down by single ships." Forman sent reports again on August 31 and September 1, 2, and 6. He had interrogated "a branch pilot that was on board and piloted the [British] fleet lately arrived at this station" and sent information from that pilot. Forman also sent forward plans for conveying intelligence to Washington as he marched south for Yorktown. Forman wrote: I have sent forward some horsemen to Allentown & Burlington, there to cross the Delaware to Bristol - if they have been able to get quarters at the several posts, agreeable to my directions, this will pass very rapidly to your Excellency's hands. On September 6, Forman noted that the frequent intelligence reports were taking a toll on him, writing: "though far from well, I rode down yesterday" to personally view the British fleet from the Highlands. Washington, now in motion, told Forman to send additional intelligence through the Continental Quartermaster General in Philadelphia, "if anything worthy of notice takes place under your observation, I shall thank you for its communication thro' the QMG, Col. Miles, in Philadelphia." Deceptions and Rumors Accompany Yorktown Campaign Meanwhile, rumors flew regarding Washington’s intent. One rumor was that Washington was heading to Amboy and Middletown to attack Staten Island and Sandy Hook in combination with a French attack on New York. The journal of Colonel John Trumball reveals that these rumors were deliberately spread by Washington to deceive the British. He wrote on August 21: The general wants to cover his design as much as long as possible--for which purpose all our views, talk & some preparation seem to look toward Staten Island & Sandy Hook... French ovens are building in Chatham in Jersey--others ordered to be prepared at a place near the Hook & forage contracted to be delivered to the French Army immediately on their arrival at that place. Elias Boudinot, a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress, wrote that Washington summoned a Monmouth Countian "who was suspected of giving intelligence to the Enemy & put a number of questions to him about the situation of the country about Middletown and Sandy Hook where the man was born and bred.” Washington then “urged him the most profound secrecy." But Continental leaders knew the old man would spread the rumors that Washington had seeded. Unfortunately, the identity of this man is unknown. Rumors also flew regarding what the British might do to relieve Cornwallis. On September 8, early in the Yorktown siege, Governor William Livingston reported that "it is said and fully believed that 6 or 7,000 men [British soldiers] are going [to Cornwallis's assistance], & that they are to land at Monmouth and pass through the State." That landing never occurred. With Washington’s Army in Virginia, the Continental Army was largely unable to protect New Jersey from a large incursion. This weakness enflamed rumors of British intentions. On September 21, Colonel Samuel Forman of the Monmouth County militia worried about reported British movements on Staten Island in a letter General William Heath, whose small army faced the British: There is considerable movement on foot by the British, there is 5 or 6,000 troops on Staten Island, provided with 200 wagons -- The opinion is that this [Monmouth] county is their object, the season approaching that calls for forage to be provided, their business to go where it can be obtained with the least fighting, we have nothing but militia to oppose them, excepting 50 State Troops. Samuel Forman’s report was not substantiated and the British did not leave Staten Island. Victory at Yorktown and Continued News from Sandy Hook Meanwhile, David Forman continued to send reports, now to Thomas McKean at Philadelphia. His September 20 report conveyed essential intelligence that “Admiral [Thomas] Graves with twenty ships” had returned to Sandy Hook. This meant that the attempt to relieve Cornwallis had failed. DeGrasse’s fleet arrived off Norfolk in time to turn the British away at the Battle of the Chesapeake on September 5. On October 8, Forman wrote McKean again. He worried that two naval squadrons were now at Sandy Hook and that the British were preparing to put the combined fleet to sea: Admiral Graves is exerting every measure to equip his fleet, and although I am informed Congress ridicules the idea of his returning to the Chesapeake, I have such full assurance of his intentions of making a second attempt to relieve Lord Cornwallace [sic], that I cannot doubt it. McKean forwarded Forman’s intelligence to Washington at Yorktown. He further noted that the British had attempted to communicate with Cornwallis via three small boats sent for Virginia via the New Jersey shore. The first boat was taken on the New Jersey shore. It was: Named the Andre, carrying brass six pounder in her bow, eight blunderbusses, and twenty men armed with muskets… was entrusted with one set of dispatches, I found it was hidden on the beach, where she was taken. A second boat was also taken, but the third boat was at large. McKean sent men to Little Egg Harbor "in quest of it, but the beach is so extensive, and so many places like each other, that it is not yet found." Forman sent a letter to General Heath on October 19. It included observations on British movements at Sandy Hook. He noted that the largest British warships were unloading at Sandy Hook "for the purpose of making their ships light as to insure their quick passage over the bar -- their 80 and 90 gun ships not being able to pass it at any time with their complements of stores on board… the reason for their failing to get out yesterday was for want of water.” In so doing, Forman confirmed the advice that American pilots had previously offered French admirals about Sandy Hook being too shallow for ships of the line. Forman reported continuing to have express riders in place to ride for Morristown. Heath forwarded Forman’s intelligence to McKean on October 24. He wrote: The British fleet, consisting of twenty-five ships of the line, three of 50 [guns], three of 40 [guns] and a number of frigates, with Sir Henry Clinton and 6,000 troops sailed from Sandy Hook to Virginia. -- That after the ships got over the bar, the troops were taken from the transport and put on the men of war, and the former returned. This report, with its exaggerated details, was distributed to additional Continental leaders. However, Forman’s fears were soon discounted by Cornwallis’s surrender—also on the 19th. Forman’s last surviving intelligence report from 1781 was sent to Washington (returned from Virginia) on December 16. Forman described, “The sailing of a very considerable fleet from Sandy Hook -- I am sorry I have it not in my power to form an opinion of their destination or what they have on board." With winter coming on, Forman noted that “I have discharged the horsemen I had engaged for that purpose” because of the "far advanced season of the year and sailing of the fleet.” Washington concurred with Forman closing down his operation, writing on January 2: "I approve of the discharging of the horsemen mentioned, as it at present is a very inactive season, their being continued in service would be a very unnecessary expense to the public." While Forman’s reports were not always accurate, there is no doubt that his services were valued by Washington and other leaders. Related Historic Site : American Revolution Museum at Yorktown (Virginia) Sources : George Washington to David Forman, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 79, July 21 and August 1, 1781; George Washington to William Dobbs, 31 July 1781,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-06550, ver. 2013-09-28); John Bakeless, Turncoats, Traitors and Heroes, (New York: DaCapo, 1998) pp. 339-40; Personal Correspondence: David J. Fowler, Letter: David Forman to ?, August 3, 1781; George Washington to Count de Barras, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw220497)) ; Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw220532)) ; Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw220545)) ; John Trumball, Journal, in Benjamin Silliman, Catalogue of the Col. John Trumball Letters and Papers (Thomas Birch's Sons, Philadelphia, 1897), p 56; Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 80, August 23 and 29, 1781; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 80, August 31, 1781; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 80, September 1, 2, and 6, 1781; Goerge Washington to David Forman, Fraunces Tavern, George Washington to David Forman, September 6, 1781; William Livingston to Joseph Reed, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 4, pp. 288-9; David Forman to Thomas McKean, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Thomas McKean Papers, vol 2, p6; Samuel Forman to William Heath, Massachusetts Historical Society, General Heath Collection, Samuel Forman to Gen. William Heath; Elias Boudinot, Journal of Historical Recollections of Events During the Revolutionary War (Phila: Frederick Bourquin, 1894) p41-2; David Forman to Thomas McKean, Pennsylvania Historical Society, Thomas McKean Collection, vol. 2., p 32, David Forman; Thomas McKean to George Washington, Paul Smith, et al, Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1970) vol. 18, p 128; David Forman to Wiliam Heath, Massachusetts Historical Society, General Heath Collection, David Forman to Gen. William Heath; William Hath to Thomas McKean, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 177, item 157, #351, 355, 359; David Forman to George Washington, Monmouth County Historical Association, Diaries Collection, box 2, John Stillwell's Diary (photocopy); David Forman to George Washington, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 23, pp. 44-394; George Washington to David Forman, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 82, January 2, 1782, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 82, January 2, 1782. 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 Establishment of the Associated Loyalists by Michael Adelberg In 1780, New Jersey’s last Royal Governor, William Franklin, established the Associated Loyalists, a vigilante group. Potentially, 20% of the Associated Loyalists were from Monmouth County. - November 1779 - By the middle of 1779, thousands of Loyalists had been living as refugees in New York for more than two years—and they were frustrated. The British Army had stopped campaigning in the North and the navy had lost control of the waters outside of Sandy Hook. The confiscation and sale of Loyalist estates spiked their resentments, and so did a steady diet of reports of rebel abuse in New York newspapers. This May 1779 report is just one example. Continental authorities were reportedly "chaining men together by dozens and driving them like cattle, flinging them into loathsome jails, confiscating their estates, shooting them in swamps and woods, hanging them after mock trials; and all because they would not abjure their rightful sovereign." Officers, whether British or Loyalist, believed rebels were guilty of abuses against peaceable Americans whose only crime was remaining loyal to their King. Patrick Ferguson, a British officer who commanded and conversed with Loyalists daily (and raided Monmouth County twice) similarly observed: Ravages everywhere wantonly committed, without regard for sex or age, friend or traitor, and consequent alienation of every thinking mind from the Royal cause. Most of the houses are indiscriminately plundered, beds cut up and windows cut to pieces, the man robbed of their watches, shoe buckles and money, while their wives and daughters have their pockets and clothes torn from their bodies, and the father and the husband who does not survey all of this placid countenance is beat or branded with the name traitor or rebel. Establishing of the Associated Loyalists William Franklin, the son of Benjamin Franklin and last Royal Governor of New Jersey, emerged as the leader of an aggrieved set of Loyalists. In early 1779, the Loyalist Andrew Elliot wrote about the illegal lumber trade from New Jersey: "The refugees [are] all employed in cutting wood on rebel lands by which they make money and help keep the town well supplied; they wish much to be embodied under a command of their own." Franklin would soon provide Loyalists with “a command of their own.” On May 29, 1779, Franklin proposed a plan to General Henry Clinton, commanding British forces in America, to establish "a Board of Intelligence” through which Loyalists would be "united & employed for the purpose of procuring, digesting & communicating intelligence of the designs & motions of the enemy." The Board would take testimonies under oath, inspect captured letters, issue rewards for intelligence, maintain spies in rebel territory, and report useful intelligence to the British. While it is unclear if Clinton approved of this plan, the Board began forwarding intelligence to him in June. The Board of Intelligence soon gave way to a bolder endeavor. In November, Franklin and colleagues established the Board of Associated Loyalists. The Board sought broad powers to maintain its own: armed bodies, conduct raids, and capture and exchange prisoners. Clinton responded with suspicion. He did not ban the group, but limited its powers in two key respects. Clinton wrote that Associated Loyalist “descents” (raids) required the approval of a British officer and he further warned Franklin that "any persons whatsoever who shall attempt to pass the King's ships or posts or make a descent on the enemy, excepting on the above terms, shall be treated as disaffected persons or robbers." Clinton acquiesced to the Board regarding taking rebel prisoners and negotiating prisoner exchanges, but required that all exchanges be subject to the British-Continental negotiated prisoner cartel. Over time, the Associated Loyalists pushed past these rules. Historian Edward Tebbenhoff estimated that as many as 4,000 men participated in the Associated Loyalists but that, on any given day, the Associated Loyalist could only muster a fraction of their associators—as these men were employed in other pursuits. It is unfortunate that no list of Associated Loyalists has survived. On November 10, Franklin evaded Clinton’s request for a list, writing: “They are so scattered and have been so fluctuated from the practice of engaging themselves under different officers under different excursions that it is impossible to ascertain their numbers." While aspects of the Board’s powers remained at issue, the Associated Loyalists moved ahead. On November 24, the Board’s Secretary, Daniel Coxe, wrote Clinton about the Board’s formation. With false-sincerity, he stated: "We trust our conduct will always be such as to merit your Excellency's patronage and encouragement." A similar letter was sent to Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot, commanding the navy in America, two weeks later. The formation of the Associated Loyalist may have pushed Clinton to do more to govern Loyalists in New York. He wrote on December 15: "I have appointed Colonel Morris [Roger Morris] and William Bayard… to be inspectors of Refugees, from them chiefly, I will know what objects they desire and deserve." Clinton also complained about “a class of these men of more ardent & enterprising disposition, whose zeal & courage I have not been able to bend to useful purposes.” He went on: Their wish is to ravage from their oppressors the property which had often in the past been their own. Such dispositions, as they have induced the capture of obnoxious persons, militia, of forage wood and cattle, I was willing to encourage; but fearing indiscriminate depredations... I have endeavored to restrain their irregularities and invited proposals for introducing a certain discretion and subordination; these efforts have not yet had the wished for effect. However, it was not until spring 1780 that the Associated Loyalists publicly emerged. In March, they conducted a lottery to raise money for suffering Loyalist families; in June, they published a letter in the New York Gazette about the need for "the proposed association of Loyal Refugees." The emergence of the Associated Loyalists was watched in Monmouth County. On or about July 1, the county’s vigilant Revolutionaries founded their own extra-mural group to punish enemies, the Association for Retaliation . The Associated Loyalists, sometimes calling themselves "the Board of Refugees," advertised meetings in the New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury twice in October 1780. The delay likely was because of continued tensions with General Clinton. Tebbenhoff notes that Clinton had to be ordered to cooperate with the Associated Loyalist by British Secretary of State George Germain. It was not until December 1780 that the Associated Loyalists published their charter. In it, they noted that since start of the war: It has been often wished that some regular and efficient system was adopted for employing the zeal of that class of his Majesty's loyal subjects who were unwilling to become soldiers, though ardently inclined to take up arms and contribute towards reducing the rebels. The Board would coordinate Loyalist paramilitaries "for the purpose of annoying the sea-coasts of the revolted provinces, and distressing their trade, either cooperation with his Majesty's forces or by making diversions in their favour." The Board would conduct raids and take prisoners. They declared that "all captures made by associators will be their entire property." They noted that "the prisoners they take will be exchanged only for Associated Loyalists as the Board may name." Despite their independence, Associated Loyalist raiding parties would be supported with British ships, provisions, and hospitals. William Franklin was named to chair their seven-person board. Monmouth Countians in the Associated Loyalists In January 1781, the Board commissioned captains to raise companies of men; three--Richard Lippincott, Thomas Crowell, and Clayton Tilton—were Monmouth Countians. Lippincott reported on February 16 that he had raised 52 men, with two junior officers, Lieutenant John Woodward and Ensign John Irons. Since all three officers were from Monmouth County, it is probable that all or most of the 52 men were too. That same month, Franklin wrote that the Associated Loyalists numbered 500-600 men. If Crowell’s and Tilton’s companies were half the size of the Lippincott company, then roughly 100 Monmouth Countians were in the Associated Loyalists—nearly 20 percent of their membership—a remarkable figure from a single county, given that Associated Loyalists were recruiting from four states. Despite the large participation of Monmouth Countians in the Associated Loyalists, only a few postwar Loyalist compensation claims mention them. This is likely because the group fell into disrepute after Lippincott hanged Captain Joshua Huddy of Colts Neck (detailed in other articles). Lippincott’s application contains only a brief mention of the Associated Loyalists; John Leonard testified on behalf of Lippincott, "that he [Lippincott] was an officer with the refugees of New York & frequently was out with parties." Besides Lippincott, only one other Monmouth Countian explicitly discussed service in the Associated Loyalists. Jesse Smith, formerly of Shrewsbury, had William Franklin testify to his service. Franklin noted that Smith "was a very active and zealous partisan… particularly serviceable in bringing into New York, Lord Cornwallis' [Gen. Charles Cornwallis] men after the surrender at Yorktown.” Smith also “produced supplies for the navy & garrison at New York from the Jersies.” Franklin also noted Smith’s sacrifice: He was several times dangerously wounded; that I recommended him to Admiral [Robert] Digby who furnished him with twenty-five staves of arms, ammunition & provisions for the purpose of bringing off British prisoners kept by the rebels; that he is now greatly disabled, having had his right arm broke & several shot still remaining in him, which gives him great pain and renders him unfit to get his living by manual labor. All three Monmouth County captains were active. Thomas Crowell took prisoners, engaged in prisoner exchange negotiations with Colonel Asher Holmes of the Monmouth County militia, and was warned by the New Jersey legislature regarding his mistreatment of prisoners. He refused to hang Captain Barnes Smock in retaliation for abuses against Loyalists but testified in support of Richard Lippincott when Lippincott did so a few months later. Clayton Tilton was captured and indicted for murder in 1781. Rebecca Shepherd, wife of militia captain Moses Shepherd recalled his capture after the war: Samuel Carman came and & informed her husband that Clayton Tilton, a refugee of notoriety, was off & at home, her husband, John Truax and several more of his men went and took him - and brought the prisoner to their house. Tilton was exchanged and then attempted to negotiate another exchange. In March 1782, he led the incursion into Monmouth County that went badly and resulted in the capture of Philip White, who was subsequently murdered by his guards. Tilton was loaded in irons and convicted of High Treason, but exchanged. Like Crowell, he also testified about rebel cruelties at Lippincott’s court martial trial. Lippincott was the most active. In April 1780, he was in a raid that resulted in the murder of John Russell, Sr., and near death of John Russell, Jr. (the subject of another article.) He raided Toms River in early 1781, but was unable to take the ship that prompted the attack. He raided Manasquan in March and defeated the militia party there, and then captured a vessel near Egg Harbor. He captured a Monmouth County leader in April and then launched another raid from Sandy Hook in May. He attempted to negotiate a prisoner exchange in November without success. In April 1782, with the verbal approval of the Board of Associated Loyalists, he hanged Captain Huddy . The Disrepute of the Associated Loyalists The Associated Loyalists were known to the governments of New York and New Jersey, both of which appealed to the Continental Congress for help. The New York Assembly, in July 1781, wrote to Congress that parties of Associated Loyalists "come in small crafts to plunder, burn and destroy all in their power and carry into captivity unarmed citizens or lay them under parole.” It called on Congress “to stop the inroads and incursions of the Associated Loyalists." In December, Thomas Henderson of Freehold wrote the Continental Congress for the New Jersey Assembly. He called the Associated Loyalists "a new fangled body of Executioners” and further wrote: For the declared intention of distressing the Country [they] 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, finds its relief to its sufferings in death. Henderson wanted Congress to threaten the British with eye-for-eye retaliation so that "the vengeance of an injured people may fall on British officers.” He called for New Jersey’s delegates to "press Congress not to make any empty declarations of purposes never to be executed." Henderson personally delivered the report to Congress. It is impossible to know the full activity of the Associated Loyalists. Newspaper accounts and the Board’s minutes mention their larger raids, including one against Toms River in March 1782. From these sources, we know that they raided north into Connecticut and Westchester County, east to the Hamptons on Long Island, and into New Jersey from Bergen to Monmouth counties. But small groups of Associated Loyalists made descents that were not explicitly authorized by the Board and went undocumented. For example, the small raid of Long Branch that led to Philip White’s capture would have gone undocumented were it not for White’s capture and murder being a prelude to Huddy’s hanging. Franklin claimed that the Associated Loyalists "occasioned alarm among the Rebels" because his men had "zeal to suppress the rebellion, heightened by the remembrance of the many insults & injuries they received." This ‘zeal” and “remembrance” of past injuries would push the Associated Loyalists to commit murder. In April 1782, Lippincott took Captain Huddy out of jail in New York, brought him to the Navesink Highlands, hanged him, and left his corpse swinging with a note proclaiming the act a retaliation for the murder of White, three weeks earlier. Retaliation was not a new idea in April 1782. After the surrender at Yorktown six months earlier, Franklin worried that the Loyalists with Cornwallis would “suffer death on account of their allegiance to the Crown” unless Clinton adopted a policy of retaliation. Franklin urged a proclamation: That retaliation shall be allowed to take place in the fullest context possible; or if this should be thought proper with respect to the British Army, that the Loyalists and refugees may have free permission to take and detain prisoners, & retaliate for the particular injuries they or their friends may sustain. Historian William Benton called the Associated Loyalists a "private army for personal reasons." In reality, the Associated Loyalists were much less than an army. They were a set of coordinated gangs tolerated by a British command unwilling to make the hard choice of reining them in. On the other side, the same dynamic existed between Monmouth County’s Retaliators and the New Jersey government. Related Historic Site : Harbor Defense Museum (New York) Sources : William Franklin to Henry Clinton, William Clements Library, Henry Clinton Papers, vol. 58, 60; Wallace Brown, The Good Americans: The Loyalists in the American Revolution, (New York: Morrow, 1969), p. 133; Ferguson quoted in North Callahan, Royal Raiders: The Tories of the American Revolution (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1963), p 10; Joseph Williams discussed in Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984) p 934; Elliott’s letter is in B. F. Stevens, ed., Facsimiles of Manuscripts in European Archives Relating to America, 1773–1783, [25 vols., London, 1889–1898], vol. 1, #115; William Franklin to Henry Clinton, William Clements Library, Henry Clinton Papers, vol. 74; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Henry Clinton to Lord Germain, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, v99, #26; The lottery is noted in Wallace Brown, The Good Americans: The Loyalists in the American Revolution, (New York: Morrow, 1969), p. 107; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, October 2, 1780, October 23, 1780; Transcript of the Court Martial of Richard Lippincott, microfilm, Library Congress; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Edward H. Tebbenhoff, “The Associated Loyalists: An Aspect of Militant Loyalism,” New-York Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 63 (1979), pp. 118-25, 127-39; William A. Benton, Whig-Loyalism: An Aspect of Political Ideology in the American Revolutionary Era (Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1969) p 197; Loyalist compensation claims of Richard Lippincott and Jesse Smith in: Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 200. Rutgers University Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Compensation Claims, D96, AO 13/111, reel 10; Rebecca Shepherd’s narrative is in National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Truax; George W. Kyte, “Some Plans for a Loyalist Stronghold in the Middle Colonies,” Pennsylvania History, vol. 16 (1949), p 179-87; William Franklin to Henry Clinton, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, v93, reel 2, #454; Howard Peckham, Sources of American Independence: Selected Manuscripts from the Collections of the William L. Clements Library (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978) pp. 502-3, 529, 559 note; Clements Library, Proceedings of the Board of Directors of the Associated Loyalists, January 1781, p. 6; Howard Peckham, Sources of American Independence: Selected Manuscripts from the Collections of the William L. Clements Library (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978) pp. 604-7; Rutgers University, Special Collections, Loyalist Compensation Applications, Coll. D96, PRO AO 13/18, reel 6; William Franklin to George Germain, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, reel 12, #382, 399; William Franklin to George Germain, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, reel 12, #382, 399; George Germain to William Franklin, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, v178, #455; New York Assembly to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, New York State Papers, v2, p430; The New Jersey Assembly’s report on the Associated Loyalists is in the Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, December 15, 1781, p 58; Franklin‘s estimate is in North Callahan, Royal Raiders: The Tories of the American Revolution (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1963), pp. 244-5. 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 > Associated Loyalists Embrace Policy of Retaliation by Michael Adelberg Gen. Henry Clinton restrained Loyalists from murdering American prisoners in retaliation for abuses against captured Loyalists. Loyalist mistreatment in Monmouth County was a major flashpoint. - January 1782 - As noted in a prior article, in October 1781, the Continental Congress issued a manifesto promising eye-for-an-eye retaliation against captured British and Loyalists for atrocities committed against citizens of the United States. Emboldened by this manifesto, Monmouth County’s Association for Retaliation , a vigilante society, increased the quantity and severity of its acts against its real and perceived enemies. The movement toward more severe retaliation—through which a prisoner would be punished for abuses unrelated to his own acts—progressed on both sides. From New York, the Associated Loyalists were a body of embittered Loyalist refugees who raided into the American countryside in order to punish rebels and bring much-needed farm goods into New York (for which they were paid good prices from British commissary officers). But British commanders never liked the Associated Loyalists—resenting their independence and indifference to the rules of war. Henry Clinton, commanding British forces in America, called the Associated Loyalists "over sanguine refugees whose zeal has but too often outrun their prudence." British Leaders Restrain Retaliation The Associated Loyalists embraced retaliation largely due to events in Monmouth County. In January 1781, Loyalists were loaded in irons in the Monmouth County jail. Thomas Crowell (formerly of Middletown) of the Associated Loyalists loaded rebel prisoners in his custody in irons as an act of retaliation. But Crowell did not undertake more violent retaliation. Loyalist leaders understood that extra-legal murders were a step beyond what the British would tolerate, and an act that could ruin the reputation of men associated with it. The conversation about retaliation, however, continued. James Robertson, the Governor-General at New York wrote to Clinton on January 23. Robertson alluded to Clinton asking him if the civil government headed by Robertson might embrace a policy of retaliation. He acknowledged that Clinton "did not think it expedient to threaten military retaliation." Robertson noted Loyalist requests for retaliation but declined to embrace it himself, writing that Clinton "had already fallen upon a better expedient to recover the confidence of the Loyalists." The next day, Clinton wrote Lord George Germain, the British Foreign Secretary, about his discussions with Robertson and William Franklin (Chairman of the Associated Loyalists) about retaliation: In the cause of debate upon this subject, General Robertson having expressed himself of the opinion that it might be necessary for me to issue a proclamation threatening the rebels with retaliation for any injury they should inflict upon the Loyalists for having joined the King's Army; I told him that I thought punishments of that nature operated more properly in the civil jurisdiction and that a threat of retaliation from the Army would be altogether nugatory to the present hour. Clinton avoided taking a stand on the policy of retaliation; he simply stated that it was not a military matter. Germain had a warm relationship with Franklin and was likely lobbied by Franklin on the need for the British to embrace a policy of retaliation. Germain asked Clinton to offer a gesture of support for the Associated Loyalists if he would not accede to their request on retaliation. Accordingly, on March 9, Clinton wrote a public letter that was published in the Loyalist New York Gazette . Clinton (insincerely) expressed his “continued affection” for the Associated Loyalists and offered "assurances that no post, place or garrison in which Loyalists are joined with the King's troops will be surrendered on any terms which might discriminate between them." He remained silent on retaliation. Clinton’s letter was little solace for strident Loyalists who craved revenge. One such Loyalist was James Moody, who played a prominent role in the raid that razed Tinton Falls in 1779, and whose brother, John Moody, was a Loyalist horse thief killed in August 1781. Moody would write that the Associated Loyalists were "hand-in-glove with similar bodies of depredators on the American side" but were checked by the British, while American vigilantes went unchecked. Moody further wrote of the Associated Loyalists: “One of the objects of the organization was that the Associators could retaliate upon the Americans for outrages and murders committed upon the Loyalists.” And yet the British restrained them: Our Generals suffered these [rebel] executions of the Loyalists to go on, without ever attempting to put a stop to them by threatening to retaliate. Nay, they would not permit the Associated Loyalists to save their friends, by threatening to execute the Rebels, whom these Loyalists had taken prisoners, and they [the Loyalists] held in their own custody. However, Moody also understood that acts of retaliation might beget acts of retaliation from the other side, leading to a cycle of pointless escalation: “It is asserted by the enemy, I fear with good ground, that they are compelled to retaliate for the violences committed by the crews of [Loyalist] whaleboats.” This inspired Whig privateers such as Adam Hyler “that frequently land on Staten and Long Island without a pretense of authority and commit the same cruelties & depredations." Moody also noted that prisoners in the custody of hostile localities such as Monmouth County were subject to abuse. These prisoners should be put in custody of "Continental or State Commissaries of Prisoners." Associated Loyalists Embrace Retaliation There is little doubt that the leadership of the Associated Loyalists, and William Franklin in particular, wanted to kill a rebel prisoner as an act of retaliation. Thomas Leonard, formerly of Freehold, who had served as a major in the New Jersey Volunteers , recalled speaking with Franklin on April 1, 1782. He and Franklin discussed “the relief of Captain [Clayton] Tilton” (jailed in Monmouth County) and the murder of the Loyalist Philip White. Franklin said "he knew of no means to prevent the cruel & barbarous treatment but retaliation, which had been his sentiment from the first." Franklin reportedly said he would "order retaliation" were it within his authority. Two weeks later, Richard Lippincott, at the verbal direction of Franklin, murdered Joshua Huddy of Colts Neck. (The subject of another article .) Henry Clinton did not support Huddy’s execution. He called it "a very extraordinary outrage” and “an unprecedented act of barbarity." He concluded that, "I cannot too much lament the great imprudence shown by the Refugees." He accused the Associated Loyalists of showing only a "trifling" concern to Clinton's misgivings about retaliation. He ordered Lippincott's arrest and court martial to determine who was at fault. On May 1, Clinton stripped the Associated Loyalists of the power to cross enemy lines: "no expedition or excursion against the enemy shall take place from the posts under their [the Board's] charge, without his Excellency's particular orders." No such permission would be granted. The Loyalist publisher, Hugh Gaine, recorded on May 1: "Orders for this day for no farther hostilities at any of our ports, and the Refugees not to go out any more without orders." He also reported "much talk about poor Lippincott." Franklin laid low and then left for England to avoid Lippincott’s court martial and the building taint on his reputation. From England, Franklin stayed interested in the plight of Loyalists but now seemed to understand that the Associated Loyalists lacked the authority to execute a man as retaliation for an unrelated abuse. In June, he wrote Guy Carleton, Clinton’s successor, about the fate of Timothy Scoby and William Herbert, two more Monmouth County Loyalists jailed in Freehold and sentenced to death. Franklin complained: No crime is alleged against them, as we are well assured, but their Loyalty, and one of them was taken on shore going to purchase provisions, and the other within British lines. As it is not within the power of the Board to afford these poor Loyalists the relief they are entitled, especially as retaliation nor threats of retaliation, can be made by them [the Board] without the concurrence of the Commander in Chief, they must beg leave to subject the whole matter to your Excellency's determination. In Great Britain, the ethics of retaliation was debated through the end of 1782. In July, the magazine, The Political Magazine and Parliamentary, Naval, Military, and Literary Journal , printed several letters related to Lippincott’s court martial and rebel abuses. The editor claimed that retaliation, though unpleasant, was effective: This they did in two other instances previous to the death of Huddy and it produced the desired result in the quarter where it was done. Rebel murder and assassinations immediately ceased, and the Loyalists, when taken, were treated with humanity and exchanged; and their cannot be a possibility of doubt, but that had our Generals conducted the war upon the same politic and just principles, the lives of many hundreds of faithful British subjects would have been saved, and the war carried on in a manner humane and civilized. Yet, we lack evidence that American leaders were intimidated into kindness for Loyalist prisoners because of the brazen mistreatment of rebel prisoners. The march toward the ultimate expression of retaliation—murder—in April 1782 suggests the opposite was true. The Associated Loyalists’ embrace of murderous retaliation was stoked by the Association for Retaliation of Monmouth County. Historian Simon Schama labeled retaliation a "brutal vendetta.” He also observed that the escalation toward murderous retaliation was "no surprise" given that men on both sides were motivated by revenge more than any other principle. Related Historic Site : Morris-Jumel Mansion (New York City) Sources : Henry Clinton, The American Rebellion; Sir Henry Clinton's Narrative of His Campaigns, 1775-1782, with an Appendix of Original Documents (Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1971) p 192; Alexander Lawrence Flick, Loyalism in New York During the American Revolution (NY: Columbia UP) p113-4; James Robertson to Henry Clinton, Great Britain Public Record Office, CO5/1089, p415-6; Henry Clinton to George Germain, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, v93, reel 8, #413; Transcript of the Court Martial of Richard Lippincott, http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/halew/Lippincott.html ; Cynthia Eldenberg, Jonathan Odell: Loyalist Poet of the American Revolution (Durham: Duke UP, 1987) p129-32; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Thomas Jones, History of New York During the Revolutionary War: And of the Leading Events in the Other Colonies at That Period (Ulan: 2012) pp. 481-3; Susan Burgess Shenston, So Obstinately Loyal, James Moody (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000) p 138; Anonymous Account in Jared Sparks Collection, Harvard U - Houghton Library, MS Sparks, 49.2, #141; Thomas Leonard’s deposition at Richard Lippincott’s Court Martial, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, v107, #240-2, 261, 268; Board of Associated Loyalists to Henry Clinon, Library of Congress, Richard Lippincott Court Martial, reel 1, #187; Henry Clinton to Board of Associated Loyalists in Edward H. Tebbenhoff, “The Associated Loyalists: An Aspect of Militant Loyalism,” New-York Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 63 (1979), pp. 142-3; Simon Schama, Rough Crossings, (NY: Harper Collins, 2006) p140-2; Francis Bazley Lee, New Jersey as a Colony and as a State (New York: The Publishing Society of New Jersey, 1902), vol 2, pp. 249-50; Paul Leicester Ford, ed., The Journals of Hugh Gaine, Volume I (New York: Dodd, Mead 81 Company, 1902), vol. 2, pp. 148, 152; Henry Clinton to George Germain, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, v105, reel 8, #692-705; William Smith, Historical Memoirs of William Smith: From 26 August 1778 to 12 November 1783 (New York: Arno, 1971) pp. 507, 511, 529; William Franklin to Guy Carleton, Great Britain Public Record Office, British Headquarters Papers, 30/55, #4768; The Political Magazine and Parliamentary, Naval, Military, and Literary Journal, July 1782, v 4, p 420. 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 > Prosecution of Loyalists Intensifies in Monmouth County by Michael Adelberg Daniel Hendrickson of Middletown was found not guilty of perjury at the Monmouth Court Oyer and Terminer in May 1782. But the Court was hard on Loyalists, meting out six death sentences. - May 1782 - On April 12, 1782, a Loyalist party hanged Joshua Huddy on the Navesink Highlands. A note pinned to Huddy’s chest proclaimed the execution an act of retaliation for the killing of the Loyalist, Philip White, two weeks prior. The hanging of Huddy escalated to the highest levels of the Continental, British and French governments and included the near-hanging of a British officer in retaliation for Huddy. Locally, the leaders of Monmouth County vented their outrage through Monmouth County’s courts. David Forman, formerly focused on military affairs, leveraged his recent appointment as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas to move the county’s courts toward an aggressive anti-Loyalist posture. In May, the Court of Common Pleas restarted the Loyalist estate confiscation process and the county convened a new Court of Oyer and Terminer that was the most punitive court in four years. Monmouth County’s Sixth Court of Oyer and Terminer Monmouth County’s first court of Oyer and Terminer (January 1778) was restrained in its punishments; the second Court of Oyer and Terminer (June 1778) was stoked by the punishing raid against Middletown Point and the imminent invasion of the British Army. That court meted out twelve death sentences, resulting in six executions (six men were pardoned). The Third (July 1779), Fourth (December 1780), and Fifth (November 1781) Courts of Oyer and Terminer were all less punitive. The Sixth Court of Oyer and Terminer was presided over by a five-judge panel comprised of four veteran local judges—Peter Forman, Denice Denice, Richard Cox, Joseph Lawrence—and David Forman, new to the bench. As was the custom, a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Isaac Smith in this case, attended the court. The court heard 178 indictments, only the Second Court of Oyer and Terminer had a larger docket. Table 16 lists the 23 men who were tried for crimes that had the potential to carry a death sentence. Six are recorded as receiving a death sentence, one was found not guilty. Nine of the other sixteen men appear in later documents, demonstrating that they were not executed. At the misdemeanor level, the court took on a number of pre-war squires known to be disaffected. It found Edward Taylor (a longtime rival of David Forman) guilty on two counts of perjury and imposed on him an unusually large £200 for a misdemeanor fine. Two other disaffected former officeholders—James Wardell and Daniel Grandin—were charged with seditious words, but the outcome of their cases is not known. Wardell was further charged and found guilty on two counts of trading with the enemy (fined £30). Another disaffected former officeholder—Daniel Hendrickson of Middletown (not the militia colonel of the same name) was also charged with perjury but found not guilty. As with prior courts of Oyer and Terminer, women were tried for misdemeanors at the Sixth Court of Oyer and Terminer. However, the number was lower than at previous courts. The seven women were: Widow Abigail Parker (fined £5); Esther Wilson (charges dropped), Cornelia Johnson, Hannah Davis, Phoebe Brown, Charity Stout (fined £10), and Deborah Leonard (not paying bail from a prior charge). A few prominent Whigs were tried and fined. Elias Longstreet, the captain of the first Continental Army company raised from Monmouth County, was found guilty of assault and fined £10. Captain Stephen Fleming of Shrewsbury Township was charged with an unnamed misdemeanor. Daniel Hendrickson, Jr., son of the militia colonel, was convicted of two unnamed misdemeanors—fined £3 and a whopping £500 for the second count. His brother had been killed by Loyalists in March—raising a likelihood that young Hendrickson did something very ill-advised while grieving. Fines were the common punishment for misdemeanors, but there were two exceptions: David Jones of Stafford Township was sentenced to twenty lashes and Michael Howland was sentenced to nine months in jail. The rationale for these unusual sentences is not offered, but it is likely that these were poor men who it was presumed would be unable to pay a fine. They have also been flight risks. Concurrent with the Sixth Court of Oyer and Terminer Concurrent with the court, David Forman issued warrants to impress horses from eight disaffected Monmouth County residents. On May 20, he directed a former Continental Army officer, Abraham Woolley, "You are hereby, in the name of the State, to impress three good saddle horses from Thomas Thomson, Joshua Anderson, John Anderson, Benjamin Covenhoven, Jacob West or either of them." Similarly, on June 2, Forman directed Constable Peter Sutton, "You are hereby, in the name of the State, to impress a good saddle horse from John Anderson, son of Joshua, Solomon Combs, David Covenhoven, [and] Thomas Thomson." (Thomson was the subject of an impressment order twice.) Forman would later be reprimanded for these orders—lacking the authority to act on behalf of the State. As the court convened, men were left in jail without being charged. 24 petitioners claimed: 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 tho’ diverse of us have been imprisoned, and one [John Taylor] for months, confined in the common gaol, in the course of which time a court of Oyer & Terminer was sitting over his head - 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. The petitioners blamed the irregularities on David Forman’s “prevailing influence” as “the first judge of the court of common pleas” while also leading an extra-legal vigilante society, the Association for Retaliation . Petition signers were some of the same disaffected squires charged at the court, including Daniel Hendrickson (of Middletown) and Edward Taylor. The Sixth Court of Oyer and Terminer was the first one held in Monmouth County without the threat of Loyalist reprisal. Prior courts were conducted with companies of Continental or state troops stationed at Freehold to provide security. The safer atmosphere was noted by attorney William Paterson who wrote from Freehold on June 2: We have passed our time more agreeably than we have done at any former court, as we have not been under the most distant apprehension of the enemy. The business, as usual, has been troublesome, indeed we have dispatched more [cases] than I expected we should have done. The Pardons of Timothy Scoby and William Herbert Of the Loyalists sentenced to be hanged, it appears that the death sentences on Timothy Scoby and Wiliam Herbert particularly distressed Loyalists. William Corlies, a Shrewsbury Loyalist in New York, wrote William Franklin, head of the withering Associated Loyalists , about Scoby on June 10: Timothy Scoby, as Associated Loyalist, taken prisoner by the rebels on Sandy Hook, within his Majesty's lines, and William Herbert, also an Associated Loyalist, taken by the Rebels on the beach at the Highlands, near Sandy Hook, where he was going to purchase a little bread for the use of his shallop, have been tried for their Loyalty at a rebel court in Freehold, in the County of Monmouth, and have been sentenced to death, to be executed on the Fourth Day of July next. Corlies was “well convinced by his friends within the Rebel's lines that the sentence will be carried into execution” called on Franklin to take action “for the preservation of their lives." Franklin’s Associated Loyalists had been dry docked by the British in the aftermath of hanging of Joshua Huddy. So, Franklin lacked the ability to attack Monmouth County or threaten retaliation. But he promptly wrote to General Guy Carleton, commanding British forces in America, “respecting two Loyalists who were lately made prisoners by the rebels and have been tried for High Treason.” Franklin claimed that “no crime is alleged against them… but their Loyalty.” He complained, “one of them was taken on shore going to purchase provisions, and the other within British lines.” Franklin acknowledged he lacked authority to retaliate, so he put “the whole matter to your Excellency's determination." Carleton promptly wrote Governor William Livingston, on June 12: "Timothy Scoby, taken prisoner at Sandy Hook, and William Herbert, taken also prisoner on the beach at the Highlands, Sandy Hook.” He appealed to the Governor's "moderation and candor." Carleton drew a connection between his inquiry about Scoby and "General Washington justly demanding inquiry concerning the rash execution of Huddy.” Carleton worried that Livingston might be "informed by misinformation" and that Livingston should not be motivated by vengeance against Loyalists. He then flattered Livingston: I will take the fullest measure of reliance on you taking such measures as your own prudence shall dictate to place these men out of danger and that you will not suffer the terms of local law to violate general principles or mingle private or mutual revenge with fair and liberal customs. Scoby and Herbert were spared. On June 20, the Judges of the Monmouth Court of Oyer and Terminer wrote to Governor Livingston: The following persons were capitally convicted, vizt. Richard Phillips and the Negro Jacob for murder, William Herbert & Timothy Scoby for High Treason, the two last, the said Court recommend to your Excellency as the proper objects of mercy, and that they be pardoned accordingly. It is unusual that the Judges did not provide a rationale for the pardons. It seems probable that the Monmouth County judges knew of Carleton’s interest in Scoby and Herbert. They likely looked to lessen the attention on their other sentences by requesting these pardons. Two more Courts of Oyer and Terminer would be held in Monmouth County, in November 1782 and July 1783. The November court had 92 indictments, half the number as the May court, but the court did hand down seven death sentences (one more than the May court). The July 1783 Court of Oyer and Terminer had only 36 indictments and no capital convictions. Concurrent with this court, taxes were effectively collected from the shore region for the first time. James Craig testified (in Jacob Pettinger’s veteran’s pension application) that he and Pettinger were “warned out” in summer 1783 “for the purpose of assisting William Morris on the tax gathering.” They were needed because of “the great number of Tories & disaffected, the taxes could not be gathered without the assistance of the militia.” Craig and Pettinger performed the service "on horseback… for about one month." As the war finally cooled down, normal government functions came into disaffected neighborhoods and the prosecution of Loyalists receded. Related Historic Site : Monmouth County Historical Association Museum Sources : New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - May 1782; Orders from David Forman, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #4360-4361; Library of Congress, William Paterson Collection, Paterson to Cornelia Bell; William Franklin to Guy Carleton, Great Britain Public Record Office, British Headquarters Papers, 30/55, #4768; Guy Carleton to William Livingston, David Library, British HQ Papers, Carleton Papers, #4780; Court Docket, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 17, June 20, 1782; Petition, New Jersey State Archives, Collective Series, Revolutionary War documents, #32; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - December 1780; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - November 1781; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - November 1782; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - July 1783; Court Records, Monmouth Court of Oyer and Terminer, NJ State Archives, #33980; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Jacob Pettinger. 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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 Pardons of Purgatory on Ezekiel Forman by Michael Adelberg The Black Pioneers were officered by white Loyalists, including Ezekiel Forman. Unpleasant assignments like this compelled Forman to quit New York and resettle Freehold at war’s end. - October 1778 - Ezekiel Forman was born into one of the most prominent families in Monmouth County. As protests against British policies built and Americans formed committees to oppose them, his kinsmen—John Forman, Peter Forman and particularly, David Forman, played leading roles in the local Continental government. For whatever reason, Ezekiel Forman did not join them and, in fact, on July 1, 1776—the day before New Jersey adopted its first Constitution outside British control—Ezekiel Forman was arrested and brought before the New Jersey Provincial Congress. He was treated leniently—he posted a bond for his future good behavior and was released. Ezekiel Forman apparently laid low for a while, but when the British Army swept across New Jersey in late 1776 and Loyalists rose up, Ezekiel Forman participated in the Loyalist insurrection . He was again arrested and detained. Along with dozens of other captured Monmouth County Loyalists, he was sent to far off Maryland for detention. Ezekiel Forman returned to New Jersey in early 1777, with several other Monmouth Loyalists, but ahead of the many who remained in detention. Ezekiel Forman as a Loyalist Criminal In June 1777, Ezekiel Forman became an active Loyalist again. As the British Army prepared to quit its small New Jersey perimeter around New Brunswick and Amboy, Forman joined them. He wrote that he became a partisan for the British Army and was active in "taking rebel stores and taking up the most violent [Whigs] in that faction." He was again captured and detained in early 1778 and was tried for treason at the 2nd Monmouth Court of Oyer Terminer in June 1778. He was one of a dozen Loyalists sentenced to death. He wrote: After suffering every insult, indignity and abuse, he was brought to tryal -- and condemned for his loyalty to suffer death -- that his own numerous and family connections, as well as those of his wife, were all (one brother excepted, who was also tried and condemned to death for his attachment the King's cause) adherents to Congress, and to avoid the disgrace of having one of their family executed (and not for compassion for your memorialist) made use of their influence with the rebel government and procured a mitigation of his sentence to banishment, on pain of his being executed if he was ever afterward found in any of the States of America. Ezekiel Forman’s death sentence pardon is well documented. The New Jersey Legislative Council, the legislature’s upper house, considered Forman’s fate on August 10, 1778. It recorded: A representation… in behalf of Ezekiel Forman who was condemned for High Treason at the said Court. Also a petition from the Grand Jury and sundry inhabitants of the said County and some other papers in behalf of the said Ezekiel Forman and on deliberation, the Council advised his Excellency [Governor William Livingston] to respite the execution to Friday, the fifth day of September next. The respite became a pardon. The New Jersey Gazette further reported on September 28: "Ezekiel Forman, who was under sentence of death on a conviction of High Treason, is pardoned on condition of his leaving the State in two months, and the United States in six months, from the date of this pardon, never to return again to any of them." Ezekiel Forman as a Loyalist Refugee Forman left New Jersey in October and went into British lines in New York, but he did not leave the country. A British Colonel, A. Emmerick, recalled Forman’s role in saving four captured British soldiers in 1779: Ezekiel Forman, a Loyalist from New Jersey, at the risk of his life, came to the lines and informed me that four men belonging to my corps, who were prisoners of the rebels, were under sentence of death and that by this timely and useful information, I was enabled to dispatch a flag of truce to General MacDougall, so as to save their lives. Emmerick further noted that Forman "resided in the garrison of New York, and that he always appeared firmly attached to his Majesty." Perhaps because of this service, Forman was noticed by the British high command. An aide-de-camp of General Henry Clinton, leading British forces in America, wrote to Colonel Roger Morris, Superintendent of Refugees, on April 15, 1779: "I am desired by the Commander in Chief to request that you will order rations to be issued to the bearer, Mr. Ezekiel Forman. It is wished that he and others in his situation will find out some services for rendering themselves useful." Forman wrote that he became an officer in “the King’s militia” in New York City, but he did not stay in the city. He was captured again in New Jersey in 1781. He wrote: "was a second time thrown in prison, where he remained a long time & suffered much." The New Jersey Legislative Council again considered his fate on October 15, 1781. It recorded receiving "a petition from Ezekiel Forman, who was convicted of High Treason and received a sentence of death at a Court of Oyer and Terminer in the County of Monmouth in the year of 1778, praying to be pardoned of the offence." The Council again recommended a pardon and it was presumably granted. Forman returned to New York and was put in a supervisory role over a unit of African American Loyalists called the Black Pioneers. He was granted "an allowance of four shillings per diem until something better could be done for him." At times, the pioneers were employed digging trenches, at other times they performed even less glamorous tasks. One of their orders was to "assist in cleaning the streets & removing all Nuisances being thrown into the streets." It is safe to assume that Forman was unhappy with the role. Ezekiel Forman at War’s End It appears that Ezekiel Forman returned to New Jersey toward the end of the war to settle his estate. An Ezekiel Forman co-owned property in Princeton with Richard Stockton. Stockton was a signer of the Declaration of Independence who was captured by Loyalists in Freehold in late 1776 and compelled to sign a British loyalty oath. He died during the war. The fate of the Princeton property remained in limbo until April 1782 when Forman signed over the land to Alexander McDonald. In conveying this land, it was noted that Forman was in Philadelphia. A year later, Forman was still in Philadelphia with his wife. He requested that he and, his wife, Margaret Forman, be allowed to go now with "the liberty of bringing out such monies or effects as he may be able to discharge." With the war ending, Ezekiel Forman apparently planned to settle in New Jersey. He owned and paid taxes on a small 20-acre farm in Freehold in 1784. On this small farm, Forman lived far more modestly than he would have if not a Loyalist. It is probable that he suffered harassments or worse. Forman did not stay in New Jersey very long. On July 4, 1788, twelve years after his first arrest, Forman was in England, where he petitioned the British government for compensation for his lost pre-war estate . He recalled his service to the King and the poor state of his family: "he has been deserted and abandoned by all his relations and connections, and is reduced with a wife and a numerous family of children to extreme indigence." While Ezekiel Forman suffered for his Loyalism during the war, he also received two pardons and was repeatedly shown greater leniency by the government of New Jersey than poor men who committed the same deeds. He was allowed to move around and resettle in New Jersey at war’s end. This contrasts with the dozen or so Loyalists who were put to death in Revolutionary Monmouth County by local courts and to violence from Whig vigilantes later in the war. Ezekiel Forman’s family connections, however strained they might have been, spared him the rough treatment endured by other Loyalists and likely saved his life. Related Historic Site : Morris-Jumel Mansion (New York) Sources : Rutgers University, Special Collections, Loyalist Compensation Applications, Coll., Ezerkiel Forman, D96, PRO AO 13/109, reel 8; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 83-4; The Library Company, New Jersey Gazette and Pennsylvania Evening Post, September-October 1778; Testimony of Col. Emmerick, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Audit Office, Class 13, volume 109, folio 296-7; Certificate regarding Ezekiel Forman, Great Britain Public Record Office, British Headquarters Papers, 30/55, #1919; The order to the Black Pioneers is in Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People ( https://blackloyalist.com/cdc/story/revolution/pioneers.htm ); David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 206; Princeton University Library, Stockton Family Papers, box 2, folder 4, Release of Land near Princeton, Ezekiel Forman to Alexander MacDonald. April 12 1782; Petition, Ezekiel Forman, David Library, Records of the Pennsylvania Revolutionary Government, film 24, reel 30, frames 477-9; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 91, March 23, 1783; Ezekiel Forman compensation claim, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Audit Office, Class 13, Volume 109, folios 296-297 and 302. 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 > Shrewsbury Township Resists Continental Movement by Michael Adelberg Josiah Halstead’s tavern (now the Allen House) hosted the Shrewsbury Township meetings in which local majorities resisted joining the Continental movement in early 1775. - January 1775 - In most ways, Shrewsbury was Monmouth County’s most important township—the first settled, the most populous, the wealthiest, and the most directly tied into the larger Atlantic trade. It also had the county’s largest Anglican congregation and the most prominent Loyalist, the Reverend Samuel Cooke of the Christ Church . In 1774, the people of Shrewsbury did not join the neighboring townships of Middletown, Freehold and Dover in forming township committee s to lead anti-British dissent—but pressures to do so would build. On January 2, 1775 an anonymous advertisement went up in Shrewsbury village. It began: "The inhabitants of the town of Shrewsbury are hereby to meet at the house of Josiah Halstead in said Shrewsbury, the 17th of this instant, January, at noon, in order to choose a Committee." The advertisement said that “confirmed slavery or civil war” would result if the people of Shrewsbury did not join the Continental movement. The meeting at Halstead’s tavern (the present-day Allen House) occurred but attendees chose not to establish a committee. Reverend Cooke recalled that “he prevented any committee from being chosen in Shrewsbury where he lived, by using his influence.” An anonymous account of the meeting further noted: Between thirty and forty of the most respectable freeholders met, and after a few debates on the business of the day, which were carried on with great decency and moderation, it was generally agreed that the appointment of Committees was not only useless, but they would prove disturbing to the peace and quietness which hitherto existed in this township. The decision to not form a committee was noticed in Freehold. On March 6, the Freehold Committee took up the matter and determined to “cut the sacred ties of friendship” with Shrewsbury. The Freehold Committee called for the people of Shrewsbury to vote to form a committee at the town’s annual meeting in May. Shortly after that, a delegation of Freehold citizens went to Shrewsbury, “earnestly requesting they comply with the instructions of the late American Congress in constituting themselves a Committee of Observation.” On March 14, the Freehold Committee formalized the isolation of Shrewsbury from the rest of the county: We esteem to treat them, the said inhabitants of Shrewsbury, as enemies to their King and Country, and deserters from the common cause of true freedom; we will hereafter break off all dealings and communications with them while they continue their opposition. The Freehold Committee had hopes that the isolation would be temporary. “We shall always be pleased to receive them as returning prodigals." The resistance in Shrewsbury soon crumbled. On May 10, a meeting of several township committees in Freehold was also attended by “a number of Gentlemen from the township of Shrewsbury, under the character of Deputies of the Shrewsbury Association, declaring themselves and their constituents desirous of adopting measures of the Continental Congress.” Six days later, this Shrewsbury Association declared: We are desirous to comply with the directions of the County Committee as far the Congress' Association will warrant, and to join the rest of our townships in uniting our force for our just defense and protection, if need be, and it is so required by the Provincial Congress. Finally, on May 27, at the Shrewsbury Township annual meeting (again at Halstead’s tavern), the citizens of Shrewsbury voted to establish a committee “by a great majority.” The Committee would hold its first meeting on June 17. At about this same time, Reverend Samuel Cooke left Shrewsbury. After twenty years as Shrewsbury’s most influential leader, he returned to England. He recorded that “he rec'd several threats before he came away; this hastened his departure.” Related Historical Sites : Halstead’s Tavern (the Allen House ) Sources : Hugh Edward Egerton, The Royal Commission on The Losses And Services Of American Loyalists, 1783-1785 (London: Kessinger, 2010) pp. 35-7. See also Rutgers University Special Collection, Loyalist Compensation of Application of Samuel Cooke, D96, AO 13/108, reel 8; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p123; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 1, p 1165; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p57; "Proceedings of the Committees of Freehold and Shrewsbury," Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society. 1 st Series, vol. 1 , pp. 189; McMurray Hyde, "James Rivington," Spirit of '76, March 1899, vol. 5, n. 7, p 132; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p123; Gaillard Hunt, Fragments of Revolutionary History (Brooklyn: Historical Publishing Club, 1892) pp. 110-2; Nathaniel Scudder Manuscript, New York Public Library, Myers Collection, #551; New Jersey Historical Society, Holmes Family Papers, box 5, folder 6; Proceedings of the Committees of Freehold and Shrewsbury, Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, First Series, 1846, pp. 190-1; Shrewsbury Township Committee, Monmouth County Historical Association, Collections Alphabetical, Revolution folder 1. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Holmes v. Walton as a London Trading Incident by Michael Adelberg Sloops like the ones in this sketch of the New York Harbor were the workhorses of the London Trade, bringing food and lumber into the city and shipping out finished goods craved in New Jersey. - May 1779 - When the American Revolution began, the state of New Jersey made it illegal to bring or sell goods to the British Army or its supporters. However, the British paid good prices and paid in specie, and the government of New Jersey had few tools to enforce its no-trade policies. Regardless of attempts to curb the illegal trade, New Jerseyans, and Monmouth Countians in particular, were tempted into trading with British assets at Sandy Hook and New York. The illegal trade between disaffected Monmouth County farmers and British buyers was often facilitated by Loyalist middlemen nicknamed “London Traders .” This trade was so pervasive that the New Jersey legislature passed laws to authorize local officials to make arrests and seize suspect goods. But the early laws were cumbersome and frustrated both militia officers and local magistrates seeking to enforce the law. These frustrations and reports of the scope of the illegal made it to the Continental Congress which, in summer 1778, began a dialog with New Jersey Governor William Livingston about London Trading. On August 22, Livingston acknowledged receiving a letter from the Continental Congress urging him to stop the illicit trade between Monmouth County and New York. Livingston replied that "to prevent such supplies from Shrewsbury (from whence, as the County of Bergen is almost exhausted, that villainous traffic is now carried on) will be utterly impossible without a greater military force." Despite this misgiving, Livingston issued a proclamation on August 26 in which he noted "the most boundless avarice" of those who "persist in the traitorous practice of enabling the enemy, by supplying them with provisions." He then charged militia officers and magistrates: To exert their most vigorous efforts in support of said embargo, and particularly enjoin the civil and military officers of the counties of Monmouth and Bergen to use their utmost vigilance in preventing all commercial intercourse with the enemy, and to seize and secure all persons concerned in transporting and provisions to any place in their [British] possession, so that they [traders] may be brought to speedy and condign punishment. The Continental Congress and Livingston continued to consider London Trading . On October 13, the minutes of the Congress recorded: A letter of the 2nd from Governor Livingston was read: Ordered, That the letter be referred to the Board of War, and an extra of so much of it as it relates to the trade carrying on with the enemy at Shrewsbury, be sent to General Washington [George Washington]. That same month, New Jersey’s legislature passed its third law to curb London Trading. That law made it "lawful for any person or persons to seize and secure possessions, goods, wares, and merchandise, attempted to be carried or conveyed” to the enemy. The seized goods had to be registered with the local magistrate and, if the seizure was contested, the Magistrate would preside over a hearing to assure that seizure of goods was appropriate. The magistrate’s hearing did not need to be in a regular court and could be held before a six-man jury (even though a twelve-man jury was the legal standard). There was no appeal. In January 1779, George Washington committed to sending troops to Monmouth County in order to curb the London Trade. While Continental soldiers were involved in a few arrests and seizures, there is no reason to believe they were effective in curbing the London Trade as a whole. While militia officers seized goods suspected of being traded illegally, township magistrates were the officers charged with upholding the seizures. As noted in prior articles, Continental officers such as Major Henry Lee and Continental purchasing agents such as David Rhea, had testy relationships with magistrates who they deemed insufficiently diligent in condemning taken goods. Two township magistrates, Peter Forman of Freehold and Peter Schenck of Middletown, clashed bitterly when Forman upheld the seizure of goods from Benjamin Van Cleave, a Middletown resident. Holmes v Walton as a London Trading Incident On May 24, 1779, Major Elisha Walton, acting on a tip from William Wikoff, seized the goods of John Holmes and Solomon Ketchum, held by Daniel Ketchum. John James was with Daniel Ketchum at the time of the seizure. He subsequently testified: “At the time of the seizure of the goods; about sundown the evening of the seizure, John Holmes and William Bostwick came to Daniel Ketchum." After this, Ketchum "appeared to look very uneasy.” Ketchum soon left with the goods in a wagon. Phoebe Ketchum testified that she "rode in the wagon with her brother [Daniel]… along the back road" to escape notice. When they were stopped, they claimed to have no goods in the wagon. Walton asserted that Holmes and Ketchum bought the goods from London Traders bringing in goods from British-held New York. The goods Walton seized included 700 yards of silk, 400 yards of silk gauze, and other fabrics. Walton claimed that the silk was "such a quantity as could not be purchased in all the stores of New Jersey." Thomas Henderson, the former Freehold township magistrate, supported Walton’s assessment. He said the seized goods "appeared to be such as are usually imported from Great Britain... and the quantity was greater than ever this deponent had seen in any country store.” He further stated that silks like these "were exceedingly scarce." William Hilsey said the silks "appeared imported and of the first quality." Andrew Bowne testified that he transported the silks to Ketchum’s barn. He stated that “Holmes was not a merchant” and "he had never heard of John Holmes purchasing the goods from Boston." Testimony in support of Holmes and Ketchum was weak. Holmes asserted that the goods were purchased in Boston but was unable to produce any receipts about the purchase. Daniel Ketchum testified that he was moving the silks inland because of "an alarm at Middletown" and that the goods were purchased "honestly and righteously." Elias Covenhoven testified that he spoke with Holmes about the goods and Holmes never indicated "the goods were carried from N. York." The seizure of the silks was upheld by Judge John Anderson of Freehold and a mini-jury of six men. Walton promptly sold the silks for £20,000, a huge sum. Under New Jersey law, there was no way to appeal Anderson’s decision short of the state’s Supreme Court. So, John Holmes hired William Wilcocks of Freehold, formerly a Judge Advocate in the Continental Army, and Wilcocks filed a complaint before the New Jersey Supreme Court. While the assertion that the silks were purchased from Boston seems implausible, the due process arguments offered by Wilcocks were damning. Testimony strongly suggested jury tampering: "Elisha Walton did, at his own expense, and without the consent of said John and Solomon, treat with strong liquor the jury sworn to try this case, after they were unpaneled, but before they gave their verdict in the case." Wilcocks also claimed that the October 1778 law under which the seizure occurred was overly broad because it permitted seizures "under any pretense whatsoever.” In addition, Holmes was stripped of his goods without the due process protection of a regular jury trial. The New Jersey Supreme first heard the case in November 1779. The seizure of the silks was invalidated because Holmes did not receive appropriate legal due process (including a fair trial before a full jury). In addition, the October 1778 law that permitted Anderson to uphold the seizure without a verdict from a full jury was judged unconstitutional and voided by the Supreme Court (presided over by Chief Justice David Brearley of Upper Freehold). The case of Holmes v Walton is the first known case of “judicial review” in the United States—in which a court struck down a law as unconstitutional. Holmes v Walton was a Constitutional watershed; this is the subject of the next article . The Scope of London Trading Were it not for the precedent-setting litigation, the seizure of Holmes’ silks would have been just another London Trading incident. The seizure of Benjamin Van Cleave’s grain (see prior article) four months earlier aroused greater passions inside Monmouth County. The author is able to document thirty distinct London Trading incidents during the war, but it is safe to assume that that is only a small fraction of the total volume of London Trading. The trade was so profitable that disaffected Monmouth Countians acquired more wealth (land and livestock) during the war than Whigs (supporters of the Revolution). London Trading also lured in out-of-staters. Three examples are below. These interstate incidents re-escalated London Trading to the attention of state and national leaders. July 3, 1781, the Monmouth County Court of Common Pleas heard the case David Ramsay of Virginia v John Chadwick. Ramsay "landed near Cranberry Inlet” where John Chadwick, believing Ramsay a London Trader, "threatened taking his boat from him" and then impounded the boat. Several Virginians wrote statements about Ramsay’s good character. The dispute was escalated to the Continental Congress. The final disposition of the case is not known. The Pennsylvania Gazette reported that on November 25, 1780, that "a number of persons long suspected of carrying on an illicit trade with the Enemy (by way of Shrewsbury) and depreciating our money, were apprehended.” They were: Patrick Garvey "an apothecary in the Continental service who owns part of the boat employed between Squan and Sandy Hook,” Garvey’s collaborators included two Princeton merchants. Garvey was found not guilty in the Monmouth Court of Oyer and Terminer in May 1782. The fate of the other men is unknown. Nathan Jackson was a New England privateer who apparently discovered that London Trading was more profitable than privateering. His double-dealing along the Monmouth shore allowed him to purchase provisions and then sell them in New York. His duplicity was eventually exposed and he was arrested and his vessel impounded. Jackson fought the charges against him for years in the courts but never recovered his vessel. London Trading in the Courts London Trading and related offenses drove activity in the county courts and New Jersey Supreme Court. Dozens of London Traders (or alleged London Traders) were arrested in a 1780 crackdown that led to a two-month long Court of Oyer and Terminer —twice as long as any court held in Monmouth County during the war. The New Jersey Supreme Court heard 246 Monmouth County-originated cases between its founding in 1776 and the end of 1784. About half of those cases might have involved London Trading: charges in those cases included crossing enemy lines (110 cases); supplying or aiding the enemy (13 cases); boarding an enemy ship (3 cases); and receiving stolen goods (1 case). The frequent appeal of seizures to the New Jersey Supreme Court was a cause of concern for many. A 1780 petition from 34 Monmouth Countians noted that “many captures have been made by the inhabitants of this State from persons within the enemy lines under sanction of a law now in force in this state” and that the decision on some of those captures were “removed to the Supreme Court under the pretense of errors in the proceedings of the Magistrates.” The petitioners complained: Your Petitioners are informed that some of the judgments are reversed by the Judges of the Supreme Court & there remains no redress for the captors who ought to have been fully supported - Your petitioners think it highly inconsistent with Justice that in every case any error should be committed by a Magistrate, that such error should totally abolish the capture. The petitioners requested a new law to protect the rights of people making seizures when an error was made by the magistrate. Petition signers included Elisha Walton, embroiled in Holmes v Walton litigation, as well as Captain John Walton (Elisha’s brother), Thomas Henderson, and John Covenhoven (a former state legislator). The New Jersey Assembly read the petition on December 8. The Assembly acknowledged that setting aside seizures gave “encouragement of the Disaffected and [is] great loss to the Loyal citizens of the State." Similar petitions arrived from Middlesex and Essex counties. However, there is no evidence that the New Jersey Legislature acted on the petitions. London trading remained a profitable endeavor through the end of war. The author’s prior research demonstrates that people in shore townships (where London trading occurred) increased their net wealth during the war despite being victimized by Loyalist raids that carried away their livestock and valuables. London Trading was risky; participants could run afoul of militia and privateer parties that seized their goods. As the war went on, complicated schemes evolved to bring goods to New York involving suspect passports and trap-doored wagons . While one ingenious scheme regarding wagons with trap doors for hiding contraband was exposed , most London trading went undetected; the practice only ended when the British left New York. Related Historic Site : South Street Seaport Museum (New York) Sources : New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 19, #30; Austin Scot, "Holmes v. Walton: The New Jersey Precedent", American Historical Review, 1899, vol. 4, pp 3-4; William Livingston to Congress, Library of Congress, Peter Force Collection, Series 7C, box 31, folder 2, 68:155, 211; Livingston’s proclamation published in the New Jersey Gazette, August 26, 1778; Journals of the Continental Congress, October 13, 1778, p1005 ( www.ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html ); Supreme Court Records, New Jersey State Archives, #44928; Common Pleas Minutes, July 1780, Monmouth County Archives; Austin Scot, "Holmes v. Walton: The New Jersey Precedent", American Historical Review, 1899, vol. 4, pp 3-5; Petition, New Jersey State Archives, Collective Series, Revolutionary War Documents, #76; Supreme Court Records, New Jersey State Archives, #18354; Compiled records of the New Jersey Supreme Court, New Jersey State Archives; Holmes v. Walton, retrial, Supreme Court Records, New Jersey State Archives, #44928; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, May 13 and May 20, 1780, p 187-195; Adelberg, Michael, “Destitute of Almost Everything to Support Life: The Acquisition and Loss of Wealth in Revolutionary Monmouth County, New Jersey,” in James Gigantino, ed., New Jersey in the American Revolution (Rutgers University Press: 2015). 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 March to Perth Amboy to Defend Against British Attack by Michael Adelberg Perth Amboy was within easy reach of British warships. Three Monmouth County militia companies helped defend the strategic and vulnerable town in July 1776. - July 1776 - Monmouth County was rife with troubles in July 1776. Foremost among them, the northeast tip of the county—the Sandy Hook peninsula—was a British military base and a beacon for the county’s many Loyalists. They were forming associations throughout the county and challenging the authority of the fledgling New Jersey government. Revolutionary leaders such as John Covenhoven of Freehold, a delegate to the New Jersey Convention and the body’s Vice President, begged for assistance, but little was available. But July 1776 was also a moment of crisis for the Continental Army which was scrambling to form a defensive perimeter on the land that circled the British Army, now landed on Staten Island. Thousands of men from Pennsylvania and New Jersey rushed to northeast New Jersey to form this perimeter, including three volunteer militia companies from Monmouth County—under Captains Joshua Huddy, Barnes Smock, and Reuben Randolph. In July, Joshua Huddy of Colts Neck (in Shrewsbury Township) raised a company of volunteers from a string of neighborhoods between Colts Neck and Upper Freehold. John Parsons of Upper Freehold joined this company and recalled “their company marched to Perth Amboy, the Hessians were at this time on Staten Island and fired upon Perth Amboy... their balls knocked down two of the pillars on the Market House in that place." He served for two months, one at Perth Amboy and one on the Monmouth shore of Raritan Bay. Huddy, a zealous (and sometimes overzealous ) supporter of the Revolution would subsequently raise and lead volunteer companies of State Troops in 1777 and 1782. Barnes Smock, with his kinsmen John Smock and Hendrick Smock, was from one of Middletown’s leading Whig families. He was elected militia Captain in early 1776. Elisha Morris, a member of Smock’s company, recalled: "He first marched to Amboy under Captain Barnes Smock and after remaining there on guard for two weeks, he was marched back to Monmouth County and put on guard on Conkaskunk [on Raritan Bay]." John Howland of the same company recalled similar service: "They marched as far as Perth Amboy, three days, and then returned to Monmouth." Interestingly, Howland did not originally expect to perform this service. He also recalled: “Elisha Gird had volunteered to go to meet the British… He got frightened and gave this deponent eight dollars to take his place, which he did.” Captain Reuben Randolph recruited volunteers from Dover and Stafford townships (present-day Ocean County). He raised 25 men. Recruiting from across the isolated shore villages took time, as did their long march from Toms River. But they reached Perth Amboy in early August and stayed for 35 days. One of Randolph’s men, Zachariah Hankins, recalled this service: He performed his first monthly tour of duty under Captain Reuben Randolph of the township of Stafford… his company composed one half of the Dover militia and one half of the Stafford militia, that they were marched to Amboy and there remained for one month of duty... he was discharged from his monthly tour at Amboy, he went home to the township of Dover. Another one of Randolph’s men, John Chamberlain, corroborated Hankins’ account. He also recalled that his service at Perth Amboy included “making and repairing fortifications at that place.” The short tenure of the Monmouth militia at Perth Amboy was attributable to their temporary service, especially militia that left their homes knowing those same homes were vulnerable to British attack and local Loyalist insurrection. The routing of the Continental Army at the Battle of Long Island in late August also probably weighed on the decision to stay at a place within easy reach of the victorious British. The Monmouth men were back home by the early fall. It would not be long before their local enemies would prove more formidable than the British. Related Historic Site : Proprietary House Sources : National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Parsons of VA, www.fold3.com/image/#25332426 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Elisha Morris of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#25351171 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Howland of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#27247928 ; New Jersey State Archives, Revolutionary War, Book of Indents, Capt Reuben Randolph, p401; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Parsons; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Zachariah Hawkins of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#22623931 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Chamberlain. 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 > Loyalist Kin Gain Pieces of Confiscated Estates by Michael Adelberg Edward Taylor, arrested for disaffection but not a Loyalist, avoided estate confiscation by cutting his Loyalist son, George, out of his will. A number of Loyalist kin held onto family estates. - April 1779 - By late 1778, the New Jersey government had established a process to confiscate and sell Loyalist estates. Selling Loyalist estates, however, was complicated by an important question: What should be done with the families of Loyalists who were living on those estates? In December 1778, a law was passed to empower the Governor to exile Loyalist wives still living in New Jersey but, realistically, the Governor was only capable of exiling a small percentage of Loyalist families. Many wives of Loyalists were the sisters and daughters of leaders in the new government, and some severed ties with their Loyalist husbands and fathers. Local authorities were tempted to break rules to help these women. The “Red House” Controversy The first and best documented case of the estate confiscation process being manipulated on behalf of a Loyalist’s family concerned the sale of “Red House.” It was one of the best houses in the village of Freehold and formerly the home of John Longstreet (who left in 1776 to become a captain in the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers ). Longstreet’s family stayed in Freehold and apparently earned the favor of local authorities. When Longstreet’s house went up for auction on March 17, a plot was implemented to keep the house in the hands of the Longstreet family. That plot ran afoul of David Rhea, the Quartermaster agent for Monmouth County, living in Allentown but raised in Freehold. He wanted the house for himself. Depositions were taken by the New Jersey Legislature about what transpired on March 17. David Gordon, a captain in the State Troops , testified to the unusual conduct of the auction: When he asked Mr. Rhea what he was buying, he said Longstreet's house, after hearing Mr. Rhea bid near a dozen times without hearing another person bid, the crier [Daniel Harbert] turned round to Mrs. Jane Forman and asked if she bid five pounds [more], which she did, and [then the crier] immediately stopped everything. Wiliam Schenck further testified that “the crier advised Mr. Rhea to let Mrs. Forman have it, as she wanted it for Longstreet's child.” Rhea also testified: Mrs. Forman [Jane Forman] and he bid against each other some time, at length, he [Rhea] bid five pounds [more] at a bid, several times against himself & then seeing that the time was out, and it [the Red House] must be his, upon which the crier turned his watch [hourglass] upside down and kept on crying, that he [Rhea] then bid several more times afterward upon himself & stop'd, when the crier asked Mrs. Forman if he should cry £5 more for her, to which she nodded, & he [Rhea] immediately bid £5 more, when the crier told him it was too late. A fourth witness, Garrett Covenhoven, testified that he heard the auction crier tell him that Longstreet’s house “was going up for sale & wish'd the people would have pity on the child [of John Longstreet]." A fifth witness, Stophel Logan, corroborated Rhea’s and Covenhoven’s accounts. Joseph Throckmorton gave a deposition partially to the contrary: “The crier took the last bid from Mr. Rhea, the crier [then] took another bid from Mrs. Forman by a nod… and then struck it off, looking in Mr. Rhea's face and saying 'once, twice, three times'.” There was “enough time for Mr. Rhea to bid” one last time. However, Throckmorton was kin to a Loyalist officer and had a confiscated estate in his extended family. He may have had a vested interest in the outcome of the auction. The investigation into the sale of the Red House produced a reversal. The final records of the Forfeiture Commissioners record David Rhea as the purchaser of John Longstreet’s “house lot.” Jane Forman’s charitable intentions did not carry the day against the biased auction. However, there is no evidence that auction crier, Harbert, was punished for rigging the auction. Monmouth County’s four estate Forfeiture Commissioners—Kenneth Hankinson, Samuel Forman, Joseph Lawrence, Jacob Wikoff—were rebuked by the New Jersey Legislature for this and other irregularities, but the legislature stopped short of removing them from office. Other Ways Loyalists Sought to Keep Land in the Family There are several other examples of Loyalist kin keeping some of their family estates. The data below summarizes seven other cases in which special accommodations were made for the families of Loyalists—although some accommodations were temporary or subject to litigation that reversed the accommodation. There were special accommodations made for additional Loyalist wives and families, but incomplete documentation makes it impossible to know the full extent of these practices. The data is structured as follows: Loyalist Kin Left with Land Confiscated Property Land Kept in Family Rev. Samuel Cooke Mary Cooke, daughter Multiple plots of land 220-acre farm Barzilla Grover William Grover, brother Family estate Family estate** Thomas McKnight* Robert McKnight, brother Family estate Family estate Samuel Osborne Osborne’s widow Osborne’s estate 1/3 of estate James Stillwell James Stillwell, Jr., son 300-acre estate 300-acre farm Peter Stout Stout’s mother unknown unknown** Hendrick Van Mater John, Joseph Van Mater, brothers 1/3 of 480-acre estate 1/3 of estate** John Williams Deborah Williams, wife Mill and farm Mill * Family estate sold and kept in family prior to confiscation ** Outcome contested and potentially reversed Deborah Williams is a good example of a wife permitted to hold onto some of her husband’s estate. Per genealogical and antiquarian sources, Deborah’s husband, John Wiliams, became an officer in the New Jersey Volunteers; she stayed in New Jersey. Deborah’s daughter married a Continental soldier, Thomas Barclay, and the family apparently severed relations with John. When the Loyalist estate confiscation auctions were held, John’s plots of land were sold separately. Deborah was allowed to purchase the most valuable family property—the Turtle Mill at Eatontown. Other plots were purchased by other bidders. Peter Stout provides an example of special accommodation that went bad. Stout was a Loyalist. According to a memorial written in 1783, he initially stayed in Middletown, which "enabled him to maintain his wife & seven children in decency." He then fled when the Loyalist insurrections collapsed. Before doing so, he apparently transferred his estate to his mother and she remained in control of the family estate after Stout left. In August 1782, Stout was captured while visiting his family: He was about the month of August 1782 taken prisoner by the Americans & confined in Freehold gaol for near four months, after which he was exchanged upon giving bond & security in £1,000 that he would not leave the county, but should return to gaol when called for. In 1783, with hostilities cooled, Stout sought permission from Colonel Asher Holmes (the Middletown militia colonel) and John Stillwell (“the magistrate who took the bond of security”) to return to New York, “which was always refused.” He went to Colonel W. Smith (the Continental Commissary of Prisoners) for help, and Smith “wrote a letter to Genl. David Forman on the subject -- who absolutely refused suffering the deponent to come within British lines or discharging his security bonds.” Stout was then jailed and loaded in irons. A deal was apparently worked out between Stout’s mother and John Burrowes, the Monmouth County Sheriff: The deponent's mother conveyed her right to the deponent's confiscated estate unto Mr. John Burrowes, the purchaser thereof, upon which being done, the deponent was retrieved from irons, and discharged from the dungeon by John Burrowes, Jr. Like Stout, Samuel Osborne, the tax collector for Monmouth County under the Royal Government, also attempted to protect his estate. He transferred it to his sister, who then became the custodian for a mentally-disabled second sister who lived on the estate. The Forfeiture Commissioners were unsympathetic. They confiscated and sold Osborne’s estate anyway. This prompted a petition to the Legislature from Richard Van Mater, Osborne’s brother-in-law. Van Mater complained: That Samuel Osborne, who some time ago did join the enemy, did, in consequence of a previous agreement between him [Osborne] and his sister, wife of said petitioner, for the maintenance of an idiot sister of the said Osborne, leave all his moveable estate in the hands of the petitioner, for the support of Osborne's wife and the said idiot sister, and for payment of all his lawful debts; which estate was afterwards sold by the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates. The Legislature was unmoved. It referred Van Mater to the courts. Six years later, the disposition of Osborne’s estate remained in contention. There was a second challenge from Osborne’s widow. In March 1786, the New Jersey Gazette recorded a petition to the Legislature from Richard Rogers, who purchased Osborne’s estate: He had purchased a plantation at the sale of the commissioners of forfeited estates, and is in danger of losing one-third part of the usable part of the plantation during the life of the widow, whose husband [Samuel Osborne] formerly owned the same, and praying the legislature will protect him in the said purchase. The Legislature declined to consider the issue. Other potential Loyalists stayed home to avoid confiscation. Edward Taylor of Middletown endured arrests and harassments to hold onto his estate. His oldest son, George Taylor, Colonel of Monmouth County’s illusory Loyalist militia , was written out his will despite being on “affectionate terms” with his father. If Edward left any land to George, it would have been confiscated. Edward died at the end of the war and his estate was transferred to a younger son who never left Monmouth County. The sale of Loyalist estates was tainted by scandals and complications , not the least of which involved the families of those Loyalists. At times, the Forfeiture Commissioners bent the rules to protect the interest of families that severed ties with Loyalist husbands and fathers. At other times, authorities bent the rules to confiscate Loyalist estates that were lawfully transferred prior to confiscation. In either case, the willingness to bend rules is conspicuous. Related Historic Site : Marlpit Hall Sources : Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 49; Peter W. Coldham, comp., American Loyalist Claims (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1980), p 465. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984) pp. 830-1; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p 889; Thomas McKnight in Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 49. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984), p 564; George Taylor discussed in Peter W. Coldham, comp., American Loyalist Claims (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1980), p 477; Monmouth County Historical Association, The Grover Taylor House, (Freehold: MCHA) p 22-4; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, March 9, 1780, p 149; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, June 1, 1780, p 214; Peter Stout, Affidavit, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #9154, 9177; New Jersey State Archives, NJ Supreme Court Collection, Case # 13541; Peter Stout to Guy Carleton, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #9154, 9177; New Jersey Gazette, March 6, 1786. Previous Next