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 Baptists Reset Their Congregations by Michael Adelberg The Upper Freehold Baptists met at the Old Yellow Meeting House. Despite a succession of ministers, they were unwavering in their support of the Revolution throughout the war. - March 1777 - On the eve of the American Revolution, Monmouth County had a large Baptist congregation in Middletown (248 congregants) and a smaller one at Imlaystown in Upper Freehold (78 congregants). The two meetings were served by a single minister, Abel Morgan. He lived and preached in Middletown, but preached at Imlaystown one Sunday a month. The prior minister for the Upper Freehold meeting, David Jones, was an outspoken supporter of independence. While visiting Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1775, Jones preached, “Defensive War in a Just Cause, Sinless.” His sermon was published and widely distributed. After this, Jones was unable to safely return to Upper Freehold—which would soon be the scene of a Loyalist insurrection . Jones served as a chaplain in the Continental Army during the war and never returned to Monmouth County. When Upper Freehold was rocked by a second and more severe Loyalist insurrection in December 1776, the Baptist meeting suspended operations. After a period of irregular entries, on March 1, 1777, the congregation’s Deacon, Thomas Farr, recorded, “No meetings—these are troublesome times indeed.” The war years were hard on the congregation—it admitted twelve new members in 1776 and eleven new members at war’s end in 1783, but it only admitted a total of fifteen new members in the six years in between. Baptist Meeting Purges Loyalists While the Upper Freehold congregation was pro-independence from the start, the Middletown congregation only supported the Revolution after a “purging time” in 1777. On May 10, the meeting moved against its active Loyalist members. The church book recorded three votes: 1. In the first place was to consider whether we believe it justifiable, in sight of Holy God, to joyn [sic] the free States of America, to the utmost of our power, in defense of our rights and privileges, against our cruel enemies, who is now fighting against us with fire and sword, to deprive us of them. – Agreed. 2. Whether the standing of our Church does not call for a purging time, when we are so divided in judgment and in practice, and further, whether or not those members have standing in our church, that do side with the enemy, ought to be laid under censure. – Agreed. 3. Whether or not David Burdge and Elias Baly [Elias Bailey], who have left this State and gone over to the enemy ought to be debarred from communion in our church, yea or nay. – yea. The meeting took other acts as well. John Taylor and James Grover were summoned to answer for their roles in administering British loyalty oaths. Edward Taylor and Mary Bailey were warned to “forebare talking so much against the present state, and in behalf of the enemy.” James Mott, Richard Crawford, John Walling, and Samuel Bray were appointed to counsel and monitor the disaffected congregants. Sixteen other congregants signed on to support them. The Middletown Baptists met again on May 24 to consider removing John Taylor and James Grover: The church laid before said Taylor and said Grover the charge, which was that they had sworn so many of their brethren and neighbors to swear true obedience to King George; the church then asked them whether they justified themselves in acting that part - they answered they did justify themselves, but was sorry they had done it because things had not turned out as they expected - upon hearing the whole affair, the church agreed to a man, except Edward Taylor, and then told said Taylor and said Grover they was disbarred from communion with the church. The congregation’s minister, Abel Morgan, was initially cautious toward disaffected members. As late as December 1777 he warned of "dispersion among the churches” and “discord and contention among neighbors" without directly criticizing Loyalists. But Morgan’s voice grew stronger after the British Army passed through Middletown following the Battle of Monmouth. They occupied and vandalized the Baptist meeting house and forced Morgan to preach in the woods. A year later, Morgan preached: “Our continent is filled with tears and blood, ravages and desolations abound, perpetrated by the English troops and, if possible, by the more wicked combinations of traitors among ourselves." Other Disturbances in the Congregations The Baptists of Upper Freehold never needed to purge the meeting of Loyalists, but the congregation did discipline several members. On June 16, 1777, it suspended “Candice, a Black woman… disguised with liquor” from the congregation. In December 1778, the meeting again moved against three members for poor attendance and acting with “no sense of guilt.” Another round of suspension in 1781 was meted out for non-attendance and drinking. The congregation never needed to punish any of its members for Loyalism. However, the Upper Freehold Baptists needed to find a new minister. In June 1777, they invited John Pittman, “a very promising young man," to be the congregation’s minister. It appears that Pittman relocated from Philadelphia to Imlaystown in September (as the British Army was threatening invasion of that city). Pittman co-served the Baptist meetings at Imlaystown and Cranbury. In March 1780, Pittman received luxury goods from Boston. This caused an argument with Joseph Cox, from one of the meeting’s leading families. The bad feelings escalated when Pittman insulted Joseph’s brother, Thomas Cox: Thomas Cox entered the following complaint or charge against him, that Mr. Pittman had represented him [Thomas Cox] as his worst enemy, and Mr. Pittman not giving him satisfaction was forbid preaching in the meeting house & warned to go out of the dwelling house. Pittman returned to Philadelphia in 1781. The next minister, John Blackwell, was not found until late 1782. As for Abel Morgan, he grew ill in 1784. The Middletown congregation recognized him as an “infirm” and hired a servant to tend to him. Morgan died in 1785. Related Historic Site : Old Yellow Meeting House Sources : Upper Freehold Baptist Records, Rutgers University Special Collections, reel 1; David Jones, Journal of Two Visits to Some Indian Nations on the West Side of the Ohio River, 1772-3 (Burlington, NJ: Isaac Collins, 1774) p V-VIII, 11; Defensive war in a just cause sinless. A sermon , preached on the day of the continental fast, at Tredyffryn, in Chester County, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N11160.0001.001/1:2?rgn=div1;view=fulltext ; Jones, David, 1736-1820.Baptist Meeting Minutes, John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v2, p 273; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v2, p 273; Upper Freehold Baptist Records, Rutgers University Special Collections, reel 1; R.T. Middletditch, "Abel Morgan of Middletown", The Baptist Quarterly, 1874, vol. 8, p331-2; American Baptist Magazine and Missionary Intelligencer (Boston: James Lording, 1829) vol. 3, p443-444; Upper Freehold Baptist Records, Rutgers University Special Collections, reel 1; R.T. Middletditch, "Abel Morgan of Middletown", The Baptist Quarterly, 1874, vol. 8, p332; Norman H. Maring, Baptists in New Jersey: A Study in Transition (Valley Forge, Penn.; Judson Press, 1964) pp. 57-8, 69, 74; Upper Freehold Baptist Records, Rutgers University Special Collections, reel 1; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County, (Peck: Philadelphia, 1885) p 635; Upper Freehold Baptist Records, Rutgers University Special Collections, reel 1; Monmouth County Historical Association, Church Book, Upper Freehold Baptists (typescript); R.T. Middletditch, "Abel Morgan of Middletown", The Baptist Quarterly, 1874, vol. 8, p334. 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 Disaffection of Edward Taylor by Michael Adelberg With the exception of six months of confinement in Princeton, Edward Taylor lived at his home, Marlpit Hall, throughout the Revolution. Taylor was often punished for opposing the Revolution. - April 1777 - In 1774 and 1775, Edward Taylor was a leader in resisting British policies in Monmouth County. He was a committeeman who was so important to the county’s drive to raise food for the suffering people of Boston that when a thank you note came back from Boston it was addressed to him. In early 1776, Taylor concurrently served in the New Jersey Assembly (aligned with the British government) and the Provincial Congress (aligned with the Continental Congress). Taylor was one of several pre-Revolutionary leaders who historian William Benton labeled “Whig-Loyalists” – men who, like the Whigs of England, who believed the British government needed reform, but remained loyal to the British government and crown. Taylor was a key member of committees that took actions against Loyalists . When his neighbors moved toward supporting a New Jersey Constitution separate from British authority, Edward Taylor broke from them. On June 26, the week before the New Provincial Congress voted to adopt a new constitution, Colonel Abraham Ten Eyck was ordered to apprehend Edward Taylor, his brother, John Taylor, and 24 other New Jerseyans of suspect loyalty. Ten Eyck was further ordered to “keep them under strong guard, and bring before this Congress" and further "deliver them to the keeper of the common gaol at Trenton." At this time, Edward’s nephew, William Taylor, was getting signatures for a petition opposing independence, and Edward’s son, George Taylor, was commanding the militia opposite the British base at Sandy Hook. Edward Taylor laid low for the next several months. There is no evidence that he supported the new Revolutionary government, but also no evidence that he participated in the Loyalist insurrections (though he apparently did not sign a British loyalty oath). When George Taylor switched sides and became the Colonel of Monmouth County’s Loyalist militia and started raiding the county, it became impossible for Edward to lay low. In April, 1777, David Forman, the highest-ranking officer in Monmouth County (concurrently a colonel in the Continental Army and a Brigadier General of the New Jersey Militia) took an interest in Edward Taylor. He visited Taylor in early April and offered him a Loyalty oath to the New Jersey government. Forman gave a deposition on April 14 detailing Taylor’s response: Heard said Edward Taylor say that he had, at two different times, taken the oath of allegiance to the King of Great Britain and he still thinks himself bound by them, and absolutely refused to take on the oaths to the State of New Jersey. That same day, Zephaniah Morris gave a deposition against Edward Taylor regarding a £50 debt: Said deponent, being at work at Edward Taylor 's house in the month of December last, he [Morris] pulled out a sum of Continental money (more than sufficient to have paid the debt to sd Edward Taylor) and this deponent asked said Taylor if he would take the money due to him, to which said Taylor replied he would take the money in the month of March. When Morris returned in March to again pay off the debt in Continental money, "said Taylor replied that he would only take money that would pass in [British occupied] New York." The next day, William Bostwick gave a deposition against Taylor. Bostwick heard Taylor complain in the fall of 1776 "that the mortgage is daily increasing on his estate because two persons from morning to night [are employed] to print Continental money, and he should have only a penny to give his sons.” Henry Segollets also gave a deposition with respect to a debt owed to Taylor: On or about the beginning of December last, this deponent did proffer to Edward Taylor for the full sum owed above, executed by the said Henry Segollets Jr., in Continental currency, and that the said Edward Taylor did refuse to take said money, and that this deponent did a few days after, in the presence of two witnesses, again proffer to said Edward Taylor the money due to said Taylor on the aforesaid note, who still refused to take the money due. Taylor was brought before the New Jersey Council of Safety on April 19 and the evidence against him was heard. Two friends posted £300 bonds for his good conduct and he was released; Taylor also posted bonds for the release of others brought before the New Jersey Council of Safety. He was the lone vote against “purging” Loyalists from the Middletown Baptist meeting . All of these actions demonstrate that Edward Taylor was disaffected from the new government, but not necessarily hostile. However, Taylor would edge closer to participating in hostilities. On May 25, Thomas Seabrook, a major in the militia, learned that Edward Taylor was removing the fence rails from part of his land near the shore. Seabrook presumed that this was being done to allow raiding parties led by his son, George Taylor to penetrate Middletown and escape via Taylor’s land. Thomas Seabrook's son, Stephen Seabrook, confronted Edward Taylor. He reported: I went in company with James Kelsey & we came upon the fence Edward Taylor had cut with the axe [still] in his hand. Upon our coming to him, a conversation began, me & sd Taylor, about the fence and land. I told him it was poor business. Taylor acknowledged he had cut 20 or 30 panel & he would be damned to put it up again. George Taylor's Loyalist party attacked Seabrook's home two weeks later hoping to capture Thomas Seabrook; during the raid, the Loyalists bayoneted Stephen by mistake. For this and perhaps other actions, David Forman moved against Edward Taylor on July 2: Several complaints having been made to me respecting your conduct, particularly acting as a spy amongst us… giving aid to a party of Tories and British, commanded by your son, the late militia Coll. in this county, now a refugee, by which means the party escaped the pursuit of a party of militia sent to attack them. I do therefore enjoin you for the future to confine yourself to your farm at Middletown, and do not attempt re-attempt to travel the road more than crossing it to go to your land on the north side of said town. It is unclear if Forman, who held only military commissions, had authority to impose house-arrest on Edward Taylor, especially when the New Jersey Council of Safety was actively trying and punishing New Jerseyans for similar offenses. Perhaps Forman, who had battled George Taylor’s raiding parties at least twice, was seeking revenge on the Taylor family. Aggrieved, Edward Taylor protested his treatment to the New Jersey Legislative Council (the Upper House of Legislature) later that July: I was sent for to appear before the commanding officer, Mr. Forman, and made a prisoner, which charges made against are entirely unjust. I am as innocent as an unborn child.... Tho' innocent I strictly obey the orders of confinement which is a considerable damage to me in my business, having a grist mill two or three miles from where I live, and nobody but the servants of my own house to attend her, who I cannot trust without being there, which occasions my mills to stand idle the chief part of the time. There is no evidence that the New Jersey Legislative Council acted on Taylor’s petition. Meanwhile, Taylor suffered harassment from neighbors. In 1778, he testified that in November, 1777: Daniel Bray, John Bray and George Johnson came to my house… to take the horse, which Daniel Bray broke the lock and not finding the horse in the stable, went to the field and took the horse from the Negro, where he was at work. When Taylor protested the confiscation of his horse, "said George Johnson abused me very much.” That same month, the New Jersey Council considered Taylor’s disaffection and compelled him to post a £1,000 bond and accept confinement in Princeton until the Monmouth County courts could convene and consider his offenses (the county courts had stopped meeting in 1776): Edward Taylor shall continue within one mile of the City of Princeton & not to go beyond the said limits without leave of the Council of Safety, therein (excepting that sd Edward Taylor shall have leave to appear at the next Court of Oyer & Terminer to be held in the County of Monmouth) and shall during sd time, neither do nor say anything to the prejudice of American liberty, nor give any intelligence to the elements of America. Taylor’s confinement was as much an act of political retribution as a punishment for his own actions. The order placing him under confinement in Princeton noted Taylor “shall be set at liberty when Thomas Canfield, a prisoner in New York, shall be discharged by the enemy.” With the exception of a brief return to Monmouth County in January 1778 to appear in court, Taylor remained in Princeton for five months. On May 27, Council of Safety, let him return home to seek a prisoner exchange: Agreed, that Edward Taylor be discharged from bond… and have leave to return home for 3 weeks upon entering into another bond, to return within that time to this place & remain there until further order of this Council of Safety, unless he shall in the mean time procure the releasement of John Willett, now a prisoner in New York. Taylor was successful in procuring Willett’s release on June 13. He was allowed to remain at his home in Middletown upon “pledging his faith and honor not to do or say anything contrary to the interest of the state or United States." The remaining war years were hard on him. He was indicted for trespass, two misdemeanors, and perjury in the county courts and his estate shrunk from 1200 acres of land, two slaves, and 42 head of livestock to 420 acres of land, no slaves, and 20 head of livestock at war’s end. He also signed a petition claiming that he was subject to abuses from the vigilante pro-Revolution group, the Retaliators . With his health in decline, Edward Taylor finalized his will. He disinherited his son, George. Any assets given to George would have been confiscated by the New Jersey government. Edward Taylor died shortly before the end of the war. Related Historical Site : Marlpit Hall Sources : Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009) p 478; Deposition of David Forman, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #39; Deposition of William Bostwick, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #19; William H. Richardson's "Washington and the New Jersey Campaign of 1776," Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, vol. 50, no. 2 (1952) p 144. 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. 2, pp. 1093, 1192; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, Henry Segollets; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, 4 vols, Genealogical Publishing Co, 1970, v4, p237; Deposition, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #21; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 29; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 37; Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, Daniel Hendrickson of Middletown, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927); Deposition, Edward Taylor, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #39; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p202-3; Monmouth County Historical Association, The Grover Taylor House, (Freehold: MCHA) p 22-4; Order/Bond, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 6, November 6, 1777; Monmouth County Archives, Loose Common Pleas, box: CP 1776-1777, folder: 1777; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 164, 168; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 242; Monmouth County Historical Association, The Grover Taylor House, (Freehold: MCHA) p 22-4; Michael Adelberg, Biographical File , Edward Taylor, on file at the Monmouth County Historical Association. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Monmouth Loyalists Join British Army at Sandy Hook by Michael Adelberg The Monmouth County Loyalists who joined the British Army in July 1776 would serve in the New Jersey Volunteers, led by Courtland Skinner, the former Attorney General of New Jersey. - July 1776 - The British invasion fleet, carrying 25,000 soldiers, arrived at Sandy Hook on June 29. As discussed in a prior article, some British soldiers landed on Sandy Hook that day. But even before the British Army landed on the peninsula, Monmouth County Loyalists were coming to Sandy Hook to join them. The arrival of the Monmouth Loyalists was gratifying to British leadership. On June 29, on his arrival at Sandy Hook, the British Army’s commander-in-chief, William Howe, thought the arrival of Loyalists from Monmouth County was important enough to include in his first report back to England. He reported that on June 27 "many Gentlemen, fast friends of the Government” had met with New York’s Royal Governor William Tryon and provided “the fullest information on the State of the rebels." Howe further noted that "sixty men came over, two days ago, from the neighborhood of Shrewsbury, with a few arms, who are all desirous to serve, and I understand there are 500 more in that quarter ready to follow their example." Monmouth Loyalists Join the British Army The men to whom Howe was referring had crossed over from Shrewsbury, but were actually from Upper Freehold township. This first party of Loyalists to join the British was led by Elisha Lawrence, the former sheriff of Monmouth County and son of John Lawrence, a leader of the Loyalist insurrection that was underway in Upper Freehold. Lawrence noted that he “joined his Excellency Gen. Howe on his arrival at Sandy Hook, with a party of 60 men, and came aboard the Greyhound .” On June 30, Lawrence wrote a letter home to William Montgomery, a militia major from Upper Freehold, predicting his imminent return: I hope you will wait with patience for my return, which I expect won't exceed three weeks at the farthest, and [I] shall return with a power sufficient to show my head in public & do my business - how dreadful is my situation, drove from my house, separated from my family & for my protection obliged to fly on board the man of war. Lawrence predicted that 45,000 British troops would soon land (the actual number was 25,000) and pledged to conduct his affairs honorably on his return: "Don't fear any losses from me, I am determined to do every man justice... You need not fear any action against you." On July 1, Elisha Lawrence was named the Lt. Colonel of the 1st Battalion of the embryonic New Jersey Volunteers, which would become the largest Provincial Corps of the British Army. Just a few days later, he was joined at Sandy Hook by another party of Monmouth Loyalists led by John Morris of Manasquan (in Shrewsbury Township). Morris had served as a Lieutenant in the British Army during the Seven Years War before settling near Manasquan. He recalled joining the British Army at Sandy Hook this way: I exposed myself to every kind of ill treatment in order to support his Majesty and the British Government, and joined the Royal Army on the 6th of July 1776, with a number of men, I brought from New Jersey, as a volunteer without pay, either for myself or for them. British officer, Stephen Kemble, said Morris brought 58 men with him. Morris would be named the Lt. Colonel of the 2nd Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers. At least two other parties of Monmouth Loyalists joined the British Army in July. A small party of Shrewsbury Township Loyalists, led by John Taylor of Colts Neck, "joined the British Army the day they landed at Staten Island (July 7)." He was commissioned as a company commander under Morris. And John Longstreet of Freehold, who commanded the so-called “Tory Company ” of the Monmouth militia, joined the British on July 15. He noted that most of his militia company "were afterward of the British forces." He became a Captain in Lawrence’s battalion. Other Loyalist associations would continue to form in Monmouth County, though at least one, led by Samuel Wright of Long Branch, would be discovered and foiled before going off to the British. Finally, a Tinton Falls Loyalist, Thomas Okerson, brought supplies to the British Navy at Sandy Hook and then returned to Monmouth County. He was captured by the militia on July 6 and “was committed to the common Jail of Burlington County.” Okerson would become a Lieutenant in the New Jersey Volunteers. Perceptions of Monmouth Loyalists Joining the British Army Continental leaders in Monmouth County watched the Loyalist defections with concern. David Brearley, the first Colonel of the Upper Freehold militia, reported about this to Samuel Tucker, the President of the New Jersey Convention. Tucker summarized Brearley’s report on July 6: He [Brearley] supposes that not more than 100 have been over [to Sandy Hook]… 30 more are flying on board the enemy's fleet; our militia is in pursuit & numbers of lesser offenders are coming back to their duty, upon encouragement we have to give, as all appear to have been deluded. The leaders, if they can be apprehended, will be punished. News of the Monmouth Loyalists joining the British Army reached George Washington, who wrote New Jersey’s new Governor, William Livingston, on July 8, that "Capt. Morris and Elisha Lawrence of Monmouth County came down to the Hook a few days ago with 60 men & are now on Staten Island." A number of British officers wrote about the arrival of the Monmouth Loyalists as a harbinger of the thousands more Loyalist recruits who would soon flock to them. William Howe’s report on July 6 is a good example: I have satisfaction to inform your Lordship that there is great reason to expect a numerous body of inhabitants from New York, Jersey & Connecticut, who in this time of universal oppression, only wait to give proof of their loyalty and zeal to the Government; sixty men came over a few days ago with some arms from the neighborhood of Shrewsbury, all desirous to serve, and I understand there are five hundred more in that quarter ready to follow their example. The Royal Navy’s Captain Marion Bowater on the Centurion wrote from Sandy Hook on July 7: They desert to us hourly, and what is still better, they bring their arms with them, as Gen'l Howe let them know that ten dollars reward for rifle guns. All the principal people are with us; five Gentlemen & sixty private men & a stand of colors came over in a vessel from the Jerseys yesterday. [John Morris and his Shrewsbury Loyalists.] The New Jersey Volunteers would eventually become the largest Provincial Corps of the British Army. Both Lawrence and Morris would return with their troops to Monmouth County to lead a countywide insurrection before the end of the year. However, the New Jersey Volunteers would have an unhappy history; both Lawrence and Morris lost their regiments by the middle of the war. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : John Almon, The Rembrancer or Impartial Repository of Public Events for the Year 1776 (John Almon: London, 1776), 228-9; Monmouth County Historical Association, Haskell Collection, box 15, folder 8; John Morris Loyalist Claim, Rutgers University Library Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Application Claims, D96, AO 13/19, reel 6; Elisha Lawrence Loyalist Claim, Rutgers University, Special Collections, Loyalist Compensation Applications, Coll. D96, PRO AO 13/110, reel 10; Loyalist Claim of John Taylor, Rutgers University Special Collections, Loyalist Compensation Applications, D96, AO 13/112, reel 10; American Archives, 4th Series, excerpted on Http://www.stanklos.net ; Peter Force, American Archives, v1:41; National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 82, item 68, #179-81; Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, v93, reel 2, #404; Stephen A. Kemble, “The Kemble Papers,” in Collections of the New York Historical Society (New York: Printed for the Society, 1883), vol. 1, p 79; New York Constitutional Gazette, July 6, 1776; Orderly Book, Col. Samuel Miles’ Regt., MG 224, New Jersey Historical Society; Marion Balderston, The Lost war : Letters from British Officers during the American Revolution (New York : Horizon Press, 1975) p 88; William Howe, Narrative of Lieut. General Sir William Howe (London: H. Baldwin, 1780) p50; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, pp. 80-1; John Longstreet, Peter W. Coldham, comp., American Loyalist Claims (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1980), p 12. Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 132. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984) p 501. Rutgers University Library Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Application Claims, D96, AO 13/18, reel 6; Smith, Paul H., “New Jersey Loyalists and the British Provincial Corps in the War for Independence,” New Jersey History, vol. 87 (1969), p 72. 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 > John Van Kirk Infiltrates Pine Robber Gang by Michael Adelberg Quartermaster officer Moore Furman was asked to hire John Van Kirk after he infiltrated a Pine Robber gang and relocated inland for safety. Furman declined to do so and Van Kirk fell into debt. - January 1779 - As discussed in a prior article, the first notorious Pine Robber gang, led by Jacob Fagan, came together in the summer of 1778. From a lair in the swamps of Shrewsbury Township, they committed a number of robberies, most famously that of Captain Benjamin Dennis’ family. They nearly hanged Mrs. Dennis. Fagan’s return to the Dennis house (to search for stashed money) was spoiled when an informer alerted Dennis. Dennis and the militia laid in wait and shot Fagan. But while Fagan met a bloody end, his outlaw gang remained at large. John Van Kirk Infiltrates Pine Robber Gang On February 3, 1779, the New Jersey Gazette printed “A Letter from Monmouth” dated January 29. The letter discussed how Captain Dennis and his militia “went in pursuit of three of the most noted of the Pine Banditti, and was so fortunate as to fall in with them and killed them on the spot.—Their names are Stephen Emmons, alias Burke, Stephen West and Ezekiel Williams.” As with the hated Fagan, the bodies of the dead outlaws would suffer, “two of them, it is said, will be hanged in chains.” According to the letter, the Pine Robbers were infiltrated by John Van Kirk who informed the militia of the Pine Robbers’ intended journey to New York “to make sale of their plunder.” Of Van Kirk, the report read: He conducted himself with so much address that the robbers, and especially the three above named, who were the leading villains, looked upon him as one of their body, kept him constantly with him and entrusted him with all of their designs. Van Kirk's identity was revealed. The letter discussed his need to flee: The secret is out and of course he must fly the county, for the Tories are so highly exasperated against him that death will certainly be his fate if he does not speedily leave Monmouth. The Whigs are soliciting contributions on his behalf and from what I have already seen have no doubt that they will present him with a handsome sum. The demise of the Pine Robbers was big news and reported as far away as Maryland, where the state’s Journal , reported on February 16: A desperate gang of marauders, chiefly refugees, deserters from New York, were lately brought to condign punishment in a most striking manner. For months past, these miscreants had plundered Monmouth County with impunity, all measured to curb their excesses by their vigilance & sudden retreats into the Pine forests. The shootings of Emmons, West, and Williams effectively ended Fagan’s gang. This was celebrated. The New Jersey Gazette reported: “I question whether the destruction of the British fleet could diffuse more universal joy through the inhabitants of Monmouth than has the death of the above three egregious villains.” The New Jersey Gazette reports were printed as far away as New Hampshire. The complete letter is in Appendix 1 of this article. Another perspective on the death of the Pine Robbers was offered by Wiliam Corlies. Corlies was a Shrewsbury Quaker who had been captured, presumably while illegally trading with the British at Sandy Hook. He was jailed in Freehold when the bodies of the Pine Robbers were brought in; Corlies was asked to identify the bodies. He would testify about the incident three years later: He saw a Captain Dennis of the Rebel Service bring to Freehold Court House three dead bodies; that Captain Dennis being a Neighbor of his (the Deponent), he asked where those Men were killed; he replied they were killed on the Shore. Corlies testified on the brutal death of the Pine Robbers: That on coming to the spot, he (Dennis) surrounded them [the Pine Robbers] with his party; that the Men...begged for quarter, and claimed the benefit of being prisoners of War; he ordered them to be fired on, and one of them by the Name of Williams fell; that they were all Bayonetted by the Party and brought to Monmouth, and that he (Dennis) received a sum of Money for that Action. In a related incident, the Pine Robber, John Giberson, was killed a few weeks earlier: “John Giberson of the same group of villains, was killed about three weeks ago by a party of the militia near Toms River." A discussion of Giberson’s infamous career is in Appendix 2 of this article. The Pine Robbers outlasted these defeats. Lewis Fenton, a likely associate of Fagan, would soon prove far more dangerous than Fagan, at least until his death in 1779 . Jacob Van Note, “a noted Tory and horse thief” was killed by militia in 1780 after having a bounty on his head for more than two years. Another member of the gang, Jonathan West (brother of Stephen) would lose his arm, but remain an infamous partisan until he was finally killed near the end of the war. Other Pine Robber gangs—including those of William Davenport, and John Bacon would rise up in 1781. Their gangs would prove more prolific than Fagan’s. Van Kirk’s Difficulties after Gaining Notoriety On February 7, Governor William Livingston wrote Deputy Quartermaster Moore Furman, a senior officer charged with raising provisions for the Continental Army, about the death of the Pine Robbers: Sometime last month, Captain Dennis, who lately killed the infamous robber Fagan, with a party of militia, went in pursuit of the three of the most noted Pine-Banditti, and was so fortunate as to fall in with them and kill them on the spot. The Governor noted the role of Van Kirk in setting up the event: "The robbers looked upon him as one of their party... kept him constantly with him, and entrusted him with all of their designs." But Van Kirk was now exposed, "He must flee the country. The Tories are so exasperated against him that death will certainly be his fate unless he speedily quits Monmouth." Livingston asked Furman to employ Van Kirk as a teamster for the Army because "he has formerly been in the forage & wagon department... I take the liberty to recommend him to you." It appears that Van Kirk was not hired. On April 23, Van Kirk petitioned the New Jersey Legislature for assistance. He described why he was needed to bring down the Pine Robbers: Robberies committed by the miscreants being so frequent and their outrages against persons and property of many respectable lives of this county, became so insupportable that the petitioner determined to have the said Tory banditti extracted, or lose his life in the attempt - he accordingly consulted with Colonel Hendrickson [Daniel Hendrickson] of the Shrewsbury militia, who greatly approved and offered all assistance. Van Kirk then described infiltrating the outlaw gang: [He] put his scheme so effectually into execution that three of the principal ring leaders were shot dead & a list of 15 or 16 names of others given to the grand jury at Monmouth court house. In all this petitioner has done little more than any true friend and lover of his country - but has by his action rendered himself obnoxious to the disaffected citizens of Monmouth County, so that his life is in danger by residing among them, & not only so obliged for his personal safety to relinquish his property at the salt works which was to him considerable. As noted in a prior article , dozens of Monmouth County Whigs (supporters of the Revolution) from the shore moved inland for safety during the war. The actions that forced Van Kirk’s move were unique, but the decision to move inland was fairly common. Finally, Van Kirk noted splitting the $500 bounty for the death of Emmons with Captain Dennis, but it was inadequate: This contribution of 500 dollars which were equally divided between Captain Dennis and your petitioner will be far from indemnifying your petitioner for what he has suffered already in his property & absence from his father's family.... - he therefore humbly prays your Honorable board to take this case under consideration & make such further provision. Van Kirk was allowed to present himself before the legislature’s upper house, the Legislative Council, on May 24. The Council’s minutes recorded hearing "from John Van Kirk praying a consideration for assisting in destroying the Monmouth robbers." Van Kirk’s status continued to be a concern to Governor Livingston. On May 1, Livingston proposed a plan to George Washington in which twenty deserters of Count Kasimir Pulaski’s Legion would be embodied and turned into a posse to hunt down Pine Robbers: They [the deserters] offer to surrender themselves on condition of being under the Major [former commanding officer Burchardt] & serving in New Jersey... They are well-acquainted with the County of Monmouth and would be of great use in taking the Robbers of the Pines, especially with the guidance of Mr. Van Kirk, who with great address lately took a party of them, & has deserved public notice. Washington denied the request and the deserters were forced to return to the Continental Army. Likely with the help of the New Jersey government, Van Kirk was finally set up with a job. On August 11, the New Jersey Gazette advertised that John Van Kirk, at Cranbury, will "carry the papers from the printing office [in Trenton] on every Wednesday for the following terms" which included a nominal fee for delivery to nearby and safe Allentown and a large fee for delivery to far off and dangerous Middletown and Shrewsbury. Van Kirk was likely unsuccessful in this venture. That same month, William Barton, a Lieutenant in the Continental Army, wrote his father, Gilbert Barton, the influential tavern owner at Allentown: “I should be glad if you inquire to know what Van Kirk did with all of the money I sent in a letter directed to you for Able Ivins’ wife, was twenty dollars.” The following year, on August 22, Van Kirk, still at Cranbury, advertised for the return of a set of silver spoons taken from him in June. In February 1782, Van Kirk enlisted for one year in the New Jersey State Troops under Captain John Walton. He was one of 33 privates—a low status, low pay position for someone who had been a hero three years earlier. While serving, the Middlesex County Sheriff seized his farm outside of Cranbury. The 150-acre estate was advertised for sale on June 5, 1782. The Sheriff would use the sale to settle Van Kirk’s debts on June 24. Van Kirk was still living at Cranbury in 1789. That year he submitted a claim to the state for goods taken from him by Loyalists in January 1777. He claimed that he lost: 1 1/2 bushels of corn, 150 "sheaves of rye," and 2 barrels of cider. The value of the taken goods was less than L3. Van Kirk noted that "he never received any satisfaction" for these losses. He probably would have offered similar sentiments regarding his service in breaking up the Pine Robber gang. Related Historic Site : Shark River Park Appendix 1: New Jersey Gazette Report on the Death of Pine Robbers Extract of a Letter from Monmouth dated January 29, 1779 "The Tory freebooters who have their haunts and caves in this place, and have for some past been a terror to the inhabitants of this county, have, in the present week, met with a very eminent disaster. On Tuesday evening last, Captain Benjamin Dennis who late killed the infamous robber Fagan, with a party of militia, went in pursuit of three of the most noted of the Pine Banditti, and was so fortunate as to fall in with them and killed them on the spot.—Their names are Stephen Emmons, alias Emmons, Stephen West and Ezekiel Williams. Yesterday they were brought up to this place and two of them, it is said, will be hanged in chains. This signal piece of service was effected through the instrumentality of one John Van Kirk, who was prevailed upon to associate with them on purpose to discover their practices and to lead them into our hands. He conducted himself with so much address that the robbers, and especially the three above named, who were the leading villains, looked upon him as one of their body, kept him constantly with him and entrusted him with all of their designs. Van Kirk, of proper reasons, gave intelligence of their movements to Capt. Dennis, who conducted himself accordingly.—They were on the eve of setting off for New York to make sale of their plunder, when Van Kirk informed Capt. Dennis of the time of their intended departure, (which was to have been on Tuesday night last) and of the course they would take to their boats in consequence of which, and agreeable to the directions of Van Kirk, the Captain and a small party of militia planted themselves at Rock Pond near the shore, and shot Burke, West, and Williams in the manner above related. We were in hopes at first of keeping Van Kirk under the rose, but the secret is out and of course he must fly the county, for the Tories are so highly exasperated against him that death will certainly be his fate if he does not speedily leave Monmouth. The Whigs are soliciting contributions on his behalf and from what I have already seen have no doubt that they will present him with a handsome sum.—I question whether the destruction of the British fleet could diffuse more universal joy through the inhabitants of Monmouth than has the death of the above three egregious villains.—A certain John Giberson of the same group of villains, was killed about three weeks ago by a party of the militia near Toms River." Appendix 2: The Pine Robbers John and William Giberson Historian David Fowler researched the Giberson family of Upper Freehold. John and William Giberson, and many in their family, were Loyalists. John Giberson joined New Jersey Volunteers but, as with Jacob Fagan, he apparently deserted. John and William Giberson were apparently leading a Pine Robber gang along the Jersey shore by late 1778. John Giberson was killed near Toms River in early 1779. The New Jersey Gazette reported: “A certain John Giberson of the same group of villains, was killed about three weeks ago by a party of the militia near Toms River." William Giberson became infamous in December 1780 when he led twelve Loyalists across the state in an attempt to capture a New Jersey leader, likely William Livingston or Chief Justice David Brearley (also of Upper Freehold). He was indicted for horse stealing (a capital offense) shortly thereafter, but apparently remained an active horse thief through the first half of 1781 and he may have worked with William Clark and the Raritan Bay horse thieves. In August 1781, Silas Deane of the Continental Congress complained that "the trade of horse stealing flourishes amazingly" and called for a bounty on the head of "one Giberson of Monmouth." Governor Livingston responded on August 31 by placing a $200 bounty on the head of Giberson for "diverse thefts, robberies and felonies." By now, Giberson was operating from Clamtown (Tuckerton) in Burlington County, just south of Monmouth County. He was indicted in the Burlington County Courts that December for "waging war against the State." Antiquarian sources offer colorful stories of Giberson clashing with militia and narrowly escaping capture in two separate incidents in 1781. In July 1782, Giberson robbed the Burlington County collector, prompting another militia campaign to capture him. Militiaman Benjamin Bates described the capture of Giberson in his postwar veteran’s pension application. He also described Giberson’s remarkable escape in December: I found a villain by the name of Giberson, who was a noted refugee. He made his escape from the house and got into the woods. After searching a long time for him, I gave up and returned to our quarters. When I told Captain Davis that I had seen Giberson, he sent me back again to look for him, whilst engaged in searching for him, he suddenly jumped from behind a large black oak, he presented his gun and fired at me. As he presented, I drop down upon my knees and the load passed over me without hurting me. He then ran, I fired upon him and wounded him so that he fell and then went up to him and took him prisoner. He was afterwards taken to Burlington County Gaol where effected his escape, his sister having been permitted to visit him, they exchanged clothes. He went out and she remained in prison and the plot was not discovered until he had got too far to be overtaken. Bates’s story is corroborated by two other militiamen who remembered taking Giberson. John Pease recalled skirmishing "with a party of Tories at Clam Town, Little Egg Harbor, in Burlington County, when his party captured a Tory, one William Giberson, who was badly wounded in the skirmish, and was shot through his hip, and was carried and lodged in Burlington jail." Enoch Young recalled that he “was engaged with a party of refugees at Little Egg Harbor near Tuckerton in which the enemy was beaten and in which they broke the thigh of their captain, William Giberson, of the refugee company, took him prisoner, together with three of his men, and took the prisoners to Burlington jail.” Sources : Damages by British, Middlesex County Ledger, p 237, New Jersey State Archives Damages by British, Middlesex County Ledger, p 237, New Jersey State Archives; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Maryland Journal, February 16, 1779; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p197; New Hampshire Gazette report in Frank Moore, Diary of the American Revolution (New York: Charles Scribner, 1865) v2, p125; Transcript of the Court Martial of Richard Lippincott, http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/halew/Lippincott.html; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 37; William Livingston, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 30-1; Petition, Monmouth County Historical Association, Haskell Collection, folder 22, document B; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, April 23, 1779, p 72; William Livingston to George Washington, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 80-1; Journals of the Legislative Council of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: State of New Jersey, 1779) p56; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Letters of Lt. William Barton, son of Gilbert Barton, 1777-1779, American Revolution Institute, Society of the Cincinnati, 13 A.LL.S., Washington, DC; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Muster Roll, National Archives, Revolutionary War Rolls, Coll. 89, p2, 6, 9, 11; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; David Fowler, Egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) p 169; Edwin Salter and George C. Beekman, Old Times in Old Monmouth ( Freehold, NJ: Monmouth Democrat, 1887) p 38; Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution, 2 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1864) vol 2 p 413; E. Alfred Jones, The Loyalists of New Jersey (Coll. of New Jersey Historical Society, Vol. X, 1927) p 264; Van Note’s death discussed in Nathaniel Scudder to John Scudder, New Jersey Historical Society, Letters: Nathaniel Scudder. Appendix 2 Sources : David Fowler, Egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) p 120-135 and note 27; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, February 3, 1779, reel 1930; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 174-80; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Benjamin Bates of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# NJ 11027010; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Pease; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Enoch Young of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 24155756. 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 > Lt. Colonel Gurney's Campaign Against Monmouth Loyalists by Michael Adelberg Francis Gurney led a regiment of Pennsylvanians on a month-long campaign during which he scattered Loyalists and seized large amounts of provisions intended for the British Army. - January 1777 - On January 2, 1777, Pennsylvania troops, under Lt. Colonel Francis Gurney, routed the newly-raised Loyalist militia of Monmouth County in a short battle just east of Freehold. Yet even with the Loyalist militia scattered, other aspects of the embryonic Loyalist regime remained in place in Middletown and Shrewsbury —at least until Gurney toppled them. Dispersing the Remaining Armed Loyalists A week after the battle near Freehold, a group of armed Loyalists caught the attention of the Continental Army. On January 9, General Israel Putnam, stationed at Crosswicks, wrote: “The Tories of Monmouth County are again in arms, Col. Gurney marched today to suppress them; the militia of the neighborhood of Cranbury are embodied and impatient to join and assist them." Two days later, Putnam reported to Congress on the continued Loyalist threat: The Tories of Monmouth are making great head, ravaging and plundering and disarming the well-affected inhabitants. I have sent off 200 men with Colonel Gurney, he will be joining some of the militia. I have no doubt of hearing of his success in a day or two. The location of the armed Loyalists is not stated but it is probable that they were based near present-day Matawan. A Loyalist association led by the wealthy merchant Thomas Kearney was operating there. This part of Monmouth County was near the British Army base at Perth Amboy and there are mentions in antiquarian sources of a stockyard there for supplying the British. One of Gurney’s soldiers, Robert Strain, recalled seizing a ship, presumably near the stockyard. “They went to Middletown NJ where they took a prize supposed to be worth 100,000 pounds, and which supplied the whole army all winter." Gurney likely scattered the Loyalists near Matawan and then moved on. By January 14, he was in Shrewsbury where he scattered another Loyalist party. He then wrote to Putnam to request a cannon and wagons: I must beg you Immediately send me one field piece. I find the enemy have not got their vessels out of the creek [Shrewsbury River], and should the Artillery come in time have no doubt of taking them. We have more plunder or rather King’s stores than we can get wagons to carry off. I wish you would send forward all the wagons you can collect. I would advise a company to be sent to the Court House in order to press wagons and bring them down. Gurney also warned about a future confrontation with Loyalists: “I am just now Informed that the Enemy have landed a party at Red Bank to the northward of Black Point, and am determined to march that way immediately with about one hundred men.” The next day, a party of Pennsylvanians under Colonel Richard Humpton chased a Loyalist group into a waiting boat. The Loyalists “were obliged to make a precipitate retreat on board the English men of war.” The Curious Case of the Good Intent Gurney also wrote the Pennsylvania Court of Admiralty (New Jersey lacked an Admiralty Court until 1778) a lengthy letter about the schooner, Good Intent , commanded by Captain Sands. The vessel was “employed to transport supplies to the Fleet and Army of the King of Great Britain” until it beached near Black Point. Gurney took possession of the vessel and claimed its cargo of sugar, spirits, and clothing as a “lawful Prize & Booty of War.” He asked the court to consider the capture so that it “may be adjudged and condemned as forfeited and a lawful Prize." According to depositions taken by Gurney, the Good Intent went from Jamaica to Sandy Hook and communicated with the Light House. But it was too far away to be protected when a French privateer under Captain Morderet chased it. The Good Intent beached at Black Point. A sailor from the Good Intent testified: That after landing they all went up to a small house & there slept that Night. That the next Day they applied to the Inhabitants for assistance and about eighty or a hundred came down for that Purpose & got on Shore a very considerable Part of the Cargo. From Sandy Hook, the British saw the activity. They “sent a Tender & two armed Boats to prevent the same means from saving any more of the Cargo & Destroy the Vessel.” But the crew of the Good Intent and locals (many of whom were likely disaffected from Continental cause) now fought the British in order to preserve the valuable cargo and vessel. The sailor testified that the British “were beat off by the Americans. This deponent & two of the Crew took arms to assist in beating off the Enemy.” With his vessel in the hands of Whigs, the owner of the Good Intent , D. Chenier, issued a public notice: To all Persons whom it may or shall concern in the Monmouth County in the Jerseys, Be pleased to deliver Capt. Sands the sundry articles saved from the Schooner Good Intent cast on Shore from Jamaica as he commanded that Vessel. The status of the Good Intent was not quickly decided. As late as 1779, the Pennsylvania Court of Admiralty was seeking to determine who was entitled to the vessel and its cargo. Benjamin Randolph, a merchant from Toms River, testified that he was releasing his claim to the vessel’s cargo, some of which was stored with him. Randolph suggested that he was the one who told Gurney of the vessel and Loyalist stores at Shrewsbury. Randolph also said he “went to Black Point, took some Prisoners & returning found some stores at the House of one Hartshorne [probably Esek Hartshorne].” Randolph suggested that the French privateer did not have a valid claim to the vessel because he accepted a lesser payment: ”While the wagons were loading, Morderet asked leave to put a little box of his on the wagons and go to Philadelphia and had leave.” It is unknown whether the Good Intent and its cargo were condemned to Gurney, Sands, or Morderet. It is unlikely that Chenier received any compensation for the lost vessel. Like the Betsy , profiled in an earlier article, the Good Intent shows how complicated it was to determine ownership of captured vessels. Capturing Loyalist Stores While Gurney was at Shrewsbury, Col. Humpton’s Pennsylvania soldiers entered Monmouth County and seized Loyalist stores on January 15. The Pennsylvania Journal & Weekly Advertiser reported: “A party of Col. Humpton's Regiment… went to Shrewsbury in Monmouth, where they took a large quantity of cloth and other stores collected by a sett of Tories, who infest that county.” Sergeant William Young, a prisoner of the British at Perth Amboy, reported on January 18: “Colonel Gurney has taken 90 baggage Wagons… 9 of the 90 wagons taken from the Enemy by Colonel Gurney are ammunition wagons.” General Putnam also wrote of Gurney’s windfall on the same day: He has taken a good quantity of stores that were sent there for the Tories enlisted under Morris [John Morris] and Lawrence [Elisha Lawerence] – thirty-five wagon loads of which have arrived at Crosswicks, and the Col supposes that about one hundred wagon loads still remaining; he discovers more daily -- they chiefly consist of rum, wine, pork and broad cloth. I have thought it best to let Lt. Col. Gurney stay down where he is, until the militia of that county are well-embodied, so as to be able to defend themselves. On January 20, Putnam noted receiving three prisoners from Shrewsbury – two were junior officers in the New Jersey Volunteers , John Throckmorton and Charles Cook. The third was none other than Colonel Charles Read. Read was the Burlington County militia colonel who led campaigns against Upper Freehold Loyalists in July and Shrewsbury Loyalists in November. After being confronted by Monmouth County’s Colonel David Forman and refusing to take a loyalty oath to the Continental government, Read sought to go over to the British. But he was taken by the Continental Army and detained. Read had been “discharged on giving his word not to quit Phila without leave.” Caesar Rodney at Trenton wrote on January 23 that Gurney had taken "a very large quantity of stores that were lodged there [Shrewsbury] and guarded by Skinner's Jersey Volunteers. Forty wagon loads of them arrived at Princetown, a great quantity of clothes and other English goods." The next day, General Putnam wrote Gurney about "Mr. Crane at Toms River” who “has collected a number of men and seized a quantity of wine.” Putnam asked Gurney to coordinate with Crane on the seizure. The enthusiasm with which the Pennsylvanians confiscated goods placed them at odds with leading local Whigs at least once. On January 29, Gurney wrote Daniel Hendrickson, the colonel of the Shrewsbury militia: "I am sorry that your man did not stay by the wagon; there is not the least foundation for us keeping the wagon, and let it be found where it will; you shall not only have it and the horses, but be paid for the hire of the team." Gurney, it appears, seized Hendrickson's wagon and team by accident. Gurney’s campaign was important enough to be reported in the newspapers of far-away cities. The Providence Gazette reported that “a party of our men under the command of General Putnam have taken 96 wagons at Monmouth, in New Jersey, loaded with baggage and belonging to the parcel of Tories." The Virginia Gazette half-correctly reported that Gurney “has retaken all the Hessian plunder which was stored at Shrewsbury meeting-house, with their clothes and necessaries, to the amount of 120 wagon loads." This report reveals that the Christ Church in Shrewsbury, a focal point of Loyalism before the war, remained so during the Loyalist insurrection. An inventory of one of Gurney’s wagon trains was compiled by Captain Francis Wade, the newly-installed Continental Commissary at Allentown. The caravan carried: “55 barrels of fresh pork, 59 sacks of peas, 3 turces of rice, 1 half-pipe of wine, 7 casks of rum, 3 barrels of sugar, 1 cask of limes, 17 hatchets, 2 iron pots, 3 iron kettles, and a half cask of oil.” Its total value was £905. Wade also noted that 20 casks of rum had already "went forward by Colo. Humpton to Morristown" and one pipe of wine and sugar was sent ahead to Philadelphia. The End of the Campaign By the end of January, Gurney was back in Freehold. General Putnam wrote to Congress about the improved conditions in Monmouth County: "The affairs in Monmouth wears a favorable aspect. The people of that County will again return to their duties. Col. Forman is sent there to command and put them in proper state of defence." Gurney’s campaign occurred without the Monmouth County militia, which had dissolved during the December Loyalist insurrections. But one Monmouth Countian, Dr. Nathaniel Scudder, was an important guide for Gurney. Scudder described his role: I myself marched with them until the enemy was entirely dispersed & their stores at Middletown seized, when I was obliged to attend at Freehold, on both account of furnishing a team to haul them [Tory stores] off & endeavor to rally the militia of the county. When Gurney left Monmouth County on February 5, Scudder wrote a thank you note that was printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette “expressing my gratitude to Col. Gurney” for his service in “a country where so many of the inhabitants were inimical to the cause.” Scudder continued: I have the greatest reason to think the salvation of the property and security of the persons of many friends of freedom [are]… owed to the spirited exertions of the two detachments which marched into Monmouth. In short, those detachments have rescued the county from the tyranny of the Tories and put it in the power of their own militia to recover and embody themselves in such a manner as to be able to stand on their own defence. Indeed, Gurney’s campaign was a great success. Monmouth County would never again have a Loyalist association capable of governing. Whether, as Scudder suggests, the Monmouth militia was ready to defend the county is another matter; the newly-reconstituted Monmouth militia would suffer its worst defeat of the war only a week later, at the Battle of the Navesink . Related Historic Site : Christ Church Sources : Letter, General Israel Putnam, January 9, 17777, viewed at http://www.fold3.com/image/#18947576 (original at the National Archives); National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Brewer of PA, www.fold3.com/image/#10976408 ; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 4, p 771; Francis Gurney vs. The Schooner Good Intent, Tam Ploy Claimant, Register of the Court of the Admiralty of State of Pennsylvania, Jan. 28, 1779, transcribed by Michael White; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 386; Pennsylvania Archives, Papers Relating to the War of the Revolution,1859, v 3, p89; Pennsylvania Archives, Series 1, Vol V, p186; Francis Gurney vs. The Schooner Good Intent, Tam Ploy Claimant, Register of the Court of the Admiralty of State of Pennsylvania, Jan. 28, 1779, transcribed by Michael White; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, p 277; Letters of William Young, The Pennsylvanian Magazine of History And Biography. Vol.VIII, 1884, p269; National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 178, item 159, #35; Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2, Vol I, pg 496; Caesar Rodney, Letters to and from Caesar Rodney 1756–1784, ed. George Herbert Ryden (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1933), pp. 170-1; Israel Putnam to Francis Gurney, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections; Rutgers University Special Collections, Francis Gurney to Daniel Hendrickson, Hendrickson Papers, box 2; Providence Gazette, February 1, 1777; Virginia Gazette, February 7, 1777; The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 8, 6 January 1777 – 27 March 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 185–186; Francis Wade, Inventory, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/P?mgw:7:./temp/~ammem_XXqo ::; Pennsylvania Archives, Series I, v5, p209; David Fowler, Egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) p 49; Gaillard Hunt, Fragments of Revolutionary History (Brooklyn: Historical Publishing Club, 1892) pp. 112-5; Pennsylvania Gazette, February 17, 1777 (CD-ROM at the David Library, #23302). 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 > Upper Freehold's First Loyalist Insurrection by Michael Adelberg John Lawrence was a respected political leader, attorney, and surveyor. He was entrusted to draw the line that split East New Jersey and West New Jersey. - June 1776 - In June 1776, the debate over independence forced Americans to take sides. In Monmouth County, large numbers of people were opposed . As noted in prior articles, Monmouth Countians authored nine anti-independence petitions and refused to turn out for the militia in much of eastern Monmouth County. But it was in the westernmost township of Upper Freehold where hostility to independence first came to a head. The first evidence of exceptional disaffection in Upper Freehold was recorded by the New Jersey Provincial Congress. On June 24, it received "a letter enclosed by the Committee of Monmouth, enclosing an association signed by certain Disaffected persons." The same day the Congress received a second letter, “that Coll. Forman [Samuel Forman of Upper Freehold], and his minute men seizing several disaffected persons... without the express command of that Committee, though approved by them afterwards." The next day, the Provincial Congress received a memorial from Moses Ivins and Richard Robins of Upper Freehold. They were vocal opponents of independence. Two weeks earlier, they were summoned to appear before the Provincial Congress. The memorial offered “reasons for their refusal of the summons." Ivins, who was apparently being detained, soon sent another letter "praying a hearing, confessing their faults, offering to make discoveries and praying discharge." Ivins likely appeared and revealed information about a budding Loyalist insurrection. The day after his confession, the New Jersey Provincial Congress, declared: It appears, from undoubted intelligence, that there are several Insurgents in the County of Monmouth, who take every measure in their power to contravene the Regulations of Congress, and to oppose the cause of American freedom; and as it is highly necessary that an immediate check be given to so daring a spirit of disaffection: It is therefore Resolved, unanimously, that Colonel Charles Read take to his aid two companies of the militia of the County of Burlington, properly officered and armed, and proceed without delay to the County of Monmouth, in order to apprehend such Insurgents and disaffected persons. Due to dysfunction in the Monmouth militia, the Provincial Congress turned to a neighboring county to restore order. The order also specially named a number of persons to be arrested, at least three of whom would become hostile Loyalists later in the war: Richard Robins, Anthony Woodward, Guisebert Giberson. Read’s men were not immediately effective. On June 29, the Provincial Congress received: Two Memorials, the one from the County Committee of Monmouth, the other from the Committee of Safety of that County, respecting certain disaffected persons in said County, and requesting that this Congress would take some decisive order therein. Three days later, on the same day that the Provincial Congress approved a new constitution that severed ties to Royal authority, additional action was ordered against the Monmouth insurgents: Resolved that Colonel Charles Read and Lt. Col. Samuel Forman... take two hundred Burlington County militia, and proceed without delay, in order to quell the aforesaid insurrection, and to disarm and take prisoner whomsoever they shall find assembled with the intent to oppose the friends of American freedom... and the said officers are empowered to take such measures as they shall think necessary for this service. Read and Forman were further ordered to bring the men they took to the Burlington jail, likely because the Monmouth jail was deemed insufficiently secure for holding Loyalist prisoners. That same day, John Covenhoven of Freehold, a delegate in the Provincial Congress, warned the Provincial Congress that some Loyalist insurrectionaries were “embodying themselves, and a considerable number encamped at the Cedar Swamps” near Sandy Hook. From here, they were expected to join the British Army. He asked Congress to "send forward all the assistance in your power." The New Jersey Provincial Congress, now renamed the New Jersey Convention, reported the troubles in Monmouth County to the Continental Congress. On July 3, the day before adopting the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress considered affairs in Monmouth County: The Congress took into consideration the letter from the Convention of New Jersey, whereupon: Resolved, that the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania be requested to send as many troops of their Colony as they can spare to Monmouth County, in New Jersey, to the assistance of the inhabitants. John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, promptly requested help from Pennsylvania: The Congress being informed by an express from the Convention of New Jersey that a number of Tories are embodying themselves in the County of Monmouth, and a considerable number are already encamped in the cedar swamps, and as the power of the militia in that County have marched to New York for the defense of that important place ...I apply to you and request that you would immediately send as many troops as your colony can spare to Monmouth County, for the defense and the assistance of the militia and inhabitants. The same day, the New Jersey Convention revised its orders to Colonels Read and Forman: Take two hundred of the Militia of Burlington County and two hundred of the Militia of Monmouth, and proceed, without delay, in order to quell the aforesaid insurrection, and to disarm and take prisoners whomsoever they shall find assembled with intent to oppose the friends of American freedom. The troubles in Monmouth County were also noticed by George Washington in New York. On July 4, he wrote about “the disaffection of the people at that place and others not far distant… unless it is checked and overawed, it may become more general, and be very alarming." Also on July 4, Samuel Forman, the militia Colonel for Upper Freehold, wrote to Colonel Charles Read, "I have ordered 200 men to meet at the Court House tomorrow morning at 6 o'clock, to be taken out of the company of Lower Freehold. The notice was so short that I could not send to Shrewsbury & Middletown in time to get their assistance without delaying you." Forman said he would march his men to Imlaystown and link up with Read. Forman also suggested that John Lawrence, one of Monmouth County’s most prominent citizens, was at the head of “the Tory party.” Forman had interrogated a man named Foster, “who they [the Tories] pressed in their service & forced him to take their oath.” Foster named a number of men in the Tory party, including Anthony Woodward (who would lead a subsequent Loyalist insurrection) and Elisha Lawrence (the former county sheriff who would soon become a Lt. Colonel in the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers ). He said that "sundry others to the amount of about 30 went on board of Thomas Chadwick's boat, said to be bound for the British fleet." As Forman was mustering the Monmouth militia, the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety acted on John Hancock’s request: It ordered 150 men under Col. Broadhead to go to Bordentown, get provisions, and march to Monmouth County. However, on July 6 Broadhead was still in Philadelphia. In a letter, he acknowledged his orders "but as no particular part of sd county is mentioned & every man in the detachment strangers to that county." Broadhead claimed needing a guide before deploying. Meanwhile, Read’s men made their first arrests and some of whom went before the New Jersey Convention on July 4. The Convention recorded that: Numbers have expressed willingness to return to their duty upon assurances of pardon, alleging that they have been seduced by the false and malicious reports of others...It is therefore resolved that all such persons as shall without delay return peaceably to their homes, and conform with the orders of Congress, shall be treated with lenity and indulgence; and upon their good behavior, shall be restored to the favor of their Country. The Convention also ordered that supplies be brought to Bordentown for Col. Broadhead. Two days later, Col. Charles Read was at Imlaystown with Samuel Forman. They had captured John Lawrence “on information of his qualifying men to join the insurgents” and four other men. Read estimated the strength of the remaining insurgents at “50 or 60 men.” He concluded, however, that the most ardent Loyalists had escaped: “I am afraid the principals are flown." The Pennsylvanians were unhelpful. It is unclear when Col. Broadhead made it to Monmouth County, but another Pennsylvania regiment, under Colonel Samuel Miles, was already in New Jersey. He was ordered to “disperse and disarm” the Loyalists on July 8. But the orders apparently did not reach Miles quickly. He had marched into eastern New Jersey before returning to Upper Freehold. He later recorded: Sent a body of men to suppress an insurrection in Monmouth County, N. Jersey, and Lt. Col. Broadhead was sent with a detachment of 400 men, but the Whigs in that State had completed the business before his arrival. By the end of July, it appears that the Loyalist insurrection was quelled, but not crushed. The insurrection’s apparent leader, John Lawrence, was detained and the New Jersey Convention would soon fine four of the more prominent insurrectionaries: Richard Robins, John Leonard, Thomas Woodward and Ezekiel Forman. As for the less strident Loyalists, Charles Read understood that they would remain a problem . He frankly apprised the situation in Upper Freehold on August 4: "We have no doubt that there are persons, some of them of note, who are acting a very improper part, but we do not really know what to do with them.” As for the party of strident Loyalists now with the British, they would be heard from again. Related Historic Site : Historic Walnford Sources : Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p136-43; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, pp. 1628-9; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornel University Press, 2009) p 474; "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1629-30; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornel University Press, 2009) pp. 475, 482-4; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p136; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1630-1; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornel University Press, 2009) p 478; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1630; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p136-43; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey, 1775-1776 (Trenton, NJ: Naar, Day, Naar, 1879) pp. 482-484; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1663; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1632, 1635; Journal of Col Samuel Miles, Pennslyvania Archives, Series II, Journal of Col. Samuel Miles, v 1, p519; John Covenhoven to Continental Congress, "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v1: p 1-2; 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; Library of Congress, Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. 5, p 508; John Hancock to Pennsylvania Convention, Pennslyvania Archives, Series 1, v 4, p781-2; Journals of the Continental Congress, p508 ( www.ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html ); Paul Smith, et al, Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1970) vol. 4, pp. 377-8; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1637; George Washington, Official Letters to the Honorable American Congress Written During the War between the United Colonies and Great Britain (Boston: Manning & Loring, 1795) v 1, p181; Samuel Forman, "Tory Movements in New Jersey on Howe's Arrival at Staten Island", Historical Magaizine, vol. 5, 1861, p 7; Historical Society of Pennsylvania, New Jersey Papers, Historical MSS, 1654-1853, p 201, 203; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p137; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1636; "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1638-9; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p138; Samuel Forman, "Tory Movements in New Jersey on Howe's Arrival at Staten Island", Historical Magazine, vol. 5, 1861, pp. 7-8; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1665. Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of Safety of New Jersey (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009) p 545; Joseph Reed, Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blankston, 1847, p 212; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Evening Post, July 9, 1776. 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 > Caleb North's Continentals in Monmouth County by Michael Adelberg Col. Caleb North of Pennsylvania commanded a regiment of Continentals sent into Monmouth County in January 1779 to curb illegal trade and again in January 1780 to raise provisions for the Army. - January 1779 - All through 1778, George Washington resisted requests to send troops to protect Monmouth County despite large and punishing raids against the county (Manasquan in April, Middletown Point in May, Little Egg Harbor/Osborn Island in October) and several smaller actions. Following the Battle of Monmouth , the British fortified Sandy Hook into a fortress and stoked illegal trade with the county's disaffected farmers. By July, Pine Robber gangs and growing disaffection made much of the shore effectively enemy territory . Pressure built on Washington to act. Finally, in January 1779, Washington replaced a 30-man scout at Black Point (Rumson) with a regiment of Continentals who would attempt to bring security to Monmouth County. Caleb North’s Deployment in Monmouth County On January 13, Lord Stirling (General William Alexander) ordered Colonel Caleb North, and his regiment of 250 Pennsylvanians into Monmouth County, to be based at Tinton Falls. North was ordered to: Prevent any intercourse between that county and the city of New York, or any other place in possession of the enemy. it is certain that great quantities of provision of various species have during the last fall and winter been carried from that county into N. York, and that great quantities of merchandize have been received from thence in return; this trade so far as lyeth [sic] in the power of your utmost vigilance must be stopped. North was given broad discretion to impound property: In case you detect any person attempting to carry any provisions or any other necessaries to the enemy, you are to seize the property and have it condemned or adjudged by a magistrate for the benefit of yourself and party. The person or persons attempting to carry it on is to be secured if possible, and inform the commander in chief of this state thereof, who will get the attorney general to prosecute; one half of the fines will be for the benefit of yourself and party. North was instructed to seek information from Major Richard Howell, head of the 30-man scout, who would “stay & advise a day or two with you.” North could also seek counsel from Captain John Burrowes at Middletown Point who had recently successfully raided Sandy Hook. North was advised to post his troops cautiously and not trust the locals “for you must remember that you will be a troublesome neighbor to some of them, you may expect they will endeavor to get rid of you." Similarly, "you are not to suffer any flag of truce to go to the enemy without the commander in chief's order, nor are you to suffer any flag to be received in that county from them.” North was warned against plundering or seizing private property. However, his men could act as privateers against vulnerable British ships: If you have reason to apprehend any danger to the vessel falling into the hands of the enemy, you are, after taking and securing the sails and rigging, to set fire to her, a proper gratuity will be given to any party concerned in seizing and saving such vessels & the like encouragements may be given to any of the people of the country who assist therein. In a second order a few days later, Stirling noted to his regimental commanders that: "The men on detachment at Monmouth to be omitted in the return as they will be drawn for separately." In other words, North’s men would not be supplied by the commissary at Morristown. They would make their own arrangements for provisions in Monmouth County. A report from Stirling to Washington states that North’s men turned around a Loyalist raiding party on January 17: A detachment of the enemy (of about two hundred men) from New York effected a landing on the Middletown shore (near one Thomas Brewer's)—But re-imbarked in the night, without penetrating the country, or venturing to attempt what may be supposed the purpose of their expedition. The detachment under the command of Col. North… gave this sudden turn to their expedition. North’s first surviving letter from Tinton Falls is dated January 22. [He] stationed them [his men] in the following manner - one company at Shrewsbury, two at Eatontown, about a mile distant at the Falls one company... The fifth company I have detached up the Middletown shore with orders to remove their quarters once every three days or oftener; patrolling the shores by night and keep out a guard by day. The three last companies at Shrewsbury are employed in like manner keeping guard by day and patrolling by night. He reported that “the enemy were landing, about 500 men, on the Middletown shore (at Thomas Brown's)” and his men marched in pursuit. But "the enemy was gone without doing the least damage." Two days later North questioned the size of the enemy landing because "the fellow who was said to have saw them landing is not to be found." He also noted that one of his companies "are unfit for duty for want of shoes." The averted raid likely concerned Captain Burrowes at Middletown Point. On February 3, he wrote Stirling to request a Continental guard there. He requested “to have sixty Continental troops stationed where I am” for “stopping trade with the enemy.” Burrowes did not want North’s men, however: It is not in Coll. North's power to spare any of his troops, as they are wanted at Shrewsbury and the lower parts of Middletown, and there is nine miles of Middletown & part of South Amboy shores that lay destitute of men. Burrowes requested “the men that belonged to Collo. [David] Forman's late regiment ” whom Burrowes commanded in 1777. Word of the averted raid may have reached Governor William Livingston who wrote Washington in early February to thank him for sending North’s men into Monmouth County and inform him of attempts to call up militia from other counties to serve alongside the Continentals. On February 12, Washington replied to a recent letter from Colonel North regarding “the French Snow, Mary retaken from the Enemy” and now in North’s hands. North had apparently inquired about selling the vessel as a prize of war. Washington cautioned him: The Subject of an Ally in these cases is entitled to the equal privileges with a fellow Citizen. And his property recovered in this way is to be preserved and restored to him or his representatives; a reasonable allowance being made to the recaptures for Salvage. The Conduct to be observed by you therefore is to secure whatever you can of the Cargo, Rigging &c. taking an inventory of the whole… Transmit an account of the whole with the name of the Owners &ca. that the French Consul at Philadelphia may be notified and take order in the matter. Your success in baffling the Enemy's attempt to destroy the Snow justifies the dispositions made for that purpose and your Conduct Claims my thanks. Washington also informed North that his service in Monmouth would soon be over: “As the nature of the Service your detachment is employed in requires frequent relief, I have directed the Adjutant Genl. to order a party to relieve you." In March, North’s regiment rotated out of Monmouth County; they were replaced by a collection of Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania companies under the command of Colonel Mordecai Gist. North’s Continentals were not especially energetic during their time in Monmouth County—averting a raid and taking a stranded French ship from the British are his only documented accomplishments. But North’s time in Monmouth County was also without dysfunction and, in this way, North was far more successful that the two colonels who would follow him—Gist and Benjamin Ford. Caleb North’s Second Monmouth County Deployment Washington was apparently happy with North’s record in Monmouth County because, on January 8, 1780, North was sent back in. North was replacing the dragoons of Maj. Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee. While the purpose of North’s first stay in Monmouth was, according to Washington, was to “restrain the malpractices which prevailed there” and “lighten the service of the militia” the purpose of this second deployment was to raise provisions at a time of particularly dire need for the Army. On January 27, North wrote Washington from Freehold. He had delivered Washington’s letter to the magistrates of Monmouth County "to furnish the quantity of provision required, provided I would assist them with a guard.” North reported further that: [I] accompanied them myself for several days, during which time we procured by purchase and impressed the following quantity of provision: forty seven barrels of beef and pork, fifty barrels of Tory bread which was taken aboard a brig near Middletown, the full quantity of grains, which is sent to the neighboring militia, with orders to be prepared for immediate use, and one hundred six head of good cattle (chiefly from the townships of Middletown and Shrewsbury) as being most in the power of the enemy. North noted working with John Lloyd, the Army’s commissary officer for the county: “The Magistrates thought it proper to invite Mr. Lloyd, formerly a purchasing commissary in sd County, to execute the business - he being well acquainted with the stock and disposition of the people and this place.” With Lloyd’s help, “Ninety barrels of flour is already manufactured and came on to camp with the cattle, beef, pork & biscuit." However, all was not well in North’s command. One of his men, Robert Abraham, deserted and was interrogated in New York by William Smith, the attorney general of the Loyalist government. Smith wrote that he "thinks 100 men might bring off the whole 300 in Monmouth. They have 40 horse there, but keep only 16 shod to prevent desertions." When North’s men left Monmouth County at the end of January, they were not replaced. Related Historic Site : The Burrowes Mansion Sources : George Washington to Lord Stirling, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 5, p 388; Lord Stirling to Caleb North, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 55, January 13, 1779; William Livingston to Asher Holmes, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 9, January 15, 1779; James McHenry to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 19, 15 January–7 April 1779, ed. Philander D. Chase and William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, pp. 63–64; Lord Stirling, General Order, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw140033)) ; Caleb North to Lord Stirling, New York Historical Society, William Alexander Papers, vol. 1, p. 279, 285; Andrew Brown to Asher Holmes, Monmouth County Historical Association, Cherry Hall Papers, box 5, folder 9; David C. Munn, comp., Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey (Trenton, N.J.: Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Geology, 1976) p 55; John Burrowes to Lord Stirling, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 55, February 3, 1779; William Livingston to George Washington, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, p 34; George Washington to Caleb North, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 14, pp. 103-4; Asher Holmes, letter, Monmouth County Historical Association, Articles File: "Letter from Freehold"; George Washington’s General Orders, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 17, p 362; George Washington to Lord Stirling, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 5, p 388.Caleb North to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 63, January 27, 1780; William Smith, Historical Memoirs of William Smith: From 26 August 1778 to 12 November 1783 (New York: Arno, 1971) pp. 229-30. 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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 > First Moves Made to Stop Illegal Trade from Monmouth County by Michael Adelberg Livestock illegally brought to the British were sometimes carried in barges or ferries. Other times, livestock were waded into water and pulled aboard small ships captained by Loyalists. - October 1776 - Even before the British Army landed on Staten Island and Sandy Hook in early July 1776, Monmouth Countians were trading with British ships in New York Harbor. In December 1775, the Shrewsbury Township Committee of Observation wrote “that suspected persons are buying up wheat in order for transportation and actually have sent off a vessel loaded with wheat.” The Committee worried that the vessel was headed for the British Army, so it: Therefore it is resolved that the Colonel order a party of militia to be ready to secure such vessel or vessels until such time as the Committee are well assured and satisfied that the rules of the General Congress are not transgressed and that all such exportations are not for the use of our enemies. Just a month later, illegal trade between Monmouth County and British ships in New York Harbor was observed by Lord Stirling in January 1776. The illegal trade almost certainly expanded with the arrival of 25,000 hungry British soldiers and commissary officers willing to offer specie for fresh provisions. The Monmouth County militia, though dysfunctional in much of the county, was the primary check against the burgeoning illegal trade. Middletown militiaman, Jacob Lyle, recalled that his first duty was to “guard the King's Highway, so called, that led from Sandy Hook to Philadelphia... and to prevent [the enemy from] getting supplies from the residents of New Jersey." Other militiamen recalled performing similar service. The first arrests made by the militia are described in the July 29 minutes of the New Jersey Convention (the state legislature): Jacob Wardell, Joseph Wardell and Peter Wardell, persons apprehended by a detachment of Monmouth militia on account of furnishing provisions to the enemy, were brought before the house and witnesses examined. The next day, the Convention fined Jacob Wardell £28 for the costs of detaining and transporting him and his kin; Joseph and Peter Wardell were discharged after posting £500 bonds for their future good behavior. The illegal trade between Monmouth County and British traders apparently grew in the second half of 1776 as British battlefield victories emboldened disaffected Americans. On October 10, the Continental Congress requested that New Jersey Governor William Livingston assign a militia company to protect the Pennsylvania Salt Works at Toms River and another company “to be stationed at or near Shrewsbury to intercept or put a stop to the intelligence said to carried on between the Tories and Lord Howe's fleet." Interestingly, when Governor Livingston acted on this directive, he called out a company of Burlington militia to perform the task: You are hereby directed to detach one company of fifty men from the battalion under your command to be stationed near Shrewsbury to intercept and put a stop to intelligence said to be carrying on between the Tories and Lord Howe's Fleet. It is the express requisition of Congress that this be immediately done. The decision to send in Burlington County militia is almost certainly a reflection of the Governor determining that a Shrewsbury militia company could not be trusted to police illegal trade in which some of those same militiamen were likely participating. In November 1776, the New Jersey Supreme Court heard its first case related to a Monmouth Countian engaging in illegal trade with the British. John Corlies of Rumson (in Shrewsbury Township) “did voluntarily & unlawfully aid, assist and help certain persons to send & convey provisions, to wit, eight quarters of beef, to the enemies of this state.” That same month, Colonel David Forman of Manalapan (Freehold Township) led a campaign against Loyalist insurgents which included impounding livestock from the disaffected and others living along the shore to prevent the animals from being exported to the British. While the efforts to restrain illegal trade with the British in 1776 may have punished or quashed the efforts of a few individuals, it was clearly unsuccessful. By April 1777, illegal trade with the British was flourishing again. On April 18, George Washington wrote the Continental Congress’s Board of War about an illegal trading ring that involved Lawrence Hartshorne and Obadiah Bowne of Shrewsbury, in cahoots with New York merchant John Murray: Bowne and Hartshorne, near Shrewsbury in Monmouth County, purchased Continental Money in N. York at a great discount, carry this money to Philada and there buy Flour &ca under pretence of Shipping it to the Foreign Islands, but send the Vessels to N. Yk [New York]. As those persons are well known in Philada [sic] they may easily be detected. Owen Biddle of Congress’s the Board of War responded to Washington on April 21: The mischievous practices of the Murrays of New York & Hartshorne and Bowne of Shrewsberry, is what we had some reason to suspect but never before had it in our power to detect them. John Murray lately left this City, we shall use our endeavours to apprehend him and bring him to justice—Bowne & Hartshorne reside at Shrewsberry if they could be apprehended by orders of your Excellency, perhaps it might deter others from such Practices in future—we shall give orders to the Naval Officer to scrutinize the destination of all Vessels agreeable to your Excellency’s recommendation. On April 26, Washington revealed the difficulty of catching illegal traders: "As I have no proof of Hartshorne and Bowne’s ever having been concerned in the practices I mentioned in my last, I cannot apprehend them. I gave you the hint, that if the thing should have been so, and they should return to Philada again upon the same errand, you might keep a watchful Eye upon them.” Other Monmouth Countians traded in the shadows and under aliases. William Hartshorne, alias Thomas Meadows, maintained a relationship with a New York Loyalist under the alias of John Steady: “It gives me great pleasure to renew our former acquaintance and correspondence and if any narrow souled scoundrel will say that by doing so I act a traitor or transgress any just law, he lies in his throat.” Hartshorne promised to find out about a quantity of tar that Steady had purchased but feared that it was lost. He discussed a mutual friend, (under the alias “Thom Druid”) and noted a shipment of materials to New York carried by "Burke, Prevost & c., we find it has happily got over." At least one trader felt no need to operate in the shadows. Colonel Samuel Forman, wrote of confronting Edward Williams about trading with the enemy. Williams responded, "I have a right to make the best market I can for it [his salted pork] and as to disaffection, thou must judge as thou pleases." On the British side, direct evidence of illegal trade from Monmouth County is fragmentary because it was frequently conducted through Loyalist intermediaries (so-called “London Traders”). One such example is a receipt issued from Captain Garrett Keating on June 4, 1777. Keating was the senior Army officer at Sandy Hook at the time. He issued a receipt for 34 lbs. of soap, 20 lbs. of tobacco "for the men under my command." The receipt was issued to Lt. Samuel Taylor of the New Jersey Volunteers , formerly of Shrewsbury, who was also stationed at Sandy Hook at the time. The supplies were nearly certainly acquired by Taylor from disaffected traders in Monmouth County. Perspective By the middle years of the war, the illegal trade was so prolific that it earned the derisive nickname of “the London trade .” London Traders were middlemen who went from Staten Island and Sandy Hook to the Jersey shore where they picked up goods from disaffected farmers and ferried those goods into British lines. The New Jersey Supreme Court tried cases 245 against Monmouth Countians between 1776 and 1784. The majority of those cases (126) concerned charges related to crossing enemy lines or supplying the enemy. In a prior study, the author demonstrated that Monmouth County’s disaffected gained wealth during the Revolution at a greater rate than the general population. Specifically: Total Population (n=1,251) 42% gained land 47% gained livestock Disaffected Population (n=272) 60% gained land 53% gained livestock *Analyzed population limited to Monmouth Countians in tax lists in both 1778-1779 and 1783-1784. Land gainers acquired at least 25 acres of land. Livestock gainers added at least two head or horse or cattle. This provides powerful evidence of the profitable and widespread scope of the London Trade. Related Historic Site : Sultana Education Foundation (Chestertown, MD) Sources : Proceedings of the Committees of Freehold and Shrewsbury, Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, First Series, 1846, pp. 192-3; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of Jacob Lyle of New York, National Archives, p45-6; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p138-9; Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists in the American Revolution (Boston: Little, Brown, 1864) vol. 2, p 592; Journals of the American Congress, (Washington, DC: Way and Gideon, 1823) vol. 1, p538; William Livingston to Colonels of the Burlington County Militia, Massachusetts Historical Society, William Livingston Papers, Minutes, Lord Stirling; Hartshorne Family Papers, MCHA, box 2, folder 19; New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #34552; The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 9, 28 March 1777 – 10 June 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, pp. 198-199, 213-215, 270–271; Dennis P. Ryan, "Six Towns: Continuity and Change in Revolutionary New Jersey, 1770-1792" (Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1974) p 187; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Loyalists Collection, New Jersey Volunteers, box 3, uncataloged #4; New Jersey Supreme Court Records, microfilmed at the New Jersey State Archives; Michael Adelberg, “Destitute of Almost Everything to Support Life: The Acquisition and Loss of Wealth in Revolutionary Monmouth County, New Jersey,” in The American Revolution in New Jersey, ed. James Gigantino (New Brunswick: 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 > British Army Boards Ships Via Sandy Hook by Michael Adelberg Captain Henry Duncan of the Royal Navy captained one of the ships that covered the British Army as it marched onto Sandy Hook and then transported the Army to New York. - July 1778 - Even before the Battle of Monmouth, British leaders determined that the best route to safety in New York was via Sandy Hook. The peninsula at the northeast tip of Monmouth County was taken by the British navy in April 1776 , and attempts to dislodge the British in June 1776 and March 1777 were easily turned back. Following the Battle of Monmouth (June 28), the British Army took a week to march 25 miles through Middletown to the Navesink Highlands. Here, they would cross to safety on the Hook. Still, marching 12,000 soldiers with their camp followers, baggage train, and livestock onto the narrow peninsula was a huge task—one made more complicated by the peninsula being turned into an island by an enormous winter storm. Admiral Richard Howe, commanding the Royal Navy at New York, wrote of the job at hand: March the Army “over a Bridge formed with the Flat-Boats across the Channel which had been made by the sea last Winter, and separated the peninsula of Sandy Hook from the Main." Crossing “the Gut” onto Sandy Hook The British fleet would have to create a bridge across “the Gut” (the waterway between Sandy Hook and the mainland), cover the troops as they came across the open egress, and then transport the Army from Sandy Hook to New York. The available ships were not initially up to the task. On July 1, Captain Henry Duncan, commanding a warship at New York, wrote: "our ships, in general, were very indifferently manned, owing to sickness and being short of their compliment." That same day, engineers at Sandy Hook constructed a pontoon bridge across the Gut by lining up boats and laying boards across them. German Officer Johann Hinrich wrote: Today, the baggage was brought to the bay at Sandy Hook in order to be embarked. We waited in this position, formed in a crescent for an attack from the enemy but no one appeared before our outposts except Morgan's Corps [Daniel Morgan]. The pontoon bridge was constructed before the end of July 2. It was sturdy but narrow. The German officer, Templehoffe, wrote the bridge made the Gut “passable only by a narrow bridge of boats, which not more than six men a‑breast could pass." General Archibald Robertson wrote on July 1 that he “began to take the artillery to the beach." On July 2, he wrote: "All the provision train wagons embark'd & a number of horse swam the gut across to Sandy Hook." Captain Duncan wrote that the Army "began to embark the baggage & swim the horses across the Hook." He also recorded that only three ships were at the Hook—not nearly enough to carry the Army to New York. On the Navesink Highlands, tents and provisions were sent off before the men. The German officer, Captain Weiderholdt, recalled “days of rest since all the baggage went to Sandy Hook for shipment” but, as a result, the men now lived in a “primitive encampment, consisting of twig huts because our tents were shipped with the baggage." Another German officer, Johann Ewald, was also miserable. He wrote: We were so terribly bitten by the mosquitoes and other kinds of vermin that we could not open our eyes from the swelling on our faces. Many men were made almost unrecognizable, and our bodies looked like those people who have suddenly been attacked by measles or small pox. After artillery and baggage, the horses went next. But many of the horses were weakened from the long campaign , heat , and insufficient forage. While horses were a valuable resource, the decision was made to leave behind any horse in a compromised condition. On July 2, General James Pattison wrote: From the difficulty of transporting the horse & probably scarcity of forage, I was under necessity, by direction of Sir Henry Clinton, of leaving about 70 of the worst artillery horses behind, the Quarter Master General having the same reason, left three or four hundred. Pattison noted that the horses were "turned loose in the woods." Just a day later, the Quartermaster General William Erskine, realizing the mistake, sent George Taylor, Colonel of a non-existent Loyalist militia , to round up the salvageable horses being left behind: "Colonel George Taylor has the Commander in Chief's permission to take up these horse wherever he can find them." Taylor’s party took some horses and killed many others. Colonel John Laurens of the Continental Army later reported that Taylor’s Loyalists “cut the throats of a great many horses.” By the end of July 3, General Robertson, noted that "all the baggage of the Army embark'd" and then on July 4 "the Dragoons, bat horses, light baggage, etc. etc. etc., all got off." This happened amidst terrible weather. Lt Colonel Francis Downman wrote that on July 3, "it rained very hard the greater part of the day, the embarkation of stores and baggage, however, went on, as did the transportation of horses to Sandy Hook by swimming them over a passage of about 50 or 60 yards of breadth." On July 4th, the rain continued. British soldiers heard cannon fire in the distance—not from hostilities, but from the Continental Army’s Independence Day celebrations. The movement of the Army onto Sandy Hook was completed on July 5. General Robertson remembered the march of the remainder of the British Army on the morning of July 5: “Early, the Army marched in four columns and got over the bridge of boats into the Hook by 10 o'clock without a shot being fired." Men on Sandy Hook started loading onto boats bound for the transport ships anchored offshore. Lieutenant Stephen Jarvis, a Loyalist cavalryman, wrote: The army continued its march, the [Queen's] Rangers bringing up the rear. The army crossed over a pontoon bridge to Light House Island. The Queen's Rangers embarked in flat bottomed boats and rowed up to New York. Weiderholdt wrote of moving the horses that were not previously transported: The horses and cows were tied up, 8 or 9 together, four men got into a boat, tied a rope to the boat and rowed off, this way the horses & cows had to swim over... we laid all night in the sand by the light house. John Montressor, an engineer on Sandy Hook, wrote of General Henry Clinton's arrival on Sandy Hook: "He [Clinton] was saluted by the guns from the forts as he left with the Army at the Neversink in New Jersey." Clinton, himself, reported: "Preparations were made for passing Sandy Hook Island by a bridge, which by the extraordinary efforts of our Navy were soon completed." The Sandy Hook Encampment and Embarkation On Sandy Hook, accommodations were no better than at the miserable Navesink camp. Potable water was scarce. Montressor wrote on July 3 that "the heat so extraordinary this morning that five or six persons fell dead principally by drinking [bad] water." German Officer Jacob Piel called Sandy Hook "this sandy wasteland." Lt. John Von Krafft noted the need to forage for his own food while on Sandy Hook, “I dug up some fine large clams on the beach, a thing I had learned from the English and I immediately ate them with ravenous appetite owing to my hunger.” From a distance, the red lines of men marching across the Gut must have been an extraordinary sight. Locals came onto the Navesink Highlands to watch. A Continental Army officer, Parke Custis, wrote: "The number, order and regularity of the boats, and the splendid appearance of the troops, rendered this embarkation one of the most brilliant and imposing spectacles of the Revolutionary War." Grenadier John Peebles, however, was not impressed, “deep sand... a very irregular & ill-managed embarkation." British leaders worried little about the vulnerability of the Army as it crossed onto Sandy Hook. Admiral Howe noted that "the Enemy desisted from every purpose of further obstruction.” But junior officers on Sandy Hook were less sure. Lieutenant Von Krafft worried that the transport ships were “without guns.” He further wrote: I was greatly surprised that the Rebels did not take advantage of the disorder in our arrangement and crossing since we were without cannons and even our muskets were unloaded... They would have succeeded since we were too confident. From Sandy Hook, the men were ferried on flatboats to transport ships. This occurred on July 5 and July 6. Captain Duncan noted that the same British flatboats that were used to form the pontoon bridge across the Gut were now used to ferry men from Sandy Hook to the ships. “Made a bridge of the flat boats across the gully that separated the Hook from the Neversink, over which the army marched with great ease -- Took away the boats, and embarked the troops from the Hook.” In keeping with the previous two weeks, boarding the ships at Sandy Hook—the last leg of the Monmouth Campaign—was difficult. Lt. Von Krafft described the difficulties. The men had to “wade through water up to our knees” to get into the boats. And because there were not enough boats, there was no room for animals. They “were tied to them [the boats] so as to swim behind.” The loaded boats moved slowly to the transport ships which “lay at quite a distance [from shore]. We had to row nearly an hour and a half before we reached it.” Once on board, the men had no food: “We made a great noise there because there were no provisions on board and no one knew where to get any.” Von Krafft’s complete account is in the appendix of this article. The last British regiments, covering the withdrawal of their comrades, did not cross over to Sandy Hook on the pontoon bridge. Lt. Colonel John Simcoe, commanding the mounted Queen’s Rangers, noted the “bridge of boats thrown over the channel, over which the army passed, the Queen’s Rangers excepted.” His unit, which was responsible for “covering” the soldiers as they crossed onto Sandy Hook, “embarked in boats from the Jersey side.” As the British completed the Monmouth Campaign, Henry Clinton and a few other senior leaders wrote of their success. The British Army had marched across New Jersey facing various harassments, miserable weather, and a Continental Army attack. It achieved its strategic goal of reaching New York. But other officers understood the campaign very differently. Estimates of losses through desertion varied from 500 to 1,500. Stephen Kemble worried about "the great irregularities of the Army during the march." Francis Downman worried about the hostility of the locals and concluded it “was a most fatiguing march.” The British Army had earned a rest. For the British navy, however, their troubles were just beginning. In less than a week, a large French fleet would anchor just outside Sandy Hook. Related Historical Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Appendix Journal of Lieutenant John Charles Philip von Krafft, July 5, 1778: At 5am we marched forth about – English miles in the neighborhood of – where we soon marched up to the water, for we had left camp by the left flank. Some companies of the Body Regiment and also the first two files of the Body Company of our regiment had already embarked in long boats. Many of these boats were also used for the transportation of animals which were tied to them so as to swim behind. Therefore we went back again and to the right across a pontoon bridge made of boats covered with boards, across which all the Engineer regiments had marched also. We had to follow them to the little island of Sandy Hook upon which stands the lighthouse for the ships. We had difficulty marching through the sand almost as far as the lighthouse, which is situated at the extreme [north] end of the island. Here we immediately went into the long boats, having, however, to wade through water up to our knees, because it was high tide. From the pontoon bridge to this place was a distance of – English miles, the time of our arrival, after 11am. Our ship, which we and the Body Company had to get to by means of two long boats for each, was three-masted, without guns and named - It lay at quite a distance [from shore]. We had to row nearly an hour and a half before we reached it and we made a great noise there because there were no provisions on board and no one knew whereto get any. Someone was sent to other ships for provisions [for us]. There is yet to be mentioned that, when we were crossing the pontoon bridge, I was greatly surprised that the Rebels did not take advantage of the disorder in our arrangement and crossing since we were without cannons and even our muskets were unloaded, according to orders received the night before. They would have succeeded since we were too confident. During a momentary detention near the water I dug up some fine large clams on the beach, a thing I had learned from the English and I immediately ate them with ravenous appetite owing to my hunger. Before we crossed the pontoon bridge all unnecessary horses were turned loose and chased back into the country. Sources : Henry Duncan is quoted in John Laughton, The Naval Miscellany (Naval Record Society, 1952) pp. 159-60; Andrew D. Mellick, Jr., Lesser Crossroads, ed. Hubert G. Schmidt from Andrew D. Mellick, Jr., The Story of an Old Farm (1889 reprint) (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1948), pp. 262-4; Gen. James Pattison, Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Battle of Monmouth files: folder - British Sources; C.W. Heckert, The Diary of Captain Weiderholdt (Buckhannon, WV: CW Heckert, 1984), p10; Colin Lindsay, Extracts of Colonel Templehoffe's History of the Seven Years War (London: T. Cadel, 1793), v2, p484; Montresor, John. “Journals of Captain John Montresor.” Edited by G. D. Scull. (New York: Collections of the New-York Historical Society, 1881) p 502; William Erskine to George Taylor, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Treasury, Class 1, vol 634, folio 187; Johann Ewald, Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979) p 137-8; Moss, George H., Jr. Another Look at Nauvoo to the Hook, (Sea Bright: Ploughshare Press, 1990) pp. 18-9; Francis Downman, The Services of Lieut. Colonel Francis Downman (London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1898) p64-72; New York Historical Society, MSS Microfilms, reel 17, Stephen Jarvis Autobiography, p 30; John Laurens, The Army correspondence of Colonel John Laurens in the years 1777-8 (New York: New York Times, 1969) pp. 204-5; Jacob Piel quoted in Bruce Burgoyne, Defeat, Disaster and Dedication: The Diaries of a Hessian Officer (NY: Heritage Books, 1997) p32-3; John Peebles' American War, 1776-1782 (Stackpole Books) p196; Stephen Kemble, The Kemble Papers (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Library, 2009) vol. 1, pp. 602-3; George Washington Parke Custis, Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington (Philadelphia: J. Bradley, 1861) p 30; Bruce Burgoyne, Journal of the Hesse Cassel Jaeger Corps (NY: Heritage Books, 1994) p47; John Knox Laughton, "Journal of Capt. Henry Duncan" in Publications of the Naval Records Society, vol. 20, 1920, p169-70; Lt. Wiedenholdt, Journal, New Jersey State Archives, Revolutionary War, Manuscripts Coll., box 2, #11; John Von Krafft, Journal of John Charles Philip Von Krafft, 1776-1784 (New York: Privately Printed, 1888) pp. 51-52; Adm Richard Howe, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 285; Capt. Henry Duncan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 267; John Simcoe, Simcoe's Military Journal (New York: Bartlett & Welford, 1844) p 74. 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 > British Fortify Sandy Hook in Preparation for French Attack by Michael Adelberg Admiral Richard Howe focused his ships and shore battery into a firing position at the channel above Sandy Hook. Confined to the narrow channel, the French fleet chose not to attack. - July 1778 - The Sandy Hook peninsula sits at the entrance of Raritan Bay and Lower New York Harbor. Its lighthouse brings in ships from the Atlantic Ocean. The British navy took the unguarded Hook in April 1776 and held it continuously through the end of 1783—longer than any other piece of the rebelling colonies. The British gradually fortified Sandy Hook following land-based attacks in June 1776 and March 1777 . But the threat faced in July 1778—with the arrival of a large French fleet—was on a different scale, and so were the corresponding fortifications. On July 5, the British Army completed the Monmouth campaign and left for New York via Sandy Hook. This was a few days before the arrival of the French. The German officer, Johann Ewald, described the fortified Sandy Hook Lighthouse as it appeared on that day: It is built of the most beautiful stones, some thirty feet wide in the square, and is about two hundred feet high. Since the Americans constantly threatened to destroy it, the Light House has been fortified with a stone breast work in which loop holes have been constructed. In the tower itself, port holes for cannon have been cut on all four sides, four of which are on the first floor for defense. The defenses were built to protect the lighthouse and its one-company guard from land-based attacks. The cannon were likely small and most did not face into the channel where New York-bound ships enter. Fortifying Sandy Hook The French fleet anchored off Shrewsbury Inlet on July 11. That same day, British officer Frederick Hamilton noted that construction had begun on a five-gun channel-facing battery. The next day, Major John Andre offered a more complete description of the full scope of efforts underway to fortify Sandy Hook: The 44th and 15th Regiments were added to these, and Colonel O’Hara [Charles O'Hara] took the command and marched from Bedford to be embarked for Sandy Hook. They were here employed in throwing up a battery of two 8-inch howitzers and three 32-pounders. Eight Companies from the Light Infantry and Grenadiers were distributed on board the ships of war. The Companies were chosen by lot and the whole drew at their own request. The ardor to serve and the confidence in Lord Howe were as conspicuous in the seamen of the transports, who almost to a man were Volunteers to go on board the King’s Ships. Andre reported seventeen warships arrived at the Hook along with “three sloops, three fire-ships, two bombs and three galleys.” The ships were lined up near the tip of Sandy Hook, so that they could fire on any French ship coming into the channel immediately north of the Hook. The shore battery still needed cannon. Admiral Richard Howe at Sandy Hook wrote to General Henry Clinton at New York: "I shall be obliged to you to furnish me with a couple of 8-inch Howitzer, with Artillery Men Ammunition &ca., to place on the point of the Hook.” Howe also expressed concern about the lack of engineers and whether Sandy Hook was ready for a French attack: Your engineer is not yet (that I have heard of) arrived. The wind being easterly, furnishes our adversaries with a favorable opportunity to make their attempt… Some tools will be necessary amongst the other requisites for making a bed & Breast Work for the Howitzer. But a skillfull engineer to direct our undertakings will be a treasure. We wish to borrow a few light infantry of which Duncan [Henry Duncan] writes. No time should be lost in the dispatch of the Howitz &c. The requested British Army engineer, John Montressor, returned to Sandy Hook on July 13 (he was there a week earlier during the British Army’s withdrawal). He wrote of his activities to complete the channel-facing battery at the tip of the Hook: "I detached 3 engineers to Sandy Hook to construct two batteries for 3 eighteen pounders and 2 howitzers, with tools and materials." More troops continued to arrive; a troop return listed 1,349 men (of which 1,076 “were fit & present”) at Sandy Hook. In New York, General James Pattison wrote of Loyalists volunteering to man the British ships in this moment of need: "A hot press of seamen began this evening but was soon put to a stop upon a sufficient number of men from the transports turning out as volunteers to serve in the fleet." After the war, David Ramsey, a Continental officer, noted the spirited response from New York City: “The sight of the French fleet raised all the active passions of their adversaries ...the British [and Loyalists] displayed a spirit of zeal and bravery which could not be exceeded.” Pattison noted that the requested howitzers were on their way: “A battery was begun at the Hook & eighteen pounder were sent down there, also 2 eight inch howitzers." The next day, Pattison noted the loss of a sloop to the French. More ominously, he wrote that "the French were observed to be sounding the channel into Sandy Hook & to take several prizes." The British placed retired ships next to the shore battery. On July 13, Captain Henry Duncan wrote of the placement of a “fireship” at the tip of Hook, to be set afire and sent toward the French if they entered the channel. Also on site was the aged storeship, Leviathan , which was turned into a 16-gun floating battery. Another navy officer, Peter Alpin, noted 200-New York City volunteers “variously employed" at Sandy Hook. This included rowing casks of fresh water to the men on the dry peninsula. On July 15, Colonel Thomas O’Beirne, noted another asset at the tip of the Hook: Four galleys were ranged across the narrow part of the channel abreast the Hook; from which situation, in case of attack, they could row upon the shoal and cannonade at such a distance as should be most convenient for the purpose of annoying the enemy. Sandy Hook as Key British Defenses On July 15, Colonel Charles O'Hara, the commanding army officer on Sandy Hook, toured the Hook with Admiral Howe. He reported to Henry Clinton on the Hook’s vulnerability: “The French Fleet could cover the descent of troops on almost every part of the coast of the Hook.” O’Hara called for a fort on the south end of Sandy Hook: “So many formidable attempts may be made upon this Island, I conceive that it would be absolutely necessary that a very considerable Reinforcement, not less than fifteen Hundred Men with Six Pieces of Field artillery, would be requisite for its defence.” O’Hara reminded Clinton of the importance of holding Sandy Hook: The possession of this post I conceive to be of the greatest importance as it enables Lord Howe under its cover to take a position that puts him upon a Level with the French fleet—who by being obliged to pass the bar by single ships would be beat by our fleet—But were the French masters of this Island, they would by erecting batterys [and] oblige our Ships to quit this present advantageous situation & move higher up the bay—the Enemy would then pass the bar unmolested & attack Lord Howe in line of battle—I must therefore take the Liberty of repeating that I conceive this Post to be of the very first Importance & that an Immediate considerable reinforcement is necessary. On July 15, O'Beirne underscored O‘Hara’s assessment by sizing up the two fleets: The French held a fourteen-to-nine edge in large warships, though the British had more smaller ships, but some of the British ships remained "wretchedly manned" even with a thousand Loyalist sailor-volunteers ("masters and mates of the merchantmen and traders"). Soldiers were placed on the British ships as marines. A few days later, Henry Clinton visited Sandy Hook. Montressor wrote that "Sir Henry Clinton went this morning to the Hook." Montressor was also at Sandy Hook and visited the ship-turned-gun platform, Leviathan , which Montressor reported now carried 70 cannon." He noted that "the [French] fleet have now taken eleven sail of our vessels besides the fishing craft." Peter Alpin reported that three French ships approached and the two fleets exchanged long distance fire, "but not the least attention [was] paid to them" because they did not come close. On July 21, Pattison reported to Admiral Howe about the defenses on Sandy Hook: “All the larger ships of his fleet were ordered to Sandy Hook & the cruisers called in… the fleet was properly arranged & batteries erected on the Hook, where a corps of two battalions was encamp'd.” Pattison observed that because of the narrowness of the Sandy Hook channel, “not more than one or two of their [French] ships at most can come in at a time” during which time the British could concentrate fire on that ship. Knowing this, he concluded, “We have the satisfaction to find that we are pretty secure from an attack in this quarter." From Sandy Hook, the British observed the French ships moving on July 22. Lord Carlisle, in New York City, speculated that the climactic naval battle would soon begin, “we expect every day to hear of some major event that may be very decisive, as his whole force is collected." A British officer also noted very high tides, "the spring tides were at their highest and that afternoon, thirty feet deep at the bar". So, July 21-22 were ideal days for the large French ships to enter Sandy Hook’s narrow channel. The French, however, had other ideas. Local pilots had informed them that their largest ships sat too deep in the water to enter the channel. Their fleet, receiving only a fraction of needed provisions from Shrewsbury, decided to sail for Rhode Island—where deeper waters and greater provisions awaited. With the threat passed, the British quickly divested resources from Sandy Hook. On August 3, Pattison reported that Admiral Howe pulled his fleet away from Sandy Hook, "leaving only the Leviathan , an old 74 gun ship, now carrying 54, and the Amazon of 32 guns." The troops left a week later. Montressor reported on August 10, "The troops evacuated the post at Sandy Hook and proceeded to Long Island, all but 3 companies of Jersey Volunteers ." Had the French arrived a week sooner, the British fleet would have been scattered and unable to resist them, and the British Army could have been cut off in New Jersey. It is quite possible that the American Revolution might have ended on the Navesink Highlands in July 1778. This was not lost on Colonel Thomas O’Beirne who observed, "had the French squadron arrived a few days sooner, or had the evacuation of Philadelphia been deferred a few days later, the whole force of Great Britain on that side of the Atlantic must have been annihilated." Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse and HMS Surprise (Replica of the Rose) (San Diego, CA) Sources : Johann Ewald, Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979) p 138; Frederick Hamilton, The Origin and History of the First or Grenadier Guards (Ulan Press, 2012) vol. 1, p 233; Jack Coggins, Ships and Seamen of the American Revolution, (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1969) p 142; Major John Andre, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 357; Richard Howe to Henry Clinton, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 359-360; British Army Return, Clements Library, U Michigan, Henry Clinton Papers, July 13, 1778; Gen Richard Howe to Henryt Clinton, Clements Library, U Michigan, Henry Clinton Papers, July 13, 1778; Montresor, John. “Journals of Captain John Montresor.” Edited by G. D. Scull. (New York: Collections of the New-York Historical Society, 1881) p 505-9; James Pattison in Ritchie, Carson I. A., ed., “A New York Diary of the Revolutionary War.” in Narratives of the Revolution in New York (New York: New-York Historical Society, 1975) pp. 242-3; David Ramsey, The History of the American Revolution, Liberty Fund: Indianapolis, 1990, Vol. 2, 88-89; John Knox Laughton, "Journal of Capt. Henry Duncan" in Publications of the Naval Records Society, vol. 20, 1920, p169-70; Clements Library, U Michigan, Peter Alpin Collection, Logbook of the Roebuck; Charles O’Hara to Henry Clinton, Clements Library, U Michigan, Henry Clinton Papers, July 15, 1778; Thomas Lewis O'Beirne, A Candid and Impartial Narrative of the Transactions of the Fleet, Under the Command ofLord Howe (London, 1969), pp. 3 - 15; David Library of the American Revolution, James Pattison Papers, reel 1; Joseph Reed, Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, William B. Reed, ed. (Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1847), p 389; Mahan, A. T., The Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence, (London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., 1913) pp. 64-8; James Pattison in Ritchie, Carson I. A. “A New York Diary of the Revolutionary War.” in Narratives of the Revolution in New York (New York: New-York Historical Society, 1975) pp. 246; David Syrett, The Royal Navy in American Waters, 1775-1783 (Aldershot, UK: Scolar Press, 1989), p 99; Montresor, John. “Journals of Captain John Montresor.” Edited by G. D. Scull. (New York: Collections of the New-York Historical Society, 1881) p 509. 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 Travails of Mary Leonard and Other Loyalist Women by Michael Adelberg Easton, Pennsylvania, a town of 500 people, hosted a large prison during the Revolutionary War. Many New Jersey Loyalist prisoners, including Thomas Leonard, were confined there. - May 1777 - In early 1777, as New Jersey came back under Continental control, authorities moved against remaining Loyalists. In Monmouth County, 200+ Loyalists were jailed and dozens of others were brought before the New Jersey Council of Safety . At least that many Monmouth Countians went behind British lines where the majority joined the New Jersey Volunteers , a Loyalist corps of the British Army. While some Loyalists brought wives and children with them, the majority did not. The Loyalist women who remained at home posed a substantial challenge to leaders struggling to establish competent and just local government. As noted in a prior article, Monmouth County lacked a functioning local government in the early months of 1777. The county’s senior military officer, Brigadier General David Forman, was not shy about exercising power to fill that gap. It appears that Forman’s first action involving Loyalist women occurred on April 11 when General Israel Putnam asked Forman to exile the families of two prominent Loyalists: I have sent down, under escort, the families of Mr. Saunders and Dr. [Absalom] Bainbridge, who are going to New York -- should Mrs. Bainbridge choose to stay for the present & then go, you will permit her to remain at her father's house in Middletown. Forman executed the order and now apparently believed it was within his power to act against other Loyalist women. Mary Leonard’s Disaffection Mary Leonard was from the prominent Lawrence family of Upper Freehold. She was the daughter of Robert Lawrence, a judge of the courts under the Royal Government, who retired from public life at the start of the Revolution. She was also the wife of Thomas Leonard, an early Loyalist and major in the New Jersey Volunteers . On February 18, 1777, Thomas was captured and imprisoned somewhere in Pennsylvania. Mary never learned her husband’s location even after she wrote letters of inquiry about him and requested leniency. However, Mary Leonard was not an apolitical innocent. As she was advocating for her husband she was also speaking with Jane Morris, the wife of Captain Robert Morris of the New Jersey Volunteers. Robert Morris had made himself particularly obnoxious to New Jersey authorities when he raised a company of New Jersey Volunteers recruits from Shrewsbury in December 1776 and nearly raised another company in February 1777 (Morris missed connecting with the ship sent to take the Loyalists to Sandy Hook). With Robert Morris in hiding, Mary advised Jane to tell her husband not to surrender himself to New Jersey authorities. For this and the nuisance she caused while inquiring about her husband, Mary Leonard was brought before the New Jersey Supreme Court on May 30, 1777. She was indicted as “a pernicious & disaffected woman, a person with a turbulent mind and seditious disposition.” The indictment further read: Concerning Robert Morris, the husband of Jane, in the presence & hearing of said Jane Morris, did falsely, maliciously and seditiously say & with a loud voice declare "I advise you to inform your husband that the Continental troops and the militia of this State think that he [Robert Morris] is gone off with the King's Party and tell your husband to keep himself secret. I am well informed that the King's troops will be in possession of this country in a few days, and if they [the British Army] find your husband with the Provincials [rebels], they will kill him. The court declared Mary Leonard’s conduct “to the evil example of all.” Mary’s punishment is unknown but it was apparently light because she remained at large. As for Thomas Leonard, he was confined in Reading, Pennsylvania. This is known because the Continental Congress recorded reimbursing the state of Pennsylvania for keeping him from March 3 – June 22. His whereabouts between his February 18 capture and March 3 is not known, but he was sent to the prison in Easton after June 22. Mary Leonard was not told of her husband’s new location. Mary Leonard’s Exile and the Resulting Controversy Mary Leonard apparently spoke harshly about the state of affairs. She drew the ire of David Forman who, without authority to do so, convened some type of military tribunal and then exiled her to New York. With her husband still confined in Pennsylvania, Mary returned to New Jersey in September without Forman’s permission. By this time, Thomas Leonard’s estate had been rented out by the county’s Forfeiture Commissioners, so she could not have returned to her house. Mary Leonard’s troubles roused her father, Robert Lawrence, a former judge who had been staying out of politics. On August 28, Lawrence sent a blistering petition to the New Jersey Legislature about Forman’s conduct respecting to his daughter and other Loyalist women: David Forman... presumed to banish some women out of this State into enemy lines, whereupon I apprehended that our new & happy constitution had received a very dangerous wound... this induced me to lay before the Governor & Council of Safety. Lawrence discussed “the arbitrary stretch of power by the said David Forman” and his heated discussion before the New Jersey Legislature about Forman’s authority per an order from George Washington: To my astonishment, I heard arguments that I never suspected would come from the mouths of free men… David Forman acting under martial law under the pretense of Genl. Washington's orders (which I am far from believing). If it is so, the Gen. surely never expected that David Forman do himself a court martial, without following the rules of either martial or common law. Lawrence claimed Forman’s conduct resembled that of "some African tyrant." On October 4, the New Jersey Council of Safety, considered Mary Leonard’s conduct and status: Mrs. Leonard, wife of Thomas Leonard, who acted as a major in the British service & is now a prisoner of the United States, was sent over to New York a while ago by order of Brigadier General David Forman and hath lately returned to this State. She complains of indisposition and requests that she may be permitted to tarry in Monmouth County until she be reinstated in her health, and that she be suffered to pass to Easton to see her husband. The Council of Safety "agreed, that Mrs. Leonard be permitted to pass to Easton and to remain with him." Its leniency toward Mary Leonard implicitly rebuked Forman’s harsh treatment. For this and other misdeeds, the New Jersey Legislature launched an investigation into David Forman’s conduct. Forman refused to appear before the Legislature and resigned his commission as a Brigadier General in the New Jersey militia, thereby depriving the legislature of a lever to punish him. Mary Leonard’s Further Travails Mary Leonard went to Easton in October, but was not reunited with Thomas. On October 29, she was still searching for him. From Lebanon, Pennsylvania, she wrote Robert Hooper, the jailkeeper at Easton: Since I left East Town [Easton], I have been indisposed that I have not been able to write till now. I send the enclosed to Mr. Leonard, beg favor that you will forward it as soon as possible. I flatter myself, sir, by the time you have heard from him where his lot is to be, if he should happen to be placed in Reading or East Town, I should esteem it one of the greatest blessings I could enjoy at this time. If he is sent two hundred miles from me, my State of health will not admit my going to him. As you have the character of a Gentleman of great humanity, I make not the least dought [sic] but you will assist and befriend the distressed, as is consonant with your honor. Thomas Leonard was in Easton when Mary visited that town. This raises the possibility that local jailers deliberately misled Mary Leonard about her husband’s whereabouts. It is also possible that disorganized jailers misinformed Mary by way of an honest mistake. On January 6, 1778, Elias Boudinot, the Commissary of Prisoners for the Continental government, wrote Thomas Leonard about Leonard’s request to let Loyalist women go to New York to be with their husbands. Boudinot wrote: “I have received your note about the women who wanted to go from Monmouth to New York.” Boudinot discussed an “Act of our Assembly lately passed gives such persons liberty to sell their effects & go to New York, so I suppose they will embrace the opportunity." In the same letter, Boudinot admitted to knowing of Mary Leonard’s plight, "I rec'd Mrs. Leonard's letter and feel exceedingly for the unhappy woman." Boudinot wrote Hooper about the Leonards. On February 5, Hooper responded that he was out of the area when Mary Leonard visited Easton. Of Thomas Leonard and other Loyalist officers in Easton, he wrote, “I am in pity to these miserable and unhappy men. Upwards of 26 of them are dead. Easton is by no means a proper place for officers.” It is unclear where and when Mary and Thomas Leonard were re-united. But Mary Leonard would get into trouble again. In December 1779 she was arrested for bringing “sundry goods, wares and merchandize without any license, permission or passport” from New York into New Jersey. She and Edward Brook (likely the pilot of the boat that carried her) were detained. In July 1780, the Monmouth County Court of Common Pleas found that she owed the state a hefty debt of 5,737 pounds. Other Loyalist Women Suffer during the Revolution Mary Leonard’s travails are better documented than Monmouth County’s other Loyalist women, but there is reason to think that other Loyalist wives suffered comparably. Below are two other examples: Christian Crowell was the wife of Thomas Crowell, a prosperous boat owner with a home on the Raritan Bayshore. Thomas Crowell joined the New Jersey Volunteers, then captained a Loyalist privateer. Christian Crowell stayed home as the family estate was inventoried for confiscation. She lost the family’s livestock in 1777--likely confiscated by David Forman’s men. In September 1777, she was brought before the New Jersey Supreme Court and charged with “maliciously and advisedly going over to Sandy Hook" and “returning to Middletown." A Loyalist newspaper reported about the harassments against her: A Party of Rebel Light Horse went to the House of Capt. Thomas Crowell, of Shrewsbury, in New Jersey, last Tuesday, and robbed him of all his Cattle, Sheep, Hogs and Horses; and told Mrs. Crowell, as soon as they had disposed of what they then took, they intended to return and carry off all her Household Furniture, and then dispose of her House and Plantation at public sale. She was fined £3 for a misdemeanor in January 1778. In May 1779, the family estate was confiscated and she was forced to rent a cottage from the Overseer of the Poor. After that, according to Thomas, "his wife and family came within British lines for relief." Rhoda Pew was the wife of James Pew, a boatman on the Raritan Bay who became involved in illegally trading with the British. He became a Loyalist. In November 1777, Rhoda was brought before the New Jersey Supreme Court for boarding a British sloop at Sandy Hook (probably visiting her husband). In January and May 1778, she was convicted of misdemeanors (probably illegally trading with the enemy). She was one of four Loyalist women exiled to New York in May 1778. Her husband was captured later that year and jailed in Freehold; there he was murdered by the prison sentry. In April 1782, Rhoda Pew gave emotional testimony about the cruel behavior of the rebels during the Court Martial of Richard Lippincott (after he hanged Captain Joshua Huddy of Colts Neck). The author has identified 79 women who, based on various records, suffered for their pro-British sympathies during the war. A table summarizing these women is in the appendix of this article. The table does not include women who were punished in the courts for offenses such as trespass that were not directly unrelated to the war. Nor does the table include women who lost their family estates for the “offense” of having a Loyalist husband And the table does not include women solely for emigrating to Canada at war’s end. It can be conservatively estimated that an additional 100 or more women suffered these outcomes. Nine women are documented as being adjudged for punishment or suffering a negative outcome more than once. Most of the 79 women in the table were brought before the Monmouth County courts for speaking seditious words or unnamed misdemeanors that were likely traveling behind enemy lines or illegally trading with the enemy. While the courts fined these women, it is worth noting that only one woman—Sarah White—received a fine comparable to the larger fines put on men (White’s fine of £100 was large, but still less than largest fines on men which could be as large as £500 for illegal trade or repeated militia delinquency ). Charges ultimately were dropped on three women, but only after arrest, detainment, and court appearances, so these women suffered even when legally exonerated. Most of these women had Loyalist husbands and, on some occasions, this was enough to bring punishments to them. A few of these women were “punished” by being forced off their Monmouth County farms and becoming impoverished in New York . Related Historic Site : Parsons-Taylor House (Easton, Pennsylvania) Appendix: Negative Outcomes for Loyalist and Disaffected Women See table 3 . Sources : Israel Putnam to David Forman, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections; Mary Leonard to R.D. Hooper, Monmouth County Archives, The William Livingston Era: Documents of the American Revolution, exhibit at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters, October 2003; New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #36727;Journals of the Continental Congress, June 27, 1777, p504; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 141; Robert Lawrence, Memorial, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Coll., State Library Manuscript Coll., #129; Mary Leonard to R. Hooper, Monmouth County Archives, The William Livingston Era: Documents of the American Revolution, exhibit at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters, October 2003; Elias Boudinot, The Elias Boudinot Letterbook (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2002) p38 and 74; New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #34638; Rutgers University Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Compensation Claims, D96, AO 13/108, reel 8; the newspaper account on the harassment of Christian Crowell is posted at United Empire Loyalists, Loyal Directory: http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info ; New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #37510; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 243; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 243. Sources for Appendix Table : New Jersey Gazette, June 30, 1783, Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Ann Hendricks, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #35933; NY Gazette & Weekly Mercury, July 7, 1777, Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, p 420; New Jersey Council of Safety, Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 172; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Sophia Smith, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #38501; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Hannah Cook, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #34510; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Margaret Mount, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #37027; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Ann Parker, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #37484; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Esther Frost. New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #35286; Joshua Huddy vs. Elizabeth Pritchard Catalog of the Exhibition: Joshua Huddy and the American Revolution, Monmouth County Library Headquarters, October 2004; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Deborah Leonard, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #36641; Upper Freehold Baptist Meeting, December 12, 1778, Upper Freehold Baptist Records, Rutgers University Special Collections, reel 1; Memorial of Deliah Cottrell to Col John Morris, 2/8/79: Memorial of Deliah Cottrell, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #1735; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Valesia Mount, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #37026; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Hannah Davis, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #34862; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Phoebe Brown, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #33972; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Cornelia Johnson, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #36268; Purdy Wardell to Gov. William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 11, April 12, 1780; Memorial of Catherine Reading in BF Stevens, Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain (London: Mackie & Co, 1906) v2, p117; Maj John Antill to Col John Morris, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #2777; Indictment, State vs. Catherine Clark of Freehold, signed by Attorney General William Patterson – Indictment, Monmouth County Archives, Loose Quarterly Sessions; Monmouth Court of Common Pleas, April 25, 1780, Monmouth County Archives, Common Pleas (Loose); Notable Cases from Monmouth Court of Quarterly Sessions Archives, Court of Quarterly Sessions, folder: 1780; NJ Supreme Court: State vs. Hannah Hyer. New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #35964; Notable cases before the Monmouth Court of Quarterly Sessions, Court Docket, Monmouth County Archives, Court of Quarterly Sessions, folder: 1781; NJ Gazette, January 30, 1781, Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 5, p 190; Asher Holmes to William Livingston, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 4, p 142; Mary Van Gordon to Henry Clinton, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Headquarters Papers of the British Army in America, PRO 30/55/3345; Peter Schenck to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 14, May 22, 1781; Court Docket, New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - November 1781; Burlington County Court record in Monmouth County Archives, The William Livingston Era: Documents of the American Revolution, exhibit at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters, October 2003; Swarthmore College, Friends Historical Library, reel: MR Ph 585, Shrewsbury Meeting; Jane Milligan, petition, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #4272 and 4278; Mrs. Lewis, memorial, BF Stevens, Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain (London: Mackie & Co, 1906) v2, p428; Mary Boggs to William Livingston in Mary Benjamin, "American Revolution ALS," The Collector, vol. 69, July - Aug., 1956, p 74; NJ Supreme Court: State of NJ vs. Sushe Johnson, NJ State Archives: NJ Supreme Court Records, case # 36246; Memorial of John Williams, Great Britain Public Record Office, British Headquarters Papers, 30/55, #4907; Private Correspondence from Joseph Dangler re Monmouth County Court Record, State v. Rosina Throckmorton; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - July 1783; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - June 1778; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - July 1779; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder -January 1778; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - May 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 > Monmouth Militia Takes Control of the Ship, Polly & Anne by Michael Adelberg New York’s Royal Governor, William Tryon, sought to supply the British Army in Boston by loading the Polly & Anne. The ship beached on the Monmouth shore and was taken. - December 1775 - Shortly after the capture of HMS Viper ’s 30-foot tend er vessel, a second ship in the service of the British military beached on the Monmouth shore. On December 23, 1775, the Polly & Anne ran aground on Manasquan beach during a storm. John Graham, a passenger on board the vessel, reported that the “vessel was laden by his Excellency Governor Tryon [New York’s Royal Governor William Tryon]” for the British Army at Boston. The vessel beached and was discovered by a party of Monmouth Countians that included John Morris. Morris was a former British Army officer who would become a battalion commander in the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers , but, at this time, Morris was supporting the Continental cause. Morris apparently notified the Shrewsbury Township Committee of Observation, acting as the de facto local government for the Manasquan neighborhood. The committee considered the stranded vessel being on December 26, 1775: Whereas information to this Committee is made that a sloop is come on shore at Manasquan loaded with fresh provisions entirely, such as beef in quarters, hogs and fowls, etc., and that there is reason to suspect that the cargo was intended for the use of the enemy at Boston as the persons on board of said vessel refuse to give any account of themselves or their intention. Therefore: Resolved, that David Knott and James Davis be a subcommittee to repair to the spot and make inquiry concerning the above affair and if they find sufficient reason therefore to secure the cargo at least and if necessary some or all of the persons until a hearing before this or the County Committee, and if assistance be wanting, that they call upon Capt. [Aaron] Longstreet and Capt. [Moses] Shepherd to attend with a sufficient party of militia. Militia apparently arrived at the stranded ship quickly—but whether the militia were from Shrewsbury or from Freehold is an open question. According to a surviving document, Graham “immediately was taken prisoner, by order of the Committee of Freehold , in Monmouth County.” A deposition taken from James Webb, another passenger, confirmed that the vessel’s cargo was intended for the British Army in Boston. A report compiled after the capture revealed that the Polly & Anne’s cargo consisted of dry goods and “a quantity of beef, pork, and other provisions.” As such, the Monmouth County Committee instructed Colonel David Forman to impound the cargo “except such articles as were perishable, which the Committee directed to be sold by Doctor Scudder [Nathaniel Scudder] and Doctor Henderson [Thomas Henderson].” The perishables were promptly sold and the proceeds were turned over to “the Congress of this Colony.” As for the ship’s crew, the Monmouth County Committee asked the New Jersey Committee of Safety to assist: “It is expected a number of persons belonging to said sloop will fall into the hands of this Committee; will be glad of advice on how to dispose of them.” The county committee received instruction to ”deliver to the seamen and passengers, all such clothing and other effects as belong to them.” Because the crew were New Yorkers, the Committee would deliver the prisoners “to the Provincial Congress or Committee of Safety” of New York. Dr. Thomas Henderson (also a militia major) brought the prisoners to New York, where he was deposed by the New York’s Council of Safety. Henderson’s testimony revealed that the Polly & Anne was captained by a man named Haines, a known Loyalist who escaped confinement in New York in order to take the vessel and provisions into British lines. Henderson further testified that: “The casks and boxes found on board of the said sloop had labels nailed to them, but that all the labels were torn off. That among the labels torn off, he found one directed to General Howe, Boston.” Henderson further testified that three casks of wine on board the vessel were personally shipped by Royal Governor Tryon. Another Monmouth Countian, David Rhea, who accompanied Henderson, offered additional information on Captain Haines: He broke jail by breaking six grates out of a window, and stole a boat about midnight, and got on board of the man-of-war; that the sloop Polly and Ann was purchased for him about three days, or less, before the time of her sailing, and that she was purchased of Isaac Gidney. As of January 23, Captain Gaines and John Graham were still confined in New York. Graham petitioned for an early release from confinement due to his declining health. Their fate, and the fate of the other passengers on the Polly & Anne , is not known. The Polly & Anne was sold at public auction by Dr. Nathaniel Scudder, but money from the sale was taken by Loyalists, presumably during the Loyalist insurrection of December 1776. As late as June 1778, the New Jersey Legislature was still seeking to settle accounts related to the capture of the ship with Forman, Scudder and Henderson. Another capture of a British ship would soon occur. Related Historical Sites : New Jersey Maritime Museum Sources : Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 4, P818; Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 4, P1059; Proceedings of the Committees of Freehold and Shrewsbury, Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, First Series, 1846, pp. 192-3; Franklin Kemp, The Capture of Enemy Vessels by Ground Troops in New Jersey (privately printed) p 19; William James Morgan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969) vol. 3, pp. 886-7; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Coll., State Library Manuscript Coll., #83; "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html ), v4: p 1058-9; "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html ), v4, p 1059-60; Calendar of New York Historical Transcripts, (Albany, NY: privately printed, 1868) vol. 1, 220; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 11, 1777, p 203-4; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, June 5, 1778, p 134, 165. 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