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 > Committees Form to Resist British Policies by Michael Adelberg The Continental Association, October 1774, created a national template for resisting British policies—county and township committees were responsible for enforcing it. - June 1774 - To punish the people of Boston for their “Tea Party” and other defiant acts , the British Parliament passed the so-called Intolerable Acts in early 1774. Colonists across the Thirteen Colonies reacted by boycotting British goods. Americans started forming committees to enforce the boycott and coordinate dissent across localities. The citizens of Freehold Township met at Monmouth Court House on June 6, 1774 to consider the state of affairs. According to minutes of the meeting, they agreed “that the cause for which the inhabitants of Boston are now suffering is the common cause of the whole Continent.” They also endorsed "an entire stoppage of importation and exportation from and to Great Britain and the West Indies.” Finally, they appointed a standing committee to “join an association with the several other counties in this province in any measures that may appear best to the weal and safety of North America." The Committee would be comprised of John Anderson, Hendrick Smock, Asher Holmes, Peter Forman, John Forman, John Covenhoven, Nathaniel Scudder – each of whom would go on to hold important leadership positions in the fledgling American government. While the committees that would soon form in other Monmouth townships contained a mix of men who would support and oppose the Revolution, the Freehold committee was full of ardent patriots (they called themselves Whigs). This would distinguish Freehold from the other Monmouth County townships in the years to come . A week later, on June 13, Josiah Holmes, one of Shrewsbury’s leading citizens, received a letter from the Essex County Committee. He responded by meeting with some other leading citizens in Shrewsbury and putting up a public notice which began: The deplorable state of the inhabitants of the great and (until now) flourishing town of Boston is reduced to by means of the late cruel and inhumane act of the British Parliament, for the blocking up their port, is the fatal occasion that thousands are now destitute of employment, and are also destitute of bread; now they have only to depend on the charity of well-disposed Christians. It is therefore proposed to load a vessel with grain and other provisions from this County of Monmouth, to be sent immediately for their relief. Meanwhile, the people of Monmouth County were called on to participate in the selection of delegates for a Provincial Congress, a state body that would operate outside the influence of New Jersey’s Royal Governor. On July 19, citizens from four of Monmouth County’s six townships met at Freehold to establish a county committee (attending: Freehold, Upper Freehold, Middletown, and Dover; Shrewsbury and Stafford did not attend). In addition to selecting delegates to this new Congress, the attendees agreed to raise foodstuffs for the suffering in Boston and establish a county committee. The new Monmouth County committee declared that British taxes were “altogether unprecedented and unconstitutional” but they also declared loyalty to the King: “they do highly esteem and prize the happiness of being governed by so excellent a system of laws as that of Great Britain, doubtless the best in the universe.” The County Committee quickly became the quasi-government of Monmouth County—with help from the township committees of Freehold, Upper Freehold, Middletown and Dover. Shrewsbury and Stafford townships did not establish township committees until 1775. Over the next few months, the committees of Monmouth County enforced the boycott of British goods by advertising boycott violators. They also raised and shipped “1200 bushels of rye, and 50 barrels of rye flour” for the suffering people in Boston. And they resolved to establish a new militia outside of the control of the Royal Governor. Soon, the County Committee would take action against some of the county’s most public Loyalists. All of this was set in motion before the first Continental Congress established the Continental Association in October 1774—calling on all Americans to take the actions that had already occurred in Monmouth County. Related Historical Sites : Monmouth County Historical Association Sources : Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 43-50; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of Safety , 1775-1770 (Trenton: Naar, Day and Naar, 1879) pp. 4-5; Allan Nevins, The American States During and After the Revolution , 1775-1 789 (New York: MacMillan Company, 1 922), p 44; Monmouth County Historical Association, Genealogical Files, folder - Revolutionary War Records of Monmouth County Soldiers ; Proceedings of the Committees of Freehold and Shrewsbury, Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, First Series, 1846, pp. 186-8; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p119-20; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 301-2; Pennsylvania Gazette , November 2, 1774 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 > New York Tories Find Refuge in Shrewsbury by Michael Adelberg Isaac Lowe served in the 1st Continental Congress and led protests against British policies, but he did not support independence. Fearing for his safety, he left New York for Shrewsbury. - July 1776 - The arrival of the British fleet on June 29 set the Loyalists of New York and New Jersey in motion. In Monmouth County, some Loyalists assembled and joined the British Army on Sandy Hook. However, many other Loyalists, due to age or preference, had no interest in serving in the British Army. They sought a place of safety as they came under increasing scrutiny from the Revolutionary governments of New York and New Jersey. Shrewsbury, where resistance to the Continental cause was well known, was such a place. New Yorkers Hide in Shrewsbury Township The first evidence of New York Loyalists seeking refuge in Shrewsbury is in the minutes of the New York Convention. On July 18, that body recorded “that John L. C. Roome requests that he may be sent a prisoner, on his parole, to Shrewsbury.” It is not recorded whether Roome’s relocation to Shrewsbury was approved, but he was in Shrewsbury, with or without consent, a week later. On July 26, Governor William Livingston wrote to Samuel Tucker, President of the New Jersey Convention: I have authentic information that some of the most malignant New York Tories have seated themselves in Shrewsbury; a very improper place on account of the facility it affords for keeping up a communication with the Enemy. Isaac Lowe and one Roome [John Roome] are particularly mentioned. That same day, Nathaniel Woodhull of New York Convention informed George Washington and the New Jersey Convention that New York Loyalists were seeking refuge in Shrewsbury. Woodhull had deposed Balthazar DeHart, a lawyer who practiced in the Monmouth County courts. He reported: When he [DeHart] left Shrewsbury, far the greater part of that place was inhabited, or rather, infested, with Tories... he has understood that their disaffection has been greatly increased by a number of persons who have gone from New York, and secretly labored to deceive the lower set of people, the higher being almost all disaffected. Woodhull named some of the Loyalists: Isaac Low, William Walton, Anthony Van Damm, John Roome, William Kipping, and [?] Hullet "a dance master." Woodhull also reported on the activities of Shrewsbury Loyalists: Joseph Wardell, John Corlies, and George Allen, went the week before last, or last week, to General Howe's camp, on Staten-Island, after, as they pretended, two negroes, who had run away from William Kipping and the said John Corlies; that they stayed some time there. The “negroes were delivered to them by Howe's order” which Woodhull took as proof that the Shrewsbury residents had pledged themselves Loyal to the British King (a prior British order said that slaves of rebels who agreed to serve the British cause would be freed, but slaves of Loyalists would not be freed. This might have increased unrest in Shrewsbury’s Black community). Dealing with New Yorkers in Shrewsbury Township On August 5, the New York Government sought to stop the further migration of Loyalists to New Jersey. It issued a public notice banning unauthorized travel: "No person whatsoever, either male or female, above the age of 14 will be permitted to pass to the State of New Jersey without a proper pass." The notice was not only printed in New York newspapers, it was also printed in Philadelphia papers. In 1776, New Jersey had no newspaper. Calls were made to the New Jersey government to take action against the New York Loyalists in Shrewsbury and the disaffected providing refuge to those Loyalists. On August 7, an anonymous New Yorker wrote Governor Livingston: I have received repeated information that a number of persons known to be inimical to the cause of the United States, or of suspicious character, have lately removed from this place [New York] into the County of Monmouth in New Jersey, with intent, no doubt, of communicating with and aiding our enemies. That same day, George Washington wrote the New Jersey Legislature a very similar letter (suggesting collaboration between the New Yorker and Washington’s aide-de-camp): I have received repeated information that a number of persons known to be inimical to the cause of the American States or of suspicious character have lately removed from this and other places to the County of Monmouth with the intent, no doubt... of communicating with and aiding the enemy. I must urge the necessity of your Congress of adopting the same measure [for arresting Loyalists] in all those parts of the Province that are contiguous to the enemy. Nine days later, George Washington wrote to the Councils of Safety of New York and New Jersey: I am informed, that in Consequence of my Letter acquainting you that a number of Persons deemed unfriendly to the Interests of America, were suspected of holding a Correspondence with the Enemy from Shrewsbury and its Neighborhood; Mr. Isaac Low late of this City has been apprehended, and is now detained under some kind of Confinement. Isaac Lowe was arrested, but released three days later. Without a sheriff [sheriff Elisha Lawrence was with the British] or functioning courts, it fell to the Monmouth County Committee to take action against the New York Loyalists in Shrewsbury and their local collaborators. On August 24, John Holmes of the Shrewsbury Township Committee sent a lengthy letter to Woodhull summarizing the Committee’s actions. Holmes broadly agreed with Woodhull’s characterization of disaffection in Shrewsbury: “Many parts of the County are exceedingly infested with Tories of the most inveterate disposition, owing in great measure to the malign influence of our late Attorney General.” This was reference to Courtland Skinner, the Attorney General under the Royal government, who was courting Loyalists to join the New Jersey Volunteers , of which he was named its Brigadier General. Holmes further suggested that the Shrewsbury township committee was, itself, disaffected and not to be trusted. As a result, the County Committee “constituted a sub-committee from our body, who are authorized to cite every inhabitant of New York within the Township of Shrewsbury to appear before them, and show cause why they not be immediately removed." John Holmes also discussed the three disaffected Shrewsbury residents who had visited the British Army on Staten Island to retrieve the runaway slaves: “They went under Col. [George] Taylor's permission, who granted them a flag [permission]; they had not been qualified. We have put them under oath, and have not been able to make any very important discoveries." Holmes discussed attempts to curb illegal trade with the British: A number of armed vessels have frequently been at anchor and hovering near the coast, and we have no doubt have had frequent intercourse with and supplies from the disaffected from this County... Our guards are now on the spot, and we have given orders that all stock be immediately driven from all beaches, we flatter ourselves that the enemy will be disappointed in any future attempt to procure provisions. Holmes claimed that "Gen. [Hugh] Mercer has arrived with a Continental guard at Shrewsbury, who have orders to seize and detain all craft belonging to said shores, and to apprehend such suspicious persons ...several arrests have been made." Continental Army records mention Continental guards in Shrewsbury but do not document General Mercer being at Shrewsbury.) However, Holmes’s account of driving livestock from the shore is corroborated by the records of the New Jersey Convention which, on July 23, recorded: Unanimously resolved and directed that the County Committee of Monmouth proceed, without delay, to remove all stock on their coast which may be in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, back into the country. Holmes concluded that the events in Shrewsbury were exhausting the County Committee: "We have spent more time and undergone more vexation and fatigue than any other Committee of this State." The Monmouth County Committee likely uncovered some of the New Yorkers, but did not root out all of them. On December 3, 1776, Robert Bowne of Queens, New York, sent a letter from Shrewsbury to his brother in New York. Bowne summarized his status “in this time of great calamity,” he wrote: I have endeavored to avoid giving offence to any, have associated with very few, which I have found to be much the safest as there are many warm persons near us that are scratching at everything they can take the least advantage of to distress those who do not approve of their violent and unjust proceedings. He also discussed other New Yorkers still hiding in Shrewsbury. “The New Yorkers have all been threatened that they should be drove away from this quarter, tho' they [Whigs] have never put it in execution; many that was here have returned to New York.” The disaffection in Shrewsbury revealed in the letters of Woodhull and Holmes would soon be corroborated by the actions of a large association of Loyalists at Long Branch. Historic Site : Christ Church Sources : New York Committee of Safety, July 18, 1776, Convention, Committee of Safety and Council of Safety of the state of New-York : 1775-1777, 2 vols., (Albany : Thurlow Weed, printer to the State, 1842) v. 1, item 541; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, p 107; 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 602-3; The Library Company, Pennslyvania Ledger, vol. 1, Jan. 1775-Nov. 1776; Paul Burgess, A Colonial Scrapbook; the Southern New Jersey Coast, 1675-1783 (New York, Carlton Press, 1971) pp 109; John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 5, p 388; Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of New Jersey, From 1776 to 1786 (Newark, NJ: Newark Daily Advertiser, 1848) p 7; New Jersey Convention resolve, 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 1651; Library of Congress, George Wahsington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw050383)) ; 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 1534-5; Rutgers University Special Collections, Robert Bowne, AC 1246. 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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 > Joshua Huddy's State Troops Stationed at Toms River by Michael Adelberg In February 1782, twenty State Troops went to Toms River to defend the village. They lacked provisions and their small fort, the Block House, lacked cannon. Loyalists would defeat them in March. - January 1782 - As discussed in prior articles, by 1781, much of Dover and Stafford townships in southern Monmouth County (present-day Ocean County) was disaffected by 1780—to the point that they were electing disaffected men into important local offices. Shore residents were tied into a profitable illegal trade between Monmouth County and British buyers at Sandy Hook and New York, the so-called London Trade. Active Loyalist irregulars, confederated into Pine Robber gangs allied with London Traders. The most prominent Whig enclave on the Monmouth shore (Whigs were people who supported the Revolution) was the port village of Toms River. The village and its port were tied into a privateering economy built on New England and Philadelphia vessels preying on British shipping going to and from New York. Privateers used Toms River to provision their ships and deposit prize vessels. In late 1780, residents of Toms River petitioned for a guard to help protect the village; a 30-man company of New Jersey State Troops under Lieutenant David Imlay was stationed there for a year, and then renewed for a second year. Throughout 1781, Pine Robber gangs in Stafford Township and Little Egg Harbor Township (in neighboring Burlington County) grew bolder. They routed the Stafford Township militia at Manahawkin in early December. In Toms River, locals were convinced that these Pine Robbers—25 miles to the south—posed a dire threat to the village. They sent a series of letters and petitions to Governor William Livingston and New Jersey legislators complaining of their danger. A December 10 petition signed by the leaders of Toms River and several county militia officers called for a new State Troop guard under Captain Joshua Huddy to protect Toms River: It was necessary for the protection of the good citizens of this State that a guard, consisting of twenty-five men, should be stationed at Toms River, and as the time of the present guard is nearly expired, we recommend to your Excellency and Honors Captain Joshua Huddy as a proper person to raise & command a guard to succeed the present, for the ensuing year. Huddy was a controversial figure in Monmouth County. On the one hand, he was a strong supporter of the Revolution and a brave soldier. In 1777, he raised a State Troops artillery company that marched from Colts Neck to Pennsylvania to fight at the Battle of Germantown . During the Battle of Monmouth, Huddy led a brash (and doomed) cavalry attack on the British baggage train. Huddy was also one of several Monmouth County officers who tried his hand at privateering , and managed a tavern at Colts Neck at a time when the village was the center of a campaign to crackdown on militia delinquents . On the other hand, Huddy had a knack for trouble. In 1779, he had a falling out with his wife, Catherine Hart (born Catherine Applegate), that resulted in his having to post an extraordinary bond of £15,000, to be cashed if he sold off any of her possessions. He had also cast out Catherine’s children "by means of threats or blows" and prevented the children "from living & continuing with him, the said Joshua, and Catherine." Huddy was hated by Loyalists for his role in the extra-legal hanging of the captured Loyalist, Stephen Edwards. He was also twice convicted of assault in the Monmouth County courts and was a frequent litigant for other reasons. Huddy was involved in the impressment and confiscation of goods from disaffected Monmouth Countians and joined the Association for Retaliation , a vigilante society established in July 1780. In August 1780, Huddy was the target of a Loyalist raid that temporarily captured him. The raiders were pursued by militia to Rumson, where a skirmish ensued as the raiders were loading themselves and their booty onto boats. Huddy was shot in the thigh (likely friendly fire), but was still able to swim to shore and narrowly escape capture. Raising Huddy’s Toms River Guard Out of respect for the concerns raised from Toms River residents, the New Jersey Legislature approved re-raising a company of State Troops for the defense of Toms River, with service to begin on January 1, 1782. As before, Asher Holmes would be the Colonel of the larger state troop regiment for all of Monmouth County. The captain of record would be John Walton, based in far-off Freehold Township. Huddy, through previously a captain, was now commissioned a Lieutenant reporting to Walton. Recruiting was slow—the regiment raised only 11 enlisted men in January—42 more men in February and 13 more men in March. Half the men were from Freehold Township—the home of Holmes and Walton. A third of the recruits were 21 years old or younger. It appears that Huddy arrived at Toms River with his guard sometime in February. A February 28 troop return provides information on the State Troops guarding Toms River. Nine of Huddy’s men enlisted in January, ten more enlisted in February. One man, William Case, had a term to begin on March 1. The guard was five men short of its full complement. The term of enlistment for all of the men ran through December 15. Problems with Huddy’s Company The State Troops were short on supplies, prompting Walton to complain to Azariah Dunham, the commissary officer for New Jersey, on March 10. Walton wrote that his men and militia responding to alarms (including a February raid against Pleasant Valley) "have some time past been without the rations due them.” Walton continued: There will be a great need of your Honor or some other Gentlemen to come down [to Monmouth to purchase provisions], whom you should appoint to fix someone to contract for us, as Mr. [John] Lloyd has been contracting for some time past without any orders from you, and says he has no money in hand. Dunham arrived at Freehold on March 19 and sought to hire John Covenhoven or Thomas Henderson as the new county contractor to replace Lloyd. Dunham acknowledged the low wages paid to the contractor but appealed to Covenhoven and Henderson’s sense of patriotism as the “militia and troops are now destitute." Covenhoven and Henderson acknowledged “our peculiar and dangerous situation,” but declined to serve as the county’s contractor for supplying the troops. They concluded: We would therefore request that you contract with some person of reputation in the county (if you can) to supply the troops and militia on the best terms that you can until the meeting of the legislature in order to save the county from ruin by the incursions of the enemy. In March 1782, Huddy’s guard at Toms River was undersized and lacking provisions. The men had only been together for a few weeks and their training and discipline was likely minimal. The State Troops had constructed a small fort (called “the block house”) to defend Toms River, but the emplacements for small artillery were empty. They were led by a brave but rash officer who was despised by the enemy. Huddy was so notorious to the enemy that his presence at Toms River might have drawn the attention of vengeful Loyalist leaders with the ability to direct raids. On March 24, a 100-man party of Associated Loyalists attacked Toms River . They likely outnumbered the State Troops and local militia by two-to-one. The Loyalists were also guided by William Dillon, a local boatman with a long list of grievances against the residents of Toms River. The Loyalists overwhelmed the State Troops, captured Huddy and many of his men, and razed the village. The attack on Toms River is the subject of another article, as is the terrible fate that befell Huddy after his capture. Related Historic Site : Joshua Huddy Park Sources : Monmouth County Petition, December 10, 1781, Library of Congress, MMC - Monmouth, NJ - Oversize, cabinet 2, drawer 7; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #3852, 3856A; Certificate, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #5915; State Troop Return, National Archives, Collection 881, R 644; Joshua Huddy’s bond, Monmouth County Court of Common Pleas, Catalog of the Exhibition: Joshua Huddy and the American Revolution, Monmouth County Library Headquarters, October 2004John Walton to Azariah Dunham, Monmouth County Historical Association, Haskell Collection, box 1, folder 8; Azariah Dunham to Thomas Henderson and John Covenhoven, Monmouth County Historical Association, Haskell Collection, box 1, folder 8; Thomas Henderson and John Covenhoven to Azariah Dunham, in National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Henderson of of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#23877643 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 Retaliators Outlast the War by Michael Adelberg The New Jersey Legislature met in different places during the Revolution, including Nassau Hall. In September 1782, the legislature censured Judge David Forman but did not remove him from office. - September 1782 - Founded in the summer of 1780, the Association for Retaliation , was established to exact eye-for-an-eye revenge against Loyalist enemies of the Monmouth County Whigs who joined the association. Over the next two years, the Retaliators would become an active vigilante society denounced by the New Jersey Legislature as: An illegal and dangerous combination, utterly subversive to the law, highly dangerous to the government, immediately tending to create disunion among the inhabitants, directly leading toward anarchy and confusion, and tending to the dissolution of the constitution. However, while the legislature clearly stated its distaste for the Retaliators, it stopped short of forcing a confrontation with the group by declaring it illegal. The Retaliators in 1782 The Retaliators entered 1782 unbowed. Their original chairman and most strident leader, David Forman, was now a judge of the Monmouth County Court of Common Pleas . He stepped down as Chairman of the Retaliators but, according to a subsequent deposition, Forman handpicked his successors at a February meeting of the Retaliators held at the county courthouse: Genl. Forman rose and address’d the people and said he had gone through a great many hardships and dangers, but now he would go through no more; and all that was said to the people was said by Forman whilst he was by, and received over a list of persons in nomination for Retaliators that Judge Forman recommended to the people to choose sd. Committee. The new Chairman, Kenneth Hankinson, had co-invested with Forman on a salt works at Barnegat that became the center of scandal. Hankinson was also at the center of scandalous Loyalist estate auctions in 1779. In January 1782, Hankinson advertised a public meeting of the Retaliators to occur at the county court house on February 16, 1782 to select a new committee to lead the group: Every associator is expected to attend without fail, as the Committee wishes to know the Associators; Should any of the inhabitants who are not yet associators choose to join, we wish their attendance to sign the Association, and have their names accepted. The outrage in Monmouth County following the April 12 hanging of Joshua Huddy by Loyalists likely spiked a wave of vigilante activity from the Retaliators. This led a series of complaints about them to the New Jersey Legislature. On May 25, the New Jersey Assembly recorded reading “several petitions from sd County setting forth the destruction and ravages committed on the property of persons there, by a set of men who call themselves Retaliators, with several papers respecting the same." The Assembly was unmoved, voting 23-8 on May 31 to send the anti-Retaliator petitioners to the courts for redress. There is no record of Retaliator activity through the spring and summer of 1782. Throughout their existence, they were secretive about their acts. But they remained active. The New Jersey Legislature Considers David Forman and the Retaliators Again On September 12, Guy Carleton, the British Commander in Chief in America, wrote George Washington about continued “cruelties in the Jersies.” This was likely a reference to the acts of Retaliators. Carleton wrote about a “suspension of hostilities” that he thought “sufficient to have prevented those cruelties in the Jersies which I have had occasion to mention more than once.” He had drydocked Loyalist raiders and he called on Washington for a “mutual agreement” to restrain extralegal violence. Carleton called for a truce: “I disapprove of all hostilities, both by land and sea, as they only tend to multiply the miseries of individuals, when the public can reap no advantage by success." The same month, the New Jersey Legislature received another set of petitions complaining of the Retaliators. The upper house of the legislature, the Legislative Council, recorded on September 23, receiving a petition from Monmouth County residents "setting forth that they have been very much injured by order of a body of men who style themselves Associators for Retaliation." It does not appear that the Council acted on the petition. Two days later, the Assembly recorded reading "sundry petitions from a number of inhabitants of the County of Monmouth, complaining of the conduct of David Forman, first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the County of Monmouth, accompanied by an affidavit and two impressment warrants , and praying a hearing." One of these anti-Forman, anti-Retaliator petitions has survived. It is excerpted below: Your petitioners are peaceable inhabitants of this state, who have always contributed their proportion to the support of government, and are, at all times amenable to the laws. that your petitioners have been in a wanton & cruel manner, spoiled of their property by order of a body of men, who title themselves "the association for retaliation" - our doors have been forced open, our houses rifled of our beds & other furniture - our stock drove away, and our teams totally broke up. - we have been deprived of the means of tilling our land - and many of us, who lived in a degree of affluence, now find it difficult to procure sustenance for our families. The petitioners claimed the Retaliators corrupted “good government” and deprived them of legal due process: We have no form of tryal - if any crimes are laid to our charge, we have no chance of defending ourselves, nor any account of how our property, thus torn away, is disposed of. Tho’ diverse of us have been imprisoned, and one [John Taylor] for months, confined in the common gaol, in the course of which time a court of Oyer & Terminer was sitting over his head. Writs of habeas corpus have been disregarded by the Sheriff. In short, every attempt for relief by course of law has been of no effect, owing, as we firmly believe, to the prevailing influence of said association. that the first judge of the court of common pleas, David Forman, esq., has been at the head of the said association. The petitions were referred to the next session. The Assembly reconvened and considered Forman and the Retaliators again on October 29. It re-read "the petitions from Monmouth, complaining of the conduct of David Forman, Esq., of said county, in his official character… ordered, that the petitioners be heard with their evidences before the House." The hearings were held November 18-20: That Forman, first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas has been at the head of the Association for Retaliation, Chairman of their committee, and has signed orders whereby some of the petitioners have been plundered of their property and their person imprisoned; that he still continues as an aider and encourager of the said Associators; and also that he has in several instances granted impress warrants contrary to law. The transcript of Forman’s hearing before the Assembly has survived. Eighteen Monmouth Countians testified. Deponents focused on two allegations against Forman: 1.) That he was “partial” in his role of settling the accounts of a wealthy farmer, Joshua Anderson, whose horse Forman ordered taken; 2.) That Forman, while judge, acted with the Retaliators to extra-legally seize and sell the horses of disaffected county residents, with particular impunity shown toward William Taylor. Four other men who lost horses testified. Hugh Newell recalled appealing to Forman who told him that if he “would come and pay the money he gave for the mare, he should have it.” Taylor lost three horses, he testified that: He applied to said Forman for the creatures & said he would give security for the money, but said Forman said the creatures should not go out of the yard without the creatures being paid for. He [Taylor] said all he wanted was a fair hearing. William Morton testified that Forman accused him of being among “a parcel of traders and wished they were hanging so high that the birds could not smell them.” Morton was permitted to take back his livestock by “giving a bond of fifty five pounds for them” but Forman “blamed the Committee” for its leniency. A fourth man, Garrett Schenck, from a solid Whig family, testified that “Forman ordered a horse pressed” from him, but the horse was returned. Others testified that Forman was active in selling the seized horses at a public auction in Freehold. However, several witnesses testified that Forman was a strong patriot and William Taylor, in particular, was of “bad character.” James Mott, who had been assaulted by Forman at the 1780 county election and was an opponent of the Retaliators, declined to testify against Forman. Mott stated that “he knows nothing against Judge Forman” and called Taylor “a disaffected person ” (which was true). Other witnesses stated that Forman, whatever his outside conduct, had never “withheld justice” or “done injustice” while serving on the bench. The unnamed compiler of the hearing transcript concluded that “I have heard no evidence to convince me that things are sufficient to ground an impeachment.” On November 21, the Assembly concluded: "having taken into consideration the testimony so offered to support the several charges contained in the affidavits and petitions of Joshua Anderson against David Forman" votes were taken regarding Forman and his conduct: 1. Affirming Anderson's petition and the charges against Forman – vote passed "nem. con." (without dissent); 2. On whether to censure Forman for "diverse orders whereby sundry persons have been plundered of their property, and their persons imprisoned, and he still continues an aider and encourager of said Retaliators" -- vote passed 16-13 despite all three Monmouth delegates (Thomas Henderson, Thomas Seabrook, John Covenhoven voting against the censure); 3. On whether to impeach Forman and remove him from the Bench – vote fails 12-17 (all three Monmouth delegates voting against the impeachment). One source claims that an initial vote to impeach and remove Forman passed by a 18-15 but this vote was reversed after Governor William Livingston and some members of the Council came into the Assembly to argue in favor of Forman. At the end of 1782, David Forman had narrowly survived an impeachment hearing and the Retaliators, with whom he was allied, remained intact. The Retaliators’ chairman, Kenneth Hankinson, felt secure enough to advertise the selection of their new board of directors in the New Jersey Gazette , the state’s official newspaper, twice in March 1783: Whereas the time of the Committee of Associators for Retaliation of the County of Monmouth expires, and it being necessary for a new Board to be chosen as there remains some business unsettled: The Associators are requested to meet at the Court House on March 15 to determine on said business and to be prepared for future depredations. Warfare Ends, But the Retaliators Continue By summer 1783, warfare in Monmouth County was finally over. John Bacon, the last active Pine Robber leader, was dead and the other Pine Robbers were scattered. Loyalist refugees, who raided the county with impunity, were disarmed and leaving for Canada . In July 1783, Monmouth County was at peace for the first time in seven years. Forman and the Retaliators, however, remained hostile. On July 11, 1783, Lieutenant John White of the sloop-of-war Vixen , the British guardship at Sandy Hook, took the unusual step of writing directly to David Forman: Yesterday morning, at eleven o'clock, I sent three men in a small boat for a cask of water, near the watering place, near Mr. Stout's at the Highlands; on their arrival they were made prisoners by a party of armed men, one of the men has been liberated and is since on board, who informs me that he has been beat most unmercifully, indeed his bruises are sufficiently conspicuous; what has become of the other two I cannot learn, I have therefore taken the liberty of acquainting you with the matter. White then flattered and threatened Forman concurrently: I am confident you would never give sanction to such an affair, and in the fullest hope that you will take the proper methods to bring the offenders to punishment, and to prevent the retaliating that might be the consequence of such unwarrantable proceedings. Meanwhile, animosities within the county’s Whig leadership continued. Asher Holmes, a political rival of Forman and Hankinson, had invested with them in a salt works on the Jersey shore early in the war. Now, he and Hankinson argued over a business relationship gone bad. Holmes heatedly wrote: I have never had title or anything to show for my share of the salt works built on the plantation formerly of [Trevor] Newland, nor could obtain salt sufficient to salt my porage, except what I paid a dear rate for, and you and company have had the total use of said works. I now demand interest of my money, or rent for a share, with a proper acct of how my money was laid out; if not, pay me my money with interest due thereon, as I have undoubted right. We do not know exactly when the extralegal violence and scandals of the Retaliators finally ceased. As discussed in another article, isolated instances of violence against Loyalists and disaffected continued into the post-war period. So did the animosities between Machiavellian and Due Process Whigs. These activities would go on at least into fall 1785 when violence and voter intimidation again rocked the county’s annual election (as it had in 1777 , 1780 , and 1781 ). Related Historic Site : Nassau Hall Sources : Guy Carleton to George Washington, G. Robinson, The New Annual Register, or General Repository of History, Politics and Literature, London, 1782, p160-1; Journals of the Legislative Council of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: State of New Jersey, 1782) p29; Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 25, 1782; The petition complaining about David Forman is in Leonard Lundin, Cockpit of the Revolution the War for Independence in New Jersey (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950) p 292; Petition, New Jersey State Archives, Collective Series, Revolutionary War documents, #32; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 29, 1782, p 13; Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, November 19 and 21, 1782; New Jersey Assembly Hearing Transcript, Rutgers University Special Collections, Uncataloged Manuscript, David Forman; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; New Jersey Gazette, March 12, 1783; New Jersey Gazette, April 16, 1783; John White to David Forman, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #8405; Asher Holmes to Kenneth Hankinson, John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, 4 vols, Genealogical Publishing Co, 1970, v3, p341. 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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 > Burying the Dead and Recovering the Wounded after the Battle of Monmouth by Michael Adelberg The Battle of Monmouth raged around the Tennent Church in Manalapan. The church became an impromptu hospital as wounded were brought there throughout and after the battle. - June 1778 - When the British Army withdrew from Freehold and headed for Middletown following the Battle of Monmouth, the Continental Army was left in possession of the battlefield. By European military tradition, possession of the battlefield gave the Continental Army the honor of claiming victory. With this honor came responsibility for considering the damages of the battle and cleaning up a battlefield strewn with the bodies of hundreds of dead and dying men. Burying the Dead George Washington called upon Lt. Colonel Cornelius Van Dyke to coordinate the grim task of locating and burying the dead. Early on June 29, the Army’s general orders included this notice: "a party of 200 men to parade immediately & bury the slain of both armies." Van Dyke divided the men into thirteen burial parties. After two days of burial duty, he compiled "A Report of the British and American Troops Fallen in the Action near Monmouth & Buried Under Care of Coll. Van Dyke and Different Officers.” The report indicated his parties buried 190 British and 29 Continental bodies; 27 more British were buried "by different inhabitants." Van Dyke noted that additional British soldiers were buried by the enemy before it left Freehold and were not included in his tally. According to the British “Inventory of Losses by the British Army” compiled immediately after the battle, that was another 60 men. Combined, these sources suggest that 304 men were buried on the battlefield. This does not include men who died elsewhere during the Monmouth campaign, or wounded who died shortly after the battle. Other Continental accounts offer similar, but not the same number, as Van Dyke’s 304 buried bodies. Continental Army Officer, Persefor Frazer, wrote that "258 have been buried by a party sent from our Army for that purpose.” Frazer also noted that “a great number were buried by” the British before they left Freehold “and numbers more have been interred by the Country people." Continental Army Officer James Chambers wrote on June 30 that the previous day "our fatigue parties were collecting the dead in piles and burying them." Chambers wrote that the parties buried 200 British and 30 Americans. A few days after the battle, Gen. Joseph Cilley wrote that “left on the field, about three hundred of the enemy's dead, with several officers.” George Washington’s Secretary, James McHenry, wrote on June 30: “As we remained masters of the ground, of course the burying of the dead became our duty, the returns of the parties employed for that purpose amount to 233 killed.” All but 52 of the bodies were from the British Army. In addition to the battlefield dead, McHenry said that 30-40 British soldiers died from skirmishing during the Monmouth Campaign and 100 more British died from heat stroke during the march. Washington, in his report to Congress about the battle, avoided providing a precise figure: “By accounts from Monmouth more of the Enemy's dead have been found. It is said the number buried by us and the Inhabitants exceeds three Hundred." Two accounts suggest a much larger body count. Dr. Samuel Adams of the New Jersey Line suggested that 300 British fell during the battle and 200 more Continentals. John Chittendon of Connecticut claimed that he "he helped berry [sic] 500 dead bodies." It is possible that Adams and Chittendon offered higher figures because they included the apparently large number of bodies found after Van Dyke’s burial parties quit the field. Sgt. Enos Barnes wrote of being sent to gather up the dead on June 29: "Our next business was to gather the dead together in order to bury them, which we did, going about in wagons, loading them up, bringing them together and burying about twelve or fourteen a hole." Captain John Nice, wrote about finding dead bodies "on the field and strewn through the woods; more was found afterwards by the country people when they began to smell." Dr. William Read wrote about dead soldiers left in a bog, “mired to the waist and probably shot." The “country people” of Freehold Township spent several days burying the dead. Richard Kidder Meade, a Continental officer, wrote from the Continental camp Englishtown on June 29 that "many of their dead have been buried by the country people, and other bodies since found." General Anthony Wayne wrote that while Continental burial parties “remained on the ground for two or three days after the action to bury the dead” the country people “discovered more bodies every day in the woods." And, as noted above, Persefor Frazer noted that many additional dead “interred by the Country people.” Recovering and Caring for the Wounded The British left, according to General James Pattison, 45 wounded men when they retreated from Freehold . They did so, because "we were under necessity of leaving a great part of our wounded officers and men behind, for want of a sufficiency of wagons to bring them off." David Griffith of Virginia offered a slightly more detailed account on the British wounded left behind. They [the British Army] retreated in a great hurry in the night, leaving behind them at Monmouth Court House, four Captains & forty-nine Privates and Sergeants, with a surgeon to take care of them. These were all too badly wounded to be moved. They left behind all the officers & prisoners they had taken in their march, which consisted chiefly of militia & people they had taken from their houses. James McHenry noted that other British wounded were recovered beyond those left at the Court House. McHenry wrote, "they left at Monmouth Court House 45 of their own, we found several others in the field… near some little brooks, we found a dozen of their soldiers.” The French officer Chevalier de Pontigibaud left Englishtown for Freehold and saw several corpses from heatstroke: "We found many soldiers dead without having received a wound.” On reaching Freehold, he wrote: “The enemy had left some of his baggage behind and his wounded; they were to be found in every house and in the [St. Peter’s] church." Dr. William Read wrote vividly about finding wounded on the field. Read came upon a British officer in his final minutes: Saw an officer lying a few yards from the morass, nearly cut in two by cannon shot; he was alive and spoke, implored Dr Read to lift him to a tree which stood near, alleging he had been all night trying to do so 'so that he might die easy'. The clotted blood was piled up several inches on his front and it had ceased to flow... they placed him against a tree, the blood now began to flow precipitately and in all probability terminated his life. He came upon another British soldier calling for water and "uttering the most dreadful and severe imprecations of the rebels.” He brought water to this man and others. While helping the wounded, "some country people and Negroes coming to the field of carnage, Dr. Read enlisted their feelings, and hired them to assist in turning these wounded men, and at length in procuring wagons and straw to remove them to the Court House.” The wounded were generally taken to two improvised hospitals at the Tennent Church in Manalapan and the county courthouse in Freehold. Captain John Shreve wrote about the activity at the Tennent Church on June 29: I halted at the Presbyterian Meeting House & barn, both filled with wounded men of the American and the English; the surgeons of both armies (the enemy had left several), after having been twenty-four hours dressing the wounded, had not got through. Dr. Read, as noted above, spent June 29 bringing 21 men from the battlefield to the county courthouse. He tended to the wounded, "aided by lint and bandages" supplied by locals. "Dr Read continued to dwell in the Court House, sleeping in the Judge's bench" and serving the wounded "at his own expense." Read continued to tend to the wounded at the courthouse until July 4 when he was relieved by two surgeons from New York. Continental doctors stayed at Freehold into August. Dr. Samuel Adams of Continental Army worried that in the summer heat, the wounded were in "no very agreeable situation, the ground being rather low, and the air confined by surrounding woods, which makes fever and ague flourish here." It is unknown exactly how many men successfully convalesced and how many died in Freehold in the summer of 1778, but at least two men died. Matthew Roads, a musician in the New Jersey Line, died at Englishtown shortly after the Battle of Monmouth (having fallen from heatstroke). Private John Sayre of the Essex County Militia, wounded in battle, fell into a coma on the 29th and died ten days later. Others recovered. Moses Etsey of Middlesex County recalled having a “wound that bled very freely, but not dangerously.” He received encouraging words from George Washington: Whilst bleeding, General Washington rode up to him, inquired very kindly by the nature & entry of his wound, directing that he should be carried to a place where his wound could be dressed, enjoining him to be very careful of infection until his recovery. Joseph Kelly of Middletown (serving in the Pennsylvania Line) recalled being wounded in the battle: He [I] was wounded while at the cannon, two bullets or ounce balls entered into the sides of the calf of his leg and the big toe on the left foot, tore off, the balls were taken out afterwards, but a buckshot he received in his right knee is still in the joint of the knee, which has never been entreated. This deponent, after being wounded, was taken to a house near the battleground, where his wounds were dressed, he was then carried to the meeting house where the wounded was taken, and staid [sic] there until he was able to join the army. Cannot remember the date he returned to the army. Joel Bower of New York was also wounded that day. He spent the night on the battlefield before being rescued: "The next day we were conveyed a few miles to a barn which was used as a kind of temporary hospital. From this place, we were sent to Morristown." Following the battle, different parties carried the wounded to hospitals in Princeton, Hightstown, and Morristown. June 29 Army orders noted that “A sergeant & 12 men from Genl. Maxwell's Brigade to guard the sick to Princeton." A party of Monmouth militia was sent “"to Hightstown with four wounded men, who were to be conveyed to the hospital." Mark Lender and Garry Stone, in their exhaustive study of the Battle of Monmouth, noted that most of the wounded were transported to permanent hospitals in Princeton and Morristown, but the men who were too wounded to move stayed in Monmouth County, where they were cared for in private homes. The British Army assisted by sending two surgeons to Englishtown on June 30 and two more surgeons, along with a wagon of medical supplies, a few days later. Indeed, General Henry Clinton "thanked Gen Washington by flag for his humane and generous treatment of the wounded and for the honors of war paid Col. [Henry] Monckton and other officers who were killed and left on the field of action." A letter published in the London Gazette also praised the Continental Army’s treatment of wounded British soldiers: We have accounts from Freehold that the four wounded officers of the Royal Army left with the soldiery, the flag, the surgeons, are as well as can be expected and are treated in a manner that does much honor to the American gentlemen whose protection and care they are under. The humanity shown to British soldiers in July would not be reciprocated the next time British and Continental troops clashed near Monmouth County. In a nighttime attack in October, British and Loyalist regulars would slaughter dozens of Continentals camped on Osborn Island at the southern tip of present-day Ocean County. That is the subject of a different article. Related Historic Site : Old Tennent Church Sources : 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. 239-41; Jedidiah Huntington’s Orderly Book, New York Historical Society, Orderly Books Collection, reel 5, #60-61; Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States. (New York: University Publishing Co., 1869), p 113; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p 508; British Army Return, Monmouth County Historical Association, Collections Alphabetical, Revolution folder 1; Persifor Fraser, General Persifor Fraser (1907), pp. 182-3; Joseph Cilley’s letter in Elliott Cogswell, History of Nottingham, Deerfield and Northwood (Manchester: John Clarke, 1878) p 181; George Washington to Congress, July 7, 1778, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw120194)) ; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of John Chittendon of CT, National Archives, p5; Sgt. Enoch Barnes Diary, Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Battle of Monmouth files: folder - James Kochan; Albert Venderveer’s account in Three Generations from the Battle of Monmouth, Journal of the NY State Historical Association, vol. 9, n 3, July 1928, p 279-84; Report of Troops Fallen at Monmouth, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, roll 50, transcribed by Garry Wheeler Stone; John Thompson, Revolutionary Letters, The Southern Literary Messenger, vol. 28, April 1859, p 298; Robert Douglas, The Chevalier de Pontgibaud, a French Volunteer of the War of Independence (New York: Leopold Classic Library, 2015) p 56; Garrard, L. H., Chambersburg in the Colony and in the Revolution (Philadelphia, 1856) pp. 51-2; William Read’s account in John Rees, 'What is this You have been about Today?': The New Jersey Brigade at the Battle of Monmouth, www.revwar75/library/rees/monmouth/Monmouth.htm, p 32-3; Frederic Kidder, History of the First New Hampshire Regiment in the War of the Revolution (Albany, NY: Joel Munsell, 1868) pp. 42-3; The Battle of Monmouth, as Described by Dr. James McHenry, Secretary to Gen. Washington, with notes by Thomas H. Montgomery, Magazine of American History, June 1879, pp. 355-60; Copy: Letter of Capt. John Shreve, David Library, Battle of Monmouth Collection, #5; Robert Morris to Mr. Cooper, Monmouth County Historical Association, J. Amory Haskell Collection, folder "Battle of Monmouth"; Anthony Wayne, The Life and Services of Gen. Anthony Wayne (Philadelphia, 1845), p. 64; David Griffith to Hannah Griffith, Monmouth County Historical Association, J. Amory Haskell Collection, folder "Battle of Monmouth"; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p199; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Kelley of PA, www.fold3.com/image/# 26180227; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joel Bower of New York, www.fold3.com/image/#11092848 ; Orderly Book of the 8th Massachusetts Regt., Book 2, June-August 1778, Huntington Library, HM 719; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Samuel Burke; Samuel Adams to Sally Adams, letter, July 2, 1778; NYHS, Gilder-Lehrman Collection; Samuel Adams to Sally Adams, letter, David Library of the American Revolution, Sol Feinstone Collection, reel 1, #28-30; Return of Dead Bodies, Correspondence File: letter from The Friends of the Monmouth Battlefield; "Notes on the Battle of Monmouth" (orginally published in the London Gazette, September 17, 1778), reprinted in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 14, 1890, pp. 46-47. 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 > David Forman and the Continental Army Red Coats by Michael Adelberg Re-enactors in the blue-coated uniforms of the 3rd New Jersey Continental Regiment. David Forman’s Monmouth County regiment, in contrast, wore red coats taken from the British. - April 1777 - The Continental Army was faced with many problems, particularly early in the war. Among them was the inability to provide uniforms to its troops. When David Forman started raising his Additional Regiment of the Continental Army in January 1777, there were no uniforms available. George Washington was aware that Forman’s men needed uniforms. On April 17, he wrote James Mease, the Army’s Clothier General, about “a sufficient quantity [of uniforms] for Colo. Forman's Regiment of which they are in immediate want.” But the uniforms that were available were thick wool and ill-suited for the spring. Washington “directed the Colo. to have the heavy woolen linings taken out of the Coats… as they will be too warm for summer.” What is most interesting about these uniforms is that they were red; they had been taken from the British Army. David Forman’s regiment would be unformed as British soldiers. This concerned George Washington, who instructed his aide, George Johnston, to write Forman on May 9: "His Excellency conceives of the disadvantages and dangers that must attend our troops being clothed in scarlet; desires that you would have those drawn dyed some other color." Forman’s men spent the summer of 1777 in a salt marsh near on the shore building a salt works co-owned by their Colonel. The men grew sick and lacked provisions. Desertions resulted. In July and August 1777, two Pennsylvania newspapers advertised desertions from David Forman's Additional Regiment. One noted the deserter was in a uniform described as "scarlet and buff with pewter buttons." The second newspaper account described the deserter's uniform as "red coat with buff-colored facings, with woolen jacket, buff breeches and wool hat cocked up." A shore resident and militiaman, Samuel Lippincott, recalled meeting Captain John Burrowes of Forman’s regiment "who commanded a company which were termed Red Coats from the color of their outer garments." Forman’s red-coated Continentals participated in the Battle of Germantown , where Colonel Asher Holmes, leading the Monmouth militia, referred to them as “the Red Coats under Gen. Forman.” General Alexander MacDougall of the Continental Army also described that “Forman's Red Coats stood firm and advanced upon the British Red Coats." It is known that the Battle of Germantown was fought in poor visibility (due to fog and smoke from gunpowder filling the air). The Continental Army held firm at first, but broke lines amidst confusion about British positions. There was friendly fire between Continental units. Koert Schenck of Monmouth County recalled that Forman’s men “who all wore red coats and were fired at by some of our troops by mistake.” The origin of these uniforms is briefly discussed by Rachel Henderson, wife of Dr. Thomas Henderson, a friend of Forman’s. In a statement provided in Daniel Applegate’s postwar veteran’s pension, she wrote of Forman’s regiment “in regular uniform red coats, the said red coats having been taken by the Militia of Monmouth County from a British vessel captured in Raritan Bay.” Henderson’s account is corroborated by Abraham Melat’s testimony in his postwar veteran’s pension application: He was with a number of others, marched to Freehold and then put under the command of Col David Forman & company, consisting of about 30 under the command of Capt. John Burrowes, marched to the Monmouth shore to protect it, while there, a British vessel was wrecked, from which he took a large quantity of clothing and all the company, when he returned to headquarters were dressed in clothes we took from the British ship. Finally, Daniel Hygate’s testimony in Thomas Henderson’s pension application further corroborates that Forman’s regiment wore uniforms taken from the British: "said men raised & under drill & in regular uniforms, in red coats, the said red coats having been taken by the militia of Monmouth County from a British vessel captured in Raritan Bay." It is also known that David Forman used his own money to clothe his men. On March 1, 1778, as Forman was losing command of his regiment as a result of a dispute with the New Jersey Legislature , he submitted a £467 bill for clothing them over the course of "18 days of purchasing." The Continental Army’s account books also list $10,000 owed Forman in December 1778 for expenses incurred for equipping and clothing his men. As late as 1781, the New Jersey State Treasurer was carrying a line item for £961 in bounties and clothing expenses owed to Forman for his Additional Regiment. It is unknown whether Forman had to purchase the captured British uniforms for his men or if the uniforms were condemned to him as a prize of war with the captured vessel. Either way, Forman faced additional expenses in clothing his men beyond their uniforms. For example, shoes were an expensive necessity also in short supply. It is a fascinating irony that the regiment of Continentals raised to defend Monmouth County from British attacks wore British uniforms. This serves as a good reminder that the early Continental Army was truly a threadbare operation. Related Historic Site : Cliveden (The Chew House) Sources : Geore Washington to James Mease, John Fitzpatrick, The Writings of George Washington, US Govt Printing Office, Washington DC, 1932, vol 7, 420-2; George Johnson to David Forman, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections Charles Lefferts, Uniforms of American, British, French & German Armies in the Revolution (New York: 1926) p 78; Asher Holmes, Letter Concerning the Battle at Germantown, 1777, Proceedings of the NJHS, vol 7, 1922, p34-5; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Treasury, Auditor's Acct. Books, Book B, Ledger A, reel 181, #35-6; Account List, Clothier General, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I59, Miscellaneous Papers, v 2, p 143; Thomas Henderson (W426), Forman’s Regiment and Monmouth County militia, Supplementary deposition of Daniel Applegate, 21 April 1837, transcribed by John U. Rees; Forman, Samuel S. Narrative of a Journey down the Ohio and Mississippi in 1789-90 (Cincinnati, R. Clarke and Co., 1888) p 9-10. Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p 735; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Samuel Lippincott; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Abraham Melat of Mercer Co, www.fold3.com/image/#23397176 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Henderson of New Jersey, www.fold3.com/image/#23877525 The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, June 1781, p 71-72. 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 > The Privateering of Captain Yelverton Taylor on the Jersey Shore by Michael Adelberg In small, fast ships like the Mars, Yelverton Taylor emerged as the most successful privateer captain to operate along the Monmouth shore during the Revolutionary War. - September 1778 - While the capture of the Venus in August 1778 by privateers David Stevens and Micajah Smith was the first capture of a great British ship along the Jersey shore, Philadelphia’s Yelverton Taylor was the first great privateer captain of the Jersey shore. Taylor operated out of Little Egg Harbor, at the junction of Gloucester, Burlington and Monmouth counties. Historian Donald Shomette described Little Egg Harbor and its inland village of Chestnut Neck at the start of the Revolution. The harbor was shallow, unmarked, and “perforated” with sand bars. The Mullica River which connected the harbor with the village, was thirty feet deep in stretches but twisted by sharp meanders and shifting shoals. Only local pilots could bring a ship upriver without it grounding. Chestnut Neck "could not be a considered a town," consisting of only a dozen dwellings and a tavern. Philadelphia ships used Little Egg Harbor in the winter when the Delaware River froze, and ships began using the port year-round when the British blockaded Delaware Bay and patrolled the Jersey Shore in spring 1776. The increased ship traffic provoked a British attack in June 1777 when a three-ship flotilla entered the Mullica River and took two vessels, and then took three more while departing. This attack led to the construction of a fort at the Fox Burrows of the Mullica River, but the cannon were never put into the fort. They were likely used by a privateer. By summer 1778, Little Egg Harbor was a booming port town. By summer 1778, Little Egg Harbor was the epicenter of Jersey Shore privateering. On July 6, British Admiral James Gambier wrote about these privateers. He called for more “20-gun ships coppered, sloops, cutters, and small vessels” but worried that even with more ships “the rebels can now muster threescore sail from their different ports.” He further worried “we have such a range of coast and… numberless difficulties” protecting British supply lines. In July 1778, with a powerful French fleet forcing the British into a defensive posture, privateering on the Jersey Shore truly blossomed. This is evidenced by establishment of regular admiralty courts to adjudicate the prizes. From Philadelphia, Henry Laurens, President of the Continental Congress, observed the rise of privateering at Little Egg Harbor. He wrote on July 22: “I am told no less than 12 Prizes lately taken are advertised for sale on Tuesday next at Egg Harbour.” It was from this boomtown that Yelverton Taylor emerged. His success is demonstrated by the upward progression of ships that he captained out of Little Egg Harbor. With his successes, he gained prize money necessary to put to sea in ever larger ships. By 1779, he was attacking vessels that he would have evaded in his first vessel. First Known Date / Taylor’s Vessel / Number of Guns / Crew Size June 27, 1778 Comet # of guns: 4 Crew: 25 September 30, 1778 Mars # of guns: 8 Crew : 35 July 29, 1779 Mars # of guns: 14 Crew: 60 Note: Taylor captained two different vessels named Mars . It is likely that Taylor first put to sea as a privateer captain on June 27, 1778, just days after British naval vessels completed their evacuation of Philadelphia. He would have waited for the British fleet to clear the Delaware Bay (June 30) and sail for Sandy Hook before putting himself into the sea lane along the Monmouth shore in search of smaller and unescorted vessels bound for New York. Early Captures On July 27, the New Jersey Gazette reported Taylor’s first captures, each of which was deposited at Little Egg Harbor (called Egg Harbor at the time). His first two prizes were the schooner Carolina Packet (under Capt. Walter Belts) with cargo of 16,000 bushels of salt and the sloop Lucy (Capt. Thomas Grandle) with cargo of rice and indigo. While these were small ships, they were fully loaded with goods in great demand. The vessels were sold at auction at Egg Harbor on September 11. Taylor’s next two documented prizes are recorded in the Maryland Journal , on September 8: "The privateer sloop Comet , Capt. Taylor of Egg Harbour, has brought into a safe port, a brig from Jamaica bound for New York, laden with rum, sugar, coffee and molasses--also a schooner from France, retaken with dry goods." The interest of a Baltimore newspaper in Taylor’s prizes is revealed by a Pennsylvania Evening Post report on September 19 about Taylor’s next prize. The Philadelphia newspaper reported that Taylor had arrived in the city with "the schooner, Smallwood , belonging to Maryland, taken on her passage to Curacao by a British tender, and retaken by Captain Taylor of Egg Harbor." A few days later, the New Jersey Gazette advertised an admiralty court to be held in Allentown on October 10 to hear Taylor’s claims on 1.) the schooner Fame against former Captain Francis Coffin, 2.) the schooner Good Intent against the former Captain Robsy, and 3.) the schooner Caroline [captain unknown].” The Smallwood , brought into Philadelphia, was outside the jurisdiction of New Jersey’s admiralty court. The Fame was not condemned to Taylor by the New Jersey admiralty court. An October 20 note in the papers of the Continental Congress infers that an out-of-state counter-claimant emerged. A second note about Fame from February 26, 1779, suggests that the rightful owner of Fame was still being determined six months after Taylor took it. A decision on a second vessel was also held up. In 1780, the New Jersey admiralty court retried another one of Taylor’s early captures. The delays in gaining access to his prizes may have prompted Taylor to bring other prizes into less regulated ports than Egg Harbor and Philadelphia (where port marshals impounded the vessel until a court condemned the prize to the capturing captain). There is no record of Taylor bringing another prize into either port for the next nine months. Later Captures Legal frustrations aside, Taylor remained active. By summer 1779, he was sailing in a larger ship and set his sights on bigger prizes. Joseph Reed of Philadelphia wrote of one such prize on August 18: Capt. Taylor in a privateer from this port on Thursday last took the Falmouth Packet bound to New York & was fortunate to secure the mail, not being able to bring in the vessel as the wind was contrary & he was chased by a frigate, he abandoned the prize, bringing off the mail & all the prisoners, which was landed at Egg Harbor. The New Jersey Gazette , reported that Taylor, in the schooner Mars , was "off Sandy Hook, fell in with a snow mounting 14 carriage guns, which he boarded and took.” The report continued: She proved to be a packet from Falmouth for New York. Captain Taylor took the mail and the prisoners, 45 in number, and stood for Egg Harbor; but on Saturday morning last, he fell in with a fleet of 23 sail, under convoy of a frigate, when the frigate gave chase & re-took her. Additional details were reported in the Morristown-based New Jersey Journal . The snow was the British vessel, Dashound , carrying the mail from New York to London. Nearing capture, the crew threw the mail into the sea, but it was recovered by Taylor’s men. A later article on the incident published in the Loyalist New York Gazette claimed the mail was "irrefutably sunk." This report is likely incorrect. Antiquarian sources complete the narrative. The Mars and Dashound fought a brutal hour-long battle (45 minutes in original accounts). The Dashound lost the battle when it grounded off the Monmouth shore during the fight. Once grounded, oar-powered gunboats from Toms River joined the fight. The Dashound surrendered when its masts were shot down. The gunboats ferried prisoners to Toms River and the Mars started towing the Dashound for Egg Harbor. However, Taylor had to cut the prize loose when the British frigate, Perseus , came after him. Taylor brought the British mail into Egg Harbor—a giant intelligence win for the Continental cause. Perseus towed the beaten Dashound back to Sandy Hook. A week later, Taylor was again at sea. He took a sloop named Active on September 1, but there is no record of this vessel being condemned in admiralty court so he likely did not bring it into Egg Harbor. He probably brought it to Philadelphia. At month’s end, Taylor was cruising along the Monmouth shore when he came upon his most spectacular opportunity. On September 14, the transport vessel, Triton , filled with troops, left Sandy Hook for the Carolinas as part of a convoy. Triton then separated from the convoy during a storm. The wounded vessel moved slowly off the Monmouth shore. The next day, according to a German Officer on board, “the wind was good, we therefore made our course northeast to get clear of the land and, if possible, out of the sight of the privateers cruising around there.” However, the transport was unable to get into deep water quickly. The officer recorded what happened at dawn on September 26 they spotted two privateers. It was a “sad and unhappy day.” The transport surrendered without a fight because “we were in such miserable condition that we could not escape nor make evasive procedures away from another ship. The wounded transport was larger than the two privateers, but had to surrender without a fight. Predictably, towing the bigger vessel was difficult; one of the privateers (Taylor in the Mars ) grounded and overset in the surf outside Egg Harbor. After a few days at the mouth of the harbor, the prisoners were rowed upriver to the privateer village of Chestnut Neck. They then walked under guard to Philadelphia, where they arrived ten days later. Another article discusses the capture of the Triton in greater detail. There is no record of Taylor remaining an active privateer after the capture of the Triton , though the Mars remained an active vessel under a Captain Geddes. Taylor likely had the wealth to retire. Having captured a British military mail packet and hundreds of soldiers, he knew he would be killed if ever taken by the British. Privateering was risky and he was now notorious. Before the war, Taylor worked as a pilot guiding ships between Cape May and Philadelphia—perhaps he retired to one of these places. Other privateer captains, mostly New Englanders , filled the void left by his retirement. Related Historic Site : New Jersey Maritime Museum Sources : Charles H. Lincoln, Naval Records of the American Revolution, 1775–1788 (Washington, D.C., 1906), pp. 254, 386; Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Hessian, Waldeck and British Prisoner Records, 1776-9, "List of Marine Department Prisoners: Officers Taken" and "Captures Made by Pennsylvania State Navy", coll. 875; Donald Shomette, Privateers of the Revolution: War on the New Jersey Coast (Shiffer: Atglen, PA, 2015); James Gambier to Earl of Sandwich, Sandwich Papers, 2: 295–301. Accessed via https://navydocs.org/ ; Henry Laurens, President of the Continental Congress, to Governor Richard Caswell of North Carolina, July 22, 1778, ScHi, Henry Laurens Letter Book. Accessed via https://navydocs.org/ ; Paul Burgess, A Colonial Scrapbook; the Southern New Jersey Coast, 1675-1783 (New York, Carlton Press, 1971) pp 126-7; J.A. McManemin, Captains of Privateers. (Spring Lake, N.J. : Ho-Ho-Kus Pub. Co., 1994), pp. 341-4; Maryland Journal, September 8, 1778; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 2, p 3395-6; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Evening Post; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Library of Congress, Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. 12, p 1024 and vol. 13, p 188; Valentine C. Hubbs, Hessian Journals: Unpublished Documents of the American Revolution (London: Camden House, 1980) pp. 81-3; National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I69, State Papers - PA, v 2, p 137; J.A. McManemin, Captains of Privateers. (Spring Lake, N.J. : Ho-Ho-Kus Pub. Co., 1994), pp. 341-4; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Committee of Appeals Decision, Paul Smith, et al, Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1970) vol. 14, p 377-8; Information on Taylor’s work as a pilot is in: “Revolutionary War Delaware River and Bay Pilots” (https://continentalnavy.com/archives/2018/revolutionary-war-delaware-river-and-bay-pilots/). 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 "Tory Ascendancy" in Shrewsbury and Down the Shore by Michael Adelberg At the Battle of Trenton, the Continental Army routed the Hessians and turned the British Army back toward New York. Monmouth County volunteers joined the Continental Army for the attack. - December 1776 - As discussed in other articles, in late November, 1776, the Continental Army retreated across New Jersey and the British Army entered New Jersey. On November 30, General William Howe, the British Commander in Chief, invited the citizens of New Jersey to sign a loyalty oath and receive British protection from any future rebel harassment. Across New Jersey, but particularly in Monmouth County, disaffected New Jerseyans switched sides. In Monmouth County, Loyalist insurrections sprung up in Upper Freehold, Freehold-Middletown, and from Shrewsbury down the shore. The December 1776 Loyalist insurrection that occurred from Shrewsbury to Toms River was less organized than the insurrections in Freehold-Middletown and Upper Freehold . This may have been more a reflection of the region’s far flung geography than a lack of disaffected residents to power the counter-revolt. Just a few weeks before the December insurrection, Samuel Wright’s Loyalist association from the neighborhoods of Long Branch, Deal and Shark River was exposed and broken up. Wright and twelve of his men were captured. Immediately after, Colonel Charles Read of Burlington County led a short campaign that captured 70 more Loyalists. These events removed more than 80 committed Loyalists just before the start of the general insurrection. But even with these men in prison, there were many disaffected residents in the shore communities ready to support the British. The Insurrection Begins Pro-British rioting occurred immediately after Charles Read’s militia left Shrewsbury Township. On December 1, John Halloway, a Shrewsbury Township yeoman, plundered the home of Garrett Longstreet, an officeholder under the new government. According to the Supreme Court Indictment, Halloway led a gang of ten men who: With force and arms, to wit, sticks, staves, swords, guns and other offensive weapons… assembled and gathered together at the dwelling house of Garrett Longstreet, there situated, unlawfully & riotously did break open & enter a quantity of rum, sugar and cyder belonging to certain persons... in the said dwelling house, did take and carry away. This riot occurred on the eve of the insurrection—an insurrection that would begin with the return of John Morris and his battalion of Loyalists. The prior July, Morris (a former British Army officer who settled near Manasquan in the 1760s) led 68 Shrewsbury Loyalists to Sandy Hook and joined the British Army. They became the 2nd Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers. When the tide of the war shifted and the British Army marched into New Jersey, Morris’s Loyalists entered Shrewsbury, probably on December 3. On that day, Robert Bowne, a Shrewsbury merchant, wrote that the British were “9 or 10 miles this side of Amboy, which has occasioned the Provincials [Morris’s men] to brave the guards along the coast." Bowne also noted that his kinsman, Thomas Bowne, from Queens, New York, was illegally traveling back and forth and transporting goods between Shrewsbury and British-held New York: Thomas has been down here several times this fall... the last he was here was about two weeks ago, when he brought down 1500 [Continental] dollars. Seeing no prospect of laying it out to advantage in these parts, we concluded [it] best for him to go to Virginia and lay out the same. From this letter, it can be inferred that disaffected Shrewsbury farmers were consorting with pro-British New York traders and that Continental dollars were not viewed as valid tender along the largely disaffected shoreline. Corroborating evidence of this is provided in prior articles about New York Loyalists hiding out in Shrewsbury and disaffected residents refusing to muster for the Monmouth militia. Loyalists Take Control A number of militiamen, including William Brinley of Shrewsbury, “laid down their arms” on the arrival of John Morris’s armed Loyalists. This may have forced several Shrewsbury Whigs (supporters of the Revolution) to leave the township in early December. William Davis, a solid Whig from Shrewsbury Township, recalled that he “volunteered under Benjamin Dennis to go to Philadelphia to join General Washington.” But his party of Shrewsbury volunteers did not make it. On the way to Philadelphia, prior to reaching Freehold, Davis “with some others (among whom was Captain John Dillon of Dover) were captured by a scouting party of British Colonel John Morris - He was then marched direct to the City of New York. There he was detained as a prisoner for 22 months.” It is impossible to know whether Davis’s decision to leave Shrewsbury was motivated by patriotism or the need to avoid arrest back home. Other Shrewsbury Whigs did make it to the Continental Army. Thomas Patten, for example, left Shrewsbury for the Continental Army: I entered a company of volunteers who were forming for the purpose of operating with the Army of Washington against the Hessians at Trenton... I was severely wounded by a musket ball near the Assunpink Creek & being removed to Pennington, New Jersey was confined there. One of the first of Morris’s Loyalists to return to Shrewsbury was Thomas Okerson, formerly of Tinton Falls (and a lieutenant in the New Jersey Volunteers). He was sent back into Shrewsbury township to capture an unnamed militia officer (probably Colonel Daniel Hendrickson or Lt. Colonel Aucke Wikoff, both of Tinton Falls). But Okerson was ordered to show restraint when making the capture, "you are on no account to touch his life.” There is no record of Okerson making the capture. An aversion to violence characterized the Shrewsbury insurrection—this aversion would not last the war. John Wardell, the former judge whose disaffection was exposed by David Forman weeks earlier, was appointed Commissioner for administering British oaths in Shrewsbury. His name appeared as one of three commissioners (along with John Taylor and John Lawrence) on an advertisement circulated across the county calling on citizens to “qualify” for British protection. As Wardell began administering oaths, John Morris pushed south toward Toms River in Dover Township. Captain Robert Morris (not related to John Morris) remained in Shrewsbury with a newly-raised company of New Jersey Volunteers. James Corneilius would later testify that Morris was assisted by two disaffected Quakers, Walter Curtis and Peter Brewer: Sometime about the latter end of December last, saw the above Walter Curtis with the enemy & in company with Robert Morris at the town of Shrewsbury, and at the same time that he saw Peter Brewer with sd Morris and his party. John Morris reached Toms River on December 23. Another article discusses his meeting with Thomas Savadge, the Administrator of the Pennsylvania Salt Works , the largest enterprise in the township. Morris chose to spare the salt works and left them in the custody of two local Loyalists. Morris apparently relied on Joseph Salter (the first militia colonel for the area, but now disaffected) to line up residents to take British loyalty oaths. Salter induced many to sign. Daniel Griggs of Toms River later recalled Salter’s approach: About the 27th day of December last, he, sd deponent, did sign a paper of protection of Col John Morris at Toms River, of which sd paper Joseph Salter, of the township of Dover, was the first signer. The sd Mr. Salter was very often at the deponent's house in company with sd Morris & his officers, that on a certain day the sd Salter clapt his hand on the deponent's shoulder & said 'the times are very much altered, as [I] always expected it would be'. Thomas Potter, of Toms River, vividly recalled John Morris’s visit to Toms River and the prominent role played by Joseph Salter in supporting the Loyalists. In an April 1777 deposition, Potter described "being sent for by Colonel Morris & threatened to be sent to the guard house if he did not come.” Potter went to the house of John Cook, the senior militia officer at Toms River, “where he saw Joseph Salter of said county & John Williams with the said colonel John Morris.” Morris showed Potter “a paper with a number of signers & that the first name subscribed thereto was Joseph Salter.” He was told that the “purpose of the said paper was to put us on the same footing we formerly were, under the King.” Potter was compelled to sign and accept British protection when Major John Antill of Morris’s battalion “tendered him an oath of allegiance to the King.” When Potter initially declined, “Morris told him that unless he [Potter] did [take the oath], he [Morris] would strip him of everything, upon which & being also threatened to be sent to the guard house & the said oath being explained to him [Potter] by the said Salter, he at length complied.” Because Potter had accepted British protection, he was told by Salter that he did not need to surrender his gun. The End of the Insurrection But time was running out on the nascent Loyalist association that Potter had just joined. On January 2, 200 newly-mustered Loyalist militia from Upper Freehold, Freehold and Middletown townships were routed in a short battle near Freehold. The British Army, defeated at Trenton and Princeton, pulled back across New Jersey. John Morris took his troops out of Monmouth County and the most strident Loyalists either joined him or went into hiding. The first Pine Robber gangs, covert Loyalists operating in salt marshes along the shore, included Loyalists who fled as the Loyalist insurrections crumbled. Concealing Loyalists was dangerous. Richard Lippincott, a disaffected Shrewsbury resident who had received a loan to start a salt works the prior summer, was accused of aiding a Loyalist-in-hiding; for this, he was jailed in Burlington County. On release, Lippincott fled to British-held New York. By the end of war, he would be the most despised man in Monmouth County for hanging Joshua Huddy . Related Historic Site : Washington Crossing Historic Park Sources : New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, State v John Halloway, # 35895; New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, State vs Samuel Longstreet, #36663 and 36665; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - William Brinley; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, James Cornelius; Robert Bowne to Thomas Bowne, Rutgers University Special Collections, AC 1246; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #3; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, William Davis of Ohio, www.fold3.com/image/#14680717 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Patten of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#27227091 ; Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution, 2 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1864), vol. 2, p 562. Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 165; Deposition of Daniel Griggs, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 4, April 7, 1777; United Empire Loyalists, Loyal Directory, Richard Lippincott: http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info . United Empire Loyalists, Loyal Directory, Richard Lippincott: http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info ; Deposition of Thomas Potter, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 4, April 7, 1777. 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 > David Forman's Attack on Sandy Hook by Michael Adelberg The thick-walled Sandy Hook Lighthouse was attacked at least twice. David Forman broke off his attack against the British guard at the lighthouse when a British warship joined the battle. - March 1777 - For the British, Sandy Hook was a critical asset. By possessing it, the British controlled access between the Atlantic Ocean and New York City—their headquarters in the rebelling colonies. Sandy Hook was also a base from which the British received Loyalist refugees and provisions via illegal trade from New Jersey. As the war progressed, Sandy Hook became the base from which Monmouth County’s Loyalist partisans struck back at their former neighbors. For these same reasons, Sandy Hook was an attractive target for Monmouth County’s Whigs (supporters of the Revolution). In May 1776, Continental troops captured a British party at the freshwater spring at the bottom of Sandy Hook, and in June, a Continental regiment under Colonel Benjamin Tupper attacked the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. But after the 25,000-man British Army arrived in America on June 29, 1776, Sandy Hook became unassailable to the outmanned and outgunned Monmouth militia that stood guard against it. In February 1777, the Monmouth militia opposite Sandy Hook was routed at the Battle of the Navesink ; roughly one hundred militiamen were killed or captured. David Forman’s Attack on Sandy Hook Still, Sandy Hook remained an alluring target for ambitious Americans leaders and, in early 1777, David Forman was that ambitious leader. In the prior year, Forman had commanded a regiment of Flying Camp (short term Continental soldiers) during the disastrous New York campaign, broke up a Loyalist association in late 1776, and raised approximately one hundred fresh Continental recruits for his “Additional Regiment ” in early 1777. The New Jersey government commissioned him a Brigadier General over the Monmouth militia on March 5, 1777. With the ability to attach militia to his Continental regiment and command the combined force, Forman moved quickly against Sandy Hook. Forman’s attack on Sandy Hook is not discussed in surviving British or Continental military papers, but it is documented in two Loyalist newspapers. On March 8, 1777, the New York Journal reported: “It seems an attack was made at the Light House at Sandy Hook yesterday morning by about 250 rebels, horse and foot, but they were repulsed by the garrison, consisting of no more than about 30 men." The New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury provided a little more detail: About 250 of the rebels made an attack upon the Light House at Sandy Hook. By the bravery of the men posted there, and by the cannon of the Siren posted near the spot, they were beat off with some loss. From the many attempts at the Light House, it seems their favorite object. These brief newspaper accounts are complemented by four recollections from Monmouth Countians who noted the attack in their post-war veteran’s pension applications. From these accounts, we learn that the attack was conducted after a heavy snowfall and that the militia was not beaten by the garrison at Sandy Hook (as claimed in the New York Journal ). The attack was broken off when the British warship, Syren (28 guns, 200 men), sailed around Sandy Hook, fired on the attackers, and prepared to land men behind Forman’s party. Forman retreated in order to avoid being cut off and trapped on Sandy Hook. Aaron Reid recalled that "he marched under General Forman with the Monmouth militia to Sandy Hook to take the Light House, but the British defeated them in their object and they were forced, after a little skirmishing, to retreat.” John Reid remembered that “In the early part of the year 1777, there was snow on the ground, he marched with the militia under Col. [Asher] Holmes and General Forman to take the light house on Sandy Hook, then in possession of the British and refugees. They was defeated in that object of their expedition by the British shipping which lay in the bay and they were obliged to retreat or be cut off by the British landing in their rear.” William Hays' recalled, “He went with the militia under General Forman to take the light house... the snow was half a leg deep. They attacked the Light House" but "General Forman said the vessel left her anchoring ground and went around the point of the Hook, and fearing that they might land in his rear and cut them off - he gave them orders to retreat, which they did." William Chambers remembered participating in more than one attack on Sandy Hook: "Several attempts were made to take it, but they were unsuccessful owing to the cannon not being heavy enough." Two of the militiamen reference at least one other attack on Sandy Hook by Forman. But these brief mentions do not provide details on this second action. There are remarkable commonalities between Forman’s March 1777 attack and Benjamin Tupper’s June 1776 attack on Sandy Hook. In both cases: 1.) a large American force marched up Sandy Hook and attacked a smaller British party stationed in the Sandy Hook Light House, 2.) the attacking parties lacked the heavy cannot necessary to damage the light house and seriously threaten the sheltered British, and 3.) the Americans were forced to retreat when a British warship joined the battle. It is curious that Forman repeated Tupper’s miscalculations. Perhaps Forman had little knowledge of Tupper’s attack; Forman was in New York with George Washington’s Army when Tupper attacked Sandy Hook. Tupper’s letters on his attack on Sandy Hook note a lack of cooperation with locals. So, it is possible that Forman had only vague knowledge of Tupper’s failed attack and launched his attack believing his force and position was superior to Tupper’s. While the attacks of Tupper and Forman on Sandy Hook were futile, resourceful Americans would find other ways to menace Sandy Hook later in the war (via raids and privateer ambushes of British shipping). The rebels never expelled the British, but they most certainly harassed them and forced the British into a defensive crouch later in the war. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : 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) pp. 91-3; Paul Leicester Ford, ed., The Journals of Hugh Gaine , Volume I (New York: Dodd, Mead 81 Company, 1902), vol. 2, p 21; Disposition of Vice Admiral Richard Lord Howe's Fleet in North America, January 15, 1777, Great Britain Public Record Office, Admiralty 1/487. Accessed via https://navydocs.org/ ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - William Chambers; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Reid of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 14359840 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Aaron Reid; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - William Hays. 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 First American Raids Against Sandy Hook by Michael Adelberg In 1778, Sandy Hook was cut off from the mainland by a channel called “the Gut.” A British guardship protected the lighthouse at its tip. Captain John Burrowes launched the first raid against it. - December 1778 - By late 1778, Sandy Hook had been occupied by the British navy for two and a half years. During that time, the British fought off at least three land-based attacks (April 1776 , June 1776 , and March 1777 ). They also fortified the Hook and supported Loyalist refugees in establishing a makeshift settlement called Refugeetown . Sandy Hook became the base of operations for Loyalist middlemen, called “London Traders ,” who powered the illegal trade between Monmouth County’s disaffected farmers and the British commissary at the lighthouse. Finally, Sandy Hook was the staging ground for raids, great and small , against the shores and villages of Monmouth County. In 1778, bold privateers such as Yelverton Taylor on the Atlantic shore and William Marriner in the Raritan Bay proved that small American vessels could sting the British and escape without harm if the action was quick. Given this, it was inevitable that local Whigs (supporters of the Revolution) would seek to strike at Sandy Hook. Captain John Burrowes of Middletown Point was the first Revolutionary to surprise attack the Hook. The Service of John Burrowes, Jr. John Burrowes, Jr., was a captain in the Continental Army. His father, John Burrowes, Sr., was the Chair of the Monmouth County Committee immediately prior to independence. Burrowes, Sr., was captured by Loyalist raiders in May 1778. Captain Burrowes led the most active and largest company in David Forman’s Additional Regiment which was created to defend Monmouth County. But Forman was stripped of command and the regiment, including Burrowes, Jr., was pulled out of Monmouth County and merged into the main Continental Army two months prior to his father’s capture. After the Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778), Captain Burrowes was allowed to stay home for long stretches in order to observe and report on British movements in the Raritan Bay and at Sandy Hook. But Captain Burrowes likely wanted revenge on the Sandy Hook-based Loyalists who took his father and razed his village. He was also an active patriot who understood that the weakened British naval presence at Sandy Hook, whittled down to a single guard ship and company of Loyalist soldiers, made the Hook vulnerable to attack. The First Raid Against Sandy Hook On December 18, 1778, Burrowes wrote his commanding general, Lord Stirling (William Alexander) about "a little excursion made on the night of the 15th inst.” He reported that “my cruise was not so favorable as expected,” but it was still quite favorable: In the evening at 7 o'clock, I set out from this place in three small boats which carried eighteen men, proceeded to Spermacity Cove [on the bayside of Sandy Hook], where I found the sloops I had taken view of the day before; the one that appeared the largest I boarded with six men, the other boats I sent men to board the other two [sloops]. The one I boarded was a tender belonging to the Light House, she mounted 8 swivels, 2 musketoons & 2 blunderbusses. I immediately secured the prisoners & got her away, as also the others; but unfortunately run her ashore and found I could do no more with her. I left her after taking out the prisoners and proceeded to secure the others, which I did. I took fourteen prisoners and some plunder. The Pennsylvania Packet reported on the event: "Some Jerseymen went in rowboats to Sandy Hook and took four sloops, one of which was armed. They burned three, took one; also taken, nineteen prisoners. The share of prize money per man was £400." An article in the Pennsylvania Evening Post reported the same event, but with slightly different details: Some row boats about a fort night ago went from Jersey to Sandy Hook where in the night they boarded four sloops, one of which was armed. In carrying them to a place of safety, three of them, by the unskillfulness of the pilots, ran ashore and were burnt. The other, with nineteen prisoners, got safe to New Jersey. In February 1779, a second raid against Sandy Hook succeeded in taking three additional small sloops. On February 10, the New Jersey Gazette reported "that on Monday night, three prizes taken near Sandy Hook were brought into the Raritan River, one of which had a valuable cargo on board." A second brief reported similarly: "three prizes taken near Sandy Hook were brought into Raritan River, one of which had a valuable cargo on board." It is unknown who led this second raid, but the raiders may have included William Marriner or some of his men given that the captured boats were brought into the Raritan River. The vessels taken in both actions, with the exception of the one tender discussed in Burrowes’ letter, were not military vessels. They were likely small sloops owned by Loyalist refugees who were facilitating illegal trading between Monmouth County and the British. Regardless of whether these were military vessels or not, interrupting this illegal trade was a valid military objective. The vessels were subject to seizure and could be condemned in the New Jersey Admiralty Courts as valid prizes. British Weakness at Sandy Hook The British did not beef up the defenses at Sandy Hook as result of these first two raids. In March 1779, the sloop, Hunter , arrived from Halifax and was left at Sandy Hook as the guardship. According to documents in the Papers of the Continental Congress, the Hunter suffered desertions throughout 1779 and was well under its full complement of guns. A June document states: “She has lain there as a guard ship last March when she arrived from Halifax, has only six guns mounted, having thrown four overboard in her passage." This is a remarkable contrast to the 40-gun frigates that guarded the Hook in 1776 and 1777. The weakness of the British defense prompted further insults. On April 10, the Loyalist New York Gazette reported a strange incident that occurred at Sandy Hook on April 2. A Loyalist privateer was sabotaged by a spy named “Smith.” The privateer’s captain discovered "two holes newly bored with an auger and stuffed with fresh cork and some canvas" in the hull of his vessel. The ship nearly sank outside of Sandy Hook, but listed back into sheltered waters where the captain discovered the sabotage on inspection. A party of Monmouth militia also took a Loyalist vessel near Sandy Hook that spring. Wilson Hunt of Upper Freehold recalled in his postwar veterans’ pension application: We spied a sloop of war under sail, it appeared as tho' it would land where we immediately hid ourselves in ambush but she did not land. She tacked about and sailed near the British fleet and cast anchor. We marked her position, in course of the evening, we procured a vessel and after dark sailed to the aforesaid sloop, seized her and boarded her immediately and found only the captain and mate on board. The captain surrendered to us at discretion but the mate threatened to alarm the British fleet which lay close at hand, but there was a file of men with fixed bayonets quickly around him - if he opened his mouth they would quickly run him through, upon which he made no further resistance, and we hoisted anchor and bore away for the mouth of the Shrewsbury River which we fortunately struck and ascended our way up river, the next day we were hailed by two men and asked if we did want to buy provisions, having the British colors hoisted they took us to be British, we decoyed them on board and made them prisoners. They were both Tories. We carried the above sloop up to Shrewsbury Town and anchored as near the town as we could get her, where she was declared a lawful prize. On land, the Monmouth militia and state troops also grew bolder. Cornelius Smock, the son of Lt. Col. John Smock and nephew of Captain Barnes Smock of the Middletown militia, recorded an attack against a Loyalist party on Sandy Hook in 1779: He was one of thirteen men, with Capt. Barnes Smock, commanded by his father, Lt. Col. John Smock, that went to a place called the Gut on the sea shore near Sandy Hook, and after a smart skirmish, took 26 prisoners - refugees commanded by Lt William Stevens, who was amongst the prisoners - these prisoners were afterwards exchanged for American prisoners then in prison in New York. Smock further reported that “he was with a party that marched on Sandy Hook and retook John Stillwell's cattle, and brought them off.” Another Middletown militiaman, Chrineyonce Schenck, recalled the same skirmish near Sandy Hook "when twenty-eight or thirty Tories were taken prisoner, together with Captain William Stevens.” The Loyalist publisher, Hugh Gaine, reported in his journal, "an attack upon the Light House at the Hook, but the enemy soon retired." These early attacks on Sandy Hook set the stage for even more impressive attacks later in the war. Most notably, in January 1780, Major Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee made a bold descent on Sandy Hook during a snowstorm, and throughout 1781 and 1782, the New Brunswick privateer, Adam Hyler, made several successful attacks on British assets on Sandy Hook. These are subjects of later articles. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : John Burrowes to Lord Stirling, New York Historical Society, MSS John Burrowes; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 194-202; Edwin Salter, Old Tims in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 127-8; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 3, p 41; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 3, p 58; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 187, item 169, #35, 116, 136, 191; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Wilson Hunt of KY, www.fold3.com/image/#24273269 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Cornelius Smock; Allan McLane, Army and Navy Chronicle (New York: Benjamin Homans, 1838) p 130-1; Paul Leicester Ford, ed., The Journals of Hugh Gaine, Volume I (New York: Dodd, Mead 81 Company, 1902), vol. 2, pp. 87; Paul Leicester Ford, ed., The Journals of Hugh Gaine, Volume I (New York: Dodd, Mead 81 Company, 1902), vol. 2, pp. 87. Providence Gazette, August 25, 1781; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Chrineyonce Schenck. 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 > Forman's Additional Regiment Merged into the New Jersey Line by Michael Adelberg Israel Shreve of Burlington County commanded David Forman’s Additional Regiment for part of 1778. Forman’s diminished regiment was eventually integrated into the New Jersey Line. - March 1778 - As noted in prior articles, David Forman was the most powerful man in Monmouth County throughout 1777—he commanded the Monmouth County militia (and the militia of bordering counties) as its Brigadier General and commanded an Additional Regiment of the Continental Army assigned to defend Monmouth County. However, Forman abused his power in a variety of ways. In November, the New Jersey Legislature voided the county elections in which Forman influenced the outcome and then Forman resigned his New Jersey militia commission in a related dispute with the legislature. David Forman Loses His Regiment Shortly after that, the New Jersey Legislative Council, the Upper House, learned that Forman’s troops were being used as a private labor force to construct a salt works at Barnegat. The New Jersey government complained of Forman’s conduct to George Washington. On March 25, 1778, Washington wrote Forman accordingly: The opinion of the Council of your State is so directly opposed to the continuance of the men at the salt works you are erecting that, to avoid the imputation of partiality and remove all cause for censure, both with respect to you and myself, I am induced to direct they may for the present join and act with Colo. Shreve's [Israel Shreve] regiment. Forman followed orders. On March 28, he filled out a list of officers (Major William Harrison; Captains John Burrowes, William Wikoff, Thomas Marsh Forman, John Combs; Lieutenants Gilbert Imlay, William Hall, Robert Pemberton; Ensign William Schenck) and ordered them to join the main body of New Jersey troops (commonly called the “New Jersey Line”} at Valley Forge. The orders included a note that Lt. Hall was a prisoner of the British. Forman recommended that his officers be allowed to maintain their rank (officers were sometimes squeezed out of their commissions when regiments were combined). Forman’s regiment had only four companies, three of which were greatly undersized—a full regiment had eight full-sized companies. Forman’s men marched to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania on April 10 and were likely re-uniformed out of the red coats that had caused them so much trouble at the Battle of Germantown and elsewhere. Immediately after leaving their camp at Manasquan, a Loyalist raiding party razed Forman’s Union Salt Works they had been guarding. Forman and Shreve appealed for help. So, Washington returned the men to New Jersey. An orderly book for the New Jersey Line noted "the detachment from Forman's Regt now in camp to be got in readiness immediately to join their Regiment [4th New Jersey] now in the Jerseys." The New Jersey Line consisted of four under-sized regiments at the time with the 4th Regiment actively recruiting in Monmouth County. The New Jersey government would soon consolidate the four regiments down to two to regiments and implement a draft to fill the ranks in the remaining two. Defending the New Jersey Shore The transfer of Forman’s men to the New Jersey Line left the New Jersey shore undefended, and its salt works were an attractive target for British and Loyalist raiders eager to punish rebels and disrupt the Army’s salt supply (necessary for preserving its food). On April 14, Washington wrote Governor William Livingston regarding the requests from New Jersey to better defend both the Atlantic shore and the western bank of the Delaware River from British raiding parties. I have ordered the few men of Colo. Forman's Regiment who are here, to join Colo. Shreve, which will make a small addition to his force, and it is my intention, if I can do it consistent with the safety of the Army, to send over another of the Jersey Regiments; but as this is a matter of great uncertainty, and will depend entirely upon my reinforcements; I would not wish that the people should count upon it. Washington ordered Colonel Shreve to guard shore from Shrewsbury to Egg Harbor. But also ordered him to be ready to leave the shore on short notice: "You will keep your troops under your command in a most compact order" and rejoin the main body of the Continental Army when the British Army leaves Philadelphia. Washington also took the opportunity to state his philosophy about using a regiment of Continental troops to guard an area—such as Monmouth County—that was vulnerable to British-Loyalist raids. A few hundred Continental troops quiet the minds and give satisfaction to the people of the Country; but considered in the true light, they do rather more harm than good. They draw the attention of the Enemy, and being not able to resist them, are obliged to fly and leave the Country at the mercy of the foe. But as I said before, the people do not view things in the same light, and therefore they must be indulged, tho' to their detriment. Over the next three years, Washington would repeatedly send detachments of Continental troops into Monmouth County—though he was deeply suspicious of the value of stationing troops there. Within days of Forman’s regiment leaving the shore, a punishing British-Loyalist raid destroyed several of the salt works. The Dissipation of Forman’s Former Regiment As for Forman’s regiment, by the summer of 1778, hard service and low morale took its toll and it withered further. Desertion advertisements demonstrate this. Historian John Rees wrote of the strength of Forman’s former regiment in September 1778. While Captain John Burrowes’s Company remained large (roughly 40 men), the other three companies had withered to near-nothing: Thomas Marsh Forman: 1 captain, 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, 1 musician, 4 privates present, 2 privates sick; Capt. John Combs: 1 captain, 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, 13 privates; Capt. William Wikoff: 1 captain, 1 sergeant, 2 corporals, 3 privates present, 3 privates sick, 1 sick absent, 1 on command. William Stryker, who studied New Jersey’s Revolutionary War soldiers in the late 1800s, claimed that Forman’s former regiment was down to 68 men at year’s end. The company of Captain John Burrowes was the only functioning company left of Forman’s regiment. A March 1779 return of that company documents its difficulties. The company included: Lt Gilbert Imlay, Sergeant Michael Erickson (reduced in rank in September 1778) and Corporal Jacob Allen. Several months after being taken away from Forman, the men were still identified as “Forman’s Regt” on some Army documents. The company had raised 36 privates in early 1777. Of these 36 men, half had enlisted for three years and would soon be eligible to leave the Army, and half for the “length of war.” Few of the men served without some type of interruption. By March 1779: 5 had deserted (3 returned), 1 dead, 1 captured (exchanged), 12 missed time due to sickness (many noted as “sick at Freehold”), 9 missed time due to furlough, 2 confined by the Continental Army, 5 sent “on command” to Shrewsbury in September 1778. It appears that the withered Additional Regiment was eventually combined with Monmouth County’s 1778 draftees and other later recruits and consolidated into two companies under Burrowes, who was eventually promoted to Major, and put in command of the two companies. A third company of the New Jersey Line from Monmouth County was commanded by Captain Jonathan Forman and never had a relationship with Forman’s Additional Regiment. The Monmouth men were now integrated into the New Jersey Line. Their service under General John Sullivan in a campaign against the Iroquois is the subject of another article. Related Historic Site : Valley Forge National Historical Park Sources : David Forman, Troop Return, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 48, March 28, 1778; Orderly Book, National Archives, Misc. Numbered Records, 3: 19; George Washington to William Livingston, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 11, pp. 256, 436; Berg, Fred A., Encyclopedia of Continental Army Units: Battalions, Regiments, and Independent Corps (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1972) p 43; Forman’s Additional Regiment returns, Revolutionary War Rolls, National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, Record Group 93, reels 126-129. Transcribed by John U. Rees; Capt. John Burrowes, Muster Rolls, National Archives, Revolutionary War Rolls, Coll. 105, p2-33; William S. Stryker, Officers and Men of New Jersey in the American Revolution (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co, 1967); Israel Shreve, Return, The Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 169, 143, Israel Shreve to George Washington, February 25, 1779. Transcribed by John U. Rees. 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 and Loyalist Raid of Tinton Falls and Shoal Harbor by Michael Adelberg On April 26, 1779, a 750-men British-Loyalist raiding party landed at Red Bank and Leonardo. They came from Sandy Hook in flat-bottom boats that landed large numbers of men onto beaches. - April 1779 - On April 12, 1779, thirty Shrewsbury Township Loyalist estates were confiscated and sold at a public auction. As discussed in prior articles, this ensured permanent enmity with Loyalists behind British lines. In addition, a regiment of Maryland Continentals sat exposed in Shrewsbury Township. The confluence of rising Loyalist anger and an attractive military target set the stage for a large and punishing raid. Newspaper Accounts of the Raid The first newspaper of this raid was printed in the Loyalist New York Gazette on April 28. It reported: 650 of the Royal Army under the command of Col. Hyde [West Hyde], fell down to Sandy Hook, the next morning [April 26] at 2 o'clock, the Colonel with one division landing at Shoal Harbor, four miles east of Middletown, pushed to that place, in which a rebel detachment was supposed to be posted, but had been withdrawn the evening before. The other under Capt. Ferguson [Patrick Ferguson] landed the same morning six miles on the opposite side of Middletown, and advanced to Shrewsbury where a battalion of Continental troops were quartered, but from the difficulty of navigation could not land before day, [so] the rebel battalion escaped with the loss of between 20 & 30 prisoners. The report went on to note that provisions were taken by both raiding parties. "In the afternoon, the whole assembled” and marched back to their boats “during which the enemy effected to follow & harass their rear.” The raiders took with them “several deserters…and some obnoxious persecutors of the Loyal subjects.” Casualties were light: one dead, one wounded. On May 5, the New Jersey Gazette printed its version of the raid. It generally corroborated the Loyalist account but offered additional important details. For example, it noted that “Colonel Ford with the Continental troops retired to Colts Neck.” It also described “the constant fire upon” the raiders maintained by Colonel Asher Holmes (with 60 Monmouth militia) and a 12-man party of New Jersey Continentals under Captain John Burrowes. The report also discussed robberies and arson: “they plundered the inhabitants and burnt several houses and barns.” The New Jersey Gazette disagreed with the New York Gazette on the size of the raiding party (800 men vs. 650 men) and the British/Loyalist casualty count (three dead and fifteen wounded vs. one dead and one wounded). The New Jersey Gazette omitted mention of New Jersians going off with the raiders. Versions of the New Jersey Gazette report were re-printed in newspapers as far off as New Hampshire. The complete New Jersey Gazette report is in the appendix of this article. Interestingly, the Maryland Gazette provided a more detailed account of the raid (probably informed by one of Ford’s officers). It noted that Ferguson’s men were discovered landing at Red Bank “by a scouting party of Col. Ford's” who alarmed Tinton Falls in time for Ford to narrowly escape by getting out “about four hundred yards ahead of them [the raiders].” The Maryland account also noted that Ferguson sent a 40-man party into the village of Shrewsbury and listed the owners of the burnt houses at Tinton Falls: Sheriff Nicholas Van Brunt, Colonel Daniel Hendrickson, Captain Richard McKnight, and Magistrate John Little, but McKnight’s and Little’s houses were saved "by the activity of our people." It was also noted: That the enemy plundered all the way to Col. Breeze's [Samuel Breese] whom they robbed of all his money and most of his plate, and at Justice Holmes's [Josiah Holmes] they robbed and plundered everything. The report also mentioned that “the enemy carried off with them Justice Covenhoven [Peter Covenhoven] and son, likewise several others” and “some cattle and horses." Finally, this Maryland account said Asher Holmes resisted with “140 militia who drove them to their boats,” rather than 60, suggested by the New Jersey Gazette . British/Loyalist Accounts of the Raid West Hyde's report on the raid to General Henry Clinton provides important additional details. His party, consisting of 200 Highlanders and 120 New Jersey Volunteers , landed at Shoal Harbor (present-day Leonardo) while “Capt. Ferguson [Patrick Ferguson] with 450 of the detachment… proceeded with utmost expedition for Shrewsbury.” While acknowledging that Ford’s Continentals “made their escape,” Ferguson “came up with their rear guard of which he took between 20 & 30 prisoners & some baggage.” Hyde admitted to burning homes but said his men only “destroyed several houses used as public stores”—it is doubtful that every burned home was a public store. Hyde discussed his march on Middletown. He “landed between 2 and 3 in the morning at Shoal Harbor, 4 miles from Middletown & marched directly hither” in the incorrect belief that a Continental regiment was camped there. He “remained there until one in the afternoon when Capt. Ferguson joined the detachment.” They marched for their boats at the Navesink Highlands “after allowing the men to refresh themselves.” By this time, the parties of Captain Burrowes and Colonel Holmes had arrived: A few of the rebel militia had assembled during our stay in Middletown & followed us on our return & effected to harass our rear, but from the judicious disposition of our rear guard, under Capt. Ferguson, he kept them at so respectful a distance that only one man of the Royal Highland Regiment was killed & one of Barton's Jersey Volunteers wounded. General Clinton summarized the raid on May 5. He wrote that the “exposed position” of Ford’s men prompted the raid and that “a change in the weather” slowed the raid and allowed Ford to escape—a detail not reported elsewhere and probably not fully true. Clinton praised Colonel Hyde for leading the raid "tho' he had the King's permission to return to Europe.” He also praised Ferguson as “a very active & zealous officer." William Smith, a prominent Loyalist attorney in New York, also wrote of the raid: 750 men under Col. Hyde of the guards landed in Monmouth near Middletown, took between 20 and 30 prisoners, and burnt a mill and two or three houses… it was said that they were to take a party of 300 troops posted to prevent access to Monmouth farmers with this town. Continental and New Jersey Accounts of the Raid Two officers, Ford and Burrowes (stationed at Middletown Point with twelve men), wrote accounts of the raid. As might be expected, Ford acquitted himself of any blame. He noted that at 4:30 a.m. “a body of the enemy effected a landing at red bank, about one mile from Shrewsbury, my patrol fired on them but being small did little or no execution.” On learning of the raid, "I immediately detached Capt Beale with 30 men to observe their movements & retard them in their march towards Tinton Falls.” Ford wrote that he planned to make a stand at Tinton Falls: We guarded the bridge before them, where I intended to have made a stand, but for the superiority of their numbers, which was as near as I could judge three to one, and on apprehension of their sending a party on my left flank which was by no means secure, I judged it expedient to retreat till a body of militia could be collected. After falling back six miles to Colts Neck, Ford blamed low militia turnout for not counterattacking. He wrote: “the militia have by no means answered my hopes or wishes, not more than 150 if so many has collected.” So, he stayed at Tinton Falls even while detailing considerable destruction: They burnt two dwelling houses belonging to officers of the militia, destroyed everything they could in others, not leaving a single pane of glass in any windows belonging to the people, after committing every wanton act they could, plundered and destroying all the furniture they found. The raiders also drove “all the stock of horses, sheep and cattle they could collect before them.” Ford noted that resistance was offered by a party of his men under Captain Beale and “a few of the militia” which limited the loss of livestock “as the principal part was again retaken.” He acknowledged that Colonel Holmes “collected a party and is hanging on their flanks.” Ford “estimated at 1000 men” as the raiding party’s size. He incorrectly reported that the party was commanded by Courtland Skinner, General of the New Jersey Volunteers. He also suggested that “the party at Shrewsbury amounted to 6 or 700 [under Ferguson],” more than twice the size reported in other sources. Ford downplayed his losses which “does not amount to more than a dozen men missing” – he would later admit to losing 25 men. He picked up two British deserters. John Burrowes wrote Lord Stirling (General William Alexander) of the raid: They got in the village of Middletown at daybreak - another party of them landed at Shrewsbury, near the same time, which went to surprise Coll Ford's command of Continental troops, but he happily got off. I mustered twelve men at 8 o'clock & gave them to understand we were about them - they continued in the village till 3 o'clock, when they began their retreat. Burrowes wrote that he “kept a constant fire for two miles, when Coll Holmes of the militia, with about sixty of his men, reinforced us, then their retreat was somewhat precipitate.” It is improbable that the Burrowes-Holmes party (70-80 men) would have hastened the retreat of the 750-man combined raiding party. Burrowes claimed the raiders had “three dead and fourteen wounded carried on board.” The raiders “wounded one of our men slitely [sic] and taken eight of the inhabitants of this place." Captain William Beatty, serving under Ford at Tinton Falls, wrote briefly about the raid: In the morning before sunrise, we were very near cut off by a party of the British under Major Ferguson, but having a little notice of the enemy's approach, we retreated about 7 miles toward Monmouth Court House [Colts Neck]. I lost all my clothes except what I had on, several other officers shared the same fate. Our loss in men was 22. The enemy left Shrewsbury at 9 o'clock, and the next day we took our posts again. George Washington received Ford’s and Burrowes’ reports and summarized them in two reports to Congress. Beyond facts offered by Ford and Burrowes, Washington suggested that the raiders sought “probably to cut off Colonel Ford's detachment, [and] obtain supplies and plunder the inhabitants.” But Washington also believed that northeast Monmouth County was vulnerable to British occupation: They [the British] may, however, possibly have it in mind to establish a post in that quarter for purposes of encouraging the disaffected, drawing provisions and forage from the adjacent country, and encouraging recruits to their corps of levies. Governor William Livingston also received reports on the raid. He wrote Washington that the raiders behaved “in the most dastardly manner” and retreated “to their very boats before less than one quarter of their number." Livingston continued the narrative that the Burrowes-Holme party vanquished the much larger raiding party in a letter to Anthony Bleeker a few days later: About 70 of our militia have drove between six and 800 British troops from Middletown quite to their boats, & the latter never pretended to take a stand except by just facing about on every advantageous spot & giving one volley, and prosecuting their flight. New Jersey’s Chief Justice, Robert Morris went to Tinton Falls shortly after the raid to rally the locals. He wrote Stirling on May 5 that Ferguson’s raiders were successful because they passed Black Point “under cover of darkness and thickness of fog” without detection. He also noted that Capt. Beale’s 40 men and Asher Holmes's militia did all the fighting during the raid because Ford "was unable to find any ground advantageous” for taking a stand. For his apparent timidity, Morris wrote that "Col Ford is censured by some of the inhabitants for his conduct." No doubt, Morris was understating sentiments about Ford. Morris also wrote of the incomplete damage to the village: On the one hand, "the enemy left the commissary's stores at the Falls inconsiderably injured,” on the other “they burnt every dwelling house within a few yards on each side of them, and committed the most wanton acts of destruction I ever beheld." Benjamin White, a storekeeper at Tinton Falls, wrote of the raiders’ conduct that day: So enraged that they lost their prey, they set fire to the houses and burned and plundered many on their return. I hid most of our dry goods but they broke open the store, robbed us of what they could, filled their canteens with spirits and let the rest run to waste. They had my mare out and were going with her, and while I was tussling with the soldiers, others were plundering my house. The guns left by our troops were broken on a fence, they seemed like wild or mad men. Eliza Chadwick Roberts, daughter of militia captain Thomas Chadwick also described the village: The houses that they had the preceding day left in the peaceable possession of their wives and children now displayed a column of fire... My father saw his habitation tumbling in a mass of flaming ruins... He beheld at a small distance the house of Colonel Hendrickson on fire. All through 1778, George Washington resisted requests to station a regiment of soldiers in northeast Monmouth County. He worried that the regiment might “do rather more harm than good” by serving as an attractive target to larger raiding parties without having the strength to resist them. That is exactly what happened on April 26, even if the raid was likely sparked by the Loyalist estate auctions two weeks earlier. After this raid, Ford’s men stayed in Monmouth County for another month before withdrawing on May 31. When they left, they were not replaced. This left Tinton Falls vulnerable to a smaller but even more punishing raid on June 9. Related Historic Site : Old Mill Inn Appendix New Jersey Gazette, May 5, 1779 : "On the 26th ult the enemy in two divisions landed in the county of Monmouth, one party at Shoal Harbor, which marched to Middletown and got into the village at daybreak; the other went in flat-bottomed boats into the Shrewsbury River, landed at Red Bank, and then proceeded to Tenton [Tinton] Falls. Colonel Ford with the Continental troops retired to Colts Neck. Near the middle of the day the party, which had landed at Shrewsbury, crossed the river and went to Middletown, where both divisions formed a junction. They sent their boats round the bay shore to near Harbert’s plantation, where they had thirteen sloops waiting to take them off. At eight o’clock, Captain Burrows, who had mustered twelve men, gave them to understand that they were surrounded by the militia; they continued in the village until three o’clock, when they began their retreat. Capt. Burrows was then joined by three more men, and kept a constant fire upon them for two miles, when Colonel Holmes of the militia with about 60 of his men, reinforced Capt. Burrows, and then the enemy’s retreat was precipitate; they were drove on board at sun-set and immediately set sail for New York. Their numbers were about 800, commanded by Col. Hyde. We had but two men but slightly wounded. The enemy left three dead behind them, their wounded they carried off as their rear made a stand at every hill, house, and barn in their route. One of our inhabitants says 15 wounded were carried on board. In their progress, or rather flight, they plundered the inhabitants and burnt several houses and barns. Had they landed in the day, or till our militia could be collected to half their numbers (which we reckon sufficient to drub them) they would doubtless have repented their invasion. But ever choosing, like their brother thieves, the hours of darkness, they generally land in the night and before the militia can be collected, flee to their vessels with precipitation, snatching up in their flight what plunder they can, and then blazon away in their lying Gazettes; turning one of their sheep stealing nocturnal robberies into one of the Duke of Marlborough’s victories at Flanders." Sources : Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Frank Moore, The Diary of the American Revolution, 1775-1781 (New York: Washington Square Press, 1967) pp. 356-7; Howard Peckham, The Toll of Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) p 59; William Smith, Historical Memoirs of William Smith: From 26 August 1778 to 12 November 1783 (New York: Arno, 1971) pp. 97-8; John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 14, pp. 443, 456, 462, 465; Judith M. Olsen, Lippincott, Five Generations of the Descendants of Richard and Abigail Lippincott (Woodbury, N.J.: Gloucester County Historical Society, 1982) pp. 159-61; National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 168, item 152, vol. 7, #275-7; National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 169, item 152, vol. 7, #283-4; Henry Clinton to Lord Germain, William Clements Library, Henry Clinton Papers, vol. 57; George Washington to Congress, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 57, April 26, 1779; 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) pp. 91-3; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 57, April 26, 1779; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 87; William Beatty, "Journal of Captain Wiliam Beatty of the Maryland Line, 1776-1781", Historical Magazine, 2nd Series, 1867, pp 117; Henry Clinton, The American Rebellion; Sir Henry Clinton's Narrative of His Campaigns, 1775-1782, with an Appendix of Original Documents (Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1971) p 123; Maryland Gazette, Library of Congress, May 7, 1779; William Livingston to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 20, 8 April–31 May 1779, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, pp. 281–282; William Livingston to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 20, 8 April–31 May 1779, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, pp. 281–282; William Livingston to Anthony Bleeker, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, p 78; Henry Laurens to John Laurens, Paul Smith, et al, Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1970) vol. 12, p 428; Autobiography of Eliza Chadwick Roberts, coll. 215, Monmouth County Historical Association; Morris, Robert, “Letters of Chief Justice Morris, 1777–1779,” Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, vol. 38 (1920), pp. 172-4. Previous Next