Monmouth County Historical Association is a non-profit history museum, research library and archives with five historic houses throughout the county. The Monmouth County Historical Association DONATE Museum Hours Main Museum, 70 Court Street in Freehold : Storm of Revolution: Monmouth at War opens April 29th Wednesday-Saturday 1-4 Covenhoven House : Fridays 1-4, 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month from 1-4 Marlpit Hall and Taylor Butler House : Fri-Sun 1-4 Allen House is currently closed for renovations, reopening in 2027! Free audio tours for adults (and kids!) available here for Covenhoven, Marlpit Hall and the Allen House! Happening Now New Exhibit Storm of Revolution: Monmouth at War Opening April 29th 70 Court Street, Freehold NJ 07728 Wed-Saturday from 1-4 Using archival records and objects from our world class collection, this exhibit explores the drama, glory, and impact of the American Revolution in Monmouth County. Home of Washington Rallying the Troops at Monmouth Come see this masterpiece up close and personal, featured heavily in Ken Burns' popular miniseries The American Revolution . While the painting is a permanent fixture at MCHA, our exhibit On the Edge of War: Monmouth Before the Revolution will only be open through January 2026. Don't miss it! 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth In celebration of the 250th anniversary of our nation, MCHA is proud to announce the newest project by author and renowned historian Michael Adelberg. The incredible 250-article collection is the most complete history on this topic ever assembled! It is free and digitally accessible on our website - click here to visit or enter via the Learn tab above! The Allen House Restoration Project The Allen House needs you! Please consider helping MCHA save an important piece of American history by donating to the Allen House restoration project. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar. Thank you in advance for your generosity - we could not do everything we do without the care and dedication of the community! DONATE Explore Explore our museum collections, exhibits, educational materials, research library and historic houses Exhibits Explore Indvidual Exhibits Read More Research Library Open by Appointment Only Read More Historic Houses Visit One of Our Houses Today! Read More Education Digital and On-Site Programs Read More Join our email list for updates! Sign Up Thanks for submitting!

This 250-article collection by author and renowned historian, Michael Adelberg, is the most comprehensive history of the American Revolution in Monmouth County ever assembled. Learn about the bloody civil and coastal warfare in the territory, the amazing story of David Forman, Joshua Huddy, Colonel Tye, and others in this incredible compilation. 250 for the 250th Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution in Monmouth County by Historian and Author Michael Adelberg ©2025 Articles by Year About the Author Purchase Books Other Resources Subscribe Monmouth Courthouse, 1778 We now understand that the American Revolution was more complicated than a contest between the George Washington’s Continental Army and the red-coated British. In no locality are these complications more evident than Monmouth County, New Jersey, where Patriots and Loyalists clashed in brutal, localized civil warfare. This local war transformed the county in multiple ways. It ushered in a new set of leaders whose ambitions were previously blocked by British rule; i t sparked new industries such as privateering and salt-making that brought new people and capital to the shore region, and i t re-structured the county’s most important institutions, including its churches, annual elections, and courts. While some of the clashes and incidents that occurred in Monmouth County—such as the Battle of Monmouth and the hanging of Captain Joshua Huddy by vengeful Loyalists—are well-narrated, dozens more remain largely unnarrated. The 250th anniversary of the American Revolution is the ideal time to compile and narrate the most important events and activities that occurred in Revolutionary Monmouth County. Articles by Year Click the year to be taken to all articles for that year, then click the article title By Year 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1774 1774 1. April 1774 - Turning Away the Tea Ship, Nancy 2. June 1774 – Committees Form to Resist British Policies 1775 1775 3. January 1775 – Shrewsbury Township Resists Continental Movement 4. January - April 1775 – Committees Consider Three Loyalists 5. May 1775 -- Anglican Reverend Samuel Cooke Flees Shrewsbury 6. October 1775 – Shrewsbury Leaders Move Against Their Black Neighbors 7. October 1775 – Monmouth Countians Capture British Ship 8. December 1775 -- Monmouth Militia Takes Control of the Ship, Polly & Anne 1776 1776 9. January 1776 -- Elias Longstreet’s Continental Army Company 10. January 1776 – The Capture of the Blue Mountain Valley 11. March 1776 – Dysfunction in the Monmouth County Militia 12. March 1776 - The Mission to Disable the Sandy Hook Light House 13. April 1776 – British Navy Takes Sandy Hook 14. April 1776 -- British Burn the Sloop Endeavor at Tucker’s Island 15. April 1776 – First Skirmish at Sandy Hook 16. May 1776 – Salt Works Begin on the Monmouth Shore 17. May 1776 – Sandy Hook Becomes Haven for Loyalists 18. June 1776 – Monmouth County’s Petitions Against Independence 19. June 1776 – The Difficult Service of Forman’s Flying Camp 20. June 1776 – Captain Thomas Creigher Sails the Monmouth Coast 21. June 1776 – Lt. Colonel Tupper’s Continentals Attack on Sandy Hook 22. June 1776 – Upper Freehold’s First Loyalist Insurrection 23. June 1776 – George Taylor and Nathaniel Scudder Report the Arrival of British Army 24. July 1776 – Monmouth Loyalists Join British Army at Sandy Hook 25. July 1776 – Pennsylvania Continentals Travel Through Allentown 26. July 1776 – Dr. John Lawrence and the Crime of Having Loyalist Kin 27. July 1776 – Monmouth Militia March to Perth Amboy to Defend Against British Attack 28. July 1776—The Rise of Little Egg Harbor and the British Response 29. July 1776 – New York Tories Find Refuge in Shrewsbury 30. July 1776 – Monmouth Slaves Seek Freedom Behind British Lines 31. August 1776 – Shrewsbury Friends Move to End Slaveholding 32. August 1776 – The Discovery of Samuel Wright’s Loyalist Association 33. August 1776 – County Commissioners Inventory Loyalist Estates 34. October 1776 – First Moves Made to Stop Illegal Trade from Monmouth County 35. October 1776 – The Capture of the Betsy and Disappearance of Its Cargo 36. November 1776 – Colonel George Taylor Turns Loyalist 37. November 1776 – David Forman’s Campaign Against William Taylor’s Loyalists 38. November 1776 – The Capture of Richard Stockton and John Covenhoven 39. November 1776 – The Continental Navy on the Monmouth Shore 40. November 1776 – Defending the Pennsylvania Salt Works at Toms River 41. December 1776 – The “Tory Ascendancy” in Upper Freehold 42. December 1776 – The Freehold-Middletown Loyalist Insurrection 43. December 1776 – The “Tory Ascendancy” in Shrewsbury and Down the Shore 44. December 1776 – British and Continental Soldiers Pass Through Allentown 45. December 1776 – Monmouth Loyalists Jailed at Fredericktown, Maryland 1777 1777 46. January 1777 – The First Battle of Monmouth 47. January 1777 – Lt. Colonel Gurney’s Campaign against Monmouth Loyalists 48. January 1777 – Monmouth County’s Ill-Fated Loyalist Militia and the Fall of George Taylor 49. January 1777—Loyalist Refugees Go into British Lines 50. January 1777 – Raising David Forman’s Additional Continental Army Regiment 51. January 1777 - Captain Francis Wade at Allentown 52. February 1777 – Reconstructing Monmouth County’s Government 53. February 1777 – Disaffection in the Monmouth Militia 54. February 1777 – The Battle of the Navesink 55. February 1777 – Militia Family Suffering after the Battle of Navesink 56. February 1777 -- Daniel Van Mater and Monmouth Refugees in New York 57. March 1777 – Salt Work Laborers and Militia Exemptions 58. March 1777 – Monmouth Baptists Reset Their Congregations 59. March 1777 – David Forman’s Attack on Sandy Hook 60. March 1777 – The First Loyalist Raids against Monmouth County 61. March 1777 -- Captain John Walton Captures Loyalist Boat 62. March 1777 -- David Forman’s Drift into Martial Law and Scandal 63. April 1777 – Monmouth Loyalists Pardoned for Continental Army Service 64. April 1777 – The Disaffection of Edward Taylor 65. April 1777 – David Forman and the Continental Army Red Coats 66. April 1777 -- New Jersey Council of Safety Moves on Monmouth Loyalists 67. April 1777 – Lewis Bestedo Kills Loyalist and Exposes Loyalist Outlaws 68. April 1777 – The Trial of Joseph Leonard 69. May 1777 – Monmouth’s Presbyterians Lose Two Ministers in a Week, then Gain One 70. May 1777 – David Forman Seeks a Fort, Sends Intelligence, and Struggles with Militia 71. May 1777 – Competition for Continental Army Recruits in Monmouth County 72. May 1777 – The Difficult History of the 1st Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers 73. May 1777 – The Travails of Mary Leonard and Other Loyalist Women 74. June 1777 - Monmouth Militia Join Continental Army to Shadow British Retreat 75. June 1777 – The Confusing Case of Captain Benjamin Weatherby 76. June 1777 – Thomas Seabrook and Other Whigs Move Inland for Safety 77. June 1777 – David Forman’s Informants in and from New York 78. July 1777 – The Rental of Loyalist Estates 79. August 1777 – Forman’s Additional Regiment and Salt Works Scandal 80. August 1777 – The Capture of the William & Anne and Post-Capture Maneuvering 81. August 1777 – 1st Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers Routed on Staten Island 82. September 1777 -- The Hanging of Stephen Edwards 83. September 1777 – Monmouth Countians Fight at Battle of Germantown 84. October 1777 – Huddy’s Artillery Company 85. October 1777 – Monmouth Militia Defeated by New Jersey Volunteers near Sandy Hook 86. November 1777 -- The Demise and Sale of the Pennsylvania Salt Works at Toms River 87. November 1777 – New Jersey Legislature Voids Monmouth County Election 88. November 1777 – The Disaffection Rhoda Pew and Murder of James Pew 89. November 1777 – Nathaniel Scudder’s Service in the Continental Congress 1778 1778 90. January 1778 – The First Monmouth County Court of Oyer and Terminer 91. March 1778 – Forman’s Additional Regiment Merged into the New Jersey Line 92. April 1778 –The Continental Army Draft in Monmouth County 93. April 1778—British and Loyalist Attack Monmouth County Salt Works 94. May 1778 – State Troops Raised for the Defense of Monmouth County 95. May 1778 – Loyalists Raid Middletown Point and Keyport 96. June 1778 – William Marriner and John Schenck Raid Brooklyn, New York 97. June 1778 – Second Monmouth County Court of Oyer and Terminer 98. June 1778 – The British Army’s Unpleasant Stay at Allentown 99. June 1778 – British Plundering and Arson at Freehold 100. June 1778 – The Monmouth Militia during the Monmouth Campaign 101. June 1778 – The Second New Jersey Volunteers During the Monmouth Campaign 102. June 1778 – The Continental Army Camps at Englishtown and Manalapan 103. June 1778 – Local Leaders at Battle of Monmouth 104. June 1778 – Damages from the Battle of Monmouth 105. June 1778 – Burying the Dead and Recovering the Wounded after the Battle of Monmouth 106. June 1778 – Monmouth Countians Attack British Baggage Train 107. June 1778 – British Army Marches through Middletown to Navesink Highlands 108. July 1778 – Continental Army and Militia Shadow British Withdrawal 109. July 1778 - British Army Boards Ships via Sandy Hook 110. July 1778 – British Fortify Sandy Hook in Preparation for French Attack 111. July 1778 – French Fleet Threatens Sandy Hook 112. July 1778 – Local Pilots Advise French Fleet about Sandy Hook 113. July 1778 – Provisioning the French Fleet via Rumson 114. July 1778 – Admiralty Courts Held at Barton’s Tavern in Allentown 115. July 1778 – New Jersey Proprietors Sell Off Land on Monmouth Shore 116. August 1778 – The Irregularity John Morris and Court Martial of Jacob Wood 117. August 1778 – Major Richard Howell’s Continentals Camp at Black Point 118. September 1778—The Capture of the Venus by Two Privateers and Its Aftermath 119. September 1778 – The Privateering of Captain Yelverton Taylor on the Jersey Shore 120. September 1778 - Daniel Hendrickson and Other Militia Officers as Privateer Captains 121. September 1778 – The Re-Capture of the Love & Unity at Toms River 122. September 1778 – The Daring Escape of John Hewson from New York to Monmouth County 123. September 1778 – The Death of the Pine Robber, Jacob Fagan 124. October 1778 – Thomas Crowell and Regulating Loyalist Passage into New Jersey 125. October 1778 - Pulaski’s Legion and the Osborn Island Massacre 126. October 1778 – Pulaski’s Legion in Stafford Township 127. October 1778 – Militia Respond to the Attack on Chestnut Neck 128. October 1778 – The Pardons of Purgatory of Ezekiel Forman 129. October 1778 – John Lloyd and David Rhea Lead Purchasing for the Army 130. November 1778 – William Marriner’s Second Brooklyn Raid and Later Career 131. November 1778 – The Decision to Station Continental Troops in Monmouth County 132. December 1778 - The Capture of the Schooner Two Friends and Its Captain 133. December 1778 – The First American Raids Against Sandy Hook 1779 1779 134. January 1779 – Toms River Emerges as a Privateer Port 135. January 1779 – Shore Neighborhoods Support Loyalists 136. January 1779 -- Militia from Other Counties Ordered into Monmouth 137 January 1779 – Caleb North’s Continentals in Monmouth County 138. January 1779 – Grain Seizure Splits Whig Leadership 139. January 1779 – John Van Kirk Infiltrates Pine Robber Gang 140. February 1779 – Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee’s Dragoons in Monmouth County 141. February 1779 – Major John Burrowes and His Actions at Middletown Point 142. March 1779 – Mordecai Gist’s Continentals in Middletown 143. March 1779 – The Auction of Loyalist Estates 144. March 1779 – Scandals Mar the Sale of Loyalist Estates 145. April 1779 – Loyalist Kin Gain Pieces of Confiscated Estates 146. April 1779 – Alarm Beacons Constructed in Monmouth County 147. April 1779 – Benjamin Ford’s Maryland Continentals in Monmouth County 148. April 1779 – British-Loyalist Raid Tinton Falls and Shoal Harbor 149. May 1779 – Philip Freneau: Patriot, Poet, and Privateer 150. May 1779 – Loyalist Raids Increase in Frequency 151 May 1779 – Holmes v Walton as a London Trading Incident 152. May 1779 – Holmes v Walton as a Constitutional Watershed 153. June 1779 – State Troops Raised to Defend Monmouth County 154. June 1779 – The Loss of Tinton Falls 155. June 1779 – Refugee Women Listed in Monmouth County Militia Returns 156. June 1779 –New England Privateers Prey on Shipping at Sandy Hook 157. July 1779 – Monmouth Soldiers Participate in Campaign against Iroquois 158. July 1779 – Lewis Fenton, the Infamous Pine Robber 159. July 1779 –David Brearley Leaves Continental Army for the Supreme Court 160. August 1779 – Monmouth County’s 3rd Court of Oyer and Terminer 161. September 1779 – The Fall of John Morris and His Loyalist Battalion 162. September 1779 – New Jersey Volunteers Drift into Other Loyalist Units 163. October 1779 – Monmouth County Prepares for Return of French Fleet 164. September 1779 – Yelverton Taylor Takes British Troop Transport 165. November 1779 – The Establishment of the Associated Loyalists 166. November 1779 -- Thomas Henderson Selected to Continental Congress 167. October 1779 – David Rhea Complains about Lee’s Continentals in Monmouth 168. December 1779 – The Capture of the Brigantine, Britannia 169. December 1779 -Continental Congress Seeks Blankets Via London Trade 1780 1780 170. January 1780 – Provisions Taken from Shore Residents for the Continental Army 171. January 1780 – Henry Lee’s Continentals Raid Sandy Hook 172. January 1780 – Winter Storms Drive Five Ships onto Monmouth Shore 173 February 1780 -- Samuel Lippincott, Man-Stealing, and Jailed Militiamen in New York 174. March 1780 – The Disaffected Officeholders of Dover and Stafford Townships 175. March 1780 – Loyalist Privateers Sail the Monmouth Shore 176. March 1780 – Monmouth Leaders Split as David Forman Re-Emerges 177. March 1780 – Asher Holmes Raises New Regiments of State Troops 178. March 1780 – Loyalist Raiding Party Murders John Russell 179. April 1780 – British Counter-Attack American Privateers Off Sandy Hook 180. May 1780 – Loyalist “Manstealing” Peaks and the Rise of Colonel Tye 181. May 1780 – Preparations Made for the Return of the French Fleet 182. May 1780 – The Capture of the Outlaws John and Robert Smith 183. June 1780 – Controversy Surrounds Local Prisoner Exchanges 184. June 1780 – Stephen Decatur: The Greatest Privateer of the Jersey Shore 185. May 1780 – The Battle of Conkaskunk 186. July 1780 – The Establishment of the Association for Retaliation 187 June 1780 – Joseph Murray Killed While Tending His Fields 188. June 1780 – Colonel Tye and the Black Brigade 189. June 1780 – David Forman Sends Intelligence Reports to George Washington 190. July 1780 – Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee Returns to Monmouth County 191. August 1780 – Crackdown on Militia Delinquents in Shrewsbury Township 192. August 1780 – Prominent Loyalists Captured and Scandal Ensues 193. August 1780 – Trevor Newland Pushed toward Disaffection 194. August 1780 – The Capture of William Marriner 195. August 1780 – Colonel Tye’s Final Raid 196. September 1780 – New Jersey Legislature Investigates the Retaliators 197. October 1780 – County Elections Marred by Violence and Voter Intimidation 198. October 1780 – Monmouth Loyalists Captured at King’s Mountain 199. October 1780 – Company of New Jersey Volunteers Taken in Route to Sandy Hook 200. October 1780 – New Jersey Assembly Struggles to Support State Troops 201. November 1780 – Monmouth Whigs Crack Down on London Traders 202. December 1780 – Lt. Joshua Studson Killed by John Bacon 1781 1781 203. January 1781 – Failed Prisoner Exchange Stokes Tensions between Whigs and Loyalists 204. January 1781 – The Capture of Lt. Col. Klein and Others Seeking to Go to New York 205. February 1781 – Monmouth County’s Jail and the Jailbreak of February 1781 206 March 1781 – Richard Lippincott Leads Raid against Monmouth Shore 207. April 1781 – Richard Lippincott as an Active Loyalist Partisan 208. April 1781 – The Bold Privateering of Adam Hyler 209. May 1781 – Loyalists Seek to Defend Waters Off Sandy Hook 210. May 1781 – The Monmouth County Whig Society 211. May 1781 –William Clark and the Raritan Bay Horse Thieves 212. June 1781 – The Battle of the 1500 at Middletown 213. July 1781 – Shrewsbury Friends Struggle to Stay Out of War 214. July 1781 – Monmouth County Intersects with the Yorktown Campaign 215. October 1781 – The London Trading Case of Elisha Walton v William Laird 216. October 1781 – Violence Again Mars Monmouth County Elections 217. October 1781 – The Vigilante Acts of the Association for Retaliation 218. October 1781 – Nathaniel Scudder Killed during Loyalist Raid 219. December 1781 – Pine Robbers Menace Dover and Stafford Townships 220. December 1781 – The Rise of John Bacon’s Pine Robber Gang 1782 1782 221. January 1782 -- Associated Loyalists Embrace Policy of Retaliation 222. January 1782 – Privateer Captain William Gray Clashes with London Traders 223. January 1782 – Joshua Huddy’s State Troops Stationed at Toms River 224. February 1782 – Loyalists Raid Pleasant Valley during Winter Storm 225. February 1782 – David Forman Seeks Passport for Mrs. Prevost 226. March 1782 – Associated Loyalists Raze Toms River 227. March 1782 – The Capture and Murder of Philip White 228. April 1782 – Richard Lippincott Hangs Joshua Huddy 229. April 1782 – The Local Response to the Hanging of Joshua Huddy 230. April 1782 – The Continental Response to Huddy Hanging 231. April 1782 – The Court Martial of Richard Lippincott 232. May 1782 – The Aftermath of the Huddy Hanging and Lippincott Acquittal 233. May 1782 – Loyalist Estate Confiscations Resume in Monmouth County 234. May 1782 – The Case of Caesar Tite and Other Litigation over Freedmen 235. May 1782 – Prosecution of Loyalists Intensifies in Monmouth County 236. May 1782 – Adam Hyler Captures Loyalist Regulars on Sandy Hook 237. June 1782 – Davenport’s Pine Robbers Routed at Forked River 238. June 1782 – Loyalists and American Prisoners Fish Off Sandy Hook 239. July 1782 – The Capture and Execution of Ezekiel Tilton 240. August 1782 – Monmouth Whigs Form New Associations 241. September 1782 – The Retaliators Outlast the War 242. September 1782 – Monmouth Loyalists Seek to Come Home 243. September 1782 – Monmouth Loyalists Emigrate to Canada 244. October 1782 – John Bacon Slaughters Gloucester Militia at Barnegat 245. November 1782 – The Secret London Trading of the Privateer Nathan Jackson 246. December 1782 – Pine Robbers Defeat Militia at Cedar Creek 1783 1783 247. January 1783 – Accidents and Humiliations Plague the British at Sandy Hook 248. February 1783 – Jonathan Forman’s Long Service in the Continental Army 249. March 1783 – The Death of John Bacon 250. April 1783 - Monmouth County’s Black Loyalists Emigrate to Canada Own the book inspired by these articles! Makes a great gift for the history lovers in your life! The American Revolution in Monmouth County: The Theatre of Spoil and Destruction The Razing of Tinton Falls: Voices from the American Revolution NEW BOOK! Coming July 2026 The Revolutionary War on the Jersey Shore by Michael Adelberg Books About the Author About the Author Michael Adelberg has been researching the American Revolution in Monmouth County, New Jersey, for over thirty years. He is the author of the award-winning The American Revolution in Monmouth County, and three other books. His essays on the American Revolution have appeared in The Journal of Military of History , The Journal of the Early Republic , The Wilson Quarterly , and other scholarly journals. Adelberg’s research has been recognized by the New Jersey Historical Commission, the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance, the David Library of the American Revolution, the public television program NJ Today , and the government of Monmouth County. Other Resources Other Resources 250 for the 250th FAQs 1. How were topics selected for the articles in 250 for the 250th? Article topics were selected based on two criteria: 1.) the importance of the topic to the people who lived in Revolutionary Era Monmouth County; 2.) adequate source materials to draft the article. The Battle of Monmouth was the largest Revolutionary War event to occur in Monmouth County but it is not narrated in 250 for the 250th. That is because the Battle of Monmouth is already the subject of an excellent book, Fatal Sunday, by Mark Lender and Garry Wheeler Stone. However, several topics related to the battle and its impact on the people of Monmouth County are the subject of articles. 2. Are the articles in 250 for the 250th written about elsewhere? The articles in 250 for the 250th fall into one of three categories: a.) Discussed by modern historians, but not easily accessible. For example, David Fowler wrote an outstanding PhD dissertation about the Pine Robbers. The dissertation was written for a scholarly audience and never published as a book. Few people will read Fowler’s research. So, there are articles about the Pine Robbers in 250 for the 250th even though Fowler already well-covered this topic. b.) Discussed in local histories and antiquarian works. Several topics in 250 for the 250th are narrated in antiquarian sources or local histories. Some of these narratives are balanced and well-researched, some are not. Either way, Revolutionary War topics in these works hopscotch sources and are spread across dozens of older books. So, many topics covered in these histories are included in 250 for the 250th. c.) Original source materials. A number of topics in 250 for the 250th have never been narrated (for example, the raising of Monmouth County’s state troops). Shards of information exist across original documents and were pasted together for the first time in these articles. I enjoyed being the first historian to write on these topics. 3. How are antiquarian and genealogical materials used in 250 for the 250th? The articles in 250 for the 250th are built on source materials—those written by people who witnessed the American Revolution. If there are not source materials sufficient to write on a topic, that topic is not part of this collection. However, antiquarian and genealogical sources often add important details not contained in source materials. So many of the articles include supporting information from antiquarian and genealogical materials. 4. Modern historians discuss some aspects of the American Revolution in Monmouth County. How are these works used in 250 for the 250th? The articles in 250 for the 250th are ground in and written from source materials. In a number of articles, specific historians who contributed an original analysis or critique on the article’s topic are mentioned and their works are cited. 5. What is the likelihood that there are errors in the 250 for the 250th articles? The articles in this series are built on source materials and these materials offer the most reliable information about the Revolutionary era. But source materials reflect the bias of the author and sources sometimes disagree. For example, casualty counts in Continental and British narratives of the same event frequently disagree. Source materials are often imprecise with regard to specific dates, name spellings, and locations. In many articles, I make suppositions based on probability and context. Qualifying terms such as “likely” and “potentially” are used alert readers to suppositions. In any collection as large as 250 for the 250th there is inevitably a small amount of human error. If a reader believes an error might exist in an article, the reader is encouraged to bring it to my attention, and forward the source material that can correct the record. Readers can contact me at 250@monmouthhistory.org . 6. Were any edits made to source materials when transcribed into the articles in 250 for the 250th? In some articles, small edits were made to made to increase the readability of a particular document. 18th Century sentences were often extremely long and packed with qualifying language that can confuse a modern reader. So, some punctuation edits were made, archaic abbreviations are modernized, and some qualifying text is removed (replaced with “…”). In all cases, edits were minor and made only for the purpose of increasing the readability of the source. 7. Should there be more articles about poor people, women, and minorities in 250 for the 250th? The articles in 250 for the 250th are built on surviving sources and the body of surviving sources tilts heavily toward political and military leaders. When the body of surviving documents allows it, I selected topics that shed light on how the American Revolution impacted poor people, women, and minorities (particularly Africans-Americans in Monmouth County). Even when articles focus on political and military leaders, I seek to discuss the article topic’s impact on ordinary people. 8. Is 250 for the 250th the complete story of the American Revolution in Monmouth County? 250 for the 250th is the most complete account of the American Revolution in Monmouth County, but it is not the complete story. There are many important and interesting topics that lacked enough documentation to develop an article. Below are five examples of interesting topics that are not explored in 250 for the 250th due to lack of source materials: •Free African-American communities •The handfuls of American-Indians, Catholics, and Jews in Revolutionary Monmouth County •The Mattisonia Grammar School near Freehold and education in the county •Refugeetown on Sandy Hook (home to the Black Brigade and other Loyalist partisans) •Rebuilding villages razed by Loyalist raiding parties. Name Index For a name index throughout articles, the following searchable PDF is available. Tip : Use Crtl+F to find the names easily. Tables Here is the link to the tables page. Citations This entirety of this work is protected under US copyright . When using the information, please cite appropriately. This online citation generator offers various styles. Sample citation: Michael Adelberg, “[Article Title],” 250 for the 250th, Monmouth County Historical Association, 2025, [url]. Teacher Resource Click here for a guided classroom activity! Contact Information If you have a question for the author, please email 250@monmouthhistory.org . The author will return correspondence as time allows. Note : Mr. Adelberg is not a genealogist and is unable to help with genealogy questions. If you have a genealogy inquiry for our research librarian, please email Library@monmouthhistory.org . All in-depth genealogy questions will incur a standard research fee . The MCHA staff is unable to respond to emails or voicemails regarding this independent project. Thanks for understanding! Subscribe to get exclusive monthly updates on this collection Email* Join Our Mailing List Subscribe

Join us for free virtual lectures given by Monmouth County's most interesting speakers! MCHA Presents HISTORICALLY SPEAKING A Virtual Lecture Series - Co-Sponsored by the Monmouth County Library - Register below today for FREE Zoom lectures given by Monmouth County's most interesting and well-respected historians! You'll even have the chance to engage in a Q&A at the end! Browse our upcoming line-up to join us on the specified date at 7 PM. Please note that the May 28th lecture will be held both in person and virtually , so carefully choose your registration form. Thanks! May 28, 2026 John Barrows Presents The Enduring Myth of Blackbeard’s Raid on Middletown LOCATION: Monmouth Boat Club 31 Union St, Red Bank, NJ 07701 Monmouth County has been the scene of many enduring historical myths, some of the most fantastic stories ever published, yet many historians believe that such myths often have some kernel of truth behind them. So it is with the notorious pirate Blackbeard and his raid on Middletown, a local legend that endures to this day. John Barrows, editor of MonmouthTimeline.org and historian for the Monmouth Boat Club, will present his research findings into this myth: Could it possibly be true? And if it is a myth, where did it originate? And is there any truth behind it? The answers might surprise you. This lecture will be held both in person and also via Zoom. Please read the following instructions carefully: If you would like to attend IN PERSON at the Monmouth Boat Club , use the following form. Please do not register for an in-person spot if you are not sure you can attend. First name Last name Email Phone Submit If you would like to attend VIRTUALLY VIA ZOOM , use the form at the bottom of this page Anchor 2 Register for the Zoom link You will receive a reminder email a few days before the lecture date, and the link will be emailed a couple of hours prior to start time. Submit Thanks for registering! Previous Lectures are Now Available!

MCHA's Red Lion Tavern Found within the Storm of Revolution exhibit Many of the items in this tavern display are MCHA collection items from the 18th century. Learn about some of them here Our Story Every website has a story, and your visitors want to hear yours. This space is a great opportunity to give a full background on who you are, what your team does, and what your site has to offer. Double click on the text box to start editing your content and make sure to add all the relevant details you want site visitors to know. If you’re a business, talk about how you started and share your professional journey. Explain your core values, your commitment to customers, and how you stand out from the crowd. Add a photo, gallery, or video for even more engagement. Meet The Team Don Francis Founder & CEO Ashley Jones Tech Lead Tess Brown Office Manager Lisa Rose Product Manager Kevin Nye HR Lead Alex Young Customer Support Lead Our Clients

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 > Controversy Surrounds Local Prisoner Exchanges by Michael Adelberg In 1777, George Washington blocked Monmouth County officers from conducting a local prisoner exchange. However, local leaders conducted several local prisoner exchanges later in the war. - June 1780 - As noted in prior articles, prisoner exchanges were contentious not just with the enemy, but within the leadership ranks in Monmouth County. They were made more contentious by the “manstealing” (kidnapping) of a dozen militia officers in summer 1780. Advocates of locally-negotiated exchanges, such as Colonel Asher Holmes (commanding the county’s state troop regiment and largest militia regiment) saw exchanges as the only means of rescuing captured comrades from dismal British prisons. Opponents of local exchanges, including Colonel David Forman (Chairman of the vigilante Association for Retaliation ) believed that exchanges enticed a ruthless enemy to conduct additional manstealings. This issue, as much as any, split Monmouth County’s leaders into antagonistic factions , the leaders of which (literally) came to blows at the county’s October 1780 election . George Washington Stops First Attempted Local Prisoner Exchange The first discussions of prisoner exchanges for captured Monmouth Countian came after the Battle of the Navesink , during which 73 Monmouth militiamen were captured. Two captured officers, Captain Thomas McKnight and Lieutenant Thomas Little, were offered in an exchange on April 30: Richard McKnight & Thomas Little, taken prisoner in Monmouth County, New Jersey, have the [British] Commander in Chief's favor to be exchanged for Peter Campbell and Charles Harrison. The bearer, Wm. Taylor, has the Commander in Chief's leave to pass with a flag of truce in Monmouth County for the above purposes. The abovementioned William Taylor is permitted to pass to Sandy Hook in any boat or vessel duly authorized. Taylor was an attorney who led a Loyalist association that was broken up by Colonel David Forman and his regiment of Flying Camp in November 1776. Taylor arrived in Monmouth County in May 1777 and presented the exchange to Forman, then commanding the militia and Continental Army in the county. On May 11, Forman wrote George Washington, apparently requesting approval to conduct the exchange. Washington promptly disapproved: The proposition of exchanging Capt. Campbell and Harrison for Messrs Richard McKnight & Thomas Little, this I can by no means ascent to, as it would be establishing a precedent of a dangerous nature in its consequences. For then, whenever any of their Provincial Officers fell into our hands, they would send out parties to pick up our inhabitants of reputation in order to procure their release by exchange. At the same time, Washington approved of Forman’s decision to detain captured Middletown Loyalist, Richard Reading “who certainly forfeited any protection he might plead from Genl. Howe's permit” and directed that another Loyalist, George Rapalje, "should be sent immediately to the Governor to be tried by the laws of the land -- none but prisoners of war & spies are proper for military jurisdiction." The exact offenses of these men are unknown. Having disapproved the proposed exchange, Washington pledged to ask Elias Boudinot, Commissary of Prisoners, to contact his British counterpart in order “to bring about the exchange in some other manner." Washington further warned Forman not to accept visits from Loyalists under a flag of truce: I have no doubt of your vigilance & care, but I would beg your bear in mind that one intent of their sending those flags is to obtain intelligence which is clearly the case from their always sending people who know the country well. I therefore desire that such persons may never be permitted to come on shore. Washington’s criticism of local prisoner exchanges likely made an impression on Forman; he would carry forward Washington’s 1777 position when local exchanges became contentious again in 1780. Pressure Builds to Conduct Local Exchanges While Washington’s position had merit, local leaders faced great pressure to conduct exchanges that would bring home suffering loved ones. In June 1777, four captured New Jersey militia officers, including Capt. Stephen Fleming and Lt. Little of Monmouth County—wrote of their difficult imprisonment. They then asked the New Jersey Legislature to exchange them for captured Loyalists: Your petitioners lay our situation before you in hopes of redress, being melicia [sic] under your Government… As there are a number of people taken by our melicia going to join the King's Army, who no doubt would be as fond of exchanges as we, we beg you to use your influence to have [exchanges] effected as soon as possible. It does not appear that the New Jersey government acted on the petition, instead deferring to the Continental government which was seeking a general agreement (“cartel”) for exchanging prisoners with the British. A draft “Cartel for Prisoner of War Exchanges" was produced ten months later on April 10, 1778. It proposed an exchange schedule by which prisoners were valued by rank. Interestingly, the draft lists the last names of eleven officers held by the British, two of which were "Smock" and "Whitlock". These are Barnes Smock and John Whitlock, taken at the Battle of the Navesink fourteen months earlier. The draft cartel prioritized these officers as “objects of particular exception”—the first to be exchanged: We do hereby specially stipulate and declare, that the aforesaid officers shall be immediately exchanged on the terms of this cartel, for any officers of equal rank, or others by way of equivalent or composition; which have been or shall be delivered in lieu of them. It is unclear why Smock and Whitlock were prioritized over other Monmouth militia officers taken at the same time and still imprisoned. This cartel was not finalized. Smock stayed in jail until August (at that time, he was paroled home, not exchanged). Whitlock died as a prisoner in New York. The First Local Prisoner Exchanges With a general prisoner cartel stuck, New Jerseyans began conducting their own exchanges. Historian Edward Raser, who studied the prisoners captured at the Battle of Navesink, wrote that a militiaman named Vunck was exchanged in February 1778. Five more militiamen were exchanged in May 1778, including James Morris. These men were likely prioritized due to illness. Morris would later write that, on his exchange, he was "very sick with small pox, and looked very miserable, his hair was nearly all of his head.” Samuel Forman (not the Colonel of the same name) recalled the exchange of his brother Denice Forman. He “was confined to his bed, and for several days, nearly all hope of recovery was abandoned; but he providentially recovered." On May 27, a Loyalist party attacked Middletown Point and took John Burrowes, a leading citizen, prisoner. The next day, a mob led by Thomas Henderson (son-in-law to Burrowes) went to Middletown and took William Taylor prisoner (the same Loyalist who had sought to negotiate a prisoner exchange a year earlier). An attempt was made to conduct an exchange of Taylor for Burrowes. Burrowes was exchanged later that year, but it is unknown if he was exchanged for Taylor. Just two weeks later, the New Jersey Council of Safety authorized an “exchange” of Edward Taylor (William Taylor’s uncle) for John Willett, held by the British. Taylor (detained in Princeton ) was permitted to return to his home in Middletown in order to arrange the exchange. The order of the New Jersey Council of Safety read: That Edward Taylor, having procured the release of John Willett… Agreed, that said Mr. Taylor be discharged from his bond & have liberty to return to his place of abode, until the said John Willett be called back into British Lines. In September, the Council of Safety recommended an exchange of Anthony Woodward, a Loyalist insurrection leader, for Peter Imlay, a member of one of Upper Freehold’s leading families. Lacking a local intermediary to negotiate the exchange, it appears the exchange did not occur. In June 1779, Colonel Daniel Hendrickson and four other Shrewsbury Township militia officers were taken by a Loyalist raiding party as it razed the village Tinton Falls . While confined in New York, Hendrickson nearly arranged a six-person exchange that would have freed him and two others. Governor Wiliam Livingston endorsed the plan, but the exchange fell apart. On December 11, Elias Boudinot informed Livingston, "I am very much afraid the late proposal of an exchange by Coll. Hendrickson will not take place." Hendrickson was nearly exchanged again in March 1780 (for the Loyalist Colonel Billop) but that exchange also went awry. Exchange of James Mott Ignites Controversy In June 1780, James Mott, one of Monmouth County’s state legislators, was captured by a Loyalist manstealing party led by Colonel Tye. While detained at Sandy Hook, Mott was allowed to send note to his ally, Colonel Asher Holmes: My misfortune I suppose you have heard of before this reaches you. I would therefore beg of you to solicit my exchange, which can be done in lieu of Rich'd Reading, who was taken not many days ago, off the banks while afishing. I am obliged to go immediately for New York, which place I very much dread, as I am in an ill state of health. I am now promised here that James Wallen & John Wallen [James Walling, John Walling] would be exchanged for Richard Reading's two sons, who was taken with their father, I hope when you judge my case, you will use your interest to have an exchange effected and I make not the least doubt of you succeeding. Holmes apparently received Mott’s note and shared it. Mott’s father, James Mott, Sr., who had warm pre-war relationships in New York City, acted. Not content to let his son sit in a horrible British jail, he wrote, on June 22: "I am obliged to go to New York" to seek the release of his son “taken many days ago.” In so doing, Mott was plainly breaking the law by traveling behind British lines without a pass. Holmes and Mott’s decision to pursue an exchange drew the ire of David Forman, who complained in a July 12 letter to George Washington: The militia here [under Col Holmes] have lately gone into the exchange of prisoners taken when on duty, that the refugee parties take from their own houses or whilst about their usual business. The measure appears to me so replete with evil that I would be wanting in my duty should I pass it unnoticed... with every exchange made, we give encouragement to that British mode of manstealing, once gone into, will always enable them to hold a large ball of prisoners against us. Mott was exchanged that summer. In September, Forman and his allies again rebuked Holmes for seeking an exchange, this time for the captured Hendrick Smock. Forman and allies, on behalf of the extra-legal Association for Retaliation, summoned Holmes to answer for his conduct (sending a captured Loyalist, John Williams, to New York, offering himself in exchange for Smock). Holmes did not respond to their entreaty. Smock was not exchanged until January 1781. Complaints about Holmes’s locally-negotiated exchanges continued. This led to Governor Livingston inquiring if Holmes was improperly negotiating exchanges locally. Holmes responded stiffly on December 12: When I was last at Trenton, I informed your Excellency that one of our Commissaries of Prisoners had authorized me to exchange such prisoners of war, as are taken here; your reply then was that every commanding officer had a right to exchange their own prisoners. If any exchange going through my hands had been deemed not advisable, I think it would have been consistent with those professions you are pleased to make in your letter, to have mentioned to me at that time. Though controversial, local exchanges continued. Holmes continued conducting them even when it included frustrating negotiations with the hated Associated Loyalists . The table below shows that at least thirteen additional Monmouth County Whigs were exchanged home after Mott’s capture; the exchange of seven Loyalists is in a table in the appendix of this article. (Other attempted exchanges failed.) Monmouth Whig Date Additional Information Samuel Bowne June 1780 Re-taken three days after he exchanged home Lt. Joseph Wolcott July 1780 Provides intelligence on British ships at Sandy Hook Lt. Tunis Vanderveer July 1780 Retaken days later Lt. Tunis Vanderveer Dec. 1780 Second time exchanged Maj. James Whitlock Dec. 1780 Confined since February 1777 Capt. Barnes Smock Dec. 1780 Second time captured. Capt. Hendrick Smock Jan. 1781 Exchanged after four months of negotiation. Joseph Johnson Jan. 1781 9 ½ months in jail; sick with smallpox when exchanged Daniel Covenhoven Feb. 1781 Taken April 1779, fined for militia delinquency on return Lt. Britton Mount Feb. 1782 Taken in Jan. 1781, exchanged for Jacob Wooley John McLean Spring 1781 Taken, paroled home at Sandy Hook by family friend John Lane June 1782 Exchanged for Joel Wooley, Associated Loyalist William Everingham June 1782 Exchanged for Benjamin Dunham, Associated Loyalist Exchanged home, Mott finished his term in the New Jersey Legislature. In October 1780, he stood for re-election at the annual county election. Controversy erupted when election judges refused to hold the polls open a second day (to allow militia serving on the shore to come to Freehold and vote). When Mott protested, David Forman stepped forward and beat him in front of a crowd. This is the subject of another article . Related Historic Site : Marlpit Hall Appendix: Exchanged Monmouth County Loyalists Date Loyalist Description Dec 1777 Capt. John Longstreet Captured in August 1777, Longstreet paroled in Burlington, New Jersey, but in December he “dishonorably broke parole” by returning to be “among his friends” in Monmouth County. Ordered to be arrested. Dec 1777 Lt. Col. Elisha Lawrence His exchange is held up until he pays debt, “I doubt not that you will have honor enough to pay the balance due.” Sep 1781 George Johnson Associated Loyalists captures and jails Lt. Britton Mount and George John. Releases Johnson, “to go to Monmouth County on parole for 15 days, to effect his exchange for Mr. Raymond of Capt. Tilton's Company” Feb 1782 Jacob Wooley, Associated Loyalist Taken in Jan. 1781, exchanged for Lt. Britton Mount Jun 1782 Joel Wooley, Associated Loyalist Exchanged for John Lane Jun 1782 Benjamin Dunham, Associated Loyalist Exchanged for William Everingham Aug 1782 Peter Stout Monmouth Loyalist captured and jailed in Freedhold; “exchanged” but required to stay in Monmouth County; pressured to give up claim to family estate Sources : George Washington to David Forman, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections; Joseph Loring, passport, April 30, 1777; George Johnson [for George Washington] to David Forman, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections, May 9, 1777; NYHS Gilder-Lehrman Collection; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #4120. The draft cartel is in The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 1, 1768–1778, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 466–472; Edward Roser, "American Prisoners Taken at the Battle of the Navesink," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, vol. 45, n 2, May 1970, p50-2; Forman, Samuel S. Narrative of a Journey down the Ohio and Mississippi in 1789-90 (Cincinnati, R. Clarke and Co., 1888) p 11; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), pp. 830-1; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p202-3; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 253; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 7; William Livingston to Elias Boudinot, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 248-9; William Livingston to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 24, 1 January–9 March 1780, ed. Benjamin L. Huggins. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016, pp. 672–674; James Mott to ?, Monmouth County Historical Association, Cherry Hall Papers, box 5, folder 9; James Mott to Asher Holmes, John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, 4 vols, Genealogical Publishing Co, 1970, v4, p90, 117; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Joseph Johnson; Information on Bowne’s exchange and recapture is in William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 406; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 68, July 12, 1780; George Washington from David Forman, 21 July 1780,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-02593, ver. 2013-09-28; Edward Roser, "American Prisoners Taken at the Battle of the Navesink," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, vol. 45, n 2, May 1970, p57; David Forman, Nathaniel Scudder, Thomas Seabrook to Asher Holmes, Monmouth County Historical Association, Cherry Hall Papers, box 5, folder 9; Asher Holmes to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 13, December 12, 1780; William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1872); Records of Prisoners in New York, National Archives, Collection 881, R 593; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John McLean of Middletown, www.fold3.com/image/#27289028 ; Daniel Covenhoven to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 14, February 15, 1781; The Mount for Wooley exchange is in Clements Library, Proceedings of the Board of Directors of the Associated Loyalists, February 1782 p. 4; Elias Boudinot, The Elias Boudinot Letterbook (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2002) p42, 52-3; Elias Boudinot Letterbook, Wisconsin Historical Society, p42; Peter Stout, Affidavit, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #9154, 9177; Johnson’s parole documented in Clements Library, Proceedings of the Board of Directors of the Associated Loyalists, September 1781 p. 13; The Mount for Wooley exchange is in Clements Library, Proceedings of the Board of Directors of the Associated Loyalists, February 1782 p. 4; The Wooley for Lane exchange and the Dunham for Everingham exchange are in Princeton University Library, Microfilms Collection, #1081.133, Board of Associated Loyalists, June 6, June 24, 1782; Michael Adelberg, Biographical File , on file at the Monmouth County Historical Association. 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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 > Yelverton Taylor Takes British Troop Transport by Michael Adelberg The British troop transport, Triton, was disabled in a storm after leaving Sandy Hook. It and its 214 soldiers were captured by privateer Yelverton Taylor. He took the vessel into Little Egg Harbor. - September 1779 - As noted in prior articles, in 1778, there was a sharp increase in privateering on the Jersey shore. Sailors, mostly from Philadelphia but based at Egg Harbour (today’s Little Egg Harbor), took to the sea in small ships to make their living preying on British shipping. Among the most prolific of these early privateers was Yelverton Taylor. By summer 1779, the activity of Taylor and other Egg Harbor privateers was surpassed by New England privateers hovering off Sandy Hook, but Taylor would soon capture the greatest prize taken off New Jersey during the war. Historian Donold Shomette wrote of an ill-fated flotilla that sailed from New York in August 1779 with a mission of transporting thousands of soldiers to South Carolina. The flotilla was buffeted by terrible storms off the Jersey Shore. Badger lost two masts and was attacked by a privateer. After surrendering, HMS Soleby arrived and chased off the privateer. Badger was towed back to Sandy Hook. Three other ships in the flotilla, King George, Craford , and Favorite made it back to New York under the escort of the frigate, HMS Renown . Other ships in the flotilla were less fortunate. The largest transport in the flotilla, Adamant , was lost at sea. Polly was damaged but made it to the Delaware coast before it was captured by a privateer and taken into Philadelphia. Another transport was captured by the 16-gun privateer, Pickering . But the fate of transport, Triton , is best documented. It was taken off Barnegat. The Capture of Triton The New Jersey Gazette and Pennsylvania Gazette reported in early October: On Friday last, Captain Taylor sent into Egg Harbor a transport from New York said to be bound for Halifax with a quantity of dry goods, 214 Hessians, including a Colonel, who are properly taken care of. He was chased into Egg Harbor River by a British frigate; but on his passage up, with the transport in tow, he [Taylor in the schooner Mars] was unfortunately overset by a sudden squall of wind, by which one man drowned. The vessel, it is said, will be got up again. Taylor was accompanied by Captain Stephen Decatur, sailing in the smaller privateer, Comet , which had been captained by Taylor the prior year. Their capture was the British troop transport, Triton . Triton left Sandy Hook on September 14 in a flotilla with two other transports, Molly and Archer . One of the German officers on board, Andreas Wiederhold, provided a detailed account of the vessel’s capture. The flotilla encountered “turbulent weather under persistent rain” and the British ships “quite separated themselves” from Triton in the bad weather.” The storms continued next day, Widerhold recalled: Waves, mountains in height, seemed to devour the ship. Soon we were on top of such a terrible wave, soon we drove between such cruel waves down into the abyss… It was raining and hailing horribly. One of Triton ’s masts broke. The men had to clear the mast and rigging with axes in the rough seas. On September 16, Wiederhold recalled that the sea calmed enough for the men to come on deck. “We saw the miserable state of the ship.” Many men were sick and much of the supplies were waterlogged. Wiederhold concluded, “No man should have to describe such misery.” The next day he wrote that the ship had lost its bearings (though subsequent accounts suggest that they were off Barnegat). Its stores were largely lost, “everything was corrupted and ruined.” That day and the 18th, men came on deck and repaired what they could. On the 19th, a prayer service was held to thank God for delivering the ship from the storm. However, the bad luck of the Triton turned worse. That evening, Wiederhold reported: “6 p.m. of the evening we discovered a ship not more than 3 leagues removed. …I loaded a swivel (which was still left) and fired him 2 times to give a signal that we are flying the English flag… to see whether it was friend or foe. But it was night before we got close.” The men spent the evening discussing what they would do if the vessel was a rebel privateer. Wiederhold wrote about the ship approaching Triton slowly on September 20: “9 a.m. we beheld a ship which seemed to come straight to us; we were happy and believed that it could be an English frigate” to tow us into Sandy Hook. “Because it flew no flag, we could not tell whether it was friend or foe!” On September 21, the vessel closed gradually: “the night was very restless,” the vessel stood landward and “soon came to us from the face.” The Germans determined the vessel to be a rebel schooner and planned their defense. Then the vessel sailed away; it did not return until September 26. By September 25, Wiederhold was more optimistic: “We were … excited to come through the country complete with grazing privateers and to regain the open sea.” With favorable winds, he predicted “we would be happy to be the following day at Sandy Hook.” The optimism was misplaced. He wrote on September 26 of “a sad and unfortunate day.” The guard on the Triton spotted a vessel at dawn. “Everyone dressed and went to the top and all with the hope the vessel is from the friendly port of New York.” The Triton was too wounded to evade an enemy, and Weiderhold wrote of the moment he recognized the vessels as rebel privateers: We were according to the Capt. in so miserable circumstances that they would be unable to turn or evade an enemy. O! We were cheated in our hope because after they came so close and their breeze was felt, we saw a 13 stripes flag, which transformed our joy in suffering… on the right was a schooner named Mars, 14 Cannon, Capt. Taylor commander; that to the left was a shallop named Comet of 10 Cannon, Capt. Decatur commander. What likely happened is that one of the privateers spotted Triton several days earlier and, seeing the size of the transport, sought the assistance of a second privateer before moving against it. By 8:00 a.m. on the 26th, the two privateers were alongside the transport; they were the schooner Mars and schooner Comet . Wiederhold wrote of the transport being defenseless: We were completely unable to defend ourselves since all our cartridges were stuck together and our rifles were useless, and both ships, which remained a considerable distance from us, would have sunk us at the slightest resistance. There was nothing to do but surrender. The Triton sent an officer to Taylor to negotiate a surrender, the terms of which were not honored: They promised to leave the officers with their baggage and the soldiers with their knapsacks, a promise they kept badly. As we left our ship, our chests and boxes had to be opened and they searched them carefully, as well as the soldier’s knapsacks; and whatever they fancied, they took, so that little remained. I protested against this procedure, but received the answer that we should be glad we kept what we did. As privateers, they were entitled to everything. Weiderhold recorded that “the intention of the privateers was immediately to collect us for Philadelphia and the Delaware.” The privateers put the Triton in tow. However, a large ship was spotted in the distance, and, given its size, it was “considered an English ship and it moved always on us.” This forced the privateers to “settle for the entrance of the Little Egg Harbor.” The ships anchored at dusk at the mouth of Little Egg Harbor. Wiederhold wrote of little progress on September 28, perhaps because one of the privateers, Mars , grounded in the shallows of the unmarked harbor. Weiderhold wrote: It went aground on a shoal or a sandbank not more than a good musket shot from us. Since the wind was blowing strong and the waves beat violently against it, all their efforts to get it afloat were in vain. It capsized before our eyes and everything [on it] was lost. All the people on board were sitting on the keel, which was just about even with the surface of the water and over which the waves broke constantly, until they were fetched, little by little, in boats. So, the men “again anchored” at 7 pm. On the 29th, Wiederhold recorded that, “We ran into the little harbor… and dropped the anchor.” Then on the 30th, “Capt. Reiffurth [of the Triton ] and several crew” loaded into a boat and went ashore. On October 1, Wiederhold went ashore with 45 men in a shallop. This occurred even as the shallop grounded and required assistance: “When trying to navigate toward a house, [it] ran aground until a ship's boy steered us off with his oar and directed us to the right channel.” A privateer schooner, presumably the Mars , “remained on sandbank” grounded. The local geography fascinated Wiederhold, who wrote of Little Egg Harbor and its narrow channels: In reality, it isn't a harbor at all, but an expansive place with sandbars, shoals, swamps, large and small morasses, and sandy islands… The channels are so narrow that in many places a ship can only pass in the middle. In others, the ship can sail so close to shore that one can reach out and touch the banks with one's hand. If a boatman is unfamiliar with these channels or does not have a good pilot, it is impossible to pass through. This is true even though one can see another boat 1,000 paces away. By October 2, all of the men on the Triton were brought on shore. Wiederhold recorded that “after all was now ashore” the “surviving” materials were “loaded and driven up the Creek into the country.” However, because “the current was against us” the men sat at “anchor to stay overnight.” In the still wind, the men had to row the shallop upriver through the night. Finally, on October 3, at 7 a.m., the prisoners arrived at the privateer boomtown of Chestnut Neck. The village had been razed by a British raiding party a year earlier but the burnt buildings were likely rebuilt. Wiederhold did not note any destruction. The village was not equipped for so many prisoners. The Germans had to “lie in stables because otherwise [there] no room for them; were nevertheless pleased to be off the miserable ship and on God's Earth.” On October 4, Wiederhold met Major Richard Westcott. Wescott impressed Wiederhold because he was “so polite, so he gave 3 wagons for the sick.” The German officers compensated Wescott with their silver coins. The Germans were then marched overland to Philadelphia. They reached the Delaware River on October 16. The New Jersey Gazette reported that the Triton was not the only British vessel in the convoy to suffer: “four of the transports [were] much shattered, the Renown returned dismasted." One vessel sunk at sea. The capture of the Triton was Taylor’s last recorded capture. From this and other prizes, he had likely accumulated a small fortune, and he would surely receive harsh treatment from the British if captured. Taylor likely retired although his colleague, Decatur, would remain active . Related Historic Site : Dyckman House Museum (Hessian Hut) (New York) Sources : M.D. Learned, Tagebuch des Capt. Wiederholdt, Vom 7 October 1776 Bis 7 December 1780, (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1914), p74-88; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 65; Donald Shomette, Privateers of the Revolution: War on the New Jersey Coast (Shiffer: Atglen, PA, 2015); Edwin Salter, A History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, N.J.: E. Gardner and Son, 1890), pp. 119-120; Paul C. Burgess, A Colonial Scrapbook: The Southern New Jersey Coast. 1675-1783 (New York: Carlton Press, 1971), p 170; J.A. McManemin, Captains of Privateers. (Spring Lake, N.J.: Ho-Ho-Kus Pub. Co., 1994), pp. 341-344; Valentine C. Hubbs, Hessian Journals: Unpublished Documents of the American Revolution (London: Camden House, 1980) pp. 81-3; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Hand, JP, The Cape May Navy, (Charleston, SC: History Press, 2018) pp. 71-76. 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 Rise of Little Egg Harbor and the British Response by Michael Adelberg This map shows the winding Mullica River that connected the village of Chestnut Neck to Little Egg Harbor. It would become New Jersey’s most important Revolutionary War port. - July 1776 - By spring 1776, there had already been a handful of incidents involving British ships on the Jersey shore, including the capture of a British storeship in January intended for their army. An enormous fleet departed England, bound for America with 25,000 soldiers. It would be the largest European Army to ever land in the Americas. As New York City became rebellious, the squadron of British ships at New York sailed for Sandy Hook and seized it as a naval base—it would be held by the British navy longer than any piece of the Atlantic Seaboard. More British navy vessels arrived in American waters—and the British blockaded the major American ports in April. Philadelphia ships were blocked from entering the Delaware Bay. They diverted to Little Egg Harbor to avoid capture. The Rise of Little Egg Harbor Located immediately south of Monmouth County, Little Egg Harbor, and the inland village of Chestnut Neck, a few miles up the winding Mullica River, had long been part of Philadelphia’s economy. The Delaware River froze for parts of each winter and ships went to Little Egg Harbor (called “Egg Harbour” at the time) to reprovision and deposit cargo for overland transport. When the British blockaded Delaware Bay in April 1776, it was only natural that Philadelphia ship captains detoured to Little Egg Harbor. The Continental Congress, based in Philadelphia, embraced the New Jersey port. Its journals record more than a dozen references to activity there between April 1 and July 31. The Congress sent agents to Egg Harbor, received prisoners there, transported war materials, fitted out vessels, and sent wagon-trains back and forth from Philadelphia. In June, Congress considered the need to defend the port. It resolved: "The Marine Committee be empowered and instructed to build, man and equip two large row gallies for the defense of Little Egg Harbour." But there is no evidence that these gallies ever put to sea. Newspapers describe at least seven vessels coming into Egg Harbor in seven weeks. They are summarized in the table below: Date / Vessel / American Captain / Other Information April 22 British “tender” Capt. John Barry Takes six-gun schooner, tender to the HMS Phoenix May 5 Sloop Capt. Youngs Brings in cargo of “13 tons of powder, 24 tons of salt petre, and 60 arms” May 18 Schooner Fidelity Capt. Broadhurst New Jersey vessel chased by British vessel, crosses into Egg Harbor to escape June 5 Three prizes: Lady Juliana, Juno , and Reynolds Capts. George McEvoy and John Adams Two American privateers, Congress and Chance , bring in three prizes with “cargo of 187 lbs. of plate, 1000 hogshead of sugar, 246 bags of pimento, 396 bags of ginger, 25 tons of cocoa, 1 cask to turtle shells.” June 6 “small privateer” Unknown Cargo of “1100 hhds Sugar, 140 Puncheons Rum, 70 Pipes Madeira, 24000 Mexico Dollars” It can be safely assumed that additional ships entered and left the port during this period. British Warships Patrol the Jersey Shore The increased traffic at Little Egg Harbor and necessity of maintaining a presence at Sandy Hook and the Delaware Bay led to British warships traversing the Jersey Shore. In April, an anonymous New Yorker wrote about the effectiveness of the increasing Royal Navy activity: They are driving back all the boats from the Jersies and cutting off all our supplies and provisions… [but] it is impossible that the Men-of-War can watch all our vessels, though they lie at the Hook on that purpose; we have so many creeks and harbors that they know nothing of, that they cannot ruin us. The first prize taken by a British vessel on the Jersey shore might have been on April 1 when a British tender to a frigate “took a small sloop, then lying in the road, belonging to Egg-Harbor." Large British warships were frequently “tended” by sloops that ferried men and provisions in and out of shallow ports that the larger ships could not enter. The shallow, unmarked ports of the Jersey shore were dangerous to British frigates, so tenders were especially valuable for shore activity. Two weeks later, another tender took on a local pilot at Barnegat. The Pennsylvania Journal reported: “One Arthur Green of Barnegat was taken by the Phoenix 's tender and has given Capt. Parker an account of all the inlets about there.” The report noted that Green was now on a Loyalist sloop “which they have fitted out as an armed vessel, which, make no doubt, he will be cruizing in all the inlets." This appears to be the first reference to Loyalist privateering on the Jersey Shore. In May, the New York Provincial Congress noted that "Captain Jonathan Clarke, late from the French West-Indies… had the misfortune to have his vessel and cargo seized and taken by an armed tender near Black-Point, below Sandy-Hook.” The legislature advanced $25 to assist Clarke and his crew for their hardship. A few days later, Commodore Esek Hopkinson of the Continental Navy wrote of the sloop L'Amiable Marie being taken off the Shrewsbury shore by HMS Phoenix. He noted that sailors on board the sloop were pressed into the British Navy. The British Navy chased another vessel south of Sandy Hook on June 12. The Pennsylvania Ledger reported: A sloop belonging to New Brunswick from Curacao was drove ashore by one of the ministerial pirates a little southward of Shrewsbury. The crew got on shore and by assistance of the country people [and] drove the pirates off. Her cargo consists of dry goods and about 300 bushels of salt, which is safely landed. The British naval presence at Sandy Hook continued to grow, from three warships in April to seven in May, to twelve in early June. Patrols of the Jersey shore continued. On June 23, the New York Journal reported, "the enemy's ships were all on a cruise along the [Jersey] coast” and they apparently destroyed an American vessel, “the schooner that was burnt belonged to Egg Harbor." The British armada arrived at Sandy Hook on June 29. The British cruised the Monmouth shore without significant opposition. The Continental Navy had vessels around Cape May and scored a few victories against the British Navy. But Continental Navy vessels did not come north to the Monmouth shore until the end of 1776. In the meantime, the New York State Navy assigned two small vessels to patrol the shore north of Little Egg Harbor, but it appears that these vessels spent more time avoiding larger British warships than protecting American ships. Joseph Galloway, a leading Loyalist, wrote about the vulnerable New Jersey shore. New Jersey’s ports were "for the most part, naked, without fortifications and cannon." Little Egg Harbor was “altogether defenceless" and its vessels “stay in harbor" when British ships are nearby. He wrote to Admiral Richard Howe, commanding the British Navy in America, that "no privateer could pass out of any port… without your consent." Yet the British were not interested in moving against the small villages and shallow ports on the Jersey shore in 1776. Two years later, the British would regret their failure to move against Little Egg Harbor early on. It would blossom into a center of American privateering . The port of Toms River , 30 miles north in Monmouth County, would emerge as New Jersey’s second most important privateer port. Related Historic Site : Tuckerton Historical Society Sources : Margaret Willard, Letters on the American Revolution 1774-1776 (Associated Faculty Press, 1968) p 308; Joseph Galloway, Letter to the Right and Honourable Viscount Howe on His Naval Conduct in the American War, (London: J. Wilkie, 1779) pp. 15-19, 21-22, 24, 35-7; William James Morgan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969) vol. 5, p 713. Robert Scheina, "A Matter of Definition: The New Jersey Navy, 1777-1783," American Neptune, 1979, vol 39, n 3, p 211; Journals of the Continental Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/05000059/ v4, p293; 328, 351 and 379; v5 p445, 476, 722, 729; Donald Shomette, Privateers of the Revolution: War on the New Jersey Coast (Shiffer: Atglen, PA, 2015) pp 51-60; Donald Shomette, Privateers of the Revolution: War on the New Jersey Coast (Shiffer: Atglen, PA, 2015) pp 59-60; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v5: p 745 and v6:1323; William James Morgan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969) vol. 6, p 650 and vol. 5, p 698; Alverda S. Beck, ed., The Correspondence of Esek Hopkins (Providence, 1933), p 77; Christopher Marshall, The Diary of Christopher Marshall (Amazon Digital Services, 2014) p 69; Bruce Bliven, Under the Guns, New York 1775-1776 (New York: Harper & Row, 1972) p 279; Pennsylvania Journal, April 10, 1777; Maryland Journal, May 1, 1776; Library of Congress, NY Gaz & Weekly Mercury, reel 2904; New York Gazette & Weekly Mercury, May 27, 1776; Pennsylvania Journal, April 17, 1776; Virginia Gazette [Dixon and Hunter; Williamsburg], 22 June 1776; Pennsylvania Ledger, vol. 1, Jan. 1775-Nov. 1776; Pennsylvania Evening Post, June 13, 1776; Letters of Delegates to Congress: Volume 4 May 16, 1776 - August 15, 1776; http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:3:./temp/~ammem_s9BZ :: Paul Burgess, A Colonial Scrapbook; the Southern New Jersey Coast, 1675-1783 (New York, Carlton Press, 1971) pp 107-8; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, pp. 110, 117. 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The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Capture of the Schooner, Two Friends, and Its Captain by Michael Adelberg Cooperages like this one in England made barrels that carried rum and other spirits. 160 barrels of rum were recovered near Toms River by opportunistic locals from a wrecked Loyalist vessel. - December 1778 - As noted in prior articles, privateering along the New Jersey shore blossomed in the summer of 1778. With the entry of France into the war, the British navy now faced a powerful enemy and ships were diverted to other parts of the sprawling empire. American privateers, with Little Egg Harbor (commonly called “Egg Harbor”) as their base, cruised the Jersey shore in search of solitary British and Loyalist ships going to and from New York. Large vessels such as the Venus and Love & Unity were vulnerable to capture, and privateer captains, such as Yelverton Taylor took several vessels and amassed small fortunes. Though not as famous or prolific as Taylor, David Stevens was another one of Egg Harbor’s successful privateer captains in 1778. By August, he had taken at least two prizes into that port. He would take his largest prize on December 1. On December 3, the Pennsylvania Gazette , reported that two days earlier: "Captain Stevens in a privateer belonging to Egg Harbor took the schooner Two Friends , Capt. Sion, of 6 carriage and 12 swivel guns, with 22 men, belonging to New York." Stevens towed the prize back to Egg Harbor. The actual captain of the Two Friends , as indicated by later reports, was Captain Alexander Bonnett. A brief report in the New Jersey Gazette on December 9 added that a "British armed vessel… came ashore near Barnegat. The crew, about sixty in number, surrendered to our militia… and are sent as prisoners to Bordentown." Indeed, antiquarian accounts note that Two Friends had grounded off Barnegat and that Stevens was assisted by local militia who secured the crew. The vessel and its cargo would eventually sell for £12,000. (The New Jersey Gazette account claims it sold for £5,000, but that figure likely did not include the cargo which presumably was auctioned off separately). The loss of the Two Friends was important enough to be discussed in New York where William Smith, the former attorney general of the colony, now a Loyalist, recorded on December 3: "A store ship is on the shore at Barnegat, carelessness or perfidy. There is perpetual negligence in not employing American pilots or seamen." The New Jersey Gazette reported again on the Two Friends on January 27, 1779: The armed sloop Two Friends, commanded by Capt. Alexander Bonnet, was cut away on Long Beach, near Barnegat. A number of people from the shore went to their assistance and saved all of them, but one man drowned...she went to pieces in a few hours. It is interesting that the report suggests that Two Friends broke apart, while prior reports say that the vessel was taken by Stevens, towed into Egg Harbor, and sold. It is presumed that the first reports were correct. The January 27 report goes on to note that the captain of the Two Friends , Alexander Bonnett, was permitted to stay in Toms River as a non-combatant, even as his crew was taken prisoner. This raises the possibility that Bonnett bribed local officials into paroling him. The report in the Gazette discussed Bonnett’s fate. He boarded a vessel at Toms River, Endeavor , from the West Indies and presumably (illegally) bound for New York. Bonnett’s bad fortune soon turned tragic. The Gazette reported: “On the night he parted, her [the Endeavor ’s] cable was cast away in the bay and Capt. Bonnet, with every soul on board, perished." An antiquarian source further noted that most of the cargo of rum and molasses was lost, but 160 barrels of rum were saved by locals. They likely toasted Bonnet’s bad fortune soon after. The misfortune of the Two Friends and Alexander Bonnett is a good case study on the way that privateering, opportunism, and luck combined on the Jersey shore during the American Revolution. Certainly, Stevens and the local militia were necessary to the capture, but they were not the cause of it. If Smith is to be believed, the capture was attributable to a British captain sailing an overloaded ship in tricky waters without a local pilot. Locals on the Monmouth shore were both Patriots eager to seize an enemy vessel and opportunists happy to reach an accord with a vessel’s rich captain. This duality would remain evident on the shore for the remainder of the war. Related Historic Site : New Jersey Maritime Museum Sources : Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 80-4; Alfred Heston, South Jersey: A History 1664-1923 (Lewis Historical Publishing, 1923) p 225; William Smith, Historical Memoirs of William Smith: From 26 August 1778 to 12 November 1783 (New York: Arno, 1971) p 53; Pennsylvania Journal, February 3, 1779; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930 Alfred Heston, South Jersey: A History 1664-1923 (Lewis Historical Publishing, 1923) p 225; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 119-20; Paul Burgess, A Colonial Scrapbook; the Southern New Jersey Coast, 1675-1783 (New York, Carlton Press, 1971) pp 150; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 58. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Continental Army Camps at Englishtown and Manalapan by Michael Adelberg The Village Inn served as George Washington’s headquarters for the two days that the Continental Army stayed at Englishtown after the Battle of Monmouth. Soldiers slept in nearby fields. - June 1778 - As discussed in prior articles, in June 1778, the British Army withdrew from Philadelphia and marched east into Monmouth County. It camped in Allentown on the night of June 25, west of Freehold on June 26, and into Freehold on June 27. George Washington sent Colonel Daniel Morgan’s regiment ahead with Monmouth County militia to harass the British and slow their march. Meanwhile, Washington’s Army pursued from behind, hoping to engage the British in New Jersey. The two armies fought at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28. Continental Soldiers Pass through Englishtown Besides Morgan’s regiment, the first Continental soldiers to arrive in Monmouth County arrived from the west via Cranbury. On the evening of June 27, these advance units camped near Englishtown, just four miles from British soldiers camped at Freehold. Sergeant Ebenezer Wild recorded arriving at “Penelopan Bridge” on the evening of June 27. The men had marched since 7 a.m., in weather Wild termed “excessive hot.” He noted the scant accommodations that night, “We lay in the open field. Hard thunder, &c. &c." Major John Jameson wrote that his men lacked uniforms: "Our men are so naked that it is a shame to bring them into the field." Three men deserted. The Battle of Monmouth began the next morning when Continental units under General Charles Lee, informed by local guides , pushed forward against the British rear guard. General Joseph Cilley recalled, “We were at a small town called Englishtown, about four miles from [the British camp at] Monmouth Court House… marched forward before dawn.” For at least one Continental unit, the order to march was unexpected. John Ross recalled being roused so suddenly that "they had to leave their kettles on the fire with the beef cut up." The initial Continental advance was disjointed and, when the British counterattacked, the Americans were pushed backward. In the early afternoon, Washington’s army arrived and stabilized the battle lines. As Washington’s men surged forward, they discarded their possessions in order to lighten their burdens in the oppressive heat. Continental officer, Persefor Frazer, wrote of his march through Englishtown on June 28: We came to this place [Englishtown] about five miles - here we rested our men a small space of time, we were directed to leave out all the packs of the soldiers in order to expedite our march, as the day was excessively hot. Captain William Beatty of Maryland wrote similarly: About a mile before we reached Englishtown, we were ordered to leave our knapsacks and blankets, then resumed our march by passing Englishtown to a church [Tennant] about two miles nearer Monmouth [Freehold]. Lt. Colonel John Brooks, General Charles Lee's Adjutant, discussed the men left behind to protect the discarded possessions of the soldiers: When they marched from Englishtown [Lee] ordered all the packs to be left under the care of proper guards. After the troops had paraded to march to Englishtown, I rode through the different encampments and found the baggage very strongly guarded. Upon riding up to several and enquiring the reason of so many men being there, I was answered that they were men who were lame, sick, and those who were worn out with the march the day before, together with the guards who were left with the baggage. The idea that I then formed of those left on the ground was they were between four and five hundred in the whole. John Bruce of Middletown recalled his militia company guarding the possessions of the Continentals: "They went to that place [Englishtown] to guard the baggage wagons.” Similarly, Andrew Bray of the Hunterdon County militia recalled protecting the army’s baggage at the Battle of Monmouth, "I had been on duty all night… it was said that General Washington ordered the militia to stay back toward Englishtown & guard the baggage of the American Army. They stood still all day." Ralph Schenck of Middlesex County recalled the hospitality of the locals that day: We all suffered severely from the want of water. The tongues of some of our men were so swollen with thirst, that they could [only] with difficulty speak so as to be understood, but when we arrived at Englishtown, we had good attention paid to us by the inhabitants of that place. Despite the lightened loads, men still fainted from heat stroke during the day. Capt. Stephen Olney recalled that during the Battle of Monmouth: The heat of the day was so intense that it required the greatest efforts of the officers to keep their men in the ranks; and several of my company were so overcome and faint'd in coming; they said they could go no farther, but by distributing half a pint of brandy which I happened to have in my canteen, I made out to get them along. After the battle, with the sun setting, most Continental troops stayed on the battlefield without tents. Dr. Samuel Adams of New Jersey Line, wrote: "Lodged at night with the Army on the field of Action with no other covering than the canopy of heaven, not so much as the convenience of a blanket." Beatty recalled that that night "the whole army lay on their arms all night" expecting to resume the battle in the morning. Continental Army at Englishtown after the Battle of Monmouth Beatty’s men did not get back to their possessions until June 29. Ebenezer Wild corroborated Beatty: "we marched to the ground where we left our baggage yesterday, and lay there all night without any tents." On June 29, the Continental Army rested at Englishtown and Freehold. The battle of the prior day was discussed as a glorious victory. The order book of a Virginia regiment read: The Commander in Chief congratulates the Army on the victory obtained over the arms of his Britannic Majesty yesterday and thanks most sincerely the gallant officers & men who distinguished themselves on this occasion, and such others as by their good order and coolness gave the happiest progress of what might have been expected had they came to action. - The Commander in Chief also thanks Genl. Dickinson and the militia of this State for the noble spirit which they have shown in opposing the Enemy on their march from Philadelphia and for the deed which they have given by harassing & impeding their motions so as to allow the Continental troops to come up with them. Companies had scattered the prior day and men wandered the fields looking for their possessions and units. Henry Dearborn recalled that "we lay still to recruit our men, there being no probability of coming up with the enemy.” The battle and thunderstorms had left the fields and roads nearly impassable. Dr. Wiliam Read recalled a "bog was so deep and required the utmost effort of his, and his servant's horses also to get through it.” Read slept in the county court house on the night of the 29th tending the wounded , "Continued to dwell in the Court House, sleeping, when he was able, in the Judge's bench." The Continental Army awakened on June 30 in the fields between Freehold and Englishtown. George Washington's general orders called for a celebration: The men are to clean and wash themselves this afternoon and appear as decent and clean as possible. Seven o'clock this evening is appointed that we may publicly unite in Thanksgiving to the Supreme Disposer of human events, for the victory obtained on Sunday over the flower of the British troops. But June 30 included some more somber messaging to the soldiers about stealing from the locals. Jedidiah Huntington, a Connecticut officer, read this order to his men: "The General further gives notice that the detestable crime of marauding will henceforward be invariably punished with instant death." William Malcolm of New York (who led an expedition to disable the Sandy Hook Lighthouse two years earlier) gave this order: Complaints having been made to the Commander in Chief that certain persons belonging to the Army have received the property of the inhabitants which had been concealed in order to escape the ravages of the Enemy. He calls on the Commanding Officers to order a strict search of the soldier's packs at parade time; the offenders that may be discovered are to be brought to condign punishment; such articles as may be found are to be left the Adjutant General's. For some Continentals, June 30 was an unpleasant day. Jeremiah Greenman wrote of resting on June 30 in hot weather without water. "Water is very scarce indeed / such a number of soldiers that water is almost as scarce as liquor & what is got is very bad indeed." But Joseph Bloomfield of the New Jersey Line recalled the day very differently: "We want for nothing to make our time pass most agreeably." On July 1, the men awoke to additional stern orders about plundering: The Officers are to exert themselves in restraining their men from straggling, injuring fences, fruit trees, & c. They are to have the orders of the 30th relative to marauding read to the men and use every means to guard against this infamous practice. Based on the repeated warnings about plundering, there can be no doubt that some Continental soldiers stole goods from the residents of Freehold and Englishtown. But it can also be safely assumed that these instances, whatever they were, lacked the frequency and severity of British plundering at Freehold immediately before the battle. The Continental Army was soon in motion. With the exception of a few regiments sent east to shadow the British, it left Monmouth County on July 1, arriving and camping in Spotswood that evening. General Nathanael Greene described an unpleasant march from Englishtown, "We marched through a country, from Monmouth to Brunswick, not unlike the deserts of Arabia for soil and climate." As for the people of Monmouth County, particularly those living near the battlefield, the next month would be spent caring for wounded and recovering from the physical damage of the battle. Both of these are topics of other articles. Related Historic Site : The Village Inn Sources : John U. Rees, “Reach Coryell's ferry. Encamp on the Pennsylvania side.” The March from Valley Forge to Monmouth Courthouse, 18 to 28 June 1778", unpublished manuscript, p34; Joseph Clark, Diary, Proceedings of the NJ Historical Society, 1853-55, vol. 7, pp 106; 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, p4, 30; Militia Orders, Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Battle of Monmouth files: folder – Militia; Charles Campbell, ed., The Bland Papers, Being a Selection from the Manuscripts of Colonel Theodorick Bland, Jr., of Prince George County, Virginia (Petersburg, Va., 1840-43), p 97; Narrative of Stephen Olney in Catherine Read Williams, Biography of Revolutionary Heroes (Providence: 1839) p 244; Benson Lossing, The Pictorial Field-book of the Revolution (New York: Harper Brothers, 1860) vol. 2, pp. 354-64; Charles Bushnell, Crumbs for Antiquarians, 2 vols., (New York: privately printed, 1864) vol. 1, p 14; National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 46, item 39, vol. 1, #224; Israel Shreve to Polly Shreve, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Dreer Collection, Series 52:2, vol. 4; Persifor Fraser, General Persifor Fraser (1907), pp. 182-3; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of John Ross of North Carolina, National Archives, p18; Elliott Cogswell, History of Nottingham, Deerfield and Northwood (Manchester: John Clarke, 1878) p 181; Pennsylvania Gazette, August 29, 1778; William Beatty, "Journal of Captain Wiliam Beatty of the Maryland Line, 1776-1781", Historical Magazine, 2nd Series, 1867, pp 113; Archilaus Lewis, Diary, Dennis Ryan, A Salute To Courage The American Revolution as Seen through Wartime Writings (New York: Columbia University Press, 1979) p 130-1; Lt. Thomas Blake’s letter in Frederic Kidder, History of the First New Hampshire Regiment in the War of the Revolution (Albany, NY: Joel Munsell, 1868) pp. 42-3; Ralph Schenck, The Historical Magazine (Boston: C. James Benjamin, 1861) vol. 5, p 219; Ebenezer Wild, "The Journal of Ebenezer Wild (1776-1781)," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2nd ser., 6 (1890-91), p 110; Jedediah Huntington, New York Historical Society, Orderly Books Collection, reel 5. #60-61; Dr. Samuel Adams 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 30, 31; Copy: David Library, Battle of Monmouth Collection, #28; Lt. Col. John Brooks, 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, p5; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of Andrew Bray of NJ, National Archives, p6-7; George Washington to Congress, George Washington, Official Letters to the Honorable American Congress Written During the War between the United Colonies and Great Britain (Boston: Manning & Loring, 1796) v 2, p272; Orderly Book of the 8th Massachusetts Regt., Book 2, June-August 1778, Huntington Library, HM 719; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Bruce of New York, www.fold3.com/image/#11713958 ; Historical Society of Pennsylvania, John Nice Papers, coll. 451, box 1, folder 2; Henry Dearborn, Revolutionary War Journals of Henry Dearborn (Chicago: Ayer Company, 1939) pp. 125, 129; Jeremiah Greenman, Diary of a Common Soldier in the American Revolution, 1775-1783 (DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 1978) p 122; Munn, David, Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey, (Trenton: Bureau of Geology and Topography, New Jersey Geological Survey, 1976) p 90, 92; Ebenezer Wild, Journal of Ebenezer Wild, Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2nd Series, vol. 6, p 109-110; "Notes on the Battle of Monmouth" (originally published in the London Gazette, September 17, 1778), reprinted in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 14, 1890, pp. 46-47; Virginia Historical Society, Revolutionary War Orderly Book, June 1-July 2, 1778; R. W. Gibbes, Documentary History of the American Revolution, Consisting of Letters and Papers Relating to the Contest for Liberty, Chiefly in South Carolina 1764-1776, (New York, 1855) vol. 2, 255-6; Dr. 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; Joseph Bloomfield, Citizen soldier: The Revolutionary War journal of Joseph Bloomfield (Newark: New Jersey Historical Society, 1982) p 137; John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 12, pp. 131-2; Virginia Historical Society, Revolutionary War Orderly Book, June 1-July 2, 1778; George Washington’s Orders in John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 12, p 147; David Griffith, letter, Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Battle of Monmouth files: folder - James Kochan; Nathanael Greene, The Papers of General Nathanael Greene (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina Press, 1976) vol. 2, p 451. 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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 > Associated Loyalists Raze Toms River by Michael Adelberg The Block House fort at Toms River was attacked by a 100-man Loyalist party that overwhelmed the defenders. The fort and the village were razed after the defenders surrendered. - March 1782 - In early 1782, Toms River was the most solidly Whig (pro-Revolution) village along Monmouth County’s sixty-mile Atlantic shoreline. According to antiquarian sources, the village included 12-15 homes, including the houses of four officers (John Cook, Jacob Fleming, David Imlay, Ephraim Jenkins) and two civil officeholders, Daniel Randolph and Abiel Aiken. The village also included the house of Mary Studson, whose husband, Joshua Studson was killed by London Traders in December 1780. The village had two taverns (belonging to Daniel Griggs and Aiken), a few warehouses and the gristmill of Abraham Schenck. On the south end of the village was a boatyard for repairing and constructing vessels. On the edge of the village was the Block House, an open fort described as “about six or seven feet high, made of large logs, with loop holes in between, and a number of brass swivels on top, which was entirely open, nor was there any way of entering, but climbing over.” Toms River had a wharf capable of holding up to twenty oar-powered and small sailing vessels. The port was too shallow for large vessels. They had to anchor in the bay and shuttle cargo to shore via oar-powered boats. Toms River was at a junction of three roads—one south to Little Egg Harbor, one north to Shrewsbury, and one northwest to Freehold. Travel on any of the roads was complicated by storms that felled trees and rutted the sandy roadbeds. Their poor condition caused a strong indictment of county Highway Overseers . One antiquarian source claims that the road to Shrewsbury was non-continuous. Travel on any of these roads was made dangerous by Pine Robbers and other thieves who preyed on travelers. New Jersey had three privateer ports—Cape May, Chestnut Neck (upriver from Little Egg Harbor), and Toms River . Local militia conducted patrols in boats. Dover’s long shoreline was sparsely populated and swampy—travel by boat was faster and more likely to yield encounters with London Traders. Interdicting the London Trade and providing a check against Loyalist Pine Robbers were the primary responsibilities of the local militia. Dover militia also acted as privateers when wounded British vessels came near shore. Dover militia officers took several prizes into Toms River during the war. The war brought an unprecedented amount of visitors and capital to Toms River. The Pennsylvania government built a large saltworks south of the village and a second saltwork was established at Mosquito Cove north of the village. The saltworks created jobs and purchased large amounts of provisions from locals. Privateering would prove to be the shore’s true boom industry . Over the course of the war, more than a dozen prizes were brought into Toms River. These captures filled the village’s warehouses with valuable goods and filled the taverns with deep-pocketed buyers. In late 1781, the Pine Robber gangs of John Bacon and William Davenport menaced Toms River. The village’s principal defenders were 30 state troops whose terms were expiring. Amidst a wave of complaints, a new guard was raised under Joshua Huddy of Colts Neck. It arrived in February 1782. But Huddy’s twenty men and the Block House would be no match for a large raiding party. The Toms River Raid in Original Documents On March 24, 1782, a large party of Associated Loyalists raided Toms River. The Loyalist New York Gazette printed the longest report of the raid. It is excerpted below and printed in full in Appendix 1 of this article. The Loyalists, under Lieutenant Blanchard, consisted of “armed whale-boats, and about eighty men belonging to them, with Capt. Thomas and Lieut. Roberts, both of the late Buck’s County Volunteers, and between thirty or forty other refugee Loyalists.” They assembled at Sandy Hook on March 20 but were detained until March 23 by “unfavorable winds.” On the 23rd, they left for Toms River “under convoy of Captain Stewart Ross, in the armed brig Arrogant .” At dawn on March 24, “the party landed near the mouth of Tom’s River, and marched to the block house… just at day light.” The march on Toms River was not easy: They were challenged and fired upon, and when they came to the works they found the rebels, consisting of twenty-five or six twelve-months men and militia, apprised of their coming, and prepared for defence. Blanchard called on the outnumbered defenders to surrender. He was “not only refused” but Huddy showed “defiance.” Blanchard then “ordered the place to be stormed… though defended with obstinacy, it was soon carried.” The report claimed nine defenders were killed (including Major John Cook) and twelve men were captured, including Huddy. “The rest made their escape in the confusion.” The Loyalists also suffered losses: “Two were killed: Lieut. Iredell of the armed boatmen and Lieut. Inslee of the loyalists, both very brave officers… Lieut. Roberts and five others are wounded.” The report described the “piratical set of banditti” living at Toms River whose past acts merited rough treatment. Accordingly, the fort was “burned to the ground and an iron cannon spiked and thrown into the river.” Two large boats, one reportedly owned by Adam Hyler, “were brought off.” Captain Ross of the British navy was thanked for his “spirit through the whole service” including “the politeness and tender treatment of the wounded while onboard his brig.” The New Jersey Gazette printed an anonymous letter describing the raid. Interestingly, the report did not portray the attack as led by the Associated Loyalists, but stated that “about one hundred refugees under the command of one Davenport” attacked Toms River. The report suggested a brave but doomed defense of the Block House: On the alarm, Capt. Huddy repaired to the Block House, in which some of the inhabitants joined him, and others remained outside: The house was defended until the ammunition was expended, when it surrendered. Major Cook, who was out of the house, fell; five others were killed and two wounded. Capt. Huddy, Daniel Randolph, Esq., and several more were carried off. A Monmouth County petition drafted three weeks after the attack on Toms River claimed that “five of Captain Huddy's men were most inhumanly murdered after his surrender." The razing of Toms River was near complete: “The enemy then burnt the village, except the houses of Aaron Buck and Mrs. Studson, after which they went off immediately. The unfortunate inhabitants have not saved more than two horses.” This is not correct. The report incorrectly stated that “Davenport was wounded, supposed since dead.” Davenport was killed three months later in a battle with militia at Forked River . The same report was printed in the Pennsylvania Evening Post . The Maryland Gazette also reported: The Refugees have paid Toms River a visit. They have burnt most of the houses, stripped and plundered the inhabitants of most everything. Mr. Daniel Randolph is carried to New York. Moses Robins is badly wounded and stripped of everything. The inhabitants are in great distress. Colonel Samuel Forman, commanding the local militia, wrote Governor William Livingston on March 25. The letter is similar to a report printed in the New Jersey Gazette , with some additional facts and innuendo. Forman accused Abiel Aiken, the port marshal and township magistrate, of fleeing the fight: "Abiel Aiken took his crooked leg out of the way on the alarm." He (incorrectly) claimed that "Capt. Davenport was wounded (supposed since dead) and one Negro killed." Forman had ordered out four militia companies from Dover and Stafford townships, plus "the 34 you requested from my regiment [from Upper Freehold], I shall also send for to reinforce them." Randolph was captured and was still in jail a month later when he gave a deposition at the court martial trial of Richard Lippincott (who had hanged Huddy). Randolph claimed that locals had warned Huddy "that a body of refugees were approaching this port.” Huddy dispatched a scout party but it “entirely missed the enemy" and provided the village no warning of the Loyalist landing. Randolph called the Block House "small and unfinished” and claimed that the attack “commenced without a previous demand for a surrender.” Randolph said “that Capt. Huddy did all that a brave man could do to defend himself against so superior a number” and claimed the Loyalist behaved horribly after quarter was called: This deponent saw a negro, one of the refugee party, bayonet major John Cook, and he also saw a number of refugees jump into the block house and heard them say that they would bayonet them [the defenders], but did not see the deed done to any person save major Cook. Eight Monmouth County militiamen recalled the attack on Toms River in their postwar veterans’ pension applications. John Wilbur, one of Huddy’s men, was posted as a sentry a half mile from the village. He provided the most vivid description: One John Eldridge and David Dodge were stationed sentry on the road about seven or eight hundred yards from my and [James] Kinsey's station; about daylight or a little after, we heard the enemy advancing by the noise they made in walking, and in a minute or two I heard the sentry hail them and fire. I retreated with Kinsey toward the Block House, he in advance of me. When I arrived at the Block House, I found that it was surrounded by the enemy and Kinsey was killed on the outside of the Block House; I did not attempt then to enter, but retreated across the bridge where I met Captain Brown, a sea captain, and George Cook. Dodge & Eldridge did not get in, the brother of George, whom I met on a bridge, was also killed before he got into the Block House; after the alarm of the advance of the enemy, myself and John Eldridge, and one Joseph Parker, were all who made their escape. Another small party also escaped "by being out on a scouting party.” John Eldridge, a sentry with Wilbur, wrote that “the whole party, comprised of thirty men - with the exception of himself and two- were killed or taken prisoner." Henry Applegate recalled that he was “wounded in the thumb on his left hand by a musket" at the battle but continued serving in the State Troops . Brothers, Joseph Parker and George Parker, served under Huddy. Joseph recalled that he “joined his [Huddy’s] company at Colts Neck, from whence they marched to Toms River and was there until the Block House at Toms River was taken and Captain Huddy was taken prisoner.” Geoge Parker recalled: They had been at that place a short time [when] they were attacked by a party of Refugees in a Block House and were all taken, except one man by the name John Eldridge, who got out and made his escape and one other that was left for dead, being badly wounded. George Parker was "confined in prison for about 7 months mostly in the Sugar House, he then got exchanged - returned home” with a festering wound, but he “got the vermin cleaned” and recovered. Parker referred to the Block House attackers as "a party of refugees, Negroes and sailors." Not all locals engaged in the battle. David Imlay, who commanded state troops at the Block House in 1781, wrote that he was "posted at the north end of Toms River Bridge, some forty rods from the Block House" and never engaged. Aaron Bennett of Dover Township recalled that "Toms River was their headquarters... a number of militia were constantly stationed there." But Bennett’s tour of duty expired two days before the attack. He did not return for the fight. Similarly, Aaron Chamberlain of Stafford recalled getting the alarm and marching for Toms River, but arriving too late, "He and a few others got a few shots at the Refugees before they got off, but did not kill any of them." Militia from other counties came to the defense of Toms River but word spread slowly on the sparsely populated shoreline, and they arrived too late to engage the Loyalists. Enoch Young of the Gloucester County militia recalled: He marched through the counties of Gloucester and Burlington and Monmouth to Toms River, at the Block House, to assist against the enemy in the engagement there, but was too late, the enemy had fled before they arrived. One Loyalist briefly discussed the Block House fight in his postwar Loyalist Compensation Application. David Lewis, formerly of Metticonk (present-day Jackson), recalled serving in the Associated Loyalists . He was at Toms River for the Block House raid where he was "very dangerously wounded." The Toms River Raid in Later Accounts Antiquarian sources provide several additional details on the Toms River raid. However, these sources must be regarded with some skepticism. An antiquarian newspaper account from 1868, for example, includes many false details. (See Appendix 2 for this article.) But other details in antiquarian accounts are illuminating, and likely true or mostly true. Some are summarized below. With respect to the Loyalists, one source claims that the Pine Robber leader, John Bacon, participated in the raid. Another claims that Davenport’s Pine Robbers carried off a great deal of plunder after the village was razed. A few antiquarian accounts note the role of William Dillon, formerly a boatman at Toms River, serving as a guide to the attackers. Dillon served as a pilot on Loyalist privateers and a boat belonging to him was taken and brought into Toms River shortly before the raid. So, he had strong motivation to help the raiders. His cousin was Aaron Buck, whose house was spared when the village was fired. Another source claims that Loyalists had planned to raid Manasquan and Shark River on their way back to New York, but gave that up in order to get prompt medical care for the wounded. Antiquarian sources also provide information on Toms River’s defenders. One source singles-out David Imlay (the former commander of the State Troops at Toms River) for cowardice—claiming that he fled the Block House and hid in a swamp. Imlay may have fled because he feared for his life if captured—having killed the Pine Robber, Richard Bird, a few months earlier. Other sources detail casualties: Killed : Maj. Cook (bayoneted after surrender), John Farr (killed in first volley from Loyalists), Lt. Ephraim Jenkins, James Kennedy (mortally wounded, dies that night), James Kinsley (shot and mortally wounded at swivel gun), Moses Robbins (shot in face, dies) and John Wainwright (shot five times). Captured : Lt. Huddy, Sgts. David Langdon, Luke Story; Privates: Daniel Applegate, William Case, David Dodge, James Edsall, John Eldridge, Jacob Fleming, Cornelius McDonald, John Mitchell, John Morris, John Nivison, George Parker, John Parker, Joseph Parker, John Pellimore, Moses Robins (shot in face, survives), Thomas Raftsnider, Daniel Randolph, Jacob Stillwagon, Seth Story, John Wainwright (shot six times but survives), John Wilbur. The accounting of men listed as killed and captured in antiquarian does not fully align names in contemporary sources. Antiquarians also disagree on the killed and captured—two men, John Wainwright and Moses Robins, are listed as either killed or captured depending upon the source. One modern historian has written a full account of the Toms River attack. Historian Donald Shomette wrote that the Loyalists were led by Captain Evan Thomas and Lt. Owen Roberts of the Bucks County Volunteers in whaleboats commanded by a Lt. Blanchard. Shomette concluded that the party was 120 Loyalists, supplemented by Pine Robbers who met the Loyalists at Toms River. Despite the size of the party, they evaded a scouting party sent out by Huddy on word of enemy landing. Shomette noted that the attack began at dawn. The battle was brief but bloody; two Loyalist officer fell during the battle—Lieutenants Insley and Lt. Iredell. Shomette concluded that the raiders outnumbered the defenders "six or seven to one” but the defenders held out until their ammunition ran out. After the surrender, the Loyalists committed "an orgy of destruction and revenge.” Shomette also wrote that Huddy was "mistreated with blows, slaps, etc." by the Loyalists. Due to the need to bring injured back to New York, the raiders did not stop at Manasquan on their return, as originally planned. Retaliation after the Razing of Toms River The attack on Toms River in March 1782 was the last significant Loyalist raid from New York. This is because it set in motion a chain of events that resulted in the British reining in their vengeful Loyalist allies . A few days after the raid on Toms River, a small Loyalist party landed at Long Branch. It included the veteran Loyalist raider, Philip White. Angered by the razing of Toms River and the capture of Huddy’s state troops there, the men who took White separated him from the other prisoners. They harassed White into attempting an escape. When he ran, they murdered him . Enraged Loyalists then took Huddy from jail in New York, brought him to the Navesink Highlands, and hanged him with a note proclaiming his murder an act of retaliation for White’s murder. The murders caused a diplomatic bonfire that reverberated to the highest levels of the British, French and American governments. All of these escalations are detailed in other articles. Related Historic Site : Joshua Huddy Park Historic Markers Appendix 1: "An authentic account of the Expedition against the Rebel Post on Tom’s River, New-Jersey (printed in the Loyalist New York Gazette) On Wednesday, the 20th instant, Lieut. Blanchard of the armed whale-boats, and about eighty men belonging to them, with Capt. Thomas and Lieut. Roberts, both of the late Buck’s County volunteers, and between thirty or forty other refugee Loyalists, the whole under the command of Lieutenant Blanchard, proceeded to Sandy Hook, under convey of Captain Steward Ross, in the armed brig Arrogant, where they were detained by unfavourable winds until the 23rd; about twelve o’clock on that night, the party landed near the mouth of Tom’s River, and marched to the block house, at the town of Dover, and reach it just at day light. On the way, they were challenged and fired upon, and when they came to the works they found the rebels, consisting of twenty-five or six twelve-months men and militia, apprised of their coming, and prepared for defence. The post into which they had thrown themselves was about six or seven feet high, made of large logs, with loop holes in between, and a number of brass swivels on top, which was entirely open, nor was there any way of entering, but climbing over-- They had, besides the swivels, muskets with bayonets, and long pikes for their defence. Lieutenant Blanchard called on them to surrender, which they not only refused, but bid the party defiance; on which he immediately ordered the place to be stormed, which was accordingly done, and, though defended with obstinacy, it was soon carried. The rebels had nine men killed in the assault and twelve made prisoners, two of whom are wounded. The rest made their escape in the confusion. Among the killed was a Major of the militia [John Cook] and two captains and one Lieutenant. The Captain of the twelve-months men [Joshua Huddy] is among the prisoners, who are all brought safe to town. On our side, two were killed: Lieut. Iredell of the armed boatmen and Lieut. Inslee of the loyalists, both very brave officers, who distinguished themselves on the attack, and whose loss is much lamented. Lieut. Roberts and five others are wounded, and it is thought some of them in a dangerous way. The town, as it is called, consisting of about a dozen houses, in which none but a piratical set of banditti resided, together with a grist and saw mill, were, with the block house, burned to the ground and an iron cannon spiked and thrown into the river. A fine large boat (called Hyler’s boat) and another boat, which the rebels used to make their excursions on our coast, were brought off. The appearance of bad weather and the condition of our wounded, being without either a surgeon or medicines, induced the party to return, where they arrived on the 25th." I should not do justice to the Loyalists who were with me, without expressing the highest prohibition of their behaviour and spirit through the whole service; and I beg leave to mention the very great obligation I am under to Captain Ross for his advice, attention to the convoy, and, in a particular manner, for the politeness and tender treatment of the wounded while onboard his brig. Capt. Ross has likewise mentioned in his report the Loyalists, during the service, paid every attention, and were willing to assist in every point." Appendix 2: THE OCEAN EMBLEM, JANUARY 30, 1858 On Toms River raid: “Woodmansee immediately returned to New York, when the plan was laid over until March 18th, 1782, when a second vessel was sent from New York with 100 picked British regulars, and about 25 or 30 refugees of the blackest dye. They arrived at the mouth of the river on the night of the 19th, where they landed and proceeded to the house of James Lippincott (now James Cook’s residence). They forced Mr. Lippincott to march as their guide to the village. Mr. Edward Flinn [Edward Flynn], a son-in-law of Mr. L., was let out of the chamber window by the females, and took a different route, to inform the villagers of the enemy’s approach. The enemy entered the field north-east of the place where John J. Irons’ residence now stands, and marched behind a barn of Abel Akins, Esq., near the present site of the Presbyterian Church some two hundred yards east from the block house. About this time day began to dawn, and the enemy finding himself discovered, rushed to the charge, when the sentinel fired his alarm, and rushed into the fort, calling for someone to go for Capt. Huddy, as there was but one round of ammunition in the fort. The enemy charged on the four men in the fort, murdered John Farr and all the citizens who fell in their way, burned all the houses except three in the village, one of which was the residence of Mrs. Mary Studson, widow of the noble Joshua, which was preserved through the influence of a tory whom she recognized, although in disguise. While a part were satiating their revenge on the north side of the river, others had crossed the bridge and burned the mills of Williams & Randolph, near the mills, they found Capt. Joshua Huddy snugly stored in bed after a pleasant dance that he had attended the night previous, and made him a prisoner. He had commanded the fort only about four weeks. Considering discretion the better part of valor, they beat a retreat before Captain Tilton could arrive with his command, although he lay at Schenck’s Mill, four miles north. The end of the gallant Huddy is known as a part of our Revolutionary struggle, while no one has ever had patriotism sufficient to even point out the grave of Studson, although Woodmansee was subsequently taken, and tied to a stake in front of the widow’s house; his captors said to her, “your will is our pleasure;” she replied with all the magnanimity that woman’s soul is endowed with, “his life will not bring back the life of my husband; besides, his wife would be left with several fatherless children, while I have but one.” Woodmansee was compelled to furnish provision for her for one year, which he did, and then left the country. Mrs. Studson subsequently married Chamberlain; she survived him many years, and died in 1824.” Sources : Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution, 2 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1864), vol. 1, p 566; William Fischer, The Toms River Block House Fight, March 24, 1782; Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, vol. 14, p423-5; Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 38-9; James Levitt, New Jersey Revolutionary Economy (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1975) pp. 19-2-, 22. James Levitt, For Want of Trade: Shipping and the New Jersey Ports, 1680-1783 (Newark: New Jersey Historical Society, 1981) pp. 141-9; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 45; Rutgers University, Special Collections, Loyalist Compensation Applications, David Lewis, Coll. D96, PRO AO 13/18, reel 6; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Library of Congress, Early American Newspapers, Pennsylvania Evening Post; and New Jersey Gazette, March 27, 1782; Henry Beck, More Forgotten Towns, p86-8; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 164; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 222; Howard H. Peckham, ed, The Toll of Independence: Engagements and Battle Casualties of the American Revolution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) p 95; Donald Shomette, Privateers of the Revolution: War on the New Jersey Coast (Shiffer: Atglen, PA, 2015); National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Enoch Young of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 24155756; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 17-8; Stryker, comp., Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Naar, Day, Naar, 1872); Samuel Forman to William Livingston, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 4, pp. 388-9; Alfred Heston, South Jersey: A History 1664-1923 (Lewis Historical Publishing, 1923) pp. 233-5; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Henry Applegate of Monmouth, www.fold3.com/image/#12036438 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Aaron Chamberlain; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Daniel Applegate; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Eldridge; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - David Imlay; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Wilbur; William Fischer, Biographical Cyclopedia of Ocean County (Philadelphia: A.D. Smith, 1899) pp. 55-56; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - George Parker; Casualty List, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #3854; Francis Bazley Lee, New Jersey as a Colony and as a State (New York: The Publishing Society of New Jersey, 1902), vol 2, pp. 244-6; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Aaron Bennett of New Jersey; Maryland Gazette, April 11, 1782; Contained in: National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Parker of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# NJ 25397561; Correspondence with Jeff Brown, The Ocean Emblem, January 30, 1858; Alfred Heston, South Jersey: A History 1664-1923 (Lewis Historical Publishing, 1923) p 241; Library of Congress, Richard Lippincott, Court Martial, reel 1, pp. 201-4. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Monmouth County's Black Loyalists Emigrate to Canada by Michael Adelberg The town of Shelburne and its Port Roseway was a common destination for Black Loyalists in 1783, 28 of whom are identified as being born in Monmouth County. - April 1783 - As discussed in prior articles, Monmouth County had a large African-American population prior to the start of the American Revolution—roughly 10 percent of the population, both slave and free. Free Blacks were generally poor; they are listed as “householders” and “single men” in the tax lists. In an agricultural society where farming was the primary path to wealth—only a few owned enough land to be taxed as landholders. In addition, African-Americans were excluded from the militia and did not meet the property requirements to vote or serve on juries. The first campaign of Monmouth County’s Revolutionary militia was to enforce a curfew on African-Americans and confiscate their guns. When the British fleet landed at Sandy Hook in July 1776, they were soon met by Virginia’s Royal Governor Lord Dunmore and his Ethiopian Brigade. Dunmore had given freedom to the slaves of rebels who would join the British. Within a month, a handful of Monmouth County slaves escaped bondage to join the British as Loyalists. British promises of freedom throughout the war encouraged more slaves to seek their freedom behind British lines. But the British created few good opportunities for these African American Loyalists. Black Loyalists were banned from the British Army and its Loyalist corps. Some served as “pioneers” (manual laborers and earthwork diggers for the Army) and others became sailors. By the middle years of the war, African Americans were common in the irregular Loyalist raiding parties operating out of Sandy Hook. In summer 1780, they confederated as the “Black Brigade ,” conducting their own raids. After the death of their leader, Colonel Tye, in September, the Black Brigade lost cohesion though individual African Americans continued to be active Loyalists. 40 African American Loyalists reportedly joined the Pine Robber gang of William Davenport. African American Loyalists Emigrate to Canada It does not appear that a large number of African Americans boarded the first ships for Canada (in fall 1782 ). Perhaps these earlier groups were mostly self-financed white Loyalists. However, in April 1783, the preliminary terms of the peace treaty reached America and the British started shipping out black Loyalists with greater urgency. This was in large part because Article VII of the peace plan prohibited "carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American inhabitants." A black Loyalist, Boston King, wrote of his worries that American slave owners would take them, "This dreadful rumor filled us with unexpressible anguish and terror." Indeed, George Washington wanted black Loyalists returned. His counterpart, General Guy Carleton and other British leaders claimed that the treaty language did not reverse the status of black Loyalists already free. Carleton wrote, "I have no right to deprive them of that liberty." On April 16, 1783, the remnants of the Black Brigade (49 men, 23 women, 6 children under 10 yrs old) boarded the vessel L'Abondance in Manhattan. The emigres ranged from Sarah, a 72-year-old woman, to small children. Sixteen were from New Jersey and eight from New York. Interestingly, 31 were from southern states and seven were seven years with the British (suggesting they may have arrived at Sandy Hook with Lord Dunmore). Almost half (32) were young adults between the agenda of 16 and 30. At least five of these emigres (probably more) were formerly from Monmouth County: Thomas Drake, 17 yrs old, 5 yrs away from Thomas Thurman; Oliver Vinson, 30 yrs old, 6 yrs away from John Freeman; Sarah Jones, 42 yrs old, 6 yrs away from Richard Stout; Isaac Jones, 10 yrs old, 6 yrs away from Richard Stout; Aaron Jones, 12 yrs old, 6 yrs away from Hendrick Smith. Other transports brought off hundreds more African Americans in spring 1783. In New York, under the leadership of General Samuel Birch, black Loyalists were given passports to Canada and recorded in the Book of Negroes (sometimes called “The Black Books ”). In Canada, attempts were made to list all of the African American Loyalists within a larger effort to log all Loyalist emigres—resulting in a compendium called “Carleton’s Loyalist Index.” The Book of Negroes identifies 24 African American emigres as from Monmouth County. In addition, the baby, Peter Van Sayl, was free born in New York to Monmouth County parents. 21 were born into slavery. Five are listed as former members of the “Black Brigade” (Aaron Jones, Isaac Jones, Sarah Jones, Thomas Drake, Oliver Vinson)—they emigrated with the Black Brigade on the L’Abondance. Two others (Rose French; Jane); are listed as serving in the British Army’s Wagonmaster department. About half had been employed as servants or waiters to comfortable men. The Book of Negroes also includes descriptors of the African Americans similar to the short descriptions in colonial newspapers when advertising the sale of a slave or the return of a runaway slave. For example, 15-year-old Joseph Stewart is listed as a "stout healthy Negro"; 24-year-old Lucy Lykes is listed as a “squat wench”; 27-year-old Judith Johnson is an “ordinary wench.” Since the African Americans were free people (with one exception discussed below), it is unclear what purpose these descriptions served—white Loyalists were not described this way. Three of the African-Americans from Monmouth County have interesting additional information listed about them. Peter Johnson "says he got his freedom from Stephen Brinley, Quaker, New Jersey.” Anthony Loyal is listed as "born free at Monmouth” but was apparently laboring under an indenture: “served his time with William Wikoff, Monmouth County." The most interesting circumstance is that of Betty, a 20-year-old woman. She is listed as having an infant with the additional note: "Conradt Hendricks of St. John's claimant… property proved." Betty had likely escaped from Hendricks during the war, but because Hendricks was a Loyalist, Betty was apparently returned to him. (Slavery was not abolished in Canada until 1834.) Carleton’s Loyalist Index contains much of the same information as The Book of Negroes . But the sources are not identical—each source lists a few emigres not contained in the other source. Further, there are small differences in the names and ages of some emigres. Carleton’s Index also includes additional information: the name of the vessel that transported the emigre, the date of arrival, and the place of settlement. From this, we learn that African American Loyalists were transported on five different vessels between April and October 1783. They settled in six different places. See table 17 for Monmouth County African Americans resettled in Canada. When combined, the two sources place 28 African American emigres as being from Monmouth County. This undercounts the total because the books include a number of emigres and slaveholders with Monmouth County names (e.g., Covenhoven, Longstreet, Hendrickson), but the emigres are listed as from “New Jersey.” Since these names were not exclusive to Monmouth County, these individuals are not included in the table, though it is very likely that some/most were from Monmouth County. The last group of African American Loyalists to leave New York for Canada appear to have left in October 1783. It was a large group—more than 700 emigres—and they were settled in three areas: 102 men, 59 women, and 61 children at St. John; 171 men, 145 women, and 114 children sent to Port Roseway; 84 men, 49 women, and 38 children sent to Annapolis. Interestingly, while there are several surviving land grant lists for white Loyalists, the author has not located land grant information for African Americans. Historian Mary Tsaltas-Ottomanelli notes that many free blacks were settled in segregated communities like Birchtown outside of Port Roseway (present-day Shelburne). This raises the possibility that the African American emigres were not offered land, but instead they were expected work as laborers and servants to white Loyalists. It has been estimated that 35,000 Loyalists went to Canada at war’s end. More than 10%, roughly 4,000, were African American. Despite affirming the freedom of African American Loyalists, the British, it appears, had no intention of treating African American Loyalists as equal to whites. The move to Canada was hard for nearly all Loyalists, but African Americans faced an added measure of discrimination. Related Historic Site : Shelburne Historic Waterfront District (Nova Scotia) Sources : Mary Tsaltas-Ottomanelli, Black Loyalists in the Evacuation of New York City (The Gotham Center for New York City History, November 15, 2023); Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People, http://blackloyalist.com/canadadigitalcollection/documents/official ; Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People. Book of Negroes http://www.blackloyalist.com/canadiandigitalcollection/documents/official/black_loyalist_directory2.htm ; Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People, http://blackloyalist.com/canadadigitalcollection/documents/official ; Graham R. Hodges, The Black Loyalist Directory: African Americans in Exile after the American Revolution (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996); Runaway Slaves in Carelton’s Loyalist Index, Carleton's Loyalist Index, http://www.uelac.org/SirGuyCarleton/PDF/NEGR_CLI.pdf . 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 > Provisioning the French Fleet Via Rumson by Michael Adelberg Needing provisions, the French Admiral D’Estaing came ashore. He set up a camp at Rumson to receive provisions. D’Estaing was unable to get the provisions his fleet needed and left for Rhode Island. - July 1778 - On July 11, 1778, a large French fleet anchored off Shrewsbury, an opening the connected the Shrewsbury River to the ocean four miles south of Sandy Hook. They came to annihilate the smaller British fleet that had withdrawn inside the Hook. The fleet had a 14-9 advantage in large warships, and their largest ships carried more cannon than any of the British ships. However, the French had two problems: First, they did not know if their large ships could successfully navigate the narrow channel that served as the shipping lane into lower New York Harbor; second, the French fleet was out of fresh water and provisions for their 11,000 men after three months at sea. The need for water was dire. Admiral Charles Henri D’Estaing, leading the fleet, wrote, “the leakage, waste and pilferage of the food, and excessive consumption, as well as several irregularities in the plan for water, left us little.” He was disappointed that local boats did not greet the fleet: "We received hardly any advice or signal, no ship from Long Island or the Jersies was zealous enough to come." So, D’Estaing decided to personally lead a landing party on July 12. The apparent destination was the freshwater spring immediately south of Sandy Hook on the Navesink Highlands, often identified as “the watering place” on maps. The French Come Ashore in Monmouth County To get there, the French likely sought to send the landing party through “the Gut ”—a channel of water that, due to violent storms the prior winter, now separated Sandy Hook from the mainland. D’Estaing was advised that the watering place was within reach: “A pilot gave to us by the Americans assured us we could cross the bar at Sandy Hook and get water there." The Gut, however, likely had a strong flow that created novel currents and sand bars on the ocean side. These new hazards were probably unknown to the pilot. The attempt to traverse the Gut was a fiasco—boats overturned and men drowned in the fast water. Samuel Cooper wrote: “he [D’Estaing] threw himself into a small Boat… the Navigation of which was so extremely difficult, as to cost him an Officer, many Sailors, and a Number of Boats." The expedition was made worse by the appearance of British troops who blocked the French from escaping the fast water by coming onto Sandy Hook. D’Estaing wrote: “The cavalry and infantry of the English appeared on the coast with the bar, preventing us from landing.” On the far side of the Gut, British ships were close enough for D’Estaing to see their flags. The French had to retreat. The second landing was at Black Point (present-day Rumson). The French entered the Shrewsbury River. Lieutenant Jean-Julien Chevalier LeMauff, with the Admiral, described the journey: The Admiral himself went down in the morning into this river with two boats fit out to reconnoiter the country, which appeared to us well peopled, as we lacked fresh victuals of every kind, and even water, having passed three months at sea. Across the river at Black Point (Rumson), D’Estaing first met the locals. The Admiral recalled: I was received by a few foot soldiers; after a short time, which seemed very long to me, I was received by a Quaker , 'A friend of Everybody in the World', but more a friend of the English than Americans, proved to me by his remarks and by the tea he gave me, which I did not find very good. I was able by this undertaking to make contact with several of the best Patriots, and the acquaintance of the dirty river Shrewsbury, as well as getting some fresh water from the wells. D’Estaing’s host was probably John Hartshorne, a prominent Quaker who lived near the probable French landing point. Hartshorne’s granddaughter, Lulu, recalled what she was told about John Hartshorne meeting D’Estaing. Hartshorne “brought him [D’Estaing] and some officers home to breakfast, one [French officer] was quartered at the house a considerable time, a very Gentlemanly intelligent man -- spoke English very well." D’Estaing needed to establish an outpost in order to “find water and to establish correspondence with General Washington.” LeMauff described that outpost. The next morning the General sent me with a detachment to employ the means of watering there by wells; to accomplish this daily we had a detachment of 250 men, 4 cannons, and some swivel guns mounted on carriages. The inhabitants being American but, in number, several to be found who are Royalists, we feared that some English detachments might come to attack us. One of the locals of ambiguous loyalty was Benjamin White. He wrote of the French: A French fleet came to anchor off Jumping Point and sent their boats ashore for water. They were cut off by the British fleet from obtaining the watering places [closer to Sandy Hook]. I assisted them in carting their empty casks, filling them and returning through the surf. A Loyalist newspaper, the New York Gazette , reported on another meeting. A Scot naval officer serving in the French fleet "went ashore at Shrewsbury; the inhabitants finding he spoke good English crowded to converse with him." The officer was reportedly condescending toward them. Further, "he looked upon their independence as only a dream, for France or Britain must have this Country." From Philadelphia, Cooper wrote of D’Estaing’s cool reception from disaffected locals: Not a person had come to him from the Shore: That part of the Jerseys had not then the Reputation of the greatest Zeal for the common Cause: Nothing presented itself to the Squadron of our Allies, unacquainted with our Coasts, but an inaccessible Shore. Continental Government Sends Supplies to French As the French procured a trickle of provisions from people living along the Shrewsbury River, the Continental Congress sought to provide more. On July 12, Richard Henry Lee of Congress wrote D’Estaing: A commissary has orders quickly to collect 50 bullocks and 700 sheep with a quantity of vegetables and a number of poultry, and he will wait on your Excellency to know your pleasure... I am to inform you that in Little Egg Harbor or Toms River, neither of them far from the Hook, fresh water may be conveniently obtained. George Washington also sought to get supplies to the French, writing a commissary on July 15: I desire you immediately to select Fifty of your best Bullocks, and give orders to have two hundred Sheep, if to be procured and a quantity of poultry purchased in the most convenient part of the Country. They are intended as a present to the Count D'Estaing Admiral of the French Fleet now laying off Sandy Hook. You are to send them to the Coast as expeditiously as possible. The French diplomat at Philadelphia, Conrad Alexandre Gerard, also sought to get supplies to the fleet after receiving a list of needs from D’Estaing: "I have curtailed the salted beef because it is not in abundance this season” but he advised the Admiral of local supplies “of fresh meat for your crews at a better price than that of salted meat. We expect to be able to furnish almost all the articles; however, it will take several days.” Curiously, Gerard asked D’Estaing to buy him a slave: “Sir, if there are some negroes for sale in this country… have the goodness to send [one to] me.” Lee again wrote D'Estaing on July 16 that Congress was sending "a supply of water and fresh provisions… with all possible expedition.” A French frigate in the Delaware Bay, Chimera , with local vessels, “will be dispatched immediately with as much water as we can find Casks for.” Beyond that, Lee noted: The same vessels will bring your Excellency some hundred barrels of bread and flour, with a small supply of fresh provisions. A Commissary has orders quickly to collect near Shrewsbury and the Hook 50 Bullocks, 700 Sheep, with a quantity of vegetables and a number of poultry. Lee reminded D’Estaing that “fresh water can be conveniently obtained" at Toms River and Egg Harbor. On the same day, one of Monmouth County’s leading patriots, David Forman, arrived at the French outpost. Capt. Choin of the French Army introduced him to D’Estaing: "We are sending you a Colonel from the militia who knows the [Shrewsbury] river, but he arrives by only one horse and carriage” to avoid attracting attention of the British. John Laurens reached Shrewsbury the next day. Colonel John Laurens, the son of the President of the Congress, had “taken quarters at Shrewsbury" to help the French. He went aboard the French fleet accompanied by Forman. In a July 17 letter, Laurens noted that Forman had already been out to see the French. He said of Forman: “A Gentleman for whom I have the highest esteem on account of his indefatigability and great sacrifices... He is a man of enlightened understanding." Laurens also wrote of the difficulties in finding provisions for the French: I found the fleet under the greatest difficulty in procuring water; its distance from the shore was too great to role [sic] the casks down to the place of embarkation; the disaffected citizens either refused their wagons or granted them only at an exorbitant price. In addition, the French suffered some losses while rowing heavily-laden boats through the surf to their ships. On July 15, "4 seamen of the Aimable were drowned in passing the bar.” The next day, “Our large dinghy stove [overturned] on the bar, two men drowned and several sheep." The promised livestock had not reached the French on July 18. That day, Reverend James Caldwell, a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress, was at Freehold: “I have just received General Washington's order from Congress to send the Admiral 50 best bullocks, 200 sheep, poultry & I am preparing to transmit this well-timed present in the best manner I can.” The traffic of small vessels from Shrewsbury Inlet to the fleet was watched by the British. Rear Admiral James Gambier, wrote about it on July 19: “The [French] fleet have been ever since watering at the mouth of Shrewsbury River near the Navesink, where they appear to do it with great convenience and dispatch.” The British were also debriefed by a Loyalist fisherman, Samuel DeHart, who “was taken Prisoner… fishing of[f] the Sea Bass bank.” DeHart said that “Washington made the Fleet a present of 500 fat oxen—the French have landed a great many Troops in the Jerseys." DeHart was partially correct. On July 21, Reverend Caldwell wrote that he finally gathered and drove the requested livestock to the French fleet. "Yesterday got them [cattle] on board, the sheep and poultry not gathered on time." He also wrote that the French had “a very plentiful supply of hard money, and easily tempted the Monmouth people to prepare to this market." In a second letter, Caldwell noted that the French did not want the sheep he brought them, "told me he had a supply of sheep waiting in another way.” The provisions made it on board the French fleet just in time for it to leave for Rhode Island. Caldwell was angry. The French “stripped, then sunk or burnt" the captured fishing boats and kept the local fishermen they had taken "except young Samuel DeHart whom I happened to see while I was on board." Caldwell likely did not know that DeHart was a British informer. Caldwell wrote that Captain Patrick Dennis was told that captured fishermen would be “sent ashore for trial by their Country & it was consented.” Perhaps the French better knew the danger of placing men like DeHart on parole until a trial could be arranged. The Jersey Shore Responds to the French Fleet The arrival of the French fleet was big news up and down the Jersey Shore. Whig villages like Chestnut Neck (upriver from Little Egg Harbor ) and Toms River sent pilots and ships to the French. But the villages were tiny in comparison to the needs of the French fleet. For example, Captain Samuel Brown of Forked River sailed out of Toms River, “his boat was intended for the fleet to ferry her their [American] signals.” The arrival of the French fleet chased the British off the Jersey shore and that unleashed several small privateers and militia boats previously blockaded in New Jersey’s small ports. This is well-documented by maritime historian Donald Shomette, who wrote: "The French alliance ingited a dramatic escalation in the number of active privateers and a stunning increase in British losses." Prizes taken by American privateers jumped from 128 in 1778 to 298 in 1780. The unleashing of local privateers in summer 1778 is evident in New Jersey Admiralty Court advertisements and the letters of John Van Emburgh, a privateer owner at Toms River. He wrote of privateers entering and leaving port in July 1778. The departure of the British was the reason: “The enemy vessels has now left the bar [off Toms River] … the privateers are again out.” The French Quit Sandy Hook The French decision to quit Sandy Hook for Rhode Island was forced by the realization that their large ships were ill-suited for entering the channel north of Sandy Hook, but inadequate provisions likely hastened this decision. D’Estaing wrote Washington about this on August 3: “The extreme difficulty of procuring water at Shrewsbury, and the tardiness with which it is collected from different places, have long since obliged me to retrench our allowance.” The British understood this also. On July 23, the day after the French left for Rhode Island, three British ships went to the abandoned French outpost. Captain James Parker wrote: Three of our ships ly [sic] where the French lay yesterday. A Fisherman came up, says he was taken by the French & has been a week with them. Says they landed their sick at Shrewsberry, about 4 or 500, that they wanted water & could only get trifling supply from thence. While New Jersey and Continental leaders did their best to supply the French, the Shrewsbury Inlet anchorage was too far from commissaries to promptly bring them the needed provisions. The disaffection of the Shrewsbury shore compounded the problem. The inability to trust the residents of Shrewsbury would soon push Washington to station a company of Continentals there. Related Historic Site: Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : 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; Samuel Cooper to Ben Franklin, Ben Franklin Papers online: http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=37&page=240a002 ; Journal of LIeutenant Jean-Julien Chevalier LeMauf, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 359-360; Henri Doniol, ed., Histoire de la Participation de la France à l'Établissement des États Unis d'Amérique: Correspondance Diplomatique et Documents, 5 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1876–99), vol. 3, p. 447-9; Lulu Hartshorne’s account is in Monmouth County Historical Association, Collection #86, box 1, folder 21; Henri D’Estaing to George Washington, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 369-370; Jedidiah Huntington, Huntington Papers, Connecticut History Society Collections, vol. 20 (1923), p 411; George Washington to Jeremiah Wadsworth, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw120217)) ; Alexandre Gerard in Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 397; Richard Henry Lee to Henri D’Estaing in Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 359-360; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Charles Paulin, Out-Letters of the Marine Committee and Board of Admiralty (New York: Navy History Society, 1914) vol. 1, p 267; James Caldwell to Elias Boudinot, Library of Congress, Elias Boudinot Coll. Letters; Capt. Choin to Henri D’Estaing in Henri Doniol, ed., Histoire de la Participation de la France à l'Établissement des États Unis d'Amérique: Correspondance Diplomatique et Documents, 5 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1876–99), vol. 3, p. 327-32; John Laurens, The Army Correspondence of Colonel John Laurens in the years 1777-8 (New York: New York Times, 1969) pp. 206-7; The loss of French boats is documented in the Logbook of the Languedoc, printed in Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 233; James Gambier to Earl of Sandwich in Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 465; Interrogation of Samuel DeHart, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 527; United State Naval Academy, Rosenbach Coll., James Caldwell; James Caldwell to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 50, July 23, 1778; Capt James Parker, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 480; Henri D’Estaing to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw120322)) . 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