USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > Centennial history of Somerset County [New Jersey] > Part 6
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the acknowledgment of what was considered his just rights, but his friends usually gave him by way of compliment the title. He acted a conspicuous part during the war of the revolution, and stood high in the confidence of Washing- ton. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Long Is- land, but was taken prisoner ; and again at Germantown and Monmouth. On Long Island his brayery was the means of saving a large part of the American army. At Germantown his division, with the brigades of Nash and Maxwell, formed a corps .f reserve ; and at Monmonth he commanded the left wing of the army and met the fierc- est onset of Sir Henry Clinton, and aided essentially in se- curing the victory achieved by our arms on that bloody
field. His patriotism was ardent and steady, inspired largely by his love for the commander-in-chief and the no- ble canse for whcih he fought. Before the revolution he served in the provincial council several years, His wife was a sister of Gov. Wm. Livingstone, of New Jersey. He died at Albany, January 15th, 1783, aged 57 years, leaving behind him the reputation of a brave, skillful and . intrep- id commander, and an honorable, honest and pure man. The sacrifice which he made and the efforts he put forth in the cause of Independence will embalm his memory in all coming time.
No catalogue of the men of Somerset would be complete which should omit a conspicuous place to Richard Stock- ton of Princeton. Mr. Stockton graduated at Priceton College at an early day, 1748. Devoting himself to the study of the law, he rose almost immediately to a conspicuous place on account of the superior mental abilities which he displayed, and the unbending integrity of his conduct. He received an appointment to the judicial bench under the provincial administration, and was continued after the adoption of the constitution in 1776. He uniformly dis- charged the duties of his office with great judgment and integrity, securing for himself the reputation of a clear judgment and unbending uprightness. He was a member of congress at the opening of the revolution, and signed the Declaration of Independence, On account of his hav- ing done this his Seat, called "Morven," was ransacked
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and spoiled by the British and Hessians in the autumn of 1776, and he himself kept long in exile in Monmouth coun- ty. Even his valuable library and papers were destroyed. Mr. Stockton left behind him a very high reputation for talents, scholarship, oratory and statesmanship, and crown- ed it all, by living the life of a consistent christian. He died on the 1st of March, 1781. He was the father of Richard Stockton, an eminent lawyer and statesman in more recent times, and grandfather of Commodore Stock- ton.
We cannot omit the name of Dr, John Witherspoon but must refer to his biography for information.
John McPherson Berrian, born in the old mansion at Rocky Hill. He resided principally in the State of Geor- gia. Held the office of Senator of the U. S. A. and was Attorney General under Gen. Jackson.
James Linn owned a handsome property at Mine Brook. Served in the Legislature in 1777, was elected to Congress in 1798, He gave the casting vote for Thomas Jefferson, in the New Jersey delegation. Was chosen Secretary of State in 1809, and died in Trenton 1820.
Henry Southard; Samuel H. Southard, his son; Andrew Kirkpatrick, Chief Justice; Gen. John Frelinghuysen; Richard Stockton; Frederick and Theodore Frelinghuysen, and Peter D. Vroom, and Wm. L. Dayton claim mention as eminent and honorable men, but our space forbids any- thing more than a mere record of their names. They will, however, live though we shall not embalm them.
CHAPTER VI.
SCENES OF THE REVOLUTION, IN SOMERSET COUNTY.
When Freedom from her mountain height Unfurled her standard to the air, She tore the azure robe of night, And set the stars in glory there. She mingled with its gorgeous dyes The milky baldric of the skies, And striped its pure celestial white
With streakings of the morning light ; Then from his mansion in the Sun She called her Eagle-bearer down, And gave into his mighty hand, The symbol of her chosen land.
The causes which operated in effecting the separation of the American colonies from Great Britain, lay as far back as 1763, when Parliament first proposed to draw from them a "revenue" in support of the home government. The popular mind was excited, and there sprang up at once an almost unanimous determination to make resistance to this unjust demand, in all the Colonies. They considered it an unjustifiable, oppressive and unprovoked violation of their "chartered rights and privileges." In the case of New Jer- sey, there was on record a justifiable reason for such re- sistance. In the "Concessions and Agreements," an arti- cle existed providing that "the Governor and Council are not to impose or suffer to be imposed any tax, custom or subsidy, tollage, assessments or any other duty whatsoever, upon any color or pretense how specious soever, upon the said province or inhabitants thereof, without their consent first had." They considered this agreement between them- selves and the Proprietors under whose auspices they and their fathers had settled in the province, so valuable and so
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important, that nothing ought to induce them to submit to its infraction ! No taxation without representation and consent. became. therefore, a war cry, in this and in all the other Colonies also. Hence, New Jersey sympathiz- ed entirely in the opposition raised to Mr. Greenville's tax bill ; and when the stamp act bill was passed, March 22, 1765, and the duty on tea was attempted to be levied, she stood firmly to her rights.
When, on motion of the Legislatures of Massachusetts and Rhode Island a Congress was called to meet in New York, on the first Tuesday in October, 1765, she sent Rob- ert Ogden. Hendrick Fisher and Joseph Borden to repre- sent her, and continued her representatives in the subse- quent Congresses, until the Declaration of Independence was issued on the 4th of July, 1776. In these Assemblies. be- sides Hendrick Fisher, we find the names of William Pat- erson, Frederick Frelinghuysen, John Royce, Peter Schenck Abraham Van Neste, Enos Kelsey, Jonathan D. Sergeant, Archibald stewart, Edward Dumont, William Maxwell, Ephriam Martin, Cornelius Ver Meule, Ruloff Van Dyke, as representatives from Somerset County, at different times. When the "Provincial Congress," as it was called, met at Burlington, June 10th, 1776, she sent Dr. Hardenburgh to assist in framing a constitution for the State ; and when Gov, Franklin was superceded, arrested and confined, and William Livingstone appointed Governor on the 31st of August 1776, she was present by her representatives to as- sent to and assist in forwarding the good cause.
She had already called out her military when the battle of Lexington was fought, April 19th, 1775 ; and when that of Bunker Hill, on the 17th of June occurred, she was active in arming for the fight. But fortunately, our State and County continued exempt from the ravages of armies, as well our own, as those of our enemies, until the next year ! Clinton and Cornwallis, driven out of Boston, came with their re-inforced troops and lande d 35,000 men on Long Island early in June 1776 ; and on the 20th of August, the battle of Long Island was fought. Then came the abandonment of the city of New York, Sep_ tember 15th, the taking of Fort Washington and Fort
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Lee. Nov, 10, and the transfer of both the armies into the State of New Jersey. Our State and county were now at first called apon to realize the bitterness of the contest in which they had engaged ; and henceforth she was, in a measure, the battle ground of the war.
At this point, properly, the military operations of the Revolution, so far as Somerset is concerned, commenced, and we shall endeavor to give them, as far as it is possible, separate from the other actions in the great drama ; hoping in this way to enable the reader to form a distinct idea of her sufferings in the cause of liberty. After the 16th of November, 1776, Washington crossed over the Hacken- sack and Passaic rivers, and as his troops were being daily diminished by desertion only paused when he had reached the Delaware. Penetrating the design of the enemy, to pass into New Jersey and march to the capture of Philadelphia, Washington had promptly crossed the Hudson with the main body of the American army, after securing some po- sitions on the east bank, between Kings' bridge and the Highlands. He paused at Hackensack in the rear of Fort Lee, where General Lee was in command. Lord Corn- wallis also crossed the Hudson at Dobb's Ferry, with all his men, on the 18th, and landing at Closter, a mile and a half from English Neighborhood, proceeded to attack Fort Lee. The garrison made a hasty retreat, and joined Washington at Hackensack, five miles distant. All the bag- gage and military stores at Fort Lee fell into the hands of the enemy. It was an easy conquest for Cornwallis, and had he followed up this successful beginning with energy there is every probability that he would have captured Washington and his whole army. When Cornwallis ap- proached, he at once commenced a retreat towards the Delaware, hoping to be sufficiently enforced by the New Jersey and Pennsylvania militia to enable him to make a successful stand against the invaders at some intermediate point.
But the late reverses had sorely disappointed the militia as well as the people, and Washington found his army to diminish at every step, rather than augment. By the last of November scarcely 3,000 troops remained under his com-
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mand. For three weeks he fled before Cornwallis across the level districts of New Jersey. Newark, New Brunswick, Princeton and Trenton were successively evacuated by the Americans and occupied by the enemy: often the music of the pursued and the pursuers would be heard by each oth- er. Having arrived at Trenton on the 8th of December. Washington and his army crossed the Delaware in boats, which had been pressed into this service by proclamation from all parts of the river. The last one had reached the Pennsylvania shore just as one division of Cornwallis's ar- my, with all the pomp of victors, marched into Trenton. This was about 12 o'clock at night. The main body of the British troops, however, halted about six miles from Trenton. The long agony was at last over ; and the cause of liberty, though surrounded with gloom and dis- couragement, was not yet quite lost. Washington had hoped to make a stand at New Brunswick, but abandoned the idea as the enemy approached The service of the New Jersey and Maryland brigades expired on the day he arrived there, and no persuasion could induce them to re- main, and without them a stand was hopeless.
When Washington commenced this retreat, Gen. Chas. Lee had been left at White Plains, east of the Hudson, with a corps of nearly 3000 men. When at Hackensack, Washington wrote to him, requesting him to hasten to New Jersey, to reinforce him ; but Lee did not see fit to regard this reasonable request. The Commander-in-chief made the order peremptory and positive ; but he still lin- gered and delayed, and so tardy were his movements that after three weeks he only reached Morristown, It seems he coveted independence of command, and expected by some fortunate juncture of circumstances, to perform a striking and splendid feat of arms, and eclipse his com- mander in the eyes of the people. How miserably he fail- ed we have now to relate.
On the 13th of December the main body of Lee's troops were at Vealtown, (now Bernardsville,) but Lee himself lodged at Mrs. White's tavern at Baskingridge, two miles distant, having with him only a guard of a few men for his protection. We quote from Wilkinson's Memoirs .-
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"Gen. Lee wasted the morning in altercations, with cer- tain militia corps who were of his command, particularly the Connecticut light horse ; one wanted forage, one his horse shod, one his pay and a fourth his provisions, to which the General replied. Your wants are numerous, but you have not mentioned the last ; you want to go home and shall be indulged, for you are no good here. Sev- eral of them appeared in large full bottoned perukes and were treated very irreverently.
"The call of the Adjutant General for orders also oecn- pied some of his time, and he did not set down to break- fast before 10 o'clock. Gen. Lee was engaged in answer- ing Gen. Gate's letter, and I had risen from the table and was looking out of an end window, down a lane, about one hundred yards in length, which led to the house from the main road, when I discovered a party of British turn the corner of the avenue in full charge. Startled at this un- expected appearance I exclaimed : "Here, Sir, are the British Cavalry." "Where" asked the General, who had signed the letter on the instant. "Around the house" for they had opened files and encompassed the building. General Lee appeared alarmed and yet collected, and his second observation marked his self possession. "Where is the guard ? d-m the guard ; why don't they fire ?" and after a momentary pause he turned to me and said : "Do Sir, see what has become of the guard ?" The woman of the house at this moment entered the room, and propos- ed to him to conceal himself in a bed ; which he rejected with evident disgust. I caught up the pistol which lay on the table ; thrust the letter he had been writing in my pocket, and passed into a room at the opposite end of the house, where I had seen the guard in the morning. Here I discovered their arms, but the men were absent. I step- ped out of the door, and saw the dragoons chasing them in different directions, and receiving a very uncivil salutation, I returned into the house.
"Too inexperienced, immediately to penetrate the mo- tives of this enterprise, I considered the recunotre acciden- tal, and from the terrific tales spread over the country, of the violence and barbarity of the enemy, I believed it to be
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a wanton marauding party, and determined not to die without company. I accordingly sought a position where I could not be approached by more than one person at a time, and with a pistol in each hand awaited the expected search, resolved to shoot the first and second person who might appear, and then appeal to the sword. I did not long remain in this unpleasant situation, but was apprised of the incursion by the very audible declaration. "If the General does not surrender in five minutes, I will set fire to the house," which after a short pause was repeated with a solemn oath ; and within two minutes I heard it pro- claimed "here is the General, he has surrendered !" A general shout ensued, the trumpet sounded the re-assem - bling of the troop, and the unfortunate Lee, mounted on my horse which stood ready at the door, was hurried off in triumph, bare-headed, in his slippers and blanket coat, his collar open, and his shirt very much soiled from several days use,"
The capture of Gen. Lee was felt to be a public calami- ty ; it cast a gloom over the country and excited general sorrow. The matter is explained by later intelligence. It seems that a certain Mr. Muklewraith, an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Mendham, had passed Mrs. White's tavern, and had. been told of the presence of Lee there, and while travelling on foot on his private business, was overtaken by Colonel Harcourt and pressed into service as a guide ; but whether Harcourt was only reconnoitering and accidently heard of the place where Gen. Lee had slept, or had followed him up intending to capture him, is not explained. He was taken by way of Bound Brook to New Brunswick and delivered, as a prisoner, to the British commander. At first he was claimed to be a deserter, and treated accordingly, but finally exchanged in May for Gen. Prescott and returned to the army.
Col. Harcourt had no sooner retreated with his prize, than Gen. Wilkinson hastened to the stable and mounting the first horse at hand, hurried to join the main body of the army which he found on the road toward Pluckamin. The command now devolved upon Gen. Sullivan ; and continuing on his march by way of Lamington, Potters-
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town and Clinton, he finally crossed the Delaware at Phil- ipsburg, and joined Washington in Pennsylvania.
These, then, are the military movements in Somerset County in 1776; the year when Independence was declared. Washington passed onr county on its sonth .eastern and southern border, along the public road leading by Six Mile Run, and Kingston to Princeton and Trenton ; and Lee and Sullivan led another division from Totowa, (now Paterson, ) by the Valley of the Passaic to Morristown, Bernardsville, Lamington and Clinton, to Phillipsburg ; and the two united on the west side of the Delaware about December 20th, 1776.
New Jersey was thus in December, given up almost en- tirely into the hands of the enemy ; and all tradition unites in averring that their hands were not restrained. Private property was but little respected ; no allowance made in favor of non-combattants ; and virtue and purity were often brutally outraged,
Cornwallis lingered in New Brunswick during the whole of the succeeding winter, collecting a large depot of stores and forage from the surrounding country for the subsist- end of his army. Heat first purposed to continue his march to Philadelphia, but finding that Washington had secured all the boats on the river, decided to delay it until the ice should form and enable him to pass his troops over in that way ; but before this came he had other work on his hands.
While at Brunswick he issned a proclamation inviting all the inhabitants of the State to come in and take out "Protections," promising exemption for the past and safety in the future ; and in the discouraging aspect of the pub- lic affairs, the timorous and the doubtful almost univer- sally took advantage of it. The following is a copy of one of these papers :
I do hereby Certify that the Bearer Abraham Sedam, of Middlebush, in the County of Somerset, came and sub- scribed the declaration specified in a certain Proclamation published at New York, on the 13th day of November last, by the Right Honorable, Lord Howe, and his Excellency General Howe. Whereby he is entitled to the protection
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of all Officers and Soldiers, serving in his Majesties' Army in America, both for himself, his family and property, and to pass and repass on his lawful business withont molesta- tion.
Given under my hand this 18th day of December. 1776. C. MAWHOOD. Lt. Col.
The tendency was to weaken and discourage the cause of patriotism greatly. Even some men who had been active until this time, wavered and sought safety in "Protection." It was the darkest hour of the struggle, but fortunately it did not last long.
We close the first year of Independence then with the British troops occupying New Brunswick, and extending their outposts to the Delaware at Trenton. while Washing- ton, with his little army almost completely demoralized, is just saved by a timely retreat to the west side of the river. New Jersey is in the possession of its enemies, except the counties of Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon, and the spirit . of the people is being debauched by deceitful offers of pro- tection and peace. The State government had hardly been organized before it was dispersed. War, therefore, not only, but anarchy, threatened the State ! No doubt many wept in secret, and others prayed almost in despondency and total despair ! But the agony, though intense, was brief.
The vear in which the Declaration of Independence was made really seemed to close in almost helpless desponden- cy ! Washington had only 2,200 men under his com- mand when he reached the western side of the Delaware on the 8th of December ; and even a part of these waited on- ly to be dismissed, as their term of service had already ex- pired. Indeed. there were scarcely 1000 men upon whom he could depend, until he was joined by Sullivan from Phillipsburgh. The whole State of New Jersey was at the mercy of the British. Sir Wm. Howe took this op- portunity to issue a Proclamation offering a full and free pardon to all who would lay down their arms, with full and ample protection, also to those who after doing so consented to take the oath of allegiance to the British crown. 'The effect of this was to bring great numbers of
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the timerons and wavering to desert the cause of Independ- The following was issued on Long Island :
Whereas, it is represented that many of the loyal in- habitants of this country have been compelled by the lead- ers in rebellion. to take up arms against His Majesty's Government, Notice is hereby given to all persons so fore- ed into rebellion, that on delivering themselves up at head quarters of the Army, they will be received as faithful sub- jects, have permits peaceably to return to their respective dwellings, and meet with full protection for their persons an l property. All those who chose to take up arms for the restoration of order and good government within this Island, shall be disposed of in the best manner, and have every encouragement that can be expected.
Given under my hand at Headquarters on Long Island Aug, 23, 1776. Wm. Howe.
By his Excellency's command Robert Makensie, Sec.
The finances of Congress were in disarrangement ; the troops in the field were ill provided for, ill fed and greatly demoralized as the effect of all this. It was in fact the darkest hour of the conflict.
But it did not last long.
On Christmas day in seventy-six,
Our gallant troops with bayonets fixed, To Trenton marched away.
From the 8th to the evening of the 24th of December nothing had been done, but early on the morning of the 25th, Christmas day, in the midst of a cold sleet, the in- habitants of Trenton were startled by the noise of a sharp conflict in the streets of the town. The result of which was, the capture of the entire corps of Hessians stationed there. Washington himself was there, present in person, aided by Generals Green, Mercer, Sterling, Sullivan and Stevens.
The conflict was brief but decisive. Col. Rall was wounded by a shot fired, it is said, by Col. Frederick Fre- linghuysen, and surrendered the troops under his command amounting to 1000 prisoners, with 6 brass field pieces, 1000 stand of arms and 4 flags.
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In the evening, Washington, with his men and prison- ers returned again to the west side of the Delaware, hav- ing lost only four men, two of which were frozen to death. He returned again, however, on the 30th, to find all the British from Bordentown removed to Princeton, except Cornwallis, who, with strong force was waiting for him on the south side of the Assinpink. Here a conflict oc- curred on the 2d of January, lasting until it became too dark to continue it, neither having obtained any decided advantage, and lighting their fires on opposite sides of the narrow little river. Cornwallis boasted that he would cer- tainly "catch the fox" in the morning, when urged by Sir William Erskine to attack in the evening ; but "the fox" was not caught ! Leaving his camp fires burning brightly, Washington stole away under the cover of the darkness, and appeared early in the morning at Princeton, where he defeated the British troops stationed there with great slaughter, and sent one regiment flying precipitately back to Trenton ; but his victory was saddened by the unfor- tunate death of General Mereer. Pursuing the other de- feated regiments as far as Kingston, he halted, and after consulting with his officers, decided to turn aside and se- cure his army by leading them to a place of safety. Break- ing down the bridge at Kingston, he led his troops on the east side of the Millstone to Rocky Hill, when he crossed again to the west side, and following the course of the riv- er crossed the Raritan at Van Veghten's bridge, and ren- devouzed the next day at night-fall, at Pluckamin. The morning of the battle at Princeton was bright and frosty, and the air being calm the canonading was heard as far north-west as New Germantown, and spread consternation far and wide ; and when the camp fires gleamed the next evening the 4th of January, on the side of the Pluckamin mountain, the alarm was most intense. Many a horse- man, during the night, dashed onward to the point, to as- certain what it portended, and when the news was brought back, that it was Washington, the joy was almost raptur- ous everywhere,
This hurried march on the 2nd of January, 1777, was the second military movement through Somerset County.
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It was made amid the most intense sufferings of the poor soldiers All of them had been without sleep the previous night ; the weather was very cold-they had not had time to supply themselves with even one regular meal, and the march from Kingston, after the battle, was a long and a fatiguing one. Many of them became exhausted and laid down to sleep by the way side. Some of them became ex- hausted and laid down to sleep by the wayside. Some of the inhabitants along the Millstone supplied them as they passed, with such food as they had prepared ; but the ex- haustion of the whole was almost complete, when they rest- ed at last at Pluckamin on the evening of the 4th.
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