USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > Centennial history of Somerset County [New Jersey] > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16
Somerset was exempt from any disturbance, and the armies did not in any way intrude on the pursuits of hus- bandry. Only once the army passed through this county on its way to Yorktown, and at the close of the war, while Congress was in session, at Princeton, Washington and his guard and officers attended there for a short period, and we therefore close here the Revolutionary history of our county, so far as active operations are concerned.
1
.
CHAPTER VII.
SIMCOE'S RAID, AND CONCLUDING SCENES OF THE REVOLUTION.
One of the most celebrated incidents of the war, especially in Somerset County, was the raid of Lieut. Col. Simcoe from Amboy to Van Veghten's Bridge, in which he suc- ceeded in the burning of a number of boats lying in the Raritan, one and a half miles below Somerville, the Church of Raritan, the Court House at Milistone, and reached the ambuscade formed to protect and receive him and his Corps at Spotswood, with the loss of only three men killed and six taken prisoners, one of which was Simcoe himself. Col. Lee says in his "Memoirs of the War," that it was considered by both armies among the handsomest exploits of the war. The Corps called the "Queen's Rangers," which made this raid, c nsisted. mostly of native Ameri- cans who favored the Royal cause, enlisted chiefly in the vicinity of New York and Connecticut. It had mustered at one time four hundred men ; but was reduced in num- bers when Col. Simcoe assumed the command in 1777. He soon made it as a corps, a model of order, bravery and military skill ; and it was in its very best condition when acting in New Jersey. We are then to understand that it was not British soldiers who committed the outrage on property devoted to religious purposes, but renegade Americans ; and the pilot is said was Jim Stewart, a na- tive of Somerset County. We have an account of this raid from Lieut. Col. Simcoe himself ; and we shall let him give his own version and then append our comments. The following is an extract from his Military Journal, pub- lished under his own supervision :
"On the 25th of October, by 8 o'clock at night, the de-
103
SOMERSET COUNTY.
tachment, which had been detailed, marched to Billop's Point where they were to embark. That the enterprise might be effectually concealed, Lt. Col. Simcoe described a man, as a rebel spy, said to be on the island, and endeavoring to escape to New Jersey, a great reward was offered for taking him, and the militia of the Island were watching all the points where it was possible for any man to hide in order to apprehend him. The batteaux and boats, which were appointed to be ready at Billop's Point, and to pass the whole over by twelve o'clock at night, did not ar- rive until three o'clock in the morning. No time was lost. The infantry of the Queen's Rangers were landed ; they ambuscaded every avenue to the town. The cavalry fol- lowed as fast as possible.
As soon as it was formed, Lient. Col. Simcoe called to- gether the officers ; he told them of his plan, "that he meant to burn the boats at Van Vacter's bridge, and crossing the Raritan at Hillsborough, to return by the road to Brunswick, and, making a circuit to avoid that place as soon as he came near it, to discover himself when beyond it, on the heights where the Grenadier Redoubt stood while the British troops were cantoned there, and where the Queen's Rangers afterward had been encamped ; and to entice the militia, if possible, to follow him into an ambuscade which the infantry would lay for them at South River bridge." Major Armstrong was to re-embark as soon as the cavalry marched, and land on the opposite side of the Raritan, at South Amboy. He was then, with the utmost dispatch and silence, to proceed to South River bridge, six miles from South Amboy, where he was to am- buscade himself, without passing the bridge or taking it up A smaller creek falls into this river on the South Amboy side ; into the peninsula formed by these streams, Liut. Col. Simcoe hoped to allure the Jersey militia. In case of accident, Maj. Armstrong was desired to give credit, to any messenger who should give him the parole of "Clinton and Montrose." It was daybreak before the cavalry left Amboy. The procuring of guides had been by Sir Henry Clinton intrusted to Brigadier Skinner ; he either did not or could not obtain them ; for but one was
104
SOMERSET COUNTY.
found who knew perfectly the cross-road he meant to take to avoid the main road from Somerset Court House, or Hillsborough, to Brunswick. Capt, Sanford formed the advance guard, the Huzzars followed, and Stuart's men were in the rear, making, in the whole, about eighty. A Justice Crow was soon overtaken ; Lieut. Col. Simcoe ac- costed him roughly, called him "Tory," nor seemed to be- lieve his excuse when, in the American idiom for court- ship, he said "he had only been a sparking," but sent him to the rear guard, who, being Americans, easily compre- hended their instructions, and kept up the justice's belief that the party was a detatchment from Washington's ar- my. Many plantations were now passed by. the inhabi- tants of which were up, and whom the party accosted with friendly salutations. At Quibbletown, Lieut. Col. Simcoe had just quitted the advance guard to speak to Lieut. Stewart, [ Lieut. Stewart was a native of Somerset Coun- ty, a partisan Royalist, and extensively known as "Tory Jim." If he had been recognized anywhere about Bound Brook or Raritan, it would not have been well for him. ] when, from a public house on the turn of the road. some people came out with knapsacks on their shoulders, bear- ing the appearance of a rebel guard. Capt. Sanford did not see them till he had passed by, when, checking his horse to give notice, the huzzars were reduced to a mo- mentary halt opposite the house. Perceiving the suppos- ed guard they threw themselves off their horses, sword in hand, and entered the house. Lieut. Col. Simcoe instant- ly made them remount ; but they failed to discover some thousand pounds of paper money which had been ta - ken from a passenger, the master of a privateer, nor could he stay to search for it. He told the man "that he would be answerable to give him his money that night at Bruns- wick, where he should quarter," exclaimed aloud to his party, "that these were not the tories they were in search of, although they had knapsacks," and told the country people who were assembling around, "that a party of To- ries had made their escape from Sullivan's army, and were trying to get into Staten Island, as Iliff (who had been defeated near this very spot, taken and executed) had for -
105
SOMERSET COUNTY.
merly done ; and that he was sent to intercept them." The sight of Justice Crow would, probably, have aided in deceiving the inhabitants ; but unfortunately, a man per- sonally knew Lieut. Col. Simcoe, and an express was sent to Gov. Livingston, then at Brunswick, as soon as the par- ty marched. It was now conducted by a country lad whom they fell in with, and to whom Capt. Sanford (be- ing dressed in red. and without his cloak) had been iutro- duced as a French officer. He gave information, that the greater part of the boats had been sent on to Washington's camp, but that eighteen were at Van Vacter's bridge, and that their horses were at a farm about a mile from it. He led the party to an old camp of Washington's, above Bound Brook. [This encampment was on the mountain - side east of the gorge of Chimney Rock.] Lieat. Col. Sim- coe's instructions were, to burn these huts, if possible, in order to give as wide an alarm to the Jerseys as he could. He found it impracticable to do so-they not being joined in ranges, nor built of very combustible materials. He proceeded without delay to Bound Brook, whence he in- tended to carry off Col. Moyland ; but he was not at Mr.
Vanhorns. [It is understood that Col. Moyland had married a daughter of Mr. Phillip Van Horn, and was known to be frequently there on visits to his wife.] Two officers who had been ill were there ; their paroles were taken, and they were ordered to mark "sick quarters" over the room door they inhabited, which was done ; and Mr. Vanhorn was informed that the party was the advance guard of the left column of the army, which was command- ed by Gen. Birch, who meant to quarter that night at his house,-and that Sir Henry Clinton was in full march for Morristown, with the army. The party proceeded to Van Vacter's bridge. Lieut Col. Simcoe found 18 new flat boats, upon carriages ; they were full of water He was determined effectually to destroy them. Combustibles had been applied for, and he received, in consequence, a few port fires ; every huzzar had a hand-grenade, and several hatchets were brought with the party. The timbers of the boats were cut through, they were filled with straw and railing, and some grenades being fastened in them, they
106
SOMERSET COUNTY.
were set on fire. Forty minutes were employed in this business. The country began to assemble in their rear ; and, as Lient. Col. Simcoe went to the Dutch meeting, - where the harness, and some stores, were reported to be -a rifle-shot was, fired at him from the opposite bank of the river. This house, with a magazine of forage, was now consumed, ["The Dutch Meeting" was the Church of Raritan, built in 1721 on land donated to the congregation by Michael Van Veghten. Some of the ropes used in hauling the boats from the Delaware, had been thrown un- der the portico of the church, but anything else that could be called property or "stores" there was not ; the rifle shot fired from the opposite side of the river was only a shot gun loaded for shooting pigeons, and fired by a young man, at such a long range, as to do no possible execution ; who, immediately took to his heels and ran away. There was no "magaze of forage" anywhere near the bridge, with the exception of the ropes ; and there had been nothing else there at any time. The boats were intended to be floated down the river and employed in making a descent on Staten Island and attacking the British encampments there; and it is a mistake, to say that a commissary and his peo- ple were made prisoners. We say this on the authority of a witness living on the Raritan at that very time and per- fectly cognizant of all the particulars from whose lips we are giving our testimony. Simcoe's account was written. probably, long after the time when the event occurred and particulars were forgotten ; and the burning of the Church therefore, stands unexcused as a wanton outrage for which there was no provocation in the circumstances of the case, or in the recognized rules of civilized warfare.] the com- missary and his people being made prisoners. The party proceeded to Somerset Courthouse, or Hillsborough. Lieut. Col. Simcoe told the prisoners not to be alarmed, that he would give them their paroles before he left the Jerseys ; but he could not help heavily lamenting to the officers with him, the sinister events which prevented him from being at Van Vacter's bridge some hours sooner,-as it would have been very feasible to have drawn off the flat boats to the South river, instead of destroying them. He proceed-
107
SOMERSET COUNTY.
ed to Somerset Courthouse. Three loyalists who were prisoners there, were liberated. One of them was a dread- ful spectacle ; he appears to have been almost starved, and was chained to the Hoor. [We have no information in re- gard to the prisoner: in the jail at Millstone ; but we be - lieve the scene described to be an exaggeration. The par- tizans of the British, it is true, were not much respected in Somerset County, but humanity was never forgotten in dealing with them. They had coats of "tar and feathers" bestowed on them ; but "almost_ starvation" is evidently an hyperbolic form of expression .] The soldiers wished and it was permitted, to burn the court house. It was unconnected with any other building, and, by its flames showed on which side of the Raritan he was, and would, most probably, operate to assemble the neighborhood of Brunswick at its bridge, to prevent him from returning by that road. The party proceeded toward Brunswick .-- Alarm guns were now heard, and some shots were fired at the rear, particularly by one person, who, as it afterward appeared, being out a shooting, and hearing of the incur- sion,) had sent word to Gov. Livingston, who was at Brunswick, that he would follow the party at a distance, and then give a shot, that he might know which way they directed their march. Passing by some houses, Lieut. Col. Simcoe told the women to inform four or five people who were pursuing the rear, "that if they fired another shot, he would burn every house which he passed." A man or two were now slightly wounded. As the party approached Brunswick, Lieut. Col. Simcoe began to be anxious for the cross-road diverging from it into the Princeton road, which he ment to pursue, and which having once arrived at, he himself knew the by-ways to the heights he wished to attain, where having frequently done duty, he was mi- nutely acquainted with every advantage and circumstance of the ground. His guide was perfectly confident that he was not yet arrived at it ; and Lieut. Col. Simcoe was in earnest conversation with him, and making the necessary inquiries, when a shot, at some little distance. discovered there was a party in front. He immediately galloped thither ; and he sent back Wright, his orderly sergeant to
108
SOMERSET COUNTY.
acquaint Capt. Sandford "that the shot had not been fired at the party," when, on the right at some distance, he saw the rail fence (which was very high on both sides of the narrow road between two woods) somewhat broken down, and a man or two near it, when, putting his horse on the canter, he joined theadvance men of the Huzzars, determin- ing to pass through this opening, so as to avoid every am- buscade that might be laid for him, or attack, upon more equal terms, Col. Lee, (whom he understood to be in the neighborhood, and apprehendled might be opposed to him,) or any other party ; when he saw some men concealed be- hind logs and bushes, between him and the opening he meant to pass through, and he heard the words "Now, now," and found himself, when he recovered his senses, prisoner with the enemy, his horse being killed with five bullets, and himself stunned by the violence of his fall.
[The result near DeMott's Tavern, two miles west of New Brunswick requires more additions, than any other part of the narrative, to render it complete. Col. Simcoe's horse was shot under him and he himself thrown violently to the ground and rendered insensible. James Schureman, of New Brunswick, saved his life by thrusting aside the bayonet of a soldier of the militia who attempted to stab him ; he was braced up against a tree, and Dr. Jonathan Ford Morris, afterwards of Somerville, then a student of medicine in New Brunswick, bled him, and administered such restoratives as could be obtained. He was then taken to New Brunswick and properly cared for. He recovered and was exchanged ; entered on his command again, and was present with his Corps, the Queen's Rangers, at Spen- cer's Ordinary on James River, July 1781 ; at King's Bridge, January 1778, and at Oyster Bay, Long Island, 1778-9, where there was literally a "nest of Tories," of whom William Franklin, late Governor of New Jersey, was Chief. He became, after the Revolution, Governor of Upper Canada, and wrote to enquire for the young man who had so kindly and humanely assisted him at De Mott's Tavern ; and again, a second time, to Dr. Morris himself, thanking him for his attentions, and offering him advance- ment and active assistance, provided he would visit him in
109
SOMERSET COUNTY.
Canada ; which Dr. Morris saw reasons to decline. Sim- coe died in England, in 1806, and has a mural monu- ment with several sculptured figures, in Exeter Cathedral, executed by Flaxman, the famous English Sculptor It is said to be an unfavorable example of his ability, having lit- tle poetic character in its design, and no refinement of form in execution.
Among the pursuers of the Rangers from Millstone was Capt. G. P. Voorhees, a brave man, who in his ardor out- stripped his comrades Sering him alone, several of the Rangers turned upon him, aut in attempting to leap a fence to escape from their assault his horse became entan- gled and hung on the rails. In this situation he was ter- ribly hacked with their swords, and carried bleeding to New Brunswick, where he died in a few hours.
After the loss of their leader, the Rangers hastened to the appointed rendezvous at South River ; and there Dr. Ryker and Mr. John Polhemus were made prisoners, by the covering party sent from Amboy to protect them as they came in. The whole enterprise was certainly conducted with spirit, and resulted in the loss of fewer lives than could have been expected. The benefits were nothing, but the disabling of eighteen flat boats, which would not have been used, had they not been burned. As to the prisoners, at Millstone, no one specially cared ; it was probably re- garded as a good riduance ; but the Church and the Court House had done no harm ; and the first, especially, was not amenable to military execution ; and its destruction was neither justifiable or necessary, in any way, except as an annoyance to the citizens of Somerset County.]
CONCLUDING SCENES.
After this the tide of war drifted away almost entirely from Somerset County. It was a great relief to its inhabi- tants, and left them time to recuperate a little from their severe losses. The armies had eaten out their substance almost entirely. The farmers often had not been able to save grain enough to give their families bread, and supply seed for their fields for another harvest. But their firm pa-
110
SOMERSET COUNTY.
triotism was not evaporated. The depreciation of the "continental currency" wis more perplexing and entailed more real loss, than all the previous injuries of the war. Contracts for the army could not be made ; and in the winter of 1780, the army at Morristown were reduced to "famine rations." A military requisition had to be made by Washington upon the people for supplies to feed his starving troops. With this necessary imposition New Jer- sey promptly complied : and Somerset county hastened to bring in her alloted contribution among the very first.
The winter proved to be one of the most severe on rec- ord. The Raritan was completely frozen, and the inhabi- tants employed its icy surface as a public highwy. For almost four months, it was more used than any road in the county.
Washington was confinel to his camp at Morristown, but he was not unwakeful to surrounding scenes. As soon as the ice had formed between Staten Island and the main- land to such a state of solidity as so admit of the passage of wagon and cannon, he thought of renewing the design entertained in the preceeding autumn, of attacking the British Post on the Island. The enterprise was committed to Lord Sterling, but the British were early apprised of his intentions, and the attempt failed-failed indeed, in con- siderable loss to the American forces.
Discontent arising out of the scarcity of food was so rife in the camp at Morristown and so much maguified by re- ports that that the British were led to think a favorable sentiment towards them was growing up, and even that a return of the people to their former allegiance was possi- ble. This idea led to an effort to aid the supposed mal- contents. Gen. Kniphausen crossed over to Elizabeth- town point, and marched as far into the country as Springfield on the sixth aud seventh of June ; but he soon found how terribly he had mistaken the temper of the people. Gov. Longston called upon the militia to rally for defense, and the British troops were so perpetually har- rassed, that they soon only thought of revenge and a safe return. The village of Connecticut Farms, with the church was given to the flames, and Mrs. Caldwell, the
111
SOMERSET COUNTY.
wife of the Rev. James Caldwell, of Elizabethtown, was shot in her own house with her children around her and a babe in her arms ! It was claimed to have been an acci- dent. but it appears to have had the impulse of revenge growing out of disappointment, as its inciting canse The incident had a large share in embittering the feelings of the inhabitants of the State against their enemies, and inflam- ing their determinate resistance. After a short skirmish at Springfield, Kuiphausen made his way back to Staten Island.
Almost simultaneously with this raid into New Jersey the French auxiliaries arrived at Newport, July 18th. - Washington immediately planned an attack upon the city New York in conjunction with the French forces ; but so many squadrons of British ships arrived on the coast about the same time that the French were confined to the har- bor of Newport, and unable to co-operate with the army at Morristown. While Washington was absent at Hart- ford in consultation with Count Rochambeau. Arnold found an opportunity to attempt his long meditated trea- son of betraying West Point, the key to Highlands, to Sir Henry Clinton at New York. How it was defeated and how the amiable and accomplished Majre Andre lost his life in consenting to be concerned in it, is too well known too require to be told here. Early in December the army went into winter quarters : the Pennsylvania troops near Morristown, the New Jersey troops on Pompton Plains, and the New England troops near West Point, on both sides of the North river.
The season of 17SI opened in gloom. The disappointment from the unavailable nature of the French aid was deep ! Almost the only hope from abroad seemed to be confined to the disposition which had been manifested by the Hol- landers, to unite in assisting the American patriots Ma- ny in the army were still discontented, mostly from a mis- understanding in regard to the proper interpretation of the terms of enlistment, which read "for three years or during the war." The soldiers claimed discharge at the end of "three years," but the officers insisted on the other clause "or during the war." The Pennsylvania line broke out in
112
SOMERSET COUNTY.
open revolt and marched from Pompton as far as Trenton, where they were met by President Reed and induced to submit on certain specified conditions-having rejected with disdain the treacherous overtures made to them by Sir Henry Clinton. They had suffered indeed, but they were not justified in attempting to redress their own grievances in such a summary way, and the revolt was crushed before it had time to spread among the corps from the other States.
Washington still adhered to his plan of beseiging the eity of New York, and capturing Sir Henry Clinton and bis army The French troops were even ordered to Newport early in June in anticipation of such a movement, but in August this idea was abandoned, and instead of it, Lord Cornwallis was besieged in Yorktown ; the French fleet under Count De Grasse blockading the port and Washington surrounded him on the land side. On this occasion all the troops in New Jersey, as well as those at West Point, hastened to the scene of active operations. This was the last time that any large military force was seen in Somerset County, and then only on its southern borders. It is said Clinton might easily, by a sudden at- tack, have interrupted this movement, greatly to the relief of Cornwallis, had he not been deceived by letters upon which he relied, and which represented it only as a feint ; the real point of intended attack being himself in the city of New York.
Finally on the sixth day of October the troops were all present, and the first cordon was drawn around the devot- ed city, and on the 19th after a defense of thirteen days, Cornwallis capitulated ; but not before almost every gun on the British fortifications had been dismounted and all their batteries silenced. The surrender included York- town and Gloucester Point, with their garrisons and the shipping in the harbor, and the seamen, the army, the arms, the military chest, with all the stores and ammuni- tions.
It was a proud day, and it virtually ended the war. A show of hostilities was indeed kept up and skirmishing continued for a few months longer in the vicinities of
-
113
SOMERSET COUNTY.
Charleston and New York, but every one saw that the ruin brought upon the British interests, by the loss of such an army as that which surrendered at Yorktown, was final. The state of feeling in England, forbade even an attempt to repair it.
During the summer of 1782 the border warfare, especial- ly in Monmouth county, was exceedingly bitter, but in our own county, there was comparative quiet ; and at once peaceful industry and commerce revived. The feeling of the people really grew stronger in their determination to stand out to the last. They hoped for peace, but they felt resolnte to endure to the end and to conquer it.
On the 30th of November, 1782, the Americrn Commis- sioners, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and Henry Laurens, signed a treaty in the city of Ghent, which acknowledged the Independence of the Thirteen United Colonies, and gave them peace. The treaty however, did not take effect until the Twentieth of January, 1783, when the general pacification was to go into operation. These ti- dings, so happy and so ardently desired, were first com- municated by LaFayette, in a letter received on the Tweu- ty-fourth of March. Early in April a copy of the treaty arrived, and on the the nineteenth of that month, 1783, a proclamation suspending hostilities was issued. It was done, but no one thought then, what a great thing really had been effected. How great the event really was we scarcely yet know.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.