USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the revolutionary history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. I > Part 37
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Your very affectionate Friend, and Very Humble Servant,
EDWARD FLEMING"
" P. S. Pray if you have the Opportunity commend me very respect- fully to General Washington and General Putnam."
-New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, September 15, 1777.
Ran away from the subscriber living in Cumberland county, West New Jersey, on the 20th of August last, a Mulatto lad named Levi, seventeen years of age. He had on, and took with him, a light coloured vest and breeches, two under vests, one a pale red, the other brown
-
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linen, three linen shirts, two striped flannel ditto, three pair of trousers, one of them striped, one frock, a pair of half worn shoes that have been cut open on the top and sewed up again, an old felt hat, and a light coloured great coat, in which he rolls the rest of his clothes. He has been seen in Salem county, and has made several at- tempts to cross the Delaware. Whoever takes up said Mulatto, and secures him so that his master gets him again, shall have Ten Dollars reward and reasonable charges. ABIJAH HOLMES.
N. B. He passes for a free Negro, and says he worked about Cohansey bridge .- The Pennsylvania Evening Post, September 20, 1777.
New-York, Sept. 17, 1777.
Mr. PRINTER.
A S the Rebels have in their news-papers favoured the Public with General Burgoyne's Orders to Lieut.
Col. Baum, it might be interpreted maliciously should we refuse to commit to Print any Pieces of Ele- gance of their Commanders which may fall into our Hands. For this reason I send you a Copy of some Orders for the Jersey Militia, which we picked up in our late Excursion. I hope no invidious comparisons will be drawn between this and General Burgoyne's ; for tho' the latter, to give him his due, writes in a pretty style, and plausibly enough as to military Matters, his per- formance falls infinitely short of that Energy, that Pre- cision, that Sublimity which grace the Composition of the Jersey Brigadier. The candid Public must consider, that probably poor Burgoyne has not had those Advan- tages of Education which have refined the Sentiments and Expressions of the elegant Writer of the following Orders. I give them in the original Spelling. Prob- ably the Brigadier strove to adapt his Orthography to the Genius of his Troops.
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" Mendom, Sept. 5th, 1777.
"Sir you are to keep one Man allways with an order already writ to Im- press an Horss on the way he shall want that upon the first appearance of the Enemy's Coming to attack you or yours you are to dispatch the Man and Tell him to come the Nighest Road direct to me or my house and he is to Call to Every man Woman and Child he sees and Desire them to Call upon all men to push Down Where the Enemy is and give them Battle. But he is not to Stop to Tell his Story. But Call out as he rides a Long and tell his Story he is to ride Six or Seven Miles an ower if they have no guns or Ammonison they are to carry pitchforks flailes stones or such Weapons as they chuse or think Best But if any Man is a fraid to goo to Battle that hath no gun he is imediately to Set out as a Common Cryer towards the Back Country and Desire every one he sees to Come Down to the helpe of the Lord against the mighty and I will keep a Becon out so that if you with what will Turn out Nigh by Can Keep the Enemy in play a few howers I will be Down with 1,000 or 1,500 Men Shew this Letter to all men you see and send Coppys of it to all the Militia officers you can that Live within 15 or 20 Miles of the Lines and Shores - This gentlemen I have Writ to the Commanding Officer Down at the Shore therefore I Desire all men old & young as they Regard their Lives and Properties & all that is Dear to them when they hear the a Larm thet they a quip themselves as well as they Can and march imediately towards the Enemy where I will meet them Let Every man as soon as he is ready Stop for no Company But Call all they see to Come a Long & they are to send word by some of their family that cant fight to their next Neighbour of the a Larm-and Cursed is he that is Well & will not Turn out When this a Larm comes.
William Winds B : G."
You may also, Mr. Printer, publish the following Let- ter, which was found at Elizabeth-Town. It will shew the Public in what a miserable desponding State Wash- ington's Vagabonds are, notwithstanding all the Arts of the Congress to disguise it.
"Camp at Brandywine, Sept. 4, 1777.
" Dear Mother,
" I take this Opportunity to let you know that I am in good Health and high Spirits at present, hoping these Lines may find you as they left me. The Regulars are daily advancing towards Philadelphia, and our Mis- fortune is we cannot help it. Our Men get killed, wounded and taken Prisoners without Number. We shall soon be in Elizabeth-Town again, for the general Cry throughout the Army is, "The Country is lost at last ; and we shall be ruined." The Soldiers seem dull and cast down, and the Officers no better. Richard Savage has lost his arm, and Capt. Dallas of
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our Regt. is killed. I dare not enumerate all the killed and wounded No more, dear Mother, but hearty Prayers for your Welfare in this and the World to come. I rest and remain,
Your dutiful and affectionate Son,
JOHN JOHNSON "
" For Mrs. Abigail Johnson,
Living in Westfield."
New-York, September 22. On the 10th Instant, three Detachments of the Army, one from this City, another from the King's-bridge, and one from Staten-Island, went over to the Jersies, took a Number of Prisoners, sent in a very large Drove of Oxen, Sheep, &c. and returned on Tuesday .- New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, Septem- ber 22, 1777.
To be let on rent for a term of two, three, or four years, for two hundred and fifty pounds per year, the FARM on which Richard Stevens now lives, containing about six hundred and eighty acres of land. It is pleasantly situated near Pittstown, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, has good buildings, a fine orchard, and a meadow. Who- ever inclines to take it, must apply to said Stevens on the premises. The tenant may enter on it in a few weeks .- The Pennsylvania Evening Post, September 23, 1777.
New-York, September 29. Capt. Wharton, in a Rebel Schooner, sailed from Egg-Harbour last Tuesday, for St. Eustatia, but next Day Patrick Burns and Edward Glessing, two of the Seamen, took Possession of the Ves- sel, confined the Captain and four others, and brought her in here : She is loaded with Flour, &c .- New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, September 29, 1777.
New-York, October 6. Last Friday Morning, Capt. Taylor, who commands at the Light-House, went in
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search of some Rebel Light-Horse that he heard was at Shrewsbury, but soon fell in with the noted Capt. Dennis, with a Party of the Militia, when a smart firing ensued, but the Rebels giving way, their Commander, and the following Persons were made Prisoners, viz. Lieut Cook Lester, George Rivets, Abraham Lane, Michael Maps, Cornelius Treat, and William Herrell. Mr. Dennis is wounded, and John Williamson, of Captain Taylor's Party is wounded in the Thigh, the Ball having first gone thro' his Captain's Jacket. The Prisoners were brought to this City Saturday Morning last .- New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, October 6, 1777.
New-York, October 13. A Letter from an Officer in the Rebel Army, to his Mother at Elizabeth Town, men- tions. "That the bloodest Action ever known in America was fought on the 3d of October, and that 3000 of Mr. Washington's Army were killed."
Yesterday a smart Firing was heard here, supposed to be at Elizabeth-Town Point, in New-Jersey, at a Sloop in his Majesty's Service stationed near that Place.
On Thursday Evening the 9th of October was buried in Trinity Church Yard, in this City, Mrs. Jane Camp- bell, Widow of Mr. Robert Campbell, of Fresh Ponds in New-Jersey, Daughter of Mr. Andrew Gillaspie of Ennis- killen, in Ireland, and Sister to Mr. John Gillaspie of Charlestown South Carolina ; she was 70 years of Age .- New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, October 13, 1777.
The following, written by a person present, was re- ceived last Wednesday evening.
East New-Jersey, October 14, 1777.
" Glorious news from the southward : Washington knock'd up,-the bloodiest battle in America,-6000 of his men gone,-100 waggons to carry the wounded, Gen-
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eral Howe is at present at Germantown,-Washington 30 miles back, in a shattered condition,-their stoutest frigate taken, and one deserted. They are tired, and talk of fin- ishing this campaign. The battle was on the 4th instant.
"Since my last, we have got a confirmation of the TOTAL ROUTE and dispersion of the REBEL ARMY on the 4th instant, and that their scattered remains had been collected, as far as was practicable, at Perkiomy creek, which they had passed, and taken refuge on the moun- tains in its vicinity ; establishing a post also at the Trap, on the Schuylkill .- A waggoner from their camp, which he left on Monday evening, says, they were then in the utmost confusion, their camp being alarmed with an ac- count of the approach of the King's troops; and the next day he was informed a body of British had attacked their post at the Trap, killed thirty, and made about seventy prisoners. He says, that on his way hither from Sherrod's ferry (where he crossed the Delaware) on Thurs- day morning, he heard a very heavy firing from sun rise till past 8 o'clock, in direction towards the camp, which gives room for conjectures.
"By a person who arrived here last evening, from the rebel army, which he left on Tuesday the 7th instant, we have the following account : That on Friday the 3d the rebel army received orders to draw one day's provisions, and to march ; which they did, within a small distance of the Royal Army, in the night, and lay upon their arms until day break : That they attacked the Royal army, and a general Engagement commenced ; that both armies fought (as he says) very obstinately ; that the Hessians gave way, but rallied : at the same time the left wing of the rebel army gave way, and in an instant the whole was in the greatest confusion, put to flight, and ran (in his own words) as if the devil was after them, when they were pursued by the light horse, who made a
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great havock among them; that there were a great number missing, and that the report in the camp, after their return, was three thousand ; but he verily believed there were double that number. He does not know whether they lost any cannon. He also says they begin to be much tired of the war, and are determined to make an end of it this campaign. He further says, that the rebels had lost numbers of their best officers, who had the day before received orders not to run until the word retreat was given, which the most courageous of them observed, and were left standing without men till they were either taken or shot. He further adds, that the Delaware frigate was taken, and was fitting out; that Lord Howe had ordered several floating batteries to be made, that the port on the Jersey shore, near the chevaux de frize was taken, but he heard nothing of the shipping. He also says, that there were upwards of a hundred waggons employed to carry the wounded to East Town ; and when he left the rebel army they were thirty miles distant from Philadelphia. This person has been an eye witness of the last engagement, and when he came away he heard considerable firing, which he supposed to be from the shipping."
Whitehall, August 22, 1777. Extract of a Letter from the Hon. General Sir William Howe, to Lord George Germaine.
New York, July 5, 1777. MY LORD.
Having established a corps sufficient for the defence of Amboy, the army assembled at Brunswick on the 12th of June. The enemy's prin- cipal force being encamped on the mountain above Quibble Town, with a corps of 2000 men at Prince Town, it was thought advisable to make a movement in two columns from Brunswick on the 14th in the morning, leaving Brigadier General Mathew with 2000 men to guard that post. The first division under the command of Lord Cornwallis advanced to Hills- borough, and the second to Middle Bush under the command of Lieutenant General De Heister, with a view of drawing on an action, if the enemy should remove from the Mountain towards the Delaware, but on finding
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their intentions to keep a position which it would not have been prudent to attack, I determined without loss of time to pursue the principal objects of the campaign by withdrawing the army from Jersey ; and in consequence of this determination returned to the camp at Brunswick on the 19th, and marched from thence to Amboy on the 22d, intending to cross to Staten Island, from whence the embarkation was to take place.
Upon quitting the camp at Brunswick, the enemy brought a few troops forwards with two or three pieces of cannon, which they fired at the utmost range without the least execution or any return from us. They also pushed some battalions into the woods to harrass the rear where Lord Cornwallis commanded, who soon dispersed them with the loss of only two men killed and thirteen wounded, the enemy having nine killed and about 30 wounded.
The necessary preparations being finished for crossing the troops to Staten Island, intelligence was received that the enemy had moved down from the mountain, and taken post at Quibble Town, intending, as it was given out, to attack the rear of the army removing from Amboy ; that two corps had also advanced to their left, one of 3,000 men and 8 pieces of cannon, under the command of Lord Stirling, Generals Maxwell and Conway, the last said to be a captain in the French service, the other corps consisted of about 700 men, with only one piece of cannon.
In this situation of the enemy, it was judged advisable to make a move- ment that might lead on to an attack, which was done the 26th in the morning in two columns: The right, under the command of Lord Corn- wallis, with Major General Grant, Brigadiers Mathew and Leslie, and Colonel Donop, took the route by Woodbridge towards Scotch Plains: The left column where I was, with Major Generals Sterne, Vaughan and Grey, Brigadiers Cleveland and Agnew, marched by Metuchin Meeting- house to join the rear of the right column in the road from thence to Scotch Plains, intending to have taken separate routs, about two miles after the junction, in order to have attacked the enemy's left flank at Quibble Town. Four battalions were detached in the morning with six pieces of cannon, to take post at Bonham Town.
The right column, having fallen in with the aforementioned corps of 700 men soon after passing Woodbridge, gave the alarm, by the firing that ensued, to their main army at Quibble Town, which retired to the moun- tain with the utmost precipitation The small corps was close pushed by the light troops, and with difficulty got off their piece of cannon.
Lord Cornwallis, soon after he was upon the road leading to Scotch Plains from Metuchin Meeting house, came up with the corps commanded by Lord Stirling, who he found advantageously posted in a country much covered with wood, and his artillery well disposed. The King's troops vying with each other upon this occasion, pressed forward to such close action, that the enemy, tho' inclined to resist, could not long maintain their ground against so great impetuosity but were dispersed on all sides, leaving behind 3 pieces of brass ordnance, 3 captains and 60 men killed, and upwards of 200 officers and men wounded and taken.
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His Lordship had 5 men killed, and 30 wounded. Captain Finch of the light company of the guards, was the only officer who suffered, and to my great concern the wound he received proving mortal, he died the 29th of June, at Amboy
The troops engaged in this action were the 1st Light Infantry, 1st British Grenadiers, 1st, 2d, and ?d Hessian Grenadiers, 1st Battalion of Guards, Hessian Chesseurs, and the Queen's Rangers. I take the liberty of par- ticularising these corps, as Lord Cornwallis, in his report to me so highly extols their merit and ardour upon this attack. One piece of cannon was taken by the Guards, the other two by Col. Mingerode's battalion of Hes- sian Grenadiers.
The enemy was pursued as far as Westfield with little effect, the day proving so intensely hot, that the soldiers could with difficulty continue their march thither ; in the mean time it gave opportunity for those flying to escape by sculking in the thick woods, until night favoured their retreat to the mountain.
The army lay that night at Westfield, returned the next day to Raway, and the day following to Amboy. On the 30th at ten o'clock in the fore- noon the troops began to cross over to Staten-Island, and the rear guard, under the command of Lord Cornwallis, passed at two in the afternoon, without the least appearance of an enemy.
The embarkation of the troops is proceeding with the utmost dispatch, and I shall have the honour of sending your Lordship further information as soon as the troops are landed at the place of their destination.
With the most perfect respect I have the Honor to be your Lordship's most faithful and most obedient Servant,
W. HOWE.
New-York, October 20 There was a Draft from the Militia of Bergen County, in New-Jersey, last Week ; but few turned out. Those that refused, had Effects seized and sold to the Amount of £20, to hire a Person in their Place for one Month. 'Tis given out they were wanted to go as far as the Clove, in order to remove a large Quan- tity of Stores deposited there .- New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, October 20, 1777.
London, August 16. His Majesty has been pleased in a letter from Lord George Germain to Sir William Howe, to return his thanks to Lord Cornwallis, and the troops under his command, for their good behaviour on their
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march after the rebels through the Jerseys ; to Col. Har- court for his spirited behaviour in taking General Lee ; to our gallant Col Mawhood, for his bravery and good conduct on the 3d of January, and to all the regiments under his command, but in a particular manner to the 17th.
New-York, October 27. We hear from Shrewsbury, that a young Man, very inoffensive in his Behaviour, except being a Friend to Government, was last Week hung up at his Father's Door, without Ceremony, by one Forman, who calls himself a Major, for no other Crime than an attempt to bring off from that Place, a few Cheeses to this Town, where he had been forced to take his Abode. After he had hung for several Hours, it was with the utmost Difficulty, that the relentless Murderer could be prevailed upon to indulge his afflicted Father so far as to permit him to bury the Body. Does not this (to use a Phrase of William Livingston's, the Usurper of the Government of New-Jersey) "Out-barbarize all the Barbarities in History ! "
This Day is published "An Act to prohibit all Inter- course with the Colonies of New-Hampshire, Massa- chusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New- Jersey, Pennsylvania, the three lower Counties on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South- Carolina, and Georgia, during the Continuance of the present Rebellion within the said Colonies respectively. -New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, October 27, 1777.
On Tuesday last a party of Hessians, under the com- mand of Count Donop, crossed the river Delaware, and proceeding to Haddonfield, took possession of a quantity of rebel stores, and sent them to this city ;- the next
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morning proceeded down to Red Bank, where the rebels had thrown up a very strong fortification on a high mole of ground. They got there that evening, when a party of about five hundred immediately made an attack on the fort, with an intention, if possible, to carry it by storm, but found that it had been very strongly rein- forced, and their few small field pieces not sufficient to beat down the works,-were therefore, after bravely effecting a lodgement on the outer works, and driving the rebels, though twice their number, into their inmost post, obliged to decline the attack. The loss of the Hessians on this occasion considering they had to pass through the fire of the row-gallies, both to and from the fort, which kept pouring grape shot upon them, is incon- siderable. Count Donop is amongst the wounded.
Early the next morning the Augusta man of war of sixty-four guns came up and attacked the fort on Mud- island-Having silenced it for some time, preparations were making for taking possession of it, when, by some unlucky accident, she took fire, and finding, every effort to extinguish it in vain, all on board left her, and a little while after she blew up. A small sloop of war, supposed to be the Merlin, having got aground on the Jersey shore during the firing of the Augusta upon the fort, was set on fire and burnt to the water's edge.
The next day after the above action, some more large- ships of war moved up to the station the Augusta had held, and we have no doubt but in a few days we shall have the pleasure of seeing the whole fleet laying off this city'-The Pennsylvania Evening Post, October 30, 1777.
New York, November 3. A Brigantine from Halifax was last Monday, in a heavy Gale of Wind, forced over the Bar into Shrewsbury Inlet : there were a Number of Loyal Persons aboard, who armed and distributed them-
1 Philadelphia.
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selves into several Houses on the Shore, to prevent the Inhabitants giving an Account of their Disaster, and enable them to seize on a schooner, lying in a neighbour- ing Creek, and bring off themselves with a considerable Part of their Property. They arrived safe in this City on Thursday last, and inform us, that at Halifax the Prizes taken from the Rebels are so very numerous, as to be sent thither in small Fleets.
A Party of the Rebel Militia, appeared in the English Neighbourhood in New Jersey, last Friday, and carried off a Number of Cattle from the Inhabitants of that Place ; they came down as far as the Sign of the Three Pigeons, which is scarce five Miles from Bergen.
L' OST between the Fly-Market and the Coffee-House, New-York, a Lieutenant's Commission in the Fourth
Battalion New-Jersey Volunteers. If the Person who has found it will leave it with the Printer, he shall be handsomely rewarded .- New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, November 3, 1777.
Philadelphia. A total stop being put to the currency of the Continental, Resolve and Commonwealth Money, by the arrival of the British forces in this city, and few of the inhabitants (especially of the poorer sort) having any Gold or Silver, they unanimously expressed a desire to receive and pass the old legal Paper Money. In con- sequence of which, a number of subscription papers were handed about town and universally signed and the old Money is now generally current.
To the PUBLIC.
A S many people object to receive the New-Jersey Paper Currency, called the Loan-office money, dated in March 1776, because issued since the commencement of the present troubles, and therefore sup- posed to be of no value; it becomes necessary to inform all such persons, that that, or any other paper money emitted in any of His Majesty's pro-
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vinces by a law of such province, under the old legal constitution and in his Majesty's name, is as valid, and to all intents and purposes as effectual and good as any emitted before that date. The face of the bill will imme- diately discover whether issued in the stile of the King, and by a law or act of assembly of any colony whence emitted, and if so, there can be no doubt but that such colony, by virtue of such law, is absolutely mortgaged as a security to every person possessing its currency, be the denomination of the bill what it may, whether one shilling or six pounds. The last emission of the New-Jersey currency dated March 25, 1776, so much objected to by those ignorant of its true foundation, is, if anything upon a better establishment than any other. The law by virtue of which it was emitted was passed in a full and legal assembly of the province, long be- fore the partial and rebellious declaration of independence took place- It was moreover sent to England for his Majesty's Royal assent, in order to render it more authentic, and this was obtained in full form previous to the issuing of the bills. The money coming from the royal mint can scarcely be stamped with higher credit, nor can any among ourselves, not disaffected to the Royal cause, dispute receiving it equal with gold or silver, upon any principal or reason whatever.
-New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, Nov. 10, 1777.
From the Pennsylvania Ledger
THE glaring falsehoods, evidently designed to deceive those at a distance, contained in the following intercepted letter, wrote two days after the affair at Brandywine, by a Mr. Livingston to his father, the usurped governor of New-Jersey, cannot be equalled but by their publication, last winter, whilst the British army was in the Jersies, charging them with the most brutal acts, and having them sanctified with an oath, the better to deceive the unthinking. It is thought by some that Mr. H. P. Livingston, in conjunction with his honored father, will be able with the assistance of congress, to procure many affidavits setting forth the victories they gained at Brandywine, on the eleventh of September by general Washington ; at the Great Valley by gen. Wayne on the twenty-first ; and again by gen. Washington on the third instant at Germantown ; and have them pub-
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