USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the revolutionary history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. I > Part 41
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Not to affect former bargains or contracts. Passed at Princeton, Dec. 10, 1777.
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For the NEW JERSEY GAZETTE.
Mr. COLLINS,
IT is observable that at the opening of every campaign in the Spring, the British plunderers and their Tory emissaries, announce the total re- duction of America before the Winter. In the Fall they find themselves as remote from their purpose as they were in the Spring; and then we are threatened with inumerable hosts from Russia and Germany, who will utterly extirpate us the ensuing Summer, or reduce us to the most abject submission. They have so beat this beaten tract, that for the mere sake of variety, I would advise them to explore a new road; and not compel us to nauseate a falsehood, not only because we know it to be one, but for its perpetual repetition without the least variation or alternity. According to custom, therefore, the new lie (that is the old lie reiterated) for next Summer is, that we are to be devoured bones and all, by 36,000 Russians ; besides some thing or other that is to be done to us by the King of Prussia. What this is to be, is still a profound secret; but as it will doubtless be something very extraordinary, and it being impossible to conceive what else he can do to us, after we are swallowed by the Russians, he is probably, by some political emetic or other, to bring us up again .- I should think in common compliance to human reason, that absurdities so gross, and fig- ments so destitute of probability, could only deceive those who chuse to be deceived. The Empress of Russia tho' a sovereign in petticoats, knows too well that the true riches of a nation consist in the number of its inhabi- tants, to suffer such a number of her subjects to be knocked in the head in America, for the sake of facilitating the frantic project of a more Southern Potentate in breeches, deluded by a blundering Ministry, and the universal derision of Europe. It is her interest (and I shall wonder if ever princes proceed upon any other principle, before . the commencement of the millenium) to have America dismembered from Great Britain, which must of necessity reduce the naval power of the latter, and make Russia a full match for her on the ocean. And as for the King of Prussia, considering that there never was any love lost between him and the family of Bruns- wick; and that he has long been jealous of the maritime strength of Britain, these artificers of fraud might with equal plausibility, have intro- duced the Emperor of Japan, as entering into leagues and alliances with our late master at St. James's. It is nothing but an impudent forgery from first to last, and merely fabricated to restore to their natural shape and features, the crest-fallen countenances of the tories ; and if possible, to intimidate the genuine Sons of America. The utmost they can do, they have already done; and are this moment as far from any prospect of sub- jecting us to the dominion of Britain, as they were in the ridiculous hour in which General Gage first arrived in Boston. This is no secret with those who have the management of their armies in America, how greatly . soever the nation may be deluded by the pompous accounts of their pro-
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gress. But whatever becomes of Old England at last, these Gentlemen are sure of accumulating immense wealth during the war; and are therefore determined to keep up the delusion as long as possible. Burgoyne is the only one of any distinction, who has virtue enough to own the truth ; and I am credibly informed, that he has frankly declared-That he was most egregiously deceived in the Americans-that he had been led to believe they would never come to bayonetting-that they behaved with the greatest intrepidity, in attacking entrenchments-that altho' a regiment of his grenadiers and light infantry displayed, in an engagement with Col. Morgan's battalion of rifle-men, the most astonishing gallantry, Morgan exceeded them in dexterity and generalship-and that it was utterly im- possible ever to conquer America.
HORTENTIUS.
Resolved, That Congress have an high sense of the merit of Col. Greene, and the officers and men under his command, in their late gallant defence of the Fort at Red-Bank, on Delaware river; and that an elegant sword be provided by the Board of War, and presented to Col. Greene.
Resolved, That Congress have an high sense of the merit of Lieutenant- Colonel Smith, and the officers and men under his command, in their late gallant defence of Fort Mifflin, on the river Delaware; and that an ele- gant sword be provided by the Board of War, and presented to Lieut. Col. Smith.
Resolved, That Congress have an high sense of the merit of Commodore Hazlewood, the commander of the naval force on Delaware river, in the service of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and of the officers and men under his command, in their late gallant defence of their country, against the British fleet, whereby two of their men of war were destroyed, and four others compelled to retire ; and that an elegant sword be provided by the Marine Committee and presented to Commodore Hazlewood.
Extract from the minutes. CHARLES THOMSON, Secy.
THOUGHTS on the present state of the ARMY ; addressed to the military.
Quod verum atque decens, curo et rogo et omnis, in hoc sum.
BESIDES the love of our native country, which ought to actuate every honest man, ambition and glory are the secondary principles that encour- age us to endure every hardship necessarily attending the profession of a soldier, and to sacrifice even life for the attainment of those desirable ends. Doubtless the service of our country, considered abstractly and independant of subsequent contingencies, is a most honourable service; and with regret it may be remembered, that at the beginning of this war, our army con- sisted of men of property and popular influence, who entered into it from the most laudable and disinterested motives, who sacrificed every private-
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view to the public good -But, tempora mutantur-we see men without education, without experience and without influence, advanced to the most important offices ; looking upon the army as a resort for pensioners and placemen, whose regard for the prosperity of our cause is in exact propor- tion, and runs parallel with their rank and pay.
The very nature of this contest deprecates such depravity of soul, and with justice it may be said, while we are forc'd to make use of such engines,-"flectere si' nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo."
Let us first take a view of the military line, and we shall find, that while some officers are in the field promoting the good of their country, and suffering every fatigue and danger, others are in safe quarters, dancing attendance on their respective legislatures for promotions, in which they seldom fail of success. Every country village, in the vicinity of the camp, you will find crowded with pot-valiant heroes and fire-side soldiers ; yet of so little importance are they to every thing but the funds, that the service flourishes best without them.
These are some, among a number of other causes, of the dissatisfaction that prevails in the military line, among such I mean as do their duty like men, and never turn their backs upon the enemy.
We now see boys of yesterday's growth, raised to the command of veterans, who have distinguished themselves in war before these striplings were born: And what is the efficient cause ?- They have friends in C-s1 and A-y.2-These veterans have nothing to recommend them but the stale, ineffectual plea of their own personal merit, evidenced by their long and faithful services.
Every officer in the army ought to be considered as a man of sense and courage : Actual service is the only test to prove this hypothesis ; and by that alone we are to determine of his merit. It is a touchstone that will make useful discriminations, by separating the fool and the coward, from the man of sense and the soldier ; and until such alternitive is proved, every officer has an undubitable right to rise according to his seniority.
Discipline is the life of an army, and until subordination is fully estab- lished, the former will never take place. Ignorance of military affairs, and a clownish diffidence of their own importance, are some of the causes of this defection. The primary cause may be traced to that stupid con- tempt, with which our inferior officers are treated by many of their haughty superiors: Such improper conduct will ever discourage the efforts of a young soldier, and damp the genius of every man of spirit .- And where does this pitiful despotism take its rise ? In ignorance and vanity-they are void of politeness, and (unused to command) they are foppishly vain of their power. I have seen a subaltern arrested, struck, and charged with stealing and pillaging fruit from an orchard; I have known him tried and acquitted with honour; yet such was the greatness of this non-entity in.
1 Councils.
2 Assembly.
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letters ! this demi-god of power! that it was mutiny, if not treason, to ask reparation. This, I aver, is a tyranny, that so far from existing in the British, is not tolerated in the armies of the most despotic princes on earth. I have read an anecdote that happened at the surrender of Fort St. David, in the East Indies, to the French in 1758 -A subaltern being charged by Monsieur Lally, the commanding officer, of embezzling some public stores-At a court of enquiry he proved his innocence : And Mon- sieur Lally, conscious of his error, made full reparation in the face of his army. To a conduct the antipodes of this, we may palliate, that the goddess of politeness, (if there be such a deity in ancient mythology) has never shed upon us the light of her reconciled countenance, but has suffered us, like the Goths and Vandals of old, to work out our own salva- tion in the boorish darkness; holding all refinements to be inconsistent with the principles of primitive freedom.
Let us now make some observations on the Staff of the army, which our rulers have thought expedient to divide and subdivide into so many de- partments ; of the utility of which, I refer the curious to an inspection of the Pay-Master General's accounts.
In mechanics, simplicity and efficacy are certain and concomitant : Re- dundancy ought to be ever avoided : Too great a combination of powers impedes the motion, and eventually destroys the use of the machine or structure. The same rule applies to military, as well as civil government ; by multiplying such offices, the business of the army is much perplexed, greatly retarded, and sometimes totally neglected. For, like true states- men, none of these officers will deign to discharge the duty of their re- spective appointments, till it passes thro' an infinite series and concatena- tion of clerks, assistants, subs and deputies, and finally arrives at the grand fountain head ; where, like a nabob in his durbar, he vouchsafes to settle an account with as much pomposity, as a capitulation or a definitive treaty of peace; ceding and guaranteing to a poor countryman the just equivalent only of his merchandize, taken for the use of the army.
The Quarter-Master General's department includes the Commissaries General of ordinance and hides ; the Clothier, Forage, and Waggon-Mas- ters General, with all their deputies and assistants ; subtract these latter, and the business of the former is a vox et præteria nihil, a mere pensioned sine-cure, a nullity and an incumbrance on the public. To increase the chagrin and to lessen the importance of the military, (for as we are under a Commonwealth, the levelling principle should extend even to the army, where nothing can be done without a proper subordination) every one of these staff gentlemen have a military title either given or assumed ; and so great is their contempt for the army, and of so little importance are com- missions, that few will accept of any rank under that of a Field Officer. Not a fellow will shoe a horse or skin a beef, unless you flatter him with a ·Captaincy at least ; and he who retails whisky, and chops up provisions for
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the soldiers, must be dubb'd a Colonel. These are mortifying considera- tions to an officer who commands a regiment or a company, to be rank'd and parallel'd with those greasy money-making fellows Take a view of our bitter enemies, the British army, and contrast their military policy with our own ; we all accede to this maxim, fas est et ab hoste doceri. Every staff-office in that service is generally filled by officers holding mili- tary command; there is no rank whatever affixed to those several posts independant of the military line, and consequently they cannot pretend to take precedency by virtue of such staff-appointments, only as their batta- lion commissions specify.
Adjutants General, Aids de Camp, and Majors of Brigade, may properly be called the military staff, because their duty is such; and should be officers taken out of the military line, who notwithstanding, ought to hold no new rank, having nothing to do but deliver and execute the orders of others, there is not the least necessity for such indulgence.
Rank implies pre-heminence, and commissions specify command : There- fore, when neither is the case, in consequence of such appointments, rank and titles are abstract ideas. Nevertheless we find in our army a number of unexperienced boys delegated to those important duties, taking rank accordingly, and rising in battalion equally with those in the regular line. Officers of sound judgment and great experience, are the only men proper to fill those active departments-the most fatal errors prove the truth of this observation
The civil staff includes all the rest, and are never invested with rank only under the circumstances aforesaid. The Quarter Master General, in his line of duty, is so connected with the army, that none but a military man can discharge that trust with propriety, and therefore in most armies we- find it occupied by some experienced Field-Officer.
The Commissaries General of Provisions and Musters, not being fighting men, are entitled to military rank The Clothier, Forage and Waggon Masters General, being appendages of the Quarter Master General, are involved and necessarily lost therein, and having no command only over their clerks, waggoners and horses, it would be absurd to dub them with rank.
Suppose, in case of capture, (which seldom happens) a Colonel or Brig- ade-Major of Waggons is taken, would either be included in a cartel with the Commander of a British regiment or Major of battalion ? Certainly not.
This case at once proves the absurdity of such nominal empty titles .- Not one of those officers by virtue of his rank, can sit on court-martial or take precedency of those of the same rank, in the military line.
Therefore it is not only my wish, but that of many officers in the army, to see those degeneracies done away. If then our Governors would be less generous in lavishing honours so indiscriminately on such, as by their situ- ation, are neither entitled or necessitated to received them-the service
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would be more respectable, the army better officered, and the troops more effective. Commissions not being so cheap, would be of importance ; - and the grand business of the whole go on with facility.
By what has been said, I do not mean to censure any Gentleman now serving in those several stations, but would wish, by attempting to remove so ridiculous a precedent, to make us more respectable not only among our- selves, but with the enemy and all other nations. These few remarks are humbly submitted to the Gentlemen of the army, by
A LIEUTENANT-COLONEL.
Burlington, Dec. 24.
Died in this city after a short and painful illness, Mrs. CECILIA SHEE, wife of Lieutenant-Colonel B. Shee, Quarter-Master-General of artillery, in the 35th year of her age; and on Tuesday her remains were interred in the burying-ground of the episcopal church in this place.
Being a stranger among strangers, her character de- mands this small tribute to her memory from one, who is no stranger to her merits. Early initiated in the paths of virtue and religion, she commanded the esteem and conciliated the love of all within the circle of her ac- quaintance. To a manly understanding she added the advantages of a liberal education ;- good sense improved by industry and confirmed by experience. Neither her religion or understanding were the subject of ostentation ; the former has been proved by many years pain and sufferings, the latter was evident from her conduct and conversation. She knew the world enough to despise the things of it :- Every domestic virtue was hers ; and next to her Creator, the cares of her family were her greatest happiness.
She died in the faith of the episcopal church, with that fortitude that ever attends a reconciled conscience, and a perfect reliance on the merits of him who is mighty to save; She left this noisy confused state of existence in exchange for a world of peace, joy and eternal felicity.
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A husband and two small infants are left to lament the loss of the most amiable of women.
The Legislature of New-Jersey, at their last sitting at Princeton, appointed the Honourable JOHN WITHER- SPOON,1 ABRAHAM CLARK,2 JONATHAN ELMER,8 NA-
1 John Witherspoon, see page 148.
8 Abraham Clark was born in the home of his ancestors, midway between Eliza- beth and Rahway, on February 15th, 1726. As a surveyor and conveyancer, he aided his neighbors with gratuitous advice, and became known as the " Poor Man's Coun- selor." He was later the author of "Clark's Practice Act," which tended greatly to modify the common law forms of pleading, and seriously affected the fees of law- yers. About the year 1749 he married Sarah Hatfield, eldest daughter of Isaac Hat- field. Ten children were the result of this union. In 1764 he was appointed by the Legislature one of the commissioners to survey and divide the common lands of old Bergen township. He was appointed Sheriff of Essex county in 1767, and Clerk of the Colonial Assembly. He warmly espoused the cause of the Revolution, acting as a member of the Committee of Observation and Correspondence, December, 1774, and was subsequently Secretary. He was a member of the Provincial Congress of 1775, and as a member of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Indepen- dence. He served until April 3d, 1778, and again appears as a member in 1780, 1781, 1782, 1786, 1787, 1788. He was present at the Annapolis Convention of 1786, and although elected to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, did not attend owing to ill health. He was a member of the Second and Third Congresses under the new Federal Constitution, dying before the completion of his last term. Abraham Clark died from suustroke upon the 15th of September, 1794, and was buried in the Pres- byterian Church yard, in Rahway .- History of Union and Middlesex Counties, Clayton, 97 -F. B. L.
3 Jonathan Elmer, a member of the Cumberland county family, was, like so many of his kinsfolk, educated for the practice of medicine. He was born at Cedarville, New Jersey, November 29th, 1745, and in 1768 was one of the ten who first in this country received the degree of Bachelor of Medicine. At the time of the Greenwich "Tea Party," in 1774, Dr. Elmer was Sheriff of the county of Cumberland, to which office he had been appointed in 1772. In spite of the charge of Chief Justice Frederick Smyth, directing the indictment of the participants in the affair, the Grand Jury failed to find a bill. It is of interest to know that Jonathan's brother, . Daniel, was foreman of that body. During the exciting times previous to the com- mencement of actual hostilities, Jonathan Elmer was chosen a delegate to the Pro- vincial Congress of New Jersey, and in October, 1775, became actively interested in the organization of the militia. From 1776 to 1789 he was Clerk of the county of Cumberland, and from 1784 to 1802, Surrogate thereof. As a member of Congress, Dr. Elmer took a deep interest in the sanitary condition of the army, was upon the Medical Committee, and was active in improving the condition of the military hospital at Morristown. In 1780 and 1784 he was a member of the Legislative Coun- cil of New Jersey, again in 1788 a member of Congress, when he was a staunch friend of the new Federal Constitution, and the same year was chosen Senator from New Jersey, which position he held for two years. In 1787 he was chosen Presi- dent of the New Jersey Medical Society, over which body he presided with great dignity. He was also honored with membership in the American Philosophical Society. Dr. Elmer died September 3d, 1817, and is buried in Bridgeton .- History of Medicine in New Jersey, Wickes, 244 et seq .; History of the Counties of Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland, Cushing & Sheppard, pages 559, 560 .- F. B. L.
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THANIEL SCUDDER' and ELIAS BOUDINOT,2 Esqrs. dele- gates to represent this state in Congress.
A correspondent informs us, that Congress have recom- mended a convention of commissioners of all the states to form a plan of general regulation respecting the limiting the prices of sundry articles of produce, manufacture and trade-that those from the Delaware state, inclusive, northward, are to meet the 15th day of January next at New Haven-and that commissioners are appointed for that purpose from this state, viz. The Hon. JOHN
1 Nathaniel Scudder was a physician, and was born May 10th, 1733, being a son of Colonel Jacob Scudder, of Freehold Graduating from Princeton in the class of 1751, he established himself as a practitioner of medicine at Manalapan, and then at Freehold. During the years preceding the Revolution he became prominent as one of the founders of the State Medical Society. Like his colleague, Dr. Elmer, Nathaniel Scudder was influential in crystallizing the sentiment favoring inde- pendence. He was a member of the Freehold meeting of June 6th. 1774, called to protest against the obnoxious acts of Parliament On December 10th, 1774, he was appointed a member of the " Committee of Observation and Correspondence." and was a delegate to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. He was both Lieutenant- Colonel and Colonel of the First Regiment of Monmouth county. After serving throughout the Revolutionary War Dr. Scudder was suddenly killed October 16th, 1781, in a refugce raid in Shrewsbury. He is buried in Tennent churchyard, by the side of his wife, Isabella Anderson, of Manalapan Heights. Two sons of this union graduated from Princeton ; in the class of 1775, Dr. John Anderson Scudder, later Member of Congress from New Jersey, and in the class of 1773, Joseph, Clerk of Monmouth county -History of Medicine in New Jersey, Wickes, 389 et seq .; Princeton College During the Eighteenth Century, Alexander, pages 15, 190-203 -F. B. L.
2 Elias Boudinot was born in Philadelphia May 2d, 1740, and after receiving a classi- cal education studied law with Richard Stockton of New Jersey. In 1777 he was appointed Commissary General of Prisoners Subsequently elected a member of the Continental Congress, 1781 to 1784, he was chosen President of that body November 4th, 1782, and held that position when the Treaty of Peace with England was signed. From 1789 to 1795 he served in the Federal Congress. in the latter year becoming Director of the Mint in Philadelphia, which position he held until 1805. Removing to Burlington, he devoted himself to Biblical study and to the affairs of the College of New Jersey, of which institution he was a trustee. From a generous fortune he gave liberally to the College and to philanthropic associations. He was particu- larly interested in foreign missions, education of the Indians, in the instruction of deaf mutes, and in the preparation of young men for the ministry. He was first President of the American Bible Society in 1816. Amid his charitable labors, he found opportunity to prepare "The Age of Revelation," 1790, a reply to Thomas Paine ; "Second Advent of the Messiah," 1815 ; and his most conspicuous effort, "A Star in the West," 1816, an attempt to prove that the native American Indians, par- ticularly the Lenni Lenape, were descendants of the long-lost Tribes of Israel. Elias Boudinot died in Burlington October 24th, 1821. See "Life and Letters of Elias Boudinot," by Jennie S. Boudinot, New York, 1897 .- F. B. L.
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CLEVES SYMMES, Esq. MOORE FURMAN, Esq. and Col. JOHN NEILSON.
" It is remarkable," says another correspondent "that the New-York miserable mercenaries called Printers, never published their forgeries of the Russians procured by Great-Britain, till after the defeat of Gen. Burgoyne. It then become necessary to administer some cordial to support the sinking spirits of the disappointed tories. And behold the inventive genius of a loyal Printer ! He waves his magic wand, and instantly raises 80,000 foreign auxiliaries. The same exhuberent fancy has killed 500 of our Troops in Fort Mifflin, when every body knows that, after having made as gallant a defence as ever was known during a close siege for near a month, we had only 38 men killed and wounded .- It is to be hoped that after such misrepresentations, which are but small specimens of what these egregious falsifiers are capable of, no reader of any discernment will give credit to their publications which are weekly contrived to suit their purposes without any regard to truth, often without the very semblance of probability."
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