History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 31

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 974

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General Washington was not slow to avail himself of the advantages to the American cause offered by this situation of affairs, and on the 25th of January he issued, from his head- quarters in Morristown, a proclamation requir- ing all persons who had accepted protection from the British commissioners to repair to the army headquarters, or the nearest headquarters

"History of Princeton" there is related an incident illus- trative of General Putnam's strategy, as follows: "A British officer, Major-General McPherson, who lay mortally wounded at Princeton, desired the presence of a military comrade in his last moments. The kind-hearted General Putnam could not refuse the request, but resorted to strat- egy to hide his weakness from the enemy. He sent a flag to New Brunswick in quest of the friend, who entered Princeton after dark. The general had arranged it so that every unoccupied house was carefully lighted, lights gleamed in all the college windows, and he marched and counter- marched his scanty forces to such effect that the British soldier on his return to the camp reported it at least five thousand strong, while he had only a few hundreds."

1 Gordon, pp. 232, 233.

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not learn, though he believed that Howe's ob- --

about seventeen thousand effective men, a force jective point would be the city of Philadelphia. | far outnumbering that of Washington, includ- Early in May it was ascertained by Washing- ing the corps of observation under Sullivan. ton that the British forces at New Brunswick i had been largely augmented, and that they were engaged in building " a portable bridge, so con- structed that it might be laid on flat-boats,"-in other words, a pontoon-bridge. Regarding thisas an almost certain indication that Howe was pre- paring to move forward and cross the Delaware, Washington at once decided to move his forces " to a point nearer New Brunswick, to be within striking distance of the enemy in case he should attempt to execute his suspected design. The point selected was the range of hills to the northward of the village of Bound Brook,-generally mentioned as the "Heights of Middlebrook," -and to this place the army was moved from -

Morristown about the 28th of May, on which | and the Delaware Bay to reach the same ob-

day the headquarters of the commander-in-chief were established at the new position.

The army of Washington, at the time when it moved from Morristown to Middlebrook, was about eight thousand four hundred strong, in-

On the 14th of June two British divisions, cluding cavalry and artillery. But of these | under Generals Cornwallis and De Heister, made their appearance at Somerset Court-House, where they intrenched and remained for five days, vainly defying Washington to come down from the heights and fight them, but finding it

more than two thousand were sick, and this, ; with other causes, reduced his effective strength to five thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight men, rank and file. This number, however, was soon afterwards very considerably increased impossible to entice him from his stronghold by accessions from beyond the Delaware, for | they moved back on the 19th to New Bruns- orders had been issued for all troops in the field, wick, which place was evacuated on the 22d by the whole British army, which then commenced retreating towards Amboy. Washington sent three brigades under General Greene to harass their rear, with orders to General Maxwell to fall on their flank, and to Sullivan to move down to the support of Greene, but Sullivan received his orders too late, and Maxwell never as far south as the Carolinas, to rendezvous in New Jersey. When the movement to Middle- brook was made, General Sullivan, who had succeeded General Putnam .in command at Princeton, had about fifteen hundred troops under him at the place, and his forces were con- siderably augmented by the arrival of troops from the South, moving northward under the received his at all, on account of the capture or order before mentioned. General Benedict Arnold, commanding at Philadelphia, was or- dered to station a force on the New Jersey side of the Delaware, to do what might be done to prevent the British from crossing that river, in case they should succeed in escaping from Wash- | ington and Sullivan.

The British army in and about New Bruns- . wiek had been reinforced until it numbered |

Moreover, the British force was largely made up of veterans and was finely equipped, while a large portion of the American army was com- posed of raw militia not well provided with equipments and clothing. The position occu- pied by Washington, however, was very strong by nature and fortified to some extent, and his location was such that he could at once take advantage of a movement of the enemy, whether he should advance towards the Delaware or re- tire towards the Hudson ; for he was still in doubt as to the intention of the British com- mander,-whether it was to move directly on Philadelphia by land, or return his troops to Amboy, there to embark and proceed by sea jective point, or to move up the Hudson River to co-operate with General Burgoyne, who was then reported to be moving southward from Canada by way of Lake Champlain.

desertion of the messenger. The rear of the British was attacked by Wayne and Morgan as it was leaving New Brunswick, but little harm was done them and they continued their retreat to Amboy. Washington then moved down from his strong position at Middlebrook and took another and weaker one at Quibbletown (now Newmarket).

The intelligence that Washington had left

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his fortified camp in the hills was brought to and early in the morning of Thursday, the 26th, General Howe after his troops had arrived at marched his columns back towards New Market Amboy and part of them had crossed to Staten Island. And then he conceived the idea of making a sudden retrograde movement back to- wards Quibbletown, hoping to surprise Wash- ington in his new and weaker position, to bring on the general engagement for which he had been manoeuvring since the 14th, and, by turn- ing the American left, to gain the hills of Mid- dlebrook in their rear. These facts are made dred men, with one piece of cannon," mentioned clear by the following extract from his report, -viz. :

"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 Quibbletown, intending, as it was given out, to attack the rear of the army re- moving from Amboy; that two corps had also ad- vanced to their left,-one of three thousand men and eight 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 seven hundred men, with only one piece of cannon. In this situation of the enemy it was judged advisable to make a movement that might lead to an attack, which was done on the 26th, in the morning, in two columns .. The right, under command of Lord Cornwallis and Major-General Grant, Brigadiers Matthew 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, and_Brigadiers Cleveland and Agnew, marched by Metuchen Meet- ing-house to join the rear of the right column in the road from thence to Scotch Plains, intending to have taken separate routes, about two miles after the junc- tion, in order to have attacked the enemy's left at Quibbletown. Four battalions were detached in the morning, with six pieces of cannon, to take post at Bonhamtown. The right column, having fallen in with the aforementioned corps of seven hundred men soon after passing Woodbridge, gave the alarm, by the firing that ensued, to their main army at Quibble- town, which retired to the mountain with the utmost precipitation. The small corps was closely pushed by the light troops, and with difficulty got off their piece of cannon."

The above statement by Howe explains his retrograde movement and its objects pretty clearly. Having become aware of Washing- ton's advance, he caused that part of the forces which had already crossed to Staten Island to be moved back during the night of the 25th,

in the manner stated. " But the resistance they encountered at every stage of their advance was disheartening in the extreme. Nearly every cross-road had its squad of pugnacious militia, which poured its deadly volleys into the splen- did columns of the well-equipped troops." At Woodbridge Cornwallis fell in with Morgan's Rangers (the American " corps of seven hun- by Howe), and a severe skirmish ensued, in which, of course, the Rangers were compelled to give way before the heavy masses of the enemy. But the sound of their fusillades was borne to the ears of Washington, who instantly understood its meaning, and without delay moved his main force back from Quibbletown to its former secure position on the heights of Middlebrook.

The British right, under Cornwallis, was soon after engaged with the troops of Lord Stirling, which fight was thus reported by Howe:

"Lord Cornwallis, soon after he was upon the road leading to Scotch Plains from Metuchen Meeting- house, came up with the corps commanded by Lord Stirling, whom he found advantageously posted in a country covered with wood, and his artillery well dis- posed. The King's troops, vieing with each other upon this occasion, pressed forward to such close ac- tion that the enemy, though inclined to resist, could not long maintain their ground against so great im- petuosity, but were dispersed on all sides, leaving three pieces of brass ordnance, three captains and sixty men killed, and upwards of two hundred officers and men wounded and taken."

The latter part of this statement is without doubt an exaggeration, as Lord Stirling, al- though he admitted the loss of the three guns, mentioned only a comparatively light loss in killed, wounded and prisoners. He was, how- ever, compelled to retreat before the heavy British force,1 which pursued him over the hills

1 The forces encountered by Lord Stirling on this occasion were composed of three regiments of Hessian grenadiers, one regiment of British grenadiers, one British regiment of light infantry, the Hessian chasseurs and the Queen's Rangers. Stirling also knew that the heavier column, under Howe, was close in the rear and would soon reinforce Corn- wallis ; in which event his (Stirling's) command must have been cut to pieces had he attempted to hold his ground.

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

as far as Westfield.1 The soldiers of both armies were in a state of almost complete exhaustion from the intense heat of the day, but when the British columns arrived at Westfield they found that their outward march was ended, for Wash- ington had escaped and his army was once more posted in security beyond their reach. "It was three o'clock on Friday afternoon [June 27th] that the English generals, seeing Washington's impregnable position, took up their line of march from Westfield to Amboy, assaulted flank and rear by Scott's Light-Horse and Morgan's Rangers. They encamped that night at Spanktown [Rahway]. The next day, harassed as before, they resumed their retreat and arrived at Amboy, from which, on the last day of June, they departed, leaving New Jer- sey in possession of the American army. Dur- ing the remainder of the war the latter held Amboy, and the State was never again so com- pletely overrun with marauders and British troops, although many parties entered it for pillage from hostile camps in adjoining States." 2

When the last of the British troops had left Amboy and crossed to Staten Island, with the evident intention of embarking on the ships of the . fleet, General Washington was in great doubt, and felt no little anxiety as to their des- tination,-whether it was Howe's intention to take the route by sea and the Delaware Bay to Philadelphia, or to proceed up the Hudson to co-operate with Burgoyne in his .southward advance down the upper valley of that river. As the latter seemed rather the more probable, the American army soon after evacuated its position at Middlebrook and moved north- ward to Pompton Plains, where, and at other points between there and the Hudson, it was

stationed until it was ascertained, about two weeks later, that the British fleet, with the army 3 on board, had actually gone to sea with the ap- parent intention of making a movement against Philadelphia. Thereupon, the American army was again put in motion, and proceeded by easy marches + across the State to the Delaware River.

The main body of the army struck the river at Coryell's and Howell's Ferries, the division of Lord Stirling forming the column which crossed at Trenton. Anticipating this move- ment, Washington requested President Wharton to have accurate drafts made of the river and its approaches. This had been done, and boats for the passage of the army across the stream had been collected at New Hope and points above. Having crossed the river to the Pennsylvania shore on the 29th and 30th at Coryell's and Howell's, the main body of the army was put in march down the York road in the morning of the 31st of July, General Washington starting at the same time for Philadelphia, where he ar- rived on the 2d of August. Two or three days later he rode out from the city to Germantown, where he found the main body of the army. At about that time information was received which led to the belief that Howe had returned to Sandy Hook, and upon this the army was put in motion to retrace its steps towards Cory- ell's, but only reached Hartsville, Bucks County, Pa., when it was halted by reason of an express having arrived with dispatches from Congress, contradicting the report of Howe's return to New York. The forces then remained en- camped along the Neshaminy Hills for thirteen

1 " The enemy," said Howe in his report, "was pursued as far as Westfield with little effect, the day proving so in- tensely hot that the soldiers could with difficulty continue their march thither. In the mean time it gave opportunity for those flying to escape by skulking in the thick woods until night favored their retreat to the mountain. The army lay that night at Westfield, returned the next day to Rahway, and the day following to Amboy. On the 30th, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, the troops began to cross over to Staten Island, and the rear-guard, under the com- mand of Lord Cornwallis, passed at two in the afternoon without the least appearance of an enemy."

3 The British fleet left New York Bay, "having on board General Howe and thirty-six British and Hessian battalions, including light infanty and grenadiers, with a powerful ar- tillery, a New York corps called the Queen's Rangers and a regiment of light-horse. The residue of the army was divided between New York and Rhode Island."-Gordon, p. 245.

+ Washington did not move towards the Delaware by forced marches, for he still had a suspicion that Howe's going to sea was merely a feint, and that his real intention was to return and proceed up the Hudson, in which case the American army would be compelled to march back again, and, in any event, Washington knew that he had more than sufficient time to reach Philadelphia in advance of Howe. when it should become certain that the latter was really moving against that city.

. " Dally's "Woodbridge and Vicinity."

1:0

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days, when, on the ' morning of the 23d, on re- ceipt of positive intelligence that the British ington and Howe from New Jersey, the State, fleet had appeared at the head of the Chesapeake, though freed from the presence of large bodies of troops, was still the theatre of some minor i military operations. When Howe embarked his army for Philadelphia he left on Staten Island between two and three thousand men,

and that the forces had landed, or were about landing, at the head of navigation on the Elk River, the army was again put in motion, and, passing through Philadelphia and across the Schuylkill on the 24th, moved southward. The | of whom about sixteen hundred were European movement resulted, on the 11th of September, in the disastrous battle of the Brandywine, in which conflict the commands of Lord Stirling and General Maxwell (containing a large num- ber of Monmouth County men) took a promi- nent part, as did also the Monmouth County militia under General David Forman.1

The battle of Brandywine was followed by the adjournment of Congress to Lancaster, Pa., the British occupation of Philadelphia (Septem- ber 26th), and by the battle of Germantown (October 4th), which resulted in disaster to the American army, and in which, as at Brandy- wine, the New Jersey troops under Stirling and Maxwell fought gallantly. After that unfor- tunate battle Washington took up a position at Whitemarsh, from which point it was his origi- nal intention to advance on Philadelphia ; but this enterprise was abandoned, and he soon after moved his forces to Valley Forge, where they went into winter-quarters.

Meanwhile, during the part of the year which

1 General Forman and his command, having taken part in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, soon after- wards returned to their homes under permission given by General Washington, as follows ;

" HEADQUARTERS, PHILADELPHIA COUNTY, . " October 6, 1777.

" SIR,-You having informed me that the time of many of your present brigade of militia is near expiring, and that many others, who came out for no certain time, are anxious to return home, you have my permission to march them towards Delaware under pretence that you are going to guard the stores at Trenton, and when they have crossed the river you may discharge them. But I must beg that you will use your utmost endeavours to collect a number equal to what you were to have brought in your last bri- gade, and return with them as soon as possible, to join the army under my command. I shall be glad if you will let me know, upon your arrival in Jersey, when I may ex- pect you again, and what force.

"I am, Sir, your most obt. servt.,

· " General Forman."

" Go. WASHINGTON.

succeeded the departure of the armies of Wash-

troops and nearly one thousand were loyal pro- vincials. This provincial force made frequent raids into New Jersey, doing much damage, but always making a short stay, and retreating rapidly back to the island, where they were under the protection of the European troops. On one of these occasions they had penetrated to Woodbridge, and taken captive twelve per- sons strongly attached to the patriot cause. On account of these incursions, General Sullivan projected an expedition to Staten Island for the purpose of capturing this provincial force, whose camping-places were at different points along the island shore, opposite the Jersey coast, and so far distant from the camp of their European allies that it was believed that they might be taken without alarming the foreign troops. The force detailed by Sullivan and accompanied by him in person, was composed of the select troops of his division, with a body of militia, the latter under command of Colonel Frederick Freling- huysen. The expedition, however, met with quite as much of disaster as of success ; for, having effected a crossing before daylight, un- perceived by the enemy, it was afterwards misled by the guides, which caused such an interference with the preconcerted plan of attack that one entire battalion of the enemy made its escape, and, although a number of officers and men of the other commands were taken, the alarm was given to the British regulars, a part of whom, under General Campbell, advanced to attack Sullivan, who thereupon retreated to his boats, but was compelled to leave his rear guard as prisoners of war in the hands of the British.

About three weeks after the affair at Staten Island the disaster on the Brandywine made it necessary that the Jersey militia, as well as the militia of other States, should be sent to rein- force General Washington's army. The re- quest of Congress to this effect was transmitted

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

by its President, John Hancock, on the 12th of | was officially announced in general orders by September, to Governor Livingston, who im- the commander-in-chief to the army amid great rejoicings, which were followed by religious mediately ordered the militia forward under the command of General Armstrong. The observances in the several commands. " Wash- number asked for by Congress was four thou- : ington, with his lady and suite, Lord Stirling sand from New Jersey, and, although the entire quota was not filled, all the militia companies which were available at the time (less than a thousand men) crossed the Delaware and joined Washington in Pennsylvania. At the same time a column of American troops, which had been stationed at Peekskill-on-the-Hudson, moving from that point, entered and crossed the State of New Jersey, and reported to Wash- ington about the 1st of October.

and his lady, with other general officers and ladies, attended the religious services of the Jersey brigade [Maxwell's], when the Rev. Mr. Hunter delivered a discourse. Afterwards all the officers of the army assembled and partook of a collation provided by the commander-in- chief." This event marked the coming of almost the first ray of hope which pierced the gloom of Valley Forge, and it was not long after- wards that the campaign commenced, which ended in glory and victory on the field of Monmouth.

Soon after the battle of Germantown the New Jersey militia were sent back to their own State, where their presence was thought to be necessary on account of the threatening atti- tude of Sir Henry Clinton, the British com- mander in New York, who early in September had invaded the State with three thousand men in two columns, one moving by way of Eliza- bethtown Point and the other by Fort Lee, and uniting at New Bridge, above Hackensack. He remained in that State but a few days, but his presence and his threatening attitude after his withdrawal created a general alarm, which continued through the fall and succeeding winter.

On the 11th of May, Sir Henry Clinton took command of the British army in Philadelphia as successor of General Howe. His instruc- tions from England were to evacuate Philadel- phia, and this he determined on doing on the 23d of May, it being his intention to proceed with the troops by water to New York. But, as he considered the probability that the fleet might be delayed by head-winds, thus enabling Washington to reach New York before him, he changed his plan, and decided to move his army to that city by land across the State of New Jersey.

A-bout the 18th of October the welcome in- telligence was received in New Jersey of the The abandonment of Philadelphia by the British army had become a military necessity, because too remote from the sea-coast, unless the Army of Occupation could be so reinforced as to be independent of support from New York. The detail of troops required by Gen- eral Howe had not been made. The rec- ommendation of General Amherst, military adviser to the King, "that forty thousand men be sent to America immediately" had been dis- approved. It was of vital importance, under such circumstances, that Sir Henry Clinton should reach the city of New York with the least delay, and the least possible embarrass- ment from fighting on the march. surrender of Burgoyne and his entire army to General Gates at Saratoga. When the news of this surrender reached Paris, on the 4th of December, 1777, and was at once transmitted to Versailles, the King informed the American commissioners, through M. Gerard, one of his Secretaries of State, that the independence of the United States would be acknowledged by France, and that the treaty of alliance and com- merce between the two countries would be concluded. In accordance with the assur- ance given by the monarch, that treaty was finally ratified on the 6th of February, 1778, but it was not until the 1st of the following May that the glad intelligence reached General The moral effect of the proposed evacuation was in Washington's favor. The purpose of Washington in his squalid winter-quarters at · Valley Forge. On the 7th of that month it | the English Cabinet to transfer all active oper-

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ations to the Southern States had not been made public, and when the British army took its de- parture with twelve miles of baggage-train, carrying all army supplies that could be loaded on wagons, it made a deep impression on the people. It indicated that the withdrawal of of the army was no temporary diversion in order to entice Washington from his strong- hold to a combat in the field; but it was a surrender of the field itself to his control. It announced that the royalists would be left to their own resources and that the British army had not the strength to meet the contingencies of active operations, either in Pennsylvania or New Jersey. The embarkation of nearly three thousand citizens, with their merchandise and personal effects, to accompany the naval squad- ron, was equally suggestive.

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History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 31

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co. Number of Pages: 974

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 974