History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 26

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 1148

USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > History of Monmouth county, New Jersey > Part 26

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" Trenton, Friday, July 5, 1776 .- Ordered, that the Monmouth coast was exposed extremely that Colonel Joseph Borden do provide wagons,

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MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION.

"Ordered. That Jacob Wardell be committed, the said company may be paid for such service ; to the custody of the Sheriff of Monmouth, to an account of which accompanied the afore-aid memorial ; read, and referred to the Committee of Accounts." be by him safely kept until discharged by this Convention, or delivered by due course of law.

" Ordered. That Joseph Wardell and Peter Wardell be discharged on giving bond, each with security in the sum of five hundred pounds for their future good behaviour, and for their appearance when called upon by the Con- vention or future Legi-Jature of this State. The County Committee of Monmouth are directed to take the said bond, and to judge of the se- curity.

" Ordered, That Jacob Wardell pay twenty- eight Pounds seven Shillings and eleven Pence, Proclamation money, being the expense of ap- prehending and bringing him before this Con- vention, and conducting him to the Sheriff of Monmouth.

" Angust 1 .- Resolved, That it be recom- mended to the County Committee of Mon- mouth, and to the several Township Committees and Colonels of the battalions in the said County, that they assi-t Captain Wikoff by fur- nishing him with arms for his levies in General Heard's brigade, a- far as they may be able, to expedite the equipment of the said levies. It is further recommended to the said Committees and Colonels that Captain Wikoff be furnished with such of the arms and accoutrements taken from non-associators, etc., within their bounds, as may be fit for service. he giving sufficient vouchers on receiving the said arms.

" Angust 2 .- Gui-ebert Guisebertson, Captain of a company in the second battalion of foot militia in the County of Monmouth, having re- signed his commission for reasons mentioned in his letter : Ordered, That his resignation be accepted.

" The petition of sundry persons in the ser- ond battalion of Monmouth ; read the second time, and referred to the same Committee.

On the 17th of July the Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence by the adoption of this resolution,-viz. :

" Thereus, The Honorable Continental Congre -- have declared the United Colonies Free and Inde- pendent States: We, the Deputies of New Jersey in Provincial Congress assembled, do resolve and declare that we will support the freedom and independence of the said States with our lives and fortune-, and with the whole force of New Jersey."

And on the following day it was by the same body

" Resolred, That this House from henceforth, instead of the style and title of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, do adopt and assume the style and title of the Convention of the State of New Jersey."

On the same day (July 18th) an ordinance was passed defining the crime of treason against the State of New Jersey, and making it puni-li- able " in like manner as by the ancient laws of this State."-that is, by the infliction of the per .- alty of death.

The old colonial Legislature of New Jersey had held its sessions and (nominally) exercised its functions in 1775 until the 6th of December in that year, when Governor Franklin pro- rogued the House, and this proved to be its dis- solution. The Governor, who was notoriously inimical to the American cause, issued his proe- lamation in the following May, calling a session on June 20th, but this was met by prompt ac- tion on the part of the Provincial Congress, which, on the 14th of June,

" Resolved, That in the opinion of this Congress the Proelamation of William Franklin, Jate Governor of New Jersey, bearing date on the thirtieth day of May last, in the name of the King of Great Britain, ap- pointing a meeting of the General A -- embly to be hell on the twentieth day of this instant June, ought not to be obeyed."

" The memorial of Captain Hankinson, of: Monmouth, setting forth that he had raised a company of minute-men to continue in service This action had the desired effeet ; the colonial for the space of two months, agreeable to the : Legislature never rea-sembled. On the 16th of directions of the late Committee of Safety ; that Tune the Congress the said company had been called to the Hook on

3 the arrival of General Howe ; and praying that said William Franklin, E-quire, by such proclama- " Resolved, That in the opinion of this Congress the

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

tion, has acted in direct contempt and violation of the resolve of the Continental Congress of the fifteenth of May last. That in the opinion of this Congress the said William Franklin, Esquire, has discovered him- self to be an enemy to the liberties of this country ; and that measures ought to be immediately taken for securing the person of the said William Franklin, Esquire."

On the same day, orders were issued to Colo- nel Nathaniel Heard, of the First Battalion of Middlesex militia, to wait on the Governor, to offer him a parole, by which he was to agree to remain quietly at Princeton, Bordentown or on his farm at Rancocas (whichever he might eleet), and, in case of his refusal to sign this parole, to arrest him. On the 17th, Colonel Heard and Major Deare proceeded to Amboy, waited on the Governor, offered him the parole, and, upon his refusal to sign it, surrounded his house with a guard of sixty men to hold him prisoner until further orders were received from Congress. The orders came to remove the Governor to Burlington, and he was accordingly taken there. Upon examination he was adjudged a violent enemy to his country and a dangerous person, and he was then placed in enstody of Lieutenant- Colonel Bowes Read to await orders from the ! Continental Congress. On the 25th of June orders were received to send him, under guard, to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, who was requested, in case of Franklin's refusal to sign a parole, to treat him as a prisoner, agreeably to the resolutions of Congress applying to such cases. He was accordingly sent to Connecticut, placed in custody of Governor Trumbull, and never returned to this State. This was the end of the civil authority of King George in New Jersey.

The constitution adopted on the 2d of July, 1776, vested the government of the State in a Governor,1 Legislative Council and General Assembly, the members of the Council and As- sembly to be chosen for the first time on the second Tuesday in the following August, and afterwards, annually, on the second Tuesday in October. The members elected in 1776, in con-

formity to these provisions, met in October of that year, and organized as the first Legislature of New Jersey under the State constitution, suc- eeeding to the powers and functions of the Pro- vincial Congress and the Convention of the State of New Jersey, and continuing to exercise those powers as a permanent body.

Although New Jersey had been actively en- gaged in military preparations from the time when the warlike news from Lexington sped across her hills and streams, it was not until the winter and spring of 1776-the time when Washington sent his warning that the British commander in Boston was probably contemplat- ing the movement of his forces to New York- that the people of this province began to realize the immediate danger of actual invasion, and that the lapse of a few weeks might whiten their valleys and highlands with the tents of a hostile army.

It has already been mentioned that when the designs of General Howe became apparent, the battalion of New Jersey Continental troops un- der Lord Stirling was moved from Elizabeth- town to New York, and that a regiment of min- ute-men under Colonel Charles Stewart was or- dered to march " with all possible expedition " to the same place, but was prevented from doing so by lack of the necessary arms. On the 1st of March, 1776, the Continental Congress com- missioned Lord Stirling a brigadier-general, and immediately afterwards he assumed command of all the troops at New York, General Lee hav- ing been ordered to other duty. On the 20th of March the force under Stirling's command 2 comprised his own New Jersey battalion (about five hundred men, sick and well), five hundred minute-men from Dutchess and Westchester Counties, N. Y., about two hundred New Jersey militia,3 and two Connecticut regiments, under Colonels Ward and Waterbury, numbering in the aggregate abont one thousand men, whose

1 The constitution provided that the Governor should be elected annually by the Council and Assembly in joint ballot.

2 In the evening of the 20th the command was assumed by Lord Stirling's senior, Brigadier-General Thompson, who had then just arrived from Philadelphia. A few days later, however, he was ordered to Canada, and the com- mand again devolved on Lord Stirling.

3 Collections of the New Jersey llistorical Society. vol ii. pp. 151, 152.

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MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION.

term of service was then within a few days of its avoid bloodshed and the destruction of the place, expiration. All of this force, except the neces- tacitly consented; and so, on the morning of sary guards, was at that time employed in the Sunday, March 17th, the British troops marched to the wharves and, embarking, took their final departure. The fleet dropped down the bay to Nantasket Roads, where it lay at anchor for ten days, and then put to sea. erection of defensive works in and around New York and on Long Island, "assisted by about one thousand inhabitants of the city, who turned out on this occasion with great alacrity, the in- habitants and negroes taking their tour of duty regularly." The force was immediately after-

Although it was announced that the British fleet, with Howe's army on board, was bound wards augmented by two other regiments from | for Halifax, there to await reinforcement> from Connecticut, under Colonels Dyar and Wil- England, General Washington suspected that its liams.

real destination was New York, and, leaving a sufficient force to occupy Boston, he put his army in motion for the former city, and arrived once commenced active preparations for repel- ling the expected enemy by strengthening the defensive works already erected by Lee and Lord Stirling, by constructing additional forti- fications at several points, by a thorough reor- Congress the urgent necessity of providing re- inforcements.

For eight months following the time when General Washington assumed command1 of the there in person on the 14th of April. He at American forces his army lay in fortified camps eneireling the British post in Boston, which place he was fully determined to occupy, though he preferred to do so by forcing the enemy to evacuate rather than to risk the chances of bat- tle. At first the British commander felt secure | ganization of his forces and by laying before and confident of his ability to contine his occu- pation of the city, but in the winter of 1775-76 Washington discovered strong indications of an On the 3d of June the Continental Congress resolved " That a flying camp be immediately established in the middle colonies, and that it consist of ten thousand men, .. . " to be made up of militia furnished by Pennsylvania, Mary- land and Delaware ; and on the same day " Re- solved, That thirteen thousand eight hundred militia be employed to reinforce the army at New York," of which number the quota assigned to New Jersey was three thousand three hun- dred men. On the 14th of June the Congres- of New Jersey passed an ordinance directing that this number of men, in forty companies, to compose five battalions, all to form one brigade, to be " immediately got in readiness and marched to New York under the command of a brigadier- general," the battalions to be raised by volun- tary enlistment, to continue in service till the 1st of December following, unless sooner discharged. The quotas assigned to each of the counties, and the field-officers appointed to the command of the several battalions, were as follows : intention on the part of the enemy to withdraw, and he so notified the Continental Congress. He relaxed none of his vigilance, however. but pushed his military preparations with energy. The final movement which compelled the evac- uation was the occupation and fortifying of Dor- chester Heights during the night of the 4th and 5th of March. The morning of the 5th revealed to the astonished eyes of General Howe a for- midable line of earthworks upon the erest, with cannon mounted on the ramparts commanding his position ; and from that moment he resolved on an immediate evacuation of the city. On the 7th, Howe called a council of war, at which it was decided to evacuate the place without delay. He had threatened to burn the town if his army was molested in its departure, and the terrified inhabitants (largely composed of loyal- ists) waited upon him, imploring him to spare it. The result was a promise on the part of the British commander to leave the town unmolested if Washington would allow him to depart in

quiet. The American general, not unwilling to panies from each of the counties of Bergen and

One battalion to be made up of three con- Essex, and two companies from Burlington. Officers : Philip Van Cortland, Colonel ; David

1 At Cambridge, July 12. 1775.

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Brearly, Lieutenant-Colonel; Richard Dey, companies were on their way to join the bri- Major.

One battalion of four companies from each of the counties of Middlesex and Monmouth, Of- ficers : Nathaniel Heard, Colonel ; David For- man, Lieutenant-Colonel ; Thomas Henderson, Major.

One battalion of four companies each from Morris and Sussex. Officers : Ephraim Mar- tin, Colonel ; John Munson, Lieutenant-Colo- nel ; Cornelius Ludlow, Major.

One battalion composed of two companies from each of the counties of Burlington, Cum- berland, Gloucester and Salem. Officers : Silas Newcomb, Colonel ; Bowes Reed, Lieutenant- Colonel ; - , Major.

One battalion compo-ed of three companies from Somerset and five companies from Hun- terdon County. Officers : Stephen Hunt, Col- onel ; Philip Johnston, Lieutenant-Colonel; Joseph Phillips, Major. Dr. Cornelius Bakl- win was appointed surgeon of this battalion.

Joseph Reed was appointed brigadier-general and assigned to the brigade formed of these five battalions, but for some eause which does not appear, he did not assume the command, and on the 21st of June the Congress "Ordered, That the President write to General Livingston and inform him that it is the desire of Congress that he would take the command of the militia destined for New York." He declined to ac- cept it, however, and on the 25th of the same month Colonel Nathaniel Heard, of Middlesex, was appointed brigadier-general and placed in command of the brigade, which, under him, was soon after marched to reinforce the army at New York. But on the 24th of July a letter ad- dressed by General Washington to the Conven- tion of New Jersey 1 was read before that body, informing them "that the brigade under Gen- eral Heard was far from being complete, and urging the necessity of raising and forwarding the new levies destined to reinforce the army at New York ; " whereupon it was by the Con- vention " Ordered, That a letter be written to General Washington informing that several

gade; and that this Convention will use its ut- most efforts to furnish its quota, and to give His Excellency such other aid as the weal of the United States may require and the condition of this State will admit."

When the British commander, General Howe, evacuated Boston, in March, 1776, he sailed with his forces to Halifax, as had been an- nounced, with the intention of awaiting there the arrival of reinforcements from England. But, as these did not arrive at or near the time when they were expected, he became wearied by the delay, and on the 10th of June set sail from that port with the troops of his command, bound for Sandy Hook, where a part of the force arrived on the 25th of the same month, and were soon followed by others, including the commanding general, who disembarked his army on Staten Island to await the arrival of the squadron from England, under command of his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, who en- tered the bay with part of his fleet on the 12th of July; but it was not until the middle of August that the last of the reinforcements ar- rived.

The appearance of Howe's forces on Staten Island caused great consternation throughout New Jersey,2 particularly in the eastern portion

2 In the " Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Coun- eil of Safety," under date June, 1776, is found the follow- ing : " Congress received a letter from Colonel Taylor, of Monmouth, dated 10 o'clock in the forenoon of this day, informing that nineteen sail of the enemy's fleet [meaning the ships of General Howe from llalifax, and not the men-of- war under Admiral llowe] lies at the Hook, and forty-five in sight ; read and refiled. Ordered, That the President write to the Continental Congress inclosing a copy of the above letter, and requesting a supply of powder." And in the proceedings of the same day is the following : "Cer- tain advice being received of the arrival of General Howe at Sandy llook : Ordered, That all officers who have enlisted men properly armed, under the late ordinance for raising three thousand three hundred men within this Colony, proceed immediately with such numbers as they have col- lected, or can collect, without delay to New York, assign- ing a due proportion of officers to the men, that they may be ready, and leaving other officers, as occasion may re- quire, to collect the remainder. All officers, paymasters, and others are required to be diligent in their respective Colony are most earnestly entreated now to exert them-

1 Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of | stations ; and all the friends of Liberty throughout the Safety, 1775-76, page 518.

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MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION.

of the State, and this alarm was greatly in- passed a resolution requesting a levy of two creased and intensitied when the bay and all the thousand of the militia of New Jersey, to sup- adjacent waters became black with the almost ply the places of an equal number of men sent innumerable ships of the British fleet. The from the Flying Camp to General Washington. Tory clement, too, which was by no means in- This resolution was read on the 17th of July in considerable in numbers, became at once ram- pant, and was especially aggressive in the county of Monmouth, as has already been noticed. With reference to the Tory bands in the county, the Provincial Congress, on the 26th of June, ordered that Colonel Charles Reed, with two com- panies of Burlington militia, proceed to capture some decisive movement, render it absolutely them, taking also for the purpose all the militia of Monmouth County, if found neces-

the Provincial Congress, and on the following day an ordinance was passed by the Conven- tion 2 to the effect that " whereas the situation of New York, the vicinity of New Jersey to the enemy, and, above all, the arrival of Lord Howe, who, it is probable, will speedily make necessary that the most immediate and effectual steps be taken to guard against the incursions of the British troops, and to strengthen the army The troops of the " Flying Camp," com- posed of men from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, and under command of General Hugh Mercer, were stationed at Perth Amboy,1 and at points north of that place, opposite the west shore of Staten Island. The nominal strength of this corps was ten thousand men, but it had never actually reached that figure, and now it had been materially reduced by de- tachments, amounting to two thousand men, -ent to General Washington, at New York ; so that at this critical time, when this portion of the New Jersey frontier was peculiarly liable to invasion by the army of Howe, the guarding force became wholly insufficient. In view of this imminent danger, the Continental Congress of the United States : Resolved, therefore, unanimously, that two thousand of the militia of this State be immediately detached to supply the place of the like number taken from the flying camp in New Jersey and ordered to New York." The force was to be composed of four battalions, an aggregate of thirty companies of sixty-four men each, besides officers, the whole to compose a brigade, under command of a brigadier-general, and to be in the Continental service. The quota of Monmouth was em- braced in the following : "One battalion to con- sist of three companies from the county of Middlesex, three companies from the county of Monmouth (whereof Captain Stillwell's com- pany is to be one) and two companies from the county of Salem," George Taylor, of Mon- selves for the preservation of their country, their lives, , mouth, to be colonel of this battalion.

liberties and property." It was under this order that Gen. Heard moved his command in haste to New York, as before noticed.

1 On the 4th of July, 1776, General Washington wrote to the President of Congress with reference to the Flying Camp, as follows :

" The Camp will be in the neighborhood of Amboy . .. The disaffection of the people of that place and others not far distant is exceedingly great, and unless it be checked and overawed, it may become more general and very alarming. The arrival of the enemy will encourage it. They, or at least a part of them, are already landed on Staten Island, which is quite contiguous ; and about four thousand were marching about it yesterday as I have been alvised, and are leaving no arts nnassayed to gain the in- habitants to their side, who seem but too favourably dis- posed. It is not unlikely that in a little time they may at- tempt to cross to the Jersey side, and induce many to join them, either from motives of interest or fear, unless there , is a force to oppose them."

Again, on the 22d of July, the Continental Congress, in view of the imminent danger of invasion, resolved to further increase the Flying Camp, and for this purpose desired the State of New Jersey " to augment its quota with three battalions of militia, in addition to those for- merly desired by Congress, and send them with all possible dispatch to join the flying camp." Upon being notified of this action, the Conven- tion of New Jersey informed Congress that two thousand men had already been ordered de- tached from the militia of the State for the

2 The name of that body having been changed on that day from "The Provincial Congress of New Jersey " to " The Convention of the State of New Jersey," as before mentioned.

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. NEW JERSEY.

purpose mentioned ; but beyond this it took no further action at that time.

The feeling of alarm, however, rapidly in- ercased, and on the 7th of August the Conven- tion received notice of a resolve of Congress " recommending to the State of New Jersey to order their militia immediately to march and join General Mercer." This had the effect to cause the Convention to pass (Angust 11th) an ordinance reeiting that "the Convention, view- ing with serious concern the present alarming situation of this and their sister-States, that on a prudent use of the present moment depend their lives, their liberty and happiness, think it their indispensable duty to put the militia on such a footing that their whole force may be most advantageously exerted; and to call out the one-half into immediate service, to be re- loved by the other monthly," and ordering that all able-bodied men in the State between the ages of sixteen and fifty, without exception, be immediately enrolled in companies and formed into two divisions, and " that the first division be immediately equipped with arms and every necessary areoutrement that can be obtained, and four days' provision, and march with all dispatch to join the flying eamp in this State." This division consisted of thirteen bat- talions, made up of men drawn from the militia organizations of the several counties of the State ; that containing Monmouth County inen to be made up " from the battalions whereof George Taylor, David Brearly and Daniel Hen- drickson, Esquires, are colonels." The best arms in the possession of all the militia of the State were taken to arm this First Division, and they were to be turned over to the Second Division when it should relieve the First, at the end of one month from the time when the latter was reported for duty with the Flying Camp.

The ordinance closed by a most stirring ap- peal to the people of New Jersey by the mem- bers of the Convention. They said,-

"In this interesting situation,-viewing, on the one hand, an active, inveterate and implacable enemy, increasing fast in strength, daily receiving large reinforcements, and industriously preparing to strike some decisive blow ; on the other, a consider-

able part of the inhabitants supinely slumbering on the brink of ruin,-and moved with affecting appre- hensions, the Convention think it incumbent upon them to warn their constituents of the impending danger. On you, our friends and brethren, it de- pends, this day, to determine whether you, your wives, your children and millions of your descend- ants yet unborn, shall wear the galling, the ignomin- ious yoke of slavery, or nobly inherit the generous, the inestimable blessings of freedom. The alterna- tive is before you ! Can you hesitate in your choice ? Canyon doubt which to prefer ? . . . Happily, we know we can anticipate your virtuous choice. With con- fident satisfaction we are assured that not a moment will delay your important decision ; that you cannot feel hesitation, whether you will tamely and degener- ately bend your necks to the irretrievable wretched- ness of slavery, or by your instant and animated ex- ertions enjoy the fair inheritance of heaven-born freedom, and transmit it, unimpaired, to your posterity."

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History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 26

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co. Number of Pages: 1148

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 1148