USA > New Jersey > New Jersey as a colony and as a state; one of the original thirteen > Part 16
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To the horrors of the "Tappan massacre " would have been added another calamity had it not been for the military judgment displayed by General Anthony Wayne. The famous Pennsyl- vanian lay but a short distance north of Tappan, and against him a detachment of the Highland and the Queen's Rangers Regiments were sent. Crossing directly south of the Tappan Zee, the InkyWayne
Anthony Wayne, "Mad Anthony"; b. in Chester County, Pa., Jan. 1, 1745 ; land agent in Nova Scotia ; farmer and surveyor in Pennsylvania; member Pennsylvania Legislature 1774-76; colonel in Ameri- can army 1776 ; wounded in battle of Three Rivers ; brigadier-general 1777; achieved a brilliant victory at Stony Point; engaged in war with the Indiane ; d. at Fort Presque Isle ( Erie, Pa.), Dec. 15, 1796.
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British moved toward Wayne's encampment, but he, hearing of the enemy's approach, withdrew, and this portion of the expedition was rendered fruitless.
The " Tappan massacre " led to a congressional investigation, Governor Livingston being in- structed " to use his utmost diligence in obtaining the best information upon oath " concerning this brutal night attack. Dr. David Griffith, of the Virginia continental line, was directed by Major- General William Alexander to obtain this infor- mation, he being singularly fitted for the office, as he attended Colonel Baylor and some of his wounded.
From the stigma of lacking military judgment in not establishing a more complete system of sen- tries throughout Overkill Neighborhood, and in neglecting other details of importance, Colonel Baylor never entirely recovered. Until that time his military reputation had been untarnished, having served as personal aide-de-camp to Gen- eral Washington in the battle of Trenton and be- ing the first to report the defeat of the Hessians. As a reward for his valor he had been assigned to carry news of the victory to Congress in Balti- more, and was subsequently promoted to the com- mand of a regiment of light horse.
On the winding road leading by forest and swamp from Tuckerton to Osborn's Island there
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stands a memorial tablet erected by the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey. It com- memorates the massacre of a portion of the legion commanded by Brigadier-General Count Casimer Pulaski, of the continental army, in the affair at Egg Harbor, which, upon October 15, 1778, fol- lowed within a short month the brutalities at Tap- pan.
Since the beginning of the Revolution the Bur- lington County "Shore " bounding Little Egg Harbor Bay had been the center of most active naval operations. Here with their whaleboats, sloops, schooners, rowboats, and even canoes and periaugers the warlike descendants of the peace- ful Quaker settlers made almost daily expeditions along the coast, overhauling shipping, confiscat- ing cargoes, and sending contraband goods under prize masters to various interior points, such as Gloucester, Mount Holly, Haddonfield, and Allen- town. As shown by contemporaneous newspaper advertisements of sales of vessels under orders of the admiralty court of New Jersey, these captures were made with alarming frequency, so much so indeed that to the British officers in New York, Tuckerton and its vicinity were known as a " nest of rebel pirates." A crisis was precipitated in the latter part of the summer of 1778, when the " Venus " and " Major Pearson," both of Lon- don, were captured and taken into the bay. The
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retaliation promised and partly executed by Sir Henry Clinton was as sudden as it was severe.
From New York Harbor on September 30 there sailed the armed sloop " Zebra," Captain Henry Collins, with two other sloops, the "Vigilant " and "Nautilus," two galleys, and four armed boats, with three hundred men of the Fifth Regi- ment British Foot and one hundred men of the Third Battalion New Jersey Loyalist Volunteers. In command of the detail was Captain Patrick Ferguson, the most noted shot in the British army, and who was killed during the Southern campaign in the fight at King's Mountain. It was not un- til the 5th of October that the little fleet reached its destination.
Filled with the horror of the Tappan massacre and the liability of its repetition upon the sea- coast, Governor Livingston, calling a meeting of the council of safety at three o'clock in the morn- ing, sent express riders through the " Pines " to warn the residents of the coast of their danger, while General Washington, equally prompt, di- rected Count Pulaski and his legion to hasten with all possible speed to the settlement later known, in honor of Judge Ebenezer Tucker, as Tuckerton, but then called "Middle of the Shore," or more pertinently "Clamtown." Instantly preparations for defense were made by the shore-folk. To sea were sent three captured privateers and a pilot
A REVOLUTIONARY PRISON HOUSE IN NEW YORK.
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boat, while the remainder of the shipping was dispatched to Chestnut Neck, a hamlet of twelve houses twenty miles distant, upon an inland wa- terway. Toward the destruction of Chestnut Neck the energies of the British captain, Fergu- son, were directed. Unable to get his fleet inside the harbor, Captain Collins furnished Ferguson with whaleboats and galleys sufficient to hold his soldiers, and with these, under cover of a fog, upon the morning of October 6, he made an attack upon the prize vessels, wharf, and store house at Chest- nut Neck. The local militia, greatly outnumbered and insufficiently armed, displayed but little re- sistance, and Chestnut Neck, its breastworks, two prize vessels, eight sloops and schooners, and some smaller craft were plundered, burned, and de- stroyed. Only twenty miles away, up the Mullica River, was "The Forks," where stood a store house rich with plunder intended for the Philadelphia market. Thence to Philadelphia was but thirty- five miles, but such alluring prospects could not keep Ferguson too far from his fleet. He there- upon returned to the Egg Harbor base of sup- plies during the day. On the return three small salt works and several mansions of patriots at Bass River were burned.
From the 6th to the 8th of October there had sped through the farms and pines of Burlington County, from Trenton to Tuckerton, the famous [Vol. 2]
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A Barber
legion of Pulaski, which upon its arrival camped upon the old Willets farm, south of the latter vil- lage. There were three companies of light in- fantry, a detachment of light artillery, and three troops of light horse. With them, it is said, was carried the crimson silk flag attached to a lance, and which tradition states was made for the le- gion by the Moravian Sisters at Bethlehem. From Count Pulaski's headquarters a lane led to the bay, and behind a clump of trees, protected from observation, was the camp of the legion. Nearer the meadows was a picket commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Baron de Bosen, while beyond lay Big Creek and Osborn's Island.
Captain Collins and his fleet still remained out- side the harbor. Summoned to New York to take command of the British fleet on the American station in place of Lord Howe, contrary winds held him captive. But while endeavoring to re- turn to his duties inside Sandy Hook a deserter, a certain Gustav Juliet, who had come to America with one of the Landgrave regiments of Hessians, had gone over to the Americans, and now returned to the British, went on board Captain Ferguson's ship. From him the British learned of the sit- uation of the camp, and to learn was to act.
By rowing a distance of ten miles about two hundred and fifty British troops were enabled to disembark at Osborn's Island in the early morn-
Francis Barber, b. at Princeton, N. J., 1751 ; grad. College of New Jersey 1767; rector of Elizabeth Academy 1700 ; pastor Presbyterian Church, Eliza- beth ; entered Continental army as major 1776 ; lieutenant-colonel, assistant inspector-general, and adjutant-general; wounded in battle of Newtown ; quelled mutiny of Pennsylvania and New Jersey troops 1781 ; killed by a falling tree April 19, 1783.
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ing of October 15. Advancing cautiously over rough roads, led by Juliet and a lad impressed under fear of death, Colonel de Bosen and his picket were surrounded and himself, with forty. of his men, put to the sword. Only five prisoners were taken. Having in part satisfied their blood- lust, a retreat was sounded by the British com- mander, but none too soon. Count Pulaski, with the remainder of the legion, but half a mile away, hearing the noise of battle, started in pursuit. Gaining time by tearing up the bridge over Big Creek, the British managed to reach their boats on Osborn's Island and thence their ships with small loss.
Although General Pulaski could not avenge the murder of his men he and all the " Shore " had the satisfaction of seeing the " Zebra " go aground, and, under the orders of Captain Collins, fired. As she burned, her shotted guns were discharged, to the amusement of the onlookers. The British fleet arrived in New York on October 22, while Count Pulaski returned to Trenton.
The year 1779 was marked by one of the most brilliant events in the history of the Revolution- the surprise and capture of Paulus Hook.
As early as March 26, 1776, General Lord Stirling made an examination of Paulus Hook, but it was not until June, while General Mercer and his flying camp were located on Bergen Neck,
-
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that a serious attempt at fortification was made by the erection of three earthworks, one of which commanded Communipaw Cove. After the battle of Long Island the post was strengthened, being subsequently abandoned after an assault by the British upon the 23d of September. Shortly after- ward Bergen was given over to the enemy and the retreat through the Jerseys was begun, and from thence until 1780 there was constant guerril- la warfare on the heights and in the meadows of Jersey City and its dependent towns.
Paulus Hook was an island of sand and marsh, now the heart of Jersey City, bounded by the coves of Ahasimus and Communipaw, then separated from the mainland by salt meadows flooded at every tide. Through these salt meadows ran a tidal creek, extending from the present corner of Morris and Van Vorst Streets to Warren Street, thence westerly through York Street to a point near Van Vorst Street, and thence to Newark Ave- nue. From York Street to a point midway between Grand and Sussex Streets a ditch had been cut. Further an artificial ditch had been dug from the river near Mercer Street to Warren Street, while on the line of Newark Avenue was a drawbridge, which with abatis, a strong barred gate, three block houses, a chain of breastworks, a fort mounting three twelve pounders and one eighteen pounder, a redoubt, and minor works made the
1775 HERE, IN THE TIME OF THE REVOLUTION STOOD THE SIGNAL BEACON.ANO BY ITS SIDE.THE CANNON KNOWN AS THE OLD SOW" WHICH IN TIME OF DANGER AND INVASION SUMMONED THE PATRIOTIC MINUTE MEN OF THIS VICINITY TO THE DEFENSE CF THE COUNTRY AND THE REPULSE OF THE INVADER
THIS MONI.MENT IS ERECTED BY THE NEW JERSEY SOC :" /
THE SONS OF THE AMER CAN REVOLU" ON ANG DEC -" TO THE MEMORY OF - PATRIOTS OF NEW JERCE 1896
REVOLUTIONARY MONUMENT AT SUMMIT.
PAULUS HOOK.
(From an old print.)
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position naturally and artificially well nigh im- pregnable.
It was Major Henry Lee-" Light Horse Harry," of Virginia,-who led the fateful expedition against Paulus Hook, although it is claimed with some degree of justice that the expedition was planned and executed in part through the daring of Captain Allen McLane, of Delaware, a member of Lee's legion. Informning himself of the roads leading through old Bergen County to Paulus Hook, Major Lee left Paramus on the 18th of Au- gust, 1779, with two companies of Maryland troops under Captain Levin Handy, and was soon joined by three hundred Virginia men under Major Clark with McLane's dismounted dragoons, num- bering between four hundred and five hundred. With the watchword "Be Firm!" the soldiers passed through New Bridge and English Neigh- borhood and thence probably a short distance north of New Durham by the Bergen woods. Here, becoming entangled in the forests and swamps be- tween Guttenberg and Union Hill, Lee's force be- came separated, and some of the Virginians ac- tually deserted. Pressing on, probably by way of Weehawken Ferry, Hoboken, and Ahasimus up- land, over marsh and through creeks, the re- mainder of the legion reached the only main ap- proach to the Hook, " Howe's Road," in the vi- cinity of Warren Street.
HENRY LEE. ("Light Horse Harry.")
Henry Lee, "Light Horse Harry," b. at Leesyl- vania, Va., Jan. 23, 1756 ; grandson of Henry, and son of Thomas; grad. Princeton College 1774; entered the Continental army 1776 ; member of Congress 1786 and 1799 ; governor of Virginia 1792-95 ; in an oration on Washington he uttered the famous phrase "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of bis coun- trymen"; d. on Cumberland Island, Ga., March 25. 181S.
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In three columns the legion advanced, and not until too late did the sleeping British suspect that they were in the hands of the enemy. Driving back Hessians and Tories, the Americans swarmed over the Hook, capturing the block houses and the forts at the point of the sword and bayonet, as ammunition had been destroyed while crossing the ditch. But a great danger threatened Major Lee. Unable to secure the maga- zine, in which the British commander, Major Sutherland, and a guard had taken refuge, Lee must needs retreat. Morning was dawning, the ships of war in New York Harbor were alive, preparations were being made in the city to send relief to the besieged garrison, and along his line of retreat lay the enemy, separated only by the Hudson. Hastily moving from the Hook, he sought to place the Hackensack between himself and his pursuers, but failed to attain this end owing to the lack of boats. At Prior's Mill he pre- pared for the worst-a dash to New Bridge, sup- ported only by troops sent by Lord Stirling and harassed by bodies of refugees and regulars.
Thus after a march of eighty miles in three days Major Lee crowned his expedition with success. At the surprise of Paulus Hook he captured one hundred and fifty-nine prisoners. The loss of British in killed and wounded was small, being
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less than fifty. Of the Americans but two were killed and three wounded.
So brilliant was this expedition, in spite of a subsequent court-martialing of Lee on a series of trumped-up charges, so useful in its stimulative qualities, so glorious in its bravery, that Congress upon September 24, 1779, voted Major Lee one of the only six gold medals ordered during the war. Upon the reverse of the medal are these words, the original being in Latin:
Notwithstanding rivers and intrenchments, he, with a small band conquered the foe by warlike skill and prowess, and firmly bound by his humanity those who had been conquered by his arms. In memory of the conflict at Paulus Hook, August 19, 1779.
Upon the obverse, also in Latin, is:
The American Congress to Henry Lee, Colonel of Cavalry.
Upon no less than two occasions efforts were made by the British in New York to assassinate or capture Governor William Livingston. In Feb- ruary, 1779, Ephraim Marsh, Jr., while on Stat- en Island, was approached by Brigadier-General Cortlandt Skinner, Major Philip Van Cortlandt, and one William Luce, of the loyalist volunteers, who offered him two thousand guineas and a life pension for "that damned old rascal Governor Livingston," delivered dead or alive on Staten Is- land. Later Major Abraham Van Buskirk re- newed the negotiations, Marsh having refused to become a party to the plot. The publication of
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these facts led to a sarcastic and spicy correspond- ence between Governor Livingston and Sir Henry Clinton. Upon the 29th of March, 1779, the gov- ernor wrote to the British commander requesting him to disavow any personal connivance in such outlawry, and threatening prompt retaliation. To this General Clinton replied on the 10th of April:
Had I a soul capable of harboring so infamous an idea as assassi- nation, you, sir, at least would have nothing to fear; for, be as- sured, I should not blacken myself with so foul a crime to obtain so trifling an end. Sensible of the power you boast, (of being able to dispose of my life, by means of intimates of yours ready to murder at your command,) I can only congratulate you on your amiable connections.
To this Governor Livingston, whom General Clinton had addressed as " Mr. Livingston " and " William Livingston, Esq.," thus taunted the British commandant, who had refused to write further:
Whatever improvement I might hope to receive from you in the art of war (and especially in the particular branches of conducting moonlight retreats and planning secret expeditions) I should not expect, from our correspondence, any considerable edification or refinement in an epistolary way.
These touches of satire referred to Clinton's statement that he had retreated from the field of Monmouth by moonlight, although the moon had set early in the evening, while Sir Henry Clinton's secret expeditions were notoriously unsuccessful, owing to his lack of generalship. Wishing Sir
Robert Livingston, first ancestor of the family in America ; b. at Ancrum, Scotland, Dec. 13, 1654; son of John, a Presbyterian divine ; came to Boston 1673 ; settled at Albany, N. Y., about 1675, founding Liv- ingston Manor ; d. there April 20, 1725; his son Philip was the father of Governor William Livings- ton, of New Jersey.
ROBERT LIVINGSTON.
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Henry a safe voyage to England, " with the singu- lar glory of having attempted to reduce to bond- age a people determined to be free and independ- ent," the correspondence closed.
The Pennsylvania Journal, upon August 9, 1780, tells the story of the attempt made by Ensign James Moody to secure the person of Governor Livingston. Early in May, 1780, Moody, most con- spicuous of the Tory raiders, was sent from New York " with a party of Ruffians for the purpose of burning Sussex gaol, of taking or assassinat- ing Governor Livingston and the persons who were active in apprehending the three spies lately executed, and of inlisting our inhabitants in the service of the British tyrant." Having arrived at English Neighborhood, Moody was captured by Captain Lawrence, of the New York levies, and upon the refugee were found the following in- structions, to be used in case of capture:
HEAD QUARTERS, May tenth, New-York, 1780.
SIR,
You are hereby directed and authorized to proceed without loss of time, with a small detachment, into the Jerseys, by the most convenient route, in order to carry off the person of Governor Livingston, or any other acting in public station, whom you may fall in with in the course of your march, or any person whom you may meet with, and whom it may be necessary to secure for your own security, and that of the party under your command. Should you succeed in taking Governor Livingston, you are to treat him according to his station, as far as lies in your power ; nor are you, upon any account, to offer any violence to his person. You will
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use your endeavour to get possession of his papers, which you will take care of, and, upon your return, deliver at head-quarters.
By order of His Excellency, Lieut. Gen. Knyphausen.
GEO. BECKWITH, Aid de Camp. To Ensign Moody, Ist bat. New-Jersey volunteers.
The presence of General Washington in the State of New Jersey from 1775 until the close of the second winter in Morristown (1780) has been presented with some fulness, his life having been followed from the detail presented by the late William S. Baker in his " Itinerary." Subse- quently General Washington was frequently in the State before the auspicious autumn which, during 1783, he spent in Rocky Hill. Thus the summer and autumn of 1780 found General Wash- ington either in New Jersey or upon the New York line often at Tappan. From Rhode Island the British forces late in July hurried to the de- fense of New York City, Washington arriving at Tappan upon the 8th of August. Removing thence to Tea Neck, Bergen County, on August 24th the commander-in-chief made his head- quarters at the "Liberty Pole Tavern," near the center of Englewood, the army encamping at Steenrapie, three miles from Hackensack, from September 4th to the 20th. To be near the troops Washington occupied the " Hopper House " near the State line, a short distance from Ramapo Pass, attending the funeral of Brigadier-General Poor,
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which was held in Hackensack upon the 10th of September. The army returning to Tappan, Gen- eral Washington proceeded to Hartford, Connecti- cut, where for several days he was in consultation with the officers of the French fleet. Returning to the " Robinson House " on the 25th of Septem- ber, he heard of the treachery of General Benedict Arnold, and remained in New York State until during the arrest, trial, and death of Major André.
Following the execution of Major André, which occurred upon the 2d of October, 1780, General Washington, upon the 8th of that month, arrived at Preakness, accompanied by the " main body of the army." Here the commander-in-chief reestab- lished his headquarters at the home of Colonel Theunis Dye, instantly putting forth endeavors to secure forage. At Preakness Washington entered into a plan, which was unsuccessful, to capture Benedict Arnold, who had fled to New York.
In the North the paper currency had depreci- ated to the vanishing point. During the month of October it stood $7,200 in "rag money " to $100 in specie. Washington in his circular letter to the States, written from Preakness, attributes the destruction of paper currency and public credit to the "enormous expenditures" incident "to the system of temporary enlistments," and later, writ- ing to General Sullivan, says:
A foreign loan is indispensably necessary to the continuance of
Benedict Arnold, b. in Norwich, Conn., Jan. 14, 1741 ; entered the army when young ; d. in London, June 14, 1801.
BeArnold Mfenh
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the war. Congress will deceive themselves, if they imagine that the army, or a State that is the theatre of war, can rub through a second campaign as the last. It would be as unreasonable as to suppose, that, because a man had rolled a snow ball till it had acquired the size of a horse, that he might do so till it was as large as a house.
The Marquis de Chastellux, a major-general in the French army, who visited Washington here November 23-27, has given a charming account of his entertainment, while a very full description of the encampment and location of the American army at Preakness and the Passaic Falls is pub- lished in William Nelson's " History of Paterson," Vol. I, pages 431-437. Washington set out on No- vember 27th upon a circuitous route to estab- lish himself in his headquarters at New Windsor, New York. Upon this journey he visited Morris- town, Flemington, Hackettstown, New German- town and Sussex Court House (Newton). In the meantime for the winter of 1780-81 the army had been cantoned from Morristown to West Point. At the former place the Pennsylvania brigade was stationed, while the New Jersey brigade was at the Clove, on the State line, covering communica- tion. The New England troops were at West. Point.
It was not until the 26th of August, 1781, that General Washington returned to New Jersey, through which State he passed on the way to the victory at Yorktown. The army, crossing at
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King's Bridge, was discontented from want of pay. It was then that Robert Morris, superin- tendent of finances, borrowed thirty thousand dollars in specie to relieve immediate demands, twenty thousand dollars of which was secured from the Count de Rochambeau. He, strangely enough, was repaid from the 2,000,000 livres just arrived in a French vessel at Boston, being part of the gift of 6,000,000 livres made by that gov- ernment, and which had been secured by Colonel Laurens and Benjamin Franklin. General Wash- ington arrived in New Brunswick August 28th, crossing the Delaware at Trenton the next day or the day after. He remained in Philadelphia until the 5th of September, and reached Yorktown on the 29th.
In the height of popularity General Washing- ton, having defeated Cornwallis at Yorktown, re- turned to New Jersey upon the 23d of March, 1782. It was then that he inspected the Second Regi- ment of Artillery, Continental Corps, under the command of Colonel John Lamb. Reaching Mor- ristown by the 28th of the month, he proceeded , by way of Pompton and Ringwood to Newburg, having authorized Colonel Matthias Ogden to at- tempt the capture of midshipman Prince William Henry, afterward William IV, King of England, and Admiral Digby. The plan did not succeed. It is traditional that the young prince earlier in
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