USA > New Jersey > New Jersey as a colony and as a state; one of the original thirteen > Part 9
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With the utmost expedition, upon the morning of the 29th a brigade of the army was sent over the river, General Stephens's divisions crossed at How- ell's Ferry, now Stockton, while General Stirling crossed at Trenton. The main army, which had passed the Delaware at Coryell's and Howell's Ferries, entered Philadelphia by the Old York road, reaching the city on the 31st, accompanied by Generals Lafayette, De Kalb, and Pulaski. The 1st day of August Washington made an in-
Hirling
William Alexander, titular Lord Stirling, son of James Alexander and his wife, the widow of David Provost; b. in New York City 1726; provision mer- chant; noted as a mathematician and astronomer ; commissary in the French and Indian War; sur- veyor-general and member Provincial Council ; col- onel of the East Jersey Battalion 1775 ; brigadier- general ; first governor of King's (now Columbia) College ; married a daughter of Philip Livingston 1761 ; d. in Albany, N. Y., Jan. 15, 1783.
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NEW JERSEY AS A COL
spection of the defenses of Philadelphia at Mud Island (Fort Mifflin), Red Bank (Fort Mercer), Bil- lingsport, and Marcus Hook, spending the night in Chester.
Meanwhile Philadelphia became alarmed, espe- cially as the militia failed to respond to repeated calls, owing to the presence of the Quaker spirit of non-combatancy, factional feeling in local poli- tics, and a widespread belief that Howe had sailed for Charleston, in that he had not appeared up the Delaware. Following his inspection of the de- fenses of the Delaware, Washington established his headquarters at Neshaminy, at Schuylkill Falls, and later returning to Philadelphia upon the 23d of the month. Here the American troops, although ill-clothed and ill-equipped, were pa- raded as an incentive to patriotism.
At last General Washington had learned the true destination of Lord Howe's fleet, then far advanced through Chesapeake Bay. Pushing on- ward south of the City of Wilmington, Gen- eral Maxwell, of New Jersey, with a picked corps, offered protection to the front of the American army, while the eighteen thousand troops from the British fleet disembarked upon the 25th of Au- gust, landing at the head of the Elk. Thence until the day of the fateful battle of Brandywine, Sep- tember 11th, the head of the Chesapeake and its tributary streams, as well as a portion of the near-
5
wn
WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT THE BRANDYWINE.
1
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ONY AND AS A STATE
by Delaware Valley, was the scene of constant skirmishing. At Chad's Ford and at Birmingham Meeting House General Stirling made a gallant fight against overwhelming odds, as did General Maxwell, who, retiring, fought his way to Chester.
Between that day and the 21st, when General Howe resumed his march to Philadelphia, there was continuous fighting in the valley of the Schuylkill. Congress made preparations to ad- journ to Lancaster, and, powerless to aid a city in which the Tory element was more than moderate- ly influential, General Washington was compelled to witness the occupation of Philadelphia by Corn- wallis upon September 26, 1777.
To the Anglo-Hessian army, after its expe- riences at sea and a month of continuous fighting, Philadelphia was indeed a haven of refuge. While the city was being intrenched by General Howe the American flotilla on the Jersey shore at- tempted an unsuccessful bombardment of the riv- er front, during which enterprise the " Delaware " and " Montgomery," frigates, were captured. A final blow for the recovery of Philadelphia was struck at Germantown on the early foggy morning of October 4. Although a moral victory, in which General Stirling played a conspicuous part, the loss of the Americans was most severe and formed a fitting prelude to the horrors of the never-to- be-forgotten winter at Valley Forge.
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Amid the scenes of carnage one note of peace was struck at the headquarters of the American army at Pennypacker's Mills. There arrived upon the 7th of October, appearing before General Washington, certain influential members of the Society of Friends, who presented a " testimony " against war. This also included a statement of the position the Friends occupied as non-resist- ants and a recital of their conscientious scruples, restraining them from bearing arms upon either side. Later the same committee was directed to appear before "William Howe, General of the British army."
Much of the months of October and November, 1777, was spent by Washington in the environs of Philadelphia at Towamencin, Worcester, Whitpain, and Whitemarsh, while upon the river the effort of Lord Howe to gain a mastery of the Delaware led to the operations against Forts Mer- cer and Mifflin, the partial destruction of the American navy, and Lafayette's gallant affair at Gloucester. The unfortunate position of the flo- tilla, the germ of the American navy, led the Whig authorities of Pennsylvania to send the State's fleet under Commodore Hazelwood to a protected point on the Delaware. Thirteen galleys, twelve armed boats, and ammunition craft succeeded in reaching Burlington. At Gloucester Point ten
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ONY AND AS A STATE
vessels, unable to escape, were set on fire and abandoned.
In spite of the superior force of the British in Philadelphia and immediate vicinity a council of war was called by General Washington upon No- vember 24 to take into consideration the expe- diency of an attack upon Philadelphia. Of the officers in command eleven voted in the negative, among them General Greene, who was stationed in Mount Holly. Four, including General Stir- ling, were favorable to such a course. The plan was consequently abandoned. By way of the Gulf Mill Washington moved his army to Valley Forge, which point he occupied December 19, 1777. Here in wood huts, destitute, barefoot, and starving, Washington, with an army of eleven thousand men, of whom nearly a third were unfit for duty, went into quarters.
The horrors of the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge were due largely to the inefficiency of the commissary department, under the management of General Joseph Trumbull, of Connecticut. Yet to a degree he was helpless, as the country side had been stripped by both armies during the pre- ceding autumn.
Congress had already begun to show its utter inefficiency, removed itself out of danger from Lancaster to York, and refused to remedy the sit- uation until March 2, 1778, when General Trum-
WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE.
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bull was supplanted by General Greene. One of Greene's assistants was Charles Pettit, a member of the New Jersey bar and Secretary to Governor Livingston. Later Jeremiah Wadsworth, of Con- necticut, was elected as commissary-general, which produced a betterment in the service. The need of food in February had almost caused the disbandment of the army. Not only had the vicin- age been scoured for provisions, but, as Washing- ton wrote to Peter Colt, purchasing commissary in Connecticut, "Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Mary- land are now intirely exhausted." Upon the 18th of February General Washington issued an ad- dress to the inhabitants of New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia request- ing them that cattle be prepared for army use dur- ing the approaching spring and early summer.
In the meantime there appeared the first of a series of military and political conspiracies aimed at General Washington. The growth and develop- ment of the " Conway Cabal," supported by no less men than Generals Mifflin and Conway, James Lowell, and Benjamin Rush, and stimulated by the complaints of John Adams, is a matter of national rather than State history, but its presence at Val- ley Forge forms one dramatic scene in that winter of hopelessness on the bleak hills of the Schuyl- kill.
When the British entered Philadelphia they
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found the city in great disorder-houses aban- doned, public buildings neglected, streets un- kempt, and the Quaker element of the population, representing a fifth of the thirty thousand inhab- itants of the town, in a state of despair concerning the removal of influential members of the Society, whom Congress had sent for safety's sake to Vir- ginia. Suspicion had been directed against these Friends by reason of correspondence discovered in New Jersey, and an " address " of the meeting, which were said to be treasonable.
The King's troops pillaged and burned prop- erty belonging to both Whig and Tory sympa- thizers, while in the suburbs provisions and sup- plies were stolen from the farmers by raiding parties of both armies. Secret trade was con- ducted with the Tories in the city, while all inter- course with New Jersey was prohibited after Jan- uary 15, 1778, except by the New and Old Ferries.
During the winter months of 1778 the city, now governed by martial law, was given over to every form of pleasure. Clubs, dances, drinking bouts, gambling, cock and prize fighting, and grosser im- moralities had full sway. A theater was estab- lished, for which Major André painted the scenes, while a racetrack was opened in the spring. Gen- eral Howe, intent upon his liaison with the wife of an officer, allowed the winter to pass without any display of force except in dispatching foraging ex- [Vol. 2]
John André, b. in London 1761 ; bred to commercial pursuits ; artist, master of several languages ; joined " the British army 1771; came to America 1773; at- tached to Sir Henry Clinton's army and soon pro- moted to major ; captured Sept., 1780; executed as a spy near Tappan, N. Y., Oct. 2, 1780.
Major Andre
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peditions to nearby points in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, nor did he attempt to dislodge Wash- ington from Valley Forge. Such were his failures, to the disgust of the British ministry, that his successor, Sir Henry Clinton, arrived in Philadel- phia on the 8th of May, and in his honor the fa- mous " Mischianza," consisting of a regatta, mock tournament, and ball, was held upon the 18th of that month.
With the coming of spring the American army at Valley Forge had been reorganized and partially equipped. The sentiment of Phila- delphia had undergone a partial change, par- ticularly as the Quakers recognized that under · the domination of Howe they had fared worse than they had under the control of the Whigs. The times were ripening for a change. Cognizant of this fact, Washington, upon the 20th of April, laid before his military advisers three plans of operation for the ensuing campaign-one an at- tempt to recover Philadelphia, the second an en- deavor to transfer the war northward by an expe- dition against New York, the last remaining quiet- ly in camp and disciplining the army until the British began operations, and then taking such action as should be deemed advisable. Three gen- erals, of whom one was William Maxwell, advised an attack upon Philadelphia; four favored an ad- vance upon New York; General Stirling recom-
4
Sir Henry Clinton, son of Hon. George Clinton, colonial governor of Newfoundland and afterward of New York ; b. about 1738; entered the New York militia 1751; sat in Parliament 1772-84; sent to America 1775; succeeded Lord Howe as commander- in-chief 1778; resigned 1781; governor of Gibraltar 1794 ; d. there Dec. 23, 1795.
2
Coventry Forge
Yellow Spris.
White
keffery Ford
Trempic
Kennel Square
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NEW JERSEY AS A COL
peditions to nearby points in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, nor did he attempt to dislodge Wash- ington from Valley Forge. Such were his failures, to the disgust of the British ministry, that his successor, Sir Henry Clinton, arrived in Philadel- phia on the 8th of May, and in his honor the fa- mous " Mischianza," consisting of a regatta, mock tournament, and ball, was held upon the 18th of that month.
With the coming of spring the American army at Valley Forge had been reorganized and partially equipped. The sentiment of Phila- delphia had undergone a partial change, par- ticularly. as the Quakers recognized that under * the domination of Howe they had fared worse than they had under the control of the Whigs. The times were ripening for a change. Cognizant of this fact, Washington, upon the 20th of April, laid before his military advisers three plans of operation for the ensuing campaign-one an at- tempt to recover Philadelphia, the second an en- deavor to transfer the war northward by an expe- dition against New York, the last remaining quiet- ly in camp and disciplining the army until the British began operations, and then taking such action as should be deemed advisable. Three gen- erals, of whom one was William Maxwell, advised an attack upon Philadelphia; four favored an ad- vance upon New York; General Stirling recom-
Sir Henry Clinton, son of Hon. George Clinton, colonial governor of Newfoundland and afterward of New York ; b. about 1738; entered the New York militla 1751; sat in Parliament 1772-84; sent to America 1775 ; succeeded Lord Howe as commander- in-chief 1778; resigned 1781; governor of Gibraltar 1794 ; d. there Dec. 23, 1795.
Whilen
Lutheran Is Church.
Skippach C.
Horshen
Coventry Forge.
Pine Run
Sandy Run
1777.
Swedes Ford
Wissahiccon.
Yellow Spring
Valley Cr
Schuylkill.
White Horse
D
Frankfort
Gashen
Frem Bic
Derby
APlan of Mud Island Fort with its Environs .
Delaware R
Kennel Square
Ashtown
Red Bank
Ea
Red Bank
Chester
Billingsport
0
A. Mid Island Fort
A
Marcus Hook
B. The Chain amt upper Che veneux de Praxe.
C. The Lower Currenur de frize
G
D. Red Bank and Rebel Water Guards
E. British Buttery on Province Island
F.British Battery on Blakeleys Island
Truicum 1
C
G. Hog Island Dikes cut by the Rebels
H. British Men of War.
az Billingsport
Brandywine
IYER
DELAWA
Christiana. Ct
Schulkill
BRITISH & REBEL ARMY
Lancaster Road
LADELPHIA
Jeffery Ford.
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ONY AND AS A STATE
mended an attack upon both Philadelphia and New York; the foreign allies, Steuben, Lafayette, and Du Portaile, were in favor of the third plan, which course was adopted. General Greene fa- vored an enterprise against New York by General Washington in person, the main army to stay in Valley Forge under the command of General Lee, who had recently been exchanged for Major-Gen- eral Prescott. Late in April the Conciliatory Bills, framed by Lord North, reached headquar- ters, while at the same time Simeon Deane brought the welcome news of the conclusion of the treaty between France and the United States.
This treaty brought consternation to the Tories in Philadelphia, which was further increased by an unsuccessful movement against Lafayette at Barren Hill, a suburb of Philadelphia. Clinton's policy was decisive, and scarce had the echoes of the " Mischianza " died away ere preparations were made to evacuate the city, leaving such of its inhabitants who had sworn allegiance to King George III to make their peace as best they might with Washington and the Congress.
Between Burlington and Bridgeton during the occupation of Philadelphia there was almost con- tinual raiding on the part of Anglo-Hessian troops from the city, assisted by detachments from New Jersey's loyalist regiments and unorganized bands of refugee robbers. Of all the expeditions
.
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NEW JERSEY AS A COL
that directed against the Whig farmers, occupants of the fertile farmlands of Salem County, was the most notable. On the 17th of March, 1778, a de- tached regiment from Philadelphia under the com- mand of Colonel Charles Mawhood, having come down the river and encamped at Sharptown, marched into Salem City. Failing to surprise Colonel Anthony Wayne and a small body of troops, the British, recruiting a party of Tory ad- herents known by their uniform as " Greens," re- solved to "chastise the insolent rebels," among whom were three hundred militia at Quinton's Bridge, three miles from Salem City. The Whig commander at this place was Colonel Benjamin Holmes. Resolving, with Spartan-like courage, to protect the people of the southern part of the county, Colonel Holmes made such preparations for his defense as the situation afforded. Early upon the morning of the 18th of March the British advanced undiscovered to within half a mile of Quinton's Bridge, secreting themselves in a swamp and in the nearby timber which lined the bank of Alloway's Creek. A small party of light horsemen then advanced as if to challenge the Whigs. The ruse was successful, and from the opposite shore the militia, under the command of Captain William Smith, rushed without military order across the bridge and into the ambuscade. In spite of Captain Smith's effort to rally his
ONY AND AS A STATE
181
men the timely appearance of Colonel Hand with the Cumberland militia, and the personal heroism of Andrew Bacon, who cut the draw of the bridge, and in the midst of a galling fire held the King's troops in check, the Whig militia was decimated.
Thus defeated by a body of raw troops, who were in a state of exultation over their success, Major Simcoe, appealing to Colonel Mawhood, was reinforced by all the troops that could, with safety, be sent from Salem City. The night had been de- voted to strengthening the position of the Whig militia, which, under the direction of Colonels Holmes and Hand, controlled the front and both flanks of the advancing British regulars. So gall- ing was the fire that the King's troops were thrown into confusion and retreated to Salem City.
Failing in his purpose of plundering, Colonel Mawhood adopted new tactics. Addressing a let- ter to Colonel Hand, he proposed that the militia at Quinton's Bridge lay down their arms, promis- ing that after paying in sterling for all cattle, hay, and corn he would reembark for Philadelphia. Otherwise Colonel Mawhood declared he would burn and destroy the homes of the Whigs, giving over their wives and children to the tender mer- cies of the refugees. To this was annexed a list of those in Salem County who would be first to "feel the vengeance of the British nation." To
DESK ON WHICH JEFFERSON WROTE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
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NEW JERSEY AS A COL
the letter Colonel Hand made a bold and spirited reply, characterizing the communication as the " cruel order of a barbarous Attila," refusing to lay down arms, and promising retaliation if prop- erty was destroyed.
Unable to cope with the Whigs of Salem Coun- ty, either by open attack or by threats, Colonel Mawhood determined upon a midnight assault against a body of four hundred militia who had been stationed at Hancock's Bridge. Conveyed thither by boats, followed by a short forced march, with orders issued from headquarters: "Go! spare no one-put all to death-give no quarter !" Major Simcoe was detailed to put into execution the fiendish plot, in which the most notorious of the local Tories participated. Fortunately, however, the main body of the militia had departed, leaving only a small guard stationed to guard the bridge, the headquarters being the Hancock mansion. Forcing the house, the owner of the premises, Judge Hancock, a party of non-combatant Quak- ers, and the guard of about twenty-five men were massacred as they slept or bayoneted as they fought for freedom. A few escaped or were taken prisoners by the enemy. This ended the expedi- tion, and within a few days the Anglo-Hessian troops returned to Philadelphia, their vessels
AN EARLY VILLAGE SCENE.
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ONY AND AS A STATE
ladened with plunder, their persons rich with spoils.
Such was the expedition to Salem County, and such the valiant defense made by its inhabitants. Yet it was the royal Pennsylvania Gazette, upon the 3d of April, 1778, which contained this account of the expedition:
Nothing can be a stronger proof of the disaffection of the inhabit- ants of New Jersey, to the interest of rebellion, than their be- haviour to the troops, who went from this city on the 11th ult. under Col. Mawhood. When they landed at Salem, none was found to oppose or impede them from collecting forage, excepting a few who had been prevailed upon to abandon their houses.
After a very brief and somewhat misleading ac- count of the affair at Hancock's Bridge the report continues :
The rebels never afterwards appeared in force, so that the troops collected the forage without any interruption and the inhabitants from all quarters flocked to them, bringing what cattle, provision, etc., they could spare, for which they received a generous price; but lamented much that the army was to depart and leave them again to the tyranny of the rebel faction. How far this may corre- spond with the pompous description which will be given to the world, by the immaculate Mr. Livingston, is a matter of little moment, as truth will shine with superior lustre to misrepresenta- tion. If it is said that the King's troops evacuated the place, be- fore the militia could be collected, it will stand the test; for it is an uncontrovertible fact, that in a circuit of upwards of sixty miles, three hundred men could not be mustered; the people being fully sensible of their error, and heartily tired of the petty tyrants, who have galled and broke their spirits. This needs no farthur elucida- tion, than that, in the place of fourteen hundred men, who hereto- fore appeared, and voted at the election of their assemblymen, no
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more than eight constituted the majority of the last electors, which is an evident demonstration that it is now a matter of indifference who takes the lead as tyranny and oppression is only to be expected from such as are willing to be of the number, who constitute that illegal assembly.
While Mawhood was ravaging the Salem coast one hundred and fifty Tories had been intrenching themselves at Billingsport. To invest this force Colonel Shreve, of the Second New Jersey Regi- ment, dispatched Major Howell and a party to co- operate with the militia of Salem and Cumberland Counties. Failing to cooperate, Major Howell re- turned to headquarters at Haddonfield. To cir- cumvent and surprise Colonel Shreve, fourteen hundred men were sent from Philadelphia to Gloucester Point, but Colonel Shreve, advised of the movement, retired with a greatly inferior force to Mount Holly without losing a man except three who were bayoneted by the Tories. One of the American cavalry who had been dispatched to give notice to the guard at Cooper's Ferry, now Camden, was also killed, by which circumstance the guard had no notice of the enemy's approach. Several of the Cooper's Ferry guard were killed and taken prisoners. Among the latter was Col- onel Ellis, of the Gloucester County militia. The Tories then, according to a contemporaneous Whig account, "frustrated in their design of massacreing our troops, and having gasconaded through the village, where they committed many
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ONY AND AS A STATE
acts of cruelty, besides burning two dwelling houses, returned to Philadelphia, in the evening of the same day."
The last of the marauding expeditions upon the Delaware occurred early in May, when, according to the Pennsylvania Evening Post of May 13, 1778, " four gallies, an armed brig, and a schooner, with a detachment of light infantry in boats," went up the Delaware in search of American shipping re- moved for safety between Bordentown and Tren- ton. Landing at White Hill, the " Washington " and " Effingham," frigates, and several smaller craft were destroyed. Here, says the Post, the Whigs made a "show of resistance with about fifty light horse and the like number of militia, who were instantly dispersed with the loss of sev- eral men and four pieces of cannon, which was demolished."
Arriving in Bordentown, " a quantity of naval stores, and some thousands of tent poles, pegs, &c. with the storehouses, were burnt; by which means the dwelling house of Joseph Borden also shared the same fate!" After committing further waste, as well as barbarously murdering four captives, while their officers dined in the house of Francis Hopkinson, member of Congress, a por- tion of the invading force proceeded to Biles Is- land, near Trenton. Here General Dickinson stopped their progress, and a possible descent
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NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY
upon that village was averted. At Biles Island, on the Pennsylvania shore, and at Watson's Creek, upon the New Jersey side of the river, ship- ping was burned, as well as the residence of Col- onel Kirkbride, opposite Bordentown. From Kirkbride's the troops marched to Bristol, where they reembarked, after burning two ships and cannonading the undefended village of Burling- ton. According to the Post the number of vessels destroyed, besides the two frigates, was two priva- teers, one of fourteen and the other of ten guns, one large ship pierced for twenty-four guns, nine other ships, besides fourteen or fifteen smaller vessels. The troops and vessels employed on this excursion returned to Philadelphia without the loss of a man.
Thus ended the attempt of the British general- in-chief to retain control of the Delaware.
WILLIAM PITT.
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, styled "Pitt the Elder," one of the greatest orators and statesmen of the eighteenth century ; b. Nov. 15, 1708; entered Parliament 1735 ; premier of Great Britain ; noted for his championship of the rights of the American colonles ; d. May 11, 1778 ; William, his second son, b. May 28, 1759, entered Parliament 1781, and became prime minister 1783.
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