USA > New Jersey > Gloucester County > Notes on old Gloucester County, New Jersey, Volume I > Part 3
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Colonel Greene, after making final dispositions of his men, mounted the ramparts of the fort and inspected the enemy through his field glass. "Fire low, men," he said, "They have a broad belt just above the hips. Ain at that."
On receiving Colonel Greene's answer, Count Donop hastily threw up intrenchments within half can- non shot of the fort, and ordered his men to prepare fascines, (bundles of rods, securely tied together, like bundles of lath, only larger, or like twelve or fifteen bean poles in one bundle). These were to be used by his troops in getting over the abattis and in crossing moats or ditches. In front of every battalion stood an officer commanding sappers, and one hundred men with these fascines which he had made that afternoon in the woods.
The journal of the Grenadier Battalion Von Min- nigerode says that Donop sent to summon the fort to sur- render twice, once on first arriving, and once just before the attack.
Lowell's account of the engagement is as follows : "Colonel von Donop drew up his little army. His right flank rested on the river, near which he had placed his eight three pounders and two howitzers. These were supported by a battalion of grenadiers and by chasseurs, who were to defend the flank and rear against troops disembarking from the shipping in the Delaware. The
40
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
Hessian line extended the larger part of the way round the fort on the land side, the attack being made simulta- neously from north and south. In front of every bat- talion stood an officer commanding sappers, and one hundred men with fascines.
"About four o'clock all was ready. Donop then spoke a few words to his officers, calling on them to be- have with valor. They all dismounted and drew their swords, took their places in front of their battalions, and the attack began. The Hessians charged at double quick, passed the old disused lines with a cheer, carried the abbatis, but found themselves embarassed by pitfalls and by the ditch, which they had not enough fascines to fill. Three American galleys lying in the river kept up a ceaseless fire on the Hessian right flank. Some of the Hessians climbed the ramparts of the main fort. They were presently beaten back; Donop was struck by a mus- ket ball in the hip, and fell mortally wounded. Twenty- two officers were killed or hurt, including the com- manders of all the battalions. The Hessians turned and fled, leaving many of their wounded on the field."
The Hessians had fled, night had fallen and a part of the garrison came out of the fort to repair the abat- tis and care for the wounded. Several Hessian grena- diers were found crouching close under the parapet, where the balls would go over their heads. The fellows could not fight without support and feared to run away. They were taken into the fort.
Von Eelking gives the following account of the bat- tle :
"Donop placed the eight pound guns and the two mortars on the right and in support of Minnigerode's battalion and the Light Infantry, Von Mirbach's regi- ment in the center, Von Linsingen's battalion on the left, Von Lengerke's battalion, and some Yagers on the Delaware to guard against a landing and to protect his rear. Before each battalion there were sappers and a
41
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
hundred men carrying hastily gathered fascines, led by a captain.
"Donop, at 4 p. m., sent a summons to surrender with a threat of no quarter if it was refused, and re- ceived a reply that the fort would be held to the last man. As the report was that very few men were seen in the fort, Donop decided to attack at once, and made a stirring address, to which the men replied: 'We'll change the name from Fort Red Bank to Fort Donop,' and putting himself with his officers, sword in hand, at the head.
"They charged gallantly, but soon found their road broken by deep ditches, and could move only singly; they were met with a sharp fire in front and flank from a covered battery and from two vessels in the river. Still the troops pressed on; Von Minnigerode had taken the outlying redoubt by storm; the Americans at first gave way, but soon stood fast, and before their fire Donop and Minnigerode and many other officers fell, casting dismay on their men.
"Colonel V. Linsingen succeeded to the command and did all he could to restore order, but the Hessians fell back in disorder. Dead and wounded were aban- doned, and Von Linsingen brought the little remnant off under cover of the night, and on the next afternoon reached Philadelphia.
"The fault lay with Howe, who had refused Donop's request for more artillery, had not supplied the necessary utensils for a siege-not even sending storming ladders or any means of scaling the walls-had taken no means to learn the nature of the position, and had as usual shown too little respect for the enemy."
Mickle, from the MSS. notes of a Septuagenarian, gives the following interesting account of the Battle of Red Bank :
"At four o'clock in the afternoon Donop opened a heavy cannonade from a battery which he had erected to
3
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
the north-eastward; and at the same time the British ships from below the chevaux-de-frize began to thunder upon the little fort. Most of the balls from the latter fell too low, and entered the bluff beneath the works. After cannonading for a short time, the Hessians ad- vanced to the first entrenchment. Finding this aban- doned, they shouted Victoria !- waved their hats, and rushed into the deserted area before the redoubt; the lit- tle drummer, before mentioned, heading the onslaught with a lively march. When the first of the assailants had come up to the very abattis and were endeavoring to cut away the branches, the Americans opened a terrible fire of musketry in front and flank. Death rode in every volley. So near were the Hessians to the caponiere, or looped trench which flanked the enemy when they set upon the main fort, that the wads were blown entirely through their bodies. The officers leading the attack fought bravely. Again and again they rallied their men and brought them to the charge. They were mowed down like grass, and fell in heaps among the boughs of the abattis and into the fosse. In the thickest of the fight Donop was easily distinguished by the marks of his order and his handsome figure; but even his example availed nothing. His men, repulsed from the redoubt in front, made an attack upon the escarpment on the west, but the fire from the American galleys drove them back here also with great loss, and at last they flew in much disorder to the woods, leaving among many other slain the saucy drummer and his officer.
"Another column made a simultaneous attack upon the south, and in the technical language of a soldier, 'passed the abattis, traversed the fosse and mounted the barm;' but they were repulsed at the fraises, and all re- treated save twenty, who were standing on the barm against the shelvings of the parapet, under and out of the way of the guns, whence they were afraid to move. These were captured by M. de Manduit, who had sallied
43
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
from the fort to repair some palisades. This brave Frenchman, making another sortie in a few minutes af- terwards to repair the southern abbatis, heard a voice from among the heaps of the dead and dying exclaim in Eng- lish, 'Whoever you are, draw me hence.' This was Count Donop. M. de Manduit caused him to be carried into the fort. His hip was broken, but the wound was not at first considered as mortal. The victorious Ameri- cans, remembering the insolent message which their cap- tive had sent them a few hours before, could not withhold marks of exultation.
"'Well-is it determined,' they asked aloud, 'to give no quarter?'
"'I am in your hands,' replied Donop; 'you may avenge yourselves.' M. de Manduit enjoining the men in broken English to be generous towards their bleeding and humble prisoner, the latter said to him, 'you appear to be a foreigner, sir ; who are you?'
" 'A French officer,' answered Manduit.
"'Je suis content,' (I am content) exclaimed the Count in French, 'je meurs entre les mains de l'honneur meme.' (I die in the hands of honour itself. )
"Donop was taken first to the Whitall house, just be- low the fort, but was afterwards removed to the resi- dence of the Lowes, south of Woodbury Creek. He died three days after the battle, saying to M. de Manduit in his last moments, 'it is finishing a noble career early; but I die the victim of my ambition and of the avarice of my sovereign.' To Col. Clymer he made the remark- able remark : 'See here, Colonel, see in me the vanity of all human pride ! I have shone in all the courts of Europe, and now I am dying here on the banks of the Delaware in the house of an obscure Quaker.'
"Colonel Donop had been an aide-de-camp of the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, his sovereign, with whom he was a favorite. He was sent to America in 1776, in com- mand of two companies of Field Yagers. According to
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
the records, detachments of the Yagers Corps were con- cerned in every engagement in which the Hessians took part. In the attack on the Fort at Red Bank, Donop commanded in person the centre division, which was composed of Mirbach's Regiment, and at the head of his men attacked Fort Mercer on the south side, and crossed the abattis, before he was shot down. When the Hes- sians retreated, the Yagers wanted to carry their wound- ed commander with them, but according to the journal of the Yagers' Corps, Donop refused to be carried off the field. After the battle was over, he was carried, wound- ed and helpless, into the fort he had so set his heart on capturing. 'He died October 29th, (one week after the attack) in his thirty-seventh year, and was buried with military honors. His death was greatly mourned, both in the army and at home.' Other writers say Donop died three days after the battle."
Lieut. Colonel Minnigerode, who commanded the right flank, and whose troops were the first to enter the abandoned fortifications, was wounded and not killed, as narrated by some writers. According to the Hes- sian records, he was wounded at Red Bank, and Gaines' New York Gazette of October 25, 1779, says he died at New York October 16, 1779, two years after the battle of Red Bank. Captain Wachs and Captain Stendorff, of his battalion, were also wounded at Red Bank.
Lieut. Colonel Schieck was killed, and Lieut. Ruffer, of Mirbach's Regiment, was wounded where Colonel Donop fell.
Lieut. Colonel Linsingen, who commanded the left flank, and who assumed command when Donop and Min- nigerode were wounded, lost Lieut. DuBuy, of his bat- talion, killed, and Captains Von Stamfort, Von Eschwege and Lieutenants Prodemann and Von Eschen, wounded.
The following officers belonging to Donop's troops were also killed : Captains Von Brogatzy and Wagner, Lieutenants Riemann, Von Wurmb, Hille, Von Offen-
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
bach and Heymel. The Hessians authorities admit their loss in killed, wounded and missing to be six hundred and fifty.
The respected friend to whose MSS. notes we have before acknowledged our indebtedness, tells us that of the men under Col. Greene in this action many were blacks and mulattoes. He was in the fort on the morn- ing of the twenty-third of October, while the garrison were burying the slain, and cannot be mistaken as to the point. His account of the loss agrees with that con- tained in Ward's letter to Washington, to wit: upon the American side, from Greene's regiment, two ser- geants, one fifer and four privates killed, one sergeant and two privates wounded, and one captain who was reconnoitering, taken prisoner ; from Angell's regiment, one captain, three sergeants, three rank and file killed, and one ensign, one sergeant and fifteen privates wound- ed; and from Capt. Duplessis's company, two privates wounded. Several of the Americans were killed by the bursting of one of their cannon, the fragments of which are yet in the neighborhood.
The Hessians slain were buried in front of the fosse, south of the fort. The wounded officers were car- ried to Philadelphia by Manduit, and exchanged. Count Donop was interred near the spot where he fell, and a stone placed over him with the inscription: "Here lies buried Count Donop." The epitaph has ceased to be true-all that was left of the poor Hessian having been dug up and scattered about as relics.
In conclusion it may not be uninteresting to record that the journal of the Grenadier Battalion Von Min- nigerode asserts that Donop had received orders not to attack the fort until the 23rd, in order to give the English frigates an opportunity to engage the American galleys. But as the English frigates actually fell back on the 23rd, after the Augusta had blown up and the Mer-
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
lin had been set on fire, it could have made no differ- ence in the result.
The English account of the attack on Fort Mer- cer, as sent home by Admiral Howe and published in the London Chronicle of December 2, 1777, is as fol- lows :
"The attack of the redoubt (Fort Mercer) being observed to take place the evening of the 22nd, just be- fore the close of day, Captain Reynolds (on the Augusta) immediately slipped (anchor) and advanced with the squadron (to which the Merlin had been joined) as fast as he was able with the flood to second the attempt of the troops which were seen to be very warmly engag- ed, but the change in the natural course of the river, caused by the obstructions, appearing to have altered the channel, the Augusta and Merlin unfortunately grounded some distance below the second line of chev- aux-de-frize, and the fresh northwardly wind, which then prevailed, greatly checking the rising of the tide, they could not be got afloat on the subsequent flood.
"The diversion was endeavored to be continued by the frigates, at which the fire of the enemy's gallies was chiefly pointed for some time. But as the night ad- vanced, the Hessian detachment having been repulsed, the firing ceased."
In sailing up the river, "the ship Augusta, together with the Merlin, grounded during the operation on the River Delaware, on the 22d October, 1777."
Colonel Bradford's account of the battle at Red Bank is of interest. This was sent to His Excellency William Bradford, President of the State of Pennsyl- vania, at Lancaster, and published in Pennsylvania Ar- chives, Ist series, vol. 5, page 787 :
"Count Donop and his force were before the fort in the afternoon of the 22nd of October, and at a quar- ter before five o'clock proceeded to attack it with great spirit. Having carried the outworks against the garri-
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
son, his troops had now to storm the interior intrench- ments. To reach them, as we have said in describing the fort, the attacking force had to place itself where it would be exposed to the fire of our vessels. The op- portunity was not missed by Commodore Hazlewood. Coming as near as possible to the fort, he sent forth a universal shower of balls and musket shot on the at- tacking party. The rest of the history is known to every one. The assailants retired, but only to find in their slower and disordered retreat, a still more deadly fire from the fleet."
In connection with this description of the battle much interest is centered in Ann Whitall, the heroine of Red Bank. I will quote what Mrs. McGeorge wrote about this heroine and her conduct during and after the battle of Red Bank :
"When Colonel Greene moved out of the Whitall house into the fort, on October 21, Ann Whitall went over with her son Job; she at once decided to stay and put things to rights. Job insisted that she ought at least go to the nearest neighbors for safety. But she was obdurate and allowed that if the Lord called her, He would find her at home; and with beautiful faith re- minded her son that 'The Lord is strong and mighty and He will protect me.'
"On that fateful Wednesday, October 22, 1777, after setting her house in as good order as possible, and that she might prepare herself for whatever God or- dained, Ann Cooper Whitall took her spinning wheel to the southeast room. As that wheel whirled round, the guns of the British frigates Augusta and Merlin boom- ed a gamut of threats-those of the nearby fort roared defiant answers and the musketry of besiegers and be- sieged, mingled with the screams of the wounded, kept up an incessantly horrible racket. It was terrible! She resisted the impulse to even look northward, fortifying
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
herself with the thought that by abstaining she was bearing testimony to Friends' abhorrence of war.
"Then one of the balls went wide of its aim and en- tered the north gable just below I. A. W., and as if seeking the old lady it crossed the northeast room, then the hall, and into the southeast room in which Ann Whitall sat spinning, where it fell inert. What if more should follow? She remembered that Providence favors those who aid themselves, so she carried her wheel out into the hall !- Oh-h! what an ugly hole that ball made! -down the open stairway, speedily reaching the cellar door and made quick descent to the cool depth of the southeast corner. Here she continued to spin until the tumult ceased and the battle was over.
"Ann was on hand with bandages that evening when the injured were brought in; the house was filled, even the attic was crowded. That night she was an angel of mercy to the wounded and dying, but when some of them fretted because of the noise, she reminded them that they 'must not complain, who had brought it on themselves.' She administered to their needs, this be- ing clearly within the line of duty-'to care for the ill and dying and direct their minds to a solemn considera- tion of the approaching awful period of life.'"
Colonel Greene then took possession of the house- the dead were interred on the banks south of the stockade and Ann Whitall returned to her daughter's, Sarah Mat- lock.
After the evacuation of the fort, on November 20, 1777, the British came and laid waste to everything but the Whitall house. Although it was not deemed safe for the family to return to their home on the bluff until Monday, April 20, 1778, the record in James Whitall's diary states "after an absence and precarious living for upward of six months."
Half an hour after sunset-the sun set at eleven minutes after five o'clock that day-Lieutenant Colonel
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
Linsingen, who by the wounding of Colonel Donop and Lieutenant Colonel Minnigerode, became the senior of- ficer, gathered his demoralized force, and beat a hasty retreat along the Hessian Run Road, as it is called to this day.
When he arrived at the Junction of the King's Highway and Park Avenue, in North Woodbury, finding himself hampered with the wounded, he sent the more seriously wounded of them into Woodbury, where they took possession of the Friends' Meeting House on the crest of the hill and also Deptford School House, on Delaware Street, now the Public Library building. The wounded soldiers who died in Woodbury were interred less than a hundred yards away in the Strangers' Burying Grounds, nearly opposite Wood Street. Some of the wounded who recovered did not return to their battal- ions, but secured work with the farmers in the country.
Linsingen's retreating force became confused in the darkness when they reached the Clement's Bridge Road, and some of them continued on across that road to Wes- cottville till they reached the Almonesson Road and marched through Almonesson and Mechanicsville, finally stopping at Blackwoodtown. Others took the right hand road after crossing Timber Creek at Clement's Bridge, and brought up at Chew's Landing, but the greater num- ber kept to the left after crossing the creek and finally got back to Haddonfield, which they had so proudly left in the morning. The next day, October 23rd, they made their way back to Philadelphia, footsore and weary, thankful to escape from New Jersey.
Mickle says that the Hessians who retreated by way of Chew's Landing were met by a company of farmer boys near the Landing and held at bay for some time. This detachment had with them a brass cannon which they are supposed to have thrown into Timber Creek, at Clement's Bridge.
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
On October 22, 1829, the old monument at Red Bank was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, on the fifty-second anniversary of the battle. This was of grey marble. It was not as large or as high as when first erected and has been abused by vandals and others. The Gloucester County Historical Society has done what it could to preserve it from further desecration.
The new monument was erected by the State of New Jersey and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, June 21, 1906, the Governors of Rhode Island, Pennsyl- vania and New Jersey taking part in the presentation of the monument.
This land has been conveyed in trust by Congress to the Board of Freeholders as a public park, to be for- ever owned and used by the people of our country and to instill, if possible, a greater love of country among our citizens.
A Gloucester County Merchant *
No history of Gloucester County would be complete without mention of Samuel Mickle, who kept a large general store in Woodbury. His invoice book from the year 1779 to 1791 contains copies of two hundred and seventy-one invoices aggregating a large sum of money.
To give some idea of the wholesale prices in Con- tinental currency during the Revolutionary War (1779) I copy the following :
£
S
D
I Keg Bohea Tea 281/2 lbs. 304
15
O
I Bbl. Brandy
440
O O
6 1b. Coffee
20
5 O
6 1b. Pepper
81
O O
36 lbs. Tobacco
27
7
6
100 lbs. Sugar
206
5
0
65 gal. Molasses (I Tierce)
845
O
I Bushel Salt (fine)
36
O
Mickle dealt in almost everything, crockery, but- tons, chemicals, stationery, cutlery, hardware, groceries, brushes, rum, drygoods, spices, almanacs, Bibles, soaps, Indian basketry, gun flints, candles, shot, needles and hundreds of other things.
Among the New Jersey merchants from whom he purchased goods were Richard Wescoat, at the Forks of the Little Egg Harbour,
GEORGE PAYNE, Gloucester
ABRAHAM HILLYARD, at Home
JOSH. HOPPER, at Home
WM. BELL, Haddonfield
WM. BROWN, at Home
SAML. SWIFT, at Home
HANNAH KAIGHN, at Home
* By FRANK H. STEWART.
52
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
JAS. NUGENT, at Home
BENJ. WHITALL, at Home JNO. TATUM,
ABRAHAM HARPER, at Home
GEO. BUDD, Mt. Holly
GEO. BULLOCK, Woodbury
ELISHA CLARK, Woodbury
DEBORAH DAVENPORT, Woodbury
ISAAC COLLINS, Trenton
SOLOMON STANGER, Woodbury
HANNAH MICTAUGH, Indian
NEAL & LAWRENCE, Burlington
FRANCIS STINGER, at Home EDGEPELEEK INDIANS, at Home
His dealings with Philadelphia merchants and manu- facturers were very extensive, and because of the fact that there is no directory of Philadelphia merchants as far back as 1779 and many of our members now are Philadelphia merchants and manufacturers, I thought it might be of great advantage to place on a permanent rec- ord the names of those who certainly must have supplied the residents of Old Gloucester with many of the neces- sities, as well as the frivolities of the 18th century.
The Philadelphia merchants and manufacturers were :
LEONARD DORSEY
ANDREW HOOK
SAMUEL TAYLOR
MAHLON HUTCHINSON
FISHER & ROBERTS
AMOS WICKERSHAM
JOHN CAMPBELL
CHARLES FRENCH
FIELD & THOMPSON
JOB BUTCHER GEORGE GUEST
TOWNSEND WHITE WISTER & ASTON
BARNABAS MCSHANE
JNO. MARSHALL & Co. HARTSHORNE & LARGE FITHIAN STRATTON GEO. WILSON
W. & D. SELLERS
RICHARD SOMERS
GEO. HUGHES & Co.
ROBT. PARISH
53
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
JOHN HENDERSON & Co. WHITE & JOSIAH MATLACK JOHN SCOTT
THOS. ROGERS
JOHN MILLER
EVERARD BOLTON
TOWNSEND SPEAKMAN
ARCHIBALD GARDNER
PAUL BECK, JR.
JACOB BAKER
ELLIS YARNELL
NATHAN COOK
WRIGHT & BURKHART
CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL DR. JNO. MORRIS SHAW & RUDOLPH
SAMUEL HOPKINS
JOHN RALSTON
HEWES & ANTHONY
BENJ. POULTNEY
HALL & SELLERS
THOMAS & DRINKER
GEO. ROBERTS
WM. CALDWELL & Co.
HENRY DRINKER
BENEDICT DORSEY
and many others.
WM. FOLWELL
JNO. & WM. MONT- GOMERY SAM'L WETHERILL
FIELD & THOMSON
JOHN WILCOCKS
FRIES & CHANCELLOR
The Township Book of Great Egg Harbor, Gloucester County, Now Atlantic County *
Beginning probably in March, 1777, and extending to 1817, is still in existence and in possession of Miss Sarah A. Risley, in whose family it has been for a hundred years or more. The date is missing from the first page which is copied herewith, but the second and third pages bear the year date of 1777. The first page unquestionably refers to men in the Revolution.
"This Day the Town Committee met at the house of James Somers, Esq., in order to consult on some means to support the wives and families of William Finch or Harris (?) and Younges Mapes who are gone into the service of this State or of the United States. Whereas the Committee hath agreed that they shall be ' supported and supplied one peck of Rie or corne a week. Each of them. Also it ordered that Thomas Champen supply them with one shillings worth of meats or mo- lasses a piece a week and that James Somers supply them with the Rie or corne.
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