USA > New Jersey > The New Jersey coast in three centuries; history of the New Jersey coast with genealogical and historic-biographical appendix, Vol. I > Part 19
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The subsequent trial of General Lee by court-martial for disobedience of orders and misbehavior before the enemy resulted in his being sentenced to suspension from any and all command for twelve months, whereupon he retired to Philadelphia, and was never again called into service.
On the evening the battle closed, Washington made his dispositions for assuming the offensive, but his troops were obliged to desist on ac- count of the impracticability of moving through the morass and woods in the darkness. He then directed that an assault should be made at dawn by Poor's and Woodford's brigades, and the entire army slept on their arms awaiting the hour.
When morning dawned, however, Clinton and his army had dis- appeared, and that night went into bivouac beyond Middletown, and on July 5th reached Sandy Hook.
A lonely grave by the side of the road near Vanderburgh is an en- during witness to an incident of the operations above narrated. The divisions of the British Army having in charge the baggage train began its march from Freehold at 3 o'clock in the morning of June 28th, 1778,
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and by daylight must have been several miles from that place. Colonel Asher Holmes, with a portion of his regiment, made an attack upon the train, but was repulsed with the loss of one man killed and several wounded. The loss of the enemy was a drummer boy and four soldiers killed. The young American who lost his life was Michael Fields, whose grave is represented in the engraving. The facts as here given were nar- rated to R. C. Smock by his grandfather, Garret Smock, who took part in the attack.
GRAVE OF MICHAEL FIELDS.
Washington pressed on through New Jersey until he reached a posi- tion at Paramus on Saddle River, about seven miles northwest from Hackensack, where he was within easy observation distance of Sir Henry Clinton's forces, and ready to meet any section of that army which should move from Manhattan or Staten Island, where it was then safely quar- tered, gathering strength apparently for another effort to regain the laurels and the land which it had even then practically lost. The American troops at Paramus also enjoyed that period of rest and recuperation which they had so loyally earned and so greatly needed. The tide of battle, however, had for the time being again rolled away from New Jersey and the Lower Hudson, and in December, 1778, Washington sent his veterans into winter quarters, extending his lines from West Point to the Delaware, his own headquarters being for some weeks at Bound Brook.
The winter was not idly spent by Washington, however. The plans for the campaign of 1779 had been thought out and other emergencies and contingencies had to be provided against, for none knew better than the Commander-in-Chief that in many ways the struggling nation was
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facing a crisis which few even in Congress thoroughly appreciated or even understood. It was simply this : The men in the field had done their full-duty, those who directed the affairs of state had not done theirs. The time of Congress was taken up by miserable discussions, petty intrigues for place or power or personal glory; the airing of paltry jealousies and an utter neglect of what should have been at that juncture the one sole and supreme duty, the unqualified support of the fighting arm. But some- times, as we read the reports of proceedings in Congress and tlre local legislatures and study the now bleared and worn columns of the "Gazettes" and "Chronicles" we are almost ready to conclude that many of these now honored fathers imagined that the war should be settled by a single. grand battle; that all of the maneuvering and marching and counter- marching was humbug, and that Washington and the other military leaders. were prolonging the contest for their own selfish ends. These revered fathers wanted results and they argued while Washington fought. But affairs were really in a sad mess, the affairs of the governing power, that is to say. The public treasury was empty; Congress had no absolute power, no general authority, the money-paper money was depreciated, and its buying power was daily becoming less; business in the cities was stagnant,. and provisions, even the necessaries of life, had risen in places to famine prices. The condition of the army was a disgrace to Congress, pay was in arrears and rations were meagre and uncertain, while untorn clothing was a luxury and new shoes so rare as to be a curiosity. The troops were. better off in their winter quarters in New Jersey than they were, certainly, during the memorable days at Valley Forge, but still much, very much, was left undone that might have been done to improve their condition. In particular the depreciation of the currency in which they were paid made their remuneration little more than nominal, so that while the men were serving their country and winning the thanks of unborn generations as heroes, the families of many of them were suffering from actual want.
Early in May ( 1779) Washington determined to send a force to the frontiers of New York and Pennsylvania with a view to reduce the Indians. of the Six Nations, and in that force included a brigade of New Jersey troops which had been stationed during the winter at Elizabethtown watching the movements of the British on Staten Island. General Max- well at once, on receiving orders, forwarded a letter to General Wash- ington which occasioned that leader much solicitude, not for its own sake as from the question which arose as to the existence of similar resent- ment, with the likelihood of similar results, throughout the army, for be it remembered the position of the New Jersey soldiers was not one whit
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worse than those of the other States. We will again let Historian Gordon tell the story of this singular incident.
"General Maxwell replied, in a letter to the Commander-in-Chief, that the officers of the first regiment had delivered to their colonel a remon- strance, addressed to the State Legislature, declaring that unless their com- plaints on the subjects of pay andi subsistence obtained immediate attention, they were at the expiration of three days to be considered as having re- signed ; and requesting the Legislature, in that event, to appoint other offi- cers. General Maxwell added, This is a step they are extremely unwilling to take; but is such, as I make no doubt, they will take. Nothing but neces- sity, their not being able to support themselves in time to come, and being loaded with debts contracted in time past, would have induced them to resign at so critical a juncture. They declared, however, their readiness to make every necessary preparation for obeying the marching orders which had been given, and to continue their attention to the regiment until a reasonable time for the appointment of their successors to the regiment should elapse.
"General Washington was much afflicted by this intelligence, and sought in vain by paternal remonstrance to change their determination. "The condition of these officers seems to have been one of extreme privation. By a resolution of December, 1777, Congress had recom- mended to the several States to furnish the officers of their respective quotas with certain clothing, at the prices current, when the army was established, in the year 1776, the surplus to be charged to the United States. This resolution seems to have been tardily and imperfectly obeyed, notwithstanding the repeated applications of the soldiery. Their pretensions were probably more strenuously urged in a memorial presented to the Assembly on the 27th of April, 1779, respecting their pay, sub- sistence and clothing, and were supported by an energetic letter from General Maxwell; all of which were referred to a joint committee of both Houses. That committee reported that provision had been already agreed upon as far as was consistent, previous to an application to Congress; that, if upon such application, no measures are by them adopted in that behalf, it will then be the duty of the State to provide for its quota of troops in the best manner they can devise. This resolution was duly ap- proved, but another offered by the same committee, that the letter of Gen- eral Maxwell contains indecent and undeserved reflections upon the repre- sentatives of the State and that the same be transmittd to Congress with a proper expression of the disapprobation and displeasure of the Legisla- ture, was negatived.
"Moved by the wretchedness of these officers and the troops they ocmmanded, Governor Livingston, Robert Morris and others, during the .recess of the Legislature, on the fifteenth of January, requested the treas- urer to pay into the hands of Enos Kelsey, commissioner for the purchase of clothing, the sum of seven thousand pounds to be applied in procuring clothes for the officers, agreeably to the resolution of Congress, engaging
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to replace that sum in the treasury, provided the Legislature at their next sitting should not direct it to be credited in the accounts of the treasurer. On the 30th of April this direction was given by the House, with orders to the commissioners to draw the further sum of twenty-five thousand pounds for the purpose of furnishing to certain officers clothing to the amount of two hundred pounds, as the prices then were, upon their pay- ing the sum it would have cost in the year 1776. Still there were condi- tions annexed to these grants which rendered them ineffective.
"On the 7th of May the remonstrances of the officers were repeated, stating that they were under marching orders, and in immediate want of a necessary supply. Upon which the House directed the commissioner to furnish two hundred pounds, and to pay to the soldiers of the brigade the sum of forty dollars each. This disbursement removed the obstacle to the march of the brigade. The reason of the delay of the State in sup- plying her forces would seem to be a desire that some uniform rule to this end should be adopted by Congress, or that the Confederacy should as- sume the whole duty to itself."
This matter was hardly adjusted before Washington perceived that, with New York as his base, Sir Henry Clinton was about to attempt to obtain a complete mastery of the middle Hudson, including West Point, which was really the key to the entire river. The previous British assaults in that quarter had been to a certain degree successful, and Forts Mont- gomery and Clinton had fallen into their hands in 1777. But West Point remained impregnable. To offset the loss of these forts others had been laid out at Verplanck's Point and at Stony Point.
As soon as this movement was understood by. Washington, he ordered a concentration of his forces at Morristown, and the roads of New Jersey again resounded to the tread of marching men. A large force was sent to West Point, while other battalions were so disposed that every avenue was covered by which West Point might be captured. The British plan began well. The fort at Stony Point and that at Verplanck's Point were captured, but with that comparatively trifling measure of success the in- vaders had practically to rest content. The position of the American forces was again found to be too strong, too much adapted by nature for defensice operations, that Clinton apparently ceased, or at least postponed his aims against West Point, and according to an expressive phrase of one of his own officers, proceeded "to harry Connecticut." But Washington was too wary, too keenly alive to the importance of the retention of West Point, to relax his grip upon it in the least, and so, while the tide of battle seemingly rolled elsewhere, both armies really had their eyes upon that natural fortress, which still commanded the upper Hudson. Mad Anthony Wayne recovered Stony Point, but Verplanck's Point remained in the hands
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of the British, in spite of several gallant efforts to capture it. Its defenses were greatly augmented, and so rendered the retention of Stony Point useless to the Americans, who therefore abandoned it. It was at once occupied by the British again, and its armament and defending force strengthened. Lower down on the Hudson, across the river from Man- hattan Island, an attack was made in August on a British garrison sta- tioned at Paulus Hook, in which Major Lee carried off a large party of prisoners. It was a brilliant affair, but one which in reality had no result except to remind the British in New York City that they were by no means secure from attack.
In June, 1780, General Knyphausen, in accordance with instructions, made a raid into New Jersey from New York which promised big results. It had been reported in British circles that the discontent throughout New Jersey had again become so intense that the presence of a strong British force marching through the interior of the State was all that was necessary to cause the local military to desert their colors for those of King George, to impel the people to rise, overturn the Provincial government and shake off forever the alliance with the other Colonies. So to. Knyphausen was given the mission to win back to the royal standard so desirable an acquisition. Why such a man was selected for what even under the most favorable circumstances would have been a most delicate- task, is utterly beyond comprehension. He had none of the qualities of leadership or statesmanship necessary to win success on such an errand, and his selection, we can only conclude, seems simply one of those many inane things which the British authorities did, and did even at critical times, which are now known to every student of history to have aided the cause of liberty and independence just as much as some of the hard fought battles which the Continental forces won. Knyphausen crossed from Staten Island to Elizabethtown with nearly 5,000 men, and marched to Connecticut Farms (now Union), where a halt was made. By that time it had become apparent to even the dullest mind in the invading force, that the expedition was doomed to failure, but Knyphausen, with the dogged determination of his race, determined to carry out his marching orders and to proceed, his objective point being Morristown Heights, where he thought from the intelligence he received he might easily cap- ture the camp there and thus plant himself in a position of recognized and tested strength. His first brush with the Continentals, an outpost of twelve men, had resulted in his favor, and besides, General Stirling, who had ridden up to ascertain the cause of the trouble, was severely wounded. So the victorious mercenaries passed on in triumph to Spring- field. But as they marched, their progress, with every step, seemed to"
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become more and more dangerous, for, from every clump of trees, shots were fired, while General Maxwell, who had marched to the scene of the trouble with a small body of regulars, quickly gathered to his assistance all the armed farmers he could find, and with this insignificant and hetero- geneous force soon compelled the surprised Knyphausen to call a halt. In the skirmish which followed the latter held his ground-his force was about twelve times that of Maxwell, but the New Jersey hero was steadily adding to his numbers, and on the hills beacons were burning and cannons were booming, giving notice to a wide range of country that the enemy was in its midst. Such extensive publicity and delay were certain to defeat the entire movement, the success of which, it had from the beginning been pointed out, depended on the celerity of its execution. But with Max- well in front contesting every step, a halt had to be called, and then word reached the unfortunate Knyphausen that Washington, at the head of his entire army, was marching from Short Hills to wipe the expedition out of existence. So the retreat was sounded, and with a steadily increasing rush of infuriated patriots pressing on its sides and rear, firing at it from every vantage point, the column made its way back to Staten Island.
During the retreat, however, a sad incident occurred which aroused the people to a degree of resentment which not even the invasion had done. Mrs. Caldwell, the wife of the Rev. James Caldwell-the fighting Presbyterian minister of Elizabethtown, who was absent with the army, being chaplain of the New Jersey brigade,-was shot to death at Con- necticut Farms, where she was staying. One record says: "On the ar- rival of the royal troops, Mrs. Caldwell entertained the officers with re- freshments, and after they had retired she and a young woman having Mrs. Caldwell's child in her arms, seated themselves on the bed. Upon seeing a British soldier looking at her, Mrs. Caldwell exclaimed, 'Don't attempt to scare me!' when he fired, shooting her through the breast. Soon after, a British officer came, and, throwing his coat over the corpse, carried it to the next house." There are several variations to this story, but they all resolve themselves into this, that the unfortunate woman was murdered by one of Knyphausen's troopers. The contention of the Brit- ish that the crime was the result of a random shot fired by some of the Jerseymen, can hardly be entertained for a moment, and it is not likely to have been believed even by those who most loudly asserted it.
The fate of this expedition might have warned the British of the danger of further movements in New Jersey, but Sir Henry Clinton de- termined on yet another effort to make its territory the base of a successful campaign. With an army of some six thousand men, effectively supported by artillery, he started on June 23d, 1780, from Elizabethport, his first ob- 12
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jective point, as usual with such expeditions, being Morristown. He tried to cover his purpose by a renewed activity at other points, but Washington was watching every move of the British, and, as usual, quickly divined the real purpose of the new campaign. General Greene had been hurried to Springfield with two brigades of regulars to stop Knyphausen had that general persisted in his advance, and was still there gathering and drilling all the militia he could raise, when word came of Sir Henry Clinton's new movement. He then took up a strong position near the town and waited for the arrival of the enemy. He was strengthened by another brigade from headquarters, and Washington was ready to render effective support should it be needed.
As the British army neared Springfield it was closely pressed by Major Lee and Colonel Dayton. At the Rahway they found the bridge defended by American artillery under Colonel Angel, while a second crossing was covered by a regiment under Colonel Shreve. The body of the Continental forces occupied a position in the rear of the town, a position which Sir Henry at once saw was too strong to be carried by force and not likely, at that stage of the game, to be won by finesse. However, he pressed his advance, forced the passage of the Rahway, compelled the de- fending outposts to retire to their main lines, and entered Springfield in triumph. Even then, however, he saw that his movement was a failure, and, reducing the town to ruins by fire, he retreated to Elizabethtown and from there crossed over to Staten Island, with the militia and farmers sending farewell shots after him during every step of the weary and dis- heartening march.
It was during this destruction of Springfield that the church which the zeal of the Rev. James Caldwell made historic was burned down. He was present at the battle, and perhaps the fresh memory of the cold-blooded murder of his wife made him on this occasion more of a fighter than a preacher. When at one time in the engagement the supply of gun-wadding threatened to give out, he burst into the Methodist church, and, securing an armful of hymn books, distributed them among the troops, saying, "Put Watts into them, boys!" Caldwell was a brave man. A native of Virginia and a graduate of Princeton, he was for many years minister at Elizabethtown. On the outbreak of hostilities he became noted for his intense patriotism and was appointed chaplain of the New Jersey forces. In 1780 his church and manse were both burned by the British, and it was this bit of malice that forced his wife to move to where she met her un- timely end. His own career similarly closed in a tragedy, for he was shot by an American sentry at Elizabethtown, November 24th, 1781. The mur-
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derer, Morgan, was delivered over to the civil authorities, tried for the crime and sentenced to death. He was executed at Westfield, January 29th, 1782, and his conduct during his trial and up to the minute that he stepped into eternity gave rise to a suspicion that he was a British spy.
The battle of Springfield practically closed the story of the War of the Rebellion so far as New Jersey was concerned. Armed men still occu- pied its soil, encampments still held on to their vantage points ready for any emergency, but no operations on a large scale followed Sir Henry Clinton s retreat of June, 1780, until the end of hostilities, when the inde- pendence of the Colonies was acknowledged, and the last of the British forces in America sailed out of New York harbor in 1783.
In cur survey we have only attempted to present New Jersey's position in the general story of the struggle; to show how much she contributed to the military history of the war. Merely local incidents and tragedies and crimes and wrongs and sufferings have been in the main avoided, but a few are to be briefly told.
The people of Monmouth county bore a splendid part in the struggle, and its soil was the scene of some of its most stirring events. Their coasts made them easy of approach by the enemy, and they paid the penalty of their patriotism in being continually harassed and plundered. At the outset, in their meetings, they supported every reasonable effort toward restoring proper relations between the colonies and the mother country, and, this failing, a majority entered upon the revolution with great spirit.
In November, 1775, the first company formed in the county, under command of Captain Longstreet, marched to Perth Amboy and occupied the banacks which had been vacated by the Forty-seventh British Regiment. This was a company of minute-men, and their uniform was an ordinary hunting-frock. These bodies were disbanded in February, 1776, and the men were incorporated in the militia.
June 3d, 1776, under a call by Congress, New Jersey was required to furnish three thousand three hundred troops. Monmouth and Middlesex counties were each required to furnish four companies for one of the battalions. Nathaniel Heard, of Middlesex, was colonel, and David For- man and Thomas Henderson, of Monmouth, were respectively lieutenant- colonel and major.
Under a further call Monmouth county contributed three companies. These were assigned to a battalion of which George Taylor was to be colonel, but he refused to qualify and went over to the enemy, and Samuel Forman was commissioned in his stead; both named were Monmouth county men. In 1778 the militia of Monmouth county was incorporated in the second of the two New Jersey brigades.
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The roll of Monmouth county Revolutionary soldiers is a long and honorable one. Daniel Forman, who was a lieutenant-colonel, became a brigadier-general of militia, and subsequently was a colonel in the Conti- nental line; he commanded the State militia in the battle of Germantown.
Colonels of State troops were David Brearley, Samuel Breese, John Covenhoven, Richard Poole, Samuel Forman, Daniel Hendrickson, Asher Holmes, Elisha Lawrence, Nathaniel Scudder (killed in battle), and John Smock.
The lieutenant-colonels were Jonathan Forman, Thomas Henderson, Elisha Lawrence, Jr., Joseph Salter, David Rhea, Thomas Seabrook and Auke Wikoff.
An interesting incident of the winter campaign of 1777 was un- earthed from New York newspapers of the day and from various family and governmental pension records by Mrs. M. C. Murray Hyde, of New York City, who wrote the narrative for the "New York Times," February 23d, 1896. The narrative which follows is based upon the publication named.
During a period of unusually stormy weather early in February, 1777, an English "victualing ship" was cast ashore near where the village of Seabright now stands. The Monmouth county militia, under command of Colonel Nathaniel Scudder, held a post at Black Point, the confluence of the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers, from which they kept up a con- stant observation of Sandy Hook, which was infested by the enemy. Colonel Scudder's militia prepared to take possession of the stranded ves- sel and her cargo, but Tories conveyed information of their purpose to Lord Howe, who dispatched a force of one hundred and seventy men under Major Gordon and Colonel Morris' regiment of New York royal- ists to compass their defeat.
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