USA > New Jersey > The history of New Jersey, from its discovery by Europeans, to the adoption of the federal Constitution > Part 47
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I. The apathy which we have noticed, as paralyzing the efforts of the people of the United States, at the commencement of the year 1779, was also visible in the operations of the British government. The ministry had lost the hope of reducing all the revolted colonies to obedience, and the de- sire of vengeance alone seems to have inspired the plan of the ensuing cam- paign, which was publicly announced to be that of rendering the colonies of as little avail as possible to their new connexions. With this view the opera- tions in the northern States were conducted.
The force under Sir Henry Clinton, at New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia, was estimated at more than sixteen thousand men, whose efficiency was greatly increased by the co-operation of a powerful fleet, enabling the . general to concentrate and direct it, at pleasure. The grand total of the American army, exclusive of the troops in the south and west, was also about sixteen thousand; of whom three thousand were with Gates, in New England-seven thousand with Washington, at Middlebrook, and the residue in the Highlands, under M.Dougals, and on the east side of the Hudson, under Putnam.
II. After the destruction of Forts Clinton and Montgomery, in 1777, the fortifications for defending the Hudson, were established at West Point, and at Stony and Verplank's Points, at King's Ferry, over which the great road between the middle and eastern States passed. Against these posts Sir Henry Clinton proposed to open the campaign by a brilliant coup de main. Washington, notwithstanding the financial embarrassments of the country, having always specie to reward spies, soon learned this intention, and made his dispositions to repel the attack. On the 30th of Mav, the forces selected for the expedition united with that from Virginia under Mat- thews, which arrived on that day, at New York, were conveyed to their
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destined point, by the fleet under Sir George Collier. The works at Stony Point being incomplete, were abandoned without resistance, and as they commanded those on the other bank, the latter were surrendered-Captain Armstrong and lus garrison becoming prisoners. Both forts were completed by the enemy, and put into the best state of defence.
III. The contiguity of Connecticut to New York, its extent of coast, the supplies which it furnished to the continental army, and the many cruisers which plied in the Sound, rendered that State peculiarly obnoxious to the enemy, and provoked an enterprise against it, which was stimulated, also, by the hope, that Washington might thereby be drawn from his impregnable position on the North river. Governor Tryon, with a force of twenty-six hundred men, reached New Haven on the 5th of July, before the inhabitants had notice of his approach. The militia hastily assembled, but their opposi- tion was feeble. The invaders having seized the town, and destroyed the naval and military stores, proceeded on the succeeding day, along the coast to the village of Fairfield. They experienced more resistance here, yet the spirited conduct of the people served but as a pretext for reducing the town to ashes, for the wanton destruction of private property, and for the mal- treatment of the unarmed inhabitants of both sexes. From Fairfield, the British troops passed over the Sound to Huntingdon Bay, where they remain- ed until the 11th, when they recrossed the water to the Cow Pasture, a peninsula on the east of Newark. At the same time a larger detachment from the main army approached Horse Neck, demonstrating a design of penetrating the country in that direction.
General Parsons, who had been despatched by Washington, to aid and direct the efforts of his countrymen, attacked the British with a considerable militia force, on the morning of the 12th, so soon as they were in motion, and kept up throughout the day an irregular and distant fire, but was unable to check their progress. After burning the town of Norwalk, Tryon re- turned to Huntingdon Bay, to await supplies and reinforcements ; and was thence ordered to White Stone, where, in conference with Sir Henry Clin- ton, and Admiral Collier, it was determined to proceed, with increased force against New London. But this incursion was postponed by the assault of the American army, on the newly captured posts on the North river.
IV. By an original plan a simultaneous attack on both posts was intend- ed; but it was, subsequently, resolved to proceed against Stony Point, as a distinct object. The enterprise was committed to General Wayne, with whom Major Lee was associated. He set out at the head of a strong de- tachment, at noon, and completed a march of about fourteen miles, by eight o'clock of the evening of the 15th of July; the hour of twelve being fixed for the assault. The garrison consisted of six hundred men, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Johnston. The dispositions for the assault were made at Spring Steels, one and a-half mile from the fort. Instructions were given to attack the works on the right and left flank, at the same moment. The re- giments of Febiger and Meiggs, with Major Hull's detachment, formed the right column, and Butler's regiment, with two companies under Major Mur- phrey, the left. One hundred and fifty volunteers, led by Lieutenant-colonel Fleury, and Major Posey, constituted the van of the right; and one hun- dred, under Major Stewart, that of the left. At half past eleven, the two columns moved on to the charge, the van of each, with unloaded muskets, and fixed bayonets; each preceded by a forlorn hope of twenty men, com- manded, respectively, by Lieutenants Gibbon and Knox. The assailants reached the marsh, in front of the fort, undiscovered. Both columns rushed forward, under a tremendous fire of musketry and grape shot, and entered the works at the point of the bayonet, and without discharging a single piece,
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obtained possession of the post. . The humanity of the conquerors was not less honourable than their courage. Not a single individual suffered after resistance had ceased.
All the troops distinguished themselves, whose situation enabled them so to do. Colonel Fleury was the first to enter the fort, and to strike the Bri- tish standard. Major Posey mounted the works almost at the same instant, and gave the watch word, " The fort is our own." Lieutenants Gibbon and Knox executed the service allotted to them, with intrepidity which could not be surpassed. Of the party of the former, seventeen were killed or wound- ed; and the whole loss was a hundred. Of the garrison, sixty-three were killed, and five hundred and forty-three made prisoners; and a large quan- tity of military stores was taken.
The attack on Fort Fayette, though postponed, to that on Stony Point, was not abandoned. Two brigades, under General M'Dougal, had been ordered to attempt the works at Verplank's, where Colonel Webster com- manded, so soon as Wayne should obtain possession of Stony Point. The messenger, directed to apprize M'Dougal of Wayne's success, did not com- municate with him on his way to camp; and this error, or negligence, was followed by others, which defeated subsequent efforts upon the place, until it was relieved by Sir Henry Clinton, who, to save it, relinquished his views upon Connecticut. The failure to obtain the fort on the east side of the river, diminished the advantages expected from that on the west; and the latter, requiring for its defence, a much larger force than could be spared for such a'purpose, was abandoned. Sir Henry, immediately, resumed possession, repaired the fortifications, and regarrisoned it; and afterward retired to Phi- lipsburg. General Washington maintained his post in the Highlands. While the armies watched each other, frequent. rencounters took place, between small parties, which were of no other importance, than to evince the intre- pidity, common to the junior officers, who had been formed during the war. At length, Sir Henry Clinton withdrew into York Island, and employed him- self in strengthening its fortifications, that he might direct his principal efforts against the southern States, and compensate for the abstraction of the fleet, now sent to relieve Penobscot.
V. Early in June, Colonel M.Clean from Nova Scotia, with six hundred and fifty men, had taken possession of a defensible piece of ground on the Penobscot river, where he commenced such fortifications, as intimated a design to maintain the position. This measure threatened a serious diminu- tion of the territory of the State of Massachusetts, and great exertions were, consequently, made to dislodge him. A considerable naval force, under Commodore Saltoustall, carried out, between three and four thousand men, commanded by General Lovell, which appeared before the new and unfi- nished work, on the 25th of June. Lovell effected a landing, with the loss of fifty men killed and wounded ; erected a battery within seven hundred and fifty yards of the main work of the enemy, and kept up a warm can- nonade for several days. Making little progress with his militia, he applied, through the governor of Massachusetts, to General Gates, commanding at Providence, for a reinforcement of four hundred continental troops; and Colonel Jackson and his regiment were immediately put in motion. But, on the 13th of August, Sir George Collier arrived in the river, with a superior naval force. Lovell immediately re-embarked his army, so silently as to be undiscovered by the garrison, who, in their lines, awaited an expected assault. His fleet offered a show of resistance, that the transports might escape up the river, and land the troops at a convenient point for further retreat. But the British admiral disregarded this stratagem; the Americans gave way, and a general chase and unresisted destruction ensued. The troops landed in a
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wild desert country, through which they had to explore their way without provision or other necessaries, for more than a hundred miles, before they could obtain supplies.
VI. The successful enterprise at Stony Point, was speedily followed by another, which equalled it in boldness of design. After Sir Henry Clinton had retired down the Hudson, Major Lee was employed on the west side of' the river, to watch the proceedings of the British at Paules Hook, and the motions of their main army. The careless confidence of the garrison of the Hook, suggested to him the idea of surprising and carrying it off. The at- tempt was one of much danger, owing to the difficulty of access, and the greater difficulty of safe retreat, which, without boats to cross the Hacken- sack, must be made for many miles up that river, on the narrow neck between it and the Hudson, and could be secured, only, by its celerity. On the night of the 18th of August, a detachment from the division of Lord Stirling, in- cluding three hundred men designed for the expedition, was ordered down, as a foraging party. The American troops having frequently foraged in this vicinage, the movement excited no suspicion. Lord Stirling followed, with five hundred men, and posted himself at the New Bridge, over the Hacken- sack, so as to afford assistance, should it be necessary. The assailing party, under Major Lec, having passed the outworks, undiscovered, entered the main work at the Hook, at about three o'clock in the morning; and after a feeble resistance, with the loss of only two killed and three wounded, made one hundred and fifty-nine prisoners, including some officers. Very few of the British were killed. Major Sutherland, who commanded the garrison, threw himself, with forty or fifty Hessians, into a strong redoubt, which it was thought unadvisable to attack, lest the time employed, should endanger the retreat; the guns fired in New York and from the ships in the harbour, giving full evidence, that the alarm was complete. Wasting no time, there- fore, in destroying works, which could easily be replaced, Lee, expeditiously, withdrew with his prisoners. To favour his retreat, boats had been placed at Dow's Ferry, on the Hackensack, near the Hook, with instructions to the officer in command, to await his arrival, which it was supposed would be before morning. Day appearing without the detachment, the officer sup- posed the attack had been postponed, and retired with his boats to Newark. The column, though greatly fatigued, was compelled to proceed to New Bridge, covered by the force of Lord Stirling. By mutual mistake, this party, and a party under the tory Colonel, Vanbuskirk, which crossed cach other, avoided a battle, cach supposing, that it was opposed by a superior force.
VII. Among the causes which now operated to paralyze the exertions of the Americans, was the depreciation of the paper currency. We have seen the extraordinary spectacle of thirteen colonies, and afterwards States, wholly independent of each other, carrying on, by themselves and their deputies, a burdensome war, against one of the most powerful nations of the earth; raising armies on the most expensive, as well as dangerous, establishment; carrying war into a neighbouring State, and equipping an efficient, though small navy ;- without commerce and without revenue. These almost mi- raculous events were produced, in a great measure, by a paper currency, sustained by the ignorance, the confidence, and the patriotism of the people.
Paper money was a familiar agent throughout the continent; and south of New England, with the exception of South Carolina, its credit had been, ge- nerally, well preserved ; the quantity being much below the demand of com- mercial exchange. Its extension, therefore, in the first stages of the revolu- tion, was hailed by all classes as a real benefit-as a supply of vital fluid to the body politie, which renewed and increased its vigour. The commerce of 2 P
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the colonies with England was a perpetual drain of their specie; and the busi- ness of the continent, always languished for want of a circulating medium. At the commencement of the revolution, too, the quantity of coin usually in the country, was greatly diminished. When the intercourse with Great Britain had ceased, and the credit of the colonists with their merchants was discontinued, part of the current gold and silver was absorbed in the payment of balances ; part by the operations of the new authorities, particularly, in the expedition to Canada; and part by the hoarding of those, who foresaw the effects of the almost boundless extension of the paper system.
The necessity, therefore, of a circulating medium co-operated, admirably, with the patriotism of the people, to facilitate the use of the continental bills of credit; and, though, no specific funds were pledged for their redemption, and the government had none competent to that object, the occasion and the circumstances, gave such confidence in their value, that he was deemed a traitor to his country, who manifested a suspicion, that the public faith would not be religiously observed. So early as January, 1776, Congress passed a resolution on this delicate subject, denouncing against those who should dis- courage the circulation of the bills, the penalty of being deemed enemies to their country .* But this delusion could not be complete with thinking men, nor permanent with any class. As the quantity of bills daily increased, and soon exceeded all demands for commercial purposes, and could neither find their way into foreign countries nor be absorbed at home, their value became, necessarily, greatly impaired, and their redemption at par imprac- ticable.
Aware that this truth must be betrayed, to all, by its effects, Congress la- boured to procrastinate an event, pregnant with difficulties, they could not surmount. The emissions were small, as possible, and disbursements so par- simonious, as almost to produce the mischief dreaded, from that want of pe- cuniary resources which might result from the failure of public credit. The first emission was of two millions of dollars, in June, 1775, to which a fur- ther million was added, on the 25th of the following month, and on the 29th of November, an additional three millions. All these sums were to be re- deemed by four annual payments, the first of which, on the last emission, to be made, on or before the last day of November, 1783; and the quota of each colony, was apportioned to the relative number of its inhabitants. These sums were supposed to be adequate to defray expenses to the 10th of June, 1776. But the march of events, soon required further issues, and by the 22d of July, 1776, they amounted to twenty millions, which, for some months, were, almost universally, received at par. Thus, whilst the ministry of England were perplexed to raise supplies, the American patriots, gave the" power of gold to paper rags, by simple volition.
But it was not in the power of Congress to limit the issue of paper money ; the right to emit it pertaining to every State, and being liberally exercised. To economise disbursement, to call in by taxes a part of the sums disbursed, thereby, diminishing the quantity, and increasing the demand, were the only possible means of preventing such an accumulation, as infallibly to continue its depreciation. until it should, entirely, cease to be a circulating medium. But the disbursements were made by too many hands to be economised, and the power of taxation was not in Congress. . That body could, only, recom- mend the imposition of taxes, and their recommendations were, perhaps, the less attended to, because, whatever might be the public exigencies, the mea- sure was, at all times, unpopular, and could, only, be effectual, by being uni- versal. It was earnestly recommended, to the several colonies, and after-
* Marshall.
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wards to the States, to adopt measures to redeem their quotas of the bills of credit emitted by Congress; but such was the danger apprehended from im- mediate taxation, that the payment of the first instalment of the first emission, was to be postponed until 1770, by which time it was certain the deprecia- tion must be considerable.
Depreciation had made much progress, before the taxation commenced, and the remedy was so sparingly applied, as little to affect the disease. It is yet a problem unsolved, whether the revolution would have been aided by a more liberal resort to taxes. As it was dangerous to attempt the enforce- ment of taxation, palliatives were necessarily resorted to. A loan of five millions was proposed, at an interest of four per cent .; the principal to be repaid in three years, and for the greater accommodation of lenders, a loan office was to be established in each State. No certificate of loan to be less than three hundred dollars. A hope was entertained, that the loan would fill immediately, and would diminish the bills in circulation; and that the certificates being of large amount, would not be adapted to ordinary use. A lottery of four classes was also suggested, by which it was proposed to raise one million and five hundred thousand dollars; to draw in a large sum of continental money by the sale of the tickets; to retain, with the consent of the successful adventurers, the small prizes in each class, for tickets in the succeeding one, and the large prizes on loan. These means were wholly inadequate to the proposed object.
.The faith of the people, however, supported the paper currency in undi- minished reputation, until near the close of the campaign of 1776. Early in 1777, the depreciation became considerable; but, it was, generally, mistaken for the rise of prices; and in the ignorance of political economy which pre- vailed, it was supposed, that such effect might be violently restrained. To this end, Congress declared, that, whoever, in any purchase, sale, or barter, whatever, should rate gold or silver coin, higher than the continental bills of credit, ought to be deemed an enemy to the liberties of the United States, and to forfeit the value of the subject, in which such difference was made. And by most, perhaps, by all of the States, the paper bills were made a tender in payment of debts. But, a more effective and wise measure was, at the same time, devised. The States were urged, respectively, to support the credit of the Union, by a direct engagement to redeem these bills at the times fixed by Congress, and, immediately, to impose such taxes as the people were in condition to pay. They were assured, that, for all moneys thus raised, each State should receive a credit, with the United States, in its quota of the public debt, that had been apportioned to them. At the same time, a further loan of two millions was voted. The recommendations of Congress were complied with. The situation of the south, in these circumstances, required additional measures for relief. That portion of the country had been supplied by British merchants and British capital. The colonial traders had credit with such merchants ; and large balances were annually owing, and in the hands of the planters, who, generally, preserved a credit to the value of their crops. To compel the American merchant to receive his debts, in paper, whilst he was bound to pay, in specie, would have been highly unjust ; and he was, therefore, authorized to pay those due from him, into the public treasury, and was assured, that he should be, thereby, discharged from the claims of his creditor.
But neither loans nor taxes could be obtained in sufficient sums to prevent recourse to new issues of bills, and with every issue their value continued to decrease. Congress, in 1779, made a second effort to limit the flood of' - paper. They required of the States, on the first of January, to pay into the continental treasury, their respective quotas of fifteen millions for the service
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of that year, and of six millions, annually, from and after the year 1779, as a fund for reducing their early emissions and loans; and on the 21st of May, they further required, within the current year, forty-five millions of dollars. Large as these requisitions nominally were, they were wholly insufficient. The depreciation increased so rapidly as to defy all calculation. Towards the close of 1777, it was two or three for one-in 1778, five or six for one- in 1779, twenty-eight for one-in 1780, sixty for one, in the first half of the year; and near its close, it fell to one hundred and fifty for one. In some few places it continued in circulation for the first four or five months of 1781 ; but, in this last period, many would not take it at any rate, whilst others received it at a depreciation of several hundred for one.
To still the clamour which prevailed against these excessive issues, Con- gress resolved, in October, 1779, that no further sum should be issued, on any account, than would increase the circulation to two hundred millions, and no greater part of the sum, wanting to that amount, than was indis- pensable for the public exigencies, until adequate supplies could be otherwise obtained, for which reliance was placed upon the States. But Congress could not maintain its resolution; and soon completed the sum they had fixed as the maximum. At length. their paper became absolutely worthless; and they were almost wholly deprived of pecuniary means. Yet an effort was made to revive the credit of their bills, by a new issue under State gua- rantees-the old to be called in by taxes, and burned; and one dollar in new, to be emitted for every twenty of the old. Of the ten millions thus to be substituted, four were to be subject to the orders of Congress, and the re- mainder to that of the several States-the whole to be redeemable in specie, within six years; to bear an interest at the rate of five per cent., to be paid, also, in specie, at the redemption of the bills, or at the election of the owner, annually, in bills of exchange, on the American commissioners in Europe. This plan was soon found impracticable, and public credit being at the lowest ebb, the army was well nigh dissolved, and the country opened in every direction, to British excursions.
The crisis was a trying one, but it was happily past. New resources were discovered, and the war carried on with vigour. Much specie was about this time (1781) introduced into the United States, by trade with the French and Spanish West Indies, and by means of the French army in Rhode Islandl. The King of France gave the United States a subsidy of six millions of livres, and became their security for ten millions more, bor- rowed by them in the Netherlands. A regular system of finance was in- troduced by Mr. Robert Morris, who was placed at its head, and whose indi- vidual credit was liberally and advantageously used. The Bank of North America was established, and thus Congress and the country were extricated from the most imminent peril. By the scale of depreciation, the war was carried on for almost five years, for little more than a million sterling, and two hundred millions of paper dollars, were made redeemable by five silver ones.
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