USA > New Jersey > The history of New Jersey : from its earliest settlement to the present time : including a brief historical account of the first discoveries and settlement of the country, Vol. II > Part 3
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HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY.
" In case of an alarm by fire, the city guards and patrols are to suffer the inhabitants to pass, unmolested, at any hour of the night ; and the good people of Philadelphia are earnestly re- quested and desired to give every assistance in their power, with engines and buckets, to extinguish the fire. And, as the Con- gress have ordered the City to be defended to the last extremity, the General hopes that no person will refuse to give every assist- ance possible, to complete the fortifications that are to be erected in and about the City. ISRAEL PUTNAM."
" Soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, General Putnam was called, with General Mifflin, to a special conference with Con- gress, upon the expediency of adjourning their meeting to some place less exposed to interruption from the enemy. By their advice and urgent counsels, and directly in the face of a vote taken only the day before, the resolution to adjourn was adopted on the 12th of December, to assemble at Baltimore on the 20th. " The labor of constructing fortifications was regular and monotonous, and but few incidents of sufficient interest to be recorded, marked the toilsome residence of the General in this capital.
" Contrary to all expectation, and to all human probability, General Washington, with the poor remnant of an army that had escaped with him over the Delaware, had suddenly recrossed that river, in the dead of winter, and struck a blow upon the victorious and too confident enemy at Trenton, that astonished alike both friend and foe, reviving and inspiriting the one, as much as it discomfited and chagrined the other. Before the enemy had quite recovered from the panic occasioned by this masterly movement, the American General had crossed the Del- aware the second time, and prudently avoiding the proffered encounter with Lord Cornwallis, had struck another blow upon Princeton, killing and capturing almost an entire regiment.
" It was a part of his original design, in planning these bold movements, to unite the troops employed in fortifying Philadel- phia, with those of Brigadier General Cadwalader at Bristol, and to place the whole under the command of General Putnam, with a view to carrying the post at Mount Holly, about ten miles back of Burlington, where the advanced guard of the British army
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were posted. But so alarming were the indications at that time of an insurrection in the city in favor of the royal cause, that the execution of this part of the plan was intrusted to General Cadwalader alone; and General Putnam remained at his post, to prosecute the works of defence which were to guard against an invading enemy from without, and to quell the incipient or- ganization of a more dangerous enemy within. He was, there- fore, denied the opportunity-which to his active and enterpris- ing spirit would have seemed one of the privileges of the service -of sharing in two of the most brilliant achievements which distinguished the Revolutionary War. Had the original plan been carried out, and the river been found passable, at the place appointed for crossing, there is no doubt that it would have been completely successful, and greatly enhanced the advantages of that glorious day. It was ascertained by persons despatched to reconnoitre the post at Mount Holly, that the soldiers were in a state of comparative helplessness from intoxication, having indulged freely in spirituous liquors the preceding day, which was Christmas. There was no apprehension of danger, and no precaution to guard against it.
" On the eve of the execution of the first of these enterprises, the Commander-in-Chief addressed a letter to General Putnam, expressing his great satisfaction in learning the improved state of his health-which had been impaired by his excessive labors and exposures-and informing him that the design of the enemy to gain early possession of Philadelphia was fully confirmed, by an intercepted letter from a gentleman of Philadelphia who had joined the enemy, to his partner in that city, which declared that their plans were laid to enter it within twenty days, or as soon as the ice in the river should be sufficiently strong to enable them to transport their artillery across it. He added, that, if the citizens of Philadelphia had any regard for the town, not a moment's time was to be lost until it should be put in the best possible posture of defence. Fearing that, through their indifference, or the want of time to accomplish it, this would not be done, he directed all the public stores, except such as were necessary for immediate use, to be removed at once to places of greater security.
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HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY.
"Ten days after, on the 5th of January, 1777, Washington wrote to Putnam, from Pluckemin, giving an account of his second successful stroke, and expressing the hope-as the enemy appeared to be quite panic-struck-that he should be able to drive them out of the Jerseys. The new aspect which their late brilliant successes had put upon the American cause, so com- pletely changed the current of popular opinion, that the defec- tion of Philadelphia was no longer feared, and Putnam could now be spared from that post. He was, accordingly, ordered to take the field, and assist in pushing the advantages so unex- pectedly gained. 'It is thought advisable for you,' continues the letter, 'to march the troops under your command to Cross- wicks, and keep a strict watch upon the enemy in that quarter. If the enemy continues at Brunswick, you must act with great circumspection, lest you meet with a surprise. As we have made two successful attacks upon them by surprise, if there is any possibility of retaliating they will attempt it. You will give out your strength to be twice as great as it is .* Forward on all the baggage and scattered troops belonging to this division of the army as soon as may be. You will keep as many spies out as you shall see proper. A number of horsemen, in the dress of the country, must be constantly kept going backwards and for- wards for this purpose, and if you discover any motion of the enemy, which you can depend upon, and which you think of consequence, let me be informed thereof as soon as possible, by express. I am, dear General, yours, &c.'
"In obedience to these orders, General Putnam took the field at once, leaving suitable directions for the prosecution of the works of defence in the city. The design of the Americans was to hold the advantages already gained, and to harass the enemy, by all the means in their power, for they had neither men nor ammunition to attempt a battle. They had succeeded in driving them from all their newly acquired posts in New Jersey, except New Brunswick and Amboy, and had thus opened to
* So successfully was this species of deception practiced upon the enemy, that letters from officers in the army to their friends in England, represented the Americans, at this very time, as forty thousand strong. See " Almon's Remembrances."
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themselves a large field for supplies, and given encouragement to multitudes of those, who, while they were at heart friendly to the American cause, had begun to despair of ever bringing it to a successful issue.
"Putnam's first movement was to Crosswicks, a few miles southeast of Trenton, on one of the routes by which the enemy might attempt to regain his lost position at Mount Holly. As no attempt was made to do this, and Howe's forces seemed to be concentrating for winter quarters, Putnam was ordered to advance to Princeton. At this post he continued, during the remainder of the winter, within fifteen miles from the enemy's stronghold at New Brunswick. His force was exceedingly small, never more than a few hundred. At one period, from a sudden diminution, occasioned by the withdrawal of those whose terms of enlistment had expired, and who peremptorily refused to remain till their places could be supplied by new recruits, he had fewer men on duty than he had miles of frontier to guard. There was no time, during the winter, when he could have sus- tained for a single hour the attack of a respectable body of regulars. Yet so good a front did he maintain, and so success- fully did he blind the eyes of his adversary to his real position and strength, that no effort was made to dislodge him.
"Among the British who were left on the field at the battle of Princeton, was Captain McPherson, of the Seventeenth Regi- ment, a very worthy Scotchman, who was desperately wounded through the lungs. He had been left for dead, and. on General Putnam's arrival on the ground, he found him languishing in extreme distress, without a surgeon, without a single accommo- dation, and without a friend to solace the troubled spirit in the. hour of death. He visited him, and immediately caused every possible comfort to be administered to him. Captain McPher- son, who, contrary to all appearances, recovered, after having demonstrated to General Putnam the dignified sense of obliga- tions which a generous mind wishes not to conceal, one day, in familiar conversation, demanded : 'Pray, sir, what country- man are you?' 'An American,' answered the latter. 'Not a Yankee?' said the other. 'A full-blooded one,' replied the General. I am sorry for that,' rejoined McPherson ; 'I did
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not think there could be so much goodness and generosity in an American, or, indeed, in anybody but a Scotchman.'
" While the recovery of Captain McPherson was doubtful, he desired that General Putnam would allow a friend in the British army at New Brunswick to come and assist him in making out his will. Putnam had then only fifty men in his command, the remainder being out in detachments, to cover and protect the country. He was, consequently, very much embarrassed by this proposition. He was not content that a British officer should have an opportunity to spy out his weakness, nor was it in his nature to refuse complying with a dictate of humanity. He luckily thought of an expedient, which he hastened to put into practice. A flag of truce was despatched with Captain McPherson's request, but under an injunction not to return until after dark. In the evening, lights were placed in all the rooms of the college, and in every apartment of the vacant houses throughout the town. During the whole night the fifty men, sometimes all together, and sometimes in small detachments, were marched from different quarters by the house in which McPherson lay. It was afterwards known that McPherson's friend, on his return, reported that General Putnam's army, upon the most moderate calculation, could not consist of less than four or five thousand men.
" The harshness and cruelty of the invaders, and particularly the German mercenaries, during the period of their temporary occupancy of New Jersey, reacted with a most salutary effect upon the American cause, alienating from the British interest the affections of those who had been hitherto loyal, confirming in their opposition those who had before espoused the cause of liberty, and rousing to instant and spirited revolt such as had been compelled to take sides with the conquerors, or at least to render a seeming submission. The humane and generous treat- ment they everywhere experienced at the hands of Washington and his compeers, settled forever the question of their allegiance; and from the time when General Howe evacuated his short-lived possessions on and about the Delaware, there were no truer or more devoted supporters of the cause of independence in the States than those of New Jersey."*
* Life of General Putnam, by Cutler, pages 272-2So.
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HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY.
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CHAPTER XXI.
1776-1778.
Pardon offered to refugees who swore allegiance to the United States-General Putnam at Princeton-British at Sandy Hook - First Legislature under Independence-Livingston chosen Governor-His first address to the Assembly-The State Gov- ernment organized-Officers appointed-Campaign of 1776- Benedict Arnold-General Carleton-Battle of Monmouth- Retreat of Lee.
T HE hostile spirit which had displayed itself in the State of New Jersey, was encouraged by a politic and humane procla- mation issued by the Commander-in-Chief, about the last of Janu- ary, directed to those who had submitted to, and taken protection from the enemy ; discharging the obligations created by their oaths of allegiance to the King, and requiring them to repair to headquarters, or to the quarters of the nearest general officer, and to swear allegiance to the United States, as the condition of a full pardon. An act of Assembly, conceived in the same spirit, was passed a few months after. The beneficial effects of these measures were soon visible. The people flocked in from every quarter to take the oaths; but the Legislature could not yet be induced to pass an act to bring the militia certainly in the field.
" Amid these testimonies of reviving patriotism, it is painful .to record the crimes which were committed by American sol- diers, and which were but too much encouraged by the hetero- geneous organization of the army ; for the correction of which General Washington found it necessary by proclamation, to prohibit, 'both in the militia and continental troops, in the most positive terms, the infamous practices of plundering the inhabitants, under the specious pretence of their being Tories. 'It is our duty,' continued the proclamation, 'to give protection and support to the poor, distressed inhabitants, not to multiply their calamities. After this order, any officer found plundering
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the inhabitants, under the pretence of their being Tories, may expect to be punished in the severest manner.'"'*
"Lord Cornwallis was in command of the British forces at New Brunswick. General Dickinson, of New Jersey, was sta- tioned on the west side of the Millstone River, not far from Somerset Court-house, and about ten miles from New Brunswick. On the opposite side of the river was a mill, in which was de- posited a large quantity of flour. Tempted by such booty, of which he was in no small need, Lord Cornwallis sent out a party, about the 25th of January, with wagons and horses, to seize the flour, and collect such forage as fell in their way. While engaged in this enterprise, General Dickinson fell upon them in a most spirited manner, and drove them back, with some loss, taking from them forty wagons, and upwards of a hundred valuable horses, with a considerable number of sheep and cattle which they had collected on their march. The two parties were nearly equal in number. The bridge over the Mill- stone was in possession of the British, and defended by their field-pieces, so that General Dickinson, to accomplish his pur- pose, was compelled to break the ice, and cross the river in three feet of water."t
The enemy at New Brunswick having been in the latter end of February largely reinforced, General Washington believed that another movement towards the Delaware would soon become necessary, with a view to gaining possession of Philadelphia.
He accordingly wrote to General Putnam, at Princeton, ad- vising him of the fact, directing him to be on the alert, and prepare for any movement that might be necessary. And in case it should appear that Philadelphia was to be their object, Putnam was to cross the river at once, with such force as might be then at his disposal, assume the command of the militia who might assemble, and adopt every other measure that he might deem necessary, to facilitate the passage of the rest of the army, if circumstances should require them again to retire from the Jerseys ; the possession of which he, at the same time, resolved to contest, inch by inch.
But although Cornwallis had vastly superior advantages, he
* Gordon's History of New Jersey, page 234.
+ Life of Putnam, page 2SI.
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1764771
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY.
was in no haste to advance, and the two armies retained their relative positions for about two months longer. No great event, however, occurred except an occasional skirmish between their foraging and scouting parties.
General Putnam continued his post at Princeton until near the middle of May, when a more important service was assigned him in the Northern department. During his command in New Jersey in the four winter months, he had by his several parties taken from the enemy nearly a thousand prisoners, and more than a hundred and twenty baggage wagons, besides a large amount of valuable stores.
At one time, about the first of February, he took ninety-six wagons laden with provisions, which were on their way to the British army. In these services he was not excelled by any officer in the American army.
About the roth of June, the British army, under the immediate command of Sir William Howe, left its quarters at New Bruns- wick.
In order to protect Philadelphia and the Highlands, General Washington ordered General Putnam, on the 12th, to send for- ward Generals Parsons, McDougall, and Glover, with all the continental troops at Peekskill, except one thousand effective men, to guard and protect the Hudson. These were to march in three divisions, each to follow one day behind the other, and each of the first two to be attended by two pieces of artillery.
"We have now arrived at the first anniversary of the Declara- tion of Independence. The labors of the season had been ex- ceedingly arduous, and the perils of war imminent and incessant, yet there was occasion even with the soldier for pastime. And Putnam, with his accustomed good humor, seized every oppor- tunity for a little recreation for himself and his men. In Put- nam's army it was celebrated with feast and song, eloquent speeches and patriotic toasts in which success to the blessed cause of liberty and confusion to all its enemies were pledged as heartily and truly as they have ever been by their successors. The concluding scene of that day's sport was peculiar and em- phatic. On the top of one of the rugged eminences that over- hang the Hudson near Fort Lee, Putnam had discovered an
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HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY.
immense rock, of several tons weight, so perfectly poised that a comparatively small power well applied would destroy its balance and send it thundering down into the dark ravine below. Having made his preparations, he drew up a handsome detach- ment of his force upon the heights, accompanied by his principal officers in full uniform, when, after an animated and amusing address, he gave orders for the lever to be manned. The mighty mass trembled and quivered, and fell with a tremendous crash, accompanied by a simultaneous discharge from the whole corps, and immediately followed by the thunder of the artillery and heavy guns in forts, whose echoes bellowed and reverberated a long time from the heights and cliffs around. As the huge rock toppled from its old resting-place, one party of the officers on one side of it shouted, in admirable unison : "So may the thrones of tyrants fall !" And when it settled into its new bed below, the other responded: "So may the enemies of freedom sink to rise no more !"*
General Washington with the army under his command moved towards the Highlands, on the western side of the Hudson, and by the middle of July had advanced by way of Pompton Plains, in Morris County, as far as the Clove, a narrow passage in Sus- sex County, leading through the mountains, about eighteen miles from the river, near the entrance of which he fixed his camp. On the 20th he advanced eleven miles within the Clove, from whence he wrote to General Putnam, requesting all the informa- tion he could furnish regarding the movements of the enemy, as well as their designs both by sea and land, as from informa- tion he had received, which proved to be premature, he felt his position in the highest degree embarrassing and perilous. Put- nam despatched General Sullivan, and other trusty and intelli- gent persons, to various points of the river and coast, to obtain such intelligence as could be safely relied on. He by this means learned, that the British fleet, with a large number of troops on board, had passed Sandy Hook, and put out to sea, upon which the army returned to New Jersey, and prepared to oppose, with all its force, the meditated attack upon Philadelphia, despatch-
* Life of Putnam, page 297.
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ing General Sullivan and Lord Stirling, with their divisions, in the same direction, accompanied by all the field-pieces at Peeks- kill, except two for each brigade that remained for the defence of that post.
General Sullivan's division remained at Morristown till the British fleet returned into the Chesapeake, when they were ordered to join the main army on the Delaware.
General McDougall was also immediately ordered down from Peekskill, and also General Dickinson from New Jersey.
The State now becoming defenceless by the withdrawal of the main army to Pennsylvania, Sir Henry Clinton seized that op- portunity for effecting an incursion into the country. His troops landed in four divisions, at Elizabethtown Point, Schuyler's Landing on the Hackensack River, Fort Lee, and Tappan, ap- proaching at this last point the vicinity of General Putnam. The object was to drive off the cattle, and to attack any small party of the enemy that might be met with ; as it was known that, in the divided state of the American army, no force of much mag- nitude could at this time be in Jersey. The number of troops engaged in the enterprise amounted to more than two thousand.
Colonel Malcolm's regiment, then stationed at Ramapo, just below the entrance of the Clove, watched their movements, but was not in force sufficient to offer much resistance.
General Putnam ordered General McDougall to cross the river with fifteen hundred men, and advance to meet the foe. The order was obeyed, but not in time to overtake the enemy, who having made an incursion into the country was already retiring with their booty.
This incursion caused great alarm in New Jersey, and ren- dered it necessary for General Dickinson to leave behind him one thousand of the militia, who were intended to reinforce the army of Washington ; while it occasioned some delay on the part of Putnam in forwarding the detachments ordered from Peeks- kill.
The first Legislature of New Jersey under its independence, met on the 27th of August, 1776, at Princeton. John Stephens was elected Vice-President of the Council, and John Hart, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and on the 31st of the
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month, William Livingston, Esq., was chosen in joint meeting, the first Governor of the new State. Having accepted this ap- pointment, it removed him from his military command at Eliza- bethtown, which was incompatible with his years, his habits, · and his previous studies, to one for which the employments of his life had admirably prepared him. On the first ballot, the votes were equally divided between him and Richard Stockton ; but the second ballot, on the succeeding day, gave him a ma- jority over Stockton, and he was declared elected.
Stockton was offered the position of Chief-Justice, but refused it. He had previous to the Revolution held a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court. Governor Livingston continued in the office of Governor until his death, a period of fourteen years, being annually reëlected, sometimes unanimously, or by large majorities.
His first address to the Assembly shows his deep devotion to liberty, with a religious confidence in its final success, in which he uses the following language : "May the foundation of our infant State be laid in virtue and the fear of God; and the superstructure will rise glorious, and endure for ages."
The other principal officers chosen for the organization of government were, John DeHart, Chief Justice; Samuel Tucker, second, and Francis Hopkinson, third Justice ; and Jonathan Sergeant, Clerk of the Supreme Court; Charles Petit, Secretary of State, and Richard Smith, Treasurer. Mr. DeHart, refusing the office of Chief-Justice, Robert Morris was appointed; Mr. Tucker having declined, Isaac Smith was appointed in his place ; Mr. Hopkinson, having accepted the position of Admi- ralty of Philadelphia, John Cleves Symmes* was appointed in his place ; and Mr. Sergeant, refusing to act as Clerk, Bowes Reed was appointed.
The campaign of 1776 was the most trying period of the war, and drew largely upon the ability and fortitude of the Governor, all of which was met by him in a truly patriotic and Christian manner.
On the 15th of September the City of New York fell into the
* Founder of Cincinnati, which was at first called City of Symmes.
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hands of the enemy. Two months were consumed by the hos- tile armies on the east bank of the Hudson. But when, on the Ioth of November, the fall of Fort Washington was followed by the passage of the North River by the British forces under Corn- wallis, by the abandonment of Fort Lee, and the rapid retreat of the American army, the scene of action was immediately transferred to the heart of New Jersey.
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