| Republished by Digital Antiquaria Inc., 1996 |
Contents I . King William's War, 1688 to 1698
II. Queen Anne's War, 1702 to 1713
III. The Cartagena Expedition, 1740
IV. The French War, 1744 to 1749
V. Indian Trouble and War Finance, 1755-6
VI. The Conquest of Canada, 1756 to 1763
VII. Expedition to Havana, 1762
VIII. Peace, 1763
This Society may be of great service if it will undertake, in some degree at least, to revive the memory of the heroes from New Jersey who served in the Colonial wars, a memory that has almost perished from the earth. The reasons for this untoward state of affairs may be briefly enumerated:
Nearly all our New Jersey court-houses were burned during the Revolution.
Our Adjutant-General's office once contained fairly complete rosters and reports. It is said that one of our Adjutant-Generals took part of these papers to his home in order to write a history of the New Jersey troops. Unfortunately, he died while engaged in the work, and the papers have disappeared.
The payrolls of the militia, when in service, should have been preserved in the State treasury. If this had been done we should now possess a complete roster, not only of officers but of privates. But, unluckily, there was a fire in the State House in 1885. As a result, no one can find the old treasury vouchers, and, indeed, they seem to have been regarded as of no account. Yet such papers contained a great deal of personal information and other data, not otherwise obtainable. There was a surprising amount of official laxity in this respect. Many of the old-time treasurers kept their papers at home, just as a private executor or trustee might do.
The minutes of the Colonial Council were not always printed, and most of those still in existence are only obtainable from official archives in London.
We might have recovered much valuable information from the Session laws, but, unfortunately again, all the appropriation bills and military statutes were omitted from the early compilations of those laws as being obsolete. There is only one reasonably complete collection of the printed Session laws in Trenton, although the originals are said to be filed with the Secretary of State. These laws contain numerous war measures for the levy of troops and the borrowing of money, but of course they deal more with proposals than with actual accomplishments.
As a consequent, we have no complete list even of the officers who served in the various wars. The scant records of their achievements are contained in military reports from the Generals under whom they served. Even these are not always accessible in printed form, the originals being on file in the British War Office in London and thus difficult to obtain. Some of these papers have been transferred from Whitehall to the Record Office in London, and it ought to be possible for this Society to have complete transcripts made of all military documents relating to New Jersey Colonial history.
Finally, it should be noted that the State maintains a Book of Commissions in which should be recorded the commissions of all officers. The earlier commissions of militia officers have been recorded with a reasonable degree of regularity; the later lists are more or less imperfect.
In the Colonial period New Jersey newspapers were often published in the most unexpected localities; in central New York for instance. The press in New Jersey was not definitely established until about 1760. Of course there were newspapers both in New York and Philadelphia, and they occasionally printed items about the Jerseys.
Books were printed in Woodbridge at an early date by James Parker (no relative of the present speaker so far as known). Later on, this same printer went to Burlington in order to bring out Smith's History of New Jersey. After a brief return to Woodbridge he finally moved to New York.
The State of New York has published four volumes of documentary history and thirteen volumes of Colonial documents, but in the selection of matter many details relating to our State have been omitted. Some of these omitted items may be found in the archives of the New York State department, and also in that of Pennsylvania.
This dearth of documents relating to our Colonial history is certainly regrettable, but when we remember how New Jersey was fought over during the Revolution, it is really a marvel that any of her records have been preserved.
Unquestionably this Society has a special historical work to do in rescuing from oblivion the valiant deeds of our forefathers. The work must be done by many hands, but all should take some share. The old records must be carefully collated, and abstracts made of what they say regarding the military operations in which New Jersey was engaged. Also copies should be prepared of the early military laws and war measures passed by our State, supplying from the records in England whatever details may be missing. Finally, search should be made at Whitehall for the military record of New Jersey officers and men engaged in service under the Crown.
All this is labor certainly, but it should be a labor of love.
To briefly recapitulate what work has been done; I have found some interesting papers in the Adjutant-General's office; these consist of addresses by various Governors on the state of the militia, together with petitions of the Northern counties for aid against the Indians. A complete muster roll of the "Skinners" has been obtained from Ottawa; also some papers relative to New Jersey troops engaged in the first French war and the expedition to Havana in 1762.
The early minutes of the East Jersey Proprietors were kept in the office of the Secretary of State, but unfortunately they disappeared some ten years ago.
Nothing is found in the records of the State treasurers concerning the purchase of supplies; also the pay rolls, which would contain the name of every man in every company, are missing. This is really a great disappointment. I find a few lists and muster rolls in family papers, but all too few.
Dr. C. E. Godfrey tells me that nearly all our honorably discharged Revolutionary soldiers received land grants, the record of which would show their names. This clue should be followed up.
New Jersey did her part in all the Colonial wars and did it nobly. The first was King William's War lasting for ten years, between 1688 and 1698, and ending with the Treaty of Ryswick. The second was Queen Anne's War, from 1702 to 1713, and ending with the Treaty of Utrecht. The third was an expedition to the West Indies against Spain in 1740. The fourth was a French War of five years duration, beginning in 1744, and ending with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1749. The fifth was the conquest of Canada in the war that formally began in 1756, but which had been started two years before with French and Indian incursions; it ended in 1763. The sixth was the expedition to Havana in 1762. Finally, there was an almost continual succession of small Indian wars.
[by the Hon. Richard Wayne Parker]
KING WILLIAM'S WAR, 1688 TO 1698 In the colonial period the population of New Jersey was very sparse, and consequently its military strength was inconsiderable. Moreover, West Jersey was Quaker in belief and practice, and never passed a militia law.
In East Jersey, so early as 1668, all males between sixteen and sixty were required to train annually. Woodbridge, Bergen and Piscataway were permitted to nominate their own officers. Newark had its training system, dating back to 1675. There were to be quarterly assizes, and each town was allowed to erect a fort or garrison house. We learn from contemporary records that Elizabethtown had its company, and that Woodbridge and Newark discussed stockades and fortifications, and ordered powder and ball.1
In other documents are mentioned Colonel Lewis Morris, and Captains John Berry, John Palmer, Horatio Decker, William Sanford, John Pike, John Bishop, John Baker, John Bound, and others.2
It has been mentioned that the early minutes of the East Jersey Proprietors have been lost, but this little population was already helping out New York in her military operations. Major Peter Schuyler, in 1693, tells Governor Fletcher that he is sorry the New Jersey troops will be relieved this season, since they are well disciplined and brisk men; he hopes the Government will send money to pay them off at Albany.3
In March of the following year New York only expected eighty men from New Jersey, but in April the record shows that seven hundred Jerseymen were in the contingent.4
In 1696 Governor Fletcher complains that he could not get a man from New Jersey, although the provinces had enlisted about one thousand men in their militia.5 Moreover, it appears that in 1698 New Jersey had twelve thousand families and New York only five thousand.6
My search along these lines has not been exhaustive for want of time. This Society should go through the New York documents of the period line by line, not trusting to indexes, and cull out every possible reference to the heroes who went out from our small colony to help their brethren in New York.
1 Osgood's American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, Vol. II, pp. 399-400; citing Leaming and Spicer, pp. 17, 19, 44; Dally, pp. 43, 53; Newark Town Records, pp. 38, 61, 63; Leaming and Spicer, pp. 135, 277, 331, 348, 424.
2 New Jersey Commissions, Vol. C, 1682-85, passim; also various early books of Deeds in office of Secretary of State.
3 New York Colonial Documents, Vol. IV, p. 65.
4 New York Colonial Documents, Vol. IV, pp. 84-101.
5 lbid, Vol. IV, pp. 101, 185, 243.
6 Ibid, Vol. IV, p. 383.
II
QUEEN ANNE'S WAR, 1702 TO 1713 Concerning this period our information is fuller. The Book of Commissions speaks of Colonel Daniel Cox of Burlington, Captain Dare of Salem, Captain John Harrison of Piscataway, Major Lockhart of Hunterdon, and others.7 The commissions in question should be abstracted, although these militia appointments do not always show whether the particular officers went to the war.8
In 1709 England asked the Colonies to assist in the military operations, and £3,000 sterling was raised in New Jersey to encourage the enlistment of two hundred volunteers to help reduce Canada, the officers getting a per diem allowance, and the men ten to fifteen pounds for the whole period of service. Bills of credit were issued to the commissioners, Captain Thos. Farmar and Elisha Parker and Mr. John Ross, who managed the expedition, drew the pay, and were empowered to search for and seize all food and provisions except in private houses.9
The project was abortive, for the English fleet never came over. In 1710, and the following year, the ships came and captured Annapolis and Port Royal, but New Jersey had little or nothing to do with these operations.10
In 1711 Governor Hunter, though very ill at the time, induced the Assembly to raise £5,000 in order to form a battalion of two hundred volunteers; within a month he had them levied, clothed, accoutred, victualled and on the march to Albany, having previously inspected the troops at New York under the command of Colonel Farmar.11 The New Jersey contingent marched with the other troops from Albany to attack Montreal, but shortly afterwards the whole expedition came to an end, by reason of the wreck of the English fleet while entering the St. Lawrence and its consequent return to England.12
The last war legislation in this period was in March, 1713, when New Jersey imposed a duty on sheep shipped to any other colony, enumerated various details for keeping watch or guard, and made provision for arresting absconding white servants and deserting soldiers or seamen, and examining all vagrants.13
7 Book of Commissions, Vol. AAA, pp. 6, 11, 53, 181, et Passim.
8 This abstract has been partly done by the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. See Vol. VII of that publication; also Vol. VI.
9 Session Laws, (1709), p. 25.
10 Smith's History of New Jersey, pp. 359-369.
11 New Jersey Archives, Vol. III, pp. 134, 135, 138.
12 Smith's History of New Jersey, p. 400.
13 Session Laws, (1713), Ch. 46-48. See also Session Laws, (1720), p. 137; (1730), p. 259; (1738), p. 395.
III
THE CARTAGENA EXPEDITION, 1740 In 1740 there was an expedition to the West Indies and Cartagena. Our Governor was Lewis Morris, who was so quarrelsome by temperament as to be little better than a common scold. He fought the Assembly on an adjournment, complaining that the interest on bills of credit had not been provided for. The Assembly authorized £2,000 sterling of bills of credit for victualling and transporting volunteers, and we find from the New York records14 that the troops embarked at Amboy and on the Delaware. Nothing is said of the personnel of the expedition, except a mere item to the effect that Robert Farmar was in the levy under Colonel Gooch.15
14 New York Colonial Documents, Vol. VI, pp. 170-71.
15 Whitehead's Contributions to East Jersey History, p. 93.
IV
THE FRENCH WAR, 1744 TO 1749 During the first two years of this period Governor Morris was still quarreling with the Assembly. Ten of the twenty-two members were Quakers, and these, together with six of the other twelve, laid the Governor's militia bill on the table; whereupon the Governor promptly dissolved the Assembly.16 Louisbourg was taken in 1745, but New Jersey had no share in his brilliant feat.
Morris died in 1746, and John Hamilton, President of the Assembly, became, for the brief period until his death, Acting-Governor.17
The Assembly responded with patriotism. It revived the Militia Act, ordered the enlistment of five hundred white men, or native well-affected Indians, for an expedition against Canada, and gave four months subsistence, transportation to Albany, etc., for the purpose of avenging French and Indian murders in Canada and the Colonies. The volunteers were given relief from small debts and pardon from minor crimes, while slaves and servants could be enlisted with the consent of the masters. The act provided for muster and provisions, and the allowances were certainly liberal, for the five hundred men were to have "one hundred and ninety-two barrels of powder, one hundred and ten barrels of beef, 60,000 lbs. of biscuit, 2,000 gallons of rum, and 3,000 lbs. of tobacco, with other necessaries thereunto pertaining." More bills of credit were issued and it was expected that the money would be repaid by Lieutenant-General St. Clair. An account of the expense of arms and clothing for the forces was to be given the Crown.
The recruiting was carried on with great vigor. In a letter from Acting-Governor Hamilton to James Parker of June 13, 1746, the latter is given leave to enlist men for the expedition, and is nominated a Captain, with power to recommend his Lieutenants. It was further agreed that when the company was complete the officers should be commissioned; moreover, the company was to have "all bounties, plunder, and advantages which are already engaged by his Majesty."18
In August the companies having been reviewed and the bounty paid, they were ordered to Albany. The Commissioners were to provide arms, ammunition, battoes, etc. The Commissioners were enjoined to keep secret all these preparations; at the end of the month they were to embark the troops on sloops, an officer on each vessel, no man to go ashore, to enforce temperance in drink, etc.19 By the following month four companies had embarked - three at Perth Amboy and one at Newark - to serve with 2,500 men from Boston under General Waldo, and it was recommended that Peter Schuyler should be their Colonel.20 This is the first mention of that gallant officer and gentleman, who lived at Petersboro, opposite Belleville in Bergen County. His portrait is in the New Jersey Historical Society's collection, but, unfortunately, it is badly faded.
Early in the following year (1747) Colonel Schuyler made a report upon the condition of his five companies under Captains Dagworthy, Parker, Ware, Stevens, and Leonard. It shows some desertions.21 In May, 1747, Acting-Governor Hamilton told the Assembly that the provisions for the troops in Albany had been expended and that their clothing was worn out, as shown by Colonel Schuyler's letter; furthermore, an express from Schuyler gave the news that the five Jersey companies had mutinied, and resolved to go off with their arms and baggage, if "they do not receive the pay that was promised."22
Acting-Governor Hamilton recommended an appropriation to pay and clothe the soldiers. The Assembly answered that they had given provisions and a bounty of £10,000, which had not been wholly spent, and that the Crown and not New Jersey was obligated to clothe the men; however, they would give £1,000 for provisions, including five hogsheads of rum, and fifteen hundred weight of tobacco.23
Meanwhile Governor Clinton wrote to Colonel Schuyler and Acting-Governor Hamilton, complaining that Schuyler had promised full pay to the New Jersey troops, while he himself had held back part of the pay in order to prevent desertions.24 Acting-Governor Hamilton wrote urging the same view on Col. Peter Schuyler, but the dear man would not go back on his promise to his troops. He paid them in full, whereupon the other Colonial troops mutinied immediately as Clinton had expected. Clinton was forced to draw for their pay, writing to the Crown at the same time that Schuyler ought to acknowledge his fault.26 Probably that gallant gentleman did nothing of the sort. He thought that his men, the loyal fellows who had stayed at their posts, when about one-fifth had deserted, had a right to their pittance.
In September, 1747, the New York authorities mention that Colonel Peter Schuyler and the New Jersey forces were stationed at Saratoga, but may have to leave for want of provisions.27
In November, 1747, Governor Belcher told his Assembly that New Jersey would have to pay her own men, and wait for reimbursement by Parliament.28
In January, 1748, Governor Belcher writes, asking the Crown to appoint Colonel Peter Schuyler and the other officers who should be discharged to the regular army;29 but at the end of January they were ordered to prepare for another attack on Crown Point.30 New Jersey had spent nearly £9,500 currency for victualling and clothing, and was to recover £4,000. As the Crown had not ordered the troops discharged, more bills of credit were authorized to victual the men.31
New Jersey was thus in continual military service.
Possibly the Schuyler family and those of the Captains named may have more letters with reference to this gallant service of several years in the wilderness.
We have a few papers with reference to James Parker's Company,32 giving the names of those who authorized him to get their pay in New York, or to whom some bounty had been promised; but we ought to know the names of all the brave four hundred who "kept the pass" in the northern wilderness.
16 New Jersey Archives, Vol. VI, pp. 178-191.
17 Ibid, Vol. VI, p. 368.
18 Parker and Skinner Papers, 1746. Not printed. Original documents in possession of the writer in scrapbooks containing family memorabilia.
19 Parker and Skinner Papers, Aug. 13 and 29, 1746.
20 New Jersey Archives, Vol. VI, p. 376, et seq. For a genealogical account of the Schuyler family and an excellent biography of Col. Peter Schuyler, see Winfield's History of Hudson County, pp. 531-548.
21 New York Colonial Documents, Vol. VI, p. 424.
22 New Jersey Archives, Vol. VI, p. 436.
23 Ibid, Vol. VI, p. 438.
24 Ibid, Vol. VI, p. 441.
25 Ibid, Vol. VI, p. 447.
26 New York Colonial Documents, Vol. VI, pp. 351-357.
27 Ibid, Vol. VI, p. 618.
28 New Jersey Archives, Vol. VII, p. 67.
29 Ibid, Vol. VII, p. 93.
30 Ibid, Vol. VII, p. 94.
31 Ibid, Vol. VII, p. 106. Also Session Laws, (1746), p. 8; (1747), p. 12.
32 Parker and Skinner Papers, Nov. 18-19, 1746.
V
INDIAN TROUBLE AND WAR FINANCE, 1755-6 The following years, until the beginning of the next French war, 1755, were by no means years of peace. French aggressions on the Ohio and on the western frontier continued; meanwhile the Colony was borrowing or renewing bills of credit to pay off former bills.
Bills of credit have a curious history. Macaulay tells us that William III found the English currency of shillings so cut, or "sweated," that he called in the shillings and issued new ones of full weight. This remedy, drastic but effectual, did not apply in the Colonies, where the old debased shillings were exchanged at various rates against the Spanish pieces-of-eight reals (also of various weights), which later obtained the name of dollars, and were afterwards adopted as our own unit because they were really the world coinage, no gold being used except in guineas, etc., of varying weighs and values. The English colonies were badly off for a circulating medium. Queen Anne's Proclamation33 attempted to fix the exchange value of colonial shillings at from four and one-half and five, to six to the dollar. But trade and the debased shillings issued by many Colonies made the exchange different in different sections. In New Jersey it was six to the dollar, and in New York eight to the dollar. The real trouble, however, was that the Colonies had no money at all, and their business was largely done in "Proclamation" money. The Colonies therefore almost universally obtained leave to issue bills of credit in this "Proclamation" money, lending the bills upon good mortgage, so that the interest on the loans paid the Governor's small salary, which was about all the colonial expenses in times of peace, while the bills served as a currency.
The Lords of Trade, however, were suspicious of these bills and insisted that one-twelfth should be paid and cancelled every year. Thus the currency was destroyed at the same time that the debts were called. In New Jersey this was one of the chief causes of the Revolution.
The colonial Governors repeatedly urged that the people would be very willing to pay taxes if they could be saved from bankruptcy. By reason of the contraction of the currency farms sold for a song.
Governor Morris was refused any salary for four years on this ground alone, and in 1770 Governor Franklin's pay was held back for several years. At the same time the latter writes, asking the London banks to allow further issues, and insisting that the people were most patriotic. The great issue of bills had been just before and during the last French war, when the Colonies were in training for their great fight against England.34
But New Jersey from 1749 to 1755, was not at peace. In June, 1755, Sir William Johnson complains to Governor Shirley that he got less than Colonel Schuyler, to whom New Jersey allowed three hundred pounds sterling for his table although he commanded only five hundred men.35
In 1754 the Crown urged Governor Belcher to call upon his Legislature to arm against the French in Ohio,36 while Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan for united effort by all the Colonies. The Crown urged fortifications and a general levy for common security and defense, and commissioners were authorized to arrange Indian factories, block houses and joint attack.37
Schuyler and his regiment were quartered in Schenectady, and were reported in good health. He writes asking for shoes, men and money. The men were refused, but the Assembly granted the money, begging for leave to issue £70,000 for bills of credit to be used mostly against the French.38 The Crown had ordered two regiments to Virginia and had directed that they should be recruited from five hundred to seven hundred men each, while Governor Shirley and Sir William Pepperell were to be Colonels of two other regiments.39 England promised arms, clothing and other necessaries, while the Colonies provided victuals and transportation. The Crown urged the Colonies to make a common fund for these purposes, but with the stupid proviso that colonial Generals and field officers should have no rank with the English, while the Captains and inferior officers should be preceded by regulars of the same rank.40The Governor forwarded his money bill, saying it must be agreed to or the Colonies would not take a step.41
At this period New Jersey was a small colony with a population of eighty thousand whites and one thousand five hundred blacks, an increase of over fifteen thousand in ten years; it maintained a militia of over ten thousand effectives.42 By the beginning of 1755 the Assembly was again asked to send men to New York for their relief. The answer was that New Jersey would defend New York City if it should be attacked.43
In this war New Jersey did her duty well though her troops took part in the defeats rather than in the victories.
Early in 1755 New Jersey put an embargo on provisions or warlike stores going to Cape Breton and provided subsistence for other soldiers marching through the Colony.44
In April five hundred free men, or Indians, were ordered enlisted to recover what territory the French had conquered and to make a fort at Crown Point, acting as part of an expedition with troops from New England and New York. The five hundred men were to be under a Colonel, and each company of men was to be commanded by a Captain and Ensign.45 The Captains had to swear that they would make out true rolls and pay accounts. The Colony was to buy the arms.
According to Section 15 of the laws, each soldier was to be provided with
"one good sheepswool blanket, a good lapel coat of coarse cloth, a felt hat, two check shirts, two pair of Osnaburg trousers, a pair of shoes and a pair of stockings. Every five men should have a tent, and each man a good firelock, a good cutlass sword or bayonet, a cartouche box, and a hatchet. The whole force should have fifteen barrels of pork, forty-five hundred weight of lead, and other necessaries."
By a subsequent act of the Session (1755) each company could draw one thousand pounds of levy money as expenses for raising its troops, and the troops were allowed to act anywhere and not merely at Crown Point. Peter Schuyler was appointed Colonel, and he, with the Jersey troops, was soon in Oswego. The Captains included Skinner, John Parker and Woodward. Most of the ensigns fell ill and some forty of the men.
The New Jersey troops were employed in building a fort east of the Hudson River. Shirley's regiment was losing five or six men by desertion of a night. Of five deserters ordered shot three were reprieved and two executed.46 It was no child's play, this militia duty.
Shirley, who had got the New Jersey regiment from Crown Point to Niagara had one thousand nine hundred men,47 and in June Governor Belcher described this regiment of fine and likely men as at Schenectady, ready to march under Braddock's order to Niagara.48
Letters are extant from Captain Bradstreet at Oswego giving information of the activities of the French in sending Indians against Braddock.
Governor Belcher thought Braddock's movements "a little cloudy."49 In July, 1755, he learned of his defeat and death and called the Assembly together.50 He laid before them a letter from Colonel Schuyler suggesting an embargo on stores; he feared that there may be a check of operations as to Crown Point and Niagara; he knew little of the troops since they were at Schenectady, but thought the Colonies acting together should assemble at least twenty thousand men.51 Meanwhile the Lords of Trade refused to approve of the bill for £70,000 of credit.52
On the 9th he again urges the embargo and the sending of reinforcements to the command of Governor Shirley; he advises penalties to enforce the embargo, and a militia law as necessary for the defense of the Jersey frontier.
Gloom hung over the Colony and little success in the military operations was expected that year.
After all, the New Jersey population in 1755 was not large. By the national estimate, Pennsylvania had 220,000 inhabitants, of whom 100,000 were Germans; Massachusetts had 200,000; Virginia had 125,000; Maryland and Connecticut each had 100,000; New Jersey and New Hampshire each had 75,000; New York had 55,000; Rhode Island had 30,000; South Carolina had 25,000; Nova Scotia had 4,000; Georgia 3,000.53
Belcher was a gallant and enthusiastic Governor, and in the autumn he urged that we raise twenty-five thousand men to drive out the French, saying "that this little province made ample provision for five hundred men till next May with alacrity and unanimity and will do their share.54 Braddock's defeat, he adds, at first threw a gloom over the Colony, but the troops are again roused and in good fighting spirits, pursuing the plan of operations with all prudence. He hopes for good news from Crown Point, and does not understand the inaction with two thousand men at Albany and over two thousand at Oswego, and General Johnson with six thousand.55
In November, 1755, the departure of the Ambassadors had made an open rupture and Shirley had taken Braddock's place.56 The Governor summoned his Assembly and we have the accounts of the West Jersey treasurer, including the first and second expeditions of 1755, showing, for example, that Captain Woodward got £150 bounty for one hundred men, £330 for leather breeches, and £171 for transportation; also some thousands for clothing, shoes, powder, lead, kettles, provisions, etc., for the Eastward expedition.57 In November, 1755, there were eager demands for intelligence from the frontier, and a proclamation to the Colonels of all the home regiments ordering muster and inspection and instant march against any invasion. The list of colonels is as follows: Andrew Johnston, Middlesex; John Low, Essex; Abraham Vankempen, Sussex; Joseph Stout, Hunterdon; Nicholas Gibbin, Cumberland and Cape May; Joseph Tuttle, Morris; Charles Read, Burlington; Cornelius Vanhorne, Somerset; John Read, Monmouth; John Schuyler, Bergen.58
Mention is also made of a Colonel Anderson and a Colonel Allen as being on active service.
Governor Belcher writes to Lieutenant-Governor Morris, of Pennsylvania, acknowledging his letter about outrages, but wonders how aid can be sent to Pennsylvania if that Colony refuses to do anything for itself; he adds that "if the people of Pennsylvania, who may readily raise twenty thousand or thirty thousand men, will do nothing for the defense of their country, or for saving the lives of their wives and children, I am afraid the Assembly of this poor little Province will not think it reasonable to send their people out of the Province," thereby leaving themselves exposed.59 The Governor urges the Assembly to do all it can, to send a commissioner to New York to meet the others, and to stop shipment of provisions, thus starving out Canada. He pays a high compliment to Colonel John Anderson of Sussex for his alacrity in raising four hundred men and marching to the defense of Easton. He says he had ordered a muster and wishes to thank the officers and men for the defeat which Major-Generals Johnston and Lyman had inflicted on the Indians two months ago.60 He still urges the capture of Canada on Governor Shirley, who had asked that the Assembly should continue Colonel Schuyler with his regiment, and he suggests a winter campaign.61 He orders a muster of the militia in Morris, Essex, Hunterdon, and Bergen (including the regiment of horse in Bergen), against the French and Indians who are "burning and murdering at the Forks of the Delaware."
Two days later he writes to Colonel Anderson that nearly three thousand had marched the day before from Morris, and that Colonel Loudon of Essex and Colonel Schuyler of Bergen marched that day with five hundred more.62 He orders Colonel Johnston to detach three hundred effectives, suggests Captain William Skinner for the command, and approves Colonel Tuttle's proposal for one thousand volunteers "to go at their own charge and choose their own officers."63 He then orders detachments of thirty to sixty men from each regiment to go to Sussex, or two hundred men in all, to range the woods and frontier, and to build block houses.64 He reports to the Lords of Trade that New Jersey had no cannon, small arms, ordnance, or militia stores, except what each man is bound to furnish. But he reports the population as being upwards of eighty thousand whites, and one thousand five hundred to one thousand eight hundred blacks, of whom sixteen thousand are able to bear arms; while the militia, by the last year's return, numbered about thirteen thousand effective men, obliged by law to be mustered and trained every six months, every man armed with a good firelock, and fit to march against any enemy.65 Can our State make any such proportionate report today?
In December, 1755, the Assembly asked that the New Jersey regiment be employed in home defense.66 The Governor in his reply cites a letter from Governor Shirley, saying "Colonel Schuyler, whose command of the New Jersey Regiment hath made it more beneficial to me than it could otherwise have been, to whose assistance of me in every part of His Majesty's service at Oswego I am greatly indebted, and who would be an honour to the service in corps, will wait upon Your Excellency and let you particularly into the circumstances of the soldiers. I understand they have clothes and stores now at Albany or Schenectady, but it is impracticable to get them back here at this season and indeed I believe it would be greatly to their prejudice if they were to make use of them before their imbarkation for Schenectady. They will likewise want tents and some muskets and perhaps some other matters as he will inform you. I have given orders to Colonel Schuyler to employ the regiment under his command as Your Excellency shall direct until the time of their march to Albany for the next campaign."
The Governor continues:
"You will see, gentlemen, the General has readily and fully answered your request of employing the regiment of this Province under the command of Colonel Schuyler for the defense of our frontiers; but as they are wanting of tents, arms and other things, and that the time of their being remanded will soon be here, you may, perhaps, upon mature deliberation, think it hardly worth while to have them altered from their present situation for the defense of the Province by raising a new corps of men on which we may have a more lasting dependence. As I am still receiving fresh account of the distress of our frontier inhabitants, I hope you will lose no time in making such determinations as shall be of all advance to the King's honour and interest and the safety and quiet of his good subjects under our care."
Afterwards the Governor reports that Governor Shirley had provided what men, arms, etc., Schuyler had desired.67
In 1756, £15,000 were authorized for supplies and more provisions and clothing; for each soldier, two pair of yarn stockings, two pair of good, strong, double-soled shoes, one good coat, one woolen jacket, and two check shirts.68 Obviously the New York climate was cold.
The pay was small. The Colonel was paid in "Prociamation" money a monthly stipend of twenty pounds, twelve shillings; the captains received ten pounds, one shilling; and the men one pound, thirteen shillings, sixpence, or a little over five dollars a month.69
33 Smith's History of New Jersey, p. 275, 281.
34 "Taxes and Money Before the Revolution," [by R. Wayne Parker] New Jersey Historical Society, 1883, Proceedings, Series II, Vol. VII, pp. 143-157.
35 Documentary History of New York, Vol. II, p. 663-4, small ed.; p. 387, large edition.
36 New Jersey Archives, Vol. VIII, ii, 292-4.
37 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 9.
38 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 14.
39 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 17.
40 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 29
41 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 72, 73.
42 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 84.
43 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 92-94
44 New Jersey Laws, 1755.
45 Ibid, April, 1755.
46 Letter of Captain William Skinner, 1757 (Skinner and Parker Papers.)
47 New Jersey Archives, Vol. VIII, ii, III.
48 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 112.
49 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 116.
50 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 117.
51 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 122.
52 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 124.
53 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 132.
54 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 137.
55 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 141.
56I bid, Vol. VIII, ii, 148.
57 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 150-155.
58 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 156-157.
59 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 158.
60 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 163.
61 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 168.
62 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 176.
63 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 178-179.
64 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 181-184.
65 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 185.
66 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 194
67 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 203.
68 New Jersey Laws, 1756.
69 Ibid, 1756.
VI
THE CONQUEST OF CANADA, 1756 TO 1763 In February, 1756, the British Board of Trade complimented our Colony upon raising five hundred men and supplying the regulars, and also informed us that the Earl of Loudon had been made Commander-in-Chief, and would bring two battalions to America where four others were to be raised. At that time about 115,000 pounds sterling was paid to the Colonies, of which New Jersey got only five thousand.70
A circular from Whitehall71 urged that the Governors of New England, New Jersey and New York should recruit men to fill up the four regiments of regulars, promising to each recruit a grant of two hundred acres free of tax for ten years, either in New York, New England, or Nova Scotia, when discharged; or to his widow or children if he were killed.
The Colonies were asked to raise the same number of rangers as last year.
In June, 1756, the Governor reports that all had been done by the Assembly with great alacrity and unanimity, and £17,000 credits were issued to help the forces of Colonel Peter Schuyler, who was made commissary and whose duty, together with General Shirley, was to pay the officers and soldiers of New Jersey.72 A Colonel was appointed over the two hundred and fifty men on the New Jersey frontier.73
There had been a smart skirmish at Fort Ontario in which four thousand French and Indians had attacked and had been beaten off by Colonel Schuyler, but on August 27, 1756, there were unfavorable rumors about the siege of Oswego. On September 10 its commander, Colonel Mercer, was killed and the second in command surrendered.74 The casualties including killed and wounded mention some names from New Brunswick,75 and the prisoners included Colonel Schuyler, Captain William Skinner and his brother Jack. The English account76 takes pains to say that "the brave Colonel Schuyler is in good health."
In December, 1756, the remainder of the forces were at Shrewsbury for the winter, and had been ordered paid, as peace had been negotiated with the Indians.
With Colonel Schuyler there were captured several of his best Captains, and there was very little of the regiment left when it came under the command of John Parker, who had seen service as a midshipman from 1745 to 1750;77 he was a most enthusiastic young man, and perhaps overconfident as a soldier.
In March, 1757, the regiment was ordered recruited up to five hundred men, and two hundred more were enlisted for the defense of the frontier against savage Indian enemies.78 More bills of credit were issued to enlist one hundred rangers under the Earl of Loudoun.79 The clothes were made warmer; each man was to have a good blanket, woolen jacket, a kersey lapel coat, buckskin breeches, two check shirts, one pair shoes, two pair stockings, a leather cap and a hatchet.80
A provision of arms was ordered by the Colony, consisting of two thousand muskets, two thousand pounds of gun powder, one thousand pounds of lead, eight thousand flints, and thirty thousand bullet moulds. They were distributed among the counties proportionately to their size, and at that period Essex was outnumbered by Monmouth, Middlesex, Burlington and Hunterdon, the last named having nearly twice the number of inhabitants.81
Meanwhile William Pitt had become Premier, and so we find a new man at the wheel. He asked the Governors to raise troops without any clogs upon their enlistment or upon the means adopted for raising money.82 The men and their arms and clothing were all that would be required of the Provinces. The Crown would lay out magazines and stores and provisions.
The events of the year were not encouraging for New Jersey. On July 25, 1757, Colonel Parker took his men on a night expedition by boat on Lake George, intending to surprise Montcalm; but they themselves were ambushed by Indian attacks from all sides.83 Colonel Parker and Captain Ogden were in the last boat and they alone escaped. Three New Jersey Captains were killed, and many men captured or massacred. Parkman, in his Montcalm and Wolfe, suggests that some of them were eaten. The Commander was afterwards transferred or bought a commission in the Royal Americans, went to the West Indies, and died there.
Let us return to our prisoners captured at Oswego. The officers and men were sent to France, except the brave Colonel Schuyler. He, in company with Dr. Stokes, remained in Montreal, where he was allowed to keep house and to relieve the necessities of his countrymen, a good office which he discharged with liberality. In November of the same year he went to his home in Peterboro on parole. He returned to surrender himself in Canada in June, 1758, where he was finally exchanged and went back to his command in 1739. He remained in service until, it is said, he finally entered Montreal as a victor after so many fruitless previous attempts.
Colonel Schuyler later returned to New Jersey and died there. His only daughter, Catherine, married Archibald Kennedy, moved to England, died, and left no issue.84 The other officers captured with Colonel Schuyler were sent to France and then paroled to England for the purpose of exchange.
Captain Skinner went to London trying to find officers with whom to exchange, and he also experienced Colonel Schuyler's generosity, having a letter of credit for two hundred pounds from him.85 In September, 1757, he was still at this work. His people were at Plymouth, with Captains Roco, Booker, Walters and Ogden of Colonel Schuyler's regiment, and were subsisted by the government because a clerk mistook them for regulars. He got his brother away as a volunteer. He writes: "I thought it was better for him to go than to stay at this damned place, where there is nothing but debauchery going forward."86
Our friend in London was having his fill of society, but he finally got his exchange. He secured subsistence for the troops after the colonial agent, one Partridge, had proved good for nothing; and took it on himself to write a very scathing letter to the Secretary of State, telling him that it was cruel that so many fine fellows, after their service of two years, should be so neglected by their mother country as to want the necessaries of life. He says: "Partridge is a damned scoundrel, who would only promise to give his note to be paid out of money belonging to the Province, but would not advance it himself, although worth at least 30,000 pounds sterling." Finally, he got a regular commission for himself by presenting a petition to the King on his knees at a royal levee.87 He married his cousin, the daughter of Lord Gage, and rose to be a Major-General, but never fought against America. The story in extenso is most interesting, the letter being printed in Whitehead's Contributions to East New Jersey History, and in the Archives.88
By the end of 1757 the war was really going on. Provincial rank was recognized, the regulars only receiving seniority in like rank up to Colonel.89 But the Lords of Trade still looked more after their pocketbooks than to the good of the Colonies, and in the appointment of Governor Bernard they ask him to disapprove bills of credit, or any duty on slaves or felons.90
The regiment in April, 1758, was ordered to be raised to one thousand men, and the Colonel and Captains had to keep exact rolls to be sent regularly to the Governor;91 but it is almost certain that those rolls are no longer in existence. Barracks were ordered to be built at Trenton, Perth Amboy, New Brunswick, Burlington and Elizabethtown.92 Colonel Schuyler was at last awarded some of his advances by statute.93 There were fights at Fort William Henry and at Ticonderoga, and we have a full list of the officers engaged in those operations.94 Colonel John Johnston was killed that year at Niagara.95 Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Shaw had been in the Lake George ambuscade, and was killed at Ticonderoga.96
We can only judge of how well they fought by the number of killed and wounded. They gave oaths of fidelity not to desert to the French or the Indians. Two hundred and fifty men more were ordered to the frontier, the pay being raised to two pounds, ten shillings a month. The Assembly and the Governor urged that bills of credit be authorized for £42,000.97
In the end of the year, William Pitt asked for men to attack Crown Point, Montreal and Quebec, the King furnishing arms, artillery, tents, provisions and transportation; and in 1759 an act was passed for one thousand Jersey volunteers and allowing £40,000.98 The Governor complimented the men as being different from the troops sent by other provinces; they were completely clothed in a handsome uniform, furnished with all necessaries, and mustered to a man. On the passage of the bill none of the Quakers voted, except one who voted for it. We had, however, some fighting Quakers then.
Governor Bernard reports that the troops arrived at Albany May 27, 1759. They were reviewed by the General, who says they were much praised and universally thought to be the best provincial regiment in America. They were commanded by Colonel Schuyler, with good officers; all except the ensigns had served for several years, and some for several campaigns.99
When enlistments halted the Governor ordered the militia mustered throughout the Province; the measure raised such a spirit that the regiment soon had a full complement. The list of officers is in the Archives, together with their subsequent history.100
Many of these same men fought in the Revolution; the names of John Tenbrook, Amos Ogden, Silas Newcombe and Elias Dayton being especially noteworthy. They were not at Quebec in 1759, but served in the defense of New York.In 1760 we sent one thousand men; in 1761, six hundred men. In 1762 Montreal was taken and the whole of Canada came under the British flag. It is believed that New Jersey troops under Colonel Schuyler went with the final expedition. The Ottawa records should give full details.
70 New Jersey Archives, Vol. VIII, ii, 205.
71 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 209.
72 New Jersey Laws, 1756.
73 Ibid, 1756.
74 Documentary History of New York, Vol. I, pp. 318, 322, 325.
75 Ibid, Vol. I, p. 309.
76 Ibid, Vol. I, p. 326.
77 Whitehead's Contributions to East New Jersey History, p. 131
78 New Jersey Laws, 1756.
79 Ibid, 1756.
80 Ibid, 1756.
81 Ibid, 1758.
82 New Jersey Archives, Vol. VIII, ii, 249.
83 Whitehead's Contributions to East New Jersey History, pp. 131-132.
84 New York Colonial Documents, Vol. X, p. 776.
85 Parker and Skinner Papers, Letter of May 17, 1757, abstracted in Whitehead's Contributions to East Jersey History, p. 114, and N.J. Archives, Vol. VIII, part 2, p. 252-3.
86 Ibid, letter of September 8,1757.
87 New Jersey Archives, Vol. IX, pp. 8 and 14.
88 Ibid, Vol. VIII, ii, 253, et seq; see note 85.
89 Ibid, Vol. IX, p. 13.
90 Ibid, Vol. IX, page 21.
91 New Jersey Laws, 1758.
92 Ibid, 1758. The barracks at New Brunswick and Elizabeth have long since disappeared. Those at Perth Amboy were demolished a few years ago. Portions of those at Burlington are still standing, being incorporated into the buildings of a church and parochial school. The career of the Trenton barracks is of interest. They seem to have stood intact until about 1830, when Front Street was cut through the middle of the set of buildings and the two wings were utilized as dwellings on opposite sides of the street. In recent years the Old Barracks Association was organized in Trenton, and acquired the wing situated on the river side of Front Street; and since 1910, as a result of the activities of that Association, the State acquired by purchase or condemnation the portion on the other side of the street, as part of a general scheme to enlarge and improve the State House reservation. The part of Front Street running between the two wings was vacated; the Association conveyed its holdings to the State; the destroyed portion was rebuilt, and the barracks now present from the exterior the same appearance as when they were built. The interior has been adapted for a museum and meeting rooms, and various rooms are occupied by ancestral patriotic societies, the Society of Colonial Wars having one of the corner rooms. See Pamph. Laws, 1911, p. 522; 1913, p. 687; 1914 p. 580; 1915, p. 810; 1916, p. 701; 1917, p. 305. Col. Wars Yearbook, 1917.
93 New Jersey Laws, 1758.
94 New Jersey Archives, Vol. IX. p. 184.
95 Whitehead's Contributions to East Jersey History, p. 72.
96 New York Colonial Documents, Vol. X, p. 732.
97 New Jersey Archives, Vol. IX, pp. 131 and 138.
98 Ibid, Vol. IX, p. 149.
99 Ibid, Vol. IX, p. 174.
100 Ibid, Vol. IX, p. 186.
VII
EXPEDITION TO HAVANA, 1762 In 1762 there was an expedition to Havana and Jerseymen formed a part of it. We know just as little about what they did then as in previous campaigns, but the copy of the Canadian records in our Adjutant-General's office gives General Amherst's staff, the status of the provincial troops, lists, transportation details, etc. The general roster of the troops from the first division is also noted, together with those returned from Havana. Indeed there seem to have been two Havana expeditions. We do know that New Jersey appropriated money to be paid General Amherst for bounty to men who had enlisted in the regular army, and that in 1763, 1764 and 1765 acts were passed to pay the soldiers.
VIII
PEACE, 1763 In 1763 the Treaty of Paris was signed. General Gage was now put in command of the American forces, and the colonial wars were at an end, while the struggle with the mother country was about to begin. The Provinces insisted upon renewing their bills of credit, but the Crown insisted that the bills should be paid and cancelled, calling the mortgage debts, while the currency was contracted. Farms sold for a small sum. The people in despair refused to pay taxes for the Governor's salary. When the Crown attempted to nullify this refusal by the Stamp Act and by quartering troops they joined the other Colonies in revolt.
After the battle of Springfield, General Washington said in a letter that "if all Minute Men behaved as well as those from New Jersey he would need no Continentals." The reason for this encomium lay in the fact that the continuous service which New Jersey had had in the colonial wars had trained our whole population in arms and had given us able officers. We had been tried in the fire. The brotherhood of arms in the colonial wars had merged colonial distinctions into the one name of America.
| Republished by Digital Antiquaria Inc., 1996 |