* Parliament voted him a funeral and a monument. The pall-bearers on

the occasion of his burial were Edmund Burke, Sir George Saville, John

Dunning, Esq., and Right Hon. Thomas Townshend. He was buried about

twenty yards from the north entrance of Westminster Abbey. His monument

is composed of six figures, representing Lord Chatham, Prudence,

Fortitude, Britannia, Earth, and Ocean. The statue of Chatham is

represented in the engraving. The inscription upon the monument is as

follows: "Erected by the King and Parliament, as a Testimony to the

Virtues and Ability of William Pitt. Earl of Chatham, during whose

administration Divine Providence exalted Great Britain to a Height of

Prosperity and Glory unknown to any former Age."

[[[Letter of Commissioners to Congress.--Action of Congress concerning

them, and their Mission.--Mrs. Græme.]]]

{350}declined on the ground that the matter was wholly of a civil

nature, and the letter was forwarded to Congress. The commissioners then

sent their papers, by a flag, directly to the president. Among these

was an address to that body. The president was desired to read it

immediately. When he came to a part containing strong expressions of

disrespect for the King of France, he was interrupted. The House, after

some debate, directed him to read no further, but to seal the papers.

The subject was resumed in debate two days afterward, when a reply was

ordered to be returned to the commissioners, signed by the president,

the substance of which was in accordance with the former proceedings

in relation to North's bills. They were informed that no reconciliation

could possibly be effected on the proffered terms, but, when the

king should manifest a sincere desire for peace, "by an explicit

acknowledgment of the independence of the states, or the withdrawing of

his fleets and armies, Congress would be ready to enter into a treaty

therefor."

[Illustration: 8360]

It was not in the power of the commissioners to accede to either of

these propositions, nor was it the intention of Parliament to grant

them. *

The proceedings of Congress previous to the arrival of the commissioners

** had effectually barred the door to negotiations. The commissioners

remained in the country until October, and made various attempts by art,

and by official intercourse, to gain their object. They failed, however,

and finally returned to England. Just previous to their departure,

they issued a long manifesto and proclamation to Congress, to the state

Legislatures, and to all the inhabitants of the States, in which

they briefly recapitulated the steps they had taken to accomplish a

reconciliation; denounced the rebels, and warned the people of the total

and material change which was to take place in the future conduct of

hostilities. Should they still persist in refusing obedience, they were

menaced with all the extremes of war. Packages of these manifestoes,

with one printed on vellum, and signed by Clinton, Carlisle, and Eden,

were made up to be sent to Congress and the several states by a flag.

Congress declared that the agents employed to distribute them were not

entitled to the protection of a flag, and recommended the states to

seize and imprison them, Congress also published a manifesto, which,

after charging commissioners with mean attempts to bribe members of its

body and other persons, with deceit and servility of adulation, they

concluded by solemnly declaring, "If our enemies presume to execute

their threats, or persist in their present career vengeance as shall

deter others from like conduct.

* Sparks's Washington, v., 397.

** It is worthy of note, that these proceedings of Congress took

plaee ten days before the arrival of the intelligence that France

had acknowledged the independence of the United States; that event,

therefore, had no influence on the mind of Congress.

*** These I copied from an original manifesto of the commissioners,

dated October 3d, 1778, and preserved in the office of the secretary

of state of Connecticut. The name of Johnstone is not attached to the

manifesto. His openly corrupt proceedings caused Congress to declare

that no intercourse should be had with him. Johnstone endeavored to gain

by flattery what the nature of his commission denied him. Finding no

door open for negotiation with Congress, he determined to attempt to

win over influential members to a favorable consideration of the

propositions of the ministers. For this purpose he employed an American

lady, the daughter of Doctor Thomas Græme of Pennsylvania, then the wife

of Hugh Ferguson, a relative of the secretary of the commissioners. Her

husband being in the British service, she was much in the company of

Loyalists. She was a woman of superior attainments, and, although the

wife of an enemy to the country, she maintained the confidence and

respect of leading patriots. Johnstone made his residence at the house

of Charles Stedman (one of Cornwallis's officers, and an historian of

the war), where Mrs. Ferguson often visited. Johnstone spoke to her

warmly in favor of American interests, and she believed him to be a

true friend of their country. He expressed a strong desire to stop the

effusion of blood, and a belief that, if a proper representation eould

be made to leading men in Congress, a reconciliation might yet be

effected. As he was not permitted to pass the lines himself, Johnstone

desired Mrs. Ferguson to say to General Joseph Reed, that, provided

he could, conformably to his conscience and views of things, exert his

influence to settle the dispute, he might command ten thousand guineas

and the best post in government. Mrs. Ferguson suggested that such a

proposition would be considered as a bribe by Mr. Reed, but Johnstone

disclaimed the idea. Convinced of his sincerity and good-will, as she

alleged, she sought and obtained an interview with General Reed in

Philadelphia, three days after the British had evacuated that city. She

repeated to him her conversation with Johnstone, when Reed, filled with

indignation, replied, "I am not worth purchasing, but, such as I am,

the King of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it!" General Reed

had received a communication from Johnstone just before leaving Valley

Forge. The written and verbal communications of the commissioner he now

laid before Congress, and that body declared all further correspondence

with Johnstone to be terminated. The fact soon went abroad. The reply

of Reed went from mouth to mouth, and the people, looked with ineffable

contempt upon the commissioners. * Poor Mrs. Ferguson, whose motives

seem to have been pure, was violently assailed. Unfortunately, she had

been the bearer, a few months before, of an offensive letter from the

Reverend Mr. Duché (see page 268) to General Washington, and she was

denounced as a British emissary. She lived, however, to see all these

suspicions dissipated.!--See Gordon's American Revolution, ii., 378;

Life and Correspondence of President Reed, i., 381; Mrs. Ellett's Women

of the Revolution, i., 196.

[[[Attempt to Bribe General Reed.--Mrs. Graeme's part in the

Affair.--Memoir of General Reed.]]]

{351}We appeal to that God who searcheth the hearts of men for the

rectitude of our intentions; and in his holy presence declare, that, as

we are not moved by any light and hasty suggestions of anger or revenge,

so, through every possible change of fortune, we will adhere to this our

determination."

[Illustration: 8361]

The American army remained encamped at Valley Forge until the 18th

of June, [[1778]] when intelligence reached them that the enemy had

evacuated Philadelphia and

* Joseph Reed was born in New Jersey, August 27, 1741, and graduated

at Princeton in 1757. He studied law with Richard Stockton; also at

the Temple, in London. He was one of the committee of correspondence in

Philadelphia in 1774, where he took up his residence after his return

from England. He was president of the first popular convention in

Pennsylvania. He accompanied Washington as his aid and secretary when he

went to Cambridge in 1775, and remained with him during the campaign. In

1776 he was appointed adjutant general of the American army, and proved

an active and brave officer. In the spring of 1777 he was appointed a

general officer in the cavalry, but declined the station. He remained

attached to the army, and was in the battle at Germantown in the autumn

of that year. He was chosen a member of Congress toward the close of

1777. He was a member of that body in 1778, when the commissioners

arrived from England, and, as we have noticed in the text, was

approached with honeyed words, and promises of wealth and rank if he

would favor the views of the government agents. His noble reply was

given, and, abashed, the commissioners sought other and more pliable

instruments for their use. General Reed was chosen president of

Pennsylvania in 1778, and continued in that office until October, 1781,

when he resumed his practice of the law. He ever retained the

confidence and highest esteem of Washington and the best patriots of

the Revolution; and when the cloud of party rancor passed away, all men

beheld in Joseph Reed a patriot and an honest man. In 1784, he visited

England for his health, but without beneficial results. He died on

the 4th of March 1785, at the age of forty-two. His wife was Esther de

Berdt, the leader in the patriotic efforts of the ladies of Philadelphia

to extend comfort to the suffering army, mentioned in a preceding

chapter. George W. Reed, the youngest son of General R, commanded the

Vixen in 1812, and died while a prisoner in England. A few days after

the death of General Reed, Philip Freneau wrote a brief monody, in which

the following lines occur:

"No single art engaged his manly mind,

In every scene his active genius shined.

Nature in him, in honor to our age,

* At once composed the soldier and the sage.

** Trumbull, in his M'Fingall, thus alludes to the:

Behold, at Briton's utmost shifts

Comes Johnstone, loaded with like gifts,

To venture through the Whiggish tribe,

To cuddle, wheedle, coax, and bribe;

And call, to aid his desp'rate mission,

His petticoated politician:

"Firm to his purpose, vigilant and bold,

Detesting traitors, and despising gold,

He scorn'd all bribes from Britain's hostile throne,

For all his country's wrongs were thrice his own."

* of Mrs. Ferguson in Johnstone's efforts at bribery:

"While Venus, join'd to act the farce,

Strolls forth embassadress of Mars.

In vain he strives; for while he lingers,

These mastiffs bite his off ring fingers;

Nor buys for George and realms infernal

One spaniel but the mongrel Arnold."

[[[Sir Henry Clinton Commander-m-Chief.--Condition of the American

Army.--Exchange of General Lee.--Oaths of Allegiance.]]]

{352}crossed the Delaware into New Jersey. Sir Henry Clinton had

succeeded Sir William Howe as generalissimo, and took command of the

British army on the 11th of May. In the instructions to Clinton as

Howe's successor, the ministry ordered him to evacuate Philadelphia.

He had resolved to do so as early as the 23d of May, and to proceed by

water to New York. Fearing he might be delayed by head winds, and that

Washington would push forward to and capture New York city, he

changed his plan and determined to proceed by land. In the mean while,

Washington, informed of the evident intention of the enemy to evacuate

Philadelphia, placed his army in a condition to march immediately at the

beating of the drum. His condition was very much changed for the better.

Major-general Charles Lee had been exchanged for Prescott, and was now

in camp, and reinstated in his old command as second general officer of

the army. * The troops fit for service numbered about fifteen thousand;

and the warmth and comforts of pleasant summer time, co-operating with

the good news from France, made the soldiers cheerful and hopeful. **

[Illustration: 0362]

* Washington was directed, by a resolution of Congress, to administer

the oath of allegiance to the officers of the army before leaving Valley

Forge. The oath was administered to several at one time, each officer

placing his hand upon the Bible. Just as the commander-in-ehief began

to repeat the oath, General Lee withdrew his hand. This movement was

repeated, to the astonishment of all. Washington inquired the cause of

his strange conduct, when Lee replied, "As to King George, I am ready

enough to absolve myself from all allegiance to him; but I have some

scruples about the Prinee of Wales." Even the grave Washington was

obliged to join in the laughter which followed this odd reply. Lee

eventually took the oath with the rest, and subscribed his name. In the

archives of the State Department at Washington City, the original oaths

of allegiance, signed by all the officers of the army at Valley Forge,

are well preserved, and present an interesting collection of autographs.

The oath was printed on a slip of paper, with blanks, in which the name

and rank of the officer was written, with his signature at bottom. I

observed that Generals Lord Stirling, Knox, and Greene administered the

principal portion of the oaths. The following is a fac simile of Lord

Stirling's oath, administered by Washington:

* do acknowledge the UNITED STATES of AMERICA, to be Free, Independent

and Sovereign States, and declare that the people thereof owe no

allegiance or obedience to George the Third, King of Great-Britain; and

I renounce, refute and abjure any allegiance or obedience to him; I will

to the utmost of my power, support, maintain and defend the said United

States, against the said King George the Third, his heirs and successors

and his or their abettors, affiliants and adherents.

** Of these, 11,800 were at Valley Forge, which comprehended the sick

and those who might be called into action on an emergency. There was

a detachment at Wilmington of 1400; and on the Hudson River there

were 1800. At=a council of war held on the 18th of May, it was thought

reasonable to anticipate that, when all the re-enforcements were brought

in, the whole army, fit for duty, would amount to about 20,000 men.

[[[Evacuation of Philadelphia by the British.--Pursuit by the

Americans.--The British harassed in New Jersey]]]

{353}Sir Henry Clinton made his preparations for evacuation with so much

adroitness, that Washington was not certified of his destination until

he had actually crossed the Delaware. Suspecting, however, that he would

take a land route for New York, the commander-inchief had dispatched

Maxwell's brigade to co-operate with General Dickinson and the New

Jersey militia in retarding the march of the enemy. It was a little

before dawn on the morning of the 18th of June, when the British

army left the city, and commenced [[1778]] crossing the Delaware at

Gloucester Point. * At ten o'clock the rear-guard landed; and toward

evening that motley host of British regulars and Loyalists, Hessians,

and a crowd of camp-followers, were encamped around Haddonfield, on the

south side of Cooper's Creek, five miles southeast of Camden.

When intelligence of the evacuation reached Washington, he broke up

his encampment at Valley Forge, and, with almost his whole army, pushed

forward in pursuit. General Arnold, whose wound would not allow him to

engage in active service, took possession of Philadelphia with a small

detachment, while the main army marched rapidly toward the Delaware. The

admirable arrangements of the quarter-master general's department, under

the able management of General Greene, enabled the army to move with

facility. The divisions of Greene and Wayne first crossed the Delaware

at Coryell's Ferry, a short [[June 20, 1778]] distance above the

place where Washington passed to the attack of the Hessians at Trenton

eighteen months previously; and these were followed by the chief and

the remainder of the "army on the two following days. Colonel Morgan

was sent with six hundred men to re-enforce Maxwell. The army halted

at Hopewell, within five miles of Trenton, and there Washington

called another council of war. ** The tardy movements of Clinton induced

the belief that he was maneuvering to entice the Americans into a

general action. "Will it be advisable to hazard a general engagement?"

was the question which the chief proposed to the council. The decision

was a negative; but it was recommended to send detachments to harass

the enemy on their march. General Lee was opposed to this measure, and

objected to any interference whatever with the enemy. Pursuant to the

recommendation of the council, Washington ordered Morgan's corps to gain

the rear of the enemy's right flank, Maxwell's brigade to hang on their

left, and Brigadier-general Scott, *** with about fifteen hundred chosen

men, to annoy them on the rear and flanks. To these were added the New

Jersey militia under General Dickinson, and a party of volunteers from

Pennsylvania under Cadwallader.

Sir Henry Clinton intended to march from Haddonfield directly to

Brunswick, and embark his troops on the Raritan Hiver. He moved on

slowly, by the way of Mount Holly, ****

[Illustration: 8363]

* Gloucester Point is on the Jersey side of the Delaware, three miles

below Camden and Philadelphia.

** A council of war was held on the 17th, the day before the Americans

left Valley Forge, and among other questions proposed was, "If the enemy

march through Jersey, will it be prudent to attack them on the way,

or more eligible to proceed to the North River in the most direct and

convenient manner, to secure the important communication between the

Eastern and Southern States?" Nearly all the officers were opposed to

an attack, on account of the inequality of force, but some thought it

should defend on circumstances. Washington was desirous of attacking the

enemy, but was obliged to yield to the force of circumstances.

*** Charles Scott was a native of Cumberland county, in Virginia. He

raised the first company of volunteers in that state, south of the

James River, that actually entered into the Continental service. So much

was he appreciated, that, in 1777. the shire-town of Powhatan county

was named in honor of him. Congress appointed him a brigadier in the

Continental army on the 1st of April, 1777. He served with distinction

during the war, and at its termination he went to Kentucky. He settled

in Woodford county, in that state, in 1785. He was with St. Clair at his

defeat in 1791; and in 1794 he commanded a portion of Wayne's army at

the battle of the Fallen Timber. He was governor of Kentucky from 1808

to 1812. He died on the 22d of October, 1820, aged seventy-four years.

**** Mount Holly is the scat of justice for Burlington county. It is

situated on the north branch of the Raneoeus Creek, about nineteen

miles from Trenton. During the war, a Whig, named William Denning, who

afterward resided in Mount Holly, constructed a wrought-iron cannon. It

was made of iron staves, hooped like a barrel with the same material.

There were four layers of staves, firmly bound together, and then

bored and breeched like other cannons. He finished one in Middlesex,

Pennsylvania, and began another in Mount Holly. The former was captured

at the battle of Brandywine, and is now in the Tower of London; the

latter was placed in the Philadelphia arsenal. Denning died a few years

since, at the age of ninety-four.

[[[Extent of the British Line.--Washington's Determination to

Fight.--Preparations of both Armies for Battle.]]]

{354}to Crosswicks and Allentown. There being but a single road, his

long train of baggage-wagons and bat-horses, together with his troops,

made a line nearly twelve miles In extent. He was obliged to build

bridges and causeways over the streams and marshes, and his progress,

consequently, was very tardy. When at Allentown, perceiving Washington

almost on his front, Clinton changed his course, rather than risk a

general action with all his encumbrances. Turning to the right, he

took the road leading to Monmouth court-house and Sandy Hook, with the

determination of embarking his troops at the latter place. The American

[[June 25]] army had now reached Kingston, on the Millstone River.

General Lee was still strongly opposed to any interference with the

movements of the enemy, and, being next in command to Washington,

his opinions had considerable weight with the other officers. Yet six

general officers were in favor of continued annoyances by detachments,

and three of them (Greene, La Fayette, and Wayne) declared in favor of

a general action. Washington was at first embarrassed by these divided

opinions; but, relying upon his own judgment, which was strongly in

favor of an engagement, he asked no further advice, but proceeded to

make arrangements for a battle. He immediately ordered a detachment of

one thousand men, under General Wayne, to join the troops nearest the

enemy; gave General La Fayette the command of all the advanced parties,

amounting to almost four thousand [[June 26, 1778]] men, including the

militia, * and moved forward with the main body to Cranberry.

The weather was intensely hot, which circumstance, in connection with a

heavy storm that commenced about nine in the morning, made it impossible

to resume the march without injury to the troops.

Early on the morning of the 27th, La Fayette, with the advanced forces,

proceeded to Englishtown, a hamlet about five miles westward of Monmouth

court-house. Sir Henry Clinton was advised of the movements of the

Americans, and, properly apprehending an attack upon his flanks and

rear, changed the disposition of his line. He placed the baggage train

in front, and his best troops, consisting of the grenadiers, light

infantry, and chasseurs of the line, in the rear. The baggage of

the whole army (in which term were included the bat-horses and

wheel-carriages of every department) was placed under the charge of

General Knyphausen. With his army thus arranged, Clinton encamped in a

strong position near Monmouth court-house, secured on nearly all sides

by woods and marshy grounds. His line extended, on the right, about

a mile and a half beyond the court-house to the parting of the roads

leading to Shrewsbury and Middletown, and on the left, along the road

from Monmouth to Allentown, about three miles.

The alteration in the disposition of his line of march made by Sir

Henry Clinton, obliged Washington to increase the number of his advanced

corps, and accordingly he sent Major-general Lee with two brigades to

join La Fayette at Englishtown, and, as senior officer, to take command

of the whole division designed for making the first attack. The

main army marched the same day, and encamped within three miles of

Englishtown; Morgan's [[June 27.]] corps was left hovering on

the British right; and about seven hundred militia, under

* This force properly fell under the command of General Lee. As he

was totally opposed to the movement, it placed him in an unpleasant

situation. This embarrassment was mentioned to Washington by La Fayette,

who offered to take command of that division. Washington agreed to give

it to La Fayette, if General Lee would consent to the arrangement. That

officer readily consented, and La Fayette was placed in command. Lee

afterward changed his mind, and applied to Washington to be reinstated.

He could not, with justice or propriety, recall the orders given to La

Fayette; and the commander-in-chief endeavored to preserve harmony by

giving Lee the command of two brigades, with orders to join the advanced

detachments, when, of course, his rank would entitle him to the command

of the whole. He ordered Lee to give La Fayette notice of his approach,

and to offer him all the assistance in his power for prosecuting any

enterprise he might have already undertaken. Washington wrote, also,

to La Fayette, explaining the dilemma, and counting upon his cheerful

acquiescence.

[[[British Camp near Monmouth Court house.--Their Movement--Ward Sandy

Hook.--Lee ordered to attack the British.]]]

{355}Dickinson, menaced their left. Washington foresaw the increased

strength the enemy would gain by reaching the heights of Middletown,

which were about three miles in advance. To prevent them obtaining that

advantage, he determined to attack their rear the moment they should

attempt to move. For this purpose he ordered General Lee to make the

necessary disposition, and to keep his troops in readiness to move at

the shortest notice. Sir Henry Clinton, perceiving that an immediate

action was inevitable, made preparations accordingly. The night of the

27th was one of great anxiety to both parties.

The 28th of June, 1778, a day memorable in the annals of the Revolution,

was the Christian Sabbath. The sky was cloudless over the plains of

Monmouth when the morning dawned, and the sun came up with all the

fervor of the summer solstice. It was the sultriest day of the year; not

a zephyr moved the leaves; nature smiled in her beautiful garments

of flowers and foliage, and the birds carolled with delight, in the

fullness of love and harmony. Man alone was the discordant note in the

universal melody. He alone, the proud "lord of creation," claiming for

his race the sole mundane possession of the Divine image, disturbed the

chaste worship of the hour, which ascended audibly from the groves, the

streams, the meadows, and the woodlands. On that calm Sabbath morning,

in the midst of paradisal beauty, twenty thousand men girded on the

implements of hellish war to maim and destroy each other--to sully the

green grass and fragrant flowers with human blood!

At about one o'clock in the morning, Lee sent an order to General

Dickinson to [[June 28]] detach several hundred men as near the British

lines as possible, as a corps of observation. Colonel Morgan was also

directed to approach near enough to attack them on their first movement.

Orders were likewise given to the other divisions of the advanced forces

to make immediate preparations to march; and, before daylight, Colonel

Grayson, with his regiment, leading the brigades of Scott and Varnum,

was in the saddle, and moving slowly in the direction of Monmouth

court-house.

General Knyphausen, with the first division of the British troops,

among which was the chief body of the Hessians, and the Pennsylvania and

Maryland Loyalists, moved forward at daybreak. Sir Henry Clinton, with

the other division, consisting of the flower of his army, ** did not

follow until eight o'clock. Dickinson observed the earliest movement,

and sent an express to Lee, and to the commander-in-chief, the moment

Knyphausen began his march. Washington immediately put the army in

motion, and sent orders to General Lee to press forward and attack the

enemy, unless there should be very powerful reasons to the contrary.

This discretionary clause in the orders eventuated in trouble. Lee

advanced immediately with the brigades of Wayne and Maxwell and sent an

order to Grayson to press forward and attack the pickets of the enemy

as speedily as possible, while he himself pushed forward to overtake

and support him. Grayson, with the two brigades, had passed the Freehold

meeting-house, two miles and a half from Monmouth, when he received the

order. Lee's aid, who bore it, gave it as his opinion that he had better

halt, for he had learned on the way that the main body of the British

were moving to attack the Americans. This information was erroneous,

but it caused Grayson to tarry. General Dickinson, who was posted on a

height on the eastern side of a morass, near s in the plan, received the

same intelligence, and communicated it to Lee, through the aid, on his

return. Lee conformed to the reports, and, after posting two regiments

of militia upon a hill southeast

* William Grayson was a native of Prince William county, in Virginia.

He was appointed one of the commissioners to treat with Sir William Howe

respecting prisoners, while the army was at Valley Forge. In the battle

of Monmouth he commanded a regiment in the advanced corps, and behaved

with valor. At the close of the war he returned to his native state,

and was elected a representative in Congress in 1784. In 1788 he was a

member of the Virginia Convention, called for the purpose of considering

the Constitution of the United States. With Patrick Henry he opposed

the ratification of that instrument. He was appointed one of the first

senators from Virginia in 1789, with Richard Henry Lee. He died at

Dumfries, while on his way to Congress, on the 12th of March, 1790.

** It was composed of the thirty-fourth and fifth brigades of British,

two battalions of British grenadiers, the Hessian grenadiers, a

battalion of light infantry, the Guards, and the sixteenth regiment of

light dragoons.

[[[Approach of the American advanced Corps.--Conflicting

Intelligence.--Preparation for Battle.--Plan of the Action.]]]

{356}of the meeting-house, to secure a particular road, he pushed

forward, with his staff, across the morass, at a narrow causeway near

the parsonage indicated by an oblong upon the stream toward the left of

the plan, and joined Dickinson upon the height.

[Illustration: 0366]

There conflicting intelligence was brought to him. At one moment it was

asserted that the enemy had moved off with precipitation, leaving only a

covering party behind; at another, that the whole army was filing off to

the right and left to attack the Americans. While he was endeavoring

to obtain reliable information on which to predicate orders, La Fayette

arrived at the head of the main body of the advanced corps.

Having satisfied himself that no important force of the enemy was upon

either flank, Lee determined to march on. His whole command now amounted

to about four thousand troops, exclusive of Morgan's corps and the

Jersey militia. The broken country was heavily wooded to the verge of

the plain of Monmouth. Under cover of the forest, Lee pressed forward

until near the open fields, when he formed a portion of his line for

action, and, with Wayne and others, rode forward to reconnoiter. From

observations and intelligence, he concluded that the column of the

British army which he saw deploying on the left were only a covering

party of about two thousand men; and entertaining hopes that he

might succeed in cutting them off from the main army, he maneuvered

accordingly. Wayne was detached, with seven hundred men and two pieces

of artillery, to attack the covering party in the rear; not, however,

with sufficient vigor to cause them to retreat to the main body.

Meanwhile Lee, with a stronger force, endeavored, by a short road

leading to the left, to gain the front of the party. Small detachments

were concealed in the woods, at different points on the enemy's flanks,

to annoy them.

At about nine o'clock in the morning, just as Wayne was prepared to make

a descent upon the enemy, a party of American light horse, advancing on

the right, observed the Queen's Dragoons upon an eminence in the edge of

a wood, parading as if they intended to

* Explanation of tiie Plan.--a a, position occupied by the British

army the night before the battle. 6, British detachment moving toward

Monmouth, c c, British batteries, d d, Colonel Oswald's American

batteries, e, American troops formed near the court-house, f, first

position taken by General Lee in his retreat, g, attack of a party of

the British in the woods, h h, positions taken by General Lee. i, a

British detachment. k, last position of the retreating troops on the

west side of the marsh, m, army formed by General Washington after he

met Lee retreating, n, British detachment, o, American battery, p, plaee

of the principal action near the parsonage, r, first position of the

British after the action, s, second position, f, place where the British

passed the night after the battle. 1, the spot where Washington met Lee

retreating. 2, a hedgerow. 3, the Freehold meeting-house, yet standing.

A, Maxwell's brigade; B, Wayne's; C, Varnum's; D, Scott's. E and F,

Jackson's and Grayson's regiments. G, Carr's house. H, I, and J,

the brigades of Maxwell and Scott, with the regiments of Grayson and

Jackson, marching to the attack. K and L, Greene and Varnum. M, Lord

Stirling. N, La Fayette; and 0, Greene, with Washington. Lee's march

toward Monmouth court-house, the present village of Freehold, was north

of the old road to Englishtown. The present road from Freehold to the

meeting-house varies from the old one in some places, and is very nearly

on a line with Lee's retreat.

[[[The British attacked by Wayne.--Oswald's Artillery.--Wayne checked by

Lee.--Strange Conduct of Lee.]]]

make an attack. Lee ordered his light horse to allow the dragoons to

approach as near as could be done with safety, and then to retreat

to where Wayne was posted, and let him receive them. The maneuver was

partially successful; the dragoons followed the retreating light horse,

until fired upon by a party under Colonel Butler, ambushed in the edge

of a wood, when they wheeled, and galloped off toward the main column.

Wayne ordered Colonel Oswald to bring his two pieces of artillery to

bear upon them, and then pushed forward himself, with his whole force,

to charge the enemy with bayonets. * Colonel Oswald ** crossed a morass,

planted his guns on a small eminence (cl), and opened a cannonade at the

same time. Wayne was prosecuting his attack with vigor, and with every

prospect of full success, when he received an order from Lee to make

only a feigned attack, and not push on too precipitately, as that

would subvert his plan of cutting off the covering party. Wayne was

disappointed, chagrined, irritated; he felt that his commander had

plucked the palm of sure victory from his hand; but, like a true

soldier, he instantly obeyed, and withheld his troops, hoping that Lee

would himself recover what his untimely order had lost. In this, too,

the brave Wayne was disappointed; for only a portion of the troops on

the right, under Lee, issued out of the wood in small detachments, about

a mile below the courthouse, and within cannon-shot of the royal forces.

At that instant Sir Henry Clinton was informed that the Americans

were marching in force on both his flanks, with the evident design

of capturing his baggage, then making a line of several miles in the

direction of Middletown. To avert the blow, he changed the front of his

army by facing about, and prepared to attack Wayne with so much vigor,

that the Americans on his flanks would be obliged to fly to the succor

of that officer. This movement was speedily made by Clinton, and a large

body of cavalry soon approached cautiously toward the right of Lee's

troops. La Fayette perceiving this, and believing it to be a good

opportunity to gain the rear of the division of the enemy marching

against them, rode quickly up to Lee, and asked permission to make the

attempt. "Sir," replied Lee, "you do not know British soldiers; we can

not stand against them; we shall certainly be driven back at first, and

we must be cautious." La Fayette replied, "It may be so, general; but

British soldiers have been beaten, and they may be again; at any rate, I

am disposed to make the trial." *** Lee so far complied

* This first attack occurred in the vicinity of Brier Hill, about three

fourths of a mile east of the courthouse.

** Eleazer Oswald was a native of Massachusetts, and was among the

earliest of the active patriots of the Revolution. He exhibited great

bravery at the siege of Quebec, at the close of 1775, where he commanded

the forlorn hope after Arnold was wounded. In 1777 he was commissioned

a lieutenant colonel in Lamb's regiment of artillery, and soon afterward

distinguished himself, with Arnold, at Compo, at the head of recruits

raised in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He was with Putnam when Forts

Clinton and Montgomery were taken in 1777, and anxiously entreated his

general to allow him to go to the relief of the forts, where his friend

Lamb commanded the artillery. For his bravery at the battle of Monmouth,

he was highly commended by Generals Knox and Lee. Being outranked soon

after this engagement, he resigned his commission and left the service.

[Illustration: 8367]

** He entered into the printing and publishing business at Philadelphia,

was appointed public printer, and was a resident there at the time of

Arnold's defection. Upon constitutional questions he was an opponent of

General Hamilton, and in 1789 challenged that gentleman to fight a duel.

Their friends adjusted the matter, and the meeting was prevented. In

1793, being in England on business, he went to the Continent, joined the

French army, commanded a regiment of artillery, and was at the battle of

Mons, or Jemappe. He fell a victim to the yellow fever which desolated

New York in 1795, and was buried in St. Paul's church-yard on the 2d of

October of that year.--See Leake's Life and Times of General Lamb.

*** The conduct of Lee throughout the day was very strange, and gives

a coloring of truth to the conjecture that the thorn of envy was still

rankling in his bosom, and that he preferred seeing the Americans

disgraced by a defeat, rather than Washington honored by a victory. La

Fayette, who had watched with the eye of ardent affection the progress

and termination of the conspiracy against Washington a few months

previously, in which the name of Lee was prominent as his proposed

successor, was properly suspicious. Soon after his application to Lee

for permission to attempt to gain the enemy's rear, one of Washington's

aids arrived for information; and La Fayette took the occasion to inform

his excellency, through the aid, that his presence upon the ground was

of the utmost importance. He felt convinced that Lee's movements were

governed either by cowardice or treachery, and he was anxious to have

Washington controlling he movements of the day.

[[[Lee's Orders misunderstood.--Retreat of two Brigades.--A general

Retreat ordered by Lee.--General Maxwell.]]]

{358}as to order the marquis to wheel his column by his right, and

gain and attack the enemy's left. At the same time, he weakened Wayne's

detachment on the left, by ordering the regiments of Wesson, Stewart,

and Livingston to the support of the right.

[Illustration: 8368]

He then rode toward Oswald's battery to reconnoiter.

At that moment, to his great astonishment, as he said, Lee saw a large

portion of the British army marching back on the Middletown road toward

the court-house. Apparently disconcerted, he immediately ordered his

right to fall back. The brigades of Scott and Maxwell, * on the left,

were already moving forward and approaching the right of the royal

forces, who were pressing steadily on in solid phalanx toward the

position occupied by Lee, with the apparent design of gaining Wayne's

rear and attacking the American right at the same moment. General Scott

had left the wood, crossed a morass, and was forming for action on the

plain, and Maxwell was preparing to do the same, when Lee ordered the

former to re-enter the wood, arrange his column there, and wait for

further directions. Perceiving the retrograde movement on the right, and

perhaps mistaking the spirit of Lee's order, Scott recrossed the morass,

and retreated through the woods toward the Freehold meeting-house,

followed by Maxwell. As soon as intelligence of this movement reached

Lee, he sent an order to La Fayette to fall back to the court-house. The

marquis obeyed, but with reluctance. As he approached the courthouse,

he learned, with surprise and deep mortification, that a general retreat

had begun on the right, under the immediate command of Lee, and he was

obliged to follow. The British pursued them as far as the court-house,

where they halted, while the Americans pressed onward across the morass

above Carr's house (G) to the broken eminences called the heights of

Freehold, where they also halted. The heat was intense, and both parties

suffered terribly from thirst and fatigue. In many places they sunk

ankle-deep in the loose, sandy soil. Their rest was of short duration.

The royal troops pressed forward; and Lee, instead of making a bold

stand in his advantageous position, resumed his retreat toward the

Freehold meeting-house. A panic seized the Republican troops, and over

the broken country they fled precipitately and in great confusion, a

large portion of them pressing toward the causeway over a broad morass,

** where many perished; while others, overpowered by the heat, fell upon

the earth, and were trampled to death in the sand by those pressing on

behind them. In the first retreat, a desultory cannonade had been kept

up by both parties; but now nothing was heard but a few musket-shots and

the loud shouts of the pursuing enemy.

While these maneuvers in the vicinity of Monmouth court-house were

occurring, Washington, with the reserve, was pressing forward to the

support of Lee. When the latter

* William Maxwell was a native of New Jersey. He joined the army at the

commencement of the war. In 1776 he was appointed colonel, and raised

a battalion of infantry in New Jersey. He was with General Schuyler on

Lake Champlain, and in Oetober, 1776, was appointed a brigadier in the

Continental army.

[Illustration: 9368]

* After the battle at Trenton, he was engaged in harassing the enemy;

and during the winter and spring of 1777 was stationed near the enemy's

lines at Elizabethtown. In the autumn of that year he was engaged in

the battles at the Brandywine and Germantown, and during the succeeding

winter he was with the suffering army at Valley Forge. He was aetive in

pursuit of Clinton aeross New Jersey the following summer, and sustained

an important part in the battle at Monmouth. After that engagement, He

was left, with Morgan, to annoy the enemy's rear in their retreat toward

Sandy Hook. He was again near Elizabethtown during the winter and spring

of 1780, and in June was engaged in the action at Springfield. In

August he resigned his commission and quitted the service. He was

highly esteemed by Washington, who, on transmitting his resignation to

Congress, said, after speaking of his merits as an officer, "I believe

him to be an honest man, a warm friend to his country, and firmly

attached to its interests."

** This causeway, alluded to before, was near the parsonage, which is

still standing, though greatly decayed, and known as "Tennent's House."

The morass, which was then a deep quagmire, and thickly covered with

bushes, is now mostly fine meadow land, coursed by a clear streamlet,

spanned by a small bridge where the highway between Freehold and

Englishtown, by way of the meeting-house, crosses.

[[[Forward Movement of the Division under Washington.--Meeting of

Washington and Lee.--Harsh Words between them.]]]

{359}made the discovery that a large covering party was in the rear of

the royal army, and formed his plan to cut them off, he sent a messenger

to the commander-in-chief, assuring him that success must follow.

[Illustration: 8369]

On the reception of this intelligence, Washington ordered the right

wing, under General Greene, to march to the right, "by the new church,"

or Freehold meeting-house, to prevent the turning of that flank by the

enemy, and to "fall into the Monmouth road a small distance in the rear

of the court-house," while he prepared to follow, with the left wing,

directly in Lee's rear, to support him. To facilitate the march of the

men, and to contribute to their comfort on that sultry morning, they

were ordered to disencumber themselves of their packs and blankets.

Many laid aside their coats, and, thus relieved, prepared for battle.

While the chief was making this disposition near the Freehold

meeting-house, a countryman, mounted on a fleet horse, came in hot haste

from the direction of the contending forces. He brought the astounding

intelligence that the Continental troops were retreating, with the enemy

in close pursuit. The commander-in-chief could not credit the report,

for he had heard only a few cannon-peals in the direction of the

court-house, and he did not conceive it possible that Lee would retreat

without first giving battle. He spurred forward, and, when about half

way between the meeting-house and the morass, he met the head of the

first retreating column. He was greatly alarmed on finding the

advanced corps falling back upon the main army without notice, thereby

endangering the order of the whole. Giving a hasty order to the

commander of the first retreating division to halt upon an eminence,

Washington, with his staff, pushed across the causeway to the rear of

the flying column, where he met Lee * at the head of the second division

of the retreating forces. The commander-in-chief was fearfully aroused

by the conduct of that officer, and, as he rode up to Lee, he exclaimed,

in words of bitter anger and tone of withering rebuke, "Sir, I desire to

know what is the reason, and whence arises this disorder and confusion!"

Stung, not so much by these _words_ as by the _manner_ of Washington,

Lee retorted harshly, and a few angry words passed between them. It was

no time to dispute, for the enemy was within fifteen minutes' march of

them. Wheeling his horse, Washington hastened to Lamsay and Stewart,

in the rear, rallied a large portion of their regiments, and ordered

Oswald, with his two pieces of cannon, to take post upon an

* This view is from the green, outside of the church-yard, near the

school-house. The church is situated a short distance from the road

leading from Freehold to Englishtown, and about midway between those

places. It was erected in 1752, on the site of a former one, which

was much smaller; hence it was called the new church.* It is of wood,

shingled, and painted white; at present a very dingy color. For

a century and a half, God has been worshiped on that spot. There

Whitefield, Brainerd, the Tennents, and Woodhull preached and prayed. It

has been asserted that bullet-marks, made during the battle in 1778, are

visible upon the church. Such is not the fact, for it is a mile and

a half distant from the parsonage, where the hottest of the battle

occurred. At the church, and upon its roof and steeple, many were

gathered in anxious suspense to witness the battle. A spent cannon-ball

came bounding toward the church during the action, struck a man who

sat upon a small grave-stone, and so wounded him that he died within an

hour. He was carried into the church, and placed in the first pew on

the right of the middle door, where he expired. Traces of his blood

were upon the floor for nearly fifty years. The stone on which he sat

is still there, not far from the grave of Colonel Monkton. Its top was

broken by the hall, and tor more than seventy years the fracture was

left untouched. Lately some vandal hand has broken a "relic" from

it, and quite destroyed the moss-covered wound it first received.

The obelisk seen on the right of the picture is over the grave of the

Reverend Robert Roy. The other ornamental monument is over that of the

Reverend Mr. Woodhull.

* See Washington's letter to the president of Congress, July 1,1778.

[[[The pursuing Britons checked.--Courage and Skill of

Washington.--Lee's Conduct, Trial, and Sentence.]]]

{360}eminence. By a well-directed fire from his battery, Oswald checked

the pursuing enemy. The presence of the chief inspired the fugitives

with courage, and within ten minutes after he appeared, the retreat was

suspended, the troops rallied, and soon order appeared in the midst of

the utmost confusion. Stewart and Ramsay formed under cover of a wood,

and co-operated with Oswald in keeping the enemy at bay. While the

British grenadiers were pouring their destructive volleys upon the

broken ranks of the Americans, the voice of Washington seemed omnipotent

with the inspiration of courage; it was a voice of faith to the

despairing soldiers. Fearlessly he rode in the face of the iron storm,

and gave his orders. The whole patriot army, which, half an hour before,

seemed on the verge of destruction, panic-stricken and without order,

was now drawn up in battle array, and prepared to meet the enemy with

a bold and well-arranged front. This effected, Washington rode back to

Lee, and, pointing to the rallied troops, said, "Will you, sir, command

in that place?"

"I will," eagerly exclaimed Lee. "Then," said Washington, "I expect you

to check the enemy immediately."

"Your command shall be obeyed," replied Lee; "and I will not be the

first to leave the field." *

Back to the main army Washington now hurried, and with wondrous

expedition formed their confused ranks into battle order on the

eminences on the western side of the morass. Lord Stirling was placed

in command of the left wing; while General Greene, on receiving

intelligence of Lee's retreat, had marched back, and now took an

advantageous position on the right of Stirling.

General Lee displayed all his skill and courage in obedience to the

chief's order to "check the enemy." A warm cannonade had commenced

between the American and British artillery on the right of Stewart and

Ramsay when Washington recrossed the morass to form the main army,

while the royal light horse charged furiously upon the right of Lee's

division. At that moment Hamilton rode up to Lee, and exclaimed, "I will

stay with you, my dear general, and die with you. Let us all die rather

than retreat." But the enemy pressed so closely upon them with an

overwhelming force, that the Americans were obliged

* It was evident that after the first vent of his indignation on seeing

Lee making a shameful retreat before the enemy, Washington was willing

to overlook the act, and forget and forgive Lee's harsh words spoken

in anger. Had the latter been actuated by the same noble and

generous spirit, all would have been well. But the rebuke of the

commander-in-ehief struck deep into his pride, and he could not rest

satisfied with the retort he had given to his general. On the day after

the battle he wrote a letter to Washington, in which he demanded

an apology, or its equivalent, for his remarks on the battle-field.

Washington replied that he conceived his letter to be expressed in terms

highly improper, and asserted his conviction that the words which he

used when he met him retreating were warranted by the circumstances. He

charged Lee with a breach of orders, and misbehavior before the enemy,

in not attacking them, and in making an "unnecessary, disorderly, and

shameful retreat." Lee wrote an insulting reply. "You can not afford

me," he said, "greater pleasure than in giving me the opportunity of

showing to America the sufficiency of her respective servants. I trust

that temporary power of office, and the tinsel dignity attending it,

will not be able, by all the mists they can raise, to obfuscate the

bright rays of truth." In a seeond letter, dated the 30th of June (two

days after the battle), Lee demanded a court of inquiry immediately,

accompanying that demand with offensive remarks. Washington immediately

sent Colonel Scammel, the adjutant general, to put Lee under arrest, on

the following charges:

"First: Disobedience of orders in not attacking the enemy on

the 28th of June, agreeably to repeated instructions.

Secondly: Misbehavior before the enemy on the same day, by

making an unnecessary, disorderly, and shameful retreat.

"Thirdly: Disrespect to the commander-in-ehief, in two

letters, dated the 1st of July and the 28th of June." *

* The court martial was convened on the 4th of July, at Brunswick,

consisting of one major general (Lord Stirling, who was president), four

brigadiers, and eight colonels. The court sat from time to time, until

the 12th of August, when they declared their opinion that General Lee

was guilty of all the charges, and sentenced him to be suspended from

any command in the armies of the United States for the term of twelve

months. The testimony on the trial exhibits a minute detail of the

operations in the battle of Monmouth. Congress approved the sentence of

the court martial on the 5th of December, by a vote of thirteen in the

affirmative and seven in the negative, and ordered the proceedings to be

published.--See Sparks's Washington, v., 552; Journals of Congress, iv.,

501.

* These were both erroneously dated. Lee's letters were written on the

29th and 30th of June.

[[[The fiercest of the Battle.--Picture by Mr. Custis.--Captain

Molly.]]]

{361}to give way. As they emerged from the woods, the belligerents

seemed completely intermingled.

[Illustration: 0371]

The enemy next attacked Livingston's regiment and Varnum's brigade,

which lined a hedgerow [2] that stretched across the open field in front

of the causeway over the morass Here the conflict raged severely for

some time. Some American artillery took post on an eminence in rear

of the fence, and played with power; ** but the British cavalry, and a

large

* This outline sketch is from a copy of the picture at Arlington House

(the seat of Mr. Custis), which I made, by permission, in November,

1850. As it exhibits none of the horrid scenes of slaughter which

generally characterize battle-pieces, I have not hesitated to introduce

it, for the purpose of giving a specimen of pictorial composition upon

an interesting historical subject from the pencil of the adopted son,

and the only surviving executor of the will of the great Washington.

The engraving was executed by Dr. Alexander Anderson, the pioneer

wood-engraver in America, at the age of seventy-seven years. Both

painter and engraver have passed several years beyond the age allotted

to man. Since I made this copy, Mr. Custis has completed two other

historical pictures--Germantown and Trenton; and it is his intention, if

his life shall be spared, to thus perpetuate on canvas the memory of all

of the battles in which his illustrious foster-father was engaged. In

the picture here given, the chief is seen most prominently on his white

charger, with his general officers. Washington and Greene are in front;

Knox on the right, upon the most prominent horse; and behind them are

Hamilton, Cadwallader, &c. On the left is seen the group of artillery,

with "Captain Molly" at the gun. In the distance is seen a portion of

the British army, and Colonel Monckton falling from his horse. On the

right, in the foreground, lying by a cannon, is Dickinson, of Virginia;

and on the left, by a drum, Bonner, of Pennsylvania. In the center is a

wounded rifleman.

** It was during this part of the action that Molly, the wife of a

cannonier, is said to have displayed great courage and presence of

mind. We have already noticed her bravery in firing the last gun at

Fort Clinton. (See page 164.) She was a sturdy young camp-follower, only

twenty-two years old, and, in devotion to her husband, she illustrated

the character of her countrywomen of the Emerald Isle. In the action in

question, while her husband was managing one of the field-pieces, she

constantly brought him water from a spring near by. A shot from the

enemy killed him at his post; and the officer in command, having no one

competent to fill his place, ordered the piece to be withdrawn. Molly

saw her husband fall as she came from the spring, and also heard the

order. She dropped her bucket, seized the rammer, and vowed that she

would fill the place of her husband at the gun, and avenge his death.

She performed the duty with a skill and courage which attracted the

attention of all who saw her. On the following morning, covered with

dirt and blood, General Greene presented her to Washington, who,

admiring her bravery, conferred upon her the commission of sergeant.

By his recommendation, her name was placed upon the list of half-pay

officers for life. She left the army soon after the battle of Monmouth,

and, as we have before observed, died near Fort Montgomery, among the

Hudson Highlands. She usually went by the name of Captain Molly. The

venerable widow of General Hamilton, yet living (1852), told me she

had often seen Captain Molly. She described her as a stout, red-haired,

freckled-face young Irish woman, with a handsome, piercing eye. The

French officers, charmed by the story of her bravery, made her many

presents. She would sometimes pass along the French lines with her

cocked hat, and get it almost filled with crowns.

[[[Gallant Conduct of Lee.--Forming of the second Line.--View of the

Battle-ground.]]]

{362}body of infantry, skillful in the use of the bayonet, charging

simultaneously upon the Americans, broke their ranks. Lee immediately

ordered Varnum and Livingston, together with the artillery, to retreat

across the morass, while Colonel Ogden, with his men drawn up in a wood

near the causeway, gallantly covered the whole as they crossed. Lee was

the last to leave the field, and brought off Ogden's corps, the rear

of the retreating troops, in admirable order. Instantly forming them

in line upon the slope on the western side of the morass, he rode to

Washington, and said, "Sir, here are my troops; how is it your pleasure

that I should dispose of them?" The poor fellows had thus far borne

the whole brunt of the battles and retreats of the day; Washington,

therefore, ordered him to arrange them in the rear of Englishtown, while

he prepared to engage the enemy himself with the fresh troops of the

second and main division of the army.

[Illustration: 0372]

The action now became general. The second line of the main army was

speedily formed in the wood which covered the eminence on the western

side of the morass; the left commanded by Lord Stirling, the right by

General Greene, and the center by Washington himself. Wayne, with an

advanced corps, was stationed upon an eminence, in an orchard, a few

rods south of the parsonage, while a park of artillery was placed in

battery on Comb's Hill, beyond a marsh, on his right. This battery

commanded the height on which the enemy was stationed, and did great

service. The British, finding themselves warmly opposed in front,

attempted to turn the American left flank, but were repulsed. They

also moved toward the American right, but, being enfiladed by a severe

cannonade from a battery under Knox, upon a commanding piece of ground

occupied by General Greene, they fell back. Wayne, in the mean time,

kept up a

* This view is from the orchard, upon the site of Wayne's position

when Monckton fell. The old house on the left is the ancient parsonage,

occupied, at the time of the hattle, by a man named Freeman. Beyond the

house, extending right and left, is the place of the morass, now fine

meadow land, with a clear stream running through it; and in the extreme

distance are seen the slopes and elevations whereon the second division

of the American army, under Washington, was drawn up. Upon the rising

ground on the extreme right, the British grenadiers were stationed; and

the two figures in the open field, about fifty yards distant from our

point of view, denote the spot where Monckton was killed.

[[[Advance of Grenadiers under Monckton.--Death of Monckton.--Close of

the Day and the Battle]]]

{363}brisk fire upon the British center from his position in the

orchard, and repeatedly repulsed the royal grenadiers, who several times

crossed the hedgerow (2) and advanced upon him. Colonel Monckton, their

commander, perceiving that success depended upon driving Wayne from

his position, harangued his men, * and, forming them in solid column,

advanced to the charge with all the regularity of a corps on parade. **

Wayne's troops were partially sheltered by a barn, situated very near

the one now standing a few rods from the parsonage. He ordered them to

reserve their fire until the enemy should approach very near, and then,

with sure aim, pick out the officers. Silently the British advanced

until within a few rods of the Americans, when Monckton, waving his

sword, with a shout, ordered his grenadiers to the charge. At the same

moment Wayne gave a signal; a terrible volley poured destruction upon

the assailants, and almost every British officer fell. Among them was

their brave leader, Colonel Monckton. *

[Illustration: 8373]

Over his body the warriors fought desperately, hand to hand, until the

Americans secured it, and carried it to their rear. Hotly the conflict

raged, not only at the center of the enemy's line, but at various other

points. Wayne finally repulsed the grenadiers; and the whole British

army soon gave way, and fell back to the heights (t) above Carr's house

(3), occupied by General Lee in the morning. It was a strong position,

flanked by thick woods and morasses, with only a narrow way of approach

on their front.

It was now almost sunset, yet Washington resolved to follow up his

advantage, and attack them in their new and strong position. For that

purpose, he ordered General Poor, with his own and the Carolina brigade,

to move round to their right; General Woodford **** to gain their left,

and the artillery to gall them in front. There were so many impediments,

owing to the broken character of the ground, that twilight came on

before a proper disposition for battle could be made, and the attack was

postponed until morning.

[Illustration: 9373]

The army reposed that night upon their arms upon the battle-field, ready

to spring upon their prey at the first gleam of light. Wrapped in his

cloak, the chief, overpowered with fatigue, slumbered, with his suite,

beneath a broad oak, around which many of the slain slept their last

sleep. He felt certain of victory when his troops, refreshed, should

rise to battle; but the

* The belligerents were separated by only a few rods in distance, and

that an open field. The patriots near the parsonage, and those with

Wayne, at the barn, and in the orchard, distinctly heard the voice of

Monckton when haranguing his men.

** It is said that the grenadiers marched with so much precision, that a

ball from Comb's Hill, enfilading a platoon, disarmed every man.

*** Colonel Monckton was a gallant officer. He was a lieutenant colonel

in the battle of Long Island, when he was shot through the body, but

recovered. He was interred, on the day after the battle of Monmouth, in

the burial-ground of the Freehold meeting-house, about six feet from the

west end of the building, upon a stone of which his name is rudely cut.

The only monument that marks the grave of that gallant officer is a

plain board, painted red, on which is drawn, in black letters, the

inscription seen in the picture. This board was prepared and set up a

few years ago by a worthy Scotch schoolmaster, named Wilson, who taught

the young people in the school-house upon the green, near the old

meeting-house.

**** William Woodford was a native of Caroline county, in Virginia.

He early distinguished himself in the French and Indian wars. When the

Virginia troops assembled at Williamsburg in 1775, in consequence of the

hostile attitude assumed by Lord Dunmore, Woodford was appointed eolonel

of the second regiment. Patrick Henry was colonel of the first regiment.

the Elizabeth River, in December, 1775, he was distinguished for his

bravery. Congress promoted him to brigadier, and placed him in command

of the first Virginia brigade. He was in the battles of Brandywine

(in which he was wounded) and Monmouth, and was made a prisoner at

Charleston, in South Carolina, during the siege in 1780. He was taken to

New York by the British, where he died on the 13th of November of that

year, in the forty-sixth year of his age.

In the battle at Great Bridge, on

[[[Retreat of Sir Henry Clinton.--Character of the Monmouth

Battle.--Clinton's Official Dispatch criticised.--The Loss.]]]

{364}morning light brought disappointment. At midnight, under cover of

darkness, * Sir Henry Clinton put his weary host in motion. With silent

steps, column after column left the camp and hurried toward Sandy Hook.

So secret was the movement, and so deep the sleep of the patriots, that

the troops of Poor, lying close by the enemy, were ignorant of their

departure, until, at dawn, they saw the deserted camp of the enemy.

They had been gone more than three hours. Washington, considering the

distance they had gained, the fatigue of his men, the extreme heat of

the weather, and the deep, sandy country, with but little water, deemed

pursuit fruitless, and Sir Henry Clinton escaped. Washington marched

with his army to Brunswick, and thence to the Hudson River, which he

crossed at King's Ferry, and encamped near White Plains, in West Chester

county. The Jersey brigade and Morgan's corps were left to hover on the

enemy's rear, but they performed no essential service. The British army

reached Sandy Hook on the 30th, where Lord Howe's [[June 1778]] fleet,

having come round from the Delaware, was in readiness to convey them to

New York. **

The battle of Monmouth was one of the most severely contested during the

war. Remarkable skill and bravery were displayed on both sides, after

the shameful retreat of Lee; and the events of the day were highly

creditable to the military genius of both commanders. Victory for the

Americans was twice denied them during the day, first by the retreat

of Lee in the morning, and, secondly, by the unaccountable detention of

Morgan and his brave riflemen at a distance from the field. For

hours the latter was at Richmond Mills, three miles below Monmouth

court-house, awaiting orders, in an agony of desire to engage in the

battle, for he was within sound of its fearful tumult. To and fro he

strode, uncertain what course to pursue, and, like a hound in the leash,

panting to be away to action. Why he was not allowed to participate in

the conflict, we have no means of determining.

It appears probable that, had he fallen upon the British rear, with his

fresh troops, at the close of the day, Sir Henry Clinton and his army

might have shared the fate of the British at Saratoga.

The hottest of the conflict occurred near the spot where Monckton fell.

Very few of the Americans were killed on the west side of the morass,

but many were slain in the field with Monckton, and lay among the

slaughtered grenadiers of the enemy. The Americans lost, in killed,

six officers, and sixty-one non-commissioned officers and privates.

The wounded were twenty-four officers, and one hundred and thirty-six

non-commissioned officers and privates, in all two hundred and

twenty-eight. The missing amounted to one hundred and thirty; but many

of them, having dropped down through fatigue, soon joined the army. ***

Among

* Sir Henry Clinton, in his official dispatch to Lord George Germaine,

wrote, "Having reposed the troops until ten at night to avoid the

excessive heat of the day, I took advantage of the moonlight to rejoin

General Knyphausen, who had advanced to Nut Swamp, near Middletown."

This assertion was the cause of much merriment in America, for it was

known that the event took place about the time of new moon. Poor Will's

Almanac, printed at Philadelphia by Joseph Cruikshank, indicates the

occurrence of the new moon on the 24th of June, and that on the night of

the battle being only four days old, it set at fifty-five minutes past

ten. Trumbull, in his M'Fingal, alluding to this, says,

"He formed his camp with great parade,

While evening spreads the world in shade,

Then still, like some endanger'd spark,

Steals off on tiptoe in the dark;

Yet writes his king in boasting tone,

How grand he march'd by light of moon!

Go on, great general, nor regard

The scoffs of every scribbling bard,

Who sings how gods, that fearful night,

Aided by miracle your night;

As once they used in Homer's day,

To help weak heroes run away;

Tells how the hours, at this sad trial,

Went back, as erst on Ahaz' dial,

While British Joshua stay'd the moon

On Monmouth's plain for Abalon.

Heed not their sneers or gibes so arch,

Because she set before you march."

* Ramsay; Gordon; Marshall; Sparks; D'Auberteuil; Stedman, &c.

*** The enemy suffered more from the heat than the Americans, on account

of their woolen uniform, and being encumbered with their knapsacks,

while the Americans were half disrobed. The Americans buried the

slain which were found on the battle-field in shallow graves. In their

retreat, the British left many of their wounded, with surgeons and

nurses, in the houses at Freehold, and every room in the court-house was

filled with the maimed and dying on the morning after the battle. A pit

was dug on the site of the present residence of Dr. Throckmorton, of

Freehold, wherein the wounded were thrown and buried as fast as they

expired. It is said that nearly six hundred young men of Clinton's

army, who had formed tender attachments during the winter cantonment in

Philadelphia, deserted during the march through New Jersey, and returned

to that city.

[[[Sufferings of the Soldiers.--Visit to the Battle-ground.--Woodhull's

Monument--William and Gilbert Tennent.]]]

{365}the slain were Lieutenant-colonel Bonner, of Pennsylvania, and

Major Dickinson, of Virginia. The British left four officers, and two

hundred and forty-five non-commissioned officers and privates on the

field. They buried some, and took many of their wounded with them.

Fifty-nine of their soldiers perished by the heat, without receiving a

wound; they laid under trees, and by rivulets, whither they had crawled

for shade and water. But why dwell upon the sad and sickening scene of

the battle-field with the dead and dying upon it?

[Illustration: 9375]

We have considered the dreadful events of the day; let us for a moment,

before returning to Valley Forge from our long digression, glance at the

ground now covered with the results of the peaceful tiller's conquests.

I visited the battle-ground of Monmouth toward the close of September,

1850, and had the good fortune to be favored with the company of Doctor

John Woodhull, of Freehold, in my ramble over that interesting locality.

Doctor Woodhull is the son of the beloved minister of that name who

succeeded William Tennent in the pastoral care of the congregation

that worshiped in the Freehold meeting-house, and who, for forty-six

consecutive years, preached and prayed in that venerated chapel. Doctor

Woodhull was born in the parsonage yet upon the battle-ground, and is so

familiar with every locality and event connected with the conflict, that

I felt as if traversing the battle-field with an actor in the scene.

Dark clouds rolled up menacingly from the southwest when we left

Freehold and rode out to the meeting-house; and while sketching the old

fane, pictured on page 359, heavy peals of thunder from a cloud that

rapidly approached broke over the country. I had scarcely finished my

outline when the heavy drops came down, and we were obliged to take

shelter in the church. Resting my port-folio upon the high back of

a pew, I sketched, from the open door, the annexed picture of a neat

monument erected to the memory of the reverend pastor just mentioned.

Almost beneath the spot where I stood, under the middle aisle of the

church, rest the remains of the Reverend William Tennent, who was pastor

of that flock for forty-three years. * On the right of the pulpit is a

commemorative tablet, with a brief inscription. ** Mr. Tennent was one

of the most faithful ministers of his day; and his name is widely known

in connection with curious physiological and psychological phenomena,

of which he was the subject. For three days he remained in a cataleptic

state, commonly called a _trance_, or apparent death of the body

while the interior life is active. He had applied himself closely to

theological studies, until his health suddenly gave way. He became

emaciated, his life was despaired of, and,

* Mr. Tennent's brother, Gilbert, was also an eminent preacher. Garden,

in his Revolutionary Anecdotes, relates the following circumstance:

"When the American army entered Philadelphia in June, 1778, after the

evacuation by the British troops, we were hard pressed for ammunition.

We caused the whole city to be ransacked in search of cartridge-paper.

At length I thought of the garrets, &c., of old printing-offices. In

that once occupied as a lumber-room by Dr. Franklin, when a printer, a

vast collection was discovered. Among the mass was more than a cart-body

load of sermons on defensive war, preached by a famous Gilbert Tennent,

during the old British and French war, to rouse the colonies to

indispensable exertion. These appropriate manifestoes were instantly

employed as cases for musket-cartridges, rapidly sent to the army, came

most opportunely, and were fired away at the battle of Monmouth against

our retiring foe."

** The following is a copy of the inscription: "Sacred to the memory of

the Reverend William Tennent, pastor of the first Presbyterian church in

Freehold, who departed this life the 8th of March, 1777, aged 71 years

and 9 months. He was pastor of said church 43 years and 6 months.

Faithful and Beloved."

*** This monument stands on the south side of the church. It is of white

marble, about eight feet in height. The following is the inscription

upon it: "Sacred to the memory of the Reverend John Woodhull, R.D.,

who died Nov. 22d, 1824, aged 80 years. An able, faithful, and beloved

minister of Jesus Christ. He preached the Gospel 56 years. He was

settled first in Leacock, in Pennsylvania, and in 1779 removed to

this congregation, which he served as pastor, with great diligence and

success, for 45 years. Eminent as an instructor of youth, zealous for

the glory of God, fervent and active in the discharge of all publie and

private duties, the labors of a long life have ended in a large reward."

Reverend Dr. Woodhull was one of the most active patriots of his day,

and his zeal in the cause of his country was largely infused into his

congregation. On one occasion, while a pastor in Pennsylvania, every

man in his parish went out to oppose the enemy, except one feeble old

invalid, who bade them God speed. The zealous pastor went with them as

chaplain.

[Illustration: 9376]

* Dr. Woodhull preached the funeral sermon on the occasion of the burial

of Captain Huddy, at Freehold, in the spring of 1782, from the piazza

of the hotel now kept by Mr. Higgins. Captain Huddy lived in the central

part of Colt's Neck, about five miles from Freehold. He was an ardent

Whig, and by his activity and courage became a terror to the Tories. In

the summer of 1780, a mu latto, named Titus, and about sixty refugees,

attacked Huddy's house, in the evening. The only inmates were Huddy and

Lueretia Emmons (afterward Mrs. Chambers), a servant girl about twenty

years of age. There were several guns in the house; these Lueretia

loaded, while Huddy fired them from different windows. Titus and some

others were wounded. They set fire to the house, when Huddy surrendered,

and the flames were extinguished. The prisoners were taken on board of

a boat near Black Point. Just as it was pushed off from the shore, Huddy

leaped into the water, and escaped under fire of some militia who were

in pursuit of the Tories. In the spring of 1782, Huddy commanded a

block-house, situated a short distance north of the bridge at the"

village of Tom's River. It was attacked by some refugees from New York,

and his ammunition giving out, Huddy was obliged to surrender. Himself

and companions were taken to New York, and afterward back to Sandy Hook,

and placed, heavily ironed, on board a guard-ship. On the 12th of April,

sixteen refugees, under Captain Lippincott, took Huddy to Gravelly

Point, on the shore at the foot of the Navesink Hills, near the

light-houses, and hung him upon a gallows made of three rails. He

met his fate with composure. Upon the barrel on which he stood for

execution, he wrote his will with an unfaltering hand. His murderers

falsely charged him with being concerned in the death of a desperate

Tory, named Philip White, which occurred while Huddy was a prisoner in

New York. To the breast of Huddy, the infamous Lippincott affixed the

following label: "We, the refugees, having long with grief beheld the

cruel murders of our brethren, and finding nothing but such measures

daily carrying into execution; we therefore determine not to suffer,

without taking vengeance for the numerous cruelties; and thus begin,

having made use of Captain Huddy as the first object to present to

your view; and further determine to hang man for man, while there is a

refugee existing. Up goes Huddy for Philip White!"

* Huddy's body was carried to Freehold, and hurried with the honors of

war. His death excited the greatest indignation throughout the country.

Dr. Woodhull earnestly entreated Washington to retaliate, in order

that such inhuman murders might be prevented. The commander-in-chief

acquiesced, but, instead of executing a British officer at once, he

wrote to Sir Henry Clinton, assuring him that, unless the murderers of

Huddy were given up, he should proceed to retaliate. Clinton refused

compliance, and Captain Asgill, a young British officer (son of Sir

Charles Asgill), who was a prisoner, was designated, by lot, for

execution. In the mean while, Lippincott was tried by a court martial;

and it appeared, in testimony, that Governor Franklin, president of the

Board of Associated Loyalists, had given that officer verbal orders

to hang Huddy. Lippincott was acquitted. Sir Guy Carleton, who had

succeeded Sir Henry Clinton, in a letter to Washington, reprobated the

death of Huddy, and acquainted him that he had broken up the Board of

Associated Loyalists. Washington had mercifully postponed the execution

of young Asgill, and, in the mean time, had received a pathetic letter

from Lady Asgill, his mother, and an intercessory one from Count De

Vergennes, the French minister. He sent these letters to Congress,

and, on the 5th of November, 1782, that body resolved, "That the

commander-in-chief be, and hereby is, directed to set Captain Asgill at

liberty." The tenderest sympathies of Washington had been awakened in

the young man's behalf, and he had resolved to do all in his power,

consistent with duty, to save him; and yet the unfair compiler of

the Pictorial History of England (v., 489) accuses Washington of foul

dishonor, and expresses his belief that, "as at the crisis when he put

Major André to death, and refused him the last sad consolation he

asked for, he was now rendered gloomy and irascible by the constant and

degrading troubles and mortifications in which he was involved." Nothing

can be more unjust than this sentence. In a humorous poem, entitled

Rivington's Reflections, Philip Freneau thus alludes to the ease of

Asgill. He makes Rivington (the Tory printer in New York) say,

"I'll petition the rebels (if York is forsaken)

For a place in their Zion which ne'er shall be shaken.

I am sure they'll be clever; it seems their whole study;

They hung not young Asgill for old Captain Huddy.

And it must be a truth that admits no denying--

If they spare us for murder they'll spare us for lying."

[[[Inscription upon Woodhull's Monument--Capture and Execution of

Captain Huddy.--Case of Captain Asgill.]]]

{366}one morning, while conversing with his brother, in Latin, on the

state of his soul, he fainted, and seemed to expire. He was laid out,

and preparations were made for his funeral. His

[[[Remarkable Case of William Tennent.--His own Description of his

Feelings.--Loss of his Papers.]]]

{367}physician, who was absent, was much grieved on his return. His

skill detected symptoms of life, and he desired a postponement of

burial. The body was cold and stiff; there were no signs of life to the

common apprehension, and his brother insisted that he should be

buried. But the entreaties of the physician prevailed; the funeral was

postponed. On the third day after his apparent death, the people were

assembled to bury him. The doctor, who had been at his side from the

beginning, still insisted upon applying restoratives. The hour appointed

for the burial arrived, and the brother of Tennent impatiently demanded

that the funeral ceremonies should be performed. At that moment, to

the alarm of all present, Mr. Tennent opened his eyes, gave a dreadful

groan, and relapsed again into apparent lifelessness. This movement

was twice repeated after an interval of an hour, when life permanently

remained, and the patient slowly recovered. * Absolute forgetfulness

of all knowledge marked his return to consciousness. He was totally

ignorant of every transaction of his life previous to his sickness.

He had to be taught reading, writing, and all things, as if he was a

new-born child. At length he felt a sudden shock in his head, and

from that moment his recollection was by degrees restored. These

circumstances made a profound impression on the public mind, and became

the theme of philosophical speculation and inquiry.

When the storm abated we left the church and proceeded to the

battle-ground. The old parsonage is in the present possession of Mr.

William T. Sutphen, who has allowed the parlor and study of Tennent

and Woodhull to be used as a depository of grain and of agricultural

implements! The careless neglect which permits a mansion so hallowed

by religion and patriotic events to fall into utter ruin, is actual

desecration, and much to be reprehended and deplored. The windows are

destroyed; the roof is falling into the chambers; and in a few years

not a vestige will be left of that venerable memento of the _field of

Monmouth._

We visited the spot where Monckton fell; the place of the causeway

across the morass (now a small bridge upon the main road); and, after

taking a general view of the whole ground of conflict, and sketching the

picture on page 362, returned to Freehold in time to dine, and take the

stage for the station at Jamesburg, on my way home. It had been to me

a day of rarest interest and pleasure, notwithstanding the inclement

weather; for no battle-field in our country has stronger claims to the

reverence of the American heart than that of the plains of Monmouth.

* Mr. Tennent has left on record the following graphic account of

his feelings while his body was in a state of catalepsy: "While I was

conversing with my brother on the state of my soul, and the fears I had

entertained for my future welfare, I found myself, in an instant, in

another state of existence, under the direction of a Superior Being,

who ordered me to follow him. I was accordingly wafted along, I know not

how, till I beheld at a distance an ineffable glory, the impression

of which on my mind it is impossible to communicate to mortal man. I

immediately reflected on my happy change, and thought, Well, blessed

be God! I am safe at last, notwithstanding all my fears. I saw an

innumerable host of happy beings surrounding the inexpressible glory, in

acts of adoration and joyous worship; but I did not see any bodily

shape or representation in the glorious appearance. I heard things

unutterable. I heard their songs and hallelujahs of thanksgiving and

praise, with unspeakable rapture. I felt joy unutterable and full of

glory. I then applied to my conductor, and requested leave to join the

happy throng; on which he tapped me on the shoulder, and said, 'You must

return to the earth.' This seemed like a sword through my heart. In an

instant I recollect to have seen my brother standing before me disputing

with the doctor. The three days during which I had appeared lifeless

seemed to me not more than ten or twenty minutes. The idea of returning

to this world of sorrow and trouble gave me such a shock, that I fainted

repeatedly."--Life of William Tennent, by Elias Boudinot, LL.D.

* Mr. Tennent said that, for three years, the ravishing sounds he had

heard and the words that were uttered were not out of his ears. He was

often importuned to tell what words were uttered, but declined, saying,

"You will know them, with many other particulars, hereafter, as you will

find the whole among my papers." Boudinot was with the army when Tennent

died, and, before he could reach his house, the family, with all his

effects, had gone with a son to South Carolina. He was taken sick about

fifty miles from Charleston, and amoung strangers. Although Boudinot was

the executor of both father and son he never discovered any of Tennent's

papers.

[[[The Pine Robbers.]]]

{368}The men and women of the Revolution, but a few years since numerous

in the neighborhood of Freehold, have passed away, but the narrative of

their trials during the war have left abiding records of patriotism upon

the hearts of their descendants. I listened to many tales concerning the

"Pine Robbers" * and other Tory desperadoes of the time, who kept the

people of Monmouth county in a state of continual alarm. Many noble

deeds of daring were achieved by the tillers of the soil, and their

mothers, wives, and sisters; and while the field of Monmouth attested

the bravery and endurance of American soldiers, the inhabitants, whose

households were disturbed on that Sabbath morning by the bugle and the

cannon-peal, exhibited, in their daily course, the loftiest patriotism

and manly courage. We will leave the task of recording the acts of their

heroism to the pen of the local historian, and, hastening back to Valley

Forge, resume the reins and depart for Paoli, for the short November day

is fast waning.

* The Pine Robbers were a band of marauding Tories, who infested the

large districts of pine woods in the lower part of Monmouth county,

whence they made predatory excursions among the Whigs of the neighboring

country. They burrowed caves in the sand-hills for places of shelter

and retreat, on the borders of swamps, and, covering them with brush,

effectually concealed them. From these dens they sallied forth at

midnight to burn, plunder, and murder. Nor were the people safe in the

daytime, for the scoundrels would often issue from their hiding-places,

and fall upon the farmer in his field. The people were obliged to carry

muskets while at their work, and their families were kept in a state of

continual terror. Of these depredators, the most prominent were Fenton,

Fagan, Williams, Debow, West, and Carter. Fenton was the arch-fiend of

the pandemonium of the Pines. He was a blacksmith of Freehold, large

and muscular. He early took to the business of the Tories, and began his

career of villainy by robbery. He plundered a tailor's shop in Freehold

township. Already a committee of vigilance was organized. They sent

Fenton word that, if he did not return the plunder, he should be hunted

and shot. Intimidated, he sent back the clothing, with the following

savage note appended: "I have returned your damned rags. In a short time

I am coming to burn your barns and houses, and roast you all like a pack

of kittens!" Fenton soon proceeded to put his threat into execution.

One summer night, at the head of a gang of desperadoes, he attacked the

dwelling of an aged man near Imlaytown, named Farr. Himself, wife, and

daughter composed the family. They barricaded the door, and kept the

scoundrels at bay for a while. Fenton finally broke in a portion of the

door, and, firing through the opening, broke the leg of the old man with

a musket-ball. They forced an entrance at last, murdered the wife,

and then dispatched the helpless old man. The daughter, badly wounded,

escaped, and the miscreants, becoming alarmed, fled without taking any

plunder with them. Fenton was afterward shot by a young soldier of Lee's

legion, then lying at Monmouth court-house. The robber had plundered and

beaten a young man while on his way from a mill. He gave information to

Lee, who detailed a sergeant and two soldiers to capture or destroy the

villain. The young man, and the sergeant disguised as a countryman, took

a seat in a wagon, while the two soldiers, armed, were concealed under

some straw in the bottom of the vehicle, and proceeded toward the mill,

expecting to meet Fenton on the road. From a low groggery among the

Pines the robber came out, with a pistol, and commanded them to halt. He

then inquired if they had brandy, to which an affirmative was given, and

a bottle handed to him. While drinking, one of the soldiers, at a signal

from the sergeant, arose, and shot the villain through the head. His

body was thrown into the wagon, and conveyed in triumph to Freehold.

* Fagan and West were also shot by the exasperated people. The body of

the latter was suspended in chains, with hoop-iron bands around it, upon

a chestnut by the road-side, about a mile from Freehold, on the way to

Colt's Neck, where it was left to be destroyed by carrion birds.

The sufferings of the people from these marauders made such a deep

impression, that the lapse of years could not efface it from the hearts

of those who felt their scourge, and even the third generation of

the families of Tories were objects of hate to some of the surviving

sufferers. An old lady, ninety years of age, with whom I conversed at

Roundbrook, became greatly excited while talking of what her family

endured from the Pine Robbers and other Tories, and spoke indignantly

of one or two families in Monmouth eounty who were descendants of

Loyalists.

[[[Departure from Valley Forge.--The Paoli Tavern.--Place where

Americans were Massacred.]]]

{369}