HISTORICALLY SPEAKING by John Fabiano: A look at the Allentown-Upper Freehold of the past.
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The following excerpts are from "This Old Monmouth of Ours" by William S. Hornor. This was part of my report on "British Atrocities prior to Monmouth," recently presented at the Battlefield Park. Although published in the 1932, these "chapters" are actually a series originally published in "The Freehold Transcript."
From the Introduction: "Born in 1866, Mr. Hornor has the advantage of obtaining first hand accounts from his grandfather and others who witnessed the stirring Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary occurrences. It is apparent that much of the author’s material was gleaned from an examination of source materials. In his ‘Preface,’ Mr. Hornor noted that before combining the articles in book form, he had gone to the sources to verify or correct statements that had appeared in the newspaper series."
British Burnings: The annexed account of the depredations of the British army, when in this country, was communicated to the Jersey Gazette, a short time after the battle of Monmouth. It is supposed to have been written by Col. Thomas Henderson, an intelligent and active friend of the American cause. His dwelling was among those burnt. He was a member of Congress after the adoption of the Constitution, and vice president of the council of New Jersey at the time of Shay’s insurrection, and was acting governor when Gov. Howell was absent in Pennsylvania with some Jersey troops.
"The devastation they made in some parts of Freehold exceed perhaps, any of they have made for the distance in their route through this state; having, in the neighborhood above the courthouse, burnt and destroyed eight dwelling-houses, all on farms adjoining each other, besides barns and outhouses. The first they burnt was my own, the Benjamin Covenhoven’s, George Walker’s, Hannah Solomon’s, Benjamin Van Cleave’s, David Covenhoven’s, and Garrit Vanderveer’s; John Benham’s house and barn they wantonly tore and broke down as to render it useless. It may not be improper to observe that the first two houses mentioned burnt, adjoined the farm, and were in full view of the place where Gen. Clinton was quartered in the neighborhood below the courthouse, they burnt the houses of Matthias Lane, Cornelius Covenhoven, John Antonidas, and one Emmons; these were burnt the morning before the defeat. Some have the effrontery to say, that the British officers by no means countenance of allow of burning. Did not wanton burning of Charlestown and Kingston, in Esopus, besides many other instances, sufficiently evince to the contrary, I think their conduct in Freehold may. The officers have been seen to exult at the sight of the flames, and heard to declare they could never conquer America until they burnt every rebel’s house, and murdered man, woman, and child. Besides, this consideration has great weight with me towards confirming the above, that, after their defeat, through a retreat of 25 miles, in which they passed the houses of a number well-affected to ‘their’ country, they never attempted to destroy one. Thus much for their burning."
Clinton’s March: Behind all these came Lord Cornwallis with the main force of the British army, so disposed as to best protect the supplies and ammunition from the rear attack by the Americans, who "needed the goods." To better accomplish this end, he threw out a lateral of light troops to serve as a flying screen and interposing buffer between his marching forces and the attacking army of Washington. This column, paralleling the course of the main army as closely as possible, made its way by drift-roads and bridle-paths, describing a northerly arc from Allentown, through what were afterwards known as Wrightsville and Millhurst, to a point about where West Freehold now where it rejoined and rested upon the army of Clinton and Cornwallis.
"This lateral was the enemy force with which the American advanced guard were in skirmishing touch and with which, on the morning of the 28th, the first fighting took place; it then, with some changes in its composition, having been thrown into a new arched formation, whose left wing rested on a position about where Elton now is, the centre being about a mile west of the Court House, and the right wing at about the junction of Dutch Lane with the Middletown-Point road, at which point it united with and was supported and strengthened by the troops under Knyphausen. The whole formed a veiling and protecting screen between the main British army with its fettering baggage train, and the American army under Washington intent upon its prey."
British Infamy: A day in advance of the baggage train, to clear the way and mend roads and bridges for the passage, Knyphausen sent a reconnoitering, pioneering, and engineering force, composed of regular and irregular troops and accompanied by many small bands of home-reared marauders. All these distinguished themselves by wanton outrage and vindictive destruction. Between a point a mile west of Allentown and the present village of Holmdel more than a score of dwelling-houses, pointed out as belonging to prominent patriots, were burned, and barns and outbuildings pulled down and destroyed. Other houses were looted and damaged, silverware was stolen, choice pieces of furniture burned or carried away, ricks of hay and straw given to the flames, the whole countryside stripped clear of pigs and poultry.
"During this progress of the flower of British chivalry through Monmouth county more than thirty of our women were subjected to the most direful outrage and the final indignity. It is a small wonder that an inherited prejudice against Britain and things British persists even today in this and other sections of our country through which English armies once made their woeful way. In after years tales dark and dire were whispered with bated breath among our fathers of vengeance taken by husbands and fathers on some of our own renegades who were thought to have been guilty near or to have lent aid and encouragement at this time to foreign foes engaged in the actual commission of the crimes. The names of these unfortunate ladies have been mercifully, rightly, and purposely permitted to pass into oblivion. One or two of these the writer remembers to have heard when young, because of the peculiarly painful circumstances surrounding them and because British officers in full uniform were involved. Tradition has it that on account of this particular series of atrocities not even a single one of the 700 or more men who deserted from the British army in its passage through our section dared settle within the limits of our county.
"From the day of the Battle all major outrages and depredations ceased as if by magic, and we hear of little more serious than the sacrifice of cattle for food or the pulling down of fences for firewood. So thoroughly were the British cowed by the results of Clinton’s claimed "victory" at Monmouth that they sang small indeed; while the more virulent of the Tories hid their diminished heads and the lesser kind became Patriots over night. This sudden change of attitude and conduct clearly shows who the British soldiers and their Tory allies thought were the winners in that fight."
Historically Speaking is a regular feature presented by John Fabiano, president of the Allentown-Upper Freehold Historical Society. For more information about the Allentown-Upper Freehold Historical Society send e-mail to [email protected] or call (609) 259-9127.