By jane meggitt
Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN — Henry Lee III is best remembered today as the father of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, but he played a vital role in the American Revolution.
West Windsor attorney John W. Hartmann has documented Lee’s contribution in The American Partisan – Henry Lee and the Struggle for Independence, 1776-1780. Hartmann will be giving a talk about his book and signing copies at the Allentown Library on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
"Light Horse Harry," as Lee was known, graduated from Princeton College in 1773 and returned to New Jersey a few years later in the service of the Continental Army.
His parents were neighbors of George Washington, and rumor has it that the young Washington courted Lee’s mother. Washington, who was childless, treated Lee like a son and relied on him heavily, according to Hartmann.
It was Lee who later honored Washington with the immortal words "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen," according to Hartmann.
Lee played a major role in intelligence gathering during the Revolution, and had troops at Atlantic Highlands on the lookout for British ships, he said.
At the time, the British ran a counterfeiting ring out of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, which Lee and his men twice raided, once succeeding in burning down the guardhouse.
When Benedict Arnold committed treason, Lee narrowly missed capturing him. He was also one of those responsible for feeding the soldiers, and gathering food from Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties in the winter of 1780 for the starving troops at Jockey Hollow.
Lee led a surprise attack on the enemy at Paulus Hook, present-day Jersey City, capturing hundreds of British and Loyalist soldiers. It was not Light Horse Harry, however, but Charles Lee (no relation) who participated in the Battle of Monmouth, according to Hartmann. The former was on one of his rare leaves of absence at that time.
Hartmann, who majored in history at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., has a strong interest in New Jersey history, specifically that of the Revolution. Intending to write an article about Harry Lee, his project grew into a book.
Hartmann said he used a lot of original sources, including Lee’s letters to Washington. Washington, at one point in his letters, complained that the mosquitoes in New Jersey "were big enough to bite through leather boots."
Hartmann said he found much of the material he used at Princeton and the New York Historical Society. The book was completed in about a year, with six months devoted to research and another six months to writing, he said. The publisher is White Mane Press of Shippensburg, Pa.
Hartmann, who is on the N.J. Revolutionary War Commission, lamented the lack of attention given to Revolutionary War sites in the state. He said New Jersey was the site of more battles than any of the other 13 colonies, but some are unknown to all but avid Revolutionary War buffs.
"They miss a lot of little battles," said Hartmann, such as the Battle of Red Bank in Gloucester County, or the Battle of Springfield, the last major action in the northern colonies during the Revolution.