Caleb North's Continentals in Monmouth County

All through 1778, George Washington resisted requests to send troops to protect Monmouth County despite large and punishing raids against the county (Manasquan in April, Middletown Point in May, Little Egg Harbor/Osborn Island in October) and several smaller actions. Following the Battle of Monmouth, the British fortified Sandy Hook into a fortress and stoked illegal trade with the county's disaffected farmers. By July, Pine Robber gangs and growing disaffection made much of the shore effectively enemy territory. Pressure built on Washington to act. Finally, in January 1779, Washington replaced a 30-man scout at Black Point (Rumson) with a regiment of Continentals who would attempt to bring security to Monmouth County.

Caleb North’s Deployment in Monmouth County

On January 13, Lord Stirling (General William Alexander) ordered Colonel Caleb North, and his regiment of 250 Pennsylvanians into Monmouth County, to be based at Tinton Falls. North was ordered to:

Prevent any intercourse between that county and the city of New York, or any other place in possession of the enemy. it is certain that great quantities of provision of various species have during the last fall and winter been carried from that county into N. York, and that great quantities of merchandize have been received from thence in return; this trade so far as lyeth [sic] in the power of your utmost vigilance must be stopped.

North was given broad discretion to impound property:

In case you detect any person attempting to carry any provisions or any other necessaries to the enemy, you are to seize the property and have it condemned or adjudged by a magistrate for the benefit of yourself and party. The person or persons attempting to carry it on is to be secured if possible, and inform the commander in chief of this state thereof, who will get the attorney general to prosecute; one half of the fines will be for the benefit of yourself and party.

North was instructed to seek information from Major Richard Howell, head of the 30-man scout, who would “stay & advise a day or two with you.” North could also seek counsel from Captain John Burrowes at Middletown Point who had recently successfully raided Sandy Hook.

North was advised to post his troops cautiously and not trust the locals “for you must remember that you will be a troublesome neighbor to some of them, you may expect they will endeavor to get rid of you." Similarly, "you are not to suffer any flag of truce to go to the enemy without the commander in chief's order, nor are you to suffer any flag to be received in that county from them.”

North was warned against plundering or seizing private property. However, his men could act as privateers against vulnerable British ships:

If you have reason to apprehend any danger to the vessel falling into the hands of the enemy, you are, after taking and securing the sails and rigging, to set fire to her, a proper gratuity will be given to any party concerned in seizing and saving such vessels & the like encouragements may be given to any of the people of the country who assist therein.

In a second order a few days later, Stirling noted to his regimental commanders that: "The men on detachment at Monmouth to be omitted in the return as they will be drawn for separately." In other words, North’s men would not be supplied by the commissary at Morristown. They would make their own arrangements for provisions in Monmouth County.

A report from Stirling to Washington states that North’s men turned around a Loyalist raiding party on January 17:

A detachment of the enemy (of about two hundred men) from New York effected a landing on the Middletown shore (near one Thomas Brewer's)—But re-imbarked in the night, without penetrating the country, or venturing to attempt what may be supposed the purpose of their expedition. The detachment under the command of Col. North… gave this sudden turn to their expedition.

North’s first surviving letter from Tinton Falls is dated January 22.

[He] stationed them [his men] in the following manner - one company at Shrewsbury, two at Eatontown, about a mile distant at the Falls one company... The fifth company I have detached up the Middletown shore with orders to remove their quarters once every three days or oftener; patrolling the shores by night and keep out a guard by day. The three last companies at Shrewsbury are employed in like manner keeping guard by day and patrolling by night.

He reported that “the enemy were landing, about 500 men, on the Middletown shore (at Thomas Brown's)” and his men marched in pursuit. But "the enemy was gone without doing the least damage." Two days later North questioned the size of the enemy landing because "the fellow who was said to have saw them landing is not to be found." He also noted that one of his companies "are unfit for duty for want of shoes."

The averted raid likely concerned Captain Burrowes at Middletown Point. On February 3, he wrote Stirling to request a Continental guard there. He requested “to have sixty Continental troops stationed where I am” for “stopping trade with the enemy.” Burrowes did not want North’s men, however:

It is not in Coll. North's power to spare any of his troops, as they are wanted at Shrewsbury and the lower parts of Middletown, and there is nine miles of Middletown & part of South Amboy shores that lay destitute of men.

Burrowes requested “the men that belonged to Collo. [David] Forman's late regiment” whom Burrowes commanded in 1777. Word of the averted raid may have reached Governor William Livingston who wrote Washington in early February to thank him for sending North’s men into Monmouth County and inform him of attempts to call up militia from other counties to serve alongside the Continentals.

On February 12, Washington replied to a recent letter from Colonel North regarding “the French Snow, Mary retaken from the Enemy” and now in North’s hands. North had apparently inquired about selling the vessel as a prize of war. Washington cautioned him:

The Subject of an Ally in these cases is entitled to the equal privileges with a fellow Citizen. And his property recovered in this way is to be preserved and restored to him or his representatives; a reasonable allowance being made to the recaptures for Salvage. The Conduct to be observed by you therefore is to secure whatever you can of the Cargo, Rigging &c. taking an inventory of the whole… Transmit an account of the whole with the name of the Owners &ca. that the French Consul at Philadelphia may be notified and take order in the matter. Your success in baffling the Enemy's attempt to destroy the Snow justifies the dispositions made for that purpose and your Conduct Claims my thanks.

Washington also informed North that his service in Monmouth would soon be over: “As the nature of the Service your detachment is employed in requires frequent relief, I have directed the Adjutant Genl. to order a party to relieve you."

In March, North’s regiment rotated out of Monmouth County; they were replaced by a collection of Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania companies under the command of Colonel Mordecai Gist. North’s Continentals were not especially energetic during their time in Monmouth County—averting a raid and taking a stranded French ship from the British are his only documented accomplishments. But North’s time in Monmouth County was also without dysfunction and, in this way, North was far more successful that the two colonels who would follow him—Gist and Benjamin Ford.

Caleb North’s Second Monmouth County Deployment

Washington was apparently happy with North’s record in Monmouth County because, on January 8, 1780, North was sent back in. North was replacing the dragoons of Maj. Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee. While the purpose of North’s first stay in Monmouth was, according to Washington, was to “restrain the malpractices which prevailed there” and “lighten the service of the militia” the purpose of this second deployment was to raise provisions at a time of particularly dire need for the Army.

On January 27, North wrote Washington from Freehold. He had delivered Washington’s letter to the magistrates of Monmouth County "to furnish the quantity of provision required, provided I would assist them with a guard.” North reported further that:

[I] accompanied them myself for several days, during which time we procured by purchase and impressed the following quantity of provision: forty seven barrels of beef and pork, fifty barrels of Tory bread which was taken aboard a brig near Middletown, the full quantity of grains, which is sent to the neighboring militia, with orders to be prepared for immediate use, and one hundred six head of good cattle (chiefly from the townships of Middletown and Shrewsbury) as being most in the power of the enemy.

North noted working with John Lloyd, the Army’s commissary officer for the county: “The Magistrates thought it proper to invite Mr. Lloyd, formerly a purchasing commissary in sd County, to execute the business - he being well acquainted with the stock and disposition of the people and this place.” With Lloyd’s help, “Ninety barrels of flour is already manufactured and came on to camp with the cattle, beef, pork & biscuit."

However, all was not well in North’s command. One of his men, Robert Abraham, deserted and was interrogated in New York by William Smith, the attorney general of the Loyalist government. Smith wrote that he "thinks 100 men might bring off the whole 300 in Monmouth. They have 40 horse there, but keep only 16 shod to prevent desertions." When North’s men left Monmouth County at the end of January, they were not replaced.

Caption: Col. Caleb North of Pennsylvania commanded a regiment of Continentals sent into Monmouth County in January 1779 to curb illegal trade and again in January 1780 to raise provisions for the Army.

Related Historic Site: The Burrowes Mansion

Sources: George Washington to Lord Stirling, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 5, p 388; Lord Stirling to Caleb North, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 55, January 13, 1779; William Livingston to Asher Holmes, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 9, January 15, 1779; James McHenry to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 19, 15 January–7 April 1779, ed. Philander D. Chase and William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, pp. 63–64; Lord Stirling, General Order, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw140033)); Caleb North to Lord Stirling, New York Historical Society, William Alexander Papers, vol. 1, p. 279, 285; Andrew Brown to Asher Holmes, Monmouth County Historical Association, Cherry Hall Papers, box 5, folder 9; David C. Munn, comp., Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey (Trenton, N.J.: Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Geology, 1976) p 55; John Burrowes to Lord Stirling, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 55, February 3, 1779; William Livingston to George Washington, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, p 34; George Washington to Caleb North, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 14, pp. 103-4; Asher Holmes, letter, Monmouth County Historical Association, Articles File: "Letter from Freehold"; George Washington’s General Orders, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 17, p 362; George Washington to Lord Stirling, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 5, p 388.Caleb North to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 63, January 27, 1780; William Smith, Historical Memoirs of William Smith: From 26 August 1778 to 12 November 1783 (New York: Arno, 1971)  pp. 229-30.