The First Loyalist Raids Against Monmouth County

December 1776 was the highwater mark for Monmouth’s Loyalists. The British Army had pushed Washington’s Continentals out of New Jersey into Pennsylvania and victoriously set up camp in Trenton. Across the interior of New Jersey, but especially in Monmouth County, Loyalists rose up. In three coordinated insurrections in Upper Freehold, Freehold-Middletown, and from Shrewsbury down the shore, Loyalists gained control of most of the county. The Monmouth militia melted away; hundreds signed British “protection” papers.

But the tables turned quickly. Monmouth County was opened up to an advancing Continental Army after the Battle of Trenton, and  a regiment of Pennsylvanians promptly routed Monmouth Loyalists at Freehold on January 2, 1777. Over the next month, the Pennsylvanians pushed east and broke up Loyalist associations in Middletown and Shrewsbury. More than 200 Loyalists were captured and jailed; hundreds more fled behind British lines as Loyalist refugees. Some joined the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers while others sought to make a living and extract revenge on their own terms.

Loyalist Raids Begin

It is arguable exactly when Monmouth County’s first Loyalist raid occurred, but the first clear evidence of Loyalists plundering their former neighbors appears to be an action on March 11. In a March 12 report to Congress, General Israel Putnam, commanding the Continental Army in central New Jersey, mentioned that "a fortnight before, 17 horned cattle and 37 horses were taken in the evening by a parcel of Provincials, on the account of the troops landing in Monmouth."

If the first plundering raid occurred on March 11, the first capture and arson occurred a month later. David Forman warned the Continental Army of the coming raid, prompting a response from General Israel Putnam on April 11: “Should the enemy attempt to march to Middletown, you will have it in your power to annoy them & impede their march.” That raid occurred on April 13, Forman reported, “a party of British troops were discovered making the Hook to Middletown -- I shall immediately put myself in their way & attempt to attack them -- at present I am very weak here, my numbers do not exceed 160 rank & file." But neither Putnam nor the Monmouth militia under David Forman, reeling from defeats at the Battle of the Navesink and Sandy Hook, offered any resistance.

The British-Loyalist party landed on the Raritan Bayshore and marched to Mt. Pleasant, west of Middletown. There, they took Reverend Charles McKnight prisoner and burned the Presbyterian church. He was put on a prison ship and denied the parole commonly offered to “gentleman” prisoners. Fatally ill in January 1778, McKnight was released home only to die days later.

George Taylor’s Raids

In June, George Taylor, the former Monmouth militia colonel who was commissioned colonel of a non-existent Loyalist militia, led a string of incursions into Monmouth County. On June 1, Taylor led a party toward Shrewsbury, but was engaged by a militia party and driven back with two dead and one captured. On June 10, Taylor led another incursion, this time near Middletown, where he was met by a party of Middletown militia; in the ensuing skirmish both parties had one man wounded.

On June 16, Taylor led a party that landed on the Raritan Bayshore. Their likely target was Major Thomas Seabrook, who had signed a British loyalty oath during the December insurrection but was now leading militia against his oath. The Loyalists entered Seabrook’s house, but he was not there. According to antiquarian accounts, the Loyalists noticed a sag in the ceiling boards and surmised that Seabrook was hiding in the loft. A Loyalist thrust his bayonet into the sag and hit someone. Stephen Seabrook, a private in the militia and son of Thomas, was bayoneted. The raiders carried off 200 lbs. of pork gathered for the militia and £31 of various household items. The young Seabrook was badly wounded but survived. After this incident, the Seabrook family moved inland for safety.

George Taylor returned to Middletown again on June 21 in an attempt to bring out recruits allegedly waiting to be liberated. Taylor’s party skirmished with the militia; four men were wounded. Three days later, Taylor went inland into Freehold Township, perhaps looking to capture David Forman. He skirmished with a militia party likely led by Forman—two men were captured, one was killed and one was wounded. The Pennsylvania Packet printed a report this skirmish that was likely written by Forman:

I laid the bait last Saturday to break up the plundering of Coll. George Taylor; it so far succeeded that I was within an ace of taking the whole; we took one white man and one Negro. While the rest were swimming toward a boat that was coming to take them off, we fired upon them, and killed one wounded another, who were both hauled into the boat.

It is noteworthy that raiding parties before and after Taylor’s incursions frequently accomplished their missions without alerting (and then fighting) the Monmouth militia. In contrast, Taylor’s parties always seemed to draw a response from the local militia. Taylor lingered at least once to visit with his father, Edward Taylor, who assisted Taylor’s party with their withdrawal another time. Also, Taylor’s parties—whatever else their objective—were continuously recruiting for the New Jersey Volunteers and Taylor’s own meager Loyalist militia. In order to do so, Taylor had to speak with people—some of whom inevitably alerted neighbors who formed the militia and clashed with Taylor. There is no reason to believe that Taylor’s June incursions yielded many recruits.

While the Monmouth militia performed well against Taylor’s incursions, the succession of raids struck fear into the Whigs living near Sandy Hook. The Loyalist New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury reported:

We hear that Mr. Forman, with about 400 of the Rebel Army, has abandoned Shrewsbury and is gone to Middletown, about 12 miles distant. Many of the Committeemen and other hot people have followed Mr. Forman's example, being apprehensive of a visit.

The decision of vulnerable Whigs to move inland to safer environs is discussed in another article. As for Taylor, his relatively mild incursions would soon be eclipsed by the larger, punishing raids from British regulars and stealthier, crueler attacks from more desperate Loyalist partisans.

Related Historic Site: Seabrook Wilson House

Sources: Israel Putnam to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I159, Letters of General Officers, p 67; Israel Putnam to David Forman, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections; Israel Putnam to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I159, Letters from General Officers, p67; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 393; Munn, David, Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey, (Trenton: Bureau of Geology and Topography, New Jersey Geological Survey, 1976) p 139; Howard Peckham, The Toll of Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) p 35; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v4, p247-8; Monmouth County Historical Association, Articles File: "Letter from Freehold"; Howard Peckham, The Toll of Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) p 35; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, pp. 399-400; 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 42; Monmouth County Historical Association, Articles File: "Letter from Freehold"; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 156; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v1, p 306-14; Richard Harrison, Princetonians: 1769-1775: A Biographical Dictionary (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014) vol. 2, pp. 156-9. Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County, New Jersey (Philadelphia, 1885), pp. 522-3.