Huddy's Artillery Company

In September 1777, many New Jerseyans predicted that British raids from New York and Sandy Hook would soon get much worse. That is because General John Sullivan’s August 22 raid against Staten Island would elicit retaliation from the British and Loyalists camped there. Further, the most spirited Revolutionaries in New Jersey were leaving the state en masse to help George Washington’s Army defend Philadelphia. This left New Jersey especially vulnerable; no county was more vulnerable than Monmouth County, with its long, exposed shoreline and disproportionate number of militia out-of-state.

The Controversial Joshua Huddy

To help provide added security along the Monmouth shore at this vulnerable moment, the State of New Jersey turned to an unlikely man—Joshua Huddy.  Huddy was not from Monmouth County—he was born into a Salem County Quaker family. His pre-war life included expulsion from the Quakers for “dissolute behavior,” unpaid debts and a foreclosed estate, estrangement from his first wife, and a near-fatal boating accident in which others perished. Despite these blemishes, Huddy was a vocal supporter of the Revolution.

Huddy was among the first New Jersians to be put to sea as a privateer. His first date at sea is unknown and it is also unknown if he captured any prizes. But it is known that Huddy’s vessel was taken by Captain Bridger Goodrich of the HMS Hammond in early August 1777. Huddy was taken to New York and interrogated by Mayor David Matthews during which he described his vessel:

The said schooner at the time of her capture mounted six carriage guns & eight swivels and that she was commissioned by the Continental Congress to take & seize as a prize the ships, vessels & effects of the inhabitants of Great Britain.

Huddy was apparently quickly exchanged and returned home, but he lost his ship. In need of a new source of income, on September 24, Huddy was commissioned to raise an artillery company of State Troops. State Troops were subject to the same command structure as New Jersey militia, but the men who joined the State Troops received bounties and served continuous enlistments (six months or one year) like the Flying Camp who augmented the Continental Army. The New Jersey Legislature put Huddy “under the particular direction of Brigadier General Forman [David Forman].” Huddy was ordered to set up camp at Tinton Falls, slightly inland from the site of the Monmouth militia’s worst defeat on the Navesink Highlands.

One of Huddy’s men, William Cheeseman, recalled that the company had "two artillery pieces." Thomas Patten remembered building the carriages necessary to move the cannon. Huddy used his own horses to pull those cannon (for which he was belatedly compensated by the New Jersey Legislature two years later). How the cannon came to Huddy is a mystery. Perhaps they were taken off a privateer after Huddy left the sea for a land command; perhaps David Forman, who sought to build a small fort on the Highlands, procured the cannon and then thought better of putting them at risk by placing them on the Highlands.

Within a few days of arriving at Tinton Falls, the Loyalist, Stephen Edwards, was captured at Eatontown, just a few miles from Tinton Falls. It appears that Huddy accompanied Edwards to Freehold and participated in the impromptu military trial convened by Forman. Edwards was sentenced to death for spying and hanged two days later. Huddy participated in the hanging of Edwards, slipping the noose around his neck.

While in Freehold, Huddy assaulted Charles Gilmore and was indicted for the assault. He would plead guilty at the first Monmouth County Court of Oyer and Terminer in January 1778, admitting that "with force of arms… did make an assault on the said Charles Gilman [sic], then & there, did beat, wound, & ill treat [him], and other wrongs." Gilmore was from Middletown. Based on his petition signatures, he supported the Revolution and was wealthy enough to purchase a militia substitute for himself. It is not known why he and Huddy came to blows.

While Huddy’s company was created to protect Shrewsbury Township from incursions, Huddy’s commander was David Forman, and, in early October, Forman raised a force to join Washington’s Army in Pennsylvania. Huddy and his company took one of their cannon and went with Forman. However, because the cannon was too heavy to be moved quickly, Huddy’s company was unable to keep up with the rapid movements of the infantry. So, as Forman and a few hundred other Monmouth Countians engaged in close combat at the Battle of Germantown, Huddy’s company sat-out the battle.

While Huddy was away, a large British and Loyalist raiding party attacked Little Egg Harbor and slaughtered Kasimir Pulaski’s newly-raised legion on Osborn Island at the southern tip of Monmouth County. A second Loyalist party came off Sandy Hook and attacked a company of Shrewsbury militia under Captain John Dennis. Dennis and several militiamen were killed, wounded or taken. If Huddy’s company stayed at Tinton Falls, the odds are good that the Loyalist party that defeated Dennis would have never left Sandy Hook.

Huddy’s company returned to Shrewsbury in October. One of his men, John Nivison, recalled spending six months in "an artillery company stationed at Tinton Falls." Huddy’s men participated in at least one skirmish during this time. Henry Vail recalled that:

He had a skirmish with the enemy (British, Refugees and Green Coats) at Shark River Inlet. They landed from a frigate to destroy the salt works, but was repulsed & drove off. Capt. Joshua Huddy of the artillery company was the commander.

In an interesting footnote to the service at Tinton Falls, at least one of Huddy’s men, William Sanford, moved his young family east to be with him. This cut against the trend of shore families moving west to live in areas less vulnerable to raids. Jerusa Sanford recalled, "she moved to Tinton Falls” with her small children. She "was frequently in the habit of seeing her husband" while on duty. Fortunately for the Sanford family, Tinton Falls was not attacked during Huddy’s tenure as State Troop commander. The village was, however, victimized by two raids in spring 1779, the latter of which razed the village and resulted in the capture of its leading citizens.

As for Huddy, he remained a vigorous Revolutionary (for example, he led a risky attack on the British baggage train during the Battle of Monmouth) with a volatile personal life (including a second broken marriage and another assault charge). He was well known to Loyalist raiders who captured him three times (though he escaped once). On his last capture in April 1782, Huddy was hanged by Loyalists in retaliation for the prior murder of the Loyalist Philip White. Huddy’s murder lit a diplomatic bonfire that went to the highest levels of the Continental, British and French governments.

Related Historical Site: Captain Joshua Huddy’s Homestead

Sources: Catalog of the Exhibition: Joshua Huddy and the American Revolution, Monmouth County Library Headquarters, Manalapan, New Jersey, October 2004; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Nivison; Joshua Huddy interrogation from David Matthews, http://primarysources.brillonline.com/browse/prize-papers-part-1-online/sally-joshua-huddy-volunteer-on-board;prizepaperspp0104917; Mark Lender, “The Enlisted Line: The Continental Soldiers of New Jersey”(Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, 1975) p 51; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 183-91; Dennis Ryan, New Jersey in the American Revolution (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1974) p 25; The Acts of the Council and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: Trenton, 1784) p 27; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of William Sanford of NJ, National Archives, p3-5, 22-3; New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #35912; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of Henry Vail of NJ, National Archives, p4; Catalog of the Exhibition: Joshua Huddy and the American Revolution, Monmouth County Library Headquarters, October 2004 (original in Monmouth County Archives); National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - William Cheeseman.