Local Leaders at Battle of Monmouth

Due to their knowledge of the Freehold-Englishtown area, a number of Monmouth County’s leaders played important roles at the Battle of Monmouth. The four most important were Lt. Colonel David Rhea and Captain Peter Wikoff, who acted as faithful guides to Continental commanders during the battle, Colonel David Forman, who furnished guides, and Dr. Thomas Henderson who provided George Washington with early information on the Continental Army’s late morning withdrawal.

David Rhea grew up just west of Freehold, but lived as a merchant in Allentown before the war. He enlisted in the Continental Army in 1775 and served continuously through the Battle of Monmouth. Due to his local knowledge, Rhea spent the first hours of the battle advising General Charles Lee.

Lt. Col. Tench Tilghman, Washington's Aide de Camp, met Rhea on the battlefield as Lee began the mid-morning troop withdrawal (in the face of a British counter-attack). Tilghman said of Rhea: "He appeared to be very much agitated, expressed his disapprobation with the retreat, and seemed to be equally concerned that he had no place assigned to go where the troops were to halt." Later, Tilghman noted that Lee "desired me to go and bring him [Rhea] as quick as possible." Late in life, Rhea wrote about being pursued by a British dragoon that morning:

The Colonel abruptly wheeled, put spurs to his horse, and galloped to a barn, the dragoon after him. Around the barn, and through one door and out the other, went both pursuer and pursued. Ray [sic] galloped for safety to the regiment [Continental Army], passed in front, the trooper still at his heels. More than 100 muskets were discharged at him. But he [the dragoon] escaped unharmed, galloped back to his regiment, and was seen to take his place in line.

In the afternoon, Lt. Col. John Fitzgerald recalled Rhea assisting George Washington. Rhea offered to guide Washington’s arriving army to better ground: “It was good ground, and that, should General Washington want him, he should be glad to serve him." Fitzgerald concluded that Rhea “knew the ground exceedingly well.” Rhea also sent a letter to Washington about troop movements: "There is a strong party by your order posted at the pass I mentioned, and will in a few minutes open four pieces of artillery on their left flank…. They must go near five miles round before they can flank us."

Peter Wikoff was a local militia captain. He served as a guide to General Lee in the morning of the battle. Capt. John Mercer (an aid to Lee) noted that Wikoff "directed him [Lee] to the heights occupied afterward by Lord Stirling, as the only piece of ground in our favor." Wikoff proposed his family’s house as a rallying point for retreating troops and was sent off to inform retreating units of their withdrawal points. Colonel Isaac Ogden recalled Lee treating Wikoff disrespectfully in the heat of battle, "Mr. Wikoff in some measure apologized as if he [Lee] had looked upon it rather as an intrusion, and then turned off." Lee suggested he was not disrespectful, "I had not the least apprehension that Mr. Wikoff would not have the influence to lead a battalion to the point proposed for the halt."

Other officers spoke positively of Wikoff’s role guiding troops during the battle, though there is reason to think the militia officer’s counsel was not always heeded by regimental army commanders in the heat of battle. At least one other militia officer (probably more) served as a guide that day. Captain David Baird wrote:

The day of the battle, his men were far from where the enemy passed, [and] were desirous of going to look after their property; not anticipating an engagement that day, permitted them to do so -- that he afterward rode to Englishtown, where he met Washington and Stirling, and even conducted them, that they might know the ground in the vicinity of the battle.

David Forman was a colonel in the Continental Army in June 1778, but did not command any men; he lost command of his regiment a few months earlier. In the days leading up to the battle, Forman attached himself to the advancing Continental Army. On June 26, he met with the Marquis de Lafayette at Cranbury. Lafayette wrote that “Gal. Forman is firmly of the opinion that we may overtake the enemy... his sentiment is of great weight on account of his knowledge of the country."  But Lafayette also expressed caution about Forman’s advice: "Gal. Forman says that on account of the country, it is impossible for me to be turned to the right or left -- but I shall not quite depend upon that."

While Forman was away, a 200-man British detachment sacked his house and farm. Moses Estey of the Middlesex County recalled that on June 27:

[He] volunteered with others to go in pursuit of a detachment of the enemy of about 200 men at General Forman’s, who had plundered his house of all valuables, destroyed all his furniture & taken off his plantation all his cattle which they were driving off the British Army then near. They succeeded in re-taking the cattle which were brought back, but the detachment of the enemy got back to the camp of their main army.

Forman accompanied General Lee on the morning of June 28, and wrote a note at Lee’s direction to George Washington on the British line of march:

I am directed by Genl Lee to Inform your Excely that the Enemy’s Front have advanced one and a half Miles on the road leading to Middle Town and South Amboy… I have no doubt of Middle Town being their distination [sic], as Amboy would Expose there left flank to your Excelys Army.

Forman brought Lee guides (including, presumably, Wikoff and Baird). Based on testimony at Lee’s court martial, it appears that Lee and Forman did not like each other. Early on, Forman offered Lee advice on needed troop movements and offered to lead a column of Lee’s men. Lee reportedly responded curtly: “I know my business.” He had nothing to do with Forman after that.

After the battle, Forman wrote a letter to Washington criticizing Lee. And at Lee’s court martial, Forman testified against Lee. Forman claimed that, "Gen. Lee committed an error in his order of line by neglecting to find orders to hold the Gentlemen in march" and then "detaining the troops at least two hours longer than was necessary" at Englishtown. Forman stated that Lee was reluctant to attack the enemy: "Instead of marching to attack them, halted in the woods a mile from the enemy, and only sent a detachment." Lee also "appeared confused, and as he said, not well appraised of the enemy's situation.” During the Continental withdrawal, Forman said of Lee: "I observed the greatest confusion amongst the troops, occasioned… by Genl. Lee's frequent and contrary orders.” In total, "Genl. Lee, from the whole of his conduct, appeared determined to avoid fighting."

Forman’s role in furnishing guides was affirmed by the testimony of Colonels William Grayson and John Laurens. However, the timeliness of Forman’s assistance was questioned by Lee’s supporters. Lt. Colonel Brooks, Lee’s aide-de-camp, testified about the lack of local guides early in the battle, "about six o'clock they [Lee's men] began their march from Englishtown towards Monmouth Court House, having been detained by want of guides." Captain Evan Edwards, another aid to Lee, said he had to seek guides before assistance was offered:

General Lee sent me to procure some for him, but the guides who were ordered to remain with us could not be found. I went through the town to procure others... Genl. Forman [then] came to General Lee's quarters and said he would procure guides, which is supposed he did.

Lee, himself, testified about "various delays, halts and embarrassments, occasioned by false alarms and contradictory intelligence" from local guides.

Dr. Thomas Henderson served in 1776 as the Lt. Colonel of a regiment of Flying Camp that was attached to the Continental Army. In early June 1778, in retaliation for a Loyalist raid that resulted in the capture of his father-in-law, John Burrowes, Sr., Henderson led a gang that extra-legally seized the Loyalist William Taylor. Henderson’s vengeful act (and probably other acts) made him a target of Loyalists and British. They burned his house and farm on June 27—the first of a dozen arsons.

That same day, Henderson led forty mounted men in gathering intelligence on British troop movements and reporting to the arriving Continental generals. Daniel Applegate recalled seeing “Henderson about 4 miles from Village of Freehold on the day before the Battle of Monmouth with about 40 Calvary under his Command” as he gathered information on the British camp and pickets.

Henderson observed the withdrawal of Continental troops in the late morning of June 28 and then reportedly raced to Englishtown to debrief George Washington as he arrived at Englishtown. This was apparently Washington’s first intelligence about Lee’s late morning retreat. However, historians Mark Lender and Garry Stone have concluded that Lee’s withdrawal was prudent and relatively orderly, as were the positions Lee staked out for forming a defensive line. So, if Henderson characterized Lee’s retreat as disorderly (or even cowardly, as David Forman suggested), Henderson’s counsel was partially correct.

After the battle, on June 30, Henderson, Congressman Nathaniel Scudder, and David Forman, met with George Washington at Englishtown. Col. John Laurens recalled the three local leaders advising Washington not to pursue the British Army, now camped on higher ground at Middletown:

The reason for not pursuing them farther with the main body of the Army was that people well acquainted with the Country said the strength of the ground would render it impracticable for us to injure them [the British]; and that the sandy, parched soil, together with the heat of the sun, would probably occasion us considerable loss.

After the battle, Henderson documented the arson and plundering of Freehold by British soldiers during their stay in Freehold, including the often-cited account of Elizabeth Covenhoven.

Several other Monmouth County leaders participated in the Battle of Monmouth. At least two Monmouth Countians, Captain John Burrowes, Jr., and Captain Jonathan Forman, were company captains in the New Jersey Line. They participated in the early morning attack on the British and subsequent retreat. Militia Colonels Asher Holmes and Samuel Forman skirmished and harassed British parties leading up to the Battle of Monmouth, Forman spent the day under the command of Colonel Daniel Morgan, south of the battlefield, as a non-participant. Holmes and Captain Joshua Huddy led a brave but doomed attacks on the British baggage train east of the battlefield. And, finally, Congressman and Dr. Nathaniel Scudder, watched the battle from an attic window, having been pulled away to deliver a baby.

Related Historic Site: Monmouth Battlefield State Park

Sources: Mark Lender, Garry Wheeler Stone, Fatal Sunday (Norman, OK: Oklahoma University Press, 2016) pp 269-349; Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography, American Historical Society, New York City, 1921 Page 25-29; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Samuel Mount; Muster Rolls, John Burrowes’s Company, National Archives, Revolutionary War Rolls, Coll. 105, p35, 36, 38, 41, 44, 46; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, David Rhea of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 14148165; Marquis de Lafayette to George Washington, in Stanley Idzerda ed., Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution. Selected Letters and Papers, 1776-1790 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1981) pp. 89-91; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Moses Estey of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#  NJ 18309690; Charles Gilman, Monmouth: A Road to Glory (Red Bank, NJ: Arlington Laboratory for Clinical and Historical Research, 1964) p 34; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 357; Benson Lossing, The Battle of Monmouth Court House, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 57, 1878, June, p43; John Barber, Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey (New Haven, Conn., J. W. Barber, 1868) pp 341; David Forman to George Washington, Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Battle of Monmouth files: folder - American Sources; Proceedings of a General Court Martial Held at New Brunswick for the Trial of Major General Lee (New York: Privately Printed, 1864) pp. 30, 164, 197-8, 204, 213; Lee, Charles, The Lee Papers. 4 vols. (New York: New York Historical Society, 1871-1874) vol. 3, pp. 22-187; Lee, Charles, The Lee Papers. 4 vols. (New York: New York Historical Society, 1871-1874) vol. 3, pp. 22-187; David Forman to George Washington, Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Battle of Monmouth files: folder - American Sources; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - David Baird; David G. Martin, The Philadelphia Campaign: June 1777-July 1778 (Cambridge, MA: DaCapo, 1993), pp. 209-20; John Rees, 'What is this You have been about Today?': The New Jersey Brigade at the Battle of Monmouth, www.revwar75/library/rees/monmouth/Monmouth.htm, p5; John Rees, 'What is this You have been about Today?': The New Jersey Brigade at the Battle of Monmouth, www.revwar75/library/rees/monmouth/Monmouth.htm, p14-5, 18; John Rees, 'What is this You have been about Today?': The New Jersey Brigade at the Battle of Monmouth, www.revwar75/library/rees/monmouth/Monmouth.htm, p15; John Burrowes, The Revolutionary War Reminiscences of John Burrows, Virginia Historical Society, MSS5:1B9466:1; David Rhea to George Washington, The George Washington Papers, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Henderson of New Jersey, www.fold3.com/image/#23877525; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 50, June 28, 1778; Hamilton Cochran, Scudders of the American Revolution (Peterborough, N.H.: Scudder Association, 1976), pp. 97-8; David Forman to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 15, May–June 1778, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2006, p. 577; David Rhea to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 15, May–June 1778, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2006, p. 582; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 216; William Stryker, The Battle of Monmouth (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1927) p 232; John Laurens, The Army correspondence of Colonel John Laurens in the years 1777-8 (New York: New York Times, 1969) pp. 200-1; Thomas Henderson (W426), Forman’s Regiment and Monmouth County militia, Supplementary deposition of Daniel Applegate, 21 April 1837, transcribed by John U. Rees.