State Troops Raised to Defend Monmouth County

As noted in prior articles, a succession of Continental troops under Colonels Caleb North, Mordecai Gist, and Benjamin Ford were stationed in Monmouth County through the first half of 1779. They were sent in order to curb illegal trade and protect the county from Loyalist raiders, but, for the most part, they were not successful in either regard. A troop mutiny and massive raid against Middletown and Tinton Falls in April 1779 convinced George Washington to pull troops out of Monmouth County. In addition to troops’ lack of success, he worried that “active emissaries” of the British were “corrupting” his men while stationed in Monmouth County.

On June 2, the New Jersey government moved to fill the gap by authorizing 1,000 State Troops to be raised to protect the New Jersey shore. State Troops were militiamen who volunteered for continuous service of six, nine, or twelve months during which they were paid by the state. This force would include a regiment in Monmouth County, to be raised and commanded by Colonel Asher Holmes. However, it would take weeks to recruit these men, much less arm and provision them. Before these men were raised, Loyalist raiders launched at least one more punishing raid.

The New Jersey Legislature had authorized State Troops previously. In November 1776, it sought to raise three battalions of State Troops, including one from Monmouth County under Lt. Colonel Thomas Seabrook—but little came from this effort, as the county’s patriots were soon laid low by Loyalist insurrectionaries. Then, in September 1777, Joshua Huddy was authorized to raise an artillery company of State Troops. Huddy’s men fought at the Battles of Germantown and Monmouth, but were never numerous enough to provide meaningful protection to the county.

Raising Monmouth County’s State Troops

Three militiamen recalled volunteering for Holmes’ regiment in June 1779. James Bowne recalled enlisting on June 15 and serving for six months. During that time, "he was in a scrimmage [skirmish] when the 500 and the Tory Lieutenant Lawrence was wounded, of which wound he died." John Maxson recalled being stationed at Black Point (Rumson) and “the Gut” (the temporary channel of water separating Sandy Hook from the New Jersey mainland). William Van Pelt recalled enlisting in June 1779 and "his company took a prize, two horse load of contraband goods belonging to John Raltoone, near Spotswood, which were condemned, sold and divided among the company."

On July 24, Colonel Holmes wrote Governor William Livingston to complain about being ordered to send his men outside the county. That letter has not survived, but the Governor’s response has:

There is not a single post at which the State Regiment is placed but the inhabitants complain that they do not have their full complement and are constantly importuning me with their letters for more men; the truth is that there is not sufficient number of troops at any of them, nor can be got out of 1,000 men; and as I would do equal justice to all by having the Regiment apportioned to the danger & importance of their respective posts, I must in a great measure leave the matter to the commanding officer, who has direction of the whole.

Livingston refused to rescind the order to send Monmouth men to Middlesex County, but did order militia from Hunterdon County into Monmouth to help: “I have herewith directed the Coll to send to Monmouth as many of the militia of his regiment as amount to the deficiency [of State Troops]." As noted in prior articles, most of these call-ups produced few men.

Van Pelt recalled that he had to provide for himself while serving in the State Troops. He deposed that he "procured his own horse, saddle, bridle, carbine, pistols, holster, sword and other accoutrements” and was “allowed twenty shillings a month for his horse over and above the pay allowed to [other] soldiers.” The poor provisioning of Monmouth’s State Troops hurt their effectiveness. In August, Courtland Skinner, commanding New Jersey Loyalists on Staten Island, wrote of a skirmish with the Monmouth State Troops near Woodbridge. He reported “finding that they had no ammunition, they withdrew.”

Holmes’ troops were apparently on their way to Elizabethtown to respond to an alarm. The Loyalist New York Gazette reported on August 16: "A party of rebel militia commanded by two Captains, in going from Monmouth County to Elizabethtown, to act as six months men, were fired upon near Woodbridge by a few people unknown, when the commanding officer was wounded in the thigh, and the rest put to rout, several of them being wounded." Skinner further noted that the skirmish occurred on August 10: “In less than 15 minutes, they [the Monmouth State Troops] were fired upon by about 20 men, a Captain and several others were wounded and nobody as yet can find out who fired on them."

While Monmouth men occasionally served in Middlesex County, Middlesex County men frequently served in Monmouth County. A prior article documents that Middlesex men were sent into Monmouth County at least five times. Abraham Vreeland of Middlesex County, who joined the State Troops in 1779 and served through the end of the 1780, was based in Cheesequake, on the border of the two counties. His duty consisted of “guarding the lines, the frontier, from Sandy Hook to South Amboy.” He also recalled that he “was stationed at Monmouth Court House and served there as fifer to the said term one month.”

As noted above by the men who served in Holmes’ State Troops, the Monmouth State Troops camped on the military frontier line (“the Gut” and Black Point) and engaged Loyalist raiders at least twice in 1779. While camped there, Major Patrick Ferguson, who had already led two large raids into Monmouth County (Little Egg Harbor/Osborn Island in October 1778 and Middletown/Tinton Falls in April 1779) proposed a 2,000-man raid into Monmouth County and neighboring areas. While this major raid did not occur, it proves that there was a high potential for a raid that would have overwhelmed the state troops.

However, small raids into Monmouth County continued, as did calls for greater assistance. In December 1779, Governor Livingston wrote Nathaniel Scudder, Monmouth’s leading political figure, that the State Troops were the state’s tool for helping the county:

A guard of two hundred men [State Troops] under Col. Holmes has been ordered for the defense of your county, which I hope will prevent the predatory visits of the British, and protect the patriotic borders from the freebooting Tories.

The New Jersey Legislature reauthorized Holmes’ regiment of State Troops again in 1780 and 1781. State Troops continued to serve in Monmouth County into midyear 1782. While the State Troops lost more clashes than they won, they, unlike Continental units, were a consistent force that never mutinied or refused to engage the enemy.

Caption: Starting in June 1779, Asher Holmes commanded a regiment of 200 State Troops. He spent most of the next two years away from his home in Marlboro with his men on the county’s shores.

Related Historic Site: National Guard - Militia Museum of New Jersey

Sources: Mark Lender, “The Enlisted Line: The Continental Soldiers of New Jersey”(Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, 1975) p 54; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Van Note of Ohio, W.22540; William S. Stryker, Officers and Men of New Jersey in the American Revolution (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co, 1967); National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Maxson; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - James Bowne; Courtland Skinner to Henry Clinton, William Clements Library, Henry Clinton Papers, vol. 64; New York  Roay Gazette quoted in William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 406; William Livingston to Asher Holmes, Monmouth County Historical Association, Cherry Hall Papers, box 5, folder 9; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - William Van Pelt; Patrick Ferguson to Henry Clinton, Clements Library, U Michigan, Henry Clinton Papers, November 15, 1779; William Livingston to Nathaniel Scudder, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 279-80, 281 note.