The Continental Army Draft in Monmouth County

In early 1778, New Jersey was responsible for filling four regiments (about 2,400 men) for the Continental Army. Washington’s Army, following demoralizing defeats in Pennsylvania and the harrowing winter at Valley Forge, was vastly understrength and recruiting had slowed to a trickle. In February 1778, the Continental Congress, at the urging of Nathaniel Scudder (a newly-arrived delegate from Freehold) and a few others, admonished the states to fill their quotas “by a draft of the militia or any other way that shall be effectual.”

George Washington underscored Congress’s resolution with direct appeals to several state governors. He wrote William Livingston of New Jersey about the need to meet the state’s quota via a strictly-enforced draft:

The Government must have recourse to coercive measures; for if quotas cannot be had by voluntary enlistment and the powers of the Government are not adequate to drafting, there is an end to this contest and opposition becomes vain.

Livingston supported the draft and, after some debate, the New Jersey Legislature acted accordingly.

New Jersey Drafts Men into the Continental Army

On April 3, 1778, New Jersey passed a law instituting a draft. Under the law, each militia company in the state would divide into 18-man classes (three such classes to a full-sized company), and each class would select one man for nine months service in Continental Army. The means of selection would be determined locally, but, as a last resort, would consist of drawing lots. The law included a $300 fine for any draftee who did not show up for service, but permitted draftees to find substitutes.

The law was controversial and compliance was not uniform because it put military impressments into effect—a British practice that was loathed in the colonies prior to the war. To make the law more palatable and reduce the number of needed draftees, New Jersey reduced its Continental Army obligation to fill-out regiments from four to two. The two undersized Additional Regiments of the Continental Army created for the defense of New Jersey—under David Forman and Oliver Spencer—were also merged into the New Jersey Line to help fill the remaining regiments.

The Draft in Monmouth County

In Monmouth County, compliance with the draft was higher than in much of the state. The county had 26 militia companies, the majority of which were full-sized on paper, but turnout was spotty. If compliance was complete, the county would have raised about 60 men through the draft; instead, 30 draftees were raised from Monmouth County (another list records 24-men raised, but is presumed to be pre-final). While 30 men was only half of what the law called for, Monmouth’s draftees were more than one-fourth of all of the impressments from across the state.

The list of Monmouth County draftees has survived. They ranged in age from 16-year old Bedford Boltenhouse and 17-year old William Tennent (presumably the son of the recently-deceased Presbyterian minister of the same name) to 40-year old George Smith. The majority of the recruits (19) were aged between 19 and 27. Two men, William Hall and William Starkey (from Middlesex County), served as substitutes for draftees.

Draftees were officially raised on May 14 and given until June 2 to report for duty. Given that these men had to walk from Monmouth County to Valley Forge in that time, the window to report was quite narrow. Records are incomplete, but at least one Monmouth draftee did not arrive in camp until June 11. The men had little time to train; Washington’s Army left Valley Forge to pursue the British Army across New Jersey on June 19 and engaged the British at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28.

With Wiliam Tennent as the notable exception, none of the draftees were from the families of leaders. No Formans, Scudders, Smocks, Motts, Holmes, Schenks, Andersons, etc., were among the draftees. Based on the review of tax lists, none of the draftees (except one discussed below) owned a significant estate. This in line with research from historian Mark Lender who demonstrated that, following an initial burst of patriotism in 1776, the rank & file of the Continental Army was comprised of poor people.

Besides Tennent, the most noteworthy draftee was Josiah Halstead. A man of this name owned the leading tavern in Shrewsbury. Halstead hosted the township’s annual meeting and his tavern boarded military officers intermittently stationed in Shrewsbury. It would be extraordinary to draft a prominent tavern keeper. This raises a few possibilities: 1.) Halstead, a supporter of the Revolution, believed himself to be in danger in Shrewsbury and allowed himself to be drafted in order to gain relative safety with the Army; 2.) Halstead was drafted as a punishment from local militia officers, perhaps for not being sufficiently accommodating to the local war effort; 3.) Halstead had fallen into debt and military service kept his creditors at bay for nine months; 4.) a different man named Josiah Halstead was drafted (although county tax lists record only one man with this name).

The relatively high turnout of Monmouth County draftees is an indicator of the county’s turnaround from a year earlier when the county’s civil government was non-existent and its militia was largely dysfunctional. Another reason for the high turnout may have been the growing understanding in May that the British Army would soon be leaving Philadelphia and marching across New Jersey—with a probable path through Monmouth County. The strength and competence of Washington’s Army would soon have direct bearing on the welfare of Monmouth County.

The 1778 draft was greatly unpopular and New Jersey would never again use a draft to fill its Continental Army ranks. However, in 1781, Monmouth County was permitted to conduct a local draft to fill a regiment of State Troops (state-financed soldiers for the defense of the state) established to guard the Monmouth shoreline. That draft raised seventeen men—four of whom—Boltenhouse, Tennent, Smith, and John Robins—were among the Monmouth Countians drafted in 1778.

Related Historic Site: Valley Forge National Historical Park

Sources: Mark Lender, “The Enlisted Line: The Continental Soldiers of New Jersey”(Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, 1975) p 86; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #3628; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #7199; Mark Lender, “The Enlisted Line: The Continental Soldiers of New Jersey”(Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, 1975) pp. 87-9; Lender, Mark, “The Conscripted Line: The Draft in Revolutionary New Jersey,” New Jersey History, vol. 103 (1985), pp. 28-37; List of Recruits, New Jersey State Archives, Dept of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #2325-2330; List of Draftees, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #2328.