Across New Jersey, in the spring of 1776, white men between ages 16 and 60 divided themselves up into districts and began drilling in new militia companies that were loyal to the New Jersey Provincial and the Continental Congresses. The prior militia structure under the Royal Government ceased to operate. However, in Monmouth County, the early militia was not united in its support of the two Congresses.

John Longstreet, who would become a captain in the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers later that year, was a militia captain in Freehold. He described his militia company as a 70-man association which called itself the “Loyalists of Freehold.” Longstreet’s company probably existed parallel to other militia companies, neither aligned nor hostile. When the Declaration of Independence was signed, Longstreet’s men earned the derisive nickname “the Tory company.” Longstreet soon took his men to Sandy Hook and joined the British Army on July 15, 1776. Contemporary descriptions of “the Tory company” are supported in the post-war Loyalist compensation application of John Throckmorton, who noted that he was a Lieutenant in Longstreet’s Loyalist Company, and Longstreet was his captain.

Another gradation of loyalty was evident in the Grenadier Company captained by Henry Waddle of Freehold. Waddle’s company, unlike most militia companies, was not raised from a specific neighborhood – it appears that Waddle’s men came from Freehold and Shrewsbury Townships. Waddle’s company was the first Monmouth militia company to muster and march outside of the county –marching to Perth Amboy in April 1776.

Waddle was a known opponent of British policies who supported the Continental Association and Whig committees, but Independence appears to have been a breakpoint for him. On July 2, 1776, the same day that the New Jersey Provincial Congress adopted a new constitution separate of British control, Waddle resigned from the militia. He claimed that gout prevented further service. His resignation was accepted by the New Jersey Provincial Congress but Waddle was forced to appear before the New Jersey Council of Safety to declare “his peaceful intentions.” Though disaffected from the new government, Waddle never became an active Loyalist.

In neighboring Upper Freehold, the militia was also troubled. In June, Colonel David Brearley (who led the township militia and would soon join the Continental Army) wrote the Provincial Congress twice about disaffection among his men. The first time, Brearley wrote "respecting certain disaffected persons in Monmouth County" and then he wrote again about "disaffected persons in his Regiment.” The Provincial Congress responded first by summoning two of the leading voices in a bloodless Loyalist insurrection, Richard Robins and Moses Ivins. They would not appear. This and other troubling events in Upper Freehold prompted the New Jersey Provincial Congress to send in militia from Burlington County and Pennsylvania to establish order.

Shortly after that, on July 23, James Mount, a “field officer” in the militia had his commission “revoked” by the New Jersey Convention (the renamed Provincial Congress). While the revocation’s reason is not stated, it is probable that Mount was found to be cooperating with the township’s insurgent Loyalists. Shortly after that, Guisebert Giberson resigned his militia captain’s commission, which was accepted by the Convention on August 2. Giberson and Mount would both become active Loyalists.

Outside of Freehold and Upper Freehold, there was even greater dysfunction in the Shrewsbury Township militia.

Balthazar DeHart, an attorney who was in Shrewsbury in June, was deposed about disaffection in Shrewsbury in July:

Saith that he was informed by Captain Jacob Dennis, a Militia officer, who had been ordered to guard Deal shore, in that Township, that he could scarce persuade a man to go there with him; and that the examinant knows that his brother, who is another Militia officer there, could by no means prevail on his men to go to defend that shore—the Whigs telling him they expected that if they went there, they would be delivered by the Tories to the enemy on their landing; and that he was informed by the said Captain Dennis, that the inhabitants along Deal shore told him they did by no means thank him for guarding them, and that they would much rather have the [British] Regulars than the Yankees there.

Indeed, Colonel Samuel Breese, Dennis’s commanding officer, struggled with disaffection across the township. David Brearley reported to the Provincial Congress about Breese’s frustration:

The Colonel at Shrewsbury has offered to resign, making great complaints of the backwardness, "to say no worse," as he expresses himself, of his people; "so few of whom," he tells us, "are ready to turn out (hiding themselves and deserting their homes)... We have ventured to encourage him with the expectation of their assisting him.

On July 9, the New Jersey Convention (the renamed Provincial Congress) accepted Breese’s resignation: “Colonel [Samuel] Breese has resigned his commission of the Third Battalion of militia in the County of Monmouth, assigning for reason the general backwardness of the people.”

Beyond Breese, two other two original militia Colonels, Joseph Salter and George Taylor showed disaffection for the Continental cause. Salter, who resigned immediately upon selection in late 1775, would support the Loyalist insurrections. For this and likely other suspect acts, he was arrested and detained in Trenton in 1777. He converted to Quakerism—perhaps out of religious conviction or perhaps to strengthen his case for avoiding militia service. In late 1776, Taylor became an active Loyalist and a great enemy to Monmouth County’s new leaders.

However, there were also areas of the county where the new militia was stronger. It appears that the majority of militia companies in Freehold and Middletown townships were functioning by July. On July 6, David Brearley observed that "the Freehold and Middletown people who form the large battalion are, we believe, very hearty & willing to assist as much as possible.” That heartiness would soon be tested, as 200 of them soon would be summoned to put down a Loyalist insurrection.

Related Historical Sites: Museum of the American Revolution

Sources: Monmouth County Historical Association, Genealogical File, folder – Waddell; local history source reports the resignation of Capt. Henry Waddell of the militia on 7/2/76; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1635; Peter W. Coldham, comp., American Loyalist Claims (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1980), p 12 and 489. Jones, E.

Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 132 and 166. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984) p 501 and 863. Rutgers University Library Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Application Claims, D96, AO 13/18, reel 6; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v1: p 37-8; John Jordan, Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania: Genealogical and Personal Memoirs (New York: Lewis Publishing, 1911) v. 2, p804; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p138-9; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of Safety of New Jersey (Trenton: Naar, Day, and Naar, 1879) p 497; Troop Return, Henry Waddle, New Jersey Historical Society, collection 4, Revolutionary War Collection, item 7; Officers of 2nd Regiment of Monmouth Militia to New Jersey Provincial Congress, New Jersey Provincial Congress Coll., MG - 6, #17, #102, New Jersey Historical Society; Minutes of the Provincial

Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornel University Press, 2009) pp. 451, 460; David Brearley’s letters are summarized in Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornel University Press, 2009) pp. 451, 460; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p130, 136; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, pp. 1621-5, 1630; "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1625; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 1, p 602-3.;; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p138-9; Peter Force, American Archives, (Washington, DC: Clarke and Force, 1837) 4th series, vol. 6, pp. 1657-1658; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1657; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p229-32; John E. Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, 5 vols. (New York, 1903), vol. 1: p 191.