With the British Navy in possession of Sandy Hook, on the northeast tip of Monmouth County, it is not surprising that this British base became a magnet for active Loyalists and those disaffected from the Continental movement. Even before the Declaration of Independence, Sandy Hook was becoming a haven for New York and New Jersey Loyalists.

The earliest documentation of local Loyalists heading to Sandy Hook is a May 7 letter to the New York Committee of Safety from Joseph Blanchard, a merchant from New York City. Blanchard was summoned by the Committee “under an accusation of carrying on a communication with some of the seamen on board the ships lying near Sandy-Hook.”

Blanchard admitted to going on board the British ship, Asia, but claimed it was only to settle debts with a New York Loyalist already on board that ship. He swore that he exchanged no intelligence with the Loyalist or Royal Governor William Tryon, who was also at Sandy Hook: 

Not one word of news, or anything about politicks, was ever hinted either from him to me, or me to him, in any letter that passed between us. As to the Governour, I never wrote him one word, nor ever received any kind of message from him of any kind whatsoever.

Interestingly, Blanchard sought to offer military intelligence on the British forces at Sandy Hook to “the Jersey officers” under Lord Stirling that he saw when leaving the Hook.  “I knew the contents, and went several times to my Lord's on purpose to deliver him the letter, but could not see him.” 

In essence, Blanchard’s testimony suggests that he went to the British navy and offered no intelligence, then he attempted to pass intelligence to Continental officers, but they would not see him. This strains the credibility of Blanchard’s testimony. He would become a Loyalist.

While Joseph Blanchard may have been the first Loyalist lured to Sandy Hook, Moses Kirkland was the most extraordinary case. Kirkland was a South Carolinian who was “confined in the said jail by order of the Honorable Congress, for practices inimical to this country.” Kirkland escaped and headed for Sandy Hook. A May 15 Virginia Gazette report on Kirkland noted: “he crossed over Delaware at Cooper's ferry last night” and was heading for the British squadron, now at Sandy Hook.

A number of newspapers from Virginia to New York printed advertisements that described Kirkland’s appearance and offered rewards for his capture. The New York’s Constitutional Gazette, for example, offered the headline: “Stop a Tory, One Hundred Dollars Reward.” The report suggested that Kirkland had escaped confinement in South Carolina and Philadelphia, and concluded that "he will either endeavor to get on board one of the men of war in the [Hudson] river or at Sandy Hook."

It is probable that women were among the New York Loyalists visiting the British ships at Sandy Hook. On June 2, the New York Provincial Congress heard testimony that a Ms. Hill and Mrs. Hatch were in “correspondence” with Governor Tryon’s ship at Sandy Hook. They appointed a committee to examine the two women and anyone else necessary to determine if the women were secretly visiting the British or passing written intelligence. After conducting several interviews, the Committee informed the Provincial Congress that they were “of the opinion that the suspicions against those persons [Hill and Hatch] are not well-founded."

The trickle of Loyalists soon increased. On June 19, three of New York’s leading Loyalists--Oliver DeLancey, Charles Apthorpe, and Major Robert Bayard-- left New York City in a canoe and paddled down to Sandy Hook to seek protection on British naval vessels. According to DeLancey, the escape was to avoid a summons to appear before the New York Provincial Congress on the 20th. 

In a few weeks, the influx of Loyalists from Monmouth County would dwarf the trickle of Loyalists from New York; other New York Loyalists would seek refuge among Monmouth County’s disaffected in Shrewsbury township.

Related Historic Site: Sandy Hook Lighthouse

Sources: Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 5, p1230; Virginia Gazette, May 17, 1776; Constitutional Gazette (New York), May 15, 1776; Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 6, P1359 and 1363; Bruce Bliven, Under the Guns, New York 1775-1776 (New York: Harper & Row, 1972) p 320; Sabine, W.H.W., Suppressed History of General Nathaniel Woodhull (NewYork: Colburn& Tegg,1954) p 167..