By Rick Schwertfeger, Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command
This is Rick Schwertfeger’s seventh article on backcountry, irregular and militia partisans in the American Revolution.
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As 5,000 British Redcoats marched down Schraalenburgh’s New Bridge Road on November 21, 1776, a day behind the retreating, disheveled American Continental Army, “Tory Dutchmen came forward by the hundreds, many wearing the green uniforms of British Provincial troops, in which they had recently enlisted.” Yet historian Adrian Leiby noted that “at least half of the people of Schraalenburgh and the Hackensack Valley, though within the British lines, stood boldly for the American cause.”
Within days Tories attacked homes of prominent Schraalenburgh Patriots, followed by back and forth reprisals over several weeks. In December the British Army established winter quarters at the edge of town.
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Thus my northern New Jersey hometown of Bergenfield — then called Schraalenburgh — became a center of the Loyalist–Patriot “civil war” during the American Revolution. Its Dutch Huguenot settlers followed the Dutch Reformed religion; and had memories of themselves or their elders fleeing Europe from religious oppression. As changing European alliances impacted the American colonies during the 17th century, these passionate colonials were strongly anti-Tory. Then the 18th century Great Awakening – “a reaction of practical faith against barren orthodoxy… furnished the zeal and fervor for progress which brought on the American Revolution.” Many members of the church in Schraalenburgh embraced the new religious views. Others felt robbed of their religion.
“The ensuing bitter and divisive conflict” led to the establishment of a traditional Dutch church in northern Schraalenburgh. And the acrimonious split spread beyond religion, becoming “the division between patriot and Tory in the far greater conflict to come.”
Schraalenburgh’s split serves as one example of why New Jerseyans were so divided as the Revolution exploded. More generally, a paradox existed: British colonials had the constitutional rights of Englishmen, but their colonies were subservient to the Mother Country. Increasingly, many colonials became restive under the chains of empire. Those wishing to break free called themselves Patriots; and much is known about their motivations and how they won the War.
The reasons for Loyalist allegiance to Britain run the gamut. Some were loyal British citizens. Whatever their dissatisfactions with how the colonies were treated, rebellion was unconscionable. Some had experienced commercial, financial, and/or political success in America, and aimed to protect their wealth and positions. Interestingly, some quite agreed with the dissatisfactions of the rebels, but advocated negotiation. As revolutionary fervor increased, the position of many Loyalists became quite untenable. Labeled “Tories” by the Patriots, they became the enemy. Many prominent Loyalists fled the colonies for safety. Some returned to England. A large number fled to Canada.
But many Loyalists, such as those green-coated Provincials in Schraalenburgh, took to arms. The green coats joined the 3rd or 4th Battalions, New Jersey Volunteers, commissioned just five days before the British marched through Schraalenburgh. The 4th Battalion “participated in numerous raids in New Jersey in 1777,” raids on Staten Island, and “Lord Cornwallis’s Bergen County Grand Forage in 1778;” with more raiding in 1779 and 1780.
Eventually, nine Loyalist battalions were raised in New Jersey. Some mainly engaged in militia raiding. Others were attached to British Army units and fought in pitched battles. New Jersey militia even participated in the famous Battle of King’s Mountain as part of Patrick Ferguson’s American Volunteers! “A detachment of the 4th Battalion under Capt. Samuel Ryerson made up nearly one quarter of” Ferguson’s force. Detachments from the 1st and 2nd Battalions joined them.
But much of the fighting was New Jerseyan against New Jerseyan. Old religious animosities and local disputes frequently motivated colonials to the Loyalist side. The circumstances that created Loyalists often were less about ideology and more about material issues. There was payback over land disputes, and tenants settling scores with patriot landlords. For many colonials, loyalty to the Crown was secondary or irrelevant. Their strong emotions were enough for them to take up arms against Patriot enemies.
Much of the resulting fighting was by irregulars on both sides. For in January 1777 the British troops marched back to New York. “Schraalenburgh patriots were now in an abandoned country between two armies, a neutral ground which was too perilous for any but desperate men, bent on vengeance, gold or glory.” Tory raids were “of savage barbarity, bringing the horrors of war to defenseless inhabitants merely because they differ in sentiment.” “Hardly a patriot family in Schraalenburgh had not seen a son or father carried off to prison, many to die of starvation and exposure.” Local patriot militia leader Major John Mauritius Goetschius wrote in 1780 of his ”familie so distressed by the Burning of my house Barn and all my effects by the Enemie.” However, Goetschius, along with Captains James Christie and David Demarest, pursued the Patriot cause bravely and became distinguished militia officers.
One young Schraalenburgh militiaman deserves noting: Peter Van Orden. Enlisting at age 14, he saw local action in 1777 and 1778. Then “he spent 1780 in the Mohawk Valley, fighting British Regulars and Brant’s Indian raiders.” Later, in the War of 1812 Van Orden rose in the militia to the rank of Major General.
Detailed presentation of marauding and plundering throughout New Jersey by irregulars, militias, British soldiers, and even Continental Army troops exceeds this article. But one event deserves highlighting. Further south lies Long Beach Island, an 18-mile-long barrier island with Barnegat Bay between it and the mainland. On October 25, 1782, a British vessel ran aground and was captured by Patriot militiamen under Captain Andrew Steelman. That night as the Patriots slept on the beach at the northern end of the island, Tory raiders under John Bacon launched a sneak attack and killed the sleeping Patriots. The Massacre at Long Beach has come to exemplify the savagery of the Patriot- Loyalist civil war in New Jersey during the American Revolution.
Sources:
Allen, Thomas; Braisted, Todd, THE LOYALIST CORPS: Americans in Service of the King (2011)
Chartrand, Rene, AMERICAN LOYALIST TROOPS 1775-84 (2008)
Leiby, Adrian, THE HUGUENOT SETTLEMENT OF SCHRAALENBURGH (1964)
Moore, Christopher, THE LOYALISTS: Revolution, Exile, Settlement (1984)
Salmon, Stuart, “The Loyalist Regiments of the American Revolutionary War 1775-1783” (2009)
© Rick Schwertfeger r.schwertfeger1023@gmail.com Austin, Texas Used with Permission
Matthew says
Great piece Rick. We forget how divided the country was about the Revolution.
Rick Schwertfeger says
Thanks so much, Matthew. This actually was a tough piece to write, as when I dug into it there was so much info about Loyalists/Tories and the great divide that I could have written a much longer piece. Glad that you appreciated it.
JimC says
Amateurs are intimidated by having to write a long piece. Pros are intimidated by having to write a short one.
Black Tyrone says
Rick Thanks for article. Myself a native of the Pascack Valley and a frequent visitor to the site the Baylor’s dragoons fiasco. Just to “brown bag” lunch while working out on the road.{before retiring} The photo of the Bergenfield church would fit in Ridgewood, Saddle River. Hillsdale or any one of a dozen or so boroughs in Bergen County NJ… that unsafe and “Neutral Ground”. ps Don Troiani has told me there will be a work on the Van Courtlandt fight involving the Queen’s rangers and Christian Indians {Mahicans} Jim might want to jump on this one.
Fletcher A. Vredenburgh says
Great piece. I’ve always assumed my NY Knickerbocker forbears stayed loyal based on the deep-rooted conservatism my family’s always displayed.
And because native Staten Islanders MUST say something whenever the hometown’s mentioned even in passing, I wrote a short piece about the assault on British troops on Staten Island in 1777 by Colonial and militia forces under Gen. Sullivan from NJ.
https://apeshall.blogspot.com/2016/07/british-fort-at-latourette.html
JimC says
Thanks for that Fletcher.
Rick Schwertfeger says
That article is cool, Fletcher.
I’ve always wondered: Why isn’t Staten Island part of NJ?
Rick
Fletcher A. Vredenburgh says
Thanks, Rick.
As to our not being part of NJ, we got lucky, I guess! 😉 Of course, we’re part of NYC, so that kind of stinks these days. Seriously, though, we were part of the New Amsterdam colony ceded to England so we just stayed part of that package.
Rick Schwertfeger says
Fletcher,
I investigated some, and one reason Britain wanted Staten Island was to control both sides of The Narrows for security/military purposes.
BTW: I was accepted at Wagner College. I went elsewhere. But it would have been an okay place to go.
lane batot says
Great post. Perhaps it is simply a matter of time having passed, but one rarely hears/reads much about the Tories. In a sense, from the Tory point-of-view, the Revolutionary War was America’s FIRST Civil War, except that in that case, the rebels won! And to the victors goes the writing of “history”…..
Alexander Lauber says
Rick, thanks for the great article! As a New Jersey expat, growing up just down the road from Washington’s HQ in Morristown I thought I knew a lot about Revolutionary War history in NJ. I knew nothing about the Tory fighting so close to my hometown.
Tom Braund says
BHS 65 Tom Braund: We have nearly the same situation today with illegal taxation and government oppression. Like him or not, President Trump is working at fixing some of these problems to our benefit.
Ronda Morris says
Hello,
This is my grandfather. I am looking for where their farmstead and home stood? And how his children were killed by The British Army and where? Could you shed any light?
Thank you,
Ronda Morris Gillette
PS My other grandfathers are Col Lewis Morris and Thomas Morris of Monmouth, NJ. ….
Albert Hendrickse Banta (1728 – 1810):
“Theodore Melvin Banta gives the following account on page 61: “He was church warden at Hackensack in 1761, and Elder in 1765. Was chosen Freeholder of the township of Hackensack in 1772 and 1781. During the Revolutionary War, he had property destroyed by the British Army for which he received £634 in settlement from the United States government. He sold his farm at Schraalenburgh, June 5, 1784, and removed to Kentucky, settling near Harrodsburg, where he died Sep 29, 1810. His wife died July 15 of that same year.”
Three of Albert’s children were killed as a result of the war along with the destruction of his home: Albert, aged twelve and Geertruy, aged seven, both died 22 July 1776, and son Samuel, aged nine, one week later on 29 July.”
Rick Schwertfeger says
Ms. Gillette,
There is street named Banta Place in Bergenfield. It is off of Prospect Avenue. It is reasonable to assume that that is where “his farm at Schraalenburgh” was. Here’s a link to the map:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/1+Banta+Pl,+Bergenfield,+NJ+07621/@40.9320229,-74.0062876,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c2f041a26312ad:0x6c0317bdfc1d10b1!8m2!3d40.9320229!4d-74.0040989
Rick Schwertfeger says
Ms. Gillette,
Further confirmation. One of the prominent places in Bergenfield is Cooper’s Pond. It was the site of the Tunis R. Cooper Chair Factory. “His workmen lived along Prospect Street, in what was called Cooperstown, among them Van Sauns, Bantas, Earls and Stallwoods.” in Leiby, Adrian, “The Huguenot Settlement of SCHRAALENBURGH: The History of BERGENFIELD, New Jersey,” p. 149.
Furthermore, in “The Revolutionary War in the Hackensack Valley: The Jersey Dutch and the Neutral Ground,” also by Adrian Leiby, he states that your ancestor was one among “men who risked their lives and property by openly serving as patriot officials in a no man’s land between two armies.” (p. 157) Leiby also states that, “Dozens of patriot homes from New Barbadoes Neck to Closter were blackened shells, all testimonies to the patriot determination of the Hackensack valley.” (p. 156)
While I find nothing mentioned about the death of the children, your ancestor’s extended family certainly played a prominent role in on the Patriot side during the Revolution, and in Schraalenburg during those years.