By the time what became known as the Little Egg Harbor Affair, or Massacre, a tragic pattern was obvious. Americans, when camped close to the enemy, failed to post an adequate guard against enemy encroachments resulting in tragedy. At Egg Harbor, on the night of October 14, 1778, there was but one single sentry posted to sound the alarm. He was quickly bayonetted and the British forces were able to silently prepare to attack the unsuspecting American troopers. Time and again this occurred, whereas the British took advantage of this lax in critical military procedure, and viciously attacked, claiming no quarter to butcher the sleeping troops.
The early morning attack on drowsing Americans at Little Egg Harbor was reminiscent of the Paoli Massacre on September 21, 1777; in which British Major General Charles Grey (of Earl Grey tea fame), led a late-night raid against American Colonel Anthony Wayne’s regiment, bayonetting 53 and wounding over 100. A year later, almost to the day, September 28, 1778, Grey was up to his old tricks, repeating his ‘midnight’ visit of American troops. This time he attacked the 3rd Dragoons under Colonel George Baylor. Using the same tactics, he surprised the couple of sentries and quickly bayonetted them before the alarm could be given. His men hurriedly surrounded the houses and barns where the American dragoons were sleeping, and skewered all within. Over sixty were killed outright, with many more perishing later from horrendous wounds.
It appears that Lord Grey had attentive fans among British officers for his methods in dealing with ‘the rebel hoard’. For just one month after what became known as the Baylor massacre, British Captain Patrick Ferguson, in the early morning hours of October 15th, 1778, added his own touch to Grey’s barbarous example. After quickly bayonetting the single sentry, his men surrounded the three homes in which the infantry detachment of Colonel Casimir Pulaski’s Dragoon Regiment were sleeping. By the time Ferguson’s men, mostly New Jersey Loyalists, were through, there were 53 dead, all hideously bayonetted; many impaled a dozen or more times.
Events Leading Up to The Raid
By the spring of 1778, the British saw the hopelessness of continuing their occupancy of Philadelphia; many factors in play included resupplying, perpetual harassment by American raiding parties, contrition of forces, and powerful political influences from home. General Henry Clinton became Commander-in-Chief after General Sir William Howe’s recall and in June, marched his army back to New York City, resulting in the Battle of Monmouth on June 28th. This left both armies staring at each; from the west and across the Hudson River along New Jersey, and from the north in what was to become a battle ground of ‘no man’s land’ in Westminster County, NY.
General Clinton’s army, like any occupying body, was forced to constantly replenish their fresh food supplies. Tory farmers on Long Island provided the bulk; however, the remainder was supplied by armed foraging parties sent into New Jersey and Westminster County. This often resulted in heated skirmishes, frequently in savage attacks on American forces who kept a close eye on these British probes. But also, critical for the British army to protract the war, were the merchant vessels who brought from England armaments, ammunition, and manufactured goods. General Clinton was cognizant of the American privateers who became quite adapt at attacking these British merchant ships, particularly as they approached American shores; which over time seriously hampered the army’s needs.
Though the British Navy was in force along the American coast, these American, and some foreign ships under ‘Letters of Marques’, proved difficult to catch on the high seas. From Maine to Florida, there was just over two thousand miles of coastline to patrol; therefore, the odds of catching a privateer were poor at best. Plus, once a British blockade vessel did come in contact with a privateer, it often proved a fruitless endeavor. Many corsairs were armed sloops, among the swiftest and most technically outfitted vessels under sail. By 1778, there were over thirty well-armed privateers prowling off the coast of New Jersey and New York. This nuisance became so great that General Clinton was forced to explore other means to put a dent in the operation of these vessels. To the British, it soon became apparent; if you could not catch the rat roaming freely, then nab him in his nest. A concerted effort was put into plan to raid privateer port of calls. Capture the ships in anchor and burn and confiscate any goods stored in the town harbor, including homes and warehouses. Little Egg Harbor, and particularly the settlement of Chestnut Neck, New Jersey, soon fell under Clinton’s sights. This after two very important and heavily laden prize ships, the Venus, and the Major Pearson, were towed into Little Egg Harbor by privateers in late summer, 1778. Clinton is reported to have stated that he would “clean out that nest of rebel pirates.”
Little Egg Harbor – A “Nest for Privateers”
Prior to the American Revolution, the community of Chestnut Neck, fifteen miles in from the bay’s entrance, sat on the Little Egg River, also and present Mullica River. It was a thriving trade center about ten miles north of present-day Atlantic City. Mail and traded goods from all along the coast to the Caribbean and Europe were loaded and offloaded vessels. At the start of the war, privateers took over the harbor as a home base for their attacks against British shipping. Once the merchantman was captured, it was brought to Little Egg Harbor. At Chestnut Neck, the ship would be offloaded then either destroyed or reoutfitted as another privateer added to the growing fleet. The hold would be sold or more often, transported to Pennsylvania to be sold and or provide American General Washington’s army with much needed supplies. While Washington was at Valley Forge in 1777-1778, these stores proved critical for the Americans. Once unloaded at Chestnut Neck, goods were taken up the river in flat-bottomed boats to the Forks (where the Mullica River meets the Batsto River), transported by wagon to Burlington, shipped across the Delaware River, and then carted to Philadelphia, and later directly to the American Army after Philadelphia was seized by the British. Once the British abandoned Philadelphia for New York City, the harbor continued to maintain the privateer ships that prowled the waters off the coast for British merchants.
British Raiders Set Sail and American Response
On September 30, 1778, Naval Commander Captain Henry Collins, of the Zehra, sloop-of-war, set sail from New York City with the Vigilant, Nautilus, two galleys, and four small armed vessels and transports, nine ships in all, set sail. Aboard in command of the raiding infantry party was Captain Patrick Ferguson, of the 70th Regiment of Foot. A Scottish officer, he was one of the early proponents in the use of light infantry, would claim fame as the inventor of the Ferguson repeating rifle (one of the first breech-loading rifles), and would meet his end at the Battle of Kings Mountain, Oct. 7, 1780. He commanded three hundred men of the 5th Regiment of Foot along with 100 Loyalists of the 3rd Battalion New Jersey Volunteers. Due to bad weather, the small flotilla took five days to sail the approximately seventy miles, not appearing off the Little Egg Harbor bar until the late afternoon of the fifth of October.
By 1778, Washington had established a network of gathering intelligence behind enemy lines; spies to be more exact. Even before British Captain Collins sailed, New Jersey Governor William Livingston received word that the harbor would be attacked. Three privateers of six or eight guns each, and an armed pilot boat, left the harbor three days before the British reached the bar. Several other vessels could not be readied for sea and were moved up the creek as far as Chestnut Neck. Polish Cavalryman Kazimierz (Casimir) Pulaski’s Cavalry Legion of three incomplete companies of light infantry, three troops of light horse, one artillery detachment, and one brass field piece, around 330 American and foreign troops, was dispatched to ward off the attack. So too, Colonel Thomas Proctor, with his corps of artillery, two brass twelve-pounders, one three-pounder, and some local militia, were hastened toward the region.
Raid Against Chestnut Neck
Early the next morning, Oct. 6th, Captain Ferguson hastened to accomplish the object of the expedition. Not waiting for the ships to cross the bar, he pushed up the creek with ship’s galleys and armed boats, packing as many soldiers as could be crowded into them. Both the long row and having been delayed when two boats grounded, he did not reach the Chestnut Neck settlement until four that afternoon in a heavy fog. Only a slight resistance of militia fired upon his boats, wounding one man of the 5th. Ferguson quickly routed all resistance and went about his purpose of the raid. He remained that night and did not leave until noon the next day, Oct. 7th. The privateers which were unable to sail were destroyed, but by whom depended on what version one was to believe. During his twenty hours stay, Ferguson claimed that he destroyed eleven vessels and several houses, including storehouses filled with prize goods.
The loyalist tabloid New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury reported the raid: “About three weeks ago, a small detachment of his Majesty’s ships, 2 Gallies, and four armed vessels…sailed from from hence for Egg-Harbour, where after surmounting some difficulties in passing into the harbour, they destroyed eleven sail of vessels, among which a very fine ship, the “Venus of London,” and others of considerable size. The troops being landed, proceeded to destroy the settlements and store houses of the committee men…” Historian Henry Barton Dawson, whose account has been considered among the most accurate, sided with the British claim that they destroyed the privateers. A few accounts, not substantiated by citations, state that the Americans burned the ships. Either account could be correct, however one can also believe that a combination of the two could have occurred; whereas some were torched by the British while others by the Americans as the British approached.
Though Ferguson had planned to continue another twenty miles up the Little Egg River to the Forks and destroy the works there, he received intelligence that Pulaski’s troops, as well as Colonel Thomas Proctor’s 4th Continental Artillery and local militia, were approaching. Ferguson destroyed the last of the prize supplies and hastened back toward his ships. When he reached the mouth of the Bass River (a nearly five-mile tributary of the present-day Mullica River), he stopped to destroy the salt works and mills of Eli Mathis. So too, the houses and barns of Mathis’ plantation were torched before Ferguson rejoined his ships.
American Forces Arrive
Pulaski arrived at Chestnut Neck on October 8th, a day after Ferguson did his worst. The Polish national did not have the means to attack Captain Collins’ ships, but his presence was a deterrent to British plans for further operations. Historian Francis B. Lee describes Pulaski’s arrival and disposition of troops, “…from Trenton to Tuckerton…which upon its arrival camped upon the old Willets farm, south of the latter village [Tuckerton]….From Count Pulaski’s headquarters a lane led to the bay, and behind a clump of trees, protected from observation, was the camp of the legion. Nearer the meadows was a picket commanded by Lt. Col. Baron de Bosen, while beyond lay Big Creek and Osborn’s Island.” From the Willets farm, Pulaski had a good view of the harbor and the British ships at anchor. The picket of second in command, Lt. Col. De Bosen, was about a mile further down the lane towards the lowlands. He had in his command just over fifty troopers.
American Deserters Set the Attack in Motion
According to Ferguson’s report to General Henry Clinton dated the 15th; “…we had information by a captain and six men [of] Pulaski’s legion, who had deserted to us, that Mr. Pulaski had cantoned his corps, consisting of three companies of foot, three troops of horse, a detachment of artillery, and one brass fieldpiece, within a mile of a bridge, which appeared to me easy to seize, and from thence to cover our retreat.” Ferguson would later incorrectly speak of the deserter as a Captain Bromville. In his communicate, the forces Ferguson referenced was not Pulaski’s main body as he described, but the outpost of light infantry under the command of Lt. Colonel Baron De Bosen. So too, Pulaski mentioned the desertion in his report to Congress: “You must know that one Juliet, an officer, lately deserted to the enemy, went off to them two days ago with three men whom he debauched, and two others whom they forced with them.”
The deserting captain mentioned in Ferguson’s report was actually a Lieutenant named Gustav Juliet. Juliet had been an officer in the Hessian Landgraf Regiment. While stationed in Rhode Island, he along with several other Hessian troops, deserted to the Americans on January 11, 1777. He requested a commission with the American army and was subsequently posted as a second lieutenant with Pulaski’s Legion, newly formed in Baltimore, which included a large number of foreign troops. However, Lt. Colonel Charles August Baron von Bosen (sometimes spelt Bose), would not admire a man who deserted his colors. Bosen’s harsh treatment soon made life difficult for Juliet. Harboring hateful contempt for his commanding officer, Juliet sought revenge. On the thirteenth, Juliet, along with five men of his outfit, set out on the bay in the guise of a fishing excursion. After three had become intoxicated, Juliet was able to convince the other two to desert, thereby rowing to the British fleet. Juliet gave a full account of Pulaski’s whereabouts, the posting of his forces, including that moral was low among the Legion’s troops. He also added a final touch to his scheme, telling Ferguson that Pulaski had informed his men that upon contact with the enemy, no quarter would be given. This no doubt affected the barbarous attack as Ferguson repeated Pulaski’s threat in his report to General Clinton after the action; basically validating Ferguson’s decision to offer no quarter to the Americans.
British Attack on Pulaski’s Outpost
Captain Ferguson’s report to General Clinton, written on Oct. 15th, details the British action. He wrote, “Accordingly, at eleven last night, two hundred and fifty men were embarked, and, after rowing ten miles, landed at four this morning, within a mile of the defile, which we happily secured, and leaving fifty men for its defense, pushed forward upon the infantry, cantoned in three different houses, who are almost entirely cut to pieces. We numbered among their dead about fifty, and several officers, among whom, we learn, are a lieutenant colonel, a captain, and an adjutant. It being a night attack, little quarter could of course be given, so that there are only five prisoners; as a rebel.”
Ferguson landing on Osborne Island between three and four in the morning, at a farmstead of a Quaker family headed by Richard Osborn Jr. His son Thomas was reportedly threatened at the end of the sword to act as a guide to the American outpost. They crossed the island and came to a bridge called ‘The Ditch’, that crossed over Big Creek, the defile Ferguson spoke of in his report. There was no American guard posted at the bridge, which proved a major oversight by Pulaski’s troops. Fifty men were left to secure their retreat and the rest marched in silence toward the sleeping Americans. After a mile march over a rough corduroy road, at around 4 AM, they came upon a lone sentry. He was reportedly bayoneted before he could raise any alarm. Ferguson’s troops, mainly those of the 3rd New Jersey loyalists, rushed to what was known as the Ridgeway Farm. Using General Grey’s tactics, they drew bayonets and unmercifully attacked the three buildings that housed the Americans.
Rising to the cries of his men, Lt. Colonel von Bosen tried to rally what men he could. With sword and pistol, he reportedly organized a brief counter attack, but was shortly cut down. So too was Lt. Joseph de la Borderie and around fifty other troopers butchered without quarter. A few troopers escaped into the pines and five were taken captive. In Ferguson’s report, he stated that he did not destroy the Quaker homes that the Americans had been sleeping: “…The injury that would have been done to the enemy would not have compensated for the sufferings of these innocent people…” However, according to William Stryker, Attorney General who in 1894, commemorated the memorial for those killed at Egg Harbor, all the buildings were put to the torch just as Ferguson quit the attack.
The first discharge of firearms was heard at Pulaski’s headquarters, about a mile distant, and it is reported he was instantly in the saddle. By the time Pulaski reached the scene of massacre, Ferguson had made a hasty retreat to the bridge. Once there, he ripped up the planking to make good his escape. When Pulaski and his men reached the bridge, a few troopers forded the creek to fire upon the enemy, but they were not in force and Ferguson’s men continued their retreat back to the bridge. Pulaski returned to the farm and treated the wounded while ordering the dead to be buried on a knoll on the southern end of the lot from where the burned remnants of the farm house had stood. While crossing the island, Ferguson was informed by a Tory farmer as to Colonel Thomas Proctor’s artillery and its composition; that the Colonel had marched from the forks and was only two miles in Ferguson’s rear. Ferguson decided, having no artillery of his own, that he could offer not resistance and at ten in the morning of the same day, pushed on back to their boats and the fleet. On October 16th, the fleet weighted anchor and, considering the operation a success, set sail for New York City , arriving in the city on October, 22nd.
Casualties and Aftermath
Of the raid, Washington Irving stated that it was “a marauding expedition worthy of the times of the buccaneers…” British Admiral Gambier, naval commander of the British forces, called it a ‘spirited service.’ General Clinton called it, “a success under the direction of that very active and zealous officer, Ferguson.”
Captain Ferguson report of their retreat and casualties is considered accurate. “We numbered among their dead about fifty, and several officers, among whom, we learn, are a lieutenant-colonel, a captain, and an adjutant. It being a night attack, little quarter could of course be given, so that there are only five prisoners; as a rebel. The rebels attempted to harasses us in our retreat but with great modesty, so that we re- turned at our leisure, and re-embarked in security. The captain who has come over to us is a Frenchman, named Bromville [this was actually the former Hessian Lt. Juliet]. I am enabled to inform you, that our yesterday’s loss consists of two men of the Fifth, and one of the Provincials missing, and two of the Fifth slightly wounded. Ensign Camp, of the Third Jersey volunteers, has received a stab through his thigh.” One additional private of the New Jersey loyalists was also wounded. While the flagship Zebra was trying to get over the bar and out to sea, it had again become grounded. This time the sailors were unsuccessful in freeing her. Troops were transferred to other ships and the vessel was reluctantly set ablaze.
Of the American casualties, reports vary. The number of dead was listed between forty and fifty. Several accounts state that around fifty light infantrymen were posted at the outpost. If all but five, who were taken prisoner, and a few who escaped into the woods, is accurate, then at least forty-three to perhaps forty-seven or eight is a more accurate accounting. Pulaski’s report of a few American casualties was grossly inaccurate. As to Thomas Osborne who was forced to guide the British to the outpost, Pulaski ordered the terrified boy tied to a tree and brutally lashed. Thomas, along with his father, were taken to Trenton to stand trial for helping the British, but were acquitted and returned home.
British Captain Ferguson, was later promoted to Major of the Second Battalion Seventy-first Regiment of Foot, labeled the Highland Light Infantry, on Oct. 25th, 1779. Later that year he was put in charge of the American Volunteers. It was while leading this regiment at King’s Mountain that he was killed. Worth noting is that on April 14th, 1780, Major Ferguson, along with Colonel Banastre Tarleton, surprised and attacked American forces under General Isaac Huger and Colonel William Washington. In what became known as Monck’s Massacre, the Americans were forced to flee for their lives in a swamp after the order for no quarter was given.
Pulaski Proved to Be an Excellent ‘Spin Doctor’ to Mask His Embarrassment
Pulaski’s report to Congress showed the cavalryman’s natural talent as a self-serving politician; ignore the truth, avoid the facts, and at all costs, paint yourself in the best light possible. He wasn’t about to report that his command was caught with its pants down, resulting in the near complete loss of a company of light infantry troops (16% of his total command), and that he was too late in response to do anything other than watch helplessly from across a bridge that the enemy had torn up as they continued their unmolested retreat. Instead, he wrote that his outpost had attacked the British, were driven back, but rallied and forced the field, resulting in many British casualties. That Pulaski’s loss was minimal, lamenting the loss of his gallant second who led a successful counter attack against the British, that upon his arrival on the scene, the British had been driven back in complete disarray. Pulaski added that if it were not for a swamp, he would have made the British pay dearly for their actions. Here is a portion of his ‘doctored’ report to Congress:
Pulaski wrote to Congress on October 16, 1778. “They seemed, at first, to attack our pickets of infantry with fury, who lost a few men in retreating; then the enemy advanced to our infantry. The Lieutenant-colonel Baron de Bose, who headed his men, and fought vigorously, was killed with several bayonet-wounds, as well as the Lieutenant de la Borderie, and a small number of soldiers and others were wounded. This slaughter would not have ceased so soon, if, on the first alarm, I had not hastened with my cavalry to support the infantry, which then kept a good countenance. The enemy soon fled in great disorder, and left behind them a great quantity of arms, accoutrements, hats, blades, &c. We took some prisoners, and should have taken many, had it not been for a swamp, through which our horses could scarcely walk, but they had taken up the planks of a bridge, for fear of being overtaken, which accordingly saved them. He added that, “Our loss is estimated, dead, wounded, and absent, about twenty-five or thirty men, and some horses. That of the enemy appears to be much more considerable. We had cut off the retreat of about twenty-five men, who retired into the country and the woods, and we cannot find them.
Legacy
On July 3, 1894, a memorial tablet was erected by the Society of Cincinnati of the State of New Jersey to commemorate the massacre of a portion of Pulaski’s Legion. New Jersey Attorny General William Stryker read the memorial service the next day at the annual society’s meeting. It is located on South Pulaski Blvd in Mystic Island Park, Tuckerton, NJ. On Oct 6, 1911, the General Lafayette Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a fifty-foot-high monument in Chestnut Neck to mark the raid.
After Egg Harbor, Pulaski’s legion was posted to Minisink, southern New York along the New Jersey border which in 1778 was part of New Jersey. Pulaski was to take part in the Sullivan punitive expedition against the Iroquois nation, but was so dissatisfied with his command that he threatened to resign and return to Europe. Pulaski requested that he be assigned to the war brewing in the south. He got his wish on February 2,1779, when Washington signed the order. On October 9, 1779, he was killed while leading a cavalry charge of American and French forces during the Siege of Savannah, Georgia.
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