Hi: Use your Find feature to find the several mentions of Haines in the article below. Regards Nan 71532.734@compuserve.com ============================ Found at: http://www.roadtomonmouth.com/mthollyarticle.html RETREAT OF THE BRITISH ARMY THROUGH THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY Some Of The Data In This Authentic Story Was Taken From An Order Book Found On the Field After The Battle of Monmouth. (From the Mount Holly Herald dated July 19, 1924) Beginning this week and continuing for the next few issues, the Herald will print the full story of the Retreat of the British Army across Burlington county in June 1778, as prepared and read by Judge William A. Slaughter at a meeting of the Fortnightly Club, of Mount Holly, on March 3, 1924. The story has not been presented to our readers without considerable time and attention being devoted to it by the author and should prove interesting reading to all Jerseymen who are interested in the history of their state and the part its residents played in the Revolutionary War. Owing to the length of the paper it is impossible for us to print it in its entirety in one edition so it has been divided into sections and will appear in serial form for the next three and four weeks. Readers desiring extra copies of the paper may secure same by promptly notifying us. Foreward After the battle of Monmouth an order book, belonging to the British Army, was found on the battlefield and afterwards presented to the State Library at Trenton. In the following notes the parts which are printed in bold face are copied verbatim for the order book and give the parole, countersign, equipment, time of march and order of march of the British Army while in Philadelphia and while on the march through Burlington county before the battle near Freehold. May 29th, 1778 The men to bring with them their Camp Kettles, Cantines, Tommyhawks and every necessary article they are to carry on the march. May 30th, 1778 No officer is to quit camp without leave from the Commanding Officer nor is any servant or soldiers to be sent to town without a written pass from the commanding officer. The rolls are to be called frequent at such times as the Captain of Subaltern of the day may direct. The soldiers are not to straggle into the wood, nor go beyond the sentrys. As the Regiment may be subject to sudden alarms particularly at night. The mens accoutrements must be hung up conveniently so that they may be able to turn out instantly and form in front of their huts. On the 8th of May, 1778, and expedition commanded by Captain Henry, of the British Navy, with about seven hundred troops under the command of Major Maitland, ascended the Delaware River. After destroying much shipping they landed at Bordentown, burned the houses of Judge Joseph Borden and of Colonel Joseph Kirkbride on the Pennsylvania shore opposite. [This action was in retaliation for an attempt to damage the British Fleet docked at Philadelphia the previous fall, known as The Battle of the Kegs. A poem by Francis Hopkinson, signer of the Declaration, parodied this event.] Soon after this expedition, Sir Henry Clinton succeded Sir William Howe in command of the British army. The determination of the French to succor the colonies with a fleet rendered it unsafe for the enemy to longer hold Philadelphia, lest their shipping might be blockaded in the Delaware River. To move by water might give Washington an opportunity of reaching New York by forced marches ahead of them. Therefore it was decided to march through the Jerseys. That Washington was aware of their intention is shown by the following notice, inserted over three weeks in advance of the movement in the New Jersey Gazette of May 27th: The militia of this state are desired to be particularly attentive to signals, as movement of the enemy is soon expected. A little before dawn on the morning of the 18th of June, 1778, they evacuated the city, and before night the motley crew of British regulars, loyalists and Hessians and a vast crowd of camp followers had crossed the Delaware and were encamped in Jersey. General Maxwell, with the Jersey Brigade of Continental Troops had been sent prior to this to take position of the difficult pass near Mount Holly. General Dickinson was assembling the militia with great energy, and had already commenced the destruction of the bridges, the felling of trees across the roads and other impediments to delay their march. General Clinton moved with great deliberation, passing through Haddonfield, Mount Laurel, Eayrestown, Lumberton, Mount Holly, Jacksonville (Slabtown), Columbus (Black Horse), Mansfield, Bordentown and Crosswicks. Just before dawn of June 18th, 1778, the British began their evacuation of Philadelphia; they crossed the Delaware to Gloucester Point and that evening camped around Haddonfield a few miles southeast from Camden, N. J. The news of this evacuation reached Washington at Valley Forge before morning. He immediately sent General Maxwell with his brigade to cooperate with the New Jersey militia under General Dickinson in retarding the march of the British, who when they crossed the river were 17,000 strong in effective men. The remainder of the army, under the immediate command of Washington crossed the Delaware and pursued in a parallel line at first, prepared to strike whenever an opportunity should offer, while Clinton wished to avoid a battle for he was encumbered with baggage-wagons and a host of camp followers, making his line 12 miles in length. The British lost 1,000 men by desertion while crossing New Jersey. 59 died of terrible heat at Monmouth and more than 50 Americans died from the same cause. (Harpers Encyclopedia of United States History). Another account says: The heat was terrible, the mosquitoes bad beyond description many of the mens faces were swollen beyond recognition many of the Hessians deserted. Calendar 1778 June 18 Haddonfield June 19 Evesham, (Mount Laurel) June 20th and 21st ....Mount Holly June 22 Black Horse and Mansfield June 23 ..Crosswicks [June 24 ..Allentown] June 28 ..Monmouth A hot Sabbath day. Headquarters Evesham, 19th June, 1778 Parole Jersey C. S. Brunswick The Troops to be in readiness to march tomorrow at 3 oclock in the following order: Hessian Chasseurs, Queens Rangers, 63rd Regiment with 2 six pounders, Hogdens Troops and trenching tools and baggage, 26th Regiment, 7th Regiment and two 3 pounders. The wagons to be loaded and to haul into the road according to the line of march at half past two oclock. William R. Lippincott in his delightful Traditions of Old Evesham Township says: A road is mentioned in some papers of an early date called the Great Road from Haddonfield to Mount Holly, it passed over the north side of the Mount (Laurel); it was very crooked to avoid hills, streams and swamps and the soil generally sandy which made it better to travel in wet weather. There is no doubt but that this road was an old Indian trail cleared out and used by the public as there does not seem to be any official record of it. Traces of the old road may still (1911) be seen in the woods on the hill sides. (Page 5.) Both the British troops and the Colonial militia are said to have occupied the Meeting House different times during the Revolutionary War. It is said that the wing which has been torn away was used by the British as a commissary department for a short time. Mem: Some years ago in underdraining a meadow in this neighborhood, the workmen uncovered an old corduroy road built by the British. Mem: The Meeting House at Evesham, Mount Laurel, was built in 1760. From inquiries I have made of very reliable people, in reference to these traditions, I have every reason to believe them true. There is no doubt that when the British left Philadelphia and marched to Monmouth that a detachment of troops came by way of Haddonfield to Mount Holly, and recalling incidents I remember to have heard some of the old people relate, troops visited the houses then standing near their route of march and plundered the inhabitants. There is an incident connected with an old brick house on the White Horse Road, about one mile southeast of Fellowship, just over the Mount Laurel Township line in Camden county. The kitchen part of this old mansion is not far from the road as it now runs, while the larger part of the house, built more than a hundred years ago in the Colonial style fronts what is now the back yard. It is said it fronted the road when it was built. Whether or not the Great Road passed in front of this dwelling I cannot tell, but the old part first spoken of was standing at the time of the Revolution. The British troops came there to plunder; an officer ordered a colored man, belonging to the place to hold his horse while he went into the house, the colored man hated the British and refused to obey the command, upon which the officer drew his sword and would have run it through the negro if another officer had not protected him. The Historical Collections of New Jersey, published in 1844 give an account of Jonathan Beesley, a Captain in the Cumberland County Militia who was mortally wounded by the British in the march across New Jersey in June 1778. The Historian writes as follows: Arduous in the cause and guided by a sense of duty he paid little regard for his personal safety. He was in the neighborhood of Haddonfield, reconnoitering with two other officers, when they where fired upon by a party of British secreted in a rye field. He fell mortally wounded into their hands. He was conducted to the enemys camp and questioned respecting the situation and probable movements of Washingtons Army, but peremptorily refused to give them any information. Finding that neither entreaties or threats would prevail in extorting anything from him, and take proper care of him, remarking that so brave a man should not be treated with indignity. The British took him with them on their march and left him at a house, owned by Hinchman Haines, about a mile southeast of Mount Laurel; this house was torn down about 1881. There is a legend that after the officers death occurred at the old house, a phantom horseman was seen to emerge from it, whose appearance always meant death to some of the British; if any where in the neighborhood, but this phantom apparently disappeared at the close of the Revolution, feeling its mission was ended after the countrys freedom was gained. Not very far above Coxs Corner, on the road to Medford and close to the old brick house now (1911) owned by William Jones, a man was killed by the British and buried in the yard, but few of the farm houses on the line of march escaped a visit. On the farm now (1911) owned by Charles D. Jones many different scenes have been enacted. This place was owned at the time of the Revolution by a plain Friend, Nathan Haines, of Evesham. His tombstone is south of where old Coles church stood in the old ground of Colestown cemetery. There is no military prefix to the name on the tombstone, although Nathan raised a company of soldiers for the Revolution. Nathan was opposed to war, and convinced that it was at variance with his Quaker principles, no doubt would have lived up to his convictions had he been a bachelor, but he was not a bachelor. In fact, he had a second wife he had his second wife, who was formerly Dorcas Pendegrast, she came from the West Indies, and at the breaking out of the Revolution she had the conviction that a man with the wealth and influence of her husband should be patriotic enough to use his influence for the benefit of his country. The conviction Dorcas prevailed, Nathan raised a company and marched with it to Amboy. Uniforms in those days were not plenty among the militia and Nathan wore his Quaker garb. There is an old story that they passed by a place where a parrot was in a cage, hanging by the roadside. The parrot noticing Nathans dress called out Quaker, Quaker a fighting Quaker. But Nathan was not a fighting Quaker. He differed in that respect from some who went to the Army to declared: That in the cause of Freedoms Day There is time to fight and pray. Nathan got back home as soon as possible where he was captured by the British, and taken by them to Haddonfield, but finding that there was not much harm in him, it is said that they soon let him go but they took good care to plunder his place of everything that was, in any way valuable to them, driving off the cattle and horses. None of the stock was recovered, excepting one fine spirited horse that broke away from its captors, and was found the next morning after the British took their departure, standing at the farm gate. About the year 1861, there was a piece of timber standing on land adjoining the Nathan Haines farm, where it is said the Haines family buried their silverware and other valuables before their place was visited by the British. There was an old farm house standing on the west side of Church Road, some distance from the woods at that time, to which the British paid a visit. Marks of their visit were still visible on the framework when the house was torn down many years ago. It was probably in this neighborhood that an incident occurred which has been handed down to us by way of tradition: A well to do Quakers has only just about time to bury his valuables when the vanguard of the British appeared. The freshly turned earth was sure to betray the secret hiding place. He was in a great quandary. Running to the corn crib he quickly shelled some corn and threw the loose grain in generous abundance over the newly turned ground. He then called up all his poultry and turned his pigs loose on the spot. The chickens scratched and the pigs rooted like all possessed and when the troops arrived the ground appeared to have their innocent exertions and the troops never suspected anything to the contrary. Tradition says that at least some of the British troops passed through Eayrestown and Lumberton, they arrived at Mount Holly two days after leaving Mount Laurel, distance readily covered now in thirty minutes in an automobile. While at Mount Holly the British destroyed the Iron Works near the bridge on Pine street, upon learning that the cannon balls and sheet iron for army kettles had been made there for the Army; they also destroyed the mill on the Millbrook-Mather farm on Rancocas Road and destroyed the Presbyterian church of the Reverend John Brainerd, being incensed at him for a patriotic sermon which he had preached urging the Americans to enlist and fight for their country and using for his text: Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my fingers to fight and my hands to war. This church stood on Brainerd street and tradition says that the British first used it as a stable before setting fire to it. It was at this time that the Hazelhurst family buried their silver to conceal it from the British and it was so well concealed that no one has yet found it. While here some of the British Officers took a meal at the Hazelhurst place and during the meal proposed the toast To the King. To refuse to drink that toast was to be considered a rebel. Nothing daunted a little boy of the Hazelhurst family gave them the counter toast To General Washington, to the great amusement of the officers. Another local tradition is to effect that here at Hazelhursts was held an Office Conference, the result of which was the British changed their original plans and that this change of plans deceived the Americans and delayed their attack until Monmouth was reached. In the woods at Smithville are some earthenworks which were probably thrown up by the Americans at the time to prevent the crossing of the creek at that point. At Hainesport occurred an exploit worthy of being ranked with the defense of Thermopylae by the Spartans; the bridge over the Rancocas Creek at that point had been destroyed and a small band of American riflemen took their station in a house on the east bank of the creek and disputed the crossing to the last extremity. When the British finally crossed the creek they refused to surrender and kept up their defense to the last, being burnt with the house by the British, according to the diary kept by General Clintons secretary at the time which is the only account we have of it. These heroes of Hainesport deserve to have their brave deed better known.