Part 18: MUTINY!

Ringleaders condemned and shot; British agents hang

January 27, 1781

BY TOM HESTER
STAR-LEDGER STAFF

BLOOMINGDALE — A week-long mutiny by more than 200 soldiers of the American army's New Jersey Brigade was brought to a quick and grim end this morning when two of the ringleaders were convicted in a swift outdoor court martial, forced to kneel in the snow, and shot to death by a firing squad comprised of tearful accomplices.

The life of a third condemned agitator was spared only through the entreaties of brigade officers who sought to bring an end to the ugliness.

Gen. George Washington, the army's commander-in-chief, ordered the executions to send a message to his sullen soldiers wintering in New Jersey and the Hudson Valley that mutiny in the ranks will no longer be tolerated.

On Jan. 7, much to Washington's displeasure, government officials met the demands of 1,500 armed soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line, who mutinied at Jockey Hollow near Morristown on New Year's Day and marched to Princeton, leaving one of their officers dead and two others wounded. When Pennsylvania authorities allowed 1,317 of the mutineers to be discharged, Washington watched one of his best units dissolve before his eyes.

The Pennsylvania regulars disputed their enlistment terms with their officers, had not been paid in a year, and complained their state's government was not providing the clothing and food support it had promised.

The Pennsylvania Line mutiny led Washington to order the confiscation of all boats along the Delaware River and to send 1,000 troops and militia to prevent the mutineers from crossing and marching to confront the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

The mutiny also moved Gen. Henry Clinton to lead a force of British and Hessian troops from Staten Island to South Amboy in the hope of luring the Pennsylvanians to the British side. Clinton sent John Mason, a Tory, and James Ogden, a guide, to Princeton to promise the Pennsylvanians they would be paid in gold if they marched to South Amboy and switched sides.

Instead, the mutineers turned Mason and Ogden over to authorities. On Jan. 10, they were convicted of spying, and the following day they were hanged at a crossroads on the way to Trenton.

The New Jersey Brigade has complaints similar to those of the Pennsylvania Line and followed the mutiny closely. This is the fifth winter of the war, and during each one the suffering of the ill-clad, under-fed and poorly paid troops has been almost beyond endurance. As a result, in the past 13 months, there have been five mutinies among American units, including one involving the Connecticut Line in Morristown last May.

While Washington, now headquartered eight miles away in Ringwood, is sympathetic toward the suffering of his soldiers, he is hoping the summary executions of the two New Jersey sergeants, David Gilmore and John Tuttle, will put an end to the epidemic of unrest in the ranks. Sgt. George Grant, who was third in line to be shot, was, to his "unspeakable joy," pardoned.

On Jan. 20, 13 days after the Pennsylvania mutiny was settled, the more than 200 regulars of the three New Jersey Brigade regiments wintering on Burnt Mountain near Bloomingdale mutinied, and marched to Chatham, where another 300 members of the unit were camped.

After two disorderly days in Chatham, where they were able to recruit only a handful of additional soldiers, the mutineers were prevailed on to return to Burnt Mountain, and promised they would be pardoned if they behaved. But once in their camp, the mutineers again became disorderly and insubordinate, obeying some officers but not others.

Washington learned of the mutiny on Jan. 21 while wintering with most of his army at New Windsor, N.Y., north of West Point. He immediately sent Gen. Robert Howe and nearly 600 reliable New England troops on a six-day march through deep snow to demand the New Jerseyans' unconditional surrender.

The New Englanders surrounded the camp before daylight today and Howe demanded the mutineers assemble without arms. After some hesitation, they complied. Howe then ordered brigade officers to submit the names of the worst troublemakers. From the names presented, three sergeants were quickly court martialed and condemned, and 12 others were ordered to shoot them.

"This was a most painful task, and when ordered to load, some of them shed tears," said Dr. James Thacher, an army surgeon who witnessed the executions. "The wretched victims, overwhelmed by the terrors of death, had neither time nor power to implore the mercy and forgiveness of their God, and such was their agonizing condition, that no heart could refrain from emotion of sympathy and compassion."

"This tragic scene produced a dreadful and salutary effect on the minds of the guilty soldiers," Thacher added. "Never were men more completely humbled and penitent; tears of sorrow and of joy rushed from their eyes, and each seemed to congratulate himself that his forfeited life had been spared."

Published by The Star-Ledger on August 26, 2001.

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