Simcoe and The Queen’s Rangers, Part 3

The Queen’s Rangers, Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe goes on to state, in his  Military Journal,  obtained a great many recruits, and it is very remarkable that neither that corps nor the Volunteers of Ireland had a single man who deserted from them, while there were such opportunities and apparent reasons to do it. Lieut.-Col. Simcoe, on his return from Elizabethtown Point, where the enemy passed, had information that a party of plunderers had crossed from the Jersies to the other end of the Island. He detached the Hussars in pursuit of them, but they fled, on the Staten Island militia collecting together. The frost still continuing there were many reports and a general expectation that the enemy would again adventure upon the Island, with superior force, with sufficient provisions to attempt some greater purpose, and patroles were constantly made on all the roads by which they could possibly approach, by order of General Sterling.

The Queen’s Rangers had formerly experienced how ready General Sterling was to represent their services, and they now in common with the other troops, had a further proof of his good inclinations, it being inserted in general orders of the 21st of January,

‘Brigadier Gen. Sterling is happy to inform the troops on this Island of his Excellency Gen. Knyphausen’s fullest approbation of their behavior, and the good countenance they showed when the rebels were upon this Island, which the brigadier had reported to the Commander-in-chief; and his Excellency desires his thanks may be given to them.’

On the 25th [of January], Lieut.-Col. Simcoe gave out the following order: ‘That he expects the order relative to officers and soldiers sleeping in their clothes be strictly complied with, such recruits excepted whom the officers commanding companies may judge as yet unequal to the duties of the regiment; if any half-bred soldier disobeys this order, the first officer or non-commissioned who meets with him, will deliver him to the officer on guard to be put on some internal duty. The Lieut.-Col. has particular satisfaction in seeing the General’s approbation of that good countenance which enabled him, on the late inroad of the enemy, to rest perfectly at ease without augmenting the duty of the regiment. He knows its universal spirit, and certain from the fidelity of those on guard, that the garrison cannot be snatched away by surprise, is confident that Richmond redoubts will be too dear for the whole rebel army to purchase.’

Planned Capture of George Washington

Lieut.-Colonel Simcoe formulated a plan to capture “Mr. Washington,” as he called him, by making a secret march from Staten Island to Morristown. While waiting for Sir Henry Clinton’s conclusions, the Hussars were ordered to march to New York, with a convoy, over the ice. Lieut.-Colonel Simcoe goes on to say : “It would seem that the same negligence in Gen. Washington’s quartering in front of his army had attracted the notice of Captain Beckwith, Gen. Knyphausen’s aide-de-camp, and he had formed a plan to carry off that General, for which purpose cavalry were collected at New York, and among others Captain Beckwith obtained the Hussars of the Queen’s Rangers, of whom he had a good opinion. Brig.-Gen. Sterling communicated to Lieut.-Col. Simcoe the purpose for which the cavalry was withdrawn, as it was intended that a general movement from Staten Island should favor the enterprise.

“Since it did not take place on so large a scale as was at first designed, Lieut.-Col. Simcoe received orders ‘to send a party to surprise the enemy’s post at Woodbridge or Rahway, and to give a general alarm’; this party was to cross the ice at one o’clock in the morning, and not to return until nine or ten. Accordingly Lieut.-Col. Simcoe passed the ice with two hundred infantry at one o’clock; Major Armstrong with some infantry, the cavalry and cannon occupying the heights, at the Old Blazing Star [Rossville], to cover their return. The snow prevented all possibility of marching but in the beaten road; there were no posts in Woodbridge.”

Lieut.-Colonel Simcoe then gives a detailed account of his adventures in New Jersey, where they had a warm engagement with the Continental militia. After that he continues: “The party returned to Richmond without further molestation. The Queen’s Rangers lost only one man, already mentioned; a few were wounded, but they bore no proportion to the number whose cloths were struck by the enemy’s bullets, fired at a distance, through intervening thickets, or more probably by those who had not recollection enough to ram down their charges. The enemy’s loss was supposed to be more considerable, as many of them were seen to fall and the whole of the affair being between single men, the Rangers were better marksmen than the Jersey militia. Captain Beckwith had found it impracticable to carry his attempt into execution, from an uncommon fall of rain which, encrusting the top of the snow, cut the fetlocks of his horses and rendered it absolutely impossible for him to succeed. The Hussars soon afterward returned to Staten Island. The ice floating on the 22d of February, the Sound became impassable. The soldiers were permitted to undress themselves at night, and in case of alarm they were directed to accoutre in their shirts, and to form at their posts.

“Lieut.-Col. Simcoe, on his arrival at Staten Island from imprisonment, had applied to the Commander-in-chief to request that he might join the army to the southward. He had also written in the strongest terms to Earl Cornwallis, soliciting his lordship to support his application. ln case his wishes should not take place, he was anxious to be of what service he thought the present situation of the Queen’s Rangers would admit; for this purpose he made application through the proper channel to General Knyphausen for discretionary permission to beat up the enemy’s forts in the Jersies, and to have boats sufficient to transport three hundred infantry and sixty cavalry, to be manned by the Rangers, and to be left totally to his own disposal.

He proposed by this means to countenanced desertion, then so prevalent in Washington’s army, and to keep the whole coast in continued alarm. He had the most minute maps of the country and the best guides, and the Loyalists, without doubt, would have universally joined him. The first enterprise he meant to attempt was to surprise Col. Lee at Burlington. * * * Lee’s corps were excellently mounted and disciplined; he himself was active and enterprising, and had that weight in the Jersies which capacity and power, with a very free use of it, could give to the possessor. The importance it would have been of to the intended system of operations to have seized upon Col. Lee and demolished his corps is best illustrated by remarking that, although Burlington is nearly seventy miles from Staten Island, he was understood to have his pickets eight or ten miles in his front for his security.

“Lieut.-Col. Simcoe’s proposals were approved of by Generals Knyphausen, Sterling and Tryon. Some of their boats were sent to him, and the remainder were in forwardness when, on the 23d of March, 1780, the infantry of the corps received orders to embark for Charlestown, which it did on the 4th of April. Captain Wickham was left with the Hussars in the town of Richmond, and the duty of the redoubts was taken by a party of two subaltern officers and sixty rank and file, from the 82d regiment, under his directions; this detachment was in a few days relieved by the 22d regiment. The Hessian regiment of Ditforth, Queen’s Rangers, Volunteers of Ireland, and Prince of Wales Volunteers, under command of Col. Westerhagen, sailed on the 7th [of April]. The Queen’s Rangers anchored in Stono inlet on the 18th, and camped before Charlestown, (S. C.,) on the 21st.

New Bridge Rebel Outpost Captured and Battle of Springfield

Captain Wickham, of the Hussars, had by no means been idle while at Richmond. The post was such as might have been a temptation to an enterprising enemy; but General Knyphausen, by frequent and well-concerted expeditions, had kept the rebels fully employed in their own cantonments, the Jersies. On one of these attempts, the Hussars of the Rangers were eminently distinguished, as was detailed to Lieut.-Col. Simcoe by Captain Wickham, and by him read to the Commander-in-chief, who was highly satisfied with it. The report mentions, ‘that on the 15th of April, the cavalry on Staten Island, consisting of Cornet Tucker and twenty of the 17th regiment, light dragoons, Capt. Wickham with a troop of forty-five men and Capt. Diemar with his Hussars, forty men, crossed Cole’s ferry, and marched to English neighborhood, where they joined Major DuBuy, with three hundred of the regiment DuBose, and fifty of Colonel Robinson‘s corps. At New Bridge Sergeant McLaughlin, with six of the Rangers in advance, fell in with and either killed or took the whole of a small rebel outpost.

“On the 21st of June the regiment landed at Staten Island, and marched to Richmond redoubts. At midnight Lieut.-Col. Simcoe received orders to proceed instantly to the Jersies, where General Knyphausen, having thrown a bridge of boats over the Sound, near Elizabethtown Point, was encamped. The Hussars of the regiment here joined the corps.”

Then followed an event that formed one of the very blackest pages in English military history — the battle of Springville, N. J., the burning of the village, and the wanton murder of the wife of Pastor Caldwell. The “Queen’s Rangers” took part in it, of course. They returned to Staten Island in the night. On the 10th of July, (1780), Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe joined his regiment and immediately left Staten Island, going over to Long Island. He received this message from Major Andre, then serving as Adjutant-General of the army on Staten Island: “The General assures you that the Rangers shall be pitted against a French regiment the first time he can procure a meeting.” We further quote from Simcoe’s Military Journal:

“The Queen’s Rangers crossed from Long to Staten Island and marched to Richmond redoubts on the 8th of October. * * * The Commander-in-Chief, thinking it proper, in the general orders, to publish the high idea which he entertained of Major Andre, both as a gentleman and an officer, and the sense he entertained of the loss his King and country had met with in his death, Lieut.-Colonel Simcoe, who had considered his execution as a barbarous and ungenerous act of power in the American General, and who had certain and satisfactory intelligence that the French party in general, and M. Fayette in particular, who sat upon his trial, urged Mr. Washington to the unnecessary deed, took the opportunity in his orders to the Queen’s Rangers, the officers and soldiers of which personally knew and esteemed Major Andre, to inform them that, ‘he had given directions that the regiment should immediately be provided with black and white feathers as mourning, for the late Major Andre, an officer whose superior integrity and uncommon ability did honor to his country and to human nature. The Queen’s Rangers will never sully their glory in the field of any undue severity; they will, as they have ever done, consider those to be under their protection who shall be in their power, and will strike with reluctance at their unhappy fellow subjects who, by a system of the barest artifices, have been seduced from their allegiance, and disciplined to revolt. But it is the Lieut.-Col.’s most ardent hope that on the close of some decisive victory, it will be the regiment’s fortune to secure the murderers of Major Andre, for the vengeance due to an injured nation and an insulted army.’

“It was generally supposed about the latter end of October that the enemy meditated some attempt on Staten Island. M. de Fayette was in the neighborhood of Elizabethtown, in force and with boats on travelling carriages. Lieut.-Col. Simcoe by public conversation, the means of spies, and by marching to Billopp’s Point in the dusk of the evening, so as to be discovered from the opposite shore, and then returning by ways which the enemy could not see, had endeavored to attract their notice and possess them with a belief that an inroad into the Jersies was in contemplation. As M. Fayette arrived in the vicinity the very day subsequent to this feint, it was reasonable to believe that his march was in consequence, and that the boats with him were destined to facilitate his passage across the small creeks with which the Jersies are intersected, in case of the British troops making any incursions into that country. Every proper precaution was taken by the troops in Richmond to prevent a surprise.

On the 12th of November official information was sent by the Adjutant General to Lieut.-Col. Simcoe that his post was the object of Fayette’s design, and that it probably would be attacked on that or the ensuing night. He immediately declared in orders: ‘The Lieut -Colonel has received information that M. Fayette, a Frenchman, at the head of some of his majesty’s deluded subjects, has threatened to plant French colors on Richmond redoubts. The Lieut.-Colonel believes this report to be a gasconade; but as the evident ruin of the enemy’s affairs may prompt them to some desperate attempt the Queen’s Rangers will lay in their clothes this night, and have their bayonets in perfect good order.’

“The Highlanders immediately assembled and marched to the redoubt, which, in the distribution of posts, was allotted to them to defend, and displaying their national banner, with which they used to commemorate their saint’s day, fixed it on the ramparts, saying,  ‘No Frenchman or rebel should ever pull that down.’ The Rangers were prepared if an attack should be made on the Watering Place, which appeared to be most probable, to march out and attack any division which might be placed, as had been in Lord Sterling’s attempt, to mass the troops in Richmond. Two field pieces, six pounders, and Captain Aulthause‘s company of riflemen had reinforced them.

“Lieut.-Col. Simcoe made himself acquainted with the landing places and the intervening grounds, in the minutest particular, and he had the Commander-in-Chief’s directions to abandon his post, ‘If the enemy should land in such force as to make, in his opinion, the remaining there attended with risk.’ The defects of Richmond were not sufficiently obvious for such inexperienced men as the rebel generals to seize upon and profit by at once. How far they might attract the instantaneous notice of the scientific French officers, supposed to be acting with them, it was not easy to foresee. Had the enemy been in a situation to have attacked the place by regular approaches, Lieut.-Col. Simcoe would have done his best endeavors to have maintained it; but had any General, at the head of a very superior force on the moment of his appearance, placed twenty or thirty field pieces on two separate eminences which enfiladed the redoubts, and formed a column to penetrate under cover of the cross fire, he had resolved to abandon what he considered in case of such a disposition to be untenable.

“A false alarm, which was give by an armed vessel stationed in Newark Bay, occasioned a considerable movement in the army, and troops from New York embarked to reinforce Staten Island; the post at Richmond was supposed to be the object of an attack. On the first gun being fired, patrols had been made on all sides by the cavalry, and the infantry slept undisturbed, Lieut.-Col. Simcoe apprehending the alarm to be false. The Rangers were very alert on guard, and proud of their regimental character of not giving false alarms, or being surprised; and the sentinel, as Lieut.-Col. Simcoe remarked in orders upon the only omission which ever came under his cognizance, ‘felt a manly pleasure in reflecting that the lives and honor of the regiment were entrusted to his care, and that under his protection his comrades slept in security.’

Surrender at Yorktown

On the 11th of December, 1780, the Queen’s Rangers embarked on an expedition to Virginia, under the command of General [Benedict] Arnold. They were very active in all the movements of the British army and formed a part of the troops commanded by Earl Cornwallis at Yorktown. When it was certain that the entire force under that distinguished general must surrender. Colonel Simcoe, according to his own writing, “sent Lieut. Spencer to his Lordship to request that as his corps consisted of Loyalists, the object of the enemy’s civil persecution, and deserters, if the treaty was not finally concluded, that he would permit him to endeavor to escape with them in some of those boats which General Arnold had built; and that his intention was to cross the Chesapeake and land in Maryland, where, from his knowledge of the inhabitants of the country and other favorable circumstances, he made no doubt of being able to save the greatest part of the corps and carry them into New York. His Lordship was pleased to express himself favorably in regard to the scheme; but said he could not permit it to be undertaken, for that the whole of the army must share one fate. The capitulation was signed on the 19th of October. Earl Cornwallis, on account of Lieut-Col. Simcoe’s dangerous state of health, permitted him to sail for New York on the “Bonetta,” which by an article in the capitulation, was to be left at his disposal, a sea voyage being the only chance, in the opinion of the physicians, by which he could save his life. On board of this vessel sailed as many of the Rangers, and of other corps, deserters from the enemy, as she could possibly hold. They were to be exchanged as prisoners of war, and the remainder of Earl Cornwallis’ army were marched prisoners into the country. Lieut.-Col. Simcoe, on his arrival at New York, was permitted by Sir Henry Clinton to return to England.

“Many of the soldiers, who were prisoners in the country, ‘were seized,’ says Col. Simcoe, ‘as deserters from Mr. Washington’s army. Several enlisted in it to facilitate their escape, and being caught in the attempt, were executed. A greater number got safe to New York, and, had the war continued, there was little doubt but the corps would have been re-assembled in detail. The Rangers were so daring and active in their attempt to escape that, latterly, they were confined in a ‘ goal.’ Captain Whitlock, who commanded them while prisoners in the country, was one of the captains who drew lots with Captain Asgil to suffer for Huddy‘s death.’

Captain Saunders was the last commandant of the Queen’s Rangers in this country. They were, afterwards, both cavalry and infantry enrolled in the British army; but the corps was disbanded at the ensuing of peace, and many of the officers, and most of the soldiers, settled on the lands to which they had a claim in Nova Scotia.

“The following is an extract from ‘the general return of officers and privates surrendered prisoners of war, the 19th of October, 1781, to the allied army under command of General Washington, taken from the original muster rolls’:

“Queen’s Rangers — 1 Lieut. -Colonel, 1 Major, 10 Captains, 15 Lieutenants, 11 cornets, 3 quartermasters, 2 surgeons, 24 sergeants, 5 trumpeters, 248 rank and file — total, 320. ”

John Graves Simcoe, courtesy of the Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

It may be useless now to further recall the character and acts of Colonel Simcoe while serving his king on Staten Island. Let the century that has intervened soften our feelings toward a vanquished foe. When the war ended he was a prisoner and went directly to England where he became a member of Parliament, while holding a commission as Lieutenant-Colonel in the regular army. When Canada was divided into two provinces, Simcoe was appointed Governor of Upper Canada. His headquarters were at York, now called Toronto. It seems that then his chief ambition was to increase the prejudice of the Canadians and Indians against the people of the United States, and the unpleasant, and frequently bitter, feeling existing in that province toward our people to-day, can be traced to the bigotry and vindictiveness of John Graves Simcoe. In 1796 he was appointed Governor of Saint Domingo, and in 1798 he was commissioned a Lieutenant General in the British army. He was sent to join Lord St. Vincent in the expedition to Portugal, and died a few moments after he landed.

Patriot Voices From the British Invasion of Long Island

MAJOR GENERAL SULLIVAN’S ORDERS
CAMP ON LONG ISLAND
[Colonel Little’s Order Book]


[Long Island,] August 20, 1776.

Field Offr of the Day tomorrow, Col. Phipps, (?) Adjt from Col. Little’s regt.

August 21st, 1776.

Five hundred men to be on fatigue to-morrow to be on the works by 8 o’clock, to leave at 12, & begin at 2 o’clock, & work till half past 6. Nothing can be more disagreeable to the Genl. than to call upon the men to be so constantly on fatigue, but their own salvation, and the safety of the country requires it. He hopes that in 2 or 3 days more the encampment will be so secure that he can release the men from fatigue and give them an opportunity to rest from their labors. Adjt. of the day to attend at the Genls. quarters every morning at 8, and an orderly from each brigade daily. Four men are to be drafted to row the Genls boat and do no other duty. The Brigade majors, upon receiving orders from Head Quarters are to call at Gen. Sullivan’s quarters for his orders, or send adjts to take them off.

Col. Johnson’s and Newcomb’s regts are to consider the woods on the west side of the creek as their alarm post, and repair there in case of an alarm. Gen. Nixon will show the ground this evening at 6 o’clock to the commg officers of the Regts.

Aug. 23, 1776.

The men not to turn out to their alarm posts this afternoon, (but) to get 2 days’ provisions ready, & to be at their alarm posts to-morrow morning by 3 o’clock in order for action.

Cols. Miles & Ransom’s (Remsen’s of L.I.) regts. to take possession of the Bedford road this night—Col. Ransom’s regt. to march at 5 o’clock. Col. Miles’ regt. is on the spot. Cols. Little’s & Hitchcock’s Regts to possess the Flatbush road & Cols. Johnson’s & Martin’s to take possession of the road near the [Pg ii.28] river. All these regts. to be at their posts by 6 o’clock. Upon their arrival the troops now there are to retire to their encampments &  get 2 days provisions dressed, & be ready for action. The Gen. will never make a 3rd. requisition to the majors of brigade, to attend for orders.

Long Island Aug. 24 1776.

A return to be made to the Gen. this afternoon at 5 o’clock of all ye Light Horse & companies of troop within the lines. The adjt. of Col. Little’s regiment is to attend at Genls. quarters at 7 o’clock a.m. to-morrow.

The Genl. returns his thanks to the brave officers & soldiers who with so much spirit & intrepidity repulsed the enemy & defeated their designs of taking possession of the woods near our lines. He is now convinced that the troops he has the honor to command, will not, in point of bravery, yield to any troops in the universe. The cheerfulness with which they do their duty, & the patience with which they undergo fatigue evince exalted sentiments of freedom, & love of country gives him most satisfactory evidence that when called upon they will prove themselves worthy of that freedom for which they are now contending.

Col. Ramsons (Remsen’s) Regt. to mount no guard except quarter guard of 12, but be considered a fatigue party, to which they are to attend from day to day. The Genl. is sorry to find that Regt. flying from their posts, when timid women would have blushed to have betrayed any signs of fear at any thing this regt. discovered at the time of their flight.

Officers are requested to see that their men always keep at least 2 days provisions, ready dressed by them. The Commissary is to deal out one gill of rum per man each day on this Island until further orders. Soldiers are not to be out of their encampment but upon urgent business. Gen. Nixon to take command of the lines next the enemy until further orders, to post his men in the edge of the woods next the enemy. Brigde Majors to attend punctually at the Genl’s. quarters at 10 a.m.

Long Island Aug. 25 1776.

The following arrangement to take place on Long Island until further orders—Viz: Col. Mile’s 2 battalions, Col. Atlee’s, Col. Lutzs, Major Hayes, Col. Lashers and Drake’s to be formed into[Pg ii.29] one brigade under the command of Gen. Ld. Stirling. Col. Hand’s, Prescott’s, (Late) Nixon’s, Varnum’s, Hitchcock’s, Little’s, Smith’s, & Ramson’s to be under Gen. Nixon. Wylly’s, Huntington’s, Taylor’s, (Tyler’s) Silliman’s, Chester’s, & Gay’s under Gen. Parsons; Johnson’s, Courtlandt’s, Martins, Newcombs & Freeman’s (Forman’s), under the command of Brig. Gen Hurd.

The General orders that the Brigrs. attend at Head Quarters at 8 a.m. to-morrow for directions. Brigde Major Box is appointed to act as Adjt. Genl. for this department until further orders.

A Brigr. Genl. of the Day to attend the Grand Parade at Guard mounting at 10 a.m., every day afterwards at 8, whose duty it shall be to see that the guards are regularly made up, & properly posted & duly relieved. No firing at the outposts to be allowed on any pretense, except by permission of the Comg Gen. of the day, & none within the lines except by permission. This order not to extend to sentries on guard.

Brigr. for the day Gen. Ld. Stirling.

The Gen. is surprised to find the soldiers strolling about, notwithstanding repeated orders, miles distant from the lines, at a time when the enemy are hourly expected to make an attack. The officers are enjoined to cause the arrest of any soldier who shall be found strolling without the lines unless they can show a written permit from their Cap. or Comg. officer of the regt. or company. All the officers and soldiers are to keep within their quarters, unless ordered on duty.

All troops in this department are desired to wear a green bough or branch of a tree in their hats, till further orders.

Col. Ward’s Regt. to be added to Gen. Parson’s brigade. All the troops not….  [——The order breaks off at this point in Colonel Little’s book, but it is fortunately preserved entire in an orderly book kept by Captain John Douglass, of Philadelphia. (Hist. Mag., vol. ii., p. 354.) The following order from General Lord Stirling also appears in Captain Douglass’s book:

[Long Island] August 25th 1776.

“The Adjutants of each Corps of this Brigade are to attend Brigade Major Livingston at Gen. Sullivan’s Quarters every morning at 9 o’clock to receive the orders of the day. The Weekly Returns are to be brought in this day. Such regiments as have tents are to encamp within the lines as soon as possible.”]

All other troops not mentioned and those which may be sent here[Pg ii.30] without a General Officer to command them are to be considered as a part of Lord Stirling’s Brigade till further orders.

A return of the several Brigades to be made immediately. Eight hundred (men) properly officered to relieve the troops on Bedford Road to-morrow morning, six field officers to attend with this party. The same number to relieve those on Bush (Flatbush) Road, and an equal number those stationed towards the Narrows. A picket of three hundred men under the command of a Field Officer, six Captains, twelve Subalterns to be posted at the wood on the west side of the Creek every night till further orders.

It is a very scandalous practice unbecoming soldiers whose duty it is to defend the liberty and property of the Inhabitants of the country to make free with and rob them of that property; it is therefore ordered that no person belonging to this army do presume on any pretense whatever to take or make use of any Corn, Poultry or Provision, or anything else without the consent of the owners nor without paying the common price for them; any breach of this order will be severely punished. The Commanding Officer of each Regiment and Company is to see this order communicated to their respective corps and to see it carried into execution….

Brigadier Lord Stirling to command the front of our lines next Hudson’s River and to command the reserve within the lines, and when either of the other Brigade Generals have the command of the Advance Lines Lord Stirling is to have command of his post in his absence. Each Brigadier General to assign the Alarm Posts to the several Regiments under their command.

__________________________________________________________

From: The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn by Henry P. Johnston. BROOKLYN, N.Y.: PUBLISHED BY THE LONG ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 1878.

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Vaughn Dongan (Loyalist Staten Islander)

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Vaughn Dongan, commander of the 3rd Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers in Skinner’s Loyalist brigade was mortally wounded in a skirmish, midway between the Old Blazing Star Ferry and Prince’s Bay. He was taken to a local farm (which I have yet to identify).  It may very well be The Abraham Manee Farmhouse in Prince’s Bay, where British redoubts have been discovered nearby.

Lt.-Col. Edward Dongan. Circa 1773. A copy of this painting is in the home of Dr. John R. Dungan of Hastings. The sitter is almost certainly Edward Dongan, in the style of 1771-72, possibly 1760s, but he was married in 1773, a more likely date of painting. This is one of a pair of portraits removed from the Dongan Manor, 1882 and presented to the New-York Historical Society’s collection in 1882. The New-York Historical Society, Digital Collections.


Edward Vaughan Dongan was born January 3, 1749. After his father’s death, he went with his mother to live in Elizabeth. He was brought up a lawyer and lived at New Brunswick, N. J., where he married a daughter of Squire La Grange, a lawyer of that place. On the outbreak of the revolution, he made himself obnoxious on account of his adherence to royalty and was driven from his home before the British landed in New York. His father-in-law and family were in sympathy with him, and their estate was afterward forfeited.

Lt. Col. Edward Vaughan Dongan, along with Major Robert Drummond of the 3rd Battalion New Jersey Volunteers, had participated in Loyalist Foraging Raids into the New Jersey countryside from the Winter and early Spring of 1777. They successfully captured prisoners and livestock in one Foraging Raid into New Jersey from Staten Island on August 19, 1777.

Dongan was in command of a body of loyal troops and was posted at the Morning Star at the time of Sullivan’s raid on Staten Island, August 22, 1777. In this engagement, he received a wound from the effects of which he died in the hospital in New York city on the first of September.
August 23.—Yesterday morning, before daybreak, a body of rebels, under the command of Messrs Sullivan, Smallwood, Sullivan’s decent and^e Bourg, landed in two divisions upon the west end on Staton Island. By the acknowledgment of some of their officers, now prisoners here, their number was at least two thousand. One division of them soon fell in with a part of the New Jersey volunteers, which brigade was posted, in small detachments, along the side of the island, from Decker’s ferry to the point opposite Perth Amboy, a distance of fifteen miles. The rebels, greatly superior in numbers, had the fortune with success to engage the detachments that were commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Laurence, and LieutenantColonel Barton, who were both made prisoners, with several other officers, and a considerable number of men. They then marched down to Decker’s ferry, where they burned about thirty-five tons of hay and set fire to a barn. As soon as the alarm had reached head-quarters, Brigadier-General Campbell marched with the 52d British and 3d battalions of Waldeck, leaving a regiment of Anspach to guard the camp and redoubts. Upon the approach of the regular troops, the rebels instantly marched off with all speed. In the mean time Brigadier-General Skinner had collected those of his corps which had been dislodged from their stations, and detached Major Tympany, with twenty-five men, to gain information of the route which the enemy had taken. The major came up with a number of them at the house of Doctor Parker, which they were plundering. He attacked them immediately, killed several, and took the rest prisoners; among the killed was Mr. Small wood’s brigadier-major.

It was now known that the rebels on this side had gone off towards Richmond; they were eagerly pursued, and on the road beyond that village an account was received from Lieutenant-Colonel Dongan, that his post had been attacked by the second division of the enemy, and obliged to retire, (which they did with very little loss,) towards Lieutenant-Colonel Allen, who had himself very seasonably retired, and taken post on a height near Prince’s Bay, where Lieutenant-Colonel Dongan had joined him. A large body of the rebels had twice made a show of attacking them, but finally declined it, and marched off towards the Old Blazing Star. Those two gallant officers soon determined to pursue them, and now gave information to Brigadier-General Skinner that they were on the way and requested orders which were immediately despatched to them, to proceed, and at all events to attack the enemy as soon as possible, informing them at the same time, that their brother volunteers from the right were coming up with all speed to join them, and that the regular troops, with General Campbell, were at hand to support them. These orders were executed with equal spirit and success. Notwithstanding a great disparity of numbers, these new troops attacked the rear of the enemy, consisting of Smallwood’s and other corps that are foremost in reputation among the rebels, with an intrepidity and perseverance that would have done honor to veterans. A considerable number of the enemy were killed, and about three hundred taken prisoners, including twenty-one officers, viz., one lieutenant colonel, three majors, two captains, ten lieutenants, three ensigns, one surgeon, and one officer wounded. By this time, General Campbell had got up one piece of cannon with a detachment of the artillery. That piece was soon followed by two or three more, and a well-directed fire of round and grape shot had a great effect on the rebel boats, and on those of their people who had got over to the Jersey shore. Our loss, in the whole affair, is five killed, seven wounded, and eighty-four missing. Among the wounded were Lieutenant-Colonel Dongan1 and Major Barnes, both officers of distinguished bravery.

The rebels, by this attempt, have, indeed, got a good deal of plunder, chiefly from the inhabitants, of which they may possibly be ready to boast, for they have often boasted of exploits which honest men would deem a disgrace; and they have reason on this occasion to blush for their conduct.

Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Vaughan Dongan died of his wounds soon after the action. He was the commandant of the third battalion of New Jersey Volunteers; the youngest son of Walter Dongan, Esq., late of Staten Island; was bred to the law, and supported a most amiable character. He was in his twenty-ninth year and left a young distressed widow to lament the death of an affectionate husband. Their only child died a few hours before him.

—Gaine’s Mercury.

‘Gaine’s Mercury, September 1. * In New Jersey.

His only child, which with its mother had suffered great exposure on the day referred to, died on the same day, and was buried in the same grave with him. His widow afterward went with her family to reside at Farmington, Hackney, England.
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Excerpts from: Frank Moore, Diary of the American Revolution: From Newspapers and Original Documents, Volume 1, C. Scribner, 1860.
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Bound Brook, N.J. May 2009 (Loyalist reenactment 4th B. N.J. Volunteers)

Reenactment as a Loyalist soldier (an American-born colonist who supported the Crown) with the IV Battalion NJ Volunteers at Bound Brook, New Jersey. The Regimental coat, waistcoat, shirt and trousers were all borrowed thanks to Todd and Sue Braisted and Ray Helge. For more information, please visit: Royal Provincial, the official Loyalist History page authored by historian Todd Braisted.