June 11, 1777
The Commander in Chief came from Amboy to Brunswick, joining on the road the escort of the provision train, consisting of the 7th, 26th and part of the 71st Regiments.
12th Several regiments from Amboy and Bonham Town joined the Army at Brunswick, and encamped on the heights above the town and bridges. The Army to take the field was brigaded- vide orders.
13th The Army ordered to march in one column. The First Division under the command of Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis, the second under Lieutenant General DeHeister. For the order of march and the General Officers and Brigades assigned to each Division, see the Orders of this day.
Distribution of Corps into Brigades the 12th of June, 1777
1st Brigade Lt. Col. Trelawney 1st, 23rd, 40th Battalion Guards
2nd Brigade Brig. Gen. Agnew 4th, 15th, 44th
3rd Brigade Lt. Col. Markham 10th, 27th, 46th
4th Brigade Lt. Colonel Mawhood 17th, 35th, 64th
The 1st and 3rd Brigade commanded by Major-General Vaughan; the 2nd and 4th Brigade commanded by Major-General Grey.
From the Orders it appeared that the First Division was to form in column of march on the Princeton Road at 11 o'clock in the evening, but with respect to the Second Division, altho' it was expressed they were to strike tents, no place of rendezvous was appointed, nor were they directed to form in column, tho' the order of march was given. General DeHeister had understood he was included in the Order given to the First Division to assemble on the Princeton Road, and purposed bringing up his column in the rear of Lord Cornwallis's. General Grey, on the other hand, abiding by the letter of the Order, thought we were to remain on our ground till further Orders should be received. The Adjutant General (*this must have been Andre himself) gave the latter explanation to it. The Second Division struck tents in the evening and lay on their arms.
14th At daylight Lord Cornwallis's Division having begun to move, a message was sent intimating it had been expected the the Second Division would have been already formed in the rear of the First. At 6 o'clock the Second Division would have been already formed in the rear of the First. At 6 o'clock the Second Division, being formed in order of march on the Princeton Road, began to move. Lord Cornwallis, having exchanged a few shots with a flying party of the Rebels at ye Millstone (Hillsborough or Somerset Court House), repaired the Bridge which they had begun breaking down, and crossing the river hutted on the heights of the Western bank. The Second Division hutted at Middlebush, six miles from Brunswick and two from the Millstone.
15th We changed the disposition of the Troops at Middlebrush. Distribution of the part of the Army not moving with the main body:
Rhode Island Major General Prescott Hessian: Stirn, Ditfurth, Huyne, Bunow British: 22nd, 43rd, 54th (New York)
York Island Lt. General Knyphausen Hessians at Kings Bridge: 45th, 63rd, Hereditary Pr., Trumbach, Pr. Charles Hessians at Independence: Stein, Block, Weissenbach
Amboy Colonel Eybe 55th British Battalion of Anspach Waldeckers
Brunswick Brigadier General Matthew 7th, 26th, 35th, 38th
Guards, Remains of Raille's Hessian Brigade
The Piquets were ordered to be relieved in future at daybreak- to have a double piquet at that hour.
Great symptoms of a disposition to plunder being perceived in the Troops, the Commander-in-chief sent a message to General DeHeister, desiring him to warn the Hessians not to persist in such outrages, as they would be most severely punished. Most of the Brigades received the same instructions from the Officers commanding them.
16th Two Sergeants of the Light Dragoons and one trooper were either killed or taken prisoner this morning. They were on a patrole. This morning at daybreak we began throwing up three redoubts near Headquarters and the provision train. Twelve hundred with a proportionable number of officers were employed on this duty. The Troops desisted working at the redouts at 11 o'clock at night. It was reported that the Rebel Army had quitted the heights above Bound Brook.
17th The women who had followed the Army were sent back to Brunswick. A Sergeant from the Welsh Fusiliers deserted, it was said, in consequence of his wife being sent away. The troops retained their same position; the Enemy seemed to vary theirs. The few tents we saw scattered on the hills appeared every day in different spots. The Rebel Light Horse were frequently seen hovering about Lord Cornwallis's Camp and the avenues to both camps were infested by ambuscades which fired on our patroles and out sentries.
18th Orders were given for the Second Division to march. Two Hessians were killed this evening and four others wounded on an advances post from Lord Cornwallis's Camp.
19th The whole marched in one column at 6 o'clock this morning, the second Division in front and by the right. The Army arrived at Brunswick before noon, and encamped on the heights round it on either side the Raritan; General Leslie's Brigade extending to Bonham Town.
20th In the morning the piquet of the Grenadiers was fired upon by about 200 of the Rebels, who came upon them from the wood. Upon a party of Grenadiers marching to support their piquet, the Enemy retired; no one was hurt. General Grey being Major General of the day, the affair of the plundering a house at the landing came under his notice; he confined a Corporal and three soldiers of the 5th regiment. The 17th Dragoons, 35th, 38th, and 52nd, Foot marched to Amboy; the 7th and 26th Regiments took up their ground. The flat boats, carriages and pontoons were sent to Amboy. A great deal of firing was heard towards 8 o'clock in the evening in the direction of the Rebel Camp, both of cannon and small arms. The piquets were ordered to load in consequence of General Grey's reporting that this was always neglected.
21st General Howe referred the affair of the soldiers of the 5th regiment, confined for plundering a house, to a regimental Court Martial. It is worth notice that the Hessian Officer who exclaimed against this depradation confessed the Hessians had been concerned, yet confined none, but complained of the British to General DeHeister. A Hessian Subaltern's Guard was next door to the house plundered. Major General Vaughan proceeded to Amboy, escorted by Koehler's Battalion. About 200 of the Enemy made their appearance at Bonham Town, but did not advance upon the Troops there.
22nd Several men deserted last night, four from the 44th, three from the 27th, one from the 23rd and some others from other Corps. At 2 o'clock in the morning the whole Army struck tents, but the Second Division (which was encamped two miles from Brunswick on the road to Amboy, and therefore waited for the Troops encamped near Brunswick) did not begin to move till 7. At about 5 the Rebels appeared at the Jager post, and a few shots were fired. The Army had scarce begun to march when a body of the Enemy shewed themselves on the heights behind Brunswick and where the Hessian Grenadiers had been encamped. They fired several cannon across the river. The other body, which had marched from Bound Brook on the North East of the Raritan and had shewn themselves at the Jager post, proceeded from there towards Piscataqua and fell in with the column of march at the place where the Quibbletown Road meets and turns into the Amboy Road. They attacked the Light Infantry but were immediately driven back; they however, shifted their position from one thicket to another and hung upon the flanks and rear for some distance. They killed or wounded about twenty of our people and a woman, a Grenadier's wife.
In the front Brigadier General Leslie advanced with his Brigade and took post at Short Hills, a mile or two beyond Bonham Town towards Amboy. In consequence of the firing in the rear, the Second Division halted for a little time at Bonham Town, and the baggage was sent forward. The Second Division was again halted near Amboy for nigh two hours by an ill comprehended or ill-delivered Order. The 4th, 15th, 27th, 44th and 64th Regiments and Stirn's Brigade or Hessians crossed from Amboy to Staten Island and encamped at Prince's Bay. General Grey crossed and took up his quarters at Billop's.
23rd
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24th The Hessian Brigade embarked at Prince's Bay. The 64th were ordered by General Grey to change their ground.
25th The Regiments at Amboy received Orders to strike their tents and send them with their baggage to the water's side. Those at Staten Island had orders to leave theirs standing, and repair by 8 o'clock in the evening to Billop's Point. The transports, with the Hessian Brigades aboard, went round from Prince's Bay to Amboy. The movement of the Troops at Staten Island was meant to be secret; that of those at Amboy might appear as a preparation to embark or to cross over to Staten Island. The Hessian transports, coming up to Amboy at the same time, might well seemed destined to receive Troops on board. At about 10 in the evening the Troops crossed from Staten Island to Amboy. The Army lay on their arms, on the Brunswick and Woodbridge Roads.
26th Two columns being formed, the Right commanded by Lieutenant-General Lord Cornwallis and the Left by Major General Vaughan. The Right marched a little before sunrise and took the Woodbridge Road. The Left began moving at sunrise and took the Bonham Town Road. The Right passing thro' Woodbridge turned to the left and by a circuit gained the road to Scotch Plain. On their march they fell in, not far from Woodbridge, with a part of the Rebels, who fled on their approach, leaving, it is said, some killed and wounded.
The left proceeding for a few miles on the Bonham Town Road, turned into the Quibbletown Road, and taking afterwards to the right at Metuchen Meeting House, fell into the Scotch Plain Road and came up with the rear of the Right Column.. Colonel Prescott, with the 28th and 35th Regiments and the Hessian Battalion of Loos and Donop, was detached to Bonham Town on the Left Column turning into the Quibbletown Road. The Army was now in one column. The front soon reached Ash Swamp, where they came up with a considerable body of the Rebels, commanded by Lord Stirling, who had taken post on the rising ground, in order (it was supposed) to cover the retreat of about seventy wagons, which they had begun to draw off on the news of our approach, and the hindermost of which were discovered by the head of the Column. They made very little resistance, but dispersed as the Grenadiers of the Guards and a few companies of the Light Infantry advanced upon them. A troop of Light Dragoons pursued the fugitives and took about thirty prisoners, killing or wounding several more. In this affair Captain Finch of the Guards was mortally wounded. The Enemy left three brass field pieces on the ground. They were French guns. From the accounts of deserters Washington's whole Army had left the mountains; the main body were at Quibbletown and Lord Stirling with the advanced Guard at Rahway. Lord Stirling was to watch our movements and they were to press on, upon our beginning to embark. It was reported that in consequence of this information the plan of our march was, that the right hand column should by turning Washington's left, get between his army and the mountains, whilst the left marched straight to Quibbletown and attacked him. It seems that upon Lord Stirling being discomfited, the alarm was given ant their retired precipitately to the hills. We could see the wagons ascending the Mountain, and could judge of the steepness of the ascent by the frequent halts they made. The Army proceeded to Westfield, where they lay on their arms.
27th