CAPT. DANIEL NEILL, AN ARTILLERY OFFICER OF THE REVOLUTION.
BY GEN. J. MADISON DRAKE[[5]].
It has never been generally known that the first cannon shot at the enemy, after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by Congress, at Philadelphia, on the evening of July 4, 1776, was fired in Elizabeth, N. J., then known as Elizabethtown, and as the present time seems opportune for the revivication of local incidents in the war for independence, I will narrate an exciting episode to awaken additional interest.
Up to February, 1776, the state of New Jersey, or province as it then was, had no artillery organization, and the importance of that arm of the service being acutely felt, the Provincial Congress, in session at Burlington, on the 13th of that month, adopted the following resolution:
Resolved, That two complete artillery companies be raised in this colony.
The ordinance provided that the term of enlistment should be for one year, and that one company should be stationed in the eastern part of the province, the other in the western. Each company was to consist of a captain, one captain-lieutenant, two second lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, and one hundred and fifty matrosses. (The last term was at that time used to denote gunners’ mates, or soldiers in a train of artillery, who assisted in loading, firing and sponging the guns.) The day following the passage of the ordinance the first or eastern company was organized in Newark by the election of the following officers:
Captain—Frederick Frelinghuysen.
Captain-Lieutenant—Daniel Neill.
Second Lieutenants—Thomas Clark and James Heard.
Captain Frelinghuysen served but one month and resigned—Lieutenant Neill succeeding him.
Shepard Kollock, born in Delaware in 1750, after learning the “art preservative of all arts” in Philadelphia, came to Elizabethtown after the war had commenced, and joined Captain Neill’s battery. He was with it when it attacked and destroyed a British gunboat off this city, and by his distinguished gallantry on that occasion was promoted to the first lieutenancy.
At the close of the campaign in 1778, General Knox, commanding the American artillery, advised Lieutenant Kollock to establish a newspaper in Elizabethtown, as he would thereby be able to render great service to the patriot cause. Lieutenant Kollock liked a soldier’s life, and did not want to leave the army, but General Knox finally prevailed upon him to engage in the newspaper enterprise, so he resigned, and securing a rude outfit located in Chatham, a much safer place than Elizabeth was at that period, and for some years afterwards Lieutenant Kollock continued the publication of the New Jersey Journal and Political Intelligencer at Chatham, until peace was declared, when he removed his plant to Elizabeth, where it has since remained.
Captain Neill, a young man born in Ireland, by untiring energy and devotion to duty, quickly got his command in good trim for the active service it was soon to engage in. In the latter part of June Captain Neill, who had been stationed in Newark, N. J., being ordered to Elizabeth, took possession of the earthworks at what is now the foot of Elizabeth Avenue, where he made a comfortable camp. To relieve his men from ennui when not engaged in drilling, Captain Neill caused them to throw up more earth, thus adding to the strength of the redoubt. He placed his four guns so they would command the sound, narrow at that point, as well as the entrance to the Elizabeth River, then known as “Mill Creek.”
William Livingston, a resident of Elizabeth, who resigned his seat in the Provincial Congress at Burlington, to be made commander-in-chief of the New Jersey militia, overjoyed at the presence of Captain Neill’s battery, on the morning of July 4, 1776, wrote General Washington as follows:
... We now have two field pieces, 18 pounders, with a part of Captain Neill’s company of artillery in this province.
Shortly after the mounted courier had set out with the dispatch for Washington’s headquarters in New York, American piquets posted on the ground now occupied by the buildings of the Singer Company, were surprised to see a large British gunboat lying off the southern end of Shooters’ Island. They at once sent word to General Livingston, whose home on Morris Avenue is now occupied by the family of Senator Kean.
Early in the evening General Livingston mounted his horse, ever saddled, and rode to the lower part of the town, where he had a conference with Captain Neill, who had already taken steps to repel an attack, in case the vessel meditated mischief.
The sudden appearance of the gunboat in our waters was a great surprise to our soldiers, as no British vessel had been hereabouts since Washington occupied New York City and Long Island. The gunboat was a part of Admiral Lord Howe’s fleet, just arrived from England, and that day anchored off Cliffton, Staten Island. The British army at once landed on the eastern shore of the island, gladly welcomed by the supporters of British oppression.
Along towards the middle of the night the gunboat was seen coming slowly through the Achter Koll, opposite the Singer factory. In the soft moonlit night the craft was plainly distinguishable to our argus-eyed soldiers keeping watch and ward along the shore. As any effort they could make against the ship with their smooth-bore muskets would be innocent, they maintained a painful silence, feeling assured that when it reached the battery our guns would give a good account of themselves.
The commander of the vessel, in blissful ignorance of the possession of artillery by the Americans, sailed unconcernedly and tranquilly over the placid waters. Like most British officers at that period of the war, he had profound contempt for American militiamen, whom he did not consider foemen worthy of his steel.
Captain Neill, who had been on the qui vive for some time, on learning of the vessel’s approach, impatiently awaited a closer proximity in order that his shots might be fully effective and his welcome to the stranger more hearty, if less hospitable. His guns, ready shotted, were admirably posted close to the water, and matches already lighted by the fire-workers.
It was only when the vessel, but slowly making its way through the silver-rippled water, owing to the lightness of the breeze, reached a point directly opposite the redoubt occupied by Captain Neill, that his dogs of war were loosened, and from their brazen throats belched forth sheets of bright red flame, preceded by iron missiles, which swept the deck of the craft, carrying death, destruction and dismay to the hitherto confident and unsuspecting crew.
The salvo, like a clap of thunder from a serene sky, awoke echoes, which were followed by a rain of merciless iron, utterly demoralizing the officers and crew, and creating scenes of indescribable confusion and terror. A state of chaos ensued; discipline was thrown to the winds—it was every man for himself. The distracted sailors, finding themselves in a trap and seeing no way of escape save by surrender, deserted the vessel by jumping overboard, at least those who had not been killed or maimed by the well-directed fire of our artillerymen.
Those who thus sought safety by springing into the water, endeavored to reach either shore; most of them, however, struck out for the Jersey side on account of its nearness. Some succeeded in gaining the Staten Island shore, but many failed to reach either.
Meanwhile the gunboat, totally disabled, drifted with the outgoing tide, no attempt being made by any one on board to work any of the fourteen guns with which she was armed.
When Captain Neill, true-hearted soldier that he was, saw the desperate helplessness of the British sailors, and their attempts to save themselves, he ceased firing and sent men to rescue them from watery graves. The gunboat was carried by the tide beyond the mouth of the Elizabeth River, and, being in flames, went down to Davy Jones’ capacious locker just after passing the spot now occupied by the Dry Dock Company.
Some thirty years ago, oystermen raked up a large number of British coins and many other articles from this spot, and many believed the treasure was at one time possessed by the sailors of the ill-fated gunboat.
General Livingston, who had remained with Captain Neill and witnessed the attack and destruction of the vessel, at once wrote the following dispatch to General Washington, sending it off post-haste:
Elizabethtown, July 4, 1776.
Midnight.
One of the enemy’s sloops of war, mounting fourteen guns, having this evening run up to this point, was attacked from the shore by the twelve-pounders, a great number of her men killed, she set on fire and entirely destroyed.
As Captain Neill’s attack on the British gunboat occurred about midnight, July 4, 1776, there can be no shadow of doubt that his guns were the first ones fired after the immortal Declaration of Independence was adopted, the Congress in session at Philadelphia having formally performed this act between nine and ten o’clock that evening. It was the first exploit of the new-born nation, and a gallant young Irish patriot, a citizen of this province, carried it to success.
Captain Neill and his battery was shortly after assigned to Col. Thomas Proctor’s[[6]] regiment of artillery, and subsequently to the brigade of artillery commanded by General Knox.[[7]] The battery participated in the battles of Trenton, Assinpink Creek, Princeton and Monmouth.
But it was at Princeton that the heroic Neill sealed his devotion to the cause of American liberty and independence with his life’s blood. He was instantly killed by a British sharpshooter just after Hugh Mercer, a Scotsman, was mortally wounded.
In view of the important services rendered by this patriotic son of the Emerald Isle to the cause of American freedom, it would seem especially fitting at this time that a proper recognition of Captain Neill’s devotion to the interests of this community in a dark hour of its history should be made by our citizens.
Daniel Neill nobly gave all he possessed for the benefit and enrichment of posterity, and it behooves us to recognize the value of his splendid services in our behalf by erecting a suitable monument, marking the spot in our town where he struck a deadly and brilliant blow at the ruthless enemies of our blessed land.
Shall it be done?