* Sparks's Life of Franklin, 599.
Dunlap's Recollection of military Affairs at Perth Amboy.—Journey to Crosswicks.—Missionary Operations there.
sion of the British much of the time; and one of the many pictures of life of varied hue there presented, is given by William Dunlap (who was born there), in his History of the Arts of Design. "Here were centered," he says, "in addition to those cantoned in the place, all those [troops] drawn in from the Delaware, Princeton, and Brunswick; and the flower and pick of the army, English, Scotch, and German, who had at that time been brought in from Rhode Island. Here was to be seen a party of forty-second Highlanders, in national costume, and there a regiment of Hessians, their dress and arms a perfect contrast to the first. The slaves of Anspach and Waldeek were there—the first somber as night, the second gaudy as noon. Here dashed by a party of the seventeenth dragoons, and there scampered a party of Yagers. The trim, neat, and graceful English grenadier; the careless and half-savage Highlander, with his flowing robes and naked knees, and the immovably stiff' German, could hardly be taken for parts of one army. Here might be seen soldiers driving in cattle, and others guarding wagons loaded with household furniture, instead of the hay and oats they had been sent for.
"The landing of the grenadiers and light infantry from the ships which transplanted the troops from Rhode Island; their proud march into the hostile neighborhood, to gather the produce of the farmer for the garrison; the sound of the musketry, which soon rolled back upon us; the return of the disabled veterans who could retrace their steps, and the heavy march of the discomfited troops, with their wagons of groaning wounded, in the evening, are all impressed on my mind as pictures of the evils and the soul-stirring scenes of war. These lessons, and others more disgusting, were my sources of instruction in the winter of 1776—7." * November 23, 1848 I left Amboy for Trenton, by the way of Crosswicks, before sunrise the next morning. The air was clear and frosty; the pools by the road side were skimmed with ice, and fields and fences were white with hoar frost. The deep sand of the road made the traveling heavy, yet, before the sun was fairly up, my strong horse had taken me half the way to Spottswood, ten miles distant. I passed through Spottswood, Old Bridge, Hightstown, and Cranberry, to Allentown, twenty-eight miles from Amboy, where I dined. These villages have a neat and thrifty appearance. Over the level, sandy country through which the road passes, extensive peach orchards are spread out, covering hundreds of acres. Crosswicks, ** the scene of some stirring events in the Revolution, is situated upon a ridge on the left bank of Crosswicks Creek, four miles from Allentown, and the same distance from the Delaware Ptiver. The creek is in a deep ravine, here spanned by a fine latticed bridge, erected upon the site of the old one of the Revolution. It was settled by the Quakers in 1681, and was a place of sufficient importance in colonial times to be once a meeting-place of the Provincial Assembly. Among the Indians at Crossweeksung, Brainerd and Tennant 1748 labored successfully, *** and the influence of the Quakers upon that tribe was sensibly felt. Here a small detachment of the American army was stationed after the first engagement at Trenton, where the Hessians were captured; and here one division of the British troops, marching from Philadelphia toward Monmouth, in June, 1778, were pretty severely handled by a party of Americans. The troops of the enemy marched in three divisions from Philadelphia: one by Mount Holly, one through Columbus, and the third by Bordentown, on the Delaware, near the mouth of Crosswicks Creek. Near the latter place was a draw-bridge, and as the British attempted to repair it for the purpose of crossing, the militia regiments of Colonels Frelinghuysen, **** Van Dyke, and Webster, stationed near, rushed
* History of the Arts of Design, vol. ii.
** This name is derived from the Indian appellation of the plaee, Crossweeksung, signifying a separation. The creek separates into two branches not far from the village.
*** In less than one year after Brainerd commenced preaching among them, he baptized no less than seventy-seven persons, of whom thirty-eight were adults.—Allen's Amer. Biog. Dictionary.
**** Frederik Frelinghuysen was the son of Reverend John Frelinghuysen, of Raritan, New Jersey. He graduated at Princeton in 1770, and when the Revolution broke out he entered the military service of his country. He was a captain of a militia company at the battle of Trenton, December 26, 1776, and, it is said, was the man who shot Colonel Rail, the commander of the Hessians. He was afterward promoted to the rank of colonel, which office he held during the war. He was a member of the old Congress, and, under the administration of Washington, was a senator from New Jersey. He was for a number of years one of the trustees of Princeton College. He died in April, 1804, aged about fifty-two years. Theodore Frelinghuysen, late United States senator from New Jersey, and Chancellor of the University of New York, is his son.
Skirmish at Crosswicks.—The Friends' Meeting-house.—Mrs. Idell.—Bordentown
upon them, killed four and wounded several. The enemy left the bridge at Bordentown, and, marching up to Crosswicks, attempted to repair the bridge there, which the Americans had almost destroyed. *