The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1894-07-10
A Dedication.

On Tuesday a number of the members
OF the Society of the Cincinnati went to
the Courtenay farm, three miles below
Tuckerton, and formally dedicated the
first of series of tablets that will mark
the historic spots of New Jersey.
The monument was erected under the
direction of committee consisting of
Vessel Ten Brock G. Inlay, of Brook
lynn Frederick Wolcott jackson, of New
ark, and General William S. Stryker, of
Trenton. 1t was unveiled by Judge Cliff
ford Stanley Sims, president of the So
ciety, and Major General William S.
Stryker, Adjutant General of New Jersey,
who is the historian of the society, read
an account of the massacre of the pa
triots at the point indicated by the mon
ument.
The details of this massacre are set
forth in Washington IrYing's "Life of
Washington.
General Stryker, who recently wrote
the authentic history of the battle OF
Trenton, devoted much time to gather
ing fresh data of this massacre, and which
he set forth in the paper that he read at
the monument dedication and at the So
ciety dinner on Tuesday. His investiga-
tions find that the patriots in Ocean coun-
ty formed themselves into a well organ
lied feet and gave much trouble to the
British vessels going by the coast. They
frequently captured them for their prizes,
and their depredations gave the British
no end of trouble. 1t was resolved by
them to break up the acts of these priva-
teers, and Captain Ferguson was sent for
this purpose, and Count Pulaski was sent
across Jersey to prevent harm coming to
the priYateers.
The monument is on the site of the
house occupied by Colonel de Bosen and
his party, and where they were massa-
cred on the morning of October Is, 177S, |
by Captain Ferguson's party. In digging
for the foundation for the monument the
workmen unearthed several buckles,
thought to have been worn by DeBosen's |
officers, and some coin. The monument |
stands on the farm of S. S. Courtenay, OF
Philadelphia, whose house is but short
away.
When Count Pulaski went into camp it |
was on the Willet farm and he made the
Willet homestead his headquarters. This
is now owned by the heirs of Nathan
Andrews. Only part of the original
structure remains standing.
Count Pulaski was patriotic Pole who
was forced to go into exile because of the
of his family. He came
to the United States and enlisted in the
American cause. In 1778 he organized !
the Pulaski legion, composed of cavalry
and light infantry, said to have number
ed 333 men. 1t was shortly after the Or
ganization of this command that he was
presented with the flag of the Moravian
nuns at Bethlehem, Pa. The flag was
made by them and consecrated in the
nuns house, just adjoining the old church.
The presentation has been made immor-
tal by Longfellow's poem. Pulaski was
killed in Georgia and the flag was made
his shroud. 1t is now in the possession
Of the Maryland Historical Society. Pri-
vate Subscriptions also reared in Georgia
a monument to his memory.
The monument stands in the center of
a plot fifteen feet square, directly off the
road. 1t is made OF New Jersey granite
taken from the quarries at Stockton, and
made by Trenton contractor. 1t is ten
feet long, four feet wide and one foot
thick. On it is the following inscription:
This Tablet is Erected by
The Society of the Cincinnati in the
State of New Jersey,
To Commemorate the Massacre
Of Portion of the Legion Commanded
By Brigadier General the Count
Casimir Pulaski of the Continental Army,
In the Affair at Egg Harbor,
New Jersey, October Is. ITS,
In the Revolutionary War.