Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-06-21

| few saw at that hour. that independ-
ence of the Mother Country would be
stimulated by developing home enter
| prises and home industries, SO that the
colonies could care for themselves
! industrially. He realized that trade in
dependence and political independence
were twin requisites of liberty.
1.-THE New Jersey Gazette was the
war paper of the day. 1t circulated
in the army and in the camp and
would be first read by the officers and
| then eagerly perused by the soldiers.
| This strong, loyal paper printed in
Trenton, was the army and navy ga
zette'' of the hour and was indispen-
sable not only as a conveyor of news,
but as the vehicle of information for
those who were advocating the pa
triots' cause.
No successful war was ever waged
without the inspiration of poetry and
song. The French Revolution had its
Marseillaise; the War of 1872 had THE
Star Spangled Banner and in the Civil
War we had John Browns Body" and
Marching Through Georgia" while
our friends on the other side had
Dixie" and Maryland, My Maryland.
New Jersey supplied this essential .ele-
ment of the Revolution. Philip FIRE.
neau and Francis Hopkinson, the two
great poets of the Revolution were
| both Jerseymen. Their poems ridi-
culed the British deeds and works,
praised the men who wore the buff and
blue and became songs of its camp and
| the march Hopkinson's Battle of the
Kegs stimulated the cause of liberty
as the Battle Cry Of Freedom did in
the Civil War.
New Jersey has larger coast line
| in proportion to it's area than any
other State in the Union Its coast is
| indented with bays and inlets which
form harbors for vessels of light
draught This Typographical charact-
eristic enabled the State to perform a
peculiar and special service in advanc-
| ing the cause of patriotism. New
York was the base of naval supplies
| for the British in the north, Charles
| ton in the southland between these
two points and the British possessions
| in the West Indies. there was constant
maritime traffic. English vessels in
carrying supplies of war and commits
sary stores, as well as merchandise,
together with their tenders, would
hug the New Jersey coast on their pas
sage to and fro. AS these vessels
passed near the coast, the Naval Mill
tia, so-called, composed of seafaring
men and members OF the Militia as
signed permanently or temporarily to
water duty, would suddenly dart out Of
some bay or inlet. notably Egg Harbor,
attack the British ships and capture
them and their cargoes to the great
annoyance of the British and the great
advantage of the American cause. In
1880 there were confined in the jail
which is now a site of one of the Tren-
ton banks, twenty-five sailors captured
from British gun boat on the Jersey
coast. The newspapers of that day
contained numerous items announcing
the sales of British caFgoes captured
by this patriotic mosquito feet and
condemned by the New Jersey Court
of Admiralty.
Collateral to this service was the
work of the Express Riders Tele-
graphs and telephones and railroads
were unknown There was no electric
despatch service such as facilitates in
formation in modern military tactics.
The movements of the troops could be
conveyed only by actual messenger.
The sand dunes upon the Jersey coast
proved watch posts where the move
ments of the British troops by sea
could be observed, their destination
surmised and the information at once
conveyed to General Washington. A
single instance Of this occurred in the
midsummer of 1777 when Washington
was near West Point on the Hudson
to prevent what he supposed was Lord
Howe's intention to march to Canada,
and split the colonies in two by sep
arating New England from New Jer-
sey, Pennsylvania and the South. AS
is well known. Lord Howe had no such
intention, but embarking his troops
from New York and Staten Island, he
sailed in a southerIy direction along
the Jersey coast on his way to Phila-
delphia by sea. The knowledge of this
plan was gained from the fishermen
along the Jersey coast and conveyed
to Washington who immediately hur-
ried south to the defense of Philadel
phia This is only one instance of the
service rendered by the Jersey Express
Riders Of the coast.
The revolutionary history and tradi-
lions of New Jersey are too we'll known
to need recital The refusal of the
members of the BARN Essex and Mon
mouth Counties to use legal documents
until the stamp tax was repealed, and
the destruction of the cargo of tea of
the Greyhound at Greenwich. max
ing the Cohansey as famous as Boston
Harbor, reveal the spirit of the hour
The population of the colony, at that
time was less than 100000 people. The
city of Paterson has today more souls
than the entire colony in those days.
This little handful Of people bore the
brunt of eight years conflict with a
suffering and heroism worthy of the
cause and worthy of the reward of in
dependence. At least $4,000 men of
New Jersey bore arms and risked their
lives and fortunes and sacred honor
during that long ordeal. These troops
participated in every contest. from
Quebec to Yorktown. One hundred and
eight battles and skirmishes consti-