Baylor Massacre A raid , widely known as the " Baylor Massacre " or the " Tappan Massacre " , was a surprise attack on September 27 , 1778 , against the 3rd Regiment of Continental Light Dragoons under the command of Colonel George Baylor during the American Revolutionary War . It occurred in the present - day town of River Vale , New Jersey . Setting . On September 22 , 1778 , Lt . Gen . Sir Henry Clinton ordered Maj . Gen . Sir Charles Grey , Maj . Gen . Lord Cornwallis , and Brigadier General Edward Mathew to mobilize troops in an effort to provoke Gen . George Washington into a battle , and as a diversion for a raid against a Patriot privateering base in southern New Jersey . After learning that Col . George Baylor had secured quarters for his troops , twelve officers and 104 enlisted men , in the barns of several farms on Overkill Road ( now Rivervale Road ) , Cornwallis ordered Grey to pursue Baylor ' s troops . Battle . Around 11 o ' clock on the night of September 27 , 1778 , British Major - General Charles Grey mobilized the 2nd battalion of light infantry , the 2nd regiment of grenadiers , as well as the 33rd and 64th regiments . Between one and three o ' clock in the morning , six companies of light infantry under Major Turner Staubenzie and six companies of light infantry under Colonel John Maitland approached a small collection of farm houses occupied by around 100 men of a Virginia cavalry unit known as " Mrs . Washington ' s Guards " . Maitland ' s detachment was used to cut off the night patrol , while Straubenzee ' s troops used their bayonet s to maintain the element of surprise as they went from house to house , a tactic Grey used previously in the Battle of Paoli . At least 69 of the dragoons were killed , injured or taken prisoner . Eleven were killed outright ; four were left and died of their wounds . Colonel Baylor , Major McLeod , and two other officers attempted to escape by climbing up a chimney . Baylor was wounded and captured — he died in 1784 from complications of the wounds incurred in the attack . McLeod was also mortally wounded in the attack . One of the other officers was killed and the other captured . After the attack , some of the injured were taken to the Reformed Church of Tappan in nearby Tappan , New York , which served as a prison and hospital . The 52nd ( Oxfordshire ) Regiment of Foot , which was nearing the end of its service in the American War , was also involved in this incident . The events were described as follows by General Hunter : " While at New Bridge we heard of their being within twenty - five miles of our camp , and a plan was laid to surprise them . We set out after dark , mounted behind dragoons , and so perfectly secure did the enemy think themselves that not even a sentry was posted . Not a shot was fired , and the whole regiment of dragoons , except a few who were bayoneted , were taken prisoner " . The raid for which this attack was a diversion also included an attack on American forces that has been described as a massacre . On October 15 , British troops executed a surprise attack on forces under the command of Kazimierz Pułaski in which 25 to 30 men were killed in what is known as the Little Egg Harbor massacre . Discovery of remains . In 1967 , it was discovered that the bodies of six of the dead were buried in three abandoned tanning vats . The vats were from Haring ' s Tannery , which used to be on the site . The remains were identified by artifacts such as buttons and clothing remnants . This became widely known because of a February 1968 report to the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders , " 1778 - The Massacre of Baylor ' s Dragoons " . Facing suburban development , the burial site was made into a county park in 1972 with a dedication on October 15 . The remains were reinterred within the park at that time . The plaque at the site reads :