{"id":2244,"date":"2021-05-04T05:37:10","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T05:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/?page_id=2244"},"modified":"2021-05-04T05:37:10","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T05:37:10","slug":"morgan-moments-capturing-brigs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/sample-page\/revolutionary-war-times\/morgan-moments-capturing-brigs\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Moments \u2013 Capturing Brigs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
Image of a Brig type of sailing ship. Brigs have two masts (i.e., tall vertical poles) containing fully \u201csquare-rigged\u201d sails. The term \u201csquare-rig\u201d comes from the way the sails are configured. Each of the two masts on a brig contain one or more long wooden poles (called spars) which are horizontally attached (i.e., \u201csquare\u201d) to them. Attached to each spar (also called \u201cyards\u201d \u2013 jeez, so many terms) is a four-cornered rectangular canvas sail.\nImage is from Plate 4 of the book: \u201cText-Book of Seamanship: The Equipping and Handling of Vessels Under Sail or Steam. For the Use of the United States Naval Academy\u201d, 1884, by Commodore S. B. Luce, U. S. Navy.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Morgan Moments \u2013 Capturing Brigs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to Jim Foley for the prompt to publish this article and some additional information about it.  Mr. Foley is the Historian for Deal Borough (New Jersey) and is also involved with the Long Branch Historical Museum.  Mr. Foley asked about an event, which occurred near Long Branch according to his records, in August 1777.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though it wasn\u2019t presented as such in my 3rd<\/sup> grade NJ History class, Raritan Bay, the bay onto which Morgan, New Jersey is situated, was a hot bed of American Revolutionary War actions.  During Revolutionary War days, James Morgan, Sr. was a Captain in the Second Regiment Middlesex County militia.  Capt. Morgan\u2019s property included the bluffs overlooking Raritan Bay which in the present day includes Morgan Avenue on both sides of NJ State Route 35.  From this vantagepoint, at the apex of the triangle making up Raritan Bay, is a complete view the bay spanning from the mouth of the Raritan River and the Arthur Kill \u2013 present day South Amboy and Perth Amboy \u2013 across Staten Island, across the western portion of Long Island & Coney Island, Sandy Hook, Atlantic Highlands and the entire south shore of Raritan Bay.  Everywhere!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was from somewhere within this property where Capt. Morgan wrote his observations of British movements on the bay for General Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Alvia Disbrow Martin in her book, \u201cAt the Headwaters of Cheesequake Creek,\u201d Capt. Morgan \u201c\u2026 commanded a company of militia which consisted equally, of boatmen from along the shore and farmers from farther inland.  Because of this, the militia was able to move equally well on water and land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Brig \u201cWilliam and Anne\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It must have been the boatmen portion of Capt. Morgan\u2019s company that allowed for them to capture a British ship during the summer of 1777 off the coast of Long Branch, NJ.\u00a0 Long Branch, which later became a desired shore destination during the 1870s and 1880s, is just under 19 crow flying miles from Capt. Morgan\u2019s property in present-day Morgan, NJ.\u00a0 In fact, from 1875 until sometime in the 1950s, you could take a train directly from Morgan to Long Branch<\/a> (now you need to go to South Amboy as Morgan no longer has a train stop)!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a newspaper entry<\/a> (name of newspaper is unknown) from July, 1777 discussing the ship captured by Capt. Morgan\u2019s company:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A few weeks later on August 16, 1777, the following appeared in The Pennsylvania Evening Post<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently, the next year, the following notice appeared<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Alvia Disbrow Martin provided some additional information, \u201cCaptured ship cargo was usually controlled by the New Jersey Court of Admiralty. Hundreds of these enemy ship seizures were made in the Raritan Bay by Captains Morgan and Hyler, Colonel Asher Holms, William Marriner and others.  These boatmen used every inlet off the Raritan Bay at one time or another to their advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Courts of Admiralty held at the house of someone named Gilbert Barton of Allentown, NJ can be seen in this link<\/a> (click \u201cNext\u201d within the reader).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allentown, located 10 miles away from Trenton on the west side of New Jersey, seemed a curious location for a Court of Admiralty for events that occurred, at their closest, 30 miles to Raritan Bay or the Atlantic Ocean.\u00a0 The only way to get to Allentown would have been by foot or horse.\u00a0 The Allentown Village Initiative site<\/a> discusses how Allentown\u2019s location at the intersection of Native America Indian paths and the Lower York Road \u2013 the first road across New Jersey which connected the East Jersey capital of Perth Amboy with the West Jersey capital of Burlington \u2013 made Allentown the preferred location for Courts of Admiralty.\u00a0 It also gives more insight into the Court of Admiralty and Gilbert Barton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Brig \u201cBritannia\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, about a year and a half later, right off the bluffs of Capt. Morgan\u2019s property, came another confiscation of another British brig<\/a>.\u00a0 This time, however \u2013 and ironically, it wasn\u2019t captured by Capt. Morgan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSquan\u201d means \u201cManasquan\u201d which is a river and small village located on the Atlantic Ocean 14 miles south of Long Branch, NJ and 30 miles east of Allentown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book \u201cThis Old Monmouth of Ours<\/a>\u201d by William Stockton Horner and first published in 1932, discusses many aspects of Revolutionary War activities in the Monmouth County area.\u00a0 In it, there are two sections that reference the capture of the Britannia.\u00a0 The first one contains the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second reference to the capture of the Britannia, in turn, quotes the New York Gazette from January 3, 1782<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a discrepancy in that the January 3, 1782 article identified is dated two years after other articles which are from January 1780.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following notice about the public auction of the captured spoils from the Britannia<\/a>, originally announced on January 13, 1780, appeared in The Pennsylvania Journal on January 26, 1780.\u00a0 Bordentown is even further away from Raritan Bay than Allentown is.\u00a0 The component being sold there would have had to have been pulled by horses, or oxen, if they used oxen.\u00a0 If they had only waited 51 years, they could have used the newly built Camden and Amboy Railroad.\u00a0 Timing is everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interesting part of this capture is that it wasn\u2019t done by Capt. James Morgan and his band of merry men.\u00a0 It is interesting because, literally, James Morgan\u2019s enormous property holdings were adjacent to Cheesequake Creek and Raritan Bay<\/a>.\u00a0 You would have been able to see the wreck while standing on the bluffs overlooking the bay on his property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
1857 chart of western Raritan Bay showing the location of the mouth of Cheesequake Creek and its proximity to part of Capt. James Morgan\u2019s property holdings. The British Brig Britannia was grounded and captured \u201cnear the mouth of Cheesequake Creek\u201d seemingly in late December 1779. The numbers shown on the bay are \u201cThe soundings are expressed in feet, and show the depth at mean low water the plane of reference.\u201d In other words, how deep is the bay at that location.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The July 4, 1976 issue of The Asbury Park Press<\/a> has an article about the capture of the Britannia which contributes a few additional details not contained in any of the above sources.\u00a0 The newspaper published:<\/p>\n\n\n\n