Generals Nathanael Greene and Anthony Wayne Get Food and Supplies for the Army From 1776! New Jersey Farmer's Claim

This document presents the claims of Helmigh Van Houten totaling more than £110 for supplies that various units of the American forces in the Revolutionary War took from his farm in northeastern New Jersey between 1776 and 1780. He also presented certificates for other items taken by American soldiers.

Van Houten asserts that in November 1776, during their retreat from Fort Lee, American soldiers took a horse with saddle and bridle. On November 16, 1776, British and Hessian troops overran Fort Washington in Manhattan, capturing 2,800 American defenders. General Nathanael Greene coordinated an evacuation to Fort Lee across the Hudson River in New Jersey. On November 19-20, British General Cornwallis landed 5,000 troops six miles north of Fort Lee. American troops made a hasty retreat across Bergen County and the rest of New Jersey and eventually across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, leaving behind large quantities of equipment and provisions.

In August 1780, one group of soldiers under the command of General Nathanael Greene took several bushels of grain and twelve pigs from Van Houten's farm, while another party under the command of General Anthony Wayne took a cow. Van Houten also mentions a party under the command of Col. Philip Van Cortlandt (1749-1831), the oldest son of New York Lieutenant Governor Pierre Van Cortlandt (1721-1814).

On December 20, 1781, the New Jersey General Assembly passed an act authorizing appraisers in each county to make inventories for each claim for damages by British forces, the Continental Army, the New Jersey militia, or the militia of neighboring states. The appraisers began meeting in August 1782 and some inventories were recorded as late as 1786. While the State authorized the filing of claims, it never approved compensation to the claimants. Helmigh Van Houten filed a claim for damages by American forces in October 1780.

Local justice of the peace and blacksmith Daniel Van Reypen (1736-1818) certifies on the verso that Van Houten testified on oath that the valuations were accurate and fair and that he had not been paid for them. In 1785, Van Houten received a certificate for $97.87 for debt due by the United States, perhaps as a partial settlement of this account.

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] Helmigh Van Houten, Claim for Cattle and Forage Taken by American Troops from 1776-1780, ca. 1785, Bergen County, New Jersey. 2 pp., 8.25" x 12". Staining from adhesive on verso; some edge tears; fold reinforced by tape.

Complete Transcript

[verso:]

Personally appeared before me Daniel Van Ripen one of the Justices of the Peace For the County of Bergen Halemagh Van Houten Who Being duly Sworn on the Holy Evangelist of almighty God deposeth and sayeth that the Within Acct is Just and true & that the Cattle & Forage Within Mentioned Were taken away By a Party of the American Army and that he Never has Received any Pay for the Same

Helmigh Van Houte / Halemegh Van Houten (1729-1803) was born into a Dutch family in New York or New Jersey and married his second cousin Aegtje Vreeland (1731-1803) in 1753. They had five children between 1754 and 1768. In 1764, he was appointed as one of three trustees to appropriate the surplus of money arising from the sale of common lands in Bergen, New Jersey. In 1768, he, his brother, and two others bought a tract of 660 acres in what is now Paterson and Manchester townships. He also owned African American slaves.

Nathanael Greene (1742-1786) was born in Rhode Island to a Quaker family. In 1770, he took charge of his family's foundry and won election to the Rhode Island General Assembly. Re-elected several times, he served until 1775. In May 1775, he was promoted from private to major general of the Rhode Island army formed in response to the siege of Boston. A month later, he received his appointment as brigadier general in the Continental Army. He served with distinction in the Revolutionary War, especially in his command in the South from October 1780 to the end of the war. Although defeated in every pitched battle which he fought against the British, Greene was successful in a war of attrition against the British army, inflicting casualties it could not replace. He forced the British to retreat to their defenses around Charleston, where he besieged them until their evacuation in December 1782. North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia all gave Greene liberal grants of land for his service. He twice refused the position of Secretary of War and retired to his plantation in Georgia, where he died at the age of 43.

Anthony Wayne (1745-1796) was born in Pennsylvania and educated as a surveyor at a private Philadelphia academy and the College of Philadelphia, though he did not graduate. In 1765, Benjamin Franklin sent Wayne and others to Nova Scotia for a year to survey land there. Wayne represented Chester County in the Pennsylvania legislature from 1774 to 1780. He raised a militia unit in 1775 and became colonel of the 4th Pennsylvania Regiment in 1776. In February 1777, he gained promotion to brigadier general, but his temper earned him the nickname "Mad Anthony." He commanded troops in the Battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. After taking command of the Corps of Light Infantry, his successful attack on British positions at the Battle of Stony Point in July 1779 was the height of Revolutionary War service. In 1781, he led his regiment south to assist the Marquis de Lafayette and was wounded during the ensuing Yorktown campaign. He negotiated peace treaties with the Creeks and the Cherokees and gained promotion to major general. After the war, he returned to Pennsylvania, served in the state legislature, then moved to Georgia for an ill-fated attempt at running two rice plantations. After Arthur St. Clair's disastrous defeat at the Battle of the Wabash in November 1791 in the Northwest Indian War, President George Washington called Wayne out of retirement to take command of a new military force called the "Legion of the United States" late in 1792. After training his troops, Wayne began movements into the Northwest Territory, establishing a base at the location of St. Clair's defeat. In August 1794, he mounted an offensive against the Native Americans' Western Confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in Ohio. A decisive victory, it effectively ended the war. He negotiated the Treaty of Greenville with the tribal confederacy, which was signed in August 1795.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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