The Militia General

The Militia General: Philemon Dickinson

The role of the militia during the fight for independence was uneven. For various reasons, militias were often unreliable and poorly equipped. But mostly, they lacked strong leadership. However, Philemon Dickinson stood out as a leader any Continental soldier would be proud to follow. Like the militia, Dickinson embodies understated service and quiet achievement. Unlike many militia units, Dickinson was consistently dependable. Like the militias he led, Dickinson always kept one eye on the home front.

Philemon Dickinson

The Making of a Citizen

Philemon Dickinson was born at Crosiadore in Talbot County, Maryland, on April 5, 1739. As the son of a local judge, he was also the younger brother of fellow patriot and signer John Dickinson. After graduating from the College of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pennsylvania) in 1759, the younger Dickinson briefly worked as a clerk at his brother John’s law office. However, he soon left the profession and began managing their father’s estates. In 1767, he married Mary Cadwalader, a member of one of the area's most prominent families. The couple moved to a farm just outside Trenton, New Jersey. 

Dickinson attended the College of Pennsylvania

A Call to Arms

With a family involved in revolutionary politics, it was natural that Philemon would eventually take part alongside his older brother John. In 1775, he was offered a colonelcy in the Hunterdon County militia, and he quickly accepted. By October of the next year, he had been promoted to brigadier general and also served in the state’s provincial congress. During the Continental Army’s retreat across the Jerseys in 1776, Dickinson proved to be a valuable asset to the beleaguered George Washington. His performance under fire at Trenton in December 1776 was especially noteworthy. There, the tough militia general ordered his own house to be shelled during the heat of battle after learning it was an enemy command post.

The American attack on Trenton

Kicking Off the Forage War

On January 20, 1777, Dickinson led a combined force of 350 Jersey militiamen and 50 Pennsylvania riflemen in a daring attack against a British foraging party of about 500 Regulars and Hessians. Dickinson divided his force into two groups. His brave men waded through the icy waist-deep Millstone River and ambushed the enemy during a running gun battle that forced them back to their base at New Brunswick. Dickinson’s men seized thirty-six supply wagons and over 100 horses. This was perhaps Dickinson’s most notable single battle where he was in overall command. 

The bold assault sent shockwaves through the British command because, although they claimed it was a successful rearguard action, it proved that the militia was not going home for the winter. Instead, these citizen soldiers (along with some Continental troops) opted to stay and fight an enemy eager for “winter quarters.” The skirmish set the tone for a series of militia attacks, ambushes, and raids against the British foraging efforts in the Jerseys—known as the forage war. In June, Dickinson was promoted to Major General and appointed commander-in-chief of the New Jersey militia. 

Jersey Militia and Pennsylvania Riflemen
waded the icy Millstone River

Militia General

In May 1778, he proved his skill as the New Jersey militia commander when his men repelled an attack on Trenton by British forces under Major John Maitland. The battle foreshadowed the British “retrograde” from the occupied American capital. His courage was tested again shortly after. Washington sent him and his militia to disrupt and block the British column when Sir Henry Clinton ordered a retreat from Philadelphia. 

Most of the British Army had to march across New Jersey to reach safety in the highlands and the transports back to New York. Dickinson’s 800 men stayed ahead of the advancing column, cutting down trees and destroying bridges to slow its progress so Washington could attack from behind at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28.

The Jersey militia slowed the retrograde of the British Army
leading to the American attack at Monmouth 

Crushing the Cabal

John Cadwalader

A dedicated supporter of General Washington during one of the key political and military disputes of the war, the so-called Conway Cabal, Dickinson served as a second to his wife’s cousin, Pennsylvania General John Cadwalader. Cadwalader dueled with Franco-Irish General John Conway over the latter’s insulting remarks about George Washington. 

In 18th-century dueling protocol, the Code Duello, the second played a crucial role in organizing, supporting, and sometimes participating in the duel. Clearly, Dickinson proved to be a loyal family member as well as a fierce supporter of his commander in chief. Cadwalader, for his part, won the duel—firing a pistol round into Conway’s mouth. The unlucky Conway survived and, in a twist, declared loyalty to Washington before resigning from the Continental Army.

John Conway's opposition to Washington
led to a dual

War’s Last Gasp in the Jerseys

The course of the war would soon turn south, but New Jersey’s proximity to New York made it a battleground for covert warfare and small-scale hit-and-run attacks. On June 23, 1780, the last battle in the North was fought at Springfield, New Jersey, where Dickinson played a key role in repelling the renowned Hessian general Wilhelm von Knyphausen.

The Battle of Springfield

Soldier to Citizen

Remarkably, but not surprisingly, Dickinson also played a political role during his war years. As the action shifted to the Southern theater, he moved toward a less active form of public service. He ran for governor of New Jersey three times but was unsuccessful each time. However, in 1782, he became a member of the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1783. 

Two years later, he served as vice president of the New Jersey state council. He was part of the commission to select a site for the national capital in 1784. When factions emerged, the dedicated Washington supporter aligned with the Federalists. In 1790, he was chosen to serve as a U.S. Senator from New Jersey, a position he held until 1793. Mary had died in 1791, but as was typical for the era, Dickinson remarried.

Dickinson retired to his estate
near Trenton

Always the model citizen-soldier, Philemon Dickinson eventually retired to his New Jersey estate, “the Hermitage," near Trenton in 1794. He died there on February 4, 1803, and was buried in the Friends Meeting House Burying Ground in Trenton.

Somerset Court House

The area around Somerset Court House in central New Jersey saw an extraordinary amount of Revolutionary War military activity. Reason: it was on the main approach between north Jersey and Princeton, and between Princeton and New Brunswick, a British stronghold in Jersey. Not unexpectedly, the militia around Somerset Court House, now Millstone, New Jersey, saw action on several occasions. Somerset lay in that "middle area" between the British and American outposts, which had some quite vicious but little-celebrated fighting. Besides being in a strategic crossroads, the area around Somerset Court House was full of thriving farms with an abundance of crops and animals. During the winter in particular the ground was often frequented by British foraging parties from nearby New Brunswick.

Background

After General Washington took Trenton for the second time and fought past the British under General Cornwallis at  Princeton on January 3, 1777, he faced being caught between Cornwallis and the main the British Army around New Brunswick. But Washington's troops were exhausted after weeks of marching and fighting in extreme weather with inadequate food and clothing. So His Excellency decided to send his beleaguered regiments up the Millstone River valley toward Morristown, which could provide suitable and secure winter quarters. Morristown was protected by the Watchung Mountains, which could be strongly fortified at the passes to stop a British attack.

New Jersey was a battleground

 After the rebels fought at Princeton, Washington moved north to Somerset Court House. The advanced guard, part of the Delaware Line, came upon the village of Stone Brook (seat of Somerset Court House)  15 miles up the valley from Princeton, arriving around at twilight. However, the British had already evacuated supplies desperately needed by the Patriots. And the Americans were simply to exhausted to pursue. But within a few weeks, the winter war for forage between both sides would be in full swing and the area around Somerset was one of the prime battlegrounds of that campaign.

The Forage War Begins

At the urging of General William Maxwell, New Jersey Militia General Philemon Dickinson, and others, Washington ordered his Continental regiments and the local  New Jersey militia to engage  British outposts, patrols, couriers, and most especially forage parties Washington wanted to contain, harass and tire the British and Loyalists so they couldn't (or wouldn't) leave the main bases at New Brunswick and Amboy without sending considerable forces of say 1500 to 2000 men. The militia responded to this call with enthusiasm. Thus began a series of actions in the middle of what was normally the quiet time in 18th-century warfare. But warfare in North America, especially the war for independence took a different turn.

Militia General Philemon Dickinson

Battle of Millstone or Van Nest's Mill

On January 20th, 1777, British Lieutenant Colonel Abercromby, with 500 men and several cannon, went on a foraging party towards Hillsborough. American militia patrols spotted them and sent word back to  General Dickinson that "the enemy were out plundering." Dickinson had around 400 men in hand plus a company of 40 or so Pennsylvania Continental Riflemen under the command of Captain Durkee from the Wyoming Valley. The British were posted at a bridge over the Millstone River, near Abraham Van Nest's mill, about two miles from Somerset Court House. The Millstone ran into the nearby Raritan River. Abercromby had placed three field pieces on a hill, about 50 yards from the bridge to prevent any rebel forces from crossing there. The rivers were covered with a crust of ice and the water beneath, about waist high by most accounts, and of course ice cold.

Millstone River Today

The Action

Seeing the bridge crossing protected,  Dickinson ordered his men downriver (towards the Raritan), where they broke through the ice and waded into the cold waters that reached well above their knees. Dickinson divided his forces, sending one force to meet the front of the British wagon train, while a second moved to flank them. One wing of the American attack successfully surprised the British wagon train in the lane near Van Nest's Mill, cutting it off before it reached the main road and the bridge toward New Brunswick. Well-placed fire struck horses from the first wagon, halting the train,  Panicked, the wagon drivers scattered. This caused the British to beat a hasty retreat to the bridge, leaving their booty behind. But when the pursuing militiamen reached the bridge, the Hessian rearguard fired grapeshot from its artillery to cover the retreat. After an exchange of fire across the river, the British withdrew. As was the case with most such actions, the actual combat was brief. The British taking the brunt of causalities and lost around a dozen prisoners and twice that in killed and wounded. The British admitted that the rebel surprise attack "occasion'd such disorder Amongst the Waggon Drivers that 42 Waggons were left behind." They also lost 104 horses, 115 head of cattle, and about 60 or 70 sheep. Valuable livestock denied the enemy in winter quarters and most needed by the always deprived rebels.

Militias defeat Regulars: How Could this Happen?

This was no major battle or great victory. Yet it proved significant. Stalwart and determined, these once disparaged New Jersey militiamen had gained confidence and were less in awe of redcoats and Hessians due to American successes Princeton and Trenton. Even before Trenton, exaggerated reports of enemy depredations across the Jerseys began to stir the fires of revenge and retribution in many (but not all).  This was not the only instance when anger fired up the militia into ferocity against enemy regulars and Loyalists. In fact, it would become a growing theme throughout the remainder of the war. So in many ways, the action at this place called Somerset Court House was a harbinger of greater things to come.