The 2nd Duke

Wealthy Scion

It has been a while since we last profiled a British Army officer, so I chose one whose modest yet significant contribution to the Crown is notable—a man with a very typical, straight-out-of-central-casting name: Hugh Percy. Born into a prominent family (his father was the First Earl of Northumberland), young Percy overcame a series of childhood illnesses to pursue a military career, which he himself essentially ended just as he was reaching the height of success.

Hugh Percy

A Call to Arms

Percy joined the 24th Regiment of Foot in 1759 as an ensign. Like many from prominent and well-connected families, young Hugh managed to secure a lieutenant colonelcy and position as aide de camp to Ferdinand of Brunswick. Additionally, like many of his peers, The Seven Years' War offered the chance to earn laurels in combat at the battles of Bergen and Linden.

Battle of Minden

Politician

By 1762, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Grenadier Guards, arguably the most elite unit in the Royal Army and a protector of the monarch. He surprised many by refusing to serve as aide de camp to King George III. Instead, he ran for Parliament, securing a seat in the House of Commons as a Whig. His political beliefs often put him at odds with the Crown, especially regarding colonial policy. Ironically, Percy still maintained a close connection to the King. He married the daughter of George III's tutor and mentor, Lord Bute.

Percy as Politico

A Gentler Colonel

In 1768, Percy was commissioned as a colonel in the Northumberland Fusiliers. He proved to be a very progressive and forward-thinking leader. He adopted a different approach to leadership, treating his men with kindness and rejecting the traditional harsh discipline of the Army. He banned flogging and other severe disciplinary measures. Percy also took care of their financial needs and those of their families, often providing funds to those in need. Instead of ruling through orders, he led by example. His actions quickly earned the affection and trust of his soldiers. His approach resulted in a highly effective unit of men fiercely loyal to their commanding officer.

Northumberland Fusilier

Boston Bound

The political situation in North America kept worsening over the next few years. Despite, or maybe because of, his sympathies for the Americans, Colonel Hugh Percy received orders in 1774 to sail to America, where his regiment joined General Thomas Gage's garrison in Boston. Gage made him a brevet brigadier general and commandant of the British camp. Tensions kept rising in and around Boston, and the next year, Gage started a series of pre-emptive strikes—punitive actions to weaken the militia's power and threat.

Boston and Environs

The Shot Heard Round the World

Things reached a crisis point in April 1775 when Gage dispatched Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith with about 800 regulars to seize militia gunpowder and arms believed to be at Concord. On April 19, one of Smith's units, led by Major John Pitcairn, faced a militia force on Lexington Green. The brief clash, known as the "Shot Heard Round the World," was followed by a larger gunfight around Cambridge.

The Column Reaches Concord

Column in Chaos

Things went badly for the British, who began a retreat to Boston as thousands of locals grabbed their muskets and started to harass the column, shooting at officers with aimed fire. Near Lexington, Smith's troops were reinforced by a brigade of around 1,400 men led by Hugh Percy. Percy used cannons and volley fire to keep the militia (now, we can call them rebels) at bay and helped bring Smith's demoralized men back into some kind of order.

Percy guides the column home

Unlikely Savior

Throughout the long march back, under relentless and punishing fire from the rebel militia, Percy kept the British column together, maintaining discipline to prevent a disaster. When they reached Menotomy, Percy made a decision that likely saved the army. Instead of pushing toward Cambridge, he changed their route of return and marched to Charlestown. This route had fewer rebels. The column arrived back in Boston. In July, Gage promoted Percy to Major General for his calm actions under pressure. No small irony that an officer sympathetic to the rebels thwarted their best efforts to wipe out the column.

General Thomas Gage

Halifax Hiatus

Percy missed the Battle of Bunker Hill due to illness. To his frustration, his Northumberland Fusiliers were decimated under the heavy-handed command of General William Howe. True to his approach to leadership, Percy funded the return voyage for all the widows and arranged a small stipend for those in need. The British evacuated Boston in March 1776 and regrouped in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Gage had been recalled, and William Howe was now the commander in chief.

Battles for New York

In July, the reinforced British Army landed on Staten Island in New York Harbor. Weeks later, a swift campaign was launched on Long Island. On August 27, Percy distinguished himself by helping lead a night march that cut off a third of the Continental Army. In November, Percy led a British force that drew fire from the defenders at Fort Washington, allowing Hessian General von Knyphausen's men to overrun the garrison and force its surrender.

Percy led regulars in action on Long Island  

Newport Nexus

The following month, Percy and General Henry Clinton led a British expedition that captured Newport, Rhode Island. When Henry Clinton returned to Britain, Percy was appointed commander of the Newport garrison. However, things were not all smooth sailing. Percy was critical of Howe's strategy and how he handled the war. He also struggled with poor health. This combination led him to request relief from his command and a return to Britain. General Howe quickly approved, and Hugh Percy left America for good in May 1777.

Sir Henry Clinton

The 2nd Duke

In 1779, Percy divorced his wife on the grounds of adultery but soon remarried and had nine children with his second wife. After his father’s death in 1784, Percy became the 2nd Duke of Northumberland. He spent the next several decades serving in various military roles in Britain, re-engaging in politics, and managing his estates. He was a kind landlord who took care of the farm workers on his lands. He was a rare noble who earned the respect of his people. Hugh Percy died on his estate in July 1817. His years of poor health finally caught up with him.

2nd Duke of Northumberland

Liberal Legacy

One has to wonder how the course of the war in America would have played out for the British if Percy had remained, possibly even rising to the level of supreme command. His gentle manner might have rallied more Americans to the Crown, and his ability to motivate troops and stay calm under fire could have made a difference in the subsequent campaigns. An interesting fact—Percy had an illegitimate half-brother, James Smithson. The same James Smithson who bequeathed the funds used to establish what became known as The Smithsonian Institution—the world's largest museum and research complex.

The Smithsonian

Loyalist on Two Continents

Time to take another look at the experiences of those forgotten participants (along with the Indians and slaves ) of the American War for Independence—the Loyalists. The story of young Alexander Chesney is, in some ways, very typical of the experience of these British subjects who did not buy into the dream of independence and liberty. We will delve into his Revolutionary War escapades and take a peek at his post-war challenges—and he had many.

From Antrim to America

The fourteen-year-old Alexander emigrated with his parents from County Antrim to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1772. By then, the colonists' conflict with the Crown was intensifying, so the Scots-Irish family settled in a land that would soon be torn apart by unrest and rebellion, which for them would also turn into a civil war. 

He married Margaret Hodges around the time of the "Shot Heard Round the World—a marriage to be marked by hardship and sacrifice.

Tory Guide

In the early years of the war, the Carolinas remained firmly under patriot control, although many stayed loyal, either openly or silently. These Loyalists were seen as a threat and were ruthlessly suppressed and oppressed. Young Chesney threw his hat in the ring and started helping loyalists, guiding them to safety through a maze of patriot militias. 

Fugitive

Eventually, his actions made him a target, and patriot militia Colonel Richard Richardson's men captured him in the spring of 1776. The militia raided his home and imprisoned him at Snowy Camp on the Reedy River in northwestern South Carolina. Richardson gave him an offer he couldn't refuse: stand trial for helping Loyalists and likely be hanged or join the patriot militia. 

Richard Richardson

Yankee Doodle Days

The young Chesney enlisted as a private and spent the following years marching alongside the hated Yankee Doodles. Why? It seems his father, Robert, was imprisoned as a suspected Tory. Chesney's service helped ensure his survival. Private Chesney fought in campaigns against the Creek and Cherokee. Between these battles, he worked as a teamster, hauling produce to Charleston, South Carolina, which was then controlled by the patriots.

Militia Campaigns Against Creeks and Cherokees 

Serving the Crown

Things changed in May 1780 when the British returned (they had been repulsed in 1776) to Charleston and soon overran the state. When the British commander in chief, General Henry Clinton, issued his proclamation calling all loyal subjects to arms, Chesny came out of the patriot closet and joined one of the militia units raised by the renowned "counter-guerilla," Major Patrick Ferguson. Ferguson's regiments racked up a string of victories in the bitter in-country fighting between Loyalist and patriot rebels. 

Fall of Charleston

Chesney rose from lieutenant to captain over the next few months. But his fortunes took a turn for the worse in early October of that year. Ferguson, hot on the trail of patriots and hot to recruit new men for the Crown, marched his brigade away from General Cornwallis's main body and managed to get surrounded by a corps of back-country militia—some of the most experienced frontier  Indian fighters and angry for revenge against Ferguson, who had threatened to hang them all.

Parick Ferguson

King's Mountain

Ferguson made his stand on a piece of wooded high ground called King's Mountain. The "Over Mountain Men," led by a bunch of tough hombres that included such legends as Colonel John Sevier, Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, and Colonel Isaac Shelby, quickly encircled the Loyalists and started climbing up the hill. The battle saw lead slam into tree trunks, leafy branches, and the hapless Tories as the rebel militia came at them firing, Indian-style, from tree to tree. Loyalists dropped like turkeys under unrelenting fire. Ferguson fell mortally wounded trying to rally his men. 

Over Mountain Attack on King's Mountain

Captain Alexander Cheney was also wounded and taken prisoner along with some 668 others. The Loyalists also suffered 290 killed and 163 wounded. According to his account, Chesney later watched as the prisoners underwent a mock trial, with many sentenced to death. One of the American commanders, Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, offered him parole if he provided them with Ferguson's battle tactics. But the tough Irishman would not betray his cause.

Colonel  Cleveland Leading Prisoners

Yadkin Death March

With shoes taken and without coats to protect against the worsening weather, he and the others marched off into captivity under brutal conditions and threats of beating and shooting through the rugged hills toward the Yadkin River and prison in Salem, North Carolina. Chesney escaped along the way and hid in a nearby cave, but was later captured and held until released in a prisoner exchange.

Joining the Legion

He soon joined the only Loyalist unit with an even more terrible reputation among the rebels—Tarleton's Legion! He raised a mounted Loyalist company and served Colonel Banastre Tarleton as a guide, helping the Legion negotiate the back roads and woods as they marched from Fort Ninety-Six in a search-and-destroy mission. Their prey—famed rifleman  Daniel Morgan and his Army.

Tarleton's Legion in Action

Ironically, Morgan's forces occupied Chesney's farm at Grindal Shoals just days before Tarleton caught him at a place called the Cow Pens in January 1781. There, the reckless Tarleton launched headlong against his prey. After all, just a few lines of militia blocked the way. 

Witness to a Debacle

But Morgan was ready, with stout lines of Continentals behind the militia and dragoons hidden from sight. In one of the war's most impressive displays, Tarleton's elite force was stopped cold, then cut off and crushed. Chesney led his men in the battle and managed to escape to the safety of the British garrison in Charleston. Tarleton escaped, but his Legion suffered over 80% casualties.

American Dragoons at Cow Pens

Embittered by what he viewed as poor management at Cowpens, he moved his family from his despoiled farm to the protection of the British near Charleston and tried to reestablish a small plantation, which included some slaves.

Guiding Lord Rawdon

But with war raging through South Carolina, Chesney soon took the field leading various Loyalist units. He operated near the Edisto River, often skirmishing with the hated rebels. His mounted company scouted for Lord Rawdon as he fought the last engagements in the state. Chesney was wounded again during a skirmish near the critical outpost at Fort Ninety-Six.

Fort Ninety-Six 

Crumbling Fortunes

October 1781 brought General Charles Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, serious negotiations in Paris, and what were likely bitter months for the Ulsterman.

Yorktown Surrender

Presumably unfit for the field, he was appointed Superintendent of Woodcutting to support Charleston's fuel needs, as it was the last rebel stronghold. He hired displaced Loyalists and did what he could, but the Americans were closing in. Things worsened when his wife Margaret died in December 1781. The new year proved no better. Chesney became sick and could not care for his son William, so he had to send the boy to live with relatives. His farm was destroyed, and as a veteran of two of the most feared and hated British contingents, he would get little quarter.  

Charleston Harbor

Once the British Army left America, he would face a bleak future. Although the last British soldier departed from the former colonies in December, Chesney decided to return to Ireland, arriving in Castle Haven in May 1782.

Loyalist Recompense?

Normally, this would mark the end of Alexander Chesney's story. But in a way, his life was only just beginning despite the darkness of defeat and loss. Over the next few decades, he worked hard to rebuild his life. He went to England, where he sought to make his case to the British government and became a leader among the Loyalists there. He met with other key members of the Association of American Loyalists in London, where a petition was drafted for just compensation for their service to the Crown and the loss of property and land.

Like most Loyalist refugees, things were tough. Reaching out to former commanders like Cornwallis and Rawdon didn’t help navigate the British bureaucracy. While waiting for his claim, the brave Chesney took a different route. He sought and received a position as an Irish Customs Officer, specifically a coastal inspector.

Lord Francis Rawdon

Despite numerous petitions and several trips back and forth across the Irish Sea, he was disappointed. His final compensation was less than a quarter of his claim. What is the price of loyalty? Undeterred, he started working as a Coast Officer, pursuing smugglers along Ireland's northern coast. He proved to be very effective at this.  

Another Rebellion

But in the late 1790s, Ireland erupted into rebellion, with Irish patriots hoping to capitalize on events in France.

United Irishman Hanged

By the fall of 1796, the United Irishmen in County Down and several neighboring counties were preparing for a revolt. Possibly referencing his American experience, Chesney caught wind of this. He received a captain's commission and organized the Mourne Infantry in early 1797. His Irish Yeomanry company was the first formed in County Down. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, none other than General Charles Cornwallis, suppressed the rebellion and defeated the French invasion in 1798, ending the so-called "Year of the French."

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Lord Cornwallis

Customs Service

Chesney's work as a customs officer kept him busy. During the Napoleonic Wars, when illegal trade was rampant, Chesney was constantly on the move—catching smugglers and illegal shippers trying to profit from the conflict. Along the way, he started a new family and had several children. Two of his sons later received commissions in the Army, and his surviving daughter married a clergyman in a successful marriage. 

Chesney vs. Smugglers

Letter from America

In February 1818, a shocking news arrived. Chesney received a letter from his eldest son, William, whom he had left with relatives in America. The stunned Chesney thought William had died! But William Chesney was alive and in Tennessee. However, his son was not well off. William revealed that Chesney's father, Robert, was also alive. Chesney did not offer to bring him to Ireland. They were never reunited.  

Alexander Chesney

Life and Legacy

Chesney kept a journal of his Revolutionary War experiences, detailing the brutal fighting in the Carolinas. The Ulsterman spared no one in his account. But, of course, through decades of struggle, he never really spared himself. Against all odds and as a proof of his basic toughness, this Loyalist on two continents, survivor of two fierce battles and numerous skirmishes, imprisonment, and hardships, lived to a ripe old age of 83, dying on 12 January 1843. 

Chesney Grave

Loyalist and Irish Yeomanry leader Captain Alexander Chesney is buried in the Mourne Presbyterian Churchyard in Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Tradesman Spy

Patriotic Sons of the American Revolution

 marker near Trenton, New Jersey

Fort Lee, New Jersey, November 1776. The tall soldier in a blue jacket opened the door. "Your visitor is here, Your Excellency."

General George Washington wiped the dark liquid from his pen tip and nodded. A nondescript man in farmer's clothes stepped in. Washington motioned toward a seat. "Thank you for coming, sir. I hope the journey did not discommode you."

"Not at all, sir. When we last met I gave you my word that I was at your service."

"Your nation thanks you for it. Our situation is bleak. The British regulars will be here within forty-eight hours. But the Army is too weak to make another stand."

"What will you do, Your Excellency?"

"Better you not know. Suffice it to say this state will be under British occupation for some time. That's where you come in."

"Me?"

Washington nodded. "I must trouble you to proceed to Trenton and its environs. Establish yourself there as a Loyal Tory. You are a hero of the last war—service under the great General Wolfe."

"He was a great man. As are you, Your Excellency. Now, what are your orders?"

"I need a spy in their midst."

The Spy?

Washington's visitor was one of the most mysterious figures of the Yankee Doodle Spies era. An Irishman born in Scotland, John Honeyman became a vital agent when the American cause was at its lowest point. His chameleon-like ability to hide in plain sight may have inspired the protagonist Harvey Birch in James Fenimore Cooper's important work, The Spy, although most associate that role with New Yorker Enoch Crosby.

James Fenimore Cooper

Historians disagree over Honeyman's role, as his narrative was written a century later by a grandson. However, this is common among secret soldiers whose actions remained undocumented due to secrecy and security concerns. Retired CIA Case Officer and Revolutionary War Historian Kenneth Daigler argued that Honeyman was one of Washington's operatives. 

Honeyman came from County Armagh, born to frugal Scottish parents. Though his father was a struggling farmer with little access to education, Honeyman learned to read and write. He had a talent for trades like weaving. But at age twenty-nine, Honeyman chose a new path by joining the British Army and sailing to America to fight the French and Indians.

Honorable Service

At sea, he caught the attention of General Wolfe and became his servant and bodyguard. He participated in the action at Louisbourg, but his military career ended tragically. Private Honeyman was beside Wolfe when the bold general was struck down in his moment of triumph on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec.

Death of Wolfe at Quebec

With his officer gone, Honeyman mustered a sort of hero with a letter vouching for his service with and for Wolfe, who became a beloved figure among all Britons, especially those in America.

Tradesman and Family Man

Honeyman traveled to Pennsylvania, where he established himself as a butcher and weaver, and married a girl from Ireland named Mary Henry in September 1764. Around the time of the Shot Heard Round the World, Honeyman had moved to Philadelphia, the hub of the Continental Congress and a center of political debate and schemes. During that period, he may have caught the attention of George Washington. Some accounts say he offered the soon-to-be commander-in-chief his services.

A Spy Among Them

Honeyman left Fort Lee and arrived in Trenton. He had little trouble blending in with the local Tories—his letter from the late Wolfe and his discharge made him a respected Briton and servant of the King. He established his butcher and weaving businesses with the British and soon gained their attention as a Loyal Briton. His home was behind rebel lines at Griggstown, and John Honeyman, a Tory openly supporting Washington's plan, traveled back and forth trading while gathering intelligence. Sometimes, plans can succeed too well. With tensions running high that year in the Jerseys, a patriot mob attacked his home. His family escaped unharmed, though it took a note from Washington to ensure the Tory family’s safe passage to Trenton, now garrisoned by Colonel Johann Rall's brigade of Hessians.

Violence was not confined to the battlefield

Great Scheme Hits Paydirt

Using Trenton as his base for business and espionage, Honeyman was able to gather intelligence on the garrison's strength, morale, defenses, and other activities. A plan was devised to give him cover—Honeyman let himself get captured by a rebel patrol assigned to take him to Washington's headquarters.

Washington meeting a spy

The commander in chief personally "interrogated" the "prisoner." Afterward, he ordered the notorious Tory to be thrown into a jail cell. Washington arranged a diversionary fire that allowed the Tory to escape. The skilled line crosser made his way past guards and sentries from both sides and reached the safety of Trenton. There, the loyal Tory dutifully reported his capture and escape. Under Johann Rall's questioning, he was able to plant a significant piece of disinformation—the rebels were so low in morale and equipment that the Hessian commander did not need to fear an attack.

Johann Rall

Deception Brings Defeat

Although the Hessians had been on high alert for the past two weeks, Rall believed Honeyman's story and felt confident enough to relax security on the nights of December 25-26. The deception gave Washington just enough of an advantage—his army crossed the Delaware River and marched through the snowy night to surprise the garrison, which soon surrendered. His victory rescued the cause from certain defeat and may have turned the tide of the war.

Attack on Trenton

The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold

With fighting raging around Trenton, Honeyman headed north to New Brunswick, the logistics hub for British forces in New Jersey. There, Honeyman maintained the cover of being a Loyalist tradesman to avoid British retaliation for his espionage. Whether he continued to play an espionage role for Washington remains unknown. He did not return to his Griggstown home until the war ended.

Honeyman led a quiet post-war life on a small farm near Bedminster, New Jersey. None of his neighbors or friends suspected his connection to Washington, let alone his role in espionage. Honeyman remarried after Mary died in 1801. He died peacefully on August 18, 1822, at the age of 93. The spy and tradesman was buried in the Lamington Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Lamington, New Jersey.

Honeyman's gravesite

 

 

 

The Strange Case of James Molesworth

 

Execution of a Spy

The key rattled in the cell's lock. "It's time, almost noon," said the Sergeant of the Guard. 

The prisoner rose from the musty cot and followed the escort out of the red brick jailhouse building to the town commons, where a large crowd of spectators awaited the condemned. The last fourteen days had been a whirlwind of intrigue, missteps, apprehension, and cross-examination. Now, the condemned man gazed at the simple noose that would, momentarily, squeeze the life from him—for he was a confessed spy.

"Does the prisoner have any last words, Sergeant?" asked the officer in charge.

"No, sir," replied the sergeant.

"I believe my statement to the examiner at my trial amply provides my last words, sir," said the prisoner." I only ask they be made public after my sentence is carried out."

The officer nodded, and a soldier threw a cord noose over his shoulders.

From Cold Winter to Warm Spring

The winter of 1777 was one of savage warfare—a struggle for the necessities of survival for two armies desperate to feed their men. But by March, General William Howe, the British commander in New York, was setting his sights on another try at the American capital in Philadelphia—even as London had dispatched a large Army to strike deep into the colonies from Canada that summer. So, while paying lip service to the British Minister for the Colonies, Lord George Germain's strategy, Howe was plotting a move south and an assault on Philadelphia from the mouth of the Delaware River. But to do this, he needed intelligence—and something more.

General Howe

No Man's Land

While the Americans held Philadephia and General George Washington's Continental Army encamped at Morristown, central Jersey became a no man's land of foraging parties, raiders, thieves, smugglers, and spies. The former colony was flush with Loyalists, as was the area around Philadelphia. Not yet a year old, the cause of liberty was not in every American's heart. There were plenty of high and low-born people who were willing to support the King, especially if there was some coin involved. Both sides had networks for spying and striking out against their enemies. One such network within the new nation's capital was active in helping prepare the way for the return of the British.

The Jerseys were a No Mans Land of Spies and More

Spy Highway

James Molesworth was a member of that spy ring. Born in Staffordshire, England, Molesworth made his way to America and established himself in the New World, eventually as a Clerk in the Office of the Mayor of Philadelphia. Like so many, Molesworth remained Loyal and got involved with their spy network in and around the capital. Molesworth agreed to go to New York and meet with the British authorities. 

Loyalist leader Joseph Galloway

The Loyalists had a sort of "Underground Railroad" to make their way past American patrols and sentries into the occupied City of New York. Molesworth traveled into the Jerseys with an accomplice named John Caton, who went by the alias of Warren. Warren took him to Bullions Tavern, where they met another accomplice named Smith, who guided them to Milestone Bridge. From there, the two slipped past rebel pickets and entered British lines. Molesworth met with Pennsylvania Loyalist leader Joseph Galloway, who recommended him to General Howe, who gave Molesworth a lieutenant's commission. Howe needed his services back in The City of Brotherly Love.

The Mission

Howe was planning a sea-borne attack on Philadelphia by sailing up the mouth of the Delaware River. He knew from spies and other informants that the Americans had several forts positioned there and had embedded Cheveaux de Frise-like traps along the riverbed. These were rows of long spikes with points hidden below the water level that could rip open the hulls of British warships. 

Chevaux de Frise could tear open a ship's hull

The British instructed Molesworth to recruit sympathetic Delaware pilots to exfiltrate them north to New York and guide the British fleet around the traps. Howe also questioned him about the forts and the armed galleys used by the Americans. Although the British provided him with no cash, he was told to spare no expense in finding a couple of pilots. He was also to arrange for sabotage and other mayhem in preparation for the British attack.

Philadelphia Ring

On his return, Molesworth approached several  Loyalist sympathizers—clearly, they had a network well in place. He met a Mr. Sheppard and a Joseph Thomas. He connected with his other accomplices—a Clerk in General Mifflins's Office named Collins, a Clerk in the City Vendue Office named Keating, and a Livery Stable owner named Sheppard. At least two women were involved as well—a Mrs. Abigail McCay and a Mrs. Sarah O'Brien. The latter two had been actively feeling out (they used the word "tampering") Delaware pilots for a special mission and had a few they thought might agree to the enterprise. One, named John Eldridge, refused to go. However, another,  Andrew Higgins, agreed and was able to bring another, named John Snyder, into the plot.

City of Brotherly Love, or Nest of Spies?

Clandestine Meetings

Mrs.McCay was Molesworth's intermediary with Mrs. O'Brien, and it was at her boarding house that Molesworth finally met with "agreeable" pilots at seven in the evening. Although promised great rewards for their service, Molesworth could only offer fifty pounds, which he had gotten from Sheppard. Molesworth schemed to get horses from Sheppard's Livery and ride north. 

Women supported Molesworth's efforts

Sheppard, the livery owner, approached a farrier named Fox for a horse, but none was to be had that night, and it was decided that looking for a third horse at that hour might draw suspicion. Molesworth, instead, would travel the next day. But there was no next day's travel. Someone blew the whistle. For want of a horse...

Court Martial and Sentencing

Molesworth was arrested and faced a trial by court martial presided over by General Horatio Gates. Witnesses were questioned from 25 through 28 March. Molesworth gave his own testimony on the 27th. The court martial convicted the spy on the 29th, and after  Congress confirmed the sentence, Molesworth was hanged in the Philadelphia Commons on 31 March 1777.

General Horatio Gates

Justice for All?

But what of the others? Collins, Keating, and Sheppard escaped to British-held territory, eluding the pursuit by provosts under a captain named Proctor. According to General George Washington's report, it was the pilots who turned Molesworth in. But who? Eldridge? Higgins? Snyder? Or some combination? My take is Eldridge, with the other two plus two ladies providing testimony in exchange for leniency. For his part, Sheppard made his way to New  York, where he served as a pilot for the eventual British move on Philadelphia in the fall of 1777. For his services, Sheppard received the lucrative post of Deputy Commissioner of Forage during the British occupation.

British occupy Philadelphia September 1777

Justice for No One?

Years later, the infamous General James Wilkinson commented on the case in his memoirs. He alleges there had been no legal basis for a military court martial, and the political pressure on Gates for a swift outcome led to a conviction with a unanimous verdict. A conviction Gates and Congress swiftly approved. Wilkinson claimed to have met with him in his cell, offering mercy if he would give up his accomplices—Molesworth refused. 

James Wilkinson

No Peace for the Dead

Molesworth remained controversial, even in death. His body was relegated to a potter field—a burial ground for the indigent. Local Loyalists seethed (secretly) at the affront. When the British occupied Philadelphia later in the year, a group of Quakers had him exhumed and interred in a Quaker cemetery. Now, the local patriots seethed (secretly). When the Americans re-occupied Philadelphia in 1778, you guessed it, Molesworth's now rather tired corpse was once more exhumed and reinterred in the potter field.

Quaker Meeting House

Culper Prelude?

The British network in the heart of the capital sent a visceral chill through the Americans in the City, the Continental Army, and Congress. Had it remained undetected, it could have proven a more effective network than the celebrated Culper Ring in New York. Perhaps that explains the quick justice and burial. It might also have shaped General George Washington's thinking on espionage and the need for ultra-tight security and compartmentalization, as intelligence and espionage played an increasingly important tool in the struggle ahead.

George Washington as Spymaster

Young Hickory at War

 Old Hickory

A key event in my historical novel, The Lafayette Circle, is General Lafayette’s visit to The Hermitage, the plantation home of Andrew Jackson, leader of the War of 1812 and the Seminole War. On May 25, 1825, Jackson meets Lafayette and his entourage at their steamer and gives them a tour of his house. While there, Jackson displays an exquisite pair of matched pistols. 

 

The Hermitage

“Do you recognize these, sir?”

“Indeed, sir.” Lafayette choked up and warmly embraced his host.

Lafayette had given the two “saddle pistols” to Washington in 1778—during the middle of the American War for Independence.

When Washington died in 1799, his nephew inherited them and later gifted them to William Robinson, who further gifted them to the Indian Wars and War of 1812 hero—Old Hickory.

Washington's Pistols

A poignant moment for the two veterans of the American Revolutionary War—although Old Hickory was more of a young acorn during the eight-year struggle. In fact, he was just a teen when the war exploded across the Carolinas.

Young Hickory

Andrew Jackson and his two older brothers grew up on a hard-scrabble piece of land in the Waxhaws region, nestled along the border of the two Carolinas. The family was of the flinty Scots-Irish stock who provided many of the early settlers, carving out a living in the New World—stubborn, resourceful, resilient, fearless, and defiant. Sadly, Jackson’s father, Andrew Senior, was killed while felling a tree just three weeks before Andrew’s birth—his mother and two older siblings raised him. 

Frontier Farmers

Southern Strategy

 

War initially pushed into the Carolinas—British attempts at a naval invasion were blocked until Savannah fell, which then created a southern land and sea route to Charleston. Militias and Continental troops under American General Benjamin Lincoln fought back against British forces led by General John Maitland in the summer of 1779. During the British rear-guard action at Stono Ferry on June 20, Andrews’s older brother Hugh, who was badly wounded, died from the heat and exhaustion.

Stono Ferry

However, within a year, a large British Army led by Sir Henry Clinton captured Charleston, and Clinton deployed General Charles Cornwallis and notorious Colonel Banastre Tarleton to conquer the rest of the state. War was heading to the Waxhaws.

Rebel Teens

Defiant, the two younger Jacksons joined Colonel William Richardson Davie's regiment, serving as couriers. They participated in the short but bloody clash against a British outpost at Hanging Rock on the Catawba River on August 6, 1780. Davie launched a diversionary attack there to support General Thomas Sumter’s larger assault on Rocky Mount, just west of the initial site. Davie’s initial attack failed, but Sumter redirected his efforts and launched a more significant attack with several regiments.

Colonel William Richardson Davie

This was not young Jackson’s first encounter with war. Just a few months earlier, he helped tend the wounded after Banastre Tarleton’s slaughter of Americans at the Battle of Waxhaws. This action fueled American propaganda with terms like “Bloody Ban” and “Tarleton’s Quarter.”  

Waxhaws

But a year later, 14-year-old Andy and his 15-year-old brother, Robert, were fleeing after their unit was surprised and scattered by Tory war parties that had joined with the British to eliminate any remaining resistance. Over a third of their comrades were caught in the sweep, but the Jacksons tried to avoid that fate.

Militia fleeing the British

However, hunger dictated otherwise. After hiding their horses and weapons in the woods, the boys approached a friendly farmstead, the home of patriot Lieutenant Crawford. Local Tories spotted the horses and warned the British. While supper was on the stove, a party of British soldiers surrounded the Crawford farm and stormed the house. They searched the house with a fury only imaginable during a violent civil war. Clothes torn from dressers are ripped to shreds, furniture is chopped up, and pots and dishes are smashed. Oaths and threats filled the air. 

British tore up the Crawford House

The British commander stormed across the room and accosted the younger Jackson. He pointed to his mud-spattered riding boots. “Boy! Clean my boots!”

Andrew straightened and lifted his chin in defiance. “Sir, I am a prisoner of war and should be so treated.”

Defying the Dragoon

Enraged, the dragoon officer drew his sword and delivered a slashing blow that sliced through the young teenager’s raised wrist to the bone, then slid off and struck his forehead. It left a scar he carried for life. It also left an even deeper scar on Andrew’s mind—an indelible hatred of everything British, which became one of the main motivations of his life.

The officer turned on Robert. “Then you clean my boots!" 

When he defiantly refused to obey, the blade came down, striking him on the head and sending streams of blood down his face.  

The boys, badly wounded and bleeding, were force-marched in oppressive heat to a prison camp at Camden, where they joined some 250 other captured rebels. They were left untreated, given little food, and suffered cramped quarters. Then, disease struck as it usually did in filthy prisons. Andre had to listen to the heart-wrenching moans of men suffering from smallpox. Eventually, the affliction struck Robert. Andy, too, was lying in bed, suffering malnutrition that was sapping his life from him.

Mother’s Love

During a prisoner exchange, Elizabeth, the boys’ mother, arrived in Camden. She argued for the release of her two sons. As the two appeared near death, her request was granted. While Robert struggled on the single horse, Andrew endured the forty-five-mile journey home to Waxhaws. 

Elizabeth Jackson Monument

Back home, Elizabeth struggled to restore her boys' health, but Robert died within days. Desperate, she worked tirelessly to help Andy, and he gradually recovered. His days of fighting were over—in this war. Elizabeth and other women began nursing other prisoners and traveled to Charleston to assist those suffering on prison ships in the harbor. Surrounded by disease, she contracted cholera and died just before Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown.

Badge of Honor

Andy’s wound healed, leaving him with a scar across his brow. The cut on his forehead left an even deeper scar on Andrew’s mind—his hatred for all things British. It also served as a living memorial to his family, who sacrificed so much for the cause, as well as to the soldiers who suffered and died.

General Andrew Jackson

The fiery teen Andy Jackson grew into Andrew Jackson—a man of action who led American soldiers to victories over the Creek Indians, the Spanish, and notably the British. He secured extensive territories in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, and crushed enemy lines of redcoats at the Battle of New Orleans, a win that established the United States as a nation to be reckoned with.