Sold – 1776: Hancock Congratulates Lord Stirling on His First Victory Against the British, and Issues Orders on How He Should Dispose of the Prize His Men Captured

When the Revolution broke out, Lord Stirling, a Scottish peer, was a member of the Royal Council of New Jersey and favorite of loyalist Governor William Franklin. He seemed an obvious loyalist. However, his loyalties were not so predictible, as his wife was a sister of Philip Livingston, soon to be a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In September 1775 Stirling declared for the rebels, which was a great shock to loyalists and a coup for the revolutionaries. In November he was appointed the senior Continental Army commander in New Jersey and began to recruit forces to put New Jersey on a sound military footing. Officially he was colonel of the 1st New Jersey Regiment. In December he ordered his troops to gather in proximity to New York, and he maintained a hectic pace of inspecting his units, readying his battalions, and maintaining contacts with senior American military leaders. He also anxiously sought supplies, as his men were particularly short of arms. By year’s end Stirling had established his headquarters on the coast at Elizabethtown, and his New Jersey forces would soon be ready for action. On January 2, 1776, the New Jersey men were ordered by Congress to seize arms from loyalists in their state. Stirling began the process of doing so, even as he sought a larger role in the military action sure to commence in New York before long.

The Blue Mountain Valley was a fine British ship of 300 tons.  She sailed from London on October 13, 1775, with the ship’s manifest, dated September 30, 1775, showing 107.25 “chaldrons of coal”; 30 bundles of hoops; 100 butts of porter branded “Calvert”; 225 bags of beans; 156 sacks of potatoes; 10 casks sour-kraut; 80 hogs; and 35 empty water puncheons. She met with rough weather in January 1776, and having been badly damaged, was lying off Sandy Hook, waiting for assistance from British men-of-war in New York Harbor.

On January 21, 1776, word of a British ship damaged off Sandy Hook reached Stirling at his Elizabethtown headquarters. He determined, if possible, to attack and seize this valuable storeship before the enemy’s men-of-war could reach her. He immediately readied the Continental soldiers under his command for the task. Hearing that the British Man of War “Asia” was preparing to come to the aid of the supply ship, the local Committee of Safety added some 80 of its militia and three boats to Stirling’s forces. The Americans put out to sea in these and some other small craft, one of them a pilot boat. The British vessel had for her defense six guns, plus was what is called an armed transport, but Stirling’s men carried only ordinary muskets. Here is an account of the resulting confrontation:  “Together they [the Americans] sailed for the open seas with the icy wind in their faces.  Not until shortly after daybreak did they sight their prey.  Silently they drew alongside the Blue Mountain Valley, fearing each moment to be greeted by a blast of gunfire.  None came, however, and before the enemy was aware of it, the raiders were clambering up the side of the ship and over the rails. Lord Stirling with sword in hand was second man over the gunwales, with Aaron Ogden hard on his heels.  Finding himself surprised and out-numbered, British Captain John H. Dempster surrendered without firing a shot.”

On January 23, Stirling and his men brought the prize into Perth Amboy, N.J. which was in possession of the Americans. Here she was found to be a most valuable prize, although Lord Stirling was sorry, as he afterwards stated when he made his report to Congress, that her cargo was not arms, instead of coal and provisions.

Word of the success stread quickly, and it was very welcome news in Congress, which on January 29, 1776 voted to commend Stirling and his men, and to provide them with instructions on disposition of the prize. Autograph Document Signed by the Secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson. “Resolved, that the alertness, activity and good conduct of Lord Stirling and the forwardness and spiritof the gentlemen and others from Elizabethtown, who voluntarily assisted him in taking the ship Blue Mountain Valley were laudable and exemplary and that His Lordship be directed to secure the capture until the further order of the Congress, and that in the meantime he cause such part of the loading as would otherwise perish to be disposed of by sale. – Extract from the minutes. Charles Thomson, Jr.” President of Congress John Hancock then issued the Order of Congress: “Ordered to be transmitted to The Hon. Lord Stirling. John Hancock, Presidt.”

In March, the Provincial Congress of New Jersey ordered the vessel and cargo confiscated, sold at auction, and the proceeds distributed among the captors.  Surprisingly, a gratuity was allowed the captured British seamen, and the personal property of the British officers was restored to them, after which they were set at liberty. Soon the war would turn more bitter and such gentlemanly conduct would be inconceivable.

That same month Congress promoted Stirling to general, and he went on to become one of Washington’s major generals and to play an important role in the war. At the Battle of Trenton he received the surrender of a Hessian regiment. At Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth, he cemented his reputation for bravery and sound tactical judgment, at the latter battle skillfully posting his batteries and repelling with heavy loss an attempt to turn his flank. Lord Stirling also played a part in exposing the Conway Cabal, a conspiracy of disaffected officers looking to remove Washington as Commander-in Chief and replace him with General Horatio Gates. And when Washington went South for the Yorktown Campaign, he left Stirling in command of American forces in the North.