John Devoe’s Bad Day
Todd W. Braisted
The Revolutionary War, like most every war, produced thousands of casualties on both sides during the course of eight years of conflict. While the losses were nothing like the American Civil War of the Nineteenth Century, or the bloody conflicts of the 20th Century into today, they were still highly personal to those unfortunate enough to be wounded, mortally or otherwise, in battle. The armies of the day were small, and casualties were usually keenly felt.
Colonel Theunis Dey, commander of the Bergen County Militia, had been fortunate in that few of his officers and men had been killed or wounded in the war. Indeed, they had fought in no large-scale action and had never actually turned out as an entire corps, serving instead in detachments, often termed classes. Until May of 1781…
On the 14th of May 1781, a flotilla of fifteen small vessels sailed up the Hudson and anchored off the former Fort Lee. Fort Lee had been erected on the Palisades by the Continental Army in the late summer of 1776, seeking to hinder British naval activity in the river below. It was actually several fortifications, including a heavy gun battery aimed at the river, and a conventional fort slightly north of the area of modern Monument Park. The fort had been famously captured by the British in November 1776, at which time it was leveled by the conquerors, no longer serving a function.
The area of the fort may no longer have been of any use to the contending grand armies, but it was deemed more than adequate for a group of some 300+ Loyalist woodcutters under the command of Thomas Ward of Orange County, New York. Ward had been a Continental Army sergeant until he deserted to the British from the Ramapo area in the summer of 1777. From that point on he became a thorn in the side of Washington’s (and Colonel Dey’s) forces, gathering much intelligence on troops movements and dispositions. In the spring of 1780, Ward signed an agreement with Abraham C. Cuyler, the former mayor of Albany, New York, to provide the British with wood for both fuel and fortifications. Originally setting up post at Bull’s Ferry, several miles below Fort Lee and later at Bergen Point, modern Bayonne. In addition to cutting wood, Ward’s corps, known as the Loyal Refugee Volunteers, would make incursions into the countryside to bring in cattle, plunder and prisoners to supplement their wood money. The area of Fort Lee would enable Ward’s Refugees to range much further into the county on their raids. The Bergen County Militia was determined to prevent that.
The exact composition of the militia and where they had been stationed that May day is uncertain. Any troops involved in that day’s fighting almost certainly would have already been out and serving, not called up on an alarm. That would happen soon enough, but not on the first appearance of the Refugees. The most plausible explanation is that the picket guard of perhaps fifty militia and state troops, most likely stationed at Liberty Pole, perceived a scout of the Refugees and followed them back to Fort Lee.
The Refugees main tactic seems to have been to fire a few rounds of small arms, then charge with their infantry and cavalry. It worked. Of all the pension application testimonies regarding the events at Fort Lee, John Devoe’s was the most dramatic. The eighteen-year-old from Hackensack was serving in Captain Samuel Demarest’s Company of State Troops (militia serving for a term of from 3-12 months) when he suddenly found himself in a very bad place, nearly alone and facing an onslaught of charging Refugees. Devoe and comrade Peter Voorhees were by a rock, determined to give one more shot before retreating. It was not a wise decision. Voorhees was instantly shot through the shoulder and decided discretion was the better part of valor and ran off, leaving Devoe. So what became of the Hackensack teenager? In his own words, and in this order, he:
“was severely wounded across the head by a blow with a broad sword from a Brittish Dragoon [cavalryman].
This deponent was also at the same time wounded by a blow from a musket against his temple
also by a blow from the britch of a gun
& stabbed with a bayonett,
two of his ribs were broken,
his back injured
& slightly grazed with a musket ball.
This deponent was left for dead on the field & was taken prisoner…”
For many, such wounds would either have proved mortal or at least ended their active military career. Not Devoe however. Sent to New York as a prisoner, his sister was given a pass to tend to him, where his wounds were probably already treated by Loyalist or British surgeons. Ten days from the date of his capture, he was exchanged and returned home. He required 62 days of treatment for his wounds, administered at the home of Abraham Devoe, where he could lament the loss of his musket and cartridge box in the action. He no doubt obtained new ones, as he rejoined his comrades and somehow finished his tour of duty. John Brower could painfully recount “Devoe was horridly mangled upon the head & back & elsewhere & carried the scars plainly visible during his whole life afterwards.” Devoe would go on and live a full life, marrying in 1791 and raising a family until he passed away in Homer, New York on 20 March 1837.
What of Fort Lee, the militia and the Refugees? They would go on to fight a total of three skirmishes between 14-18 March 1781, the militia being defeated in each encounter. That will be a story for another time…