[Editor's Note: Richard J. Koke authored a series of five articles that appeared in Volumes 19 -23 of the OCHS Journal between 1990 and 1994. These articles will be presented in multiple sections over the next few years.]
Part II:
War in the Clove
Chapter 12:
The Scotsman's Regiment
August in the Highlands was a month of uncertainty and alarm. With the disappearance of Howe's fleet from the Delaware and half-certain it was on its way back to the Hudson for a "sudden attack" against the Highlands, Washington made preparations to return with the "utmost expedition", and pressed both Putnam and Clinton to keep the Highlands in a strong posture of defense, specifically mentioning to the governor on August 1 that "A party must be still kept to secure the Entrance of the Clove"; and he stressed the same point a month later in a letter to a colonel on guard duty that "special regard" be given "to the security of the pass leading thro' the Mountains to the Highland Fortifications." In late August the elusive Howe finally appeared at the head of Chesapeake Bay, and with the landing of his army the campaign for Philadelphia and control of the Delaware was joined.
With the anxious days of November and December a memory and with Washington's army gone, the protection of Smith's Clove reverted to the militia and, for three months, to Malcom's newly-raised Continental regiment, one of the sixteen "additional" regiments known by the names of their commanding colonels. Four companies had already been raised in the spring by direction of Brigadier-General George Clinton - some at Fort Montgomery - and by late June were on station at "the Post at Sydman's Bridge" to support the weak garrison then commanded by James Clinton.
Recruitment for the remaining companies was still under way on June 27 when Washington assigned the colonelcy to William Malcom, a thirty-two-year-old Scots-born New Yorker and former importer and ship chandler, and the lieutenant-colonelcy to Aaron Burr, a twentyone-year-old aide-de-camp to Putnam, with instructions that everything necessary be done to complete the regiment so that it could take the field. In late July, Alexander Hamilton was already making reference to Malcom's presence at the Clove.
Malcom's letters also carried the familiar heading of "Camp at Rampough" and "Camp Rampough", but the lessening enemy threat from northern Jersey allowed him opportunity to advance his quarters from the fortified position at the bridge to the more civilized confines of Suffern's tavern at the crossroads, from where the Clove could as easily be covered and surveillance extended into the surrounding countryside. Though Malcom's duties were those of a routine line-of-communication station, he was well aware of the uncertain sympathies of many in the region, and it did not take long for him to find the covert activity of some of the disaffected sufficiently disturbing to send soldiers in pursuit of the more troublesome, and within one two-week period he had twenty in custody.
Part I
Introduction
Clove and Precinct
The Clove Road
The Clove Taverns
Clove Taverns II
Part II
Prelude to War
The Continentals Arrive
Blocking the Clove
In the Midst of Tories
Offensive from the Highlands
The Militia Take Over
The Post at Ramapo
The Reluctant Militia
Holding the Line
An Embarrassing Situation
To Galloway's and Back
The Scotsman's Regiment
September Raid
Prelude for Disaster
Clinton Takes the Highlands
Sidman's Bridge: The Last Holdout
Part III
Introduction
Summer, 1778
A Cogent Appraisal
Villains and Robbers
Part IV
Introduction
Aaron Burr's Ride
March to the Clove
The Barren Clove
Bracing for Attack
Among the Rocks and Rattlesnakes
The Present Interesting Occasion
A Waiting Game
Redeployment
The Continental Road
The Taphouse Keeper's Daughter
The Indian Fighters Appear
March to Morristown
Part V
Introduction
A Fruitless Excursion
Summer at the Clove
A Frenchman's Journey
Pompton Mutiny: Blood in the Snow
Blockhouse in the Clove
The Allies at New Antrim
The Intercepted Messenger
A Questionable Story
What Really Happened
Perils of A Post Rider
New Yorkers at the Clove
Congress' Own Regiment
The Last Garrison
A Man of Passion
Homeless Canadians
The Last March
Part VI
Introduction
The Post at Sidman's Bridge
Marking the Site