One affair which caused the most intense excitement throughout old Monmouth, and elsewhere during the war of the Revolution, was the arrest, trial and execution of a young man named Stephen Edwards, on the charge of being a spy for the British. Though reference to it is rarely met with in our histories, yet there were but few events in the county during the Revolution, that created a greater sensation than did this.

One of the officers who tried Edwards, and assisted at his execution, was Captain Joshua Huddy, and this furnished one of the excuses the refugees gave for his inhuman murder near the Highlands some three years after. On the trial of the refugee leader, Captain Richard Lippencott, by a British Court Martial at New York, in the Summer of 1782, for his participation in the hanging of Huddy, refugee witnesses testified that even while Huddy was a prisoner in their hands, and but a few days before his death, he boldly acknowledged his participation, and justified it on the ground that he was found with treasonable papers in his possession, which conclusively proved him to be a spy.

The following account of Stephen Edwards arrest, trial and execution, from "Howe's Collections" is believed to be substantially correct:

Stephen Edwards, a young man, in the latter part of the war, left his home in Shrewsbury and joined the loyalists (refugees) in New York. From thence he was sent by Colonel Taylor of the refugees, a former resident of Middletown, back to Monmouth county, with written instructions to ascertain the force of the Americans there. Information having been conveyed to the latter, Captain Jonathan Forman of the cavalry, was ordered to search for him. Suspecting he might be at his father's residence half a mile below Eatontown, he entered at midnight with a party of men, and found him in bed with his wife, disguised in the night cap of a female.

"Who have you here?" said Forman.

"A laboring woman," replied Mrs. Edwards.

The captain detected the disguise, and on looking under the bed, saw Edwards' clothing, which he examined, and in which he found the papers given him by Colonel Taylor.

Be then said, "Edwards, I am sorry to find you! You see these papers? You have brought yourself into a very disagreeable situation --- you know the fate of spies!"

Edwards denied the allegation, remarking that he was not such and could not so be considered.

This occurred on Saturday night. The prisoner was taken to the Court House, tried by a Court Martial next day, and executed at 10 o'clock on Monday morning. Edwards' father and mother had come up that morning to ascertain the fate of their son, and returned with the corpse. Edwards was an amiable young man. The Forman and Edwards families had been on terms of intimate friendship, and the agency of the members of the former in the transaction, excited their deepest sympathies for the fate of the unfortunate prisoner.

The guilt of Edwards was conclusively proven; deep sympathy was felt for his parents and wife, but the perils of the patriots at this time were so great that prompt and decisive action was necessary for their own preservation.

The foolhardiness of Edwards in keeping treasonable papers about him was remarkable. Some features of this affair will remind the reader of the unfortunate Major Andre. It is probable that Edwards was executed about September, 1778.

Among the multitude of heroic men furnished by our State in aid of the struggle for independence, the name of Captain Joshua Huddy should ever occupy a conspicuous place in the memory of Jerseymen. Yet when we recall his daring deeds, his patriotic efforts and sacrifices, and his unfortunate end, it is doubtful if less justice has been done to the services and memory of any other hero of his day. Though the Continental Congress, as well as General Washington and other noted men testified their warm appreciation of his services; though his name at one time was a household word, not only throughout this country but at the courts of England and France; and though his unfortunate death and its consequences, for a time caused the most intense excitement on both sides of the Atlantic, yet in the substance of the language of a report adopted by Congress in 1837, "It is fearful to state that after a lapse of fifty years, while the services of others of so much less merit have been made the theme of the biographer and the poet, the memory of Huddy has not been honored with an epitaph. His country, it would seem, has outlived the recollection of his services, and forgotten that such a victim was sacrificed for American liberty."

The following extracts from the archives of the State Department of New Jersey, were furnished in 1837 to a Congressional committee at the request of the chairman, by the late Governor Philemon Dickenson:

"Captain Joshua Huddy is appointed by an act of the Legislature, passed Sept. 24, 1777, to the command of a company of artillery, to be raised from the militia of the State, and to continue in service not exceeding one year.

"In the accounts of the paymaster of militia there is an entry of a payment made on the 30th of July, 1778, to Captain Joshua Huddy, of the artillery regiment for services at Haddonfield, under Colonel Holmes. In the same accounts a payment is also made to Captain Huddy on the 1st of July, 1779, for the use of his horses in the artillery."

Captain Huddy, with other prisoners, was taken to New York and lodged in the noted Sugar House prison, from whence he was taken on Monday, April 1st, 1782, to the prison of the Provost Guard in New York, where he was closely confined until Monday, April 8th, when he, with Daniel Randolph and Jacob Fleming (both of whom were taken prisoners with Huddy at Toms River, but soon exchanged for two tories, named Captain Clayton Tilton and Aaron White), were taken on board a sloop and ironed.

The following is a copy of the order to the Commissary of Prison at New York, to deliver him to the care of Captain Richard Lippencott, of the Refugees, to be taken on board the sloop:

                        New York, April 7th. 1782. 

By order of the Board of Directors of Associated Loyalists.

                         S. S. BLOWERS, Secretary. 

To Mr. Commissary Challoner. 

Huddy, Randolph and Fleming were kept in irons in the hold of the sloop, until Tuesday evening, April 9th, when they were transferred to the guard ship at Sandy Hook. The ship was the British man-of-war Britannia, Captain Morris. Early on the 12th Lippencott came on board the ship for Huddy and showed Captain Morris two papers, one being a label which was afterward fastened to Huddy's breast. Captain Morris asked Lippencott what he intended to do with Huddy. Lippencott replied that he intended to put in execution the orders of the Board of Associated Loyalists of New York, which was to hang Huddy. He borrowed a rope from Captain Morris, and then proceeded on his infamous mission. Huddy was then taken ashore at the Highlands where a gallows was erected from three rails and a barrel placed under it from which he was launched into eternity. The label attached to his breast had the following inscription:

"We, the refugees, having long beheld with grief the cruel murders of our brethren, and finding nothing but such measures daily carrying into execution; we therefore determine not to suffer without taking vengeance for the numerous cruelties, and thus begin, having made use of Captain Huddy as the first object to present to your view, and determine to hang man for man while there is a refugee existing.

Captain Huddy executed his will under the gallows, signing it on the barrel from which he was a few moments afterward launched into another world.

The following is a copy of the will of Captain Huddy, signed by him under the gallows:

"In the name of God, amen; I, Joshua Huddy, of Middletown, in the county of Monmouth, being of sound mind and memory, but expecting shortly to depart this life, do declare this my last will and testament:

"First: I commit my soul into the hands of Almighty God, hoping he may receive it in mercy; and next I commit my body to the earth. I do also appoint my trusty friend, Samuel Forman, to be my lawful executor, and after all my just debts are paid, I desire that he do divide the rest of my substance whether by book debts, notes or any effects whatever belonging to me, equally between my two children, Elizabeth and Martha Huddy.

"In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty two.

                                    "JOSHUA HUDDY." 

The will was written on half a sheet of foolcap paper, on the back of which was the following endorsement, evidently written shortly after the will was executed:

"The will of Captain Joshua Huddy, made and executed the same day the refugees murdered him, April 12th, 1782."

The will was found some years ago among the papers of his executor, the late Colonel Samuel Forman and subsequently came into the possession of Judge Bennington F. Randolph, who deposited it in the library of the New Jersey Historical Society. It was signed by Capt. Huddy, but was apparently written by another person. The daughters named in the will subsequently became Elizabeth Green and Martha Piatt. The last named moved to Cincinnati where she lived to an advanced age.

"Timothy Brooks, a refugee, who was one of Lippencott's party, testified in New York before a Board of Inquiry, that Huddy was executed by a negro and that Lippencott shook hands with Huddy as the latter was standing on the barrel by Huddy's request.

After his inhuman murder his body was left hanging until afternoon, when the Americans came and took it to Freehold, to the house of Captain James Greene, where it was, April 15th. He was buried with the honors of war. His funeral sermon was preached by the well remembered Rev. Dr. John Woodhull, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Freehold.

The execution of Huddy was regarded by the Commander-in-Chief as a matter of such high import that, in anticipation of the action of Congress upon his letter, he had directed that the general officers of the army, and the officers commanding brigades and regiments, should assemble at West Point and decide on what measures should be adopted. On the 19th day of April the meeting was held at the quarters of General Heath, when the following questions propounded by Washington were stated:

"Shall there be retaliation for the murder of Huddy?"

"On whom shall it be inflicted?"

"How shall the victim be designated?"

General Heath in his memoirs describes the deliberations of the officers as independent of each other; no conversation was permitted between them on the question submitted, but each one was to write his own opinion, seal it up, and address it to the Commander-in-Chief. By this process it was found the decision was unanimous that retaliation should take place; that it should be inflicted on an officer of equal rank; and the designation should be made by lot from among the prisoners of war who had surrendered at discretion, and not under convention or capitulation.

This decision was approved by Washington, who gave immediate information of his intention to retaliate, to the British Commander, unless the perpetrator of the bloody deed should be given up for execution.

Baron de Grimm, in his celebrated Memoirs, states, without any qualifications, that George III gave orders "that the author of a crime which dishonored the English nation, should he given up for punishment" but he was not obeyed. It is highly probable that this statement is true; the writer recorded it in 1775, and from the advantageous position he occupied, must be presumed to have known the fact. (Vol. iv., p. 272.)

The people of New Jersey were exasperated beyond measure at the bloody catastrophe; but when it was ascertained that the murderer would not be surrendered or punished, their indignation prompted the bold attempt to seize the miscreant by force. To effect this purpose, Captain Adam Hyler, of New Brunswick, having ascertained that Lippencott resided in Broad street, New York, with a crew disguised as a British press gang, left the Kills at dark in a single boat, and arrived at Whitehall about nine o'clock. Here he left the boat in charge of a few men, and passed directly to Lippencott's house, where, on inquiry, it was ascertained he had gone to Cock Pit. (Naval Magazine, November, 1839.) The expedition of course failed; but the promptness with which it was conducted proves the devotion of the brave men who were engaged in the common cause, and their execration of Huddy's assassin.

The demand for Lippencott having been refused, General Washington, on the 4th of May, directed Brigadier-General Hogan to designate by lot, from among the prisoners at either of the posts in Pennsylvania or Maryland, a British Captain who had been unconditionally surrendered. As it was ascertained that no such officer was in his power, a second order was issued on the 13th of May, extending the selection to the officers who had been made prisoners by convention or capitulation. Under this last dispatch, the British Captains who had been captured at Yorktown were assembled at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the lot fell upon Captain Asgill.

Charles Asgill was a Captain of the guards, of a noble family, and at the time he was designated to suffer, but nineteen years of age. He was captured at Yorktown, confined during the winter of 1781-82 at Winchester, in Virginia, and had been removed but a short time to York, Pennsylvania, when the lot was cast against him.

Captain Asgill was conducted to Philadelphia, and from thence was removed to Chatham. He was accompanied by his friend, Major Gordon, who attended him with the devotion of a parent to a child.

In the meanwhile the execution was suspended, but every effort was exerted, every plan that ingenuity could devise or sympathy suggest adopted to save the innocent sufferer. Major Gordon appealed to the French Minister, then in Philadelphia; he wrote to the Count de Rochembeau, and despatched messengers to numerous influential Whigs throughout the Colonies to interest them in behalf of his friend; and so eloquent and importunate were his appeals, that it is said by General Graham, "that even the family of Captain Huddy became themselves suppliants in Asgill's favor." These untiring exertions unquestionably contributed to postpone the fate of the victim until the final and successful intercession of the French Court obtained his release.

When Lady Asgill heard of the peril which impended over her son, her husband was exhausted by disease, and while the effect of the intelligence was pent powerfully up in her mind, it produced delirium in that of her daughter. Under all these embarrassments she applied to King George the III., who, it is said, ordered the cause of this measure of retaliation, the wretched Lippencott, to be delivered up, which Clinton contrived to avoid. She did not cease her importunities until she had dictated a most eloquent and impassioned appeal to the Count de Vergennes, who laid it before the King and Queen of France, and was immediately directed to communicate with General Washington and implore the release of the sufferer. A letter, says the Baron de Grimm, "the eloquence of which, independent of oratorical forms, is that of all people, and all languages, because it derives its power from the first and noblest sentiment of our nature."

For seven months the fate of this interesting young officer remained suspended, when, chiefly through the intercession of the French Court, he was set at liberty. The following are the proceedings of Congress directing his discharge:

                       THURSDAY, November 7, 1782. 

On the report of the Committee, consisting of Mr. Rutledge, Mr. Osgood, Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Boudinot, and Mr. Duane, to whom was referred the letter of the 19th of August last, from the Commander-in-Chief, the report of a committee thereon, and the motives of Mr. Williamson and Mr. Rutledge; and also, another letter from the Commander-in-Chief, with a copy of a letter to him from the Count de Vergennes, dated July 29th last, interceding for Captain Asgill:

Resolved, That the Commander-in-Chief be, and he hereby is directed, to set Captain Asgill at liberty.

A copy of the foregoing proceedings and resolution was forwarded by General Washington to Captain Asgill, together with a letter, given below, which exhibits the moral excellence, the great and commanding attributes that always distinguished the Father of his Country. "The decision of General Washington in this delicate affair, the deep interest felt by the American people for the youthful sufferer, the pathetic appeals of Lady Asgill to the Count de Vergennes in behalf of her son (in the language of Congress in 1837), forms one of the most important and instructive portions of revolutionary history.

SIR: - It affords me singular satisfaction to have it in my power to transmit to you the enclosed copy of an act of Congress of the 7th inst, by which you are relieved from the disagreeable circumstances in which you have been so long. Supposing that you would wish to go to New York as soon as possible, I also enclose a passport for that purpose. Your letter of the 18th came regularly to my hands. I beg of you to believe that my not answering it sooner did not proceed from inattention to you, or a want of feeling for your situation; but I daily expected a determination of your case, and I thought it better to await that than to feed you with hopes that might in the end prove fruitless. You will attribute my detention of the enclosed letters, which have been in my possession a fortnight, to the same cause. I cannot take leave of you, sir, without assuring you that, in whatever light my agency in this unpleasant affair may be viewed, I was never influenced throughout the whole of it by sanguinary motives, but what I conceived to be a sense of duty, which loudly called upon me to use measures, however disagreeable, to prevent a repetition of those enormities which have been the subject of discussion; and that this important end is likely to be answered without the effusion of the blood of an innocent person, is not a greater relief to you than it is to me.

        Sir, &c.                GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Immediately after this letter released him, Captain Asgill prepared himself to return to England, and in a short time embarked. The second letter of Lady Asgill to Count de Vergennes contained the eloquent outpourings of a grateful heart.