Among the captains of privateers who came into Toms River during the Revolution was Captain Adam Hyler. At the time Toms River was burned, one of his barges was found in the stream and carried away by the British.

It is rare to find, in fact or fiction, more daring exploits recorded than those performed chiefly in the waters around old Monmouth by Captain Adam Hyler, who resided at New Brunswick during the latter part of the Revolutionary war. From some unaccountable cause, the heroic deeds of this man have received but little notice from historians; indeed, we remember of but one modern work that makes any allusion to them, and that gives only two or three of the items published below.

Captain Hyler's operations were carried on in Raritan Bay, and along our coast as far down as Egg Harbor; chiefly, however, in the first named place. Though he sometimes used sail craft, yet he generally depended upon whale boats or large barges, rowed by skillful crews. These barges were generally kept at New Brunswick, but some were at times concealed in small streams emptying into Raritan Bay and River, which place was then reached by old Cranberry Inlet.

Though the Refugee band which had its headquarters at the settlement on Sandy Hook, around the lighthouse, gave great annoyance to the patriots of Monmouth; yet their operations were much circumscribed by the efforts of Captain Hyler and his brave compatriots, who seriously interfered with the vessels of the Refugees, as well as of the British, and when opportunity offered, as will hereafter be seen, hesitated not to attack their settlement, and even the lighthouse fort itself. The Refugees would sometimes boast of successful midnight marauding expeditions into the adjacent country, but the bold. skillful exploits of Hyler far eclipsed their best planned efforts.

A clear idea of Captain Hyler's manner of harassing the enemy is given in the following extracts, copied from various ancient papers published at the time. They serve to aid in completing the picture of life and times in and around old Monmouth during the Revolution.

"October 7, 1781. On Friday last, Captain Adam Hyler, from New Brunswick, with one gunboat and two whaleboats, within a quarter of a mile of the guardship at Sandy Hook, attacked five vessels, and after a smart conflict of fifteen minutes, carried them. Two of them were armed, one mounting four six-pounders, and one six swivels and one three-pounder. The hands made their escape with their long boats, and took refuge in a small fort, in which were mounted twelve swivel guns, from which they kept up a constant firing, notwithstanding which he boarded them all without the loss of a man. On board one of them was 250 bushels of wheat and a quantity of cheese belonging to Captain Lippencott, bound to New York. He took from them fifty bushels of wheat, a quantity of cheese, several swivels, a number of fuses, one cask of powder and some dry-goods, and stripped them of their sails and rigging, not being able to bring the vessels into port in consequence of a contrary wind and tide; after which he set fire to all save one, on board of which was a woman and four small children, which prevented her from sharing a similar fate."

On the 13th of October, a week or ten days after the above-mentioned affair, Captain Hyler, with one gunboat and two whaleboats, boarded a sloop and two schooners, which all hands, except two, had previously left, and which lay under the cover of the lighthouse fort at Sandy Hook, and brought them all off; but the sloop being a dull sailor, and being much annoyed from a galley lying near Staten Island, she was set on fire about three miles from the fort. One of the schooners running aground by accident, was stripped and left; the other, a remarkably fine, fast sailing, Virginia built pilot, mounted with one four-pounder, was brought, with two prisoners, safely off.

On the 24th of the same month, he started with one gunboat to surprise the "refugee town" at Sandy Hook. He landed within three quarters of a mile of the light house, but found the refugees were out in Monmouth county on a plundering expedition. He, however, fell in with six noted villains who he brought off and lodged in a safe place. A subsequent notice of Captain Hyler, says that at one time he captured the Captain of the guard at the light house, with all his men, but whether it was at this or some other time, is not stated.

November 14th, 1781. On Saturday night, Captain Hyler, with a gunboat and a small party of men, went to the Narrows, where he captured a ship with fourteen hands, and brought her off with the intention of running her up the Raritan river, but near the mouth she unluckily got aground, and, as the enemy approached in force, he was obliged to set her on fire. She was loaded with rum and pork; several hogsheads of the former he got out and brought off with the prisoners.

The ship captured was probably "The Father's Desire," as twenty hogsheads of rum and thirty barrels of pork were advertised by the U. S. Marshal to be sold a few days after; which the advertisement states were taken from a ship of this name by Captain Hyler.

"On the 15th of December, Captain Hyler, who commands seven or eight stout whale boats, manned with near one hundred men at the Narrows, fell in with two refugee sloops trading to Shrewsbury, one of them commanded by the noted villain, 'Shore Stephens,' and had on board £600 in specie, besides a considerable quantity of dry goods; the other had similar articles, also sugar, rum, etc. They were taken to New Brunswick."

The many daring exploits of Captain Hyler, following so close one after another, aroused the British at New York, and they fitted out an expedition with the determination of destroying his boats, and, if possible, capturing him. The following account of this expedition is derived chiefly from Philadelphia papers of the dates of January 15th and 16th 1782:

"A party of the British lately (about January 9th) made an incursion to New Brunswick with the design, it is said, of carrying off the boats of the celebrated partisan, Captain Adam Hyler. They landed at New Brunswick and plundered two houses, but were gallantly opposed by the neighboring miltia, and the enemy were driven off with some loss. Further accounts say there were some 200 refugees and British, and that they succeeded in destroying the whale boats. No Americans were killed, but five were wounded and six taken prisoners. Several Tories were killed- four known to be, and several were seen to be carried off. The British made the attack about five o'clock, A. M., just before daylight, and the American account says the expedition was well planned, and that the Tories held the town for about an hour. The British regulars were detachments from the 40th and 42d regiments, under command of Captain Beckwith, in six boats, and they took away all of Hyler's boats. The British alleged that Captain Hyler was a deserter from the Royalists."

It is probable that at this time, besides his boats at New Brunswick, Captain Hyler had others concealed elsewhere, as we find early in the following spring he was at work as usual, apparently but little inconvenienced by the loss of the boats taken by the British, though he may have built some in the meantime. In March following, when the British attacked and burned Toms River, they boasted of having captured there a fine large barge, belonging to Captain Hyler.

In April, 1782, Captain Hyler, in an open boat boarded and took a large cutter, almost ready for sea. lying near Sandy Hook, and near the Lion man-of-war, sixty-four guns. This cutter mounted twelve eighteen pounders, and was commanded by one White, formerly of Philadelphia, but turned apostate. Hyler blew up the vessel, which was designed as a cruiser, and took forty prisoners. Another account says the number of prisoners was fifty, and the cutter's armament was six eighteen pounders and ten nine pounders. At the same time he took a sloop which was ransomed for £400. The Captain of the cutter gives an amusing account of the way Hyler captured his vessel.

"On the 25th of May, 1782, Captain Hyler, with his armed boats, being in Shrewsbury river, a party of British troops, consisting of twenty-five men, under Captain Shaak, was detached to intercept him in the gut. Hyler discovered them, and landed thirteen men with orders to charge; when four of the enemy were killed or wounded, and the Captain and eight men taken prisoners. By the firing of a gun it was supposed others were killed, as they were seen to fall. Just before this affair Captain Hyler had met with a hurt, or otherwise he probably would not have let a man escape."

On the 2d of July, Captain Hyler, assisted by Captain Story, another brave partisan, in New York bay, with two whale boats, boarded and took the schooner "Skip Jack," carrying six guns, besides swivels, and burned her at noon, in sight of the guard-ship, and took the Captain and nine or ten men prisoners. About the same time he also took three or four trading vessels, loaded with calves, sheep, &c.

These were probably about the last exploits in which Captain Hyler was engaged, as we find no further mention of his name in ancient papers until the announcement of his death, some two months after. He died at New Brunswick on the 6th of September, 1782.

The following from an ancient paper gives a graphic account of his manner of conducting his operations. It was originally published June 19, 1782.

"The exertions of the celebrated water partisan, Captain Adam Hyler, have been a considerable annoyance to the wood shallops, trading vessels and plundering pirates of the enemy about Sandy Hook, Long Island and Staten Island for several months past. You have heard that his effort to take an eighteen-gun cutter was crowned with success. It was indeed a bold and hazardous attempt, considering how well she was provided against being boarded. He was, however, compelled to blow her up, after securing his prisoners and a few articles on board. His surprising a captain of the guard, at the lighthouse, with all his men, a short time ago, was a handsome affair, and gained him much credit. He has none but picked and tried men. The person who discovers the least symptom of fear or diffidence, be he who he will, is immediately turned on shore and never suffered to enter again. In the next place, they are taught to be particularly expert at the oar, and to row with such silence and dexterity as not to be heard at the smallest distance, even though three or four boats be together, and go at the rate of twelve miles an hour. Their captures are made chiefly by surprise or stratagem; and most of the crews that have hitherto been taken by these boats declare they never knew anything of an enemy being at hand till they saw the pistol or cutlass at their throats."

After the notorious Refugee, Lippencott, had barbarously murdered Captain Joshua Huddy, near the Highlands, General Washington was anxious to have the murderer secured. He had been demanded of the British General, and his surrender refused. Captain Hyler was determined to take Lippencott. On inquiry he found that he resided in a well known house in Broad street, New York. Dressed and equipped like a man-of-war press gang, he left the Kills, with one boat, after dark, and arrived at Whitehall about nine o'clock. Here he left his boat in charge of three men and passed to the residence of Lippencott, where he inquired for him and found that he was absent, having gone to a cock pit. Thus failing in his object he returned to his boat, with his press gang, and left Whitehall, but finding a sloop lying at anchor off the battery, from the West Indies, laden with rum, he took her, cut her cable, set her sails, and, with a north-east wind, sailed to Elizabethtown Point, and before daylight, had landed from her and secured forty hogsheads of rum. He then burned the sloop to prevent her re-capture.

The fact of Captain Hyler's having been formerly in the British service, increases our admiration for his bold operations. Had he been taken by the British he probably would have received a deserter's punishment.