Supplies at General George Washington’s winter encampment at Valley Forge were running dangerously low in the winter of 1778.
Turning to one of his most trusted subordinates, Washington sent General “Mad Anthony” Wayne and about 300 hand-picked troops on a large foraging expedition to South Jersey. Wayne’s orders were to requisition beef cattle and gather up wagonloads of hay from the farmers of Salem, Cumberland, and Gloucester counties.
Initially, General Wayne had balked at the assignment, considering it somewhat beneath his dignity. Nevertheless, he swallowed his pride and headed for what was considered a plentiful, relatively untouched region, rich in forage.
Wayne marched his men southeast from Valley Forge and arrived at Wilmington, Delaware, on February 19. There they were transported across the river to Salem by Captain John Barry’s small fleet of row galleys. Previously, Barry had rowed downriver with four galleys and 25 or 30 sailors, slipping past British-occupied Philadelphia to rendezvous with Wayne.
Once across the Delaware, the soldiers under Wayne’s command began to round up cattle and horses in Salem County. Many farmers were reluctant to part with their animals and attempted to hide them in the woods and swamps.
This may have been the reason why after three days, Wayne only succeeded in collecting about 150 head of cattle in the area from Elsinboro to Mannington, and from the western side of Alloway Creek.
The General also ordered the confiscation of all the hay that could be found in Salem and Gloucester counties. That which could not be transported back to Valley Forge in commandeered wagons was to be burned in order to keep it from falling into the hands of the marauding British cavalry.
In a letter to Captain Barry, Wayne passed along General Washington’s explicit instructions: “You are to pass up the river with your Boats and burn all the hay along the shore from Billings Port to this place [Salem], take an acc’t. of the Persons Names to whom it belongs together with the quantity.”
Wayne went on to explain that although it was His Excellency, General Washington’s desire to “deprive the Enemy from receiving the benefit of the Forage,” he wanted to reassure the patriotic citizens that they would receive a fair recompense at a future date for their contributions to the “Publick Good.”
Thus instructed, Barry’s boats rowed upriver to Mantua Creek, then back downriver, entering every creek and navigable stream to gather and light bonfires of combustible hay, which the sailors had confiscated from the local farmers.
Flaming haystacks along the Delaware lit up the shore from Billingsport to Salem, providing a smokescreen to shield Wayne’s cattle drive.
Seeing the billows of smoke from across the river in Philadelphia, and having been informed by Loyalists of what was happening in Jersey, General William Howe ordered 2,000 British soldiers to cross the Delaware on flatboats to pursue and interdict Wayne’s operations.
While the Redcoats were landing at Cooper’s Ferry (today’s Camden), General Wayne and his men were driving the confiscated cattle up King’s Highway (aka the Salem Road) toward Swedesboro. There, on February 28, Wayne halted for the night. He chose to stay at the parish home of the Reverend Nicholas Collin.
Collin wrote in his journal that his uninvited guest, “General Vain [sic],” was nonetheless a respectful, “well-bred gentleman.” He also noted that Wayne’s men were poorly clad, and some were even marching without shoes.
Apparently, the soldiers deported themselves well, despite a false alarm, which occurred just as everyone had retired for the night. A few jittery sentries had fired shots at an imaginary enemy, but calm was soon restored.
Early the next morning, Wayne and his men left with their livestock. The British were hot on Wayne’s heels, arriving in the village at a running march at about 11 a.m. on the same day. Colonel Robert Abercrombie had just missed capturing Wayne’s drovers.
Wayne’s cattle drive continued north on King’s Highway from Swedesboro to Woodbury, through Haddonfield, Mount Holly, and Burlington to Trenton. At Coryell’s Ferry (now Lambertville), Wayne crossed with his herd of beeves into Pennsylvania on his way to Valley Forge.
With the help of the indispensable Captain Barry, Wayne had accomplished his mission: 130 to 150 head of cattle (some estimates are higher; some as low as fifty) were delivered to Washington’s freezing, famished troops on March 4, 1778.
Thereafter, southern New Jersey residents claimed, “South Jersey cattle saved the nation.” In reality, there were roughly 12,000 soldiers to feed in Washington’s army at Valley Forge. The beef supplied by Wayne’s foray into South Jersey would only be enough to satisfy the starving Continentals for about a week.
Sadly, the raid was necessary because local Pennsylvania farmers preferred to sell their foodstuffs to the British in Philadelphia for hard coin rather than trade with the Americans for devalued continental paper dollars. Consequently, an estimated 2,000 soldiers in Washington’s army would die of malnutrition and disease at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777–1778, despite the Great Cow Chase.
by Bennett Carlton, Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society
