Baylor Massacre

  On the evening of September 28 1778, approximately 120 Dragoons of the Continental Army, under the command of Col. George Baylor, were bivouacked in six barns and out-buildings along what was then called Overkill Road and now known as River Vale Road.  These men were attacked by a vastly superior force of British troops during the night in which some 54 of the Americans were killed or taken prisoner.  The incident became known as "Baylor's Massacre."

   An unknown number of these men, reported to be between 40 and 60 were alleged to have been buried in tanning vats in the neighborhood, the location of which was lost to history by the removal of the millstone which once marked the site.

   In the spring of 1967, Mr. Thomas Demarest of Old Tappan wrote to D. Bennett Mazur (author of this article,) stating that he thought he knew the location of the mass grave.  He was alarmed because the particular tract of land had been sub-divided for a housing development and the developer was installing storm sewers and doing extensive earth moving.  It was Mr. Demarest's fear that the gravesite would be lost forever if the work were to be continued.

   It was not until the last week in July that the opportunity presented itself to investigate the matter.  Three college students; James Fay of Upper Saddle River, Richard Siegel of River Vale, and Brett Dankoff of Tenafly had been employed by the County to conduct a research project cataloguing historic sites in Bergen and they were assigned to verify Mr. Demarest's contentions.  Interviews were conducted with several aged residents of the area who "knew of" the location.  Their testimony, together with old maps gave us a general idea of the location.  This location was deduced to be somewhere in the point of the triangle formed by the intersection of River Vale Road and the Hackensack River at a point where Old Tappan Road crosses the Hackensack and intersects River Vale Road.

   According to a book on the subject of Tanning operations of the period, such vats would have had to be constructed on the bank of a river or a stream to assure a good water supply, since water for the tanning solution had to be lifted from the river by hand.  The tanning operation itself was usually comprised of three hogsheads sunk into the ground, each containing a varying concentration of solution.  A fourth vat above the surface was for a liming solution to prepare the skins for tanning by removing hair and fatty matter.  A millstone was employed to grind bark for the tannic acid and oyster or clam shells for the lime.

   It was assumed that the chore of carrying as many as 60 bodies any distance would have overwhelmed those few Americans available to perform the task, and that the vats would have been ready-made graves close at hand.  On Thursday, July 20th, the young men, together with Thomas Demarest, began exploratory digging.  They dug trenches along the banks of the river and made experimental test holes in search of disturbances of earth strata which might indicate an earlier excavation.

   Plagued by insects, heat and skepticism, they continued for two weeks until on August 7th after directions had been given to abandon the search at the close of the day, one last experimental hole was tried and it revealed a human thigh bone about two feet below the surface.  This was identified by the County Medical Examiner, Dr. Lawrence Denson and by nightfall the better part of a human skeleton, lying on its back was revealed.  The next day the remainder of the bones were revealed along with some very fine artifacts, an assortment of buttons and a silver stock buckle.

   The discovery received wide publicity, and, as a result, a curious public was crowding the site making work difficult and creating risks to discovery, so all digging was stopped until they could avail themselves of professional assistance.  At this juncture the Bergen County Historical Society asked them to continue with the excavation and recommended Mr. Wayne Daniels, their museum director, as the project archeologist.  He was retained and two weeks later work was resumed.  Mr. Daniels' report is available in the publication "1778 - The Massacre of Baylor's Dragoons," published February, 1968, Revised August 1969.

The discovery focused attention of local historians on the background of the massacre and research has evolved a fascinating story of human failure and military tragedy.  Baylor at Old Tappan , a lengthy paper by Edward O. Mills of New York City, which was published by K-S Publications of P.O. Box 155, Saddle River, New Jersey, tells the story in all its details.  It is summarized here by D. Bennett Mazur.

   Col. George Baylor was only 26 years old in the summer of 1778.  He had no military experience other than his short service as an aide to General Washington before he was given command of a regiment.  As his second in command, Washington assigned Major Alexander Clough, a seasoned soldier who was one of Washington's intelligence officers.  The regiment - the Third Light Dragoons, the Third Continental Dragoons, or Lady Washington's Guards, was assigned light duties - reconnaissance and escort.  It was lightly armed.  The men carried sabers and there were a few pistols - but no muskets at this early date.  Both Baylor and Clough performed these intelligence functions and the regiment at this particular period at times kept outposts as far south as Fort Lee.  The regiment itself was often at the outpost in Paramus.

   During the summer of 1778, the Dragoons were stationed at New Bridge where Major Clough was instructed to question any and all going into New York City.  He was further requested by Washington to recruit spies to gather information in New York.  This created some conflict with local patriot militia who resented Clough's dealings with shady characters and were suspicious of his motives.  Washington, himself, had to request local militia to cease interfering with Clough's mission.

   In September of 1778, the British sent foraging expeditions into New Jersey, Westchester and Long Island to provision the British Army in New York and also to provide for an expeditionary force being sent by Clinton to the West Indies.  The area between the Hackensack River and the Hudson River was selected since it offered the opportunity of keeping both flanks covered by a river while moving from South to North.  Five thousands troops under Cornwallis were sent over from New York on the 22nd.  They took up entrenched positions from New Bridge (River Edge) to Liberty Pole (Englewood) and began sending out their foraging parties.

   The Continentals immediately set up a perimeter of troops from Newark to Clarkstown on the Hudson.  The Third Dragoons at Paramus were part of that arc.

   On September 27th, Baylor moved to Haringtown where he felt he could better watch the British.  He took quarters with Clough in the home of Cornelius Haring, a known Troy, while his men with their mounts were quartered in six buildings along the road.  He posted a guard at the bridge across the Hackensack and set out a small patrol, but posted no sentries to the west.  He allowed his men to remove the saddles from their mounts and to undress, hardly the sort of security measures to take in enemy territory.  The son of the farmer also warned Col. Baylor of the proximity of the British, but he paid no further heed.

   When word reached Cornwallis of the proximity of Continental troops to the north and west, he decided to move immediately, since his foraging parties would be in danger.  His object was to attack four hundred Americans at Tappan, under Lt. Col. Gilbert Cooper and took his troops up Schraalenburg Road, (the militia, unknown to him, had withdrawn) while Major General Grey with four regiments proceeded up Kinderkamack Road to attack from the west.

   The personality of Major-General Charles Grey has a great deal to do with the events of the night.  He was known as the "ugliest man in America," and evidently did not earn this sobriquet for his physical appearances alone.  At Paoli a year earlier, he had led his Light Infantry in a night attack with the flints removed from their rifles to keep them from accidentally firing and alarming General Anthony Wayne's troops and forcing them also to rely on the bayonet.  For the massacre that resulted, he gained a new nick-name, "No-Flint" Grey.

   At Germantown, Wayne's troops were merciless against the Light Infantry and had to be restrained from killing prisoners by their officers.  This stirred the Light Infantry still further so that at the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, when ordered to charge, they outran their support and had to be rescued - much to their embarrassment - by Grenadiers.  Their hatred of rebels became so great that when the British Peace Commission arrived in Philadelphia, they rioted in the streets in protest, and hung Lord North and Lord Germaine in effigy.

   It was these same light infantrymen who were in the vanguard of General Grey's column as it proceeded north, unaware of the inexperienced, poorly armed dragoons sleeping in their path.  When the word reached Grey of their presence he decided to attack them immediately.

   In Grey's column were the Second Battalion of Light Infantry, the second Battalion of the Grenadiers, the 33rd and 64th Regiments of Foot, and a small detachment of cavalry.  Grey ordered his Light Infantry to attack from two sides.  Major John Maitland with six companies continued along the road to kill or capture the entire patrol stationed at the bridge.  Major Turner Straubenzee, with the remaining six companies was led by Tory guides along pathways and narrow lanes to the dragoon encampments from the west where the Edgewood Country Club now stands.  At 2:00 A.M. the attack was launched.

   The cry of :Kill Him!, Kill Him!" and "Skiver Him!" went up as the Light Infantry surrounded the barns and went to work.  A few shots were fired from pistols and a feeble defense with sabers was made.  Some of the dragoons attempted to hide under the hay in the barns but were bayoneted and bayoneted until the blood was said to have run through the floor boards and collected in puddles on the ground below.  Some men were taken prisoner, some escaped.  Many were wounded, some as many as sixteen times.  Accounts indicate that about fifteen were killed on the spot and some died later.  The British clubbed their prisoners and bayoneted them but few of the wounds were fatal.

   Colonel Baylor and Major Clough were backed into the chimney of the farmhouse in which they were billeted and eventually cut down with bayonets.  Clough died of his wounds several days later and Baylor of his wounds two years afterwards.  Both were released by the British before their death.  The prisoners and wounded were taken before daylight to Tappan (by way of Orangetown) where the church was converted into a hospital.

   On October 6th, after reports reached Philadelphia of the tragedy, Congress decided to investigate.  A resolution was passed that the Governor of New Jersey, William Livingston, be directed to inquire.  Both Livingston and Washington requested Major General Lord Stirling, Commanding Officer of the area to direct the investigation.  Stirling sent Dr. David Griffith, surgeon and chaplain of the Virginia Brigade to get affidavits from some of the troopers and officers who had escaped.  Accounts of the number killed or taken prisoner kept rising and word of the massacre spread both throughout the Colonies and to England.  It was reported that any credit due to the Light Infantry "was entirely buried in the barbarity of their behavior."

   Dr. Griffith's account became the official version of the losses actually incurred.  Out of 104 enlisted men, 67 were killed, wounded or taken prisoner, the remaining 37 apparently escaped unhurt.  Eleven were killed outright, four were left behind and died later.  Thirteen were left behind wounded and subsequently recovered.  Thirty-nine were prisoners in New York, eight of whom were wounded.  This would indicate, then that somewhere between 11 and 15 were buried in the tanning vats, not the 40 or 60 figure originally believed.

   Research by Mr. Howard Durie of Woodcliff Lake indicated that the tanning vats and some of the barns use for billets were not on the property of the Harings, but on the property of Cornelius Blauvelt, a patriot.  Blauvelt's father was a cordwainer and in addition to farming, made leather during the summer and leather goods during the winter months.  There is noting to show that Cornelius had followed in his father's footsteps and Mr. Daniels' excavations indicated that the vats were not in use at this particular time.  It, therefore, presented an ideal place for the burial of 11 or 15 bodies by militiamen who feared the sudden re-appearance of the British.

   The land across the road from the barns was in use as a cornfield and Wheatfield at the time and for many years afterwards.  Local legend has it that a later Blauvelt desired to have the stone removed because it interfered with cultivation of the land.  A neighbor, William Holdrum, was one day boasting of the prowess of a new team of horses and Blauvelt bet him that the team couldn't move the stone with the stone as the prize.  It took Holdrum three days to get the stone out of the hole it had made for itself and to drag it down the road to his house.  Holdrum dropped it on his lawn.  The millstone was donated to the River Vale Board of Education by a Holdrum descendent and had been embedded in the lawn of the Holdrum School.  Cultivation of the field was abandoned about the turn of the century and the area is now covered with second growth.