10. New Jersey’s Black Guerrillas
The guerrilla warfare was intense in New Jersey, a border region sandwiched between the British stronghold of New York, and the Patriot capital of Philadelphia. In Monmouth County, things got particularly vicious, as Patriot vigilantes took to hanging Loyalists and confiscating their property. That prompted William Franklin, New Jersey’s Loyalist governor despite being Benjamin Franklin’s son, to sponsor Loyalists in fighting fire with fire.
In July of 1779, Tye led a racially integrated guerrilla group of black and white Loyalists in a daring raid on Shrewsbury, NJ, in Patriot territory. They captured dozens of cattle and horses, as well as two prominent local Patriots. Tye and his men eventually set up a base in Sandy Hook, at the northern end of the Jersey Shore, which they named Refugeetown. From there, they conducted a series of nighttime raids that targeted prominent Patriots, particularly slaveholders.