The Monmouth County Gaol and the Jailbreak of February 1781

As the Revolutionary War began, the fledgling Continental and state governments were faced the huge burden of holding and provisioning thousands of captured enemy soldiers and insurgent Loyalists. In 1776, prisons were improvised across the states—with the infamous Simsbury Mine in Connecticut as the most notable example.[1] By the end of the year, a chain of prisons existed along the Appalachian Piedmont from Virginia to New York.

Detaining local criminals, even violent ones with Loyalist leanings, nonetheless remained primarily a local responsibility. In war-torn localities such as those stretching around British-occupied New York City, armed resistance to the Revolution intermingled with violent crime; large numbers of dangerous criminals soon overwhelmed the small county prisons of farm counties.[2] A narrative about the Monmouth County Gaol (in Freehold, New Jersey) and the climactic jailbreak of February 1781 provides a case study.

The Monmouth County Gaol, 1776-1780

The Monmouth County Gaol was in the basement of the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold. While no surviving document describes it in detail, it can be gleaned from a smattering of documents that the prison consisted of few rough rooms that were never expected to house dozens of dangerous prisoners at the same time.

In November 1776, roughly 200 Loyalist insurgents were taken by troops and militia led Colonels David Forman and Charles Read.[3] The insurgents were never confined in the county. They were marched to the jail in Philadelphia—and then further west to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and on to Frederick, Maryland.