New Jersey’s Revolutionary Rivalry: The Untold Story of Colonel Tye and Captain Huddy

A Tale of Two Foes

After the Battle of Monmouth Court House, in June 1778, the Revolutionary War in Monmouth County devolved into skirmishes between local militias and British Loyalists. Chief among these warring factions were revered rebel hero Captain Joshua Huddy and his fierce rival, a runaway enslaved Black man called Colonel Tye, who fought for the British. Attempting to bring the captured Huddy to prison, Tye was killed in battle, and when Loyalists murdered Huddy without benefit of trial two years later, the resulting international outrage jeopardized Benjamin Franklin’s Paris peace treaty negotiations. Only when Marie Antoinette pleaded with George Washington to stop the retaliatory hanging of a young British lieutenant did the peace talks resume.

Author Rick Geffken reveals the stories of these two obscure enemies who died and rose to fame for their beliefs in independence.

Rick Geffken has authored numerous articles on New Jersey history and presented historical papers at the New Jersey History & Historic Preservation, the New Jersey Education Association, the New Jersey Library Association, and the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton). This is Rick Geffken’s fourth book for Arcadia Publishing/The History Press.