Delaware River and Bay Pilots- A Devious Plan

Earlier I wrote about a devious Revolutionary War plan centered on engaging two Delaware Bay pilots and one additional pilot capable of maneuvering through the “Chevaux de Freize” guarding the Delaware River and protecting Philadelphia and secreting to New York in order to pilot the British fleet up the Delaware for an attack on the fledgling nation’s capital. Testimony surrounding alleged British Army Lieutenant James Molesworth’s plot incriminated American patriot Yelverton Taylor’s sister Abigail McKay (aka McCoy) who solicited the prospective collusion of several pilots at Molesworth’s behest from her home on Union Street in Philadelphia. The enemy scheme and American treachery ended with James Molesworth’s confession on the evening of 30 March 1777, the day before his execution where he reportedly requested his confession read aloud “when under the Gallows it might be made Publick.” According to the 8 October 1787 petition of Molesworth’s brother-in-law, Thomas Davidson pursued a post-war American Loyalist claim as heir in England seeking restitution for L 178.11.3 in losses sustained by Molesworth in traveling “as a merchant in disguise” upon his execution. According to Davidson [or Davison] who married Molesworth’s sister at Market Drayton, England on 20 May 1771; James Molesworth was a singleman who came to America in 1773. He was a native of Wolverhampton in Staffordshire who before the war had been a clerk in the Philadelphia mayor’s office having served three administrations prior to this incident. After the plot was initially revealed by one of the American pilots; Molesworth was captured, held at the Walnut Street Prison and tried by a general court martial ordered by Major General Horatio Gates.

The Examination of James Molesworth conducted on 27 March 1777 is summarily recorded in Volume V on pages 276 and 277 of the “Pennsylvania Archives” 1st Series and aligns with much of the testimony of others in the case. “The Ext [Examinant] has been out of place for some time. He went some time since into Virginia, returned and bought Shoes at Dover, in Kent County, on Delaware, of Alexander Rutherford, about one month since, which he sent to one Bullions, a Tavern keeper, at Baskenridge in the Jersey, where the Shoes now are. He went to Bullion’s, and from thence to Brunswick, a fortnight ago this day he went from thence to New York. He was introduced to Mr. [Joseph] Galloway, afterwards to Lord Howe, who asked him some questions about the state of the City [Philadelphia]. He received at New York a commission as Lieutenant in the Army, which he accepted. The commission was procured by Mr. Hunlock. He returned to Philadl to get a Pilot by Direction of Lord Howe, who instructed him to get one or two Pilots, particularly a Cheveaux de Frize Pilot, to bring the vessels up Delaware Bay. Lord Howe expected him to return as fast as he could to New York with the Pilot. The Questions asked him by Lord Howe were concerning the Fort & the Gallies. The Ext pass’d at Millstone from Baskenridge on his way to Brunswick; he had no Guide. He came to this City this day week. Lord Howe authorized him to stand on no cost, but did not fix any sum his Lordship gave him no money. The Ext went to Mrs. O ’Briene’s [Sarah O’Brien’s boardinghouse] where he saw [John] Eldridge the Pilot, proposed to him to go to New York, but he said it was rather hazardous, and refused to go. Spoke also on the same subject to Higgins [Andrew Higgons] the Pilot, who said he could get another Pilot to go. Mrs. McKay introduced him to Higgins. The Examinant had desired Mrs. McKay on monday to speak to some Pilots & told her he wanted a Pilot to go to New York & Pilot the fleet. She said she believed some of the Cape May Pilots would do it. He told Mrs McKay Pilots wou’d receive a handsome Present and enter into Pay. Yesterday afternoon Mrs McKay told him Sneider [John Snyder] & Higgins wou’d be at her house. The Examint met Sneider & Higgins at Mrs McKay’s at 7 o’Clock. He asked Sneider if he would go? Sneider said he had an elderly mother, & must have money to leave with her. Sneider asked one hundred pounds. The Ext [Examinant] told them he would consult some body about it. The Ext [Examinant] then walked up Street, & down again, but went into no house. He then returned, and they agreed to take Fifty pounds; he paid them fifty Pounds, which was all he had. He had the money in his Pocket when he first met Sneider & Higgins, but went out to recollect himself”.

James Moleswoth’s own confession made three days later on 30 March 1777 and recorded by Lt. Col. Walter Stewart of Col. Thomas Proctor’s Regiment of Pennsylvania Artillery appears in Volume V on pages 280 and 281 of the “Pennsylvania Archives” 1st Series. It reads in part, “When the Enemy advanc’d Mr. Thomas Inform’d me that the Posts at the Ferry were to be cut down, and the Bridge over Ogdens Ferry to be cut away, and the Cannon at the Fort to be Spiked by a Person on duty there. Mr. Warren, alias Caton, went in Company with me to the Jerseys, we met with Jonathan Henry Smith at Bullions Tavern who said he would take us safe through the lines which he accordingly Perform’d; we crossed at Milestone Bridge; We inform’d Bullion we were going to New York, who shook his head & said he was much frightened for us. We went from Milestone bridge to Lord Abercrombie, who sent us to Lord Cornwallis; from thence we went to General Skinner, who was very desirous to know whether General Dickinson had resigned or not. I there found the Hessian Troops were very sickly & numbers died every day. Colonel Ball offered me a Captain’s Commission, which I refus’d; & have never yet had any Commission from the British Generals.On my return to Philadelphia I acquainted Mr. Sheppard & Joseph Thomas of what Lord Howe had mention’d to me respecting the Pilots, Sheppard told me he expected two every day, and that a Mr. Cameron who he had mention’d the Subject to had been looking for them for some time; said Cameron broke his leg a short time ago. Mrs. Bryan Inform’d me she had been tampering with some of the Pilots to bring the British Fleet up the Delaware, and Mrs. McCoy afterwards consulted with Mrs. Bryan, she told me if I would call at her house that afternoon I could have an opportunity of conversing with the Pilots about going to New York, which I accordingly did and we Concluded to go on Horseback, one of which Mr. Sheppard was to Provide, Who Likewise Advanc’d me the £50 and told me that sooner than Loose the Pilots he would advance £100 if he never got a Copper in return. Mr. Sheppard Inform’d me he had three hundred Head of Cattle already provided, and could procure three hundred more if he knew where to deliver them or when the British Troops would be round. When I Informed Sheppard I was ready to set off he applied to Mr. Fox, the Farrier, for a Horse; who Inform’d him he had none, and it looked odd he applying for Horses at that time of Night, he thought he had better wait until morning, said Fox was present when I received the money. Sheppard delivered a Book to Warren, alias Caton, which he was to deliver to Mr. Galaway, on Mr. Galaway’s receiving it he applied it to the Fire, which enabled him to read it; no letters appeared before; Part of the Contents were that Caton might be trusted.” The Joseph Galloway that Molesworth referred to was a prominent Philadelphia attorney and disgruntled participant in the First Continental Congress. Initially striving to prevent a break with Britain by voicing an uneasy neutrality, Galloway eventually sided publically with England and by early 1777, the loyalist was plotting to seize Congress and destroy “the Bridge of Boats which Washington has thrown over the Schuylkill to effectuate his Retreat from Philadelphia.” Galloway 1731-1803) was subsequently commissioned colonel of provincial forces before being forced to flee to Britain in 1778 when he was convicted of high treason. In a personal reflection actually made three days after Molesworth’s execution, Galloway confesses he is “uneasy, that a Person, whom he had employed to procure Pilots for the Delaware at Philadelphia, was confined to Prison & wd. probably be hanged.” John Caton who adopted the alias of Warren with Molesworth was a Maryland native and pilot who assisted the British fleet up the Chesapeake in August 1777. William Shepard was an English-born farmer who served as deputy commissary of forage during the British occupation of Philadelphia.

The Pennsylvania Gazette of 2 April 1777 simply reports, “Monday last James Molesworth, a Traitor and a Spy, was executed on the commons near this city. It appears by sundry evidence and his own confession, that he had been sent from New York to procure pilots for conducting the British fleet up the river Delaware to this city.” Another account adds that Molesworth’s hanging was accomplished “in the presence of an immense crowd of spectators.” According to the post-war testimony of his brother-in-law Thomas Davidson, James Molesworth “to the last moment Exhorted the Spectators to return to their duty and Allegiance to their Royal Sovereign and to defend the Rights of the British gov’t” before he was publically executed and “buried under the gallows”. In her journal published as “A Diary of Trifling Occurrences” by Nicholas B. Wainwright in the October 1958 edition of The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Sarah Logan Fisher tenderly writes, “Went to Stenton [the Logan family estate] in the morning with my Tommy. About 2 o’clock that poor unhappy young man was hanged that had engaged pilots to go to New York.” In his entry for 31 March 1777, a less sympathetic diarist Christopher Marshall records “This day was hanged Molesworth, being convicted of treasonable practices against this State.” Writing home on that same day to his wife Abigail from Philadelphia, John Adams pens “A poor fellow, detected here as a Spy, employed as he confesses by Lord Howe and Mr. Galloway to procure Pilots for Delaware River, and for other Purposes, was this day at Noon, executed on the Gallows in the Presence of an immense Crowd of Spectators. His Name was James Molesworth. He has been Mayors Clerk to three or four Mayors.” On behalf of the Pennsylvania Board of War, Chairman Owen Biddle wrote to George Washington on the day of Molesworth’s execution, “We sincerely congratulate your Excellency on the favourable Accounts from Doctor Franklin at Paris, the late great Arrival of Arms &c. in Boston, and the happy discovery of a dangerous Conspiracy in this City, the following persons were concerned in it. A certain Molesworth under a Lieutenants Commission from General Howe, one Collins, lately a Clerk in General Mifflins’ Office, one Keating, a Clerk in the City Vendue Office, and one Sheppard who kept a Livery Stable. The first of whom was convicted of engaging Pilots to go to Lord Howe to assist in bringing the English Fleet up our River, had contrived to have our Fort Guns spiked and the Posts and ropes of the Ferries destroyed—He was Executed this day agreeable to the sentence of a Court Martial. The three latter have absconded we have sent several Officers after them, the bearer of this Captain Proctor is one of them…” Several days afterwards on 4 April 1777, John Hancock writes to George Washington apprising the general of recent events, “General Gates having laid before Congress the Proceedings and Sentence of a Court Martial on a certain James Molesworth who was accused and found guilty of being a Spy, they [Congress] immediately approved the same. He has since suffered the Punishment due to his Crime. From his repeated Confession, it appears, that Mr Galloway was extremely active in engaging him to undertake this infamous Business, and was the Person employed to make the Bargain with him. He says indeed, Lord Howe was present: but from the Description he gave of his Person, it is supposed he must be mistaken.”

General James Wilkinson in “Memoirs of My Own Times” reveals that Molesworth’s court-martial raised issues around due process in the trial of a civilian and did not result in a unanimous verdict. He recounts “Soon after my arrival in Philadelphia, I was ordered on the trial of James Molesworth, accused of being a spy from the enemy, and for endeavouring to inveigle three pilots into their service, to conduct their ships of war to the attack of the city of Philadelphia. This case was the first which had occurred after the revolt of the colonies and several circumstances occurred to produce embarrassments; the law martial could alone apply to the offence charged against the culprit, but it had not been committed within the precincts of a military camp or garrison, nor was the attempt made on a military character; yet it was hostile to the revolutionary cause- the example was dangerous in its tendency, and the public safety required it should be nipped in the bud, to deter evil doers from the repetition of it; the Congress interposed its omnipotent and unrestrained authority; Major general Gates ordered the court, approved the sentence, and directed the execution, but submitted the proceedings to Congress, who after reading the same” confirmed the sentence of death. Wilkinson was deeply moved by both the character and predicament of the doomed young man, “This victim of policy was obscure in his birth and circumstances, with an exterior of simplicity and meekness; he appeared strongly attached to a female, who was suspected of an intimacy with a Mr. F——s, and I frequently, by order, visited him in his cell, with promises of pardon, if he would discover his accomplices: his extreme sensibility and religious devotion affected my heart, and I felt as if I could have given half my existence to have saved him; but he made no confession, nor did he implicate any person, though he wrote several ambiguous and incoherent notes to the female alluded to.” Molesworth’s fate, it appears Wilkinson would argue, was more out of the necessity of procuring swift justice and unambiguous result than accomplishing a fair trial. A close comparison of the official “examination” of Molesworth and his actual “confession” offered three days later- in light of Wilkinson’s observations of the condemned prisoner in the meanwhile- shows that James Molesworth admitted to no deed committed as a military officer which would warrant a court-martial as opposed to a civil trial. Indeed, Wilkinson’s observation that Molesworth refused to implicate any co-conspirators begs the question as to how much of the official “examination” record the convicted traitor actually allocuted to.

The controversy over James Molesworth’s conviction did not end with his execution. From a letter of Samuel Cooper dated 24 December 1777 published in the “Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol X” (1886) we read, “ESTEEMED FRIEND…I am sorry to inform you the Friends have been so foolish as to take up the remains of Molesworth on Sunday last and buried him in Friends burying-ground. I was told by some who saw it that they reached three squares in a solid collum…” J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott in the “History of Philadelphia 1609-1884” (1884) writes “In Philadelphia, while the prisoner’s corpses were covered into the shallow trenches with hasty spades, the body of Molesworth, the executed spy, was ceremoniously exhumed and given a pompous funeral in the Quaker burying-ground.” In “Who Should Die? The Evolution of Capital Punishment in Pennsylvania, 1681-1794” (2011), Timothy Hayburn writes “Despite the heinousness of his offense during the Revolution, the state allowed Molesworth to be buried in the Potter‘s Field rather than give him over to the surgeons. This may have been an effort to appease Philadelphia‘s sizable Loyalist population, who surely would have resented such a fate. In the fall, the British seized the city, which allowed unknown loyalists to reinter Molesworth‘s body from the Potter‘s Field to the Quaker burial grounds. After the patriot leaders reoccupied the city, they reacted harshly to Molesworth‘s removal. Many Whigs became irate over the secret re-interment of Molesworth‘s body because- it should have been done in the day in a public manner. They ordered the immediate return of his body or else- ample vengeance will undoubtedly fall on the heads of the delinquents… Thomas Harrison, who attended Molesworth‘s original burial, admitted to taking part in the removal of the corpse, but claimed he did so only because of the pleas of a young woman who was deeply concerned about the location of Molesworth‘s body. Samuel Richards, a member of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, also claimed to have opposed the re-interment, but conceded that he followed Molesworth‘s corpse to its new location not out of respect for the condemned, but- “for other reasons which tenderness forbids me to mention”. Harrrison and Richards both assured the Whigs that the body was returned to Potter‘s Field.”