In 1776, Huddy joined the New Jersey militia and on September 24, 1777, became a captain of artillery. That year, he gladly pulled the rope to hang Stephen Edwards, a New Jerseyan who had been spying for the British. After the Battle of Monmouth, in 1778, he and his men harassed the British after they left Freehold to make their way to Sandy Hook. Huddy served as captain of the Monmouth militia from March to December 1779. In 1778, Huddy pled guilty to an indictment for “Assault &c” (i.e., etc.),” probably perpetrated against one Charles Gillmore, the State’s first witness. Extant records do not indicate who Gillmore was or why Huddy assaulted him, but Huddy’s admission of guilt – and his payment of a £10 fine – lend credence to the idea that despite the romanticized portrait sketched by later historians, the real Huddy was a man of rough edges for whom violence was not limited to the battlefield.
Source:
Saretzky, Gary D. (2004). THE JOSHUA HUDDY ERA: Documents of the American Revolution. Catalog of the Exhibition at Monmouth County Library Headquarters, Manalapan, N.J. October, 2004; Revised November 2004. Produced by the Monmouth County Archives. Available: http://visitmonmouth.com/archives
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