Rev. John
Rosburgh
Trenton, New
Jersey
First
Chaplain Killed in American Revolution
For several years a quotation from John
Witherspoon has interested me. On
February 2, 1777, Witherspoon wrote to his son David about a Rev. Roxburgh. My interest comes from a local Revolutionary
War hero in the Salisbury, Maryland area named Alexander Roxburgh. The Scottish pronunciation would be like
Roxboro (like Edinburgh is pronounced Edinboro). I finally came across an article on Rev. John
Rosburgh. Witherspoon spelled it
Roxburgh and the current spelling is Rosburgh.
“I have
been making inquiry into the conduct of the enemy, which has been
dreadful. At Trenton they killed Mr. Roxburgh, Presbyterian minister at
the Forks of Delaware. Though he fell down on his knees and begged his
life, yet they pierced him in a shocking manner. Some of the people at
Princeton say thought they were killing me, and boasted that they had done it
when they came back. But this is certain- the fact of his death and the
manner of it is beyond all doubt.” (Phil Webster, 1776 Faith, p.
79)
While minister of Allen Township, the
congregation asked Rev. Roxburgh to be the leader of their militia unit. It was later determined that Capt. John Hays
be the military leader of the group and Roxburgh was to be the chaplain. During Washington’s Crossing of the Delaware,
the Third Northampton County, Pennsylvania militia was unable to make the
crossing. This unit was under the
direction of General Israel Putnam. At
the second battle of Trenton (or Battle
of the Assunpink Creek), Rev. Roxburgh was dining at a public house
when a warning was fired as a warning of the coming of the Hessians. When he went outside, he noticed that his
horse was gone and that a group of Hessians were coming towards him. The
Hessians recognized him as a Presbyterian minister. As Witherspoon indicated, Rosburgh fell to
his knees and pleaded for his life but the Hessians repeatedly thrust their
bayonets into him. The Hessians took his
watch, his money and left his naked body in the snow. Another Presbyterian minister in the area, Rev.
George Duffield, came the next day and buried Rosburgh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rosbrugh
