Smuggler's Woods: Jaunts and Journeys in Colonial and Revolutionary New Jersey

by Arthur Pierce

Arthur Pierce tells the vivid story of smugglers turned privateers after the Revolutionary War broke out. He recounts from many sources tales of ships and men who fought and, although outnumbered and outgunned, still played havoc with British shipping. He tells also of the profiteering that went hand in hand with the privateering of the war years. From the Mullica River to Cape May stretched the woodlands and the inlets that harbored smugglers. Stealthy and dangerous though their activities were, the smugglers were not outcasts. They were looked upon with indulgence by many respectable citizens of the day. As bitterness toward the mother country mounted, smugglers were encouraged and actively supported in their operation agains the Crown. The Jersey inns and taverns emerged as the "cradles of revolt" in the years immediately preceding the Revolution. In them were planned and fostered many intrigues and acts of violence that played important parts behind the scenes of military and official action. A number of these inns and taverns are still in active use today and are depicted in the illustrations. Smugglers' Woods deals with smugglers, privateers, patriots, and loyalists to give an exciting account of the tensions and conflicts that gripped pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary New Jersey.

Genres: American Revolution, History

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1964

Reviews

[Debbie .skylark. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to get this back to the library but it was fascinating if you live in Southern NJ! SO MUCH HISTORY - locations, names, industries, American Revolutionary period. Don't miss this!

[Elvira]

2.18.11
When I started into this book i found it interesting because i don't know much about Revolutionary War history. But then he quickly got into may many details of which privateer took what from which ship with how many guns... it got so tedious that i lost interest. Ed wants his book back so i picked it up again and moved to the next chapter - about a old glassworks, so that is a bit more interesting.... we'll see how much i can read of it!
4.4.11
skipped the last half of the love story chapter. now reading about how important taverns were to the communities in NJ (and elsewhere) leading up to the Revolution. Interesting, but again, SO SO many details that its too cumbersome to stick with it!

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was kind of boring. There were a few nuggets of interesting facts but you really had to look for them. Most interesting were any stories about places I was familiar with but the author did not include a map and names of places change so it wasn't easy to be sure where he was talking about

My brother- in-law comes from a long ancestry in the US and some of the stories mentioned his ancestors and the town he grew up in (Greenwich NJ) so that held some interest.