Shreve, Israel, 1739-1799

Revolutionary War soldier, of Gloucester and Burlington Counties, New Jersey; married his second wife, Mary ("Polly") Cokely [or Cokley?], in 1773; was commissioned lieutenant colonel, Second Battalion Infantry, New Jersey Continental Line, upon its organization in November 1775 and subsequently participated in the Quebec Expedition; was commissioned colonel of the Second Battalion upon the Jersey Line's reorganization in November 1776 and was later wounded at the Battle of Brandywine; fought at the Battle of Monmouth, participated in General Sullivan's Indian Campaign and was present at the Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield; with reorganization, became colonel, Second Regiment, New Jersey Continental Line, in September 1780; resigned from military service in 1781, having been out of favor with General Washington for some time; served in the New Jersey Assembly, 1781-1783, as a representative from Burlington County; removed to western Pennsylavania in 1788, subsequently purchasing land there from Washington, whose death date (December 14, 1799) he shared.

Revolutionary War officer and legislator, of Gloucester and Burlington counties, N.J., later moved to Pennsylvania.

Colonel Israel Shreve was born in 1739 in New Jersey. Before rising to a position of military leadership in General George Washington's Continental Army during the American Revolution, he worked as a farmer in Gloucester County. On Oct. 31, 1775, Shreve was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Second Regiment of New Jersey troops. On Nov. 28, 1776, he was promoted to Colonel for the reorganized line, which was now known as the Second New Jersey Regiment, Second Establishment. The 2nd N.J. Regiment fought at the Battle of Brandywine on Sept. 11, 1777, and at the Battle of Germantown on Oct. 4, 1777. They also spent the cold winter of 1777, short of clothing and food supplies, with Washington's troops at Valley Forge.

On June 28, 1778, Shreve played a part in the strange events of the Battle of Monmouth. Major General Charles Lee led the advance column against the British troops, but gave his men hasty orders to retreat after being startled by a counterattack from the British. He did not give word of his decision to General Washington, who was following behind him with the main army. As an angry Washington met up with columns of confused troops falling back from the front, he pressed the approaching Colonel Israel Shreve for an explanation. "Colonel Shreve answered in a very significant manner, smiling, that he did not know, but that he had retreated by order, he did not say by whose order." Following the Battle of Monmouth, Lee was court-martialled and removed from command. In July of 1779, Shreve and the 2nd N.J. Regiment joined Major General John Sullivan in his campaign against the Tory-allied Iroquois Indians. Shreve was appointed commander of the expedition's base at Fort Sullivan at Tioga, while General Sullivan and his troops went on a punishing spree against the Indians, burning 40 of their towns and destroying corn, vegetables, and orchards.

According to one source, Shreve was "immensely fat" and such an incompetent officer that in Dec. of 1780 Washington declined to promote him to Brigadier General, saying, "Here I drop the curtain." Shreve retired from the army on Jan. 1, 1781, but for inexplicable reasons remained in command through the rest of the month. In early January, troops in the Pennsylvania Line mutinied over lack of pay and other grievances. When the New Jersey Line followed suit on Jan. 20, Shreve by all accounts botched or neglected handling the situation. At the end of January, Elias Dayton took over as Colonel. Shreve apparently participated in the General Assembly of New Jersey following the end of his military career. In April 1783, members of the New Jersey Line requested that he represent them to the Assembly on the issue of receiving five years' full pay at the end of their service, rather than half-pay for life. Shreve returned to farming after the war, eventually settling in the west with his wife and children. He died in 1799.

A Quaker of English-Dutch heritage, Israel Shreve (1739-1799) was one of eight children born at Mt. Pleasant, New Jersey, to Benjamin Shreve (b.c. 1706) and Rebecca French Shreve (b.c. 1709). Shreve was married twice, first to Grace Curtis (b.c. 1740), and then to Mary Cokely (1749-1824). He had a total of eleven children from the two marriages. The most well known of his progeny was Henry Miller Shreve (1785-1851), who introduced steamboat travel to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and was credited with making improvements in the steamboat and steam engine. The city of Shreveport, Louisiana, is named after him.

Shreve is best known for his involvement in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). In 1775, Shreve was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Second New Jersey Regiment by the Provincial Congress, and was then promoted to colonel in 1776. He fought in several important battles with General George Washington, such as the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of Germantown. He retired from military duty in 1781.

After the end of the Revolution, Spain sought to lure settlers to its Louisiana Territory by offering land grants. In response, George Morgan (1743-1810), a retired Revolutionary War colonel who was also a merchant, land speculator, and Indian agent, engaged in a number of negotiations with the Spanish Minister, Don Diego de Gardoqui (1735-1798). He was given land along the western bank of Mississippi River, located in present-day Missouri, in order to establish a colony. Originally called Anse a la Graisse, which was a Delaware settlement, Morgan renamed the site New Madrid. Shreve accompanied Morgan and others during the first expedition to New Madrid, during which he wrote the journals that comprise this collection.