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Eleazer Oswald, Printer and Patriot
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Colonel in the Artillery.5 He was a good soldier and had acquired a repu-
tation as a brave and well trained officer. His father-in-law wrote:
"He is a very complete Master of the Military Exercise, which he learned from the Fagal Man6
of Col. Bernards Regiment, who was the most remarkably expert of any Man in the English Army.
And I have been told there is no Man in our Army that is a better Master of the Manual Exercise
than Mr. Oswald."7
One of the most serious problems facing the military leaders was the
organization of the raw and untrained men of the state militia into an
effective fighting force. Oswald realized the importance of developing
discipline in his men and ordered out his troop every day for exercise
and maneuvers two hours before and two hours after noon.8 Some inti-
mation of the curiosity which his maneuvers excited among the men of
other regiments may be gathered from the letter he sent Lamb on
June 7, 1777.
"The men continue their good Behaviour.—I keep them close to their Duty. Capt. Lockwoods
Men stared like half-frightened Horses, at our Discipline, but they begin to see the necessity of it."8
He showed his capacity as an officer of artillery and his bravery as a
soldier at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. General Knox
wrote that Oswald "..... is one of the best officers of the army, and an
acquisition to the corps of artillery."10 Alexander Hamilton wrote:
"The Artillery acquitted themselves most charmingly. I was Spectator
to Lt. Col. Oswald's behaviour, who kept up a gallant fire from some
pieces commanded by him, uncovered and unsupported."11 This battle,
which was the high point in the military career of Oswald, saw the dis-
grace of the man whom he admired and later befriended. General
Charles Lee, despite the orders of Washington to attack the enemy,
allowed his men to retreat and seriously endangered the American army.
He was immediately arrested, court martialed and suspended from the
army for a year. Oswald was summoned to appear before the court mar-
tial and his evidence showed that Lee had no intention of retreating for
he had ordered him forward to meet the enemy. It would be interesting
to know what Oswald's reactions would have been if he had known of the
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5 Letters to Washington, Vol. 13, 19.3. See also I. Q. Leake, Memoir of the Life and Times of General John Lamb, Albany,
1850. p. 149.
6 So written for fugelman—Paltsits's note.
7 John Holt to Samuel Adams, New York, 29 January 1776. In V. H. Paltsits, John Holt—Printer and Postmaster,"
Bulletin of the New York Public Library, Vol. 24, No. 9, pp. 490-495.
8 The Lamb Papers, Box I, No. 155. Oswald to Lamb, New Haven, 14 May 1777.
9 The Lamb Papers, Box I, No. 132. Oswald to Lamb, Peekskill, 7 June 1777.
10 I. Q. Leake, Memoir of the Life and Times of General John Lamb, Albany, 1850. p. 202.
11 The Lee Papers. In Collections of the New-York Historical Society. Vol. II, p. 470.
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[21]
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