Israel Shreve b. 24 Feb 1739 Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America d. 14 Dec 1799 Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States: Tangled Roots

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1739 - 1799 (60 years)

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Name	Israel Shreve
Born	24 Feb 1739	Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America [1]
	12th mo. 24th, 1739
Gender	Male
Military	31 Oct 1775 [2]
	Revolutionary War - Lieutenant Colonel, Continental Army, Second New
Military	28 Nov 1776 [3]
	Revolutionary War - Colonel, Continental Army, Second New Jersey
Died	14 Dec 1799	Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States [4, 5]
Person ID	I1208	TangledRoots
Last Modified	23 Dec 2016

Father	Benjamin Shreve, b. 9 Jun 1706, Mansfield, Burlington County, New Jersey, Brithsh Colonial America , d. 14 Mar 1751, Burlington, New Jersey, British Colonial America (Age 44 years)
Mother	Rebecca French, b. 1709, Burlington, New Jersey, British Colonial America , d. Aft 1750, Burlington, New Jersey, British Colonial America (Age > 42 years)
Married	23 Apr 1729	Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial Ameirca
Family ID	F426	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family 1	Grace Curtis, b. of Burlington County, New Jersey, d. 12 Dec 1771
Married	27 Feb 1760	Burlington, New Jersey, British Colonial America [6]
Last Modified	16 Jan 2022
Family ID	F674	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family 2	Mary Cokley, b. 17 Oct 1749, Amity Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America , d. Yes, date unknown
Married	10 May 1773	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America [7]
Last Modified	16 Jan 2022
Family ID	F675	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Notes

...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. (Source: Israel Shreve Revolutionary War Letters, Courtesy of Special Collections & Archives, University of Houston Libraries. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/uhsc/00024/hsc-00024.html)