Hometown: Allen Township, PA
Branch: Continental Army 
Unit: 3d Battalion, Northampton County Pennsylvania Militia
Date of Sacrifice: January 2, 1777 - KIA in Trenton, New Jersey 
Age: 62-63
Conflict: Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

Little is known about John Rosbrugh’s family or early life. Records show that John was born in Scotland in 1714, and had an older brother named William. The Rosbrugh family left Scotland for Northern Ireland, sometime just before or just after John was born. As a young man, John left with his brother William for the promise of a better life in America (the year unknown).

The picture becomes a bit clearer with John settling in the Province of New Jersey, then a British colony. At age nineteen he took a wife named Sarah in 1733. At the birth of their first child, both Sarah and the baby were lost.

John studied theology at The College of New Jersey, which was founded by Presbyterian pastors and later renamed Princeton University. With no financial support from his family, John must have displayed “promising genius,” as Samuel Davis put it in his description of whom to consider to receive donated funds:

The annual interest of the following donations was appropriated by the donors, for the education of such youth for the ministry of the gospel, in the College of New Jersey, as are unable to defray the expenses of their education, who appear, upon examination, to be of promising genius, Calvinistic principles, and the judgment of charity, experimentally acquainted with a work of saving grace, and have a distinguished zeal for the glory of God, and salvation of men.

Following the completion of his studies, John Rosbrugh was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick on December 11, 1764. His first assignment was as pastor for the congregations of Greenwich, Oxford, and Mansfield Woodhouse in New Jersey. According to the Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society:

He had for a parish nearly all of what is now Warren County. He did not have an easy time of it. Frequent complaints found their way to Presbytery. Finally in 1769 he was released from his charge.

His ministry took a happier turn as Rosbrugh supplied pulpits in a region of eastern Pennsylvania known as “The Forks of the Delaware,” settled by Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. At Allen Township Church, he met and married Jane Ralston, daughter of James Ralston, an elder in that church. Rosbrugh was installed as pastor of Allen Township Church in 1772.

A call for help “against the mighty”

Rosbrugh was selected as Moderator of the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1776. In the fall of that year, dire news about the plight of the Continental Army reached the Presbyterian Synod in Philadelphia. General George Washington sent out an urgent call for the immediate mustering in of the militia of Northampton County.

The Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society reports that John Rosbrugh’s response came in a sermon: “Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty” (Judges 5:23).

Within days, Pastor Rosbrugh’s stirring words inspired a company of men from Allen Township to march from the parish to the front. Nearly every able-bodied man from Allen Township Church eventually joined the cause and fought in Washington’s army.

This includes the pastor, who joined the cause and was assigned as chaplain of the Third Battalion of the Northampton County Militia.

According to the Army Historical Foundation, on July 29, 1775, the Continental Congress authorized one chaplain for each regiment of the Continental Army, and chaplains have served in every American war since. Chaplains provide services for the religious and spiritual needs of the military, and they advise commanders and staff on religious and counseling matters.

The tide turns

On December 26, 1776, Washington’s army scored a stunning victory in the Battle of Trenton. After the British captured New York City, Washington narrowly escaped by crossing the Delaware River on Christmas Day.

Washington surprised an encampment of German Hessian (mercenary) soldiers at Trenton, New Jersey—following his improbable escape with a stunning victory, and giving new life to the patriot cause.

A second stunning victory

Expecting a British counterattack, Washington withdrew his army to the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River. Many of state militia men’s enlistments were due to expire, and Washington begged them to remain a bit longer.

Some left, and what remained of Washington’s Army took up positions along Assunpink Creek in Trenton. Trying to delay the British and Hessian forces, a running battle erupted along the Trenton-Princeton Road.

On January 2, 1777, with a much smaller force, General Washington’s Army held off advancing troops led by British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. In the Second Battle of Trenton, also known as the Battle of Assunpink Creek, the British suffered 905 casualties—compared to 5 for the Americans.

First army chaplain killed

It was during that January 2, 1777 withdrawal that Chaplain John Rosbrugh—unfamiliar with military operations—found himself left behind the withdrawing patriot army. Having supper at the Blazing Star tavern in Trenton, Rosbrugh was told that the enemy was near.

He rushed outside to find that his horse was gone. Setting out on foot, he was overtaken by a group of Hessian soldiers led by a Tory (loyalist) officer. Despite his pleas to be taken prisoner, he was bayonetted to death by his captors.

Some historians speculate that because Rosbrugh was a clergyman, he may have been mistaken for the Rev. John Witherspoon—the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence.

While we can only speculate about the enemy’s motives, it is true that Rev. Witherspoon was greatly hated by those loyal to the British Crown. He’d recently been burned in effigy by British troops, and this could explain why Chaplain Rosbrugh was treated so brutally, rather than taken prisoner.

Whatever the reason, Rev. John Rosbrugh is remembered by history as the first Army Chaplain to give his life in the service of his country.

At Hanover Academy in Trenton, New Jersey, a stone monument in memory of the “Clerical Martyr of the Revolution” has been erected in his honor.

Sources
Artist’s Impression: Craig Du Mez
Cornell University Library: Rosbrugh, a Tale of the Revolution
Annals of the American Pulpit: Presbyterian. 1859: John Rosbrugh (p. 254-257)
PCA Historical Center: This Day in Presbyterian History—Rev. John Rosbrugh [1714-1777]
The Army Historical Foundation: U.S. Army Chaplain Corps
American Battlefield Trust: Tranton | Second Battle | Jan 2, 1777
Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society, June 1917: The Presbytery of New Brunswick in the Struggle for American Independence
Burial Site: Find a Grave