Monmouth County at War: Rebels, Raiders, and Revolution

In Monmouth County, the Revolutionary War was fought house to house and neighbor against neighbor — a brutal story of raids, retaliation, and survival on America’s bloodiest home front. Before freedom, there was fury.

MONMOUTH COUNTY AT WAR: REBELS, RAIDERS, AND REVOLUTION uncovers the untold story of one of the Revolution’s most divided and dangerous places. In Monmouth County, loyalty could cost you your life. Through raids, reprisals, and the long struggle for freedom, neighbors turned against neighbors and the line between justice and revenge disappeared.

Featuring leading historians and the rarely told stories of African American, Native American, and Loyalist fighters, the film reveals how the Revolution’s true cost was paid in the fields and homes of ordinary people — and how its echoes still haunt the Monmouth County landscape today.

From the brutal fighting at the Battle of Monmouth, to the rise of Colonel Tye’s Black Brigade, to the privateers and smuggling networks that sustained the war, this is the Revolution not as distant glory, but as a personal, bloody war at home.

Presented by the Monmouth NJ 250 Committee, MONMOUTH COUNTY AT WAR was produced to mark the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. More than 100 documented skirmishes were fought across Monmouth County, and no place saw the Revolution turn neighbor against neighbor more bitterly. This is the story of that ground — and the people, patriot and loyalist, free and enslaved, whose choices shaped the nation that followed.

Click here to watch!

Winner, Best New Jersey Documentary — Garden State Film Festival

Educators and community groups: this film is available for free screenings in schools, libraries, and historical societies across Monmouth County. To arrange a screening, contact Ted Maturo (ted.maturo@co.monmouth.nj.us).

— CREDITS —
Presented by The Monmouth NJ 250 Committee
Executive Producers: Christine Giordano Hanlon and Thomas A. Arnone

Directed by Adam Worth
Cinematography & Editing: Adam Worth

Associate Producer: Ted Maturo

Images and Artwork: Thank you to artists Steve Schreiber, Charlie Swerdlow, Peter Carella, and Mark Maritato for lending their artwork to this film, and thank you to the Monmouth County Historical Association for opening up their archives.