Charles Joyce (1737-1776) was a Captain in the 40th Regiment of Foot of the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. Joyce was killed in 1776 by a Setauket resident named John Robeson, his former lover, who attempted to frame Abraham Woodhull for the murder; an investigation by Robert Rogers and Woodhull found Robeson responsible.
Biography[]
Charles Joyce was born in 1737, and he was commissioned as a Captain in the 40th Regiment of Foot in the British Army. Joyce was sent to the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolutionary War, and he was deployed to Setauket on Long Island under Major Edmund Hewlett. Joyce was a drunkard who regularly spent time at Selah Strong's tavern and, in the autumn of 1776, Captain Joyce got into an argument with Strong when Strong demanded that local loyalist John Robeson stop reading about George Washington's defeat in New York, as it offended his wife Anna Strong. Strong and Robeson fought, and Joyce's glass was broken in the scuffle, injuring Joyce; Joyce was accidentally hit by Strong during the fight as well. Joyce beat Strong to a pulp despite Abraham Woodhull's attempt to intervene, and the two colonials were arrested, while Joyce was sentenced to return to England and be cashiered upon arrival. Later, Joyce's body was found in Lewis Field with his throat slit and his back stabbed, and Abraham Woodhull was blamed for it.
Investigation[]
However, an investigation by Robert Rogers and Woodhull discovered that Robeson was responsible. Joyce and Robeson had been secret lovers, revealed when Anna Strong found an unsigned letter that said that said that Joyce ordered his drummers to beat the retreat, ostensibly to keep his soldiers on their toes; it was actually to signal his lover to meet him. After the fight, Joyce had blamed Robeson for his dismissal, leading to Robeson killing him. Woodhull and Rogers discovered Robeson's role when a drummer beat the retreat at an event remembering the Gunpowder Plot, which made Robeson worry. Robeson was told to meet Woodhull at the site of Joyce's death, and Rogers listened in as Robeson confessed to murdering Joyce. However, Rogers jumped in to kill the company drummer of Joyce's regiment, who came out of the trees to attempt to kill Woodhull; the drummer believed Woodhull to be responsible for his captain's murder. Rogers decided to spare Robeson and make him his eyes and ears in Setauket, while he told Woodhull to keep the secret. The drummer was used as the scapegoat, and the case was closed.