The residents of this portion of the country and on down the Ramapo Valley were mostly Tories, and in this defile in that region known as the "Clove," the Tory Moody intercepted an express from Washington to Congress regarding an interview about the land and naval forces of France. This messenger was intended by Washington to be captured, and the news thus obtained caused the withdrawal of a portion of the forces under Cornwallis, rendering easier the capture of the latter at Yorktown. Claudius Smith and his sons, who had their headquarters in the Clove, were the boldest and most successful of its Tories. Smith was a large, powerful and shrewd man and while he committed many crimes and did many hazardous things, yet for a long time managed to escape capture. In October, 1778, Governor Clinton, enraged at Smith's depredations, offered a reward for his arrest and that of his two sons, Richard and James. Alarmed by this, Smith fled to Long Island, was recognized there, and seized in the night in bed. He was tried for one of his crimes at Goshen in January, 1779, and executed on the 22nd of the same month. Five of his associates were executed with him--Matthew Dolson, John Ryan, Thomas Delamar, John Gordon and Amy Angor. Retribution followed soon on all Smith's band. His son William was shot in the mountains, and his son James was probably executed in Goshen soon after his father, with James Flewelling and William Cole. Silas Gardner, however, who was tried and sentenced as a Tory, was pardoned, but the rest were slain or driven from the country. Claudius Smith commenced his depredations in the interest of the British in 1776, and first appeared on the public records, charged with stealing, in 1777. He was confined in the Kingston jail, and transferred from there to the Goshen jail, from which he escaped. He was said to be the friend of the poor, giving liberally to them of what he stole from the rich. Many exciting stories were told of his doings.