In April, 1776, Colonel Dayton’s regiment, that had been quartered in the town during the preceding winter, received orders to march to the relief of the Northern army then besieging Quebec. As most of the officers and many of the privates were members of Reverend Caldwell’s congregation, an ardent desire was expressed for his services as their chaplain. Lieutenant Elmer in his diary, April 28, says: “Members of the Presbyterian meeting set about Reverend Caldwell’s going to Quebec with us, which was agreed upon after some debate. Drank tea at Colonel Dayton’s, then went to Major Spencer’s to lodge.” So it was determined that Reverend Caldwell, whose consent was readily obtained, should accompany his townsmen on their Northern expedition. The troops left the town the following day, but Colonel Dayton and Reverend Caldwell did not join them until Saturday, May 11, at Albany, N. Y. The Jersey Brigade to which the regiment was attached was stationed the most of the season in the Mohawk valley. On the 16th of June Reverend Caldwell was at Johnstown and at German Flats in July, preaching twice every Sunday and taking an active part in military operations. In July, as already related, the British troops had taken possession of Staten Island. The people of the town became greatly alarmed for their personal safety, and their relatives in the Northern army became exceedingly anxious for their friends at home. Reverend Caldwell returned to his family and people early in the autumn, where his services were pressingly needed. On the retreat of the American, and the advance of the British, army the last week of November, 1776, Reverend Caldwell took his family up into the mountains and found a home for them in the town of New Providence. From this time forward Reverend Caldwell was occupied more or less continually in the service of his country to the close of his life. The enemy having vacated the town at the end of the first week in January, he returned to his charge and resumed his ministrations, mingling the duties of the pastor and the soldier together. At various times through the long years of the war, during which his congregation were greatly scattered and their means of subsistence for the most part considerably diminished, Reverend Caldwell served not only as chaplain of the Jersey Brigade but as assistant commissary-general from the first of April, 1777, to April, 1779. Instead of a regular salary, he received for his pastoral service only what was contributed by the congregation on Sunday. His church was burned down on the night of Tuesday, January 25, 1780, and the services of the congregation were thenceforth held in Colonel Hatfield’s red storehouse. It is probably while preaching here, or it may have been at an earlier date, that Reverend Caldwell (as related by Reverend McDowell) preached with his pistols lying on each side of him in the pulpit, and the sentinels had to keep watch during time of service.