Title: Morristown National Historical Park, A Military Capital of the American Revolution - National Park Service Historical Handbook Series, No. 7
Author: Weig, Melvin J.
Language: English
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                               MORRISTOWN
                        NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
            _A Military Capital of the American Revolution_


    [Illustration: {candlestick and letter}]

        _by Melvin J. Weig, with assistance from Vera B. Craig_

         NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES No. 7
                       WASHINGTON 25, D. C., 1950

    [Illustration: {DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR · March 3, 1949}]

                UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
                     Oscar L. Chapman, _Secretary_

                         NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                      Newton B. Drury, _Director_


                   _HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER SEVEN_

  This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the
  historical and archeological areas in the National Park System
  administered by the National Park Service of the United States
  Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing
  Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents,
  Washington 25, D. C. Price 20¢.



                               _Contents_


                                                                  _Page_
  THE FIRST WINTER ENCAMPMENT IN MORRIS COUNTY                         1
      Situation: January 1777                                          1
      From Princeton to Morristown                                     2
      The New Base of American Operations                              3
      Winter Quarters for Officers and Men                             5
      Instability of the Army                                          6
      Food and Clothing Shortages                                      7
      Recruitment Gets Under Way                                       7
      Sickness and Death                                               8
      Washington Tightens His Grip on New Jersey                       9
      The Prospect Brightens                                          10
      End of the 1777 Encampment                                      11
  JOCKEY HOLLOW: THE “HARD” WINTER OF 1779-80                         11
      Intermission: War in Deadlock                                   11
      Morristown Again Becomes the Military Capital                   12
      Building the “Log-house city”                                   12
      Terrible Severity of the Winter                                 16
      Lack of Adequate Clothing                                       17
      Shortage of Provisions and Forage                               17
      Money Troubles and Their Consequences                           18
      Guarding the Lines                                              18
      The Staten Island Expedition                                    19
      Sidelights on the Pattern of Army Life                          22
      Luzerne and Miralles                                            23
      The Committee at Headquarters                                   24
      Lafayette Brings Good News                                      24
      Two Battles End the 1779-80 Encampment                          25
  JANUARY 1781: THE STORY OF TWO MUTINIES                             27
  THE NEW JERSEY BRIGADE ENCAMPMENT OF 1781-82                        29
  GUIDE TO THE AREA                                                   29
  HOW TO REACH THE PARK                                               42
  ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION                                    42
  VISITOR FACILITIES                                                  43
  RELATED AREAS                                                       44

    [Illustration: “_Washington Receiving a Salute on the Field of
    Trenton._” From the engraving by William Holl (1865), after the
    painting by John Faed.]

    [Illustration: {Ford Mansion}]

During two critical winters of the Revolutionary War, 1777 and 1779-80,
the rolling countryside in and around Morristown, N. J., sheltered the
main encampments of the American Continental Army and served as the
headquarters of its famed Commander in Chief, George Washington. Patriot
troops were also quartered in this vicinity on many other occasions.
Here Washington reorganized his weary and depleted forces almost within
sight of strong British lines at New York. Here came Lafayette with
welcome news of the second French expedition sent to aid the Americans.
And here was developed, in the face of bitter cold, hunger, hardship,
and disease, the Nation’s will to independence and freedom. Thus for a
time this small New Jersey village became the military capital of the
United States, the testing ground of a great people in its heroic fight
for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”



             _The First Winter Encampment in Morris County_


SITUATION: JANUARY 1777.

Sir William Howe had been mistaken. Near the middle of December 1776, as
Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s army in America, he believed the
rebellion of Great Britain’s trans-Atlantic colonies crushed beyond hope
of revival. “Mr.” Washington’s troops had been driven from New York,
pursued through New Jersey, and forced at last to cross the Delaware
River into Pennsylvania. The British had captured Maj. Gen. Charles Lee,
the only American general they thought possessed real ability. Some
mopping up might be necessary in the spring, but the arduous work of
conquest was over. Howe could spend a comfortable winter in New York,
and Lord Cornwallis, the British second in command, might sail for
England and home.

Then suddenly, with whirlwind effect, these pleasant reveries were swept
away in the roar of American gunfire at Trenton in the cold, gray dawn
of December 26, and at Princeton on January 3. Outgeneraled, bewildered,
and half in panic, the British forces pulled back to New Brunswick. Now
they were 60 miles from their objective at Philadelphia, instead of 19.
Worst of all, they had been maneuvered into this ignominious retreat by
a “Tatterde-mallion” army one-sixth the size of their own, and they were
on the defensive. “We have been boxed about in Jersey,” lamented one of
Howe’s officers, “as if we had no feelings.” George Washington with his
valiant comrades in arms had weathered the dark crisis. For the time
being at least, the Revolution was saved.


FROM PRINCETON TO MORRISTOWN.

Washington’s original plan at the beginning of this lightninglike
campaign was to capture New Brunswick, where he might have destroyed all
the British stores and magazines, “taken (as we have since learnt) their
Military Chest containing 70,000 £ and put an end to the War.” But
Cornwallis, in Trenton, had heard the cannon sounding at Princeton that
morning of January 3, and, just as the Americans were leaving the town,
the van of the British Army came in sight. By that time the patriot
forces were nearly exhausted, many of the men having been without any
rest for 2 nights and a day. The 600 or 800 fresh troops required for a
successful assault on New Brunswick were not at hand. Washington held a
hurried conference with his officers, who advised against attempting too
much. Then, destroying the bridge over the Millstone River immediately
east of Kingston, the Continentals turned north and marched to Somerset
Court House (now Millstone), where they arrived between dusk and 11
o’clock that night.

Washington marched his men to Pluckemin the next day, rested them over
Sunday, January 5, and on the Monday following continued on northward
into Morristown. There the troops arrived, noted an American officer,
“at 5 P. M. and encamped in the woods, the snow covering the ground.”
Thus began the first main encampment of the Continental Army in Morris
County.

    [Illustration: _The Ford Powder Mill, built by Col. Jacob Ford, Jr.,
    in 1776._]

    [Illustration: _The Old Morris County Courthouse of Revolutionary
    War times._]

    [Illustration: _The Ford Mansion, shelter for Delaware troops in
    1777 and occupied as Washington’s headquarters during the terrible
    winter of 1779-80._]


THE NEW BASE OF AMERICAN OPERATIONS.

A letter dated May 12, 1777, described the Morristown of that day as “a
very Clever little village, situated in a most beautiful vally at the
foot of 5 mountains.” Farming was the mainstay of its people, some 250
in number and largely of New England stock, but nearby ironworks were
already enriching a few families and employing more and more laborers.
Among the 50 or 60 buildings in Morristown, the most important seem to
have been the Arnold Tavern, the Presbyterian and Baptist Churches, and
the Morris County Courthouse and Jail, all located on an open “Green”
from which streets radiated in several directions. There were also a few
sawmills, gristmills, and a powder mill, the last built on the Whippany
River, in 1776, by Col. Jacob Ford, Jr., commander of the Eastern
Battalion, Morris County Militia. Colonel Ford’s dwelling house, then
only a few years old, was undoubtedly the handsomest in the village.

Washington’s immediate reasons for bringing his troops to Morristown
were that it appeared to be the place “best calculated of any in this
Quarter, to accomodate and refresh them,” and that he knew not how to
obtain covering for the men elsewhere. He must have been impressed also
with the demonstrated loyalty of Morris County to the patriot cause,
even in those dreary, anxious weeks of late 1776 when its militia helped
considerably to stave off attempted enemy incursions directly westward
from the vicinity of New York. Finally, there were already at Morristown
three Continental regiments previously ordered down from Fort
Ticonderoga, and union with these would strengthen the forces under his
personal command.

    [Illustration: _The Arnold Tavern, where Washington reputedly stayed
    in 1777._]

Even so, Washington hoped at first to move again before long, and it was
only as circumstances forced him to remain in this small New Jersey
community that its advantages as a base for American military operations
became fully apparent. From here he could virtually control an extensive
agricultural country, cutting off its produce from the British and using
it instead to sustain the Continental Army. In the mountainous region
northwest of Morristown were many forges and furnaces, such as those at
Hibernia, Mount Hope, Ringwood, and Charlottenburg, from which needed
iron supplies might be obtained. The position was also difficult for an
enemy to attack. Directly eastward, on either side of the main road
approach from Bottle Hill (now Madison), large swamp areas guarded the
town. Still further east, almost midway between Morristown and the
Jersey shore, lay the protecting barriers of Long Hill, and the First
and Second Watchung Mountains. Their parallel ridges stretched out for
more than 30 miles, like a huge earthwork, from the Raritan River on the
south toward the northern boundary of the State, whence they were
continued by the Ramapos to the Hudson Highlands. In addition to all
this, the village was nearly equidistant from Newark, Perth Amboy, and
New Brunswick, the main British posts in New Jersey, so that any enemy
movement could be met by an American counterblow, either from
Washington’s own outposts or from the center of his defensive-offensive
web at Morristown itself. A position better suited to all the Commander
in Chief’s purposes, either in that winter of 1777 or in the later
1779-80 encampment period, would have been hard to find.

    [Illustration: _Morristown and RELATED AMERICAN OUTPOSTS in the
    REVOLUTIONARY WAR_]

  N. Y.
    Newburgh
    ▲◍Fishkill
    ▲New Windsor
    ▲Fort Constitution
    ◍West Point
    ◍Continental Village
    ▲Peekskill
    Galloway’s in the Clove
    ▲Fort Montgomery
    ▲King’s Ferry
    ◍Verplanck’s Point
    ◍Stony Point
    Haverstraw
    ◍Kakiat
    HARLEM HEIGHTS II
    WHITE PLAINS III
    Valentine’s Hill
    King’s Bridge
    Fort Lee
    NEW YORK
      _BRITISH HDQRS._
    Brooklyn
    LONG ISLAND I
  CONN.
  N. J.
    ◍Ringwood Iron Works
    ▲Ramapo
    Charlottenburg Iron Works
    ▲◍Paramus
    ▲Pompton
    Hibernia Furnace
    Mt. Hope Furnace
    ◍Rockaway
    Boonton
    ▲Succasunna Plains
    ◍Crane’s Mills
    MORRISTOWN
      _AMERICAN HDQRS._
    Bottle Hill
    ▲Chatham
    Easton
    ◍SPRINGFIELD VI & VII
    ◍Newark
    Vealtown
    Connecticut Farms
    Baskingridge
    ▲Scotch Plains
    ◍Pluckemin
    ▲◍Elizabethtown
    ▲◍Westfield
    ◍Rahway
    ▲Raritan
    ▲Quibbletown
    ▲Woodbridge
    ▲Middlebrook
    ▲Bound Brook
    ◍Perth Amboy
    ▲Somerset Court House
    ◍New Brunswick
    Coryell’s Ferry
    ▲◍PRINCETON V
    ▲◍TRENTON IV
    ▲◍Allentown
    Bordentown
    Cooper’s Ferry
  PA.
    McKonkey’s Ferry
    Newtown
    ▲Bristol
    ◍Burlington
    ▲◍PHILADELPHIA
  ▲AMERICAN OUTPOSTS IN 1777
  ◍AMERICAN OUTPOSTS IN 1779-80
  OTHER IMPORTANT LOCALITIES
  REVOLUTIONARY WAR ROADS
  MAJOR BATTLES
    I LONG ISLAND—AUGUST 27, 1776
    II HARLEM HEIGHTS—SEPTEMBER 16, 1776
    III WHITE PLAINS—OCTOBER 23, 1776
    IV TRENTON—DECEMBER 25, 1776
    V PRINCETON—JANUARY 5, 1777
    VI & VII SPRINGFIELD—JUNE 7 & 23, 1780
  _DESIGNED BY M. J. WEIG_ · _DRAWN BY V. B. CRAIG_ ·


WINTER QUARTERS FOR OFFICERS AND MEN.

Local tradition has it that upon arriving in Morristown, on January 6,
Washington went to the Arnold Tavern, and that his headquarters remained
there all through the 1777 encampment period. Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene
lodged for a time “at Mr. Hoffman’s,—a very good-natured, doubtful
gentleman.” Captain Rodney and his men were quartered at Colonel Ford’s
“elegant” house until about mid-January, when they left for Delaware and
home. Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne, on rejoining Washington in the spring of
1777, is said to have stayed at the homestead of Deacon Ephraim Sayre,
in Bottle Hill. It has been stated that other officers, and a large
number of private soldiers as well, were given shelter in Morristown or
nearby villages by the Ely, Smith, Beach, Tuttle, Richards, Kitchell,
and Thompson families.

According to the Reverend Samuel L. Tuttle, a local historian writing in
1871, there was also a campground for the troops about 3 miles southeast
of Morristown on what were then the farms of John Easton and Isaac
Pierson, in the valley of Loantaka Brook. Tuttle obtained his
information from one Silas Brookfield and other eyewitnesses of the
Revolutionary scene, who claimed that the troops built a village of log
huts at that location. It is highly curious that not one of Washington’s
published letters or orders refers to such buildings, nor are they
mentioned in any other contemporary written records studied to date.


INSTABILITY OF THE ARMY.

However the troops were sheltered, it was not long before the army which
had fought at Trenton and Princeton began to melt away. Deplorable
health conditions, lack of proper clothing, insufficient pay to meet
rising living costs, and many other instances of neglect had discouraged
the soldiery all through the 1776 campaign. The volunteer militiamen
were particularly dissatisfied. Some troops were just plain homesick,
and nearly all had already served beyond their original or emergency
terms of enlistment. They had little desire for another round of hard
military life.

    [Illustration: _Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene._]

    [Illustration: _Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne._]

Washington described his situation along this line in a letter of
January 19 addressed to the President of Congress: “The fluctuating
state of an Army, composed Chiefly of Militia, bids fair to reduce us to
the Situation in which we were some little time ago, that is, of scarce
having any Army at all, except Reinforcements speedily arrive. One of
the Battalions from the City of Philadelphia goes home to day, and the
other two only remain a few days longer upon Courtesy. The time, for
which a County Brigade under Genl. Mifflin came out, is expired, and
they stay from day to day, by dint of Solicitation. Their Numbers much
reduced by desertions. We have about Eight hundred of the Eastern
Continental Troops remaining, of twelve or fourteen hundred who at first
agreed to stay, part engaged to the last of this Month and part to the
middle of next. The five Virginia Regts. are reduced to a handful of
Men, as is Col Hand’s, Smallwood’s, and the German Battalion. A few days
ago, Genl Warner arrived, with about seven hundred Massachusetts Militia
engaged to the 15th [of] March. Thus, you have a Sketch of our present
Army, with which we are obliged to keep up Appearances, before an Enemy
already double to us in Numbers.”


FOOD AND CLOTHING SHORTAGES.

Meanwhile, as the Commander in Chief noted in another letter of nearly
the same date, his few remaining troops were “absolutely perishing” for
want of clothing, “Marching over Frost and Snow, many without a Shoe,
Stocking or Blanket.” Nor, due to certain inefficiencies in the supply
services, was the food situation any better. “The Cry of want of
Provisions come to me from every Quarter,” Washington stormed angrily on
February 22 to Matthew Irwin, a Deputy Commissary of Issues: “Gen.
Maxwell writes word that his People are starving; Gen. Johnston, of
Maryland, yesterday inform’d me, that his People could draw none; this
difficulty I understand prevails also at Chatham! What Sir is the
meaning of this? and why were you so desirous of excluding others from
this business when you are unable to accomplish it yourself? Consider, I
beseech you, the consequences of this neglect, and exert yourself to
remove the Evil.” Even in May, near the end of the 1777 encampment,
there was an acute shortage of food.


RECRUITMENT GETS UNDER WAY.

In this situation, Washington wrought mightily to “new model” the
American fighting forces. Late in 1776, heeding at last his pressing
argument for longer enlistments, Congress had called upon the States to
raise 88 Continental battalions, and had also authorized recruitment of
16 “additional battalions” of infantry, 3,000 light horse, three
regiments of artillery, and a corps of engineers. A magnificent dream of
an army 75,000 strong! Washington knew, however, that it was more than
“to say Presto begone, and every thing is done.” Very early that winter
he sent many of his general officers into their own States to hurry on
the new levies. Night and day, too, he was in correspondence with anyone
who might help in the cause, writing prodigiously. Still the business
lagged painfully. “I have repeatedly wrote to all the recruiting
Officers, to forward on their Men, as fast as they could arm and cloath
them,” the Commander in Chief advised Congress on January 26, “but they
are so extremely averse to turning out of comfortable Quarters, that I
cannot get a Man to come near me, tho’ I hear from all parts, that the
recruiting Service goes on with great Success.” For nearly 3 months
more, as events turned out, he had to depend for support on ephemeral
militia units, “here to-day, gone to-morrow.” April 5 found him still
wondering if he would ever get the new army assembled.


SICKNESS AND DEATH.

But the patriot cup of woe was not yet filled, and there was still
another evil to fight. This was smallpox, which together with dysentery,
rheumatism, and assorted “fevers” had victimized hundreds of American
troops in 1776. Now the dread disease threatened to run like wildfire
through the whole army, old and new recruits alike.

Medical knowledge of that day offered but one real hope of saving the
Continental forces from this “greatest of all calamities,” namely, to
communicate a mild form of smallpox by inoculation to every soldier who
had not yet been touched by the contagion, thus immunizing him against
its more virulent effects “when taken in the natural way.” Washington
was convinced of this by the time he arrived at Morristown on January 6.
He therefore ordered Dr. Nathaniel Bond to prepare at once for handling
the business of mass inoculation in northern New Jersey, and instructed
Dr. William Shippen, Jr., to inoculate without delay both the American
troops then in Philadelphia and the recruits “that shall come in, as
fast as they arrive.” During the next 3 months, similar instructions or
suggestions were sent to officers and civil authorities connected with
recruitment in New York, New Jersey, New England, Pennsylvania, and
Virginia.

Undertaken secretly at first, the bold project was soon going full swing
throughout Morristown and surrounding villages. Inoculation centers were
set up in private houses, with guards placed over them to prevent
“natural” spread of the infection. The troops went through the treatment
in several “divisions,” at intervals of 5 or 6 days. Washington waxed
enthusiastic as the experiment progressed. “Innoculation at Philadelphia
and in this Neighbourhood has been attended with amazing Success,” he
wrote to the Governor of Connecticut, “and I have not the least doubt
but your Troops will meet the same.” As of March 14, however, about
1,000 soldiers and their attendants were still incapacitated in
Morristown and vicinity, leaving but 2,000 others as the army’s total
effective strength in New Jersey. A blow struck by Sir William Howe at
that time might have been disastrous for the Americans. Fortunately, it
never came.

The episode was not without its tragic side, however. Since smallpox in
any form was highly contagious, civilians in the whole countryside near
the camp also had to be inoculated along with the army. Some local
people, and a small number of soldiers as well, contracted the disease
naturally before the project got under way, or perhaps refused
submission to the treatment. Isolation hospitals for these unfortunates
were established in the Presbyterian and Baptist Churches at Morristown,
and in the Presbyterian Church at Hanover. The patients died like flies.
In the congregation of the Morristown Presbyterian Church alone, no less
than 68 deaths from smallpox were recorded in 1777. Those who survived
the ordeal were almost always pockmarked by it.

    [Illustration: _Sketches of the Baptist Church_ (above) _and the
    Presbyterian Church_ (below) _at Morristown, both used as smallpox
    hospitals in 1777_.]

    [Illustration: {Presbyterian Church at Morristown}]


WASHINGTON TIGHTENS HIS GRIP ON NEW JERSEY.

Running the gauntlet of these and other problems, all at the same time,
was discouraging for Washington, to say the least. Few generals have
ever been more skilled, however, in ferreting out their opportunities,
or in making better use of them. Nearly on a par with his remarkable
victories at Trenton and Princeton was the way in which he reasserted
patriot control over most of New Jersey during the winter and spring of
1777, excepting only the immediate neighborhood of New Brunswick and
Perth Amboy. Even there, as time went on, the American pressure became
more or less constant.

Stationing bodies of several hundred light troops at Princeton, Bound
Brook, Elizabethtown, and other outlying posts, the Commander in Chief
inaugurated from the beginning what might be termed a “scorched earth”
policy. First came an order, on January 11, “to collect all the Beef,
Pork, Flour, Spirituous Liquors, &c. &c. not necessary for the
Subsistence of the Inhabitants, in all the parts of East Jersey, lying
below the Road leading from Brunswick to Trenton.” This was followed, on
February 3, by instructions for removing out of enemy reach “all the
Horses, Waggons, and fat Cattle” his generals could lay their hands on.
Payment for these items was to be guaranteed, but they might be taken by
force from Tories and others who refused to sell. Washington likewise
ordered the incessant hampering of all enemy attempts to obtain food and
forage. “I would not suffer a man to stir beyond their Lines,” he wrote
to Col. Joseph Reed, “nor suffer them to have the least Intercourse with
the Country.”

Conditions being what they were, the success with which these orders
were carried into effect is astounding. Gradually, more provisions found
their way to Morristown. On the other hand, hardly an enemy foraging
party could leave its own camp without being set upon by the Americans.
Newspapers, letters, and diaries of the period are filled with accounts
of recurrent clashes between detachments of the two armies, some
involving several thousand men. There were no great casualties on either
side, but the Continentals seldom came off second-best. “Amboy and
Brunswick,” wrote one historian, “were in a manner besieged.” Both enemy
troops and horses grew sickly from want of fresh food, and many of them
died before spring. In New York itself, where Sir William Howe kept
headquarters, all kinds of provisions became “extremely dear” in price.
Firewood was equally scarce in city and camp.

Thus, by enterprise and daring expedients, Washington greatly
discomfited the British Army, reduced still further its waning influence
in New Jersey, and simultaneously maintained his own small force in
action, preventing the men’s minds from yielding to despondence.


THE PROSPECT BRIGHTENS.

As spring advanced and roads became more passable, the new Continental
levies finally began to come in. “The thin trickle became a rivulet,
then a clear stream, though never a flood.” By May 20, Washington had in
New Jersey 38 regiments with a total of 8,188 men. Five additional
regiments were listed, but showed no returns at that time. Moreover,
this new army was on a fairly substantial footing, the enlistments being
either for 3 years, or for the duration of the war. There was also an
abundance of arms and ammunition, including 1,000 barrels of powder,
11,000 gunflints, and 22,000 muskets sent over from France. “From the
present information,” wrote Maj. Gen. Henry Knox to his wife, “it
appears that America will have much more reason to hope for a successful
campaign the ensuing summer than she had the last.”

Now, with the prospects thus brightening, there might be something of a
brief social season to relieve the strain of hard work. Martha
Washington had arrived at headquarters on March 15, and other American
officers looked forward to being joined by their wives. An intimate word
picture of the Commander in Chief in his lighter moods was drawn by one
such camp visitor, Mrs. Martha Daingerfield Bland, in a letter written
to her sister-in-law from Morristown on May 12: “Now let me speak of
_our_ Noble & Agreeable Commander (for he Commands both sexes....) We
visit them [the Washingtons] twice or three times a week by particular
invitation—Ev’ry day frequently from Inclination, he is Generally busy
in the fore noon—but from dinner til night he is free for all Company
his Worthy Lady seemes to be in perfect felicity while she is by the
side of her _old Man_ as she Calls him, We often make partys on Horse
backe the Genl his Lady, Miss Livingstons & his aid de Camps ... at
Which time General Washington throws of[f] the Hero—& takes up the
chatty agreeable Companion—he can be down right impudent some times—such
impudence, Fanny, as you & I like....”


END OF THE 1777 ENCAMPMENT.

General Howe had meanwhile determined, as early as April 2, to embark on
another major attempt to capture Philadelphia, this time by sea
approach. He apparently kept his own counsel, however, and up to the
last minute neither the American nor the British Army knew his real
intentions. The garrisons at Perth Amboy and New Brunswick left their
cramped winter quarters for encampments in the open soon after the
middle of May. This colored reports that Howe was about to attack
Morristown, or that, while his main force advanced by land towards
Philadelphia, a band of Loyalists would march from Bergen into Sussex
County to aid a rising of the Tories there.

Made uneasy by these and other British movements, Washington decided
that the time had come to leave Morristown. On May 28, therefore,
leaving behind a small detachment to guard what military stores were
still in the village, he accordingly moved the Continental Army to
Middlebrook Valley, behind the first Watchung Mountain a short distance
north of Bound Brook, and only 8 miles from New Brunswick. This was a
natural position from which the Americans could both defy attack and
threaten any overland expedition the enemy might make. Such was the
relationship of the two armies as the curtain went up on the ensuing
summer campaign. The encampment of 1777 at Morristown had drawn to a
close.



             _Jockey Hollow: the “Hard” Winter of 1779-80_


INTERMISSION: WAR IN DEADLOCK.

Nearly two and a half years passed by before the main body of the
Continental Army again returned to Morristown. During that interval the
British both captured and abandoned Philadelphia, Burgoyne’s Army
surrendered to the Americans at Saratoga, and France and Spain entered
the conflict against Great Britain. Washington’s soldiers had stood up
under fire on numerous occasions, besides weathering the winter
encampment periods at Valley Forge in 1777-78, and at Middlebrook in
1778-79. On the other hand, the financial affairs of the young United
States had gone from bad to worse. Hoped-for benefits from the French
Alliance had not yet materialized, and the 3-year enlistments in the
Continental Army had only 4 or 5 months more to run before their
expiration. Moreover, while the military scales somewhat balanced in the
North, the enemy held Savannah, and there were rumors that Sir Henry
Clinton, Howe’s successor, would soon leave New York by sea to attack
Charleston. With the final issue still in doubt, America approached what
was destined to be the hardest winter of the Revolutionary War.


MORRISTOWN AGAIN BECOMES THE MILITARY CAPITAL.

Such was the general condition of affairs when, on November 30,
Washington informed Nathanael Greene, then Quartermaster General, that
he had finally decided “upon the position back of Mr. Kembles,” about 3
miles southwest of Morristown, for the next winter encampment of the
Continental forces under his immediate command. As he later wrote to the
President of Congress, this was the nearest place available “compatible
with our security which could also supply water and wood for covering
and fuel.”

The site thus chosen lay in a somewhat mountainous section of Morris
County known as Jockey Hollow, and included portions of the “plantation”
owned by Peter Kemble, Esq., and the farms of Henry Wick and Joshua
Guerin. Some of the American brigades being already collected at nearby
posts, Greene at once sent word to their commanders of Washington’s
decision: “The ground I think will be pretty dry; I shall have the whole
of it laid off this day; you will therefore order the troops to march
immediately; or if you think it more convenient tomorrow morning. It
will be well to send a small detachment from each Regiment to take
possession of their ground. You will also order on your brigade quarter
master to draw the tools for each brigade and to get a plan for hutting
which they will find made out at my quarters.”

Simultaneously with this instruction, which was dated December 1,
Washington himself arrived in Morristown, during a “very severe storm of
hail & snow all day.” He promptly established his headquarters at the
Ford Mansion, presumably at the invitation of Mrs. Theodosia Ford, widow
of Col. Jacob Ford, Jr., who was then living in the house with her four
children. Morristown had again become the American military capital.


BUILDING THE “LOG-HOUSE CITY.”

Events now moved swiftly. Many of the American troops reached Morristown
during the first week of December, and the rest arrived before the end
of that month. Estimates vary as to their total effective strength, but
it was probably not under 10,000 men, nor over 12,000, at that
particular time. Eight infantry brigades—Hand’s, New York, 1st and 2d
Maryland, 1st and 2d Connecticut, and 1st and 2d Pennsylvania—took up
compactly arranged positions in Jockey Hollow proper. Two additional
brigades, also of infantry, were assigned to campgrounds nearby: Stark’s
Brigade on the east slope of Mount Kemble, and the New Jersey Brigade at
“Eyre’s Forge,” on the Passaic River, somewhat less than a mile further
southwest. Knox’s Artillery Brigade took post about a mile west of
Morristown, on the main road to Mendham, and there also the Artillery
Park of the army was established. The Commander in Chief’s Guard
occupied ground directly opposite the Ford Mansion. All the positions
noted are shown exactly on excellent maps of the period prepared by
Robert Erskine, Washington’s Geographer General, and by Capt. Bichet de
Rochefontaine, a French engineer. A brigade of Virginia troops was
included in original plans for the encampment, but it was ordered
southward soon after arriving at Morristown, and played no major part in
the story here related.

    [Illustration: _Map of Morristown prepared by Robert Erskine, F. R.
    S., Geographer General of the Continental Army, dated December 17,
    1779._ Courtesy of the New York Historical Society.]

                               _N^o 105.
                         Survey of Morristown—
                           by the chain only_

    [Illustration: _Position of the Continental Army at Jockey Hollow in
    the winter of 1779-80._ Drawn by Capt. Bichet de Rochefontaine, a
    French engineer.]

As they arrived in camp, the soldiers pitched their tents on the frozen
ground. Then work was begun at once on building log huts for more secure
shelter from the elements. This was a tremendous undertaking. There was
oak, walnut, and chestnut timber at hand, but the winter had set in
early with severe snowstorms and bitter cold. Dr. James Thacher, a
surgeon in Stark’s Brigade, testified that “notwithstanding large fires,
we can scarcely keep from freezing.” Maj. Ebenezer Huntington, of Webb’s
Regiment, wrote that “the men have suffer’d much without shoes and
stockings, and working half leg deep in snow.” In spite of these
handicaps, however, nearly all the private soldiers had moved into their
huts around Christmastime, though some of the officers’ quarters, which
were left till last, remained unfinished until mid-February. A young
Connecticut schoolmaster who visited the camp near the end of December
described it as a “Log-house city,” where his own troops and those of
other States dwelt among the hills “in tabernacles like Israel of old.”
About 600 acres of woodland were cut down in connection with the
project.

Each brigade camped in the Jockey Hollow neighborhood occupied a
sloping, well-drained hillside area about 320 yards long and 100 yards
in depth, including a parade ground 40 yards deep in front. Above the
parade were the soldiers’ huts, eight in a row and three or four rows
deep for each regiment; beyond those the huts occupied by the captains
and subalterns; and higher still the field officers’ huts. Camp streets
of varying widths separated the hut rows. This arrangement is clearly
shown in a contemporary sketch of the Stark’s Brigade Camp.

    [Illustration: _The “hutting” arrangement for General Stark’s
    Brigade, 1779-80._ From an original manuscript once owned by Erskine
    Hewitt, of Ringwood, N. J.]

Logs notched together at the corners and chinked with clay formed the
sides of the huts. Boards, slabs, or hand-split shingles were used to
cover their simple gable roofs, the ridges of which ran parallel to the
camp streets. All the soldiers’ huts, designed to accommodate 12 men
each, were ordered built strictly according to a uniform plan: about 14
feet wide and 15 or 16 feet long in floor dimensions, and around 6½ feet
high at the eaves, with wooden bunks, a fireplace and chimney at one
end, and a door in the front side. Apparently, windows were not cut in
these huts until spring. The officers’ cabins were generally larger in
size, and individual variation was permitted in their design and
construction. Usually accommodating only two to four officers, they had
two fireplaces and chimneys each, and frequently two or more doors and
windows. Besides these two main types of huts, there were some others
built for hospital, orderly room, and guardhouse purposes. The completed
camp seems to have contained between 1,000 and 1,200 log buildings of
all types combined.


TERRIBLE SEVERITY OF THE WINTER.

Weather conditions when the army arrived at Morristown were but a
foretaste of what was yet to come, and long before all the huts were up,
the elements attacked Washington’s camp with terrible severity. As
things turned out, 1779-80 proved to be the most bitter and prolonged
winter, not only of the Revolutionary War, but of the whole eighteenth
century.

One observer recorded 4 snows in November, 7 in December, 6 in January,
4 in February, 6 in March, and 1 in April—28 falls altogether, some of
which lasted nearly all day and night. The great storm of January 2-4
was among the most memorable on record, with high winds which no man
could endure many minutes without danger to his life. “Several marquees
were torn asunder and blown down over the officers’ heads in the night,”
wrote Dr. Thacher, “and some of the soldiers were actually covered while
in their tents, and buried like sheep under the snow.” When this
blizzard finally subsided, the snow lay full 4 feet deep on a level,
drifted in places to 6 feet, filling up the roads, covering the tops of
fences, and making it practically impossible to travel anywhere with
heavy loads.

    [Illustration: _Reconstructions of typical log huts used by the
    officers_ (above) _and by soldiers of the line_ (below) _in the
    winter encampment of 1779-80_.]

    [Illustration: {Log hut}]

What made things still worse was the intense, penetrating cold. General
Greene noted that for 6 or 8 days early in January “there has been no
living abroad.” Only on 1 day of that month, as far south as
Philadelphia, did the mercury go above the freezing point. All the
rivers froze solid, including both the Hudson and the Delaware, so that
troops and even large cannon could pass over them. Ice in the Passaic
River formed 3 feet thick, and, as late as February 26, the Hudson above
New York was “full of fixed ice on the banks, and floating ice in the
channel.” The Delaware remained wholly impassable to navigation for 3
months. “The oldest people now living in this country,” wrote Washington
on March 18, “do not remember so hard a Winter as the one we are now
emerging from.”

    [Illustration: _The Pennsylvania Line campground in 1779-80, with a
    hospital hut in the foreground._ From a recent painting in the park
    collection.]


LACK OF ADEQUATE CLOTHING.

Not even good soldiers warmly clothed could be expected to endure this
ordeal by weather without some complaint. How much more agonizing, then,
was such a winter for Washington’s men in Jockey Hollow, who were again
poorly clad! A regimental clothier in the Pennsylvania Line referred to
some of the troops being “naked as Lazarus.” By the time their huts were
completed, said an officer in Stark’s Brigade, not more than 50 men of
his regiment could be returned fit for duty, and there was “many a good
Lad with nothing to cover him from his hips to his toes save his
Blanket.” As late as March, when “an immense body of snow” still
remained on the ground, Dr. Thacher wrote that the soldiers were “in a
wretched condition for the want of clothes, blankets and shoes.”


SHORTAGE OF PROVISIONS AND FORAGE.

Still more critical was the lack of food for the men, and forage for the
horses and oxen on which every kind of winter transportation depended.
December 1779 found the troops subsisting on “miserable fresh beef,
without bread, salt, or vegetables.” When the big snows of midwinter
blocked the roads, making it totally impossible for supplies to get
through, the army’s suffering for lack of provisions alone became almost
more than human flesh and blood could bear. Early in January 1780, said
the Commander in Chief, his men sometimes went “5 or Six days together
without bread, at other times as many days without meat, and once or
twice two or three days without either ... at one time the Soldiers eat
every kind of horse food but Hay.”

Thanks to the magistrates and civilian population of New Jersey, an
appeal from Washington in this urgent crisis brought cheerful, generous
relief. This alone saved the army from starvation, disbandment, or such
desperate, wholesale plundering as must have eventually ruined all
patriot morale. By the end of February, however, the food situation was
once more acute. Wrote General Greene: “Our provisions are in a manner
gone; we have not a ton of hay at command, nor magazines to draw from.”
Periodic food shortages continued to plague the troops during the next
few months. As late as May 9, there was only a 3-days’ supply of meat on
hand, and it was estimated that the flour, if made into bread, could not
last more than 15 or 16 days. Officers and men alike literally lived
from hand to mouth all through the 1779-80 encampment period.


MONEY TROUBLES AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES.

The cause of many difficulties faced by Washington that winter appears
to have been the near chaotic state of American finances. Currency
issued by Congress tumbled headlong in value, until in April-June 1780
it took $60 worth of “Continental” paper to equal $1 in coin. “Money is
extreme scarce,” wrote General Greene on February 29, “and worth little
when we get it. We have been so poor in camp for a fortnight that we
could not forward the public dispatches for want of cash to support the
expresses.” Civilians who had provisions and other necessaries to sell
would no longer “trust” as they had done before; and without funds,
teams could not be found to bring in supplies from distant magazines.
Reenlistment of veteran troops and recruitment of new levies became
doubly difficult. Even the depreciated money wages of the army were not
punctually paid, being frequently 5 or 6 months in arrears. Dr. Thacher
wailed at length about “the trash which is tendered to requite us for
our sacrifices, for our sufferings and privations, while in the service
of our country.” No wonder that desertions soon increased alarmingly,
and that many officers, no longer able to support families at home,
resigned their commissions in disgust! At the end of May an abortive
mutiny of two Connecticut regiments in Jockey Hollow, though quickly
suppressed, foreshadowed the far more serious outbursts fated to occur
within a year.


GUARDING THE LINES.

Keeping the Continental Army intact under all these conditions was but
part of Washington’s herculean task in 1779-80. Again, as at Morristown
in the winter of 1777, and at Middlebrook in the winter of 1778-79, the
threat of attack by an enemy superior in manpower and equipment hung
constantly over his head. Communications between Philadelphia and the
Hudson Highlands had to be protected, and the northern British Army had
to be prevented from extending its lines, now confined chiefly to New
York and Staten Island, or from obtaining forage and provisions in the
countryside beyond.

While the main body of American troops was quartered in Jockey Hollow,
certain parts of it, varying in strength from about 200 men to as high
as 2,000, were stationed at Princeton, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy,
Rahway, Westfield, Springfield, Paramus, and similar outposts in New
Jersey. Washington changed the most important of these detachments once
a fortnight at first, but toward the spring of 1780 some units remained
“on the Lines” for much longer periods. Thus Morristown served again as
the vital center of a defensive-offensive web for the northern New
Jersey and southern New York areas. The enemy damaged the outer margins
of that web on several occasions, notably on June 7 and 23, when they
penetrated to Connecticut Farms (now Union) and Springfield, but
Washington’s defenses were never seriously broken, and through all that
winter and spring his position in the Morris County hills remained
relatively undisturbed.


THE STATEN ISLAND EXPEDITION.

Routine duty on the lines was interrupted on January 14-15 by what might
be termed a “commando” raid on Staten Island. This daring expedition,
planned by Washington and undertaken by Maj. Gen. William Alexander,
Lord Stirling, was prepared with the utmost secrecy. Five hundred
sleighs were obtained on pretence of going to the westward for
provisions. On the night of the 14th, loaded with cannon and about 3,000
troops, these crossed over on the ice from Elizabethtown Point “with a
determination,” to quote Q. M. Joseph Lewis, “to remove all Staten
Island bagg and Baggage to Morris Town.”

Unfortunately for American hopes, the British learned about the scheme
in time to retire into their posts, where they could defy attack. After
lingering on the island for 24 hours without covering, with the snow 4
feet deep and the weather extremely cold, Stirling’s force could bring
off only a handful of prisoners and some blankets and stores. What
disturbed Washington most, however, was the disgraceful conduct
displayed by large numbers of New Jersey civilians who joined the
expedition in the guise of militiamen, and who, in spite of Stirling’s
earnest efforts, looted and plundered the Staten Island farmers
indiscriminately. All the stolen property that could be recovered was
returned to the British authorities a few days later, but the harm had
been done. On the night of January 25, the enemy retaliated by burning
the academy at Newark and the courthouse and the meeting house at
Elizabethtown. That exploit also marked the beginning of a new series of
British raids in Essex and Bergen Counties which kept those districts in
considerable uneasiness for several months to come.

    [Illustration: MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
    Showing Points of Historic Interest and Visitor Use]

  LEGEND
      Park Boundary
      Main Tour Route
      Historic road for foot travel only
  TABLE OF DISTANCES
      Total Mileage, Main Tour Route—9 Miles
      Headquarters Area to Fort Nonsense Area—1.5 Miles
      Fort Nonsense Area to Jockey Hollow Area—3.3 Miles
  1. HISTORICAL MUSEUM.
  2. FORD MANSION, WASHINGTON’S HEADQUARTERS, 1779-80.
  3. SITE OF WASHINGTON’S LIFE GUARD CAMP, 1779-80.
  4. PARK SQUARE (MORRISTOWN GREEN, 1779-80).
  5. SITE OF ARNOLD TAVERN, WASHINGTON’S HEADQUARTERS, 1777.
  6. FORT NONSENSE, 1777 (NOW RECONSTRUCTED).
  7. GUERIN HOUSE (PARK SUPERINTENDENT’S RESIDENCE).
  8. RANGER STATION (INFORMATION POINT).
  9. NEW YORK BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.
  10. PICNIC AREA AND REST ROOMS.
  11. NATURE TRAIL.
  12. OLD CAMP ROAD, 1779-80.
  13. FIRST MARYLAND BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.
  14. SECOND MARYLAND BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.
  15. BETTIN OAK AND FORT HILL.
  16. NEW JERSEY BRIGADE CAMP, 1781-82.
  17. WICK HOUSE, ST. CLAIR’S QUARTERS, 1779-80.
  18. ARMY BURYING GROUND, 1779-80.
  19. RECONSTRUCTED ARMY HOSPITAL HUT, 1779-80.
  20. FIRST PENNSYLVANIA BRIGADE CAMP AND RECONSTRUCTED OFFICERS’ HUT,
          1779-80.
  21. SECOND PENNSYLVANIA BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.
  22. GRAND PARADE, 1779-80.
  23. HAND’S BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80, AND RECONSTRUCTED SOLDIERS’ HUT.
  24. FIRST CONNECTICUT BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.
  25. SECOND CONNECTICUT BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.
  26. SITE OF KEMBLE HOUSE, WAYNE’S QUARTERS, 1780-81.
  27. STARK’S BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.
  28. KNOX ARTILLERY CAMP, 1779-80.
  Sept. 1949 NHP-MOR-7001


SIDELIGHTS ON THE PATTERN OF ARMY LIFE.

Except on rare occasions, such as participation in an occasional public
celebration might afford, the average soldier found camp life at
Morristown hard, unexciting, and often monotonous. Sometimes his whole
existence seemed like an endless round of drill, guard duty, and
“fatigue” assignments, the latter including such unpleasant chores as
burying the “Dead carcases in and about camp.” What little recreation
the line troops could find was largely unorganized and incidental.
Washington proclaimed a holiday from work on St. Patrick’s Day 1780,
which the Pennsylvania Division observed by sharing a hogshead of rum
purchased for that purpose by Col. Francis Johnston, its then commander.
Regulations prohibited gambling and drunkenness, however, and the
prankster who strayed too far from military discipline “paid the piper”
if caught. One soldier, convicted by court martial of “Quitting his
Post, and riding Gen. Maxwell’s Horse,” received 150 lashes on his bare
back. This war was a stern business; men who enlisted as privates in the
Continental Army were not supposed to be looking for amusement.

The officers were somewhat more fortunate. Most of the generals obtained
furloughs and went home to their families for part of the winter. Others
could escape the tedium of camp life occasionally at least. Writes Lt.
Erkuries Beatty, in a letter dated March 13, 1780: “I got leave of
absence for three Days to go see Aunt Mills and Uncle Read who lives
about 12 Miles from here ... that night Cousin Polly and me set off a
Slaying with a number more young People and had a pretty Clever Kick-up,
the next Day Polly and I went to Uncle Reads who lives about 4 Miles
from Aunts, here I found Aunt Read and two great Bouncing female cousins
and a house full of smaller ones, here we spent the Day very agreeably
Romping with the girls who was exceeding Clever & Sociable.” Almost at
the same time, “the lovely Maria and her amiable sister” were
entertaining Capt. Samuel Shaw, of the 3d Artillery Regiment, at Mount
Hope. “By heavens,” Shaw confidentially informed a fellow officer on
February 29, “the more I know of that charming girl, the better I like
her; every visit serves to confirm my attachment, and _I feel_ myself
gone past recovery.”

Dancing was another popular diversion among the officers that winter. At
least two balls were held in Morristown by subscription, one on February
23 and the other on March 3. Lieutenant Beatty mentioned attending “two
or three Dances in Morristown,” and also “a Couple of Dances at my
Brother John’s Quarters at Battle [Bottle] Hill.” Many of these events
were lively affairs patronized by a goodly proportion of the fair sex.
Indeed, the energy displayed by “some of the _dear creatures_ in this
quarter” nearly exhausted Captain Shaw, who complained that “three
nights going till after two o’clock have they made us keep it up.”

But for all such pleasurable excursions, the average Continental officer
had adversities with which to deal. Frequently, he shared the greatest
hardships of his men, and from day to day worked unremittingly to
improve their lot along with his own. Nor must it be forgotten that,
unlike a private, an officer was expected to support and clothe himself
largely from his pay or private means, and that he paid for recreation
out of his own pocket. Sometimes officers were so deficient in clothing
that they could not appear upon parade, much less enjoy visits with the
ladies. Even Washington, at his headquarters in the Ford Mansion, often
lacked necessities for his table, or experienced some other
inconvenience. “I have been at my prest. quarters since the 1st day of
Decr.,” he observed to General Greene on January 22, 1780, “and have not
a Kitchen to Cook a Dinner in, altho’ the Logs have been put together
some considerable time by my own Guard; nor is there a place at this
moment in which a servant can lodge with the smallest degree of comfort.
Eighteen belonging to my family and all Mrs. Fords are crouded together
in her Kitchen and scarce one of them able to speak for the colds they
have caught.”


LUZERNE AND MIRALLES.

Among the most interesting events which took place at Morristown in the
spring of 1780 were those connected with the Chevalier de la Luzerne,
Minister of France, and Don Juan de Miralles, a Spanish grandee who
accompanied him, unofficially, on a visit to the American camp. These
gentlemen arrived at headquarters on April 19, but Miralles became
violently ill immediately afterwards, and it was only Washington’s
distinguished French guest who could participate in the celebrations
that followed during the next few days.

The highlight of Luzerne’s visit, which occurred on April 24, was
eloquently described by Dr. Thacher: “A field of parade being prepared
under the direction of the Baron Steuben, four battalions of our army
were presented for review, by the French minister, attended by his
Excellency and our general officers. Thirteen cannon, as usual,
announced their arrival in the field.... A large stage was erected in
the field, which was crowded by officers, ladies, and gentlemen of
distinction from the country, among whom were Governor Livingston, of
New Jersey, and his lady. Our troops exhibited a truly military
appearance, and performed the manoeuvres and evolutions in a manner,
which afforded much satisfaction to our Commander in Chief, and they
were honored with the approbation of the French minister, and by all
present.... In the evening, General Washington and the French minister,
attended a ball, provided by our principal officers, at which were
present a numerous collection of ladies and gentlemen, of distinguished
character. Fireworks were also exhibited by the officers of the
artillery.” Next day, amid the music of fifes and drums, and with
another 13-cannon salute, Luzerne inspected the whole Continental Army
encampment. Then he left for Philadelphia, escorted part-way on his
journey by an honor guard which Washington provided.

Don Juan de Miralles saw nothing of these parades, entertainments, and
reviews. The sickness which had seized him on his arrival at Morristown
was to prove fatal. His condition grew steadily worse as the days
passed, and on April 28 he died. Final obsequies were held late the
following afternoon, and again Dr. Thacher was on hand to describe
events: “I accompanied Dr. Schuyler to head quarters, to attend the
funeral of M. de Miralles.... The top of the coffin was removed, to
display the pomp and grandeur with which the body was decorated. It was
in a splendid full dress, consisting of a scarlet suit, embroidered with
rich gold lace, a three cornered gold laced hat, and a genteel cued wig,
white silk stockings, large diamond shoe and knee buckles, a profusion
of diamond rings decorated the fingers, and from a superb gold watch set
with diamonds, several rich seals were suspended. His Excellency General
Washington, with several other general officers, and members of
Congress, attended the funeral solemnities, and walked as chief
mourners. The other officers of the army, and numerous respectable
citizens, formed a splendid procession, extending about one mile ... the
coffin was borne on the shoulders of four officers of the artillery in
full uniform. Minute guns were fired during the procession, which
greatly increased the solemnity of the occasion. A Spanish priest
performed service at the grave, in the Roman Catholic form. The coffin
was enclosed in a box of plank, and all the profusion of pomp and
grandeur was deposited in the silent grave, in the common burying
ground, near the church at Morristown. A guard is placed at the grave,
lest our soldiers should be tempted to dig for hidden treasure. It is
understood that the corpse is to be removed to Philadelphia.”


THE COMMITTEE AT HEADQUARTERS.

The “members of Congress” mentioned by Dr. Thacher as having attended
Miralles’ funeral were undoubtedly Philip Schuyler, John Mathews, and
Nathaniel Peabody, who had arrived in Morristown only the day before.
These men had been appointed by their colleagues as a “committee at
head-quarters” to examine into the state of the Continental Army, and to
take such steps, in consultation with the Commander in Chief, as might
improve its prospects of winning the war. The committee remained active
until November 1, 1780, and during its life rendered valuable service as
a liaison body between Congress, on the one hand, and headquarters on
the other. Its very first report detailed at length “the almost
inextricable difficulties” in which the committee found American
military affairs involved. The report also stated, in unmistakeably
plain words, what Washington had been saying all along, namely, that
Congress itself would have to act quickly if the situation were to be
saved.


LAFAYETTE BRINGS GOOD NEWS.

Even as Schuyler and his co-workers penned their report, however, good
news was arriving at headquarters. On May 10, 1780, following more than
a year’s absence in his native France, the Marquis de Lafayette came to
Morristown, fortified with word that King Louis XVI had determined to
send a second major armament of ships and men to aid the Americans. This
assistance would prove more beneficial, it was hoped, than the first
French expedition under the Count d’Estaing, which, after failing to
take Newport in the late summer of 1778, had finally sailed away to the
West Indies. Washington’s joy at seeing Lafayette again was doubled by
this welcome information, and the army as a whole shared his feelings.

    [Illustration: _Washington greeting Lafayette on his arrival at
    headquarters, May 10, 1780._ From a diorama in the historical
    museum.]

The gallant young Frenchman remained a guest of his “beloved and
respected friend and general” until May 14, when he left for
Philadelphia, carrying with him letters from Washington and Hamilton
informing members of Congress about his work in France. Approximately 6
days later he returned to Morristown, and from that time forth until the
end of 1780 he continued with the Continental Army in New Jersey and New
York State.


TWO BATTLES END THE 1779-80 ENCAMPMENT.

Early in June there was far less cheerful news. Reports reached camp
that the enemy had taken Charleston, capturing General Lincoln with his
entire army of 5,000 men. Worse still, the British forces under Sir
Henry Clinton’s immediate command would now be released, in all
probability, for military operations in the North.

This was the dark moment chosen by Lt. Gen. Wilhelm von Knyphausen, then
commanding the enemy forces at New York, for an invasion of New Jersey,
ostensibly to test persistent rumors that war-weariness among the
Americans had reached a point where, suitably encouraged, they might
abandon the struggle for independence. Five thousand British and German
troops accordingly crossed over from Staten Island to Elizabethtown
Point on June 6, and the next morning began advancing toward Morristown.
The first shock of their attack was met by the New Jersey Brigade, then
guarding the American outposts; but as heavy fighting progressed, local
militia came out in swarms to assist in opposing the invader. During the
action, which lasted all day, the enemy burned Connecticut Farms. By
nightfall, Knyphausen had come to within a half mile of Springfield.
Then he retreated, in the midst of a terrific thunderstorm, to
Elizabethtown Point.

Word of Knyphausen’s crossing from Staten Island reached Washington in
the early morning hours of June 7. There were then but six brigades of
the Continental Army still encamped in Jockey Hollow—Hand’s, Stark’s,
1st and 2d Connecticut, and 1st and 2d Pennsylvania—the two Maryland
Brigades having left for the South on April 17, and the New York Brigade
having marched for the Hudson Highlands between May 29 and 31. The
troops at Morristown, ordered to “march immediately” at 7 a. m., reached
the Short Hills above Springfield that same afternoon. There the
Commander in Chief held them in reserve against any British attempt to
advance further toward Morristown.

Except for occasional shifts in advanced outposts on both sides, there
was no significant change in this situation for 2 weeks. Knyphausen’s
troops continued at Elizabethtown Point, and the Americans remained at
Springfield. On June 21, however, having learned positively that Sir
Henry Clinton’s forces had reached New York 4 days earlier, Washington
decided that the time had come to leave Morristown as his main base of
operations. Steps were accordingly taken to remove military stores
concentrated in the village to interior points less vulnerable to
immediate attack. Stark’s and the New Jersey Brigades, Maj. Henry Lee’s
Light Horse Troop, and the militia were left at Springfield, under
command of General Greene. The balance of the Continental Army began
moving slowly toward Pompton, but was encamped at Rockaway Bridge when
Washington, having left his headquarters in the Ford Mansion, joined it
on June 23. This dual disposition of the American forces was taken with
a view to protecting the environs of both Morristown and West Point,
either of which might be the next major British objective.

On June 23, the very day of Washington’s departure from Morristown, the
enemy struck once more. This time, with one column headed by General
Mathew and the other by Knyphausen, they succeeded in getting through
Springfield, where the British burned every building but two. Greene’s
command met the assault with such determination, however, that the
attackers again retreated to their former position. That night they
abandoned Elizabethtown Point and crossed over to Staten Island. Never
again during the Revolutionary War was there to be another major
invasion of New Jersey.

While this second Battle of Springfield was in progress, Washington
moved the main body of the Continental Army “back towards Morris Town
five or six miles,” where he would be in a better position to defend the
stores remaining there in case the British attack should carry that far.
Then, on June 25, with definite assurance that the enemy had retired to
Staten Island, he put all the troops under marching orders for the
Hudson Highlands. The second encampment at Morristown was ended.



               _January 1781: The Story of Two Mutinies_


Early the next winter, which most of Washington’s forces spent at New
Windsor, on the Hudson River just north of West Point, the New Jersey
Line was assigned to quarters at Pompton. The Pennsylvania Line,
consisting of 10 infantry regiments and one of artillery, repaired and
occupied the log huts built by Hand’s and the 1st Connecticut Brigades
at Jockey Hollow in 1779-80.

Morale was extremely low at this time among all the Continental troops
stationed in New Jersey. Not only did the Pennsylvanians lack clothing
and blankets, but they were without a drop of rum to fortify themselves
against the piercing cold. Moreover, they had not seen even a paper
dollar in pay for over 12 months. Many of the soldiers also claimed that
their original enlistments “for three years or during the war” entitled
them to discharge at the end of 3 years, or sooner in case the war
terminated earlier, and that the officers, by interpreting their
enlistments to run as long as the war should last, were unjustly holding
them beyond the time agreed upon. Still another cause of irritation was
that latecomers in the Continental Army, especially those from New
England, had been given generous bounties for enlisting, whereas both
the New Jersey and Pennsylvania veterans had already served 3 full years
for a mere shadow of compensation.

Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne, then commanding the Pennsylvanians, had known
for a long time that trouble was coming if these grievances were not
soon remedied, and had repeatedly urged the authorities of his State to
do something about them. His entreaties fell on deaf ears. Tired of
pleading, the men at last resorted to mutiny. On the evening of New
Year’s Day 1781, almost the whole Pennsylvania Line turned out by
pre-arrangement, seized the artillery and ammunition, and prepared to
leave the camp. Capt. Adam Bettin was killed, and two other officers
wounded, in vain attempts to restore order. Wayne himself, popular
though he was with both rank and file, could not persuade the mutineers
to lay down their arms. At 11 o’clock that night they marched off toward
Philadelphia with the announced intention of carrying their case direct
to Congress.

The serious character of this revolt, especially the grave danger that
it might spread rapidly to other parts of the Continental Army, was
fully appreciated by Washington and his principal officers, including
Wayne, who followed and caught up with the mutineers, then voluntarily
accompanied them to Princeton. Meanwhile, the men preserved their own
order, declared they would turn and fight the British should an invasion
of New Jersey be attempted in this crisis, and they handed over to Wayne
two emissaries dispatched by Sir Henry Clinton to lure them into his
lines with lavish promises. This display of loyalty, the firm stand
taken by the mutineers, and at the same time the justness of their
complaints, all had effect on representatives of Congress and the
Pennsylvania State authorities who came to Princeton to negotiate the
whole question. An agreement concluded on January 7 stipulated that
enlistments for 3 years or the duration of the war would be considered
as expiring at the end of the 3d year; that shoes, linen overalls, and
shirts would be issued shortly to the men discharged; and that prompt
action would be taken in the matter of back pay. Commissioners appointed
by Congress went to work at once to settle the details. More than half
the mutineers were released from the army, and the rest furloughed for
several months, as a result of the final settlement. Their main
grievances removed, many of the men later reenlisted for new bounties.
The loss was thus not as great in actuality as had been feared at first.

Hardly had the Pennsylvania Mutiny subsided when, on January 20, the New
Jersey troops at Pompton also rose in revolt. Although this second
insurrection was a comparatively mild affair, Washington took no chances
with it. Five hundred men under command of Maj. Gen. Robert Howe were
sent to restore order, and early in the morning of January 27, these
forces surrounded the camp at Pompton and forced the mutineers to parade
without arms. Three ringleaders were condemned to be shot by 12 of their
partners in the uprising, but when two had been executed, the third was
pardoned. On February 7 following, Washington ordered the chastened New
Jersey Brigade to Morristown, there to take up quarters “in the Huts,
lately occupied by the Pennsylvanians.” The troops remained so posted
until July 8, 1781, when the Brigade marched for Kingsbridge on the
Hudson.

    [Illustration: _Gen. Anthony Wayne endeavoring to halt the
    Pennsylvania mutineers on New Year’s Night 1781._ From a diorama in
    the historical museum.]



             _The New Jersey Brigade Encampment of 1781-82_


The last major battles of the Revolutionary War were fought in the
South, ending with the Virginia campaign which resulted in the surrender
at Yorktown, on October 19, 1781, of the British Army commanded by Lord
Cornwallis. Following this event, Washington ordered most of his forces
to return northward. Plans were made to establish the main Continental
Army encampment at Newburgh, N. Y., during the coming winter, but the
New Jersey Brigade was directed to “take Post somewhere in the Vicinity
of Morristown, to cover the Country adjacent, and to secure the
communication between the Delaware and North [Hudson] River.”

Col. Elias Dayton, soon afterward promoted to brigadier general, was
then in command of the New Jersey Brigade, which at that time consisted
of two regiments with a combined strength of around 700 men. His troops
had arrived at Morristown by December 7, 1781, and they immediately
established themselves in its neighborhood, again using log huts for
quarters. Local tradition gives the position of their encampment as
being in Jockey Hollow, a short distance southeast of the Wick House.
Wherever the exact location, the Brigade remained there until August 29,
1782, when Dayton had orders from Washington to march toward King’s
Ferry. A few of the sick and some regimental baggage were left behind
when the New Jersey troops began their march, but these also were
forwarded in the next 2 weeks.

This was the last winter encampment of American forces in Morris County
during the Revolutionary War. The period of Morristown’s significance as
a base for Washington’s military operations in that conflict had come to
a close.



                          _Guide to the Area_


The following information, supplementing that contained in the narrative
section of this handbook, is furnished as a convenient guide to points
of special interest in and around Morristown National Historical Park.
Numbers and titles in the text correspond to those shown on the Guide
Map (pp. 20-21). Another map (p. 35) shows the bridle paths and foot
trails in the jockey Hollow Area.


NO. 1. HISTORICAL MUSEUM.

Located in the rear of the Ford Mansion (No. 2), at 230 Morris Street,
Morristown, is the historical museum, a fireproof structure erected by
the National Park Service in 1935. In the attractive entrance hall and
four exhibition rooms of this building may be seen military arms and
equipment, important relics of George and Martha Washington, and a large
collection of other objects associated with the story of Morristown in
Revolutionary War times. Here also are located the park administrative
offices, including those of the superintendent, chief clerk, historian,
and museum staff.

    [Illustration: _The historical museum, focal point in telling the
    Morristown story._]


NO. 2. FORD MANSION, WASHINGTON’S HEADQUARTERS, 1779-80.

Facing Morris Street where it joins Washington Avenue, is the Ford
Mansion. This structure, a splendid example of late American colonial
architecture, was built about 1772-74 by Col. Jacob Ford, Jr., an
influential citizen, iron manufacturer, powder mill owner, and patriot
soldier of Morristown. Colonel Ford died on January 10, 1777, from
illness contracted during the “Mud Rounds” campaign of late 1776, in
which he rendered valuable service to the American cause as commander of
the Eastern Battalion, Morris County Militia. He was buried with
military honors in the graveyard of the Presbyterian Church at
Morristown.

The mansion itself served for a brief period in 1777 as quarters for the
Delaware Light Infantry Regiment commanded by Capt. Thomas Rodney.
During the Continental Army encampment of 1779-80, all but two rooms in
the house were occupied by Washington’s official family, which, besides
the Commander in Chief, included his devoted wife, Martha, his
aides-de-camp, and some servants (p. 23). Mrs. Ford’s family consisted
of herself and her four children: Timothy (aged 17), Gabriel (aged 15),
Elizabeth (aged 13), and Jacob, III (aged 8).

Restoration of the Ford Mansion was begun by the National Park Service
in 1939. Much of the beautiful old furniture now displayed in the
building was there when Washington occupied it. The remaining
furnishings are mostly pieces dating from the Revolutionary War period
or earlier, such as Mrs. Ford and her distinguished guests might have
used.


NO. 3. SITE OF WASHINGTON’S LIFE GUARD CAMP, 1779-80.

Across Morris Street, slightly northeast of the Ford Mansion (No. 2), is
the site occupied in 1779-80 by Washington’s Life Guard (officially, the
Commander in Chief’s Guard). Erskine’s map of Morristown (p. 13) shows
the exact position of some 13 or 14 log huts built by this unit for its
winter quarters. Except for minor changes introduced at some uncertain
date after March 1779, the Guard uniform consisted of a dark blue coat
with buff collar and facings, red vest, fitted buckskin breeches, black
shoes, white bayonet and body belts, black stock and tie for the hair,
and a black cocked hat bound with white tape. The buttons were gilt.


NO. 4. PARK SQUARE (MORRISTOWN GREEN).

Surrounded by the main business district of Morristown is a parklike
area about 2½ acres in size. Here was the old Morristown Green of
eighteenth century times. On the green itself, then crossed by roadways,
stood the Morris County Courthouse and Jail, where both civil and
military prisoners were confined during the Revolutionary War. About a
dozen other buildings faced toward the green, among them the Arnold
Tavern (No. 5), the Presbyterian and Baptist Churches (p. 9), and, in
the winter of 1779-80, a large structure where Continental Army supplies
were stored. Extending from the southwest side of the green was a broad,
open space about 150 feet in depth and 250 feet long. This was often
used for drill and parade purposes by both Continental troops and
militia.

    [Illustration: _The Revolution Room in the historical museum, where
    weapons and military equipment of the Revolutionary War period are
    displayed._]


NO. 5. SITE OF ARNOLD TAVERN, WASHINGTON’S HEADQUARTERS, 1777.

Facing the northwest side of Morristown Green, about 100 to 150 feet
from the present Washington Street corner, is the site of the Arnold
Tavern, which, according to local tradition, served as Washington’s
headquarters in the winter of 1777 (p. 5). Built some years before the
Revolutionary War, this structure was originally quite pretentious and
handsomely furnished. During the nineteenth century it was converted
into stores, and, in 1886, removed to another part of Morristown. Fire
completed destruction of the building some 25 years later.

    [Illustration: _“Washington’s Inaugural Costume,” a typical exhibit
    in the historical museum._]


NO. 6. FORT NONSENSE, 1777 (NOW RECONSTRUCTED).

Continuing from the south end of Court Street is a road leading upward
into the Fort Nonsense Area of the park. There, at the top of a steep
hill (the northern terminus of Mount Kemble), visitors may see a
restored earthwork originally built at Washington’s order in 1777.

How the name “Fort Nonsense” came into being is unknown. It does not
appear in any available written record before 1833, nor has anyone yet
authenticated the oft-repeated story that the Commander in Chief’s
reason for constructing this work was merely to keep the American troops
occupied and out of mischief. Washington’s real intention is disclosed
by an order of May 28, 1777, issued as the Continental Army moved to
Middlebrook (p. 11). In this he directed Lt. Col. Jeremiah Olney to
remain behind at Morristown, and with his detachment “and the Militia
now here ... Guard the Stores of different kinds ... Strengthen the
Works already begun upon the Hill near this place, and erect such others
as are necessary for the better defending of it, that it may become a
safe retreat in case of Necessity.” Other orders confirm the conclusion
that Fort Nonsense was actually built to serve a very practical purpose.

    [Illustration: _Washington’s living and dining room in the Ford
    Mansion, showing the “secretary” desk once used by him as the
    American Commander in Chief._]

    [Illustration: _The kitchen in the Ford Mansion, where Washington’s
    official “family” and “all Mrs. Fords” tried to keep warm in January
    1780._]

    [Illustration: _“Fort Nonsense,” built in 1777 as a “retreat in case
    of Necessity” for troops assigned to guard American military stores
    at Morristown._]

As years passed, the original lines of this earthwork gradually crumbled
away. Their present appearance is the result of research and physical
restoration work completed by the National Park Service in 1937.


NO. 7. GUERIN HOUSE (PARK SUPERINTENDENT’S RESIDENCE).

At the southwest corner of the Jockey Hollow and Sugar Loaf Roads stands
the Guerin House, in which is incorporated some of the original dwelling
owned and occupied in Revolutionary War days by Joshua Guerin, a farmer
and blacksmith of French Huguenot descent. Largely remodeled, the
building now serves as a residence for the park superintendent. It is
not open to visitors.


NO. 8. RANGER STATION (INFORMATION POINT).

About one-quarter of a mile southwest of the Guerin House (No. 7), on
the same side of the Jockey Hollow Road, is the ranger station. Here are
located the office and quarters of the park ranger. Visitors may obtain
free literature and other park information at this point.


NO. 9. NEW YORK BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.

About opposite the ranger station (No. 8), parallel to the east side of
the Jockey Hollow Road, is the campsite occupied in 1779-80 by the New
York Brigade under Brig. Gen. James Clinton. In this brigade were the
2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th New York Regiments, with a combined total
enlistment, in December 1779, of 1,267 men. The official uniform of
these troops was blue, faced with buff; the buttons and linings, white.

    [Illustration:                 TRAIL MAP
                                _JOCKEY HOLLOW_]

  MORRISTOWN NATIONAL·HISTORICAL·PARK
    FOOT TRAILS
    HORSE TRAILS
    MOTOR ROADS
    PARKING AREAS
  SUGAR LOAF ROAD ONE WAY
  OFFICERS’ HUT
  RANGER STATION (INFORMATION)
  JOCKEY HOLLOW ROAD
  PICNIC AREA
  HOSPITAL & BURYING GROUND
  WILD FLOWER TRAIL
  GLEN TRAIL
  PRIVATE
  BETTIN OAK
  WICK HOUSE-CEMETERY ROAD ONE WAY
  WICK HOUSE
  SOLDIERS’ HUT
  TEMPE WICK ROAD
  JERSEY CAMP TRAILS


NO. 10. PICNIC AREA AND REST ROOMS.

Three-eighths of a mile southwest of the New York Brigade campsite (No.
9), on the west side of the Jockey Hollow Road, area picnic area and
rest rooms. Parking facilities are provided close to the road. From that
point a winding foot trail (pp. 20, 35) leads to open places among the
trees where tables and benches are placed for the convenience of
visitors who wish to bring basket lunches. No fires are permitted,
either here or elsewhere in the park.


NO. 11. NATURE TRAIL.

More than 100 species of birds, some 20 species of mammals, and over 300
species of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers have been observed in Jockey
Hollow at various times of the year. A walk over the Nature Trail (pp.
20, 35), which begins and ends at the Picnic Area (No. 10), affords
opportunity to enjoy seeing many such elements of the park landscape.
The area is a wildlife sanctuary, however, and visitors are reminded
that disturbance of its natural features is prohibited by law (pp. 43
-44).


NO. 12. OLD CAMP ROAD, 1779-80.

Almost opposite the Picnic Area (No. 10), intersecting with the east
side of the Jockey Hollow Road, is what has long been known as the Old
Camp Road (p. 20). This leads across Mount Kemble to the old Basking
Ridge Road, now Mount Kemble Avenue (U. S. Route 202), and to the site
of Jacob Larzeleer’s Tavern, where Brig. Gen. John Stark made his
quarters in 1779-80. Part of the road may have been built as the result
of orders issued to Stark’s and the New York Brigades, on April 25,
1780, to “open a Road between the two encampments.”


NO. 13. FIRST MARYLAND BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.

About one-sixth of a mile southwest of the Picnic Area (No. 10), on the
same side of the Jockey Hollow Road and parallel to it, is the campsite
occupied in 1779-80 by the 1st Maryland Brigade under Brig. Gen. William
Smallwood. In this brigade were the 1st, 3d, 5th, and 7th Maryland
Regiments, with a combined total enlistment, in December 1779, of 1,416
men. The official uniform of these troops was blue, faced with red; the
buttons and linings, white. About the middle of May 1780, following the
departure of the 1st Maryland Brigade on April 17 preceding, soldiers of
the Connecticut Line moved into the log huts erected on this site
(p. 41).


NO. 14. SECOND MARYLAND BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.

About three-tenths of a mile southwest of the Picnic Area (No. 10),
paralleling the opposite side of the Jockey Hollow Road, is the campsite
occupied in 1779-80 by the 2d Maryland Brigade under Brig. Gen. Mordecai
Gist. In this brigade were the 2d, 4th, and 6th Maryland Regiments, and
Hall’s Delaware Regiment, with a combined total enlistment, in December
1779, of 1,497 men. The official uniform of these troops was the same as
that of the 1st Maryland Brigade. About the middle of May 1780,
following the departure of the 2d Maryland Brigade on April 17
preceding, soldiers of the Connecticut Line moved into the log huts
erected on this site (p. 41).


NO. 15. BETTIN OAK AND FORT HILL.

Immediately southwest of the campsite occupied by the 2d Maryland
Brigade in 1779-80 (No. 14), on the same side of the Jockey Hollow Road,
stands the Bettin Oak. Near the base of this old tree is the traditional
grave of Capt. Adam Bettin, who was killed on New Year’s Night 1781,
during the mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line, then encamped nearby under
command of Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne (pp. 27-28). Defensive works for the
protection of Wayne’s camp were erected on Fort Hill, which rises to the
eastward of this point. Nothing is left of these fortifications today.


NO. 16. NEW JERSEY BRIGADE CAMP, 1781-82.

About 1,200 feet southwest of the point where the Tempe Wick and Jockey
Hollow Roads meet is the traditional campsite occupied in 1781-82 by the
New Jersey Brigade under Brig. Gen. Elias Dayton (p. 29). In this
brigade at that time were the 1st and 2d New Jersey Regiments, with a
combined total enlistment, in April 1782, of around 700 men. The
official uniform of these troops was blue, faced with buff; the buttons
and linings, white.


NO. 17. WICK HOUSE, ST. CLAIR’S QUARTERS, 1779-80.

    [Illustration: _The Wick House, built about 1750, and occupied as
    quarters by Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair in the winter of 1779-80._]

On the north side of the Tempe Wick Road, about 325 feet west of its
intersection with the Jockey Hollow Road, is the Wick House, which
served in 1779-80 as quarters for Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair, then
commander of the Pennsylvania Line encamped in Jockey Hollow
(Nos. 20-21). The building was erected about 1750 by Henry Wick, a
fairly prosperous farmer who had come to Morris County from Long Island
a few years before. Tempe Wick, his youngest daughter, is said to have
concealed her riding horse in a bedroom of the house, in January 1781,
in order to prevent its seizure by the Pennsylvania mutineers
(pp. 27-28). The interior of the building was furnished with period
pieces following its restoration by the National Park Service in 1935.
Efforts have also been made to recreate, as far as possible, the
colonial atmosphere of the farm itself, as reflected in the nearby
garden, barnyard, orchard, and open fields.

    [Illustration: _A corner of the kitchen in the Wick House._]

    [Illustration: _The Wick House garden._]


NO. 18. ARMY BURYING GROUND, 1779-80.

On the south side of the Cemetery-Wick House Road, at the point where it
joins the Grand Parade Road, is the traditional site of the Continental
Army Burying Ground in Jockey Hollow. Here are said to lie the remains
of between 100 and 150 American soldiers who failed to survive the
terrible winter of 1779-80.

    [Illustration: _Army Burying Ground in Jockey Hollow._]


NO. 19. RECONSTRUCTED ARMY HOSPITAL HUT, 1779-80.

Immediately adjacent to the Army Burying Ground (No. 18), visitors may
see a log structure of the type used for hospital purposes while the
Continental Army lay encamped in Jockey Hollow. This building was
reconstructed by the National Park Service from a description and plans
prepared by Dr. James Tilton, Hospital Physician in 1779-80, and later
Physician and Surgeon General, United States Army.


NOS. 20-21. FIRST AND SECOND PENNSYLVANIA BRIGADE CAMPS, 1779-80, AND
RECONSTRUCTED OFFICERS’ HUT.

About 400 feet east of the reconstructed Army Hospital Hut (No. 19), on
the west slope of Sugar Loaf Hill, and cutting diagonally across the
Grand Parade Road, are the campsites occupied in 1779-80 by the
Pennsylvania Division commanded that winter by Maj. Gen. Arthur St.
Clair. In this division were the 1st and 2d Pennsylvania Brigades. The
former, under Brig. Gen. William Irvine, was composed of the 1st, 2d,
7th, and 10th Pennsylvania Regiments, with a combined total enlistment,
in December 1779, of 1,253 men. In the latter, under Col. Francis
Johnston, were the 3d, 5th, 6th, and 9th Pennsylvania Regiments, with a
corresponding enlistment, at the same period, of 1,050 men. The official
uniform of all these troops was blue, faced with red; the buttons and
linings, white.

On the First Pennsylvania Brigade campsite may be seen a reconstruction,
by the National Park Service, of the type of log hut used as quarters by
officers of the Continental Army in 1779-80 (p. 16).

    [Illustration: _Reconstructed Army Hospital Hut._]


NO. 22. GRAND PARADE, 1779-80.

North of the Grand Parade Road, below the east slope of Sugar Loaf Hill,
is the level ground “between the Pensylvania & the York encampment”
which served as the Grand Parade used by the Continental Army in
1779-80. Here the camp guards and detachments assigned to outpost duty
usually reported for inspection, and the troops were sometimes paraded
to witness military executions. The ground was also used for drill
purposes. Near the Grand Parade was the “New Orderly Room” where courts
martial were frequently held, and where Washington’s orders were
communicated to the army.


NO. 23. HAND’S BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80, AND RECONSTRUCTED SOLDIERS’ HUT.

Parallel to the north side of the Tempe Wick Road, about 300 feet
southeast of where it joins the Jockey Hollow Road, is the campsite
occupied in 1779-80 by Hand’s Brigade, named for its commanding officer,
Brig. Gen. Edward Hand. In this brigade were the 1st and 2d Canadian and
the 4th and New 11th Pennsylvania Regiments, with a combined total
enlistment, in December 1779, of 1,033 men. The official uniform of the
Pennsylvania regiments was blue, faced with red; the buttons and
linings, white. How all the Canadians were clothed is unknown, but some
of them probably wore brown coats, faced with red, and white waistcoats
and breeches.

This identical campsite was occupied by part of the Pennsylvania Line
early in the winter of 1780-81, and from about February 7 to July 8,
1781, by the New Jersey Brigade of the Continental Army. Here occurred
the great mutiny of the Pennsylvanians on New Year’s Night 1781
(pp. 27-28).

On the Hand’s Brigade campsite may be seen a reconstruction, by the
National Park Service, of the type of log hut used by private soldiers
of the Continental Army in 1779-80 (p. 16).


NOS. 24-25. FIRST AND SECOND CONNECTICUT BRIGADE CAMPS, 1779-80.

About 600 feet northeast of the Tempe Wick Road, along the south and
east slopes of Fort Hill (No. 15), are the campsites occupied early in
1779-80 by the 1st and 2d Connecticut Brigades. The former, under Brig.
Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons, was composed of the 3d, 4th, 6th, and 8th
Connecticut Regiments, with a combined total enlistment, in December
1779, of 1,680 men. In the latter, under Brig. Gen. Jedediah Huntington,
were the 1st, 2d, 5th, and 7th Connecticut Regiments, with a
corresponding enlistment, at the same period, of 1,367 men. The official
uniform of all these troops was blue, faced with white; the buttons and
linings, white.

Both brigades left camp for detached duty “on the Lines” at Springfield
and Westfield early in February 1780. On returning to camp, about the
middle of May, they occupied the log huts vacated by the Maryland troops
on April 17 preceding (Nos. 13-14). It was there that the 4th and 8th
Connecticut Regiments rose in mutiny soon afterward (p. 18).

Some of the log huts built by the 1st Connecticut Brigade were occupied
by Pennsylvania troops early in the following winter, previous to the
mutiny which broke out on New Year’s Day 1781 (pp. 27-28).


NO. 26. SITE OF KEMBLE HOUSE, WAYNE’S QUARTERS, 1780-81.

At the northwest corner of Mount Kemble Avenue (U. S. Route 202) and the
Tempe Wick Road is the site of Kemble Manor, built about 1765 as a
residence for the Honorable Peter Kemble, one of the wealthiest and most
influential men in the late colonial period of New Jersey history. Here
were the quarters of Brig. Gen. William Smallwood, of the Maryland Line,
in 1779-80; and of Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne, of the Pennsylvania Line,
in 1780-81. From “Mount Kemble,” early on the morning of January 2,
1781, Wayne wrote a hurried letter to Washington describing the
Pennsylvania Mutiny, which had taken place but a few hours before (pp.
27-28). In the nineteenth century the Kemble House was moved some
distance north of its original location. It no longer bears much
resemblance to the structure of Revolutionary War times.


NO. 27. STARK’S BRIGADE CAMP, 1779-80.

Along the east slope of Mount Kemble, on the west side of Mount Kemble
Avenue (U. S. Route 202), about five-sixths of a mile northwest of its
intersection with the Tempe Wick Road, is the campsite occupied in
1779-80 by Stark’s Brigade, named for its commanding officer, Brig. Gen.
John Stark. In this brigade were Webb’s and Sherburne’s Connecticut
Regiments, Jackson’s Massachusetts Regiment, and the 2d Rhode Island
Regiment, with a combined total enlistment, in December 1779, of 1,210
men. This site is privately owned and not accessible to park visitors.
The official uniform of both the Connecticut and Rhode Island troops was
blue, faced with white; the buttons and linings, white.


NO. 28. KNOX ARTILLERY CAMP, 1779-80.

One mile west of Morristown, along the main road to Mendham (New Jersey
Route 24), and at the base of a hill opposite the further end of Burnham
Park, is the site occupied in 1779-80 by the Light Artillery Park and
the Artillery Brigade of the Continental Army under Brig. Gen. Henry
Knox. In this brigade were the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th Artillery Regiments.
Knox’s quarters were nearby on what is now Kahdena Road, at a place
called “Duchman’s.” The official artillery uniform was “Blue faced with
Scarlet, Scarlet Lining, Yellow buttons, Yellow bound hats, Coats edged
with narrow lace or tape and button holes bound with the same.”



                        _How To Reach the Park_


Only about 30 miles west of New York City, the park may be reached by
automobile from the east via New Jersey Route 24, from the south and
north via New Jersey Route 32 (U. S. Route 202), and from the west via
New Jersey Routes 6, 10, 5N, and 32. Regional bus lines serve Morristown
from main points in the metropolitan area. The town is also located on
the D. L. & W. Railroad, whose local trains stop at Morris Street, about
5 minutes’ walk from the Ford Mansion and the historical museum.



                   _Establishment and Administration_


The first step toward the establishment of Morristown National
Historical Park was taken in 1873, when the Washington Association of
New Jersey was formed to preserve the Ford Mansion “through future
generations as a memorial of George Washington.” Among the first of its
kind in America, this organization continues active today.

As time passed, the need for saving other historic remains connected
with the Revolutionary War history of this locality became more
apparent. In the late 1920’s, under the energetic leadership of former
Mayor of Morristown Clyde Potts, a strong movement developed with that
end in view. This was finally crowned with success when the Federal
Government, under an act of Congress approved March 2, 1933, accepted
from the Washington Association, from the Town of Morristown, and from
Mr. Lloyd W. Smith, well-known collector of Washingtonia, munificent and
patriotic gifts of those invaluable properties which together now
constitute Morristown National Historical Park. The area was dedicated
on July 4 following, as a unit in the National Park System administered
by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior,
for the benefit and inspiration of the people.

About 958 acres in extent, the reservation has at present three separate
geographical units: Headquarters Area (Ford Mansion and historical
museum), Fort Nonsense Area, and Jockey Hollow Area. All communications
concerning the park should be addressed to the Superintendent,
Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, N. J.



                          _Visitor Facilities_


The park is open to visitors every day but Monday, including Sunday and
all holidays except New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Entrance to nearly all historic sites and buildings in the area is free,
subject only to the application of park rules and regulations. Wherever
a nominal admission charge is made, complete information on the amount
involved is clearly posted on a nearby sign, or may be obtained easily
upon request from any park employee.

Members of the park staff are on duty to receive and assist visitors at
the Ford Mansion, the historical museum, and the Wick House. Descriptive
folders and other information may be obtained at all three of these
points without charge; sales publications may be purchased at the
historical museum only. Personal guide service is not normally
available, but educational and other organized groups are given special
attention when arrangements are made in advance with the superintendent,
and as staff limitations permit.

There are no camping, lodging, or restaurant facilities at the park
itself. Limited space is available in Jockey Hollow for visitors who
wish to bring basket lunches, but no fires are permitted anywhere in the
area. It is also unlawful to hunt, trap, or disturb wildlife; to injure
or take away trees, flowers, or other vegetative growth; or to deface or
remove other Government property. Visitors must leave the park by 6 p.
m. during the winter months, and by 8 p. m. at other times of the year.



                            _Related Areas_


Included in the National Park System are many other important areas
connected with various periods in American history. In addition to
Morristown National Historical Park, those commemorating phases of the
Revolutionary War are: Saratoga National Historical Park, N. Y.;
Colonial National Historical Park, Va.; Kings Mountain National Military
Park, S. C.; Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, N. C.; Cowpens
National Battlefield Site, S. C.; George Washington Birthplace National
Monument, Va.; Moores Creek National Military Park, N. C.; Washington
Monument, Washington, D. C.; Statue of Liberty National Monument, N. Y.;
and Independence National Historical Park (project), Philadelphia, Pa.

                       U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1950 O-F—888640


                         NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                       Historical Handbook Series

  No. 1 Custer Battlefield
  No. 2 Jamestown, Virginia
  No. 3 The Lincoln Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died
  No. 4 Saratoga
  No. 5 Fort McHenry
  No. 6 Lee Mansion
  No. 7 Morristown, a Military Capital of the Revolution
  No. 8 Hopewell Village
  No. 9 Gettysburg

    [Illustration: _American canteen_]



                          Transcriber’s Notes


—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
  is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
  _underscores_.





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