Fort Nonsense
After the victories at Trenton and Princeton, the Continental Army under General George Washington arrived in Morristown on January 6, 1777. The site was relatively secure lying behind the Watchung Mountains and the Great Swamp, and Washington chose it for the army’s winter camp.
The Arnold Tavern on the western edge of the town green became Washington’s Headquarters. Rodney’s Delaware Light Infantry was quartered on Jacob Ford's property across town. In between, some 2000 officers and soldiers rented quarters in private homes, barns, churches, and other structures throughout Morristown and in towns from Princeton to the Hudson Highlands.
Before breaking camp in late May, Washington decided to secure Morristown as a supply base. On May 14, 1777 he ordered the construction of a fortification with a redoubt on a hill bordering Morristown so “…that it may serve as a retreat in case of necessity.” It was common for a small fortification to be built for the protection of military encampments and strategic military depots.
Originally referred to as “the Hill” or “Kinney’s Hill,” it commanded the town. Washington’s men dug trenches, raised embankments, built a guardhouse for 30 men, and fortified the crown of the hill with an earthwork redoubt or breastwork.The main function of the Fort was as a place of retreat for guards stationed in the town.
The British never made an attack on Morristown, however, and the fortified hilltop was never used. As early as the 1790s the hill was called Fort Nonsense. A legend had grown that Washington had set his men to fortify the hill simply as a way of keeping troops busy. This is very unlikely. It was known as the Upper Redoubt originally.
In addition to the earthworks, it is generally believed that the Morris County Militia was instructed to build a beacon of between 18 and 20 feet high. It was to be constructed of a loose frame of logs with smaller combustibles filling the center. Such beacons were found extending from the Hudson Highlands and all through northern New Jersey. The beacon system was used on June 7, 1780 and again on June 23 when the British crossed into New Jersey. Records tell of area militia responding to the alarms in June and engaging the British at Springfield.
Fort Nonsense Hill is open to visitors from 8:00 until sunset.
