The Encampment at Morristown: Summary and Quotes

Dr. James Thatcher, military journal

On the 14th (of December, 1779, we) reached this wilderness, about three miles from Morristown, where we are to build log huts for winter quarters…The ground is marked out, and the soldiers have commenced cutting down the timber of oak and walnut, of which we have a great abundance.

 

General Anthony Wayne to General William Irvine, December 14, 1779

I must confess that the [soldiers] would make a better appearance had they a sufficiency of hats, but as Congress don’t seem to think that an essential …part of uniform, they mean to leave us uniformly bare-headed—as well as bare-footed—and if they find that we can bare it tolerably well in the two extremes, perhaps they may try it in the center.

 

Headquarters - Ford Mansion

The mansion was complete by 1772 - home and estate of NJ Militia Col. Jacob Ford Jr.
Col. Ford dies here in January 1777 of pneumonia after leading militia troops.

During Washington’s stay, this was the home of widow Theodosia Ford and her four children, who stay in separate parts of the house from Washington's "military family".

Washington lives in the mansion from Dec. 1, 1779 to June 7, 1780 — the home provides living quarters and workspace for the Commander in Chief and his five aides-de-camp. The youngest of the staff is Lt. Col Alexander Hamilton.

The house as Headquarters becomes very crowded, with Washington, his wife, five staff and eighteen servants added to Mrs. Ford, her four children and their servants. (The number of servants working for Mrs. Ford is unknown.)

Visitors to Headquarters include Martha Washington, the French Ambassador (the Chevalier de la Luzerne) the Marquis de Lafayette and a three-member committee from the Continental Congress.

Across the road from the Ford Mansion were the Commander in Chief’s Life Guard, the regiment (200-250 men) with the primary job of protecting Washington, his papers, and his headquarters.

The Artillery Brigade, commanded by General Henry Knox, was also stationed in Morristown. They were located in and adjacent to present-day Burnham Park.

 

Lt. Colonel Ebenezer Huntington of Col. Samuel  Webb’s Connecticut Regiment, Stark’s Brigade, December 24, 1779

You will by date perceive that we are in camp, tho’ expect, if good weather, to have the men’s Hutts so far compleated (sic) that they may go into them on Sunday or Monday. The severity of the weather hath been such that the men suffer’d much without shoes and stockings, and working half leg deep in snow. Poor fellows, my heart bleeds for them as I damn my country as devoid of gratitude.

 

Major Events

• Dec. 23 – Jan. 26: Court martial of Benedict Arnold (verdict announced April 6)
• Dec. 31: Martha Washington arrived (stays in Morristown till mid-June)
• Jan. 14-15. 1780: Raid on Staten Island by 2,500 American troops on 500 sleighs--failure
• April 19: Arrival of the French Ambassador (the Chevalier de la Luzerne) and Spanish agent Don Juan de Miralles.
• April 28: Death of Miralles – buried the next day with full honors.
• April 29: Arrival of Committee of Congress
• May 10: return of Lafayette
• May 25: mutiny of two Connecticut regiments
• June 7: Battle of Connecticut Farms (now Union, N.J.) Washington leaves Ford Mansion
• June 23: Battle of Springfield, N.J

 

Nineteen-year old Private Joseph Plumb Martin,  Connecticut Brigade

A long and severe storm dumps feet of snow on the winter camp, (January 3- 5, 1780) and large snowdrifts on the roads prevents supplies of food entering camp. At one time it snowed the greater part of four days successively, and there fell nearly as many feet deep of snow, and here was the keystone of the arch of starvation. We were absolutely, literally starved. I do solemnly declare that I did not put a single morsel of victuals into my mouth for four days and as many nights, except a little black birch bark which I gnawed off a stick of wood, if that can be called victuals. I saw several of the men roast their old shoes and eat them, and I was afterwards informed by one of the officer’s waiters that some of the officers killed and ate a favorite little dog that belonged to them. If this was not “suffering,” I request to be informed what can pass under that name.

 

General Nathanael Greene to Moore  Furman, Morristown, N.J. January 4th 1780

Our Army is without Meat and Bread: and have been for two or three days past. Poor Fellows! They exhibit a picture truly distressing. More that half naked, and above two thirds starved.

 

Jockey Hollow - Soldiers build a “log house city”

Eleven brigades--the "Main Army" under General Washington numbering approximately 10,000 men-- encamp in and south of Morristown, building approximately 1,200 log huts.

Learn more about the brigades and regiments at Jockey Hollow.

The army rents space for generals and staffs in local homes: the soldiers and field officers live in log huts. General Arthur St. Clair (commanding the Pennsylvania brigades) and staff live with the Wick family in their farmhouse.

Nine of the brigades live south of town in an area called "Jockey Hollow." Around 2,000 acres of trees are cut down by the troops to build log huts for shelter, and fuel for fires.

Why the Army Came To Jockey Hollow...

• Shelter: In 1777, officers stayed in homes, troops in various structures. In 1779-80, generals and staffs stayed in homes, Troops cut down trees for construction of log huts, as well as firewood. Homes, churches and homes were used at various times for hospitals.
• Water: Local streams provided water for drinking and sanitation.
• Transportation/roads: Morristown was a significant crossroads community—especially with a significant north-south link (today called Route 202) passing directly through town. Local farmers were hired as teamsters, providing wagons and animals to move supplies.
• Defensive location: Being nearly thirty miles from British positions (New York City and environs) it would take an enemy force a good two days to reach Morristown. An added benefit were two significant natural barriers east of the camp —the Watchung Mountains, and the Great Swamp.

...and the Problems They Encountered

• The “Hard Winter”: The winter of 1779-80 is still believed to be the most severe winter known in early America—possibly the worst on record in the Northeast United States. Over twenty snowfalls and sustained temperatures below freezing made travel nearly impossible for months.
• Various raids by each side: Americans raid Staten Island; British retaliate by burning buildings and capturing patriots in Newark and Elizabethtown. Skirmishes and other encounters continue throughout the winter.
• Serious inflation of Continental Currency: Officers complain of incredibly high prices for clothing, horses, food, etc. Fifty dollars of paper money has buying value of one silver dollar. Even where goods are available, merchants were not always willing to accept Continental dollars.

 

General Washington to the magistrates of New  Jersey, January 8, 1780

The present situation of the army with respect to provision, is the most distressing of any we have experienced since the beginning of the war. For a fortnight (two weeks) past the troops, both officers and men, have been almost perishing for want. They have been alternately without bread or meat the whole time, with a very scanty allowance of either and frequently destitute of both. They have borne their sufferings with a patience that merits the approbation and ought excite the sympathy of their Countrymen.

 

General Washington describing the troops to General Irvine, January 9, 1780

Our Affairs are in so deplorable a condition (on the score of provisions) as to fill the Mind with the most anxious and alarming fears (Men half-starved, imperfectly Cloathed, riotous, and robbing the Country people of their subsistence from shear necessity) (sic)

 

General Nathanael Greene to an Unidentified Person, January 11, 1780

Such weather as we have had, never did I feel. For six or eight days it has been so extremely cold…, the snow it is also very deep, and much drifted. …the army has been cut off from its magazines, [supply storehouses] and been obliged to fast for several days together. We have been alternately out of meat and bread for eight or nine days past, and without either for three or four. The distress of the army has been exceedingly great from the weather, want of clothing and provisions. But the soldiers have borne it with great patience and fortitude. They have displayed a degree of magnanimity under their sufferings which does them the highest honour….

 

Morristown – “Military Capital of the American Revolution”

At the time of the American Revolution, Morristown is believed to have approximately 250 inhabitants, and about 70 buildings. On and around the town center (the "Green") were the most significant structures, particularly the County Courthouse (which included a jail) and the Presbyterian and Baptist churches.

There was some level of military activity in Morristown for most of the American Revolution. At one time or another, the town served as a militia staging area, had military storehouses and hospital facilities, held prisoners of war in the town jail, and sheltered refugees after the British occupied New York in late 1776. Col. Jacob Ford, Jr. built a gunpowder mill on the outskirts of town in 1776. French troops marched through town on the way to Yorktown in 1781.

Army Encampments in Morristown:

January 6 – May 28, 1777: Remnants of the American forces (2,000 – 4,000 troops) after the battles of Trenton and Princeton are billeted in homes and structures from Princeton to the Hudson Highlands.

- Washington stays in Arnold’s Tavern by Morristown Green.
- General Washington had troops inoculated for smallpox—churches and homes used as hospitals/quarantine facilities.
- Epidemics of smallpox and dysentery in Morristown.
- Washington issues a proclamation demanding citizens choose sides—loyalty oaths exchanged.
- State Committees of Safety have militia round up Loyalists for trials. Some are told to join American army or be executed—two men are hung on Morristown green. Properties are confiscated, freedom of speech and travel restricted.
- Continental army enlistments now for three years—beginning of a new "regular" full-time professional army for America. The identity of the army changes, with more marginalized individuals (i.e. poor, new immigrants, those of African descent.)

July 4-10, 1777: Brief layover by the army.

December 1779 –June 1780: Major encampment during "Hard Winter", 10,000 men in Jockey Hollow, Washington in headquarters at Ford Mansion.

November 28, 1780 – January 1, 1781: Pennsylvania Brigades return to Jockey Hollow
(approximately 2500 troops) they reuse or move and reconstruct huts of other brigades from the previous winter.
Mutiny by troops on evening of January 1, 1781, mutineers march south toward Philadelphia to complain to authorities. Mutineers camp in Princeton, grievances negotiated.

Late January – July 1781: New Jersey brigade move into huts just left by Pennsylvania brigades.
These New Jersey troops had just mutinied in Pompton, N.J. – this mutiny was
forcibly put down.

December 1781 - August 1782: New Jersey Brigade camps in Jockey Hollow
Two regiments with a combined strength of around 700 men, commanded by Col. Elias Dayton. It is believed they built huts south of the Wick House.

 

Major General John Kalb, February 12, 1780

Those who have only been in Valley Forge or Middlebrook during the last two winters, but have not tasted the cruelties of this one, know not what it is to suffer.

 

Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette, March 18, 1780

The oldest people now living in this country do not remember so hard a winter as the one we are now emerging from. In a word, the severity of the frost exceeded anything of the kind that had ever been experienced in this climate before.