Greatest Winter Encampment?

Painting of a typical scene at the 1779-1780 winter camp at Jockey Hollow

Keith Rocco / NPS

Battle of the Encampments—Who’s the G.O.A.T?

Eric Olsen--Park Ranger/Historian, Morristown NHP

It’s Tournament Time--time for the bracket battle to determine “Which Continental Army Winter Encampment was the Greatest of All Time [G.O.A.T.]?”

First Round – The Elite Eight
The first contest in the Elite Eight pits powerhouse Valley Forge against the little-known and last ranked 1780-81 New Windsor encampment. I’m afraid this one is a foregone conclusion. Most historians don’t even mention the 1780-81 New Windsor winter encampment. Plus, the house that General Washington used that winter burned down and there is no historic site that you can visit. The 1780-81 New Windsor encampment is also overshadowed by the 1782-83 encampment at Newburgh in which Washington stayed in a house in Newburgh and his soldiers constructed huts in New Windsor. Confused?

Sorry, we don’t have time to explain, instead we’ll move on to the next match up of two National Park sites. It’s Morristown NHP versus the Longfellow House representing the 1775-1776 winter encampment at Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the world of winter encampments this truly is a David vs. Goliath story. Longfellow pulls out all the stops in this one. They add Washington’s name to their title in a bid to win some name recognition, now calling themselves “Longfellow House Washington’s Headquarters NHS.” But there’s no Cinderella story here. There’s more of an old poet in that house than there is Washington. And Longfellow…. Loses.

Next up, West Point against Newburgh. Both of these contestants have a little better name recognition, but still their winter encampments still aren’t familiar to the average person. West Point had troops camped on their site for multiple winters. But the story of those winter encampments is outshined by the Great Chain and the story of Arnold’s Treason. So, in this matchup, Newburgh gets the win.

Finally, we have a battle between two different sites that were used in the same winter. During the winter of 1778-1779 Washington spread his army out in various sites around British-occupied New York City. They were in Connecticut, West Point and New Jersey. But for this game it’s a match-up between Putnam State Park in Redding, Connecticut against an assortment of historic sites in Somerset County, New Jersey known as the Middlebrook encampment. Basically, this comes down to a fight between a park that has the site of some of the soldiers’ huts versus an area with a bunch of homes that served as generals’ quarters. But one of those homes was used by Washington [above] which always earns extra points. Plus, Putnam State Park loses points because on their website they already admit defeat by labeling themselves “Connecticut’s Valley Forge.” So, Middlebrook, New Jersey gets the win!

Second Round
The first match-up of the final four is a battle between number one ranked Valley Forge and the Middlebrook winter encampment sites of 1778 -1779 in Somerset County, New Jersey. Healthwise, Washington’s army does much better in Somerset County than they did at Valley Forge. Better discipline and hut construction results in a much lower death rate in New Jersey. But on the downside the Somerset County encampment is a loose unaligned group of historic houses used by various generals and only one small remaining patch of an encampment site. The site of the extensive buildings of the artillery camp at Pluckemin [above] is now under a huge sparling townhouse complex. While Valley Forge has a more dramatic story than the Middlebrook encampment. And it is a more complete site with generals’ headquarters and with all the original brigade sites. Valley Forge is the clear winner in his contest.

The next contest brings number two ranked Morristown up against a worthy challenger in the historic sites associated with the final cantonment of the Continental Army from the winter of 1782-1783 in the Hudson Highlands. Both sites are fairly evenly matched. Both have houses used by Washington as his headquarters and both have nearby museums. Both sites have the areas where the troops camped, along with replica log structures. Each of these areas also have visitor centers with exhibits. And finally, each has another historic house used by another general as his quarters. In terms of oldest preserved historic house, Washington Headquarters at the Hasbrouck House in Newburgh, New York wins. Bought by the state of New York in 1850, it is the nation’s first publicly owned historic site. The Ford Mansion [below] in Morristown wasn’t preserved until 1873. However, Morristown NHP preserves all the brigade sites from the winter of 1779-1780. At New Windsor Cantonment the state owns the site of the major camp building called the Tempe of Virtue. But the town owns some of the brigade hut sites and some of the huts sites are under the nearby New York Thruway.
But in terms of the historical revolutionary war story, Newburgh/New Windsor is pretty dull. It was just a dwindling army waited for peace to officially be declared. The biggest event was an officer’s protest known as the Newburgh Conspiracy. But that was just a bunch of officers complaining and Washington shamed them out of doing anything. While Morristown had two separate encampments that included General Washington and two more with smaller portions of the army. Morristown had mutinies, battles and far more drama making Morristown a more interesting site and the winner of this match.

THE FINALS-- a match of number one Valley Forge National Historical Park vs. number two Morristown National Historical Park.
For this final round we’ll turn to our technical expert and historian for a blow-by-blow account of the grudge match between the two titans of the winter encampments. To get you involved in the action, he’ll present you with a series of questions that will be a one-on-one comparison of the two parks. Try you hand at answering the questions but fear not the answers will be provided.
At the end, you can decide for yourself, which park deserves the title of greatest winter encampment of all time.

Morristown vs. Valley Forge

Whose Encampment came First?
Morristown - Jan. 1777 – May 1777
Valley Forge – Dec. 1777 – June 1778

Who had the Most Encampments?
Valley Forge – One Encampment
Dec. 1777 – June 1778
Morristown – Four Encampments
Jan. 1777 to May 1777 Dec. 1779 – June 1780
Nov. 1780 – Jan. 1781 – PA Line, Feb. 1781- July 1781- NJ Brigade
Nov. 1781 – Aug. 1782 – NJ Brigade

Where did Washington Spent More Time?
Valley Forge – 6 months - Dec. 1777 – June 1778 – 6 or 7 months
Morristown – 10 months - Jan. 1777 to My 1777 - 4 months, Dec. 1779 – June 1780 – 6 months. He also stayed for seven days from July 4 to 10, 1777. He made other short stops passing through. All together he spent 346 days in Morristown.

Who had the Worst Winter?
Morristown
Morristown had the worst winter in recorded US history. Twenty major snowfalls. All the water in the northeastern US froze solid for 6 weeks. Valley Forge had an average winter with lots of rain.

Who had the Most Deaths?
Morristown 1779-1780 – 100
Valley Forge – 2,000

Which Washington’s Headquarters became a Historic Site First, the Potts House or the Ford Mansion?
The Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge was incorporated in 1878.
The Washington Association of New Jersey was incorporated in 1874.

Which site became a Park First?
Valley Forge became a state park in 1893.
At Morristown there was a proposal in 1896 to turn the Fort Nonsense area into a 300-acre “Washington Park.” It was never created. There was also a Fort Nonsense State Park on the books around 1914 but nothing ever came of it. Fort Nonsense became a town park in 1917. Finally, Morristown [including Fort Nonsense] did become a national park in 1933.

Which site became a National Park First?
Valley Forge became a National Park Site in 1976.
Morristown became a National Park Site in 1933.

Which site has the Highest Visitation?
Valley Forge gets 1.8 million visitors.
Morristown gets 272,000 visitors

Score [out of 9 questions] Valley Forge 3 Morristown 6

Well, it was a fight for the ages. Being a hometown referee I would declare Morristown the winner. But as you know in the court of public opinion, Valley Forge [booo!] comes out on top.

Why has Valley Forge become an Icon and Morristown largely forgotten?

Better Myths & Stories
Morristown has its share of myths. Tempe Wick and her horse and Fort Nonsense are the biggest and they still survive to the present day. Then there are less exciting 19th century stories about Washington taking communion at the Presbyterian Church and giving up his seat to a woman during an outdoor church service. There is even a story about seeing Washington laugh. But not the kind of story that really catches your attention.
Valley Forge has an odd one too in which Washington has a vision provided by an angel that predicts the future of America, including future wars. I’m not clear on the whole vision thing but I bet you can find it on the internet.
But Valley Forge has the great myth created by Parson Weems in 1808 of Washington praying in the snow. It’s an image people love so much it’s been put on postage stamps and referenced by President Ronald Reagan in a speech.
People also love the story of General Steuben cursing out the clumsy soldiers in German and French and asking his aides to curse at them in English.
Steuben at Valley Forge also brings up the popular story of the rebirth of the Continental Army at Valley Forge like a phoenix out of the ashes. It is true that Steuben did bring a single system of regulations and drill to the army. But it’s not like they didn’t know how to maintain a camp or maneuver before. When Washington reorganized the army at Morristown in 1777, he set out all sorts of regulations in the general orders. And while all his men might not have followed the same drill manual, they still could fight. While they didn’t win at Brandywine or Germantown, they didn’t surrender. They managed to retreat to fight another day as they did through the entire war. People always give Steuben’s training at Valley Forge as the reason for the victory at the Battle of Monmouth. But in reality, Monmouth was at best a draw. The British did withdraw, but that was their plan the entire time. The Continental Army at Monmouth just slowed them down.

Ray Raphael in his book “Founding Myths” points out two of Valley Forge’s biggest stories. The first was the “patient suffering” of the soldiers who endured the hardships without complaint. The second was the notion of “the cruel hand of nature.” He goes on to explain, “Both subplots are mistaken. Soldiers did not suffer silently. Routinely, they complained and pillaged; sometimes, they deserted or mutinied. And the weather was hardly to blame. The winter spent at Valley Forge was milder than normal. By contrast, two years later, Continental soldiers survived the coldest winter in 400 years on the Eastern seaboard of the United States – and yet, strangely, that story is rarely told.”
When he asks why people make such a big deal about Valley Forge and forget about Morristown, he proposes, “The answer, in a nutshell, is that Valley Forge better fits the story we wish to tell, while Morristown is something of an embarrassment. At Valley Forge, the story goes, soldiers suffered quietly and patiently. They remained true to their leader. At Morristown, on the other hand, they mutinied – and this is not in line with the “suffering soldiers” motif.”

Better Press
Because Valley Forge told the stories people wanted to hear, their stories were repeated over and over and printed in more and more histories.
Parson Weems 1808 edition of his biography the “Life of Washington” put Valley Forge on the historical map with that image of Washington secretly praying in the snow. It played up the ultimate story of suffering and survival that everyone knew and loved.
Additionally, while Valley Forge was not the first winter encampment for the Continental Army, it was the first encampment in which the army built lots of log huts. The previous two winters at Cambridge and Morristown, the Continental Army was quartered in barracks & private homes. Most early historians fixated on the log hut city aspect of Valley Forge. They used it and Von Steuben’s training as “turning point” in the war. They looked at the following winter encampments as a repetition and unworthy of further explanation.

More Drama
The real history at Valley Forge also has a more drama compared to what went on at Morristown. One example is the story of the failure of the supply system and Nathaniel Greene coming to the rescue and reorganize everything. Another is General Steuben’s training of the troops and turning him into a comic hero.
Plus, there are the villains. General Charles Lee returns to create new problems for Washington. People dislike Lee so much you almost expect him to be wearing a top hat and cape and twirling a handlebar moustache. Then there is the Conway Cabal with some officers and Congressmen conspiring to replace Washington as commander in chief with General Horatio Gates.
And you can’t forget all those soldiers dying.
Of course, Morristown had its own share of problems with food, supplies and the weather but not a lot of drama. Just Washington getting sick for a couple of weeks in 1777 and the Spanish representative, Don Juan de Miralles dying in 1780.
Drama makes a good story, so for many historians Valley Forge provides more fodder for their books.

Better Location
The 1876 Centennial Celebration and World’s Fair in Philadelphia is credited with starting the Colonial Revival Movement. Officially called the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, it was held in Fairmount Park along the Schuylkill River from May 10 to November 10, 1876. Over 10 million people visited the fair.
Valley Forge was only 15 miles outside the city. Many Fairgoers made the short side trip out to Valley Forge fixing it in the public mind as a tourist location. Morristown by comparison was 30 miles outside of New York City. Though accessible by train it did never became a “destination” tourist attraction.
The Washington Association of New Jersey was incorporated in 1874 and opened the Ford Mansion to visitors the following year. At Valley Forge the Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge was incorporated three years later in 1878.
Both sites opened their Washington’s Headquarters around the same time. But Valley Forge was established as a State Park in 1893 and Morristown didn’t become a park until 1933. Valley Forge had a 40-year head start as an encampment tourist attraction, making it a bigger encampment in the mind of the public. Even to the present day, Valley Forge is a tourist destination. Morristown is the place you take company; get you souvenir passport book stamped and walk your dog.
Valley Forge’s popularity in books and as a tourist attraction made it into an ICON, while Morristown was just another place where Washington slept.