Attachment_C_Morristown.pdf

B6 Unigrid National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

National Designation StateMorristown National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior Morristown National Historical Park New Jersey

1779–80 Since the Revolutionary War, each generation has found its own way of telling Morristown’s story and honoring those who lived it. These chapters unfold in many ways at Morristown National Historical Park. Exhibits display artifacts lovingly preserved by soldiers’ families. Restored homes remind us that war affected civilians. Original encampment sites are places to contemplate those trying winters or take a walk in the woods.

For two agonizing winters, Morristown sheltered the main body of the Continental Army under Gen. George Washington. In early 1777 the general rebuilt and reorganized the young army.

Two years later, the harshest winter in decades, some 10,000 soldiers endured relentless cold and snow, meager supplies, and constant hunger.

Led by Washington and mustering their own determination, they emerged as a cohesive force.

Above: An imagined scene shows many of the Ford Mansion’s occupants outside as Martha Washington arrives in late 1779 to join her husband at his winter quarters. From left: George (1776) and Martha (1772) Wash-ington portraits by Charles Willson Peale;

Washington’s dress sword from fi rst inau-guration; makeshift frying pan fashioned from a shovel; Brown Bess musket; Joseph Plumb Martin’s fi rst-hand account of his experience as a Revo-lutionary War soldier;

Isaac Whitehead’s canteen.

Hastily built additions (since re-moved) provided an oÿ ce for the aides and a kitchen for the head-quarters. Servants and slaves tended to domestic duties. Military guards stood watch over a constant stream of visitors. Washington wrestled with the problems of the army and the precarious coalition of states that was not yet a nation.

The Continental Congress could not fund the army, and ruinous infl ation made the purchase of badly needed food and clothing almost impossible.

tinued. Thousands of acres of trees were felled for over 1,000 log huts, built in precise rows on the hillsides. Huts housed 12 enlisted men; fi eld oÿ cers had larger quarters. Units from each state generally encamped as a group.

Routine work included hauling and chopping wood, cooking, dig-ging latrines, troop inspections, and guard duty. Many soldiers were accompanied by wives and children. Two women gave birth in camp.

Theodosia Ford, widow of Jacob Ford Jr., a colonel in the local mi-litia, allowed Washington to use her large home as his headquar-ters. Ford and her four children squeezed into two rooms while Washington and his senior sta˝ took over most of the house.

On New Year’s Eve 1779, Martha Washington arrived to spend the winter with her husband. Like other oÿ cers’ wives, she traveled to her husband’s winter quarters every year.

The general sought help from neighboring New Jersey counties and other states. The response from New Jersey was immediate and generous; it “saved the army from dissolution, or starving,” wrote Washington.

In May 1780 the Marquis de Lafayette arrived at the Ford Man-sion with welcome news of aid from France. The next month the camp dispersed, as the last of the troops were ordered into battle yet again.

Morristown, protected behind the Watchung Mountains from Brit-ish forces 30 miles east in New York City, was a strategic choice for the Continental Army’s 1777 winter encampment. Soldiers sought shelter wherever they could—in public buildings, private homes, stables, barns, sheds, and tents.

Gen. George Washington hoped to spend the winter rebuilding and retraining his war-weary army, but it dwindled further because of desertions and expired enlistments. Then smallpox struck. Washington’s decision to inoculate soldiers and civilians alike saved countless lives. Rein-forcements fi nally arrived in spring 1777, and the army moved out in June.

During the winter of 1779–80, at least 20 snowstorms cut supply lines for food, clothes, and shoes.

“The weather was cold enough to cut a man in two,” wrote Pvt.

Joseph Plumb Martin. Despite the conditions, the business of main-taining the 10,000-man army con-

1779– The weather was cold enough to cut a man in two.The weather was cold enough to cut a man in two.

—Pvt. Joseph Plumb Martin, 8th Connecticut Regiment

ALL PHOTOS NPS UNLESS OTHERWISE CREDITED.

FORD MANSION AND ENCAMPMENT PAINTINGS

—NPS / KEITH ROCCO; GEORGE AND MARTHA

WASHINGTON PORTRAITS—© COURTESY OF

MOUNT VERNON LADIES’ ASSOCIATION; BROWN

BESS MUSKET —THE GEORGE C. NEUMANN

COLLECTION, VALLEY FORGE NHP

Continental Army Winter Camps Units directly under George Washington

1775–76 Cambridge, Massachusetts

Early 1777 Morristown, New Jersey

1777–78 Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

1778–79 Redding, Connecticut, and Middlebrook, New Jersey

1779–80 Morristown (Jockey Hollow)

1780–81 and 1781–82 Hudson High-lands of New York, and Morristown area

1782–83 New Windsor, New York

Above: An imagined scene depicting typical daily activities at the Pennsylvania Line en-campment, 1779–80.

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Attachment C_Morristown

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