Crossroads
of the American Revolution Guide
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New Jersey: The Crossroads
of the American Revolution
Located between the British base at New York and the rebel capital
at Philadelphia, New Jersey was the most war-ravaged of the 13 original states.
More than 600 skirmishes and battles were fought on its soil and more than 150
naval actions on its waters.
Then, as now, New Jersey straddled roads connecting north and south.
In 1775 and 1776, state regiments marched north. During November
and December 1776, the remnants of the main Continental Army fled
south across New Jersey, pursued by a British army. Just a month
later, they retraced part of their route to defeat German and British
detachments in Trenton and Princeton and march on to Morristown.
This was the first of three winters that the Continental Army spent
in New Jersey.
From July 1776 until November 1783, a British, German and Loyalist army
occupied Staten Island, western Long Island and Manhattan, launching expeditions
to collect supplies, probe local defenses and attack the Continental Army.
Between January and June of 1777, skirmishes were fought up and down the
Raritan River, as Continentals sought to limit British foraging and the British
attempted to lure the Continentals from the safety of the Watchung Mountains.
When Washington eluded them, the British withdrew from the Raritan Valley to
attack Philadelphia.
The September 1777, British occupation of Philadelphia brought the war to southern
New Jersey. Fierce battles were fought for control of the Delaware River and
surrounding countryside. On June 18, 1778, the British army evacuated Philadelphia
and began marching toward New York, as Washington led the Continental Army
eastward from Valley Forge. The resulting Battle of Monmouth was the last time
the two armies met in New Jersey. In 1780, the British moved offensive operations
to the south.
The war was not over for New Jersey even then. In June 1780, the New York garrison
launched two large probes to test the Continentals at Morristown-probes
that resulted in the burning of Springfield and Connecticut Farms. Along the
coast, small British and Loyalist units continued pinpoint attacks. One of the
American Revolution's last skirmishes was fought December 27, 1782, at Cedar
Bridge, Ocean County.
In August 1781, the French and Continental armies marched across New Jersey
toward Yorktown and victory. Two years later, after a peace treaty was signed
in Paris, word reached the Continental Congress, assembled in Princeton, on
November 1, 1783.
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Mountain Refuges |
 The Watchung Mountains, known to Washington as the Blue
Hills, were a natural barrier behind which the Continental
Army was safe from incursions by the British out of Manhattan and
at the same time a menace to British security. Washington with his
main army sought the shelter of these hills for three winter encampments,
two at Morristown and one at Middlebrook. |
Ten
Crucial Days |
 On
the night of December 25, 1776, General George
Washington
led 2,400 troops of the Continental Army in a
perilous crossing
of the icy Delaware River. Beset by freezing
rain, they marched
nine miles to Trenton, and delivered a stunning
surprise attack on the
Hessian garrison early the next morning. |
Delaware River |
 War returned to the Delaware Valley in August 1777. Advancing
from Chesapeake Bay, the British defeated Washington's forces at
Brandywine on September 11, occupied Philadelphia and laid siege
to forts controlling the Delaware River approach to that city. In the
months that followed, armies and foraging parties crisscrossed southwestern
New Jersey. |
Cockpit of the Revolution |
 From August 1776, when the British drove the Continental
Army out of New York, until 1783, when the British evacuated
New York, northeastern New Jersey knew no peace. Between major
military campaigns, army foraging parties “purchased” livestock and
crops at gunpoint and neighbors settled political differences through
murder and kidnapping. |
Atlantic Seaboard |
 The 100-mile Atlantic coastline, with its many harbors and bays,
provided American privateers with safe havens, while thwarting
any British naval blockade of New Jersey. The privateer system
established along the Atlantic Seaboard was a great success for the
American cause. It disrupted the British merchant fleet, broke the
British supply line and resulted in the capture of 16,000 British prisoners.
At the same time, it allowed goods and supplies to reach the
Continental Army. By 1777, privateers and merchantmen had brought
in over 2 million pounds of gunpowder and saltpeter. |
Monmouth
Battlefield |
 The
French entry into the war placed the British in a difficult
position. If the French navy blockaded the Delaware River,
it could starve out the British army in Philadelphia. The
British abandoned Philadelphia on June 18, 1778, and began
slowly making their way across New Jersey to New York. The
Continental Army caught up with them at Monmouth Courthouse
on June 28, 1778. |
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