A letter dated May 12, 1777, described the Morristown of that day as “a
very Clever little village, situated in a most beautiful vally at the
foot of 5 mountains.” Farming was the mainstay of its people, some 250
in number and largely of New England stock, but nearby ironworks were
already enriching a few families and employing more and more laborers.
Among the 50 or 60 buildings in Morristown, the most important seem to
have been the Arnold Tavern, the Presbyterian and Baptist Churches, and
the Morris County Courthouse and Jail, all located on an open “Green”
from which streets radiated in several directions. There were also a few
sawmills, gristmills, and a powder mill, the last built on the Whippany
River, in 1776, by Col. Jacob Ford, Jr., commander of the Eastern
Battalion, Morris County Militia. Colonel Ford’s dwelling house, then
only a few years old, was undoubtedly the handsomest in the village.
Washington’s immediate reasons for bringing his troops to Morristown
were that it appeared to be the place “best calculated of any in this
Quarter, to accomodate and refresh them,” and that he knew not how to
obtain covering for the men elsewhere. He must have been impressed also
with the demonstrated loyalty of Morris County to the patriot cause,
even in those dreary, anxious weeks of late 1776 when its militia helped
considerably to stave off attempted enemy incursions directly westward
from the vicinity of New York. Finally, there were already at Morristown
three Continental regiments previously ordered down from Fort
Ticonderoga, and union with these would strengthen the forces under his
personal command.
[Illustration: _The Arnold Tavern, where Washington reputedly stayed
in 1777._]
Even so, Washington hoped at first to move again before long, and it was
only as circumstances forced him to remain in this small New Jersey
community that its advantages as a base for American military operations
became fully apparent. From here he could virtually control an extensive
agricultural country, cutting off its produce from the British and using
it instead to sustain the Continental Army. In the mountainous region
northwest of Morristown were many forges and furnaces, such as those at
Hibernia, Mount Hope, Ringwood, and Charlottenburg, from which needed
iron supplies might be obtained. The position was also difficult for an
enemy to attack. Directly eastward, on either side of the main road
approach from Bottle Hill (now Madison), large swamp areas guarded the
town. Still further east, almost midway between Morristown and the
Jersey shore, lay the protecting barriers of Long Hill, and the First
and Second Watchung Mountains. Their parallel ridges stretched out for
more than 30 miles, like a huge earthwork, from the Raritan River on the
south toward the northern boundary of the State, whence they were
continued by the Ramapos to the Hudson Highlands. In addition to all
this, the village was nearly equidistant from Newark, Perth Amboy, and
New Brunswick, the main British posts in New Jersey, so that any enemy
movement could be met by an American counterblow, either from
Washington’s own outposts or from the center of his defensive-offensive
web at Morristown itself. A position better suited to all the Commander
in Chief’s purposes, either in that winter of 1777 or in the later
1779-80 encampment period, would have been hard to find.
[Illustration: _Morristown and RELATED AMERICAN OUTPOSTS in the
REVOLUTIONARY WAR_]
N. Y.
Newburgh
▲◍Fishkill
▲New Windsor
▲Fort Constitution
◍West Point
◍Continental Village
▲Peekskill
Galloway’s in the Clove
▲Fort Montgomery
▲King’s Ferry
◍Verplanck’s Point
◍Stony Point
Haverstraw
◍Kakiat
HARLEM HEIGHTS II
WHITE PLAINS III
Valentine’s Hill
King’s Bridge
Fort Lee
NEW YORK
_BRITISH HDQRS._
Brooklyn
LONG ISLAND I
CONN.
N. J.
◍Ringwood Iron Works
▲Ramapo
Charlottenburg Iron Works
▲◍Paramus
▲Pompton
Hibernia Furnace
Mt. Hope Furnace
◍Rockaway
Boonton
▲Succasunna Plains
◍Crane’s Mills
MORRISTOWN
_AMERICAN HDQRS._
Bottle Hill
▲Chatham
Easton
◍SPRINGFIELD VI & VII
◍Newark
Vealtown
Connecticut Farms
Baskingridge
▲Scotch Plains
◍Pluckemin
▲◍Elizabethtown
▲◍Westfield
◍Rahway
▲Raritan
▲Quibbletown
▲Woodbridge
▲Middlebrook
▲Bound Brook
◍Perth Amboy
▲Somerset Court House
◍New Brunswick
Coryell’s Ferry
▲◍PRINCETON V
▲◍TRENTON IV
▲◍Allentown
Bordentown
Cooper’s Ferry
PA.
McKonkey’s Ferry
Newtown
▲Bristol
◍Burlington
▲◍PHILADELPHIA
▲AMERICAN OUTPOSTS IN 1777
◍AMERICAN OUTPOSTS IN 1779-80
OTHER IMPORTANT LOCALITIES
REVOLUTIONARY WAR ROADS
MAJOR BATTLES
I LONG ISLAND—AUGUST 27, 1776
II HARLEM HEIGHTS—SEPTEMBER 16, 1776
III WHITE PLAINS—OCTOBER 23, 1776
IV TRENTON—DECEMBER 25, 1776
V PRINCETON—JANUARY 5, 1777
VI & VII SPRINGFIELD—JUNE 7 & 23, 1780
_DESIGNED BY M. J. WEIG_ · _DRAWN BY V. B. CRAIG_ ·