Early in June there was far less cheerful news. Reports reached camp
that the enemy had taken Charleston, capturing General Lincoln with his
entire army of 5,000 men. Worse still, the British forces under Sir
Henry Clinton’s immediate command would now be released, in all
probability, for military operations in the North.
This was the dark moment chosen by Lt. Gen. Wilhelm von Knyphausen, then
commanding the enemy forces at New York, for an invasion of New Jersey,
ostensibly to test persistent rumors that war-weariness among the
Americans had reached a point where, suitably encouraged, they might
abandon the struggle for independence. Five thousand British and German
troops accordingly crossed over from Staten Island to Elizabethtown
Point on June 6, and the next morning began advancing toward Morristown.
The first shock of their attack was met by the New Jersey Brigade, then
guarding the American outposts; but as heavy fighting progressed, local
militia came out in swarms to assist in opposing the invader. During the
action, which lasted all day, the enemy burned Connecticut Farms. By
nightfall, Knyphausen had come to within a half mile of Springfield.
Then he retreated, in the midst of a terrific thunderstorm, to
Elizabethtown Point.
Word of Knyphausen’s crossing from Staten Island reached Washington in
the early morning hours of June 7. There were then but six brigades of
the Continental Army still encamped in Jockey Hollow—Hand’s, Stark’s,
1st and 2d Connecticut, and 1st and 2d Pennsylvania—the two Maryland
Brigades having left for the South on April 17, and the New York Brigade
having marched for the Hudson Highlands between May 29 and 31. The
troops at Morristown, ordered to “march immediately” at 7 a. m., reached
the Short Hills above Springfield that same afternoon. There the
Commander in Chief held them in reserve against any British attempt to
advance further toward Morristown.
Except for occasional shifts in advanced outposts on both sides, there
was no significant change in this situation for 2 weeks. Knyphausen’s
troops continued at Elizabethtown Point, and the Americans remained at
Springfield. On June 21, however, having learned positively that Sir
Henry Clinton’s forces had reached New York 4 days earlier, Washington
decided that the time had come to leave Morristown as his main base of
operations. Steps were accordingly taken to remove military stores
concentrated in the village to interior points less vulnerable to
immediate attack. Stark’s and the New Jersey Brigades, Maj. Henry Lee’s
Light Horse Troop, and the militia were left at Springfield, under
command of General Greene. The balance of the Continental Army began
moving slowly toward Pompton, but was encamped at Rockaway Bridge when
Washington, having left his headquarters in the Ford Mansion, joined it
on June 23. This dual disposition of the American forces was taken with
a view to protecting the environs of both Morristown and West Point,
either of which might be the next major British objective.
On June 23, the very day of Washington’s departure from Morristown, the
enemy struck once more. This time, with one column headed by General
Mathew and the other by Knyphausen, they succeeded in getting through
Springfield, where the British burned every building but two. Greene’s
command met the assault with such determination, however, that the
attackers again retreated to their former position. That night they
abandoned Elizabethtown Point and crossed over to Staten Island. Never
again during the Revolutionary War was there to be another major
invasion of New Jersey.
While this second Battle of Springfield was in progress, Washington
moved the main body of the Continental Army “back towards Morris Town
five or six miles,” where he would be in a better position to defend the
stores remaining there in case the British attack should carry that far.
Then, on June 25, with definite assurance that the enemy had retired to
Staten Island, he put all the troops under marching orders for the
Hudson Highlands. The second encampment at Morristown was ended.
_January 1781: The Story of Two Mutinies_
Early the next winter, which most of Washington’s forces spent at New
Windsor, on the Hudson River just north of West Point, the New Jersey
Line was assigned to quarters at Pompton. The Pennsylvania Line,
consisting of 10 infantry regiments and one of artillery, repaired and
occupied the log huts built by Hand’s and the 1st Connecticut Brigades
at Jockey Hollow in 1779-80.
Morale was extremely low at this time among all the Continental troops
stationed in New Jersey. Not only did the Pennsylvanians lack clothing
and blankets, but they were without a drop of rum to fortify themselves
against the piercing cold. Moreover, they had not seen even a paper
dollar in pay for over 12 months. Many of the soldiers also claimed that
their original enlistments “for three years or during the war” entitled
them to discharge at the end of 3 years, or sooner in case the war
terminated earlier, and that the officers, by interpreting their
enlistments to run as long as the war should last, were unjustly holding
them beyond the time agreed upon. Still another cause of irritation was
that latecomers in the Continental Army, especially those from New
England, had been given generous bounties for enlisting, whereas both
the New Jersey and Pennsylvania veterans had already served 3 full years
for a mere shadow of compensation.
Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne, then commanding the Pennsylvanians, had known
for a long time that trouble was coming if these grievances were not
soon remedied, and had repeatedly urged the authorities of his State to
do something about them. His entreaties fell on deaf ears. Tired of
pleading, the men at last resorted to mutiny. On the evening of New
Year’s Day 1781, almost the whole Pennsylvania Line turned out by
pre-arrangement, seized the artillery and ammunition, and prepared to
leave the camp. Capt. Adam Bettin was killed, and two other officers
wounded, in vain attempts to restore order. Wayne himself, popular
though he was with both rank and file, could not persuade the mutineers
to lay down their arms. At 11 o’clock that night they marched off toward
Philadelphia with the announced intention of carrying their case direct
to Congress.
The serious character of this revolt, especially the grave danger that
it might spread rapidly to other parts of the Continental Army, was
fully appreciated by Washington and his principal officers, including
Wayne, who followed and caught up with the mutineers, then voluntarily
accompanied them to Princeton. Meanwhile, the men preserved their own
order, declared they would turn and fight the British should an invasion
of New Jersey be attempted in this crisis, and they handed over to Wayne
two emissaries dispatched by Sir Henry Clinton to lure them into his
lines with lavish promises. This display of loyalty, the firm stand
taken by the mutineers, and at the same time the justness of their
complaints, all had effect on representatives of Congress and the
Pennsylvania State authorities who came to Princeton to negotiate the
whole question. An agreement concluded on January 7 stipulated that
enlistments for 3 years or the duration of the war would be considered
as expiring at the end of the 3d year; that shoes, linen overalls, and
shirts would be issued shortly to the men discharged; and that prompt
action would be taken in the matter of back pay. Commissioners appointed
by Congress went to work at once to settle the details. More than half
the mutineers were released from the army, and the rest furloughed for
several months, as a result of the final settlement. Their main
grievances removed, many of the men later reenlisted for new bounties.
The loss was thus not as great in actuality as had been feared at first.
Hardly had the Pennsylvania Mutiny subsided when, on January 20, the New
Jersey troops at Pompton also rose in revolt. Although this second
insurrection was a comparatively mild affair, Washington took no chances
with it. Five hundred men under command of Maj. Gen. Robert Howe were
sent to restore order, and early in the morning of January 27, these
forces surrounded the camp at Pompton and forced the mutineers to parade
without arms. Three ringleaders were condemned to be shot by 12 of their
partners in the uprising, but when two had been executed, the third was
pardoned. On February 7 following, Washington ordered the chastened New
Jersey Brigade to Morristown, there to take up quarters “in the Huts,
lately occupied by the Pennsylvanians.” The troops remained so posted
until July 8, 1781, when the Brigade marched for Kingsbridge on the
Hudson.
[Illustration: _Gen. Anthony Wayne endeavoring to halt the
Pennsylvania mutineers on New Year’s Night 1781._ From a diorama in
the historical museum.]
_The New Jersey Brigade Encampment of 1781-82_
The last major battles of the Revolutionary War were fought in the
South, ending with the Virginia campaign which resulted in the surrender
at Yorktown, on October 19, 1781, of the British Army commanded by Lord
Cornwallis. Following this event, Washington ordered most of his forces
to return northward. Plans were made to establish the main Continental
Army encampment at Newburgh, N. Y., during the coming winter, but the
New Jersey Brigade was directed to “take Post somewhere in the Vicinity
of Morristown, to cover the Country adjacent, and to secure the
communication between the Delaware and North [Hudson] River.”
Col. Elias Dayton, soon afterward promoted to brigadier general, was
then in command of the New Jersey Brigade, which at that time consisted
of two regiments with a combined strength of around 700 men. His troops
had arrived at Morristown by December 7, 1781, and they immediately
established themselves in its neighborhood, again using log huts for
quarters. Local tradition gives the position of their encampment as
being in Jockey Hollow, a short distance southeast of the Wick House.
Wherever the exact location, the Brigade remained there until August 29,
1782, when Dayton had orders from Washington to march toward King’s
Ferry. A few of the sick and some regimental baggage were left behind
when the New Jersey troops began their march, but these also were
forwarded in the next 2 weeks.
This was the last winter encampment of American forces in Morris County
during the Revolutionary War. The period of Morristown’s significance as
a base for Washington’s military operations in that conflict had come to
a close.
_Guide to the Area_
The following information, supplementing that contained in the narrative
section of this handbook, is furnished as a convenient guide to points
of special interest in and around Morristown National Historical Park.
Numbers and titles in the text correspond to those shown on the Guide
Map (pp. 20-21). Another map (p. 35) shows the bridle paths and foot
trails in the jockey Hollow Area.