It was the first of two winters spent in Jockey Hollow just outside Morristown. The winters were worse than the one at Valley Forge, PA, yet the stories of the VF winter are abundant while few are heard of the hard times had in Jockey Hollow.
Jockey Hollow and nearby Fort Nonsense provided the Continentals with an excellent opportunity to observe any movement of the British. Adjacent to today’s US Highway 202 which runs from New Hope, NJ, where it crosses the Delaware River just north of Philadelphia, to the New York border at Mahwah, any British movements could be monitored and a response mounted swiftly. They were also in position to keep an eye on the iron mines in northern New Jersey and the Ramapo Mountains of New York that supplied their needs.
In January 1777, after Washington moved his troops into winter quarters, he lost many of his troops when they either deserted or refused to reenlist. The victories at Trenton and Princeton, however, when combined with new promises of cash bonuses and land grants bolstered recruitment. By the time fighting resumed in the spring of ’77, Washington could count on 11,000 men, including militia.
Morristown, New Jersey: Military Capital of the Revolution
This Day In History
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