New Jersey During the American Revolution,

A Chronology - 1763 to 1783

by Dennis Ryan

INTRODUCTION

This chronology guides noteworthy events and dates that helped shape New Jersey's revolutionary history. Aside from pro­ viding a brief chronicle of significant political developments and military maneuvers, the chronology supports New Jersey's claim to thetitle, "The Cockpit of the Revolution." With the arrival of British troops and ships in New York Harbor, New Jersey became the arena in which the battle for American independence was fought and won. Equally important, fighting continued in New Jersey for almost two years after the British surrender at Yorktown. No state suffered more from military conflict, material devastation, and civil war.

Often neglected by American historians, New Jersey actively participated in the move for independence. After the passage of the Stamp Act, the colony joined with other colonies in meetings, boycotts, and sporadic acts of violence in protest over Parliamen­tary taxation. The year and a quarter, from the tea dumping in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773, to the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, was the gestation period of New Jersey's revolutionary consciousness and organization. The forma­tion of a legislative Committee of Correspondence on February 8, 1774, and the tea burnings at Greenwich and Princeton marked the colony's active involvement in intercolonial unity and resis­tance, a grass-roots movement of concerned citizens and local leaders. Starting with a meeting of the freeholders and residents of Lower Freehold on June 6, 1774, counties and many towns chose Committees of Correspondence, Inspection, and Observation. Although still loyal to their king, New Jerseyans were beginning to oppose ministerial policies.

 The "shot heard around the world" reverberated in town meeting halls, at county courthouses, and on village greens in New Jersey. As soon as word was received, military preparations began spontaneously. The first meeting of the Provincial Congress on May 23, 1775, at Trenton clearly showed political power falling from the grasp of the royal government. This extralegal body supervised the organization and training of militia and minutemen, raised money, and appointed representatives to sit with other colonial delegations in the Continental Congress. The last meeting of the General Assembly on December 6, 1775, signaled the effective end of British rule, although it would linger until Governor William Franklin's arrest on June 18, 1776. The new government ratified a state constitution on July 2, 1776.

With the arrival of British naval and land forces in July 1776, New Jersey became an arsenal, a bread basket, and a battlefield. During the next seven years, the Continental Army relied heavily upon the state's manpower, iron, gunpowder, livestock, and grain to sustain the American war effort. The war for independence reached its nadir and one of its most significant moments of triumph on New Jersey soil. With the fall of Fort Lee on November 20, 1776, and Washington's desperate retreat across the Delaware River on December 7, 1776, the war seemed lost. With the surprise attack at Trenton on December 26, 1776, the Americans scored perhaps the most significant psychological victory of the war. While the United States had not yet won its independence, it had proved its willingness to continue fighting.

The American Revolution in New Jersey is best remembered for its major military engagements. The battles of Monmouth, Princeton, Red Bank, Springfield and Trenton deserve a prominent place in American military history. However, New Jersey supported Washington's army in winter encampment. During the winters of 1777, 1778-1779, and 1779-1780, most American forces sought shelter and sustenance at Morristown and Middlebrook. Although the mutinies of the Pennsylvania Line and the New Jersey Brigade in January 1781 exemplified the chronic problems of depreciating pay and inadequate clothing and food, still, the be­ leaguered New Jersey citizens helped American soldiers to survive the long winters.

New Jersey has received little recognition for its "other" war­, the unremitting skirmishes between the militia and foraging par­ ties, Loyalists and patriots, and privateers and British shipping. Frequent raids by Loyalists, Hessians, and British regulars into Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Somerset Counties matched numerous forays by American units upon Staten Island. All towns in the state lived in continual fear of British plunder and Loyalist retaliation. Massacres at Old Tappan and Osborn Island and atrocities at Hancock's Bridge provide ample evidence of the blood that was shed upon New Jersey soil. Both sides burned churches and courthouses, stole livestock, and plundered homes. The hanging of Captain Joshua Huddy symbolized violence and brutality in revolutionary New Jersey.

New Jersey formed a new political order in this cauldron of protracted conflict. A government on horseback, it fled the British army from Haddonfield to Princeton, Morristown to Trenton. The operation of a viable government involved enormous problems. It needed a Council of Safety to contend with the disloyal. It required harsh penalties to suppress and punish fleeing Loyalists, counterfeiters, spies, and robbers. The state's legislature and its indomita­ble governor, William Livingston, continually labored to combat the corrosive effects of inflation and local disorder while attempting to raise men, money and supplies for the state's defense. De­spite these obstacles, New Jersey's government survived and functioned.

On April 14, 1783, William Livingston proclaimed an end to hostilities... New Jersey's revolutionary generation experienced war in intensity and duration. A chronology of New Jersey's role in the American Revolution testifies to the state's importance in forming our nation - and to the pride we take in acknowl­ edging that contribution.

The author wishes to thank Charles F. Cummings, Supervising Librarian, Newark Public Library; H. David Earling, Project Officer, New Jersey American Revolution Bicentennial Celebration Commission; Professor Larry R. Gerlach, University of Utah; Peggy Lewis, Chief of Publications and Information, New Jersey Histori­ cal Commission; Dean Richard P. McCormick, Rutgers College, Rutgers University; E. Richard McKinstry, Reference Librarian, New Jersey Historical Society; David C. Munn, Historical Editor, New Jersey State Library; Lee R. Parks, Assistant Editor, New Jersey Historical Commission; Donald A. Sinclair, Curator of Special Collections, Rutgers University Library; and William C. Wright, Associate Director, New Jersey Historical Commission, for their suggestions and editorial help.