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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2002
The strategy of the Revolutionary generals showed that New Jersey's
position on the Hudson and Delaware Rivers rendered the State dependent
upon the fortunes of New York and Philadelphia in war as well as in
peace. TO the discomfort of the patriots of 1776 and the delight of local
patriots ever after, Washington spent one-quarter of his career as Commander in Chief in New Jersey, moving his army across the State four
times. Within its boundaries were fought 4 major battles and at least go
minor engagements.
Toward the close of 1776 Washington retreated across the northern
part of the State and into Pennsylvania, seizing every boat for miles along
the Delaware to prevent British pursuit. On Christmas night he recrossed
the river and captured the Hessian garrison at Trenton in a surprise attack
that did much to rebuild the waning morale of the Revolutionaries. A few
days later, after outwitting Cornwallis at Trenton, he marched by night to
Princeton and there on January 3, 1777, defeated three British regiments.
The exhausted American Army then went into winter quarters at Morris-
town.
Coming by water route from New York, the British seized Philadelphia
in September 1777; but in June 1778, they evacuated Philadelphia and retreated across the State, harassed by Jersey troops. Washington hurried with
his main army to intercept the British Army of General Howe in the indecisive Battle of Monmouth on June 28. That winter, parts of the Continental Army encamped at Somerville, and in the winter of 1779-80 Washington again made his headquarters at Morristown. From New Brunswick
in 1781 the American Army started its march southward to the final victory
at Yorktown. In 1783 Washington delivered his farewell address to part
of the Army at Rocky Hill, near Princeton.
The war proved a stimulus to agriculture, industry, and commerce in
New Jersey. The State's farmers, sometimes involuntarily but mostly with
the shrewdness of non-combatants, turned a handsome profit supplying
provisions to both sides. Ironworks, gristmills, sawmills, fulling mills, tan-yards, and salt works operated at capacity. Goods brought in by privateers
and smugglers were advertised in the newspapers, indicating the luxury
possible to those who could afford it. Prices rose and labor was scarce. In
the rapid shift of values, due partly to monetary inflation, fortunes were
made and lost. The end of the war found the debtor a problem for the
first time since 1776. The lure of the West was soon to prove an attraction too strong for tax-burdened farmers on worn-out lands to resist.
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