![]() ![]() These were met by larger formations (numbering 300 and up) of American militia companies, sometimes with Continental Army support, that led on occasion to significant casualties. General Cornwallis sent out small foraging and raiding parties in January. Tactics Įarly in the winter, Washington sent out detachments of troops to systematically remove any remaining provisions and livestock from convenient access by the British. The men subsisted largely on rations such as salt pork, but their draft animals required fresh fodder, for which they sent out raiding expeditions. The area had been heavily plundered during the American retreat in the fall, so there was little in the way of local provisions. The resulting concentration of troops overflowed the available housing, which had been entirely abandoned by its residents, with some of the troops even living aboard ships anchored nearby the cramped quarters led to an increase in camp-related illnesses throughout the winter, and morale was low. Militia pressure in January led General Cornwallis to withdraw most of the northern troops to the shores of the Hudson. The garrison, numbering about 10,000, was concentrated between New Brunswick and Amboy, with a sizable contingent farther north, from Elizabethtown to Paulus Hook. The British army was initially deployed from posts as far north as Hackensack to New Brunswick. A large number of militia from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania bolstered these forces, and played a significant role that winter. Over the course of January and February, Washington's Continental Army shrank to about 2,500 regulars after Washington's incentives for many men to overstay their enlistment periods ran out. He established forward outposts to the east and south of these ridges that served not only as a defensive bulwark against potential British incursions across the hills, but also as launch points for raids. General Washington established his headquarters at Morristown, separated from the coast by the Watchung Mountains, a series of low ridges. Disposition of the armies ĭetail from an 1806 map showing the area where many of the skirmishes took place. This period, from December 25, 1776, through January 3, 1777, has become known as the Ten Crucial Days. Over the next two weeks, he went on to win two further battles at Assunpink Creek and Battle of Princeton, leading the British to retreat to northern New Jersey. On the night of December 25–26, 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware and surprised the Trenton outpost the following morning, December 26. As early as mid-December, these militia companies were harassing British patrols, leading to incidents like Geary's ambush, in which a dragoon leader was killed, and increasing the level of tension in the British and German quarters. The occupation of New Jersey by British and German troops caused friction with the local communities and led to a rise in Patriot militia enlistments. Howe then ordered his army into winter quarters, establishing a chain of outposts across New Jersey, from the Hudson River through New Brunswick to Trenton and Bordentown on the Delaware River. Washington retreated across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, taking with him all the boats for miles in each direction. He then chased Washington south toward Philadelphia. Over the next two months, General William Howe quickly gained control of New York, pushing Washington into New Jersey. In August 1776 the British army began a campaign to gain control over New York City, which was defended by George Washington's Continental Army. Main article: New York and New Jersey campaign The American operations were so successful that British casualties in New Jersey (including those of the battles at Trenton and Princeton) exceeded those of the entire campaign for New York. While many of these operations were small, in some cases they became quite elaborate, involving more than 1,000 troops. General George Washington ordered the systematic removal of such supplies from areas easily accessible to the British, and companies of American militia and troops harassed British and German forays to acquire such provisions. The British troops wanted to have fresh provisions to consume, and also required fresh forage for their draft animals and horses. After both British and Continental Army troops entered their winter quarters in early January, Continental Army regulars and militia companies from New Jersey and Pennsylvania engaged in numerous scouting and harassing operations against the British and German troops quartered in New Jersey. The Forage War was a partisan campaign consisting of numerous small skirmishes that took place in New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War between January and March 1777, following the battles of Trenton and Princeton. ![]()
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