Morristown National Historical Park
"We arrived here the 14 Decr. Since which we have been imployed in Hutting . . [and] the weather is aceedingly cold and the snow two feet deep on a level . . . "Captain William Allen, Angell's Rhode Island Regiment, January 4, 1780On December 14, 1779, approximately 1100 Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts soldiers of General John Stark's Brigade set up camp on this hillside. After two weeks of hard work in deep snow and freezing temperatures, the enlisted men moved into their new log huts. By Washington's orders, officers remained in tents until the soldiers' huts were completed. Some officers did not move into a hut until mid-February of 1780. For six months the soldiers endured shortages of food and clothing during the worst winter of the 18th century.Washington's army left Jockey Hollow in early June 1780 when British and German troops attacked, 15 miles east of Morristown, just beyond the hills on the horizon behind you. The soldiers of Stark's Brigade played a key role defending a bridge over the Rahway River at the battle of Springfield on June 23, 1780.
< Sidebar : >General Stark, the victor of the battle of Bennington in 1777, commanded four regiments: Colonel Israel Angell's (Rhode Island), Colonel Charles Webb's (Connecticut), Colonel
Henry Jackson's (Massachusetts), and Colonel Henry Sherburne's (Connecticut). Like many generals, General Stark went home on furlough for part of the winter.
1780 Drawing of Stark's Brigade An unknown soldier made this drawing of Stark's Brigade showing the arrangement of the regiments and their huts. Twelve soldiers lived in each of the small huts in the first two rows. The third row of small huts housed Ensigns and Lieutenants. Captains, two to a hut, were higher up the hill above the enlisted men. Colonels, Majors, and staff officers lived in the larger huts at the top. Notice that these huts are labeled to show their occupants.
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