Forage War

Forage War Part of the American Revolutionary War New Jersey militia commander Philemon Dickinson Date January–March 1777 Location New Jersey Result Militarily indecisive; American boost in morale Belligerents United States New Jersey Militia Great Britain Hessians Commanders and leaders William Maxwell Philemon Dickinson and others... Charles Mawhood Johann Ewald and others... Strength Thousands of militia, several companies of regulars 10,000 (New Jersey garrison size) Casualties and losses Unknown at least 954 killed, wounded or captured

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. 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 British troops wanted to have fresh provisions to consume, and also required fresh forage for their draft animals and horses. 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. While many of these operations were small, in some cases they became quite elaborate, involving more than 1,000 troops. 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.

Background

Main article: New York and New Jersey campaign

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. Over the next two months, General William Howe quickly gained control of New York, pushing Washington into New Jersey. He then chased Washington south toward Philadelphia. Washington retreated across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, taking with him all the boats for miles in each direction. 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. 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. 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.

On Christmas night, Washington crossed the Delaware and surprised the Trenton outpost the following morning. 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.

Disposition of the armies

General Washington established his headquarters at Morristown, separated from the coast by the Watchung Mountains, a series of low ridges. 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. 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. A large number of militia from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania bolstered these forces, and played a significant role that winter.

Detail from an 1806 map showing the area where many of the skirmishes took place.

The British army was initially deployed from posts as far north as Hackensack to New Brunswick. The garrison, numbering about 10,000, was concentrated between New Brunswick and Amboy, with a sizable contingent further north, from Elizabethtown to Paulus Hook. Militia pressure in January led General Cornwallis to withdraw most of the northern troops to the shores of the Hudson. 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. The area had been heavily plundered during the American retreat in the fall, so there was little in the way of local provisions. The men subsisted largely on rations such as salt pork, but their draft animals required fresh fodder, for which they sent out raiding expeditions.

Tactics

Early in the winter, Washington sent out detachments of troops to systematically remove any remaining provisions and livestock from convenient access by the British. General Cornwallis sent out small foraging and raiding parties in January. 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. In one early example, Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson mustered 450 militia and drove off a British foraging expedition in the Battle of Millstone on January 20. Washington gave his commanders wide latitude in how to act, issuing commands that they were to be "constantly harassing the enemy", and that they should be aggressive in their tactics. These early successes depended in part on successful intelligence; one British commander reported being met with force "notwithstanding the Orders were given, but a few hours before the Troops moved." Even supply convoys bringing provisions from outside the state to the large garrison at New Brunswick were not immune to the American attacks, where the Raritan River and the roads from Perth Amboy offered opportunities for sniping and raiding. Their difficulties led British commanders to change tactics, attempting to lure these militia units into traps involving larger numbers of British regulars.

Hessian Captain Johann Ewald (depicted later in life wearing a Danish general's uniform) was often near the front of the British lines

But even this was not entirely successful, as wily militia and Continental commanders including Continental Army General William Maxwell used superior knowledge of the geography to set even more elaborate traps. In one encounter in late February, British Colonel Charles Mawhood, thinking he had flanked a party of New Jersey militia, suddenly found his advance force flanked by another, larger force. As they were driven back toward Amboy, more and more Americans appeared, ultimately inflicting about 100 casualties. The elite grenadiers of the 42nd Foot, part of Mawhood's vanguard, were badly mauled in the encounter. A British force of 2,000 was repulsed by Maxwell in another well-organized attack a few weeks later.

The ongoing tensions took their toll on the beleaguered British. Johann Ewald, captain of a company of German jägers (essentially light infantry) who were often on the front lines, observed that "the men have to stay dressed day and night ... the horses constantly saddled", and that "the army would have been gradually destroyed through this foraging". Some forage was provided from New York, but it was never sufficient for the army's needs. As a consequence, the British were forced to provide many supplies from Europe, at great cost and risk to the Royal Navy.

Casualty estimates

Historian David Hackett Fischer compiled a list that he describes as "incomplete", consisting of 58 actions that occurred between January 4 and March 21, 1777. The documented British and German casualties numbered more than 900; a number of the events do not include any casualty reports. Combined with their losses at Trenton and Princeton, the British lost more men in New Jersey than they did during the campaign for New York City. Fischer does not estimate American casualties, and other historians (e.g. Ketchum and Mitnick) have not compiled any casualty estimates. Fischer notes that relatively few official reports of American (either militia or Continental Army) unit strengths for this time period have survived.

Ending

The 1777 military campaigns began to take shape in April. General Charles Cornwallis punctuated the winter skirmishes with an attack on the Continental Army outpost at Bound Brook on April 13. In this surprise attack, he very nearly captured its commander, Benjamin Lincoln. General Washington moved his army from its winter quarters at Morrisville to a more forward position at Middlebrook in late May to better react to British moves. As General Howe prepared his Philadelphia campaign, he first moved a large portion of his army to Somerset Court House in mid-June, apparently in an attempt to draw Washington from the Middlebrook position. When this failed, Howe withdrew his army back to Perth Amboy, and embarked it on ships bound for the Chesapeake Bay. Northern and coastal New Jersey continued to be the site of skirmishing and raiding by the British forces that occupied New York City for the rest of the war.

References

• Fischer, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019518159X. 
• Karels, Carol (2007). The Revolutionary War in Bergen County: The Times That Tried Men's Souls. Charleston, SC: History Press. ISBN 9781596293588. 
• Ketchum, Richard (1999). The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 0805060987. 
• Lundin, Leonard (1972) [1940]. Cockpit of the Revolution: the war for independence in New Jersey. New York: Octagon Books. ISBN 0374951438. 
• Mitnick, Barbara (2005). New Jersey in the American Revolution (1st ed.). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813536026.