Tag: New Jersey

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Raid Across the Ice: the British Operation to Capture Washington

In early February 1780, General George Washington’s main army was encamped at Jockey Hollow, New Jersey. But the general maintained his headquarters about three miles away in Morristown, at the house of the widow Theodosia Ford. That separation enticed the British high command into undertaking an operation that, if successful, would cripple the Continental Army […]

by Benjamin Huggins
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Charles Lee: Gift of Controversy

Until the capture of Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright in World War II, the highest-ranking American generals taken prisoner were Major Generals Benjamin Lincoln and Charles Lee. Lincoln was taken when his army was forced to surrender at Charleston in 1780 but the enigmatic, eccentric Lee was ignominiously kidnapped when he failed to billet himself within […]

by Jeff Dacus
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The Forgotten First Battle of Monmouth

Fought on June 28, 1778, the Battle of Monmouth is correctly remembered as one of the largest battles of the American Revolution, and the last major engagement fought in the North. But almost no one remembers that a smaller clash took place on roughly the same ground eighteen months earlier. Although a much smaller and […]

by Michael Adelberg
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Mary Hays McCauley’s Claim to Fame

MYTH: “American women also won fame for their bravery during the war. Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley earned the name Molly Pitcher by carrying fresh water to American troops during the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey in 1778. When her husband was wounded, she took his place in battle, loading cannons.” — United States: Making […]

by Ray Raphael