The Forage War was a campaign of attrition waged by Patriot militiamen against British communications and supply columns in New Jersey, occurring from January to March 1777 during the American Revolutionary War.
Background[]
In the fall of 1776, George Washington's army looked all but beaten. The British commanders began to think they were close to delivering a decisive victory that would end the conflict. British Redcoats had proved themselves strong in the face of an untrained Patriot army. The year 1776 had seen British victories and advances, with General William Howe's invasion of New York and success in Canada. After the Patriot defeats in battles at Long Island and Harlem Heights, Washington retreated across the Delaware River. He fought back in December 1776, routing the Hessians in a surprise attack at Trenton and then defeating the British garrison at Princeton. After Trenton and Princeton, the Continental Army retired to take up its winter quarters in Morristown, New Jersey, while General Howe's Redcoats fell back to Perth Amboy and New Brunswick.
History[]
The Patriot successes at Trenton and Princeton meant that even after a full year of successful campaigns the British were on the defensive at the beginning of 1777. Although General James Grant, in command of the British garrisons in New Jersey, bragged that he could hold down the state "with a corporal's guard," Washington had proved that his Continentals were far from finished as an effective fighting force.
However, with winter upon them, a full-scale resumption of the war was out of the question. Washington also faced two major problems. First, many of his men's enlistment periods had come to an end, temporarilyl reducing his fighting strength to around 2,500 Continental troops, who were now established in camps around Morristown; second, smallpox was spreading rapidly through the ranks.
Laissez-faire commander[]
The British commander-in-chief, General Howe, did not intend to renew the New Jersey campaign immediately. Indeed, Justice Thomas Jones, a New York Loyalist angered by Howe's lackadaisical conduct, claimed that the commander in chief "was diverting himself in New York in feasting, gunning, banqueting, and in the arms of Mrs. Loring." Washington swiftly recognized the importance of harassing the British supply lines. In particular, he was determined to stop the British from foraging for feed for their horses. He explained in a letter to Major General Joseph Spencer that "the Enemy...are much distressed for Provision and Forage, and, unless they make a push to extricate themselves, they must in a Manner perish this winter."
A local struggle[]
Washington urged the militia to launch pinprick attacks on British and Hessian foragers and supply columns whenever they had the opportunity. In addition to interrupting supply lines, the aim of this constant attrition was to prevent the opposing army from consolidating control of an area. Soldiers on both sides had to be alert and ready for action at any time. From early January to the end of March 1777, armed clashes and skirmishes took place between Patriot militiamen, sometimes supported by small Continental Army detachments, and the British forces. Actions largely centered on New Jersey's Raritan Valley, running north and west of New Brunswick to the Millstone River. Many of the militiamen came from villages in New Jersey, and although both sides laid traps for each other in the countryside, their superior knowledge of the local area gave the Patriot troops a distinct advantage.
The first skirmish took place on 4 January 1777, when Patriot militiaman Captain John Stryker, leading the Somerset Horse, captured a supply train near Ten Mile Run, a tributary of the Millstone River. The train's five wagons were filled with warm winter woolens, which Stryker promptly sent to Washington to help clothe his ragged army. Further attacks on British and Hessian foraging parties followed at Newark, Rahway (then known as Spanktown), and around Elizabethtown, which the British then abandoned on the orders of General Howe, who was conducting the campaign from the safety of New York. Washington told the Continental Congress that the British had evacuated Elizabethtown "with so much precipitation" that they lost 100 prisoners, two regiments' baggage, and a whole host of provisions.
Spoils of war[]
The skirmishing intensified. On 20 January, Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson led around 400 New Jersey militiamen and 50 Connecticut riflemen into action at the Battle of Millstone, about 8 miles west of New Brunswick. The 20-minute skirmish against 500 British regulars and Hessians resulted in a clear victory for the Patriots. According to Washington, Dickinson's men acquired "107 horses, 49 wagons, 115 cattle, 70 sheep, 40 barrels of flower, and 106 bags among other things." They also took 49 prisoners. In New York, General Howe became increasingly concerned as the Patriot attacks persisted. Charles Stedman, a British commissary officer, noted that "the excursions which the garrison...made for forage, were often attended with fatal consequences."
Bigger prizes[]
Although minor skirmishes continued in New Jersey throughout the war, by March 1777 Washington and Howe's Forage War was over. The coming of spring brought relief for the hard-pressed British, as attentions turned to the year's bigger campaigns. In April, the British saw victory at Bound Brook, returning to New Brunswick after looting the town and capturing supplies. Washington's army took up positions at Middle Brook. In June, Howe marched his army to Somerset, hoping to draw out the Patriots, but Washington did not fall for the feint. After minor skirmishes, Howe set sail for Chesapeake Bay, refocusing his attention on capturing Philadelphia, America's largest city.
Aftermath[]
Once General Howe made the capture of Philadelphia his primary objective, he moved his army out of New Jersey. At the same time, General John Burgoyne, commanding troops in Canada, hatched his own plan. Wary of crossing the Delaware, Howe wrote to Lord George Germain, in charge of British strategy in London, "I propose to invade Pennsylvania by sea." Meanwhile, General John Burgoyne prepared to march down the Hudson Valley from Canada. In Philadelphia, George Washington briefed the Continental Congress on the state of the war. He was joined by a new military ally, French volunteer the Marquis de Lafayette. British advances on Philadelphia forced the Congress to move, first to Lancaster, and then to York, Pennsylvania, where, seeking to strengthen cooperation between the Thirteen Colonies, it finalized and issues the Articles of Confederation.