The Forage War, 1777: How the British Lost New Jersey (Middlebrook Symposia Proceedings)

The Forage War, 1777: How the British Lost New Jersey (Middlebrook Symposia Proceedings)

During the second and third years of the American Revolution, George Washington and the Continental Army encamped in the Watchung Mountains, a natural defensive fortress near Middlebrook (part of present-day Bound Brook), New Jersey. Refusing to be enticed into a full-scale battle with the British, he defended New Jersey while building his army. In March 2025, the Heritage Trail Association held the third of a 4-part series of symposia on the Continental Army's two different seasonal stays in this area of central New Jersey. The four symposia, leading up to the country's 250th anniversary, bring forward new research and scholarship on this little-known period of the American Revolution (spring 1777 and winter 1778-1779). This third volume of the Proceedings of the Middlebrook Symposia compiles the presentations of March 15, 2025. It defines the Forage War that took place in Middlebrook, punctuated by three prominent engagements, The Battel of Van Nest Mill, The Battle of Bound Brook, and the Battle of Short Hills. It includes the previously unpublished historian's report on the Battle of Van Nest Mill, and the 2024 installments of HTA's "Rolling to Revolution" newsletter. A final volumes will follow the Symposia to be held in 2026, completing the series.