History Dame

@history_dame

On December 1, 1779, George Washington ordered the Continental Army to settle into winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, beginning a brutal six-month encampment that would test their strength and resolve. Valley Forge remains the better-known winter encampment, but the winter at Morristown was the harshest.

The army pitched its tents primarily in Jockey Hollow, a 1,500-acre forest outside town. Over 10,000 men endured what many contemporaries described as “the hardest winter” of the war.

From the dense woods, they carved over 1,000 log huts

Washington and his senior officers took shelter in Ford Mansion, once owned by iron-miller Colonel Jacob Ford Jr.

Morristown’s winter encampment reminds us that victory in the Revolutionary War was more than battles. The resilience of those Continental soldiers during winter encampments helped preserve the promise of a free America.

6:07 AM · Dec 1, 2025

https://x.com/history_dame/status/1995449737160343731