NJ’s Revolution highlights: Washington, troops — and ordinary folks

Ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday, Garden State organizations are reminding residents just how big a role New Jersey played in the American Revolution.

Crossroads of the American Revolution is meant to connect people with that heritage and inspire pride, stewardship and civic engagement, said Executive Director Carrie Fellows.

“People don’t think about New Jersey as a Revolutionary War destination,” she said. “But the Continental Army was here all throughout the eight years of the war. And George Washington spent over one-quarter of his time in New Jersey.”

The organization’s National Heritage Area spans parts of 14 counties and connects Revolutionary sites, tours and programming. Among the 62 such designated areas across the country, it is the only location dedicated to telling the story of the American Revolution.

‘Follow the battles’

New Jersey has more than 150 Revolutionary War sites, including Morristown National Historical Park, where  Washington and the Continental Army spent two winters. Visitors there can see the Ford Mansion, which served as Washington’s headquarters during the winter of 1779, and Jockey Hollow, where some 10,000 troops set up camp.

“We always hear about Valley Forge, but Morristown was at least as hard,” Fellows said.

State parks preserve and educate about the Princeton and Monmouth battlefields, and Washington Crossing, on the New Jersey and Pennsylvania banks of the Delaware River.

“You can follow the battles all through New Jersey,” Fellows said. “It’s fascinating.”

Crossroads and its partners are planning events through 2033 to mark not not only the nation’s founding in 1776 but also the war’s full arc. Fellows noted that in 1783, at what is now Nassau Hall at Princeton University, the Continental Congress found out about the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war and recognized the United States as a nation.

Crossroads’ main goal is to tell the stories of those caught up in the Revolution, Fellows said. She emphasized soldiers, tavern owners, enslaved people and New Jersey residents whose homes and communities became part of the war.

“It’s not just all about the famous people, the ones we hear about,” Fellows said. “It’s just fascinating to learn about ordinary people that became extraordinary.”