Welcome back to National Parks & other public lands with T! If you are seeing this on Twitter or Facebook, please visit the blog to see all of the photos and read the story by clicking the link.
The Jockey Hollow unit of Morristown National Historical Park is the site of the Continental Army’s main winter encampment. My first stop was the Jockey Hollow Visitor Center. There, I watched the 15 minute film and arranged for a volunteer to take me inside the Wick House.
The film described what life was like for the common soldier who wintered at Jockey Hollow during the harshest winter of the War, from December 1779 to June 1780. Huddled in log cabins with rags for clothing and little food, the army hunkered down to wait for Spring.
The miserable conditions gave rise to desertions and mutinies, but the death toll was actually small compared to the winter previously spent at Valley Forge. Lessons learned from Valley Forge led to smarter construction and better hygiene designed to prevent the spread of disease.
After watching the film and touring the Wick House, I decided to walk the 2.5 mile park loop road. There are 27 miles of hiking trails in the park, but these were all covered with snow and ice on the day of my visit. There were plenty of pedestrians, dog-walkers and cyclists sharing the road with me.
About halfway around, I came to the Grand Parade. This is now just a field representing the original larger field where soldiers drilled, lined up for inspection and is where an administrative office stood from which court marshals were issued. A few men were hanged and buried here.
Next I came to the site of the Pennsylvania Brigade’s encampment. Here there are reconstructed soldiers huts which are used for historical reenactments in the Spring. The log cabins were small and bunked 12 men.
The officers’ huts were bigger, with two separate rooms that housed two men each. The officers’ huts were built last, after the soldiers’ cabins were completed.
By 1780, the soldiers had constructed 1200 huts in Jockey Hollow.
Morristown Posts:
- Ford Mansion
- Wick Farm
- Jockey Hollow
Location: 586 Tempe Wick Rd, Morristown, NJ 07960
Designation: National Historical Park
Date designated or established: 3/2/1933
Date of my visit: 2/23/2019
Nice you could visit, I heard about it when I was down there but missed the time to get there, looks interesting
I haven’t visited during a re-enactment….that should be a very interesting time to visit. Are you not in Independence anymore?
Pingback: Morristown National Historical Park: Jockey Hollow | researchesofjoannemariesworld
Reblogged this on ravenhawks' magazine.
I can’t believe how much this looks like Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in North Carolina — super similar!
I guess the discipline of the army keeps things consistent. There are some similarities between Valley Forge and Morristown, though they tweaked the cabin design a bit in Morristown to prevent the spread of disease that had decimated the troopship valley forge
I have never heard of this place – I feel so ignorant.😄
I guess the loss of life was less here than the previous encampment at Valley Forge, so people don’t hear as much about it😀
Another great historical site. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading and commenting 😊. Hope you are well 😷
Pingback: National Parks USA Park Related Books I Read in 2019
Pingback: Morristown NHP: Ford Mansion - National Parks With T