To George Washington from Major General Nathanael Greene, 27 November 1779
From Major General Nathanael Greene
Morristown Nov. 27th in the Evening 79
Sir
Since I wrote your Excellency last I have been to examin the Equacanack [Pequannock] position and find it much to my liking.1 The Camp is naturally strong and may be made exceedingly so with a little art. There is great plenty of Wood and water and the ground is very dry and sandy. It lies 14 Miles from Pompton2 12 from Rockaway bridge 14 from Newark ferry3 18 from Elizabethtown 14 from Springfield and four from Equacanack [Aquakinunk] bridge. There are many things to be said in favor of this position but there are a few exceptions. It lies too far to the left to secure effectually a communication with Trenton; and it uncovers too great an extent of Country about Middle Brook and the Scotch plains. But it lies very favorable for West point, and the North River; and there is a secure retreat. General Wayne was with me to view the position after I had got it surveyd, and laid out. He thinks it a most excellent position, and preferable to any we can fix upon except we go to Sourland.4 However notwithstanding the many favorable circumstances attending this position I was not perfectly satisfied with it; and therefore set out yesterday in the Snow storm5 to make a further search about Morris town Mendon & Vealtown; all which I have rode over to day,6 and think a very good position may be had at Jockey hollow, right back of Mr Kimbles,7 about one Mile. The Army must hut in an irregular form, partly on the sides of a round Mountain. The Wood is pretty good and water in great plenty; and I think the ground will be pretty dry. The approaches to this Camp, will be pretty difficult and is a considerable remove farther from the Enemy than the Equacanack position.8 The distance from our supplies is not greater but as it is over the mountains the transportation will [be] more heavy and difficult to keep up.
On my return to this place this Evening I found Col. Hambleton at my quarters.9 Upon representing to him the circumstances of both positions he prefers this at Kimbles to that at Equacanack. He thinks we ought to be at a greater remove from the Enemy in order to render their approaches more difficult and their communication more precarious should they attempt to insult us, in quarters. We have no intelligence from the Enemy, that reduces it to a certainty that they are going to detach any considerable force. There is a great deal of talk about the matter, but nothing certain. Under these circumstances the Col. thinks we ought to make choice of an interior position especially as our force will be greatly diminished by and by. And advises me to write to your Excellency once more before I fix decisively upon the ground. Your Excellency is so well acquainted with this Country its strength and situation that it is unnecessary for me to add anything further upon the subject. I shall wait here until I hear from your Excellency and wish to have your sentiments upon the two positions.10 I am going to survey the ground about Bulyans [Bullion’s Tavern] to morrow; but the more I view that position the Make of the Country, and the approaches to it, the less I like it.
The Army is all halted between this and Rockaway bridge waiting further directions.11 Flour comes in, in greater plenty than it has done, I am in hopes therefore a full supply will be to be had in future. I am with great respect Your Excellency Most Obedt humble Ser.
Nath. Greene Q.M.G.
ADfS, DNA:PCC, item 173.
1. Greene is referring to his letter to GW of 23 November.
2. The actual distance from Pompton, N.J., is closer to four miles.
3. A ferry over the Passaic River in eastern Newark, N.J., had been authorized in 1765 and evidently lasted until 1795, when it was replaced by a bridge (see 153).
4. Greene almost certainly meant Harlingen in southern Somerset County, N.J., a village at least forty miles southwest of the Pequannock position that contained a Dutch Reformed Church known as Sourland Meeting House. That location is within fifteen miles of Trenton.
5. Snow fell generally around northern New Jersey and New York City on 26 November. Col. Israel Angell characterized it “as bad a Snow Storm as Generaly Ever Comes” ( 95). Pvt. Benjamin Gilbert wrote in his diary entry for that date: “In the Afternoon and Night it Snowd Very hard” ( 61). New York City printer Hugh Gaine wrote in his journal entry for the same date: “Snow and Rain, the first this season and weather” ( 2:71).
6. Greene rode nearly twenty miles to complete this circuit. Mendham, N.J., is about six miles southwest of Morristown. Vealtown, now Bernardsville, lies some four miles southeast of Mendham and roughly eight miles from Morristown.
7. Peter Kemble (1704–1789) trained as a merchant in Europe and came about 1730 to New York, where he married into a prominent family. Kemble prospered after moving to New Brunswick, N.J., and purchased a large tract of land near Morristown, where he built a substantial house known as Mount Kemble. GW visited this residence on 25 May 1773 (see 3:181). For three decades prior to 1775, Kemble served on the New Jersey governor’s council, but he lost this position because of his allegiance to Great Britain. Despite his Loyalist sentiments and the more active opposition of his sons, especially Stephen, a British army officer, Kemble was allowed to remain quietly at his residence during the war.
8. Jockey Hollow, a hilly area just southwest of Morristown, was about eighteen miles from the Pequannock position. New York City, the principal British post, was approximately ten miles closer to the Pequannock position than to Jockey Hollow.
9. Until earlier in November, GW’s aide-de-camp Alexander Hamilton and Brigadier General Duportail had been at Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey. They moved northward when it became clear that no rendezvous would occur with the French fleet for combined operations (see GW to Duportail and Hamilton, 11 Nov.). For Hamilton’s delay at Morristown, see GW to Philip Schuyler, 24 November.
10. Greene assessed the process of finding a winter encampment for the army in a letter to Asst. Q.M. Gen. John Cox, Jr., written at Morristown on 28 Nov.: “I am almost worn out with fatigue in riding around the Country in search of a position to hut the Army in. There are many things to be taken in consideration in the present choice which are not always necessary to be attended to. The Enemy have now their whole force collected at New York, ready prepared to take advantage, if any, of our misconduct. Our Army is much divided and the far greater part of the Soldiers times are out in about two Months. It is not impossible therefore the Enemy may have a winter Campaign in contemplation. Under these circumstances the General [Washington] thinks we ought to take a position for winter quarters at a very considerable remove from the Enemy and an interior situation. The business is renderd more difficult in the present choice from the necessary relation to opposite objects. It is the Generals wish to be as near West Point as possible, and yet so as to keep up a secure communication with Trenton, and be able to cover the lower Country, where our forage lies. But above all things he has enjoind it upon me, not to get too near the Enemy. With this table of difficulties before me, I have been perplexed not a little to find out where to fix the Army. I have rode hot and cold, wet and dry, night and day, in traversing the Country, in search of the most proper place for quartering the troops. In the whole of my research I have found only two places, that I can recommend as tolerable. One is about 3 Miles from this place near Mr [Peter] Kimbles, the other is at the great No[t]ch of the mountain about 4 Miles from Equacanack [Aquakinunk]. The first is the greatest remove from the Enemy, but the last is the strongest position. The General is still at West Point, and I have wrote him an account of both, and expect tomorrow his final determination.
“The moment the General determins you shall hear from me, in order to give the proper directions to the Stores” ( 5:122–23).
Reporting on the same topic, Greene observed in a letter to Moore Furman, deputy quartermaster for New Jersey, written at Morristown on 30 Nov.: “We are yet like the wandering Jews in search of a Jerusalem, not having fixt upon a position for hutting the Army” ( 5:130). For GW’s choice of Jockey Hollow as the army’s main winter encampment, see his letter to Greene on that same date.
11. Rockaway Bridge over the Rockaway River was roughly eight miles northeast of Morristown.