Valley Forge Has Nothin' On New Jersey

The historic site considered synonymous with George Washington’s defeat of the British is Valley Forge, a national park in Pennsylvania. Its claim to fame is that Washington’s troops spent a winter there in 1777.

But New Jersey has a part of that famed story that's just as dramatic, according to Patrick Murray, a history buff and the director of the Monmouth University Poll.

A year earlier, Washington's troops crossed the Delaware River in a nor’easter, marched to Trenton, and won two battles that breathed new life into the American Revolution, Murray said. Then Washington and his army spent the winter of 1776 in Morristown, N.J.

“Many people know about (Valley Forge) because its got great marketing,” Murray said.

Now, Murray wants to make sure the public knows New Jersey's story, too. He has joined with the Crossroads of the American Revolution, a nonprofit in New Jersey to release an audio driving tour of some of the state’s most significant historic sites from the revolution. Murray sits on the Crossroads board.

The driving tour is called “Ten Crucial Days” and it covers Washington’s march across the Delaware and into Trenton and Princeton. It can be downloaded through a business that publishes audio tours across the country, TravelStorysGPS.

Every year, a reenactment of Washington’s crossing of the Delaware is held on Christmas Day. The Crossroads of the American Revolution group hopes to produce a second driving tour, covering the leg of Washington's route – from the victorious Princeton battle, to the winter hideaway in Morristown.

It’s all an effort to convince state officials and political leaders to use some of the state’s federal dollars to build visitor centers and displays at many of the sites in time for the 250th anniversary.

“So that investment needs to be made in this coming year in order to have it all ready to go by 2026,” said Murray.

He and others are hoping the public is drawn to the story that played out in the Garden State.

“One of the worst weathers in recorded history occurs when the troops are in Morristown, not at Valley Forge” said Paul Clemens, a professor of history at Rutgers University who teaches about the American Revolution. “So everybody knows about Valley Forge and how terrible the conditions were. Morristown was worse.”

The difference in perception comes down to a little known piece of more recent history. In the lead up to the bicentennial celebration in 1976, New Jersey made a mistake.

“It didn't create the kind of investment that said, ‘Can we do this in a sustainable way where we can continue to bring people coming in?’” Murray said. Pennsylvania, in contrast, used its federal funding to create a national park, making it a popular tourism destination ever since.

The New Jersey driving tour takes about 90 minutes, and travels from just across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania to Trenton and Princeton.

The trip begins just over the border in Pennsylvania, where, on Christmas Day 1776, George Washington and his troops were in hiding and on the run from the British. The soldiers were abandoning the fight when Washington decided to use the element of surprise and go on the offensive. They crossed the Delaware River in a treacherous nor'easter with ice chunks barreling down the river.

“Frankly, this is one of the biggest stories in American history, let alone the revolutionary war,” Murray said. “But some people even think he crossed the Delaware in Delaware, not realizing Pennsylvania and New Jersey were a key part of that.”

By crossing in the winter, and going on the offensive, Washington was able to surprise the British in Trenton, and then Princeton, winning three major battles that changed the course of the war.

“New Jersey was absolutely crucial to the fighting of the American revolution, winning the American revolution by the Patriot side,” Clemens said.

“The people who lived there that day saw history being made and the fate of the United States of America really change and be put on a trajectory to our independence,” Murray said.

The stories are narrated by actors reading what people of the day wrote about their experiences. It is the perspectives of everyday people that has Murray most excited.

“This happened in places where people really lived. And this happened not just with the soldiers and generals, but with the people who lived along those roads, the same people who would have been our neighbors 250 years ago,” Murray said.

“The stories that they tell then are just as diverse, such as the fact that the Continental Army was more integrated in 1776 than it would be at any other time in history until President (Harry) Truman desegregated the troops in 1948.”