I recently discovered some interesting articles online about New Jersey history.\u00a0For instance:<\/p>\n
Nice summary of the events of the winter of 1780-81 when NJ troops stationed at Pompton became fed up with their conditions. Written in casual, non-academic language, perfect for us busy folks who love history but have other things to distract us. Considering that the mutineers had agreed to return to camp, it is surprising that Gen. Washington took such a strong position against them. Despite the fact that the NJ men only wanted to return home because their enlistments had expired, Washington and Howe determined to make an example of them, to discourage insubordination throughout the army. Two men were executed:\u00a0Sergeant David Gilmore and\u00a0Sergeant John Tuttle.\u00a0Sergeant Major Grant would have been, but officers were persuaded he was not a ring leader that they thought he was. It was a high price to pay for a disciplined army.
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Hunterdon Co. resident Dominick Mazzagetti has published a book titled\u00a0Charles Lee: Self Before Country<\/a>, describing the life of one of the most embarrassing officers of the Continental Army. If you haven’t bought the book yet, this\u00a0article will do for a warm-up. Dacus quotes extensively from Lee’s own letters, letting Lee show how his own pride and narcissism brought about his disgrace.<\/p>\n Let’s hear a word of praise for the militias, especially those from New Jersey. True, they were undisciplined, and had a tendency to return to their farms after their one-month tours of duty expired. Washington was exasperated with them during the early years of the war. But eventually they proved their usefulness, and as Fleming writes,\u00a0“the militia could not have won the war alone but the war probably could not have been won without them.”<\/p>\nThomas Fleming, Militia and Continentals <\/a>(December 30, 2013)<\/h4>\n