Washington, Morristown and the American Revolution, from Revolutionary Times Weekend

By Carol Barkin

Nearly 100 professional and amateur historians came to Washington’s Headquarters on Saturday to hear an all-star panel hosted by the North Jersey American Revolution Round Table as part of the third annual Revolutionary Times Weekend.

Planners hope to make the symposium an annual event.

Appropriately, the morning began with remarks by “Mr. New Jersey,” author John Cunningham, one of the five founders of the Round Table.

Cunningham’s book, The Uncertain Revolution, formed the basis for the 2008 NJN documentary Morristown: Where America Survived, which airs on PBS and, in an edited version, plays at the Morristown National Historical Park.

The writer and the Round Table share the goal of raising awareness about the importance of the two winter encampments Morristown hosted during the American Revolution.

Gazing proudly at the full auditorium, Cunningham said he felt like a father looking at his baby for the first time.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” he said. “Keep it up!”

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Dr. Mark Mappen, New Jersey historian and co-editor of the Encyclopedia of New
Jersey, compared Morristown’s and New Jersey’s Revolutionary history to Aristotle’s six elements of good drama.

Our story fares well against any Greek drama on the basis of plot, protagonist, theme, diction, music and spectacle, Mappen said. He proceeded to demonstrate the music aspect with a very passable Yankee Doodle on his fife.

Next came an overview of the museum’s permanent and current exhibits, from Dr. David Cowen, president and CEO of the Museum of American Finance in
New York and a New Jersey resident.

Repeatedly, he referred to the museum’s patron saint, Alexander Hamilton, who was General George Washington’s aide-de-camp at Morristown. Especially interesting was Cowen’s photo of an event at the museum where Alexander Hamilton’s American descendants met their Scottish Hamilton relatives.

Carrie Fellows, executive director of the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, focused on the role of women and children who attached themselves to different brigades of the Continental Army providing services in exchange for food rations.

Services included cleaning, cooking, sewing, and washing. Many of the women were related to the men in the brigades they followed. Her talk shed new light on the role of women camp followers, who comprised three percent of the brigade and were told to remain behind the army and the baggage as they traveled.

Author of the The War Man, Robert Mayers, described his three-decade effort
to research and write books about little known battles and places of the Revolutionary
War.

A former soldier himself, he brought an authentic perspective. In his travels, he is always asked where he’s from. His automatic response now is: “I’m from New Jersey. You gotta problem with that?”  The audience heartily approved of the retort.

The final speaker, Dr. Jude Pfister, chief of Cultural Services for the Morristown
National Historical Park, did a show-and-tell with some rare items from the park’s collection.

These included a first edition of Private Yankee Doodle, the recollections of Joseph Plumb Martin, a private in the Continental Army who survived at Jockey Hollow during the 1779-1780 “hard winter.”

He also gave an overview of the Jacob Ford family, the Ford Mansion and the founding of the nation’s first historical park.

The symposium’s goal was to further awareness of Morristown’s importance to the war effort: It is necessary in any war for an army to refresh and revive itself so it is ready to fight the greater battles ahead.

Efforts to examine the lessons of the Revolutionary War become even more important as we move farther away from it over time.

To learn more or join the North Jersey American Revolution Round Table, go to njhistoryroundtables.org.

Carol Barkin is program manager for the Morris County Tourism Bureau.

READ MORE ABOUT REVOLUTIONARY TIMES WEEKEND

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