In the winter of 1777, after the battle of Princeton, while the American army was encamped at Morristown, NJ, General Washington sent a division under General Nathanael Greene to Basking Ridge, about four miles to the south.

A document called “A General Return of Waggons [sic] and Horses….,” relating to this time was received last year by the Historical Society, a gift of the Bedford (PA) Heritage Trust.  The document is currently on display at the Brick Academy and in our Online Collections.

Greene’s troops were sent to Basking Ridge from Morristown to be in position to harass the British who occupied New Brunswick and Perth Amboy.  From February through April 1777 Greene’s headquarters were at Lord Stirling’s mansion, which stood along what is now Lord Stirling Road.  

The following is an abstract of the document including names.

“A General Return of Waggons and Horses in the Service of the United States at Basking Ridge
Twelve waggons and fifty horses commanded by Capt. Jones and Lieut. Gamble Agreeable to their return annexed to this.

Patrick Cerny [Terny?], employed to carry Genl Green’s baggage
Capt. Johnston Smith[1]
Hector a Negroe employed to carry Genl Green’s Baggage
Matthew Hoyle
George A. Baker
William Doatty
John Waller
Joseph Auger
Capt. Church
Maj. McWilliams[2]
Maj. Blodget[3]
Majr. Clarke
Stephen Vail – horse and mare taken from Stephen Vail near Quibbletown he having (according to his saying) purchased them from the enemy at Brunswick[4]”

The American army used horse-drawn wagons to forage the countryside for food and other supplies to feed the army and to prevent supplies from falling into British hands.  Proof of a concentration of wagons at Basking Ridge is found in a letter from General Greene to his commander George Washington, dated February 20, 1777 from “Baskenridge”: 

“We sent down forty Waggons after forage Yesterday.  Their success I have not heard but they are mostly returnd.  This moment the Quartermaster came in and reports they all got full loads and have returned safe.  They were within a mile of the Enemies Quarters.[5]”

[1] A letter from Greene in Oct. 1778, says Johnston Smith submitted accounts in Philadelphia. Earlier, a “Mr. Smith” was involved in collecting wagons and horses. The Papers of Nathanael Greene, Vol. 2, University of North Carolina Press (1980), p. 286, 369, and 533.

[2] Maj. McWilliams is probably Major William McWilliams, an aide to Lord Stirling, who was instrumental in the discovery of the Conway Cabal.

[3] Major William Blodget was Nathanael Greene’s aide, who made copies of many of the general’s letters.

[4] The Vail family were early settlers in Basking Ridge.  The family cemetery is located on Stonehouse Road.  Quibbletown refers to a settlement in present-day Piscataway.

[5] Greene Papers, p. 25.