Morristown’s Individual Furlough Stories – Who Didn’t Go on Furlough?

Part VI – Artillery & Adjutant General

Emerging Revolutionary War welcomes back guest historian and park ranger Eric Olsen. Ranger Olsen works for the National Park Service at Morristown National Historical Park. Click here to learn more about the park.

What do poor health, a dead mother, a need to shop for new clothes, a pregnant wife, army business, a wife’s mental illness, family financial problems, and a desire to see family and old friends all have in common?

They are all reasons officers gave for asking for furloughs during the winter encampment of 1779-1780.

While the regulations and the various orders issued give us a general idea of the problems related to furloughs, we can get a different viewpoint by looking closer at the different Divisions, Brigades, and individuals who made up the army. The individual soldiers’ correspondence can also give us a more personal take on the furlough story. This paper will be far from comprehensive. It will just cover the furloughs that turn up in the surviving documentation. To make it easier to follow I have grouped the numbers and correspondence regarding furloughs by divisions and brigades.

After all this you might think everyone was away from the army sometime during the winter encampment of 1779-1780. But the majority of the soldiers stayed behind, including some of the top generals including Brigadier General Henry Knox, Major General Nathaniel Greene and the Commander-in-Chief George Washington.

There are several reasons for these men to remain in camp. First of all, even though it was winter, these men were quite busy running the camp and planning for the next campaign. Secondly, all three were dedicated to the cause and wanted to set a good example for the rest of the army. Then one of the biggest factors was the fact that all three generals had their wives join them during the winter camp. Lucy Knox and Kitty Greene even gave birth to new babies during their stay in Morristown.

The presence of these women and other officers’ wives opened up an entire social season for the officers, their wives and prominent members of the local population. There were dinner parties and dancing assemblies as well as more informal affairs. Single officers, like Lt. Beatty, who were unable to go away on furlough sought out the company of single daughters of prominent local gentlemen.

So, even for officers who were unable to obtain a furlough, there were some diversions during the winter camp.

Morristown’s Individual Furlough Stories Sources

Illustration of soldier & woman walking in snow – default.jpg (6216×4065)

Connecticut Line

Illustration –ReturnJonathanMeigsSr – Return J. Meigs Sr. – Wikipedia

Illustration – Jedediah Huntington | Military Wiki | Fandom

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George Washington to Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons, 12 April 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-25-02-0258

Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons to George Washington, 25 April 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-25-02-0341

Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs to George Washington, 24 February 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0458

Washington to Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, March 12, 1780

Writings of George Washington, John Fitzpatrick, editor, GPO, 1937

Footnote #1 in Major General William Heath to George Washington, 19 November 1779

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-23-02-0282

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Johnson to George Washington, 24 March 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-25-02-0098

Pennsylvania Line

Illustration – St. Clair’s Campaign of 1791: A Defeat in the Wilderness That Helped Forge Today’s U.S. Army | Article | The United States Army

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Illustration – Peale_miniature_portrait_of_Walter_Stewart.jpg (439×562)

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Washington to Maj. General St. Clair, December 21, 1779

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Lieutenant Colonel Josiah Harmar

Lieut. Colonel Josiah Harmar’s Journal No. 1 Commencing November 11^th 1778

Josiah Harmar Papers

William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan

B. Gen. Irvine to Mrs. Ann Irvine, Carlisle, December 22, 1779, Morristown NHP Photocopy Collection?

George Washington to Brigadier General James Clinton, 24 January 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0191

Brig. General Wm. Irvine to Pres. Reed, February 6, 1780

Pennsylvania Archives, Series 1, Volume VIII, pg. 103

George Washington to Brigadier General William Irvine, 6 February 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0314

George Washington to Samuel Huntington, 6–8 March 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0532

General Orders, 18 April 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-25-02-0299

Lt. Col. Walter Stewart to J. M. Nesbitt, February 1, 1780 – Morristown NHP Photocopy Collection

Joseph Reed to George Washington, 18 April 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-25-02-0307

Brigadier General Anthony Wayne to George Washington, 7 January 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0042

Brigadier General Anthony Wayne to George Washington, 11 May 1780

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George Washington to Brigadier General Anthony Wayne, 18 May 1780

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Brigadier General Anthony Wayne to George Washington, 25 May 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-26-02-0122

Lt. Elias Parker, Crane’s Artillery Regiment

Diary of a Revolutionary Soldier

Begun April 21^st, 1780; last entry on September 25^th of the same year.

Name of the writer unknown [Later identified as Lt. Elias Parker]

Virginia Historical Society MS 5:1 Un3:7

Lieut. Colonel Josiah Harmar’s Journal No. 1 Commencing November 11^th 1778

Josiah Harmar Papers

William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan

Stark’s Brigade

Illustration – Huts of Stark’s Brigade – NPS

Illustration – General John Stark – Ulysses Tenney, c1790 (Manchester Hist Assoc MHA 316) crop – John Stark – Wikipedia

Sinews of Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army, by Charles H. Lesser, University of Chicago Press, 1976

Ensign Thomas Russell to George Washington, 18 January 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0148

George Washington to Brigadier General John Stark, 25 November 1779

To Brigadier General John Stark

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George Washington to Brigadier General John Stark, 15 January 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0123

Footnote in Colonel Henry Jackson to George Washington, 15 January 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0118

Jabez Bowen to George Washington, 20 March 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-25-02-0072

New York Brigade

Sinews of Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army, by Charles H. Lesser, University of Chicago Press, 1976

Illustration –JamesClinton – James Clinton – Wikipedia

Brigadier General James Clinton to George Washington, 14 January 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0101

George Washington to Brigadier General James Clinton, 24 January 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0191

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Illustration – Marinus Willett MET DT2936 – Marinus Willett – Wikipedia

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Major General John Sullivan to George Washington, 28 September 1779

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-22-02-0450

Colonel Peter Gansevoort to George Washington, 8 October 1779

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-22-02-0542

George Washington to Brigadier General James Clinton, 12 February 1780

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0356

Colonel Peter Gansevoort to George Washington, 7 March 1780

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Ensign Stephen Griffing, 4^th NY Regiment

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Dan Meharg found this book reproduced on-line

Ensign John Barr, 4^th New York Regiment

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E263 N6N68 Morristown NHP Library

Map – Connecticut and parts adjacent. | Library of Congress

Map – A map containing part of the Provinces of New York and New Jersey, | Library of Congress

Hands Brigade & New Jersey Brigade

Illustration – The Character and Contributions of a Revolutionary Lord – Researching the American Revolution

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Lord Stirling to Washington, March 19, 1780. Washington Papers

Hand’s Brigade

Illustration – Edward Hand — Historic Rock Ford

Sinews of Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army, by Charles H. Lesser, University of Chicago Press, 1976

General Edward Hand to Washington, December 17, 1780, Washington Papers

George Washington to Brigadier General Edward Hand, 6 February 1780