On Independence Day, many Americans reflect back on how the country came to be. Historian Arthur Lefkowitz told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that New Jersey has a rich history connected to the Revolutionary War. He brought with him a map from 1777, called the Faden map, which shows how New Jersey looked centuries ago.
“In 1767 the border between New York and New Jersey was established and a map was created to show the border,” Lefkowitz explained. He said the Faden map was the principle map used by both the British and Americans during the Revolutionary War.
“So if you could picture George Washington surrounded by his officers and planning some strategic move in New Jersey, he was using that map, as were the British,” Lefkowitz said. “The map that I showed you is dated 1777. They kept revising the date of the map for business, for commercial reasons.”
Lefkowitz explained that the maps were actively sold in England so that the people there could get a better sense of where their family members or friends were fighting in America.
“Some of the principle battles and events of the American Revolution took place in New Jersey. We just haven’t been very good about publicizing it,” Lefkowitz said. “And even historians, because of the popularity of a site like Yorktown, which has been heavily promoted, they don’t focus on events in New Jersey. But we were center of the American Revolution.”
Lefkowitz said the route Washington took through New Jersey can still be followed, but said everything has been modernized. Washington ended up retreating into New Jersey after his attempt to defend Fort Washington in New York City failed. The British overtook Fort Washington in four hours and chased Washington into Westchester County. Washington eventually crossed into New Jersey to defend Fort Lee.
Four days after taking Fort Washington, the British climbed the Hudson Palisades. Lefkowitz said this was Nov. 20, 1776. He said their objective wasn’t Fort Lee, however. It was the Hackensack River Valley, which was known as the Garden of America at that time. “They needed the food. They were bringing everything from England. They had pieces of Long Island, but they wanted those farms,” Lefkowitz said.
The historian said Washington’s retreat went through well known areas of New Jersey. “During his retreat, which lasted about two and a half weeks, it was said that as Washington’s army was leaving Newark to the south and headed down towards Rahway, the British were coming into Newark from the north,” Lefkowitz said.
The Americans used a new warfare technique taken from the Native Americans of shooting officers. “This was an Indian tactic that they learned from the Indians and Washington was a frontier fighter. I don’t believe that he ever acknowledged or condoned a purposeful aiming at officers, but the Americans were doing it nonetheless because some of these riflemen were coming out of the frontier and this was the tactic that they used,” Lefkowitz said.
According to Lefkowitz, the technique was effective and showcased the capacity of the Americans’ weapons. “At Landing Lane Bridge in Piscataway, a rifleman picked off a Hessian, a German officer, a mounted officer, at over 400 yards and shot him and killed him off the horse. This was unbelievable that a weapon could have this range,” he said.
In addition to making a retreat through New Jersey, Washington also turned around the tide of the war in the Garden State. Lefkowitz said Washington’s attack on Trenton after crossing the Delaware River marked a turning point in the conflict. “That was the crucial moment, where he attacked the German mercenaries at Trenton and defeated them,” he explained.
When General Cornwallis was coming up from Princeton for Washington, Lefkowitz said Washington took a remote farm road and attacked the British troops at Princeton, defeating them. “If his army was fresh, he would’ve gone down Kings Highway — Route 27 if you would — to New Brunswick to capture the commissary, the equipment that was in New Brunswick. But his plan was ultimately to go to Morristown,” he explained. “And you can see that on the Faden map. Morristown was surrounded by heavy woods, was up on a high plateau.”
New Jerseyans may not realize it, but they are often traveling through very historic areas. “If you drive on the Newark Bay extension, you get up there and you look down and you see Newark and you look behind Newark, you see what they call the Blue Hills or the Blue Mountains or the Watchungs. Washington stayed in those mountains. And those mountains run almost from Princeton up to the New York state line,” Lefkowitz said.