Arnold's Tavern
Arnold’s Tavern, originally built by Samuel Arnold in the mid-18th century, formerly stood here on what was Morristown Green. General Washington used this once imposing, three-story structure as his headquarters during the army’s encampment at Morristown from January through May 1777.
Yes, “Washington slept here!” (on the second floor) but importantly, for five months in 1777 Arnold’s Tavern served as the nerve center for his Continental Army. From here, Washington may have looked out over Morristown Green—where you’re standing now—while he anxiously wrote letters to the Continental Congress and other patriots, informing them of the present state of the troops: “our army is daily diminishing…vigorous exertions must be made to recruit and clothe the troops.” Washington wrote countless letters urging for the continued support of his dwindling army, attempted to procure clothing and supplies, and pressing Congress to help bolster his falling numbers.
As disease, desertion, and fatigue rapidly diminished his troops, Washington urged vigilance, support, and readiness. From his rooms here at Arnold Tavern, Washington planned for the next season of war, writing “the enemy will not remain inactive…We must be prepared to meet them with firmness and resolution.”
Imagine approaching the three-story high tavern, climbing the winding stairwell to the second floor, and meeting General Washington in his office.
Morristown Green
If you traversed across Morristown Green in early 1777, you’d risk getting in the way of General George Washington’s Continental Army drilling and parading here. You’d be better off taking in the imposing view from one of the 18th-century homes and public buildings that once dotted the 2 ½-acre Green, maybe even Arnold’s Tavern which Washington used as his Headquarters. In the Revolutionary era, the Green was central to community life. Today, surviving historic structures, statues, and historical monuments and markers tell the stories of its layered past. While you’re here, take a selfie or two with the statues of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Marquis de Lafayette. They’re shown in discussion about France officially supporting the American cause—a real conversation that happened near here on May 10, 1780.
Presbyterian Church of Morristown
“The smallpox has made such a head in every quarter, that I find it impossible to keep it from spreading through the whole army…I have therefore determined…to inoculate all the troops now here…” General George Washington, Morristown, February 5, 1777
Today you’re looking at the third church built on this site, but the original Presbyterian Church and existing cemetery were here during the army’s encampment in the winter of 1777. The Burial Ground you see is a stark reminder of the cost of war. Over 130 of these burials are known to be casualties or veterans of the American Revolution. But the church that stood here 250 years ago also played a vital role in the Continental Army’s survival.
From his headquarters at Arnold's Tavern across the Green, on February 6, 1777 General George Washington wrote Dr. William Shippen, Jr., the Director General of Hospitals for the Continental Army, issuing what was effectively the first national public health directive: the Continental Army would be inoculated against smallpox. Here’s how it worked: doctors made small incisions into the skin of healthy recipients, and inserted pus or scabs from a smallpox patient. Exposure to the disease would cause a mild version of smallpox but ultimately (in theory) led to future immunity.
Ford Mansion
“Our whole Light Infantry are quartered in a very large house belonging to Col. Ford having 4 rooms on a floor and two stories high.” Captain Thomas Rodney, Delaware Light Infantry
Delaware troops called this impressive mansion home for a short time in early 1777. According to one eyewitness, while these soldiers “...were sons of some of the leading men of that state – gentlemen by birth” they were ”rowdies in practice” who “injured the room very much by their nightly carousals.”
The owner Jacob Ford, Jr. was himself a patriot colonel in the Morris Militia. Shortly after the victory at Princeton while Ford was leading his troops towards Chatham, Ford was “struck all at once with a Pleurisy and delirium,” causing him to be immediately carried to his home here. As General George Washington’s army arrived in Morristown and prepared to overwinter in its private homes, over 40 soldiers promptly moved into the first floor while the gravely ill Ford languished upstairs. Ford died here on January 10, 1777. Soldiers, fifes and drums, and Washington himself attended the full military funeral, and Ford’s burial at the nearby Presbyterian Church.
Ford’s former home would be at the center of the war yet again when Washington chose it as his headquarters in December 1779.
Ford Mansion is open for guided tours offered by the National Park Service.
