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In 1779, George Washington brought over ten thousand troops to Morristown, New Jersey, where they struggled to survive the worst winter in recorded history, with the American Revolution hanging in the balance. In a densely-wooded site called Jockey Hollow the army built a small city of log huts, only to suffer through five months of freezing temperatures, a woeful lack of supplies, and near-starvation. Washington’s army would not only survive, but eventually prevail against a sweeping British attack in the spring. Morristown’s pivotal role in the revolution has long been overlooked. New Jersey history writer John T. Cunningham changed that with his fiftieth book, The Uncertain Revolution. Now, NJN has brought the story to public television.
Morristown: Where America Survived explores that winter encampment experience at Jockey Hollow. By the middle of that “Hard Winter” of 1780, the entire eastern seaboard had been hit by major snowfalls and unrelenting freezing temperatures. George Washington himself reported that "... the oldest people now living in this region do not remember so hard a winter." The winter had become the enemy, and conditions in camp were miserable. The words of those who survived that winter bring the story to life, from the letters of George Washington to the recollections of Joseph Plumb Martin, who left historians one of the only detailed accounts of life for a young private at Morristown. Woven together, these voices tell a tale of extraordinary hardships and incredible fortitude, revisiting an episode in American history that should never be forgotten.
Morristown: Where America Survived was shot on location at Morristown National Historical Park and is narrated by award-winning actor Edward Herrmann.
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