Forage War

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New York and New Jersey, 1776–1777
Long Island – Kip's Bay – Harlem Heights – Pell's Point – White Plains – Fort Washington – 1st Trenton – 2nd Trenton – Princeton – Forage War – Bound Brook

The Forage War was a partisan war consisting of many small skirmishes that took place in New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War in 1777, following the battles of Trenton and Princeton.

The British, after losing two major outposts, realized they could not have their forces split into posts any longer. In the winter of 1777, they held the town of New Brunswick and a fortified post at Paulus Hook (now part of Jersey City). General George Washington, trying to reform a Continental Army reduced by end-of-the-year enlistment periods, determined that the British should be harassed at every opportunity.

The British had to ship supplies from England by sea, a five to six-week trip each way, with many of these supply ships attacked by colonial privateers. Foraging by the British gave the Americans the opportunities they needed to obtain vitally-needed supplies, such as fresh meat, flour, hay, wood, and livestock feed.

The New Jersey Militia, supported by a few companies of Continental regulars, began to attack every foraging expedition to leave New Brunswick. Soon Washington was able to report that the British could not leave New Brunswick in formations of fewer than 1,500 men.

New Jersey in the American Revolutionary War