On New Jersey hillside, clues to Revolutionary War mystery
CHATHAM TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — On a gently sloping hillside studded with pine trees, clues to a Revolutionary War mystery are slowly being revealed, spurred by the dogged efforts of a local historian and his teenage son.
An archaeological survey last week conducted on an unspoiled swath of land about 15 miles west of Newark Liberty International Airport produced several dozen items including metal buckles, a knob from a desk drawer, a shard from a clay pot and a partial pipe bowl.
William Styple, an author and editor of numerous American history books, believes those artifacts are proof that Gen. George Washington's army made camp there for several months in the winter of 1777, a year before the ragtag group hunkered down at its more well-known refuge at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
On a visit to a library in Morristown, Brad Styple, a high school junior who shares his father's keen interest in history, located two photographs from 1890 that showed a mansion that stands on the same spot today.
The winter of 1777 was a crucial juncture during the Revolutionary War as the Continental Army was gradually developing into the force that would emerge from Valley Forge the following year, said Wade Catts, West Chester, Pennsylvania-based regional director of Commonwealth Heritage Group, the firm that conducted the archaeological survey.
The money came from a state open space grant and public and private donations, Chatham Deputy Mayor Kevin Sullivan said.