Zoom Presentation by Steven Elliott

The image of George Washington’s Continental Army suffering through harsh winters at Valley Forge and Morristown is familiar to most students of the American Revolution.  However, beyond cold weather and hunger, the details of daily life in these encampments has largely gone overlooked.  Also unrecognized are the Continental Army’s other winter camps at Middlebrook, New Jersey, West Point, New York, and Redding, Connecticut, among others.  This presentation will examine in depth the army’s winter quarters from the war’s beginning in 1775 to its conclusion in 1783.  It will cover the Continentals’ improvements to building quarters, maintaining hygiene, and providing a steady flow of supplies.  Keeping the army healthy throughout the winter and spring ensured it would remain effective during the active campaigns of summer and fall.  Consequently, winter quarters proved as important to Washington’s overall strategy as his more famous battles and sieges.

Biography

Steven Elliott holds a PhD in History from Temple University.  His research has been recognized by awards and fellowships from the David Library of the American Revolution, The Fred W. Smith Library at Mount Vernon, the Society of the Cincinnati, the North Jersey Heritage Trail, and the New Jersey Historical Commission.  His first book, Surviving the Winters: Housing Washington’s Army during the American Revolution was published in 2021 by the University of Oklahoma Press.  Advanced reviews have described the book as “demand[ing] we rethink the course of the American Revolutionary War.”

Steven has also published articles and reviews in New Jersey Studies, The Journal of the Early Republic, and The Journal of Military History.  He currently works as a unit historian for the United States Army Center of Military History.  Additionally, he teaches courses on national, local, and military history at Rutgers University-Newark and previously, worked as a park guide and volunteer at Morristown National Historical Park from 2009 to 2017.  He is currently researching an article on the US Army during the Quasi-War with France, 1798-1800.

The Bergen County Historical Society provides all programming and lectures by donations and membership.