E-SHAPED camp at Pluckemin housed barracks, storage and wagon sheds, and workshops for armorers, carpenters, coopers, and wheelwrights. The building with the weathervane in the middle of the E was the Academy.
THE REVOLUTION
During the American Revolution, the Somerset Hills were a hotbed
of military activity. The area fell victim to British raids, saw
the capture of American patriots and played host to a part of
the Continental Army. Many of its citizens chose sides, fighting
and dying for their beliefs.
For Bedminster Township, the most important chapter of the
Revolutionary period was the winter of 1778-1779 when, on orders
from Washington, Knox established in the village of Pluckemin
an encampment for the Continental Artillery with 1,000 troops
under his command.
The site chosen for the encampment was at the foot of the Second
Watchung Mountain, secure from British attack and near the Jacobus
Vanderveer House.
HENRY KNOX
Henry Knox seemed to have been everywhere in the
Revolution from the Boston Massacre to the British surrender at
Yorktown. Best known for his heroic winter trek to Boston with
artillery from Ticonderoga, Knox served with distinction in every
major engagement of the war and later became Secretary of War.
He is also remembered as the first commander of West Point and
as the namesake of Fort Knox. Before the war, Knox was a bookseller
in Boston, but was involved with the cause for American independence
from the beginning of the Revolution in 1775. It was then that
Knox met Washington who admired Knox's knowledge of artillery,
and came to rely on him in all matters regarding that field of
the military.
PLUCKEMIN ENCAMPMENT AND MILITARY ACADEMY
Henry Knox had some innovative ideas for improving
the artillery. At Pluckemin, he put many of his theories to practice.
The camp itself was an impressive site that attracted spectators
from miles around. In addition to barracks for the enlisted men
and separate quarters for the officers, the camp included an armorer's
shop, a complete military forge and a laboratory. The most significant
innovation, however, was the establishment of the first military
academy in the country for the training of artillery and engineering
officers, therefore becoming the forerunner to the Academy at
West Point.
The barracks, buildings and academy at the Pluckemin encampment
disappeared shortly after the end of the Revolutionary War.
Since then, most of the site has been intensively developed.
But in the late 1970s, the non-profit Pluckemin Archaeological
Project sponsored a dig which recovered thousands of artifacts.
Much was learned about the Revolution from the project.
IT’S A MYSTERY: What happened to encampment site?
From the framed buildings with their panes of glass to the plastered walls of the artillery academy, the Pluckemin Encampment obviously was made to last for a long time. Then why was the site abandoned? Historian John Seidel, a professor at Washington College in Maryland and director of its Center for Environment and Society, led a dig on the site between 1979 and 1989. He thinks Continental politicians may have put the kibosh on the installation because they were afraid of the Army getting too powerful.
With its prestigious training academy and its base as a supply center, Pluckemin might have been perceived as a platform from which the Army could take over the infant government. Whatever the reason, by the next winter with the Army at Morristown, the encampment became a hospital. “It was the busiest hospital in the Middle Atlantic,” noted Seidel.
After the war, one letter Seidel has seen talks about selling off the encampment structures. “What may have happened is that locals starting taking things apart and using the lumber in their homes and businesses,” he postulated. There were reports into the early 1900s of chimneys standing on the site. Road crews toppled them to curb portions of Schley Mountain Road.
What's Next for the Encampment?
As the Friends of JVH continue to persue state and National Historic Site status, we will continue to expand coverage of the events and history of this monumental time in American history.
The Friends of JVH have also registerd on the internet the following addresses so that the internet can better search the topic.
www.pluckeminartilleryencampment.com
www.pluckeminartillerycantonment.com
www.pluckeminarcheologicalproject.com
www.pluckeminarcheologicalproject.com
www.middlebrookencampment.com
