“Pluck-em-in” and Middlebrook AND America 250 – Perfect Together.
Get to know this Great American History Story.
During the winter of 1778–1779, the Middlebrook Encampment stretched across the Somerset Hills while, at Pluckemin, General Henry Knox established the famed Pluckemin Artillery Cantonment, where the Continental Army’s artillery was organized, trained, and transformed into a disciplined fighting force. So move over, Valley Forge—there’s another Revolutionary War story that deserves its place in America’s history books: Middlebrook and Pluckemin.
The Middlebrook Encampment served as General George Washington’s strategic headquarters during one of the most critical periods of the Revolutionary War. Spread across the hills from Middlebrook to Pluckemin, thousands of Continental soldiers occupied a vast network of brigade encampments that protected the approaches to New York while preparing for the next campaign. At the center of this military community stood the Pluckemin Artillery Cantonment, commanded by General Henry Knox. More than a winter camp, it became America’s first organized military training center—often described as the nation’s first military academy—predating West Point by more than two decades.
Here, Washington’s Army evolved from a determined citizen force into a professional military organization. Officers and soldiers trained in artillery, engineering, logistics, and battlefield tactics under a structured system of instruction that helped shape the future United States Army. Nearby, in Pluckemin and Basking Ridge, officers celebrated the famous “Grand Entertainment,” one of the earliest formal military celebrations in America, honoring the alliance with France and the renewed confidence of an army preparing for victory.
Through the Mr. Local History Project, in collaboration with the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, the Jacobus Vanderveer House, Washington College, and historian John Seidel, this extraordinary chapter of American history is finally receiving the recognition it deserves. As our nation commemorates America 250, the story of Middlebrook and Pluckemin reminds us that independence was secured not only on famous battlefields but also in the camps where discipline, innovation, leadership, and perseverance forged the Continental Army into the force that won a nation.
Some say it came from an innkeeper who would “pluck ’em in” at his door along the Great Road. Others believe it honors a village in Scotland remembered by early settlers. Whatever its origin, this quiet crossroads became the heart of one of the most important military landscapes of the American Revolution.
Middlebrook & Pluckemin MLH Research
Was Pluckemin America’s First Military Academy? Expert Breaks Silence & Takes Position
Views: 837 Historic archeologist drops a verbal bombshell announcement at a New Jersey conference: The Rev War Pluckemin Cantonment WAS America’s first military academy, confirming the construction was done 24 years before the United States Military Academy at West Point.Dr.…
AI and History: Lessons Learned – Pluckemin Cantonment Edition
Views: 737 There’s something genuinely exciting happening right now for historians. For the first time, we have tools that can read, aggregate, and synthesize massive amounts of information in seconds, helping us connect sources, test ideas, and even visualize the…
Middlebrook Symposium – Pluckemin’s Rev War Academy Analysis with Dr. John Seidel
Views: 1,570 Pluckemin, New Jersey, pronounced “PLUCK um in“, carries three enduring name stories. Some trace it to a Lenape word for persimmon tied to early Algonquian place terms. Others repeat the roadside tale of tavern keeper Jacob Eoff, who…
Twenty-Four Years Before America’s West Point Military Academy (USMA) There was Pluckemin
Views: 203,223 America’s First Military Academy, the Pluckemin Academy (Dec.1778), was 24 Years BEFORE West Point (March 16, 1802). One of the greatest untold stories of the American Revolution.The Pluckemin Winter Cantonment, part of the overall Middlebrook Encampment of 1778-1779.…
The 13 Paintings at the 1779 Pluckemin Academy’s French Alliance Ball Grand Pavillon
Views: 12,913 The anniversary of America’s Alliance with France was celebrated on February 18, 1779, at Pluckemin, New Jersey, at a very elegant entertainment and display of fireworks given by General Knox and the officers of artillery. It was postponed…
The Stolen Lillie Drawing of Pluckemin Artillery Park
Views: 1,549 UPDATE:The story of the stolen 1779 historical artifact of John Lillie’s “The Winter at the Pluckemin Cantonment” continues as Mr. Local History researchers continue digging to locate the official FBI records of the stolen Pluckemin Cantonment artifact from…
Share Pluckemin Cantonment History With A Pocket Park – America 250 Ideas
Views: 2,094 With America’s 250th anniversary just around the corner, there’s no better time to recognize great American history about what we’ve coined “The Greatest Story Never Told” about the American Revolution – The Academy that came 24 years before…
Historic Moment at the Pluckemin Cantonment – Archeologist Finds His Mark
Views: 3,426 It was a cold, winterish April afternoon at the Jacobus Vanderveer House in Bedminster, New Jersey, as a very special guest came to tell his story about what has become a signature event in the history of the…
The Hills Church & Cemetery & Pluckemin’s Pigtail Mountain
Views: 3,397 In the early 1700s, German Lutherans settled around Pluckemin and established one of the region’s first congregations. By 1715, they had built a small log church on what is the Second Watchung Mountain, known also as Pigtail Mountain,…
The Boylans American Journey to Build Liberty Corner, Pluckemin and Bernardsville
Views: 5,281 Research Update:Are the Boylans and the Bullions the same family in Liberty Corner? Before Liberty Corner was Liberty Corner, it was Annins Corner AND we also found it named Boylans Corner (Bullions Corner). And what about that Bernardsville…
The Lost Lake Beneath the Hills: The Forgotten Silk City of Pluckemin
Views: 2,097 The “Lyons (France) of New Jersey” Then came industry. In July 1910 the Bernardsville News ran a whimsical headline: “The Lyons of New Jersey.” The article announced the arrival of “Big Bob” McCullough of Paterson, a larger-than-life entrepreneur…
Bedminster History Quiz – Are you a True Local?
The Mr. Local History Project has created a fun, interactive quiz to test your knowledge about Bedminster, New Jersey’s local history. The quiz includes corresponding answers and ancillary local history resources.
Rev War in Somerset County Means Middlebrook
Views: 10,814 Middlebrook is a know area in the Martinsville section of Bridgewater, Somerset County, New Jersey. We call it “Jersey’s Gift to America.” New Jersey is known as the “cockpit of the American Revolution.” More battles were fought in…
Lord Stirling’s Rev War Beacon Signal Towers
Views: 21,445 General Washington, the Continental Army, and General Lord Stirling of Basking Ridge drew inspiration from history and created a sophisticated communications network to track the British movement. They were called the “Beacons.” We start off with a classic…
Bedminster Map Project Reveals Historic Pluckemin Artillery Park
Views: 12,972 Map Identifies Historic Properties, Owners, Building Locations, Local History Including the Often Ignored Pluckemin Artillery Park With over 2,000 hours of painstaking research and countless renderings, the landscaping firm of John Charles Smith & Associates of Far Hills…
1779 – French Alliance Ball – Pluckemin New Jersey Historical Quotes
Views: 19,606 “The entertainment began with a discharge of 13 cannons at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.” The Grand Alliance Ball – Sunday, February 18, 1779 , Pluckemin, New Jersey In February 1790 the Pluckemin Academy in Bedminster Township, New…
Bibliography Helper:
More Middlebrook & Pluckemin Research
Two Solid Presentations to Share
The Hunter Research from 2003 is one of our favorite pieces of research about Middlebrook:
This 2012 Pluckemin Report prepared for the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission was just one of many reports that Brooks Betz worked on as a Trustee of the Jacobus Vanderveer House grant committee to acquire this deliverable from John Seidel. A great overview of his efforts. We have many of these other reports if you’re interested. Just write us.
| Year | Author / Organization | Title | Type / Availability | Research Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Richard F. Veit | Looking for Middlebrook in All the “Right” Places: Archaeology, Middlebrook, and the Washington Campground | Book chapter; recent archaeological reassessment | Monmouth University bibliography |
| 2021 | Richard F. Veit, Michael Brown and Geoffrey Fouad | Archaeology of the Middlebrook Encampments: Problems and Prospects | Book chapter, pp. 105–123 | Monmouth University confirmation |
| 2021 | Linda J. Barth, Sean Blinn and Margaret W. Sullivan, editors | The Continental Army Comes into Its Own: The Middlebrook Cantonment of 1778–1779 | Major collection of modern Middlebrook research; print and e-book | Google/Amazon book listing |
| 2021 | Robert A. Mayers | Middlebrook: The Revolutionary War Encampment That Saved America | Robert Adrian Mayers American History Press, 2021 – History – 381 pages | Google Books record |
| 2019 | Richard F. Veit and Geoffrey Fouad | Middlebrook Encampment Archaeological Assessment | Bridgewater Township archaeological project; report not found online | Fouad professional résumé |
| 2012 | Dr. John Seidel – Washington College | Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission Report (History) | Part of a larger grant series but a great overview | See Above |
| 2011 | Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area | Management Plan | Preservation and interpretation plan containing Middlebrook references | Online PDF |
| 2005 | Richard W. Hunter and Ian C. G. Burrow | “The Historical Geography and Archaeology of the Revolutionary War in New Jersey” | Book chapter in New Jersey in the American Revolution; includes Middlebrook-area interpretation | Google Books search |
| 2003 | Hunter Research, Inc. | A Historical and Archaeological Study of Washington Valley Park, East of Middle Brook, Including Part of the Site of Wayne’s Brigade Encampment of 1777 | Approximately 230-page archaeological report prepared for Somerset County Park Commission; complete report not publicly online | NJHPO Somerset County report catalog |
| 2003 | Hunter Research, Inc. | Selected pages from the Washington Valley Park study | Scanned excerpts, maps, excavation photographs and artifact pages | See PDF file above |
| 2002 | National Park Service | Crossroads of the American Revolution: Special Resource Study and Feasibility Study | Federal study examining Revolutionary War resources, including Middlebrook | NPS publications search |
| 2001 | Glenn Valis | The Middlebrook Winter Encampment of Washington’s Army, December 1778 to June 1779 | Complete online historical essay | Read online |
| 1999 | Ernest Richard Bower | Revolutionary War “At the Crossroads” | Book containing Bower’s field observations and Revolutionary War site research; limited availability | Referenced by Don’s Notes |
| 1999 | William A. Schleicher and Susan J. Winter | Somerset County: Crossroads of the American Revolution | Illustrated local-history book covering Middlebrook and related sites | Google Books record |
| 1987 | John L. Seidel | The Archaeology of the American Revolution: A Reappraisal and Case Study at the Continental Artillery Cantonment of 1778–1779, Pluckemin, New Jersey | Doctoral dissertation; central archaeological study of the artillery portion of the second Middlebrook cantonment | WorldCat search |
| 1975 | A. A. Boom | Report on the Middlebrook Encampment by the Continental Army During the Middle of 1777 and the Winter of 1778–79 | Publisher Somerset County Historical Society, 1975 Length 156 pages; cataloged by NJHPO | NJHPO report catalog See also Google Books |
| 1975 | Washington Camp Ground Association / nomination preparers | Middlebrook Encampment Site National Register Nomination | Official historic-site documentation associated with the site’s National Register listing | National Archives catalog search |
| 1974 | William Liesenbein | Report on a Preliminary Archaeological Investigation of the Alleged Site of the 1777 Summer Encampment of Wayne’s Brigade at Middlebrook, New Jersey, June 9–July 27, 1974 | Unpublished archaeological report; NJHPO catalog reportedly identifies its repository copy as missing | NJHPO report catalog |
| 1972 | Clifford Sekel Jr. | The Continental Artillery in Winter Encampment at Pluckemin, New Jersey, December 1778–June 1779 | Master’s thesis, Wagner College; important background for the second Middlebrook cantonment | WorldCat search |
| 1958 | Carl E. Prince | Middlebrook: The American Eagle’s Nest | Foundational 88-page booklet; Somerset Press, Somerville | WorldCat record |
| 1917 | Henry Max Schrabisch | Articles concerning Revolutionary War archaeology and remains in Somerset County | Early archaeological observations relating principally to Pluckemin and the wider Middlebrook cantonment | Internet Archive search |
| 1915 | Sara Comstock | “To Washington’s Old Camp Ground at Middlebrook” | Newspaper feature, The New York Times, June 27, 1915 | NYTimes archive search |
| 1895 | T. E. Davis | The Battle of Bound Brook | Early history published by the Washington Camp Ground Association; includes “American Camp on the Middlebrook” | Internet Archive search |
| 1893 | T. E. Davis | First Houses of Bound Brook | Early local-history work containing information on the Middlebrook Hotel, roads, houses and Revolutionary-era landscape | WorldCat search |
| 1881 | James P. Snell, editor | History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey | Major nineteenth-century county history with Bound Brook, Bridgewater and Revolutionary War material | Read online |
| 1850–1852 | Benson J. Lossing | The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution | Early published account containing visits, descriptions and illustrations of Revolutionary War locations | Internet Archive copies |
