For years, the Mr. Local History Project has researched the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church cemetery, the community’s oldest burial ground. Our research identified 35 Revolutionary War veterans buried there through DAR records. However, a closer examination revealed that every one of those soldiers survived the Revolutionary War and died years later. None were among the 86 Continental soldiers reported to have died at the Basking Ridge General Hospital during the harsh winter of 1779 and 1780. That discovery raises an intriguing question. If dozens of soldiers died while being treated in Basking Ridge, where were they buried?
If 86 Continental soldiers died while being treated in the Morristown hospital system, and the principal experimental hospital was located in Basking Ridge, where were those men actually buried? For more than two centuries, no documented burial ground has been identified.
Well, that got us thinking. Let’s start with what we know.
Background
During the brutal winter encampment of 1779 and 1780, Basking Ridge became home to one of the Continental Army’s most innovative medical facilities. Wealthy patriot and financier John Morton donated land behind his home for an experimental hospital designed by Dr. James Tilton, later Surgeon General of the United States. Unlike the crowded military hospitals of the era, Tilton’s log structure featured three separate wards, excellent ventilation, and space to isolate patients with contagious diseases. Soldiers from the Middlebrook and Pluckemin cantonments who required extended medical treatment were transferred to Basking Ridge, where the hospital could care for the army’s most seriously ill and wounded men.
Importantly, none of the 35 soldiers in the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church graveyard died during the Revolutionary War (1775–1781). They all survived the war and died later, meaning they cannot account for the soldiers who died in the Continental Army hospital during the winter of 1779–1780.
Grave Marker Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church
Clues
Jockey Hollow / Basking Ridge Hospital Deaths
The search for the final resting place of the 86 soldiers begins by identifying who they were. The most important source is the Revolutionary War hospital records at the National Archives, where hospital returns, patient lists, and death registers may identify soldiers, their regiments, and their dates of death.
From there, the investigation will expand to the papers of Dr. James Tilton, Revolutionary War pension files, the records of the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church, the papers of John Morton, Quartermaster and hospital steward accounts, and the orderly books of the Middlebrook and Pluckemin cantonments.
Additional clues may be found in the collections of the New Jersey State Archives, the Library of Congress, Morristown National Historical Park, and archaeological studies of the hospital site. Piece by piece, these records may reveal not only the identities of the men who died in Basking Ridge, but also where they were ultimately buried.
The Army Medical Department states that only 86 soldiers died between December 17, 1779, and June 3, 1780, while the sick were treated at the Basking Ridge and Pluckemin hospitals. The footnotes cite Record Group 93 (War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records), Microfilm M246, Roll 135 at the National Archives. This is where we should begin because it may contain the original hospital returns rather than just the published summary.
Army historians state that 86 soldiers died in the Basking Ridge/Pluckemin hospital system between December 1779 and June 1780.
“Which roll of M246 contains the Hospital Department returns for December 1779 through June 1780?” That’s what we’ve requested from the National Archives.
MLH is specifically requesting images or copies of the Hospital Department records in:
Record Group 93
Microfilm Publication M246
Roll 135
Miscellaneous records
Hospital Department, jacket 3
Records covering December 1779 through June 1780, particularly returns associated with Basking Ridge, Pluckemin, Morristown, Dr. James Tilton, William Brown, or William Shippen.
William Brown, Director General of Hospitals, wrote to George Washington from Basking Ridge on May 29, 1780, enclosing the general return of the sick and wounded for April. The attachment has not been identified, but Brown’s correspondence proves that hospital returns were being compiled from Basking Ridge.
William Brown (1748–1792) was one of the most important physicians in the Continental Army during the American Revolution and a key figure in the medical care of Washington’s troops. Born in Scotland, he earned his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh before establishing a successful practice in Alexandria, Virginia. At the outbreak of the Revolution, he joined the Continental Army as a surgeon and quickly rose through the ranks because of his organizational skills and medical expertise. In 1778, he became Physician General of the Middle Department, placing him in charge of the military hospitals serving Washington’s army in New Jersey, including those at Basking Ridge, Pluckemin, and Morristown. Brown also worked to improve sanitation, hospital administration, and the training of army surgeons, and in 1779 delivered anatomy lectures at Washington’s request.
For our research, William Brown is one of the most important people to follow because he was responsible for compiling and forwarding the hospital returns. We already know that on May 29, 1780, Brown wrote to General George Washington from Basking Ridge, enclosing the monthly “General Return of the Sick.” If those original returns survive, they may identify the soldiers treated at the Basking Ridge General Hospital, record how many died, and possibly include their names, regiments, dates of death, or burial information. Rather than searching for the 86 soldiers individually, our best strategy is to locate Brown’s original hospital returns and correspondence, which likely served as the source for the published statement that 86 soldiers died during the winter of 1779–1780.
Our research continues. Please check back as we’ll update this post as more information becomes available. If you’re interested in working on this effort, just CONTACT US.
