For decades, visitors to Jockey Hollow believed they were standing beside the burial ground of Continental soldiers who died during the terrible winter of 1779–1780. However, archaeological investigations found no human remains, and the National Park Service now believes that soldiers who died in camp were generally buried near their individual brigade parade grounds rather than in a single central cemetery.
Today, the exact resting places of those who died at Jockey Hollow remain unknown. But what about the soldiers who did not die in camp? What about the 86 men who reportedly died at the Continental Army General Hospital at Basking Ridge? Where were they buried?
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:
Winter at Jockey Hollow
During the brutal winter of 1779–1780 at Jockey Hollow in Morristown, 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.
Back to Basking Ridge, it should be noted that none of the 35 soldiers buried 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
Clue #1:
Continental Army Physician General – Dr. William Brown
Dr. William Brown (1748–1792) served as Physician General of the Continental Army’s Middle Department, making him the senior medical officer responsible for overseeing military hospitals in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland during some of the most critical years of the American Revolution.
Appointed by the Continental Congress, Brown supervised the Army’s network of general hospitals, directed medical personnel, managed supplies and hospital returns, and reported regularly to General George Washington on the condition of sick and wounded soldiers. During the harsh winter of 1779–1780, Brown oversaw the Continental Army General Hospitals at Basking Ridge and Pluckemin, where he entrusted Dr. James Tilton with designing and operating the innovative Basking Ridge hospital. Working closely with Washington’s headquarters at nearby Jockey Hollow, Brown played a vital role in maintaining the health of thousands of Continental soldiers and shaping the Army’s wartime medical system.
Clue #2:
Continental Army Surgeon – Dr. James Tilton
Dr. James Tilton (1745–1822) was the Continental Army surgeon chosen by the Army’s Medical Department to establish and oversee the new General Hospital at Basking Ridge during the harsh winter of 1779–1780. A graduate of the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania), Tilton served with distinction throughout the Revolutionary War and earned the confidence of General George Washington and the Army’s medical leadership through his innovative approach to caring for the sick and wounded.
Working under Physician General Dr. William Brown, Tilton designed and supervised the construction of an experimental hospital on the property of patriot John Morton. Unlike traditional military hospitals of the era, his design featured separate, well-ventilated wards to reduce the spread of contagious diseases among soldiers from Washington’s nearby encampment at Jockey Hollow. The hospital was among the most advanced medical facilities of its time, and its innovative layout later influenced military hospital construction throughout the United States.
It has also been documented that “Dr. Tilton, the director of the medical department, with Dr. Stevenson, Dr. Coventry, and other physicians, had rooms in my father’s house; and a small school house was converted into an apothecary’s shop,” according to Eliza Susan Morton Quincy, who was a child living in the Morton household during the Revolution.
After the Revolutionary War, Tilton represented Delaware as a delegate to the Continental Congress (1783–1784), where he helped guide the young nation’s transition from war to peace by serving on committees that addressed military affairs, veterans’ claims, and the administrative challenges of the new Confederation government. He later became the first Physician and Surgeon General of the United States Army during the War of 1812. Today, his pioneering work at Basking Ridge is recognized as one of the earliest and most significant advances in American military hospital design, helping to shape the future of military medicine in the United States.
Jockey Hollow / Basking Ridge
86 Hospital Deaths & a Cemetery
Army historians state that 86 soldiers died in the Basking Ridge/Pluckemin hospital system between December 1779 and June 1780.
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.
Research Note: The Basking Ridge Hospital Deaths, 1779–1780
One of the most important unresolved questions surrounding the Continental Army hospital at Basking Ridge is how many soldiers died there, and where they were buried.
The Basking Ridge hospital operated during the exceptionally severe winter encampment of 1779–1780, when Washington’s main army was headquartered in the Morristown area. The Army maintained hospital facilities at several locations in New Jersey, including Basking Ridge, Pluckemin and Morristown, and surviving records establish Basking Ridge as a distinct hospital location.
The Basking Ridge hospital is closely associated with Dr. James Tilton, who experimented with a new military hospital design intended to reduce the spread of disease. Rather than concentrating large numbers of sick soldiers in one building, Tilton favored smaller, separated and better ventilated wards. Evidence places Tilton at Basking Ridge during the winter of 1780 and indicates that military artificers were constructing a hospital for him there.
What the Records Establish
Several surviving records provide firm chronological markers for the Basking Ridge hospital:
February 5, 1780: Records reference artificers working on the hospital at Basking Ridge for Dr. Tilton.
February 15, 1780: A surviving Tilton letter was written from Basking Ridge.
March 11, 1780: George Washington’s General Orders directed Hand’s and Maxwell’s brigades to relieve the fatigue party working at the “Baskin-Ridge Hospital.” This provides particularly strong primary evidence that the hospital was actively operating at that time.
May 29, 1780: Physician General Dr. William Brown wrote George Washington from “Baskenridge” and enclosed the general return of the sick and wounded in the hospitals for the month of April.
July 1, 1780: Army medical history indicates that the Basking Ridge and Pluckemin hospitals together contained only 53 patients, suggesting that the hospital system was being reduced as the Army moved away from its winter cantonments.
August 2, 1780: A James Tilton letter written from Basking Ridge to Moore Furman survives in the Moore Furman papers at the New Jersey State Archives.
Key Analysis – Fold 3
“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:
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.
The Hospital Department portion of roll 135 is available in digital form on https://catalog.archives.gov/id/503432398.
Analysis of Those Files:
The 86 Death Question
A figure that deserves considerably more investigation is 86 deaths between December 1779 and June 1780. This number has previously been associated with discussion of the medical situation surrounding the Morristown winter encampment. However, our research has not yet established that all 86 deaths occurred specifically at the Basking Ridge hospital.
That distinction is critical. The Continental Army operated multiple hospitals in the region. Until the original monthly hospital returns are completely reconstructed, the figure of 86 should not be presented as the confirmed number of soldiers who died at Basking Ridge.
A particularly important archival collection is National Archives, Record Group 93, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Microfilm Publication M246, Roll 135, Hospital Department records. The goal is to locate and transcribe the surviving monthly hospital returns covering approximately:
December 1779 through June 1780.
For each month, researchers should look for entries identifying Basking Ridge, Baskenridge, Baskin Ridge, or similar period spellings and record, where available:
| Hospital return period | Admitted | Discharged | Deserted | Died | Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 1–Mar. 1, 1780 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 33 |
| Mar. 1–Apr. 1, 1780 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| Apr. 1–May 1, 1780 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 31 |
| Confirmed total | 28 | 27 | 0 | 8 | — |
Image 0362, February 1 to March 1, 3 deaths.
Image 0364, March 1 to April 1, 2 deaths.
Image 0365, April 1 to May 1, 3 deaths.
159 files were genuine full-resolution JP2 archival scans
Remaining in hospital, admitted, returned to duty, discharged, transferred, deserted, and died. Once those returns are assembled chronologically, it may finally be possible to establish a defensible death total specifically for the Basking Ridge hospital.
Where Were the Dead Buried?
This leads to an equally important question. If Continental soldiers died at the Basking Ridge hospital, where are their graves? No burial ground for the hospital dead has yet been positively identified. The Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church cemetery is an obvious location to investigate because of its age and proximity. However, we presently have no documentation establishing that the hospital dead were buried there.
Another possibility deserves serious consideration. Eighteenth-century military hospitals commonly had to dispose of the dead quickly and practically. During the severe winter of 1779–1780, transporting bodies any substantial distance would have served little purpose. A temporary or dedicated burial ground located on or immediately adjacent to the hospital property therefore needs to be investigated.
The hospital has been associated with the John Morton property in Basking Ridge. Identifying the precise boundaries of that property, the location of the hospital buildings, contemporary roads, waterways and surrounding open land may therefore be essential to solving the burial question.
Questions for Researchers and Scholars
We are seeking assistance from Revolutionary War scholars, military medical historians, archivists, archaeologists and researchers who may be able to help answer several questions:
- Can the complete Basking Ridge hospital returns for December 1779 through the summer of 1780 be located?
- How many deaths are specifically attributed to Basking Ridge in those returns?
- What is the original source for the frequently cited figure of 86 deaths?
- Are there Quartermaster, Hospital Department, commissary, orderly book or correspondence records describing burial arrangements at Basking Ridge?
- Can the exact location and boundaries of the John Morton property and hospital complex be reconstructed from eighteenth and nineteenth-century deeds, maps and surveys?
- Are there contemporary references to a hospital graveyard, soldiers’ burial ground, pest house cemetery, burial field or similar location in Basking Ridge?
- Were the names, regiments or states of the soldiers who died at Basking Ridge recorded elsewhere?
The existence of the Continental Army hospital at Basking Ridge is documented. The number and identities of the soldiers who died there, and the location of their graves, remain unresolved.
Clue #3
Other Encampment Hospitals/Cemeteries
During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Army developed a system of General Hospitals to care for soldiers who were too seriously ill or wounded to remain with their regiments. Unlike temporary field hospitals established near battlefields, general hospitals were larger, semi-permanent facilities strategically located behind the front lines where patients could receive extended treatment, recover from disease, or undergo surgery.
Under the supervision of the Army’s Physician General, these hospitals were staffed by surgeons, assistant surgeons, nurses, stewards, and attendants, and maintained records of admissions, discharges, and deaths. Because transporting sick soldiers over long distances was difficult and dangerous, the Army typically established these hospitals near major encampments, making facilities such as the Basking Ridge General Hospital an essential part of Washington’s military medical system during the harsh winter of 1779–1780.
The Continental Army almost certainly established a burial ground near the Basking Ridge General Hospital for soldiers who died while under treatment during the winter of 1779–1780. Army practice at other Revolutionary War general hospitals, the difficulty of transporting bodies during one of the harshest winters of the war, and the existence of approximately 86 reported hospital deaths all suggest that many of these soldiers were buried close to the hospital rather than being carried to distant cemeteries.
Governor’s Palace Hospital, Williamsburg, Virginia (1781)
The Governor’s Palace served as a Continental Army hospital after the Siege of Yorktown. During archaeological excavations, a forgotten Revolutionary War cemetery was discovered approximately 250 feet northwest of the hospital building. Buttons and other military artifacts identified the remains as American and British soldiers who died while being treated at the hospital.
Although no surviving document has yet identified the exact location of such a cemetery in Basking Ridge, the available historical evidence strongly indicates that a hospital burial ground likely existed on or adjacent to the John Morton property and may simply have been forgotten over time.
Yellow Springs General Hospital, Pennsylvania (1778–1781)
Yellow Springs was the Continental Army’s principal permanent hospital during the Valley Forge encampment. Washington ordered the construction of this purpose-built hospital to care for soldiers suffering from disease and exposure. The hospital remained in operation until 1781 and became the model for organized military medicine.
Although no complete burial register survives, historical and archaeological research has identified a burial ground associated with the hospital located on or immediately adjacent to the hospital grounds.
Takeaway: The Army’s largest purpose-built Revolutionary hospital had its own cemetery near the hospital.
Williamsburg General Hospital (1781)
Archaeologists studying the Revolutionary War hospital concluded that, because of transportation difficulties and wartime conditions, soldiers who died while hospitalized were buried close to the hospital itself. Excavations confirmed hospital burials immediately adjacent to the treatment facility.
What’s Next…
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.
