The Army That Walked Through

John Neilson watched two armies pass through his town in the space of a week, and neither one was an army he would have recognized from the recruiting posters.

Washington's soldiers came through first, in early December 1776. They looked like what they were: a beaten army in retreat. Men without shoes left bloody footprints on the frozen roads. They were hungry, exhausted, and diminishing by the hour as enlistments expired and soldiers simply walked away. Neilson, a merchant and militia brigadier, had provisions to offer but not enough to make a difference.

Washington paused at New Brunswick long enough to burn the bridge over the Raritan and collect what supplies he could. Then he was gone, south toward Trenton and the Delaware, and the town waited for what was coming next.

What came next was Cornwallis. The British arrived at the Raritan within hours, and behind them came the Hessians. The occupation began immediately. Soldiers moved into homes, took what they wanted, and treated the town as conquered territory. Neilson's own house became a point of military interest — its position near the river made it useful for observing movements.

The occupation lasted for months. Neilson watched his town transformed into a supply depot for an army he had pledged to fight. Warehouses on the river filled with British provisions. Soldiers patrolled the streets. Loyalist neighbors settled old scores.

But the occupation also clarified things. Neighbors who had been uncertain about independence saw what British authority actually looked like when it arrived with bayonets. By the time the Forage Wars began in January, Neilson found that he had more volunteers for the militia than he had muskets to arm them.

The war came through New Brunswick because it had to — the town sat on the only road that mattered between New York and Philadelphia. Geography made it important. What the people who lived there did with that importance was their own choice.