W2K: Celebrating the Conference on Horseback and Continental Army actions in Kingston New Jersey, 250 years ago.
On January 3, 1777, the Continental Army moved north from Trenton and Princeton, to Kingston, the village on the Millstone River. After crossing the Kingston Bridge, General Washington ordered his men to break down the bridge so that Cornwallis could not follow. Then he had a decision to make.
The Conference on Horseback
The decision was made when Washington and his generals met on horesback at the top of the Kingston hill, in the churchyard of the Kingston Presbyterian Church. They had to decide whether to go to New Brunswick, and potentially capture the British treasury, or go northwest, across the Rocky Hill and make winter quarters in Morristown, NJ, safe from British attack. The Conference on Horseback ended with the decision to head to Somerset Courthouse (now Millstone, NJ) and then on to Morristown.
With this decision George Washington ended the “Ten Crucial Days” of the 1776-1777 Trenton and Princeton campaign.
The “King’s Highway” (Route 27) in Kingston NJ is the dividing line between Somerset and Middlesex Counties. Fifty years later New Jersey created Mercer County in memory of General Hugh Mercer, who was mortally wounded at the battle of Princeton. The village of Kingston is now divided between these three counties.
Celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Conference on Horseback will include amateur radio and special QSL cards. The David Sarnoff Radio Club will operate a special event station around January 3, 2027 to join in the celebration. The club invites others to celebrate via Amateur Radio.
Frequencies, Modes and QSL information coming soon.