Washington’s Final Battle: Monmouth Courthouse and the Jersey Campaign June 1778

A 2026 BGES Revolutionary War Field University Program

with Gary Ecelbarger & Scott Patchan

February 26–March 1, 2026; from Princeton, NJ

As we proceed through the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War, this landmark period is enjoying a renaissance—a renewed dedication to “The Cause” across literature and the arts. Fresh Digital Age approaches to the Revolution have yielded new discoveries and intriguing reinterpretations of traditional sources. More fortuitously, lands and properties are more accessible now than they were even at the turn of the twentieth century. For interpretive history programs, this resurgence has produced the most accurate and exciting results imaginable; in some cases, an up-to-date tour of the battlefields and campaign sites renders obsolete similarly themed programs even a generation ago. This is particularly true for the Monmouth Campaign of 1778.

The Battle of Monmouth was George Washington’s final battle as a field commander, though the war would last five more years. It culminated a tense early-summer campaign through New Jersey as 21,000 Americans marched 85 miles in seven days to chase down a nearly equal Crown force retreating from Philadelphia toward British-held New York City. On June 28, 1778, in nearly 100-degree heat, the battle raged for eight hours—a back-and-forth, bloody contest in which a single leader triggered a momentum shift reminiscent of Civil War fields like Manassas, Atlanta and Cedar Creek. Unique to Monmouth was a battle within the battle, waged by the top two American generals: George Washington and Charles Lee.

Join BGES for the first of several 2026 Revolutionary War offerings as two of our most experienced Monmouth guides—one with a new book about the campaign; the other pursuing the topic for a future publication—co-lead three days on this enthralling operation, delivering the most detailed scrutiny of this topic offered by any organization.

Note: For those who’d like to delve deeper into the history, an optional pre-tour day is available on Thursday before the group Orientation. Details are provided at the end of the itinerary.

Itinerary

Thursday, February 26, 2026 – Orientation (6–7 p.m.)

Meet at the Holiday Inn Express Scudders Mill Road, Plainsboro, NJ, to greet fellow participants and pick up nametags and handout packets. Gary Ecelbarger and Scott Patchan will introduce the events leading to late spring 1778 and provide an overview of the program, followed by Q&A.

Dinner is on your own.

Friday, February 27, 2026 (8 a.m.–5 p.m.)

We depart our hotel to open our field program with a limited engagement involving some of the biggest names of the Revolution. At Barren Hill, Gen. Marquis de Lafayette faced Crown forces personally led by the two top British commanders in North America—Gens. William Howe and Henry Clinton. We will dissect the action’s implications for this upcoming Monmouth Campaign and detail Lafayette’s narrow escape from their trap.

From Barren Hill, we head a dozen miles west to the Council held on June 17, attended by 17 Continental generals. After recounting this pivotal event, we follow Washington’s army as it departs Valley Forge over the next two days, pressing to engage General Clinton’s British, Hessians, and Loyalists before they reached New York City. We travel through Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to Coryell’s Ferry for another crossing of the Delaware.

After lunch, we accompany Washington’s advance into New Jersey, beginning with the Jacob Holcombe House—Continental Army headquarters for the second time in a year. We continue to Hopewell Township to view the army encampment at the John Hart homestead (Hart was a signer of the Declaration of Independence). We will glimpse Washington’s headquarters in Hopewell (now privately owned), where an all-important council of war set plans to thwart Clinton’s escape. We then trace the army’s June 25–26 route, highlighting Washington’s sojourn at Kingston and Cranbury and the creation of two corps of equal size but vastly different experience. We end the day with Washington’s choice of commander for his elite advanced corps—and what he expected of it.

Back to our hotel.

Lunch is included, but dinner is on your own.

Saturday, February 28, 2026 (8 a.m.–5 p.m.)

The morning focuses on the British route from Philadelphia through “The Jerseys,” June 18–26, 1778, moving roughly 20 miles south of the Continental line. For much of this day, we will view still-standing structures and follow paths gleaned from a study of British and Hessian journals and maps.

We begin at the Jersey side of Cooper’s Ferry, discussing the reasons and mechanics of the Crown force’s evacuation of Philadelphia across the Delaware River from our perch. From there, we follow the route to Haddonfield and Mount Holly, where Clinton splits and reunites his force. Approaching Bordentown, we analyze Clinton’s deliberate “slow-walk” designed to trap Washington. We continue northeast to Crosswicks, where the crimson-coated British joined with the green-uniformed Queen’s Rangers to drive back New Jersey Continentals at the creek on June 23—and where damage from the next morning’s artillery duel can still be seen today. We then walk through the one-street town of Historic Walnford to view General Knyphausen’s headquarters and the mill site where the Continentals tried to slow the Crown advance.

After lunch, a brief stop in Allentown puts us in Clinton’s shoes as he chooses his route for the remainder of his advance. We pick up the road to Freehold with a visit to the site of Robin’s Tavern, where Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton nipped at his heels and planned a night assault on his rearguard. We then proceed to the rarely visited site of Richmond’s Mill, where Daniel Morgan waited with 1,000 of the army’s best soldiers. Returning to the Allentown–Freehold road, we develop the entire British line on June 27 as it rested on both sides of Monmouth Courthouse, preparing to head north on Sunday morning—observed at pistol range by Maj. Gen. Baron de Steuben.

We continue east 5 miles to Englishtown to view the 6,500 Continentals encamped as the advanced corps. Here we discuss the crucial council among Washington and four generals as they verbally finalize the next day’s plan. We close in Monroe Township at the Housman Farm for Washington’s pre-battle overnight at the Anderson home and a discussion of the written attack orders—spelled out in the midnight Hamilton letter.

Back to our hotel.

Lunch is included, but dinner is on your own.

Sunday, March 1, 2026 (8 a.m.–5 p.m.)

Day Three is entirely dedicated to June 28, 1778—the prelude to and epic Battle of Monmouth. We cover the action blow-by-blow, beginning at Maj. Gen. Charles Lee’s quarters in Englishtown (the historic Village Inn), analyzing his head-scratching, eye-popping decisions after receiving the Hamilton letter at 1:15 a.m. We proceed 2 miles to Tennent Meeting House, scene of the first of three protracted halts called by Lee, which produced a 3-mile road jam of 6,000 Americans. Next, we examine the morning’s only clash between British dragoons and a picked battalion of elite Continentals, then visit the Monmouth Monument and the East Morass, where Clinton became the hunter instead of the hunted.

After lunch and a stop at the state park visitor center, we follow the American line of retreat westward to Oswald’s Knoll, the newly identified hilltop where Washington entered the battlefield to reverse Clinton’s momentum. Here we will be the first-ever organized tour group to relive the exact location of Washington’s Mammoth Monmouth Moment, when he dressed Lee down and inspired the retreaters to become attackers once again. Now reinforced to nearly 10,000 men, Washington led his army in a stand-up fight he had prepared his men six months to fight during a grueling 100-degree heatwave, defying the Little Ice Age in which it was fought. We will visit key sites of this prolonged afternoon fight: Point of Woods, the Hedgerow, and Perrine’s Hill. Throughout the afternoon, we will cover on-site and in detail the greater and lesser known battle scenes, including the famous “Molly Pitcher” episode.

We conclude back in Englishtown to assess Washington’s decision to
form a final line of defense and to analyze Lee’s final moments as second-in-command. We conclude in Englishtown at the Moses Laird house, Washington’s headquarters on June 29 and 30 where our tour group will challenge the 20th- and 21st-century interpretation of Monmouth being a “drawn” battle. We will determine the tactical victor.

Return to the hotel by 5 p.m.

Lunch is included.

Four-day Option (Add-On)
Thursday, February 26, 2026 (8 a.m.–5 p.m.)

We proceed to Valley Forge for a site-specific day dedicated to preparing for the confrontation with the British in Philadelphia. We begin at Washington’s headquarters at the Isaac Potts House to break down his early plan to attack the city and the April and May councils of war. Near the same location, we meet the army’s second-in-command, Maj. Gen. Charles Lee, newly exchanged after 16 months’ captivity. We then proceed west to overlook Moore Hall, where commissary and quartermaster woes finally turned a corner. Next, at Yellow Springs, we examine the foundations of the largest military hospital in 1778 and the impact of disease on Continental efficiency as the army embarked on its first post-encampment campaign.

After lunch, we return to Valley Forge National Historical Park for “alone time” at the visitor center, then move to the parade ground for a detailed discussion of Baron de Steuben and his training regimen. In the same field, we relive the May 6 celebration marking the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with France—the most impressive display of military pageantry yet seen on American soil. with the dramatic changes of June 1778 and conclude across the Schuylkill River at Pawling’s Farm, the true army encampment beginning June 10, where 15,000 officers and men lolled in tents rather than huts.

Lunch is provided, but dinner is on your own.

About the Faculty

Gary Ecelbarger is an award-winning author of ten books on 18th- and 19th-century personalities and events, along with more than three dozen monographs, essays, and articles on Revolutionary War and Civil War topics. A historian, symposium speaker, and tour guide for 30 years, he leads audiences through complex campaigns with well-researched, thought-provoking programs that maintain an engaging chronological flow and spotlight off-the-beaten-path sites. His most recent publication: George Washington’s Momentous Year, Volume 2: Valley Forge to Monmouth, January to July 1778 includes a detailed history of this tour’s topic.

Scott Patchan is a lifelong student of military history whose interest began with childhood visits to his grandparents’ home in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, which often included a sojourn to nearby Fort Necessity National Battlefield. Walking those historic grounds and learning from the interpretive staff created the foundation for his interest in the study and preservation of America’s historic sites. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, graduated from James Madison University, and has published seven books, with a strong focus on the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign of the Civil War. Recent works include George Washington in the French and Indian War; Worthy of a Higher Rank: The Shenandoah Valley Campaign Journal of Col. Joseph Thoburn; The Last Battle of Winchester; Shenandoah Summer; Second Manassas: The Struggle for Chinn Ridge; and The Forgotten Fury: The Battle of Piedmont.

He has also written six feature essays for Blue & Gray Magazine and dozens of articles and essays for various other publications over the years. He is currently completing books on the Battle of Jonesboro in the Atlanta Campaign and the Battles of Fisher’s Hill through Cedar Creek.

Each year, he conducts numerous tours and seminars on the colonial era, the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War across the eastern United States. He lives in the Wilderness area of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and is active with the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation and Kernstown Battlefield Association.

Hotel Information

This program will be headquartered at the Holiday Inn Express Princeton SE, 870 Scudders Mill Road, Plainsboro, New Jersey 08536 (877-666-3243). The BGES special hotel rate has a cut-off date of February 5, 2026. When you call the hotel, be sure to mention that you are booking your room under the group “Blue and Gray Education” with code BGE to receive the special rate.

Book your stay online with the Blue and Gray Education special rate already applied:

Holiday Inn Express Princeton Southeast – Last Day to Book: Thursday, February 5th, 2026

Book your group rate for Blue & Gray Education

Transportation

The servicing airports are Philadelphia (PHL), Trenton (TTN), and Newark (EWR). All will likely require a rental car to reach the hotel.

Tour Pricing

Current BGES member $825 (one-time payment, no deposit)
Non-BGES member $875 (one-time payment, no deposit)
Optional tour day: $150
Deposit to reserve spot: $150
Annual membership fee: $75

Registration

Washington’s Final Battle- Monmouth Courthouse and The Jersey Campaign -2026

Registration includes 3 lunches, all paid admissions, maps, the academic program, support of historian(s) and a tour director, and transportation by passenger bus or van. We will also provide snacks and bottled water.

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