The Hobart Gap is a pass and road through the

Watchung Mountains The Watchung Mountains are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States. The name is derived from the American Native Lenape name for them, Wach Unks ...

in Northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, Hessian General Baron

Wilhelm von Knyphausen Wilhelm Reichsfreiherr von Innhausen und Knyphausen Some documents produced after 1806 referred to him as Reichsfreiherr Wilhelm zu Innhausen und Knyphausen while some documents after 1919 use Wilhelm Reichsfreiherr zu Innhausen und Knyphausen. ...

attempted to seize the Hobart Gap, now crossed by present-day Route 24, in order to attack the American headquarters in Morristown for the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. He was met with successful resistance by General

Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...

, and was eventually defeated by the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

and the New Jersey Militia at the Battle of Springfield. For thousands of years the pass in the mountain range was an important aspect of the traditional

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

''Minisink Trail''. From the pass, the trail led to a landing at the best place to ford what the Native Americans called ''the Fishawack'' (the

Passaic River The Passaic River ( or ) is a river, approximately long, in North Jersey, northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburb ...

). The trail was a portion of the

Great Trail The Great Trail (also called the Great Path) was a network of footpaths created by Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking indigenous peoples prior to the arrival of European colonists in North America. It connected the areas of New England and easte ...

and always had been used by the Lenape on their route to the Hudson River and south from their hunting grounds in what is now Sussex County. That traditional part of the Great Trail would become Route 24, and leads from the pass through Chatham, Madison, Morristown, Mendham, and

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

; it is called Main Street in all but Morristown, the county seat, which is dominated by a square in the center of its downtown. Route 24 was recently redirected around the old road in order to retain the historical downtowns of the colonial villages through which the trail led. The portion of the original path is now labeled Route 124.

External links

Battle of Springfield

{{New Jersey in the American Revolutionary War 1780 in the United States New Jersey in the American Revolution Landforms of Morris County, New Jersey Mountain passes of New Jersey Watchung Mountains