Oak Tree Battle of Short Hill Marker

The Oak Tree Engagement of June 26, 1777 took place in Edison Township near this marker. The engagement was one of four near continuous skirmishes that were known as the Battle of the Short Hills.

In late 1776, the revolutionary forces under General George Washington had retreated from Manhattan Island to the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River after being defeated by British troops under the command of General Sir William Howe. However, by early 1777, Washington’s army had reversed the course of the War after winning the battles of Trenton and Princeton. During the winter and spring of 1777, Washington made his headquarters in Morristown. Between January and late May, he sent American detachments below the Watchung Heights where his troops engaged elements of the British Army, then posted between New Brunswick and Perth Amboy. The Americans, in a series of hit-and-run engagements, struck numerous foraging parties and outposts of Howe’s troops. By late May 1777, Washington moved most of the American army to the Middlebrook encampment in the Watchung Heights and from there waited to see what the British Army would do.