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1

Jan

1777

Neilson House Used as Military Headquarters

New Brunswick, NJ· range date

1Person Involved
50Significance

The Story

The home of patriot merchant John Neilson served as a headquarters for Continental Army officers during operations around New Brunswick. Neilson, who served as a militia brigadier general, made his property available for military use throughout the war.

The Neilson House, located near the Raritan River, provided a strategic vantage point for observing British movements in and around the town. The building survived the war and subsequent centuries and remains one of the few standing Revolutionary-era structures in New Brunswick, offering a tangible connection to the town's military significance.

Sources for New Brunswick

Lord Cornwallis's Reports on the Pursuit Across New Jersey, 1776
UK National Archives, War Office Papers
New Jersey Gazette, 1777-1783
New Jersey State Library, Newspaper Collections
Washington's Crossing
Oxford University Press (David Hackett Fischer)
Middlesex County Historical Society: Revolutionary War Collections
Middlesex County Historical Society
Portrait of a General: Sir William Howe and the War of American Independence
Alfred A. Knopf (William B. Willcox)
Queens College (Rutgers) and the American Revolution
Rutgers University Press
Ten Crucial Days: Washington's Vision for Victory Unfolds
Knox Press (William L. Kidder)