Many of the great battles of the Revolutionary War – Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth – were fought in New Jersey. But these were few and far between. The great part of a soldier’s life was filled with much more monotonous, but no less dangerous duty. Whether it was patrolling in search of enemy pickets in the mud and snow around New Brunswick and Amboy in the winter of 1777, guiding the Continental Army on its marches through Burlington and Monmouth Counties in 1778, or keeping alert for Loyalist raids along the shores of the Arthur Kill near Woodbridge and Elizabeth in 1780, this type of grueling service was the primary duty of Jersey militia.

 The militia was the local military force organized and regulated by the New Jersey Legislature for the defense of the State against the operations of the British army and its local Loyalist allies. With some exemptions, all men between the ages of -- --  not on active duty with the Continental Army were liable for service. While enslaved men were barred from service, some free black men, such as Jacob Francis from Hunterdon County, did serve under arms and would apply for pensions later in life.