The Forage War is a partisan campaign consisting of numerous small skirmishes that take place in New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War between January and March 1777, following the battles of Trenton and Princeton.
After both British and Continental Army troops enter their winter quarters in early January, Continental Army regulars and militia companies from New Jersey and Pennsylvania engage in numerous scouting and harassing operations against the British and German troops quartered in New Jersey.
The British troops want to have fresh provisions to consume, and also require fresh forage for their draft animals and horses.
General George Washington orders the systematic removal of such supplies from areas easily accessible to the British, and companies of American militia and troops harass British and German forays to acquire such provisions.
While many of these operations are small, in some cases they become quite elaborate, involving more than one thousand troops.
The American operations are so successful that British casualties in New Jersey (including those of the battles at Trenton and Princeton) exceed those of the entire campaign for New York.
