{{short description, 1700s provincial military unit The Frontier Guard was a provincial military unit organized by New Jersey's colonial legislature in 1755 to man a series of frontier fortifications along the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

in northwestern New Jersey. Members were paid two shillings per day, provincial currency, and were supposed to provide their own firelock, blanket, hatchet or cutlass, cartridge box, knapsack or haversack, and powder horn. As the Province had spent its available funds in equipping the

Jersey Blues The 1st New Jersey Regiment was the first organized militia regiment in New Jersey, formed in 1673 in Piscataway "to repel foreign Indians who come down from upper Pennsylvania and western New York (in the summer) to our shores and fill (themse ...

, the Frontier Guard was not a uniformed unit.

History

At the time of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

(1756–1763), the population of New Jersey largely was centered around Atlantic seaports in Elizabethtown (present-day Elizabeth, New Jersey),

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

and

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

and the colonial legislature authorized the construction of blockhouse forts in the area of present-day

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and Warren Counties, New Jersey to serve as a first line of defense in the event of an incursion by the French army and the forces of French-allied native tribes. The New Jersey Frontier Guard was organized to man those forts as the state militia fought elsewhere within the colonies of Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. Supplies were provided to the Frontier Guard from Elizabethtown, transported by way of the

Military Road {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The following is a list of military roads worldwide. Australia * Part of the A8 (Sydney) between Neutral Bay and Mosman * Military Road, part of Route 39, Melbourne * Military Road, off Wanneroo Road just north ...

. The area where these

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

forts were constructed was composed of sparsely-populated frontier settlements that during the years before 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 a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

were subjected to frequent raids and attacks by Native American warriors.

External links

New Jersey Frontier Guard
�� a reenactment and demonstration group dedicated to preserving New Jersey's French and Indian War history. French and Indian War forts History of the Thirteen Colonies Military in New Jersey Military units and formations of the French and Indian War British colonial regiments Sussex County, New Jersey Warren County, New Jersey History of Orange County, New York Military units and formations established in 1755 Native American history of New Jersey

History

See also

External links