DEFENDING THE HUDSON HIGHLANDS Snugly and safely entrenched in the Morristown hill-country, Washington left to Putnam the post he so dearly loved, that of real danger, within fifteen miles of New Brunswick, where the enemy lay in strength.

At Princeton, thirty miles from headquarters, Putnam remained until May, when he was detached and sent into the Hudson Highlands.

The British had lost fewer men at Trenton and Princeton than the Americans had lost at Fort Washington, yet the former were singularly dispirited.

With the Commander-in-Chief withdrawn to the hills, the road to Philadelphia lay open to the enemy, and only Old Put opposing them, like a lion in the path; but for some reason they did not avail themselves of the situation.
Putnam's division formed the right wing of the American army in cantonment that winter, with the center at Morristown and the left wing on the Hudson.

At the opening of the spring campaign of 1777 Washington was uncertain whether the British would leave their winter quarters in New York for New England, the Hudson Highlands, or for Philadelphia.