The Basking Ridge Oak stands in the churchyard of the Presbyterian Church in the center of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, a community settled in 1720. The tree is associated with events of the American Revolution. In 1776, General Charles Lee, George Washington’s Chief-of-Staff, was captured near the tree by British troops. Legend has it that the horses of a Tory raiding party were tied to the tree during a raid in 1781.