The Third New Jersey Regiment
The "Jersey Blues"

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Proudly Announces

"The Final Invasion"
The 225^th Anniversary of the Battle of Springfield
June 25-26, 2005

 

Jonathan Dayton High School
139 Mountain Avenue, Springfield, NJ 07081

Host Unit: 3^rd New Jersey Regiment, "Jersey Blues"

Thank You!:

Thanks to all who made the 225^th Anniversary of the Battle of Springfield an outstanding success, especially our own Mark Hurwitz whose tireless efforts paid off big time. If you missed this one, you are missing some great memories. However, you may console yourself with pictures of the event at:
http://revwar.hardsdisk.net/springfield.html

HISTORY HAPPENED HERE: On June 23rd, 1780, the climactic battle of the final invasion of NJ was fought in Springfield. Approx. 6,000 Crown forces under Gen. Knyphausen attacked from Staten Island, NY, via Elizabethtown, NJ, attempting to seize the Hobart Gap in the Watchung Mts. and then Morristown. He was stopped by Gen. Greene with a force of approx. 2,000 Continentals and NJ Militia.

Springfield’s defense was bolstered by the heroic actions of Rev. James Caldwell, whose wife, Hannah, was killed on June 7^th at Conn. Farms (now Union, NJ), becoming NJ’s "Jenny McCrea". During the height of the battle, Caldwell took the old Watts Hymnals from the 1^st Presbyterian Church, gave them to the troops for "wadding" and cartridge paper, shouting, "Give ’em Watts, Boys!" "Put Watts Into ‘em, Boys!"

Hard fought by units like the British Guards, 22^nd, 42^nd, 43^rd Regts, Royal Artillery, 17^th Lt. Dragoons Jersey Vols., Queens Rangers, Jaeger Corps, Donop & Bose Regts, and stopped at Springfield by the bravery of Maxwell’s Jerseymen, Angell’s Rhode Islanders, "Light Horse Harry" Lee’s Dragoons and many others, the town was burned to the ground upon the withdrawal of British forces. When studying the American Revolution, only a handful of towns or communities were burned to the ground by the British in an act of terror to militarily intimidate the population. Lexington & Concord were not. Springfield was.

Only 4 houses survived; 3 behind American lines to the South & West, and the historic "Cannonball" House, a British field hospital which was struck by an American 4 lbr. during the battle. (Today, it’s owned and run by the Springfield Historical Society.) It took 14 yrs. for the town to recover and formally incorporate in 1794.

If you have not read it already, get Thomas Fleming’s classic The Forgotten Victory from the library, which is the best book on the battle and reads like a novel.