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The BATTLE of BOUND BROOK~ 2016 “The American Revolution Living History Weekend”
Saturday, April 9 & Sunday, April 10, 2016 Living History in South Bound Brook and Bound Brook
Join us for an exciting and historic weekend April 910, 2016! The twoday program explores the American Revolutionary War during the timeframe of the Battle of Bound Brook and the American army’s use of Middlebrook in the years 1777 – 1779. Learn about and experience this important period in New Jersey and American history. Weekend activities include: ● Marching, Drilling and Street Battle reenactments in Bound Brook and South Bound Brook, featuring American and British units portraying the soldiers of the American Revolution.
2 18 th century Soldiers’ Encampment on the grounds of the Abraham Staats House, 17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook, 08880. Come walk through camp and see what life was like for American and British troops during the time of the American Revolution. ● Historic house tours: The Abraham Staats House, with the original structure c. 1740, was home to the Staats family for nearly 200 years and served as the headquarters for George Washington’s “Drillmaster” Baron von Steuben. ● Presentations a nd exhibits at the Abraham Staats House, include ● Eminent historian H. Kels Swan – (Sunday, 11:30 am) – Presentation: “A Trilogy of Local Patriots Who Served in the American Revolutionary War: Michael Field, Hendrick Fisher, and Abraham Staats” ● Authors William Schleicher and Susan Winter (Sunday, 1:00 pm) Presentation: “Contest of Militias: Suppressing the Tories in Somerset and Hunterdon Counties, New Jersey 17751776”. Share the audience with reenactors! ● Tom Harabin, Vice President, Friends of Abraham Staats House, performs music of the Colonial Era, program on instruments, music of the period (throughout the weekend) For info: www.battleofboundbrook.org ●
Saturday, April 9 Note: Parking available in Billian Park, 561 East High Street, Bound Brook, 08805 and Elm Street Parking Lot, South Bound Brook 08880, as well as along public streets in both towns.
10 AM – 5 PM American Revolution Soldiers Encampment and historic Abraham Staats House, 17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook, NJ, 08880. 10 AM Soldiers leave Abraham Staats House to march down Main Street , South Bound Brook to Queens Bridge and Old Stone Arch on Railroad Avenue, Bound Brook. 10:30 AM Battle Begins!! Soldiers March and Fight on the Old Stone Arch Bridge and Queens Bridge to Reenact The Battle of Bound Brook!! The Loyalist troops attack and push the Patriot Forces in a Retreat up East Street to the cemetery. 11:30 AM Ceremony by Troops at Old Presbyterian Graveyard next to Bound Brook Memorial Library, 402 E. High St., BB 08805. Bound Brook Memorial Library Open to Public for Special Exhibits. 11:45 AM Lunch With Soldiers – BBQ Picnic on Hamilton Street, Bound Brook 08805 – Open to the PublicDine with American, British and Hessian Soldiers of the American Revolution! George Washington visits the Brooks Arts Center 12pm and meet and greet in the lobby after his talk . 1 – 1:30 PM Soldiers Assemble and begin the march back to South Bound Brook over Queens Bridge. 1:30– 2:30 PM American and British troops reenact Street Battle in South Bound Brook, starting at Elm & Main St., (south end, Queen’s Bridge), battling to Maple Street. 2:30 PM All troops clear Main St and return to the Soldiers Encampment at the Abraham Staats House, South Bound Brook.
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2:30 ~ 5 PM
At the Soldier’s Encampment/Abraham Staats House: In the Abraham Staats House: Special lectures, exhibits and house tours inside the Abraham Staats House (Week end Pass: $10 for adults; $5 for Seniors & 18 years and under. Family: $20.) On the Grounds of the Abraham Staats House (Free) : Visit the Living History American Revolutionary Soldiers Encampment at the Abraham Staats House c. 1740, (17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook) . Come see life as it existed for the Soldiers, Camp Followers and others who lived the American past. Military Drills, Camp Life, Living History demonstrations, Soldiers practicing 18 th c. military tactics , Sutlers ( merchants) selling Colonial goods , Sewing, Spinning, Open Hearth Cooking , Period Music and refreshments at the camp. The soldiers will be drilling during the afternoon, just as they did 200 years ago – (No fee for activities on outside grounds of the Abraham Staats House.)
4 PM – 8 PM
In South Bound Brook: Pasta Dinner available for purchase at the Fellowship Hall of the Reformed Church of Bound Brook in South Bound Brook (located in South Bound Brook, 113 Clinton Street) from 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. Adults: $10, Seniors & Reenactors: $9, Children: 512 years: $6, 4 & under: Free.
5 PM 7 – 10PM
Soldiers Encampment and Abraham Staats House closed to the public. Spring Ball and Social at Van Horne House, 941 E. Main St. Bridgewater. $15 per person. Contact:
[email protected]
Sunday, April 12 7:30 AM–12 PM Buffet Breakfast, South Bound Brook Fire Co. #1 Firehouse. Eat with the soldiers and colonial camp followers at the famous AllYouCanEat Sunday Buffet Breakfast at the South Bound Brook Firehouse on Edgewood Terrace, available for purchase from 7:30 a.m. – 12 noon. Adults: $9, Seniors: $8, under age ten: $6, under age 5: free. 10 AM 4 PM Soldier’s Encampment at the Abraham Staats House: In the Abraham Staats House: Special lectures, exhibits and tours inside the Abraham Staats House (Fee: $10 for adults & $5 for 18 years and under.) 10 AM11 AM Soldiers Drills and Battle Demonstration on the grounds. Watch the American and British soldiers as they perform military maneuvers of the American Revolution. 11:30 AM H. Kels Swan Lecture: "A Trilogy of Local Patriots Serving in the War for American Independence: Michael Field, Hendrick Fisher and Abraham Staats” 1:00 PM William Schleicher and Susan Winter Lecture: “Contest of Militias: Suppressing the Tories in Somerset and Hunterdon Counties, New Jersey 177576.” On the Grounds of the Abraham Staats House ( free ): Visit the Living History American Revolutionary Soldiers Encampment at the Abraham Staats House c. 1740, (17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook) . Come see life as it existed for the Soldiers, Camp Followers and others who lived the American past. Military Drills, Camp Life, Living History demonstrations, Soldiers
4 practicing 18 th c. military tactics , Sutlers ( merchants) selling Colonial goods , Sewing, Spinning, Open Hearth Cooking , Period Music and refreshments at the camp. The soldiers will be drilling during the afternoon, just as they did 200 years ago – (No fee for activities on outside grounds of the Abraham Staats House.) 2:30 3:30pm 4 PM
Soldiers Drills and Battle Demonstration on the grounds. Watch the American and British soldiers as they perform military maneuvers of the American Revolution. Soldiers Encampment / Abraham Staats House closed to public.
Directions: I 287, Exit 10, Rt. 527 (Easton Ave to South Bound Brook) to Von Steuben Lane (approx. 3/4 mile). Follow Von Steuben Lane to end, driveway entrance and parking for house.
Information : http://www.staatshouse.org About the Annual Battle of Bound Brook Weekend: The annual Anniversary of The Battle of Bound Brook, launched in 2001, is a multicommunity event created to raise pride and awareness in our area’s historic character and vital contribution to the American struggle for independence. The event also supports preservation of key Revolutionary War sites, including the Abraham Staats House in South Bound Brook and the historic Old Stone Arch Bridge in Bound Brook. The Friends of Abraham Staats House, Inc. has received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. The weekend lectures have been funded, in part, by a grant from the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission and Friends of Somerset County Culture & Heritage, Inc. The Abraham Staats House also receives support from the Borough of South Bound Brook, which owns and maintains the property. Parking for events in South Bound Brook is available along Main Street, in the Elm Street Parking Lot and along public streets in the area of the Soldiers Encampment. Parking in Bound Brook is available throughout the town and in Billian Park. Intermittent street closings are expected during the weekend in South Bound Brook, and Bound Brook to accommodate the march of the soldiers. Battle of Bound Brook Web sites: Visit http://www.staatshouse.org for event schedules, information and updates. ABOUT: The Battle of Bound Brook and Middlebrook Encampments On Sunday, April 13, 1777, a fourcolumn force of 4,000 British Crown troops led by Lord Charles Cornwallis attacked a small American garrison of about 500 commanded by General Benjamin Lincoln and located in the town of Bound Brook. The objective: surround the town, capture the garrison and provisions located at this patriot stronghold and gain a foothold in the war against the American Revolutionary army. In the surprise attack, an advance column led by Hessian Jaeger scouts fighting for the British were pinned down by Colonial soldiers who put up a spirited resistance at the Old Stone Arch Bridge located near the Queens’ Bridge. The skirmish bought precious time for the bulk of the American force in Bound Brook as British forces poured into the area. When a second column of 1,000 British soldiers charged over the Queen’s Bridge to attack, the Colonials retreated, escaping the trap. The American army regrouped in the area later in 1777, in a larger encampment called First Middlebrook. General George Washington’s army also settled in the winter and spring of 177879 for the second time in Middlebrook, in a military cantonment that spread out as far as Pluckemin and presentday Manville. At its height, nearly 10,000 troops gathered at Middlebrook, with attendant artillery camps, hospitals, commissaries, post office, artificers, quartermasters stores, corrals and
5 other military operations situated in nearby locations. General Washington and many of his officers stayed in homes in the area, near to the main camp. General Baron Frederich von Steuben made his headquarters at the home of Abraham Staats in South Bound Brook, today known as the Abraham Staats House. www.battleofboundbrook.org The Abraham Staats House 17 Von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook During the American Revolution, the house was owned by American patriot Abraham Staats, marked as an enemy of the Crown by the British. His family hosted General Baron Frederich von Steuben, drillmaster of the American Revolutionary Army, who used the house as headquarters during the Middlebrook Cantonment, when the American army was quartered in the area during the winter of 177879. Research indicates the earliest portion of the house dates from around 1740, with later additions including a wing built c. 1830 by the Staats family, which owned the home for nearly 200 years. Following the Battle of Bound Brook in April 1777, a retreating British column crossed the Staats’ property, taking items which Abraham later made claim as war damages. The home was the setting for visits by General George Washington and other key figures during the War. The Borough of South Bound Brook purchased the Abraham Staats House in 1999 for historic preservation. The South Bound Brook Historic Preservation Advisory Commission and Friends of Abraham Staats House, Inc. are dedicated to preservation of the house, which has been placed on both the State and National Register of Historic Places. The Old Stone Arch Bridge This triplearch bridge is one of the oldest surviving stone bridges in New Jersey and a rare example of colonial highway engineering. Construction of the bridge was authorized by the Legislature in 1730. It was probably built soon thereafter to span the Green Brook, a channel of the Bound Brook, and form part of a causeway that crossed a large area of marshy ground along the Bound Brook and Raritan River. The bridge played a significant role in the defense of Bound Brook during the Revolutionary War, and it is one of the few existing battlefield resources in New Jersey for which a firsthand action account exists. The diary of Hessian officer Johann von Ewald records the fighting along the causeway during the Battle of Bound Brook in April 1777. Made of locally quarried rough sandstone and shale, the bridge spans the boundary between Somerset and Middlesex counties and the boroughs of Bound Brook and Middlesex. Approximately 85 feet long and 33 feet wide, its remains are almost completely buried by fill on its north side; on the south side they are exposed above the top of the arches, including two large buttresses, one of which is relatively intact. (Excerpt from “Preservation New Jersey: www.preservationnj.org ) Life in Camp: Encampment at The Abraham Staats House, 17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook The soldiers and camp followers will be living life in camp much as it would have been in 1777 . Visitors may tour the camp, observe camp artifacts and equipment, and see how the troops of the American Revolution, British Crown and American forces, lived and view Camp Food Preparation, Military Training and Drills, Artillery and Small Arms Practice. Members of the reenactor’s units involved in the encampment are dedicated to recreating the history of the American colonial 18th century period through demonstrations, exhibits, lectures, encampments, and interpretations. Equipment used and clothing worn by members is authentic and documented. The men, women, and children who participate volunteer their time to recreate the lives of everyday people struggling for independence during the American Revolution. Members are encouraged to learn 18th century skills and strive for authenticity in their interpretations. Battle of Bound Brook information at Friends of Abraham Staats House web site : http://www.staatshouse.org
