Battle in Springfield Key to US Independence

The remnants from the past may not be visible on first glance, but you can find pieces of the battle for American independence throughout Millburn-Short Hills.

Over 200 years ago, the front lines of American's struggle for freedom were in the town, where British and Hessian troops were repulsed by a force of New Jersey militia and regulars in what historians now recognize as one of the most significant battles of the Revolutionary War.

The Battle of Springfield, fought in June 1780, was the last time the British attempted to invade New Jersey after the Continental Army and New Jersey militia fought them back to Staten Island.

But the battle fought at the end of June actually started earlier that month when the British made their first attempt to move into the region. If the British could get through Springfield and the Short Hills area to the Hobart Gap in the Watchung Mountains, they could threaten Morristown, where the American Army's artillery, ammunition and much of its scarce remaining provisions were stranded, with no horses available to move them.

In the June 7 attack, the British marched as far north as Springfield, before the Americans battled them back to Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), according to papers in the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society's museum.

On their way back, the British soldiers plundered and burned the town of Connecticut Farms, which is now Union, according to the papers.

The Rev. James Caldwell of Elizabethtown was a staunch supporter of the revolution, and the British shot his wife, Hannah, while they were burning Connecticut Farms. One of their children and a nursemaid witnessed the shooting.

Lynne Ranieri, historical society curator, said the incident enraged the Americans, and the British soldiers were told not to try to invade the area again, but they didn't listen.

Marian Meisner's "A History of Millburn Township," however, states the British believed the fatal shot actually came from the American rebels. She quotes a June 20, 1780, British officer's letter.

The next British attempt to invade the area, which became the Battle of Springfield, came June 23 with 5,000 soldiers. The Continental Army had 1,500 men in the area, but several different papers in the historical society's collection state that there were anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 additional New Jersey militia available.

The British forces were led by Lieutenant General Baron Wilhelm von Knyphausen, a Hessian who spoke no English. Between 3-4 a.m., the British soldiers, their Hessian mercenaries, and the New Jersey Volunteers—Loyalists who fought against their fellow New Jerseyans—left Elizabethtown and were soon harassed by the Americans, but they were not stopped until Union, according to a timeline in the historical society's collection. The Americans were out-flanked, and they retreated.

Led by Gen. Nathanael Greene, a general alarm was sounded between 6-8 a.m., and the regular army soldiers and militia gathered at Bryant's Tavern near what is now the Shop Rite on Morris Avenue.

Soldiers were sent to the two bridges across the Rahway River in Millburn and the main bridge in Springfield. More American soldiers were positioned on Morris Avenue and near Old Short Hills Road and Hobart Avenue.

At 9 a.m., the British split their forces, with one wing to assault the bridges on Vaux Hall Avenue and another to head towards Morris Avenue. The assault on the bridges began at 11 a.m., and after fierce fighting, the bridges were captured, but the Americans retreated in an orderly fashion back to the lower reaches of the Short Hills. American General Greene called in his reserve force of 400 men. Faced with that sizable force, well-protected on higher ground, and the militia who were reforming their lines nearby after a disciplined pullback, the British forces halted.

Instead of the attack they expected, the Americans soon saw white smoke billowing up from Springfield, where the British were burning almost every house in town before retreating toward the coast.

The enraged Americans poured down from the hills in pursuit, forcing the British into a "full trot," until they reached Elizabethtown, by 7 p.m., where they crossed over to Staten Island on a bridge of boats.

A June 25 message from Washington, which is available in the historical society's files, states, "The enemy have not made their incursions into this state without loss. Ours has been small. The militia deserves everything that can be said on both occasions. They flew to arms universally and acted with a spirit equal to anything to have seen in the course of the war."

Meisner's book states that the casualties for the Americans were 13 men killed, 49 wounded and 9 missing. The British, however, lost 500-700 men in the battle.

There are other stories that come from the course of the battle, some of which have become local legends.

In the heavy fighting near Morris Avenue, Caldwell, the pastor whose wife was shot in the earlier battle, saw that the American soldiers didn't have enough paper wadding for their guns, which was required for accurate shooting. Legend has it he took the hymnals from a church, many of them containing songs written by English clergyman Isaac Watts, ripped out the pages and gave them to the soldiers as wadding. His rallying cry was, "Put Watts into 'em, boys!"

Caldwell's Revolutionary War exploits are captured in the poem, "Parson Caldwell at Springfield."

It's also believed two Hessian soldiers, the mercenaries who fought with the British, defected and hid in what is known as the Hessian House, which is at 155 Millburn Ave. The two men were put on trial, but were released and settled in Short Hills.

It's also believed the only man from Millburn-Short Hills who died in the battle is buried in the cemetery at the corner of White Oak Ridge and Parsonage Hill roads. Nicholas Parcell died in June 1780, and his gravestone states he "bled and dyed for liberty from British Tyrents."

A number of cannonballs have been recovered over the years from a variety of Millburn-Short Hills locations, including from a tree on Main Street.