Why History Matters

Why History Matters

JJB Marlowe

Rachel Loves New Jersey. That is the name of my daughter’s blog and an obvious fact about her known by everyone who has ever met her. When she decided to do a post about the 237th anniversary of The Battle of Springfield, I agreed to accompany her on her research trip. I have always been fascinated by The American Revolution.

On June 23, 1780, British and Hessian troops charged into New Jersey and hoped to race through a space in the Watchung Mountains known as the Hobart Gap and catch George Washington and his army at Morristown.

I knew about this because my mother had taken me to the spot where Parson Caldwell had torn up Watts Hymnals to provide wadding for the American muskets, crying, “Give ‘em Watts, Boys!” It was across the street from JJ Newberry, a five and dime in the General Greene Shopping Center, which was the enticement to get us there, a balsawood glider, some candy and a history lesson. My mom had grown up in Indiana and was thrilled to be so close to so many sites associated with the American Revolution.

General Greene was Nathaniel Greene, a favorite of George Washington. Greene commanded the forces at The Battle of Springfield which prevented the British and Hessians from reaching Morristown. Six months later in December of 1780 Greene was given command of the Southern Army, which was on the verge of collapse after having suffered disastrous defeats at Camden and Charleston. Greene decided to split his small force into two smaller forces. He retained command of one of the forces and he put Daniel Morgan, a rough and tumble backwoodsman and a brilliant officer, in charge of the other force. Morgan ended up luring hated British officer, Banastre Tarlton’s troops into a trap and annihilating them at a place in South Carolina known as Cowpens. This and Greene’s leadership during the Battle of Guilford Courthouse led General Cornwallis to withdraw to Virginia where he was trapped and defeated at Yorktown.

When I discovered that I would be attending a wedding in South Carolina, I found out that it would be 11 miles away from Cowpens. I decided to squeeze a visit there into my already busy weekend. Once again, Rachel was my co-pilot. We raced there in the brief time we had available. When we got there a park ranger told us we were just in time for an 18-minute movie about the battle. We told him that we didn’t have 18 minutes, which still makes me laugh.

So recently I found myself eating a delicious falafel on a bench with my daughter, Rachel, across the street from a statue of a Continental soldier which stands next to the church, which replaced the church that the British soldiers burned down. I looked at the General Greene Shopping Center and reminisced about five and dimes, another piece of history.

Sharing the love of history with my mother and my daughter is how history works. Dr Emily Curran speaks of the “connection to history” History is meant to be shared with family and members of the community. It is one of the things that binds us together. By learning about history, we learn about ourselves and that learning then becomes part of the history.