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About the Battle of Bound Brook
On Sunday, April 13, 1777, a four-column 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 was also settled in the
winter and spring of 1778-79 in a Second Middlebrook encampment, in the
area of Bound Brook. Nearly 10,000 troops gathered at Middlebrook, with
attendant artillery camps, hospitals, commissaries, post office,
artificers, quartermasters stores, corrals and other military operations
situated in nearby locations. General Washington and many of his
officers stayed in homes in the area, near to the main encampment.
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.
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 von
Steuben, drillmaster of the American Revolutionary Army, who used the
house as headquarters during the Second Middlebrook encampment in the
winter of 1778-79. Research indicates the earliest portion of the house
dates from around 1738, with sections added around 1800 and 1840 by the
Staats family, which owned the home for 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 Abraham Staats House was purchased by the Borough of South Bound
Brook in 1999 for historic preservation. The South Bound Brook
Historic Preservation Advisory Commission and Friends of the 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.
Life in Camp
Encampment at The Abraham Staats House
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. |
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The Old Stone Arch Bridge
This triple-arch 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 first-hand 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 )
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The Old Presbyterian Graveyard
This two acre site, the first established cemetery of the Bound Brook Presbyterian Church,
was active as a burial ground between about 1725 and 1900. Between 1,000 and 1,500 people
may have been laid to rest in marked or unmarked graves. Verified information exists for
about 670 decedents, including forty Revolutionary War soldiers (two were Loyalists),
as well as soldiers who served in the French and Indian War, the Whiskey Rebellion of
Pennsylvania, the Mexican War and the Civil War. Dr. William McKissack, a captain in the
Revolutionary War and a founder of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the
State of New Jersey, is perhaps the most widely known individual buried in the graveyard.
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