~ A Crossroads Celebration ~

 

Battle of Bound Brook:

Washington's Army at Middlebrook

Living History Weekend at the

Abraham Staats House

 

April 18th & 19th, 2009

     

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Join us for the exciting and historic weekend

at the Battle of Bound Brook 2009.

"Washington's Army at Middlebrook"

Saturday, April 18th & Sunday, April 19


Attention - Re-enacting unit and sutlers - Registration is now open.
Go to the Re-enactors info page for more
details

 

Living History in South Bound Brook and Bound Brook

 

Experience Living History and learn about the American War for Independence! Featured speakers include author Arthur S. Lefkowitz, historian H.Kels Swan and Wayne Daniels, senior interpreter at the Old Barracks in Trenton. 18th Century Soldier’s Encampment and Street Battles, Ceremony at Old Stone Arch Bridge, Pasta Dinner, Sunday Buffet Breakfast, Historic House tours and More!

Join us for an exciting and historic weekend April 18 – 19, 2009!  The two-day program explores the American Revolutionary War during the timeframe of the Battle of Bound Brook and Middlebrook encampments, 1777 – 1779. Learn about and experience this important period in New Jersey’s and America’s history.  Weekend activities include: 

  • 18th 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.    
  •  Lectures and presentations at the Abraham Staats House, throughout the weekend, include:
    • Collector Earl Becker offers a talk and display of his collection of trade beads and wampum (Sat. 1 pm.  / Also on Sun. 11 am.) 
    •  Wayne Daniels, Senior Historical Interpreter at the Old Barracks, Trenton, presents “The Approaching Storm,” ~ chronicles New Jersey as it is drawn inexorably into the turbulence of the American Revolution.  (Sat., 2 pm.)
    •  Eminent historian H. Kels Swan presents information and a map of the first Middlebrook Encampment of 1777. (Sunday, 12:30 pm.)
    •  Noted historian and author Arthur S. Lefkowitz, a color slide presentation of 18th century artistry during the American Revolution   (Sunday, 1 pm.)
    •  Gary DePaolo, New Jersey Militia, Heard’s Brigade, portrays a surgeon of the Colonial era. Learn about medical practices of the 18th century and view surgical instruments used during that time. (Sunday)
    •  Tom Harabin, President, Friends of Abraham Staats House, plays music of the Colonial Era (throughout the weekend.)

Click on Event Schedule for dates and times.

 

 

Below are some photos taken at the 2008 weekend

Please feel free to send us a photo from your experience at the event.

send to: webmaster@staatshouse.org

 Author John Cunningham signing his book "The Uncertain Revolution" and speaking about the Revolution.

 

photos taken by Jody Gibian-Miles

 

       2008 Photo Album

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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. 

 

 The Hendrick Fisher Homestead

Grounds of the Orthodox Ukrainian Church of the USA

(north of the juncture of Easton Ave. and Davidson Ave, Franklin Township)

 

Hendrick Fisher, close neighbor and friend of Abraham Staats, was an ardent American patriot present at the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, who brought a copy when he returned home. Days later he read the Declaration to people gathered in Bound Brook at the Frelinghuysen Tavern, where the Klompus Thread Shop later stood. He died in 1779 and was buried on the home’s property. The Fisher house is located on the grounds of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA north of the juncture of Easton Ave. and Davidson Ave.  

 

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 Friends of the Abraham Staats House, Inc. received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.

  

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