A bridge in Crosswicks marks the spot where British troops and Revolutionaries tangled 225 years ago. It’s part of the historic "Road to Monmouth" being recreated this year.
By:Vanessa S. Holt
CHESTERFIELD For two weeks, close to 20,000 British soldiers marched in a line 12 miles long across New Jersey, traveling through communities like Crosswicks, Columbus and Allentown on the road to the Battle of Monmouth.
Now, 225 years later, that route is being retraced by re-enactors and community groups commemorating the anniversary of the Monmouth Campaign, culminating in the annual re-enactment of the Battle of Monmouth on June 28-29 at Battlefield State Park in Manapalan.
The "Road to Monmouth Heritage Campaign" will retrace the path the British army took through the state, marking the sites of significant battles and skirmishes, including the skirmish at Crosswicks as the British worked to repair a bridge destroyed by American forces.
Richard Walling, president of the Friends of Monmouth Battlefield and chairman of the Road to Monmouth Partnership, will lead a discussion on the Battle of Monmouth Campaign at a general membership meeting of the Chesterfield Township Historical Society at 2 p.m. Sunday. The talk, which is open to the public, will be held in the historical society museum on Ward Avenue in Crosswicks.
Historical society members said the meeting will include discussion of what can be done at a local level to commemorate the skirmish at Crosswicks.
Historical society member Christine Connelly said the idea of an army 20,000 strong marching through the small communities has captured her imagination. She lives in a historic 1736 home on Georgetown-Wrightstown Road built by Michael and Sarah Newbold and now called Bright View Farm.
"I find it to be an absolutely fascinating idea, thinking of this huge army coming through almost in the same way that we think of Gen. Sherman crossing Georgia in 1864," she said. Many homes and farms were destroyed in the town once called Recklesstown but now named Chesterfield.
According to the Chesterfield Historical Society, close to 400 families lived in the Bordentown and Chesterfield area in 1778, with Quaker Meetinghouses in Crosswicks, Springfield, and Black Horse-Bordentown Road.
"I’m hopeful that people will be engaged in this subject and perhaps the community will come up with some ideas as to how to commemorate this event," Ms. Connelly said.
The Road to Monmouth begins June 21 at Valley Forge, Pa., the day the British army left Philadelphia and crossed into New Jersey. Re-enactments or other events will be held at locations throughout the state during the following two weeks.
For more information about the Road to Monmouth, visit the Web site, www.roadtomonmouth.com, or contact the Road to Monmouth Partnership at P.O. Box 122, Tennent, N.J. 07763.

