Participants marched along Route 206 from the Municipal Building to Capital Health Systems Fuld campus in Trenton. The re-enactors made stops at three sites of three skirmishes of the Revolutionary War battle in Lawrence.
By: Lea Kahn Staff Writer
It was not a good day to be a British solider in Lawrence especially when a band of Revolutionary War soldiers were intent on repelling the Red Coats back on Saturday.
Or at least some would-be Revolutionary War troops pretended to do so on Saturday during the 44th annual Col. Edward Hand march from Lawrence to Trenton.
The event celebrates the delaying tactics of Col. Hand and his band of Pennsylvania riflemen against the British troops. Col. Hands soldiers held off British troops and protected Gen. George Washington and his soldiers, encamped in Trenton on Jan. 2, 1777.
On Christmas Day 1776, Gen. Washington and 2,400 soldiers crossed the Delaware River from Pennsylvania and marched to Trenton, where they routed the Hessian soldiers in the First Battle of Trenton. Several days later, Gen. Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River again and fought the Second Battle of Trenton on Jan. 2, 1777. Gen. Washington sent Col. Hand and his troops to delay the British from arriving in Trenton until nightfall.
Col. Hand, portrayed by Pagoda Court resident William Agress, was accompanied by Mayor Michael Powers and Township Council. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, plus township residents also made the six-mile trek to Trenton.
Children under 18 years old who completed the six-mile-long march, received a commemorative patch, said history buff and Girl Scout leader Alison Roth.
The march followed a short program by Township Historian Robert Immordino, who highlighted some of the past marches such as which mayor made the quickest march, for example.
The marchers stopped at the site of two skirmishes that occurred in Lawrence. A third skirmish between the Americans and the British occurred in Trenton, near the site of today’s Capital Health Systems at Fuld Hospital.
The first skirmish between the Americans and the British occurred on the banks of the Five Mile Run, also known as the Little Shabakunk Creek. The second skirmish took place along the banks of the Shabakunk Creek, at the site of Notre Dame High School. Historic re-enactor Robert Gerenser and the Coryells Ferry Militia shot a replica Revolutionary War-era cannon.
The marchers’ trek continued to Trenton, ending at the historic Douglass House. They enjoyedrefreshments, before being ferried back to the Municipal Building in township-owned vans.
The re-enactment of Col. Hands delaying tactics was suggested by Mr. Immordino in 1962, Mr. Agress said. He was the local chairman of the New Jersey tercentenary celebration, which commemorated the 300th anniversary of the founding of the state, Mr. Agress said.