By: centraljersey.com
LAWRENCE – Exactly 234 years to the day that Col. Edward Hand’s riflemen held off British and Hessian troops on their way to Trenton before the Second Battle of Trenton, history buffs will retrace Col. Hand’s delaying tactics Sunday morning.
The annual re-enactment of the Col. Edward Hand Historic March will take place at 11:30 a.m. at the Municipal Building. The Sunday morning event marks the 49th annual re-enactment of the American patriot’s delaying tactics, which occurred Jan. 2, 1777, said township resident William Agress. He has portrayed Col. Hand since 1981.
Mr. Agress said the march will take place this week, provided it is not raining hard. If there are showers or light rain, the march will occur as scheduled, he said.
The annual march re-enacts the tactics of Col. Hand and his band of riflemen, who delayed the advance of British and Hessian troops on their way from Princeton to retake Trenton from the Americans during the afternoon of Jan. 2, 1777 – hours before the Second Battle of Trenton took place.
The British and Hessian troops reached Trenton at dusk on Jan. 2, engaging Gen. George Washington and his soldiers in the Second Battle of Trenton. The Americans retreated and crossed a bridge over the Assunpink Creek. Their pursuers tried three times to cross the bridge, but they were turned back each time.
During the night and into the morning of Jan. 3, 1777, Gen. Washington led his soldiers around the British and Hessian encampment. The Americans followed a back road to Princeton, where they surprised British troops stationed there at the Battle of Princeton.
Meanwhile, the annual program Sunday morning kicks off promptly at 11:30 a.m. with an introduction by Col. Hand and some welcoming remarks by Gregory Puliti, who is expected to be sworn into office as mayor on New Year’s Day.
The program also will pay tribute to the late Pat D’Angelo – "our march stalwart," said Mr. Agress. Mr. D’Angelo, who died earlier this year, would embark on every march with the late Robert Immordino, the former township historian and who founded the event.
The mayor and Township Council have been invited to participate in the march, as they have every year, dressed in appropriate Colonial-era garb, Mr. Agress said. John Godzieba, who portrays Gen. George Washington, also has been invited to speak, he said.
Private Paul Donohue, a re-enactor, will fire his Pennsylvania rifle outside the Municipal Building, after the program, Mr. Agress said. Col. Hand led a band of Pennsylvania riflemen to harass the British and Hessian troops.
Eric and Virginia Pearson, of the Traveling Liberty Bell Foundation, are expected to return with their replica of the Liberty Bell. It was cast in 1976 from the same mold as the original Liberty Bell – but minus the crack, Mr. Agress said.
Then the marchers – led by Mayor Puliti and Mr. Agress – will step off and follow the footsteps of Col. Hand and the 1st Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment, which engaged the British and Hessian troops in a series of skirmishes in Lawrence Township.
The marchers, which may include current Township Council members, former mayors, re-enactors, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other history buffs, will make the six-mile trek to Trenton.
They will stop at the sites of two skirmishes that occurred in Lawrence. The first skirmish between the Americans and the British and Hessian soldiers occurred on the banks of Five-Mile-Run, also known as the Little Shabakunk Creek.
Along the way, the marchers will stop at the banks of the Shabakunk Creek – the location of the second skirmish – at the site of Notre Dame High School.
"We will pause for a moment of silence for Mr. Immordino. We should never forget the man whose knowledge (of American history) created the whole thing," Mr. Agress said of the former township historian, who died in 2009.
And, as they have done for past several years, members of the Coryell’s Ferry Militia re-enactors group – will load and shoot a replica Revolutionary War cannon on the banks of the Shabakunk Creek at Notre Dame High School.
A township van will take marchers back to the Municipal Building from the banks of the Shabakunk Creek if they do not want to continue on the walk, Mr. Agress said.
The hardiest marchers will continue their trek, ending at the Old Barracks Museum on Barracks Street – off State Street – in Trenton. It was built in 1758 to house British soldiers during the French and Indian Wars, Mr. Agress said.
Marchers will be treated to refreshments at the Old Barracks. A township van will transport marchers back to the Municipal Building.

