PRINCETON: Bringing back Revolutionary War battle history

By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
   History sprang to life and transported people back to the late 1700s on Saturday afternoon at a Revolutionary War re-enactment at the historic Thomas Clarke House in Princeton Battlefield State Park.
   Troops demonstrated infantry moves, gunning techniques and fired a cannon typical of the era.
   ”I’ve never been and we’ve been living here for 10 years,” said Raul Calvimontes, a Princeton Borough resident from Mexico who was attending with his son. “It’s nice to find out the history and it’s interesting.”
   Several people came over after the Memorial Day parade in the borough.
   ”(My daughter) loves doing this stuff. We did the parade first,” said her father, Mike Vermut, a Princeton Township resident. “Jordyn said she’d swap our house for theirs because theirs has a fireplace.”
   ”I like to see the guns and how they work and stuff,” said Jordyn, 6. “You get to go inside the house and see what it is like.”
   The 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Army re-enactors did not disappoint, demonstrating how troops moved across the field, shot with guns and used a cannon.
   ”It makes history more alive to see the scene and what the history was like,” said Bill Maggio, a history buff from Princeton Junction. “You read about the battles and we’ve been here before and to see the re-enactment with the troops moving around you get a better idea of the scale of things.”
   ”And to hear loud and scary noises,” piped in his 7-year-old daughter Sophia Maggio.
   The re-enactments were timed for Memorial Day weekend, said Jerry Hurwitz, president of the Princeton Battlefield Society. “We wanted to connect it with Memorial Day weekend because that’s when Princeton celebrates,” he said. “It’s a good reminder of what Memorial Day is all about.”
   More than 45 re-enactors from boys and girls in their teens to men in their 70s helped to show attendees what history was all about.
   ”Re-enacting this time period is very interesting. We’ve gone to some great places and re-enacted some great battles,” said Chip Cash of Lawrenceville, who participates as a member of the Battlefield Society and 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment with his son. “It’s a birds-eye view of history.”
   The love of history seems to be passed from generation to generation, at least in Mr. Hurwitz’s family, which has been involved since 1977.
   ”I’m following in my dad’s footsteps. I’ve loved history since I was about 4 years old,” said Asher Lurie of Planisboro, who just graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in history and works at the Old Barracks in Trenton. “It’s a great social hobby with people of different ages and different backgrounds, you learn a lot and make friends that become your family.”
   Many members become hooked on history at early ages and it becomes a family affair.
   ”When I was 9 my parents took me to Williamsburg and I saw the militia muster and I told my mom I wanted to do that,” said Mark Crosby of Tabernacle, who portrays an artillery commander and is a member of the Battlefield Society and the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment.
   He got involved in the 1970s when he was in college after seeing a recruiting poster.
   ”Considering what they teach in schools about the (American) Revolution, it’s almost a second thought and it’s important people know the truth about that time, which gave us the freedoms we are still finding for today.”
   Mr. Crosby’s sons are also involved, as is his wife, who runs the camp when the re-enactors camp out.
   Everyone who attended appreciated the efforts of those involved.
   ”They did a great job with the duel. It was very low key, but great for the kids,” said Jeanne Fynn of Princeton Township, who brought her two young children. “A little history, but relaxed for the kids.”