Robert Doscher, New Fairfield, Connecticut
Many places in the United States claim to be a birthplace of something American, whether it’s Coney Island and the hot dog or New Orleans and jazz. Princeton, it can be argued, is the birthplace of American freedom. The field where it was born is about to be torn apart and paved over by a housing development.
Despite Congressional approval of the Declaration of Independence in July, the American Revolution was faltering and the American army was on the verge of collapse and military defeat by December 1776. Real American independence from the motherland, Great Britain, seemed to be an unrealistic dream due to a string of military defeats in the second half of 1776.
As failure seemed imminent, the American army and its leader, Gen. George Washington, pulled off a pair of military victories that spun the war’s compass in favor of the American army and the fledgling United States. The “10 Crucial Days” began with a daring nighttime march and successful dawn attack on German troops allied with Great Britain at Trenton and ended with the unexpected but hugely uplifting victory against British troops on a field outside of Princeton.
The actions that took place on this field were a microcosm of the American Revolution. American and British regiments unexpectedly found each other on the outskirts of Princeton. Fighting erupted and British troops quickly gained the advantage. As American troops pulled back and their leader, Gen. Hugh Mercer, lay dying, Washington arrived with fresh American troops and counterattacked, driving British troops from the field and earning a victory that resonated throughout America.
The field on which this counterattack occurred, today called Maxwell’s Field, is set to ingloriously become just another housing development. Local and regional boards and commissions have given their blessing on the Institute for Advanced Study’s (IAS) faculty housing project to be built on Maxwell’s Field. Construction began this month.
A recently released report, commissioned by the IAS, says, “These studies only represent a starting point towards developing the archeological research potential of the Princeton Battlefield. Recovery of lead balls and grapeshot from the Princeton Battlefield State Park and from the faculty housing project area on IAS property supports the association between these lands and the violence of the battle.“
Despite this and other studies and reports that point to the historical significance of the field, an IAS-hired contractor has begun the process of constructing eight townhouses on the field where Washington and his army risked all to give America the freedom it enjoys today.
Robert Doscher
New Fairfield, Connecticut
