Procession to Trenton begins 10 a.m. Saturday.
By: Lea Kahn
Carrying newly acquired replicas of flags that were carried by Revolutionary War troops, Col. Edward Hand and his band of Pennsylvania riflemen will lead the 42nd annual re-enactment march to Trenton Saturday morning.
The event, which celebrates the delaying tactics of Col. Hand and his riflemen against the British troops, begins at 10 a.m. at the Municipal Building. The rain date is Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Municipal Building.
Col. Hand’s soldiers held off British troops and protected Gen. George Washington and his soldiers, encamped in Trenton on Jan. 2, 1777.
The replica flags include the Grand Union flag, which is the "first real flag" of the rebellion, said township resident William Agress, who has portrayed Col. Hand since 1981. That flag contained 13 red and white stripes, and a Union Jack in the upper left corner. It was first carried in 1775.
Later flags also contained 13 red and white stripes, with stars in the upper left corner. The Bennington flag was carried at a battle in Bennington, N.H., in 1776, Mr. Agress said. The third flag known as the Betsy Ross flag, which had 13 stars in a circle was adopted as the national flag in 1777, he said.
Col. Hand will be accompanied Saturday by Mayor Mark Holmes and members of Township Council. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, plus township residents who want to make the six-mile trek to Trenton, also may participate.
And in what may become a new tradition, former Lawrence mayors have been invited to take part in the march wearing period costumes or uniforms, Mr. Agress said. So far, former Mayor Pat Colavita Jr. plans to join the march, he said.
Acknowledging Mayor Holmes’ role as the township’s first black mayor, Mr. Agress said that in his remarks before the march steps off, he will explain that the patriots included more than white, Protestant males.
"The American Revolutionary War was multiracial, multiethnic and multireligious," Mr. Agress said. "It wasn’t (fought by) just the British and those who came from Great Britain. Native Americans fought in the war, too. There were blacks, Catholics and Jews, too."
Therefore, Mr. Agress said he has invited blacks who portray American Revolutionary War soldiers to take part in the trek to Trenton. He met the re-enactors while taking part in the annual Christmas Day re-enactment of Gen. Washington’s troops crossing the Delaware River.
In addition, Mr. Agress said he has invited other re-enactors, including James Gibson of Fallingston, Pa., who portrays Gen. George Washington at the annual Delaware River crossing on Christmas Day.
The Coryell’s Ferry Militia re-enactors group will participate, Mr. Agress said. The re-enactors plan to bring along their replica cannon and fire it when the marchers stop at the Shabakunk Creek, near Notre Dame High School. That is the site of one of three skirmishes between Col. Hand’s troops and the British soldiers.
The march to Trenton is expected to take about two hours. A township van will take participants back to the Municipal Building from the Mill Hill Playhouse, where the march ends.
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.
The re-enactment of Col. Hand’s delaying tactics was suggested by former township historian Robert 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.
The Col. Hand march is sponsored by the Lawrence Township Cultural and Heritage Advisory Committee. The march coordinators are committee member Philip Rubin, Superintendent of Recreation Steven Groeger and Mr. Agress.