Download Battle of Bound Brook - Abraham Staats House

The BATTLE of BOUND BROOK~ 2016
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Contacts: NOT FOR POSTING:
South Bound Brook
SBB Historic Preservation Advisory Commission &
The Friends of Abraham Staats House, Inc.:
Kathy Ormosi: 732-356-4789
Tom Harabin: 732-469-3198
Brian & Kathy Faulks: 732-469-5836
Web site: http://www.staatshouse.org
Email: [email protected]
Bound Brook:
Bound Brook Borough Hall: 732-356-0833
Mayor Bob Fazen: 732-735-1382
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The BATTLE of BOUND BROOK~ 2016
“The American Revolution Living History
Weekend”
Saturday, April 9 & Sunday, April 10, 2016
Living History in South Bound Brook and Bound Brook
Join us for an exciting and historic weekend April 9-10, 2016! The two-day program explores the
American Revolutionary War during the timeframe of the Battle of Bound Brook and the American
army’s use of Middlebrook in the years 1777 – 1779. Learn about and experience this important
period in New Jersey and American history. Weekend activities include:

Marching, Drilling and Street Battle reenactments in Bound Brook and South Bound
Brook, featuring American and British units portraying the soldiers of the American
Revolution.
 18th century Soldiers’ Encampment on the grounds of the Abraham Staats House, 17
von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook, 08880. Come walk through camp and see what
life was like for American and British troops during the time of the American Revolution.
 Historic house tours: The Abraham Staats House, with the original structure c. 1740,
was home to the Staats family for nearly 200 years and served as the headquarters for
George Washington’s “Drillmaster” Baron von Steuben.
 Presentations and exhibits at the Abraham Staats House, include
 Eminent historian H. Kels Swan – (Sunday, 11:30 am) – Presentation: “A Trilogy of
Local Patriots Who Served in the American Revolutionary War: Michael Field,
Hendrick Fisher, and Abraham Staats”
 Authors William Schleicher and Susan Winter - (Sunday, 1:00 pm) - Presentation:
“Contest of Militias: Suppressing the Tories in Somerset and Hunterdon Counties,
New Jersey 1775-1776”. Share the audience with reenactors!
 Tom Harabin, Vice President, Friends of Abraham Staats House, performs music
of the Colonial Era, program on instruments, music of the period (throughout the
weekend)
For info: www.battleofboundbrook.org
The BATTLE of BOUND BROOK~ 2016
Saturday, April 9
Note: Parking available in Billian Park, 561 East High Street, Bound Brook, 08805 and Elm
Street Parking Lot, South Bound Brook 08880, as well as along public streets in both towns.
10 AM – 5 PM American Revolution Soldiers Encampment and historic Abraham Staats
House, 17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook, NJ, 08880.
10 AM
Soldiers leave Abraham Staats House to march down Main Street, South
Bound Brook to Queens Bridge and Old Stone Arch on Railroad Avenue, Bound
Brook.
10:30 AM
Battle Begins!! Soldiers March and Fight on the Old Stone Arch Bridge and
Queens Bridge to Reenact The Battle of Bound Brook!! The Loyalist troops
attack and push the Patriot Forces in a Retreat up East Street to the cemetery.
11:30 AM
Ceremony by Troops at Old Presbyterian Graveyard next to Bound Brook
Memorial Library, 402 E. High St., BB 08805. Bound Brook Memorial Library
Open to Public for Special Exhibits.
11:45 AM
Lunch With Soldiers – BBQ Picnic on Hamilton Street, Bound Brook 08805 –
Open to the Public-Dine with American, British and Hessian Soldiers of the
American Revolution! George Washington visits the Brooks Arts Center
12pm and meet and greet in the lobby after his talk.
1 – 1:30 PM
Soldiers Assemble and begin the march back to South Bound Brook over
Queens Bridge.
1:30– 2:30 PM American and British troops reenact Street Battle in South Bound Brook,
starting at Elm & Main St., (south end, Queen’s Bridge), battling to Maple Street.
2:30 PM
All troops clear Main St and return to the Soldiers Encampment at the Abraham
Staats House, South Bound Brook.
At the Soldier’s Encampment/Abraham Staats House:
In the Abraham Staats House: Special lectures, exhibits and house tours inside
the Abraham Staats House (Weekend Pass: $10 for adults; $5 for Seniors & 18
years and under. Family: $20.)
2:30 ~ 5 PM
4 PM – 8 PM
On the Grounds of the Abraham Staats House (Free):
Visit the Living History American Revolutionary Soldiers Encampment at the
Abraham Staats House c. 1740, (17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook).
Come see life as it existed for the Soldiers, Camp Followers and others who lived
the American past. Military Drills, Camp Life, Living History demonstrations,
Soldiers practicing 18th c. military tactics, Sutlers (merchants) selling Colonial
goods, Sewing, Spinning, Open Hearth Cooking, Period Music and
refreshments at the camp. The soldiers will be drilling during the afternoon, just as
they did 200 years ago – (No fee for activities on outside grounds of the Abraham
Staats House.)
In South Bound Brook:
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The BATTLE of BOUND BROOK~ 2016
Pasta Dinner available for purchase at the Fellowship Hall of the Reformed
Church of Bound Brook in South Bound Brook (located in South Bound Brook,
113 Clinton Street) from 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. Adults: $10, Seniors & Reenactors: $9,
Children: 5-12 years: $6, 4 & under: Free.
5 PM
Soldiers Encampment and Abraham Staats House closed to the public.
7 – 10PM
Spring Ball and Social at Van Horne House, 941 E. Main St. Bridgewater. $15
per person. Contact: [email protected]
Sunday, April 12
7:30 AM–12 PM Buffet Breakfast, South Bound Brook Fire Co. #1 Firehouse. Eat with the
soldiers and colonial camp followers at the famous All-You-Can-Eat Sunday Buffet
Breakfast at the South Bound Brook Firehouse on Edgewood Terrace, available for
purchase from 7:30 a.m. – 12 noon. Adults: $9, Seniors: $8, under age ten: $6,
under age 5: free.
10 AM- 4 PM
Soldier’s Encampment at the Abraham Staats House:
In the Abraham Staats House: Special lectures, exhibits and tours inside the
Abraham Staats House (Fee: $10 for adults & $5 for 18 years and under.)
10 AM-11 AM Soldiers Drills and Battle Demonstration on the grounds. Watch the American
and British soldiers as they perform military maneuvers of the American Revolution.
11:30 AM
H. Kels Swan - Lecture: "A Trilogy of Local Patriots Serving in the War for
American Independence: Michael Field, Hendrick Fisher and Abraham Staats”
1:00 PM
William Schleicher and Susan Winter - Lecture: “Contest of Militias: Suppressing
the Tories in Somerset and Hunterdon Counties, New Jersey 1775-76.”
On the Grounds of the Abraham Staats House (free):
Visit the Living History American Revolutionary Soldiers Encampment at the
Abraham Staats House c. 1740, (17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook).
Come see life as it existed for the Soldiers, Camp Followers and others who lived
the American past. Military Drills, Camp Life, Living History demonstrations,
Soldiers practicing 18th c. military tactics, Sutlers (merchants) selling Colonial
goods, Sewing, Spinning, Open Hearth Cooking, Period Music and
refreshments at the camp. The soldiers will be drilling during the afternoon, just as
they did 200 years ago – (No fee for activities on outside grounds of the Abraham
Staats House.)
2:30 -3:30pm
Soldiers Drills and Battle Demonstration on the grounds. Watch the American
and British soldiers as they perform military maneuvers of the American Revolution.
4 PM
Soldiers Encampment / Abraham Staats House closed to public.
Directions: I-287, Exit 10, Rt. 527 (Easton Ave to South Bound Brook) to Von Steuben Lane (approx. 3/4 mile).
Follow Von Steuben Lane to end, driveway entrance and parking for house.
Information: http://www.staatshouse.org
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The BATTLE of BOUND BROOK~ 2016
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About the Annual Battle of Bound Brook Weekend:
The annual Anniversary of The Battle of Bound Brook, launched in 2001, is a multicommunity event created to raise pride and awareness in our area’s historic character and
vital contribution to the American struggle for independence. The event also supports preservation of
key Revolutionary War sites, including the Abraham Staats House in South Bound Brook and the
historic Old Stone Arch Bridge in Bound Brook.
The Friends of Abraham Staats House, Inc. has received an operating support grant from the New
Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. The weekend lectures have been
funded, in part, by a grant from the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission and Friends of
Somerset County Culture & Heritage, Inc. The Abraham Staats House also receives support from the
Borough of South Bound Brook, which owns and maintains the property.
Parking for events in South Bound Brook is available along Main Street, in the Elm Street
Parking Lot and along public streets in the area of the Soldiers Encampment. Parking in Bound
Brook is available throughout the town and in Billian Park. Intermittent street closings are expected
during the weekend in South Bound Brook, and Bound Brook to accommodate the march of the
soldiers.
Battle of Bound Brook Web sites: Visit http://www.staatshouse.org for event schedules, information
and updates.
ABOUT:
The Battle of Bound Brook and Middlebrook Encampments
On Sunday, April 13, 1777, a four-column force of 4,000 British Crown troops led by Lord Charles
Cornwallis attacked a small American garrison of about 500 commanded by General Benjamin Lincoln and
located in the town of Bound Brook. The objective: surround the town, capture the garrison and provisions
located at this patriot stronghold and gain a foothold in the war against the American Revolutionary army. In
the surprise attack, an advance column led by Hessian Jaeger scouts fighting for the British were pinned
down by Colonial soldiers who put up a spirited resistance at the Old Stone Arch Bridge located near the
Queens’ Bridge.
The skirmish bought precious time for the bulk of the American force in Bound Brook as British
forces poured into the area. When a second column of 1,000 British soldiers charged over the Queen’s
Bridge to attack, the Colonials retreated, escaping the trap. The American army regrouped in the area later
in 1777, in a larger encampment called First Middlebrook. General George Washington’s army also settled
in the winter and spring of 1778-79 for the second time in Middlebrook, in a military cantonment that spread
out as far as Pluckemin and present-day Manville. At its height, nearly 10,000 troops gathered at
Middlebrook, with attendant artillery camps, hospitals, commissaries, post office, artificers, quartermasters
stores, corrals and other military operations situated in nearby locations. General Washington and many of
his officers stayed in homes in the area, near to the main camp.
General Baron Frederich von Steuben made his headquarters at the home of Abraham Staats in
South Bound Brook, today known as the Abraham Staats House. www.battleofboundbrook.org
The Abraham Staats House
17 Von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook
During the American Revolution, the house was owned by American patriot Abraham Staats, marked as an
enemy of the Crown by the British. His family hosted General Baron Frederich von Steuben, drillmaster of
the American Revolutionary Army, who used the house as headquarters during the Middlebrook
Cantonment, when the American army was quartered in the area during the winter of 1778-79. Research
indicates the earliest portion of the house dates from around 1740, with later additions including a wing built
c. 1830 by the Staats family, which owned the home for nearly 200 years. Following the Battle of Bound
Brook in April 1777, a retreating British column crossed the Staats’ property, taking items which Abraham
later made claim as war damages. The home was the setting for visits by General George Washington and
other key figures during the War. The Borough of South Bound Brook purchased the Abraham Staats House
in 1999 for historic preservation. The South Bound Brook Historic Preservation Advisory Commission and
Friends of Abraham Staats House, Inc. are dedicated to preservation of the house, which has been placed
on both the State and National Register of Historic Places.
The BATTLE of BOUND BROOK~ 2016
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The Old Stone Arch Bridge
This triple-arch bridge is one of the oldest surviving stone bridges in New Jersey and a rare example of
colonial highway engineering. Construction of the bridge was authorized by the Legislature in 1730. It was
probably built soon thereafter to span the Green Brook, a channel of the Bound Brook, and form part of a
causeway that crossed a large area of marshy ground along the Bound Brook and Raritan River. The bridge
played a significant role in the defense of Bound Brook during the Revolutionary War, and it is one of the few
existing battlefield resources in New Jersey for which a first-hand action account exists. The diary of Hessian
officer Johann von Ewald records the fighting along the causeway during the Battle of Bound Brook in April
1777. Made of locally quarried rough sandstone and shale, the bridge spans the boundary between
Somerset and Middlesex counties and the boroughs of Bound Brook and Middlesex. Approximately 85 feet
long and 33 feet wide, its remains are almost completely buried by fill on its north side; on the south side they
are exposed above the top of the arches, including two large buttresses, one of which is relatively intact.
(Excerpt from “Preservation New Jersey: www.preservationnj.org)
Life in Camp:
Encampment at The Abraham Staats House, 17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook
The soldiers and camp followers will be living life in camp much as it would have been in 1777. Visitors may
tour the camp, observe camp artifacts and equipment, and see how the troops of the American Revolution,
British Crown and American forces, lived and view Camp Food Preparation, Military Training and Drills,
Artillery and Small Arms Practice. Members of the reenactor’s units involved in the encampment are
dedicated to recreating the history of the American colonial 18th century period through demonstrations,
exhibits, lectures, encampments, and interpretations. Equipment used and clothing worn by members is
authentic and documented. The men, women, and children who participate volunteer their time to recreate
the lives of everyday people struggling for independence during the American Revolution. Members are
encouraged to learn 18th century skills and strive for authenticity in their interpretations.
Battle of Bound Brook information at Friends of Abraham Staats House web site:
http://www.staatshouse.org