Washington Rock

In the summer of 1780, tradition places George Washington here watching American troops block British efforts to reach Morristown and destroy his supply base. The first British advance was stopped at Connecticut Farms, now Union, on June 7th. As the British fell back to Elizabethtown, they burned Connecticut Farms and murdered Parson Caldwell’s wife. On June 23rd, British and Hessian troops under General Knyphausen were repulsed at Springfield by American troops commanded by General Nathaniel Greene. The 2nd Rhode Island Regiment under Col. Angell held the easterly bridge over the Rahway River on the Main Road, now Morris Avenue, while Major “Light Horse Harry” Lee with colonial veterans and local militia held the bridge at Vaux Hall Road. After burning Springfield Village, the British abandoned their effort and left New Jersey forever. During the battle, Parson Caldwell brought hymn-books from his church to American gunners who had run out of wadding, crying, “Boys, Give ‘em Watts!” a moment later commemorated by Bret Harte in his poem “Parson Caldwell.”

New Jersey · United States