BGuthrie Photos: NJ -- Princeton -- Princeton Battlefield State Park

NJ -- Princeton -- Princeton Battlefield State Park:

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[1] PBSP_110530_001.JPG	[2] PBSP_110530_005.JPG	[3] PBSP_110530_013.JPG
[4] PBSP_110530_019.JPG	[5] PBSP_110530_026.JPG	[6] PBSP_110530_034.JPG
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[10] PBSP_110530_054.JPG	[11] PBSP_110530_058.JPG	[12] PBSP_110530_062.JPG
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. PBSP_110530_001.JPG: Colonnade and Gravesite This colonnade was originally part of Mathew Newkirk's home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Later called St. George's Hall. The house was designed by Thomas U. Walter, who later designed the dome on the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D. C. In 1900, the colonnade was transported to Princeton, and became the entrance of the Mercer Manor, which formerly stood on the east side of the Battlefield. Upon the Manor's demolition in 1957, the Institute for Advanced Study donated the colonnade to the State of New Jersey. The colonnade was dedicated where it stands in 1959, and declared a National Historic Monument in 1962. Beyond the colonnade lies a circular stone patio and a tablet dedicated to the men who died in the Battle of Princeton. The memorial was erected in 1918, in memory of the thirty-six unknown soldiers buried nearby, including fifteen American and twenty-one British soldiers. The words engraved on the tablet are those of Alfred Noyes (1880 – 1958), taken from his poem Princeton (1917). Noyes was a visiting professor at Princeton University, and later became Poet Laureate of England.
2. PBSP_110530_019.JPG: The British Occupation of New Jersey With New York City in British hands, Forts Washington and Lee on the Hudson River (North River) fell to British attack November 16 & 19, 1776, respectively. General George Washington moved his army south through New Jersey, crossing the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. The British Army and German auxiliaries followed, reaching Princeton on December 7th and Trenton on December 8th. With the American Army temporarily out of reach, British and German troops fortified and garrisoned towns along the main road, including Princeton and Trenton. This arrangement allowed the British to gather provisions over a wider area but made mutual support difficult if attacked. Washington took advantage of this vulnerability by crossing the Delaware River Christmas night, attacking the next morning the garrison closest to his army, the German Regiments at Trenton.
3. PBSP_110530_026.JPG: From Trenton to Princeton Following the Christmas night crossing of the Delaware River and the First Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, George Washington's army re-crossed the river back into Pennsylvania. The British and German troops reacted to their defeat at Trenton by abandoning posts at Mount Holly and Burlington and moving to Princeton. Taking advantage of the British confusion, Washington moved his whole force back to Trenton over the next week, assembling nearly 6,000 soldiers by January 2, 1777. With British strength at Princeton now at nearly 8,000, Charles Cornwallis moved to attack Trenton on January 2. A strong American force under Colonel Edward Hand in Maidenhead (now Lawrenceville) began a running battle, slowly giving ground back into Trenton. Darkness ended this Second Battle of Trenton and found the town divided between British and American forces. With his back to the Delaware River, Washington used information from the Cadwalader spy map to make a withdrawal east and around the British troops in Trenton and Maidenhead. Under strict silence, tired American soldiers marched through the night, arriving here on the Clarke family farms shortly after dawn on January 3rd.
4. PBSP_110530_034.JPG: Thomas Clarke House In 1772, Thomas Clarke, a Quaker farmer purchased 200 acres of land from his brother William. The land, then part of West Windsor, had been in the Clarke family since 1696. Thomas replaced an existing structure with the main house that stands today. He lived here with at least two of his sisters, Hannah and Sarah, until his death in 1802. Sarah inherited and remained in the house until her death in 1840. Her nephew, John H. Clarke, enlarged the east wing which included a new kitchen. The house was sold in 1863 to Henry E. Hale and again in 1944 to Blackwell Smith. The State of New Jersey purchased the property in 1946, and established the Clarke House Museum in 1976. Following the Battle of Princeton, the Clarke House served as a field hospital for wounded soldiers from both armies. Among those taken to the house was brigadier General Hugh Mercer, suffering from seven bayonet wounds. American and British doctors, including Dr. Benjamin Rush, cared for these wounded. Mercer died in the house nine days later tended by Major George Lewis, General Washington's nephew.
5. PBSP_110530_054.JPG: To the memory of General Hugh Mercer, the revered martyr of American Independence. Born in Scotland about 1720. Educated as a physician. Emigrated to America 1747. Was appointed by Congress June 5, 1776, a brigadier general in the American Army. Was mortally wounded at the Battle of Princeton January 3, 1777, and died in the house now standing near this spot January 12, 1777. This tablet was erected by Mercer Engine Company No 3 of Princeton, N.J., October 1, 1897, at its semi-centennial celebration.
6. PBSP_110530_140.JPG: Site of Moulder's Battery At the height of the January 3, 1777 Battle of Princeton, British forces under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood, attacked aggressively, forcing the American brigades to fall back. The Americans rallied around a small artillery battery, lead by Captain Joseph Moulder. Moulder's Battery consisted of "two guns handled by some twenty boys recruited from Philadelphia's dock area," supported by the Delaware Militia company of Captain Thomas Rodney. With great skill and bravery Captain Moulder directed intense and accurate fire from the American guns which prevented the British Forces from advancing across the field. This defense was a major factor in the American victory being crucial in buying time for Washington to arrive on the field and organize a counterattack. Artist James Peale, a soldier with the American forces at Princeton, chose in 1784 to illustrate this critical moment of the engagement in his painting of the Battle of Princeton. Peale's landscape, painted on this hill, focuses on Moulder's battery and the left wing of the American forces in their attack on the British 17th and 55th Regiments. In the background are the William Clarke House and barns, now gone. The Mercer Oak would be just to the left of the barn at the center of the painting.
7. PBSP_110530_156.JPG: The Mercer Oak The Mercer Oak was named for Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, who fought and was mortally wounded in the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777. The white oak is believed to have been here at the time of the American Revolution. A legend says that Mercer was bayoneted and was laid beneath this tree, refusing to leave the battle until victory was secured. He was actually wounded just uphill, behind enemy lines. Later recovered by his aids, Mercer was carried to the Thomas Clarke House, where he died nine days later. Besides the tree, this county and the nearby roadway are among the many things named in his honor. Mercer (1725-77), born in Scotland, studied medicine at Aberdeen. As an assistant surgeon to the Scottish Jacobite Army he was present at their defeat by the English on Culloden Moor in 1746. Settling in Pennsylvania in 1747, Mercer served the English Provincial Army in the French and Indian War, attaining the rank of colonel. Moving to Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1761 he married, purchased Washington's boyhood farm, and practiced medicine. As the Revolution began Mercer was named colonel of the 3rd Virginia regiment in 1775 and in 1776 became brigadier general under Washington. Collapsing of old age on March 3, 2000, the Mercer Oak continues to be a well-recognized symbol of Princeton Township, of Mercer County, the New Jersey Green Acres Program, and other entities. An offspring donated by Louise Morse, started in 1981 from an acorn of the Mercer Oak, was plated next to the old stump in 2001.
8. PBSP_110530_160.JPG: Here's the stump that was part of the Mercer Oak
9. PBSP_110530_185.JPG: This is Hallowed Ground Across these fields in the early light of the third of January 1777, Washington's Continentals defeated British Regulars for the first time in the long struggle for American Independence. In the memorial grove beyond you, those who fell in the Battle of Princeton, both American and British, lie buried. The historic portico in which you stand was re-erected her to mark the entrance to the tomb of these unknown soldiers of the Revolution. Funds for the rebuilding of this portico were raised by public subscription through the Princeton Portico Fund, Inc., whose trustees were: Sherley W. Morgan, F.A.I.A., President; Martin L. Beck, A.I.A., Sec'y-Treasurer; Mrs. Walter E. Edge; Alfred Green, A.I.A.; Robert W. McLaughlin, F.A.I.A.; and Walter N. Rothschild. This portico was dedicated on November 11, 1959 Robert B. Meyner, Governor of New Jersey Frank Thompson, Jr. Member of Congress, N.J. Salvatore Bontempo, N.J. Commissioner of Conservation & Economic Development
10. PBSP_110530_190.JPG: The preservation and rebuilding here of this historic portico were due to the leadership of the architects of New Jersey in commemoration of the centennial year of the American Institute of Architecture in 1937. Thomas Ustick Walter (1804-88) was its architect. He was one of the founders of the American Institute of Architects and became its second president. His best known work is the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This portico was created in 1836 for the residence of Mathew Newkirk in Philadelphia. It was moved to Princeton about 1900 and erected as the entrance of a house called Mercer Manor because it stood on the eastern edge of the Princeton Battlefield near the spot where General Mercer was mortally wounded in the engagement. When it was necessary to demolish Mercer Manor in 1937, its owners, the Institute for Advanced Study, presented the portico to the State of New Jersey.
11. PBSP_110530_205.JPG: Near here lie buried the American and British officers and soldiers who fell in the Battle of Princeton January 3rd, 1777 Here freedom stood by slaughtered friend and foe, and ere the wrath paled or that sunset died, looked through the ages; then, with eyes aglow, laid them to wait that future, side by side. Alfred Noyes 1880 – 1958
Wikipedia Description: Princeton Battlefield State Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Princeton Battlefield State Park is a 200-acre (81 ha) state park located in Princeton Township, Mercer County, near Princeton, New Jersey. The park preserves the site of the Battle of Princeton (January 3, 1777), which was a victory for General Washington's revolutionary forces over British forces. The park is maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, and is located on Mercer Road (Princeton Pike), about 1.5 miles south of Princeton University and 3.8 miles north of Interstate 295/95..

Highlights of the park include the Princeton Battlefield site; the Clarke House Museum (see below); Mercer Oak, a tree which stood in the middle of the battlefield; the Ionic Colonnade designed by Thomas U. Walter (architect of the US Capitol Building); and a stone patio marking the grave of 21 British and 15 American soldiers killed in the battle. A poem was written for the site by Alfred Noyes, Poet Laureate of England.

The park's hiking trails lead to the Delaware and Raritan Canal and to the 588-acre (2 km2) adjacent property of the Institute for Advanced Study.

The Princeton Battle Monument is located near Princeton University on non-adjacent park property at Stockton Street and Bayard Lane.

Clarke House Museum:

The Thomas Clarke House Museum, built in 1772, was built by the third generation of Quakers at Stony Brook. The house is furnished in the Revolutionary period and contains military artifacts and battle exhibits, as well as a research library.

During the battle Hugh Mercer was brought to the Clarke House and treated unsuccessfully by Benjamin Rush.
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