The Battle of Connecticut Farms on June 7, 1780 was the first of two British raids into New Jersey that summer, part of Knyphausen's attempt to test American defenses and possibly draw Washington's army into a disadvantageous engagement. The British advance was met by American mi…
The Battle of Connecticut Farms on June 7, 1780 was the first of two British raids into New Jersey that summer, part of Knyphausen's attempt to test American defenses and possibly draw Washington's army into a disadvantageous engagement. The British advance was met by American militia and Continental troops who contested every yard of the British advance.
The British burned the village of Connecticut Farms during the operation. In one of the war's most tragic incidents, Hannah Caldwell — wife of the Reverend James Caldwell, a prominent Patriot clergyman — was shot and killed while sheltering in her home with her children. The killing was either a deliberate murder or a terrible accident depending on the account, but its effect was to inflame New Jersey opinion and create a Patriot martyr whose death was cited throughout the state.
Reverend Caldwell's response to his wife's murder was characteristic of his fiery Patriot spirit. Two weeks later at the Battle of Springfield, when soldiers ran short of gun wadding, he reportedly brought armloads of Isaac Watts hymn books from his church and distributed them, calling out 'Put Watts into them, boys!' The Connecticut Farms battle set the stage for the decisive American defensive success at Springfield.
"The preservation of the names and services of those who achieved our independence is one of the highest duties of patriotism."
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