Battle of Springfield

The Battle of Springfield was the last British offensive into New Jersey and one of the final episodes of the northern war. General Knyphausen launched a two-pronged attack with about 5,000 men in June 1780, hoping to reach Washington's supply depots and draw the Continental Army into a decisive engagement. American militia harassed the British columns throughout the advance.

The fighting at Springfield on June 23 was fierce. The British burned the town — largely evacuated — and pushed the defenders back. The Reverend James Caldwell, whose wife had been killed by British soldiers the previous week at Connecticut Farms, threw open his church to soldiers needing wadding for their muskets, reportedly calling out 'Put Watts into them, boys!' as he distributed Isaac Watts hymn books — one of the Revolution's most celebrated anecdotes.

Greene's Continentals and New Jersey militia fought so effectively that Knyphausen concluded a breakthrough was impossible and withdrew. The British never again launched a major offensive into New Jersey. What would have been an easy advance in 1776 was now impossible against determined and experienced resistance — a testament to the maturation of American military forces over four years of war.