AS always, this was a great event. I have only been there a few times, but this year there was more re-enactors than I have seen in the past.
www.app.com/article/20090628/NEWS/90628001/-1/FRONTTABS01/The++fight+for+liberty+rages+on+at+re-enacted+Battle+of+MonmouthThe fight for liberty rages on at re-enacted Battle of Monmouth
By Erik Larsen • STAFF WRITER • June 28, 2009
MANALAPAN — The Battle of Monmouth as re-enacted this weekend is just a small fraction of the scene that unfolded in the rolling farmlands northwest of Freehold 231 years ago today.
But as one watches 200 Revolutionary War re-enactors march to the battlefield in formation … accompanied by the sounds of fife and drums, battle flags fluttering in a stiff breeze, as cannon, musket and rifle fire are heard off in the distance … there is something moving about this semi-theatrical salute to the past.
RELATED
Battle of Monmouth
As the flags of the United States and Great Britain fly side-by-side outside the visitor center at Monmouth Battlefield State Park, this re-enactment pays tribute to the hundreds of men and women from both sides of the Atlantic who died on this rural swath in service to their respective nations.
The lesson to be had is that the political positions from which soldiers draw a weapon on each other can be debated, but their honor cannot.
Having said that, every fourth-grader in New Jersey knows the Battle of Monmouth was a major strategic victory for Gen. George Washington and his fledgling Continental Army. It was here also where the legend of Molly Pitcher was forged … the wife of a fallen American soldier came to the battle with water for the soldiers but ended up taking her husband's place, loading a cannon, after he fell.
John Osborn, 56, an artist from Ringwood, set up his easel and oil-based paints on a site overlooking the tree- and shrub-covered hill where this turning point in the American Revolution took place.
""Oh, it's way up there, it one of the largest battles of the war,'' Osborn said, who has traveled to Saratoga, N.Y. and Valley Forge, Pa. to paint re-enactments there. ""Certainly very significant.''
The Continental Army attacked the rear of the British Army as the latter was evacuating Philadelphia after France had joined the American cause for independence.
Anticipating that the French navy was going to cut off the port of Philadelphia at the Delaware River if they had remained, the British intended to regroup in Manhattan.
(2 of 2)
About 11,000 British regulars and 1,000 civilians loyal to the crown were making the 100-mile march across New Jersey when they were attacked from the rear by Washington's army in present-day Manalapan.
Before that, various county militias had slowed the British advance by destroying bridges and creating roadblocks on the network of dirt roads connecting Pennsylvania with New York.
RELATED
Battle of Monmouth
""We spent the last 10 days fighting this battle before it got here,'' said Capt. Harry Stephens, a re-enactor from the 24th Connecticut Militia Regiment from the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, as he spoke in character Saturday.
""The only thing we can do is slow the enemy's progress down,'' he said, as eight men, including a Native American in war paint, stood at attention behind him. ""Harass the enemy is the militia's job. Not to defeat them. If we could defeat the enemy, we wouldn't need Gen. Washington and his army. .‚.‚. All we can do is hurt them and we can hurt them pretty good. We can make them angry, we can make them waste supplies, we can make them drop the supplies on the side of the road, which, if you notice, some of my men have availed themselves of the extra supplies.''
