Red Bank Battlefield

Infobox_nrhp | name =Red Bank Battlefield
nrhp_type = nhl


caption = Fort Mercer Monument
location= 100 Hessian Avenue, National Park, New Jersey
locmapin = New Jersey
area =
built =1748
architect=
architecture=
designated = November 28, 1972cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1238&ResourceType=Site
title=Red Bank Battlefield|date=2008-06-23|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = October 31, 1972
governing_body = Local
refnum=72000796cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Red Bank Battlefield is located along the Delaware River in National Park, New Jersey. It was the location of the Battle of Red Bank in the American Revolutionary War on October 22, 1777. Fort Mercer and its sister, Fort Mifflin in Pennsylvania, defended the river and prevented the British from using it for transportation. The forts successfully delayed the British, but in the end were both destroyed or abandoned.

Today

Today the site of the Battle of Red Bank is a part of the Gloucester County Parks system called Red Bank Battlefield Park. The central feature of the park is the James and Ann Whitall House. [ [http://www.nr.nps.gov/writeups/72000796.nl.pdf NHL Writeup] ] This structure, a brick and stone house just outside the works of Fort Mercer, served as a hospital for some of the men wounded in the fighting. The house suffered damage during the battle. Ann Cooper Whitall had remained in the house during the fighting and tended to the wounded, earning her the epithet "Heroine of Red Bank."

Although much of the battlefield has eroded into the Delaware River over the ensuing centuries, some portions of Fort Mercer (named after Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, killed at the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777. [ [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/nj/state/RedBank.htm Genealogical history of Battle of Red Bank] ] ) remain. The prominent historical feature of the park is the remains of the ditch which surrounded the now-gone earthworks. Around these works and along the riverbank are several period cannons, including one raised from the wreck of the British warship HMS "Augusta". Nearer to the Whitall House a preserved section of the chevaux-de-frise river defenses of the Fort Mercer and Fort Mifflin system is displayed, along with various shot recovered from the battlefield. Several monuments honor the combatants, including a memorial to the fallen Hessian leader, whose remains were buried on the grounds, and a 75-foot-tall monument built in 1905.

Visiting

The 44-acre park is open to visitors during daylight hours. The Whittall House may be visited during more limited hours. An annual reenactment of the battle takes place on the park grounds in October.

References

External links

* [http://www.co.gloucester.nj.us/Government/Departments/ParksnRec/redbank.cfm Official Park site]