June 25th (Thursday)
last revision 15 Feb 03
General Washington goes to Rocky Hill, Kingston and then Long Bridge (Monmouth
Junction)
It appears that the army got to Kingston at mid-day, then waited until
sundown (almost 9 PM if they had daylight savings time) to leave for Long
Bridge. The weather was probably considered too hot to travel by
day.
W.o.W.:
"To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE
Kingston,June 25, 1778.
[footnote: An expense account of Robert Hanson
Harrison settled July 28, 1778, notes the following: "on the General's
march thro Jersey, June 25, To John Hunt at Hopewell £10:2:6. June
26 To Thos. Wetharal the morning after we left Kingston, 14 Dollrs. June
27 To Doctr. Stiles at Cranbury 9 Dollrs. To a servt. at Mrs. Watkin's
by the Genls. order 1 Dollr." This expense account in in the Washington
Papers."]
Sir: You are immediately to proceed with the detachment
commanded by Genl. Poor and form a junction as expeditiously as possible
with that under the command of Genl. Scott. You are to use the most
effectual means for gaining the enemy's left flank and rear, and giving
them every degree of annoyance. ..."
Greenman:
"this morn the Genl. beet we peraded the Rijt. & slung our
packs marcht as far as rockey hill ware made a small halt then
pushed on as far as kingstown ware we made a halt and sent out a large
guard. very hot & sultry wether we have Intiligence
of the enemy being about fourteen milds off & the Militia clost after
them, we hear that a Number of hassans left the enemy,
at Sun down marcht into a field ware we grounded our arms & order’d
to stay by them ware we stayed about half a Nowr then marcht
5 milds and halted in a flax field at a place cal’d long Bridge"
Dr. Adams:
..." fair & hot - the Army Marched on halted at Kingstown from
12 o'clock till sunsett, then marched again halted about 12 at Night at
a place called Long Bridge - this day a large detachment sent forward under
the command of the Marquis de la Faytette - lodged at a Mr. [blank]"
McHenry:
"March to Rocky hill. Cross the Millstone by a bridge, and hault
at Kingston.
"Breakfast at Mrs. Berians-- good tea and agreeable conversation.
"A dinner in the woods" [Mid-day meal, I assume]
"It is night before the main body of our army marches, and then only
to Laurens's, 4 miles from Kingston"
[see also Wild's Journal]
Geographical Notes:
Where "Mrs. Watkin's" is, I do not know. The name of
the doctor is ____?
For 1850 maps of the area (with overlay), see: Hopewell
to Rocky Hill or Rocky Hill to Dayton
Montgomery Twp.
Then march was roughly along the current County Route 518 (Georgetown-Franklin
Turnpike). Pre-turnpike-era maps are needed to determine where the
road actually went. For a map of the
area from 1804 (or so), see the survey map for US 1 in the library
of congress here
Rocky Hill
In Rocky Hill, the road went along what is now Crescent
Street, and crossed to the stone houses at the foot of Old Georgetown Road
in Franklin.
The road to Kingston is probably quarried out by
Trap Rock Quarry, near the right side of the map below. The Delaware
and Raritan Canal wasn't there then. Canal construction, and Route
518 moved many things at this crossing. Notice that Old Georgetown
Road connects to the end of Crescent Avenue, which then connects to Princeton
Avenue, Washington's preferred path into Princeton when he was staying
at Rockingham (1783).
Rockingham's
location relative to this is somewhat a mystery. Its old location
(X on map) was a little ways from Old Georgetown Road. So how did
one get from Rockingham to Princeton? It seems that the road north
was also the road down the hill, and then crossing where Old Georgetown
Road meets today's Canal Road (just downstream from a mill dam), one goes
straight to Princeton Avenue. Washington's mapmaker, Erskine, unfortunately,
seems to have taken the week off, and we can't find a map of Rocky Hill
in his collection.
The new 'Kingston-Rocky Hill Road' (which meets the end of Canal
Road, heading south to Kingston) is only 10 years old, with rural Laurel
Avenue being much older. The older road may be between the old Laurel
Ave and the new Kingston-Rocky Hill Road, but it is all a big pit today,
so this detail may not be important. (One side of Kingston-Rocky
Hill Road is now State Park land.)
The Rochambeau map of 1781 {PU Maps} shows Rocky
Hill Mills in considerable detail.
The exact location of the halt in the Rocky Hill
area is not known--swamp to the south, hill to the north and the "Devil's
Featherbed" to the east. At the time there was no Rocky Hill Borough.
Montgomery and Franklin Townships in Somerset County were parts of "Western
Precinct" and "Eastern Precinct" respectively. "The Rocky Hill" was
the ridge which runs between the current "Rocky Hill" and "Little Rocky
Hill" on Route 27/ the Kings Highway. It is clear that the references
above are to the crossing of the Millstone River, near the Western/Eastern
Precinct line. Still, where do 8-10 thousand men sit?
Kingston
The halt near Kingston was probably along Church Street and Laurel
Avenue or along Academy Street down to the Mapleton Road. Or, with
10,000 men, it was probably both places.
We do not know what tavern Washington used as headquarters,
if he did (it was just hot, not rainy).
Some maps show Laurel Avenue present to Main Street
(Route 27), but in 1778 Heathcote Rd and Division St did not
exist. All crossing of Heathcote Brook was on Academy Street (Mapleton
Road)
Church St (near Main St label) and Academy St (across
Main St from Church St) were both present, and almost certainly the paths
taken. Ridge Road did not cross the Heathcote Brook, but extended
on what is now Railroad Ave to meet up with Mapleton Road (the extension
of Academy St), crossing on Mapleton Road. (see reference below)
For a nice map, only a few decades newer, see http:/www.davidrumsey.com/
find "Moore, S.S. Jones, T. W. Road from Philadelphia to New York,
panel 8" It shows the road arrangement described above. (It is also
in PU Maps)
Long Bridge, and the Wetherill mystery.
Many historians thought the way to Cranbury from Kingston was via
Plainsboro, the preferred route today. This was not the situation
in 1778, since the Mapleton/Plainsboro route had several swampy sections
of the road, including the crossing of Devils Brook. An alternate
route, Shalks Crossing, is also new. Note on the map below
how streams are everywhere except along Ridge Road.
It is only logical that Washington's route went north of the
Devils Brook Swamp, on the "Ridge Road" (then known as "the road from Barefoot
Brinson's to the South River Road") to "Long Bridge Farm", the name for
the farm at the headwaters of Devils Brook, Lawrence Brook and Heathcote
Brook. This route, used in prehistoric times, has the advantage that
it is quite level and is along a ridge, so it has very few swampy sections.
(Note, 'New Road', just west of Long Bridge, has several sections crossing
swamp. It is a 19th century road.)
Today the Ridge Road has no 'long bridge', but rather a small
culvert in Monmouth Junction, near the Amtrak main line. The coming
of the railroad in the 1860s may have altered the water flow in the area.
Older maps, for example the 1745 "Dalley map" (in Menzies Millstone
Valley p58), shows "Longbridge Farm belonging to Thomas Lawrence Esquire"
clearly, though the bridge appears to be a very strange, 'twining' thing!
One possible reason for two crossings is that one was a ford, and the other
was the bridge. The Dalley map's features were copied almost exactly
in the Trenton- New Brunswick Turnpike Survey Map. [Laurens's
is a spelling variation of Lawrence's or Lawrence]
For a nice contemporary map of the Dayton and Cranbury
areas, see http:/www.davidrumsey.com/ and ask for "Christopher Colles
From New York to Philadelphia, 1789 Guidebook.", or just "Colles" in the
search window. Look for Crossroads on Map 45, called 'New York to
Cranberry'. Note that 'Wetherill' is indicated as an orchard south
of the crossroads.
The note from W.o.W. implies that Thomas Wetherill was
host to General Washington on the night of the 25th. It is likely
that Wetherill owned, or at least was the keeper of Long-Bridge Farm, as
implied from this April 1778 advertisement:
"BAY RICHMOND
Stands at Long-Bridge, nine miles from Princeton,
in excellent order, to cover mares the ensuing season at Ten Pounds.
His pedigree is in the hands of Mr. Thomas Wetherill at the above mentioned
place." (Lee 1903, p185)
And from November, 1778:
"Came to Long-Bridge farm, about the 4th of November
last a dark brown MARE, about 14 hands height, and has white hind feet.
The owner is desired to come, prove property, pay charges, and take her
away. THOMAS WETHERILL" ( ibid. p569)
[ The Wetherill family owned much of the Dayton area. It
is also possible that Wetherill may have owned a tavern at the 'Crossroads',
now Dayton, NJ, two miles further on. The General may have slept
there. The area known as "Longbridge" may have extended along the
ridge into Dayton. More research is needed.]
[Shameless plug: The old rail line from Kingston to Monmouth Junction
is a pleasant, though rather neglected, walk. It parallels the route of
march, but stays in the forest for the entire trip. Crossing US1
is a problem.]
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