Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1905-04-13
CONTINUED fro6a page Il

Marquis de Chastellux, says in his ac-
count Of the affair, gotten from NJ. Duples-
sis Manduit was an eye witness Of the bat
tie and the guide Of the Marquis when he
visited Red Bank in 1886 or thereabout.
THE 22nd of October in the morning,
! they received intelligence that detatch-
ment of $500 Hessians were advancing,
who were soon after perceived on the edge
of a wood to the north Of Red Bank within
cannon shot.
Barber and Howes, Historical Collect
tions of New jersey a work that was
made by men who visited the places des-
cribed, gives on page 210, a map Of Red
Bank battlefield that shows the road by
which the Hessians approached the Garris-
on at Fl. Mercer.
Cushing and Sheppards History Of Glou-
cester, Salem and Cumberland Counties, =
pages 24-25, gives an account of the battle
of Red Bank, taken mainly from Losing s
"Field Book of the Revolution, contains
this statement: Count Dnnop with four
Battalions consisting of 1900 picked Hess
ians was sent by Howe to take Ft. Mercer
at Red Bank. They crossed the Delaware,
and landed at Cooper's Ferry on the 21st
of October 1777. The same evening they
marched to Haddonfield, in New jersey, a
| little above Gloucester As they approach
ed Timber Creek, on their way down the
river, the Americans took up the bridge,
and the enemy were obliged to march four
miles up the stream to shallow ford.
They arrived at the edge of a wood, within
cannon shot of Fit. Mercer on the morning
of the 22nd. .
/ There are minor inaccuracies in the
above account and the very next sentence
to the last quote from Cushing and Shop
pard contradicts de Chastellux's statement
that they received intelligence, by say
ing instead their appearance, full armed
for battle, was the first intimation the gar
rison had OF their approach.
Gloucester County's first Historian
Issac Miokle says, in his account OF the
battle of Red Bank:
Late in the afternoon Of October 2lst,
1771 Count Dnnop with detachment OF
about $500 Hessians crossed the Delaware
at Coopers Point to dislodge Greene and
the little handful of Republicans who de-
cautions of the Americans in destroying
the bridges on the intervening streams, the
Count passed through Haddon6eld and
down the Clements Bridge road to the at
tack He pressed several persons whom he
found along the route into his service as
pilots On the morning of the 22nd the
Hessians appeared at the edge of the forest
north of the Fort, almost within cannon
shot thereof. =
The story Of Jonas Cattells guiding the
! Hessians was found few months ago when
gathering material for local history, at Will
JAMESTOWN Michael Young, the last suryiy-
er Of the older generations Of the Nicholson
and the Young families, who fiourished here
over one hundred years ago. being the mar
rator.
s'Uncle Nike neither reads nor writes
but remembers infinitely many of the stir
irng old traditions that have circulated orally
in this community the past hundred years,
His story of Jonas Cattell is briefly this;
''They came through Haddonfeld one
afternoon and told Jonas Cattell who was a
boy learning the blacksmith trade, to throw
down his hammer and come guide them to
Red Bank.
He knew that the bridge at the Buck
was up but he took them there first to de-
| lay them and then up the Timber Creek to
Clements Bridge where they encamped be-
cause it was dark In the night Jonas creEt
out of the camp still as black snake"
and when he got past the guards he got up
and ran to Red Bank, gave the alarm and
returned to the Hession camp getting in
again without detection
In the morning he guided them to their
destination and obtaining'his dismissal re-
turned to his Haddonfeld home.
Now If this story be authentic then our
title is justified and to the half breed Indian
boy whose sagacity delayed the Mercenaries,
whose cunning eluded their vigilance and
whose run Of five miles to Red Bank put the
garti .on there on guard and whose prudence
secured his earliest possible dismissal from
their hated service, we, today, nearly 1913
years after, accord to him his rightful place in
American History, and devote our efforts as
a society to spread his fame to the ends of
the earth and to set his memory upon high
where it shall shine with increasing lustre
while the principles Of human freedom shall
march on until all the world comes under
their sway.
Pomona Grange.