Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-07-26

bury and Gloucester Turnpike, and from
thence ous what is now called Hessian
avenue across the Crown Point road and
the highway from Woodbury. to Red Bank,
halting on the edge of the woods, near the
fort, ARRIVING there shortly before noon.
Colonel Donop rode forward and recon-
noitred. He found that he could approach
the fort through thick woods. on three
sides, without hindrance. The fort was
five sided earthwork, with ditch and
abatis. Ii had at first been constructed on
too large scale, but Monsieur du Flessis
de Manduit had reduced the
size Of the works On three sides
Of the fort the woods afforded shelter to
the besieging party to within distance Of
four hundred yards. On the North side
was the Delaware river. (c)
On arriving before the fort Donop sent an
aide-de-camp to summon the garrison to
surrender. ssThe King of England COM
mands his rebellious subjects to lay down
their arms, and they are warned that if
they wait until the battle, no quarter will
be granted" +" Colonel Greene answered
that he accepted the term, and that no
quarter would be given on either side.
The aide-de-camp reported that he had
seen but few men in the fort (c)
The Marquis de Chastellux gives the fol-
lowing account Of this incident, as narrat-
ed to him by NJ de Manduit. 'The 22d
of October, in the morning, they (the
Americans) received intelligence that de-
tachment of two thousand FIVE hundred
Hessians were advancing; who were soon
after perceived on the edge of wood to the
North Of Redbank, nearly within cannon
shot. Preparations were making for the
defense when a Hessian officer advanced
preceded by drum; be was suffered to ap-
proach but his harangue was SO insolent that
it only served to irritate the garrison, and
inspire them with more resolution. s'THe
King of England, said he, orders his re-
5ellious subjects to lay doaen their arms,
and they are zOarned, that if they stand the
battle, no quarters lobate0ey ,citl be sgirea.
The answer was, shat they accepted the
challenge and that there should be no quar-
ter on either side" (d)
On receiving Colonel Greene's answer,
Count Donop hastily threw up intrench-
ments within half cannon shot Of the fort,
and ordered his men to prepare fascines,
(bundles Of rods, securely tied together,
like bundles Of lath, only larger, or like
twelve or fifteen bean poles in one bundle1.
These were to be used by his troops in get
ting over the abatis and in crossing moats
or bitches. In front Of every battalion
stood an officer commanding sappers, and
one hundred men with these fascines which
be had made that afternoon in the woods.
(c).
The journal Of the Grenadier Battalion
Won Minnigerode says that Donop sent to
summon the fort to surrender twice, once
on first arriving and once just before the
attack. (c).
Bancroft in his history writes: Mad
after glory, Donop at half past four sum-
moned the garrison to surrender in arro-
CANT terms A defiance being returned, he
addressed few words to his troops, (e) to
which the men replied: aWe'll change the
name from Fort Red Bank to Fort Donop. e
(a) Each Colonel placed himself at the
head Of his division, and at quarter before