
photos courtesy of the Bergen County Historical Society
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
New Bridge Landing NJ, marking the 245th Anniversary of this pivotal event during the Rev War, the Bergen County Historical Society, along with the Brigade of the American Revolution, co-sponsored a day of living history on Sunday, November 21st, 10 am-4 pm at Historic New Bridge Landing. The 3rd New Jersey Regiment, “Jersey Grays” marched, retracing the 7-mile retreat of Washington’s Army, arriving from Fort Lee around 10:30AM, then engaged in a skirmish with three other units for the bridge in a tactical weapons demonstration portraying the action that occurred when British troops forced the Continental Army away from the area and captured this vital crossing point over the Hackensack River. Up to the challenge of feeding an army, the Out Kitchen cooked for over 65 [reenactors from, I believe, four units present, along with the ladies] a hearty stew of 20 pounds of beef, 12 pounds of potatoes, 15 pounds of carrots, 8 onions, and a celery head in a tasty broth served with good crusty bread. Pictured are unit ladies who volunteered to serve.
By November 20th, 1776, 5,000 British and Hessian troops, under Cornwallis’s command, crossed the Hudson River and scaled the Palisades at Lower Closter Dock, then marched south against Fort Lee. Warned by a sentinel, the troops at Fort Lee [2,500-3,000], led by Gen. Greene made a hasty retreat, narrowly missing an encounter with the British at Liberty Pole [Englewood]. Thomas Paine described that Washington marched at the head of the troops towards the bridge, avoiding entrapment by safely crossing the Hackensack River at New Bridge, “the Bridge That Saved a Nation,” The army lived to fight another day. As witnessed by Thomas Paine, this Retreat to Victory inspired him to write “Our first object was to secure the bridge over the Hackensack” in American Crisis.