| Red Bank Battlefield | |
| Nrhp Type: | nhl |
| Location: | 100 Hessian Avenue, National Park, NJ 08063 |
| Coordinates: | 39.8703°N -75.1903°W |
| Designated Nrhp Type: | November 28, 1972[1] |
| Added: | October 31, 1972 |
| Refnum: | 72000796 |
| Designated Other1 Name: | New Jersey Register of Historic Places |
| Designated Other1 Abbr: | NJRHP |
| Designated Other1 Link: | New Jersey Register of Historic Places |
| Designated Other1 Date: | August 16, 1979 |
| Designated Other1 Number: | 1405[2] |
| Designated Other1 Num Position: | bottom |
| Designated Other1 Color: |
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The Red Bank Battlefield is located along the Delaware River in National Park, Gloucester County, 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, they were both destroyed or abandoned.
Today the site of the Battle of Red Bank still has the trenches and cannons used by the 100 American soldiers fighting against 2000 British and Hessian soldiers. The Whitall House is an original home that was there during the battle and was used as a field hospital. It is open for tours today. The site 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, located at the end of Hessian Avenue. It was built in 1748 by James Whitall Sr. and features Georgian architecture. The house was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in 1936.[3] This 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.[4] 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, some portions of Fort Mercer (named after Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, killed at the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777.[5]) 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 four raised from the wrecks of the British man-of-war and a British sloop, HMS Merlin. The three American cannons facing the Whitall House were found in 1935 buried on the site. 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 cannonballs 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 75feet-tall monument.
The 1st Rhode Island Regiment (also known as Varnum's Regiment, the 9th Continental Regiment, the Black Regiment, the Rhode Island Regiment, and Olney's Battalion) fought with the Americans.
The regiment included free African-Americans, enslaved people, and Native Americans.
Masters of the enslaved people were to be paid fair market value for their slave upon completion of the war, at which time the enslaved person would be freed.[6]
There is a historical marker at the battlefield that tells the story of the African American, enslaved people, and Native Americans who fought alongside the Americans with the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.[7]
In June 2022 the remains of 13 Hessian soldiers were discovered in land purchased by Gloucester County in 2020 at the northern end of the historical park. They are being analyzed by the New Jersey State Police forensic lab.[8] [9]
The 44acres park is open to visitors during daylight hours. The Whitall House may be visited during more limited hours. An annual reenactment of the battle takes place on the park grounds in October. In the early 1980s, a lifeguard was on duty and swimming was permitted in the Delaware River.