Forwrded for your entertainment: From: "Ed St.Germain" <Patriot1@AmericanRevolution.org> Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 10:27 AM > Source: AMERICAN-REVOLUTION-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Battle of Iron Works Hill > > They celebrate a defeat that gave rise to victories > > By Frank Kummer > Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer > > The wooded hill that gives name to Mount Holly rises 185 feet, providing a > graceful view of the town below and a perfect spot to launch a cannon > attack. > > Facing the smaller Iron Works Hill a mile to the east, "the Mount" became > emblematic of a "great misfortune" that befell Hessian troops 228 years ago > this Christmas. > > The misfortune came when Carl Emilius von Donop, a Hessian colonel, took up > a position on the Mount and defeated a group of Americans. > > But Donop dallied for days with his troops in Mount Holly, possibly > entranced by Betsy Ross, and was hopelessly out of position to help his > comrades in Trenton as George Washington slipped across the Delaware to > attack. > > Now, at least one historian and a group of local reenactors are lending > fresh weight to the Battle of Iron Works Hill as a more significant event in > Washington's pivotal maneuver than previously thought. > > "I think it was a key battle," said Ian Johns, who on Sunday will take part > with more than 100 other enthusiasts armed with cannons and muskets in a > commemoration of the battle in downtown Mount Holly. > > A new book, Washington's Crossing, published by Oxford University Press, > also gives some prominence to the Dec. 23-24, 1776, battle, which remains > largely unknown to many locals. > > The book's author, Brandeis University historian David Hackett Fisher, > quotes one dismayed Hessian captain surveying the unintended impact of the > Iron Works Hill battle. > > "This great misfortune, which surely caused the utter loss of the thirteen > splendid provinces of the Crown of England, was due partly to... the fault > of Colonel Dunop, who was led by the nose to Mount Holly... and detained > there by love. > > "Thus," he continued, "the fate of entire Kingdoms often depends upon a few > blockheads and irresolute men." > > Events surrounding Washington's crossing of the Delaware and capture of > Trenton are complex, and many factors contributed to the Continental Army's > success. No one calls Mount Holly the decisive factor. > > Yet it is clear that 2,000 Hessian and Scottish troops who should have been > in Bordentown to support Trenton or cut off Washington were instead a day's > march away in Mount Holly. > > The seat of Burlington County essentially became a fateful diversion as > Donop set out to quell the colonials led by Virginia Col. Samuel Griffin. > > Griffin's small force of Virginia artillery and Pennsylvania infantry had > been moving through South Jersey in mid-December 1776. They were joined by > 500 militia, half of them boys, from Cumberland, Salem and Gloucester > Counties, Fisher wrote. > > Donop's agents chased American troops to Mount Holly on Dec. 21, falsely > believing they numbered in the thousands. Donop attacked with cannons > dragged up the mount. Crown forces won the battle. Americans, based at Iron > Works Hill and below, retreated to Moorestown. > > Instead of marching back to a critical position at Bordentown, Donop > remained in Mount Holly with his 2,000 troops. > > He had taken up at a home where he might have been smitten with an > "exceedingly beautiful young widow," according to an account from the time. > > The widow has never been successfully identified. Fisher wrote that Betsy > Ross, acquainted with a key Mount Holly family and other connections, was a > possibility. > > The theory was first raised by historian Joseph Tustin, who has found ample > connections between Ross and Mount Holly. But he acknowledged there was no > solid evidence. > > As Donop dallied, only 1,500 Hessians remained garrisoned 18 miles away at > Trenton when Washington began his surprise attack. Donop's troops realized > the mistake when they heard the thud of cannons from the direction of > Trenton. > > Some theorize that Washington may not have launched his attack had Donop's > troops been in Bordentown. > > Johns, who lives 150 yards from the mount where Hessians set up "6-pounder" > cannons, got the idea of commemorating the battle with reenactors in the > summer of 2003. > > He and Dennis Rizzo, a fellow Mount Holly resident, had met during the Road > to Monmouth Heritage Campaign, which commemorated the 225th anniversary of > the Battle of Monmouth. Iron Works Hill was included as a footnote. > > "I live in Mount Holly, but I didn't know that much about Iron Works Hill," > said Johns, 48, a technical writer for Towers Perrin. "I sort of knew that > something had happened, but I never looked up what the details were. It > wasn't just that the British spent a couple of nights here the following > year, as many people think." > > So he and Rizzo dug into the history, with research from the Burlington > County Historical Society and plaques marking the battle site. They held the > first commemoration of Iron Works Hill last December. > > "We were fascinated that something happened in town that we never paid much > attention to," Rizzo said. > > About 40 troop reenactors showed that day, as well as 100 members of the > public, in a sleet and snow storm. "We found we could actually pull this > thing off," Rizzo said. > > If You Go > > The commemoration of the Battle of Iron Works Hill in Mount Holly will begin > 11 a.m. Sunday with crown forces encamped at the Burlington County Prison > Museum on High Street and colonial militia encamped at Mill Race Village. > > The battle will be staged with cannons and muskets from about 2:15 p.m., > culminating about 3 p.m. at Monroe Street Park. > > For more information, go to www.ironworkshill.org.