Monmouth Battlefield State Park is a

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

located on the border of Manalapan and Freehold Township, in Monmouth County,

, United States. This park preserves the historical battlefield on which the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Battle of Monmouth The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey on June 28, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. It pitted the Continental Army, co ...

(1778) was waged. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

for its significance in military history. With

Appearance and information

Monmouth Battlefield State Park preserves a rural eighteenth-century landscape of orchards, fields, woods and wetlands, encompassing miles of trails for hiking and horseback riding, space for picnic areas, and a restored Revolutionary War

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate ch ...

called the Craig House. The park's visitor center rests atop Combs Hill, a hill commanded by the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

. Within the park's visitor's center an array of excavated artifacts from battle are on display. On December 5, 2011, the Monmouth Battlefield Visitor Center was closed for renovations through Spring 2013. The renovated Visitors Center was officially reopened on June 13, 2013. Every second weekend of June (usually Father’s Day weekend), an annual reenactment of the 1778 American Revolutionary War battle is performed and has been so for decades. The battlefield is traversed by the

rights-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

(ROW) used by the

Farmingdale and Squan Village Railroad The Farmingdale and Squan Village Railroad was a shortline railroad that traversed via central New Jersey. The railroad was formed under a special law of New Jersey, on April 3, 1867. On May 21, 1879, it was one of three railroads consolidated to f ...

/ Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad and is under consideration for use as part of the

Monmouth Ocean Middlesex Line The Monmouth Ocean Middlesex Line (MOM) is a passenger rail project in the US state of New Jersey, proposed by NJ Transit Rail Operations (NJT) to serve the Central New Jersey counties of Monmouth, Ocean, and Middlesex. The line would originate/t ...

History of the battlefield

On June 28, 1778, as Sir Henry Clinton and his troops departed from the Monmouth Court House,

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

and his

troops plotted an ambush on the rear column of Clinton's

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

soldiers. It became one of the largest battles of the American Revolution. It took place in the fields and forests that now make up Monmouth Battlefield State Park, though the battle soon ended in a standoff. The Battle of Monmouth is notable for creating the American legend of

Molly Pitcher Molly Pitcher is a nickname given to a woman said to have fought in the American Revolutionary War. She is most often identified as Mary Ludwig Hays, who fought in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. Another possibility is Margaret Corbin, ...

, a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

who boldly took her husband's place at the

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

only moments after his death. In honor of Pitcher, a white

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

was erected near the property of the battlefield.

Historic farmhouses and structures of the battlefield

The site of the battlefield originally contained many colonial-era farmhouses though many did not survive the rapid development of the area in the 20th century. Three of the original seven farmhouses that were present during the battle are still standing in the park. These include the Sutfin Farmhouse (1731); the Rhea-Applegate House (1745); and the Craig House (1746). Three other homes were built on the battlefield. The Conover-Perrine House (1832) is to the north of the park, erected on the site of the original 18th-century Perrine House, an important example of late

Federal Architecture Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

. The

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

Cobb House was later constructed in 1872 near the Conover-Perrine House. The Combs' Farmhouse (mid-18th Century) was demolished sometime in the 1960s and was located near the park's playground and

ice pond An ice pond is a large volume of ice or snow produced by natural winter freezing. The ice is then used for cooling or air conditioning. Before refrigeration was common, ice ponds were mined by ice companies, with product transported to consumer ...

. Image:Cobbhouse_monmouth.jpg, 1872 Cobb House, Monmouth Battlefield Image:Mollypitcher_spring.jpg, Molly Pitcher Spring Marker Image:Mollypitcher_spring2.jpg, Molly Pitcher Spring Image:Old_barn_on_the_Craig_House_property.png, Abandoned barn near the Craig House Image:Cornfield_Monmouth.JPG, Field facing the Sutfin Farmhouse Image:Sutfin_house.jpg, Sutfin House Image:Von_steuben.jpg, General Von Steuben Memorial Image:Rhea_Applegate_House.jpg, Rhea Applegate House

References

External links

Official Site
{{authority control Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey 1778 in the United States American Revolutionary War sites National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey Museums in Monmouth County, New Jersey American Revolutionary War museums in New Jersey Historic house museums in New Jersey Parks in Monmouth County, New Jersey Houses in Monmouth County, New Jersey Freehold Township, New Jersey Manalapan Township, New Jersey State parks of New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Monmouth County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places