In today’s world, Rev. James Caldwell’s rallying cry – “Give ’em Watts” – likely would have gone viral. During the 1780 Battle of Springfield, Caldwell famously ordered Watts hymnals to be torn up for musket wadding, a quick-thinking move that helped American forces repel the British.
The Battles of Springfield and Connecticut Farms are often overlooked in history books. Yet historians point to these June 1780 clashes as pivotal moments in New Jersey that came just before the Revolutionary War shifted to the southern colonies, ultimately ending in 1783.
Union County will revisit that history June 24 with a program titled “The American Revolution in Union County: Using Maps, Pension Records, and Archaeological Finds to Illuminate the Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield.”…