Saturday-Sunday, June 25-26 -- Monmouth County
Battle of Monmouth Commemorative Events, June 25-26
Programs marking the 244th anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse will be held at Monmouth Battlefield State Park on Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26. The programs, presented by Friends of Monmouth Battlefield, the Park support group, follow the State Park re-enactment of the battle on June 18 and 19, the previous weekend.
The 13-hour Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, the longest and largest British-American battle of the eight-year (1775-83) Revolutionary War for American Independence, was fought on June 28, 1778, in Freehold Borough and Freehold and Manalapan townships. The State Park is located west of Freehold borough, off Business Route 33.
Events begin each day at 12:15 p.m. with a children’s drill on how Revolutionary War soldiers used field cannons in battle. Living-history historian Stacy Roth will follow at 1 p.m. on talks inside the Park Visitor Center on Molly Pitcher, the wife of a cannoneer who carried water to wash down cannons after their use during the battle. Guided walks will lead onto the battlefield from the Visitor Center at 2 p.m.: on Saturday to the hedgerow and parsonage sections, and on Sunday to the Molly Pitcher spring overlook.
Children’s drills on how Revolutionary War soldiers used battlefield muskets will be held throughout both days.
The program will close each day with a second children’s cannon drill at 2:15 p.m. and fife and drum music at 2:45.
The Craig farmhouse, on the east end of the State Park near Route 9 will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. on both days. The building was held by the British during the battle
