REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN CRANBURY, NEW JERSEY

"In the evening of [June 25, 1778] the whole army marched from Kingston, where our baggage was left, with intention to preserve a proper distance for supporting the advanced corps, and arrived at Cranberry early the next morning. The intense heat of the weather, and a heavy storm unluckily coming on, made it impossible to resume our march that day without great inconvenience and injury to the troops. Our advanced corps, being differently circumstanced, moved from the position it had held the night before, and took post in the evening on the Monmouth road about five miles from the enemy's rear, in expectation of attacking them next morning on their march. The main body having remained at Cranberry, the advanced corps was found to be too remote, and too far upon the right, to be supported in case of an attack either upon or from the enemy; which induced me to send orders to the Marquis [de Lafayette] to file off by his left towards Englishtown, which he accordingly executed early in the morning of the 27th."

Brainerd Cemetery at Presbyterian Church
22 South Main St.
Map / Directions to the Brainerd Cemetery
Map / Directions to all Cranbury Revolutionary War Sites

There are 80 Revolutionary War veterans buried in the church's cemetery: [5]

Colonel David Chambers House
North Main St., near Scott Ave.
Map / Directions to the Colonel David Chambers House
Map / Directions to all Cranbury Revolutionary War Sites

This house is a private residence.
Please respect the privacy and property of the owners.

This house was built by Colonel David Chambers circa 1790. [6] David Chambers was born in 1748 in Trenton. He served as a colonel in the Revolutionary War in both the Hunterdon County militia and the New Jersey State Troops. He fought at the battles of Germantown and Monmouth. He died in Cranbury in 1842. [7] Colonel Chambers is buried at the Westminster Cemetery, located on Westminster Place, about a quarter mile from this house.

Source Notes:

1. ^ This sign was erected by the Cranbury Historical & Preservation Society

• For more information and accompanying source notes about the other locations mentioned in this entry, see the Lambertville, Mount Airy, Hopewell and Manalapan pages of this website.

2. ^ Washington's letter to the President of Congress, sent from Englishtown, 1 July, 1778, reprinted in:
George Washington, Edited by Jared Sparks, The Writings of George Washington, Volume V (Boston: Ferdinand Andrews, 1839) Pages 422 - 429 (The quoted paragraph appears on pages 423-424)
Available to be read at Google Books here

3. ^ For the arrival of Hamilton and Lafayette on the evening of June 25, 1778, and Hamilton's departure that evening, see the following letters and accompanying notes on the website of the National Archives:

• Letter to Marquis de Lafayette from Alexander Hamilton, "Doctor Stile's House, Cranbury Town 9 OClock." June 25, 1778
  
  
• Letter from Major General Lafayette to George Washington Cranbury [sic], "half past nine o'clock" June 25, 1778
  
  
• Letter to George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, "8 Miles from Allen Town" 12 OClock, June 26, 1778
  
  

• Washington's arrival on June 26 is attested to in his letter to the President of Congress mentioned in Source Note 2 above.
In addition, there are two of Washington's letters that appear in the same The Writings of George Washington, Volume V dated "Cranberry, 26 June, 1778," which appear on pages 418 - 419.

• The plaques on the gate of the current house were erected by the Cranbury Historical & Preservation Society

4. ^ Walking Tour - Historic Cranbury pamphlet (Cranbury Historical & Preservation Society, 2006)

5. ^ Names taken from a marker at the front of the cemetery, which lists the book Cranbury, Past and Present by Ruth Walsh (published 1975) as its source.

6. ^ 1790 date, and house identified as being built by Colonel Chambers drawn from the Cranbury Historical & Preservation Society plaque on the house.

7. ^ Information about Colonel Chambers was drawn from:

• Jenn Winslow Coltrane - Historian General, Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution / Volume LVII (Washington D.C: Press of Judd & Detweiler, Inc, 1921) p.302 
Available to be read at Google Books here

• William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Wm. T. Nicholson & Co., 1872) page 351.
The entry for David Chambers states:
"Colonel, Third Regiment, Hunterdon, June 19th, 1776; Colonel, battalion, State troops, November 27th, 1776; Colonel, Second Regiment, Hunterdon September 9th, 1777; resigned May 28th, 1779"
Available to be read at Google Books here