Enemy Soldiers, Horses,and Wagons Fill this Road

Enemy Soldiers, Horses,and Wagons Fill this Road. . , June 17, 1778, the first units of an enemy army descended on Collingswood, Haddon Township, and Haddonfield like a cloud of hungry insects. Horses, turned loose on fields, grazed and trampled crops of wheat, rye, corn, and hay. Soldiers pillaged homes and outbuildings of anything that could be drunk, or eaten. Some stole easily fenced items such as bedding, clothing, and jewelry. But these solders were better disciplined than those that invaded North Jersey in 1776. We have no accounts of rape or murder. , These units were the vanguard of an Anglo-German army from Philadelphia to New York. France had entered the war on the side of the new United States, resulting in orders arriving in May 9, 1788, to abandon Philadelphia. In late May, quartermasters began moving wagons and provisions across the Delaware River to Cooper's Ferry (Camden). Troops and horses began crossing on June 14, and on the 17th, Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen crossed with the last of the German and Loyalist Infantry. , Knyphausen’s column advanced on the Ferry Road (Haddon Avenue), the head of the column reaching Haddonfield. A German rifleman (jager) noted "The heat was terrible." , When reassembled at Haddonfield, June 18-19, the British army was a moving city, almost 21,000 men, women, and a few children with about 1,000 vehicles, each with two, three or four horses. The artillery alone comprised 46 field pieces with over a hundred wagons for ammunition, spare parts, traveling forges provisions, officers' baggage, and horse feed. In addition, there were the horses of British, Loyalist, and Hessian cavalry units, and the saddle horses of infantry generals, colonels, and majors. Between Cooper's Ferry and Haddonfield, about 4,000 enemy horses grazed along the Ferry Road. , Six families lived along this section of the Ferry Road. John Estaugh Hopkins farmed 400 acres along the west side of Haddonfield. Charles Webb leased a 100 acre plantation, while Ebenezer Hopkins II was taxed for 368 acres. , Besides these planters (farmers), three families controlled little land. Edward Jones was a mechanic or farm worker renting twelve acres. The other two families seem to have lived in cottages on the farms where they worked. All were victims of the enemy occupation. , ( photo captions ) , , Hessian Riflemen (Jägers). Gina Provenzano , , (map) The approximate location of Knyphausen’s column, on the eveningof June 17, 1778. The flank guard positions are conjectural. Ebenezer Hopkin’s “Old Haddonfield Plantation,” encompassed much of Haddon Township north of Haddon Avenue. , , The 60 horses of a Civil War artillery unit. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Gift of Col. Godwin Ordway