REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN EWING, NEW JERSEY

Historic Crossroad Park
Bear Tavern Rd. and Upper Ferry Rd
Map / Directions to Historic Crossroad Park

This small park commemorates an important location in the march of Washington's troops towards Trenton after their historic Christmas night 1776 crossing of the Delaware River. After traveling down Bear Tavern Road (see above entry), they reached a crossroads at about 7 a.m. at this location, in an area which was then called Birmingham and is now the West Trenton section of Ewing. It was at this crossroads that General George Washington divided his 2,400 troops into two columns to make a two-pronged attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton.

A sign in the park describes the paths taken from here to Trenton by the two columns:
"One column under the command of General Nathanael Greene, approached the city from the northwest by way of Pennington Road. The other column, led by General John Sullivan, marched down the Old River Road (Grand Avenue - Sullivan Way) and entered Trenton from the southwest." [2] Although the sign does not mention it, General George Washington traveled with Greene's column.

The two columns reached Trenton and made their attack at 8 a.m., where they were victorious at the first Battle of Trenton.

Ewing Church Cemetery
100 Scotch Rd.
Map / Directions to Historic Crossroad Park

The Ewing Church Cemetery dates to 1708, and is still an active cemetery. [3] It contains the graves of the following Revolutionary War veterans: [4]

General Hugh Mercer Monument
In Front of Mountain View Golf Course /  850 Bear Tavern Rd
Map / Directions to General Hugh Mercer Monument

Hugh Mercer was born in Scotland in 1725. He immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1747 and moved to Virginia in 1760. Mercer served as a Brigadier General in the Revolutionary War. He died from wounds suffered at the Battle of Princeton in January 1777. Several months later, Fort Mercer was named in his honor. In 1838, decades after the war, Mercer County was named after him. [5]

This monument pays tribute to General Hugh Mercer and commemorates the dedicatory ceremonies of Mercer Airport, held here October 26, 1929. The dedication ceremony was a big event, attended by over 2,000 people. The festivities included a stunt-flying show put on by the U.S. Navy. At that time, the airport hanger was alongside Bear Tavern Road. In 1942, it was moved a short distance, and the entrance is now located a mile southeast of here. The airport is now known as Trenton-Mercer airport. [6]

Source Notes:

1. ^ Plaques erected by the General Mercer Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution

• For more information about the crossing of the Delaware River and then Jacobs Creek, see the Hopewell Township page of this website.
   For more information about the Battle of Trenton, see the Trenton page of this website.

• For a more detailed account of the march, see:
David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004) Pages 221-233

(The road which is now known as River Road, which runs alongside the Delaware did not exist at the time. It was laid out in 1834)

2. ^ Township of Ewing historic sign.

• For a more detailed account of the march, see:
David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004) Pages 221-233

3. ^ Cemetery page of the Ewing Presbyterian Church website

4. ^ List of names drawn from the In Honor of Those Known and Unknown Soldiers of the American Revolution who Rest in this Church Yard stone.
Military and date information drawn from individual grave stones and markers in the cemetery.

5. ^ For more information about the Battle of Princeton, see the Princeton page of this website.
For more information about Fort Mercer, see the National Park page of this website.

6. ^ Jo Ann Tesauro, Ewing Township (Images of America series) (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2002) Page 25
Portions of this book are available at Google Books here.
A photo of the original hangar alongside Bear Tavern Road can be seen on page 25. Pages 26-29 contain other historic photos of the airport.