Using a skull found at the Red Bank Battlefield in National Park, Moises Martinez of the state police Forensic Technology Center created this depiction of a Hessian soldier killed by the Continental Army.
Jennifer Janofsky, curator and director of the Red Bank Battlefield Park, will lead a memorial service for 14 Continental Army soldiers killed in the 1777 battle as part of an 18th-century field day on Sunday.
The young men were members of the 1st and 2nd Rhode Island integrated regiments that successfully defended Fort Mercer on the Delaware River waterfront in current day National Park against an attack by Hessian mercenaries hired by the British.
The event is free and includes living history demonstrations, artillery drills, cannon demonstrations and re-enactments. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, with the service honoring the fallen patriots at 1 p.m. Also being honored and recognized are the Hessian soldiers who gave their lives during the battle. There will an overview of the recent archaeological dig at the north end of the park that turned up bone fragments from more than 17 Hessians, followed by a Legacy Marker/Heritage Flag Ceremony.
The weekend of activities at the battlefield begins Saturday, with the 56th annual Jonas Cattell Run from Haddonfield to National Park that retraces the steps of the young patriot who overheard plans from Hessian soldiers who had captured him for violating curfew. The 18-year-old Cattell was released early the next morning and ran to Fort Mercer, traveling on wooded trails he knew from growing up on a farm in what is now Deptford.
He arrived at Fort Mercer in plenty of time to warn Col. Christopher Green and his Rhode Island regiments about the impending attack. Green then rearranged the cannons in the fort to repel a land-based attack instead of a sea attack by British naval ships on the Delaware River. Although outnumbered three to one, the American soldiers crushed the Hessians with their well-placed firepower during what is called the Battle of Red Bank – all thanks to Cattell’s warning.
After the hour-long battle, 82 Hessian soldiers who tried to scale the walls of the fort lay dead in the trench surrounding the area. Another 228 were wounded and 60 were captured. The heavily outnumbered Continental Army troops reported 14 killed and 23 wounded.
Janofsky – also a professor of public history at Rowan University – and archaeologist Wade P. Catts were the leaders of the public participation dig in 2022, and over four days, some 100 volunteers worked screens and processed artifacts from the quarter-acre trench area deeded to the battlefield the year before by the family who owned the ground.
“June 26 was the last day of the dig,” Janofsky noted. “About 2 p.m., volunteer Wayne Wilson told me, ‘I think I found a bone.’ We soon found several femur bones.”
After several more digs, remains from 17 soldiers were found. Using the skull from one of the Hessians discovered in 2022, state police sketch artist Moises Martinez was able to create a realistic depiction of that soldier, one of the 82 killed during the battle.
“When I first saw the facial reconstruction, it took my breath away,” Janofsky explained. “It was definitely an emotional moment. To see this individual as a human being really brought home the mission of this project. As a historian, I am used to working with traditional sources like papers, maps, letters – that kind of thing. The battle has always seemed a little abstract to me.
“It’s one thing to talk about ‘over 300 dead or injured Hessians,’ he added. “It’s a completely different experience to recover … and to hold those remains.”
Janofsky will be at Red Bank Battlefield this weekend to talk more about the history of South Jersey and the Revolutionary War. Rain date for the field day is Sunday, Oct. 27.
