The reenactors of the Second Pennsylvania Regiment line up and assemble while waiting for their orders at the June 7 event.
As one of Camden County’s historic districts, Haddonfield has many long-standing traditions that take place during the year to honor the history of the borough and the South Jersey area.
One of them is the annual Skirmish, a reenactment of battles between British and American Colonial forces that took place in Haddonfield during the Revolutionary War. This year’s commemoration proceeded as planned along Kings Highway on June 7, despite an on-and-off drizzle throughout the day.
Reenactors from the Second Pennsylvania Regiment and the 43rd of Foot – an educational living history organization based on two military units that served during the Revolutionary War – portrayed soldiers on both sides of the war.
The 43rd of Foot was featured in the Skirmish because it is one of only a few British units that served for the entire war, and the Second Pennsylvania Regiment was chosen for its record of military service and connection to the region. Paul Loane, one of the reenactors, portrayed a Colonial admiral from the regiment.
“Haddonfield has always treasured its history,” he noted. “It’s a very historical town, and the British and Continentals were through here twice. One was literally when the British were marching in, the Continentals were on the other end of the street running away. That wasn’t much of a battle.”
Loane also explained that the exact location of the Skirmish being portrayed is not known, so when reenactors re-create it, they use Kings Highway for its simplicity in setting up and to give the crowd a place to watch.
“They started commemorating this a number of years ago,” he said, “and we were fortunate that they got us involved early on, so that we could map out what the Skirmish would be for them, what that would entail.”
This year’s reenactment featured a number of events all along Kings Highway. Festivities began at 10 a.m. with the history fair, and booths from organizations and businesses around the borough set up to sell goods and give out information.
The Indian King Tavern Museum, the historic building that served as the meeting place for the newly formed Patriot legislature in New Jersey from January to September in 1777, was also open for tours. The facility served a number of other functions at the Skirmish by offering food, beverages and lodging in a social gathering place. It was set up with games from the Colonial period that attendees were encouraged to try.
Some of the reenactors called out to the crowd along the highway looking for volunteers to join the army, picking children from the crowd to line up before being given wooden toy rifles and marching orders.
Before the Skirmish, there was a reenactment of a smaller fight called The Clash, also known as the “mini- skirmish,” where reenactors of the American troops drove out the British soldiers, chasing them down the highway after both sides fired blanks back and forth for several minutes.
Reenactors then gave the crowd more information about the Skirmish’s time period, its soldiers, their uniforms and weapons and anything else the crowd had questions about. The main event began after police roped the crowd off from the highway with caution tape so the event could go on safely.
As the British troops advanced down the highway, Colonial forces did their best to drive them back, with both sides exchanging fire and marching back and forth. In the end, the British managed to subdue the Colonial army. It retreated down the highway as the British celebrated their victory.
Loane praised the reenactment.
“I thought we gave the crowd a good thumbnail sketch of what combat might have looked like and sounded like in the 18th century.”
