Racing down Kings Highway in Haddonfield to begin the 56th annual Jonas Cattell Run on Oct. 18 were some of the 120 runners making the 10-mile jaunt to the Red Bank Battlefield in National Park.
The evening of Oct. 21, 1777 did not start well for blacksmith apprentice Jonas Cattell, as the Hessian mercenaries in control of Haddonfield arrested him for violating curfew.
While in his jail cell, he overheard the soldiers discussing a surprise attack they were planning against Fort Mercer in National Park the following day.
Upon his release the morning of Oct. 22, the young man ran 10 miles through fields and trails he knew well to warn the Continental Army stationed at the fort, where the rebels’ primary goal was preventing British ships from traveling up the Delaware River and bringing supplies to the English Army troops based in Philadelphia.
Cattell arrived in plenty of time to warn the American patriots, who gathered in the Citadel and turned their cannons away from the river to face the Hessians’ land attack – decisively winning the Battle of Red Bank.
Some 248 years later, on the sunny morning of Oct. 18, 120 runners gathered on Kings Highway in Haddonfield to recreate Cattell’s amazing journey.
“What a gorgeous day,” said Bill Roth, the Gloucester County Recreation Program coordinator, who was registering people along with volunteer Kim Miller. “This is the 56th annual Jonas Cattell Run.”
Roth said the runners travel down Kings Highway through Mount Ephraim and Brooklawn, continue into Woodbury and then on to National Park.
Also at their table was Tom Thomasson of TNT Event Management, who gave the runners their placard numbers that contained an electronic chip to accurately time their runs.
“This is one of my favorite runs of the fall,” said Thomasson, who said his company was also timing the 6th annual Fort Mercer 5K run on the same day beginning and ending at the Red Bank Battlefield.
“I love this race,” noted Michele Siconolfi of Cherry Hill, who was getting ready for the 10-mile run in the courtyard across Kings Highway from Mechanic Street, where the Hessian jail had been located. “It is fun to run down Kings Highway.”
“This is the fifth or sixth time we ran together,” said her friend, Christine Gloeckner of West Deptford. “It’s fun to be out on a long run without pressure. We can just enjoy the race.”
Sponsored by the Gloucester County Board of Commissioners, the run’s top five finishers for this year are as follows: JR Creekmore, 53 minutes and 38 seconds; Mike Raskin, 57 minutes and 23 seconds; Ryan Krause, 59 minutes and 27 seconds; Peter Gallagher, one hour, one minute and two seconds; and Mitchel Wileczek, one hour, one minute and three seconds.
More importantly, all the runners honored Revolutionary War hero Jonas Cattell. As for the quick battle, archaeologist Wade Catts described how the Continental Army defeated the Hessians in a recent lecture at Mullica Hill library as part of its year-long celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
Fort Mercer was huge – some 320 yards long by 50 yards wide, with earthen walls along the perimeter, Catts said. However, a French engineer pointed out that it was too big for only 600 troops and recommended they all be stationed in the smaller Citadel at the south end of the fort.
On Oct. 22, 1777, about 1,400 Hessian mercenaries marched from their base in Haddonfield and arrived about 4 p.m., thinking the Continental Army troops were defending the entire fort, and attacked the northern and eastern ends with two-thirds of their men.
Finding nobody there the Hessians moved towards the Citadel and were trapped below an 18-foot high wall. The soldiers in the first and second Rhode Island regiments inside the Citadel, 10 to 15% of whom were African Americans or Native Americans, had turned their cannons from the river to face the oncoming Hessians, who were also bombarded by the guns of Philadelphia Navy ships in the Delaware River.
“They didn’t know the big portion of the fort had been abandoned. It lasted 45 minutes. 300 to 350 Hessians were killed or wounded,” Catts said, compared with 11 Americans killed in one of the most decisive battles in the Revolutionary War.
The intelligence delivered by Cattell after a 10-mile run on Oct 22, 1977, contributed to the victory by making sure the Continental Army was ready for the attack.
For information about the battle, or upcoming activities and events, go to https://www.gloucestercountynj.gov/671/Red-Bank-Battlefield.
Getting ready to start the race were Christine Gloeckner (left) and Michele Siconolfi.
