The remnants from the past may not be visible on first glance, but you can find pieces of the battle for American independence not far from Maplewood.

Over 200 years ago, the front lines of America's struggle for freedom were near the town: Several hundred New Jersey militia and regulars faced a larger force of British and Hessian troops near what is now the intersection of Vauxhall Road and Millburn Road (site of the current Millburn Mall), in a battle that historians now realize was one of the most significant of the Revolutionary War.

The Battle of Springfield, fought on June 23, 1780, was a bold move by the British to push through the Hobart Gap in the Watchung Mountains to capture Morristown, where the American Army's artillery, ammunition and much of its scarce remaining provisions were stranded, with no horses available to move them. A successful attack would split the colonies in half, and the British and their American Loyalist allies were convinced it would end the war.

Instead the attack was the last attempt by the royal forces to invade New Jersey after the Continental Army and New Jersey militia fought them back to Staten Island.

The battle actually started earlier in June when the British made their first attempt to move into the region. In a June 7 attack, the British marched as far west as Springfield, before the Americans battled them back to Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), according to papers in the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society's museum.

On their way back, the British soldiers plundered and burned the town of Connecticut Farms, which is now Union. And then an incident occurred that enraged the New Jersey farmers, who formed the state's militia.

The Rev. James Caldwell of Elizabethtown was a staunch supporter of the revolution, and the British shot his wife, Hannah, while they were burning Connecticut Farms. One of their children and a nursemaid witnessed the shooting. The details of the incident are unclear: Marian Meisner's A History of Millburn Township, states the British believed the fatal shot actually came from the American rebels, quoting a June 20, 1780, British officer's letter.

But whatever the circumstances, the local residents, although war-weary, were hardened in their resolve against the British.

The next British attempt to invade the area, which became the Battle of Springfield, came June 23. This time, the British and Hessian force of 5,000 soldiers was bolstered by Sir Henry Clinton's troops, who had just returned to New York after capturing Charleston, South Carolina. The Continental Army had 1,500 men in the area, but several different papers in the historical society's collection state that there were anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 additional New Jersey militia available.

The British forces were led by Lieutenant General Baron Wilhelm von Knyphausen, a Hessian who spoke no English. Between 3-4 a.m., the British soldiers, their Hessian mercenaries, and the New Jersey Volunteers—Loyalists who fought against their fellow New Jerseyans—left Elizabethtown and were soon harassed by the Americans, but they were not stopped until Union, according to a timeline in the historical society's collection. The Americans were out-flanked, and they retreated.

Led by Gen. Nathanael Greene, a general alarm was sounded between 6-8 a.m., and the regular army soldiers and militia gathered at Bryant's Tavern near what is now the Shop Rite on Morris Avenue.

Soldiers were sent to the two bridges across the Rahway River in Millburn and the main bridge in Springfield. More American soldiers were positioned on Morris Avenue and near Old Short Hills Road and Hobart Avenue. One of the leaders of the force in Millburn was Gen. Henry (Lighthorse Harry) Lee, father of Confederate Civil War Gen. Robert E. Lee.

At 9 a.m., the British split their forces, with one wing to assault the bridges on Vauxhall Avenue and another to head towards Morris Avenue. The assault on the bridges began at 11 a.m., and after fierce fighting, the bridges were captured, but the Americans retreated in an orderly fashion back to the lower reaches of the Short Hills. American General Greene called in his reserve force of 400 men. Faced with that sizable force, well-protected on higher ground, and the militia who were reforming their lines nearby after a disciplined pullback, the British forces halted.

Instead of the attack they expected, the Americans soon saw white smoke billowing up from Springfield, where the British were burning almost every house in town before retreating toward the coast.

The enraged Americans poured down from the hills in pursuit, forcing the British into a "full trot," until they reached Elizabethtown, by 7 p.m., where they crossed over to Staten Island on a bridge of boats.

A June 25 message from Washington, which is available in the historical society's files, states, "The enemy have not made their incursions into this state without loss. Ours has been small. The militia deserves everything that can be said on both occasions. They flew to arms universally and acted with a spirit equal to anything to have seen in the course of the war."

Meisner's book states that the casualties for the Americans were 13 men killed, 49 wounded and 9 missing. The British, however, lost 500-700 men in the battle.

There are other stories that come from the course of the battle, some of which have become local legends.

In the heavy fighting near Morris Avenue, Caldwell, the pastor whose wife was shot in the earlier battle, saw that the American soldiers didn't have enough paper wadding for their guns, which was required for accurate shooting. Legend has it he took the hymnals from a church, many of them containing songs written by English clergyman Isaac Watts, ripped out the pages and gave them to the soldiers as wadding. His rallying cry was, "Put Watts into 'em, boys!"

Caldwell's Revolutionary War exploits are captured in the poem, "Parson Caldwell at Springfield."

It's also believed two Hessian soldiers, the mercenaries who fought with the British, defected and hid in what is known as the Hessian House, which is at 155 Millburn Ave. The two men were put on trial, but were released and settled in Short Hills.

It's also believed the only man from Millburn-Short Hills who died in the battle is buried in the cemetery at the corner of White Oak Ridge and Parsonage Hill roads. Nicholas Parcell died in June 1780, and his gravestone states he "bled and dyed for liberty from British Tyrents."

A number of cannonballs have been recovered over the years from a variety of Millburn-Short Hills locations, including from a tree on Main Street.

Editor's note: Additional information for this article is from New Jersey historian Thomas Fleming's excellent pamphlet, "The Battle of Springfield," copyright 1975, New Jersey Historical Commission. While we can't link directly to it, because it's in PDF format, it can be found online by searching for "Battle of Springfield, Fleming."