17801776 Club
Greene holds every road; Knyphausen burns Springfield and retreats
Continental troops and New Jersey militia blunt both British columns at the Rahway crossings, and the redcoats leave nearly the whole town in ashes as they pull back.
By the summer of 1780, the British had one more idea for New Jersey: drive through Hobart Gap, threaten Washington's army at Morristown, and force a confrontation that might end the war in the north. On June 23, Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen led a two-pronged advance through Springfield Township, Union County, while Major General Nathanael Greene ordered bridges over the Rahway River destroyed and threw Continental troops and New Jersey Militia across every usable road. American reinforcements arrived fast enough to blunt both columns, and Knyphausen pulled back — burning nearly all of Springfield behind him. It was the last serious British military operation in New Jersey…
