5th Annual Commemoration of the 1781 Encampment of Continental & French Armies in Trenton – NJ

This free family-friendly event includes activities for school-age children including a “scavenger hunt” with prizes, as well as talks by historians.

In late August 1781, the Continental Army under General Washington and the allied French Army under General Rochambeau converged in Princeton before moving on to Trenton. There they camped before continuing south to confront British General Cornwallis in Virginia.

Thousands of French and American soldiers and accompanying civilians with horses and oxen pulling wagons and artillery carriages camped in and around Trenton, then a small town of about 500 residents. The Trenton encampment lasted several days as cannon were ferried across the river and people on foot and wagons forded at the Falls of the Delaware. 

Imagine the impact of the army’s presence on Trenton and how members of the army might have interacted with townspeople.

Some of the highlights:

Hear drumbeats and trills of fifes.

Practice drilling with African American soldiers of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. 

Meet Comte de Rochambeau, the French General commanding troops from France.

Enjoy herbal tea that patriotic women served instead of imported black tea at their tea tables.

Make your own “Berry Fool,” a dessert that has been enjoyed by generations of American families.

Learn about the craft and art of blacksmithing and watch seamstresses at work. 

Delve deeper into how the French helped America win the Revolutionary War with Norman Demarais, author and professor emeritus at Providence College.

Using maps drawn by the French, Paul Larson will guide visitors over the route through New Jersey in the summer of 1781.

SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES

10:20 am in the Visitor Center

Talk on colonial containers, pottery, & silver
David Bosted

10:40 am in the Visitor Center

Preview of poster of the route from Princeton
to Trenton & the crossing of the Delaware
David Bosted and John Gummere

11:30 am in the Visitor Center

General Rochambeau Exercises the Troops:
The French in Rhode Island
Norman Desmarais

12:45 pm in the Courtyard

Remembering Algernon Ward, Jr.
Historian and Re-enactor

1:15 pm in the Historic House

Talk with General Rochambeau & his aide-de-camp Captain Lauberdiere as they discuss plans
after crossing the Delaware

2:15 pm in the Visitor Center

Mapping the March through New Jersey:
Then and Today
Paul Larson