The Battle of Boundbrook

During the American Revolution, the Queens Bridge was used by both the American and British forces. At this spot in what is now known as Boundbrook on January 4, 1777, General Washington made the decision to abandon any intention to attach New Brunswick. Instead he moved his troops to Morristown for the winter, thus ending the victorious Trenton-Princeton campaign.

At dawn on April 13, 1777, Hessian Captain Ewald's assault over the Queens Bridge spanning the Raritan River between South Boundbrook and Boundbrook was pinned down by "murderous fire" from the American soldiers stationed at half moon battery. Advancing North along present day Easton Avenue, Hessian Colonel Donop pushed aside American outposts and arrived 15 minutes after Ewald's attack had faltered. Advancing over the Queens Bridge, Donop's troops engaged the Americans causing them to retreat from the battery. Donop, Ewald's, and General Grant's troops pursued the American troops as they fought through the streets of Bound Brook.