WARNING BEACON

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WARNING BEACON
ON JUNE 7, 1780, GENERALS
WASHINGTON, LAFAYETTE, AND
REV. CALDWELL STOOD ATOP THIS
HILL BY A BEACON TO VIEW THE
BATTLE OF CONNECTICUT FARMS.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2026

In June 1780, General Wilhelm von Knyphausen, commander of the British garrison in New York City, launched an attack against the Continental Army’s headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey. Intelligence from spies led him to believe that the garrison was vulnerable, having been reduced by disease and desertion to 3,500 men. Knyphausen led approximately 6,000 troops westward from Elizabethtown, but New Jersey militia intercepted his advance at Connecticut Farms on June 7.

Sentries stationed on local hills spotted the British advance and transmitted the alarm to Morristown using a beacon system established three months prior. One of these signal beacons sat atop a hill then known as the Newark Mountains (called South Mountain as of 2026), located one mile north of Springfield.

On the day of the Battle of Connecticut Farms, George Washington, General Lafayette, and the Reverend Caldwell—a prominent Presbyterian minister who was a chaplain for the Army—stood atop the hill with the beacon to observe the battle. During the battle, the Reverend Caldwell’s wife, Hannah, was murdered by the British in their nearby home. The Reverend was a prominent figure, and the murder was heavily publicized, capturing the newspapers’ outrage and reigniting public resistance to the British. Lafayette later recalled on his tour of America in 1824–1825 that he was standing with the Reverend and Washington atop the hill with the beacon to oversee the battle when they received the news of her murder.

While the New Jersey militia ultimately retreated, their resistance delayed the British advance and forced Knyphausen’s troops to camp for the night. Confronted by unexpectedly fierce resistance from the local militia, Knyphausen re-evaluated his position on June 8 and ordered a retreat to Elizabethtown. A few days later, Washington wrote to General Robert Howe from the beacon hill, labeling Knyphausen’s maneuvers as perplexing and suggesting the incursion may have been a diversion from British operations in upstate New York.