Historic reenactors fire off several volleys before setting off on the two-mile march during annual reenactment.
A hardy band of marchers commemorated the 63rd annual Col. Edward Hand Historic March on a cold and windy Saturday morning, exactly 247 years and two days after the American soldiers delayed British and Hessian troops on their way to the Second Battle of Trenton on Jan. 2, 1777.
The annual march, which was held Jan. 4, started at the Lawrence Township Municipal Building and ended at the banks of the Shabakunk Creek on the Notre Dame High School campus.
The event is a reenactment of the American soldiers’ delaying tactics as they held off the British and Hessian troops from reaching Trenton to retake it from Gen. George Washington’s army, which had occupied Trenton.
Before the marchers set off on the two-mile trek, Mercer County Executive Dan Benson, the keynote speaker, talked about the efforts to spotlight Mercer County’s role in the American Revolutionary War.
Mayor Patricia Hendricks Farmer also emphasized Lawrence Township’s vital role in the Revolutionary War, referring to the delaying tactics of Hand and his band of Pennsylvania riflemen.
Hand and the 1st Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment were dispatched to slow down the British and Hessian troops as they marched from Princeton to Trenton.
The Americans engaged the British and Hessian troops in several skirmishes as they passed through Maidenhead, as Lawrence Township was originally known.
Despite the efforts of Hand and his riflemen, the troops reached Trenton at dusk on Jan. 2, 1777. They engaged Washington and his soldiers in the Second Battle of Trenton.
The Americans retreated across the bridge over the Assunpink Creek. Their British and Hessian pursuers tried three times to cross the bridge, but they were turned back each time.
The initial engagement was a draw, so the British planned to continue the battle the next day. But during the night and into the morning of Jan. 3, 1777, Washington led his troops around the British and Hessian encampment and followed a back road to Princeton.
On their way to Princeton, the Americans unexpectedly encountered British troops. They engaged the British troops and defeated them in the Battle of Princeton on Jan. 3, 1777.
The Americans’ victories in the three battles – the First Battle of Trenton on Dec. 25, 1776, the Second Battle of Trenton on Jan. 2, 1777 and the Battle of Princeton on Jan. 3, 1777 – turned the tide for them. The Americans had suffered repeated defeats between August and November 1776.
Benson, the keynote speaker, said that Hand and his soldiers stood firm against overwhelming odds. It should be a reminder that democracy is not easily won.
“The history lesson is that victory was not inevitable. There were people who were ready to give up, but because of Col. Hand’s ingenuity, we were able to prevail,” he said.
As the United States of America approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, Mercer County is making plans to spotlight its role in the American Revolutionary War, Benson said.
Mercer County officials have established the Office of Travel and Tourism. It will focus on the history of Mercer County and the preservation of historic sites, he said.
The tagline for the Mercer County Office of Travel and Tourism is “Before we were Mercer, we were making history,” Benson said.
Mercer County was created in 1838 from parts of several neighboring counties. It is named for Gen. Hugh Mercer, who died from injuries he received at the Battle of Princeton.
“I am confident we will attract visitors,” Benson said. “We will create a meaningful experience for them. Let us remember, we are not gearing up for one day or one year. It is a 13-year celebration.”
The American Revolutionary War began in 1776 and ended in 1789.
William Agress, who portrays Col. Hand, reinforced Mercer County’s role in the Ten Crucial Days campaign from Dec. 25, 1776 to Jan. 3, 1777.
Washington’s troops crossed the Delaware River into Hopewell Township overnight between Dec. 24-25, 1776. They marched through Ewing Township into Trenton, said Agress, who lives in Lawrence Township.
Following the Second Battle of Trenton on Jan. 2, 1777, Washington’s soldiers marched through Hamilton Township and West Windsor Township on their way to Princeton, he said as he finished the presentation.
Then the marchers, led by Agress and Farmer, set out for the banks of the Shabakunk Creek – the site of a major skirmish between Hand’s soldiers and the British and Hessian troops.
At Notre Dame High School, a replica flag of Hand’s 1st Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment, bearing its motto of “Domari Nolo” – “I will not yield” – was hoisted on a flagpole near the creek.
Two historical reenactors fired off two volleys of blanks from their replica rifles, filling the air with smoke and wrapping up the annual reenactment march.
