Woodside, the North End of Newark, N.J.: Its History, Legends and Ghost Stories Gathered from the Records and the Older Inhabitants Now LivingHine, C. G. (Charles Gilbert)
History
Woodside, the North End of Newark, N.J.: Its History, Legends and Ghost Stories Gathered from the Records and the Older Inhabitants Now Living
Hine, C. G. (Charles Gilbert)
Hine, C. C. (Charles Cole), 1825-1897; Woodside (Newark, N.J.) -- History
“General Wayne, with a detachment of the American Army, after the
evacuation of New York, regained for a portion of the winter encamped in
the Coeyman woods, in what is now Woodside. His encampment extended from
a point a little west of and in line with the old Belleville road and
north of Elwood avenue, along the ridge up to Second river. Traces of
this encampment are found in the excavations which the soldiers made for
their huts. The excavations are found also along the line of the
Montclair & Greenwood Lake Railroad at the south side of the bridge
across the Second river. They are found also on the side of the hill
west of Mount Prospect avenue, and south of the line of Elliott street,
and extending north several hundred yards, the most marked being at the
northern limit. In one of these excavations the stones which marked the
temporary fireplace still remain. The troops cut down the growing timber
from these woods, and the owner, Minard Coeyman, was paid for it by the
government. About half a mile northwest of this ridge the old barn, in
which were slaughtered the cattle for the use of the army, still stands.
It belongs to the Crane family. Mr. Nathaniel Crane, who was born in
1808, well remembers hearing his father and uncle talk about the
encampment. Wayne had several field pieces with him, and the men used to
take the horses down to Second river to water at a point 100 yards from
the railroad bridge, and near the ruins of the old copper works,
opposite Woodside Park. In February Wayne moved his army to Morristown.
The close proximity of the British is given as the cause of Wayne
breaking camp. In his position at Woodside he was liable to be flanked.
Jasper King, father of the late William King, of East Orange, was a boy
at the time Wayne was at Woodside, and his father was a soldier in
Wayne’s army. Jasper went with his grandfather and his mother to say
good-by to his father at the encampment in Coeyman’s woods.
“Jasper King related to the late John M. Phillips that when the roll was
called the soldiers came out from their tents and some of them threw
their caps on the snow and stood on them with their bare feet. He said
it began to snow as the troops started on their march to Morristown and
some of the soldiers left marks of blood on the snow as they marched.
Their way was along the old Bloomfield road, which may have been reached
by crossing the fields past the old Crane Mansion, or by the way of
Keen’s lane, the outlines of which can still be traced southwest to the
Bloomfield road. From Bloomfield the march was through Caldwell, where
the snow became so deep that the artillery was left behind and remained
imbedded in the drifts on a by-road near where the penitentiary now
stands, until spring. At Bloomfield a picket was posted to guard the
rear. One of the men climbed onto the fence to see if the British were
pursuing. In the act his gun was discharged, killing him instantly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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