Press Release: Black Horse (Columbus, NJ)

In 1778, Columbus and the surrounding neighborhood was known as Black Horse, named after a well-known tavern which stood at the site of the present-day Olde Columbus Inn. It was here, during the hot summer of 1778, that British, Hessian and Loyalist soldiers, representing greatest army of the greatest empire, visited for a short while as it made its way to the New Jersey coast.

In the Spring of 1778, the American Revolution became a global war. The entry of France into the conflict as an ally of the young United States, forced England to revise its military strategy. Fearing entrapment by the French Navy at Philadelphia, the British were forced to evacuate their army to New York City. The question for the British was how to move twenty thousand men in a column that stretched for twelve miles from the Delaware to the Hudson. For General Washington, the question was which route would the British Army take, and how could he attack it.

On June 18, the British had crossed over from Philadelphia to New Jersey as it made its way to New York City. Passing through Haddonfield, Mt. Laurel and Mt. Holly, the British moved slowly. On June 21, it left Mt. Holly and traveled through Jacksonville, along the Petticoat Bridge Road and into Black Horse where it encamped on June 22. The encampment stretched from where the Homestead development now stands, through the village and west along the Mt. Pleasant Road. General Clinton made his headquarters at the Black Horse Tavern.

Perhaps the most poignant event that occured during that time was the execution of a young British deserter at a point just west of Columbus. Corporal John Fisher of the 28th Regiment had been courtmartialled in Philadelphia in March, 1778 for assaulting a young girl. The court released him because his officers had insisted that he was a good lad. Sometime after that, Fisher deserted the British Army and made his way to New Jersey. On June 19, 1778 he was part of a militia company that was skirmishing with the British near Evesham. Desparately wounded in that fight, he was captured and his identity discovered. On June 21 at Mt. Holly, he was once again put on trial. Here he was found guilty of both desertion and taking up arms with the enemy. Nothing could save Fisher from his fate.

The courtmartial passed sentence that he would be hung on the high road between 4 a.m. and noon the next day. Soldiers wrote in their diaries and journals of the spectacle. All reported that Fisher had been severely beaten and then hanged from a tree. The site of the execution tree is still remembered by local residents, as the story of this young man has been handed down over the generations.

All of these events will be remembered on June 25 in Columbus. On that day, the Road to Monmouth Heritage Campaign makes its way to Mansfield Township and Columbus as the route of the British Army is commemorated from Camden County to Sandy Hook.

Reenactors will set up a living history encampment at 4 p.m. at the Mansfield Township Community Park and a small skirmish will be staged at 6 p.m. At 7:30, the Township Committee will pass a special Resolution honoring the Revolutionary War history of the community.