The Affair at Cedar Bridge, History Comes to Life in Barnegat, NJ!
The Affair at Cedar Bridge or the Battle of Cedar Bridge will be reenacted this Sunday, December 27th at 200 Old Half Way Road in Barnegat, New Jersey from 2pm to 4pm.
Get the kids away from the new video games, bundle up and watch history come to life!
Whether you call it the Affair at Cedar Bridge or the Battle of Cedar Bridge it is said to be one of the last land conflicts of the American Revolution and the final one in New Jersey.
It happened on December 27, 1782 when the Burlington Militia came to Manahawkin after hearing Loyalist John Bacon might be lurking about.
Bacon had been a wanted man for quite some time. Not only was he a Loyalist, but two months earlier he was known to have participated in the killings of several American privateers who were plundering the cargo of a British ship that ran aground near Barnegat Light.
After searching Manahawkin, the Burlington Militia decided to stop at the Cedar Bridge Tavern for some refreshments and to rest their horses. Bacon’s bunch had the same idea! And so the Affair at Cedar Bridge began.
Turning the tables on his pursuers, Bacon's crew barricaded the old cedar bridge by the Tavern and traded heavy gunfire with the militia before escaping into the Pine Barrens.
Bacon was not able to cheat death for much longer. The following April, he was killed by militiamen and his body dragged through the streets of Manahawkin.
In 1782, Cedar Bridge was located in Manahawkin (Stafford Township), but is now part of Barnegat.
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