Reenactors in Revolutionary War uniforms will be back in the Pinelands of Barnegat Township on Sunday, December 6, when Ocean County Parks and Recreation holds The Affair at Cedar Bridge at the Cedar Bridge Tavern Historic Site, 200 Old Halfway Road. The program runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The day marks a fight that took place near the tavern on December 27, 1782, which the county describes as arguably the last documented land engagement of the American Revolution. The county's flyer for this year's event shows uniformed reenactors firing flintlock muskets, a fife and drum pair, and visitors touring the exhibits inside the tavern.

What happened at Cedar Bridge

According to Ocean County's history of the site, Captain Richard Shreve of the Burlington County Light Horse and Captain Edward Thomas of the Mansfield militia had spent the day searching for the Loyalist leader Captain John Bacon. They stopped with their men to rest at the tavern at Cedar Bridge, and Bacon's band surprised them and cut off their escape.

The militia was gaining the upper hand when a group of local residents opened fire on them, a diversion that let Bacon get away. One Patriot was killed and four were wounded. Four Loyalists were also wounded, Bacon among them. Historians have suggested the fighting may have happened near the site of the tavern that stands today.

The tavern itself

The building on the site dates from about 1816 and sits about a mile south of Route 72, near Route 539, at what was an important 18th century crossroads: an east and west road across the Pinelands met a southern route toward Egg Harbor and Tuckerton. Its original section keeps an early 19th century bar, which the county says is not known to survive in any other early New Jersey tavern, along with most of its original floor plan, doors, windows and fireplaces.

Ocean County bought the tavern on December 27, 2007, the anniversary of the skirmish, from Rudolf Koenig, who had owned it since 1959 and is credited with keeping the building intact. The county restored it with grants from the New Jersey Historic Trust, and it is listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. The grounds have also hosted two digs by the Monmouth University Archaeology Field School, directed by Dr. Richard Veit. Inside, displays and artifacts cover 19th century tavern life, the Revolutionary War and daily life in the Pinelands.

Planning a visit

The Affair at Cedar Bridge runs Sunday, December 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 200 Old Halfway Road in Barnegat. The county lists a January 3 snow date. The flyer does not list an admission charge. The site is about a mile south of Route 72, near Route 539. Questions go to Ocean County Parks and Recreation at 1-877-OC-PARKS.

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