*Historical facts may be somewhat fabricated.
During the Revolutionary War, the citizens of Green Lane Pennsylvania were loyal to the new republic, and enjoyed relative freedom from British oppression; however, their neighbors “up the hill” in the Goshenhoppen region of the Upper Perkiomen Valley were not so fortunate, as they were the reluctant hosts to a company of British Regulars and some Hessian mercenaries who were camped out in fields where the Pennsburg Square Shopping Center now stands.
The British Red Coats got little cooperation from their hosts in the Goshenhoppen, and began sending contingents down the hill road (which was soon referred to as the “Red Hill Road” because it was used extensively by the Red Coats) to raid the farms and shops in Green Lane for supplies. Frustrated by the looting of their town by the British, the people of Green Lane, led by a renegade Hessian Captain by the name of Eisenhower, organized a militia and planned a response to the British raids.
There was an old unused water silo, just off of the Red Hill road; it was hidden by a stand of trees and could not be seen by anyone using the road, even during the winter, when the trees were bare. So while the townspeople knew about this tower, the British did not. The militia loaded the tower with food and ammunition, and took turns watching the road and shooting at the Red Coats as they came down the hill. The British troops couldn’t tell where the shots were coming from, and would run back up the hill for cover, and the town would be spared for the time being.
At first the guerilla action consisted mostly of taking pot-shots at the Red Coats, with a few of the troops receiving some minor wounds, but no fatalities. The militia was able to cut down on the raids by the British, but they did not stop all together; as some of the raiding parties would shoot back into the woods, causing the militia to seek cover, and giving the Red Coats the opportunity to make their way down the hill and into town.
This action between the Red Coats and the militia continued for a few months, with neither side gaining the advantage. Then, in the middle of January, 1778 spies from the Goshenhoppen arrived in Green Lane with news that the British were massing at their encampment in preparation for an attack on Washington’s troops at Valley Forge. When Captain Eisenhower learned of this offensive, he met with the leaders of the militia to organize the defense of Green Lane.
The water tower would be manned twenty-four hours a day and the militia would also be hiding in the ditch along the road across from the tower. In addition a few militia members would be stationed at the top of the hill, reporting on any movement of Red Coats along Red Hill Road toward Green Lane. If it looked like a regular raiding party, the townspeople would simply take a few shots at them, as they usually did…so that the Red Coats would not suspect that a larger force was waiting for them down the hill. If a full company of Red Coats was making their way down the road, the militia positioned on top of the hill would send a running down to the tower to put them on alert. The militia in the tower would then signal to their members hiding across the road, by making a bird call; then, when the British came down the hill, the town’s people on both sides of the road would open fire on the troops, mowing them down and ending their march on Valley Forge and Washington’s encampment.
On the morning of January 26, 1778 the men and women of Green Lane gathered at the water tower, stocked it with fresh food and ammunition, and began keeping watch from the turret of the silo; in addition, three militia men were stationed in a small lean-to on top of the hill, while across the road from the tower a second group of militia members took their places behind a rock wall they had built, obscured by snow and bare bushes. For two days they watched and waited in the cold telling stories and singing hymns to keep each other’s spirits up, but there was no movement on the Red Hill Road, except for a few farmers. Then, on the evening of the 28th, news came from “up on the hill” that a large company of Red Coats were on the move and were about to come marching down the road into Green Lane!
The next morning, it was snowing heavily, further cutting down the visibility from the road, and slowing down the British troops as they marched toward Green Lane and Valley Forge beyond. Having marched for hours through the snow, by the time the Red Coats started down the hill they were already tired, cold and hungry. The Green Lane militia members were much better off than the soldiers; they had food, and warm tea to drink, and the wood stove on the first floor of the water tower kept those watching from the turret relatively warm, despite the snow and wind!
Having watched in shifts, the militia men on the hill were well rested and clear- eyed that morning, when they spotted the first flash of red showing through the gray trees. (Perhaps some of them wondered why the British insisted on Red uniforms, which made them such obvious targets.) As soon as the Red Coats were spotted, the runner was sent down to the water tower with the news, which was then relayed across the road with a bird call, which was then passed along to alert the town; the woods were soon filled with bird calls, but none of the British troops paid any attention, they were just too miserable!
Acting according to Eisenhower’s plan, the militia waited to strike until the British were 3/4th of the way down the hill. Those on the tower fired first, unleashing a volley of muskets into the column of British soldiers. In their panic some of the invaders tried to run back up the hill, only to run into more of their own troops coming down hill, causing a bottleneck. Instead of continuing their retreat, the British started shooting wildly into the trees causing more confusion which the townspeople used to their advantage as they concentrated their fire on this group of Red Coats. Another group of British soldiers ran down the hill, trying to get away from the barrage of musket fire, but on their way down the hill they encountered the second group of militia men hiding behind the rock wall, and they too were met with musket fire, those who were not shot were soon taken prisoner!
Meanwhile, the bottleneck of British Troops on the hill broke up as the surviving British troops regrouped, and turned to retreat back toward their encampment and reinforcements; however, these troops were unaware that the main encampment in the Upper Perkiomen had already been over-run by another group of patriots from the Goshenhoppen. The Goshenhoppen militia was now advancing toward the fleeing Red Coats! When the two forces met at the top of the hill, the colonials sent another volley of musket fire into the British troops. When the smoke cleared, the remaining soldiers surrendered to the Goshenhoppen militia, and spent the rest of the war working as indentured servants (with many staying on after the war and becoming full members of the community).
The Battle of Green Lane lasted only three hours, and was considered to be only a minor skirmish in terms of the Revolutionary War; however, it was a critical victory. If the British had not been stopped in Green Lane, they would have marched virtually unopposed to Valley Forge, where they could have succeeded in wiping out the Continental forces quartered there for the winter, a victory which would have changed the outcome of the war.
When the British General William Howe heard of the Massacre of his troops, he planned a massive counter offensive for the Spring of 1778, but the success of the Continental forces during the early part of the year and budget cuts forced Howe to abandon his plans to retake the Upper Perkiomen and Goshenhoppen regions, and instead, he accepted an offer of retirement back home in Britain; therefore, the area remained free of the British for the remainder of the war, and it’s residents used their resources to support the Continental Army in their battle for independence.
After the war, the story of the Battle of Green Lane faded into history, as Captain Eisenhower, moved away to York Pennsylvania, and the citizens of Green Lane and the Upper Perkiomen Valley were happy to go back to their quiet lives of farming and making brooms and cigars. However, the water tower still remains, hidden off the side of Route 29, right on the Perkiomen Trail in Green Lane, a silent monument to the bravery of the people of Green Lane and the Upper Perkiomen Valley; bravery which may very well have saved our young nation from defeat at the hands of the British.
The End
A depiction of St. Lazarus
Ordinary Adventures 