Knyphausen Raids Connecticut Farms

General Wilhelm von Knyphausen led a force from Staten Island into New Jersey on June 7, 1780, advancing through Elizabethtown and Connecticut Farms (now Union) toward Morristown. The raid was intended to exploit intelligence suggesting that Continental troops were on the verge of mass desertion. At Connecticut Farms, British or Hessian soldiers killed Hannah Caldwell, the wife of patriot minister James Caldwell, as she sheltered in her home with her children. The killing galvanized New Jersey militia resistance. American forces held at Connecticut Farms, and Knyphausen withdrew, returning two weeks later in the larger assault at Springfield.