At a ceremony timed for the 284th commemoration of George Washington’s birthday, veterans and preservation advocates will remember the soldiers who fought in Washington’s Continental Army at the Battle of Princeton.

Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, a 40-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps and president of the Marine Corps University Foundation, will be the keynote speaker at the event, which will be held at 10 a.m. on Feb. 22 at the Nassau Inn.

The Princeton Battlefield holds a special place in the history of the Marine Corps. The struggle is claimed to be the first land battle fought by the Marine Corps, and the site where it suffered its first battlefield death.

The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. at the Nassau Inn in Princeton. Joining Lt. Gen. Mills at the event will be Civil War Trust President James Lighthizer; Mike Miller, historian for the Marine Corps History Division; and Jack Warren, executive director of the Society of the Cincinnati, the oldest veterans organization in the United States.

The Civil War Trust and the Princeton Battlefield Society have been calling on the Institute for Advanced Study to preserve land slated for a 15-house development that preservation advocates say should remain untouched because it was a key part of the historic battle that was a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

2 Comments

  1. Anything we can do to honor the greatness of George Washington. If there’s any doubt that the site of the development encroaches upon the site of the battle — broadly defined — the latter should take precedence. Last time I checked, the Institute has huge amounts of undeveloped land. See e.g., the tract in front of Fuld Hall.

    In fact, we should go back to celebrating Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays on February 22 and 12, respectively and lose Presidents’ Day aka National Mattress Sale Day.

    How lucky we are to have had these great men lead our people at the two most crucial moments in our history. When I look at the men and woman now vying to fill their office and the men who have recently occupied the office, I can only shake my head in disgust.

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