Quinton’s Bridge
Quinton's Bridge
at Alloways Creek
Rte. 49 at Quinton-Alloway Rd.
Map / Directions to Quinton's Bridge
Map / Directions to all Quinton Revolutionary War Sites
In March 1778, a group of about 1500 British troops under the command of Charles Mawhood occupied the town of Salem. Their objective was to confiscate cattle, hay, and corn to bring across the Delaware River to Philadelphia, which was then controlled by the British. (See the Salem page for more information about the occupation of Salem.)
Local citizens had moved some of the cattle south of Salem, past Alloways Creek to keep it from the British. Alloways Creek extends about thirty miles inland from the Delaware River, creating a natural southern boundary that could only be crossed at three bridges in the area: Quinton's Bridge, Hancock's Bridge about four miles east of here, and Thompson's Bridge about five miles to the west. Salem and Cumberland County militiamen took positions at the bridges to stop the British from moving past them.
The British made an attack on Quinton's Bridge on March 18. During the attack, the British lured about 200-300 of the militiamen across the bridge into an ambush feigning a retreat. The British had actually hidden some of their soldiers in a house near the creek, and when the militiamen moved past them, the soldiers rushed out of the house to cut off the militiamen's retreat to the bridge. Militiamen were captured or killed, but their defense of the bridge held, and the British were not able to cross Alloways Creek at Quinton's Bridge.[1]
Three days later an attack was made on the militiamen at Hancock's Bridge, in which militiamen were bayoneted to death in their sleep in a nearby house. See the Hancock's Bridge page for details.
