To the Editor:

The ten days of the Trenton and Princeton Battles were arguably the most important of the Revolutionary War and were certainly key to enabling General George Washington to keep a Continental Army in the field during the winter of 1777. This was the battle, and the ground in question, the ground that George Washington personally led his staff forward on rallying the broken troops of General Mercer, stopping the advance of the British 55th Foot under LTC Mawhood, and forcing them back on to the grounds of the College of New Jersey.

In June 2008 The National Park Service declared the Princeton Battlefield a Priority 1 Principal Site requiring immediate preservation action. To claim previous maintenance failures at the current park as a reason to build on the disputed land is a smoke screen designed to obscure the fact that the construction of the houses the IAS wants to build will forever alter the look and feel of the battlefield and will destroy and displace artifacts critical to an understanding of the Battle of Princeton. There are no eyewitnesses to the battle alive today, but advances in technologies and the study of battlefield archaeology allow trained professionals to reassess what we know of battlefields across the width and breadth of recorded warfare. The National Park Service is in the middle of reassessing the positions of several of the markers indicating the location of the Continental Lines of battle at the Guilford Courthouse Battlefield in NC based solely on the findings and analysis of battlefield archaeology. What we do know is that once the construction starts we will never be able to know what actually happened on that specific ground and a piece of history, potentially important history will be forever destroyed.

Just because this battlefield and the disputed parcel of land are in the northeastern United States, where the cost of property is astronomical, does not reduce the historical significance of it or relieve us of our obligation to preserve it for future generations; at a minimum in its current state and preferably in better condition and more accurately as new information comes to the fore. Surely the IAS realizes this and can find 7 acres somewhere else on their property to build on. George Washington proved himself a leader and a general capable of dealing with the best the British could put in the field, Lord Charles Cornwallis. I’m hoping the IAS will exhibit some leadership worthy of their esteemed reputation and withdraw this proposal. If they do not then it is up to local government to do the right thing and block proposal. I live in Kansas and the word of the fight to preserve this sacred land has reached us here. It is about to become a national debate. How does the town of Princeton and the University want to be seen in this, on the side of history or the side of development? Please do the right thing!

Thomas B. Lyles, Jr.

Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (retired)

Leavenworth, Kansas