Symposium on the Princeton Battlefield, 26 Feb.

The Princeton Battlefield Society is sponsoring a free symposium on Saturday, 26 February, to unveil its new mapping study from the American Battlefield Protection Program. The organization’s announcement says:

It is the most detailed advanced study of its nature on the Battle of Princeton. It marries an analysis of firsthand accounts with recent archeological findings, modern military analysis mechanisms and GPS technology by John Milner Associates with historian Dr. Bob Selig.

This groundbreaking study features some 34 new digital maps of the battlefield which identify the location of the long lost Saw Mill Road, the movement and locations of [Thomas] Mifflin’s Brigade, the German Regiment and other units comprising [Gen. George] Washington’s army, as well as the movement and location of the British 4th Brigade.

There will be a panel discussion with Dr. Larry Babits, Dr. Charles Neimeyer, Thomas Fleming, and Will Tatum of the David Library, moderated by author Glenn Williams.

As I understand the situation, battlefield preservationists are fighting a proposal from the Institute for Advanced Study to expand its buildings. The result is a provocative question of priorities, balancing the preservation of unique space against the potential of scientific and scholarly research. I suspect this mapping study was commissioned to pin down how certain areas of town were involved in the 1777 battle.

The symposium will take place in the Friend Center on the Princeton University campus, near the corner of Williams and Olden Street. Registration starts at 8:30 A.M., there’s an hour break for lunch at noon, and the schedule concludes at about 4:00 P.M.