21-Shot Cannon Salute Will Sound In Belleville On July 4th

BELLEVILLE, NJ — Belleville will once again ring with the sound of cannon fire on Sunday, July 4.

The Belleville Historical Society will be sponsoring their annual 4th of July morning ceremony at the cemetery of the old Belleville Dutch Reformed Church, (now La Senda Antigua), at the corner of Main and Rutger streets at 11 a.m.

The ceremony will include the roll call of the 68 Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the cemetery, and a reading from the Declaration of Independence. It will conclude with the firing of a 21-gun cannon salute – with blank shells, of course.

This will be the 15th year that the historical society has held its cannon salute.

For more information, contact Michael Perrone, president of the Belleville Historical Society, at 973-780-7852 or bellevillehistory@gmail.com.

According to Perrone:

“There are 68 Revolutionary soldiers buried in the cemetery. One was killed in action. Private Hermanus Brown was 18-years-old and killed in his first battle in Union, NJ. He was from Nutley and is their first son lost in any way. Colonel Philip Van Cortlandt is buried here. He was the commanding officer of the 2nd Essex Regiment, the highest-ranking officer from Essex County. The church was also the site of the Battle of Second River on September 12, 1777. The original church was used as the headquarters and lookout post during the war.”

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