Skirmish at Van Nest’s Mill by Shirley B. Carvatt

This book is a fictionalized account of the skirmish at Van Nest’s mill during the Revolutionary War . It begins in modern times when a bayonet is unearthed in a family’s backyard. Where did it come from? How did it get there? Young Kate’s research for a school project provides the answers to these questions. Her imagination transports the reader back to the winter of 1777. There we meet another young girl, Katrin Van Winkle, and her family. The Van Winkle farm is close by the Millstone River and Van Nest’s mill. Katrin’s father is a member of the militia and is stationed with General Dickinson’s Continentals a few miles away. The Van Winkles are patriots and Katrin has a heroic role in the events leading up to the skirmish at Van Nest’s mill.

Shirley Carvatt, a retired teacher, graduated from Seton Hall University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and from Rutgers University with a Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction. The author is a New Jersey native, born and raised in Piscataway. Her part of the State is an historic area with abundant Revolutionary War sites. Having a life-long interest and love of America’s history, especially that of her home State, she believes that history connects past and present, influencing events now and in the future. Through her writing she tries to bring historic events to life so that the reader will be encouraged to explore them further. Her first book, PORT TRAVIS, is about a fictional family paralleling the construction, history, and life of New Jersey’s Morris Canal. A widow, the author resides with her brother Fred and Noreen, her golden retriever, in the beautiful rolling hills of western New Jersey, only leaving them to indulge another interest, travel. She has visited many countries and most of the United States.