The side that held the field usually directed the work, burying both its own dead and the enemy's. Local residents often assisted or finished the task once the troops had gone. Along the Battle Road after April 19, townspeople and farm families buried a number of the British soldiers left behind.

The Revolutionary period thrust the modest tavern directly into the conflict. As tensions with Britain grew, the inn served as a Patriot hub: secret meetings were held upstairs and, according to tradition, musket balls were produced in the basement.