Monmouth, Battle of
1778 CE
The Battle of Monmouth is an American Revolutionary War battle fought on June 28, 1778, in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
The Continental Army under General George Washington attacks the rear of the British Army column commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton as they leave Monmouth Court House (modern Freehold Borough).
It is also known as the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse.
Unsteady handling of lead Continental elements by Major General Charles Lee has allowed British rearguard commander Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis to seize the initiative, but Washington's timely arrival on the battlefield rallies the Americans along a hilltop hedgerow.
Sensing the opportunity to smash the Continentals, Cornwallis presses his attack and captures the hedgerow in stifling heat.
Washington consolidates his troops in a new line on heights behind marshy ground, uses his artillery to fix the British in their positions, then brings up a four-gun battery under Major General Nathanael Greene on nearby Combs Hill to enfilade the British line, requiring Cornwallis to withdraw.
Finally, Washington tries to hit the exhausted British rear guard on both flanks, but darkness forces the end of the engagement
Both armies hold the field, but the British commanding general Clinton withdraws undetected at midnight to resume his army's march to New York City.
While Cornwallis had protected the main British column from any further American attack, Washington had fought his opponent to a standstill after a pitched and prolonged engagement; the first time that Washington's army had achieved such a result.
The battle demonstrates the growing effectiveness of the Continental Army after its six-month encampment at Valley Forge, where constant drilling under officers such as Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben and Major General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette have greatly improved discipline and morale.
The battle improved the military reputations of Washington, Lafayette and Anthony Wayne but ends the career of Charles Lee, who will face court martial at Englishtown for his failures on the day.
According to some accounts, an American soldier's wife, Mary Hays, brought water to thirsty soldiers in the June heat, and became one of several women associated with the legend of Molly Pitcher.
By the second phase of the battle the temperature remained almost consistently above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and heat stroke was said to have claimed more lives than musket fire throughout the battle.
Subject
Related Events
Showing 4 events out of 4 total
The American theater will thus become only one front in Britain's war.
The British will be forced to withdraw troops from continental America to reinforce the valuable sugar-producing Caribbean colonies, which were more lucrative to British investors.
British commander Sir Henry Clinton evacuates Philadelphia and returns to New York City.
General Washington intercepts Clinton in the Battle of Monmouth Court House, the last major battle fought in the north.
After an inconclusive engagement, the British successfully retreat to New York City.
The northern war will subsequently become a stalemate, as the focus of attention shifts to the smaller southern theater.
Washington's second-in-command, General Charles Lee, who leads the advance force of the army, orders a controversial retreat early in the battle, allowing Clinton's army to regroup.
Both armies are back where they had been two years earlier.