Campaign, Battle, Combat, and Operational Studies

John U. Rees

"`What is this you have been about to day?’: The New Jersey Brigade at the Battle of Monmouth," Table of Contents

Narrative

1. Introduction 2. "In readiness to march at a moment's warning ...": Pre-Battle Dispositions and Plans 3. "To get up with the enemy": Major General Charles Lee's Force Sets Off 4. "I found the whole of the troops upon my right retreating ...": Morning Confrontation at Monmouth Courthouse 5. "The day was so excessively hot ...": Lee’s Retreat 6. “They answered him with three cheers ...”: Washington Recovers the Day 7. “The Action was Exceedingly warm and well Maintained …”: Infantry Fighting at the Point of Woods, Hedge-row, and Parsonage 8. "The finest musick, I Ever heared.": Afternoon Artillery Duel, and Cilley’s Attack on the 42nd Regiment 9. “Detached to assist in burying the dead …”: Battle’s Aftermath 10. “The March has proved salutory to the troops.”: Post-Battle: The Continental Army Moves North 11.“A very irregular & ill managed Embarkation.”: Post-Battle British March to Sandy Hook 12. "The defective constitution of our army ...": Casting Blame for the Morning Debacle 13. Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778: Event Synopsis

Appendices

A. “Beware of being Burgoyned.”: Marching Toward Monmouth, Delaware River to Freehold, 18 to 27 June 1778 B. “The whole army moved towards the Delaware …”: Continental Army March from Valley Forge to Englishtown, N.J., 18 to 27 June 1778 C. “General Lee being detached with the advanced Corps …”: Composition of Charles Lee’s Force D. “Our Division formed a line on the eminence …”:Washington’s Main Army Order of Battle, 28 June 1778 E. “A large Number of troops …”: Continental and British Army Field Returns, 28 June 1778 F.“I resolved nevertheless to attack them …”: American Monmouth Battle Accounts G. “Charge, Grenadiers, never heed forming”: British Accounts of the Monmouth Battle H. "More Glorious to America than at first Supposed ...": New Jersey Officers Describe the Battle of Monmouth I. "They answered him with three cheers ...": New Jersey Common Soldiers' Pension Depositions J. “A very smart cannonading ensued from both sides.”: Maxwell’s Jersey Brigade Artillery and the Afternoon Cannonade at Monmouth K. “Jun 29th, Buried the Dead …”: Casualties in the Battle of Monmouth L. “We are informed by several persons …“: Contemporary Newspaper Accounts M. “That damned blue Regiment …”: Continental Army Clothing during the Monmouth Campaign N. “General Wayne's detachment is almost starving.”: Provisioning Washington’s Army on the March, June 1778 O. “The canopy of heaven for our tent”: Soldiers' Shelter on Campaign, June 1778 P. “Be pleased to fill up the vacancy with the eldest Captain in the line …”: Field Officers, Commissioned Officers, and Staff of the 2nd New Jersey Regiment December 1777 to May 1779 Q. “Exceeding Hot & water is scarce …”: Monmouth Campaign Weather, 15 June to 7 July, 1778

“`Reach Coryels ferry. Encamp on the Pennsylvania side.’: The Monmouth Campaign Delaware River Crossing,” History in the Making (The Newsletter of the New Hope Historical Society), vol. 4, no. 4 (December 2006), 1-12.

'"The Enemy was in Hackinsack last night Burning & Destoing ...' British Incursion into Bergen County, Spring 1780”

Part 1. “`So much for a Scotch Prize.’: Paramus, New Jersey, 23 March 1780” Article Part 2. “`Had all the Cavalry been in the front … not one man could have escaped …’: Hopperstown, New Jersey, 16 April 1780,” Barbara Z. Marchant, ed., Revolutionary Bergen County, The Road to Independence (Charleston, S.C. and London: The History Press, 2009), 123–135.

“`It appeared to me as if here we should live secure …: A Family’s Precarious Refuge in Paramus, 1776 to 1780,” Barbara Z. Marchant, ed., Revolutionary Bergen County, The Road to Independence (Charleston, S.C. and London: The History Press, 2009), 31–42.

“`The road appeared to be full of red Coats …’: The Battle of Millstone, 20 January 1777: An Episode in the Forage War,” Military Collector & Historian, vol. 62, no. 1 (Spring 2010), 24–35.

“`The Enemy … will have no Mercey upon our loaded barns.’: British Foraging at Hackensack, September and October 1778,” Carol Karels, ed., The Revolutionary War in Bergen County: The Time That Tried Men’s Souls (Charleston, S.C. and London: The History Press, 2007), 112–117. Article

“`Their presence Here … Has Saved this State …’: Continental Provisional Battalions with Lafayette in Virginia, 1781”
Part 1. “`This Detachement is Extremely Good …’: The Light Battalions Move South”

A. “`The Fire of the Light Infantry …cheked the Enemys Progress …’: Light Battalion Composition and Service” B. “`Ill founded jealousies, and groundless suspicions.” ‘: Unrest in the Light Battalions” C. “`The Cloathing you … long ago Sent to the light infantry is not Yet Arrived.‘: Apparel and Equipment” The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXXVI, no. 2 (Autumn 2006), 2–23. Appendices for Above 1. Diary of Soldier with Lafayette’s Light Infantry, 1781 Article 2. Asa Redington, Scammell’s Light Infantry Regiment, 1781 Article 3. Barber’s Light Battalion, 1781 (New Jersey Light Company Personnel) Article

Parts 2-4. “`Almost all old soldiers, and well disciplined …’: Brigadier General Anthony Wayne’s 1781 Pennsylvania Provisional Battalions”

A. “I fear it is now too late …”: The Pennsylvania Line Mutiny, January 1781 Article B. “Our Regiments are yet but very small …”: Settling with the Troops and Rebuilding the Line Article C. “The whole Line … behaved in a most orderly manner.”: Organizing and Disciplining the Pennsylvania Provisional Battalions for the 1781 Campaign The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXXVII, no. 2 (Summer 2007), 2–19; vol. XXXVII, no. 4 (Winter 2007), 2–15; vol. XXXVIII, no. 1 (Spring 2008), 2–21. Appendices for Above 1. “`A Smart firing commenc’d from from both parties …’: Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne’s Pennsylvania Battalions in Virginia, June to November 1781” Contents: A. “We will be much inferior to the enemy …”: May 31 to July 5 1781 B. “A charge … under a heavy fire of Grape shot …”: Battle of Green Springs, 6 July 1781 C. “Cornwallis … threatens every Devastation that fire & sword can produce …”: Marching and Countermarching, 9 July to 25 August D. “The batteries were opened and fired with great success …”: September to November 1781 E. “The Cloathing was drawn near twelve month ago …”: 1780–1781 Pennsylvania Clothing, Letters and Returns Article 2. “`The British army marched out and grounded their arms …’: Pennsylvania Lt. William Feltman’s Diary, 26 May to 5 November 1781” Diary 3. “`Pennsylvania Battalion Troop Returns, 1781–1783’: (In Camp and on Campaign in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina)” Returns

"Eyewitness to Battle: Alexander Dow's Account of Monmouth," The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXIX, no. 1 (Spring 1999), 15–16.

“`Endeavering to Keep them from going to New York ??’: The New Jersey Brigade’s Pursuit of the British Army, 18-27 June 1778” (manuscript)

“`The devastations of war …’: The New Jersey Brigade, July 1778 to June 1779” (manuscript)

“`None of you know the hardships of A soldiers life …’: Service of the Connecticut Regiments in Maj. Gen. Alexander McDougall’s Division, 1777-1778 (Mss., author’s collection, 2009) “I am … Packing up my baggage in order to March”: Service on the North River, and Movement into Pennsylvania, May to September 1777 “God Grant I may Always be Preserv'd …”: The Battle of Germantown and Schuylkill Expedition, October 1777 “So small A Garrison never attaind Greater achievments …”: Forts Mifflin and Mercer, and Maneuvers in New Jersey, November 1777 “Nothing to cover us But ye heavens …”: The Whitemarsh Encampment and Early Days at Valley Forge, December 1777 “This is a very Different Spirit in the Army …”: Wintering Over at Valley Forge and Spring Training, January to June 1778 “Sixty three bullet holes were made through the colours …”: Summer Campaign and the Battle of Monmouth, June 1778 “The Troops of the whole line will exercise and manoeuvre …”: The March to New York and the White Plains Encampment, July to September 1778 “The Enemy are upon the eve of some general and important move.”: The Fredericksburgh Camp and Shifting Commanders, September to October 1778 “Their countrymen would … conclude the Devil was in them …”: McDougall’s Division Takes Post in Connecticut, October and November 1778 “Grievances … Justly complained of by your Soldiers …”: The Connecticut Line Winter Camp, December 1778 to January 1779 Article, and Appendix and Bibliography

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