“Battle of Monmouth”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Battle of Monmouth was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on June 28, 1778, in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Continental Army under General George Washington attacked the rear of the British Army column commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton as they left 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 had allowed British rearguard commander Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis to seize the initiative, but Washington's timely arrival on the battlefield rallied the Americans along a hilltop hedgerow. Sensing the opportunity to smash the Continentals, Cornwallis pressed his attack and captured the hedgerow in stifling heat. Washington consolidated his troops in a new line on heights behind marshy ground, used his artillery to fix the British in their positions, then brought 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 tried to hit the exhausted British rear guard on both flanks, but darkness forced the end of the engagement. Both armies held the field, but the British commanding general Clinton withdrew undetected at midnight to resume his army's march to New York City.^[5]

While Cornwallis 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 demonstrated 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 greatly improved discipline and morale. The battle improved the military reputations of Washington, Lafayette and Anthony Wayne but ended the career of Charles Lee, who would 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.^[6]

Background

In 1777, some two years into the American Revolutionary War, the British launched the Philadelphia campaign. In the fall of that year, they inflicted two significant defeats on General George Washington and his Continental Army, at Brandywine and Germantown, and occupied the colonial capital, forcing the Second Continental Congress to hurriedly decamp to York, Pennsylvania.^[7] For the rest of the year, Washington avoided giving battle, and in December he withdrew to winter quarters at Valley Forge, over the objections of Congress which wanted him to continue campaigning.^[8]^[9]^[10] His defeats and subsequent refusal to engage the British was in stark contrast to the success of his subordinate, General Horatio Gates, who had won major victories in September and October at the Battles of Saratoga.^[11] Washington was criticized in some quarters within the army and Congress for relying on a Fabian strategy to wear the British down in a long war of attrition instead of defeating it quickly and decisively in a pitched battle.^[12]

In November, Washington was hearing rumors of a "Strong Faction" within Congress that favored replacing him with Gates as commander-in-chief.^[13] The congressional appointments of the known critic General Thomas Conway as Inspector General of the Army and of Gates to the Board of War and Ordnance in December convinced Washington there was a conspiracy to take command of the army from him.^[14]{{efn|Despite Washington's fears, his detractors were never part of an organized conspiracy to oust him, and those in Congress who favored his removal as commander-in-chief were in the minority. Most delegates recognized that the Continental Army needed stability more than it needed a new leader.^[15]}} Over a winter in which supplies were scarce and deaths from disease accounted for 15 per cent of his force, he battled to keep both the army from dissolution and his position as its commander-in-chief.^[16] He successfully waged a "clever campaign of political infighting"^[17] in which he presented a public image of disinterest, a man without guile or ambition, while working through his allies in Congress and the army to silence his critics.^[18]^[19] Nevertheless, the doubts about his leadership remained, and he needed success on the battefield if he was to be sure of his position.^[20]

The British, meanwhile, had failed to eliminate the Continental Army and force a decisive end to the American rebellion, despite investing significant resources in North America to the detriment of defenses elsewhere in the empire.^[21] In Europe, France was maneuvering to exploit the opportunity to weaken a long-term rival. Following the Franco-American alliance of February 1778, French forces were sent to North America to support the revolutionaries. This led to the Anglo-French War (1778–1783), which Spain would join on the French side in 1779. With the rest of Europe maintaining a hostile neutrality, Great Britain would come under further pressure in 1780 when the Dutch allied with France, leading to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. Faced with military escalation, diplomatic isolation and limited resources, the British were forced to prioritize the defense of the homeland and more valuable colonial possessions in the Caribbean and India above their North American colonies. They abandoned their efforts to win a decisive military victory, repealed the Intolerable Acts which had precipitated the rebellion and, in April 1778, sent the Carlisle Peace Commission in an attempt to reach a negotiated settlement. In Phildelphia, the newly installed British commander-in-chief of North American forces, General Henry Clinton, was ordered to redeploy 8,000 troops, nearly half of the British North American army, to the Caribbean and the Floridas, consolidate the rest of his army in the main British position at New York and adopt a defensive posture.^[22]^[23]^[24]

Prelude

In the final days at Valley Forge, General Charles Lee returned to the Continental Army. Lee was a former British Army officer who had retired to Virginia and been touted as a potential commander of the army alongside Washington when war broke out. He had been captured in late 1776 following Washington's defeat at New York, and had been recently released in a prisoner exchange. Although the acerbic Lee had been critical of Washington's indecisiveness at New York, Washington had once regarded him as his most trusted advisor and the best, most experienced officer in the Continental Army, and he eagerly welcomed Lee back as his second-in-command.^[25]^[26]

On June 18, 1778, Clinton's army of 10,000 British and Hessian troops left Philadelphia and began a slow march encumbered by a {{convert|12|mi|km|adj=on|spell=on|0}} baggage train to New York.^[27] The next day, Washington broke camp and followed, his 13,000-strong army strengthened by a winter spent under the instruction of Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben.^[28] Washington had consulted his generals before leaving Valley Forge, and did so again on June 24. On both occasions, Lee was among the majority who advised against engaging Clinton in a major battle, arguing it would be better to safeguard the army until it was reinforced by the French. Instead, it was agreed to harrass Clinton with a force of 1,500 men. When Lee refused the command of this force because it was too small for an officer of his rank, Washington gave it to General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.^[29]

Lafayette was, along with Generals Anthony Wayne and Nathanael Greene, in the minority who urged Washington to mount a larger attack. The idea appealed to Washington, who was keen to erase the defeats of the previous year and prove his critics wrong. Two days after agreeing the limited harassing action, he accepted their recommendation and increased the size of the attacking force to over 5,000 men. He planned to do more than simply harass Clinton and hoped to inflict some 2,000 casualties on the British, surpassing his success at the Battle of Trenton in 1776. Now that the force had increased to a size more befitting his rank, Lee asked for and was given command.^[30]

Battle

Lee met with his subordinates but failed to give them proper orders, resulting in a piecemeal and disorganized attack on June 28 against the British rear guard under General Charles Cornwallis. After several hours of fighting in the hot weather, several American brigades executed a tactical retreat, which developed into a general withdrawal. The British rear guard counterattacked and as his flanks rapidly became routed, Lee was forced to order a withdrawal.

Washington, advancing with the main force along the Monmouth road and not having been informed of the retreat of Lee's men, encountered Lee's fleeing troops and finally Lee himself, with the British in hot pursuit. After a heated exchange with Lee, Washington relieved him of command and sent him to the rear. He then galloped to rally Lee's troops. His white horse died from heat exhaustion, and so he picked up a chestnut mare. He stopped the retreating soldiers, commanding them, "Stand fast, my boys, and receive your enemy. The Southern troops are advancing to support you."^[31] The men rallied and delayed the British pursuit until the main force could take up positions further to the west.

The remnants of Lee's forces then withdrew to the main American force, where the Continental Army troops were positioned behind the West Ravine on the Monmouth Courthouse - Freehold Meeting House Road; Lee, in spite of the chastisement he had been dealt by Washington, remained at the bridge until he had ushered the last of the soldiers across the Ravine. Washington drew up his army with Greene's division on the right, Major General Stirling's division on the left, and most of Lee's former force, now under Lafayette, in reserve. In front of his lines, Wayne commanded various elements of Lee's force. Artillery was placed on both wings, with the right wing in position to enfilade the advancing British.

The British came on and attacked Stirling's left wing with their light infantry and the 42nd (Black Watch) Regiment in the van. They were met by a storm of fire from Stirling's Continentals. The battle raged back and forth for an hour until three American regiments were sent though woods to enfilade the attacking British right flank. The attack was successful and sent the British back to reform.

Foiled on the left, Cornwallis personally led a heavy attack against Greene's right wing, with a force comprising British and Hessian grenadiers, light infantry, the Coldstream Guards and another Guards battalion, and the 37th and 44th Regiments. The attack was met by enfilading fire from Thomas-Antoine de Mauduit du Plessis's four 6-pound cannons on Combs Hill, as well as accurate volleys from Greene's Continental regiments. The British persisted up the ravine slope but within minutes five high-ranking officers and many men were down from heavy fire. The attackers recoiled down the slope.

During Cornwallis' abortive attack on Greene, another British force made up of grenadiers, light infantry and light dragoons hit Wayne's forward force, who were protected behind a long hedge. Three times the British were driven back by Wayne's grapeshot and bullets: but an overwhelming fourth attack overlapped Wayne's position and forced his units to fall back to the main American line.

The British made no further attempts on the main American line, although cannonading from both sides continued until 6 p.m. At this point, the British fell back to a strong position east of the Ravine. Washington wanted to take the offensive to the British and attack both flanks, but darkness brought an end to the battle.

The British rested and then resumed their march to the northeast during the night. Washington wanted to resume the battle the next day but in the morning found that the British had withdrawn during the night, continuing their march without incident to Sandy Hook and arriving there on June 30. Clinton's rearguard successfully covered the withdrawal. The British force was then transported by the Royal Navy across Lower New York Bay to Manhattan.

The battle effectively ended in a draw, as the Americans held the field, but the British were able to get the army and supplies safely to New York.^[32]

The British official casualty return reported 65 killed, 59 dead of "fatigue", 170 wounded and 64 missing.^[33] The American official return stated 69 killed, 161 wounded and 132 missing (37 of whom were found to have died of heat-stroke).^[34] Other estimates increase the losses to 1,134 British and 500 American casualties.^[2]

Aftermath

After the battle the British continued their march eastwards until they reached Sandy Hook. From there they were taken by boat to New York City where they began preparing the city's defenses in expectation of an attack. A French fleet commanded by Charles Henri Hector d'Estaing arrived just too late, narrowly missing a chance to trap Clinton's army at Sandy Hook.^[35] Plans to attack New York were abandoned, and it remained the principal base for British forces until 1783. Instead D'Estaing sailed north to participate in a Franco-American assault on the British garrison at Newport, Rhode Island, which ended in failure.

Monmouth was the last major battle in the northern theater, and the largest one-day battle of the war when measured in terms of participants. Lee was later court-martialed at the Village Inn located in the center of Englishtown,^[36] where he was found guilty and relieved of command for one year. The verdict was approved by the Continental Congress by a close vote. Many months later, Lee wrote a strongly worded letter to Congress in protest but Congress closed the affair by informing him that it had no more need of his services. Lee never held another military command and died of yellow fever in 1782, a year after the Battle of Yorktown.

Legacy

The legend of "Molly Pitcher" is usually associated with this battle. It is believed that she was Mary Ludwig Hays. According to one story, she was the wife of an American artilleryman who lived near the battlefield, bringing water for swabbing the cannons and for the thirsty crews, and took her husband's place after he fell, and helped him with his wounds. The artillery men gave her the nickname "Molly Pitcher" when she was bringing them water from a nearby spring. The story is based on a true incident but has become embellished over the years. Two places on the battlefield are marked as sites of the "Molly Pitcher Spring".^[37]

Nine Army National Guard units (101st Eng Bn,^[38] 101st FA,^[39] 113th Inf^[40] 116 Inf,^[41] 125th QM Co,^[42] 175th Inf,^[43] 181st Inf,^[44] 198th Sig Bn^[45] and 211 MP Bn^[46]) and one active Regular Army Field Artillery battalion (1-5th FA^[47] ) are derived from American units that participated in the Battle of Monmouth. There are only thirty currently active units of the U.S. Army with lineages that go back to the colonial era.

Although never accorded formal preservation, the Monmouth Battlefield is one of the best preserved of the Revolutionary War battlefields.^[37] Each year, during the last weekend in June, the Battle of Monmouth is reenacted at Monmouth Battlefield State Park in modern Freehold Township and Manalapan.

The Monmouth County Historical Association at 70 Court Street in Freehold Borough, New Jersey houses a collection of documents which includes personal accounts, journals, pension applications, letters, and miscellaneous printed material.

In popular culture

The battle is reenacted in the AMC television series, Washington's Spies. In the second-season finale, a highly dramatized account of the battle is given, wherein General Lee has become a traitor due to envy of Washington's position as head of the Continental Army. He conspires with the British to lead the Continentals into a trap. Washington arrives early, relieves Lee of command and quickly recovers the battle in favor of the Americans. The show incorrectly depicts the battle as taking place during weather that is reminiscent of either early spring or late fall, rather than the severe heat of midsummer.^[48]

The battle is a central event in Written in My Own Heart's Blood, the eighth Outlander book.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

Background

Prelude

Battle

Aftermath

Legacy

In popular culture

See also

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

External links