The Kentuckian

It is time we turn our attention to the South once more. The region is replete with first patriots whose names were legendary to the generations following the struggle for independence but are now lost in the mists of time. The Southern struggle is most remembered for the exploits of Marion and Sumter. Yet countless others played roles both large and small. Not the least of these were those badasses called the “Over Mountain Men.” Hard-nosed and hard-fisted settlers west of the Appalachian Mountains steeped in hunting, fighting, and hard liquor. This edition profiles one of these: Isaac Shelby.

Family of Migrants

Isaac Shelby was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, on December 11, 1750. His father, Evan Shelby, hailed from Tregaron, Cardiganshire, Wales, and had come to America in 1734. Around 1773, Evan moved his family to the Holston region of what is now upper East Tennessee but was then part of Virginia.

In mid 18th century the Alleghenies
were the western frontier

Raised on the Range

Young Isaac grew up immersed in the rough and tumble world of frontier living and fighting. He quickly mastered the use of arms and became familiar with the rigors of life in the West. He received a solid education, worked on his father's plantation, occasionally surveyed the land, and became a deputy sheriff at the age of eighteen.

Frontier cabin

Big Strong Man

  Isaac Shelby was a large man, standing six feet tall, powerful, and well-proportioned, with a striking countenance and a ruddy complexion. He could endure long hours of work, physical hardships, and great fatigue. Dignified and impressive in bearing, he was also affable and charming. In short, he was a natural leader. Additionally, he was intelligent and possessed evident executive skills that served him well in both peace and war.

Shelby in later life

 Lord Dunmore's War

When the Earl of Dunmore, Virginia's Royal Governor John Murray, went to war with the Shawnee under Chief Cornstalk, Shelby joined the nearby militia as a lieutenant, serving under his father. On October 10, 1774, young Shelby fought in the Battle of Point Pleasant. He achieved early military success in the battle by charging the high ground on the Indian flank, forcing them to abandon the field. This was just a prelude to things to come.

John Murray,Royal Governor of
Virginia

A Rebel Goes West

The American Revolution escalated in 1775 and by 1776, Shelby had rejoined the militia, this time as a captain. Virginia’s Governor, Patrick Henry, appointed him to a position on Virginia’s western frontier. There, he provided direct support to Colonel George Rogers Clark’s push into the Illinois Territory. Isaac also played a role in his father’s victory over the Indian chief Dragging Canoe in a battle on the Tennessee River in 1779.

Shelby provided logistic support to
George Rogers Clark's western campaign

Me? A Tar Heel?

Eighteenth-century boundaries in this region were at best advisory. When he found out that his homestead was actually in North Carolina, Isaac became a colonel of the militia there. He also earned a seat in the state assembly. Although a newly minted Tar Heel, Shelby was in Kentucky when Charleston fell to the British in 1780, and the triumphant and exuberant redcoats began to overrun his state. Upon hearing of the new threat, he rushed home and gathered around 200 men for the cause. He quickly joined forces with Colonel Joseph McDowell to attempt to block the advance of British General Charles Cornwallis and his Loyalist supporters.

The Fall of Charleston opened up the Carolinas
to the Southern Strategy

Guerrilla Days

His first major test came on July 31 when Shelby and his men managed to surround Thickety Fort on the Pacolet River. His swagger and cunning allowed him to convince the commander to surrender his 94 men. Shelby then united with a group of partisans led by Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Clarke. With a combined force of 200 men, they attacked a Loyalist outpost at Musgrove Mills. Although outnumbered almost two to one, they drove off the Loyalists in a fierce skirmish.

Enter the Counter Guerrilla

These activities threatened Cornwallis’s security, prompting the British general to dispatch arguably the army’s top guerrilla fighter, Major Patrick Ferguson. However, after the patriot army under General Horatio Gates was defeated at Camden on August 16, 1780, nearly all resistance crumbled throughout the south. It looked like the British “southern strategy “was going to pay off.

Major Patrick Ferguson

 Run Away

For his part, Shelby retreated west with McDowell, and their forces faded into the frontier hinterland. There, they would wait out the events. However, local atrocities committed by Loyalist bands angered the southerners, leading to a series of partisan and guerrilla actions, and they continued to resist.

Partisan militia

 The Lord's Prayer

Seeking to consolidate the Carolinas under British authority, Lord Cornwallis marched an army into North Carolina in a gambit that would ultimately backfire. Along with him went Ferguson, who issued a bold challenge to the “Over Mountain Men,” as the frontier rebels were called. The threat was blunt: submit to the crown, or their homes would be put to the torch. But the men of the west were unimpressed. In fact, this galvanized the frontiersmen.

Major General Charles Cornwallis

Band of Brothers, Tough Mothers

Shelby, along with another overmountain man from Tennessee, John Sevier, raised a force of 200 volunteers, rallied at Sycamore Shoals, and soon plunged into war-torn North Carolina. There, they joined forces with Colonel William Campbell. Anxious for revenge, the overmountain men moved hell-bent for leather to get Ferguson. The feeling was mutual. The famed counter-guerrilla led a force of about 900 Loyalists itching to subdue the rebels.

John Sevier - another
Over Mountain Bad Ass

Go Tell it to the Mountain

But the ride turned against Ferguson, who was trapped on a stretch of high ground called King’s Mountain (just over the border in South Carolina) and cut off from the main British column under Cornwallis. Withering and accurate fire from the rifles of the westerners devastated the Loyalists. Ferguson was shot while trying to rally a defense and soon died. The few who did not taste lead eventually surrendered. Shelby played a prominent role in planning and executing the operation and soon became a local hero.

Kings Mountain was a turning point i n the South

 Draining the Swamp, with the Swamp Fox

After King’s Mountain, Cornwallis’s strategy began to unravel. However, there was still more fighting to be done. Shelby joined forces with the renowned partisan general Francis Marion and helped in capturing Monk’s Corner. Combat persisted throughout the South even after Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown in October. 1781. However, the British and their loyal allies were defeated.

Francis Marion and his partisan militia

The Kentuckian

After the war, Shelby retired to private life, where his wartime heroics led to a successful political career. He moved to Kentucky and helped organize the territory, develop infrastructure, and improve defenses against the Indians and their British allies. On April 19, 1783, at Boonesboro, he married Susannah Hart, the daughter of Captain Nathaniel Hart, one of the earliest settlers of Kentucky. Susannah eventually bore him eleven children.

Susannah Hart Shelby

 Politician, Pundit, and Warrior

In 1792, he was elected governor of the recently admitted state. He criticized President Washington’s foreign policy. Many westerners wanted a more aggressive stance against the British forts to the west and the Native Americans. However, he provided unwavering support to Major General Anthony Wayne’s Legion during the Indian campaigns of 1794. In 1812, Shelby was elected governor once again. His military and organizational skills were put to work mobilizing Kentucky’s militia for war. In 1813, he personally led a force of 3,500 mounted riflemen north to support General William Henry Harrison’s army near Thames, Ontario. After the war, Congress struck a gold medal in his honor.

Gen Anthony Wayne's American Legion

 Diplomat to the Indians

  In 1817, he declined President James Madison’s offer to serve as Secretary of War. His last significant contribution to the Overmountain region came in 1818 when he, Andrew Jackson, and others negotiated the “Jackson Purchase,” which transferred control of the western districts of Kentucky and Tennessee from the Chickasaw Indians. This opened the western region to settlement. To honor this service, the Tennessee General Assembly named Shelby County (Memphis) for him.

President James Madison

 A Model for the West

The fighting governor passed away near Danville, Kentucky, in July 1826. He was mourned as a celebrated public servant and soldier. One of the nation’s most remarkable frontiersmen, Shelby served as a model for later frontiersmen who would help forge the Republic of Texas and solidify America’s western expansion.

Shelby Cemetery is a KY historic site

The Mechanics

Genesis of Clandestine Warfare

The American War for Independence marked the end of over a decade of political unrest and dissatisfaction with British policies and the treatment (real and perceived) of the colonists. Although led by some of the brightest minds of the era, the movement was also a grassroots effort that gradually grew into a political cause — the ideas being discussed in taverns, coffee houses, homes, and farmsteads.

By the early 1770s, the movement sparked what became an insurgency of sorts. Insurgencies are naturally clandestine, requiring the development of secret activities and tradecraft—such as spies and secret writing—for success. As the political side of the patriot movement expanded, organizations like “The Sons of Liberty” also emerged, serving as its action arm.

Boston Ablaze

By the time rebellion broke out in 1775, the Americans had already established the necessary organizations for the covert side of the war, as these efforts were well underway. The British had their own countermeasures, but these activities often lagged behind and gradually were overshadowed by the Americans’ ability to control the ground, except in the few areas still held by the British Army and Royal Navy.

Boston's Fanueil Hall was the site of much
political agitation & intrigue

One of the earliest secret networks formed was, of course, in Boston. This was only natural since Boston was the hub of so much political and subversive talk during the pre-Revolutionary War era. Figures like Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock were already legends. “Agitprop” proved to be a very effective tool, as crowds were stirred up for all sorts of causes. In a way, the British mistakes in trying to suppress this activity in Boston fueled the flames that eventually spewed into a full-blown conflict, scorching the eastern seaboard after April 1775.

Enter the Mechanics

The first patriot intelligence network was a secret group in Boston called the Mechanics. The Mechanics originated in Boston from “The Sons of Liberty,” who were famous for their opposition to the Stamp Act and other repressive measures. However, the Mechanics operated somewhat differently. They coordinated covert activities in resistance to British authority and gathered intelligence, which was vital to the resistance. It started as a group of about thirty “mechanics,” men who worked in hands-on trades in and around the city.

Observing counter-demonstrators helped
build situational awareness of British sympathizers

Paul Revere was among the first. According to his own words, they, “…formed ourselves into a Committee for the purpose of watching British soldiers and gaining every intelligence on the movements of the Tories.”

Paul Revere was one of the craftsmen-spies
who became known as the Mechanics

The key component is the latter. They realized the key to success was neutralizing British sympathizers early on. Revere further stated, “We frequently took turns, two and two, to watch the soldiers by patrolling the streets at night.” Operating under the cover of darkness became a crucial part of future clandestine activities lasting until today. Along with observing British soldiers and Tories, Revere and the mechanics acted as couriers, the vital link in any clandestine network. Communication is the Achilles' heel of secret work, so the couriers played a vital role. The Mechanics were essential in countering efforts to suppress the colonial insurgency.

Mechanic Paul Revere alerted General Sullivan of the British intention to seize
Fort William and Mary

One of Revere’s first missions as a courier took place in December 1774. He rode to the Oyster River in New Hampshire with a report that General Thomas Gage, the British commander and governor, planned to take Fort William and Mary. Alerted by the intelligence delivered by the Mechanics, Major John Sullivan led a colonial militia force of four hundred men in a preemptive raid on the fort. They seized one hundred barrels of gunpowder that were ultimately used by the patriots at Bunker Hill

Clandestine Communications

Things really heated up around Boston in early 1775. Both sides became more aggressive, and the stakes grew with each month. Through a number of intelligence sources, the Mechanics broke the cover established by General Gage for their quick strike on Lexington and Concord. The British counted on secrecy for success. Thanks to the intelligence and warning by the Mechanics, they failed.

The Mechanics' espionage activities
were a bane to British General Thomas Gage

Revere received orders from Dr. Joseph Warren, then head of the local Committee of Safety, directing him to warn the key patriot leaders in the region, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, of the British plan to take them in a secret raid on Lexington. Revere arranged for the signal lanterns at the Old North Church. Working with William Dawes, the two rebel leaders were warned. Riders were sent out to alert the militia, and then Revere, Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott went on to warn the militias at Concord of the second phase of the operation – seizing the weapons there.

In addition to Revere, Dawes, and Prescott, other secret riders
warned the villages of the approaching British

British capture Revere

A British patrol at Lincoln nearly ended things before they began. During the chase, Dawes was thrown from his horse while fleeing. But Prescott and Revere were captured. Prescott soon escaped British custody and made his way to Concord, but Revere remained a prisoner. However, the brave silversmith resisted interrogation and was soon released, heading to Lexington, where he and John Lowell were sent to retrieve a trunk full of incriminating patriot papers from a local tavern.

A Dearth of Knowledge

In a sense, the lack of recorded knowledge on the Mechanics is actually a good thing, not for historians but for the nation. Any records kept were likely very local and designed to be temporary—that is, destroyed once the operation was finished. Operational security came naturally to those fighting for survival in a secret war. However, mistakes happen and can be costly. The trunk Revere was sent to retrieve could have provided the British with valuable intelligence that might have extinguished the rebellion in New England, potentially ending the conflict altogether.

Mechanic reporting intelligence
on British activities

A curious example of bureaucratic snafu accidentally preventing failure also involves our celebrated Mechanic, Revere. The mechanics evidently received written orders and some sort of remuneration for their expenses. The orders may have been used to get through militia patrols.  For whatever reason, Revere only received his orders from Dr. Warren, leader of the local Committee of Correspondence,  two weeks after his clandestine ride. Had he had them with him, his role would have been exposed to the British when they searched him. History might have taken a distinctly different course again.

As the leader of the Boston Committee of Correspondence
Dr. Joseph Warren leveraged the mechanics to
collect and report intelligence on the British

And for those readers who have served in government bureaucracies or the military, his pay was reduced from five shillings per day to four.

Marblehead Men

Sailors become Soldiers who become Sailors

One of the least appreciated units in the Continental Army also played a crucial role in saving the American cause, setting the stage for several iconic commemorative paintings.

The folks who live along the rocky New England coast are as tough and rugged as the landscape itself. At least, they were during the era of the Yankee Doodle Spies. Hard and gritty men and women were the first to take meaningful action against what they considered injustices of British rule. I suppose carving out a civilization from a weather-beaten wilderness requires folks of tough mettle and stubborn ways.

New England's coast bred tough people

Among the toughest and most resourceful of that group were the men who sailed the cold and stormy waters along the North Atlantic coast, fishing, trading, and smuggling in both fair and foul weather. It is only natural that a militia regiment drawn from such stock would prove to be one of the go-to units of the struggle.

Marblehead Militia

All counties and some towns in New England had militia units that established a long-standing tradition dating back to at least the late 17th century. These units had experience from several wars fought against native tribes, Canadian neighbors, and their French rulers.

At the start of the fight against Britain, the Marblehead militia was among these. Because it was formed along the rugged New England coast, it was naturally composed of men who spent their civilian lives at sea.

Marblehead Militia

As tensions peaked in April 1775, the regiment was lucky to get a commander who proved to be as tough and resourceful as the men he led – Colonel John Glover. Under Glover, the regiment marched to Cambridge, where they joined the New Englanders besieging the British at Boston.

During the siege, Congress established the new Continental Army under the command of General George Washington. The Marblehead Militia, nicknamed “Glover’s Regiment,” joined the Continental Army in June. It was initially called the 23rd Massachusetts Regiment. Only the finest militia units were integrated into the Continental regiments, forming America's first “professional” army.

The Continental Line

With their new status, they also received a new name, and the Marblehead militia was quickly renamed the 14th Massachusetts Continental Line. As a continental regiment, they would now be required to march and fight wherever the army moved, and wherever George Washington led them. He soon took them south to face new dangers and seek new opportunities for glory.

Nevertheless, the regiment of about 750 sailors never fully shed their heritage. Unlike other continental regiments, which began to wear similar uniforms of dark blue tunics, white or buff breeches, and leggings topped with a cocked hat, the Marblehead sailors dressed more like sailors. The Marbleheaders wore distinctive blue jackets, white pants, and white caps. But it was the skill, not the appearance, of these hardy sailors that would be their greatest trait.

Washington’s Navy

As the siege of Boston continued, Washington decided he needed a naval force to stop the flow of supplies to the British garrison. He tasked the 14th Massachusetts Line with outfitting and crewing four schooners for the effort. Glover even provided his own schooner, the Hannah. His port at Beverly became the headquarters of “Washington’s Navy.” Operating on a tight budget, the small flotilla of five schooners managed to disrupt the British supply line while bringing in captured supplies to aid the Americans. The sailors from Marblehead also built most of the defenses that kept the British from capturing the base.

Washington's Navy consisted of
fast schooners manned by experienced sailors

The Miracle on Long Island

Long before it became a traffic nightmare, Long Island was the scenic and rural breadbasket of New York. In the summer of 1776, it became the focal point of the British plan to crush the American rebellion.

Driven from Boston earlier that year, Lord William Howe’s reinforced army of over twenty thousand sailed into New York Harbor and landed at Staten Island. Soon, he moved his troops across the water and quickly encircled George Washington’s forces along the heights of Brooklyn. Although there was fierce fighting, the British numbers and well-positioned guns made Washington’s hold on the island a dangerous liability. He faced a grim choice: defend with little hope or attempt to escape.

British Landing at Long Island would soon threaten the
American Army and the cause

In some ways, the latter was the hardest decision. The British naval power was even more formidable than their land forces. Crossing despite these two obstacles would almost certainly lead to disaster. But when a sudden fog rolled into New York harbor on the night of August 29th, Washington took a brief opportunity to act.

So under the cover of darkness and a shroud of fog, he took a risky move and sent his army forward against the enemy. His tool was the 14th Massachusetts’ sailor-soldiers. For hour after hour, Glover’s men rowed boat after boat, carrying soldiers, horses, and what equipment they could manage without alerting the British, who waited just a few hundred yards away.

Glover worked his men through the night to save an army

Despite the darkness and fog, the Marblehead men moved smoothly and silently. A splash or the bumping of a boat against another could easily have alerted the Royal Navy, whose warships lay anchored nearby. By the next morning, they had evacuated around 9,000 men from the jaws of the British lion to the safety of Manhattan.

The miracle retreat from LI saved the army and the cause

A War of Maneuver

The regiment’s utility was displayed throughout the “war of maneuver,” which had Washington scurrying from one position to another to avoid destruction by the British. Glover’s men delayed the British advance at Kips Bay, buying time for the rest of the army to escape to the safety of Harlem. As the campaign shifted north to Westchester, the regiment once again played a critical role – this time as soldier-sailors.

Glover's sailor-soldiers stymied the British at Pelham

On October 13th, around 4,000 British and Hessians pushed inland from Pelham Bay. However, along the stone walls crossing the farmland, 750 men of the 14th Massachusetts and John Glover’s forces awaited. They held the British at bay, trading space for time and giving the Continental Army a chance to ready itself for the new attack. Glover’s men, skilled in scouting and raiding, proved they were just as comfortable with stone and earth as they were with the decks of their schooners. They captured supplies and enemy prisoners, then helped operate the artillery when Washington and Howe clashed at White Plains.

The Crossing that Shocked the World

By December of that year, a battered and severely diminished Continental Army reached its limit as it gazed across the Delaware River. Just hours behind the advanced guard of a British column led by Major General Charles Cornwallis was closing in quickly. The men from Marblehead gathered anything that floated for miles along the river and quickly ferried the ragtag army to safety.

Gen Charles Cornwallis nearly bagged
Washington, but for the Marblehead Regt.

But their greatest challenge lay ahead. With enlistments dwindling as a new year was just days away, Washington had a short window to do something with his army besides hightail from the redcoats. General Howe gave him the opportunity. Thinking the Americans beaten, he scattered his army into winter quarter garrisons, leaving just a few isolated brigades in West Jersey.

The Glover Regiment brought Washington to destiny

Washington turned to Glover’s men once again. In another secret nighttime operation, Washington called on the seasoned sailors to operate a different kind of boat. Long and sleek, the Durham boats were propelled by pushing long poles into the river bottom. On a night of snow mixed with rain, file after file of Continentals, poorly clad, poorly fed but determined, silently boarded the boats under the watchful eyes of the sailors. Throughout the night, powerful arms pushed staffs into the swirling water. Strong legs and backs moved the boats, filled with men and equipment, across the fast-moving current toward the dark and dangerous Jersey side. Despite the ice flows, Glover’s sailors managed to ferry over 2,000 troops and 18 guns.

Sailors to soldiers as Glover's Marblehead Regiment
 joins the night march on Trenton

But their work was not finished. The sailors then became soldiers and marched the harrowing nine miles to Trenton, fighting valiantly in the short battle that shocked the world and saved the cause. Their final act was to lead the army back across the river, as their enlistments had expired and the regiment was disbanded.

Down to the Sea in Ships

Glover remained with the Continental Army, but his men went home. New England was never a major battlefield for the rest of the conflict, but it still played a vital role – providing support and attacking the British at sea. Glover’s experienced soldiers now became sailors again, in a different kind of war, less flashy but just as damaging to the British.

Privateers devastated British merchant shipping and tied down
the Royal Navy

Some people took up smuggling, a vital way of supporting the war effort. Others went further and turned to privateering, attacking British merchant ships in a war that robbed the British of wealth and supplies, while boosting America’s limited resources. The Marblehead men played an important role in capturing more than 3,000 vessels during the war.

General Disaster

This edition of the Yankee Doodle Spies switches from the Loyalists to an Englishman.  But this Englishman, an actual professional officer, came to America when his British military career stalled. Settling in Winchester, Virginia in 1773, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Lee took up Whig/patriot politics and, due to his experience in the regular army, was named second in command to General George Washington. It is more than an understatement to call Lee controversial, odd, ambitious, and of uncertain morals. But I digress. Rather than profile his entire career – it is too delicious to squander on one post, I thought we would look at his “evening parade.”

Early Career at a Glance

Lee was a well-educated son of a (not so modern) major general. After attending school in Switzerland he entered the Royal Army as an ensign in 1747. Like the rest of his generation of soldiers and sailors, he saw a lot of action as Britain had no shortage of wars in the mid-eighteenth century.

Major General Charles Lee

His exploits in the Seven Years War, actually the French and Indian War, took him from Braddock’s defeat on the Monongahela to the final victory on the Plains of Abraham. He ended the war a major and returned to Europe where he served briefly as a lieutenant colonel in the Portuguese Army and later in the Polish service. In the latter, he managed to lose two fingers in a duel in which his opponent died. Lee was no snowflake.

Lee was a Seven Year and French and Indian War Veteran

With his career in the Royal Army at nadir, he moved to North America to take up planting and politics. When the American Revolution broke out he was on the list of prospects to lead the new American army. He lost to George Washington but received the consolation prize of second in command. Major General Lee proved talented yet cantankerous and involved himself in as many intrigues as engagements. He was a seducer of women, but quirky, disheveled, and followed by his pack of dogs wherever he went. Captured under mysterious circumstances as America’s fortunes waned in late 1776, Lee was suspected by many of aiding his British captors, who exploited him.

Lee was captured at Basking Ridge NJ
while away from his army

Renewal and Redemption

Lee was paroled as part of a prisoner exchange in April 1778, being swapped for British General Richard Prescott. Despite suspicions of duplicity and back-stabbing by Lee, George Washington welcomed him home to the Continental Army like a prodigal son. Circumstances placed the quirky but still considered a professional officer in a position to make up for any past quirks, obfuscations, and manipulations. The Continental Army emerged from Valley Forge as a revitalized force, professionally trained and equipped. British actions would provide Charles Lee a chance to use that new force and prove once and for all he was the best officer in the army, a view long held by Lee and his supporters.

The Continental Army emerged from Valley Forge
as well-trained professionals

General Clinton’s Gift

By spring 1778 the British had decided to abandon the American capital and concentrate their forces in the great stronghold of New York. This would allow London to divert land and naval forces to the new active theater in the West Indies. Clinton sent part of his forces north by sea but a substantial force would have to march north across the steamy fields of the Jerseys before they could meet transports to carry them to New York. Washington’s spies alerted him to this and he positioned the Continental Army to take advantage of Clinton’s dilemma. A lumbering land force, reduced in numbers, presented a juicy target for the commander in chief. Clinton had presented the long-suffering Continentals with a gift.

Sir Henry Clinton

Councils of War

At a series of councils of war, Washington tried to determine the best course of action. Risk an all-out attack? Shadow the British and harass their move? Attempt to block them and force a British assault?

The final session came on 24 June. Many wanted to take strong action against the British, but the generals were split on how. Marquis de Lafayette made it a matter of honor to strike at the British. Nathanael Greene urged a partial action as a symbolic morale-building effort. The aggressive “Mad” Anthony Wayne favored an all-out fight. But Lee made it clear he wanted merely to observe the British army make its way back.

Mad Anthony Wayne

The quirky, self-aggrandizing Lee offered remarkably measured advice and had a good grasp of the hazards involved. Lee felt an all-out attack on the British absurd and that defeat for the Americans would prove disastrous. In fairness, he probably did not grasp the fact that this army was unlike any command – the American army of the past. Washington decided to continue to harass the British. His combative, young aide Alexander Hamilton dryly commented that the results of this meeting "would have done honor to the most honorable body of midwives and to them only."

To Lead or Not to Lead

Events gave Washington pause.  The New Jersey militia under General Philemon  Dickinson (see the Yankee Doodle Spies post on the Militia General) slowed and harassed the British column was already being plagued by New Jersey militia who were blocking the roads and staging nuisance attacks.

Major General Philemon Dickinson

Seeking to capitalize on this, Washington dispatched an advance-guard of six hundred riflemen under famed Colonel Dan Morgan, and then piled on with a second detachment of 1,440 picked Continentals. He then sent a third wave of a thousand picked men led by Wayne. Washington asked his newly returned second in command, Charles Lee, to lead this strike force but Lee demurred. Did he feel taking on the British in this manner too risky or that the command was beneath him?

Dan Morgan

Lafayette, I am Here

So Washington turned to one of his favorites – the Marquis de Lafayette, the youthful French aristocrat who accepted the command. But Lee then had second thoughts and demanded command of the force. Washington felt he had no choice but accede. However, he plussed-up the force by another six hundred men as a rationale for replacing Lafayette. Now a force of some 5,000 was closing on the British rear.

Marquis de Lafayette

A final war council on 27 June cleared up little as to how hard to hit the British, who were closing on Monmouth Court House en-route to a Sandy Hook rendezvous with the fleet. Lee and the strike force slowly staged near the British rear guard. Several messages from Washington provided home no clear guidance on what to do. So Lee determined his own approach: watchful waiting.


His placement of forces was irregular, making it difficult for mutual support. On the 28th of June, he advanced cautiously. with Anthony Wayne's brigade in the lead. The day was hot with stifling humidity that soaked coats red and blue. When the initial contact on 28 June caught the British rear guard off balance, Anthony Wayne pushed for a more aggressive posture, as was his way. (See the Yankee Doodle Spies post on The Mad Man)  But without firm orders, Lee demurred.  The chance to jump the British rearguard was lost.

Baptism by Fire

But learning of the contact, General Clinton, meanwhile, decided to give the rebels one last lesson. He reinforced his rearguard and sent them south after their pursuers. Lee’s situational awareness was confused. He had conflicting reports on British strength and activities. But he decided to fix the British rearguard to his front. If he could find them. He sent forward Wayne’s force but Wayne circled around the British left to attempt an ambush. Wayne was surprised by a detachment of dragoons and firing erupted. Lee had to change plans. He pushed Lafayette forward and maneuvered to take advantage of Wayne’s situation.

Old Monmouth Courthouse 

Run Away, Run Away Run 

Then Clinton sprang his surprise on the rebels and launched the grenadiers against Lee’s right. Confusion ensued. A series of firefights broke out. Volleys flung lead balls across steamy farm fields. Guns began belching heavy iron balls across meadows and fields. Lee’s situational awareness rapidly deteriorated. He did not know what was against him and he did not have his own forces well in hand. Lacking firm orders from Lee, his brigades maneuvered independently in reaction to the situation as they saw it. Normally that is not totally bad. Initiative in combat is a good thing. But this led to the makings of a disaster. as the formations were not working together, but independently.

Lee's units operated independently against
the British

Fearing the worst - a general engagement he sought to avoid, Lee retreated three times. His goal was to extract his forces from a bad situation and avoid the grasp of the British regulars with the army's most elite infantry and cavalry.  Puzzled by the withdrawals, soldiers and commanders began to lose heart. Was something going wrong that they did not know? The fog of battle caused the retrograde to take on the look and feel of a rout. These were perhaps understandable actions considering the situation before him. But he made one cardinal error. He did not keep the commander in chief informed.

You May Leave the Army

In the rear, Washington was advancing with his staff through a stand of woods. Suddenly he saw a civilian and a fifer coming down the road. He disbelieved them when told the army was in retreat. Then stragglers bereft of gear and weapons staggered by.  Then an entire unit was seen running away from the front. Washington, now enraged, rallied the men and spurred forward.  Soon he saw an officer on horseback ostensibly fleeing the battle. It turned out to be Charles Lee.

Washington confronts Lee

“What is all this?” Washington demanded. Lee hesitated at first. Lee then blurted out a series of incoherent defensive statements about intelligence and the power of the British. That did not go over well.  Washington insisted they were facing only a strong covering party of the enemy. Lee replied that the British had greater numbers than previously thought and did not think it was proper to risk the army. Washington exploded with a tirade that no one had previously witnessed, calling Lee’s fortitude into question. Washington broke off the exchange when he spotted some more units retreating and hurried over to rally them. Lee appears to have remained in stunned silence for a few minutes.

Washington managed to rally the army

Washington meanwhile rallied the retreating troops, regrouped his forces, and fought Clinton’s regulars to a standstill. The fighting went back and forth as neither side would concede. Despite the burning summer heat, both sides unleashed musket volleys and thunderous artillery The savage day's fighting ebbed with the dark of the night and both armies collapsed where they fought and slept on their arms. But when the Americans stood to at dawn they found the entire British had beat feet to Sandy Hook and the safety of the fleet. Although sort of a moral victory, Washington was vexed at losing a chance to crush the enemy.

The Americans stood their own against British assaults

The End of the Affair

By the 29th, Washington returned to the matter of Lee and his conduct. In a series of letters, Lee grew petulant and unremorseful. When confronted by Washington on his reason for the withdrawal, the two men exchanged words. Demanding the satisfaction of a hearing, Lee was brought up on formal charges of insubordination. A court-martial convened over several weeks. Lee was convicted of dereliction and cowardice. His sentence: removal from command in the army for one year. Unsatisfied with the result, Lee got embroiled in several affairs of honor and often criticized the Continental Congress for enforcing the sentence on him. These actions led to his permanent dismissal from the Continental Army in January of 1780.

Lee once advised he liked his dogs better than
people

Retrospective

Charles Lee’s quirky personality, arrogance, and narcissism made him very controversial. Yet for most of the war, he was admired by many in the army and in Congress for his experience and professionalism. He has a mixed record though and there were times his loyalty was suspect. But his actions at Monmouth were the result of his awe of the British professionals, fear of getting decisively engaged, and confusion in the fog of battle. I also suspect he was done in by a lack of respect for Washington, chemistry with his subordinates commanders, and confidence in the American soldiers under him. Of these, the third was his greatest failure.