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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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?
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
