Lexington and Concord and the Rule of Law

April 19, 1775:the confrontation of the Regulars with the militia at Lexington Green.  Today we see the markers that show the line in which Captain John Parker's men stood:

We are still over a year from the Declaration of Independence, so at this time both Parker's company were as British as the Regulars they confronted.  Firing on the Regulars would have been an act of treason.  After the first shot--which remains unresolved as to who fired it--eight Americans died and ten were wounded.  

 After the battles, the political battle began.  The "Americans" gathered "depositions," at the time sworn statements, including this one by Sylvanus Wood, 23, reaches us across the centuries: "[t]he British troops approached us rapidly in platoons, with a General officer on horse-back at their head. The officer came up to within about two rods of the centre of the company, where I stood.--The first platoon being about three rods distant. They there halted. The officer then swung his sword, and said, 'Lay down your arms, you damn'd rebels, or you are all dead men--fire.' Some guns were fired by the British at us from the first platoon, but no person was killed or hurt, being probably charged only with powder. Just at this time, Captain Parker ordered every man to take care of himself. The company immediately dispersed; and while the company was dispersing and leaping over the wall, the second platoon of the British fired, and killed some of our men. There was not a gun fired by any of Captain Parker's company within my knowledge."

A case is made for self defense. 

British Lieutenant John Barker, also present, disagreed: "At 5 o’clock we arrived there and saw a number of people, I believe 2 and 3 hundred, formed on a common in the middle of the town; we still continued advancing, keeping prepared against an attack tho’ without intending to attack them, but on our coming near them they fired on or two shots, upon which our men without any orders rushed in upon them, fired and put ‘em to flight; several of them were killed, we could not tell how many because they were got behind walls and into the woods; We had a man of the 10th Light Infantry wounded, nobody else hurt. We then formed upon the common but with some difficulty, the men were so wild they could hear no orders; we waited a considerable time there and at length proceeded on our way to Concord, which we then learnt was our destination, in order to destroy a magazine of stores collected there."

One wonders what circumstances today would be such as occur "in the course of human events" that would justify, as a matter of law, a 21st century Lexington.

Bennington, Stark and Warner

The Battle of Bennington, on August 16, 1777, occurred in Hoosick, New York, although the storehouse that was the subject of the raid was just across the border in the recently "independent" Vermont.  Burgoyne was advancing on Albany, and by early August 1777 Burgoyne knew Howe was not moving northward to meet up with him.  Burgoyne needed supplies.  He sent a predominantly Hessian force, with Indian components, led by Colonel Friedrich Baum to procure the supplies.  Burgoyne's intelligence was flawed, and he was unaware that Colonel John Stark had become Major General John Stark, and had nearly 1500 militia at Bennington.

The hilltop where the battle occurred gives a real sense of why the Hessians thought they had a defensible position, and what the Americans had to overcome.  This is a view looking north

The American victory Bennington was significant because it further weakened Burgoyne's already finite force; he lost 15% of his men at Bennington.  Beyond this, of course, was the failure to obtain the necessary supplies.  He continued to move deeper into hostile territory, and into the cataclysm that was Saratoga. 

Bennington is the story of two of the great commanders of the Revolution, John Stark and Seth Warner.  Both were veterans of prior battles, and fought throughout the Revolution.  Warner never made general; he ended his career as a colonel and died in 1784 at the age of 41 in poverty. 

The battles of the Revolution, unlike those of the American Civil War, generally had far fewer casualties, and yet the stakes were certainly as high as in any war.  These small battles and these small victories resonated far beyond their superficial aspects.  Burgoyne sent this force to obtain supplies for his main force that was suffering from attrition.  The effort not only failed, but further depleted Burgoynes' forces.  To whatever measurable extent this depletion affected the result at the battles of Freeman's Farm and Bemis Heights, collectively known as the Battle of Saratoga, the efforts of Stark and Warner contributed not only to that victory, but also to the consequential decision of the French to formally enter the war.  

The Battle of Spanktown

I have written previously of the confusion of history with regard to various Revolutionary War events. Another prime example of this is Spanktown.  This colonial village, now know as Rahway, was certainly the scene of action, but exactly what action, and specifically where things occurred, is not particularly clear, at least to me.

A marker stands on Route 27 at Rahway River Park, proclaiming the area was the scene of an action in "January 1777:"

Specifically, the plaque tells us: "In January, 1777, a sharp fight took place here between the British and Gen. Maxwell’s men." David Munn, in his list of Revolutionary War skirmishes and battles, lists a foraging raid on January 5, 177 (confirmed in Howard Peckham's The Toll of Independence) and another Spanktown attack by New Jersey militia on January 8.  Peckham notes a January 16 attack "near Bonhamtown." The Federal Writers Project's History of Metuchen refers to a "famous raid on Spanktown (Rahway), during which American troops captured a thousand bushels of salt from the British garrison," occurring on January 6, and then refers to a series of skirmishes occurring that began in March.  Munn also lists at least two other Spanktown incidents in March. The Crossroads of the American Revolution website, www.revolutionarynj.org, states that "the Battle of Spanktown was fought on St. Georges Avenue in the vicinity of Robinson’s Branch and the North Branch of the Rahway River. The battle lasted twelve hours with the rebels getting the best of the British, who lost almost one hundred men." It puts the date simply as "early 1777." A New York Times article appearing on February 21, 1897 refers t the February 23 action and claims "the British dead numbered 500," clearly an implausible figure, being double the British killed at Bunker Hill; such a count would have made this battle among the costliest of the entire war.

One of the Spanktown battles might well be the Battle of Punk Hill, so called, between Bonhamtown, Metuchen and Amboy, d, on March 8, involving American General William Maxwell and significant British forces, that might have turned into a more serious engagement.

On the other hand, the main battle, so-called Battle of Rahway by some, occurred in Spanktown on February 23, purportedly lasted 12 hours, and was part of the foraging efforts of the British.  Maxwell interrupted a foraging raid by British Colonel Charles Mawhood and pursued the British back to Amboy.

A hot dog truck is regularly parked next to the sign; I have been to the park twice and both times, the vendor was there.  At least we know today what is happening on the spot.

Monmouth and Mythology

     June 28 marks the 235th anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth.  I posted on this battle last June.  Last week was the reenactment, but I chose to go today and avoid the crowd, and check out the new visitor center.  This state park and its center rival many of the federal park battlefields I've visited in terms of presentation of information and legibility, and its electric map and accompanying thirteen minute presentation provide an excellent overview of the battlefield.  The controversy surrounding Charles Lee and George Washington was treated evenly, if briefly, but at the end, the battle was heralded as a great victory for Washington.  As Brendan Morrissey writes in Monmouth Courthouse 1778: The Last Great Battle in the North, "[b]y any objective criteria, the battle of Monmouth Courthouse was a draw." The British left the field, but they were doing so anyway, and continued their "retreat" to Sandy Hook.  Washington had set out to destroy the British army if he could find the right engagement, and that did not occur.  For those with limited interest or exposure to such things, though, they leave this introduction with opinion offered as fact, and so does mythology continue.

     I did see something new: I finally made it to the Craig House portion of the battlefield.

     Restored in 1993 to look as it did during the battle, it was not directly involved in the area of fighting but certain Continentals retreated across the farm at one point, and the British used the house as a hospital.

The End of the Revolutionary War

There seems to be some disagreement over the actual last land battle of the Revolutionary War.  Contrary to what many lay people seem to believe, hostilities did not end at Yorktown in October 1781.  Howard Peckham's invaluable The Toll of Independence notes dozens of engagements in 1782, resulting in 277 American deaths,  124 wounded, with 80 captured; he lists only 5 land engagements for 1783.  Among the final actions, the Battle of Cedar Creek Bridge in Stafford Township, New Jersey, is his last listed for 1782 and among the six final "engagements" of the war.  Here we see a view of the area, with the Cedar Bridge Tavern (now a private residence) glimpsed to the left and the creek at the bend in the road in the center of the picture.

The engagement occurred on December 27, 1782, when local militia under Captains Richard Shreve and Edward Thomas sought out the hated Loyalist, Captain John Bacon.  They and their men stopped at the tavern, were surprised themselves by Bacon and his forces, and when they were gaining the upper hand, Bacon was supported by fresh Loyalists, which facilitated Bacon's escape.  The Patriots lost 1 killed and 1 wounded; 1 Loyalist was killed, 4 wounded, and 7 taken prisoner.  Shreve's militia did manage to kill Bacon on April 3, 1783, Peckham notes, after the peace treaty was signed.  The Stafford Township Historical Society lists this as the "last battle" of the war.

Whether it owns that distinction or not of being "last," the place remains sacred: at least one man on each side of the civil war divide lost his life here.  While the bitterness of the internecine nature of this war is often discussed in the context of the Carolinas, here in "southern" Jersey, the divide was often just as broad and brutal.

Iron Works Hill

     Most Americans, to the extent they are knowledgeable about the basics of the Revolutionary War, can name, perhaps, a handful of battles.  The war consisted of thousands of skirmishes, most not rising to the level of "battle" nomenclature, but often just as significant and as bloody.  As we walk the ground of these lesser known places, it is good to remember that such places as well are places where men died, on both sides, in this war.  One such place is in Mount Holly, otherwise known as the Battle of Iron Works Hill.  Here we are looking up at the battlefield from the current road.

      General George Washington's surprise attack on Trenton on December 26, 1776 was successful in part due to the diversionary efforts, such as the skirmish at Iron Works Hill in Mount Holly on December 23, 1776.  Colonel Samuel Griffin was directed to lead New Jersey militia to take a position in Mount Holly, and distract Hessian Colonel Carl von Donop.  Griffin first skirmished at Petticoat Bridge and retreated to take up a position in Mount Holly here.  On the actual "Mount" Holly, Donop set up artillery.  The main battle occurred here.  The distraction worked, and Donop did not participate in the First Battle of Trenton.