Landing at Kips Bay

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American Revolutionary War
Northern Campaign
Landing of British troops at Kip's Bay in 1776

The landing at Kips Bay was a successful amphibious landing operation of the combined British-Hessian Army during the American War of Independence on September 15, 1776 at Kips Bay on the east coast of Manhattan Island . The landing resulted in the withdrawal of American forces to Harlem Heights .

background

After the Battle of Long Island was lost, General George Washington and his remaining 9,000 soldiers escaped to Manhattan Island on the night of August 29-30. After the American army carried out the withdrawal in a disciplined and orderly manner, the island began to show signs of disintegration. The soldiers looted New York and deserted by the hundreds. Militia units disbanded and made their way home. The high command was called into question and soldiers openly demanded the return of General Charles Lee . Washington asked the Continental Congress in Philadelphia for instructions, particularly whether the city of New York should be destroyed.

In the meantime, British-Hessian units, under the command of General William Howe , moved north on the east bank of the East River towards Kings Bridge (today: Kingsbridge, Bronx ). On the night of September 3, the British frigate HMS Rose took advantage of the north tidal current of the Hudson River and pulled 30 flat landing craft to the mouth of the small river Newton Creek, opposite Kips Bay. The next day, more transports and landing craft followed, along with the three warships HMS Renown , HMS Repulse , HMS Pearl and the schooner HMS Tryal .

On September 5 , after a serious illness, Nathanael Greene returned to duty and wrote a letter asking Washington to withdraw from New York immediately. Without Long Island, Greene argued, New York could not be held. The American army as it stands would no longer be able to withstand a British attack and another defeat would have catastrophic results. Greene also recommended that the city be destroyed. Once the British occupied the city, recapture would be impossible without adequate naval support. Greene summed up that it would be of no advantage to the Americans to hold the city and called for a council of war to be convened. Meanwhile, Washington was informed of the Congressional resolution that New York should not be destroyed or defended. Congress also decided to send a three-person delegation consisting of John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , and Edward Rutledge to negotiate with Lord Howe.

On September 10, British units advanced from Long Island to Montresor's Island at the mouth of the Harlem River. Two days later, on September 11th, the Congress delegation arrived in Staten Island to attend the Staten Island Peace Conference . The conference, which lasted several hours, at which Lord Howe had the largest part of the speech, ended with no result. However, the meeting delayed the British attack and allowed Washington to better prepare itself and its troops for the enemy landing operation.

On September 12, 1776, Washington and his generals decided to leave New York. Under the command of General Israel Putnam , 4,000 soldiers were to cover the American retreat, while the main body of the army was moved north to Kings Bridge. On the afternoon of September 13th, the British began to move troops. The warships HMS Roebuck and HMS Phoenix and the frigates HMS Orpheus and HMS Carysfort sailed on the East River to Bushwick Creek and anchored there. The warships had a firepower of 148 cannons and were accompanied by 6 other ships for troop transport. By September 14, the Americans rushed to bring the injured, the sick, ammunition and other goods to Orangetown . Every available means of transport was used for the evacuation. American scouts reported extensive British troop movements, but Washington was unable to determine the exact location of the attack from the information available. By late afternoon the bulk of the American troops had moved to Kings Bridge and Harlem Heights, and Washington followed his troops that night.

Course of battle

Most of the American armed forces were preparing for an attack near the then small settlement of Harlem in north Manhattan. The American line at Kips Bay was 500 men of the militia from Connecticut held under the command of Colonel William Douglas, who had there only slightly entrenched or buried. Large parts of the American troops, especially the militias, were inexperienced and insufficiently armed with scythe blades attached to poles. After a sleepless night and inadequate food for 24 hours, the Americans at Kips Bay were attacked by the British in the early morning of September 15. The five British warships fired broadsides into the American defenses at Kips Bay, roughly level with today's 33rd Street. Washington and his staff believed the cannonade was a diversionary maneuver by the British and expected the main attack further north of the island. When all the Americans had taken cover in the trenches at Kips Bay, the massive shelling was stopped for the time being. At around 10 a.m., the British began transferring the first units to Manhattan Island at Newton Cove. Under the command of General Henry Clinton , 4,000 British and Hessian soldiers were transferred with more than 80 landing craft.

At around 11 a.m., the British warships reopened fire on the positions at Kips Bay, panicking the militiamen there. For a full hour the bombardment continued so massively that the militia could not return fire. After the bombardment stopped at around 12 p.m. and the smoke had cleared, the British landing craft became visible. The American militiamen then left their positions and fled.

Although Washington and his staff were informed early on of the British invasion from a command post at Harlem Heights, the panic withdrawal of the militias could not be stopped. Washington rode personally to meet the fleeing men and tried in vain to persuade them to turn back. Angry about the behavior of his soldiers, he threw his hat on the ground and shouted: “Are these the men with which I am to defend America?” (German: “Are these the men with whom I have to defend America?”) After Fleeing militiamen refused to turn back to attack a group of approaching Hessian soldiers if Washington is said to have beaten their officers with his riding whip. A number of Americans who tried to surrender were shot or bayonet stabbed by Hessian soldiers. 2000 soldiers of the Continental Army, under the command of Generals Samuel Holden Parsons and John Fellows, advanced from the north for reinforcement. In the face of the fleeing militias, however, they also turned around and fled. Washington, still in a rage, rode within 100 meters of the enemy lines before he could be persuaded to leave the combat zone. In the meantime, more and more British soldiers landed and immediately moved on in different directions. The units included light infantry and grenadiers as well as Hessian fighters. By late afternoon, 9,000 British and Hessians had landed at Kips Bay and a brigade was dispatched to take possession of largely deserted New York. Most of the Americans managed to escape, but some were captured and mistreated or killed as prisoners - including by Hessian soldiers. The British advance met notable American resistance only half a mile south, towards Watts Farm (now 23rd Street Manhattan). The northern advance was stopped at Inclenberg (today: Murray Hill, near Lexington Avenue) on the orders of General Howe, to await subsequent invasion units. This circumstance was a stroke of luck for thousands of American soldiers south of the invasion point, which thus did not block their escape route to the north. They were then able to escape to the main body of the American army via a western escape route.

The American defenders of New York, under the command of General Israel Putnam, attempted to escape north from the city to the relative safety of Harlem. The commander first led his 4,000 men with a forced march on the eastern route straight to the British invading army. Aaron Burr , a young lieutenant in the Continental Army, persuaded Putnam in time to switch to the western route on the Hudson River. American troops passed the enemy only a mile away and reached the main army at Harlem during the night. They were greeted with joy by their comrades, since they had already believed they had been lost. The later Secretary of War Henry Knox managed to make his way across the Hudson to the main army in a hijacked boat and was welcomed there by Washington.

losses

The British-Hessian associations had 12 dead and wounded. American casualties were estimated at 50 dead and 320 soldiers captured.

aftermath

The British were welcomed by the few remaining residents of New York and American flags were exchanged for British ones. General Howe saw his goal of taking New York quickly and with little loss. He ceased fighting that day and stopped his troops just outside Harlem.

Washington was very upset about the behavior of its troops, calling it shameful and scandalous. The Connecticut militiamen, who already had a bad reputation, were now labeled cowards and blamed for the defeat. But there were also other opinions. General William Heath pointed out that New York was indefensible and that the Connecticut militia had nothing to do with the hostile odds. Had the militias tried to hold onto their positions, they would have been completely wiped out.

The following day, September 16, 1776, the Battle of Harlem Heights was fought .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 188-191.
  2. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 201-202.
  3. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 203.
  4. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 203-204.
  5. ^ Frank E. Grizzard: George !: A Guide to All Things Washington . 1st edition. Mariner Pub., Buena Vista 2005, ISBN 0-9768238-0-2 , pp. 167 (English, 436 pp., Limited preview in Google Book search).
  6. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 205-206.
  7. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 206.
  8. ^ Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause , 354.
  9. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 207.
  10. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 207-208.
  11. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 208.
  12. ^ A b c Fischer, Washington's Crossing , 102.
  13. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 208-209.
  14. ↑ a b c d McCullough, 1776 , 210-211.
  15. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 212.
  16. ^ Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause , 355.
  17. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 211-213.
  18. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 213.
  19. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 213-214.
  20. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 212-213.
  21. ↑ Matloff, American Military History , 65th
  22. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 214-215.
  23. ^ McCullough, 1776 , 216.

credentials

  • Brooks, Victor, Hohwald, Robert: How America Fought Its Wars 1999.
  • David McCullough: 1776 . Simon & Schuster, 2005, ISBN 0-7432-2671-2 , pp. 188-216.
  • David Hackett Fischer: Washington's Crossing . Oxford University Press, New York 2004, ISBN 0-19-517034-2 , pp. 101-106.
  • Robert Middlekauff: The Glorious Cause . Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-516247-9 , pp. 353-356.
  • Samuel B. Griffith II, Jane Griffith, Belle Gordon Griffith Heneberger: The War for American Independence . University of Illinois Press, 2002, ISBN 0-252-07060-7 , pp. 312-313.
  • Edward Lengel: General George Washington . Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2005, p. 449.
  • Maurice Matloff (Ed.): American Military History . Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington, DC 1969, ISBN 0-938289-72-1 , p. 65.

Coordinates: 40 ° 44 ′ 10.8 "  N , 73 ° 58 ′ 28.7"  W.