Battle of Fort Washington
Northern Campaign
The Battle of Fort Washington was fought on November 16, 1776 in Manhattan, New York and was the most momentous defeat of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War . The British army and its Hessian allies forced the American occupation of the fort to give up and thus gained control of the strategically important island of Manhattan, including the city of New York.
The American army had already largely evacuated Manhattan Island at the time of the battle. Only Fort Washington remained as the last bulwark of the American armed forces, in the immediate vicinity of the city of New York. The British and their allied Hessians attacked the fort from the north, south and east under the command of William Howe . The American commander of the fort, Robert Magaw , with his crew of 3,000 soldiers faced an enemy superior force of 8,000 soldiers. After brief skirmishes, Magaw decided to give up. With the defeat, the morale of the Americans reached a low point and the British and Hessians continued to pursue the continental army under George Washington through New Jersey. The conquered fort was renamed "Fort Knyphausen" in honor of Wilhelm von Knyphausen , the commander of the Hessian troops involved in the conquest.
prehistory
Troop movements
On October 11, 1776, General William Howe moved the British Army to Westchester County, New York . There was a risk that the British would cut off the Americans' northern route of retreat. To prevent the encirclement, General Washington moved his troops to Westchester County. Washington stationed a garrison of 1,200 soldiers under the command of Colonel Robert Magaw in Fort Washington. To keep an eye on the fort's crew, the British stationed a small detachment under the command of Hugh Percy, Earl Percy , below Harlem Heights .
On the morning of October 27th, Magaw's guards reported that Percy's force, with the support of two British frigates, had attacked the fort. Magaw ordered that the frigates sailing down the Hudson River be fired at with cannons. On the opposite side of the mainland, they were also taken under fire by the American crew from Fort Lee . The British ships were badly damaged and could not return fire because they could not aim their cannons at the height of the American positions. Both frigates had to be towed out of range under enemy fire. An artillery duel was then fought between the two parties without any notable success. Inspired by the small success, Magaw now said he could hold the fort until the end of December of that year. On November 2, Magaw's aide, William Dermond, deserted and disclosed details of the defenses to the British. The information was immediately passed on to General Howe, who had defeated Washington at White Plains a few days earlier.
Preparations for battle
After the defeat of White Plains, Washington considered giving up Fort Washington. On the other hand, General Nathanael Greene , whose advice Washington valued, believed that the fort should be held for strategic reasons as this would prevent the British from attacking New Jersey and also maintain communications with the island. Magaw and other officers agreed with Greene. Washington was convinced and did not initially evacuate the fort.
After retreating to Dobbs Ferry, Washington divided its army into three parts. 7,000 soldiers were relocated east of the Hudson River under the command of Charles Lee to prevent a British invasion of New England. General Heath secured the Hudson Highlands with 3000 men to prevent a British advance from the north. Washington itself moved 2,000 men to Fort Lee, which was within sight of Fort Washington on the mainland side of the Hudson River. On November 13, Washington and his men reached Fort Lee.
General Howe decided to attack Fort Washington, which after reinforcements had arrived, was now manned by 3,000 men. His plan was to attack the fort from four sides, a side attack being a feint. Hessian troops under the command of Wilhelm von Knyphausen were to attack the fort from the north. Percy with a Hessian brigade and various British battalions from the south, and Lord Cornwallis with the 33rd Regiment and General Edward Mathew with light infantry from the east. A sham attack was to be carried out by the 42nd Highlanders, who were to land on the eastern end of the island but south of the fort. Before the attack began, Howe tried to convince the Americans to give up. Lieutenant Colonel James Patterson brought the call to surrender on November 5th, otherwise the entire garrison would be killed. Magaw replied that the fort would be defended "to the extreme".
Course of the battle
Prelude
On November 16, the British and Hessian troops advanced before dawn. Knyphausen and his troops were taken to Manhattan by boat across the Harlem River. The same boats were then supposed to cross over to Mathew's troops, but this caused problems because of the strong tide. This forced the Hessians to stop their advance and wait for the British to cross over. At around 7 am the Hessians opened fire on the American battery on Laurel Hill and the British frigate “Pearl” fired at the enemy entrenchments. Percy's artillery fired at the fort to the south. The British aimed at Magaw's cannons, which had caused serious damage to the frigates a few weeks earlier.
Around noon, the Hessians continued their advance. When the water level of the Harlem River was high enough again, the British troops under Mathew and Howe were able to cross over. Heavy artillery fire from the Americans awaited them on the banks of Manhattan. The British troops dispersed isolated American resistance as they advanced until they reached a redoubt, which was held by some volunteer companies from Pennsylvania. After a brief struggle, the surviving Americans fled towards the fort.
To the north of the fort, Hessian units under the command of Johann Rall advanced over a steep slope south of Spuyten Duyvil Creek . Without American resistance, the Hessians brought their artillery into position on the hill. At the same time the main part of the Hessians, 4,000 men under Knyphausen, advanced on the Post Road between Laurel Hill and Ralls position. They crossed swampy area and finally reached the wooded slope near the fort. 250 American riflemen under the command of Colonel Moses Rawlings opened fire from cover on the advancing troops. Two waves of Hessian attacks were repulsed in this way.
In the south, Percy began to advance with 3,000 men. A Hessian brigade advanced on the left and Percy's troops on the right in double battle lines. Percy stopped 200 yards from the American lines under Alexander Grayton to await the start of the sterling-led mock attack. Graydon's superior was Lambert Cadwalader, Magaw's deputy, who was responsible for Fort Washington's three lines of defense. Cadwalader initially sent 50 men to repel the mock attack carried out by Sterling's 42nd Regiment. The landing point of the 800 British was the least defended place around the fort and when Cadwalader realized the situation, he reinforced the defense at this point by another 100 men. The top of the landing troops immediately tried to find a way through the difficult terrain. The Americans took up position on the hill and fired at the landing force just crossing the river. 80 British people were killed or injured. After landing, Sterling did not attack immediately because he thought he was facing American entrenchments. While the American rearguard took the British under fire, most of the Americans were able to withdraw from the hill. After a pause, the British attacked and captured the American position.
When Percy heard the noise of the battle, he continued to advance his troops. The British artillery made it impossible for the Americans to hold the first line of defense. Grayton and his men were forced to fall back on the second line held by Washington, Greene, Putnam and Hugh Mercer . The men in the first line were ordered to cross the river to the mainland to Fort Lee. Magaw realized that Cadwalader was in danger of being surrounded and ordered him to withdraw towards Fort Washington. Cadwalader's troops were now being pushed towards the fort by Percy's troops.
The collapse
After the fort's outer defenses collapsed, more and more American units withdrew to the fort's relative safety. In the south the third line of defense had never been completed, so that Cadwalater had no other means of retreat than the fort itself. In the north, the riflemen under Rawling could only hold their position with great difficulty. Due to the intensive use, more and more rifles of the Americans failed and the soldiers began to throw boulders at the attacking Hessians. In the meantime the British frigate "Pearl" had silenced the fort's artillery. At this point, the American fire from the remaining line of defense also subsided and the Hessians moved further up the hill. In close combat with the bayonet, they quickly overwhelmed the remaining defenders.
General Washington watched the battle from across the river and sent a messenger into the fort with orders for Magaw to hold out until nightfall. Washington was of the opinion that the crew could be evacuated under cover of darkness. By this time the Hessians had already conquered the area between Fort and Hudson River. Johann Rall received the honorable assignment from Knyphausen to summon the Americans to surrender. Rall sent the English and French speaking Colonel Hohenstein, who carried the demand under a white flag. Hohenstein met with Cadwalader, and Cadwalader asked his commanding officer to think about four hours to consult with his officers. The request was refused and instead allowed half an hour. When Magaw consulted, Washington's messenger, Captain John Gooch, reached the fort with the message to hold out into the night. Gooch was just able to reach the fort before it was completely enclosed by enemy troops. Magaw tried in vain to negotiate better terms for his men, who were only granted their personal property. Magaw finally surrendered at 3 p.m. and the English flag was already waving over the fort at 4 p.m. Before the surrender, John Gooch managed to leave the fort and to reach the other bank of the river and Fort Lee under enemy fire.
aftermath
surrender
Hessian troops under the command of Colonel von Malmburg advanced into the fort and monitored the course of the surrender. American officers tried to vote the Hessian commander in favor of their side. Nevertheless, all equipment was taken from the prisoners when they withdrew. Some were beaten, but this mistreatment was quickly stopped by the intervention of Hessian officers. The British side captured 34 cannons, two howitzers, tents, blankets, tools and other equipment.
losses
The British and Hesse reported 84 dead and 374 injured, while the American side recorded 59 dead, 96 wounded and 2,838 prisoners. Of the Americans who were captured, only 800 were alive a year and a half later in a prisoner exchange.
Withdrawal and reorganization
Three days after the loss of Fort Washington, Fort Lee on the opposite side of the mainland was also abandoned by the Americans. Washington and his army retreated through New Jersey and across the Delaware River to Pennsylvania. After the successful surprise attack on the Hessian garrison in Trenton , the morale of the American armed forces recovered, which had reached a low point with the fall of Fort Washington.
literature
- David Hackett Fischer: Washington's Crossing . Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 0195181212 .
- Richard Ketchum: The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton . Brings paperbacks; 1st Owl books ed edition, 1999, ISBN 0805060987 .
- Edward G. Lengel: General George Washington . Random House Paperbacks, New York 2005, ISBN 0812969502 .
- David McCullough: 1776 . Simon and Schuster Paperback, New York 2006, ISBN 0743226720 .
- Weigley, Russell. The Age of Battles: The Quest For Decisive Warfare from Breitenfeld to Waterloo . Indiana University Press. 1991 ISBN 0-7126-5856-4 .
Web links
- Attack from the height near Fort Washington on November 16, 1776 at the Digital Archive Marburg ( Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lengel, page 160
- ^ Lengel, page 161
- ↑ Ketchum p.109
- ↑ a b Ketchum, page 110
- ↑ a b Ketchum, page 112
- ↑ Lengel, page 163
- ↑ a b Lengel, page 164
- ↑ a b c McCullough page 236
- ↑ Lengel, page 165
- ^ McCullough, p. 237
- ↑ a b c Ketchum page 113
- ^ McCullough, p. 239
- ↑ a b Ketchum, page 116
- ^ Ketchum, page 117
- ↑ a b Ketchum, page 118
- ↑ Ketchum, page 119
- ↑ a b c Ketchum page 120
- ↑ a b c d Ketchum page 122
- ^ McCullough, p. 241
- ↑ a b c Ketchum page 123
- ↑ a b c d Ketchum page 124
- ↑ a b Ketchum, page 125
- ↑ a b c Ketchum page 126
- ↑ a b Ketchum, page 127
- ↑ a b Ketchum, page 128
- ↑ a b c Ketchum page 129
- ↑ Lengel, page 167
- ↑ a b Ketchum, page 130
- ↑ Lengel, page 168
- ^ McCullough, page 243
- ↑ Ketchum, page 131
- ^ McCullough, page 246
- ^ McCullough, p. 290
Coordinates: 40 ° 51 '10.8 " N , 73 ° 56' 16.8" W.