Battle of Stony Point

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Battle of Stony Point
Battle of Stony Point.jpg
date July 15, 1779
place Stony Point, New York
output Victory of the Continental Army
Parties to the conflict

American Continental Army

British Army

Commander

Anthony Wayne

Henry Johnson

Troop strength
1500 men 750 men

The Battle of Stony Point was a combat operation in the American Revolutionary War and took place on the night of July 15-16, 1779 between the American Continental Army and the British Army .

background

After the defeat of General John Burgoynes at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777 and France's entry into the war, England's strategy changed. An attempt was made to move General Washington out of his positions with small attacks , while he established himself in solid positions around those of the British in New York.

course

About 1,500 American infantrymen, commanded by Anthony Wayne , raided a British fortified position of about 750 men on the Hudson River south of West Point, New York . In order not to lose the surprise effect during the nightly attack, Washington and Wayne ordered that the troops attack with unloaded weapons and only use the bayonets during the fight. The British position was taken within 25 minutes and resulted in the loss of an entire British infantry regiment, of which more than 540 were taken prisoner. The Americans lost 15 dead, the British 20 men. The position that secured a ferry crossing was abandoned three days after it was taken. The British resumed the position but surrendered it because they believed it was beyond defense. Two years later, the Continental Army used this transition to the Siege of Yorktown ( Virginia ) achieve.

literature

  • Henry Alden: Harper's New Monthly Magazine . Volume 59. Harper and Brothers, 1879, OCLC 1641392 ( Online Google Books).
  • Mark Mayo Boatner: Cassell's Biographical Dictionary of the American War of Independence, 1763-1783 . Cassell & Company, London 1966, ISBN 0-304-29296-6 .
  • Henry Phelps Johnston: The Storming of Stony Point on the Hudson . James T. White & Co., New York City 1900 ( online ).
  • Don Loprieno: The Enterprise in Contemplation: The Midnight Assault of Stony Point . Heritage Books, 2004, ISBN 0-7884-2574-9 .
  • Paul David Nelson: William Tryon and the Course of Empire: a Life in British Imperial Service . UNC Press, 1990, ISBN 0-8078-1917-4 ( online ).
  • John Pancake: This Destructive War . University of Alabama Press, University, AL 1985, ISBN 0-8173-0191-7 .
  • Hugh Rankin: The North Carolina Continentals . University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC 2005, ISBN 978-0-8078-5662-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mark Mayo Boatner: Cassell's Biographical Dictionary of the American War of Independence, 1763–1783 . Cassell & Company, London 1966, ISBN 0-304-29296-6 , pp. 1066 .

Coordinates: 41 ° 14 ′ 30.5 ″  N , 73 ° 58 ′ 24.7 ″  W.