Continental vs Redcoat by David Bonk

Author:David Bonk
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Continental versus Redcoat
ISBN: 9781472806505
Publisher: Osprey Publishing

The Monmouth battlefield was largely defined by the various branches of the Spotsburg Brook. The Middle Brook wound its way through the center of the battlefield and along its banks soggy ground and vegetation restricted movement. Along the Brook the ground was covered with thick vegetation, giving cover to the American defenders and significantly restricting movement by both sides. Adding to the difficulty of crossing the Middle Brook itself there were numerous smaller tributaries feeding in to the main waterway. These areas, described as a morass, allowed American troops to delay the British advance. The British grenadiers found the heat unbearable, Lieutenant William Hale of the 2nd Grenadier Battalion hoping that “… such a march I may never again experience. We proceeded five miles on a road composed of nothing but sand which scorched through our shoes with intolerable heat; the sun beating on our heads with a force scarcely to be conceived in Europe, and not a drop of water to assuage our parching thirst” (quoted in Wilkin 1914: 258). (Author)

The American advance became confused as it pushed forward but in several fits and starts Lee’s men engaged the British rearguard near the Monmouth Courthouse between 0930hrs and 1000hrs. By 1000hrs Wayne, Scott, and Maxwell’s men began to form and Lieutenant Colonel Oswald brought several cannon across the East Ravine and exchanged shots with the British artillery. Finding his battery unsupported, Oswald appealed to Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens, one of Washington’s aides-de-camp, to request assistance from Major General Lee. Lee initially detached Olney’s 2nd Rhode Island with orders to attack a body of troops thought to be British, but after they turned out to be Americans, Olney deployed his men. He later recalled:

I marched the regiment out on the plain and formed the line in view of the enemy, where I halted a few minutes; but seeing the enemy was advancing in column from their left and our troops retiring, I then wheeled the regiment by platoons to the right and marched off to the brigade but before I had joined them I was met by General Lee and General Wayne, who ordered me to move on and to cover the artillery under Colonel Oswald. (Quoted in Court Martial 1864:145–46)

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