In May, 1779, British Gen. Henry Clinton marched out of New York City with 8,000 men. He was headed for West Point hoping to provoke Washington into a decisive battle. On the way, he captured the abandoned fort at Stony Point. Stony Point was a steep, rocky peninsula that jutted out into the Hudson River. The British fortified it with breastworks and abatis. It had 15 cannons and cleared fields of fire. The position was considered so strong that its commander Lt. Col. Henry Johnson referred to it as “Little Gibraltar”. Washington moved out of winter quarters and took up a strong defensive position near West Point. Clinton declined to fight until he got reinforcements. When none arrived, there was a stalemate. Washington, realizing that inactivity would be bad for morale, focused on Stony Point as a possible target. A spy named Alan McLane managed to get into the fort and reported its weaknesses to Washington. He revealed that the cannons were from the navy and thus were immobile. The inner defenses were incomplete because the British were not expecting Washington to commit suicide by attacking the fort. The fort was occupied by eight companies of the 17th Regiment of Foot. The regiment had been in America since 1775. Most were veterans of several battles. It was commanded by Lt. Col. Henry Johnson. There were 750 redcoats defending the fort.
Washington assigned the mission to Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne and his Light Infantry Corps. The unit was elite and had been created for operations like this. He had about 1,350 men. The plan was for the main force under Wayne to attack from the south, another force under Col. Richard Butler would attack the northern fortifications. A diversionary attack would pretend to attack the center where the British expected an attack would come. Only Maj. Hardy Murfree’s men would fire their muskets. The soldiers in the other two columns were forbidden to even load their muskets. They would rely on bayonets. The Light Infantry Corps had been trained in the use of the bayonet by Maj. Gen. Von Steuben. A “forelorn hope” would proceed Wayne’s column. Maj. John Steward commanded this group. These brave men would use axes to create an opening in the abatis. Wayne promised $500 and promotion to the first man into the fort.
On July 15, 1779, Wayne’s men began their approach via a little known wilderness path. They were in position by 11:30 P.M. and the attack began. The night was pitch black so the Americans had white slips of paper on their hats to avoid friendly fire. There was a delay to wait for the marshes to the north and south to lower when the tide went out. British sentries saw Wayne’s men and opened fire, but their officers ordered them to cease fire because they were seeing things. Soon after, the diversionary fire began. It was so effective that Lt. Col. Johnson led a large part of the garrison out of the fort to meet the supposed main attack. The forelorn hope began hacking and took fire from a cannon and muskets. Butler’s force took some casualties, but persevered and passed through an opening in the abatis. Wayne’s skull was creased by a musket ball. According to tradition, he ordered his men to carry him into the fort. But most likely, he stayed where he was shot and commanded from there. As the Americans entered the fort, the were told to yell “The fort is ours!” to demoralize the British. The first into the fort was Frenchman, Lt. Col. Francois de Fleury. He seized a British flag. The Americans used their cold steel in the hand-to-hand combat. One of the particpants was Peter Francsico. “The Virginia Giant” was one of just a few common soldiers that became famous in the war. He killed three redcoats. The melee lasted 15-25 minutes. During this time, Johnson’s force was surrounded and forced to surrender. Significantly, when the Brits in the fort surrendered, they were given quarter, unlike Wayne’s men in the infamous Paoli Massacre. Wayne’s casualties were 15 killed and 83 wounded. The British losses were 20 killed, 74 wounded prisoners, 472 unwounded prisoners, and 58 missing (some may have drowned trying to cross the Hudson). Washington visited the next day and commended the men. Congress voted medals for Wayne, de Fleury, and Steward. Congress only gave out 11 medals in the whole war. Although the fort was abandoned and destroyed rather than being held against a possible British counterattack, the win was still significant. It boosted American morale and lowered British spirits.The use of bayonets was noteworthy because earlier in the war American soldiers had a great fear of the British bayonet. The table had turned. Gen. Clinton gave up hope to control the New England and Middle Colonies and turned British focus to the south. This would eventually lead to Cornwallis’ army being trapped at Yorktown. But most importantly, it is probably because of this battle that Anthony Wayne became known as “Mad” Anthony Wayne.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/stony-point
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stony_Point
https://www.alrny.org/articles/w0s3wirtqb1cdv693wudeet7cui4c8
0 Comments