Battle of Fort Washington
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The Battle of Fort Washington was a battle fought in the American Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain. It was a decisive British victory and the entire garrison of Fort Washington was forced to surrender.
All of Manhattan had been abandoned except for Fort Washington which was the last stronghold of the Americans in the vicinity of New York City. The British, under the command of William Howe, along with their Hessian allies, assaulted the fort from three directions, the north, south and east. The commander of the fort, Robert Magaw, was outnumbered 8,000 troops to 3,000. Eventually, the numbers overwhelmed the Americans in the south, in the east, and finally, in the north. With the fort surrounded, Magaw chose to surrender the fort rather than try to hold out, as he thought there was no realistic chance of doing so. It was the worst defeat of the war for the Americans and the British chased the main American army with the Commander-in-Chief, George Washington, across New Jersey.
Background
Construction
Fort Washington was a fort located at the northernmost tip and within a half a mile of the highest elevation of what is now the borough of Manhattan in New York City, overlooking the Hudson River, which was held by American forces.[5] Along with Fort Lee located just across the river in New Jersey atop the Palisades, the twin forts were intended to protect the lower Hudson from British warships.[6]
In June of 1776, Henry Knox, Nathaneal Greene, William Heath, and Israel Putnam looked over the terrain on which Fort Washington would be located and agreed that if the fort was properly fortified that it would be practically impossible to take.[7] Later in June, the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington, looked over the terrain and determined that this area was the key to defense of the lower Hudson. Shortly after Washington surveyed the terrain, some Pennsylvanian troops began construction on the fort under the supervision of Rufus Putnam.[8]
For over a month the troops brought down boulders from the heights of Manhattan to the edge of the river where they loaded them into a collection of hulks and cribs made of timber and stretched it across the river.[8] The purpose of this chevaux de frise was to prevent British ships from sailing up the Hudson and outflanking the American position. When the chevaux de frise was finished, work on the Fort itself began.[9] Due to the fact that so little soil covered the rocky surface, soil had to be brought up from the low ground at the bottom of the cliffs, although even with this soil, no satisfactory ditches or trenches could be dug around the fort. When the fort was finished it took the shape of a pentagon with five bastions.[9] the main walls of the fort were made of earth and had ravelins with openings for guns from every angle. The land enclosed by the fort was three or four acres large.[10] There had been no powder to spare for blasting out rock so there was no ditch surrounding the fort, only abbattis. The barracks were finished in September and all the troops in the area were placed under the command of Major General William Heath. Washington established his headquarters in the vicinity of the fort.[9]
Defenses
Beyond the fort there were numerous defenses.[10] Batteries were placed on Jeffery's Hook, which extended into the Hudson, on the hill looking over Spuyten Duyvil Creek, at the north end of Manhattan controlling the King's Bridge and Dyckman's Bridge over the Harlem River and along Laurel Hill which was to the east of the Fort and went along the Harlem River.[10] To the south of the fort there were three lines of defense. The lines went through the hills and were made of trenches and foxholes. The first line was supported by a second line about a third of a mile to the north and the second line was to be supported by a third line which was planned to be built a quarter of a mile north of the second.[10]
Movements
On October 11, General William Howe moved the British army to Westchester County, New York and Washington moved the American army into Westchester too in order to escape entrapment if the British cut off the line of retreat from Northern Manhattan Island.[11] Washington left behind a garrison of 1,200 men at Fort Washington under the command of Colonel Robert Magaw.[12] In order to keep an eye on the American garrison in the fort, Howe left Hugh Percy and a small force below Harlem Heights.[13]
On the morning of October 27, Magaw's sentries reported to him that Percy's troops were launching an attack supported by two frigates sailing up the Hudson.[14] Magaw ordered the Frigates to be fired upon and both British ships were badly damaged by the guns from Fort Lee and Fort Washington because they could not elevate their own guns to the height of the American positions. Both Frigates were towed away but an artillery duel continued for a while later between the British gunners and the American gunners.[14] Due to the minor success, Magaw became very confident and boasted that he could hold out in a siege in the Fort until the end of December. However, on November 2, Magaw's adjutant, William Dermont deserted to the British and told them all of the details of the fort, all of which he had access to as Magaw's adjutant.[15] After receiving the information Percy sent it to Howe, who had just defeated Washington a few days earlier at the Battle of White Plains.[15][16]
Plans and preparations
After being defeated at White Plains, Washington had considered abandoning Fort Washington.[17] However, Greene, whose opinion Washington valued very highly, believed that the fort could be held and that it was vital to due so. Greene argued that holding the fort would keep open communications across the river and might hold off the British from attacking New Jersey.[18] Magaw and Putnam concurred with Greene.[19] Although his natural instinct told him to abandon the fort, Washington deferred to Greene and thus Fort Washington was not abandoned.[20]
After falling back to Dobbs Ferry, Washington divided his army.[18] 7,000 troops were to remain east of the Hudson under the command of Charles Lee to prevent a British invasion of New England, General Heath with 3,000 men were to guard the Hudson Highlands to prevent any further British advance North, and Washington with 2,000 men were to go to Fort Lee. On the 13th, Washington and his army reached Fort Lee.[18]
Howe decided that the best thing to do would be to attack Fort Washington.[21] His plan was to storm the fort, now garrisoned by 3,000 men after receiving reinforcements, from three directions with a fourth one as a feint.[17] Hessian troops under the command of Wilhelm von Knyphausen would attack the fort from the north, Percy was to lead a brigade of Hessians and several British battalions from the south and Lord Cornwallis with the 33rd Regiment of Foot and General Edward Mathew with the light infantry were to attack from the east.[21] The feint was to be by the 42nd Highlanders who were to land on the east side of Manhattan, south of the fort.[21] Before he went through with the attack, however, Howe tried to force the Americans to surrender without firing a shot. He sent Lieutenant Colonel James Patterson under a flag of truce on November 15 to deliver a message that if the fort did not surrender the entire garrison would be killed. Magaw responded by saying that they would defend the fort to the "last extremity".[22]
Battle
Initial fighting
Before dawn on November 16, the British and Hessian troops began to move out.[23] Knyphausen and his troops were ferried across the Harlem River on flatboats and landed on Manhattan. The flatboatmen then turned down the river in order to ferry Mathew's troops across the river. However, due to the tide, they were unable to get close enough to the shore to bring the British troops across.[23] Thus, Knyphausen's troops were forced to halt their advance and wait until Mathew could cross. At around 7:00 Am, Hessian guns opened fire on the American battery on Laurel Hill, and the British Frigate the Pearl began to fire at the American entrenchments.[24] Also, south of the Fort, Percy had his artillery open fire on the Fort. They aimed at Magaw's guns which had damaged the British ships several week before.[25]
By noon Knyphausen and his Hessians began to march again.[25] As soon as the tide was high enough, Matthew, accompanied by Howe, and his troops were ferried across the Harlem River and landed on the Manhattan shore. They landed under heavy fire from the American artillery.[26] The British troops charged up the hillside and dispersed the Americans until they reached a redoubt defended by some Pennsylvania Volunteer companies. After brief fighting, the Americans turned and ran towards the Fort.[27]
To the north of the Fort, the Hessian right, commanded by Johann Rall, moved up the steep hillside south of Spuyten Duyvil Creek.[27] There was almost no resistance from the Americans on the hill and the Hessians began to bring up their artillery. At this point, the main body of Hessians, 4,000 men, under Knyphausen began to advance down the Post Road, which ran between Laurel Hill and the hill Rall was on.[27] They crossed swampy land and when they approached the wooded hillside near the fort, they were fired upon by 250 riflemen under the command of Colonel Moses Rawlings. Rawling's men hid from behind rocks and trees darting from place to place shooting at the Hessians as they tried to advance through the fallen trees and rocks.[28] The first and second charge of the Hessians was forced back by Rawlings riflemen.[28]
To the south, Percy began to advance with some 3,000 men around the time Knyphausen was running into trouble with the riflemen.[28][29] Percy advanced in two columns with his brigade of Hessians on his left and Percy himself leading the right. About 200 yards from the American lines Percy halted the advance, waiting for the feint by Sterling to take place.[28] Facing Percy was Alexander Graydon and his company. Graydon's superior was Lambert Cadwalader, Magaw's second in command, who was in charge of holding the three defensive lines south of Fort Washington.[30] After hearing that there was a landing on the shore in his rear, Cadwalader sent 50 men to oppose it. The 50 men ran into Sterling and the 42nd Regiment, of 800 men, who were performing their feint.[30] Where Sterling landed happened to be the least defended area of the American defenses, and when Cadwalader heard how many men were there, he sent another 100 men to reinforce the 50 he had sent earlier. The British landing parties spread out, looking for a path through the rough terrain on the landing spot.[30] The Americans took up a position on a hilltop and began firing at the British troops who were still crossing the river, killing or wounding 80 men.[31] The British troops charged the American position, dispersing them.[31]
When Percy heard the shooting, he ordered his troops to continue their advance.[31] British artillery fire made the first defensive line too difficult to hold and Graydon was forced to fall back to the second line, where Washington, Greene, Putnam and Hugh Mercer were. The men were encouraged to leave Manhattan, and they did, sailing across the river to Fort Lee.[31] Magaw realized that Cadwalader was in danger of being surrounded and he sent orders for him to withdraw toward the fort. Cadwalader's force was pursued by Percy's troops while the troops sent to oppose Sterling's landing were also being chased back to the fort.[32] Sterling's troops landed in the rear of Cadwalader, and they paused, thinking that there were troops in the entrenchments. Some retreating men engaged Sterling, giving most of the troops enough time to escape.[32]
Collapse
Now that Magaw's outer lines to the south and to the east of the fort had collapsed, men were retreating all over the place to the relative safety of the fort.[33] To the south, the third defensive line had never been completed so Cadwalader had nothing left to retreat to except the fort. To the north, the riflemen under Rawling still held, but barely.[33] There were fewer riflemen than before and because the increased amount of firing had jammed some of the men's weapons they were forced to push boulders down the hill on the attacking Hessians. The American battery at Fort Washington was silenced, damaged by the Pearl.[33] At this point, the riflemen's fire had almost ceased, and the Hessians slowly advanced up the hill. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued, with riflemen swinging their rifles at the Hessians, but they were overpowered. The Hessians reached the top of the hill and swarmed into the redoubt with a bayonet charge, capturing it quickly.[34]
Washington, who was watching the battle from the other side of the river, sent a note to Magaw asking him to hold out until nightfall, thinking maybe the troops could be evacuated during the night.[34] By this time, the Hessians had taken the ground between the Fort and the Hudson River. Johann Rall was given the honor of requesting the American surrender by Knyphausen and Rall sent in Captain Hohenstein, who spoke English and French, under the flag of truce to call for the fort's surrender.[35] Hohenstein met with Cadwalader, and Cadwalader requested that Magaw be given four hours to consult with his officers, but his request was denied and the Americans would only be allowed a half an hour to decide. As Magaw was consulting with his officers, Washington's messenger, Captain John Gooch arrived with Washington's request to hold out until nightfall.[35] Gooch had arrived just before the fort was completely surrounded. Magaw attempted to get easier terms for his men, who would only be allowed to keep their belongings, but this failed. Magaw announced his decision to capitulate at 3:00 pm, and at 4:00 pm, the American flag was brought down in the fort, replaced by the British flag.[36][37] Before the surrender, John Gooch leaped off the side of the fort, tumbled to the bottom of the cliff, evaded musket fire and bayonet stabs, and managed to get onto a boat and arrived at Fort Lee a short while later.[36]
Aftermath
Surrender
When the Hessians marched into the fort the American officers attempted to get on the good side of the Hessian officer, Captain von Malmburg, who was in charge of the surrender.[36] They invited the Hessian officer into their barracks, offered him punch, wine, cake and complimented his pleasantness. However, the American troops were stripped of their baggage as they marched out.[4] Some Americans were even beaten by the Hessians, but the intervention of the officers prevented a potential massacre.[38] The British captured thirty-four cannon, two howitzers, along with many tents, blankets, tools and much ammunition.[39]
Casualties
The British and Hessians had suffered 84 killed and 374 wounded, while the Americans suffered 59 killed, 96 wounded and 2,838 captured.[4] Of the men captured, when an exchange was done a year and a half later, there were only 800 survivors.[40]
Retreat and redemption
Three days after the fall of Fort Washington, Fort Lee was abandoned.[41] Washington and the army retreated across the state of New Jersey and crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. On Christmas night, Washington crossed the Delaware and defeated the Hessian garrison under the command of Rall at Trenton. After defeating the British at Trenton again, Washington attacked them in Princeton, reviving the moral of the army and the colonies that had been so low following the fall of Fort Washington.[42]
Footnotes
- ^ Ketchum p.111-"The most disastrous defeat of the entire war"
- ^ Lengel p.165
- ^ McCullough p.241
- ^ a b c d Ketchum p. 130 Cite error: The named reference "k130" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Ketchum p.103
- ^ McCullough p.129
- ^ Ketchum p.104
- ^ a b Ketchum p.105
- ^ a b c Ketchum p.106
- ^ a b c d Ketchum p.108
- ^ Lengel p.160
- ^ Lengel p.161
- ^ Ketchum p.109
- ^ a b Ketchum p.110
- ^ a b Ketchum p.112
- ^ Lengel p.163
- ^ a b Lengel p.164
- ^ a b c McCullough p.236
- ^ Lengel p.165
- ^ McCullough p.237
- ^ a b c Ketchum p.113
- ^ McCullough p.239
- ^ a b Ketchum p.116
- ^ Ketchum p.117
- ^ a b Ketchum p.118
- ^ Ketchum p.119
- ^ a b c Ketchum p.120
- ^ a b c d Ketchum p.122
- ^ McCullough p.241
- ^ a b c Ketchum p.123
- ^ a b c d Ketchum p.124
- ^ a b Ketchum p.125
- ^ a b c Ketchum p.126
- ^ a b Ketchum p.127
- ^ a b Ketchum p.128
- ^ a b c Ketchum p.129
- ^ Lengel p.167
- ^ Lengel p.168
- ^ McCullough p.243
- ^ Ketchum p.131
- ^ McCullough p.246
- ^ McCullough p.290
References
- Fischer, David Hackett (2006). Washington's Crossing. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195181212.
- Ketchum, Richard (1999). The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton. Holt Paperbacks; 1st Owl books ed edition. ISBN 0805060987.
- Lengel, Edward (2005). General George Washington. New York: Random House Paperbacks. ISBN 0812969502.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|unused_data=(help); Unknown parameter|authorid=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|http://books.google.com/books?id=ignored (help) - McCullough, David (2006). 1776. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperback. 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