The World Turned Upside Down - 11th Virginia Continental Regiment.

 

Having once again dissolved at the end of the Trenton and Princeton winter campaign of 1776-77, due to one year enlistments, the American army had to be once more built up in the late winter and early spring of 1777, with a strong request from Washington to Congress to design and create a better army.

Congress responded by changing the enlistment period to a term of three years or the duration of the war, thus ensuring that the army would not disband at the end of the year as had its predecessors. In addition Congress reformed the overall size of the army, setting a new establishment of 110 regiments of infantry, 3 regiments of artillery and 4 regiments of light dragoons, retaining the 'November' style regimental structure of 1775 that established each regiment, on paper, having eight companies of 90 men, all ranks and a headquarters group and staff of 13, thus a regiment of some 733 men.

Of the 110 infantry regiments, 88 would be raised, organised and maintained by the States, hence State Regiments, 16 'Additional' Regiments to be organised and raised outside the state quota, by officers who were responsible only to Washington and the Continental Congress, and 6 'Specialised' Battalions or Regiments which were organised on a territorial or other specialised basis which didn't fit into the other two categories, examples of which included the German Battalion and the 2nd Canadian Regiments, both showcased here on JJ's, and the Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment, the latter unit very pertinent to the story of the establishment of the 11th Virginia Continental Regiment. 

JJ's Wargames: The World Turned Upside Down - The German Battalion (8th Maryland) Continental Regiment.

JJ's Wargames: The World Turned Upside Down - 2nd Canadian Continental Regiment, 'Congress's Own' (Part Two)

As mentioned, the Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment was specialised in that it brought together the assorted non Pennsylvania rifle companies that had served with Washington since 1775 outside Boston, but with most of these companies having been lost at Fort Washington in 1776, the unit was in fact by early 1777 organised on paper only, and Virginians who had evaded capture helped form Daniel Morgan's 11th Virginia Regiment during the winter of 1777, many of whom then later joined Morgan's Provisional Rifle Corps that summer.

The formation of the 11th Virginia Continental Regiment is inextricably linked with Daniel Morgan's meteoric career with the Continental Army, whilst he is also famously linked with his command of the Corps of Light Infantry or Corps of Rangers, which became known as Morgan's Corps of Riflemen.

Daniel Morgan, circa 1794 - Charles Willson Peale.

Colonel of the 11th Virginia Continental Regiment, 

seen here as a Brigadier General.

In June 1775, the Continental Congress authorized an invasion of Canada, and Colonel Benedict Arnold convinced General Washington to start an eastern offensive in support of Montgomery's invasion, for which Washington agreed to dispatch three companies from his forces at Boston, provided they agreed. Every company at Boston volunteered, and a lottery was used to choose who should go. Morgan's company was one of them, with Arnold selecting the then Captain Morgan to lead the three companies as a battalion.

The Arnold Expedition started with about 1,050 men, but by the time they reached Quebec on November 9th, that number had been reduced to 675, and when Montgomery's men arrived, they launched a joint assault, with the Battle of Quebec beginning in a blizzard on the morning of December 31st, as the Patriots attacked in two pincers, commanded by Montgomery and Arnold.

Benedict Arnold is escorted away after suffering a leg wound in the attack on Quebec, December 31st 1775 - Adam Hook (Osprey)

Arnold attacked against the lower city from the north, but he suffered a leg wound early in the battle. Morgan took command of the force, and he successfully overcame the first rampart and entered the city. Montgomery's force initiated their attack as the blizzard became severe, and Montgomery and many of his troops, except for Aaron Burr, were killed or wounded in the first British volley. With Montgomery down, his attack faltered. 

The Battle of Quebec, December 31st 1775.

British General Carleton consequently was able to lead hundreds of the Quebec militia in the encirclement of the second attack, and was also able to move his cannons and men to the first barricade, behind Morgan's force. Divided and subject to fire from all sides, Morgan's troops gradually surrendered, with Morgan handing his sword to a French-Canadian priest, refusing to give it to Carleton in formal surrender. Morgan thus became one of the 372 men captured, and he remained a prisoner of war until he was exchanged in January 1777.

When he re-joined Washington early in 1777, Morgan was surprised to learn he had been promoted to colonel for his bravery at Quebec, and was ordered to raise and command a new infantry regiment, the 11th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Line.

The 11th Virginia Regiment, one of the fifteen regiments Congress allotted to Virginia's State quota, was authorised by the Second Continental Congress on the 16th September 1776, and it was organised on the 3rd February 1777, consisting of four companies from the Virginia counties of Loudoun, Frederick, Prince William, and Amelia; surviving members of Captain Daniel Morgan's Independent Rifle Company from Fauquier County; and the five companies from the state's portion of the Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment, most of whom had, as mentioned, been captured at the fall of Fort Washington in 1776.

The principle counties of Virginia involved in the recruitment of the 11th Virginia Continental Regiment in 1777.

On the 15th April 1777 Captain George Price's company (organized on 18th January 1777 in the Virginia State Troops with volunteers from Frederick and Augusta Counties) was transferred to the regiment. 

On the 11th May 1777 the 11th Virginia Regiment, under the command of Colonel Daniel Morgan was assigned to the 3rd Virginia Brigade of the Main Army under Brigadier General William Woodford. 

Brigadier General William Woodford,
commanding 3rd Virginia Brigade in May 1777

However Colonel Morgan’s command of the 11th Virginia was to be short-lived, when on June 13th, 1777, Washington gave Morgan command of the Provisional Rifle Corps, a light infantry force of 500 riflemen chosen from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia regiments of the Continental Army, that saw him simultaneously in command of the 11th Virginia Regiment, his permanent unit, and this provisional unit.

Washington wrote the following letter to Morgan on August 16th, 1777: 

"Sir: After you receive this, you will march, as soon as possible, with the corps under your command, to Peekskill, taking with you all the baggage belonging to it. When you arrive there, you will take directions from General Putnam, who, I expect, will have vessels provided to carry you to Albany. The approach of the enemy in that quarter has made a further reinforcement necessary, and I know of no corps so likely to check their progress, in proportion to its number, as that under your command. I have great dependence on you, your officers and men, and I am persuaded you will do honour to yourselves, and essential service to your country..... I am, sir, your most obedient servant George Washington."

Many of the men in his new command were from his own 11th Regiment, including his friend Captain Gabriel Long, and Long's best snipers, including Corporals John Gassaway, Duncan MacDonald and Private Peter Carland.

Thus Morgan's story with the regiment separates until his return to the Main Army later in 1777 after the defeat Burgoyne at Saratoga on October 17th.

The Surrender of General Burgoyne painting by John Trumbull (1822). 

This rather stylised portrayal depicts the surrender of the British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga, with General Horatio Gates in the centre refusing to take General John Burgoyne's proffered sword. Colonel Morgan is depicted in the white hunting shirt and breeches.

The 11th Virginia Regiment, under Lt. Colonel John Cropper, saw action at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11th 1777, as part of Woodford's 3rd Virginia Brigade, part of Major-General Adam Steven's Division, part of Washington's force detailed to resist the approach of Howe's flanking attack that developed four hours into the battle; and with the 11th Virginia together with the rest of Woodford's brigade, positioned around the Birmingham Meeting House opposing the advance of the British Light Infantry and Hessian Jägers.

Division: Major General Adam Stephen (2,000)

3rd Virginia Brigade: Brigadier General William Woodford

• 3rd Virginia Regiment (150)
• 7th Virginia Regiment (472)
• 11th Virginia Regiment (377)
• 15th Virginia Regiment (200)

4th Virginia Brigade: Brigadier General Charles Scott

• 4th Virginia Regiment (314)
• 8th Virginia Regiment (157)
• 12th Virginia Regiment (117)
• Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment (100)
• Patton's Additional Continental Regiment (124)

Following the defeat at Brandywine, and the British occupation of Philadelphia, Washington's reorganised army attacked at Germantown on the 4th October 1777.

As covered in my post looking at the 15th Virginia Regiment, Stephen's men fought in the fog with troops led by General Anthony Wayne, and he was later accused of being drunk during the battle, and after being convicted in a court martial, he was stripped of his command and cashiered out of the army, making him the only Continental Army general court-martialled and immediately dismissed from the service during the war.

By the Battle of Germantown, Woodford's brigade had, according to Greg Novak, been reduced to 800 men allotted to its four regiments and likely with the difficulties the Virginia regiments were having in maintaining strength, the regiment was reorganized to a more standard eight companies on the 1st November 1777. 

With Washington's army going into winter quarters in December 1777, the 11th Virginia Regiment entered Valley Forge with 326 men assigned, but only 81 fit for duty, and left Valley Forge with 254 assigned and 152 fit for duty.

It is with the army's entry into Valley Forge that 'the great mystery of Washington's Army for the 1778 campaign', as Novak describes it, concerning Colonel Dan Morgan begins, with Morgan and his Corps of Riflemen now having returned to the Main Army, but unlike the 11th Virginia Regiment not appearing among the units encamped at Valley Forge, leading apparently to some historians determining that the two units were and are one and the same.

Morgan is recorded as being stationed outside the encampment, and there are a number of reminders in Washington's General Orders that the men of Morgan's Corps are not to be ignored when clothing and pay is issued to the parent formations. Indeed Morgan was in communication with Washington about the need to recruit additional riflemen for his Corps, and they were still very active in the 'no-mans-land' between Valley Forge and Philadelphia, as is recorded in the diary of Captain Johann Ewald of the Hesse Kassel Jaeger Corps, who mentions skirmishing with Morgan, referring to him as 'the foxy Morgan'.

During the Monmouth campaign of 1778 Washington's General Orders of June 22nd mentions that each of the Continental Infantry Brigades, save those of McIntosh's North Carolina brigade who were ordered to provide two companies of Light Infantry instead, were ordered to send a detachment of an officer and the best twenty-five marksmen to serve in Morgan's command, during which Morgan's men would be harassing the flanks of the British forces.

It would only be at the end of 1778 when the British were back in New York, that Morgan received in October the order to take command of Woodford's brigade as the senior colonel, and by the end of 1778 with the build up of a standing force of Light Infantry, Morgan's Corps appears to have been disbanded.

On the 18th June 1778, Clinton’s British army, with artillery, supplies and the loyalist populace of the city, left Philadelphia and began the laborious march cross country to the North-East, and hearing that the British were on the move, General Washington marched his army east from Valley Forge, seeking to intercept the slow-moving British column, which he did so at Monmouth Courthouse.

Monmouth Maps from the Book "Fatal Sunday"
Monmouth Maps from the Book Fatal Sunday - Friends of Monmouth Battlefield

Charles Lee’s initial attack on the British rear was poorly coordinated, leading to a retreat that Washington personally rallied, later seeing Greene’s division on the right and Stirling’s on the left hold firm against repeated British assaults.

Monmouth Maps from the Book "Fatal Sunday"
Monmouth Maps from the Book Fatal Sunday - Friends of Monmouth Battlefield

When the main body reached Tennent's Meeting House, some two miles east of Englishtown, Washington ordered Major General Nathanael Greene to take Woodford's brigade to cover the right flank, with Greene guided to Combs Hill by Lieutenant Colonel David Rhea of the 2nd New Jersey Militia, and the 11th Virginia joined the rest of the brigade supporting the guns of du Plessis.

Woodford's brigade including the 11th Virginia occupied Comb's Hill, enfilading the line of the British attack with Du Plessis' guns.
Monmouth Maps from the Book "Fatal Sunday"
Monmouth Maps from the Book Fatal Sunday - Friends of Monmouth Battlefield

The battle lasted under extreme heat, with both sides suffering roughly equal casualties, and by evening, the British withdrew under cover of darkness to continue their march to Sandy Hook, New Jersey

The Virginia Continental Line contracted in 1778 and 1779 as recruiting got harder and enlistments expired, following Virginia implementing a draft in 1777 which they grew increasingly dependent on through to the end of the war.

On 22nd July 1778 the 11th Virginia was reassigned to the 2nd Virginia Brigade, and it was reorganized to nine companies and redesignated as the 7th Virginia Regiment on the 12th May 1779. 

On the 4th December 1779 it was relieved from the 2nd Virginia Brigade and assigned to the Southern Department.

The numbered regiments were preserved on paper to track officer seniority, but late war field operations were conducted by various “detachments," “battalions," and ad hoc “regiments."

The former 11th Virginia Regiment, as part of the 1st and 2nd Detachments, was captured on the 12th May 1780 at the Siege of Charleston and subsequently disbanded on 1 January 1781.

As in many cases when looking to depict specific Continental Regiments, often many choices have to be made, sometimes with specific information to reference, but more often than not, a bit of educated guesswork. I have seen the 11th portrayed by others in all hunting shirts, referencing their connection to Colonel Dan Morgan, but I am of the opinion that the regiment was distinctly separate and wanted a more obvious line regiment look to it to better reflect the more numerous musket armed men in its ranks, particularly after many of the riflemen would have been detached for special duties.

That said Virginia was a state that mixed in rifle companies with its musket companies, and given the inclusion of Morgan's men in the regiment at their inception, I decided to include a couple of rifle-armed- hunting shirt figures, along with the often referenced XI Virginia Regimental Colour, or perhaps a Rifle Company Colour, so beautifully reproduced by GMB, and carried alongside a potential Divisional Colour with the usual thirteen bars in the cantonment.

I have again decided to reference the October 1778 lottery held by General Washington from which he determined which colour coat, blue or brown, would be distributed to state regiments. This lottery saw blue coats assigned to North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, whilst brown coats were to be provided to Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

This idea of Washington's did not come to fruition, but my 11th Virginia Regiment are depicted as if Washington had had his way with, in their case, a buff shade of brown coat faced in red, together with red turnbacks, and turned up hats, this with the officers in the grey waistcoat and breeches ordered to complete the look of the 1778 regiment. The drummer's red livery is purely speculative and assumes a captured British coat, less the lace, has been rapidly furnished for use.

The look of my 11th Virginia Continental Regiment, which sees them furnished as a twenty figure unit, better suited to represent their mustering 377 men at Brandywine, is finished off with the low-profile sabots form Supreme Littleness Designs.

Work on my American army continues with the focus on the Virginians, as the next Continental Regiment to be showcased will be my interpretation of the 4th Virginia Continental Regiment.

As always, more anon.

JJ

The World Turned Upside Down - His Majesty's 44th Regiment of Foot.

The 44th Regiment of Foot was formed in 1741 by Colonel James Long a former officer of the 1st (Grenadier) Guards as James Long's Regiment and later John Lee, when it became known as "Lee's Regiment, or 55th Foot, only gaining a confirmed numerical designation during the Army restructuring of 1751 when it was renumbered the 44th Foot. 

The Battle of Prestonpans, 21st September 1745.
The fire of General Cope's infantry in general was referred to as 'infamous puff, puff', with scarcely any platoon volleys from the newly raised, inexperienced troops who though commanded to 'keep their fire' until it was sure of doing execution, had not the composure to wait to do it.

It remained in England for four years until being sent against the Second Jacobite Rising (1745-46), and being relatively inexperienced, the regiment broke at Prestonpans (1745) and most of its men were killed, wounded or captured.

The Battle of Prestonpans, 21st September 1745.

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Peter Halkett of Pitfirrane, and Captain Russell Chapman and five soldiers of Lee's 55th were cut off in a ditch enclosing Bankton House, and the men were making ready to open fire when Halkett ordered them to surrender, possibly in answer to a personal summons by Lord George Murray.

Grenadier of Colonel Sir Peter Halkett’s 44th Regiment - David Morier.

By 1748, the regiment had been rebuilt and recovered when it was sent to Flanders at the end of the War of Austrian Succession (1740-48), and by then, it had also received the numeral 55, this rising to 44 in 1751 after eleven marine regiments were removed from the Army’s order of precedence.

Colonel Sir Peter Halkett,
2nd Baronet (21st June 1695 – 9th July 1755)
portrait by Hans Hysing, c1735.

Following Lee's death in 1751, command of the 44th Regiment of Foot fell to his former Lieutenant-Colonel, Sir Peter Halkett, and he and his youngest son James was sent with his regiment, to North America in 1754 as part of the French and Indian War. serving in the Braddock Expedition where both were killed in action at the Battle of the Monongahela on 9th July 1755.

The wounding of General Braddock at the Battle of the Monongahela on 9th July 1755 - Robert Griffing.

Soon after the crossing the Monongahela river the vanguard was attacked by French-allied forces consisting of Ottawa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi Indians, who used the dense woodland to stage an ambush, and among the first killed was Halkett, followed by his son who came to his aid. 

The 44th and 48th were sent out from Ireland to North America in January 1755 as part of Major-General Braddock's expedition against the French and their Indian allies, arriving in Virginia late the following month. Their initial goal was to reach the Ohio River on the western edge of the Province of Pennsylvania to attack French positions around Fort Duquesne.

The subsequent confusion gave rise to a general chaos with incidents of friendly-fire, particularly directed towards any Provincial troops who would not have been in red uniforms, and in the opening minutes of the battle, almost a hundred were dead. 

An 18th century visualisation of the Battle of the Monongahela on 9th July 1755, based on accounts of the time.

Braddock, unswayed by the marksmanship of the Indians, urged a stand, and though this prevented a rout, it was in vein and he was mortally wounded, with the expedition forced back to Fort Cumberland with the assistance of Col. George Washington's Virginia companies, the most experienced Crown troops in guerrilla-warfare.

Of the approximately 1,300 men Braddock led into battle, 456 were killed outright and 422 were wounded with commissioned officers being prime targets and suffering greatly: out of 86 officers, 26 were killed and 37 wounded, the 44th losing along with Halkett and his son four other officers killed and ten wounded.

Of the 50 or so women that accompanied the British column as maids and cooks, only 4 returned with the British; about half were taken as captives. The French and Canadians reported only 23 killed, including the French commander, and 20 wounded. General  Braddock died of his wounds on July 13th, four days after the battle, and was buried on the road near Fort Necessity.

The regiment went on to fight at the Battle of Carillon in July 1758, also known as the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga, another French victory and the battle being the bloodiest of the American theatre of the war, with over 3,000 casualties suffered; French losses about 400, while more than 2,000 were British.

The regiment would finally be on the winning side against the French when taking part in the siege of Fort Niagara in July 1759, part of a campaign to remove French control of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions, to make possible a western invasion of the French province of Canada in conjunction with General James Wolfe's invasion to the east.

As well as seeing a successful conclusion to the siege when the French force at Fort Niagara capitulated on the 26th July, a small detachment of the 44th Foot were part of the 900 man force of British regulars, New York militia and Iroquois Indians, under Lieutenant Colonel Eyre Massey of the 46th Foot, that carried out a successful ambush of a French relief force 1300 French regulars, militia and allied Indians under the command of Colonel François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery at the Battle of La Belle-Famille that occurred on July 24th, 1759.

The battle was a disaster for the French, with Lignery seriously wounded and captured, later dying of his wounds on July 28th, and with Captain Pierre Pouchot surrendering Niagara the next day after it became clear the relief column had been driven off.

Finally in 1760, plans were drawn for an attack into New France, directed at Montreal, and the 44th were part of Lieutenant-General Amherst's 4,000 man force, themselves part of a 10,000 man force of three British armies converging on Montreal from the south, east and west which, setting off in mid July early August, arrived in force before the walls of the city on September 6th, and seeing the French surrender two days later on September the 8th.

Following the French surrender of the Montreal garrison, the 44th Regiment remained to guard their new acquisitions, and its companies sent out separately until regrouping in October 1762 for the winter, where news of negotiations between Britain and France reached North America. When news of the Treaty of Paris reached the 44th they had four companies at Crown Point, four at Fort William Augustus and one at Fort Carillon. In late 1765, the companies were ordered to return to Ireland.

 

The 44th Regiment of Foot in America, 1776-1783.

In the February 1775 the companies of the 44th were ordered back to Ireland, now under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James Agnew, where the hat-companies were to rendezvous with the 22nd, 40th and 45th Foot Regiments in Cork, bound for New York and departing on May 17th in a naval division led by Commodore Stores.

Meanwhile the grenadier and light company of the 44th joined Major-general Sir Henry Clinton's expedition (2,200 regulars, 600-700 Royal Marines and Sailors), bound for Cape Fear and onward to Charleston, South Carolina for what proved to be the abortive attempt to take the city in June 1776, the expedition being forced to break off the poorly planned and prepared attack, and withdrawing the forces on the 21st of July to join Howe in New York.

A plan of the attack of Fort Sulivan, near Charles Town in South Carolina by a squadron of His Majesty's ships on the 28th day of June 1776, with the disposition of the King's land forces and the encampments and entrenchments of the rebels, from the drawings made on the spot., by William Faden and Thomas James, c. 1776. Courtesy, Library of Congress [G3914.C3:2F5S3 1776 .F29]

The 44th hat-companies arrived in New York City in June and were sent to Boston, arriving in early July as the Continental Army made their pushes through Cambridge and Roxburgh; and with the 44th Foot as part of 1st Brigade under Brigadier General Lord Percy, alongside the 4th, 23rd and 59th Foot, recording on the 21st July returns, 29 officers and 376 men under arms.

A plan of Boston and its harbour, with the Dorchester Heights illustrated, bottom left, high enough to frustrate British guns elevating sufficiently to counter battery American positions, whilst making the harbour unsafe for British shipping.

On the night of the 4th March 1776, Brigadier General Thomas's Massachusetts 1200 man Continental Army brigade occupied Dorchester Heights and by dawn had two small forts constructed giving Washington command over Boston harbour.

General Howe's hand was forced and orders were given to abandon the city, and the British force of 11,000 regulars, naval personnel and some 1,000 Loyalists taking refuge in the city evacuated on the 17th March, north to Halifax Nova Scotia, Washington having agreed not to interfere with the pull out in return for British assurances to not burn the town.

The 33rd Foot deployed in line at the Battle of Camden - Adam Hook (Osprey, British Tactics of the American Revolution).
This illustration depicts a typical British infantry battalion deployed in the open order two deep line, showing the eight 'hatmen' companies, less the grenadier and light companies detached to the amalgamated grenadier and light battalions, with their Colour party in the centre, and with the officer commanding, mounted, to its rear. 

Once Howe was forced out of Boston to Halifax, he used the time and space to retrain his army, with 'Howe's 1776 instruction' effectively turning the British infantry into light infantry, nullifying the 1764 Drill manual, platoons now drilled to form into two ranks instead of three and to leave a one-man interval between ranks, with the ranks staggered to allow each man a clear field of fire thus changing the frontage of a typical 36 man British platoon from 8-10 yards to 20 to 24 yards, able to bring all its firepower to bear whilst moving.

Along with the improvements in drill, better suited to American conditions, regiments like the 44th were ordered to dress more appropriately, and gone was the 1768 uniform regulations so beloved by many re-enactment groups, and instead jacket tails were cut short, lace removed, hats turned down and cocked on the left side to facilitate sloped arms, trousers and half gaiters replaced with breeches and knapsacks replaced with blanket rolls.

Details of the 44th Foot - British Army Uniforms from 1751 to 1783, Carl Franklin.
Facing colour is noted as 'deep' or bright-yellow, lace and buttons being silver for officers.

New York Campaign 1776

General Howe was intent on capturing New York City and the surrounding harbour from which to establish his main base of operation, and for this operation, the 44th with a strength of 279 men all ranks, served in the 6th Brigade under Major-General Robertson alongside the 23rd, 47th and 64th Regiments, landing in Staten Island on the 3rd of July 1776. 

In addition, on their arrival from the failed assault on Charleston, the grenadier and light companies joined the 2nd combined battalions of their respective companies, with all three battalions of combined light infantry and four battalions of combined grenadiers joining the direct commands of General Sir William Howe and Lieutenant-general Earl Cornwallis respectively.

A separate landing force reached Long Island on the 22nd August, and from there pushed their way towards New York City. The 44th continued up the Narrows under Major General Grant's left division, with orders to distract the Continental Army, diverting a sizable portion from the fighting along and behind the Gowanus Heights. During the engagement, Captain Browne and ten privates were killed, and Captain Kennedy, Lieutenant Browne, a sergeant and seventeen privates were wounded. 

The operation was otherwise a success, with the Continental troops pulling back from Manhattan further up the East River after two days of fighting, with the 44th taking part in the fighting at the battles of White Plains, Fort Washington and Fort Lee. 

'the 44th continued westward into New Jersey, briefly holding Elizabeth Town and Raway before returning to occupied Harlem.'

Following this the 44th continued westward into New Jersey, briefly holding Elizabeth Town and Raway before returning to occupied Harlem. As Autumn approached, the occupiers prepared to last out the winter; one company remained within New York City, while seven of the 44th's companies held out at Hell-Gate on the East River and an additional two remained in Nova Scotia.

Over the course of the winter, the Continental Army regrouped and used nearby Connecticut for preparing boats to harass British shipping coming in and out of New York. As the season came to an end, it became crucial that Connecticut be disarmed by the summer when the majority of Atlantic shipping took place. 

The Danbury Raid 1777

What became known as the Danbury Raid, was Lexington and Concord done correctly, as a small picked British force under Major-General William Tryon, landed at Norwalk on the 25th April, 1777 and from there marched for Danbury, which was burnt, and the supplies stored there destroyed.

The Danbury Raid British Force 

Major General William Tryon

1st Brigade: Brigadier General Agnew  

4th Foot, 15th Foot, 23rd Foot (each 250 picked men)

2nd Brigade: Lieutenant Colonel Maxwell

27th Foot, 44th Foot, 64th Foot (each 250 picked men)

Attached Troops

Prince of Wales American Regiment (300 men), 17th Light Dragoons (10 men), 

Royal Artillery (6 x 3-pdr guns, 50 men)

This 1780 map shows the movements of the various forces prior to the Battle of Ridgefield:
A: British movements to Danbury, B: American movements toward Danbury,
C: British movements toward Ridgefield, and D: American movements toward Ridgefield
(upper arrow: Wooster, lower arrow: Arnold).

On the march back, a different route was taken to prevent the militia from massing against the British force which turned to Ridgefield where they encountered General Benedict Arnold's force on their return to New York.

American Forces mustered under General Benedict Arnold

Continental Infantry (200 men), 2nd Continental Artillery (3-guns, 50 men), Connecticut Militia (1,000-2,000 men)

During the engagement, losses for the 44th included Major Hope who was wounded as well as three sergeants, 12 privates, and a drummer, additionally four privates were declared missing, and another four declared dead.

Farmers Against the Crown - Dale Gallon
https://www.gallon.com/shop/other-wars/revolutionary-war/farmers-against-the-crown/
Local Ridgefield farmers resist the British forces as they advance to their ships on the coast.

Philadelphia Campaign 1777-78

In mid-1777, the Army general staff in New York drew up plans for an invasion of Pennsylvania aimed at capturing Philadelphia. The force was divided into four Brigades, and the newly promoted Brigadier-General, James Agnew was placed in charge of the 4th Brigade; however, the 44th itself was paired with the 15th, 17th, and two battalions of the 42nd as Major-General Charles Grey's 3rd Brigade.

Departing from Sandy Hook, the 3rd Brigade sailed around Chesapeake Bay and up to the Elk River, landing on the northern shore on the 25th August. The 3rd Brigade met with the Continental Army at Brandywine, fighting on 11th September, where the 44th took the rearguard in this engagement and saw light casualties, though Captain Fish was wounded and later died.

After the American defeat at the Battle of Brandywine, Washington was intent on accomplishing two tasks, protect the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia from British forces and also shield his inland supply depots at Reading, 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia, and at Lancaster, which was 65 miles west of Philadelphia, and these objectives saw him withdrawing across the Schuylkill River on September 12th, bypassing Philadelphia and heading northwest to the Falls of Schuylkill - see the map above of the campaign, for detail of these movements.

Washington's army again crossed the Schuylkill River at Levering's Ford on September 14th to face the British, who had moved little since Brandywine due to a shortage of wagons to carry their wounded and baggage, and after the Battle of the Clouds, an ultimately aborted engagement due to bad weather on September 16th, he withdrew to Yellow Springs and Reading Furnace in northern Chester County to replenish his ammunition, leaving Brigadier General Anthony Wayne's Pennsylvania Division at Yellow Springs. 

The General Paoli Tavern.

When the British columns moved towards the Schuylkill River, Wayne followed Washington's orders to harass the British and attempt to capture all or part of their baggage train, and assuming that his presence was undetected, he encamped close to the British lines at the road junction by the Admiral Warren Tavern, part way between the White Horse Tavern and about two miles from the General Paoli, a tavern named after a Corsican bandit, with orders to his men that they were to wait until the British moved forward to the Schuylkill and attack their baggage train.

Wayne's division consisted of the 1st (230 men), 2nd (187 men), 4th (237 men), 5th (245 men), 7th (325 men), 8th (225 men), 10th (170 men) and 11th (202 men) Pennsylvania Regiments, Hartley's additional Continental Regiment (265 men), an attached artillery company (4 light guns, 37 men) and a small force of dragoons (85 men), with the various regiments and units amounting to approximately 2,200 men, and several miles to the west and moving to join him was William Smallwood's and Mordecai Gist's Maryland militia, with approximately 1,900 inexperienced troops.

The Admiral Warren Tavern.

There was a strong loyalist presence in Pennsylvania, which gave the British good intelligence during the campaign, and 18th Century warfare being, in many respects, a casual business, it is more than possible that soldiers from both sides frequented the nearby taverns, particularly the Paoli which lay part way between the camps, and thus Howe was fully aware of Wayne’s presence and had precise knowledge of the strength of his force.

Major-general Charles 'No Flint' Grey. 

At 10 p.m. on September 20th, British Major-general Charles Grey marched his forces from their camp and launched a surprise attack on Wayne's camp, with Grey's troops including the 2nd Light Infantry, a composite battalion formed from the light companies of thirteen regiments (500 men), plus the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment (600 men) and 44th Regiment of Foot (350 men), together with about twenty troopers of the 16th Queen's Light Dragoons forming the vanguard of the British column, which numbered approximately 1,500 men. They in turn were supported by elements of Colonel Musgrave's 2nd Brigade, the 40th and 50th Foot, numbering some 250 men in each.

The Battle of Paoli on 20th/21st September 1777 - map by John Fawkes.

Marching down the Moores Hall Road to the Admiral Warren cross-roads, the leading British light infantry approached the junction, and were fired at by an American piquet, alerting the Pennsylvanian camp, which lay behind woods to the South of the junction.

The British forced the blacksmith whose smithy lay by the Admiral Warren to act as a guide, and it is said that they had also learnt from ‘Tory’ local farmers that the American sign and countersign were, “here we are” and “there they go.” , allowing the British troops to close on the American sentries and attack them with the bayonet; with the first wave of British troops, comprising of the 2nd Light Infantry, and the small group of 16th Light Dragoons, rushing through the woods and attacking the American camp, followed by the 44th Foot and 42nd Highlanders.  

A Dreadful scene of havoc by Xavier della Gatta, 1782.
British Light Infantry and Light Dragoons attacking the Pennsylvania camp: Battle of Paoli on 20th/21st September 1777.  

At General Grey’s direction, the flints had been removed from the British soldiers’ muskets before they set out from camp, to ensure that no shots gave warning to the Americans, and in the face of the British charge, the Pennsylvania troops were dispersed and driven out of the camp to the West, many through a gap in a fence along the edge of the encampment, that saw groups of British soldiers mixed with the Americans as confused fighting continued as far as the White Horse Tavern.

General Smallwood’s Militia approached from the West, as the fight between the British and Pennsylvanians was coming to an end, and themselves coming under attack as they passed the White Horse Tavern led to the inexperienced and badly organised Maryland Militia dissolving in confusion.

The American casualties seem to have been around 200 that included killed, wounded and prisoners, of whom around 55 were in fact killed. It is said that many Americans deserted in the confusion, whilst the British are reported to have had fewer than 20 casualties.

The fight was and often is referred to as the Paoli Massacre, with claims made that the British took no prisoners, but it is difficult to see how that label can be justified, in the light of the small number of American fatalities. The simple matter was that the attack was well executed and highly successful, enabling General Howe to take Philadelphia within a few days, and with little further resistance from the main American army under George Washington.

Following the British capture of Philadelphia after the Battle of Brandywine, Howe’s troops encamped in Germantown to the North of the city. The camp stretched in a line astride the main northern road.

British 40th Foot occupying the Chew House at the Battle of Germantown on 4th October 1777 - Xavier della Gatta.

Washington determined to surprise the British army in camp. His plan required a strong column under Major-General Nathaniel Greene, with McDougall, Muhlenberg, Stephen and Scott, to attack the right wing of the British army, which comprised Grant’s and Donop’s troops. The second column, which Washington commanded, with Stirling and Sullivan, would advance down the main Philadelphia road and attack the British centre. Forces of American militia would attack each wing of the British force, formed of the Queen’s Rangers on the right, and, on the left near the Schuylkill River, Hessian Jägers and British Light Infantry.

At Germantown on 4th October, the 44th came to the aid of Lt. Col. Musgrave's 40th who had become besieged in the Chew House; the 4th Brigade provided further assistance, during which Agnew was killed, and of the 44th they lost an additional five privates, with Ensign Stack, a sergeant, and 41 privates wounded and an additional man declared missing. 

While leading his 4th brigade in support of Lord Cornwallis, General Agnew was shot by a sniper and the damage severed his spine and left him paralyzed. His soldiers brought him back to his quarters in John Wister's Big House (now called Grumblethorpe) on Germantown Avenue, where he died. With the death of James Agnew, Major Henry Hope received a promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel. 

The British army spent the winter in Philadelphia. With the news of General Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga, Lieutenant-General Howe returned to England, relieved of his appointment in command in America at his own request, to be replaced by Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton.

Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton c. 1777 - John Smart.

With the Spring arrived news of the American-French alliance and with the threat that implied to British territories in the Caribbean, Clinton was under orders to evacuate Philadelphia and concentrate the British forces in New York.

On the 18th June 1778, Clinton’s British army, with artillery, supplies and the loyalist populace of the city, left Philadelphia and began the laborious march cross country to the North-East, and hearing that the British were on the move, General Washington marched his army east from Valley Forge, seeking to intercept the slow-moving British column, which he did so at Monmouth Courthouse.

The routes taken by the Continental Army from Valley Forge (dark blue) and the British Army from Philadelphia (red) to the Battle of Monmouth, June 1778. Where the roads allowed, the British first division took the western route while the second division followed a parallel route farther east. The dashed blue line shows Lafayette's attempt to catch the British when he was commander of the vanguard.
File:Monmouth1 plainsvg.svg - Wikimedia Commons

The British column was split into two divisions, with the 1st Division serving as the vanguard and containing most of the infantry, and the 2nd Division serving as the wagon train and rearguard, of which the 44th, with a strength of about 400 men, was assigned. 

Attack of the American vanguard on the British rearguard at the Battle of Monmouth, 28th June 1778.
File:Battle of Monmouth - American vanguard attack.png - Wikimedia Commons

Likewise, the Continental force intent on ambushing this force was also split in two, with the American vanguard of some 4,500 troops initially led by Major-General Lafayette until Major-General Charles Lee requested it and was given command, and the main body of just over 7,800 troops and the bulk of the artillery, marching some four miles behind under the command of George Washington.

The first shots were exchanged around 08:00 on the 28th June with the Queen's Rangers northwest of Monmouth Court House deployed by Clinton to cover the departure of the second division.

Old Monmouth Courthouse.

As Lee's vanguard attacked the waggon trains, it soon became obvious to the Americans that Lee had underestimated the size of the British force, and his initial attack was broken up when the rearguard held-out. 

As soon as he received news that his covering party was being probed, Clinton ordered Cornwallis to march the 1st division back towards Monmouth Court House, believing that Washington's main body was not close enough to come up in support and that the terrain would make it difficult for Lee to manoeuvre. He intended to do more than simply defend his baggage train; rather thinking the American vanguard was vulnerable, and seeing an opportunity to turn its right flank, and destroy it.

American rearguard action at the Battle of Monmouth as Washington takes command.
The 44th along with the 42nd Royal Highlanders were forced to pull back when confronted by American artillery at Perrine's Hill to join the 3rd Brigade who were covered in the Sutfin House orchard.

After pausing at Monmouth Court House, Clinton began to push westwards, forming his best troops into two columns, Guards on the right, Grenadiers on the left and the guns of the Royal Artillery between them, while a regiment of dragoons ranged about them. The infantry of the 3rd and 4th Brigades followed in line, while the 5th Brigade remained in reserve at Monmouth Court House.

General Washington confronts General Lee at the Battle of Monmouth.
"I desire to know, sir, what is the reason – whence arises this disorder and confusion?"

Lee's force was driven back and turned to their artillery for defence, as retreat threatened to turn into rout, although as disorganized as the retreat was for Lee, at unit level it was generally conducted with a discipline that did credit to Steuben's training in the previous winter at Valley Forge. The Americans suffered only some one dozen casualties as they fell back, an indication of how little major fighting there was; there were no organized volleys by infantry muskets, and only the artillery engaged in any significant action.

An attempt to flank the American retreat by crossing to the Spotswood North Brook failed due to Major-General William Alexander's use of artillery, and the 44th was forced to pull back to the 3rd Brigade who were covered in an orchard at Perrine's Hill. 

The battle was indecisive with both sides claiming victory; the British for protecting their waggon train, and the Continentals for the propaganda value of forcing a retreat. Lieutenant Kennedy of the Grenadier Company was killed during the combat, and George Kelly of the same company wounded.

New York 1778 - 1780

On September 1st, in response to the threat to Newport, by the combined Franco-American forces under French Admiral comte d'Estaing and General John Sullivan preparing to besiege the British garrison, General Sir Henry Clinton ordered 4,000 man relief force under General Charles Grey to prepare for transport to Rhode Island, while Admiral Lord Richard Howe sailed from New York to oppose d'Estaing.

1st Bn. Grenadiers (600 men), 1st Bn. Light Infantry (350 men)

3rd Brigade: 15th Foot (300 men), 17th Foot (250 men), 42nd Foot (600 men), 44th Foot (350 men)

4th Brigade: 33rd Foot (300 men), 37th Foot (350 men), 46th Foot (250 men), 64th Foot (350 men) 

However the threat soon dissolved on August 10th following an indecisive naval action between Howe and d'Estaing during which both fleets were damaged in a sudden storm, that caused d'Estaing to abandon Newport and sail to Boston to make repairs and by September 1st, the Americans had already retreated from the island after the inconclusive Battle of Rhode Island on August 29th, 1778, before Grey's force could intervene.

Rather than disembark Grey's troops at Newport, Clinton ordered them to return to New York but not before raiding coastal communities to destroy shipbuilding facilities and supplies, subsequently ordering the fleet to sail to New London, Connecticut, a potential raiding site, but on finding too few ships there to merit landing, ordered Grey to "proceed without loss of time to the eastward" to raid New Bedford and Fairhaven on the Massachusetts mainland, as well as the island of Martha's Vineyard.

A 1778 map annotated to show the expedition's general route: A marks Newport, Rhode Island, B marks New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and C marks Martha's Vineyard.

The force landed on the 5th September in the Acushnet River (B) with orders to destroy privateer craft and demolish fortifications in the area; after this they attacked Martha's Vineyard (C), forcing its 380 man garrison to surrender and seizing 300 oxen, 10,000 sheep and £1000, before returning to New York, Grey sailing from Martha's Vineyard on September 15th, and reaching New York City two days later.

Grey's report on the expedition lists one man killed, four wounded, and sixteen missing. He reported that the defenders had four men killed; he also took sixteen prisoners in New Bedford to exchange for his missing.

By the Autumn of 1778, the 44th was in winter quarters, with one company at Fort Knyphausen, seven at Laurel Hill, one at Southampton, and one in Long Island. An additional company was sent out to Jamaica as part of a large relief force sent to the West Indies to protect them from a French invasion force.

The Battle of Horse, February 25–27, 1779

Major-General William Tryon was a British Army officer
and colonial administrator who served as the governor of North Carolina
from 1764 to 1771 and the governor of New York from 1771 to 1777.

On the evening of February 24th, 1779, Major-General William Tryon commanded a combined-battalion of British troops formed from companies of the 17th Foot, 44th of Foot and the 57th of Foot, also a company of Hessian Grenadiers, a Loyalist company of Emmerick's chasseurs and dragoons, and the Loyal American Regiment, plus a small detachment of the Royal Artillery. The British marched from King's Bridge, and proceeded to Horse Neck, in Connecticut, where they arrived on the morning of February 26th.

The route of march for Tryon's raid into Connecticut, leading to the Battle of Horse, February 25–27, 1779.

As the battalion entered the town, they were halted by locals and militia tearing up the bridge at Byram. A company of the 5th Connecticut, and more militia, was stationed on Put's Hill near Knapp's Tavern, under the command of General Putnam. The Continentals exchanged fire with the British but soon retired in good order, leaving their three field-pieces (four-pounders) behind them, which the British spiked, and also captured a large quantity of ammunition and stores found nearby.

A detachment of the 17th and 44th of Foot was sent into the village of Greenwich, where they destroyed the local saltworks, more military stores, a fishing schooner, and two small ketches; after which they re-joined the rest of the battalion at Elizabeth's Point. Determining that more Continental and militia troops would arrive the next morning, Tryon ordered the battalion back to King's Bridge.

Initially encamping on Staten Island, by the autumn eight companies had been moved to Paulushook in New Jersey, but soon after received orders to deploy for Canadian service.

Canadian service
The 44th departed New York for the last time on the 15th May 1780, and found itself in Quebec as the war approached its final months, soon being distributed to St. Antoine, St. Charles. St. Denis and Montreal Island. 

Following the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1782, the 44th was ordered to remain in Canada, setting off for England in August 1786.

In 1782, most British regiments of foot were given county designations, and the regiment became the 44th (the East Essex) Regiment of Foot.

My 44th Foot are composed of the British Infantry plastic set from Perry Miniatures, together with a set of Colours from GMB and finished off with the low profile sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs and which has drawn a few enquiries here and on other forums which has prompted me to put together a bit of a focus post here on the blog to better illustrate why I like to use them.

The 44th are the last British unit in my two line brigades set to take part in my Brandywine game, and work with the British will turn attention to Howe and Cornwallis's elite spearhead units, the Light Infantry, Grenadiers and Guards, before moving on to the Hessians, artillery and cavalry.

So lots of fun to look forward to with this project, and as far as the Americans are concerned, the next showcase will feature my newly completed 11th Virginia Continental Regiment.

As always, more anon.

JJ