The World Turned Upside Down - 8th Virginia Continental Regiment.

The 8th Virginia Regiment was authorised in December 1775 and organised between February and April 1776 at Suffolk Court House, Virginia, as one of eight rifle-equipped provincial regiments raised by the Commonwealth of Virginia to bolster frontier defences and support the patriot cause.

Recruited primarily from eight western counties—Berkeley, Frederick, Dunmore (now Shenandoah, contributing two companies), Hampshire, Culpeper, Augusta (three companies), and Fincastle—the regiment comprised ten companies of riflemen drawn from a diverse ethnic mix of German-Americans, Scotch-Irish, English settlers, and others, earning it the nickname "German Battalion" or "German Regiment" due to its significant German-speaking population and officers.

Peter Muhlenberg as a major general, painted years after the war. 

He never commanded as a major general.

In January 1776, Peter Muhlenberg, Abraham Bowman, and Peter Helphenstine were appointed colonel, lieutenant colonel, and major.

Adopted into Continental service on May 25th, 1776 (retroactive to that date), it initially served in the Southern Department, including the Chesapeake Campaign against British forces near Norfolk and the Battle of Sullivan's Island in June 1776, where nine of its companies helped repel a Royal Navy assault on Charleston Harbour, followed by a failed expedition to East Florida later that year that resulted in significant casualties from disease, primarily malaria.

The area of operations for the 8th Virginia Provincial Regiment during the Chesapeake Campaign February to May 1776

During the Chesapeake Campaign, from February to May, six or seven of the regiment’s companies participated in operations to oppose Lord Dunmore, the royal governor who was raiding coastal plantations and collecting an army of escaped slaves and indentured servants.

Major-General Charles Lee, commanding the Southern Department, responded to news of British troops landing in the Carolinas by taking the 8th Virginia south, stating that the regiment was the best equipped in the Virginia Provincial Line. However as the regiment was still a provincial one, many men objected to service outside of Virginia, and many deserted. Nine of the regiment’s ten companies were at Charleston for the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, June 28th, 1776, and about five companies (535 men) were engaged in combat on the north end of the island, blocking British infantry from crossing from Long Island

The regiment celebrated the Declaration of Independence at Charleston on August 5th, 1776, before Lee then took the regiment south on an expedition to attack St. Augustine in British East Florida, with over 100 men left at Charleston sick with malaria. 

Seriously ill, Major Helphenstine resigned and went home to Virginia, and the expedition halted at Sunbury, Georgia, by which time most of the remainder were sick, and in the end a significant number of 8th Virginia men died of malaria at Charleston and Sunbury.

Whilst the bulk of the regiment was in the south, detached elements went north to fight in the New York and New Jersey campaigns, including the Battles of White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, and the Forage War of winter 1777.

Captain William Croghan, led his West Augusta Company,
plus new recruits who arrived after the 8th Virginia moved south,
to join the Main Army in the North. He was promoted to major on May 16th, 1778.

​Captain William Croghan’s West Augusta Company arrived at Williamsburg after the regiment’s departure south, and a detachment was formed of this company, three groups of new recruits, and stragglers from other companies. Croghan’s Detachment served with the 1st Virginia Regiment until the spring of 1777, with the Detachment marching north to reinforce Washington in August 1776.

The 1st Virginia were then brigaded under Brig. Gen. William Alexander, Lord Stirling, and participated in the Battle of White Plains (October 28th, 1776) and the Battle of Trenton (December 26th, 1776). 

The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3rd, 1777 - John Trumbull

Dramatically reduced in number from illness and injury, Stirling’s brigade was combined under Gen. Hugh Mercer for the Battle of Assunpink Creek (January 2nd, 1777) and the Battle of Princeton (January 3rd, 1777), with Stirling being ill and absent from these battles, and would see General Mercer mortally wounded at Princeton. Only about six men from 140 originally assigned to Croghan’s Detachment were fit for duty at Princeton. During the 1777 Morristown Encampment, these men recuperated, and were inoculated for smallpox, and later engaged in the Forage War (winter 1777).

The Forage War was a partisan campaign consisting of numerous small skirmishes that took place in New Jersey between January and March 1777, following the battles of Trenton and Princeton. The British army was initially deployed from posts as far north as Hackensack to New Brunswick, with a garrison, numbering about 10,000, concentrated between New Brunswick and Amboy, together with a sizable contingent farther north, from Elizabethtown to Paulus Hook. General Washington established his headquarters at Morristown, separated from the coast by the Watchung Mountains, a series of low ridges, with him establishing forward outposts to the east and south of these ridges that served not only as a defensive bulwark against potential British incursions across the hills, but also as launch points for raids.

The 8th Virginia was reorganized on November 1st, 1777, as part of a broader Continental Army reorganisation, to consist of eight companies that certainly helped to address the problems of attrition from disease, desertion, and combat suffered in the previous twelve months, and the regiment transferred to the Main Army in January 1777, when Muhlenberg was promoted to brigadier general and, in the following March, Colonel Abraham Bowman took command of the unit.

In mid-June 1777 General Howe marched most of his army into central New Jersey in an attempt to lure Washington's Army to where it might be better attacked than its defensive position in the Watchung Mountains at Middlebrook Camp. 

When Washington refused to abandon his position, Howe returned to Amboy on June 22nd, whilst Washington's forward divisions, including that of Lord Stirling, shadowed the British movement, whilst he moved his main army out of the hills to Quibbletown.

Detail of a 1777 map depicting part of north-eastern New Jersey, showing the approximate movements of British and American forces that led to the Battle of Short Hills, June 26th 1777.

It was then that Howe seized the opportunity and on June 26th marched out of Amboy with two columns of troops, the first under Cornwallis, and the second under Vaughan, in an attempt to destroy Stirling's force and draw out Washington to come to his aid and force a battle with Washington off the high ground.

The Battle of Short Hills, June 26th 1777.
A map drawn by the Hessian officer Friedrich Adam Julius von Wangenheim showing the battle positions as he witnessed them.

Stirling's command, numbering about 2,500, comprised William Maxwell's New Jersey brigade, Thomas Conway's Pennsylvania brigade, Daniel Morgan's Corps of Riflemen and Ottendorf's Corps, commanded by Charles Armand. 

Morgan's command of around 350 men included riflemen of his own regiment, the 11th Virginia, , the 12th Virginia, and Captain Darke leading those from the 8th Virginia Regiment

A clearer interpretation of the Battle of Short Hills, June 26th 1777, courtesy of Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution 1775-1783, recently reviewed here on JJ's.
JJ's Wargames: Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution 1775-1783 - David C. Bonk & George Anderson.

Howe's march resulted in a skirmish with Lord Stirling's troops and eventually a pitched battle in Scotch Plains, during which Stirling's outnumbered force retreated, to join Washington, alerted to the British movement, who had by then retreated back to his fortified camp in the hills at Middlebrook, avoiding a major confrontation and preserving his army.

The casualties at Short Hills, amounted to the Americans losing 12 killed, 50 wounded, and 50 missing/captured, and British approximately 70 killed or wounded.

On July 29th, Washington received confirmation that Howe had departed New York and was sailing south, and on the 30th the British fleet fleet was seen at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, before further reports on August 23rd, confirmed that Howe’s fleet was anchored in the Chesapeake Bay, with the British landing at Head of Elk, Maryland, on August 25th, 1777, effectively starting the campaign to capture Philadelphia.

Morgan's riflemen were sent north to support operations to oppose the British offensive towards Albany under General John Burgoyne, leaving the Main Army in mid August 1777, but Captain Darke didn't leave with them, instead leading about 40 men detached to Brig. Gen. William Maxwell’s Light Infantry and part of Stephen's Division of picked men. 

Brigadier General Maxwell's Temporary Light Infantry Battalion 

(Three divisions provided picked men for this battalion, about 200 men each)

Greene's Division Division - men from the 1st and 2nd Virginia brigades

Wayne's (Lincoln's) Division - men from the 1st and 2nd Pennsylvania brigades

Stephen's Division - men from the 3rd and 4th Virginia brigades

Darke's detachment  would see action at the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge (September 3, 1777), supported only by militia.

During the Philadelphia campaign, the 8th Virginia was assigned to the 4th Virginia Brigade of Charles Scott, and the regiment would be heavily engaged at Brandywine and Germantown in the late summer and autumn of 1777.

Brigadier General Charles Scott

commanded the 4th Virginia Brigade in the 1777 campaign

4th Virginia Brigade: Brigadier General Charles Scott (Strength's as at the Battle of Brandywine)
4th Virginia Regiment (314 all ranks)
8th Virginia Regiment (157 all ranks)
12th Virginia Regiment (117 all ranks)
Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment (100 all ranks)
Patton's Additional Continental Regiment (124 all ranks)

At the Battle of Brandywine on September 11th, 1777 Maxwell's temporary light infantry battalion, skirmished extensively on the American left flank, before crossing Brandywine Creek to harass British and Hessian forces for several hours while exposed to enemy fire. 

Brigadier General William Maxwell's temporary light infantry battalion, skirmished extensively on the American left flank, eventually crossing Brandywine Creek to oppose British and Hessian forces. 

The main body of the regiment, 157 men, all ranks, under Colonel Bowman, held defensive lines as part of Scott's brigade, attempting to block General William Howe's flanking manoeuvre, though the Continentals ultimately retreated after heavy fighting.

The main body of the 8th Virginia Regiment, 157 men, all ranks, under Colonel Bowman, held the right of Washington's line on high ground above Birmingham Meeting House as part of Scott's 4th Virginia Brigade.

The regiment's involvement continued at the Battle of Germantown on October 4th, 1777, where Scott's brigade advanced on the British right flank as part of Washington's surprise attack on the Philadelphia garrison. 

Thick morning fog caused severe disorientation, leading to friendly fire incidents; elements of the 8th Virginia exchanged volleys with Anthony Wayne's Pennsylvania brigade, mistaking them for the enemy in the chaos. 

Major William Darke, recently promoted, led a forward detachment into the mist and was captured along with several officers and men during the initial assault. 

William Darke, portrait by Frederick Kemmelmeyer, circa 1790-1800. 

Captain and then Major Darke was a key personality in the 8th Virginia Regiment, 

first leading the rifle detachment under Colonel Daniel Morgan, 

and then the picked men who joined Brig. Gen. William Maxwell’s Light Infantry, 

later becoming a militia general after the war.

Despite early gains, the fog-induced confusion contributed to the American retreat, after which the regiment fell back with the rest of the army to take up winter quarters at Valley Forge. Lt. Col. John Markham was later cashiered for refusing orders to advance amid the disorder, and Stephen was relieved of command for misconduct, after evidence surfaced that he was intoxicated during the battle.

Encamped in the Muhlenberg Brigade sector, the regiment endured extreme hardships, including shortages of food, clothing, and shelter, with many soldiers furloughed or discharged as three-year terms ended by early 1778.

Under the instruction of Inspector General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, who arrived in February 1778, members of the 8th Virginia participated in intensive training to standardise drill, manoeuvrers, and bayonet use, transforming the army's discipline and effectiveness.

By June 1778, with enlistments expired and recruits slow to arrive, the 8th Virginia was consolidated into the temporary 4th–8th–12th Virginia Regiment under Colonel James Wood, and Lt. Col. John Neville (of the 4th) and this combined unit joined the Monmouth Campaign, pursuing General Henry Clinton's British army as it evacuated Philadelphia. 

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

Positioned near the vanguard, the former 8th Virginia elements engaged in minor skirmishes and pursuit actions leading to the Battle of Monmouth on June 28th, 1778, where they supported the main assault after initial setbacks under Major General Charles Lee, part of Scott's Brigade then under the command of Colonel William Greyson, helping to stalemate the British withdrawal in intense heat.

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

Remnants of the original 8th Virginia Regiment, which had merged into the 4th Virginia Regiment in September 1778, along with personnel from the short-lived new 8th Virginia (reorganized from the former 12th Virginia Regiment and consolidated into the 4th on May 12th, 1779), contributed to southern defences following the British capture of Savannah in late 1778 and their advances into Georgia and South Carolina. 

On May 12th, 1779, the consolidated 4th Virginia Regiment was assigned to the Southern Department under Major General Benjamin Lincoln. Additionally, veterans and new recruits intended for Virginia line regiments, formed part of Brigadier General Charles Scott's levies totalling about 1,300 men drawn from various Virginia regiments that marched south starting in mid-1779 to support Lincoln's army.

Throughout 1779, elements of Scott's levies engaged in skirmishes in Georgia, repelling British and Loyalist incursions near Savannah as part of joint Franco-American operations, and participating in the siege of Savannah from September to October, where they suffered heavy losses during the failed assault on the Spring Hill Redoubt, with 13 killed and 51 wounded out of 166 engaged. Disease, harsh conditions, and desertions plagued these detachments during their southern march and operations, reducing their ranks significantly before reaching allied lines.

Map of the Siege of Savannah and the Attack on 9th October 1779 - map by John Fawkes

By early 1780, as British General Sir Henry Clinton shifted focus to Charleston, remnants associated with the former 8th—now within the 4th Virginia Regiment and Scott's levies—integrated into the reinforced defences alongside Brigadier General William Woodford's brigade of Virginia regiments (2nd, 3rd, and 6th). Scott's detachments marched approximately 800 miles from Virginia to join Lincoln's army in March, assigned to key positions in the earthworks.

Map of the Siege of Charleston; April and May 1780  -  map by John Fawkes

The Siege of Charleston ended on 12th May 1780 with Benjamin Lincoln's surrender, and at least 2,650 American Continentals were captured in addition to militiamen.

The 8th Virginia Continental Regiment would be formally dissolved on January 1st 1783 with most troops mustered out between June and November 1783.

My 8th Virginia Continental Regiment is composed of Perry Miniatures plastic Continental Infantry, and carry a Colour from the Flags of War range, and the unit finished off with a set of low profile sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs.

They are depicted as they might have looked after their reorganisation in 1777, with one source suggesting the issue of French supplied blue coats with white turnbacks, and predominantly musket armed, but with some of the rifle armed elements modelled with the figures in hunting shirts, and at strength before sickness and desertions took effect.

I have modelled them as a 16-figure regiment, about 320 men, but as the history shows this is generous indeed, as the regiment barely mustered 200 men for much of its service as a Continental regiment, and so my 8th Virginia will likely be representing a combined battalion for much of its time on table, as many Virginia regiments, such as the 12th Regiment that served alongside the 8th in the 4th Virginia Brigade, were in a similar state

To complete the look, I have a drummer kitted out in a captured British yellow faced drummers coat and an extra officer alongside the Lieutenant Colonel, sword drawn, to represent Captain William Darke with fusil under arm, ready to lead a detachment of picked men and rifles.

Next up the focus returns to the British collection as work concludes on my First Composite Battalion of Grenadiers.

More anon

JJ

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

 

So this post is not my normal review of a new additional unit added to the 'TWTUD' project, because I had already painted Hazen's 2nd Canadian Continental Regiment and showcased it back in August last year, see the link to that post and the history of the unit in the link below.

JJ's Wargames - 2nd Canadian Continental Regiment, Part One

At the end of that previous post I mentioned that I intended to come back to this regiment, by adding another base of figures, to make it a twenty strong unit (around 400 men strong), and thus more reflective of the historical strength of the Canadians in many of the battles it featured in and also captured in Army returns as quoted by Greg Novak.

Staten Island, August 22nd 1777 - 400 men all ranks

Brandywine, September 11th 1777 - 393 men all ranks

May 2nd 1778 Returns, Fishkill New York -  494 men all ranks

Main Army Return January 1781 - 415 men all ranks

  

In addition I decided that with no information to the contrary and perhaps better reflective of the association the regiment had with Congress, who better to carry the new national flag of the American Congress alongside their handsome white colour than my 'beefed up' Canadians.

As mentioned in the previous post, the 2nd Canadians were authorised in January 1776 to be an overstrength Continental Regiment, adopting a French order of battle to its composition, to consist originally of four battalions (20 companies), able to draw recruits from all the states.

 

Colonel Moses Hazen successfully maintained force levels with over nineteen hundred soldiers enlisted in the corps during the war, whilst ensuring the unit achieved high cohesion, and performed ably in combat.

I think the more imposing look of my new 2nd Canadians will hopefully give a pause for thought for any British commander facing them across the other side of the table.

I have enjoyed a slight pause in unit production as my thoughts have turned to terrain items for future games with the collection, and those thoughts have started with snake rail fences, and more precisely building the kits I had purchased from Charlie Foxtrot alongside the fieldworks resin models I purchased from Ironclad Miniatures last year at Partizan.

Charlie Foxtrot Models - American Snake Fence Bases Set

Ironclad Miniatures - Fieldworks in 28mm

Work on both these two projects has been proceeding in the last two weeks and I will be showcasing these additions to the terrain collection in my next TWTUD post.

As always more anon

JJ

The World Turned Upside Down - The German Battalion (8th Maryland) Continental Regiment.

 

The German Battalion, also known as the 8th Maryland Regiment, was a rather unique Continental Army unit in the American War of Independence, serving from 1776 to 1781 and was authorised by Congress on the 25th May 1776 along with five additional regiments*, one being the German Battalion comprised of officers and men selected from among the German settlers of Pennsylvania and Maryland in eight companies, four from each state. It was hoped Hessians in British service would be lured to desert the British Army to fight for the Americans.

 

*six Additional Continental regiments, were authorized by Congress and organized in late 1775 to mid-1776, and were distinct by having formed without any administrative connection to an individual state; these were further augmented by sixteen Additional Continental regiments approved by Congress as a separate group on December 27th, 1776, specifically in response to a request from Gen. George Washington for additional troops, and Congress expressly delegated their formation directly to Washington.

Each Company was to consist of ninety enlisted men and the following officers: a Captain, a 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Lieutenant, Ensign and non- commissioned officers: 4 Sergeants, 4 Corporals, 2 Drummers or one Fifer and one Drummer and 80 privates. The Regiment was to be commanded by a Colonel, and the officers under him were a Lieutenant-Colonel, two Majors, a Chaplain, a Surgeon and a Surgeon's Mate.

The German Regiment was organized under the command of Colonel Nicholas Haussegger of Pennsylvania, commissioned July 17th, 1776, he having previously been a Major of the 4th Pennsylvania Battalion of Militia; and the same day that Colonel Haussegger was appointed, a ninth company was recruited from Pennsylvanians at the urging of George Washington as a way to employ French and Indian War veteran Lieutenant John David Woelper of the 3rd Pennsylvania Battalion.

The German Battalion was assigned to the Middle Department on 27th June 1776, and the unit organized at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the period 6th July to 25th September, later being assigned to the main army on 23rd September.

The map shows the Battle of Trenton on the 26th December 1776. The German Battalion marched with the northern column covering the Princeton road.

A strength return from 22nd December 1776 showed that the battalion mustered 374 soldiers under Haussegger's command, and together with the 254-man 1st Continental Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Edward Hand, the battalion served in Matthias Alexis Roche de Fermoy's brigade; and four days later on the 26th December 1776, the regiment fought at the Battle of Trenton, marching with the left column which was accompanied by George Washington. 

When the column deployed for battle, Hugh Mercer's brigade was on the right, Adam Stephen and Lord Stirling's brigades in the centre and Fermoy's brigade on the left.

Early in the combat, Washington moved Fermoy's brigade to the east to prevent the Hessian defenders from retreating north to Princeton, and when Hessian commander Johann Gottlieb Rall attempted to break out to the north on the east side of town, Washington shifted Fermoy's brigade farther east to outflank him.

The Battle of Trenton - Hugh Charles McBarron, Jr.

Toward the end of the battle, Haussegger's men yelled in German to the Hessians to lay down their weapons and surrender, and with Rall and many of their higher officers wounded, the Hessians soon capitulated.

As New Years Day 1777 dawned, a reinforced American brigade took position behind a creek six miles south of Princeton, ready to block the advance of Lord Charles Cornwallis' forces, and among the 1,000 Americans were Hand's riflemen, of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment, Charles Scott's Virginia Brigade, the German Battalion, with 410 officers and men present, and six artillery pieces under Thomas Forrest. 

During the morning hours, the Americans repulsed the 1st Light Infantry Battalion and two companies of Hessian Jägers, and it was necessary to commit British and Hessian grenadiers before the Americans pulled back, with the British suffering most of the 140 casualties lost during the action.

 
The next day, Cornwallis brought on the Battle of the Assunpink Creek when he launched a major push with 8,000 troops and 28 guns. 

The alcoholic Fermoy abandoned his troops, leaving the capable Colonel Hand in command, and there was a clash at Little Shabbakunk Creek, where Cornwallis was forced to unlimber his artillery, but as soon as British pressure became too great, Hand pulled back his men to a second blocking position, and later falling back to a third position at Stockton Hollow, outside Trenton. 

As dusk fell, superior British numbers forced Hand's troops into a hurried retreat through the town, and during the withdrawal, the British captured Haussegger and some of his men near the lower fords of Assunpink Creek.

The Americans regarded Haussegger's capture with suspicion, and indeed the performance of the German Battalion may have been affected, as he was considered to have defected to the British and was not employed by the American army after being sent home on parole.

That evening, columns of British and Hessian troops tried to storm the bridge and the lower fords, but were stopped, and Washington posted the German Battalion at the bridge in the second line, behind Scott's troops; the next day, 3rd January, the battalion was present at the Battle of Princeton, participating on the left flank in the attack on Lt Colonel Mawhood and the 17th Foot, that eventually, compelled the British to break off the fight.

I covered the battle of Princeton in my post looking at the 17th Foot.
JJ's Wargames - The World Turned Upside Down, HM 17th Foot

After Haussegger defected to the British, George Washington appointed Prussian volunteer Henry Leonard d'Arendt to command the battalion, on the 19th March 1777, the same day that Haussegger was removed from the rolls.

Following the battles of Trenton and Princeton, both British and Continental Army troops entered their winter quarters in early January, with General William Howe ordering General Cornwallis back to New York, and pulling all British and Hessian forces back to Brunswick and Amboy, two New Jersey towns just across the river from New York City. 

This effectively surrendered New Jersey to the Continental Army, leaving Continental regulars and militia companies from New Jersey and Pennsylvania at liberty to engage in numerous scouting and harassing operations against the British and German troops quartered in New Jersey and needing to protect supply trains, reconnaissance parties, and messengers, as well as foraging parties sent out to find food and forage for themselves and their horses.

Later known as 'The Forage War' consisting of numerous small skirmishes that took place in New Jersey between January and March 1777, the battalion fought in the Battle of Spanktown on the 23rd February 1777, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Stricker. 

A reinforced British brigade under Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood, with a battalion each of light infantry and grenadiers, plus the 3rd Brigade consisting of the 10th Foot, 37th Foot, 38th Foot and 52nd Foot, was on a mission to destroy any rebel forces they could catch; and near Spanktown, Mawhood found a group of militia herding some livestock covered by a larger body of Americans waiting on a nearby hill, and he sent the grenadier company of the 42nd Foot on a wide flanking manoeuvre. 

Just as the grenadiers prepared to launch their assault, they were fired on from ambush and routed with the loss of 26 men, and at this moment, the Americans attacked with a superior force forward to envelop Mawhood's force. The American force included the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th New Jersey Regiments, the 1st and 8th Pennsylvania Regiments, and the German Battalion. Mawhood's surprised men were hounded all the way back to Amboy, with casualties from the action seeing, the American forces inflicting 75 killed and wounded on the British while losing five killed and nine wounded in return.

About this time, the German Battalion shed its status as an Extra Regiment and was counted as part of two state establishments, with one-half of the unit credited to the Maryland Line while the remaining half became part of the Pennsylvania Line, with Washington refraining from raising any Additional Regiments in Maryland because of that state's responsibility for the German Battalion.

Major General John Sullivan

On the 22nd May 1777, Washington assigned the German Battalion to the 2nd Maryland Brigade, under Brigadier General Preudhomme de Borre part of Major General John Sullivan's division, later taking part in the abortive raid on the British held Staten Island on the 22nd August 1777.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Staten_Island,_1777.svg

Sullivan's division had been left in New Jersey in case Howe doubled back from his cruise south, and Sullivan's attack on Staten Island was designed to convince the British command that the New York garrison was at risk.

The attack started well, catching the Loyalist garrison by surprise, but British reinforcements and not enough boats to effect a retreat, cost the American force two companies, made worse by an incompetent guide misleading one of the detachments to the front of the British positions rather than its rear, resulting in American losses of dead, wounded, and captured, each double or more than those of the British, depriving Washington of some 180-300 men needed for his campaign to defend Philadelphia.

Battle of Brandywine, 11th September 1777, Knyphausen's approach.

The battalion fought at Brandywine on the 11th September 1777, with a strength of 305 men all ranks,  initially positioned near Brinton's Ford, until Washington ordered Sullivan to take overall command of Stirling and Stephen's divisions (in addition to his own) and quickly march north to meet the British flank attack.

The British attack, saw the Brigade of Guards catching de Borre's 2nd Maryland Brigade by surprise on the American left, before they had had time to fully form, and immediately sent them into disarray, causing the entire division to rout, and collapsing the American line before Birmingham Meeting House.

After capturing Philadelphia, General Howe left a garrison of some 3,000 troops, while moving the bulk of his force to the outlying community of Germantown, and on the 4th October 1777 Washington's 11,000-strong army attacked the 9,000-man British army through a heavy morning fog with four separate columns designed to converge on the British position.

The Battle of Germantown, 4th October 1777.

The German Battalion as part of the 2nd Maryland Brigade was met by the British counterattack by generals Grey and Agnew's brigades, that, along with American troops attacking Chew House, and others firing at each other in the fog, eventually causing the American attack to lose impetus and initiate a retreat.

The following June the German Battalion was at the Battle of Monmouth, 28th June, 1778, now under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Weltner, and part of Brigadier General Peter Muhlenberg's Virginian Brigade, with a strength of 397 men all ranks, and bolstering a brigade with three regiments, the 1st, 5th and 9th Virginians, so reduced to be amalgamated into one regimental group, however the brigade arrived late in the day and was not engaged. 

On the 22nd July, the battalion transferred back to the 2nd Maryland Brigade and was reassigned to Edward Hand's Pennsylvania Brigade on the 24th November 1778 and served in the Sullivan Expedition in the summer of 1779; a devastating campaign led by General John Sullivan, and ordered by George Washington to cripple the British-allied Iroquois Confederacy by destroying their villages, crops, and food supplies in New York and Pennsylvania, aiming to end raids on settlements like Cherry Valley and Wyoming Valley. 

The scorched-earth campaign, involved around 4,500 Continental troops, and successfully razed over forty Iroquois towns and ruined vast harvests, forcing thousands of Iroquois refugees to flee, significantly weakening their war effort and opening lands for future American settlement, though it resulted in immense suffering for the native population.

On the 8th October 1779, the German Battalion was detached from Hand's Brigade, and the unit transferred to the New Jersey Brigade on 16th September 1780. 

On January 1st, 1781 General Washington ordered the army reformed and the Maryland forces were consolidated into five regiments serving in the Southern campaign, which would see the German Battalion officially disbanded at Morristown, New Jersey and Baltimore, Maryland on the 1st January 1781, when its men were transferred to other regiments from their respective states, where they continued to serve.

The early disbandment of the regiment is likely explained by it's poor discipline record, it being described by one commentator as 'one of the worst regiments in the Continental Army, not because it was actually bad at fighting, but because it had a poor corps of officers, which may have contributed to its soldiers’ habit of mutiny.'

That reference to a poor officer corps can be traced back to the cloud that hung over the regiment's first commanding officer, Colonel Nicholas Haussegger, who whilst in British captivity was accused by other American officers of trying to persuade them of the futility of the rebellion and to change sides.

The second Colonel of the German Regiment, Baron d’Arendt, a Prussian volunteer, was unpopular with the men and sought a transfer after a few months of being in charge. Henry Laurens, a founding father, described Arendt as 'an Indolent worthless Creature'.

The second Lieutenant Colonel of the German Regiment was Ludowick Weltner, who was the commanding officer of the German Regiment from autumn of 1777 until its dissolution. In 1780, the German Regiment was stationed at Sunbury in the Pennsylvania frontier, and while in Sunbury, Weltner terrorized the local inhabitants, encouraging his officers and men to beat the locals, steal from them, and destroy their property.

Besides the highest ranking officers in the unit, the junior officer corps also had a bevy of problems, which included physical infirmity, duelling, fraud, embezzlement, and cowardice in battle.

Not surprisingly, the state of the leadership described impacted the men's morale and the regiment was involved in two episodes of mutiny, one in September 1776, when rations were halted when men were not working whilst in barracks in Philadelphia, needing Lt. Colonel Stricker, who had issued the order for no rations, to parade the regiment and have men with loaded muskets directed at them to gain control back.

The second mutiny occurred a few years later, when the German Regiment was part of Hand’s Brigade during General John Sullivan’s campaign against the Iroquois in 1779; when in the spring of that year, soldiers from Pennsylvania petitioned Congress, believing that they had been defrauded into serving for the duration of the war:'

On the 14th July of 1779, William Rogers, a chaplain in Sullivan’s army wrote that “Last Night thirty three of the German Regiment deserted under the plea of their time being out. They went off properly armed with drum and fife. … a detachment of fifty soldiers on horseback were ordered to pursue them.” The deserters were captured, and made to remain with the army.

So my German Regiment will make for an interesting addition to my Continental Army when it is brought to the table.

As with previous units, I have used the plastic Continental figures from Perry Miniatures to represent the regiment, which is one that has less information about it's appearance than others, but given its connection with other Maryland regiments it seems likely that the blue and red faced coats were a feature, but with more use of the ubiquitous hunting shirts, given its 'Additional' status and supplies of coats having likely already been issued to other regiments. The only other reference I came across was the wearing of 'blue stockings' and so I have sprinkled a few examples around my regiment.

The colours carried are purely conjectural, with a snake/liberty design from GMB and the Gostelowe Standard No. 5, with the motto, 'Sustain or Abstain' (Help or Stay Neutral), and with a thorn bush in hand, from Flags of War.

In August 1778, Major Jonathan Gostelowe, a member of the Philadelphia militia artillery, and serving with the 4th Continental Artillery Regiment, completed an inventory of all arms and materiel held by the Continental Army in south-eastern Pennsylvania. This inventory included illustrations of thirteen standards (regimental flags). It is not known which regiments were issued these flags, or indeed if they were issued at all, but given the German Regiment's association with Pennsylvania the choice of a Gostelowe colour seemed appropriate.

In addition to the Colours chosen I have completed my German Regiment with a set of low profile sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs.

Next up, my Canadian Regiment has received some reinforcements, which I added to the unit before Christmas, so I will post a few pictures of the larger unit, that recognises it's rather unique structure better, based on the French organisation rather than the British one.

Alongside that, I am working on some Charlie Foxtrot Snake Rail Fence kits whilst carrying on with the next two new units to be showcased, so lots happening and more to be posted here on JJ's.

As always more anon.

JJ