Henry Knox (24 page)

For the next two weeks, Knox kept his men ready to move. Washington could see no reason why the British had not already left Philadelphia; their baggage had been shipped out weeks earlier. He guessed that Howe and his replacement, General Henry Clinton, were waiting only for an American decision on a peace proposal they had offered Congress and for a separate offer from the Carlisle peace commissioners, sent by London.

The delegates flatly rejected the Howe-Clinton peace proposal on Saturday, June 6, and sent away the Carlisle peace commissioners on Wednesday, June 17, 1778, resolving that the body would not consider a treaty for peace with the British monarch unless given an "explicit acknowledgment of the independence of these states, or the withdrawing of his fleets and armies.“
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That evening Knox attended a war council held by Washington to decide whether to attack the enemy. Washington explained that now, with the arrival of recent recruits, the Continental Army had 11,000 men fit for battle, and he estimated the British force amounted to 12,000 men. They discussed the option of shifting the seat of the war to New York. Washington wondered if they should wait for the enemy to quit Philadelphia and make a stand in New Jersey or march directly to New York. Knox wanted to harass and annoy the British as much as possible but was opposed to a major assault on fortified Philadelphia. This opinion was shared by four others in the sixteen-man council, which unanimously rejected an attack on Philadelphia but was divided on an alternative plan of action. Knox and the other generals put their opinions in writing the next morning: "It appeared to be the general sentiment that it would be the most criminal degree of madness to hazard a general action at this time,“
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he wrote to Washington. Knox thought it ill-advised to attack the British, who could fire from behind entrenchments and batteries, and felt that attacking them in New Jersey was risky. For Knox, New York was the key position in America, linking the southern and northern states, especially New England. He wanted the army to wait until the British marched into New Jersey and then outrace them for the best position to battle for New York.

Shortly after 11
A.M.
that day, news arrived that the British had slipped out of Philadelphia before sunrise and the enemy fleet was sailing down the
Delaware River and out to sea. Major John Andre, with whom Henry Knox had spent an engaging night discussing literature during his Ticonderoga mission, had made off with Benjamin Franklin's collection of books. The redcoats had crossed over the Delaware at Cooper's Ferry and Gloucester Point, about three miles from Camden, and into New Jersey. The royal army moved with 1,500 wagons in a procession that stretched twelve miles.

General Arnold led the American division of Colonel Jackson's Massachusetts regiment to take possession of the city the next day, Friday, June 19, with orders to prevent disorder or vandalism. The main body of the American army was ordered to move out to Coryell's Ferry and cross the Delaware into New Jersey. Knox's artillery held the rear of the procession. Rain began to fall and the air became muggy in the early summer heat, making the march arduous and slow. Knox reached the Delaware by June 21 and spent the afternoon shipping the heavy artillery guns to the Jersey shore. He had an ample number of boats on hand to facilitate the crossing, but the rain, heat, and soggy roads stalled the army's progress in New Jersey. A gill of spirits was issued to each man.

The British moved slowly as well, marching just forty miles in seven days. Washington sent troops and militia to harass the rear of their procession and further hinder their progress.

Washington desperately wanted to strike a crippling blow to Clinton's army. At a war council held about six miles north of Princeton on Wednesday, June 24, however, Knox sided with General Charles Lee and all but one of the advisors present in opposing a major battle and favoring instead to increase the troops annoying the British march. Lee argued that the French alliance assured an American victory in a war of attrition and that it would be foolish to risk the army in a major battle. Despite the strides made by the troops during the previous winter, Lee felt that they could not defeat the experienced and disciplined British soldiers. Knox agreed.

Henry wrote to his brother the following day: "Had we a sufficiency of numbers we should be able to force them to a similar treaty with [defeated British general] Burgoyne; but, at present, have not quite such sanguine hopes.“
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Knox kept his artillery corps in motion as the army pressed through heavy rainstorms, humidity, and intense temperatures in a determined attempt to catch the British and prevent them from reaching New York. Several men fainted with fatigue, and some collapsed and even died of exhaustion. By Saturday, June 27, the two armies were five miles apart: the Americans at
Englishtown and the British at Monmouth Court House. Washington ordered an attack the next morning, fearing a delay would allow the British to reach an impregnable elevated position at Middletown Heights, twelve miles north. In the darkness, at 4
A.M.
, Clinton's red-clad soldiers began to move out. Intelligence reached Washington at 5
A.M.
, and General Lee was sent to lead an attack on the British rear while the rest of the Continental Army rushed to support the assault. The training and drilling Knox had put his men through in recent months would finally be tested under fire.

As Knox and Washington approached the battlefront, they were mortified to see the American vanguard troops in full retreat. The fleeing soldiers reported that General Lee had failed to give his officers coordinated orders, and instead of pushing for a strike against the 2,000-man British rearguard, had ordered the 5,000 troops under his command to wait to advance. Washington was furious. Riding up to Lee, he screamed that he expected his orders to be obeyed and unleashed a tongue-lashing replete with sharp profanities until, in Brigadier General Charles Scott's words, "the leaves shook on the trees." Lee answered that he thought an attack was unwise. Washington took command of the troops and rallied the men to form ranks. He rode from one end of the line to the other exhorting them to fight. Knox's booming voice called men to make a stand. He ordered his cannons to open fire to buoy the soldiers' resolve and push back the oncoming English.

Seeing the American flight, Clinton had turned his troops around and ordered a pursuit. At about 11
A.M.
, British cannons began to shell the Continental position. Knox worked furiously in what he believed was the hottest weather he had ever endured to move his gunners into position. "The enemy advanced with great spirit to the attack, and began a very brisk cannonade on us, who were formed to receive them," he recalled in a letter to Lucy.

The Americans took cover behind a hedgerow and woods, thanks to what Washington later described to Congress as "the brave and spirited conduct of the officers, and aided by some pieces of well served artillery, [which] checked the enemy's advance.“
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As the American troops regained their composure, they reloaded to attempt another assault. Their newly acquired discipline surfaced, and the men sent coordinated volleys ripping through the British lines. A correspondent from the
New York Journal
reported that "the severest cannonade began that it is thought ever happened in America.“
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Knox's artillery belched explosive charges that scattered the enemy troops and were met with a furious response from the royal cannons. Knox later recalled of his men, "I was highly delighted
with their coolness, bravery and good conduct.“
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Alexander Hamilton watched the firestorm and observed that the American "artillery acquitted themselves most charmingly.“
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The acrid smell of spent gunpowder filled the air and enveloped the battlefield as the armies fired almost blindly at each other. Men fell not only from enemy shots but from exhaustion and dehydration. The temperature topped ninety-two degrees, and the oppressive humidity, coupled with the heat emitted from cannons and muskets, drained fluids from the men dressed in heavy woolen uniforms. At the height of the battle, the wife of one of Knox's wounded artillerists, Mary Ludwig Hays, who would be celebrated as Molly Pitcher, heroically carted water to thirsty gunners trying to keep the Continental cannons blazing to match the British sallies. According to legend, she even manned a cannon after her husband fell. The duel dragged on throughout the afternoon. General Greene replaced Charles Lee and led his troops to circle around the enemy's left flank to Monmouth Road, emerging behind the courthouse and rear of the British line. The royal troops attempted to force Greene's men to retreat, but they made a spirited stand, and Knox's artillery gunners repulsed the charge with deadly precision. Exposed from behind by infantry and cannon fire, the redcoats fell back through a dense patch of woods and marsh. Washington ordered his troops to attack on both sides of the British line, and Knox's men sent galling cannon fire to the enemy front. The Americans gave chase but became bogged down in the terrain as twilight descended. They lay on their arms in the battlefield throughout the night, waiting for the morning light to renew the attack. Many were in critical need of water and were agonizing, some dying, from thirst. Washington found that the sandy ground in the area was "destitute of water." Knox did not rest but worked to get cannons in position to support the anticipated attack.

As the orange haze and the blue light of morning emerged, Knox could see that the British had slipped away in the night, leaving many of their wounded on the battlefield. The enemy had retreated so silently that even the American soldiers on outposts just a few yards away did not detect their movements. The redcoats left a trail of knapsacks, muskets, and personal belongings strewn for miles.

As Knox surveyed the battlefield, he thought it "a field of carnage and blood." Casualties on both sides were almost identical, each around 360. Henry felt his men and, indeed, the entire Continental Army under Washington had acquitted themselves. "Indeed, upon the whole, it is very splendid," he wrote in a letter to Lucy the following day. "The capital army of Britain
defeated and obliged to retreat before the Americans whom they despised so much!“
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To his brother William, Henry gloated, "The effects of the Battle of Monmouth will be great and lasting. It will convince the enemy and the world that nothing but a good constitution is wanting to render our army equal to any in the world.“
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Henry realized the victory over the main British army was critical in establishing confidence in the Continental Army before French troops took to the field in the war.

Washington gave much of the credit to Knox and his artillery corps. A day after the battle, he issued a statement in the army's general orders, proclaiming "[i]t is with peculiar pleasure in addition to the above that the commander-in-chief can inform General Knox and the Officers of Artillery that the enemy have done them the justice to acknowledge that no artillery could be better served than ours.“
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And to Congress, he reported that "[a]ll the artillery both officers and men that were engaged, distinguished themselves in a remarkable manner.“
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Charles Lee, however, would be court-martialed for failing to carry out Washington's orders; he was found guilty and suspended from the army for one year, thus ending his career in the service.

Knox had little time to recover from the battle. The army immediately resumed the march though New Jersey heading for New York. The British force reached Sandy Hook within a few days and waited for Admiral Howe's royal fleet to ferry the men to Manhattan. Congress, meanwhile, could finally return to Philadelphia after convening for ten months in Yorktown, Pennsylvania.

The French fleet arrived off the Capes of Delaware outside of Philadelphia on July 10 with eighteen ships, including transports carrying 10,000 soldiers and the news that France had formally declared war on Britain. Prepared to drive the British out of the city, instead the French were redirected to New York for an attempt to prevent the English from crossing New York Harbor. Clinton's force completed the naval evacuation, however, before the French gunships arrived.

Knox and the rest of the army crossed the Hudson River about fifty miles north of New York City and then marched south to White Plains. Washington wanted a coordinated land-sea, American-Franco attack to capture New York. But French admiral Comte d'Estaing was concerned that his ships might become grounded on the New York Harbor sandbar near Stanton Island. He was cautious about engaging the English fleet under Admiral Howe
in unknown waters that demanded complicated navigation. Instead, he sailed for Newport, Rhode Island, for a joint attack with 10,000 American troops under General John Sullivan. The French ships, armed with 834 guns, sailed into Narragansett Bay by the end of July, and Howe's British fleet, with 914 guns, pushed off from New York City a week later to confront them.

Knox and the rest of the American army in New York awaited the outcome of the battle. Admiral d'Estaing, clearly more comfortable in fighting the British in the open sea, recalled his troops from land and headed back to ocean waters under a favorable wind. The two fleets spent days maneuvering for position when a violent sea storm intervened, scattering ships and damaging sails and riggings. When the tempest abated, many ships, including Admiral d'Estaing's flagship, the ninety-gun
Languedoc
, were crippled. Instead of a coordinated battle, ships engaged in skirmishes and attacks with enemy ships they happened to encounter. The French fleet reassembled off Newport, and the British returned to New York for refitting. The alliance already showed signs of strain as General Sullivan and Admiral d'Estaing insulted each other, and by late August, as hurricane season began, the fleet sailed to Boston for repairs. Many American soldiers and militia in Rhode Island became panic-stricken with the departure of French battleships and began to desert in hordes, leaving the troops under Sullivan in danger and forcing a retreat.