Howe to Say Goodbye & The Battle of Barren Hill

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Since the Battle of Bunker Hill we’ve been talking about British General William Howe during many of the engagements between the Americans and British. His actions during the siege of Boston (of which Bunker Hill was a part) contributed to a British retreat from Boston in March of 1776.

Howe and the British Army redeemed themselves however with a victory over Washington and the Continental Army at the Battle of Long Island in August of the same year, and just one month later Howe led a British invasion of New York City and while he was successfully during the fall of 1776, critics of Howe state that he missed an opportunity to crush General Washington and the Continental Army by not pursuing the Patriots as they retreated from New York.

Howe again defeated Washington and the Continental Army at the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, but decided to then launch an attack against Philadelphia instead of coming to the aid of British General John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga as planned. Without the support of Howe and his men, the British army at Saratoga was overwhelmed and forced to surrender to American General Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777. The American victory at the Battle of Saratoga was one of the turning points of the Revolutionary War and General Howe’s decision not to support it proved a major failure in judgment.

Burgoyne placed the blame for the British loss at the Battle of Saratoga squarely on Howe’s shoulders. Within a month, Howe requested that he be relieved of his duty as commander in chief of the British army, and, in the spring of 1778, he was replaced by General Henry Clinton. Upon his return to England, Howe received so much criticism that, in 1779, Parliament was forced to open an investigation into his military conduct in America.

Howe was cleared of any wrongdoing by the investigation and went on to become the governor of Berwick. Upon his brother’s death in 1799, Howe inherited his Irish title and was named a viscount. He also became governor of Plymouth and a privy councilor (advisor to the king) prior to his death on July 12, 1814, at the age of 84.

American General George Washington now has a new counterpart: Sir Henry Clinton, but Clinton was no stranger to Washingon, with Clinton having served in the Battle of Bunker Hill, The Battle of Sullivan’s Island, and The Battle of Long Island to name a few.

Clinton had been missing in action recently, as he had traveled back to England in 1777 to petition Parliament to gain command of the northern campaign., but he lost to John Burgoyne. Upset, Clinton tried to resign, but the king refused his request and ordered him to return to New York where he resumed his post as second-in-command to Howe. He was presented with a knighthood to mollify him.

When he arrived in New York and realized that he would be left there with only 7,000 troops while Howe was in Philadelphia and Burgoyne was in the North, he predicted that the British would lose the colonies.

Sure enough, Burgoyne met failure in Saratoga, but Clinton had some small successes capturing the forts on the Hudson River. These would be Forts Mercer and Mifflin that we talked about in our last episode. When Henry Clinton was named Commander-in-Chief of the North America in February 1778 with Charles Cornwallis as his second-in-command, his orders were to simply strengthen British-owned forts rather than take control of new areas. Clinton officially took command of the British Army on March 7, 1778

We’ll flash forward a few weeks to May of 1778 for our next topic of discussion, the Battle of Barren Hill. At this point of the year, Washington and his men are still encamped at Valley Forge. The British, now under the command of Clinton, were still holding strong in Philadelphia.

With the onset of spring, Washington expected movement of some sort from the British army in Philadelphia. An advance on Washington’s Valley Forge encampment was a threat, but because of the American victory at Saratoga and the subsequent French alliance, a withdrawal to New York City was also a possibility, and intelligence indicated that this was the British intention. To protect Valley Forge, determine British intentions, and annoy their foraging expeditions, General George Washington sent Lafayette to Barren Hill (about halfway between Valley Forge and Philadelphia) to reconnoiter British intentions, as well as to interrupt British detachments foraging for food and supplies in the surrounding countryside.

So who was this Lafayette character? First of all, Lafayette wasn’t even his name. It was technically a title. His full name is extremely long and please, pardon my French: Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. In the United States, he simply took to being called: Lafayette. Lafayette was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought for the United States in the American Revolutionary War. And he was a cclose friend of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, oh and one more thing: At the time of this battle, he’s only 20 years old and this was his first command. But if you’ll recall from the end of our last episode, we’d just signed an alliance with France, so putting a French commander in charge of this mission does look good politically.

On May 18, Lafayette left the Valley Forge camp The mission was questionable to say the least, with the force being too small to have any chance against a major British counter effort — only 2,100 troops and five pieces of artillery — but more than big enough to lure them into making such an effort.

After crossing the Schuylkill River and turning south, he took up position at Barren Hill, which was close to Matson’s Ford. A brigade and the guns were posted on the high ground, near a church, facing south. Another posting was at the Ridge Road to the south, and the Pennsylvania militia was sent to guard the road that led west from White Marsh. Although ordered to camp in a different location every night, Lafayette believed that his position at Barren Hill was safe.

On the night of May 19th around 10:30 PM, the day after Lafayette left Valley Forge, and also the day after the extravagant British celebration which marked the end of Sir William Howe’s command, several thousand British soldiers were sent north to surround and capture Lafeyette and his troops. Maj. Gen. James Grant lead the British offensive which was comprised of a 5,000-man British force, including 15 guns. The British had been alerted to the American troops due to a local Loyalist spy’s report.

The plan was to take a circular route leading to the junction of White Marsh Road and Ridge Road. This would cut off any avenue of retreat for the Americans. A body of 2,000 grenadiers and dragoons would then move along Lafayette’s left flank while another group would move into position on the American right. The plan would result in the American position being encircled from 3 positions, trapping them against the river. The British force was to wait until morning to attack and destroy or capture the entire American force.

On May 20, the British launched their attack. The militia scattered at the sight of the British troops, not offering any resistance and failing to notify Lafayette of the attack. On Ridge Road, the American group learned of the British attack. A small group was sent to fight a delaying action against the British while their commander sent word to Lafayette about the developments. After Lafayette learned of the attack, another patriot came up and told him that the British had advanced up the White Marsh Road.

Lafayette knew of another small road that led back to Matson’s Ford that would bypass the British force. It ran along some low ground that would conceal the Americans from the British. The British did not know about this road. Lafayette ordered his men to retreat down this road while ordering a rear guard to delay the British at the church.

Lafayette assigned 500 men and approximately 50 Oneida Indians armed with cannon to face the British onslaught and stand their ground by the local church, while the rest of Lafayette’s forces fled west over the Schuylkill River to safety. Before the Oneida warriors followed the Continental Army across the Schuylkill, they are believed to have bravely given chase to the British as they marched back to Philadelphia. The retreat cost the lives of six Oneidas, including a tribal sachem, Thomas Sinavis

Lafayette, had personally recruited the Oneida to join the Patriot cause by using the Indians’ preference for the French over the English; the Oneida arrived at Valley Forge back on May 13. Lafayette promised the Oneida that they would serve under French instead of colonial Patriot commanders and that they would be given assistance in building a fort at their Mohawk Valley, New York, settlement.

These fresh Indian recruits were paired with Lafayette’s best Patriot fighters, fresh from training under European officers at Valley Forge.

Historians have questioned the decision of Washington for dispatching a sizable force under the command of such a young general in the vicinity of the British Army. However Washington himself called Lafeyettes maneuver a “timely and handsome” piece of military trickery.

The British, having failed to bag Lafayette, would ultimately begin to retreat from Philadelphia to New York. Washington’s army shadowed Clinton on his withdrawal and forced a battle at Monmouth on June 28, 1778, the last major battle in the North. And it’s with that retreat and subsequent battle, that we will pick up our conversation next week.