Battle of Stony Point

Battle of Stony Point
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Capture of Stony Point by Wayne
Date July 16, 1779 Location Stony Point, New York Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	British
Commanders and leaders
Anthony Wayne	Henry Johnson
Strength
1,350	700
Casualties and losses
15 killed 83 wounded	20 killed 74 wounded 472 captured 58 missing

The Battle of Stony Point was a battle of the American Revolutionary War.

Background

British dispositions

In late May, 1779, British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton sent a force of about 8,000 men up the North (or Hudson) River with the intention of drawing General George Washington’s Continental Army out of their mouintain defenses and into open battle. By June 1 British forces had seized and begun fortifying Stony Point on the west side of the river and Verplanck’s Point on the east bank. This move effectively closed King’s Ferry, a major river crossing at that narrow point in the river, about 10 miles (16 km) south of West Point and 35 miles (56 km) north of New York City.

Stony Point was garrisoned with elements of the 17th Regiment of Foot under the command of Lt. Col. Henry Johnson. The 17th was reinforced there by the grenadier company of the 71st Regiment, a company of the Loyal American Regiment, and a detachment of the Royal Artillery with nine cannon, four mortars and one eight-inch howitzer. A Royal Navy gunboat was assigned to protect the river approaches to the fortifications, and the armed sloop Vulture was also anchored in that part of the river.

Washington observed construction of the fortifications through a telescope from atop nearby Buckberg Mountain. Historians also believe he used intelligence gathered from local merchants to get a better idea of the strength of the garrison, the types of watchwords in use, and the placement of sentries – especially on the south side of the point, which could not be seen from Buckberg. During this time he formulated a plan of attack and selected a commander to lead it – Major General Anthony Wayne of Pennsylvania.

The British position at Stony Point was a fortified one, but it was never intended to be a true fort in the 18th Century European sense of the word. No stone was used and no walls were constructed. The defenses consisted of earthen fleches (cannon positions) and wooden abatis (felled trees sharpened to a point and placed in earthen embankments). The defenses were situated a rocky elevation, protected on both flanks by extensive swampy areas and approachable only from the west.

American forces and tactics

To storm the position, the Corps of Light Infantry was formed under Brigadier General Anthony Wayne. A seasonal combat organization drafted each year between 1777 and 1781 from the light infantry companies of each regiment of the Continental Line, the Corps of Light Infantry in 1779 was organized into four regiments, each composed of two battalions:

• 1st Regiment, commanded by Col. Christian Febiger of the 2nd Virginia Regiment, composed of six companies of Virginia and two of Pennsylvania troops;
• 2nd Regiment, commanded by Col. Richard Butler, two companies of Pennsylvanians and four of Marylanders;
• 3rd Regiment, commanded by Col. Return Jonathan Meigs, consisting of all eight companies of the 6th Connecticut Regiment;
• 4th Regiment, then a partially organized detachment of six companies of Massachusetts troops and two of North Carolina temporarily commanded by Lt. Col. William Hull of Massachusetts. The 4th regiment was fully organized in August and assigned to the command of Col. Rufus Putnam.

The attack plan called for a two-pronged, pincer-type, night attack on the fortifications to be carried out by the 1,350 men of the Corps. According to 18th Century military doctrine, this was not enough men to take a well-prepared defensive position, but in addition to the element of surprise, Washington’s plan exploited a fatal flaw in the fortifications. The wooden abatis along the southern shore of the point was not extended into the deep water of the Hudson and could be outflanked by attackers along a narrow beach at low tide.

Washington gave Wayne his orders, along with permission to alter the plan if necessary. This was an unusual act for Washington, and indicates the high opinion he had of Wayne’s tactical abilities. The assault would be difficult: It would be carried out in the dead of night, it called for the men to scale the steep, rocky sides of Stony Point, and it required absolute surprise. To accomplish this last aim Washington ordered that the men attack with bayonets only in order to prevent a musket blast from alerting British sentries. Despite the difficulty of the plan, Wayne made only one change. The two companies of North Carolina light infantry would detach themselves from the northern column and stage a demonstration attack at the center of the British defenses, where the British expected an attack to come. This battalion, commanded by Maj. Hardy Murfree, was instructed to fire their weapons "sufficient to amuse the enemy" as a diversionary tactic.

Wayne selected Butler's 2nd Regiment of approximately 300 men to conduct the assault along the northern shore of the point, while Wayne himself would lead the southern column, consisting of the 1st and 3rd Regiments, and Hull's detachment of Massachusetts light infantry. The columns deployed an advance force of 100 and 150 men respectively wielding axes to clear obstacles, and 20 men of each advance force preceded them as the forlorn hopes, to protect the others during clearing work, and to be the first to enter the works.

Battle

After a noon muster, on July 15, 1779, the Corps of Light Infantry marched from Fort Montgomery in three detachments. The civilians they met along their march were taken into custody to prevent them from warning the British. The column took a circuitous route through Queensboro to the west and behind Donderberg Mountain to avoid detection by the British. The Corps rendezvoused at about 10:00 p.m. at the Springsteel farm a mile and a half west of the fortifications. The men were given a rum ration and their orders. They were also given pieces of white paper to pin to their hats in order to help them tell each other from the British in the darkness. The three columns then moved out at 11:30 p.m. to their jump-off points, to begin the assault at midnight.

Bad weather that night aided the Continentals. Cloud cover cut off moonlight and high winds forced the British ships in Haverstraw Bay to leave their posts off Stony Point and move downriver. At midnight, just as scheduled, the attack began with the columns crossing the swampy flanks of the point. The southern column unexpectedly found its approach inundated in two to four feet of water and required thirty minutes to wade to the first line of abatis, during which it and Murfree’s demonstration force were spotted by British sentries and fired upon. Under fire Wayne’s column succeeded in getting inside the British first line of defenses. Wayne himself was struck in the head by a spent musket ball and fell to the ground, leaving Col. Febiger to take over command of Wayne’s column. Meanwhile, Butler’s column had succeeded in cutting its way through the abatis, although it sustained the only loss of life on the American side while doing so. The two columns penetrated the British line almost simultaneously and seized the summit when six companies of the 17th Regiment of Foot took positions opposite the diversionary attack and were cut off.

The first man into the British upper works was Lt. Col. Francois de Fleury, a French nobleman serving on Wayne’s staff. He was followed by Lt. Henry Knox, Sgt. William Baker and George Dunlop – all of whom earned cash prizes for their accomplishment. As the men hauled down the British colors they called out, “The fort’s our own!” – the prearranged password telling their comrades the battle was won. The action had lasted 25 minutes, yet it proved to be the major engagement of 1779, and one of the last major battles of the War in the Northern Theater.

Wayne's losses were 15 killed and 83 wounded. 546 prisoners were taken, 74 of whom were wounded . Some Patriot sources stated that there were 63 British dead but military historian Mark M. Boatner accepts the official British report of 20 killed . However, the report (from Lt-Col. Johnson to Sir Henry Clinton on July 24, 1779) also lists 58 missing separate from killed, wounded, and captured, many of whom may have drowned in the Hudson.

Before dawn, Wayne sent a brief dispatch telling Washington “The fort and garrison, with Col. Johnson, are ours. The men behaved like men determined to be free.” The next day Washington rode into the works to inspect the battlefield and congratulate the troops. For his exploits, Wayne was awarded a medal by Congress, one of the few issued during the Revolution.

The Continentals, not having enough men to defend the site from being cut off to the west, chose to abandon it on July 18, but not until after carrying off the cannon and supplies captured there. The British briefly reoccupied the site only to abandon it shortly after as Clinton redeployed his troops to the southern colonies in anticipation of a French invasion.

Some officer prisoners were exchanged immediately after the battle, but the majority of the garrison was marched off to prison camps in the wilds of Pennsylvania.

Contemporary Patriot accounts note that Wayne had given quarter to the garrison of Stony Point despite the treatment of his own men at the "Paoli Massacre" in 1777. (One asserted that King George III fighting back tears when he heard of the “mercy” that had been shown to his troops). However, both sides took thousands of prisoners during the Revolution and the granting of quarter became a matter of routine. British reports also note that clemency was immediately shown the garrison.

State Historic Site

The Stony Point State Historic Site is located at the former battlefield and has interpretive materials, tours, and demonstrations, primarily during the summer season. A museum on the site features artifacts from the battle, including a howitzer and two mortars.

See also

• List of New York state parks.

External links

• NYS Stony Point webpage
• Battle information
• Loyal American Regiment Living History Group
• 17th Regiment of Foot Living History Group