Battle+of+Monmouth

** The Battle of Monmouth ** In May of 1778, General Clinton decided that it was prudent for the British army to protect New York and Florida from France, whom they had been at war with. As the British split up to go protect the two colonies, the American troops did little things to disturb the British’s way of travel. They burned bridges, muddied wells, and cut trees across the roads to slow the British down. General Lee disagreed with George Washington saying that they shouldn’t do anything big to the British. He thought for sure that we would lose if we engaged them in battle and the Americans couldn’t have suffered a loss like that at the time. Although Washington had been the leader at the time, he and many other officials differed to General Lee because of the amount of experience he had. Despite General Lee’s objections George Washington decided that the British were at a disadvantage that the Americans couldn’t pass up.

General Lee was given the command of 6,000 men and told to attack on the twenty-eighth. Lee did not attack when told nor did he take the necessary steps to prepare for the attack. Lee lost control of his men and Clinton took this chance to attack. Washington, who had waited for Lee to go in first, found Lee retreating and took control of his men. After he got control of the men, Washington attacked. The battle ended in a draw because too many had fallen because of sun stroke. At ten that night, Clinton snuck off to follow his baggage train to New York.

Mary Hays McCauly was an important woman in the Battle of Monmouth. Before her husband was injured, she carried pitchers of water to the soldiers valiantly trying to keep them from getting dehydrated, thus getting the more famous nickname of Molly Pitcher. After her husband was injured, though, she took his place at the cannon. Her husband died of the wounds he received at Monmouth, but she later remarried. For her heroic role at Monmouth, General Washington made her a noncommissioned officer and for a while she was known as “Sergeant Molly.” By: Lexi Glaser and Nick Ford

 WORK CITED: James, Arnold R. //The Revolutionary War: War of Attrition//. Danbury, Conneticut: Groiler, 2002. Print . //Perfect Frames Military Gallery// N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. Path: Google; Google Battle of Monmouth; go to images; last picture top row. "The Revolutionary War." //American History// N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. Path: Google; Google "Battle of Monmouth"; Go to images; Third picture top row.