Battle of Short Hills

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Short Hills
partof=American Revolutionary War


caption=
date=June 26, 1777
place=Scotch Plains, New Jersey
result=Tactical British Victory
Strategic American Victory
combatant1=American Revolutionary Forces
combatant2=British Empire Troops
commander1=General William Alexander "Lord Stirling"
commander2=General William Howe
General Charles Cornwallis
strength1=2,200
strength2=15,000+ (4,000 engaged)
casualties1=Killed and wounded unknown
70 captured [Martin, David G., "The Philadelphia Campaign: June 1777-July 1778"; Combined Books; Conshocken, Pennsylvania; 1993; ISBN 0-938289-19-5, page 26] .
casualties2=5 killed [McGuire, Thomas J., "The Philadelphia Campaign: Volume I; Brandywine and the Fall of Philadelphia"; Stackpole Books; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; 2006; ISBN-13: 978-08117-0178-5; ISBN-10: 0-8117-0178-6; page 54]
30 wounded [McGuire, Thomas J., "The Philadelphia Campaign: Volume I; Brandywine and the Fall of Philadelphia"; Stackpole Books; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; 2006; ISBN-13: 978-08117-0178-5; ISBN-10: 0-8117-0178-6; page 54]
notes=The Battle of Short Hills (or the Battle of Metuchen Meetinghouse) was a conflict between a force of Americans commanded by General William Alexander ("Lord Stirling"), and an opposing British force commanded by General William Howe, that took place on July 26, 1777, at Scotch Plains and Edison, in New Jersey, during the American Revolutionary War. Despite the name, no fighting occurred in modern day Short Hills, a section of MillburnCite web|url=http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/battles/770626.htm|title=The Battle of Short Hills
accessmonthday=20 April|accessyear=2007] .'s army into a place where it could be conquered by the larger British armyCite web|url=http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/index.ssf?/specialprojects/revwar/rev9.html|title=The Star ledger
accessmonthday=20 April|accessyear=2007] .

Prelude

Before the battle, in the early days of June, General William Howe's British force of almost 17,000 withdrew from Somerset Court House at New Brunswick, to Perth Amboy, after they failed to draw Washington's central army from their post at Middlebrook Heights, the plan having been foiled by the tactics of Lord Stirling. The failure of the British ploy proved a major setback: success would have forced the small poorly-equipped American force to fight the larger British army on the flat plain of New Jersey.

Instead of falling for this trap, Washington followed the retreating British, having left his post in Middlebrook in the Watchung Mountains, as well as considering the possibility of assaulting their poorly armed rear guard. Washington harassed the British as they withdrew into Somerset and Middlesex counties, while troops under Stirling further irritated the retreating British.After withdrawing to Perth Amboy, Howe counterattacked, meaning to devastate Lord Stirling's forces, cut off Washington's retreat back to Middlebrook, and engage the Americans in a pitched battle.

The Battle

Stirling's command, guarding the left flank of Washington's main army,comprised William Maxwell’s New Jersey Brigade, Thomas Conway’s Pennsylvania Brigade, Daniel Morgan’s Corps of Riflemen and Ottendorf's Corps.The ensuing battle between the American forces of Stirling, which numbered only about 2,200, and the British and Hessian forces of Howe, proved extremely intense, but with Stirling suffering relatively minor losses. However, Stirling was gradually forced backward, leading both of the armies into the Ash Swamp and Scotch Plains.Severe cannon fire forced Stirling, as determined as he was to stand against his foe, to retreat even further back, toward Westfield. There the pursuit ended and Stirling was able to fall back in good order to to the post at Middlebrook. The noise from the Battle alerted Washington to Howe's proximity and gave him the chance to withdraw to a more secure position beyond Bound Brook. Later in the day, Howe arrived to inspect Washington's lines and adjudged them too strong to attack [Martin, David G., "The Philadelphia Campaign: June 1777-July 1778"; Combined Books; Conshocken, Pennsylvania; 1993; ISBN 0-938289-19-5, page 26] . Because Stirling's resistance may have saved Washington's main army from disaster, the Battle is considered a strategic victory for the Americans. Thwarted, the British returned to their post at Perth Amboy, leaving the American forces to ponder on what Howe's next action would be.

The Battle of Short Hills produced the legend of Aunt Betty Frazee. Frazee shared her baked goods gladly with the revolutionary forces, but bravely told Lord Cornwallis he was not welcome after British forces looted her Scotch Plains, NJ home.

Casualties

The British and Hessian casualties were 5 killed and 30 wounded [McGuire, Thomas J., "The Philadelphia Campaign: Volume I; Brandywine and the Fall of Philadelphia"; Stackpole Books; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; 2006; ISBN-13: 978-08117-0178-5; ISBN-10: 0-8117-0178-6; page 54] . The only officer casualty was Captain the Honourable John Finch of the Guards Light Infantry. He had been to the forefront of the attack and, at one point, called out to Lord Stirling, “Come here, you damned rebel, and I will do for you!”. Stirling’s response was to instruct four marksmen to concentrate their fire upon the captain [McGuire, "Philadelphia Campaign Volume I", page 54] . Finch soon received a wound, from which he died three days later [McGuire, "Philadelphia Campaign Volume I", page 56] .

The Patriot casualties are not fully known. Ottendorf's Corps, who had formed Stirling's advance guard [McGuire, "Philadelphia Campaign Volume I", page 55] appear to have been hardest hit: “out of 80 men, 32 were killed & taken” [Filipski, J.W. and Collward, S., "A Chronology of the Appointments & Commands of Some of the Officers in the Independent Corps of Major de Ottendorf and its affiliated groups during the Revolutionary War: A compilation of information with annotations and observations". PDF, http://members.aol.com/jwfilips/selins/chronolg.pdf,page 11] . Colonel Israel Shreve, commander of the 2nd New Jersey Regiment wrote on July 06, 1777 that Maxwell's Brigade "had 12 kiled and about 20 wounded and as many taken prisoners ... ;" he also noted in his journal, "We had between 20 & 30 Wounded ... mostly slightly Except 3 or 4 ..." Two officer are recorded as having been lost in the 2nd New Jersey: Captain Ephraim Anderson, killed, and Captain James Lawrie, captured [Rees, John U., "One of the best in the army: an Overview of the 2nd New Jersey Regiment and General William Maxwell’s Jersey Brigade", at The Continental Line, Inc, http://www.continentalline.org/articles/article.php?date=9801&article=980105] . No record is known of the losses of Conway’s Brigade and Morgan’s Corps of Riflemen. About 70 Patriot troops were captured altogether [Martin, David G., "The Philadelphia Campaign: June 1777-July 1778"; Combined Books; Conshocken, Pennsylvania; 1993; ISBN 0-938289-19-5, page 26] .

Notes