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
Anthony Wayne	Henry Johnson
Strength
1,500	750
Casualties and losses
15 killed 83 wounded[1]	20 killed 74 wounded prisoners 472 unwounded prisoners 58 missing[2]

The Battle of Stony Point was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on the night of July 15-16, 1779. A select force of Continental Army infantry made a coordinated surprise night attack and stormed a fortified position of the British Army on the Hudson River near West Point, New York. The position was taken in 25 minutes with the loss to the British of nearly an entire regiment of infantry.

Although the position, commanding a key ferry crossing point of the Hudson, was abandoned three days after its capture, British commanders later in the year concluded that it was defensibly untenable and evacuated it permanently. The crossing was used by the Continental Army in its march to Yorktown, Virginia, two years later.

Contents 1 Battle 2 Aftermath 2.1 State Historic Site 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Battle

After a morning muster, on July 15, 1779, the Corps of Light Infantry marched from Sandy Beach north of Fort Montgomery beginning at noon. Any civilians met along the route of march were to be taken into custody to prevent them from warning the British. The column, often forced to march single file over rough terrain and roads hardly more than paths, took a circuitous route west through Queensboro to the west and over Dunderberg Mountain to avoid detection by the British. The Corps began arriving at 8 p.m. at the Springsteel farm, a mile and a half west of the fortifications, and by 10 p.m. had been formed in the attack columns. 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 columns then moved out at 11:30 p.m. to their jump-off points, diverging immediately, 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, an aristocrat French engineer commanding a battalion of the 1st Regiment. 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 entered the British works they called out, “The fort’s our own!” – the prearranged watchword to distinguish friend from foe. The action lasted 25 minutes and was over by 1 a.m., and proved to be the major engagement of 1779, one of the last major battles of the War in the Northern Theater.

Wayne's losses were 15 killed and 83 wounded^[3]. 546 prisoners were taken, 74 of whom were wounded ^[2]. Some Patriot sources stated that there were 63 British dead ^[2] but military historian Mark M. Boatner accepts the official British report of 20 killed ^[2]. 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^[4].

[edit] Aftermath

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 untenable when Clinton redeployed troops to the southern states in anticipation of a French invasion.

Some officer prisoners were exchanged immediately after the battle, but the more than 400 other ranks were marched off to a prison camp at Easton, Pennsylvania. An unsuccessful attempt by a small number of prisoners on July 17 to overpower their captors resulted in one British sergeant killed and about 20 other ranks wounded.

Contemporary Patriot accounts note that Wayne had given quarter to the garrison of Stony Point despite the alleged treatment of his own men at the "Paoli Massacre" in 1777. (One asserted that King George III fought back tears when he heard of the “mercy” that had been shown to his troops).^[5] British reports also remarked that unanticipated clemency was immediately shown the garrison^[6].

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of New York state parks.

[edit] External links

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

v • d • e New York in the American Revolutionary War Pre-war Sons of Liberty - First Liberty Poles erected 1770 Battle of Golden Hill 1775 Capture of Fort Ticonderoga – Invasion of Canada 1776 New York and New Jersey campaign – Battle of Long Island – New York Prison Ships Begin – Landing at Kip's Bay – Battle of Harlem Heights – Great Fire of New York – Execution of Nathan Hale – Battle of Valcour Island – Battle of Pell's Point – Battle of White Plains – Battle of Fort Washington 1777 Meigs Raid – Saratoga campaign – Battle of Ticonderoga – Battle of Fort Anne – Siege of Fort Stanwix – Battle of Oriskany – Battle of Freeman's Farm (1st Saratoga) – Battle of Bemis Heights (2nd Saratoga) 1778 Setauket Spy Ring Launched – Battle of Cobleskill – West Point established – Cherry Valley massacre 1779 Battle of Stony Point – Sullivan Expedition – Battle of Newtown 1780 First Purple Heart – André Capture Reveals Traitor Benedict Arnold 1781 HMS Culloden Runs Aground at Montauk – Washington Calls Off Invasion of New York to Support Yorktown 1782 Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh – Newburgh letter 1783 Newburgh Conspiracy – British Evacuate New York – Washington's Farewell to His Officers