Battle of Punk Hill

Last updated
Battle of Punk Hill
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Date8 March 1777, a Saturday
Location
Result Minor American victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United States (1777-1795).svg  United States
Flag of the United States (1777-1795).svg Pennsylvania militia
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg  Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Gen. William Maxwell
Col. James Potter
and others...
Gen. William Howe
and others...
Strength
Unknown number of militia and regulars 3,000 British regulars
Casualties and losses
None 4 killed, 3 captured, unknown wounded

The Battle of Punk Hill was a relatively minor skirmish in the greater Forage War of the American Revolutionary War, but it narrowly missed being a major turning point.

Approximately 3000 British regulars left Amboy for the Punk Hill area, ostensibly on a foraging expedition. General William Maxwell observed this movement from a nearby hill and sent a small detachment to harass the British on the left and sent a larger force to the right towards Bonhamtown, hoping to outflank them. The larger force consisted of two detachments, one from Col. Potter's Pennsylvania militia and commanded by Col. Cook. the other detachment was from Col. Thacher's New England troops. [1]

Cook's and Thacher's men joined forces approximately one half mile out and almost immediately encountered and engaged a substantial advanced party of British. General Maxwell sent Col. Martin and Lt. Col. Lindley to reinforce them quickly and began to assembling his main force to follow. [1]

The British also sent reinforcements but they were cut off by another regiment of Americans. That British reinforcements retreated in confusion, sparking a general panic among their comrades and turning the entire engagement into a rout. [1] The Americans chased them as far as Bonhamtown and Metuchen, but did not have sufficient numbers or cover to continue the pursuit. [2]

There were at least four British killed and three taken prisoner. One of the prisoners revealed that General Howe had been at Bonhamtown during the engagement. Had Maxwell known this beforehand, the Battle of Punk Hill could have been a pivotal moment in the war. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Bennington</span> 1777 engagement of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, part of the Saratoga campaign, that took place on August 16, 1777, on a farm in Walloomsac, New York, about 10 miles (16 km) from its namesake, Bennington, Vermont. An American force of 2,000 men, primarily New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen, led by General John Stark, and reinforced by Vermont militiamen led by Colonel Seth Warner and members of the Green Mountain Boys, decisively defeated a detachment of General John Burgoyne's army led by Lieutenant-Colonel Friedrich Baum, and supported by additional troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Heinrich von Breymann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Brandywine</span> 1777 battle of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). The forces met near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. More troops fought at Brandywine than at any other battle of the American Revolution. It was also the second longest single-day battle of the war, after the Battle of Monmouth, with continuous fighting for 11 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Stony Point</span> 1779 battle of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Stony Point took place on July 16, 1779, during the American Revolutionary War. In a well-planned and -executed nighttime attack, a highly trained select group of George Washington's Continental Army troops under the command of Brigadier General "Mad Anthony" Wayne defeated British troops in a quick and daring assault on their outpost in Stony Point, New York, approximately 30 mi (48 km) north of New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Pell's Point</span> Battle of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Pell's Point, also known as the Battle of Pelham, was a skirmish fought between British and American troops during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The conflict took place in what is now part of Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, New York City and the villages of Pelham Manor and Pelham in Westchester County, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Dranesville</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Dranesville was a small battle during the American Civil War that took place between Confederate forces under Brigadier General J. E. B. Stuart and Union forces under Brigadier General Edward O. C. Ord on December 20, 1861, in Fairfax County, Virginia, as part of Major General George B. McClellan's operations in northern Virginia. The two forces on similar winter time patrols encountered and engaged one another in the crossroads village of Dranesville. The battle resulted in a Union victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gettysburg campaign</span> Military campaign during the American Civil War

The Gettysburg campaign was a military invasion of Pennsylvania by the main Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee in summer 1863. It was the first time during the war the Confederate Army attempted a full-scale invasion of a free state. The Union won a decisive victory at Gettysburg, July 1–3, with heavy casualties on both sides. Lee managed to escape back to Virginia with most of his army. It was a turning point in the American Civil War, with Lee increasingly pushed back toward Richmond until his surrender in April 1865. The Union Army of the Potomac was commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker and then by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Bound Brook</span> Part of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Bound Brook was a surprise attack conducted by British and Hessian forces against a Continental Army outpost at Bound Brook, New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War. The British objective of capturing the entire garrison was not met, although prisoners were taken. The U.S. commander, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, left in great haste, abandoning papers and personal effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Springfield</span> 1780 battle of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Springfield was fought during the American Revolutionary War on June 23, 1780, in Union County, New Jersey. After the Battle of Connecticut Farms, on June 7, 1780, had foiled Lieutenant General Wilhelm, Baron von Knyphausen's expedition to attack General George Washington's army at Morristown, New Jersey, Knyphausen and Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton, British commander-in-chief in North America, decided upon a second attempt. Although the British were initially able to advance, they were ultimately forced to withdraw in the face of newly arriving rebel forces, resulting in a Continental victory. The battle effectively ended British ambitions in New Jersey.

The 2nd New Jersey Regiment was raised, on 9 October 1775, at Trenton, New Jersey, for service with the Continental Army under the command of Colonel William Maxwell. The regiment would see action at the Battle of Trois-Rivières, Battle of Valcour Island, Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Germantown, Battle of Crooked Billet, Battle of Monmouth, Sullivan Expedition, Battle of Springfield and the Battle of Yorktown. The regiment was furloughed, on 6 June 1783, at Newburgh, New York, and disbanded 3 November 1783.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forage War</span> American Revolutionary War campaign in New Jersey

The Forage War was a partisan campaign consisting of numerous small skirmishes that took place in New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War between January and March 1777, following the battles of Trenton and Princeton. After both British and Continental Army troops entered their winter quarters in early January, Continental Army regulars and militia companies from New Jersey and Pennsylvania engaged in numerous scouting and harassing operations against the British and German troops quartered in New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Millstone</span> Skirmish in the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Millstone, also known as the Battle of Van Nest's Mill, was a skirmish that occurred near the mill of Abraham Van Nest in Weston, New Jersey on January 20, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. A British foraging party was flanked and driven off by forces composed mostly of New Jersey militia, depriving the British of their wagons and supplies.

The Battle of Connecticut Farms, fought June 7, 1780, was one of the last major battles between British and American forces in the northern colonies during the American Revolutionary War. Hessian General Wilhelm von Knyphausen, in command of the British garrison at New York City, made an attempt to reach the principal Continental Army encampment at Morristown, New Jersey. Knyphausen's advance was strongly met by companies of the New Jersey militia at Connecticut Farms. After stiff resistance, the militia were forced to withdraw, but the battle and skirmishing that preceded it sufficiently delayed Knyphausen's advance that he remained there for the night. After realizing that further advance on Morristown would probably be met by even more resistance, Knyphausen withdrew back toward New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of White Marsh</span> Part of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of White Marsh or Battle of Edge Hill was a battle of the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought December 5–8, 1777, in the area surrounding Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania. The battle, which took the form of a series of skirmish actions, was the last major engagement of 1777 between British and American forces.

The Battle of Matson's Ford was a battle in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought on December 11, 1777 in the area surrounding Matson's Ford. In this series of minor skirmish actions, advance patrols of Pennsylvania militia encountered a British foraging expedition and were overrun. The British pushed ahead to Matson's Ford, where units of the Continental Army were making their way across the Schuylkill River. The Americans retreated to the far side, destroying their temporary bridge across the Schuylkill. The British left the area the next day to continue foraging elsewhere; the Continentals crossed the river at Swede's Ford to Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, a few miles upriver from Matson's Ford.

The Battle of Barren Hill was a minor engagement during the American Revolution. On May 20, 1778, a British Army force attempted to encircle a smaller Continental Army force then under the command of Marquis de Lafayette. The maneuver failed, and the Continental Army escaped the trap but the British took the field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Short Hills</span> June 1777 battle of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of the Short Hills was a conflict between a Continental Army force commanded by Brigadier General William Alexander, and an opposing British force commanded by Lieutenant General William Howe. The battle took place on June 26, 1777, at Scotch Plains and Edison, New Jersey, during the American Revolutionary War.

The Battle of Wetzell's Mill was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on March 6, 1781, between detachments of Nathanael Greene's Continental Army and militia and Banastre Tarleton's Loyalist provincial troops in Guilford County, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fight at Monterey Pass</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The Fight at Monterey Pass (or Gap) was an American Civil War military engagement beginning the evening of July 4, 1863, during the Retreat from Gettysburg. A Confederate wagon train of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, withdrew after the Battle of Gettysburg, and Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. H. Judson Kilpatrick attacked the retreating Confederate column. After a lengthy delay in which a small detachment of Maryland cavalrymen delayed Kilpatrick's division, the Union cavalrymen captured numerous Confederate prisoners and destroyed hundreds of wagons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Lion Inn (Brooklyn)</span>

The Red Lion Inn was a tavern in Colonial New York located on Long Island in what is today the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

The Battle of Camp Wildcat was one of the early engagements of the American Civil War. It occurred October 21, 1861, in northern Laurel County, Kentucky during the campaign known as the Kentucky Confederate Offensive or Operations in Eastern Kentucky (1861). The battle is considered one of the first Union victories of the Civil War, and marked the second engagement of troops in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Skirmish at Punk Hill". Pennsylvania Journal. 19 March 1777. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  2. Munn, David C. (1976). Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey (PDF). Bureau of Geology and Topography, Dept of Environmental Protection. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2012.

40°31′23″N74°21′25″W / 40.523°N 74.357°W / 40.523; -74.357