Battle of Bull's Ferry

On July 20 and 21, 1780, fighting broke out at Bull's Ferry when Brigadier-General Anthony Wayne led two American brigades against a Loyalist force commanded by Thomas Ward. Ward's men held their ground, repelling both a poorly executed bombardment from four American artillery pieces and a subsequent assault meant to seize the blockhouse outright. Amid the clash, Major Henry Lee III and his light dragoons made off with a substantial herd of cattle that the British garrison in New York City had been counting on for provisions. This episode later became fodder for British Major John André, who penned a mocking ballad on the subject called The Cow Chace. The engagement unfolded at Bulls Ferry, New Jersey, part of the Northern theater during the years following Saratoga, a period when the war in that region had settled into little more than scattered raids and small skirmishes.

Background

The engagement at Monmouth, fought on 28 June 1778, marked the final major clash of the war's northern theater. Following this fight, George Washington led his forces to New Brunswick, New Jersey, reaching the town on 2 July. William Maxwell's brigade remained behind in New Jersey while the bulk of the American forces pushed across the Hudson River. Washington's troops reached White Plains, New York by 24 July, establishing a blockade around the British-held garrison at New York City that would persist for the war's duration. The French fleet under admiral Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing appeared off Sandy Hook in late July, bringing a formidable force: a 90-gun ship of the line, an 80-gun vessel, half a dozen 74s, two 64s, a 50-gun ship, and four frigates supporting them. Facing this superior force, Sir Richard Howe readied New York harbor's defenses using six 64s, three 50-gun ships, six frigates, four galleys, and one armed merchant vessel. At the same time, British commander Sir Henry Clinton, stationed at Sandy Hook, depended on Howe's fleet to move his troops toward New York, without which his army risked entrapment. Local pilots warned d'Estaing that only 23 feet (7.0 m) of water covered the sandbar, a problem given that his largest ships needed 30 feet (9.1 m) to pass safely. Frustrated, the French admiral withdrew his fleet on the morning of 22 July. Ironically, that same afternoon a high tide raised the water over the bar to a full 30 feet, meaning a chance to conclude the conflict that year slipped away unused.

British forces annihilated the 3rd Continental Light Dragoons during what became known as the Baylor Massacre on 27 September 1778. American fortunes turned when Anthony Wayne executed a masterful strike at Stony Point on 16 July 1779. Not long after, on 19 August 1779, Henry Lee III achieved similar success with his raid at Paulus Hook.

Commanding 27,000 troops stationed along North America's Atlantic seaboard, Clinton set his sights on capturing Charleston, South Carolina. He assigned Wilhelm von Knyphausen to defend New York with a force of 10,000, then sailed south on 26 December 1779 with 8,700 men aboard Mariot Arbuthnot's fleet. Reinforcements later swelled Clinton's southern army to 12,500 troops. What followed was catastrophic for the Americans: Benjamin Lincoln surrendered his entire army during the Siege of Charleston on 12 May 1780, constituting the war's most significant American capitulation. The toll reached as high as 5,500 captured men, among them 2,650 Continental Army soldiers whose loss could not easily be replaced. Clinton then departed for New York, leaving Lord Charles Cornwallis behind in South Carolina in command of two-thirds of the total force.

Back in the north, Knyphausen launched what came to be called the Springfield Raid during June 1780. The Hessian commander set out on 7 June with 5,000 troops under his command. His advance was checked that same day by Elias Dayton's combination of Continental soldiers and militia at the Battle of Connecticut Farms. Clinton arrived back in New York on 17 June. Upon learning that French naval and land forces were bound for Newport, Rhode Island, he dispatched vessels up the Hudson to complicate any American attempt to cross toward the eastern shore and unite with the French. In response, Washington repositioned his army to protect the critical fortification at West Point, New York, while Nathanael Greene remained to guard the American base at Morristown, New Jersey. Knyphausen struck toward Morristown on 23 June, but Greene's division managed to blunt the Hessian advance at the Battle of Springfield. By that evening, Knyphausen had pulled his forces back to the safety of Staten Island.