White Plains

Background

After pulling his forces out of Boston in March 1776, General William Howe reorganized in Halifax, Nova Scotia, before launching a June campaign aimed at seizing New York City. His troops met no resistance when they came ashore on Staten Island in early July, and they again faced no opposition when they landed on Long Island on August 22, well south of the fortified positions General George Washington's Continental Army had built around Brooklyn Heights.

Following defeat at the Battle of Long Island on August 27, Washington managed to withdraw his 9,000-man force to York Island, the name then used for Manhattan, under cover of darkness on the night of August 29 into the 30th. Howe pursued, putting troops ashore on Manhattan on September 15, though his forward movement stalled the following day at Harlem Heights. A failed attempt to land at Throg's Neck was followed by a landing at Pell's Point on October 18, met with some opposition, which launched an effort to surround Washington's army by trapping it between this force, the troops already in Manhattan, and the Hudson River, controlled by Royal Navy warships. Howe set up camp at New Rochelle, while forward units of his army pushed close to Mamaroneck, a mere 7 miles (11 km) from White Plains, site of a Continental Army supply depot with minimal defenses.

From his position at Harlem Heights, Washington dispatched Colonel Rufus Putnam on October 20 to scout the surrounding area. Putnam located the approximate positions of British forces and understood the threat posed to the army and its stores. Upon hearing Putnam's account that evening, Washington quickly sent him back with instructions for Lord Stirling, commanding the northernmost troops, to march at once for White Plains. These forces reached White Plains by 9:00 am on October 21, with additional army units arriving throughout the day. Washington then decided to pull the bulk of his army back to White Plains, though he left Nathanael Greene with 1,200 men to hold Fort Washington on Manhattan.

Howe's advance proceeded at a measured pace, with his center and right columns moving along the New Rochelle to White Plains road as Loyalist troops took up positions at Mamaroneck. That night, a detachment under John Haslet, part of Lord Stirling's command, struck the Loyalist position, capturing over thirty prisoners along with supplies, though the action cost several American lives and left 15 wounded. In response, Howe shifted portions of his right wing to hold Mamaroneck. His army gained further strength on October 22 when Wilhelm von Knyphausen brought 8,000 additional troops ashore at New Rochelle.

On October 23, Washington set up his command post at the Elijah Miller House in North White Plains, selecting ground he strengthened with a pair of entrenched lines. These fortifications occupied elevated terrain, shielded on the right by marshy land bordering the Bronx River, with steeper hills behind offering a fallback position if needed. The American lines stretched 3 miles (4.8 km). Further along on the right stood Chatterton's Hill, a position overlooking the plain that British forces would need to cross. Several hundred militia troops initially held this hill, likely among them John Brooks' company of Massachusetts militia.

Howe shifted his army from New Rochelle to Scarsdale on October 24 and 25, establishing a camp along the eastern side of the Bronx River. This maneuver seems to have been an attempt to intercept Charles Lee's column, forcing Lee to change course toward White Plains and push through a night march to evade capture. Howe's forces stayed at Scarsdale until the morning of October 28, when they began advancing on White Plains, General Henry Clinton leading British troops on the right flank while General von Heister commanded mostly Hessian forces on the left.

Battle

While surveying the ground to decide where his men should be placed, Washington received word from messengers that British forces were on the move. He hurried back to headquarters and directed Joseph Spencer's 2nd Connecticut Regiment to head out and delay the advancing enemy. At the same time, he dispatched Haslet's 1st Delaware Regiment and Alexander McDougall's brigade, made up of Rudolphus Ritzema's 3rd New York Regiment, Charles Webb's 19th Continental Regiment, William Smallwood's 1st Maryland Regiment, and the 1st and 2nd New York Regiments, to strengthen the American position on Chatterton Hill.

Spencer's men took up a spot along the old York road near Hart's corners, now Hartsdale, New York, where they traded shots with Colonel Johann Rall's Hessians, who formed the front of the British left column. Once Clinton's column began threatening their flank, the Americans had no choice but to fall back across the Bronx River. At first the withdrawal held together, with soldiers pausing behind stone walls to fire while comrades stationed on Chatterton Hill gave covering support, but the sight of dragoons turned the retreat into chaos. Rall's men then tried to push up the hill but were driven back by musket fire from Haslet's troops and the militia, forcing them to pull back to a nearby rise on the same side of the river. This stubborn resistance halted the entire British army, which had been maneuvering as though preparing to strike along the whole American line.

As Howe met with his officers, Hessian artillery positioned on the left began shelling the hilltop, scattering the militia there in a panic. McDougall's brigade arrived in time to help steady the men, and a new defensive line took shape, militia on the right flank and Continentals holding the crest. Once Howe finally gave the order, most of his army stood by while a detachment of British and Hessian soldiers moved to seize the hill.

The assault unfolded with Hessian units in the lead. Rall was assigned to strike the American right, while Colonel Carl von Donop's battalion, comprising the Linsing, Minnigerode, Lengerke, and Kochler grenadiers along with Donop's own chasseurs, targeted the center. Meanwhile General Alexander Leslie led a British column made up of the 5th, 28th, 35th, and 49th foot against the American right flank. Donop's troops struggled to cross the river, or perhaps hesitated to try, allowing British units to reach the far bank first. Rall's charge broke apart the militia defending the American right, exposing the Maryland and New York regiments to attack even as their musket volleys briefly stalled the British advance. With their flank uncovered, these regiments began a fighting withdrawal, and this pressure gradually spread down the line, compelling the rest of the American position, already engaged with other British units, to give ground as well. Haslet's Delaware regiment, holding firm on the American left, laid down covering fire so the other units could retreat northward, and his men were the final ones to abandon the hill. Casualties mounted heavily on both sides amid the fierce combat before the Continentals managed an orderly withdrawal.

Aftermath

Casualty figures for this engagement remain a matter of scholarly dispute. According to John Fortescue's History of the British Army, Howe lost 214 men from British units and 99 Hessians. Rodney Atwood challenges this accounting, noting that Fortescue's Hessian total actually covers losses across the entire span from October 19 to 28, and that only 53 of those men fell during the fighting at White Plains itself. Correcting for this error produces a combined figure of 267 British and Hessian soldiers killed, wounded, or missing. A different accounting comes from Henry Dawson, who places Howe's losses at 47 dead, 182 wounded, and four unaccounted for. On the American side, the numbers are far less settled. Theodore Savas and J. David Dameron place the range of killed, wounded, and captured somewhere between 150 and 500. Samuel Roads offers a narrower count of 47 dead and 70 wounded. Dawson, meanwhile, calculates that McDougall's and Spencer's commands suffered roughly 50 killed, 150 wounded, and 17 missing, though he offers no figures for the losses within Haslet's regiment.

For two days following the battle, neither commander moved against the other. Howe used the pause to strengthen his hold on Chatterton Hill, while Washington reorganized his forces in preparation for a retreat into the hills. When Lord Percy brought fresh Hessian and Waldeck troops to join Howe on October 30, Howe intended to strike the Americans the next day. A daylong downpour delayed him, however, and by the time conditions allowed action, Washington had already slipped away once more. On the night of October 31, Washington moved his army north into the hills and set up camp near North Castle. Rather than pursue him, Howe attempted to lure Washington into open engagement, an effort that failed. On November 5, Howe redirected his forces southward to complete the removal of Continental Army troops from Manhattan, a goal he achieved with the capture of Fort Washington on November 16. Washington, for his part, moved the bulk of his army across the Hudson River near Peekskill, leaving behind New England regiments to protect supply depots and key river crossings. British forces subsequently pursued him through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, while a line of British garrisons took shape across New Jersey in their wake. Sensing a chance to lift the spirits of a struggling cause, Washington later crossed the Delaware River and caught Rall's forces off guard in the Battle of Trenton on December 26.