page_title: New York and New Jersey campaign
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: New York and New Jersey campaign / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: Charles Cornwallis, First Marquis of Cornwallis (1738-1805)
context_page_description: The New York and New Jersey campaign was a series of battles in 1776 and the winter months of 1777 for control of the Port of New York and the state of New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War between British forces under General Sir William Howe and the Continental Army under General George Washington. Howe was successful in driving Washington out of New York, but overextended his reach into New Jersey, and ended the active campaign season in January 1777 with only a few outposts near the city. The British held New York harbor for the rest of the war, using it as a base for expeditions against other targets.
  Landing unopposed on Staten Island on July 3, 1776, Howe assembled an army composed of elements that had been withdrawn from Boston in March following their failure to hold that city, combined with additional British troops, as well as Hessian troops hired from several German principalities. Washington had New England soldiers as well as regiments from states as far south as Virginia.
context_section_description: The British gained control of New York harbor and the surrounding agricultural areas, and held New York City and Long Island until the war ended in 1783. The Americans suffered significant casualties and lost important supplies, but Washington managed to retain the core of his army and avoid a decisive confrontation that could have ended the war.  With the bold strokes of Trenton and Princeton, he had regained initiative and boosted morale.  The areas around New York City in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut were an ongoing battleground for the rest of the war.
  The early reports that General Howe sent to his superiors in London concerning the battles at Trenton and Princeton attempted to minimize their significance, blaming Rall for Trenton, and trying to recast Princeton as a nearly successful defense.  Not everyone was fooled by his accounts, in particular Lord Germain.  In a letter to the Hessian General Leopold Philip von Heister Germain wrote that "the officer who commanded [the forces at Trenton] and to whom this misfortune is to be attributed has lost his life by his rashness."  Heister in turn had to report the loss to his ruler, Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, with the news that not only had an entire brigade been lost, but sixteen regimental colors and six cannon as well.  The news reportedly enraged Frederick, who broadly suggested that Heister return home (which he did, turning over command of the Hessian forces to Wilhelm von Knyphausen).  Frederick also ordered extensive inquiries into the events of 1776, that took place in New York from 1778 to 1782.  These inquiries created a unique archive of materials about the campaign.
  The news of Washington's successes reached Paris at a critical time.  Britain's ambassador to France, Lord Stormont, was preparing complaints to France's foreign minister, the Comte de Vergennes, concerning the semi-secret financial and logistical support France had been giving to the rebels.  Stormont had learned that supplies bound for America were to be shipped under French flags, where they had previously sent under American colors.  He wrote that the French court was extremely happy with the news, and that the French diplomatic position noticeably hardened: "that M. de Vergennes is hostile in his heart and anxious for the success of the Rebels I have not a shadow of a doubt."
caption: General Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, by John Singleton Copley
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