Battle of Bull ' s Ferry The Battle of Bull ' s Ferry on 20 and 21 July 1780 saw two American brigades under Brigadier General Anthony Wayne attack a party of Loyalist Americans led by Thomas Ward . The Loyalists successfully defended a blockhouse against an ineffective bombardment by four American artillery pieces and a failed attempt to storm the position by Wayne ' s infantry . During the action , American light dragoons under Major Light Horse Harry Lee drove off a large number of cattle that were kept in the area for the use of the British army in New York City . The clash inspired British Major John André to write a satirical ballad entitled " The Cow Chace " . The skirmish was fought at Bulls Ferry , New Jersey in the Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga . At this stage of the conflict only raids and minor actions occurred in the north . Background . The Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778 was the last significant engagement in the north . After the battle , George Washington marched his army to Brunswick , New Jersey , arriving there on 2 July . Leaving William Maxwell ' s brigade in New Jersey , the main body of the American army crossed the Hudson River . By 24 July Washington ' s army arrived at White Plains , New York and placed the British garrison of New York City in a blockade that lasted the remainder of the war . In late July , the French admiral Charles Hector , comte d ' Estaing arrived off Sandy Hook with one 90 - gun ship of the line , one 80 , six 74s , two 64s , and one 50 , plus four frigates . Badly outgunned , Sir Richard Howe prepared to defend the entrance to New York harbor with six 64s , three 50s , six frigates , four galleys , and an armed merchantman . Meanwhile , British commander Sir Henry Clinton at Sandy Hook needed Howe ' s ships to transport his army to New York , otherwise he might be trapped . D ' Estaing , whose larger vessels drew was informed by local pilots that there was only of water over the bar . On the morning of 22 July the frustrated French admiral sailed away . That afternoon a high tide pushed 30 feet of water over the bar and thus an opportunity to end the war in 1778 was missed . On 27 September 1778 , the British wiped out the 3rd Continental Light Dragoons in the Baylor Massacre . On the American side , Anthony Wayne carried out a brilliant coup in the Battle of Stony Point on 16 July 1779 . This feat was followed on 19 August 1779 by another successful raid by Light Horse Harry Lee in the Battle of Paulus Hook . With a total of 27 , 000 troops on the Atlantic coast of North America , Clinton decided to move against Charleston , South Carolina . Leaving Wilhelm von Knyphausen to hold New York with 10 , 000 soldiers , Clinton embarked for the south with 8 , 700 troops in the fleet of Mariot Arbuthnot on 26 December 1779 . Clinton was later reinforced so that his army numbered 12 , 500 . The subsequent capitulation of Benjamin Lincoln ' s army in the Siege of Charleston on 12 May 1780 represented the largest American mass surrender of the war . As many as 5 , 500 men were captured , including 2 , 650 irreplaceable Continental Army soldiers . Leaving Lord Charles Cornwallis in South Carolina with two - thirds of the army , Clinton headed back to New York . Meanwhile , Knyphausen staged the Springfield Raid in June 1780 . The Hessian general started out with 5 , 000 men on 7 June . That day , he was successfully blocked by Elias Dayton ' s Continentals and militia in the Battle of Connecticut Farms . Clinton returned to New York on 17 June . Hearing that a French fleet and army was on the way to Newport , Rhode Island , the British commander sent some ships up the Hudson to make it difficult for the Americans to cross to the east side and join the French . Washington moved his army to cover his key fort at West Point , New York on the Hudson , leaving Nathanael Greene to shield his base at Morristown , New Jersey . On 23 June , Knyphausen lunged at Morristown . In the Battle of Springfield , Greene ' s division slowed the Hessian general ' s thrust . That evening Knyphausen withdrew into Staten Island . Battle . On 20 July 1780 , Washington ordered Wayne to take the 1st and 2nd Pennsylvania Brigades , four artillery pieces , and Stephen Moylan ' s 4th Continental Light Dragoons to destroy a British blockhouse at Bulls Ferry , opposite New York City . The stockaded position was held by 70 Loyalists commanded by Thomas Ward , providing a base for British woodcutting operations and protection against raids by American militia . At that time , the British kept cattle and horses on Bergen Neck to the south , within easy reach of foragers from the British garrison at Paulus Hook . A second motive for Wayne ' s operation was to seize the livestock for the use of Washington ' s army . Wayne sent his cavalry under the leadership of Harry Lee to round up the cattle , while he took three regiments and the artillery to attack the blockhouse . Early on 21 July , Wayne bombarded the blockhouse with his four cannons , but an hour later there were no discernable results . After being peppered with accurate fire from the blockhouse , the American soldiers from the 1st and 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment s became impatient . Despite their officers ' attempts to stop them , the soldiers dashed forward through the abatis to the base of the stockade . Once there , they found it impossible to break into the defensive works , and were forced to retreat . Result . Aside from John André ' s ballad , the consequences of the skirmish were the loss of lives and the seizure of cattle . Wayne reported losses of 15 enlisted men killed , plus three officers and 46 enlisted men wounded . Clinton estimated that Wayne had almost 2 , 000 troops available . He admitted the loss of 21 casualties and reported that 50 round shot penetrated the blockhouse . In a poetical note at the end of " The Cow Chace " , André suggested that five Loyalists were killed . Five refugees ( ' tis true ) were found , < br > Stiff on the blockhouse floor ; < br > But then ' tis thought the shot went round , < br > And in at the back door . In one stanza , the British major poked fun at American claims that their cannon balls could not damage the blockhouse . No shot could pass , if you will take < br > The General ' s word for true ; < br > But ' tis a d ( amna ) ble mistake , < br > For every shot went through . Lee rounded up a substantial number of cattle and returned them to Washington ' s camp . Wayne burned the wood - cutters ' boats and captured some of the boatmen . From André ' s fifth stanza , it is clear that Colonel Thomas Proctor commanded Wayne ' s artillery . Proctor was born in Ireland ( " remoter Shannon " ) . And sons of distant Delaware , < br > And still remoter Shannon , < br > And Major Lee with horses rare , < br > And Procter with his cannon . André mocked Wayne ' s subordinate Brigadier General William Irvine , who fought at Bull ' s Ferry . The British major credited Irvine , misspelled " Irving " , with command of the attack on the blockhouse while Wayne and Lee had the easy work of cattle rustling . At Irving ' s nod ' twas fine to see , < br > The left prepare to fight ; < br > The while , the drovers , Wayne and Lee , < br > Drew off upon the right . Two later stanzas made fun of the retreat of Irvine ' s column . Irving and terror in the van , < br > Came flying all abroad ; < br > And cannon , colors , horse , and man , < br > Ran tumbling to the road . < br > < br > Still as he fled , ' twas Irving ' s cry , < br > And his example too , < br > " Run on , my merry men – For why ? < br > The shot will not go through . " The British major even took a swipe at William Alexander , Lord Stirling who was not even involved in the operation . Alexander had made an unsuccessful attempt to claim a Scottish earldom between 1756 and 1762 . His hard - drinking ways were well - known to British officers . Let none candidly infer , < br > That Stirling wanted spunk ; < br > The self - made peer had sure been there , < br > But that the peer was drunk . Alluding to his pre - war career as a tanner , André poked fun at Wayne in the first and last stanzas . To drive the kine one summer ' s morn , < br > The tanner took his way ; < br > The calf shall rue that is unborn , < br > The jumbling of that day . < br > < br > And now I ' ve clos ' d my epic strain , < br > I tremble as I show it , < br > Lest this same warrior - drover , Wayne , < br > Should ever catch the poet .