Scammell ' s 1781 Light Infantry Regiment On 17 May 1781 , General George Washington ordered Colonel Alexander Scammell to form a regiment of picked light infantry . The unit was referred to as Scammell ' s light infantry , light corps , regiment , or detachment . The composition of this light infantry regiment ( eight 50 - man companies ) was based on the new organization of the Continental Army prescribed by Congress and George Washington in late 1780 . The regiment served in New York , then went with the Continental Army to Yorktown and once there was incorporated into the light infantry division at Yorktown commanded by Major General Lafayette . Washington ' s intent for the regiment is clearly stated in a letter to Scammell on the same date : Scammel ' s corps was disbanded during the Siege of Yorktown and its companies reorganized under new commanders on October 8 , 1781 . Formation , muster roll . General Washington gave command of the regiment to Alexander Scammell to honor Scammell ' s wishes to command a line unit and in recognition of his services as Adjutant General , in which he had personally supervised the recruiting and suitability of troops for the light infantry of 1779 through 1781 . The men of this unit were selected from the Continental Line regiments from Connecticut , Massachusetts , and New Hampshire that were garrisoned at West Point . Initially eight companies of 50 men each were formed . Scammell personally selected the officers . Each of these regiments had already supplied light infantry companies that had gone to Virginia with Lafayette in February 1781 . No official roll of this regiment is known to exist . The following roll is compiled from a variety of sources including state rolls where the line company musters included notes that the soldiers were " On Command " with Scammell , pension records where men claimed service with Scammell , or other sources that indicated the men were present . It is also clear , given the example of Elijah Day , and that Scammell was ordered to fill out regiment ( replace sick or otherwise unable soldiers ) on one subsequent occasion , that the composition of the detachment was changeable . Officers . Officers that were likely picked on May 17 : Rank and file . Only men who specifically claimed to have served with Scammell during this time , or specifically gave their chains of command that included Scammell in their pensions are included here . There were other light infantry units at Yorktown with companies from New Hampshire , Massachusetts , and Connecticut regiments . Early operations in the Highlands . The early operations of Scammell ' s detachment of light infantry centered around addressing the " enemy " that Washington indicated were establishing themselves near Fort Lee . This enemy was a Tory militia unit under Lt - Col James De Lancey , which were at the time commonly known as De Lancey ' s refugees or just the refugees . The timing and size of Scammell ' s detachment is not insignificant relative to this first objective . De Lancey ' s unit had , on May 13 , attacked the 1st Rhode Island regiment where they were encamped just north of Pines Bridge on the Croton River . The attack resulted in ten men killed and twenty three captured . Among those killed was Lt - Col Christopher Greene who was in command while Colonel Jeremiah Olney was in Rhode Island . Washington indicated the refugees ' strength was 60 horse and 140 infantry . By May 24 Scammell had the situation at Fort Lee in hand with work being done to destroy what work the refugees had recently undertaken . By the 26th , Scammell was clearly thinking of taking the action to De Lancey . Then on the 28th , Washington decided to move Scammell ' s encampment back to the east side of the Hudson to the south of Peekskill . During this time Washington had gone to Wethersfield Connecticut and met for five days with Rochambeau to discuss the opportunities for a campaign against the British . Battle of King ' s Bridge . Washington made initial use of Scammell ' s detachment upon gaining intelligence from Brigadier General David Waterbury of Connecticut that the British were planning an attack that would come from King ' s Bridge , possibly in two directions , aimed at removing Waterbury ' s Connecticut Line regiments from the area south of White Plains and west of Stamford , including the target of some whaling boats at Stamford . Under the direction of Robert Howe , commander at West Point , Scammell moved the light infantry to Pines Bridge by the 20th of June . By the 28th of June , Washington had conceived of a plan to counter , by surprise , the British intents . Scammell ' s light infantry were put under the command of Major General Benjamin Lincoln who was to take control of King ' s Bridge — which was to depend on night maneuvers in order to gain a necessary element of surprise . Lincoln commanded about 800 soldiers and 150 boatmen and artillery ; the other 400 soldiers were commanded by Col . Ebenezer Sproat , commander of the 2nd Massachusetts Regiment . Lincoln was ordered to personally reconnoiter the situation , and depending on what he found , he had been given orders and contingency plans to follow . Such was the American right in Washington ' s plan . The left was to be commanded by Armand Louis de Gontaut , Duke of Lauzun , and his legion who would have David Waterbury ' s Connecticut troops , Sheldon ' s Horse , and three companies of New York Militia in their number ; their object was to capture or neutralize James Delancy ' s regiment of Tories that operated in the area of Morrisania and north along the Harlem River . Preparations began on July 1 when Washington ordered Scammell ' s light infantry to the mouth of the Croton River . There , they would be met with boats on July 2 to carry them south to the New Jersey side of the Hudson River opposite Dobb ' s Ferry , where they waited as the sun set on the side of a mountain next to the river under the concealment of cut brush and branches . Lincoln scouted to the south , as Washington wished , to see if it was possible to land on York Island to effect the surprise , but Lincoln found that the crossing was blocked by ships , forcing any crossing to occur further to the north . Very early on July 2 , Washington ordered Lincoln to cross the Hudson and take possession of the heights above King ' s Bridge ( Valentine ' s Hill was the name of these heights ) . Lincoln crossed the Hudson starting at 9 : 00 pm on July 2 , landing about two and a half miles north of King ' s Bridge by 2 : 00 A . M . Scammell ' s detachment paraded , and set their order for battle . It was very dark — Washington had specifically chosen this night for the lack of a moon to help cover his troops ' movements . Shortly before dawn on July 3 , Lincoln ' s detachment encountered the pickets at King ' s Bridge , and according to Asa Reddington , a sharp action ensued , effectively ending any element of surprise . As the sun was coming up , Scammell ' s detachment took up a position about 500 yards north of the bridge . A detachment of British cavalry soon crossed the bridge and was met with fire from Scammell ' s men , causing them to return to the south side of the bridge . The bridge was then to be taken up to prevent Scammell ' s men from breaking through and crossing . After a short rest , Scammell and his men took command of Valentine ' s Hill , about 3 / 4 of a mile east of the bridge , where they were joined by Col . Sproat ' s men and General Washington with Brigadier General DuPortail and 50 of Washington ' s Life Guard , who were there to scout the enemy position on the north of York Island . This much was corroborated by Hessian accounts . A group of about 100 Hessian chasseur s ( light infantry ) under Col . Andreas Emmerich was out north of King ' s Bridge on July 2 and had gotten word back to York Island that the Americans were approaching New York in force . That resulted in a party of 200 chasseurs and 30 cavalry being sent out at dawn to cover Emmerich ' s return . Some of these men were likely who Scammell ' s men encountered as " the pickets " . The second party of Hessians was not on good ground , and reported that the American repulsed them and their cavalry before falling back to higher ground , where the Hessians determined their numbers to be six or seven hundred . At this point the stories all become different . Here is what may have happened given Reddington ' s account , which is by far the most detailed : At about 8 : 00 AM on the 3rd of July , the British put down the King ' s Bridge again and sent out a body of infantry and cavalry , probably German Jägers and German ( likely Hessian ) horse . This force was sufficiently large to overrun Lincoln ' s command ; a member of Washington ' s Life Guard estimated 1 , 500 . One of Washington ' s Life Guard me , and so they began slowly retreating , using closed formations to avoid the worst of the dangers the British cavalry offered . Eventually they came to a double - walled defensive work , which was likely the old fort on Valentine ' s Hill , and shortly afterward Lauzun ' s cavalry arrived , along with Washington and the part of the northern Army that could be spared from West Point and its dependencies . While Washington wrote Congress that this precipitated the retreat of the British and Jägers , accounts like Asa Reddington ' s suggest skirmishing continued until the British forces had crossed back over King ' s Bridge . The Hessian account was that Emmerich ' s command was cut off from King ' s Bridge at Spuyten Duyvil Creek during the initial skirmish , and that the second , larger , group of chasseurs regrouped just north of the bridge , which was initially in the hands of the Americans , requiring their cavalry to clear it , but not before the 900 Americans had been driven from the heights ( by 200 chasseurs and 30 cavalry ) . The account finishes with the Hessian lieutenant colonel von Wurmb , who commanded the second group , reporting back to his headquarters that he was suspicious of an ambuscade , and that no other action ensued . No mention was made of a much larger force that Reddington and others from the American side reported , or any reports of skirmishing one to three miles to the north . The Hessian losses were reported at thirty men killed or wounded . One Connecticut soldier , Nathan Munn Lounsberry from Lamb ' s Artillery , wrote the following : Lounsberry probably meant the old fort on Valentine ' s Hill , rather than Fort Lee on the west side of the Hudson River . Lounsberry was coming from Miles Square , which was about a mile from the top of Valentine ' s hill where the old fort was located , which in turn was about a mile and three quarters from King ' s Bridge . Washington hoped to keep the British forces engaged long enough , almost two miles north of King ' s Bridge , to allow Lauzun ' s fatigued infantry time to cut off their escape . It appears that Washington , himself , had been very close to the action given that a number of the casualties were members of his Life - Guard . Despite the efforts of Lauzun ' s troops , poor roads kept them from effecting that plan to cut off the British troops who had crossed King ' s Bridge that morning . In all at least 1 , 100 American troops were involved , and possibly as many as 2 , 500 were involved in some way given that the main Army had arrived in Miles Square in time to have fired shots at the enemy . However , only the 900 or so under Lincoln were involved in actual battle , the rest being skirmishes . Of the British three separate forces were involved : 100 under Emmerich , 230 sent at dawn by von Wurmb , and the larger party that forced Lincoln ' s command to retreat towards the main American Army . The latter party had to have been at least large enough to overrun 900 American ' s on a hilltop , which is where the principal action took place ; perhaps 1 , 500 as indicated by Godfrey . The Americans reported 76 casualties , of which Scammell ' s were 6 killed and 34 wounded . The result of the battle was a British win in terms of winning the combat situations , but the Americans gained clear control of ground nearer to New York . Ground that they would probably have been ceded with the arrival of the arrival of Rochambeau and Lauzun — so the real gain was as Washington relayed to Congress the opportunity to scout and gain intelligence as to the strength of the British on York Island . The Americans could then securely use Dobbs Ferry as a headquarters , allowing for potentially more efficient staging of the march to Yorktown , and the subterfuge to keep Clinton pinned down at New York . Prelude to Yorktown . The regiment was active in the subterfuge that ensured Sir Henry Clinton ' s forces in New York City stayed there in a defensive posture , allowing Washington ' s army to make their way southward to Yorktown . The first such action came on July 22 , when Scammell was ordered south , first to Tippet ' s Hill ( aka Tibbet ' s Hill ) and then to cover Lauzun ' s Legion and Sheldon ' s horse in scouring Morrisania . On July 30 Scammell ' s command went south to Phillip ' s manor on a " foraging expedition " , covering the loading of wagons from hiding places in the woods , hoping the enemy would engage them , but nothing resulted . On August 5 or 6 Scammell , along with Sheldon ' s Horse and Foot , secured the roads as far south past Phillip ' s House as safely possible to permit General Washington the opportunity to reconnoiter the River Road . The army that would march south soon began to take shape . On August 8 , Washington assigned Lt - Col Alexander Hamilton ' s four companies of light infantry ( two from New York and two provisional companies from Connecticut ) under Scammell ' s command . Then on the 11th , Colonel Sheldon was also put under Scammell ' s command . By August 22 , Washington had placed Scammell ' s command under Major General Benjamin Lincoln , and the public design was to make an attempt at New York through Staten Island . Some of the groundwork for the Staten Island feint was already happening . On August 19 Washington had ordered the light infantry to cross at King ' s Ferry and move to high ground near Springfield and Chatham , New Jersey . These troops , which also included all of Scammell ' s command and Moses Hazen ' s regiment as well , were in place by late on the 21st of August . On the 25th the troops put on a show for the British and Hessian scouts , marching back and forth by various routes that Washington supplied to Lincoln between Paramus and ultimately back to Springfield on the 27th . On the 29th , they marched again , and as Scammell ' s wing of Lincoln ' s command turned west at Quibbletown , it became generally known to the rank and file that the object of their march was in Virginia and not Staten Island . Washington ' s orders to Lincoln were to proceed to the Head of Elk , and once past Trenton to not fatigue the troops with long marches , and to not encamp too near Philadelphia . Scammell ' s Command arrived at the Head of Elk on September 6 and by September 10 were on boats carrying them south toward the James River . By September 26 , six of Scammell ' s nine companies and three of Hamilton ' s four companies had arrived near Williamsburg . Two of Scammell ' s missing were under Huntington , and Hand ' s return does not account for the men with Asa Reddington ' s company who were delayed a week when their vessel became disabled near Porpoise Harbor . Siege of Yorktown . On September 24 , as troops were still arriving from the north , Washington ' s general orders described the new arrangement for the army at Yorktown . Under this arrangement Scammell ' s corps was brigaded along with Hamilton ' s battalion under the command of Brigadier General Moses Hazen along with Hazen ' s regiment . Scammell was clearly surprised by Washington ' s new arrangement that organized Hazen ' s brigade within Lafayette ' s light infantry division and took exception to being placed under the command of Hazen . Washington responded on the 26th , indicating military practice was that brigadier general s would command brigade - sized elements , and not colonels . However , Washington also implied that he was satisfied with the manner in which Scammell had commanded his regiment . On September 28 the Siege of Yorktown was undertaken and the light infantry moved into position on the American Right . On September 29 , Scammell was assigned as officer of the day under Lafayette . In that capacity he was reconnoitering the British works and became separated from his party . He mistakenly joined with a party of British dragoon s . Dr . James Thacher wrote that he was immediately taken prisoner , during the process of which he was shot in the back . This account , where the question of whether Scammell had already surrendered before being shot was unresolved , was widely circulated and clearly fueled thoughts of vengeance , as Thacher later reported regarding the treatment of Major Campbell of the British . Col . Scammell was initially taken into Yorktown but was moved to Williamsburg where he died on October 4 . Asa Reddington later wrote of the event , stating that Scammell ' s party of officers was rushed by the dragoons , who fired on them , wounding Scammell before taking him prisoner . On October 8 the regiment was split with half assigned to Lt - Col John Laurens and half to Lt - Col Ebenezer Huntington . Epilogue . Troops of Scammell ' s corps participated in the storming of redoubt # 10 after the reorganization . Hamilton sent Laurens with Betts ' and William ' s companies left , around to the rear of the redoubt to prevent the enemy from escaping towards Yorktown . This was partly successful in that 17 British soldiers were captured and Laurens took prisoner Major Campbell , the commander of the redoubt . The battle lasted only about ten minutes , and from accounts of many soldiers who were not in the three assault columns , it seems that many of the supporting troops were able to reach the works within the next ten minutes . The following list shows which commander each company was apparently assigned to based Johnston ' s description of the battle and claims in pensions . Following the British surrender , the American troops made their way back to the respective garrisons ; generally men who were not sick were put on ships to arrive faster , and those who were sick were transported or marched separately .