Battle of Monmouth The Battle of Monmouth was an American Revolutionary War ( or American War of Independence ) battle fought on June 28 , 1778 in Monmouth County , New Jersey . The Continental Army under General George Washington attacked the rear of the British Army column commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton as they left Monmouth Court House ( modern Freehold Borough ) . It is known as the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse . Unsteady handling of lead Continental elements by Major General Charles Lee had allowed British rearguard commander Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis to seize the initiative but Washington ' s timely arrival on the battlefield rallied the Americans along a hilltop hedgerow . Sensing the opportunity to smash the Continentals , Cornwallis pressed his attack and captured the hedgerow in stifling heat . Washington consolidated his troops in a new line on heights behind marshy ground , used his artillery to fix the British in their positions , then brought up a four gun battery under Major General Nathanael Greene on nearby Combs Hill to enfilade the British line , requiring Cornwallis to withdraw . Finally , Washington tried to hit the exhausted British rear guard on both flanks , but darkness forced the end of the engagement . Both armies held the field , but the British commanding General Clinton withdrew undetected at midnight to resume his army ' s march to New York City . While Cornwallis protected the main British column from any further American attack , Washington had fought his opponent to a standstill after a pitched and prolonged engagement ; the first time that Washington ' s army had achieved such a result . The battle demonstrated the growing effectiveness of the Continental Army after its six month encampment at Valley Forge , where constant drilling under officers such as Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben and Major General Gilbert du Motier , Marquis de Lafayette greatly improved army discipline and morale . The battle improved the military reputations of Washington , Lafayette and Anthony Wayne but ended the career of Charles Lee , who would face court martial at Englishtown for his failures on the day . According to some accounts , an American soldier ' s wife , Mary Hays , brought water to thirsty soldiers in the June heat , and became one of several women associated with the legend of Molly Pitcher . Background . British forces had captured Philadelphia in 1777 . In May 1778 , the British commander - in - chief in North America , Sir Henry Clinton , was ordered to evacuate Philadelphia and concentrate his troops at the main British base in New York City as France had entered the war on the side of the Americans . Clinton was ordered to dispatch units to West Florida and the West Indies which left him too few troops to continue occupying Philadelphia . Clinton was also ordered to abandon New York and withdraw to Quebec if he felt his position there was untenable . A French fleet under d ' Estaing had sailed from Toulon in April 1778 and intended to make a rendezvous with rebel forces which could threaten Clinton ' s army before it reached the safety of New York . It was originally intended that the withdrawing British army would travel directly to New York via the sea , escorted by the Royal Navy . A lack of transports forced Clinton to change his plans . While the stores , heavy equipment and Loyalist American civilians fleeing revenge attacks would be shipped by sea , the main army would march overland across New Jersey . On June 18 , the British began to evacuate Philadelphia , and began their approximately march to the northeast across New Jersey to New York City . The British force comprised 11 , 000 British and German regulars , a thousand Loyalists from Philadelphia , and a baggage train long . As the British advanced , the Americans slowed their advance by burning bridges , muddying wells and building abatis across the roads . Prelude . With a high of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit , both sides lost almost as many men to heat stroke as to the enemy . Major General Charles Lee , Washington ' s second - in - command , advised awaiting developments as he did not wish to commit the American force against the British regulars . However , Washington determined that the British column was vulnerable to attack as it traveled across New Jersey with its baggage train , and moved from Valley Forge in pursuit . Washington was still undecided how to attack the British column , and held a council of war . The council , however , was divided on the issue ; with a small group of officers including General Anthony Wayne urging a partial attack on the British column while it was strung out on the road . Lee was still cautious , advising only harassing attacks with light forces . On June 26 , 1778 , Washington chose to send 4 , 000 men as an advance force to strike at the British rear guard as they departed Monmouth Courthouse , in order to delay the British withdrawal until the main American force could give battle . Battle . Lee , as Washington ' s senior subordinate , was initially appointed commander of the advance force , but turned it down because of his doubts about the plan . However , when the force was increased to 5 , 000 and the command offered to the Marquis de Lafayette , Lee changed his mind and insisted on the command . Lee met with his subordinates but failed to give them proper orders , resulting in a piecemeal and disorganized attack on June 28 against the British rear guard under General Charles Cornwallis . After several hours of fighting in the hot weather , several American brigades executed a tactical retreat , which developed into a general withdrawal . The British rear guard counterattacked and Lee ordered a retreat , which rapidly became a rout . Washington , advancing with the main force along the Monmouth road , encountered Lee ' s fleeing troops and finally Lee himself , with the British in hot pursuit . After a heated exchange with Lee , Washington relieved him of command and sent him to the rear . He then rallied Lee ' s troops , who delayed the British pursuit until the main force could take up positions further to the west . The remnants of Lee ' s forces then withdrew to the main American force , where the Continental Army troops were positioned behind the West Ravine on the Monmouth Courthouse - Freehold Meeting House Road . Washington drew up his army with Greene ' s division on the right , Major General Stirling ' s division on the left , and most of Lee ' s former force , now under Lafayette , in reserve . In front of his lines , Wayne commanded various elements of Lee ' s force . Artillery was placed on both wings , with the right wing in position to enfilade the advancing British . The British came on and attacked Stirling ' s left wing with their light infantry and the 42nd ( Black Watch ) Regiment in the van . They were met by a storm of fire from Stirling ' s Continentals . The battle raged back and forth for an hour until three American regiments were sent though woods to enfilade the attacking British right flank . The attack was successful and sent the British back to reform . Foiled on the left , Cornwallis personally led a heavy attack against Greene ' s right wing , with a force comprising British and Hessian grenadiers , light infantry , the Coldstream Guards and another Guards battalion , and the 37th and 44th Regiments . The attack was met by enfilading fire from Thomas - Antoine de Mauduit du Plessis ' s four 6 - pound cannons on Combs Hill , as well as accurate volleys from Greene ' s Continental regiments . The British persisted up the ravine slope but within minutes five high - ranking officers and many men were down from heavy fire . The attackers recoiled down the slope . During Cornwallis ' abortive attack on Greene , another British force made up of grenadiers , light infantry and light dragoons hit Wayne ' s forward force , who were protected behind a long hedge . Three times the British were driven back by Wayne ' s grapeshot and bullets : but an overwhelming fourth attack overlapped Wayne ' s position and forced his units to fall back to the main American line . The British made no further attempts on the main American line , although cannonading from both sides continued until 6 p . m . At this point , the British fell back to a strong position east of the Ravine . Washington wanted to take the offensive to the British and attack both flanks , but darkness brought an end to the battle . The British rested and then resumed their march to the northeast during the night . Washington wanted to resume the battle the next day but in the morning found that the British had withdrawn during the night , continuing their march without incident to Sandy Hook and arriving there on June 30 . The British force was then transported by the Royal Navy across Lower New York Bay to Manhattan . The battle was a tactical British victory , as the rearguard successfully covered the British withdrawal . However , strategically it was a draw , as the Americans were ultimately left in possession of the field , and had , for the first time , demonstrated that the Continental Army regiment s could stand against British regulars . The British official casualty return reported 65 killed , 59 dead of " fatigue " , 170 wounded and 64 missing . The American official return stated 69 killed , 161 wounded and 132 missing ( 37 of whom were found to have died of heat - stroke ) . Other estimates increase the losses to 1 , 134 British and 500 American casualties . Aftermath . After the battle the British continued their march eastwards until they reached Sandy Hook . From there they were taken by boat to New York City where they began preparing the city ' s defences in expectation of an attack . D ' Estaing ' s fleet arrived just too late , narrowly missing a chance to trap Clinton ' s army at Sandy Hook . Plans to attack New York were abandoned , and it remained the principal base for British forces until 1783 . Instead D ' Estaing sailed north to participate in a Franco - American assault on the British garrison at Newport , Rhode Island , which ended in failure . Monmouth was the last major battle in the northern theater , and the largest one - day battle of the war when measured in terms of participants . Lee was later court - martial ed at the Village Inn located in the center of Englishtown , where he was found guilty and relieved of command for one year . The verdict was approved by the Continental Congress by a close vote . Many months later , Lee wrote a strongly worded letter to Congress in protest but Congress closed the affair by informing him that it had no more need of his services . Lee never held another military command and died in 1782 . Legacy . The legend of " Molly Pitcher " is usually associated with this battle . According to one story , she was the wife of an American artillery man who came to battle with her husband , bringing water for swabbing the cannons and for the thirsty crews , and took a soldier ' s place after he fell , and fought beside her husband . There is a common misconception that her husband was the soldier that fell , but research by the society that preserves the battlefield has proven this to be incorrect . The story is based on a true incident but has become embellished over the years . Two places on the battlefield are marked as sites of the " Molly Pitcher Spring " . Nine Army National Guard units ( 101st Eng Bn , 101st FA , 113th Inf 116 Inf , 125th QM Co , 175th Inf , 181st Inf , 198th Sig Bn and 211 MP Bn ) and one active Regular Army Field Artillery battalion ( 1 - 5th FA ) are derived from American units that participated in the Battle of Monmouth . There are only thirty currently active units of the U . S . Army with lineages that go back to the colonial era . Although never accorded formal preservation , the Monmouth Battlefield is one of the best preserved of the Revolutionary War battlefields . Each year , during the last weekend in June , the Battle of Monmouth is reenacted at Monmouth Battlefield State Park in modern Freehold Township and Manalapan . The Monmouth County Historical Association at 70 Court Street in Freehold Borough , New Jersey houses a collection of documents which includes personal accounts , journals , pension applications , letters , and miscellaneous printed material .