The Delaware Series

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Olde Delaware

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The Delaware Series
By Olde Delaware
August 9th 2018

It's been a long time since I last wrote anything or had the desire to, but a few friends prodded me back into it and here we are. To be fair, I had no idea what to write or even write about. I had left research on my desk where it sat collecting dust and my giddy up and go had since gone. But tonight as I sat and thought about it I figured I would start a series on what I know best, my home state of Delaware.

Delaware's contribution to the security of the United States officially begins on January 19, 1776 with the raising of the Delaware Continentals under Colonel John Haslet. Known as the "Delaware Continentals" or "Delaware Blues", they were from the smallest state, but at some 800 men, were the largest battalion in the Continental Army.

So I hope you will join me as we explore the history of the Delaware Blues in an upcoming article :)

 
The Delaware Series
'Delaware Blues' Part I: Colonel Haslet to Colonel Hall
By Olde Delaware



"This regiment was the best uniformed and equipped in the army of 1776. Their dress was a short blue jacket, faced and lined with red; a white waistcoat and buckskin breeches; white knit stockings with short black canvas gaiters or spatterdashes. The buttons were of pewter for the men, and gilt for the officers, marked "D B" for "Delaware Battalion." - "Diary of Captain Thomas Rodney," in Papers of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, no. VIII (1888)

The 1st Delaware Regiment was raised on December 9th 1775 for service with the continental army in response to the request of the Continental Congress. It would not be until January 13th, 1776 that the Delaware Battalion would receive its first Colonel, John Haslet.

Colonel John Haslet

Haslet was born in Straw, Dungiven, County Londonderry in Ulster, Ireland, about 1727, son of Joseph and Ann Dykes Haslet. As the eldest son, he attended the University of Glasgow in Scotland, earned his degree in divinity in 1749 and was ordained a Presbyterian minister at Ballykelly, County Londonderry, in 1752. Arriving in America in 1757, he served in the French and Indian War as a captain in the Pennsylvania militia. He was part of the Forbes expedition that captured Fort Duquesne in November 1758.

January to August 1776

While the conflict raged in Boston, Delaware assembled the first companies and appointed the first company commanders of the Delaware Battalion.Three companies from New Castle County, three from Kent County and two from Sussex County. David Hall, company commander of a Sussex regiment was appointed second in command of the Battalion. While not listed as a company commander, Captain Thomas Holland, formerly of the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers, an elite British unit served as adjutant of the unit and was responsible for their training and outfitting.

Captain Joseph Stidham’s Company – New Castle County
Captain Jonathan Caldwell’s Company – Kent County
Captain David Hall’s Company– Sussex County
Captain Henry Darby’s Company – New Castle County
Captain Charles Pope’s Company – Kent County
Captain Nathan Adams’ Company – Kent County
Captain Samuel Smith’s Company – New Castle County
Captain Joseph Vaughan’s Company – Sussex County

The Battalion trained from January to July and then were deployed north, arriving in time to engage British Forces for the first time.

Battle of Long Island

After defeating the British in the Siege of Boston on March 17, 1776, commander-in-chief General George Washington brought the Continental Army to defend the port city of New York, then limited to the southern end of Manhattan Island. Washington understood that the city's harbor would provide an excellent base for the British navy during the campaign, so he established defenses there and waited for the British to attack. In July, the British under the command of General William Howe landed a few miles across the harbor from Manhattan on the sparsely-populated Staten Island, where they were slowly reinforced by ships in Lower New York Bay during the next month and a half, bringing their total force to 32,000 troops. Washington knew the difficulty in holding the city with the British fleet in control of the entrance to the harbor at the Narrows, and he moved the bulk of his forces to Manhattan, believing that it would be the first target.

At about 11pm on August 26, the first shots were fired in the Battle of Long Island, near the Red Lion Inn (near present-day 39th Street and 4th Avenue). American pickets from Samuel John Atlee's Pennsylvania regiment fired upon two British soldiers who were foraging in a watermelon patch near the inn. At 1:00am on August 27, the British approached the vicinity of the Red Lion with 200–300 troops. The American troops fired upon the British; after approximately two fusillades, they fled up the Gowanus Road toward the Vechte-Cortelyou House. Major Edward Burd had been in command, but he was captured along with a lieutenant and 15 privates. This first engagement was fought in the vicinity of 38th and 39th streets between 2nd and 3rd avenues near a swamp located adjacent to the Gowanus Road.

Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons and Colonel Atlee were stationed farther north on the Gowanus Road. Parsons was a lawyer from Connecticut who had recently secured a commission in the Continental Army; Atlee was a veteran of the French and Indian War in command of the First Regiment of Pennsylvania Musketry. Putnam had been awakened by a guard at 03:00 and told that the British were attacking through the Gowanus Pass. He lit signals to Washington, who was on Manhattan, and then rode south to warn Stirling of the attack.

Stirling led two units of Colonel John Haslet's 1st Delaware Regiment under the immediate command of Major Thomas Macdonough, and Colonel William Smallwood's 1st Maryland Infantry under the immediate command of Major Mordecai Gist; both Haslet and Smallwood were on courts-martial duty in Manhattan. Following close behind was Parson's Connecticut regiment with 251 men. Stirling led this combined force to reinforce Parsons and Atlee and stop the British advance. Stirling had a total of 1,600 troops at his command. Stirling placed Atlee's men in an apple orchard owned by Wynant Bennett on the south side of the Gowanus Road near present-day 3rd Avenue and 18th Street.

Stirling took up positions with the Delaware and Maryland regiments just to the north of Atlee's men on the slopes of a rise of land between 18th and 20th streets. Some of the Maryland troops were positioned on a small hill near 23rd Street, which the local Dutch called "Blokje Berg" (Dutch for cube or block hill). At the base of this hill, the Gowanus Road crossed a small bridge over a ditch which drained a marshy area. When the British advanced up the Gowanus Road, the American troops fired upon them from positions on the north side of the ditch.

Unbeknownst to the Americans, this was not the main attack of the British.

At 09:00, Washington arrived from Manhattan. He realized that he had been wrong about a feint on Long Island and he ordered more troops to Brooklyn from Manhattan. His location on the battlefield is not known because accounts differ, but most likely he was at Brooklyn Heights where he could view the battle.


The First Delaware Regiment engaging General James Grant's division during the morning of August 27th 1776

Stirling still held the line against Grant on the American right, to the west. He held on for four hours, still unaware of the British flanking maneuver, and some of his own troops thought that they were winning the day because the British had been unable to take their position. However, Grant was reinforced by 2,000 marines, and he hit Stirling's center by 11am, and Stirling was attacked on his left by the Hessians. Stirling pulled back, but British troops were coming at him from the rear, south down the Gowanus Road. The only escape route left was across a Brouwer's millpond on the Gowanus Creek which was 80 yards wide, on the other side of Brooklyn Heights.

Stirling ordered all of his troops to cross the creek, except a contingent of Maryland troops under the command of Gist. This group became known to history as the "Maryland 400", although they numbered about 260–270 men. Stirling and Gist led the troops in a rear-guard action against the overwhelming numbers of British troops, which surpassed 2,000 supported by two cannons. Stirling and Gist led the Marylanders in two attacks against the British, who were in fixed positions in and in front of the Vechte-Cortelyou House (known today as the Old Stone House). After the last assault, the remaining troops retreated across the Gowanus Creek. Some of the men who tried to cross the marsh were bogged down in the mud and under musket fire, and others who could not swim were captured.

Retreating across Westchester County, Haslet's men won a victory over a corps of Loyalists at Mamaroneck, New York. At White Plains, on October 28, 1776, the Delaware Regiment again fought with Colonel William Smallwood's Marylanders, reinforcing militia placed on the strategic Chatterton's Hill. The local militia fled under the British attack, but Haslet and Smallwood fought on until, at last, they too yielded the ground. The Battle of White Plains was another British victory, but because of the difficulty in taking Chatterton's Hill, the price was great and the reward to the British was little. With expiring enlistments leaving fewer than 100 men remaining in his regiment, Haslet crossed the Delaware with Washington and joined the attack on Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776.

Battle of Princeton

The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777. Lord General Charles Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood in Princeton. Following a surprise attack at Trenton early in the morning of December 26, 1776, General George Washington of the Continental Army decided to attack the British in New Jersey before entering winter quarters. On December 30, he crossed the Delaware River back into New Jersey. His troops followed on January 3, 1777. Washington advanced to Princeton by a back road, where he pushed back a smaller British force but had to retreat before Cornwallis arrived with reinforcements. The battles of Trenton and Princeton were a boost to the morale of the Continental troops, leading many recruits to join the Continental Army in the spring.

After defeating the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776, Washington withdrew back to Pennsylvania. He subsequently decided to attack the British forces before going into winter quarters. On December 29, he led his army back into Trenton. On the night of January 2, 1777, Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek. That night, he evacuated his position, circled around General Lord Cornwallis' army, and went to attack the British garrison at Princeton.

On January 3, Brigadier General Hugh Mercer of the Continental Army clashed with two regiments under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood of the British Army. Mercer and his troops were overrun, and Mercer was mortally wounded. Washington sent a brigade of militia under Brigadier General John Cadwalader to help them. The militia, on seeing the flight of Mercer's men, also began to flee. Washington rode up with reinforcements and rallied the fleeing militia. He then led the attack on Mawhood's troops, driving them back. Mawhood gave the order to retreat and most of the troops tried to flee to Cornwallis in Trenton.

It would be in this instance, the skirmish of January 3rd 1777 that Colonel Haslet would lose his life.

January 3rd 1777 Skirmish

Mawhood ordered his light troops to delay Mercer, while he brought up the other detachments. Mercer was walking through William Clark's orchard when the British light troops appeared. The British light troops' volley went high, which gave time for Mercer to wheel his troops around into battle line. Mercer's troops advanced, pushing back the British light troops. The Americans took up a position behind a fence at the upper end of the orchard. However, Mawhood had brought up his troops and his artillery. The American gunners opened fire first and for about ten minutes, the outnumbered American infantry exchanged fire with the British. However, many of the Americans had rifles which took longer to load than muskets. Mawhood ordered a bayonet charge and because many of the Americans had rifles, which could not be equipped with bayonets, they were overrun.

Both of the Americans' cannons were captured, and the British turned them on the fleeing troops. Mercer was surrounded by British soldiers and they shouted at him "Surrender you damn rebel!". Declining to ask for quarter, Mercer chose to resist instead. The British, thinking they had caught Washington, bayoneted him, and then left him for dead. Haslet, serving as Mercer's second in command tried to rally Mercer's brigade and was himself shot in the head and killed instantly.



The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777 displays several events at the Battle of Princeton. At the center, American General Hugh Mercer, with his horse beneath him, is mortally wounded. At the left, American Daniel Neil is bayoneted against a cannon. At the right, British Captain William Leslie is shown mortally wounded. In the background, American General George Washington and Doctor Benjamin Rush enter the scene. At the far left, below the cannon near the edge of the painting is American Colonel John Haslet.


Aftermath

While the Americans did win the battle for Princeton, the Delaware Regiment would return to its home state without its Commanding Officer, escorted by Colonel Thomas Rodney's Kent County Militia. I have not been able to locate solid casualty figures for the Delaware Regiment during the Battle of Princeton, it is believed the regiment began the fight with 108 men and returned with roughly the same amount to Delaware. Haslet was first buried at the First Presbyterian Church cemetery in Philadelphia. By an act of the Delaware General Assembly on July 1, 1841, his remains were disinterred and moved to the Presbyterian Cemetery in Dover, Delaware. In 2001, the State of Delaware dedicated a monument to honor him at Battle Monument Park in Princeton, New Jersey.

John Haslet was perhaps the best soldier Delaware had to offer, and the next best soldier, his good friend Caesar Rodney, rushed to the Continental Army to try and fill his place. Haslet was succeeded as colonel by David Hall as Rodney returned home to be Delaware's wartime Governor.

End of Part I
 
The Delaware Series
'Delaware Blues' Part II: Cooch's Bridge and Brandywine

By Olde Delaware

After the death of Colonel Haslet and with forces falling below 100 men, the remainder of the 1st Delaware Regiment returned home in January 1777. The Delaware Assembly appointed Captain David Hall, a Sussex County lawyer as the new Commander of the 1st Delaware Regiment and promoted him to Colonel in April 1777.

Hall, unlike Haslet was born in Delaware having been born in Lewes. Son of David and Mary Kollock Hall. His grandfather was Nathaniel Hall, who known as "the Indian Fighter." He came to Delaware from Connecticut in 1700. His father, David Hall, Sr. was a well known farmer from around Lewes, who was a Justice of the Peace and a frequent member of the Colonial Assembly from 1753 until the American Revolution. In 1776, David Jr. married Catherine Tingley, daughter of Samuel Tingley, the Rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. They had six children: Elizabeth, Mary, Jane, Catherine, Lydia, and Martha.

His home in Lewes remains standing today in the city across from the Zwaanendael Museum.

Battle of Cooch's Bridge

While the 1st Delaware did not take part in the battle, the battle itself remains the only documented battle to have been fought entirely within the State of Delaware. General Howe's plan of taking Philadelphia by attacking via the Chesapeake with 18,000 troops was to be countered by the full might of the Continental Army, which was camped in Wilmington, Delaware. Riding further south and west to perform reconnaissance on August 26, Washington learned that the British had landed.

On August 25, Howe's army disembarked below a small town called Head of Elk (now known as Elkton, and located at the head of navigation of the Elk River) in Maryland, about 50 miles (80 km) south of Philadelphia. Due to the relatively poor quality of the landing area, his troops moved immediately to the north, reaching Head of Elk itself on August 28. Advance troops consisting of British light infantry and German Jäger moved east across Elk Creek and occupied Gray's Hill, about one mile (1.6 km) west of Iron Hill, near Cooch's Bridge, which was a few miles south of Newark. The bridge was named for Thomas Cooch, a local landowner whose house was near the bridge.

Washington would normally have assigned the duties of advance guard to Daniel Morgan and his riflemen, but he had detached these to assist Horatio Gates in the defense of the Hudson River Valley against the advance of General John Burgoyne. Since they were unavailable, he organized a light infantry corps consisting of 700 picked men from Continental Army regiments (including future Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, who would go on to fight in the coming battle) and about 1,000 Pennsylvania and Delaware militia, and placed them under the command of Brigadier General William Maxwell. These troops occupied Iron Hill and Cooch's Bridge. General Nathanael Greene advocated moving the entire Continental Army to this position, believing the Christina River to be a more defensible point, but Washington declined, instead ordering Maxwell to monitor British movements and slow its advance while the rest of the army fortified the Red Clay Creek and Wilmington.

Maxwell's men were encamped on either side of the road leading south from Cooch's Bridge toward Aiken's Tavern (present-day Glasgow, Delaware) in a series of small camps designed to facilitate ambushes. On August 28, Washington, atop Iron Hill, and Howe, on Gray's Hill, observed each other as they took stock of the enemy's position; one of the Hessian generals wrote, "These gentlemen observed us with their glasses as carefully as we observed them. Those of our officers who know Washington well, maintained that the man in the plain coat was Washington."


The Battle Itself

A small company of Hessian dragoons led by Captain Johann Ewald headed up the road from the tavern toward Cooch's Bridge as Cornwallis's advance guard. These were struck by a volley of fire from an American ambush and many of them fell, either killed or wounded. Ewald remained unwounded, and quickly alerted the Hessian and Ansbach Jäger, who rushed forward to meet the Americans. This began a running skirmish that Major John André described as follows: "Here the rebels began to attack us about 9 o'clock with a continued irregular fire for nearly two miles." Howe rode to the front lines, and seeing Iron Hill crawling with enemy soldiers, ordered his troops to clear it. At this time, much of Maxwell's force was defending Iron Hill, while the rest were protecting Cooch's Bridge.

The Jäger, numbering over 400 men led by Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig von Wurmb, formed a line and, with the support of some artillery, advanced on the Americans. Von Wurmb sent one detachment to Maxwell's left, hoping to flank his position, and supported the move with a bayonet charge against the American center.

The battle lasted for much of the day; at Cooch's Bridge, Maxwell's men made a stand until they "had shot themselves out of ammunition" and "the fight was carried on with the sword" and bayonet (the latter being a weapon Maxwell's militia lacked experience in using). After seven hours of fighting, the Americans were forced to retreat from Iron Hill across Cooch's Bridge, taking up a position on the far side. Howe ordered the 1st and 2nd British Light Infantry Battalion to assist the Jäger in taking the bridge. While the 1st Battalion under Robert Abercromby became mired in swampy terrain attempting to ford the Christina River, the 2nd Battalion reached the right of the Jäger and the bridge was taken. Maxwell's army then retreated back toward Wilmington


The Site of the Continental Army Encampments today lies entirely within the Brandywine Zoo Park complex in Downtown Wilmington

In the aftermath of the battle, General Cornwallis occupied the house of Thomas Cooch, and Howe's forces remained at Iron Hill for five days. In a letter to Congress, Washington justified the defeat by saying, "This Morning the Enemy came out with considerable force and three pieces of Artillery, against our Light advanced Corps, and after some pretty smart skirmishing obliged them to retreat, being far inferior in number and without Cannon." Certain that Howe would advance along the main road toward Wilmington in his bid to capture Philadelphia, Washington continued to fortify the city and the Red Clay Creek. He moved his headquarters from Wilmington to Newport, and the army formed defenses between Newport and Marshallton. While Howe's army remained in place, the two forces engaged in small skirmishes over the next few days. One officer under Howe noted that the rebel patrols, which usually consist of 10 to 15 dragoons and 20 to 30 infantrymen, now appear more often, and they fire at our posts occasionally.


The Price Map (1777) shows the entrenched Continential Army awaiting the British Troops. The American line stretched from Newport to Marshallton (Roughly 3 miles).

This site was important as it was the most direct passage across the Brandywine River on the road from Baltimore to Philadelphia. On September 9, Washington positioned detachments to guard other fords above and below Chadds Ford, hoping to force the battle there. Washington employed General John Armstrong, commanding about 1,000 Pennsylvania militia, to cover Pyle's Ford, 5.8 miles south of Chadds Ford, which was covered by Major Generals Anthony Wayne's and Nathanael Greene's divisions. Major General John Sullivan's division extended northward along the Brandywine's east banks, covering the high ground north of Chadds Ford along with Major General Adam Stephen's division and Major General Lord Stirling's divisions. Further upstream was a brigade under Colonel Moses Hazen covering Buffington's Ford and Wistar's Ford. Washington was confident that the area was secure

However Howe pushed his men around and slightly behind the entrenched army through Newark and Hockessin to Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Upon realizing what the British were doing late in the night, Washington rushed his forces north as well to find a new defensive position. He settled on Chadds Ford, just across the Delaware border, upon the Brandywine Riverthe last natural defense before the Schuylkill River and Philadelphia. It was there that the two armies clashed again in the major Battle of Brandywine on September 11.

Battle of Brandywine

Colonel Hall's 1st Delaware found themselves placed under the command of General John Sullivan's Division and under the immediate command of General William Smallwood's Brigade.

The main British column under General Cornwallis (and accompanied by General Howe) set out from Kennett Square at 5:00 a.m.. Local loyalist sources had provided Howe with knowledge of two unguarded fords, above the forks of the Brandywine. The 17 mile flank march took approximately 9 hours to complete. The British appeared on the Americans' right flank at around 2 p.m. and took a much needed rest on Osbourne's Hill, a commanding position North of the Continental army. Having received intelligence from Colonel Bland's scouts, Washington ordered Sullivan to take overall command of Stirling and Stephen's divisions (in addition to his own) and quickly march North to meet the British flank attack. As they were forming their lines north of Dilworth, Howe launched his attack. Having taken overall command of the right-wing of the army, Sullivan left his division to confer with the other generals. His own division he left under the command of Preudhomme de Borre, with orders to shift to the right in order to link up with Stirling and Stephen's divisions (from left to right the divisions were arranged as Sullivan, Stirling, Stephen).

As the British lines advanced the Hessian Jaegers threatened to flank the American right forcing Stephen and Stirling to shift right. Howe was slow to attack, which bought time for the Americans to position some of their men on high ground near Birmingham Meetinghouse, about a mile (1.6 km) north of Chadds Ford. By 4 p.m., the British attacked. The British Brigade of Guards caught de Borre by surprise on the American left, before de Borre had time to fully form, and immediately sent them in to disarray, causing the entire division to rout. Initially, Stephen's and Stirling's divisions held firm, aided by a battery of artillery on a knoll between their divisions. However, the British light infantry battalions, aided by the Jaegers, eventually caused Stephen's division to fall back. A bayonet charge by the British grenadier battalions, in the center, similarly forced Stirling to retreat. Lafayette had only just arrived, joining Stirling's division, when he received a wound while trying to rally the retreating troops


A battlefield map showing the placement of the armies during the battle. In the middle is General Sullivan's division facing the brunt of the attack by General Howe

Around 6 p.m., Washington and Greene arrived with reinforcements to try to hold off the British, who now occupied Meeting House Hill. Washington conferred with Greene and Knox, the latter of whom was head of artillery, in the yard of the William Brinton house. The 2nd Battalion of Grenadiers was nearing their position, and was joined by a fresh reserve brigade (the 4th British Brigade). It was determined that Knox would deploy artillery to slow the British advance. Greene's reinforcements, combined with the remnants of Sullivan's, Stephen's, and Stirling's divisions, formed south of Dilworth and stopped the pursuing British for nearly an hour, letting the rest of the army retreat. When darkness fell, Greene's division finally began the march to Chester along with the rest of the army. The British army was not able to pursue due to the onset of night. The Americans were also forced to leave behind many of their cannons on Meeting House Hill because almost all of their artillery horses were killed.

The battle was an absolute disaster for the American Army which was soundly defeated and withdrew to Chester, PA. with stragglers arriving until morning. The American retreat was well-organized, largely due to the efforts of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, who, although wounded, created a rally point that allowed for a more orderly retreat before being treated for his wound. Although Howe had defeated the American army, his lack of cavalry prevented its total destruction. Washington had committed a serious error in leaving his right flank wide open and nearly brought about his army's annihilation had it not been for Sullivan, Stirling and Stephen's divisions, which fought for time. Evening was approaching and, in spite of the early start Cornwallis had made in the flanking maneuver, most of the American army was able to escape. In his report to the Continental Congress detailing the battle, Washington stated: "despite the day's misfortune, I am pleased to announce that most of my men are in good spirits and still have the courage to fight the enemy another day".

British and American forces maneuvered around each other for the next several days with only a few encounters such as the Battle of Paoli on the night of September 20-21st 1777. The Continental Congress abandoned Philadelphia, moving first to Lancaster, Pennsylvania for one day and then to York, Pennsylvania. Military supplies were moved out of the city to Reading, Pennsylvania. On 26 September 1777, British forces marched into Philadelphia unopposed.
 
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