28 June 1778, afternoon
Monmouth: Combs Hill and the parsonage
Clinton sees no prospect of carrying the American position in the heat and decides to break off. At about 15:45 Greene arrives on Combs Hill with William Woodford’s brigade, overlooking the British left, and opens fire, forcing Clinton to withdraw his guns. At 16:30 Joseph Cilley leads a battalion of 350 picked men along the Spotswood North Brook and drives the 42nd Highlanders from the orchard.
Clinton’s subordinates withdraw too early and leave the 1st Grenadier Battalion exposed. At 16:45 Wayne crosses the bridge with 400 Pennsylvanians and catches it as it pulls back, until the 33rd Foot comes to its support and the Pennsylvanians fall back to the parsonage farm. The guns on Combs Hill stop the British counter-attack.
Map of the Battle of Monmouth drawn by Michel Capitaine du Chesnoy, aide to Lafayette, 1778Wikimedia Commons, Michel Capitaine du Chesnoy, Public domain (Monmouth-map.jpg)
Washington plans to renew the battle the next day and brings back four brigades from Englishtown, but at 23:00 Clinton begins to withdraw. His first division slips away unnoticed and joins Knyphausen and the baggage train the next morning.
Sources
- Mark Edward Lender and Garry Wheeler Stone, Fatal Sunday (2016).
- Joseph G. Bilby and Katherine Bilby Jenkins, Monmouth Court House (2010).
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