Claiborne Davenport Chapter Two, Valley Forge and Monmouth

Washington implored Congress but appealed to a highest
authority in this painting by John C. McRae.

I need to keep a promise. Last year I ended my blog by promising folks I would keep them updated on my research concerning my ancestor Claiborne Davenport.  I began my article about Claiborne trying to ascertain as to weather the family oral tradition about him being personally saved by General George Washington could have been plausible or simply myth. I believe that the incident is more than plausible and probably quite true. Claiborne fought in close proximity with Washington on several occasions. Claiborne’s military record shows that he spent the majority of his time in the army serving in the 1^st Virginia regiment until the bitter winter of December 1777, when the army was in winter quarters at Valley Forge. It was here that the Virginia regiments were reorganized and consolidated. It was at this time that the commanding officers of the regiments were sent home to recruit new soldiers to fill the badly depleted ranks. It was at this time that I believe Claiborne was reassigned for a short time into the 7^th Virginia regiment commanded by Colonel McClenachan from March 1777 until May 1778.  In the muster rolls of Valley Forge Claiborne is listed as being part of Brigadier General William Woodford’s brigade. Woodford commanded the 3^rd, 7^th, 11^th, and 15^th Virginia regiments. The 7^th entered Valley Forge as part of Stirling’s division but left assigned to Major General Marquis de Lafayette’s division.  His company captain was still listed as Capt. Charles Fleming though Fleming was killed in action in Jan. 1777 at the battle of Princeton, which I have already detailed.

Lafayette and Washington at Valley Forge

Here at Valley Forge the army suffered greatly from privation as they built log cabins and suffered terribly from lack of supplies.  The army suffered great losses as soldiers died of disease and exposure to the bitter winter snows. Washington implored for the Continental Congress to act in appropriating supplies before the army would be decimated by such loss.  The muster rolls of Claiborne’s regiment shows that they entered Valley Forge with 427 soldiers assigned, and a mere 46 souls fit for duty. When they left Valley Forge the regiment showed 376 soldiers assigned and 226 soldiers fit for duty. 

 In spite of all the suffering the army continued to drill and prepare. Here the troops were drilled and instructed by Baron Von Stueben, a Prussian trained officer who spoke little English but was able to communicate in French using French speaking  American officers as interpreters.  It is said that Steuben could parade up and down the line in full dress uniform cursing at the troops in German and in French, and failing to get the proper attention, would enlist the aid of Captain Benjamin Walker to curse at them in English. He drilled the soldiers relentlessly in close order drill and in the art of rapid fire of the musket. I quote from http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/steuben.html “Warfare in the Eighteenth Century was a comparatively simple matter, once the battle was joined. Combat was at close range, massed-fire melee, where rapidity of firing was of primary importance. Accuracy was little more than firing faster than the opposing line. Much of the Regulations dealt with the manual of arms and firing drills. But battle was close-order drill, and speed of firing could only be obtained by drilling men in the handling of their firearms until the motions of loading and firing were mechanical”

Von Steuben drilling at Valley Forge

This much needed drilling form such a professionally trained soldier was crucial to the success of the struggling American Continentals who were mostly farmers and shop keepers with the temerity to face seasoned British regulars. 

As the bitter winter of 1777 gave way to the summer of 1778, June saw Washington pressing his newly trained army into action against British general Clinton in New York.

The battle of Monmouth was fought in stifling heat and was one of the longest battles of the Revolutionary war It is here that I believe General Washington saved Claiborne from death by calling him from the path of a firing canon. The act I believe took place at Combs’s Hill where Claiborne’s regiment was posted.   I quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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.

Washington reprimands Lee and rallies his men to regain
the initiative.

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.

Molly Pitcher legend is born on top of Combs Hill

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.” The Battle of Monmouth was significant because it proved that the Continental Army could indeed stand toe to toe with the more Experienced and hardened British troops and stand their ground in battle.  The aforementioned Wiki article said, “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.”As an interesting point Washington's horse died of heat stroke that day.

General Charles Cornwallis

      Here at Monmouth Claiborne was positioned along the line of batteries of Combs hill awaiting the orders by Washington to repulse the British lines coming up the hill should they succeed in overwhelming the forward force commanded by Gen Anthony Wayne. 

"Mad " Anthony Wayne

Wayne’s continentals were positioned in the hedgerow about midway down the hill,. British General Cornwallis personally led a determined attack against Washington’s right wing commanded by General Green’s division. At times the troops engaged in hand-to-hand combat with bayonet, yet Washington held and repulsed the British by concentrated musket volley and heavy enfilading canon from both wings in cross fire against the British.
A determined attack by British grenadiers overwhelmed Wayne’s command at the hedgerow forcing him to fall back to the main Continental line at the top of the crest.  The British temporarily held the hedgerow but were finally repulsed once again by the musket volley and concentrated cannonading from atop the hill.

modern view from atop Comb's hill looking to the hedgerow

The combination of musket volley from Green's regiments at the crest of Comb’s hill and the combined Cannonade from both flanks caused horrendous damage of the British, losing five high ranking officers within five minutes of the opening of the attack. After this engagement the British having been repulsed with heavy loss retired to a stronger position across the ravine to the east.  Cannonading continued between the two armies till 6:00pm, but no further attacks were made.  Both armies were generally worn out from the punishing heat of the day. The sun was quickly setting in the West preempting Washington’s plan to take the offensive to the British. Washington decided to make the attack in the morning. He gave orders to set out the pickets for the night and then retired himself to rest at the base of a large tree trunk for the night guarded by Claiborne’s Virginians.  When Washington awoke in the early morning of the 29th the British had left fires burning as a ruse and marched out in the night toward sandy hook arriving there the following day.

After the battle of Monmouth the Virginia regiments were once again realigned under the arrangement of White Plains in September of 1779. The 9^th Virginia was absorbed into the remnants of the 1^st regiment. In May a second reorganization had 5th, 7th, 10th, & 11^th Virginia Regiments consolidated into the First Virginia. It was during this time that Col. William Davies took over temporarily as commander of the Virginians while their normal commanders were home recruiting troops. Claiborne remaining in the 7^th Virginia, however found himself drafted into an elite corp or soldiers that were hand picked by General Washington along with their new commander, The famous “Mad Anthony” Wayne. . The same Anthony Wayne that had distinguished himself so well as the commander of the troops below Claiborne in the hedgerow at Monmouth. The mission that Claiborne was about to be a part of was a daring and dangerous endeavor that was kept so secret that only Washington and few others knew of it.  Stay tuned; I will leave you with this tease until the next post. 

If anyone would like to know more about the Battle of Monmouth, besides the above mentioned Wiki articles, I would recommend the eBook Battle of Monmouth; an oration on the hundredth anniversary celebration by Henry Armitt Brown.  This book was written in 1858 (I think) and gives a very detailed account of the battle.  It is written as if it were a teachers guide to the battle with notations for the teacher’s discussion points. Since the book is long out of copyright the book can be obtained free of charge in epub, pdf, kindle , daisy or other text formats at http://archive.org/details/battleofmonmouth01brow 

another good article on the battle of Monmouth 

http://www.mountvernon.org/educational-resources/encyclopedia/battle-monmouth