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The Great Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778 59 heat stroke deaths, NCO Molly Pitcher)

Posted on by Libloather

Monmouth was a memorable battle in several respects. Although it was fought to a draw, each side could take pride in the outcome. For Gen. Henry Clinton, who had never before commanded in battle, it climaxed a bold and well-directed venture in which he succeeded in getting most of his army and all of his 1500 wagons through some seventy miles of enemy territory. For Washington it was a triumph that an army that only a few months before had been reduced to a few thousand half-naked and ill-disciplined troops could stand up to the pride of the British army. This, in turn, was a tribute to many people: to the hardy men who had stuck with the army all winter, to the recruits that had poured in during May, to Gen. Steuben's tireless drill work, to Commissary Wadsworth and Quartermaster Nathanael Greene, to the militia of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and to the French Alliance, which lifted the spirits of the soldiers as it did of all Americans. Gen. Clinton, who was to remain in command of the British army for the rest of the war, gained a respect for the American army that day that he was never to lose.

Monmouth was memorable in other ways. It was, for example, the last major engagement fought in the north; it was the longest battle of the war; and it was fought, as no other major engagement, in stifling heat. None who survived the day would ever forget the heat. With more than fifteen hours of sunshine, 28 June was the fifth day of a heat wave, which on the day of the battle saw temperatures close to 100 deg. Fahrenheit. The sun beat down mercilessly on the men who fought back and forth through sandy fields and around steaming morasses with nothing but scrubby pines for shade. The British and Germans, with woolen uniforms and heavy packs, suffered especially; but on both sides dozens died of heat stroke, and those who survived were half-crazed with thirst and limp with heat exhaustion.

Finally Monmouth was memorable as marking the end of Gen. Charles Lee's military career, which ended in disgrace. As Nathanael Greene writes to Jacob Greene, a formal complaint was entered against him by Gens. Wayne and Scott, and a month later a courtmartial found him guilty of disobeying orders, making a shameful retreat, and showing disrespect for the commander in chief in subsequent letters. In December, Congress upheld the findings. It is difficult to be dispassionate about this brilliant, eccentric, opinionated, ambitious, and sometimes irascible man. Even some nineteenth-century partisans of Washington considered that he was dealt with too harshly. Twentieth-century writers have gone much further in his defense. John Alden, in a scholarly and sympathetic biography published in 1951, saw Lee's conviction as a complete miscarriage of justice, a partisan decision that would have made Lee's exoneration tantamount to a condemnation of Washington. His conclusions are reinforced by Theodore Thayer's detailed study of the battle with the revealing title of Washington and Lee at Monmouth: The Making of a Scapegoat.



TOPICS:

Constitution/Conservatism

Culture/Society

Editorial

Government

KEYWORDS:

1776

global

history

milhist

mollypitcher

monmouth

revolutionarywar

warming

Check out today's program schedule on the History Channel. All Revolutionary War - all day. Molly Pitcher An Artillery wife, Mary Hays McCauly (better known as Molly Pitcher) shared the rigors of Valley Forge with her husband, William Hays. Her actions during the battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778 became legendary. That day at Monmouth was as hot as Valley Forge was cold. Someone had to cool the hot guns and bathe parched throats with water. Across that bullet-swept ground, a striped skirt fluttered. Mary Hays McCauly was earning her nickname "Molly Pitcher" by bringing pitcher after pitcher of cool spring water to the exhausted and thirsty men. She also tended to the wounded and once, heaving a crippled Continental soldier up on her strong young back, carried him out of reach of hard-charging Britishers. On her next trip with water, she found her artilleryman husband back with the guns again, replacing a casualty. While she watched, Hays fell wounded. The piece, its crew too depleted to serve it, was about to be withdrawn. Without hesitation, Molly stepped forward and took the rammer staff from her fallen husbands hands. For the second time on an American battlefield, a woman manned a gun. (The first was Margaret Corbin during the defense of Fort Washington in 1776.) Resolutely, she stayed at her post in the face of heavy enemy fire, ably acting as a matross (gunner). For her heroic role, General Washington himself issued her a warrant as a noncommissioned officer. Thereafter, she was widely hailed as "Sergeant Molly." A flagstaff and cannon stand at her gravesite at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A sculpture on the battle monument commemorates her courageous deed. http://sill-www.army.mil/pao/pamolly.htm



To: Libloather

It was 104 degrees Fahrenheit that day, and they fought in those heavy wool uniforms, without much water, other than what Molly Pitcher brought to them...!!!! Yikes!



To: Virginia Ridgerunner

Not only the temperature, but also the humidity! It must have been terrible. I grew up in Philadelphia, and I remember many stiflingly hot summers.

When we moved to California in the summer of ‘72, I remember the first night

here with the cool, comfortable breeze and the dry evening air. It was paradise! It is interesting to note that the summer of 1787, when the Constitution was created in Philadelphia, was one of the hottest in memory. The men who drafted our Constitution spent long hours every day locked in a room in Independence Hall, windows closed for fear of spies, in the typically heavy clothing of the time. It was a small miracle they were able to come up with such a beautiful document under such painful conditions.



To: Molly Pitcher

Ping!



by 4 posted onby Jemian (PAM of JT ~~ Freedom is never given. It is won.)

To: Libloather

by 5 posted onby 1COUNTER-MORTER-68 (THROWING ANOTHER BULLET-RIDDLED TV IN THE PILE OUT BACK~~~~~)

To: Jemian

This is a “3 miles from my house” BTTT.



To: Libloather

A flagstaff and cannon stand at her gravesite at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Would that happen to be at the Army War College in Carlisle?



To: Libloather; Jemian

I need to get back there one day. LOL! Anyone who hasn't read "Angel in the Whirlwind" by Benson Bobrick on the Revolutionary War, should.



by 8 posted onby Molly Pitcher (We are Americans...the sons and daughters of liberty...*.from FReeper the Real fifi*))

To: Deo volente

The men who drafted our Constitution spent long hours every day locked in a room in Independence Hall, windows closed for fear of spies, in the typically heavy clothing of the time. It was a small miracle they were able to come up with such a beautiful document under such painful conditions. Maybe we should turn off the air conditioning in the house and senate...



by 9 posted onby tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)

To: Deo volente; Virginia Ridgerunner

What I find interesting is that here in the desert (it's 112 right now) virtually all of the hispanic laborers dress like it's January in Minneapolis - for the sweat absorption. As far as the long sleeve shirts, they're as often as not a heavier material. My gardener was here Monday - wearing a Pendleton.



by 10 posted onby ErnBatavia (...forward this to your 10 very best friends....)

To: Libloather

Americans fought the strongest military in the world to a stalemate and one of the best was Molly Pitcher.With men and woman like these, America would never be defeated and those of us who have been blessed by their legacy should NEVER retreat from foreign or domestic enemies regardless who they are !!!



To: Libloather

Something that has always been remarkable to me is that back in that era, everyone served in the military in some capacity. Even the wealthy and the educated, physicians and attorneys of the day were out in the field fighting for America. Wish I could see that sort of service today.



To: Virginia Ridgerunner

Another George recommends cotton. They'll be "five degrees cooler than the other team." Initial reviews were glowing: "What a fabric! Finally we can breathe."

"Cotton is king."

"I never dreamed anything could be so soft and fluffy."



by 13 posted onby Libloather (That's just what I need - some two-bit, washed up, loser politician giving me weather forecasts...)

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL

Something that has always been remarkable to me is that back in that era, everyone served in the military in some capacity. Even the wealthy and the educated, physicians and attorneys of the day were out in the field fighting for America. The History Channel is doing it justice. Private land had to be grabbed. Heat and cold were at extremes. Supplies were few. Washington's men always seemed to be short of food. A civil war broke out between loyalists and patriots. Some considered the whole mess a world war. An amazing time with amazing people.



by 14 posted onby Libloather (That's just what I need - some two-bit, washed up, loser politician giving me weather forecasts...)

To: Libloather

Don Mattingly just split his pants! LOL Thanks for the post!



To: Libloather

I’ve been doing lots of genealogy in recent years. One person who has intrigued me from history is Gen. Winfield Scott. I’ve worked outward in all directions and have accummulated over 1600 people, one of whom I was working on two nights ago...Col. Nathaniel Ramsay who I believe was involved in the Battle of Monmouth. I’ve learned a lot more about history this way.



To: Fred Hayek; Molly Pitcher

Would that happen to be at the Army War College in Carlisle? A quick search produced this - Old Graveyard

E. South Street

Carlisle, PA

Graveyard entrance off Hanover Street



by 17 posted onby Libloather (That's just what I need - some two-bit, washed up, loser politician giving me weather forecasts...)

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL; Howlin

Ive learned a lot more about history this way. Right now, I'm glued to the History Channel. I'm waiting for Maj. General Nathanael Greene to kick Lt. General Charles Cornwallis's behind. (OK, it wasn't called Greensborough back then - but IT SHOULD'VE BEEN!) http://www.patriotresource.com/battles/guilford.html



by 18 posted onby Libloather (That's just what I need - some two-bit, washed up, loser politician giving me weather forecasts...)

To: MurryMom

...it was fought, as no other major engagement, in stifling heat. None who survived the day would ever forget the heat. With more than fifteen hours of sunshine, 28 June was the fifth day of a heat wave, which on the day of the battle saw temperatures close to 100 deg. Fahrenheit. The sun beat down mercilessly on the men who fought back and forth through sandy fields and around steaming morasses with nothing but scrubby pines for shade. The British and Germans, with woolen uniforms and heavy packs, suffered especially; but on both sides dozens died of heat stroke, and those who survived were half-crazed with thirst and limp with heat exhaustion. Global warming ping...



by 19 posted onby Libloather (That's just what I need - some two-bit, washed up, loser politician giving me weather forecasts...)

To: Libloather

Great presentation, but I can’t stop thinking of how our war for Independence parallels the war in Iraq, including loosing the support of the people after a few years.



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