The Real Story of the American Revolution 

Battles during 1779

1779 Feb 11:  Van Creek (SC/GA) -- Patriot Cols. Pickens and Dooley were tracking British Col. Boyd, who was returning to GA from SC with about 900 Loyalist recruits. As Boyd's force crossed the Savannah River at Van Creek, about 100 militia under Col. Anderson harrassed the crossing, causing losses and desertion. See next Kettle Creek on Feb 14. Losses (captured, killed, wounded): U.S. 20 to 38; British 100, plus desertions that depleted the British force further. See brief summary [The Hornets' Nest (Georgia Society SAR)] 1779 Feb 14:  Kettle Creek (GA) -- British Col. Boyd's 700 British troops, intent on securing the Georgia back-country, were surprised in their camp, near Washington GA, and routed by 350 SC and GA militia. Deaths: U.S. 9 ; British 40 (one of whom was Col. Boyd) brief description [Georgia Society SAR] photos of 2007 commemoration of the 228th anniversary of this battle, by Gail Harris and Robert Yankle [North Carolina Society SAR] 1779 Feb 25: Vincennes   George Rogers Clark put ammunition and supplies aboard the armed galley Willing and ordered it to rendezvous with the rest of his forces on the Wabash River, downstream from Vincennes. Clark led 172 men, nearly half of which were French volunteers, from Kaskaskia to Vincennes. On February 23, they surprised Vincennes. Clark ordered that all of the company's flags be marched back and forth behind a slight rise to convince the British that there were 600 men rather than under 200. On the morning of the third day, February 25, British Lieut. Gov. Henry Hamilton marched his forces out to surrender and was very surprized to see such a small opposing force. Fort Sackville at Vincennes (now IN = N 38o 41', W 87o 32') George Rogers Clark Gains Surrender of Fort Sackville at Vincennes [The SAR Magazine] biography of George Rogers Clark [U.S. National Park Service] photos of 2007 commemoration of the 228th anniversary of this battle, by Chris Meyers [Indiana Society SAR] Vincennes - click for larger image from "Soldiers of the American Revolution", by H. Charles McBarron [U.S. Army Center for Military History] 1779 Feb 26:  Horseneck Landing CT -- Maj Gen Willliam Tryon (former royal Gov of NY and NC) led 600 British infantry on a raid from Kings Bridge NY. They brushed aside a small militia patrol at New Rochelle and went on to Horseneck, quickly overwhelming the 150-man militia guard there. After plundering the town they returned home with 200 head of cattle. [Ref. Boatner] 1779 April 12:  The Penobscot Expedition MA (now ME) -- Some 800 British troops began constructing a base named Fort George in Castine (known in 1779 as the peninsula of Maja-Bagaduce or Bagaduce). This protected British access to the timber needed for their shipyards in Halifax, Canada. The state of Massachusetts (without seeking aid from other states) sent an expedition to capture the fort. Gens. Solomon Lovell and Peleg Saltonstall led some 2,000 troops, and Paul Revere commanded the artillery. Continental Navy Captain Dudley Saltonstall led a fleet of three Continental Navy ships -- the frigate Warren, the brig Diligent, and the brig Providence -- a dozen privateers (comprising most of the Massachusetts navy), and more than 20 transports. On 1779 July 25 they arrived at the mouth of the Penobscot River. Over the next two weeks several assaults failed to take the not-yet-completed fort. On Aug 12 some 1,600 British reinforcements arrived from Sandy Hook NY on ten vessels, including a 64-gun ship-of-the-line. This British fleet overtook a dozen American ships while the rest fled up-river as far as Bangor, the head of navigation, where waterfalls stopped their progress. There the ships were burned or run ashore on Aug. 13 and 14 to keep them and their cargo from falling into enemy hands. The Americans then retreated overland. The British kept this fort for the rest of the war. During the 1990s the Department of the Navy reported that "[Saltonstall’s ship] the Warren lies … near Winterport [20 miles up-river from Castine]. We understood that the Providence, which had been John Paul Jones’ first command, with three Massachusetts Navy ships and five privateers lies near Bangor [35-miles upstream from Castine]. The Active may be near the mouth of the Kenduskeag Stream. The Diligent is believed to be near the Chamberlain Bridge [in Bangor]. I believe the transports being slower than the warships would tend to lie near Sandy Point below Bangor and Brewer." The Americans lost 474 men while the British lost only 13. This was the worst naval disaster in U.S. history until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 1942 Dec 07. Several cannon and many cannonballs have been recovered and are on display in museums and parks in Bangor and Brewer, Maine. Note: All U.S. military wrecks are the property of the government and it is a federal crime to disturb them in any way without prior permission. Anyone caught in possession of or in the process of collecting historic artifacts from the Penobscot River associated with the Penobscot Expedition will be prosecuted. Penobscot Bay Expedition 1779 [Cont. Navy of MA] Print Refs. Boatner; Bangor Daily News for 2007 Oct 07 1779 Jun 20:  Stono Ferry (GA) The Battle of Stono Ferry GA [SouthernCampaign.org, pp 7-20 of this PDF file] is a thorough description of the battle, with illustrations and maps. 1779 Jul 04:  New Haven CT -- Several regiments of British troops disembarked at several nearby points, over-ran the local guard units, and sacked and burned the city before reboarding the ships with 40 prisoners. illustrated article [Connecticut Society SAR] 1779 July 16:  Stony Point NY was a fortification on the Hudson River twelve miles south of West Point. The British captured it in May and Gen. Washington ordered it taken to prevent its use as an advance post for a British thrust toward West Point. American Gen. Anthony Wayne sent 1,200 Continentals armed only with bayonets against the 600-man garrison. Wayne was wounded, but the Americans overwhelmed the defenders, capturing 500 British troops. (Casualties: U.S. troops 15 killed 18 wounded; British 63 killed 70 wounded) For a high-resolution map see the RSAR map page link to the USMA map index. "225 Years Ago the Patriots Took on the British at Stony Point" [The SAR Magazine] (not currently posted) brief description [NY State Parks] 1779 Aug 19:  Paulus Hook was a fort on the Jersey side of the Hudson River (about where Liberty park is). Its situation was similar to Stony Point, and American Gen. Henry Lee and 300 Continentals succesfully overwhelmed the 200 British and Hessian defenders as Wayne had done, capturing 150 enemy troops. Lee withdrew immediately to avoid a counter-attack from the main British force in New York City. (Casualties: U.S. troops 2 killed 3 wounded; British 50 casualties) The attack on Paulus Hook [Glenn Valis] [E**Z] 1779 Sep-Oct:  Repulse from Savannah (GA) - Some 3,200 British troops under Gen. Prevost repulsed an allied attack from 6,000 French troops (including the 700-man Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue Regiment, comprised of free blacks from the island colony of Saint Dominigue) plus 33 warships under Admiral d'Estaing plus 1,500 U.S. troops under Gen. Lincoln. Some 2,000 French naval cannon bombarded the town for five days, while 35 sailors died of scurvy each day. A badly coordinated attack on British fortifications failed and caused many casualties. The French fleet then returned to France. Dead: Est 50 U.S. troops, 150 French, 40 British Wounded: 200 U.S. troops, 640 French, 100 British The Battle for Savannah [About North Georgia] brief description [Georgia Society SAR] Photos of 2007 Oct 09 commemoration [Georgia Society SAR] On 2007 Oct 08 the Haitian American Historical Society hosted a dedication for a monument commemorating the participation of the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue Regiment in the 1779 battle of Savannah. Significance of Haitian participation Photos of 2007 Oct 08 dedication [Georgia Society SAR] 1779 Sep 23:  The Battle of Flamborough Head (England) - This is the battle in which Continental Navy Commodore John Paul Jones refused to surrender his sinking ship, saying, "I have not yet begun to fight." His squadron consisted of his flagship, the frigate Bonhomme Richard (12x18#, 28x12#, 6x9#), the U.S. frigate Alliance (28x12#, 8x9#, with a captain from the French navy), the French frigate Pallas (26x9#), the French brig Vengeance (12x4#), and the French cutter Le Surf (2x8#, 16x6#). All the French officers had been given Continental Navy commissions by the Continental Congress. This squadron attacked a British convoy of 44 merchant ships and two escorts, the frigate HMS Serapis (20x18#, 20x9#, and 10x6#) and the sloop-of-war HMS Countess of Scarborough (20 of unknown size). During the battle the Bonhomme Richard sank after Jones' crew had taken the Serapis and transferred his command to that ship. In addition the Pallas captured the Countess of Scarborough. Some 520 British prisoners were taken, including 16 officers. The merchant ships got away. Ref: article by Charles Lampman, The SAR Magazine (Summer 2004) pp 44-47 1779 Dec:  Winter at Morristown -- The winter of 1779-80 was the coldest of the 18th century. The Hudson River froze thick enough to hold British cannon carried by sled from Manhatttan to Staten Island. Washington's troops at Jockey Hollow and Morristown NJ suffered more than at Valley Forge. Most of the army's horses were eaten by the starving troops. Winter of 1779-80 in New Jersey [The SAR Magazine] is no longer posted on the Web.

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