The Last Days of William Wolfe Sean Moir
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Excerpted from Vol. 45 No. 1 of the Tredyffrin Easttown History Quarterly The Commemoration for the Fallen, St. Peter’s Church in the Great Valley. Photo by Anthony Morris VII. The Last Days of William Wolfe Sean Moir cess of being besieged by 14,000 Continental soldiers s William Wolfe set sail from Cork, Ireland, from all over the 13 colonies, led by General George in the spring of 1775, he must have hoped Washington of Virginia. A that one day he would return to live out the remainder of his life peacefully in the land of his South from Boston birth, eventually being laid to rest with a ceremony By the spring of 1776, Howe found it necessary to befitting an officer of His Majesty’s army. Instead, he evacuate Boston. He sailed for New York, landing on died a continent away on enemy soil in a midnight Staten Island on July 3. During the waning days of raid, and was buried in a shallow grave at the nearest summer, Captain Wolfe’s company battled through Anglican church without so much as a functioning Brooklyn and Harlem Heights and up to White clergy to oversee his interment. Plains. They fought alongside the notably kilted 42nd Royal Highland Regiment, who upheld their reputa- th Wolfe had been a Lieutenant in the 40 Regiment of tion for ferocity throughout the successful three Foot since 1771, and had just been promoted to Cap- month campaign. Howe then proceeded to set up tain at the age of 25, when his regiment was called to winter garrisons in New Jersey. Boston to assist in putting down a local rebellion 1 against the Crown. It must have been quite a surprise In Perth Amboy during the winter of 1776-77, Cap- when he arrived that June to find General Sir William tain Wolfe was busy selecting and training the men Howe and his entire army of 8,000 men in the pro- who would be serving under him that coming sum- Copyright © 2020 Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society. All Rights Reserved. Authors retain copyright for their contributions. This publication or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher. Contact the Society for permission to use any content in this publication.The Society does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of the information herein. 3 Excerpted from Vol. 45 No. 1 of the Tredyffrin Easttown History Quarterly mer in the 40th Light Com- pany. This company, taken from the 40th Regiment of Foot, consisted of about 40 men and was built for speed and stealth. The 40th was one of thirteen light companies that made up the 2nd Light Infantry Bat- talion of about 500 men. Wolfe had been captain of the 40th Light Company since its inception the pre- vious fall, and was the sixth most senior captain in the 2nd Light Infantry.2 The practice of fielding a light infantry had recently gained popularity with the British in North America after traditional military formations proved too dif- ficult to maneuver in wil- A light infantryman, as depicted in the painting "British Light" by Pamela Patrick. derness battles against Used with permission. ©2000 Pamela Patrick. French settlers and native inhabitants. as the Battle of Short Hills. But instead of finding the Camp life was not easy in Perth Amboy that winter, entire Continental army, they discovered only about and not everyone was coping well with the level of 2,000 men from the 5th Continental Division within austerity that was required of a light infantryman. A striking distance. These Continentals were ready to detailed glimpse into the camp life of Captain Wolfe fight and they inflicted disproportionate damage on and his men can be gleaned from the British Army the British, killing seventy, while themselves losing Orderly Book of the 40th Light Company that was only around a dozen men. captured by Americans in August of 1777. It appears that some men of the 40th found it difficult to strictly By now, Howe had grown tired of New Jersey, so he adhere to the military standards of neatness. Numer- decided to depart from Perth Amboy. The Continen- ous entries in the Orderly Book report how the troops tal army had managed to successfully block the Brit- needed repeated reminding to “have their necessaries ish from advancing by land to either Philadelphia or constantly packed in their wallets ready to sling in Albany. Howe’s next move would have to be by sea.5 their blankets which they are to parade with every Fortunately for Howe, the sea wasn’t such a bad morning.”3 place; his brother, Admiral Richard Howe, had a fleet of over 200 ships at his disposal. On June 24, 1777, Captain Wolfe and his light com- pany received orders “to hold themselves in readiness The Start of the Philadelphia Campaign to embark and be brigaded.” The next day they were Early on August 25, Howe’s weary crew landed on told “the Army … will March in two Columns from the west side of the River Elk at Turkey Point in Mar- the right by half companies … None but the Light yland, just south of today’s Elk Neck State Park. Infantry and Flankers to be loaded on this march… Captain Wolfe’s company was among the first to dis- All the Women and Children are to remain with the embark that day, along with other elite forces from Baggage.”4 So the light infantry led the British forces the light infantry, the grenadiers, and the Hessian Jä- on the morning of June 26, in what is now referred to gers. The troops quickly chased off local militia, se- Copyright © 2020 Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society. All Rights Reserved. Authors retain copyright for their contributions. This publication or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher. Contact the Society for permission to use any content in this publication.The Society does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of the information herein. 4 Excerpted from Vol. 45 No. 1 of the Tredyffrin Easttown History Quarterly cured the area, set up camp, and tended to the cattle brigades from Elkton. Admiral Howe was ordered to they had brought with them to the Head of the Elk. take the British fleet toward the Delaware River where they were to await the main army’s arrival. On the 28th, Captain Wolfe began organizing his company to march along with the other elite forces Howe’s men began to move once more on September under Cornwallis to occupy Elkton. Howe and Corn- 8. They marched due north through Newark to Ken- wallis’ men rested for a few days while they com- nett Square in Pennsylvania. Washington, having mandeered provisions for the long march to Philadel- been outflanked, was forced to change his position, phia. This was about the time that Americans cap- so he hurried to Chadds Ford along the Brandywine tured the British Orderly Book for the 40th Light Creek to block Howe’s route to Philadelphia. Company that dated back to camp at Perth Amboy. The Battles of Brandywine and the Clouds Washington’s army of 11,000 was also on the move At sunrise on the morning of September 11, 1777, that day, establishing camp upon a farm along White only three miles separated the two rival armies in Clay Creek between Newark and Newport, Delaware. Pennsylvania. The forces were numerically matched: It was there that Washington organized his own light Howe commanding 15,000 men and Washington infantry brigade under General William Maxwell.6 14,000. The first British force to make contact with the Americans that morning was Knyphausen’s divi- On August 30, British Major General Charles Grey, sion, which took the main road leading directly to the the 3rd Brigade, and the Royal Highlanders crossed bulk of Washington’s army. Maxwell’s light infantry over to Cecil Court House on the Eastern Shore met them near Kennett Meeting House, but were where they set out on foraging missions which pro- driven back to Chadds Ford by the British advance duced hundreds of cows and sheep, and some badly forces. It was during this engagement that the Ameri- needed horses. A few days later, General von Kny- cans used the uncivilized tactic of faking surrender phausen left Turkey Point and joined Grey to take and then firing upon the enemy when they got within command of Howe’s Right Division. They headed close range. north through storms and swampy roads toward Glas- gow, Delaware, where they joined Cornwallis’ Left For the first time since White Plains, almost a year Division coming east from Elkton. earlier, Washington’s entire army was battling head to head with the British. What Washington didn’t Washington’s main force, including General Anthony realize was that he was only seeing half of Howe’s Wayne’s Pennsylvania Division, moved back to a army, for only six miles upstream, on today’s Route stronger position along Red Clay Creek near New- 842 just outside of West Chester, Cornwallis’ men port, leaving Maxwell and his recently formed light were about to turn south on Birmingham Road to- infantry to harass the British advances. ward Chadds Ford. On the morning of September 3, as Captain Wolfe By early afternoon, Washington became aware of the and the vanguard of Cornwallis’ division marched British flanking movement and he sent two divisions toward Newport, they were ambushed, Indian-style, to face the British near the meetinghouse.