Battle of Gloucester (1777)

1777 battle

For the 1775 naval skirmish near Gloucester, Massachusetts, see Battle of Gloucester (1775). For the 1781 action at Gloucester Point, Virginia, see Siege of Yorktown.

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Battle of Gloucester

Part of the American Revolutionary War
| Date| November 25, 1777

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Location|

Gloucester City, New Jersey

39°52′19″N 75°11′19″W﻿ / ﻿39.87206°N 75.18871°W﻿ / 39.87206; -75.18871
Result|  American victory
Belligerents
United States|

Great Britain

* Hesse-Kassel

Commanders and leaders

Marquis de Lafayette
Armand de La Rouërie

Colonel Richard Butler|  Lord Cornwallis
Strength
350 regulars and militia|  400 jägers
Casualties and losses
1 killed
5 wounded|  20 killed
20 wounded
20 captured

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Philadelphia campaign
1777–1778

* Bound Brook
* Short Hills
* Staten Island
* Cooch's Bridge
* Brandywine
* Clouds
* Paoli
* Germantown
* Red Bank
* Fort Mifflin
* Gloucester
* White Marsh
* Matson's Ford
* Valley Forge
* Conway Cabal
* Quinton's Bridge
* Clow Rebellion
* Crooked Billet
* Barren Hill
* Carlisle Peace Commission
* Monmouth

The Battle of Gloucester was a skirmish fought between November 25, 1777 and the early morning of November 26, 1777, during the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was the first battlefield command for the Marquis de Lafayette.

## Background

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Main article: Philadelphia campaign

In mid-1777, British General William Howe embarked on a plan to regain control of Britain's rebellious Thirteen Colonies by capturing Philadelphia, the city where the Continental Congress met. He successfully captured the city in September 1777, and then, after consolidating his command of the city by repulsing an attack from General George Washington's Continental Army at Germantown in October, sought to gain control of the Delaware River as far north as the city, on which his army depended for supplies.

After a Hessian assault on Fort Mercer, one of the principal defenses on the New Jersey side of the river, was repulsed in the Battle of Red Bank, Howe sent part of his army across the Delaware to Gloucester, New Jersey under the command of Lord Cornwallis to take Fort Mercer. Washington reacted to this by detaching forces under General Nathanael Greene across the Delaware just north of Gloucester.

Greene was accompanied by the Marquis de Lafayette, a young French officer who had accompanied Washington at the Battle of Brandywine. Lafayette had been wounded in the foot in that battle, and, while it was not fully healed, he was eager to join the action. Greene ordered Lafayette out on a reconnaissance mission to determine the location and strength of Cornwallis' army.

## Battle

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Lafayette led 350 men toward the British position. He carefully scouted the British camp, at times personally coming within firing range of British sentries. He then led his men in a surprise attack on a forward picket of jägers. The 400 Hessians were caught completely unprepared, and began a disorganized fighting retreat toward the main British camp, with Lafayette and his men giving chase. Cornwallis sent some grenadiers to provide covering fire as the Germans retreated, and Lafayette withdrew under cover of darkness, returning to Greene.[1]

## Aftermath

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Lafayette's reconnaissance was a success. He suffered only one killed and five wounded, against 60 casualties on the British side. Word of the operation was instrumental in a decision by Congress to award him a commission as a major general in the Continental Army.[2]

## References

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1. ^ Unger, p. 54
2. ^ Tuckerman, pp. 50–51

## External links

[edit]

* Boatner, Mark Mayo, III. Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Revised ed. New York: McKay, 1974. ISBN 0-8117-0578-1.
* Johann Conrad Döhla, A Hessian Diary of the American Revolution
* Bayard Tuckerman, Life of General Lafayette
* Harlow Unger, Lafayette

* v
* t
* e

New Jersey in the American Revolution

1776|

* Turtle Gut Inlet
* New York and New Jersey campaign
* Fort Lee
* Geary ambush
* Iron Works Hill
* Delaware River crossing
* First Trenton

1777|

* Assunpink Creek (Second Trenton)
* Princeton
* Millstone
* Forage War
* Bound Brook
* First Middlebrook encampment
* Short Hills
* Red Bank
* Gloucester

1778|

* Quinton's Bridge
* Monmouth
* Baylor Massacre
* Affair at Little Egg Harbor
* Chestnut Neck
* Second Middlebrook encampment

1779|

* Paulus Hook
* Jockey Hollow
* New Jersey Brigade encampment

1780|

* Connecticut Farms
* Springfield
* Bull's Ferry

1781|

* Pennsylvania Line Mutiny

1783|

* U.S. Capital at Princeton

Other|

* Fort Billingsport
* Fort Mercer
* Mary Hays ("Molly Pitcher")
* New Bridge Landing
* Pluckemin Cantonment
* Temperance Wick

See also: Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area, Morristown National Historical Park, Washington Crossing State Park

* v
* t
* e

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

Principal author|

* Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

American Revolution|

* French frigate Hermione
* Battle of Brandywine
* Battle of Gloucester
* Valley Forge
* Battle of Barren Hill
* Battle of Rhode Island
* Battle of Monmouth
* Battle of Green Spring
* Siege of Yorktown
* Franco-American alliance

French Revolution|

* Assembly of Notables (1787)
* Estates General of 1789
* National Guard (France)
* Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
* Women's March on Versailles
* Society of 1789
* Fête de la Fédération
* Day of Daggers
* Champ de Mars massacre
* War of the First Coalition
* July Revolution (1830)

Other events|

* 1824–25 Grand Tour of the United States
* New York City parade
* Philadelphia parade
* USS Brandywine

Life|

* Château de Chavaniac (birthplace and home)
* Château de la Grange-Bléneau (home and museum)
* Lafayette Land Grant
* Picpus Cemetery

Honors and
memorials|

* List of places named for the Marquis de Lafayette
* Fayetteville, North Carolina
* Lafayette, Louisiana
* Fort Lafayette
* Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania
* Lafayette College
* New York City statue (1876)
* LaFayette Fountain (1887)
* Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.
* 1891 statue
* Lafayette Square Historic District
* Lafayette dollar (1899)
* Mount Lafayette
* Lafayette Memorial (1917)
* Lafayette College statue (1921)
* Los Angeles statue (1937)
* Lafayette Escadrille
* USS Lafayette

Legacy|

* 1825 Samuel Morse painting
* "Lafayette (We Hear You Calling)" (1918 song)
* La Fayette (1961 film)
* Valley Forge (1975 film)
* La Révolution française (1989 film)
* Jefferson in Paris (1995 film)
* Liberty! (1997 documentary miniseries)
* Liberty's Kids (2002 television series)
* Hamilton (2015 musical, 2020 film)
* Lafayette in the Somewhat United States (2015 book)
* Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution (2021 book)
* Franklin (2024 miniseries)

Family|

* Adrienne de La Fayette (wife)
* Georges Washington de La Fayette (son)
* Michel du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (father)

Related|

* Order of Lafayette
* Honorary U.S. citizenship (2002)

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