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| Battle of White Plains Following the American "victory" at Harlem Heights on September 16, 1776, both sides decided to lay back and rethink their strategies. Washington ws encamped on the northern end of Manhattan, while British General William Howe occupied the rest of the island.
Having been warned about Howe's movements by scouts, Washington took the majority of his army (~13,000 men) northward into Westchester County, leaving about 2,000 soldiers under Nathanael Greene to guard Fort Washington. Washington's army arrived at the town of White Plains on October 22. Washington then divided his army into three main columns, with the right flank led by Major General Israel Putnam, the left by Brigadier General William Heath, and the center by Washington.
The Battle of White Plains was technically a British victory since it resulted in an American retreat, but it was draw strategically since neither side ended up with an advantage of any kind. Counting all the minor skirmishes prior to the main battle, the British suffered a total of 47 killed, 182 wounded, and 4 missing; the Americans had 50 killed, 150 wounded, and 17 captured or missing.
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| THE
ROBINSON LIBRARY --> American History. --> United States: General History and
Description. --> The
Revolution, 1775-1783. --> Individual
Biography, A-Z. This page was last updated on 12/13/2011. |
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On October 12, 1776, Howe decided to execute a
flanking maneuver designed to trap Washington's army
between his main army and the East, Harlem and Hudson
rivers. To that end, he sent about 13,000 British and
German troops by boat up the East River, through Hell
Gate, and into Lond Island Sound. The initial landing at
Throg's Neck was repulsed by Pennsylvania, New York and
Massachusetts troops, so Howe's men returned to their
boats and went upriver to Pell's Point, where they landed
with minimal resistance on October 18. After a minor
skirmish at Eastchester, Howe's army advanced to New
Rochelle.
The Battle of White
Plains took place on October 28. As Howe
neared, Washington sent 1,600 men under Brigadier General
Joseph Spencer to block his advance on the plain between
Scarsdale and Chatterton's Hill. Seeing the high ground
undefended, Howe sent 4,000 Hessians under Colonel Joham
Rall to assault Chatterton's Hill. Realizing that he had
made a mistake in not fortifying the hill, Washington
sent 1,600 men under Major General Alexander McDougal to
meet Rall's troops. The British ultimately succeeded in
dislodging the Americans from their positions, but Howe
chose to wait for reinforcements rather than launch a
full scale assault on the retreating Continental Army.
Howe was finally ready to resume the offensive on
November 1, but was slowed by a heavy wind and rain
storm. Washington took advantage of Howe's delay and led
his men in an orderly retreat northward. On November 4,
Washington's men were surprised to see the British army
marching back toward Manhattan rather than launching an
attack. Washington decided to leave about 11,000 troops
in the area to halt any future British advance into New
England, and led the rest of his army (about 2,500 men)
into New Jersey.
