On Monmouth's Fields, Part I
In June of seventeen seventy-eight
General Clinton led British troops north,
forced to abandon Philadelphia,
he now marched leisurely for New York.
He knew American troops shadowed him,
and he realized that he had a good chance
to draw Washington out and strike a blow
before he continued his advance.
The patriots had just come off of
a brutal winter at Valley Forge,
most know about how they suffered and froze,
but to the sad story there is much more.
Because the whole of that frigid winter
the great Kosciuszko made them all drill,
turning a mob of backwoods militia
into professionals of great skill.
The hunger and hardships they had faced,
and the long winter days they had to train,
turned them to hard men, tested and tried,
those who left the Forge were not the same.
But the generals still did not think them
strong enough to beat Clinton’s army,
yet they couldn’t just let an enemy force
march through New Jersey with impunity.
What kind of country would they be making
if they could not control their own lands?
Morale was already at a low ebb,
they needed to make some sort of stand.
They decided to destroy-in-detail,
limit their attack to the British rear-guard,
Lafayette wanted to lead the assault,
but General Lee was finally put in charge.
He led his men on a lengthy advance,
with British Rangers there was skirmishing,
the Continentals got the best of it,
and the British scouts continued retreating.
But when they got up to Monmouth’s field
they were all shocked by what they found there,
the British rear-guard, reinforced and strong,
and soon Lee’s thoughts turned to despair.
His flanks were already out of their place,
and his command just could not unify,
the line did not seem to coordinate
no matter how many aides went to ride.
Facing a foe of superior force,
and still not confident about the men,
he ordered retreat back to a forest,
where he planned to organize a defense.
Behind this fight, far from the confusion,
Washington marched on with the bulk of his force,
then he saw soldiers coming towards him,
and pressed forwards mounted on his horse.
The men knew not where they were to go,
they just knew they’d been told to retreat,
angered that the attack had stalled out,
General Washington rode to find Lee.
He found him and his men fighting as rear-guard,
demanded to know why they were falling back,
scolding General Lee for taking the job
if he had not intended to attack!
CONCLUDES IN PART II.
Copyright © David Welch | Year Posted 2019
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