Perrine Hill Front Line
The Battle of Monmouth
Seeking to avoid a bloody battle with the approaching British, Washington selected this strong defensive position. Here, a circle of brooks and swamps protected the Continental troops.
Commander-in-Chief Washington and Major-General Lord Stirling organized their men in three lines. You are standing where two battalions of light infantry were posted. To their right were Pennsylvania troops. Behind you, two-thirds of the way up the hill, was a line of cannon and several more brigades of infantry. Out-of-Sight, just over the ridge, the Marquis de Lafayette commanded the reserves.
The 1st Pennsylvania Brigade saw no infantry action, but much shot and shell. Col. William Irvine wrote “the brigade I commanded was posted in front of our whole army, … not withstanding, we lost but 5 killed and a few wounded.” Some of the Brigade’s casualties were in Col. James Chamber’s 1st Pennsylvania Regiment. June 30, he wrote his wife, Kitty
“We gave the enemy a fine drubbing at Freehold Church …. Our Division was drawn up in front of our artillery in a small hollow, while the enemy’s artillery was placed on an eminence in front of our brigade. Of course, we were in a right line of their fire, both parties playing their cannon over our heads, and yet only killed two of our men, and wounded four of my regiment with splinters of rails. Yesterday, we buried upwards of two hundred and fifty of the bold Britons who were to conquer the world!”
Marker can be reached from Freehold Road (County Route 522), on the left when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
