The Battle of Monmouth

During the Battle of Monmouth, thirst and heat killed almost as many men as cannons and muskets. Everyone was desperate for water. Hundreds of men – and probably Molly Hays – filled canteens and buckets from this spring.

June 28, 1778 was hot, very hot – over 100º in the fields. On this hill alone, 7000 men were stationed, most trapped in the baking sun. The only water available to them were the wells at farmhouses, the two brooks, and the springs flowing into the brooks. Farm wells were drunk dry, and brook water was warm and muddy. The clean, cool water from the spring below was a priceless, lifesaving beverage.

A British Grenadier Describes the Weather

“We proceeded five miles in a road composed of nothing but sand which scorched through our shoes with intolerable heat; the sun beating on our heads with a force scarcely to be conceived in Europe, and not a drop of water to assuage our parching thirst; . . . a number of soldiers were unable to support the fatigue, and died on the spot.

Courtnay and myself lay under the hill together during the cannonade, and swallowed a canteen of water which a tempting dollar from my pocket prevailed on an artillery driver to creep on all fours through the fire and fetch us at the imminent hazard of his life.”

Lt. William Hale, 45th Regiment, 2nd Grenadiers,

in a letter to his parents, July 4, 1778.

Marker can be reached from Freehold Road (County Route 522), on the left when traveling east.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources: