Untitled - Rhode Island Historical Society

.'
: r'" 1111"
The del-ense ol Fort Mercer was conmanried by CoL
Cbistopher Greene of the First Rhode Island Regimerft.
Copy by Jarnes Sullivan Lincoln, circa 1863, of a
painting by Charles Wilson Peale. Courtesy of the
Brown Unitersity Library
108 THE ISRAEL ANGELL DIARY, I OCTOBER 1777 -28 FEBRUARY 1 778
After leaving the army in February 1781, when the two Rhode Island regiment.
consolidated, Angeil (a man of "medium height, iight complexion, auburn hair ,.
mounted by a r,ig, blue eyes, a strong Roman nose, and straight as a railrod," acc,- -:
ing to an acquaintance)t resumed his work as a cooper and a farmer. During the e:., -
ing ,vears he held a number of local posts in Johnston, including those of justice o: .
peace and town councilman. He also acquired land in \rermont, New York, and O:
the latter a grant of twelve hundred acres earned by his military service. After his .':,
lr,ife died tn 1793, he married again and sired six more children. A third marriage .,, .
childless. At the time of his death on 31 May 1832, he was courting a woman and cr
templating a fourth marriage.'
For several months prior to October 1777, when Angell's diary begins, the Secor:
Rhode Island Regiment was in the Hudson Highlands of New York as part of a foi:.
commanded by Gen. Israel Putnam.' On 10 September Washington ordered Putnam ,
send 1,500 troops from Peekskill to New |ersey to repel an expected British inr.a. -
there. Four days iater, after the American defeat at Brandlwine Creek, Washington ask; -
Putnam for 1,000 more men. Learning that Putnam had delayed his response and se--..
only 900 men, on 23 September Washington peremptorily ordered that the fuli 2,5r
men be sent to join him and that "No considerations are to prevent it."o Angell's regime :.
was one of the units now dispatched. It began its southward march on 29 Septembe:
and having crossed the Hudson River to Haverstraw, NewYork, it arrived at"Kakaat" (Kakia:
on the thirtieth. The diary begins on the day the regiment marched to "Rammapar'
(Ramapo), New lersey, which is very close to the New- York-New |ersey border.
On l8 October the regiment joined the First Rhode Isiand Regiment at Fort Mercer.
about three miles southwest of Philadelphia at Red Bank, New Jersey. The Delau'ar.
River had been blocked by rows of underwater obstacles, and the strongpoints of For:
Mifflin on the Pennsylvania side and Fort Mercer on the New Jersey side, together n itir
a small American fleet above the obstacles, ensured that no naval force could remole
them without opposition. Although the Americans suffered from a number of problems,
including disunity of command-]ohn Hazelwood, in charge of the flotilla, dii
not report to Washington, who commanded the land forces-they were nonetheless
preventing the British fleet from reaching General Howe's army.
Howe's frustration with the delays led him to send two thousand Hessians under Col.
Carl von Donop to take Fort Mercer by storm. The Hessian assault against the Rhode
Island regiments on 22 October was a disaster, costing the Hessians hear,y casualties.
This was the biggest American victory of the campaign, and it brightened hopes that the
British army might be forced to abandon Philadelphia. "I heartily congratulate you
upon this happy event, and beg you will accept my most particular thanks, and present
the same to your lvhole garrison both officers and men," wrote Washington to Co1.
Christopher Greene, who commanded the defence.'Although Forts Mercer and Mifflin
had to be abandoned in November, their prolonged defense meant that the lethargic
Howe would not pursue Washington, and that both armies would spend a reiativelv
quiet winter-Howe in Philadelphia, Washington in Valley Forge.
israel Angell kept other diaries in addition to the one presented here. A war diary beginning
in August 1778 and concluding in April 1781 was pubiished in 1899 as Diary of
CoIaneI Israel Angell, Commanding the Second Rhode Island Continental Regiment during
$r
'3t,
*
il
il
1',