NY, USA
Battle of White Plains
October 28, 1776
The Battle of White Plains began on October 28, 1776, when British and Hessian forces approached the American lines. Howe's main effort targeted Chatterton Hill, the ridge west of the Bronx River that anchored Washington's right flank. The assault required the British to cross the river under fire from American defenders on the hill, then climb a steep slope against entrenched positions.
The fighting on Chatterton Hill was among the most intense of the New York campaign. Alexander McDougall's mixed force of militia and Continentals initially held the British advance. The militia units on the hill's western face broke when Hessian infantry appeared from an unexpected direction, and the Continental regiments, their flanks exposed, were forced to fall back. The entire American force withdrew to the next ridge line in reasonable order — not a rout, but a defeat.
Washington's new position on the northern ridge was stronger than Chatterton Hill, and Howe did not immediately assault it. He spent two days massing artillery and preparing what appeared to be a general attack. Then a rainstorm arrived, and he stopped. He never resumed the offensive at White Plains. The decision to halt allowed Washington to withdraw north to North Castle in good order on November 1.
People Involved
Virginia planter and Continental Army commander-in-chief who owned and managed Mount Vernon's enslaved workforce. Absent from his estate for most of the war, he directed Lund Washington's management by correspondence and returned to find the plantation's human community shaped by eight years of wartime disruption.
British commander who pursued Washington from Manhattan to White Plains but chose not to press his advantage after taking Chatterton Hill — a decision that allowed the Continental Army to escape across the Hudson and eventually reach the Delaware.
New York general who commanded the American forces on Chatterton Hill during the Battle of White Plains. His mixed force of militia and Continentals contested the British assault on the hill before withdrawing in reasonable order — one of the better performances by a mixed American command in the New York campaign.