The
Battle of Fort St. George
(or
Fort George
) was the culmination of a
Continental Army
raiding expedition led by
Benjamin Tallmadge
against a fortified
Loyalist
outpost and storage depot at the
Manor St. George
on the south coast of
Long Island
on November 23, 1780, during the
American Revolutionary War
. Tallmadge's raid was successful; the garrison was surprised, and many provisions and prisoners were taken.
Raid
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Loyalist
refugees from
Rhode Island
were resettled onto
Long Island
after the British withdrew their forces from
Newport, Rhode Island
in 1779. Some of these were established at
Manor St. George
on the southeastern part of the island (in present-day
Shirley, New York
).
They fortified the property, erecting a
stockade
12 feet (3.7 m) high in a roughly triangular shape around the manor house. The stockade was lined with
abatis
(tree branches with sharpened points facing out) and a deep ditch.
Major
Benjamin Tallmadge
led a force of about 80 men (drawn from his
2nd Continental Light Dragoons
) that crossed
Long Island Sound
in
whaleboats
from
Fairfield, Connecticut
on November 21, 1780, landing at present-day
Mt. Sinai
. Leaving a guard of 20 men with the boats, the remaining men began to march across Long Island that evening, but bad weather forced them to return to the boats. After the weather improved, Tallmadge again set out on the evening of the 22nd, arriving near the property before dawn on the 23rd.
Ordering his men to leave their
muskets
unloaded and with
bayonets
fixed, Tallmadge divided his force into three, with each unit to attack one of the stockade's sides. Tallmadge's party was not spotted in the early dawn light until it was within 40 yards (37 m) of the stockade, and a sentry fired his weapon to raise the alarm. At this point Tallmadge's men rushed the stockade. Tallmadge's unit cut its way through the stockade while the other two units scaled the wall. According to Tallmadge's report the surprise was sufficient: the main house was surrounded and surrendered "in less than ten minutes".
However, some of the Loyalist garrison managed to reach a fortified house that formed part of the stockade. These men surrendered after a brief firefight.
Aftermath
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Tallmadge's force destroyed stores and took captive not just the armed defenders but a number of non-combatants as well. These were then marched across the island, and taken on Tallmadge's boats across to Fairfield. Tallmadge reported that only one of his men was wounded. Of the enemy he claimed that seven were killed and 54 wounded.
Participating in the battle was Sgt.
Elijah Churchill
who would be awarded the first
Badge of Military Merit
, predecessor to the
Purple Heart
.
[3]
The route Tallmadge used to cross the island is now known as the Tallmadge Trail. The
Smith Estate
and its 127 acres (51 ha) grounds are now a museum and public park operated by the township of
Brookhaven
.
Popular culture
[
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]
This battle is depicted in season 4, episode 1 of the
Revolutionary War
spy thriller series,
AMC
's
Turn: Washington's Spies
.
See also
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]
Notes
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References
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40°45′21.9″N
72°52′50.9″W
/
40.756083°N 72.880806°W
/
40.756083; -72.880806