5
5
0
On September 20,1777, during the Battle of Paoli, British forces under Major General Charles Grey attacked Brigadier General Anthony Wayne's encampment. Wayne claimed the British gave no quarter leads to the engagement becoming known as the 'Paoli Massacre.'" From the article:
"At 10 p.m. on September 20, British commander Major General Charles Grey marched from the British camp, and launched a surprise attack on Wayne's camp, near the General Paoli Tavern, from which the battle takes its name, located near present-day Malvern. Grey's troops consisted of the 2nd Light Infantry, a composite battalion formed from the light companies of 13 regiments, plus the 42nd and 44th Foot. Altogether, his brigade comprised some 1,200 men.
To ensure that the Americans were not alerted, Grey had the flints removed from his troop's muskets, earning him the nickname "No Flint" Grey.
The British forces, led by a local blacksmith forced to act as guide, approached the camp from a wood and were able to achieve complete surprise. They stormed the camp in three waves—the 2nd Light Infantry in the lead followed by the 44th and the 42nd. Completely unprepared, Wayne's troops fled from the camp and were pursued. Near the White Horse Tavern the British encountered Smallwood's force and routed it as well.
With casualties of only 4 killed and 7 wounded,[2] the British had routed an entire American division. Historian Thomas J. McGuire says that 53 Americans were buried on the battlefield but "whether these were all of the American dead or only those found on the campsite-battlefield is uncertain".[1] Local tradition says that 8 more Americans killed in the battle were buried at the nearby Anglican church of St. Peter-in-the-Great Valley.[1][5] 71 prisoners were taken by the British, 40 of whom were so badly wounded that they had to be left behind in nearby houses.[6] A total of 272 men were killed, wounded or missing from Wayne's division after the battle.[1]
Aftermath
An official inquiry found that Wayne was not guilty of misconduct, but that he had made a tactical error. Wayne was enraged and demanded a full court-martial. On November 1, a board of 13 officers declared that Wayne had acted with honor.
The incident gained notoriety partly because of accounts by eyewitnesses, who stated that the British had bayoneted or mutilated Americans who tried to surrender. Among them were the following:
I with my own Eyes, see them, cut & hack some of our poor Men to pieces after they had fallen in their hands and scarcely shew the least Mercy to any...
— Lt. Col. Adam Hubley, 10th PA Regiment.[7]
...more than a dozen soldiers had with fixed bayonets formed a cordon round him, and that everyone of them in sport had indulged their brutal ferocity by stabbing him in different parts of his body and limbs ... a physician ... examining him there was found ... 46 distinct bayonet wounds...
— William Hutchinson, Pennsylvania Militiaman.[8]
The Enemy last Night at twelve o'clock attacked ... Our Men just raised from Sleep, moved disorderly — Confusion followed ... The Carnage was very great ... this is a bloody Month.
— Col. Thomas Hartley, 1st PA Regiment.[9]
The Annals of the Age Cannot Produce such another Scene of Butchery...
— Maj. Samuel Hay, 7th PA Regiment.[7]
There were no Geneva Conventions in place at that time, although most Western powers subscribed to an informal but generally recognized "Laws of War" which were intended to rein in some of the worst abuses of both prisoners and the civil population in war time.[citation needed]
Moreover, George III had declared the colonies to be in rebellion, and thus traitors to the Crown, which denied the prisoners POW status and carried a maximum penalty of death by "hanging, drawing and quartering", a form of execution which dated from the reign of Henry III (1216–1272) and remained in use until the early 19th century, though on the books until 1870.[citation needed] Earlier examples of British mistreatment of alleged "rebels" include the massacre of the wounded Jacobites on the field of Culloden (1746). A number of the prisoners were then later treated brutally and starved before being hanged, drawn and quartered.
In the American Revolution, though the British (as a result of various government strategies intended to minimize resistance)[citation needed] did take prisoners and did not normally massacre the wounded and prisoners, there were several incidents where they did, such as the action on 1 February 1777 at Drake's Farm (during the campaign known as the Forage War). After the battle, Lieutenant William Kelly and six other wounded Americans of Charles Scott's 5th Virginia Regiment were left behind during the American withdrawal. British soldiers attacked the helpless men with bayonets and musket butts and killed them all. When the Americans recovered the mangled bodies they were infuriated.[citation needed]
Writing on the other side of the question[clarify], military historian Mark M. Boatner III wrote:
American propagandists succeeded in whipping up anti-British sentiment with false accusations that Grey's men had refused quarter and massacred defenseless patriots who tried to surrender ... The "no quarter" charge is refuted by the fact that the British took 71 prisoners. The "mangled dead" is explained by the fact that the bayonet is a messy weapon.[6]
In any case, Wayne's troops swore revenge and "Remember Paoli!" was used by them as a battle cry at Germantown and at Stony Point.
There is a tradition that, to show their defiance, the men of the 2nd Light Infantry dyed their hat feathers red so the Americans would be able to identify them. In 1833, the Light Company of the 46th Regiment of Foot were authorized to wear red cap distinctions instead of the regulation Light Infantry green,[10] apparently in commemoration of this gesture, and in 1934, the Royal Berkshire Regiment, which carried on the traditions of the 49th Foot, were authorized to wear a red distinction in their head dress although, misleadingly, this was granted "to commemorate the role of the Light Company at the battle of Brandywine Creek".[11] In the second half of the 20th century, the descendants of both regiments wore red backing to their cap badges and did so until 2006 when The Light Infantry and the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment were absorbed by The Rifles."
"At 10 p.m. on September 20, British commander Major General Charles Grey marched from the British camp, and launched a surprise attack on Wayne's camp, near the General Paoli Tavern, from which the battle takes its name, located near present-day Malvern. Grey's troops consisted of the 2nd Light Infantry, a composite battalion formed from the light companies of 13 regiments, plus the 42nd and 44th Foot. Altogether, his brigade comprised some 1,200 men.
To ensure that the Americans were not alerted, Grey had the flints removed from his troop's muskets, earning him the nickname "No Flint" Grey.
The British forces, led by a local blacksmith forced to act as guide, approached the camp from a wood and were able to achieve complete surprise. They stormed the camp in three waves—the 2nd Light Infantry in the lead followed by the 44th and the 42nd. Completely unprepared, Wayne's troops fled from the camp and were pursued. Near the White Horse Tavern the British encountered Smallwood's force and routed it as well.
With casualties of only 4 killed and 7 wounded,[2] the British had routed an entire American division. Historian Thomas J. McGuire says that 53 Americans were buried on the battlefield but "whether these were all of the American dead or only those found on the campsite-battlefield is uncertain".[1] Local tradition says that 8 more Americans killed in the battle were buried at the nearby Anglican church of St. Peter-in-the-Great Valley.[1][5] 71 prisoners were taken by the British, 40 of whom were so badly wounded that they had to be left behind in nearby houses.[6] A total of 272 men were killed, wounded or missing from Wayne's division after the battle.[1]
Aftermath
An official inquiry found that Wayne was not guilty of misconduct, but that he had made a tactical error. Wayne was enraged and demanded a full court-martial. On November 1, a board of 13 officers declared that Wayne had acted with honor.
The incident gained notoriety partly because of accounts by eyewitnesses, who stated that the British had bayoneted or mutilated Americans who tried to surrender. Among them were the following:
I with my own Eyes, see them, cut & hack some of our poor Men to pieces after they had fallen in their hands and scarcely shew the least Mercy to any...
— Lt. Col. Adam Hubley, 10th PA Regiment.[7]
...more than a dozen soldiers had with fixed bayonets formed a cordon round him, and that everyone of them in sport had indulged their brutal ferocity by stabbing him in different parts of his body and limbs ... a physician ... examining him there was found ... 46 distinct bayonet wounds...
— William Hutchinson, Pennsylvania Militiaman.[8]
The Enemy last Night at twelve o'clock attacked ... Our Men just raised from Sleep, moved disorderly — Confusion followed ... The Carnage was very great ... this is a bloody Month.
— Col. Thomas Hartley, 1st PA Regiment.[9]
The Annals of the Age Cannot Produce such another Scene of Butchery...
— Maj. Samuel Hay, 7th PA Regiment.[7]
There were no Geneva Conventions in place at that time, although most Western powers subscribed to an informal but generally recognized "Laws of War" which were intended to rein in some of the worst abuses of both prisoners and the civil population in war time.[citation needed]
Moreover, George III had declared the colonies to be in rebellion, and thus traitors to the Crown, which denied the prisoners POW status and carried a maximum penalty of death by "hanging, drawing and quartering", a form of execution which dated from the reign of Henry III (1216–1272) and remained in use until the early 19th century, though on the books until 1870.[citation needed] Earlier examples of British mistreatment of alleged "rebels" include the massacre of the wounded Jacobites on the field of Culloden (1746). A number of the prisoners were then later treated brutally and starved before being hanged, drawn and quartered.
In the American Revolution, though the British (as a result of various government strategies intended to minimize resistance)[citation needed] did take prisoners and did not normally massacre the wounded and prisoners, there were several incidents where they did, such as the action on 1 February 1777 at Drake's Farm (during the campaign known as the Forage War). After the battle, Lieutenant William Kelly and six other wounded Americans of Charles Scott's 5th Virginia Regiment were left behind during the American withdrawal. British soldiers attacked the helpless men with bayonets and musket butts and killed them all. When the Americans recovered the mangled bodies they were infuriated.[citation needed]
Writing on the other side of the question[clarify], military historian Mark M. Boatner III wrote:
American propagandists succeeded in whipping up anti-British sentiment with false accusations that Grey's men had refused quarter and massacred defenseless patriots who tried to surrender ... The "no quarter" charge is refuted by the fact that the British took 71 prisoners. The "mangled dead" is explained by the fact that the bayonet is a messy weapon.[6]
In any case, Wayne's troops swore revenge and "Remember Paoli!" was used by them as a battle cry at Germantown and at Stony Point.
There is a tradition that, to show their defiance, the men of the 2nd Light Infantry dyed their hat feathers red so the Americans would be able to identify them. In 1833, the Light Company of the 46th Regiment of Foot were authorized to wear red cap distinctions instead of the regulation Light Infantry green,[10] apparently in commemoration of this gesture, and in 1934, the Royal Berkshire Regiment, which carried on the traditions of the 49th Foot, were authorized to wear a red distinction in their head dress although, misleadingly, this was granted "to commemorate the role of the Light Company at the battle of Brandywine Creek".[11] In the second half of the 20th century, the descendants of both regiments wore red backing to their cap badges and did so until 2006 when The Light Infantry and the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment were absorbed by The Rifles."
Battle of Paoli - Wikipedia
Posted from en.m.wikipedia.org
World History
Military History
American History
Combat
War Crimes
Edited 6 y ago
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 3
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google