Battle of Short Hills 1777
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 26 June 1777 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1777 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Revolutionary War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Great Britain, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 40.7500, -74.3320 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Short Hills (also known as the Battle of Metuchen Meetinghouse and other names) was a conflict between a Continental Army force commanded by Brigadier General William Alexander ("Lord Stirling"), and an opposing British force commanded by Lieutenant General William Howe. The battle took place on June 26, 1777, at Scotch Plains and Edison, New Jersey, during the American Revolutionary War.
Despite the name, no fighting occurred in modern-day Short Hills, a section of Millburn.
In mid-June General Howe marched most of his army into central New Jersey in an attempt to lure George Washington's Continental Army to where it might be better attacked than its defensive position in the Watchung Mountains. When Washington refused to abandon his position, Howe returned to Amboy on June 22. Washington's forward divisions, including that of Lord Stirling, shadowed this British movement, and Washington moved his main army out of the hills Howe seized the opportunity and on June 26 marched two columns of troops out in an attempt to cut Washington off from the high ground. The troops skirmished with Lord Stirling's troops and eventually engaged in a pitched battle in Scotch Plains.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Short Hills (revision 1376380658), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the American Revolutionary War
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- Battle of Brandywine 1777
- Battle of Cooch's Bridge 1777
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All 190 battles of the American Revolutionary War →
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