Photo By Erin Thompson | Maj. Gen. Philemon Dickinson read more read more
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by Michael E. Bigelow, INSCOM Command Historian
GENERAL DICKINSON TRACKS ENEMY BEFORE MONMOUTH BATTLE
On Jun. 28, 1778, General George Washington and his Continental Army fought the British forces under Sir Henry Clinton to a standstill during the seesaw battle of Monmouth. The hard-fought clash proved to be the last battle of the northern theater of the American Revolution. Washington’s success was largely due to the intelligence provided by Maj. Gen. Philemon Dickinson, the able commander of the New Jersey militia.
In the summer of 1778, the 39-year-old Philemon Dickinson—the younger brother of Founding Father John Dickinson—had been a leader in the New Jersey militia for almost three years. Since June 1777, he had commanded the state’s militia. He worked well with Governor William Livingston in calling out the militia when needed. The core of his forces, however, were seasoned campaigners who served repeated tours as substitutes for their reluctant neighbors. Under their aggressive commander, these militiamen conducted raids and harassed the British, screened the Continental Army’s movement, and gathered intelligence. In the campaigns of 1776 and 1777, Dickinson proved a valuable asset to Washington; accordingly, the American commander thought highly of the New Jerseyan.
As the campaigning season began in the spring of 1778, Washington was eager to use his newly trained Continental Army against the British. To harass Clinton’s forces when they left Philadelphia, he detached Maj. Gen. William Maxwell and four regiments of New Jersey Continentals to work with Dickinson and his militia. Washington told Maxwell that the main army’s movements would be “governed wholy [sic] by the intelligence I receive from Gen’l Dickinson and yourself.” The two New Jersey generals did not disappoint their commander.
On Jun. 15, two days before the British evacuated Philadelphia, Dickinson wrote Washington that they were leaving, stating, “the Intelligence comes so many different ways, & so well authenticated, that it does not admit of a doubt.” He was convinced the British planned to march across New Jersey to New York. Over the next two weeks, he kept a steady flow of intelligence, often based on information from British deserters, to Washington. This gave Washington and his senior leaders situational awareness of the British location, if not their exact activities.
Dickinson and Maxwell worked well together, and their soldiers felled trees, destroyed bridges, and generally annoyed the withdrawing British. However, Dickinson did not believe American harassment could account for Clinton’s glacial pace. Five days before the battle, he warned Washington the British commander wanted “to bring on a general action.” He continued to report on the British movement until, on the morning of Jun. 28, he reported the British were breaking camp and kept Washington informed of their location. Those reports precipitated the daylong battle at Monmouth.
General Dickinson proved to be one of the war’s most capable militia generals. Active and aggressive, he knew how to best use his soldiers, including in gathering intelligence. General Washington, quite rightly, considered Dickinson his single-best source of intelligence on enemy activity during the Monmouth campaign. Perhaps because of Dickinson’s direct connection to Washington, many of the Continental officers reported their intelligence through the militia general. On his part, Dickinson’s timely reporting, use of different sources, and constant updating made his reports on the enemy useful and meaningful to his commander.
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| Date Taken: | 06.20.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.20.2025 16:33 |
| Story ID: | 501169 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 17 |
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