Battle of Stony Point

The storming of Stony Point was one of the most brilliant small unit operations of the Revolutionary War. Stony Point was a massively fortified British position on the Hudson River — a rocky promontory ringed with abatis, two defensive works, and artillery the British called 'Little Gibraltar.' General Wayne convinced Washington to authorize an attack. He spent two weeks personally reconnoitering the position.

Wayne planned a meticulous assault: all muskets were to be unloaded and flints removed. The attack would be made entirely with the bayonet, in silence, to achieve complete surprise. Anyone who broke silence before the signal was threatened with death. At midnight on July 16, Wayne led 1,350 light infantry toward Stony Point in three columns. The main columns waded waist-deep through a marsh in darkness. The forlorn hope — volunteers who led each column knowing they would be first into the fire — charged forward.

The assault was executed flawlessly. The outer works fell in minutes. Wayne was grazed in the head by a musket ball but ordered his men to carry him into the fort — he wanted to die inside the works. The entire garrison of 543 was captured in less than an hour. Wayne's strict orders that no quarter was to be given during the storming were followed — yet after the garrison surrendered, he ordered them treated humanely, a striking contrast to British treatment of American prisoners.

Washington ordered the fort abandoned after stripping it of artillery and supplies, as it could not be held against counterattack. But the propaganda and morale value of the operation was immense, and the gold medal Congress awarded Wayne for the victory testified to its significance.