Hold the Hedgerow!

Major General Charles Lee had only 800 men to try to stall more than 2,000 advancing British troops. The Continentals beat back one cavalry charge before the British grenadiers were upon them. After 3 to 5 minutes of firing at each other at point blank range, the British dragoons broke through the fence south of the Continental line. Outflanked, the Continentals abandoned the hedgerow and fled across the bridge, but not before decimating the ranks of British grenadiers. The ground east of the hedgerow was strewn with dead and wounded. The delay was brief, but long enough. By the time Lee's last groups had crossed the bridge, thousand of Continentals were formed on Perrine’s Hill, ready and waiting.

New Jersey · United States