Editing Charles Lee (general) (section)

====Lee's battle====
[[File:Battle of Monmouth - American vanguard attack.png|thumb|Lee's attack on the British rearguard|alt=map]]
When news arrived at 05:00 on 28 June that the British were moving, Lee led the vanguard towards Monmouth Court House, where he discovered the British rearguard, which he estimated at 2,000 troops. He ordered Brigadier General [[Anthony Wayne]] with some 550 men to fix the rearguard in place while he led the remainder of the vanguard on a left hook with the intention of outflanking the British, but he neglected to inform his subordinates, Brigadier General [[Charles Scott (governor)|Charles Scott]] and Brigadier General [[William Maxwell (Continental Army general)|William Maxwell]], of his plan. Lee's confidence crept into reports back to Washington that implied "the certainty of success."<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 198, 253–255, 261</ref>

As soon as the British commander, General Sir [[Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)|Henry Clinton]], received news that his rearguard was being probed, he ordered his main combat division to march back towards Monmouth Court House.<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 264–265</ref> Lee became concerned that his right flank would be vulnerable and moved with Lafayette's detachment to secure it.<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 262–264</ref> To his left, Scott and Maxwell were not in communication with Lee and not privy to his plan. They became concerned that the arriving British troops would isolate them, and decided to withdraw. To their left, Wayne's isolated troops, having witnessed the British marching back, were also withdrawing.<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 264–266</ref><ref>Bilby & Jenkins 2010 p. 199</ref> Lee witnessed one of Lafayette's units pulling back after a failed attempt to silence some British artillery around the same time as one of his staff officers returned with the news that Scott had withdrawn. With his troops withdrawing without orders, it became clear to Lee that he was losing control of the vanguard, and with his immediate command now only 2,500 strong, he realized his plan to envelop the British rearguard was finished. His priority became the safety of his troops in the face of superior numbers, and he ordered a general retreat.<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 266–269</ref>

Lee had significant difficulties communicating with his subordinates and could exercise only limited command and control of the vanguard, but at unit level, the retreat was generally conducted with a discipline that did credit to Steuben's training, and the Americans suffered few casualties. Lee believed he had conducted a model "retrograde manoeuver in the face and under fire of an enemy" and claimed his troops moved with "order and precision." He had remained calm during the retreat but began to unravel at Ker's house. When two of General Washington's aides informed Lee that the main body was still some {{convert|2|mi|km|spell=on|0}} away and asked him what to report back, Lee replied "that he really did not know what to say."<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 268–272</ref> Crucially, he failed to keep Washington informed of the retreat.<ref>Ferling 2009 p. 178</ref>

[[File:Battle of Monmouth - American rearguard.png|thumb|left|American rearguard action|alt=map]]

Without any recent news from Lee, Washington had no reason to be concerned as he approached the battlefield with the main body shortly after midday. In the space of some ten minutes, his confidence gave way to alarm as he encountered a straggler bearing the first news of Lee's retreat and then whole units in retreat. None of the officers Washington met could tell him where they were supposed to be going or what they were supposed to be doing. As the commander-in-chief rode on ahead, he saw the vanguard in full retreat but no sign of the British. At around 12:45, Washington found Lee marshalling the last of his command across the middle morass, marshy ground southeast of a bridge over the Spotswood Middle Brook.<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 281–286</ref>

Expecting praise for a retreat he believed had been generally conducted in good order, Lee was uncharacteristically lost for words when Washington asked without pleasantries, "I desire to know, sir, what is the reason&nbsp;– whence arises this disorder and confusion?"<ref name="Lender&Stone289">Lender & Stone 2016 p. 289</ref> When he regained his composure, Lee attempted to explain his actions. He blamed faulty intelligence and his officers, especially Scott, for pulling back without orders, leaving him no choice but to retreat in the face of a superior force, and reminded Washington that he had opposed the attack in the first place.<ref name="Lender&Stone289 "/><ref name="Chernow448">Chernow 2010 p. 448</ref> Washington was not convinced; "All this may be very true, sir," he replied, "but you ought not to have undertaken it unless you intended to go through with it."<ref name="Lender&Stone289 "/> Washington made it clear he was disappointed with Lee and rode off to organize the battle he felt his subordinate should have given. Lee followed at a distance, bewildered and believing he had been relieved of command.<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 289–290</ref>{{efn|According to Lender & Stone, the encounter between Washington and Lee "became part of the folklore of the Revolution, with various witnesses (or would-be witnesses) taking increasing dramatic license with their stories over the years."<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 p. 290</ref> Ferling writes of eyewitness testimony in which a furious Washington, swearing "till the leaves shook on the trees" according to Scott, called Lee a "damned poltroon" and relieved him of command.<ref name="Ferling179 "/> Chernow reports the same quote from Scott, quotes Lafayette to assert that a "terribly excited" Washington swore and writes that Washington "banished [Lee] to the rear."<ref name="Chernow448 "/> Bilby & Jenkins attribute the poltroon quote to Lafayette, then write that neither Scott nor Lafayette were present.<ref>Bilby & Jenkins 2010 p. 205</ref> Lender & Stone are also skeptical, and assert that such stories are apocryphal nonsense which first appeared almost a half century or more after the event, that Scott was too far away to have heard what was said, and that Lee himself never accused Washington of profanity. According to Lender & Stone, "careful scholarship has conclusively demonstrated that Washington was angry but not profane at Monmouth, and he never ordered Lee off the field."<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 290–291</ref>}}

With the main body still arriving and the British no more than {{convert|1/2|mi|km|spell=on|0}} away, Washington began to rally the vanguard to set up the very defenses Lee had been attempting to organize. He then offered Lee a choice: remain and command the rearguard, or fall back across the bridge and organize the main defenses on Perrine's Hill. Lee opted for the former while Washington departed to take care of the latter.<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 291–295</ref><ref name="Ferling179">Ferling 2009 p. 179</ref> Lee fought the counter-attacking British in a rearguard action that lasted no more than thirty minutes, enough time for Washington to complete the deployment of the main body, and at 13:30, he was one of the last American officers to withdraw across the bridge.<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 298–310, 313</ref> When Lee reached Perrine's Hill, Washington sent him with part of the former vanguard to form a reserve at Englishtown. At 15:00, Steuben arrived at Englishtown and relieved Lee of command.<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 315–316</ref>

General Lee regarded [[John Skey Eustace]] as his adopted son and declared him as his heir,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=GaqVflnNvZwC&dq=John+skey+eustace+Northern+Neck&pg=PA72 A Cock and Bull for Kitty: Lord Dunmore and the Affair that Ruined the ... by George Morrow, p. 73]</ref><ref name="founders.archives.gov">"To Alexander Hamilton from John Skey Eustace, [27 October 1798]," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-22-02-0127. [Original source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 22, July 1798 – March 1799, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1975, pp. 213–216.]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BF83GXqGq4EC&dq=john+skey+eustace+savannah+georgia&pg=PA156 The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781-1784: August-September 1781]</ref> but the handsome Eustace decided to desert the unpredictable Lee.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015028745571&view=1up&seq=311&q1=eustace General Charles Lee, traitor or patriot?]</ref><ref name="founders.archives.gov"/>