"Artillery Properly Distributed": Ten or Twelve Guns with the Continental Advance Corps at Monmouth Courthouse

Abstract

This paper attempted to answer how many artillery pieces were actually present with General Charles Lee’s advance corps at the Battle of Monmouth? The various sources disagree on the number, ranging from ten to twelve guns. Based on re-analysis of primary and secondary sources, this paper surmised that there were in fact five separate artillery companies, with two guns each, attached to the advance corps, for a total number of armament fixed at ten guns. This conclusion was reached through a several-step process, begun initially by conducting an in-depth historiography of the primary and secondary sources that discussed these artillery numbers at the Battle of Monmouth. After this review, the structure of the Continental Artillery, as it was incorporated into Washington’s Army, was analyzed. With the insights gained from these studies, the final step sought to reconcile these two sets of data to resolve the question at hand. Next, based on the conclusions reached, this article proffers the identities of the artillery companies of the advance corps. The further evidence collected from artillery unit muster rolls and other primary sources clearly identified four of these companies while providing strong circumstantial evidence in naming the fifth and final artillery unit.