The Long Retreat: The Calamitous Defense of New Jersey, 1776

by Arthur S. Lefkowitz

Winner of the 1998 Best Book on the Revolution published in 1998 by the Board of Governors of the American Revolution Round Table | Named 1999 Honor Book by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.

On the morning of November 20, 1776, General Charles Cornwallis overran patriot positions at Fort Lee, on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. The attack threw George Washington's army into turmoil. Thus began an American retreat across the state, which ended only after the battered rebels crossed the Delaware river at Trenton on December 7. It was a three-week campaign that marked the most dramatic and desperate period of the War for Independence. In The Long Retreat, Arthur Lefkowitz has written the first book-length study of this critical campaign. He adds compelling new detail to the narrative, and offers the most comprehensive account in the literature of the American retreat to the Delaware and of the British pursuit. What emerges is a history misconceptions about the movements of the armies, the intentions of their leaders, and the choices available to rebel commanders and their British counterparts. Lefkowitz presents a patriot military pounded into desperate straights by the forces of the Crown, but in the end more resilient and wily than most previous scholarship has allowed. If brought low over November and December of 1776, Washington's battalions were still a force to reckon with as they pulled away from the advancing British. Despite serious losses in material and personnel, Washington managed to keep his units operational; and even while making mistakes, he sought to consolidate patriot regiments and longed for a chance to counterattack. The Christmas night riposte at Trenton, a dramatic reversal of fortune in any case, stemmed from measures the rebel Commander-in-Chief had initiated even as he completed his retrogade across New Jersey. How all of this came about emerges and crisp narrative of The Long Retreat. It is the definitive book on a crucial chapter in the history of American Arms.

Genres: American Revolution

190 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[Manray9 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Long Retreat: The Calamitous Defense of New Jersey, 1776 is a short, authoritative, and well-crafted account of the retreat of American forces across New Jersey in the autumn of 1776. It spans the period of disaster for the Patriot cause that extended from the losses of Forts Washington and Lee on the Hudson through George Washington's withdrawal across the Delaware just prior to the dramatic riposte on Christmas which routed the Hessians at Trenton and then the British at Princeton. The autumn of 1776 may have been the nadir of American fortunes during the War of Independence. It was during this retreat, while slogging miserably through the mud, cold, and rain without shoes, tents, blankets, or enough food, that General Nathaniel Greene's civilian secretary, Thomas Paine, wrote:

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered...

Those were the times, indeed.

Arthur Lefkovitz deserves Four Stars with his scholarly, but readable, account of the “trial that led to redemption for Washington and for the fragile hopes of an infant nation.” Any reader with an interest in the American Revolution or the crucial role played by George Washington during the times that tried men's souls should pick up a copy of The Long Retreat: The Calamitous Defense of New Jersey, 1776.

Kudos to Lefkovitz and Rutgers University Press for including cover art and an excellent map drawn by the late George Woodbridge -- formerly America's greatest illustrator of historical military uniforms and equipment. For decades, George was an illustrator for Mad magazine, when not pursuing his love of history. He served as commander of the reenactment group, The Brigade of the American Revolution.

[Rahobeth Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well researched and detailed presentation of the Continental Army's retreat following the loss at the Battle of Brooklyn (Battle of Long Island). The author uses numerous primary sources and does an excellent job of putting events in order.
It has been argued whether George Washington was weak or a poor battlefield commander. It has also been argued that William Howe was more interested in enjoying winter quarters, was principally invested in forcing peace through pardons, or whether he was fully determined to crush the rebellion by force. This book visits these themes and helps paint a fuller picture for the reader to better understand the many aspects in play in the campaigns of 1776.