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The New York and New Jersey campaign was a series of battles for control of New York City and the state of New Jersey in the American Revolutionary War between British forces under General Sir William Howe and the Continental Army under General George Washington in 1776 and the winter months of 1777. Howe was successful in driving Washington out of New York City, but overextended his reach into New Jersey, and ended the active campaign season in January 1777 with only a few outposts near the city. The British held New York harbor for the rest of the war, using it as a base for expeditions against other targets. First landing unopposed on Staten Island on July 3, 1776, Howe assembled an army composed of elements that had been withdrawn from Boston in March following their failure to hold that city, combined with additional British troops, as well as Hessian troops rented from several German principalities. Washington had New England soldiers as well as regiments from states as far south as Virginia. Landing on Long Island in August, Howe defeated Washington in the largest battle of the war, but the Continental Army was able to retreat to Manhattan under cover of darkness and fog. Washington suffered a series of defeats in Manhattan, with the exception of a victory at Harlem Heights, but was nevertheless chased north to White Plains, New York. At that point Howe returned to Manhattan to capture forces Washington had left in the north of that island. Washington and much of his army crossed the Hudson River into New Jersey, and retreated all the way across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, shrinking due to ending enlistment periods, desertions, and poor morale. Howe ordered his troops into winter quarters in December, establishing a chain of outposts from New York to Burlington, New Jersey. Washington, in a tremendous boost to American morale, launched a successful strike against the Trenton garrison after crossing the icy Delaware River, prompting Howe to withdraw his chain of outposts back to New Brunswick and the coast near New York, while Washington established his winter camp at Morristown. During the remaining winter months, both sides skirmished frequently as the British sought forage and provisions. Britain maintained control of New York City and some of the surrounding territory until the war ended in 1783, using it as a base for operations elsewhere in North America. In 1777, General Howe launched a campaign to capture Philadelphia, leaving General Sir Henry Clinton in command of the New York area, while General John Burgoyne led an attempt to gain control of the Hudson River valley from Quebec that failed at Saratoga. Northern New Jersey was the scene of skirmishing between the opposing forces for the rest of the war. ==Background== When the American Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775, British troops were under siege in Boston. They defeated Patriot forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill, suffering very high casualties. When news of this expensive British victory reached London, General William Howe and Lord George Germain, the British official responsible, determined that a "decisive action" should be taken against New York City using forces recruited from throughout the British Empire as well as troops hired from small German states.〔Fischer, pp. 76–78〕 General George Washington, recently named by the Second Continental Congress as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, echoed the sentiments of others that New York was "a post of infinite importance",〔Shecter, p. 60〕 and began the task of organizing military companies in the New York area when he stopped there on his way to take command of the siege of Boston.〔Shecter, p. 61〕 In January 1776 Washington ordered Charles Lee to raise troops and take command of New York's defenses.〔Schecter, p. 67〕 Lee had made some progress on the city's defenses when word arrived in late March 1776 that the British army had left Boston after Washington threatened them from heights south of the city. Concerned that General Howe was sailing directly to New York, Washington hurried regiments from Boston, including General Israel Putnam, who commanded the troops until Washington himself arrived in mid-April.〔Schecter, pp. 67–90〕 At the end of April, Washington dispatched General John Sullivan with six regiments to the north to bolster the faltering Quebec campaign.〔Johnston, p. 63〕 General Howe, rather than moving against New York, withdrew his army to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and regrouped while transports full of British troops, shipped from bases around Europe and intended for New York, began gathering at Halifax. In June he set sail for New York with the 9,000 men assembled there, before all of the transports arrived.〔Lengel, p. 135〕 German troops, primarily from Hesse-Kassel, as well as British troops from Henry Clinton's ultimately unsuccessful expedition to the Carolinas, were to meet with Howe's fleet when it reached New York. General Howe's brother, Admiral Lord Howe, arrived at Halifax with further transports after the general sailed, and immediately followed.〔 When General Howe arrived in the outer harbor of New York, the ships began sailing up the undefended Narrows between Staten Island and Long island on July 2, and started landing troops on the undefended shores of Staten Island that day. Washington learned from prisoners taken that Howe had landed 10,000 men, but was awaiting the arrival of another 15,000.〔Schecter, pp. 100–103〕 General Washington, with a smaller army of about 19,000 effective troops, lacked significant intelligence on the British force and plans, and was uncertain exactly where in the New York area the Howes intended to strike. He consequently split the Continental Army between fortified positions on Long Island, Manhattan and other mainland locations,〔Fischer, pp. 89,381〕 and also established a "Flying Camp" in northern New Jersey. This was intended as a reserve force that could support operations anywhere along the Jersey shore of the Hudson.〔Lundin, p. 109〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「New York and New Jersey campaign」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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