Lee Raids Paulus Hook

**The Raid on Paulus Hook: August 19, 1779**

By the summer of 1779, the American War of Independence had entered a phase of strategic frustration for both sides. The British held New York City and its surrounding fortifications, while General George Washington's Continental Army maintained a watchful arc around the occupied metropolis, probing for vulnerabilities without possessing the strength for a full assault. It was in this context that two daring raids — separated by just five weeks — demonstrated that American soldiers could match British regulars in discipline, planning, and close-quarters combat. The first, led by Brigadier General Anthony Wayne against the British garrison at Stony Point, New York, on July 16, 1779, electrified the patriot cause. The second, conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee against the fortified post at Paulus Hook, New Jersey, on August 19, proved that Stony Point was no fluke.

Paulus Hook was a low, sandy peninsula jutting into the Hudson River at a point directly across from the southern tip of Manhattan — the site of present-day Jersey City. The British had fortified it with earthworks, a blockhouse, and a series of abatis, the sharpened-stake barriers that served as the eighteenth-century equivalent of barbed wire. A surrounding tidal creek and marsh made the position nearly an island at high tide, accessible only by a narrow causeway. The garrison, composed of several hundred British and Hessian troops, served as an outpost defending the western approaches to New York. The post's apparent impregnability made it a tempting target for an audacious commander looking to repeat Wayne's triumph.

Henry Lee was exactly such a commander. Just twenty-three years old, the Virginia-born cavalry officer had already earned a reputation for boldness and intelligence-gathering. Serving under Washington's direct eye, Lee commanded a mixed unit of Continental light dragoons and infantry that would later become famous as "Lee's Legion." Studying Wayne's methods at Stony Point, Lee recognized a tactical template he could adapt: a secretive night march, strict orders for silence, unloaded muskets to prevent accidental discharges that would forfeit surprise, and an assault carried out primarily with the bayonet.

On the night of August 18–19, Lee led roughly three hundred troops on a grueling approach march through miles of swampy terrain west of the Hudson. Delays, wrong turns, and the difficulty of navigating salt marshes in darkness consumed precious hours. By the time the assault force reached the causeway and waded through the tidal creek — some men chest-deep in water — it was well past midnight. Nevertheless, the attack achieved total surprise. Lee's men stormed the outer works with bayonets fixed and muskets unloaded, overwhelming the defenders in fierce hand-to-hand fighting. Within approximately thirty minutes, the Americans had captured 158 British and Hessian prisoners. A small contingent of Hessians barricaded inside the blockhouse held out and could not be dislodged, but Lee, knowing that British reinforcements could cross the Hudson from Manhattan at any moment, wisely chose to withdraw with his prisoners rather than linger.

The retreat proved almost as harrowing as the approach. Exhausted and burdened with captives, Lee's column had to march rapidly northward to avoid being cut off. They succeeded, reaching the safety of American lines with their prisoners intact and having suffered remarkably few casualties — estimates suggest roughly two Americans killed and perhaps three wounded.

Congress recognized the achievement by awarding Henry Lee a gold medal, one of only a handful bestowed during the entire war. The honor deliberately echoed the gold medal Congress had already voted for Anthony Wayne after Stony Point, and contemporaries understood the pairing as a powerful statement. Together, the two raids demonstrated that the Continental Army's light infantry had matured into a professional fighting force capable of executing complex operations under the most demanding conditions.

In the broader arc of the Revolutionary War, the twin victories at Stony Point and Paulus Hook did not alter the strategic balance around New York, but they accomplished something arguably more important in 1779: they sustained American morale during a long and indecisive middle period of the conflict. They proved that disciplined Continental soldiers could penetrate fortified British positions, and they burnished the reputations of two officers — Wayne and Lee — who would go on to play significant roles in the war's later campaigns, particularly in the southern theater where the conflict would ultimately be decided.