07/30/2026
This map was drawn of the Battle of Monmouth immediately following the battle by British officer John Graves Simcoe. Simcoe was a Lieutenant Colonel with the Queen's Rangers who led this small elite unit into the battle.
The Queen's Rangers were a small, lightly equipped mounted unit armed primarily with swords and pistols, designed for scouting, pursuit and rapid action. They were the "special forces" of their age and the precursor to what would become the British SAS and American Green Berets in modern times.
The map tracks the sequence of the engagement across the landscape west and northwest of the Monmouth Court House. Its detailed lettered key at the bottom identifies units, positions and movements, such as the British encampment as of Saturday, June 27th, the positions of Hessian General Knyphausen’s division that was responsible for protecting the miles-long British baggage train, guards and brigades formed in line, British Light Infantry, Queen’s Rangers, grenadiers and other regular units and the American forces and their advances/retreats plus artillery positions.
It also shows the specific actions during the day’s fighting, including the initial morning contact, midday counterattacks and afternoon stand on the heights. This map is unique and valuable as a near-contemporary British view of the terrain and dispositions, reflecting Sir Henry Clinton’s perspective on the day’s actions.
The opening of the Battle of Monmouth on Sunday, June 28th, 1778 began with a brief, but sharp early morning clash between the Queen’s Rangers under Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe and the Patriot New Jersey Militia. In the early morning, around 7 AM, Simcoe’s Queen’s Rangers were screening for the continuation of the British withdrawal from Philadelphia to Sandy Hook, and scouting the local area.
Simcoe’s men advanced from the court house towards the vicinity of Old Tennent Church to pursue what they believed was a rebel scouting party; instead, they ran into New Jersey militia under Major General Philemon Dickinson, including elements of Hunterdon and other county units.
According to Simcoe’s journal and supporting accounts, at this time, the Queen's Rangers pursued two fleeing Militia fighters on horseback down the dirt road and across a small brook, towards rising open ground with a high fence. This fence was located at the hedgerow at the Old Tennent Parsonage farm. A larger body of militia was posted along this fence and delivered the element of surprise, opening fire on the advancing Rangers.
Some Rangers leapt over the fence; Simcoe brought up his grenadier company and ordered the cavalry to pull back temporarily. The militia delivered a volley and then fled in disorder back towards the historic Old Tennent Church, which was the militia's base of operations and staging ground, while Simcoe posted grenadiers along the hedgerow fence line on the former American side. Scattering shots continued; one struck Simcoe in the arm, with his horse also being hit. He recovered enough to pursue small parties of fleeing Burlington County militia, and take a couple of prisoners. The Queen's Rangers then withdrew instead of pressing a larger, better-posted militia concentration at the hedgerow.
Later in the day, the hedgerow at the Old Tennent Parsonage farm would go on to become a major landmark of the Battle of Monmouth that was strongly featured in the main battle. Today, the hedgerow site can be visited at Battleview Orchards at Monmouth Battlefield State Park.
This early morning opening strike between the Queen's Rangers and Patriot Militia lasted roughly 20–25 minutes. The Rangers then fell back toward the main British positions near the court house.
The firing was heard from Englishtown by advancing Continental Army officers Charles Lee, "Mad Anthony" Wayne and William Grayson, who initially could not identify the source of the fighting. This skirmish was the first significant contact of the day, and is marked on contemporary British maps as the “Skirmish of the Queen's Rangers with the Jersey Militia, in the morning.”
