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Charles Lee (February 6, 1732 – October 2, 1782) was a British soldier turned Virginia planter who was a general officer of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War.

Lee is most notorious for his actions during the Battle of Monmouth. Washington needed a secondary commander to lead the frontal assault. He unwillingly chose to put Lee in charge as he was the most senior of his generals. Washington ordered him to attack the retreating enemy, but instead, Lee ordered a retreat. He retreated directly into Washington and his troops, who were advancing, and Washington dressed him down publicly. Lee responded with "inappropriate language" (insubordination), was arrested, and shortly thereafter court-martialed. Lee was found guilty, and he was relieved of command for a period of one year.

he Battle of Monmouth (pronounced /ˈmɒnməθ/) was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on June 28, 1778 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Continental Army under General George Washington attacked the rear of the British Army column commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton as they left Monmouth Court House (modern Freehold Borough). Unsteady handling of lead Continental elements by Major General Charles Lee had allowed British rearguard commander Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis to seize the initiative but Washington's timely arrival on the battlefield rallied the Americans along a hilltop hedgerow. Sensing the opportunity to smash the Continentals, Cornwallis pressed his attack and captured the hedgerow in stifling heat. Washington consolidated his troops in a new line on heights behind marshy ground, used his artillery to fix the British in their positions, then brought up a four gun battery under Major General Nathanael Greene on nearby Combs Hill to enfilade the British line, requiring Cornwallis to withdraw. Finally, Washington tried to hit the exhausted British rear guard on both flanks, but darkness forced the end of the engagement. Both armies held the field, but the British commanding General Clinton withdrew undetected at midnight to resume his army's march to New York City.

George Washington (February 22, 1732 [O.S. February 11, 1731][

George Washington (February 22, 1732 [ O.S. February 11, 1731] [

n May 1778, the British commander-in-chief in North America, Sir Henry Clinton, was under orders to evacuate Philadelphia and concentrate his troops at the main British base in New York City, as France had entered the war on the side of the Americans.

the force was increased to 5,000 men and the command offered to the Marquis de Lafayette, Lee changed his mind and insisted on the command.

When the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the colonial revolutionaries did not have an army. Previously, each colony had relied upon the militia, made up of part time citizen-soldiers, for local defense, or the raising of temporary "provincial regiments" during specific crises such as the French and Indian War. As tensions with Great Britain increased in the years leading up to the war, colonists began to reform their militia in preparation for the potential conflict. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774. Colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed creating a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea.[1] The minutemen were completely outnumbered. After Lexington and Concord, thousands of militiamen from New England gathered to oppose the British troops who had been bottled up in Boston.