In a message dated 8/4/2005 10:02:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time, HFTHusma writes: General Orders Head Quarters, Smith's Tavern, Saturday, June 12, 1779. Parole Betwick. Countersigns Brest, Deane. The following formation of the three divisions of the Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania troops is immediately to take place for the present campaign: The 2nd. R.&F. [Rank and File] 5th. Virginia regiments to form one battn. and furnish one and an half comp. of L. Infantry 62. [number of men to be provided] 11th 7th. to form one battalion and furnish one company of Light Infantry 41. 8th. 103. 3rd to form one battalion. 4th. 6th. and to form one battalion and furnish two companies of Light Infantry 82. 2nd. St. Regt. Gist's and to form one battalion and furnish one company of Light Infantry 41. 1st. St. Regt. 1st. and to form one battalion and furnish half a company of Light Infantry 21. 10th 144. 1st. Maryld. Regt. to form one battalion and furnish one compy. of L. Infantry 41. 5th. to form one battalion. 7th. to form one battalion. 3rd. to form one battn. and furnish one compy. of Light Infantry 41. R.&F. [Rank and File] 2nd to form one battn. and furnish one company of L. Infantry 41. 6th. to form one battalion. 4th. to form one battn. and furnish one compy. of Light Infantry 41. The Delaware Regiment to form one battalion. 1st. Penns. Regts. to form one battn. and furnish one company of L. Infantry 41. 7th 10th. to form one battalion. 2nd. to form one battn. and furnish one company of Light Infantry 41. 3rd. and to form one battn. and furnish two companies of Light Infantry 82. 6th 9th. Penns. Regts. to form one battalion and furnish two companies of Light Infantry 82. 5th. The companies of Light Infantry are to be immediately drawn out agreeable to this proportion. The officers commanding regiments will be particularly careful in the choice of the men, which is a duty, the good of the service and the credit of their respective regiments equally demand; When it is considered that in every army the honor of a regiment and that of its Light Company are intimately connected, the officer commanding it cannot but be solicitous to furnish men that will support the reputation of his regiment. The companies from the several brigades will parade tomorrow morning 11 o'clock near the Maryland division, where the Adjutant General is desired to pass the men, their clothes, arms and accoutrements under a critical inspection, and return all who on any account shall appear unfit for this kind of service to their regiments to be replaced by others whom he shall approve. A Captain, Subaltern and three Serjeants are to be appointed to each company. __________ DISCUSSION- Though not stated, presumably because of security reasons, this was the General Order that formed the 1779 Corps of Light Infantry (LI). Its purpose was to form two regiments of light infantry using the 16 Light Infantry Companies from the Continental Regiments then in the Main Army. . Each company was to have 2 Officers, 3 Sergeants, 41 Privates. They were formed into battalions of 4 LI companies each. Battalions were to be two per regiment. The actual formation of the companies was slightly different from that prescribed, e. g, Captain Robert Gamble's LI Company was made up of men from the 7th and 8th VA Regiments. Note that the 7th and 8th VA Regts were to provide different companies in conjunction with other regiments. I assume this change took place during the selection of the men and their company commanders before the companies reported to the LI Corps. I note that the 2d VA State Regiment isn't cited in the GO although they are known to have provided men to the LI Corps. And the Delaware Regiment was not ordered to contribute to the LI organization. This leads to the idea that there was a general call for volunteers within the brigades throughout the Main Army then under overall command of General Washington in the Highlands of New York . Apparently, there was a judgment that the LI Corps needed to be a larger force. The 6th CT Regiment, a MA Battalion (6-7 Cos), and an NC Battalion (2 Cos) were added. The 6th CT Regiment was designated the 3rd LI Regiment within the Corps of LI, but the MA and NC Battalions were not formed into the 4th LI Regiment until after the action at Stony Point. Additionally, there was an Artillery Detachment of 24 men. The Artillerymen initially had two pieces of artillery, but the terrain was too difficult to move the guns to the action. The men were used with significant effect when the captured cannon were turned on the British ship nearby and on Verplank Point across the North (Hudson) River. There is mention of the possible use of Indians in the silencing of outpost and sentinels. Washington made wide use of Lee's Legion (a combination of Cavalry and Infantry) for early intelligence and security of the LI Corps. According to Major Harry Lee's description of the Stony Point action written several days after, two of his companies acted as reserve behind the committed forces. A larger reserve was provided by General Muhlenberg's VA Brigade. This brigade was to cover the withdrawal in the event the attack was unsuccessful. When General Washington conceived of the attack on Stony Point he wanted General Anthony Wayne to command the forces in the action. At the time Wayne was on leave and had to be recalled. The Corps of Light Infantry was being formed when Wayne arrived at Washington's headquarters. It appears that Colonel Richard Butler (PA) was nominally in command until General Wayne took over. Butler was designated to command the 2nd LI Regiment What is not apparent is the order that caused the LI of CT, MA, and NC to be organized. Of course, this information would make the account verifiable. As I scan the various sources including individual pension records of Stony Point veterans, I am adding to a list of Company Commanders in the Stony Point action. If a reader of this message has knowledge of such commanders, I would appreciate a note along with the source. Best, Hugh