By now Wayne realized that his head wound was not fatal. After being assured that his men were now in full control of Stony Point, he sent a note to Washington, time-dated at 2 a.m.: Dear Gen’l, — The fort & garrison with Col. Johnston [sic] are ours. Our officers & men behaved like men who are determined to be free.

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The dawn of July 16 revealed the extent of the American victory. Fifteen of the Light Corps had given their lives in the effort, with an additional eighty-three wounded. The losses on the British side were nineteen killed, 543 taken prisoner, and two who escaped: Lieutenant Roberts and Captain Lawrence Campbell. After leaving the useless Left Flank Battery, Roberts had tried for the Howitzer Battery, only to be turned back by parties of enemy soldiers ranging across the hillside. By the time he had returned to the Table of the Hill, the distinctive Huzza of the Americans told him that the post was lost. Roberts finally worked his way down to the southern side, intending to wade the bay to hide in the country below, but hearing Vulture fire a gun, he swam to the sloop where he was taken aboard. Captain Campbell of the 71st Regiment, though wounded, reached the ferry wharf and commandeered a flat-bottomed boat.

From the American perspective, the only sour notes regarding this affair involved the cooperating force that was to attack Verplancks Point once Stony Point had fallen (it never got organized enough to act), and the fate of the sloop-of-war Vulture, which when she came under fire from the captured Stony Point cannons, slipped her anchor and escaped downstream.

There were honors aplenty on the American side. It was finally determined that the five who led the way into the Flagstaff Battery making them claimants to Washington’s cash prizes were, first, de Fleury; second, George Knox; and the remaining three, sergeants named Baker, Spencer, and Donlop. In addition, Washington recommended and Congress approved treating the captured stores as confiscated property whose value (more than $160,000) was to be divided proportionally among the officers and men of the Light Corps. Finally, there were medals struck by Congress — gold for Wayne and silver for de Fleury and Stewart. The de Fleury medal, which is still issued to outstanding American military engineers, carries an inscription in Latin that translates as A memorial and reward for courage and boldness.

For Clinton, perhaps the most difficult moment came on July 25, when he had to report matters to Lord Germain. The success attending this bold and well-combined attempt of the enemy procured very deservedly no small share of reputation to the spirited officer who conducted it, Clinton wrote, and was, I must confess, a very great affront to us, the more mortifying since it was unexpected and possibly avoidable. One of Clinton’s key subordinates termed the affair this singular and unfortunate Event, which has filled every one with astonishment.

An even greater embarrassment lay in the future for Sir Henry Clinton, when he lost most of his southern army under Lord Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, in 1781. By May 1782, Clinton had been replaced and returned to England. He spent his final years in obscure service for country and king and writing his memoirs, which would not be published until the middle of the twentieth century.

Colonel Johnson faced a court-martial in early 1781 in New York. The court found his disposition of forces at fault for placing so many along the outer abatis, and reprimanded him for not protesting more vigorously at the unannounced absences of the gunboat. However, the court did praise the Stony Point garrison, saying that Johnson and his command behaved with alertness, activity, and bravery that do them honor.

It was not the position but the act of taking it that was important to the master planner behind the entire operation. After hauling away all the captured stores and arms, Washington determined that it would tie down too many men to retain, so he abandoned the strongpoint on July 18. Pride required that Clinton reclaim it, which he did, and it was refortified, though its symbolic value was spent and not recoverable. In late October the British drew back to New York and the memory of Stony Point receded into the events of 1780 and beyond.

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