Meeting Engagement

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Meeting Engagement

MEETING ENGAGEMENT. The term "meeting engagement" is applied to a battle that takes place before either side can execute its planned attack or defense. Normally, both sides are still moving part of their forces toward the battlefield while other troops are already engaged in combat. Such encounters hold enormous potential for the side that can better understand what is happening on a fluid battlefield and can better direct forces to take advantage of often fleeting opportunities for success. The encounters at Princeton (3 January 1777) and at Monmouth (28 June 1778) are good examples of meeting engagements in Americas' War for Independence.

                         revised by Harold E. Selesky