entrance gate of "Chew's House," the most noted and attractive relic of
the Revolution now in Germantown. It stands back several rods from the
street, on the cast side, and is surrounded by noble trees and shrubbery
in profusion. The house is a spacious stone edifice with ample wings. In
various parts of the grounds were the mutilated remains of several fine
marble statues and vases, some standing, others lying upon the ground.
They are evidences of the refined taste of its distinguished owner,
Chief-justice Chew, * and at the same time melancholy mementoes of the
destructive character of war. These fine specimens of sculpture were all
perfect before the conflict known as the Battle of Germantown occurred;
they were battered, broken, and cast down by the cannon-balls hurled on
that occasion. We passed an hour with the venerable present owner of the
mansion, the widow of a son of Chief-justice Chew. She received us with
much courtesy, and seemed to take pleasure in leading us to various
parts of the grounds. The walls of the large room on the south are
covered with old paintings, chiefly family portraits, many of them by
eminent artists, and possessing much merit. Mrs. Chew showed me several
mementoes of the battle, among which are the scars seen at the head of
the great stair-case, which were made by the passage of a cannon-ball
through the house. In the stable we saw the old doors of the mansion,
completely riddled by musket-balls. Mrs. Chew informed us that the house
was so much injured, that four or five carpenters were employed a whole
winter in repairing it.
The battle of Germantown was fought on the morning of the 4th of
October, 1777. Defeated [[September 11, 1777]] on the banks of the
Brandywine, (a) Washington retreated, with his whole army, back to
Philadelphia, and encamped at Germantown. As soon as his
* Benjamin Chew was born in Maryland, November 20th, 1722. He studied
law first with Andrew Hamilton, and afterward in London. He went to
Philadelphia in 1754, where he held the respective offices of recorder
of the city, register of wills, attorney general, and finally beeame
chief justice of Pennsylvania. His course was doubtful when the
Revolution broke out, and he was claimed by both parties. After the
promulgation of the Declaration of Independence, he took a decided stand
against the Whigs, and retired to private life. In 1777 he refused to
sign a parole, and was sent a prisoner to Fredericksburg, Virginia. In
1790 he was appointed president of the High Court of Errors and Appeals,
and held that office until the abolition of the tribunal in 1806. He
died on the 20th of January, 1810, aged nearly eighty-eight years.
His father was the Honorable Samuel Chew, of Delaware, a member of the
society of Friends, who was a judge and a physician.
[[[Maneuvers of the two Armies on the Schuylkill.--The British Army at
Germantown.--Preparations to Attack it]]]
{315}soldiers were rested and refreshed, * he recrossed the Schuylkill,
and marched to [[September 16]] oppose the army of Howe, then pressing
on toward Philadelphia. The two armies met near the Warren Tavern, on
the Lancaster road, within twenty miles of the city. Washington made
preparations to attack the left wing of the enemy, and an engagement was
about to take place a little north of the Goshen meeting-house, when a
violent storm of rain came on suddenly, wet the powder of both parties,
and prevented a conflict.
[Illustration: 8325]
The storm continued all light, and before dawn the enemy left their
position, and moved down the road leading to Swedes Ford. Perceiving
this, Washington crossed the Schuylkill above them at Parker's Ford,
hoping to be able to confront them while on their passage of the river.
Howe did not cross, but wheeled and made a rapid march up the right bank
of the stream toward Reading. Supposing Howe's design to be either to
turn the right of his army, or to get possession of the American stores
deposited at Reading, Washington moved his forces up the river near to
Pottsgrove (now Pottstown), twenty miles above Norristown. Howe's march
seemed to have been a movement to deceive Washington; for, as soon as
the latter moved to Pottsgrove, the former wheeled his army, marched
rapidly down the river, crossed it at the Fatland Ford and vicinity (a
little above Norristown), and pushed forward to Philadelphia. ** (a)
That whole region of country, awed by the [[ a September 18, 1777]]
presence of the British army, was disaffected toward the American cause,
and Washington could obtain no reliable information of the enemy's
movements. With correct intelligence, he probably would have foiled Howe
by skillful maneuvers, and saved Philadelphia. ***
On first taking possession of Philadelphia, Howe stationed the
main division of his army at Germantown. Washington encamped near
Pennibecker's mill, between Perkiomy and Skippack Creeks, about twenty
miles from Philadelphia, where he remained until about the 1st of
October, undetermined what movement to make next, when his forces were
augmented by the arrival of troops from Peekskill on the Hudson, and a
body of American militia. Advised of the weakened state of Howe's army,
in consequence of his detaching a portion for the purpose of reducing
Billingsport, and Forts Mercer and Mifflin, on the Delaware, the
commander-in-ehief conceived a plan for attacking the main division at
Germantown. The British line of encampment there crossed the village at
right angles, at about the center, the left wing extending westward
from the town to the Schuylkill. It was covered in front by the German
chasseurs, some mounted, and some on foot. The right extended eastward
from the village, and was covered in front by the Queen's Rangers, a
light corps under Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe. The center was posted in
the town, and guarded by the fortieth regiment, and another battalion of
light infantry was stationed about three fourths of a mile in advance.
At a council of officers called by Washington, it was arranged that the
divisions of Sullivan and Wayne, flanked by Conway's brigade, were to
enter the town by the way of Chestnut Hill, while General Armstrong,
**** with the Pennsylvania militia, should fall down
* The condition of the American soldiers was, at that time, deplorable,
on account of a want of shoes. Washington, writing to the president of
Congress on the 23d of September, says, "At least one thousand men are
barefooted, and have performed the marches in that condition."
** It was at this time 'that Washington wrote to Gates and Putnam to
send on re-enforcements from the northern armies amid the Highlands. See
page 297.
*** On the approach of the British toward the Schuylkill, Congress, then
in session in Philadelphia, adjourned to Lancaster, where they assembled
on the 27th of September. They adjourned the same day to York, where
they met on the 30th, and continued their sittings there until the
British evacuated the city the following summer.
**** John Armstrong, a native of Pennsylvania, was a colonel in the
provincial forees of that state during the French and Indian wars. He
headed an expedition against the Indians at Kiltaning in 1756, which
destroyed that settlement, dispersed the savages, and took possession of
the stores which the French had sent there for the use of their native
allies. For this service the corporation of Philadelphia passed a vote
of thanks to Armstrong and his three hundred men, and presented him with
a medal and a piece of plate. He was appointed a brigadier general in
the Continental army in 1776, and did gallant service in defense of Fort
Moultrie, at Charleston, in the summer of that year. He was engaged in
the battles of Brandywine and Germantown in the autumn of 1777. Becoming
dissatisfied concerning some promotions in the army, he resigned
his commission at the close of 1777, and became a member of Congress
afterward. He died at Carlisle, March 9, 1795. He was the father of
Major John Armstrong, the author of the "Newburg Addresses," whose life
and character is noticed on page 106.
[[[Approach of the Americans to Germantown.--Attack on the British
Pickets.--Chew's House a Defense.]]]
{316}the Manatawny road by Van Deering's mill, and get upon the enemy
s left and rear. The divisions of Greene and Stephen, flanked by
M'Dougall's brigade, were to enter by making a circuit by way of the
Lime-kiln road, at the market-house, and to attack the enemy s right
wing; and the Maryland and Jersey militia, under Generals Smallwood and
Forman, were to march by the old York road and fall upon the rear of
their right. Lord Stirling, with the brigades of Nash and Maxwell, were
to form a reserve corps. *
After dark, on the evening of the 3d of October, Washington, with his
army, moved silently from his camp on Metuchen Hill, upon Skippack
Creek, toward Germantown. He accompanied the column of Sullivan and
Wayne in person. Small parties were sent out to secure every man who
might give the enemy notice of his approach, and every precaution was
taken to insure complete surprise.
[Illustration: 9326]
He tried to reach the British pickets at Chestnut Hill before daylight;
but the roughness of the roads over which his army marehed prevented,
and it was almost sunrise when he emerged from the woods on that
elevation. His approach had been discovered at early dawn by the British
patrols, who gave the alarm. The troops were soon called to arms, and
placed in battle order on Mount Airy, about a mile north of Chew's house
in Germantown. At seven o'clock Sullivan's advanced party, drawn chiefly
from Conway's brigade, and led by that officer, fell upon the
British pickets at Allen's house, at Mount Airy, where they had two
six-pounders, and drove them back to the main body near, which consisted
chiefly of the fortieth regiment and a battalion of light infantry.
Sullivan's main body now left the road, moved to the right through
the fields, formed in a lane leading from Allen's house toward the
Schuylkill, and joined in the attack with so much vigor and such
overwhelming numbers, that the enemy, after a sharp engagement of twenty
minutes, gave way, and fell back to the village, closely pursued by
the victors. Colonel Musgrave, who commanded the British center, thus
furiously attacked, threw himself, with five companies of the fortieth
regiment, into Judge Chew's large stone house, pictured on page
314, from which such a severe discharge of musketry was poured upon
Woodford's brigade, which was
* Sparks, v., 78.
[[[Scenes at Chew's House.--Remissness of the Militia.--Victory lost to
the Americans.]]]
{317}pursuing the flying enemy, that their progress was checked. The
fire of the small arms of the patriots upon this refuge was quite
ineffectual. General Reed, it is said, proposed to continue the pursuit
of the remainder of the enemy, who were then in great confusion, and
turning their faces toward Philadelphia; but General Knox, of the
artillery, opposed the suggestion, as being against all military rule
"to leave an enemy in a fort in the rear. "What!" exclaimed Reed, "call
this a fort, and lose the happy moment!" They sought for Conway to
decide the point, but he was not to be found. Knox's opinion prevailed,
and pursuit was abandoned.
A flag was now sent by a young man * to demand a formal and immediate
surrender. The bearer was slain by a bullet when within musket-shot
of the house. Cannons were now brought to bear upon the house by the
artillery regiment of Maxwell s brigade; but so strong were the walls
and so courageous were the inmates, that it was found impossible to
dislodge them. Attempts were made to set the house on fire, but without
success. ** Many of the Americans were killed in the assault, while
scarcely a man of the garrison was wounded. The attempt to dislodge
the enemy caused many of the American troops to halt, and brought back
Wayne's division, which had advanced far beyond the house. This totally
uncovered Sullivan's left flank, which was advancing toward the enemy's
left, and disconcerted all their plans.
While this attack on Chew's house was in progress, General Greene had
approached the enemy's right wing, and routed the battalion of light
infantry and the Queen's Rangers. Turning a little to the right, he fell
upon the left flank of the enemy's right wing, and endeavored to enter
the village, not doubting that the Pennsylvania militia under Armstrong,
upon the right, and the militia of Maryland and New Jersey on the left,
commanded by Smallwood and Forman, would execute the orders of the
commander-in-chief, by attacking and turning the first left and the
second right flank of the British army. Neither of these detachments
performed their duty. The former arrived in sight of the German
chasseurs, but did not attack them; while the latter appeared too late
for co-operation with Greene s movements. The golden opportunity was
at that moment lost. The whole British army, as it appeared afterward,
astonished at the valor of the assailants and ignorant of their numbers,
were on the point of retreating, and had selected Chester, near the
Brandywine, as the place of rendezvous; but General Grey, finding his
left flank secure, marched with nearly the whole of the left wing, which
was under the general command of Knyphausen, to the assistance of the
center, then hard pressed in the village, where the Americans
were gaining ground every moment. The battle now raged severely In
Germantown, and for a while the issue was doubtful. Colonel Matthews,
with a detachment of Greene's column, composed of a part of Muhlenberg's
and Scott's brigades from the left wing, advanced to the eastward of
Chew's house, assailed a party of English, took one hundred and ten
prisoners, and drove the remainder before him into the town, whither he
followed as far as the market-house. A thick fog, which began to form
at daylight, now completely enveloped every thing, and the contending
parties were unable to discover the movements of each other. Matthews,
with his prisoners, was soon stopped at a breast-work near Lucan's
mills. At the same time, the right wing of the enemy, after discovering
that they had nothing to fear from the Maryland and New Jersey militia,
fell back, and completely surrounded Matthews
* Lieutenant Smith, of Virginia, who was an assistant of Colonel Timothy
Pickering in the office of adjutant general.
** Mrs. Chew informed me that, several years after the war, and soon
after her marriage, while a young man named White was visiting her
father-in-law, the old gentleman, in relating incidents of the battle
in Germantown, mentioned the circumstance that a Major White, an aid of
General Sullivan, and one of the handsomest men in the Continental army,
attempted to fire the house for the purpose of driving out the British.
He ran under a window with a fire-brand, where shots from the building
could not touch him. He was discovered, and a British soldier, running
into the cellar, shot him dead from a basement window. The young man
was much affected by the recital, and said to Judge Chew, "That Captain
While, sir, was my father." Mrs. Chew pointed out to us the window, near
the northwest corner of the house, from which the shot was fired.
[[[Battle of Germantown.--The Americans, deceived, abandon the
Field.--Washington's Chagrin.--The Loss.]]]
{318}and his party. This division of the enemy was composed chiefly of
the fourth brigade, under General Agnew, and three battalions of the
third. The prisoners were rescued; and Matthews, after a desperate
defense, and when most of his officers and men were killed and wounded,
was compelled to surrender, with his little remnant of about one hundred
men. This event enabled two regiments from the enemy's right to march
to the relief of Musgrave in Chew's house. These regiments attacked and
repulsed a party of Americans who had just entered Germantown in flank.
The patriots, unable to discern the numbers of the enemy on account of
the intensity of the fog, retired precipitately, leaving a great many of
their friends dead and wounded, but taking their artillery with them.
General Grey, now having absolute possession of the village, hastened to
the aid of the right wing, which was engaged with the left of Greene's
column. Sullivan's division, with a regiment of North Carolinians,
commanded by Colonel Armstrong, and assisted by a part of Conway's
brigade, having driven the enemy to School-house Lane, in the center
of Germantown, found themselves unsupported by other troops, and their
ammunition exhausted. They could dimly perceive through the fog that the
enemy were collecting in force on the right. At that moment, hearing
the cry of a light horseman that the enemy had surrounded them, and
perceiving the firing at Chew's house, so far in the rear, the Americans
became panic-stricken, and retreated with great precipitation. * The
divisions under Greene and Stephen were the last that retreated, and
these were covered by Count Tulaski and his legion. The prize of victory
was abandoned at the moment when another effort might have secured it.
***
The battle of Germantown, which lasted two hours and forty minutes, was
a very severe one, and the loss on both sides was great, considering the
numbers engaged and the nature of the conflict. The amount of loss
has been variously computed; that of the Americans was estimated by
Washington, a fortnight after the battle, *** at about one thousand men
in killed, wounded, and missing. **** There were fewer killed on the
part of the British, the number probably not exceeding one hundred;
while their whole loss, according to Howe s official account of
the affair, was, in killed, wounded, and missing, five hundred and
thirty-five. (v) Among these were several valuable officers, the
most distinguished of whom were General James Agnew (vi) and
Lieutenant-colonel Bird. Their remains lie inhumed together,
* Sullivan's letter to Mesheek Weare, president of New Hampshire, in
the New York Historical Society; John Eager Howard's letter to Timothy
Pickering; Gordon; Boita; Ramsay; Marshall. The latter author was in
Woodford's brigade, and describes a portion of this battle from his own
observation.
** Washington said, in a letter to the president of Congress, written
on the 7th of October, three days after the battle, ''It is with much
chagrin and mortification I add, that every account confirms the opinion
I at first entertained, that our troops retreated at the instant when
victory was declaring herself in our favor. The tumult, disorder, and
even despair, which, it seems, had taken place in the British army, were
scarcely to be paralleled; and, it is said, so strongly did the idea of
a retreat prevail, that Chester was fixed on as a place of rendezvous.
I can discover no other cause for not improving this happy opportunity
than the extreme haziness of the weather." Writing, at the same time, to
Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, Washington said, "But the morning was
so excessively foggy, that we could not see the confusion the enemy were
in, and the advantage we had gained; and fearing to push too far through
a strong village, we retired, after an engagement of two hours, bringing
off all our artillery with us. We did not know until after the affair
was over how near we were to gaining a complete victory."
*** See letter to his brother, dated October 17th, 1777.
**** According to the report of the Board of War, the Americans lost
in killed, 25 Continental officers, commissioned and non-commissioned;
wounded, 102, and an equal number missing. The militia officers were 3
killed, 4 wounded, and 11 missing. Of rank and file Continentals,
109 were killed, and 378 wounded; militia, 7 killed, and 19 wounded;
artillery officers, 2 killed, and 11 wounded; and matrosses, 6 killed,
and 7 wounded. Total of killed, 152; of wounded, 521. Gordon says (ii.,
234), "Upward of 400 were made prisoners, among whom were 54 officers."
It may here be remarked that the missing men from the army were not
necessarily included in the list of the killed, wounded, or prisoners;
for many ol those were soldiers who took such opportunities to go home.
* (v) Gordon says that, when the British left Germantown, some torn
papers with figures on them were found upon a chimney hearth by the
Americans. On putting the pieces together, it was found that they
contained the returns of the number and rank of the British killed in
the battle. The total was about 800.
* (vi)The following account of the death of General Agnew I copied from
a manuscript letter of Alexander Andrew, a servant of that officer,
written to the wife of the general from Philadelphia, on the 8th of
March, 1778. I give it as an illustration of the character and duties
of a body-servant of a British officer at that time. This letter, and
several written by Agnew himself to his wife at various times, are
in the possession of his grandson, Henry A. Martin, M.D., of Roxbury,
Massachusetts. From one of these I copied the annexed signature of
General Agnew.
* "Philadelphia, 8th March, 1778.
* "Dear Madam,--Though an entire stranger to your ladyship, yet, as I
had the honor to wait on your beloved husband for a considerable time,
which induced me to take the liberty of writing unto you, which I look
upon as a duty of mine to you in memory of a good master, to whom I owe
many obligations, is and will be always ready and willing to serve any
of his if ever in my power. Dear madam. I came into the army in place
of a brother of mine, who was cunning enough to persuade me, young and
foolish enough, to go in his place. I joined the 44th in '72, then in
Kilkenny, from which time I fancied Colonel Agnew took notice of me, and
when the regiment embarked at Cork he took me to be his servant, with
whom I had the honor to live very comfortably and happy until the day of
his death. Being his principal servant, and the only one he ever would
have to wait on him both in public and private, at home and abroad, and
in all places wherever his person was exposed, I was there by his side,
and an eye-witness to all his sufferings in Boston, in Halifax, Staten
Island, Long Island, New York Island, on the expedition to Danberry, in
the Jerseys, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and in three pitched battles,
viz., 27th August, '76, the 11th of September, and 4th of October,
'77, besides a number of skirmishes. On the expedition to Danberry,
the general was knocked down by a ball, which left its mark for above a
month. At the battle of Brandywine, the general had the misfortune to be
grazed by a cannon-ball, but continued to head his brigade. It happened
to be the last engaged that night, and, though he was very much
indisposed, yet he commanded his gallant troops until they beat off and
remained masters of the field. During the action the general remained
at the head of the 64th, which regiment suffered more than any of
the brigade. The army then proceeded to that unfortunate place called
Germantown, the 4th of October being the particular and fatal day of
which your ladyship has cause to remember and I have much reason to
regret. But to let you know the particulars of that day. [Being between
the hours of 9 and 12, as the brigade was following the 3d in an oblique
advancing line, the general, with the piquet at their head, entered the
town, hurried down the street to the left, but had not rode above 20 or
30 yards, which was to the top of a little rising ground, when a party
of the enemy, about 100, rushed out from behind a house about 500 yards
in front, the general being then in the street, and even in front of the
piquet, and all alone, only me, he wheeled round, and, putting spurs to
his horse, and calling to me, he received a whole volley from the enemy.
The fatal ball entered the small of his back, near the back seam of his
coat, right side, and came out a little below his left breast. Another
ball went through and through his right hand. I, at the same instant,
received a slight wound in the side, but just got off time enough to
prevent his falling, who, with the assistance of two men, took him down,
carried him into a house, and laid him on a bed, sent for the doctor,
who was near. When he came he could only turn his eyes, and looked
steadfastly on me with seeming affection. The doctor and Major Leslie
just came in time enough to see him depart this life, which he did
without the least struggle or agony, but with great composure, and
calmness, and seeming satisfaction, which was about 10 or 15 minutes
after he received the ball, and I believe between 10 and 11 o'clock. I
then had his body brought to his former quarters, took his gold watch,
his purse, in which was four guineas and half a Johannes, which I
delivered to Major Leslie as soon as he came home. I then had him
genteelly laid out, and decently dressed with some of his clean and best
things; had a coffin made the best the place could produce. His corpse
was decently interred the next day in the church-yard, attended by a
minister and the officers of the 44th regiment.]
* "He during his life, in his good-humors, often told me that he would
do better for me than being in the army; but, having no certificate from
under his hand, I was ordered to join the regiment, which I am sure I
never would have done. With regard to his effects that were present
with him, were equally divided among all the servants, every thing being
delivered over by Major Leslie to Major Hope. Payne was cook, and came
to the general in Boston; but the other man. Seymour, was only part of
one campaign, though he received an equal proportion of every thing the
same as me. Agen, even a pickt up negro received equal with me, who bore
the burden and heat of the day, silver buckles excepted. Colonel Hope
gave me them extraordinary as a reward (said he) for your good and
faithful services to your master; and them I have, and am ready to part
with them, if your ladyship or Captain Robert chuse to send for them.
All the rest of the things which was in store has been all lately sold
by vandue, ye, even two great-coats made for me and Payne almost a year
ago, was sold, with several other things too tedious to mention, such as
remains of cloth, stockings, &c.
* "Dear madam, I beg you will excuse this liberty; and if your ladyship
please to send me a few lines after the receival of this, I will be
under a great obligation to you; and believe me to be, with sincerity
and due respect, madam, your most obedient and humble servant.
[[[Letter of General Agnew's Servant to the Lady of that Officer
concerning his Death.]]]
{319}in the south burying-ground at Germantown.
[Illustration: 9329]
Over their grave I saw a neat marble slab, erected to their memory by J.
F. Watson, Esq., the annalist. In the north burying-ground
[[[American Officers Killed.--Washington and his Officers
Honored.--General Stephen.--Whitemarsh.]]]
{320}the same gentleman has set up a stone over the graves of Captain
Turner, of North Carolina, Major Irvine, and six soldiers of the
American army, who were slain in the battle, and buried there together.
General Nash, of North Carolina, * and Majors Sherburne and White, **
the two aids of General Sullivan, were also among the slain.
Although the Americans were defeated, or rather retreated from almost
certain victory, no blame was attached to the commander-in-chief and the
general officers under his command. On the contrary, when Washington's
letter to Congress, describing the battle, was [[Octobers 8, 1777]]
read, that body passed a vote of thanks to him for his "wise and
well-concerted attack upon the enemy's army near Germantown," and to
"the officers and soldiers of the army for their brave exertions on that
occasion." *** A medal was also ordered to be struck and presented to
General Washington.**** It was never executed.
Lord Cornwallis sped to the succor of the British camp at Germantown as
soon as intelligence of the attack upon it reached General Howe. He took
with him a corps of cavalry and grenadiers; but when he arrived, the
Americans had left, and retired to their camp [[October, 1777]] Skippack
Creek. There Washington remained until the 29th, when a council of war
was held, (v) and the next day he removed, with the whole army under his
command, to the range of hills about three fourths of a mile northeast
from the village of Whitemarsh, where he intended to go into winter
quarters. Thither we also went on leaving Germantown at noon.
Whitemarsh is situated in a beautiful little valley north of Chestnut
Hill, about fourteen miles from Philadelphia, and six from Mount Airy,
the upper part of Germantown. The sun glowed warm and bright at midday,
and as we passed over Chestnut Hill it revealed many little hamlets in
every direction, half hidden behind variegated groves. Descending the
northern slope of Chestnut Hill, we passed through Whitemarsh village,
and, turning eastward, passed over a lower ridge, crossed a narrow
valley watered by the romantic Wissahicon, and skirting the base of
a range of gentle, cultivated hills, and arrived at the spacious stone
mansion, tottering with age and neglect, where Washington made his
headquarters. The house stands upon the edge of a wet meadow, at the
head of a fine valley, and was a sort of baronial hall in size and
character when Elmar, its wealthy owner at the time of the Revolution,
dispensed hospitality to all who came under its roof. It is sixty
* Francis Nash was a captain in North Carolina in 1771, where he
distinguished himself in the movements in the western part of the state
known as the Regulator War. At the commencement of the Revolution,
the convention of North Carolina commissioned him a colonel, and in
February, 1777, he was commissioned by Congress a brigadier in the
Continental arm. When the intelligence of his death at Germantown
reached that body, it was resolved to request Governor Caswell, of
North Carolina, "to erect a monument of the value of 500 dollars, at the
expense of the United States," in honor of his memory. That monument,
like many others, is yet to be erected.
** See note respecting his death at Chew's house upon page 317.
*** General Adam Stephen was an exception. He was accused of
"unofficer-like conduct" during the action and the retreat. He was found
guilty of being intoxicated, and was dismissed from the army. General
Stephen had been a meritorious Virginia officer in the colonial wars.
He was a captain in the Ohio expedition in 1754. Afterward raised to the
rank of lieutenant colonel, he was intrusted with the command of
Fort Cumberland. He was left in command of the Virginia forces while
Washington went to Boston on an official errand to Governor Shirley in
1755. He was afterward dispatched to South Carolina to oppose the Creek
Indians. On his return, he was placed at the head of troops for the
defense of the Virginia frontier, and was commissioned a brigadier.
Congress appointed him a major general early in 1777, and he behaved
well in the battle of Brandywine. Yielding to a bad habit, he fell into
disgrace at Germantown. On the 3d of December, 1777, the Marquis De La
Fayette was appointed to the command of General Stephen's division.
**** Journals of Congress, iii., 335.
* (v) General Washington reported to that council that the troops under
Sir William Howe at that time, who were stationed in Philadelphia and
its immediate vicinity, fit for duty, numbered ten thousand rank and
file; and that the force under his own command, and fit for duty, was
eight thousand three hundred and thirteen Continental troops, and two
thousand seven hundred militia. There were, in addition, seven hundred
and fifty Continental troops at Red Bank and Fort Mifflin, and a
detachment of three hundred militia on their way to re-enforce these
posts. A body of five hundred militia were likewise on the other side
of the Schuylkill. This was his whole force, and it was likely soon to
suffer a diminution of nearly two thousand by the expiration of the term
of service of Maryland and Virginia levies.
[[[Washington's Head quarters at Whitemarsh.--American
Encampment.--Skirmish at Whitemarsh.]]]
{321}feet long, twenty-five feet wide, and two stories high. Through the
center is a broad passage some fifteen feet wide. The old steps are of
fine soap-stone, neatly wrought, and in many particulars the building
exhibits marks of former elegance.
[Illustration: 9331]
In front, seen by the rough trees on the right, is the ruin of Elmar's
ancient spring-house; and just below it is a modern one, in which
bubbles up a large fountain of pure water. An old thatched barn near by
is said to be a cotemporary of the mansion in its earliest days. At the
western gable of the house is a high bean or catalpa tree, the trunk of
which measures fifteen feet in circumference. The present owner is Mr.
John Fitzwater. With a little care and trifling expense, that venerated
house might be preserved a century longer. Its roof was falling in when
I visited it, and in a few years its stones will doubtless occupy
mean places in the foundation of a more elegant modern mansion, or the
partition walls of cultivated fields.
The American encampment was upon the hills north of Elmar's mansion, its
right wing resting upon Wissahicon Creek, and its left upon Sandy Run.
Near Mather s mill the remains of one of the redoubts are still quite
prominent, and in various places in the vicinity may be seen vestiges of
the chimneys of numerous huts of log and stone erected by the Americans.
Here commenced those sufferings of the soldiers which became so intense
during the winter at Valley Forge. Their chief privation was a want of
shoes and other clothing. On the 22d of November, Washington, in general
orders, offered a reward often dollars to any person who should, by nine
o'clock on the morning following, produce the best substitute for shoes
made of raw hides. The commissary of hides was to furnish the materials,
and the major general of the day was to "judge of the essays, and assign
the reward to the best artist." I have seen no record of the result.
Raw-hide shoes were worn by a few soldiers on their march to Valley
Forge.
Several expeditions were suggested and planned, but a want of shoes
rendered a large portion of the army unfit for marching. A council of
war was called on the 25th of November, to consider the propriety of
making an attack upon Philadelphia while Cornwallis was absent in New
Jersey, whither he had gone to take possession of Red Bank and the
neighboring region. The decision of the council was a negative, and the
scheme was abandoned. Early in December, the enemy attempted to surprise
Washington in his camp, but success was denied them by the patriotic
service of Lydia Darrah of Philadelphia, noticed on page 301. The
British appeared upon Chestnut Hill, about three miles from Washington's
camp, at dawn on the morning of the 5th of December. As soon as their
position was discovered, the Pennsylvania militia were ordered out to
skirmish with their light advanced parties. Brigadier-general Irvine,
who led the detachment, was wounded and made prisoner. On the next day
(Friday) the enemy changed ground, and approached within a mile of
the American lines, where they remained until Sunday, when they moved
further to the left, and seemed to be preparing for a general attack.
Their advanced and flanking parties were warmly attacked by Colonel
Morgan and his rifle corps, and Colonel Gist with the Maryland militia.
The battle was quite severe. Twenty-seven men in Morgan's corps were
killed and wounded, besides Major Morris, a brave and gallant officer,
who was badly maimed. Sixteen or seventeen of the Maryland militia were
[[December, 1777]] wounded. * The loss of the enemy was considerable. On
Monday, the 8th, when
* The Reverend Zachariah Greene, now (1851) living at Hempstead, Long
Island, was wounded in this engagement, and carried to Washington's
quarters. Mr. Greene was the father-in-law of the late Mr. Thompson, the
historian of Long Island.
[[[Retreat of the British to Philadelphia.--Departure of the Americans
from Whitemarsh.--Barren Hill.]]]
{322}the movements of the British gave Washington every reason to
believe that an immediate attack was to be made, he was surprised to
perceive them, instead of advancing, commence a precipitate march, by
two routes, for Philadelphia.
[Illustration: 9332]
As their adjutant remarked to Mrs. Darrah, they had been on a fool's
errand and accomplished nothing. "I sincerely wish," wrote Washington to
the president of Congress, "that they had made an attack, as the issue,
in all probability, from the disposition of our troops and the strong
situation of our camp, would have been fortunate and happy. At the same
time, I must add, that reason, prudence, and every principle of policy,
forbade us from quitting our post to attack them." General Howe, in
his dispatches, said, "They were so strongly intrenched that it was
impossible to attack them." They had no other intrenchments than two
small redoubts, one on each hill near the head-quarters. Three days
afterward Washington broke up his encampment at Whitemarsh, and, in the
midst of a deep snow, marched to the Schuylkill, crossed it at Swedes'
Ford, and established his winter quarters at Valley Forge. Hundreds of
the soldiers made that dreary march of nineteen miles with bare feet,
and the pathway of the patriot army might have been traced all the
way by hundreds of foot-marks in the snow stained with blood. * Let us
follow them thither, and in the head-quarters of the chief, which stands
near the banks of the Schuylkill, sit down and ponder upon the wondrous
love of country which kept that suffering army together during the
winter and spring of 1778.
We left Whitemarsh at about two o'clock for the Schuylkill, passing, on
our way, over Barren Hill, the scene of a skillful military movement
by La Fayette, with a body of Americans, in May, 1778. Barren Hill is
a small village lying upon the western slope of a rough eminence,
about four miles west of Whitemarsh. From its summit a fine view of the
surrounding country may be obtained. There, on the right of the road
leading toward the Schuylkill from Chestnut Hill to Conshohocken
(Matson's Ford), is the old Lutheran church which La Fayette occupied as
quarters during his brief tarry on the hill. According to an inscription
upon a tablet in the western gable, its title is "St. Peter's," and
the time of erection 1761. By the road-side near the church is a
quaint-looking school-house, covered with stucco. The church, the
school-house, and two strong stone houses composed this settlement, then
in the wilderness, when La Fayette made it his point of observation, and
out-maneuvered General Grant. Within the old church-yard, sitting upon
a recumbent sand-stone slab, with half-effaced inscription, I made this
sketch; and here let us open the record and receive instruction from the
chronicler.
As this is the first time in the course of our journey that wc have met
La Fayette as commander-in-chief of an expedition, it is a proper
* Gordon says that, while at Washington's table, in 1784, the chief
informed him that bloody foot-prints were every where visible in the
course of their march. Such was the distress of the soldiers from want
of clothing, that Washington, as a last resort, authorized the proper
officers to take by force, for the use of the army, such articles of
clothing as the people refused to sell. It must be remembered that the
people generally, throughout that section of Pennsylvania, were opposed
to the patriots, and did every thing in their power to distress them.
[[[La Fayette.--His first Impulses favorable to the Americans.--His
Liberality.--Visit to England.]]]
{323}place to consider the circumstances attending his espousal of the
cause of freedom, and his connection with the American Continental army.
He was a young man, not yet nineteen years old, when our Declaration
of Independence went over the seas, and commanded the admiration of
thinkers in the Old World. La Fayette was of noble ancestry. He had
just married the Countess Anastasia de Noailles, daughter of the Duke
De Noailles, a lady of great personal beauty, immense fortune, and
brilliant accomplishments. * When the story of America's wrongs, and
of her holy struggle for the right, just begun, reached his ears, it
inflamed his young heart with the most passionate sympathy, and an
ardent desire to aid them with his purse and sword. ** He openly
espoused the cause of the patriots, and resolved to hasten to their
support. Not all the blandishments of rank and fortune, the endearments
of conjugal love, made doubly so by promise of offspring, nor the sad
tales of reverses to the American arms at the close of 1776, which every
vessel from our shores carried to Europe, could repress his zeal or
deter him from the execution of his noble purpose. He had just offered
his services to Silas Deane, one of the American commissioners at Paris,
*** when the news arrived that the remnant of the American army,
reduced to two thousand insurgents, as they were called, had fled toward
Philadelphia through the Jerseys, before an army of thirty thousand
British regulars. This news frustrated all the plans of Deane for the
moment, for it utterly destroyed the little credit which America then
had in Europe. Franklin arrived at this juncture, and was greatly
pleased with the young marquis and the disinterested zeal which he
exhibited, but honestly advised him to abandon his design until better
hope for success should appear. But this candid advice was of no avail.
The commissioners had not sufficient credit to command the means to fit
out a vessel for the purpose of conveying the marquis and his friends,
with arms, ammunition, and stores. La Fayette offered to purchase a ship
with his own funds. "Hitherto," he said, in the spirit of true heroism,
"I have only _cherished_ your cause; now I am going to _serve_ it.
The lower it is in the opinion of the people, the greater effect
my departure will have; and since you can not get a vessel, I shall
purchase and fit out one, to carry your dispatches to Congress and me
to America." **** He went over to London, and mingled freely with
the leading politicians there. He danced at the house of Lord George
Germaine, the minister for the affairs of America, and at the house
of Lord Rawdon, who had just returned from New York, paid his personal
respects to the king, and met, at the opera, General Clinton, whom he
was afterward to meet on the field of battle at Monmouth. (v) While
he concealed his intentions of going to America, he openly avowed his
sentiments; often defended the Americans; rejoiced at their success at
Trenton; and his opposition spirit obtained for him an invitation to
breakfast with Lord Shelburne. He refused invitations to visit sea-ports
where
* La Fayette himself had an independent revenue of 200,000 livres--about
$37,000.
** In the summer of 1776, La Fayette was stationed on military duty at
Mentz, being then, though only a little past eighteen years of age, an
officer in the French army. The Duke of Gloucester, brother to the King
of England, visited Mentz, and a dinner party was given to him by the
commandant of that place. La Fayette was at the table. The duke had
just received dispatches from England relating to the Declaration of
Independence, the resistance of the colonies, and the strong measures
adopted by the British ministry to crush the rebellion, and he made
their contents the topic for conversation. The details were new to La
Fayette, and he had a long conversation with the duke. The idea of a
people fighting for liberty had a strong influence upon his imagination.
He regarded their cause as just, their struggle noble, and from that
hour his chivalrous enterprise was the chief burden of his thoughts.
He returned to Paris, and there perfected his plans.--Sparks's Life and
Writings of Washington, v., 445.
*** "When," says La Fayette, "I presented my boyish faee to Mr. Deane, I
spoke more of my ardor in the cause than my experience; but I dwelt much
upon the effect my departure would excite in France, and he signed
our agreements."--See Memoirs, written by himself. La Fayette was
accompanied by the Baron De Kalb as interpreter. De Kalb had been
commissioned by the Duke De Choiseul to proeced to America for the
purpose of ascertaining the condition of the revolted colonies. He came
over with La Fayette, and did good service in our army. We shall meet
him again on the field of battle near Camden, in South Carolina. La
Fayette persuaded Count Segur and Viscount De Noailles to accompany him,
but their friends kept them at home. Count Segur accompanied Bonaparte
to Moscow in 1812, and has left a thrilling account of that memorable
campaign.
**** Gordon, ii., 219
* (v) Pictorial History of the Reign of George the Third, i., 302
[[[La Fayette's Attempts to leave France.--Sketch of his Career.--Sword
presented to him by Congress.]]]
{324}vessels were fitting out against the Americans, for he was
unwilling to do aught that might, afterward be construed into an abuse
of confidence. *
After remaining three weeks in England, La Fayette returned to France,
but not to Paris. Information had gone abroad that he was fitting out
a vessel for America, at Bordeaux. It was not good policy for the
government to allow it.
[Illustration: 9334]
He proceeded to Passy, then the residence of Dr. Franklin, where he
found the Baron De Kalb. He remained concealed in the baron's house a
few days, and then proceeded to Bordeaux. His vessel was not ready, but
he felt it neeessary to sail immediately. He left Bordeaux toward the
close of February, and proceeded to Passage, a Spanish port, where he
awaited the receipt of the ship's papers. There two officers reached
him, with an order from the king (_lettre, de cachet_) prohibiting his
departure, and commanding him to repair to Marseilles. He was charged by
ministers with violating his oath of allegiance, and by his family with
conduct calculated to bring ruin on himself and them. His young wife,
however, did not join in their reproaches; she approved of his project,
and urged him to persevere.
La Fayette obeyed orders, and returned to Marseilles. He pleaded the
justice of the
* Memoirs, written by himself.
* The Marquis (Gilbert Motier *) De La Fayette was born on the 6th of
September, 1757, and in 1774, when a little more than seventeen years
old, married the Countesse Anastasie de Noailles, daughter of the Duke
de Noailles, a young lady possessing an immense fortune. He joined our
Revolutionary army in 1777, and with his purse, sword, and counsel, and
his influence with the French court, he greatly aided us in our struggle
for political independence. In Oetober, 1778, he asked and obtained
leave of absence, and returned to France. Congress, in connection with
the resolution for granting him a furlough, also resolved, "That the
minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America at the court of
Versailles be directed to cause an elegant sword, with proper devices,
to be made, and presented, in the name of the United States, to La
Fayette. Franklin, then minister at the French court, procured the
sword, and sent it to the marquis in August, 1779, accompanied by a
very complimentary letter from his hand, to which La Fayette feelingly
replied. La Fayette returned to America in the spring of 1780, bringing
joyful news [see page 87], and was received with great affection. After
the capture of Cornwallis, in which he performed a conspicuous part,
he again went to France, and, by his own exertions, was raising a large
army of allies for America, when intelligence of peace reached him. He
returned to America in 1784, and was received with unbounded enthusiasm
by his old companions in arms. Again he returned to his native land,
bearing the honors and blessings of a free people. From that time until
his death he was often a conspicuous actor in the great scenes of his
country's history. He was an active member of the Legislative Assembly
of France during the stormy period of the incipience and development of
its first Revolution, from 1789 to 1793. He was always the advocate of
civil liberty, but conservative in his country, where representatives
and constituents were alike inordinately radical. When the Revolution
was at its height, he was obliged to flee from France, because of his
moderation, and, being caught, he was for three years confined in a
dungeon at Olmutz, in Germany. He suffered much in person and fortune
during the convulsions in France, and for several years previous to
1814 he lived in comparative retirement. The first downfall of Bonaparte
brought him again into public life, and in 1815 he was a member of the
Chamber of Deputies. In that assembly he offered the resolution for the
appointment of a committee to demand the abdication of the emperor.
He was again a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1818. In 1824 he
accepted an invitation to visit the United States as the guest of the
nation. The
*In the Biographie des Hommes his name is written Marie-Paul
Joseph-Rock-Yves-Gilbert-Mottiers de La Fayette.
** The following is a copy of the correspondence:
** "Passy, 21th August, 1779.
** "Sir,-The Congress, sensible of your merit toward the United States,
but unable adequately to reward it, determined to present you with a
sword as a small mark of their grateful acknowledgment. They directed it
to be ornamented with suitable devices. Some of the principal actions
of the war, in which you distinguished yourself by your bravery and
conduct, are therefore represented upon it. These, with a few emblematic
figures, all admirably well executed, make its principal value. By the
help of the exquisite artists France affords, I find it easy to express
every thing but the sense we have of your worth, and our obligations
to you. For this, figures, and even words, are found insufficient. I
therefore only add, that, with the most perfect esteem, I have the honor
to be, &c., B. Franklin
** "P.S. My grandson goes to Havre with the sword, and will have the
honor of presenting it to you."
** The marquis, in reply, after acknowledging the presentation of
the sword, said: "In some of the devices I can not help finding too
honorable a reward for those slight services which, in concert with my
fellow-soldiers, and under the god like American hero's orders, I had
the good luck to render. The sight of these actions, where I was a
witness of American bravery and patriotic spirit. I shall ever enjoy
with that pleasure which becomes a heart glowing with love for the
nation, and the most ardent zeal for their glory and happiness.
Assurances of gratitude, which I beg leave to present to your
excellency, are much too inadequate to my feelings, and nothing but
those sentiments may properly acknowledge your kindness toward me.
The polite manner in which Mr. Franklin was pleased to deliver that
estimable sword, lays me under great obligations to him, and demands my
particular thanks. With the most perfect respect, 1 have the honor to
be, &c., "Lafayette."
[[[Memoir of La Fayette.--Pictorial Devices on his Sword.]]]
{325}cause in which the Americans were engaged; their declared
independence as a people, and various precedents which might justify his
course, and petitioned for leave to proceed. His pleadings were in vain,
and he resolved to risk the displeasure of his king.
[Illustration: 8335]
Stealthily mak-
* I here give a fac simile of the pen-and ink sketches, made by a French
artist, of devices for the guard of the sword presented to La Fayette.
1 copied from the originals in the archives of the State Department at
Washington. Accompanying the sketches is the following description:
* "On one side of the Pommel are the Marquis's army in low relief, and
on the other the device of a New Moon reflecting Rays of Light on a
Country partly covered with wood and partly cultivated--Symbol of the
Republic of the United States--with this motto: Crescam ut prosim. By
this it was intended modestly to express,
"1. The present Mediocrity of Strength; as the Light of the
Moon, though considerable, is weaker than that of the Sun.
"2. Her expectation of becoming more Powerful as she
increases, and thereby rendering herself more useful to
Mankind.
"3. The gratitude with which she remembers that the Light
she spreads is principally owing to the kind aid of a great
Luminary [the King of France, whose symbol is the Sun] in
another Hemisphere.
"On the Bow is the Legend, 'From the American Congress to
the Marquis De La Fayette, 1779.
"The Handle is ornamented with two medallions. In one,
America, represented by a Woman, presents a Bunch of Laurel
to a Frenchman. On the other, a Frenchman is treading on a
Lion.
"On the Guard are separately represented, in fine Relievo,
"The affair at Gloucester [Yorktown];
"The Retreat on Rhode Island;
"The Battle of Monmouth;
"And the Retreat at Barren Hill.
"The Hilt is of massive gold, and the Blade two-edged. Cost
two hundred Louis. Made by Liger, Sword-cutler, Rue
Coquilliere. at Paris.
[[[Arrival of La Fayette in America.--His Biography continued.--His
Burial-place.]]]
{326}ing his way back to Passage, he set sail with a favorable wind,
accompanied by De Kalb, and eleven other French, German, and Polish
officers, who were about seeking service in America. He arrived
safely at Georgetown, in South Carolina, on the 19th of April, after
a boisterous passage of seven weeks, where he and his company were
entertained by Major Huger, who provided horses to convey them to
Charleston. His vessel likewise was taken to Charleston harbor. *
[Illustration: 8336]
Although the French government secretly favored the plans of La Fayette,
as it had not yet publicly expressed even a friendly intention toward
America, policy required that it should act in seeming good faith toward
Great Britain, with which it was then on terms of amity. Vessels were
accordingly dispatched to the West Indies to intercept La Fayette.
The marquis apprehended this movement, and avoided the islands in his
voyage. His proceedings, in opposition to positive orders, were rash;
for the loss of all his property in France, and an indefinite term of
imprisonment, might have been the consequence had he been arrested on
the high seas.
[Illustration: 9336]
In the face of all this immediate and prospective danger, he resolutely
persevered, and the French government winked at his disobedience.
La Fayette and his companions traveled by land from Charleston to
Philadelphia. When arrived at the latter plaee, he put his letters into
the hands of Mr. Lovell, the chair-
* The United Slates vessel of war Brandywine bore him to our shores,
and his journey among us was a continued ovation. He was every where
received with the most affectionate demonstrations of regard, as next
to Washington in the great American heart. Even his grandson, who is now
(1850) traveling in this country, has been received with marked public
attention on account of his relationship to the great and good man. La
Fayette was conspicuous in the Republican Revolution in France in 1830,
and generously refused the proffered crown of constitutional monarch,
and designated the Duke of Orleans (Louis Philippe) as a proper
recipient of the trust. It was unworthily bestowed; for the ungrateful
monarch not only treated La Fayette with coldness and disdain, but, by a
despotic course, betrayed the confidence of the people. La Fayette died
in 1834, at the age of seventy-seven years. His remains rest in the
cemetery of Pippers, a private burial-ground of several families of the
nobility of Paris, back of the gardens of what was once a nunnery, but
now a boarding-school for young ladies. The sketch here given is from a
French picture by Champin, which the artist dedicated "To the Americans,
the friends of La Fayette." The monument is inclosed by an iron railing.
It is about eight feet square, and composed of dark sandstone. The
tablets slope from a ridge upon whieh is a cross. The inscriptions are
in French. On one side of the tablet is an inscription referring to La
Fayette; on the other, to his wife. The cross seen in the picture stands
over the grave of another.
* This vessel was afterward laden with rice for the French market, but
was foundered on going out of the harbor, and vessel and cargo were
lost.
[[[La Fayette's Application to Congress.--His Appointment.--Interview
with Washington.--Attached to the Army.]]]
{337}man of the committee of Congress on foreign affairs. The next day
his papers were handed back to him by Mr. Lovell, with the remark that
so many foreigners had offered themselves for employment that Congress
was embarrassed with their applications, and he was sorry to inform
him that there was very little hope of his success. The marquis was
convinced that his papers had not been read. He immediately sent a note
to the president of Congress, in which he asked permission to serve in
the Continental army upon two conditions; first, that he should receive
no pay; secondly, that he should act as a volunteer. These conditions
were so different from those demanded by other foreigners, that they
were at once accepted by Congress. Although he was not yet twenty years
of age, the peculiar position in which his wealth, fervent zeal, and
social eminence at home, placed him before the American people, gave him
great importance, and on the 31st of July Congress appointed him a major
general in the Continental army. This appointment was considered by
Congress as merely honorary, but such was not the intention of the
recipient, as subsequent events will show. *
Washington arrived in Philadelphia soon after La Fayette's appointment,
and they were first introduced to each other at a dinner party, where
several members of Congress were present. When they were about to
separate, Washington took the marquis aside, complimented him upon the
noble spirit he had manifested toward the cause of the Americans,
and invited him to become a member of his military family. His kind
invitation was joyfully accepted, and while he remained in America the
closest intimacy existed between La Fayette and the commander-in-chief.
The marquis joined the army, and continued in it as a volunteer, without
any command, until the battle on the Brandywine, two months afterward,
where we shall meet him presently fighting with all the zeal of a
[[September 11, 1777]] champion of liberty.
La Fayette was anxious to have a command suitable to the rank which
his commission conferred; but Congress, fearing his appointment to the
command of a division might excite the jealousy of American officers,
had withheld the coveted honor from the marquis. Washington repeatedly
suggested the expediency of a different course; but it was not until the
1st of December that the wishes of La Fayette were gratified. On that
day Congress resolved, "That General Washington be informed it is highly
agreeable to Congress that the Marquis De La Fayette be appointed to the
command of a division in the Continental army." ** Three days afterward
it was proclaimed, in public [[December 4.]] orders, that he was to take
command of the division recently under General Adam
Stephen, who, as we have seen, was dismissed from the army. ***
La Fayette was engaged in various important services during the winter
and spring of 1778, while the American army was at Valley Forge; and
about the middle of May we find him on Barren Hill, our present point of
view. Intelligence had reached Washington in his camp that the British
were making preparations to evacuate Philadelphia. They were frequently
sending out foraging parties between the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers;
and on the 7th of May an expedition went up the Delaware to destroy
all the American shipping between Philadelphia and Trenton. Forty-four
American vessels were burned; a considerable quantity of provisions
and stores were destroyed, and a number of the inhabitants killed and
wounded. To restrain these depredations; to cut off all communication in
that direction between the country and Philadelphia; to obtain correct
information concerning the movements of the enemy; and to be ready to
follow with a considerable force immediately in the rear of the British
army, when it should leave Philadelphia, Washington
* The following preamble and resolution were adopted: "Whereas the
Marquis De La Fayette, out of his great zeal to the cause of liberty,
in which the United States are engaged, has left his family and
connections, and, at his own expense, come over to offer his services
to the United States, without pension or particular allowance, and is
anxious to risk his life in our cause:
* Resolved, That his service he accepted, and that, in consideration
of his zeal, illustrious family and connections, he have the rank and
commission of major general in the army of the United States.--Journals
of Congress, iii., 247.
** Journals, iii., 429
*** See page 320.
[[[La Fayette on Barren Hill.--Maneuvers of the two Armies.--The British
deceived]]]
{328} detached La Fayette, with about twenty-one hundred troops and five
pieces of cannon, across the Schuylkill on the 18th of May. He took post
at Barren Hill (nearly twelve miles from Valley Forge), a little west of
the church. It was a position skillfully chosen. On his right were rocky
ledges of considerable extent, and the Schuylkill; on his left were
thick woods, several strong stone houses, and the substantial stone
church seen in the engraving. His cannon were placed in front; and
at about three hundred yards in advance of the left wing were Captain
M'Lane's company and fifty Indians. Picket-guards and videttes were
stationed upon the woods leading to Philadelphia, and six hundred
Pennsylvania militia were posted near Whitemarsh. The church was at the
forks of the road, one branch of which led to Valley Forge, by the way
of the Swedes' Ford, and the other to Matson's Ford. * *
La Fayette at first quartered at the house of a Tory Quaker, who sent a
messenger with the information to Sir Henry Clinton, then in the chief
command of the British army in Philadelphia, Howe having returned to
England. Clinton immediately formed a plan for surprising La Fayette.
On the night of the 19th, he sent out a detachment of[[May, 1778.]] five
thousand of his choicest troops, under General Grant, assisted by Sir
William Erskine. They marched toward Frankford, and at dawn the next
morning turned toward the left, passed Whitemarsh, and proceeded on
the road leading to Swedes' Ford, to a position in the rear of the
Americans. Another strong force, under General Grey, crossed to the
western bank of the Schuylkill, and took post about three miles below
Barren Hill; while Sir Henry Clinton led, in person, a third division
through Germantown, and before daylight halted on Chestnut Hill.
The situation of La Fayette was now critical. Owing to the disobedience
of orders on the part of the militia, on leaving Whitemarsh, General
Grant's approach was undiscovered, and the little band of Americans were
nearly surrounded by a greatly superior force before they were aware of
their danger. Early in the looming, scarlet coats were seen through
the trees in the distant forest; and an officer, sent by La Fayette
to reconnoiter, came back in haste with the information that a large
British force was on the road leading from Whitemarsh to Swedes' Ford,
a little more than a mile from his encampment. The marquis at once
comprehended the full extent of the danger, and a skillful maneuver was
instantly conceived. He changed his front without disorder, stationed a
large party in the church-yard, around which was a strong wall, ** and
drew up the remainder in such a manner as to be protected by the stone
houses and thick woods. Ascertaining that the only road leading to
Swedes' Ford was in possession of the enemy, he resolved to retreat to
Matson's Ford, although the distance from his position was greater than
from that of Grant. The road lay along the southern slope of hills,
and was concealed by woods from the view of the enemy. The marquis
dispatched several small parties through the woods, with orders to show
themselves, at different points, as heads of columns, that the enemy
might be deceived into the belief that he was marching to an attack.
The maneuver was successful; and, while General Grant was halting, and
preparing troops to meet these supposed attacks upon his flank, the
Americans made a quick march to Matson's Ford--General Poor *** leading
the advanced guard, and the marquis bringing up the rear. The heads of
* Matson's Ford was at the present village of Conshohocken, and Swedes'
Ford was at or near Norristown, four miles above. They were about
equally distant from Valley Forge.
** This wall yet surrounds the old church-yard, and is sufficiently
perfect to form a strong breast-work. British writers, following the
narrative of Stedman (ii., 337), assert that Washington, from his camp
upon the high hills of Valley Forge, discovered the peril of La Fayette,
and discharged heavy alarm-guns to apprise him of his danger. None
of the earlier historians of the war, except Stedman, mention this
circumstance; it must have been inferential on the part of that
generally correct and fair writer. Barren Hill may be distinctly seen
from the highest point of Washington's encampment at Valley Forge.
Though twelve miles distant, I saw the church on Barren Hill from the
observatory, hereafter to be noticed, which stands upon the site of
Washington's marquee at Valley Forge.
*** Brigadier-general Enoch Poor was a native of New Hampshire. He was
a colonel in the Continental army in the expedition against Canada in
1776, where he served with distinction. He was afterward at Crown
Point, and was one of the twenty-one inferior officers who signed
a remonstrance against the decision of a council of officers there,
consisting of Generals Gates, Schuyler, Sullivan, Arnold, and Woedtke,*
when it was resolved that, the post was untenable, and that the army
should retire to Mount Independence. He was appointed brigadier in
1777, and served in that capacity in the battles in which Burgoyne
was defeated and captured. He soon afterward joined the army under
Washington in Pennsylvania. He was in the camp at Valley Forge, and with
his brigade was among the first troops that commenced a pursuit of the
British across New Jersey in the summer of 1778. He fought gallantly in
the battle of Monmouth which succeeded. He commanded a brigade of light
infantry in 1780, in which service he died, near Hackensack, in New
Jersey. His funeral was attended by Washington and La Fayette, and
a long line of subordinate officers and soldiers. On account of the
vicinity of the enemy, the usual discharges of cannon were omitted.
Reverend Israel Evans, chaplain to the New Hampshire brigade, delivered
a funeral discourse. General Poor was buried in the church-yard at
Hackensack, where an humble stone, with the following inscription, marks
his grave: "In memory of the Hon. Brigadier-general Enoch Poor, of
the State of New Hampshire, who departed this life on the 8th day of
September, 1780, aged 44 years." General Poor was greatly esteemed by La
Fayette, who, it is said, was much affected on visiting his grave when
in this country in 1825.
[[[Retreat of La Fayette across the Schuylkill to Valley
Forge.--Generals Poor and Woedtke.]]]
{329}columns, who had deceived General Grant, gradually fell back and
joined in the retreat, and the whole army arrived at the ford in safety.
[Illustration: 9339]
===(Note: this image may need rename)===
They crossed the Schuylkill with their artillery, took possession of the
high grounds on the west side of the river, and formed in the order of
battle. General Grant had marched to the church on Barren Hill, where he
joined the division under Clinton, and discovered, with mortified pride,
that he had been outmaneuvered by the "stripling Frenchman." It was too
late to overtake the retreating patriots; the British pursued them as
far as the ford, but, finding it impossible to cross over, they wheeled,
and returned, disappointed and chagrined, to Philadelphia. In a skirmish
with the enemy's advanced parties at the ford, while the artillery was
crossing, the Americans lost nine men killed and taken. The British
lost two light horsemen killed, and several wounded. La Fayette and his
troops marched back to the camp at Valley Forge, where they were greeted
with the most enthusiastic congratulations.
It was almost sunset when we left the old church-yard on Barren Hill and
departed for Conshohocken * (Matson's Ford), on the Schuylkill, where we
intended to pass the night.
[Illustration: 7339]
[Illustration: 8339]
Although four miles distant, we could see the smoke of its furnaces
ascending above the intervening hill-tops, and marring the placid beauty
of the western sky, where a thin purple haze fringed the horizon,
and half hid the crescent moon and its more sprightly neighbor on the
occasion, the belted
* Conshohocken is a thriving manufacturing village on the east bank
of the Schuylkill, in Montgomery county, about twelve miles from
Philadelphia. It has recently grown up in connection with the waterpower
of the Schuylkill Navigation Company. There is also a great deal of lime
burned there for the Philadelphia market.
* The Baron De Woedtke had been for many years an officer in the army of
the King of Prussia, and risen to the rank of major. He brought strong
letters of recommendation from Dr. Franklin, and on the 16th of March,
1776, he was appointed by Congress a brigadier general, and ordered
to Canada. He died at Lake George at the close of July, 1776, and was
buried with the honors due to his rank.
[[[Iron Ore near the Schuylkill.--Conshohocken and its
Industry.--Norristown.--Swedes' Ford.]]]
{330}Jupiter. That whole region abounds in iron; and all the way from
Barren Hill to the Schuylkill, large heaps of ore, dug from near the
surface, were piled. In many places the road was literally paved with
iron ore lying in small fragments upon the surface. It was quite dark
when we arrived at the village, and it was with some difficulty that we
made our way along a steep road to the "hotel," a tavern near the river
bank, kept by a good-natured Dutchman. He was so well patronized by the
coal-heavers and workmen in the furnaces, that not a single bed was in
reserve for strangers; so we were obliged to ride on to Norristown, four
miles further up the stream, for supper and lodgings. As we thridded our
way among the "fiery furnaces," belching huge volumes of ruddy flame,
and observed the rushing rail-way train sweeping along the river brink,
while the din of hammers, and bellows, and voices of busy men was rife
on every side, I contrasted the past and present, and, in a degree,
realized the wonderful strides of progress in our country. Here, where
a numerous population are plying the tireless fingers of industry in the
creation of substantial wealth, and spreading pleasant dwellings along
the banks of the rapid Schuylkill, there was only the solitary hut of
a hunter, deserted more than half the year, when La Fayette made his
admirable retreat across the river toward Valley Forge. And far
more suggestive of true greatness and glory were the noises of these
work-shops than the trumpet-notes and clangor of battle.=
```"The camp has had its day of song;
````The sword, the bayonet, the plume
```Have crowded out of rhyme too long
````The plow, the anvil, and the loom.
```Oh, not upon our tented fields
````Are Freedom's heroes bred alone;
```The training of the work-shop yields
````More heroes true than war has known.=
```"Who drives the bolt, who shapes the steel,
````May, with a heart as valiant, smite,
```As he who sees a foeman reel
````In blood before his blow of might!
```The skill that conquers space and time,
````That graces life, that lightens toil,
```May spring from courage more sublime
````Than that which makes a realm its spoil."
`````Epes Sargent.=
After losing our way in the gloom, and making quite a circuitous
journey, we found the "pike," a fine Macadamized road leading from
Philadelphia to Norristown, and reached the latter place at about eight
o'clock. * I was informed that traces of the breast-works thrown up
here by Duportail, by order of Washington, to prevent the passage of the
British across the Swedes' Ford, were yet quite prominent about half
a mile below the village; and also that the Swedes' Ford tavern, **
directly opposite these intrenchments, was still in existence, though
changed in appearance by additions. Being anxious to visit Valley Forge
and Paoli the next day, we departed from Norristown too early in the
morning to allow a view of these vestiges of the Revolution.
* Norristown is a thriving manufacturing village, and the capital of
Montgomery county. It has entirely grown up since the Revolution. Its
name is derived from Isaac Norris, who, with William Trent, the founder
of Trenton, purchased the land from William Penn. Swedes' Ford was here.
The site of Norristown was owned by a farmer named John Bull. He was a
stanch Whig, and for this crime the John Bulls under General Howe, when
the British marched toward Philadelphia in 1777, burned his barn.
The first house erected at Norristown was framed at Valley Forge, and
floated down the Schuylkill.
** The name of Swedes' Ford was given to this passage of the Schuylkill
from the fact that the first settlers there were Swedes. The principal
characters were Matts Holstein and Mauritz Rambo. The latter was a
famous hunter, and his exploits are yet the theme of many an old man's
story. It is related that at one time Rambo seized a wounded deer, when
the animal made off with the hunter on his back. Rambo finally checked
the buck by cutting his throat.
[[[Approach to Valley Forge.--"King of Prussia Tavern."--Village of
Valley Forge.]]]
{331}