Measures to cut off the communication between the British
army and fleet.... Battle of Germantown.... Measures to
intercept supplies to Philadelphia.... Attack on fort
Mifflin.... On Red Bank.... The Augusta blows up.... Fort
Mifflin evacuated.... Fort Mercer evacuated.... The British
open the communication with their fleet.... Washington urged
to attack Philadelphia.... General Howe marches out to
Chestnut Hill.... Returns to Philadelphia.... General
Washington goes into winter quarters.
{1777}
{September.}
[Sidenote: Measures taken to prevent a communication between the
British army in Philadelphia and their fleet.]
Philadelphia being lost, General Washington sought to make its
occupation inconvenient and insecure, by rendering it inaccessible to
the British fleet. With this design, works had been erected on a low
marshy island in the Delaware, near the junction of the Schuylkill,
which, from the nature of its soil, was called Mud Island. On the
opposite shore of Jersey, at a place called Red Bank, a fort had also
been constructed which was defended with heavy artillery. In the deep
channel between, or under cover of these batteries, several ranges of
frames had been sunk, to which, from their resemblance to that
machine, the name of chevaux-de-frise had been given. These frames
were so strong and heavy as to be destructive of any ship which might
strike against them, and were sunk in such a depth of water as
rendered it equally difficult to weigh them or cut them through; no
attempt to raise them, or to open the channel in any manner could be
successful until the command of the shores on both sides should be
obtained.
Other ranges of these machines had been sunk about three miles lower
down the river; and some considerable works were in progress at
Billingsport on the Jersey side, which were in such forwardness as to
be provided with artillery. These works and machines were farther
supported by several galleys mounting heavy cannon, together with two
floating batteries, a number of armed vessels, and some fire ships.
The present relative situation of the armies gave a decisive
importance to these works. Cutting off the communication of General
Howe with his fleet, they prevented his receiving supplies by water,
while the American vessels in the river above fort Mifflin, the name
given to the fort on Mud Island, rendered it difficult to forage in
Jersey, General Washington hoped to render his supplies on the side of
Pennsylvania so precarious, as to compel him to evacuate Philadelphia.
The advantages of this situation were considerably diminished by the
capture of the Delaware frigate.
{September 27.}
The day after Lord Cornwallis entered Philadelphia, three batteries
were commenced for the purpose of acting against any American ships
which might appear before the town. While yet incomplete, they were
attacked by two frigates, assisted by several galleys and gondolas.
The Delaware, being left by the tide while engaged with the battery,
grounded and was captured; soon after which, the smaller frigate, and
the other vessels, retired under the guns of the fort. This
circumstance was the more interesting, as it gave the British General
the command of the ferry, and, consequently, free access to Jersey,
and enabled him to intercept the communication between the forts
below, and Trenton, from which place the garrisons were to have drawn
their military stores.
{September 28.}
{September 30.}
{September 29.}
{October 3.}
All the expected reinforcements, except the state regiment and militia
from Virginia, being arrived, and the detached parties being called
in, the effective strength of the army amounted to eight thousand
continental troops, and three thousand militia. With this force,
General Washington determined to approach the enemy, and seize the
first favourable moment to attack him. In pursuance of this
determination, the army took a position on the Skippack road, about
twenty miles from Philadelphia, and sixteen from Germantown,--a long
village stretching on both sides the great road leading northward from
Philadelphia, which forms one continued street nearly two miles in
length. The British line of encampment crossed this village at right
angles near the centre, and Lord Cornwallis, with four regiments of
grenadiers, occupied Philadelphia. The immediate object of General
Howe being the removal of the obstructions in the river, Colonel
Stirling, with two regiments, had been detached to take possession of
the fort at Billingsport, which he accomplished without opposition.
This service being effected, and the works facing the water destroyed,
Colonel Stirling was directed to escort a convoy of provisions from
Chester to Philadelphia. Some apprehensions being entertained for the
safety of this convoy, another regiment was detached from Germantown,
with directions to join Colonel Stirling.[67]
[Footnote 67: Annual Register.--Stedman.]
This division of the British force appeared to Washington to furnish a
fair opportunity to engage Sir William Howe with advantage.
Determining to avail himself of it, he formed a plan for surprising
the camp at Germantown, and attacking both wings, in front and rear,
at the same instant.
The divisions of Sullivan and Wayne, flanked by Conway's brigade, were
to march down the main road, and, entering the town by the way of
Chesnut Hill, to attack the left wing; while General Armstrong, with
the Pennsylvania militia, was to move down the Manatawny road[68] by
Vanduring's mill, and turning the left flank to attack in the rear.
The Commander-in-chief accompanied this column.
[Footnote 68: Better known as the Ridge road.]
The divisions of Greene and Stephen, flanked by M'Dougal's brigade,
were to take a circuit by the Lime Kiln road, and, entering the town
at the market house, to attack the right wing.
The militia of Maryland and Jersey, under Generals Smallwood and
Forman, were to march down the old York road, and turning the right to
fall upon its rear.
The division of Lord Stirling, and the brigades of Nash and Maxwell,
were to form a corps de reserve.
Parties of cavalry were silently to scour the roads to prevent
observation, and to keep up the communication between the heads of the
several columns.
{October 4.}
[Sidenote: Royal army attacked at Germantown.]
The necessary arrangements being made, the army moved from its ground
at seven in the afternoon. Before sunrise the next morning, the
advance of the column led by Sullivan, encountered and drove in a
picket placed at Mount Airy, the house of Mr. Allen.[69] The main body
followed close in the rear, and engaging the light infantry and the
40th regiment, posted at the head of the village, soon forced them to
give way, leaving their baggage behind them. Though closely pursued,
Lieutenant Colonel Musgrave threw himself with five companies of the
40th regiment into a large stone house belonging to Mr. Chew, which
stood directly in the way of Wayne's division, and poured on the
Americans an incessant and galling fire of musketry from its doors and
windows. After making some unsuccessful, and bloody attempts to carry
this house by storm, and then battering it for a few minutes with
field artillery, which was found too light to make any impression on
its walls, a regiment was left to observe the party within it, while
the troops who had been checked by Colonel Musgrave again moved
forward, passing to the left of the house.
[Footnote 69: Since Robinson's.]
In rather more than half an hour after Sullivan had been engaged, the
left wing, having formed the line, came also into action; and,
attacking the light infantry posted in front of the British right
wing, soon drove it from its ground. While rapidly pursuing the flying
enemy, Woodford's brigade,[70] which was on the right of this wing,
was arrested by a heavy fire from Chew's house, directed against its
right flank. The inefficiency of musketry against troops thus
sheltered being instantly perceived, the brigade was drawn off to the
left by its commanding officer, and the field-pieces attached to it
were ordered up to play on the house, but were too light to be of
service. Some time was consumed in this operation, and the advance of
the brigade was, of course, retarded. This part of the line was
consequently broken, and the two brigades composing the division of
Stephen were not only separated from each other, but from the other
division which was led by General Greene in person. That division,
consisting of the brigades of Muhlenberg and Scott, pressing forward
with eagerness, encountered and broke a part of the British right
wing, entered the village, and made a considerable number of
prisoners.
[Footnote 70: The author was in this brigade, and describes
this part of the action from his own observation.]
Thus far the prospect was flattering. The attack had been made with
great spirit; several brigades had entered the town; and such an
impression had been made on the British army as to justify the
expectation that its wings might be separated from each other, and a
complete victory be obtained. Had the American troops possessed the
advantages given by experience; had every division of the army
performed with precision the part allotted to it, there is yet reason
to believe that the hopes inspired by this favourable commencement
would not have been disappointed. But the face of the country, and the
darkness of the morning produced by a fog of uncommon density,
co-operating with the want of discipline in the army, and the
derangements of the corps from the incidents at Chew's house, blasted
their flattering appearances, and defeated the enterprise.
The grounds over which the British were pursued abounded with small
and strong enclosures, which frequently broke the line of the
advancing army. The two divisions of the right wing had been separated
at Chew's house; and immediately after their passing it, the right of
the left wing was stopped at the same place, so as to cause a division
of that wing also. The darkness of the morning rendered it difficult
to distinguish objects even at an inconsiderable distance; and it was
impossible for the Commander-in-chief to learn the situation of the
whole, or to correct the confusion which was commencing. The divisions
and brigades separated at Chew's house could not be reunited; and,
even among those parts which remained entire, a considerable degree of
disorder was soon introduced by the impediments to their advance. Some
regiments pursuing with more vivacity than others, they were separated
from each other, their weight lessened, and their effect impaired. The
darkness which obstructed the reunion of the broken parts of the
American army, also prevented their discerning the real situation of
the enemy, so as to improve the first impression; and, in some
instances, some corps being in advance of others, produced uncertainty
whether the troops, seen indistinctly, were friends or foes.
The attacks on the flanks and rear, which formed a part of the
original plan, do not appear ever to have been made. The Pennsylvania
militia came in view of the chasseurs who flanked the left of the
British line, but did not engage them closely. The Maryland and Jersey
militia just showed themselves on the right flank, about the time
Greene was commencing a retreat.
[Sidenote: The Americans repulsed.]
These embarrassments gave the British time to recover from the
consternation into which they had been thrown. General Knyphausen, who
commanded their left, detached two brigades to meet the right of
Sullivan which had penetrated far into the village, before his left,
which had been detained at Chew's house, could rejoin him; and the
action became warm in this quarter. The British right also recovered
from its surprise, and advanced on that part of Greene's division
which had entered the town. After a sharp engagement these two
brigades began to retreat, and those which were most in advance were
surrounded and compelled to surrender. About the same time the right
wing also began to retreat. It is understood that they had expended
their ammunition.
Every effort to stop this retrograde movement proved ineffectual. The
division of Wayne fell back on that of Stephen, and was for an instant
mistaken for the enemy. General confusion prevailed, and the
confidence felt in the beginning of the action was lost. With infinite
chagrin General Washington was compelled to relinquish his hopes of
victory, and turn his attention to the security of his army. The enemy
not being sufficiently recovered to endanger his rear, the retreat was
made without loss, under cover of the division of Stephen, which had
scarcely been in the engagement.
In this battle, about two hundred Americans were killed, near three
times that number wounded, and about four hundred were made prisoners.
Among the killed was General Nash of North Carolina; and among the
prisoners was Colonel Matthews of Virginia, whose regiment had
penetrated into the centre of the town.
The loss of the British, as stated in the official return of General
Howe, did not much exceed five hundred in killed and wounded, of whom
less than one hundred were killed; among the latter were Brigadier
General Agnew and Colonel Bird.
The American army retreated the same day, about twenty miles, to
Perkyomy Creek, where a small reinforcement, consisting of fifteen
hundred militia and a state regiment, was received from Virginia;
after which it again advanced towards Philadelphia, and encamped once
more on Skippack Creek.
The plan of the battle of Germantown must be admitted to have been
judiciously formed; and, in its commencement, to have been happily
conducted. But a strict adherence to it by those who were entrusted
with the execution of its several parts, was indispensable to its
success.
Major General Stephen, who commanded the right division of the left
wing, was cashiered for misconduct on the retreat, and for
intoxication.
Congress expressed, in decided terms, their approbation both of the
plan of this enterprise, and of the courage with which it was
executed; for which their thanks were given to the general and the
army.[71]
[Footnote 71: On hearing that General Howe had landed at the
head of the Chesapeake, Sir Henry Clinton, for the purpose
of averting those aids which Washington might draw from the
north of the Delaware, entered Jersey at the head of three
thousand men. On the approach of General M'Dougal with a
body of continental troops from Peekskill, and on hearing
that the militia were assembling under General Dickinson, he
returned to New York and Staten Island with the cattle he
had collected, having lost in the expedition only eight men
killed and twice as many wounded.
M'Dougal continued his march towards the Delaware; and the
utmost exertions were made both by Governor Livingston and
General Dickinson to collect the militia for the purpose of
aiding the army in Pennsylvania. The success of their
exertions did not equal their wishes. The militia being of
opinion that there was danger of a second invasion from New
York, and that their services were more necessary at home
than in Pennsylvania, assembled slowly and reluctantly. Five
or six hundred crossed the Delaware at Philadelphia, about
the time Sir William Howe crossed the Schuylkill, and were
employed in the removal of stores. On the approach of the
British army, they were directed to avoid it by moving up
the Frankford road; but the commanding officer, having
separated himself from his corps, was taken by a party of
British horse employed in scouring the country; on which the
regiment dispersed, and returned by different roads to
Jersey. With much labour General Dickinson assembled two
other corps amounting to about nine hundred men, with whom
he was about to cross the Delaware when intelligence was
received of the arrival at New York of a reinforcement from
Europe. He was detained in Jersey for the defence of the
state, and the militia designed to serve in Pennsylvania
were placed under General Forman. About six hundred of them
reached the army a few days before the battle of Germantown,
immediately after which they were permitted to return.]
The attention of both armies was most principally directed to the
forts below Philadelphia.
The loss of the Delaware frigate, and of Billingsport, greatly
discouraged the seamen by whom the galleys and floating batteries were
manned. Believing the fate of America to be decided, an opinion
strengthened by the intelligence received from their connexions in
Philadelphia, they manifested the most alarming defection, and several
officers as well as sailors deserted to the enemy. This desponding
temper was checked by the battle of Germantown, and by throwing a
garrison of continental troops into the fort at Red Bank, called fort
Mercer, the defence of which had been entrusted to militia. This fort
commanded the channel between the Jersey shore and Mud Island; and the
American vessels were secure under its guns. The militia of Jersey
were relied on to reinforce its garrison, and also to form a corps of
observation which might harass the rear of any detachment investing
the place.
[Sidenote: Measures taken by General Washington for cutting off
supplies from Philadelphia.]
To increase the inconvenience of General Howe's situation by
intercepting his supplies, six hundred militia, commanded by General
Potter, crossed the Schuylkill, with orders to scour the country
between that river and Chester; and the militia on the Delaware, above
Philadelphia, were directed to watch the roads in that vicinity.
The more effectually to stop those who were seduced by the hope of
gold and silver to supply the enemy at this critical time, congress
passed a resolution subjecting to martial law and to death, all who
should furnish them with provisions, or certain other enumerated
articles, who should be taken within thirty miles of any city, town or
place, in Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Delaware, occupied by British
troops.
These arrangements being made to cut off supplies from the country,
General Washington reoccupied the ground from which he had marched to
fight the battle of Germantown.
[Sidenote: Attack upon Fort Mifflin.]
Meanwhile, General Howe was actively preparing to attack fort Mifflin
from the Pennsylvania shore. He erected some batteries at the mouth of
the Schuylkill, in order to command Webb's ferry, which were attacked
by Commodore Hazlewood, and silenced; but, the following night, a
detachment crossed over Webb's ferry into Province Island, and
constructed a slight work opposite fort Mifflin, within two musket
shots of the block-house, from which they were enabled to throw shot
and shells into the barracks. When day-light discovered this work,
three galleys and a floating battery were ordered to attack it, and
the garrison surrendered. While the boats were bringing off the
prisoners, a large column of British troops were seen marching into
the fortress, upon which the attack on it was renewed, but without
success; and two attempts made by Lieutenant Colonel Smith to storm
it, failed. In a few nights, works were completed on the high ground
of Province Island which enfiladed the principal battery of fort
Mifflin, and rendered it necessary to throw up some cover on the
platform to protect the men who worked the guns.
The aids expected from the Jersey militia were not received. "Assure
yourself," said Lieutenant Colonel Smith, in a letter pressing
earnestly for a reinforcement of continental troops, "that no
dependence is to be put on the militia; whatever men your excellency
determines on sending, no time is to be lost." The garrison of fort
Mifflin was now reduced to one hundred and fifty-six effectives, and
that of Red Bank did not much exceed two hundred.
In consequence of these representations, Colonel Angel, of Rhode
Island, with his regiment, was ordered to Red Bank, and Lieutenant
Colonel John Greene, of Virginia, with about two hundred men, to fort
Mifflin.
Immediately after the battle of Brandywine, Admiral Howe sailed for
the Delaware, where he expected to arrive in time to meet and
co-operate with the army in and about Philadelphia. But the winds were
so unfavourable, and the navigation of the bay of Delaware so
difficult, that his van did not get into the river until the 4th of
October. The ships of war and transports which followed, came up from
the sixth to the eighth, and anchored from New Castle to Reedy Island.
The frigates, in advance of the fleet, had not yet succeeded in their
endeavours to effect a passage through the lower double row of
chevaux-de-frise. Though no longer protected by the fort at
Billingsport, they were defended by the water force above, and the
work was found more difficult than had been expected. It was not until
the middle of October that the impediments were so far removed as to
afford a narrow and intricate passage through them. In the mean time,
the fire from the Pennsylvania shore had not produced all the effect
expected from it; and it was perceived that greater exertions would be
necessary for the reduction of the works than could safely be made in
the present relative situation of the armies. Under this impression,
General Howe, soon after the return of the American army to its former
camp on the Skippack, withdrew his troops from Germantown into
Philadelphia, as preparatory to a combined attack by land and water on
forts Mercer and Mifflin.
After effecting a passage through the works sunk in the river at
Billingsport, other difficulties still remained to be encountered by
the ships of war. Several rows of chevaux-de-frise had been sunk about
half a mile below Mud Island, which were protected by the guns of the
forts, as well as by the moveable water force. To silence these works,
therefore, was a necessary preliminary to the removal of these
obstructions in the channel.
{October.}
[Sidenote: Attack upon Red Bank.]
[Sidenote: Colonel Donop killed and his party repulsed with
considerable loss.]
On the 21st of October, a detachment of Hessians, amounting to twelve
hundred men, commanded by Colonel Count Donop, crossed the Delaware at
Philadelphia, with orders to storm the fort at Red Bank. The
fortifications consisted of extensive outer works, within which was an
intrenchment eight or nine feet high, boarded and fraized. Late in the
evening of the twenty-second. Count Donop appeared before the fort,
and attacked it with great intrepidity. It was defended with equal
resolution. The outer works being too extensive to be manned by the
troops in the fort, were used only to gall the assailants while
advancing. On their near approach, the garrison retired within the
inner intrenchment, whence they poured upon the Hessians a heavy and
destructive fire. Colonel Donop received a mortal wound; and
Lieutenant Colonel Mengerode, the second in command, fell about the
same time. Lieutenant Colonel Minsing, the oldest remaining officer,
drew off his troops, and returned next day to Philadelphia. The loss
of the assailants was estimated by the Americans at four hundred men.
The garrison was reinforced from fort Mifflin, and aided by the
galleys which flanked the Hessians in their advance and retreat. The
American loss, in killed and wounded, amounted to only thirty-two men.
[Sidenote: The Augusta frigate blows up.]
The ships having been ordered to co-operate with Count Donop, the
Augusta, with four smaller vessels, passed the lower line of
chevaux-de-frise, opposite to Billingsport, and lay above it, waiting
until the assault should be made on the fort. The flood tide setting
in about the time the attack commenced, they moved with it up the
river. The obstructions sunk in the Delaware had in some degree
changed its channel, in consequence of which the Augusta and the
Merlin grounded, a considerable distance below the second line of
chevaux-de-frise and a strong wind from the north so checked the
rising of the tide, that these vessels could not be floated by the
flood. Their situation, however, was not discerned that evening, as
the frigates which were able to approach the fort, and the batteries
from the Pennsylvania shore, kept up an incessant fire on the
garrison, till night put an end to the cannonade. Early next morning
it was recommenced, in the hope that, under its cover, the Augusta and
the Merlin might be got off. The Americans, on discovering their
situation, sent four fire ships against them, but without effect.
Meanwhile, a warm cannonade took place on both sides, in the course of
which the Augusta took fire, and it was found impracticable to
extinguish the flames. Most of the men were taken out, the frigates
withdrawn, and the Merlin set on fire; after which the Augusta blew
up, and a few of the crew were lost in her.
This repulse inspired congress with flattering hopes for the permanent
defence of the posts on the Delaware. That body expressed its high
sense of the merits of Colonel Greene of Rhode Island, who had
commanded in fort Mercer; of Lieutenant Colonel Smith of Maryland, who
had commanded in fort Mifflin; and of Commodore Hazlewood, who
commanded the galleys; and presented a sword to each of these
officers, as a mark of estimation in which their services were held.
The situation of these forts was far from justifying this confidence
of their being defensible. That on Mud Island had been unskilfully
constructed, and required at least eight hundred men fully to man the
lines. The island is about half a mile long. Fort Mifflin was placed
at the lower end, having its principal fortifications in front for the
purpose of repelling ships coming up the river. The defences in the
rear consisted only of a ditch and palisade, protected by two
block-houses, the upper story of one of which had been destroyed in
the late cannonade. Above the fort were two batteries opposing those
constructed by the British on Province and Carpenter's Islands, which
were separated from Mud Island only by a narrow passage between four
and five hundred yards wide.
The vessels of war, engaged in the defence of the Delaware, were
partly in the service of the continent, and partly in that of the
state of Pennsylvania, under a Commodore who received his commission
from the state. A misunderstanding took place between him and
Lieutenant Colonel Smith, and also between him and the officers of the
continental navy; and it required all the authority of the
Commander-in-chief to prevent these differences from essentially
injuring the service.
The garrison of fort Mifflin consisted of only three hundred
continental troops, who were worn down with fatigue, and constant
watching, under the constant apprehension of being attacked from
Province Island, from Philadelphia, and from the ships below.
{October 29.}
Having failed in every attempt to draw the militia of Jersey to the
Delaware, General Washington determined to strengthen the garrison by
farther drafts from his army. Three hundred Pennsylvania militia were
detached, to be divided between the two forts; and, a few days
afterwards, General Varnum was ordered, with his brigade, to take a
position about Woodbury, near Red Bank, and to relieve and reinforce
the garrisons of both forts as far as his strength would permit. The
hope was entertained that the appearance of so respectable a
continental force might encourage the militia to assemble in greater
numbers.
Aware of the advantage to result from a victory over the British army
while separated from the fleet, General Washington had been uniformly
determined to risk much to gain one. He had, therefore, after the
battle of Germantown, continued to watch assiduously for an
opportunity to attack his enemy once more to advantage. The
circumspect caution of General Howe afforded none. After the repulse
at Red Bank, his measures were slow but certain; and were calculated
to insure the possession of the forts without exposing his troops to
the hazard of an assault.
In this state of things, intelligence was received of the successful
termination of the northern campaign, in consequence of which great
part of the troops who had been employed against Burgoyne, might be
drawn to the aid of the army in Pennsylvania. But it was feared that,
before these reinforcements could arrive, Sir William Howe would gain
possession of the forts, and remove the obstructions to the navigation
of the Delaware. This apprehension furnished a strong motive for
vigorous attempts to relieve fort Mifflin. But the relative force of
the armies, the difficulty of acting offensively against Philadelphia,
and, above all, the reflection that a defeat might disable him from
meeting his enemy in the field even after the arrival of the troops
expected from the north, determined General Washington not to hazard a
second attack under existing circumstances.
To expedite the reinforcements for which he waited, Colonel Hamilton
was despatched to General Gates with directions to represent to him
the condition of the armies in Pennsylvania; and to urge him, if he
contemplated no other service of more importance, immediately to send
the regiments of Massachusetts and New Hampshire to aid the army of
the middle department. These orders were not peremptory, because it
was possible that some other object (as the capture of New York) still
more interesting than the expulsion of General Howe from Philadelphia,
might be contemplated by Gates; and Washington meant not to interfere
with the accomplishment of such object.
On reaching General Putnam, Colonel Hamilton found that a considerable
part of the northern army had joined that officer, but that Gates had
detained four brigades at Albany for an expedition intended to be made
in the winter against Ticonderoga.
Having made such arrangements with Putnam as he supposed would secure
the immediate march of a large body of continental troops from that
station, Colonel Hamilton proceeded to Albany for the purpose of
remonstrating to General Gates against retaining so large and valuable
a part of the army unemployed at a time when the most imminent danger
threatened the vitals of the country. Gates was by no means disposed
to part with his troops. He could not believe that an expedition then
preparing at New York, was designed to reinforce General Howe; and
insisted that, should the troops then embarked at that place, instead
of proceeding to the Delaware, make a sudden movement up the Hudson,
it would be in their power, should Albany be left defenceless, to
destroy the valuable arsenal which had been there erected, and the
military stores captured with Burgoyne, which had been chiefly
deposited in that town.
Having, after repeated remonstrances, obtained an order directing
three brigades to the Delaware, Hamilton hastened back to Putnam, and
found the troops which had been ordered to join General Washington,
still at Peekskill. The detachment from New York had suggested to
Putnam the possibility of taking that place; and he does not appear to
have made very great exertions to divest himself of a force he deemed
necessary for an object, the accomplishment of which would give so
much splendour to his military character. In addition to this
circumstance, an opinion had gained ground among the soldiers that
their share of service for the campaign had been performed, and that
it was time for them to go into winter quarters. Great discontents too
prevailed concerning their pay, which the government had permitted to
be more than six months in arrear; and in Poor's brigade, a mutiny
broke out, in the course of which a soldier who was run through the
body by his captain, before he expired, shot the captain dead who gave
the wound. Colonel Hamilton came in time to borrow money from the
governor of New York, to put the troops in motion; and they proceeded
by brigades to the Delaware. But these several delays retarded their
arrival until the contest for the forts on that river was terminated.
{November.}
The preparations of Sir William Howe being completed, a large battery
on Province Island of twenty-four and thirty-two pounders, and two
howitzers of eight inches each, opened, early in the morning of the
10th of November, upon fort Mifflin, at the distance of five hundred
yards, and kept up an incessant fire for several successive days. The
block-houses were reduced to a heap of ruins; the palisades were
beaten down; and most of the guns dismounted and otherwise disabled.
The barracks were battered in every part, so that the troops could not
remain in them. They were under the necessity of working and watching
the whole night to repair the damages of the day, and to guard against
a storm, of which they were in perpetual apprehension. If in the day,
a few moments were allowed for repose, it was taken on the wet earth,
which, in consequence of heavy rains, had become a soft mud. The
garrison was relieved by General Varnum every forty-eight hours; but
his brigade was so weak that half the men were constantly on duty.
Colonel Smith was decidedly of opinion, and General Varnum concurred
with him, that the garrison could not repel an assault, and ought to
be withdrawn; but General Washington still cherished the hope that the
place might be maintained until he should be reinforced from the
northern army. Believing that an assault would not be attempted until
the works were battered down, he recommended that the whole night
should be employed in making repairs. His orders were that the place
should be defended to the last extremity; and never were orders more
faithfully executed.
{November 11.}
{Fourteenth.}
Several of the garrison were killed, and among them Captain Treat, a
gallant officer, who commanded the artillery. Colonel Smith received a
contusion on his hip and arm which compelled him to give up the
command, and retire to Red Bank. Major Fleury, a French officer of
distinguished merit, who served as engineer, reported to the
Commander-in-chief that, although the block-houses were beaten down,
all the guns in them, except two, disabled, and several breaches made
in the walls, the place was still defensible; but the garrison was so
unequal to the numbers required by the extent of the lines, and was so
dispirited by watching, fatigue, and constant exposure to the cold
rains which were almost incessant, that he dreaded the event of an
attempt to carry the place by storm. Fresh troops were ordered to
their relief from Varnum's brigade, and the command was taken, first
by Colonel Russell, and afterwards by Major Thayer. The artillery,
commanded by Captain Lee, continued to be well served. The besiegers
were several times thrown into confusion, and a floating battery which
opened on the morning of the 14th, was silenced in the course of the
day.
{Fifteenth.}
The defence being unexpectedly obstinate, the assailants brought up
their ships as far as the obstructions in the river permitted, and
added their fire to that of the batteries, which was the more fatal as
the cover for the troops had been greatly impaired. The brave
garrison, however, still maintained their ground with unshaken
firmness. In the midst of this stubborn conflict, the Vigilant and a
sloop of war were brought up the inner channel, between Mud and
Province Islands, which had, unobserved by the besieged, been deepened
by the current in consequence of the obstructions in the main channel;
and, taking a station within one hundred yards of the works, not only
kept up a destructive cannonade, but threw hand grenades into them;
while the musketeers from the round top of the Vigilant killed every
man that appeared on the platform.
Major Thayer applied to the Commodore to remove these vessels, and he
ordered six galleys on the service; but, after reconnoitring their
situation, the galleys returned without attempting any thing. Their
report was that these ships were so covered by the batteries on
Province Island as to be unassailable.
[Sidenote: Fort Mifflin evacuated and possession taken by the
British.]
{November 16.}
It was now apparent to all that the fort could be no longer defended.
The works were in ruins. The position of the Vigilant rendered any
farther continuance on the island a prodigal and useless waste of
human life; and on the 16th, about 11 at night, the garrison was
withdrawn.[72]
[Footnote 72: In stating the defence of Mud Island, the
author has availed himself of the journal of Major Fleury.]
A second attempt was made to drive the vessels from their stations
with a determination, should it succeed, to repossess the island; but
the galleys effected nothing; and a detachment from Province Island
soon occupied the ground which had been abandoned.
{November 17.}
The day after receiving intelligence of the evacuation of fort
Mifflin, General Washington deputed Generals De Kalb, and Knox, to
confer with General Varnum and the officers at fort Mercer on the
practicability of continuing to defend the obstructions in the
channel, to report thereon, and to state the force which would be
necessary for that purpose. Their report was in favour of continuing
the defence. A council of the navy officers had already been called by
the Commodore in pursuance of a request of the Commander-in-chief made
before the evacuation had taken place, who were unanimously of opinion
that it would be impracticable for the fleet, after the loss of the
island, to maintain its station, or to assist in preventing the
chevaux-de-frise from being weighed by the ships of the enemy.
General Howe had now completed a line of defence from the Schuylkill
to the Delaware; and a reinforcement from New York had arrived at
Chester. These two circumstances enabled him to form an army in the
Jerseys sufficient for the reduction of fort Mercer, without weakening
himself so much in Philadelphia as to put his lines in hazard. Still
deeming it of the utmost importance to open the navigation of the
Delaware completely, he detached Lord Cornwallis about one in the
morning of the 17th, with a strong body of troops to Chester. From
that place, his lordship crossed over to Billingsport, where he was
joined by the reinforcement from New York.
{November 17.}
General Washington received immediate intelligence of the march of
this detachment, which he communicated to General Varnum with orders
that fort Mercer should be defended to the last extremity. With a view
to military operations in that quarter, he ordered one division of the
army to cross the river at Burlington, and despatched expresses to the
northern troops who were marching on by brigades, directing them to
move down the Delaware on its northern side until they should receive
farther orders.
[Sidenote: Fort Mercer evacuated.]
Major General Greene, an officer who had been distinguished early in
the war by the Commander-in-chief for the solidity of his judgment and
his military talents, was selected for this expedition. A hope was
entertained that he would be able, not only to protect fort Mercer,
but to obtain some decisive advantage over Lord Cornwallis; as the
situation of the fort, which his lordship could not invest without
placing himself between Timber and Manto Creeks, would expose the
assailants to great peril from a respectable force in their rear. But,
before Greene could cross the Delaware, Lord Cornwallis approached
with an army rendered more powerful than had been expected by the
junction of the reinforcement from New York; and fort Mercer was
evacuated.
A few of the smaller galleys escaped up the river, and the others were
burnt by their crews.
Washington still hoped to recover much of what had been lost. A
victory would restore the Jersey shore, and this object was deemed so
important, that General Greene's instructions indicated the
expectation that he would be in a condition to fight Lord Cornwallis.
That judicious officer feared the reproach of avoiding an action less
than the just censure of sacrificing the real interests of his country
by engaging the enemy on disadvantageous terms. The numbers of the
British exceeded his, even counting his militia as regulars; and he
determined to wait for Glover's brigade, which was marching from the
north. Before its arrival, Lord Cornwallis took post on Gloucester
Point, a point of land making deep into the Delaware, which was
entirely under cover of the guns of the ships, from which place he was
embarking his baggage and the provisions he had collected for
Philadelphia.[73]
[Footnote 73: While Lord Cornwallis lay on Gloucester Point,
about one hundred and fifty men of Morgan's rifle corps
under Lieutenant Colonel Butler, and an equal number of
militia, the whole under the Marquis de la Fayette, who
still served as a volunteer, attacked a picket consisting of
about three hundred men, and drove them with the loss of
twenty or thirty killed, and a greater number wounded, quite
into their camp; after which the Americans retired without
being pursued.]
Believing that Lord Cornwallis would immediately follow the magazines
he had collected, and that the purpose of Sir William Howe was, with
his united forces, to attack the American army while divided, General
Washington ordered Greene to recross the Delaware, and join the army.
[Sidenote: The enemy succeeds in opening a free communication with his
fleet.]
Thus after one continued struggle of more than six weeks, in which the
continental troops displayed great military virtues, the army in
Philadelphia secured itself in the possession of that city, by opening
a free communication with the fleet.[74]
[Footnote 74: While these transactions were passing on the
Delaware, General Dickinson projected another expedition
against the post on Staten Island. He collected about two
thousand men, and requested General Putnam to make a
diversion on the side of Kingsbridge, in order to prevent a
reinforcement from New York.
Knowing that success depended on secrecy, he had concealed
his object even from his field-officers, until eight of the
night in which it was to be executed. Yet by three next
morning, information of his design was given to General
Skinner, who, being on his guard, saved himself and his
brigade, by taking refuge, on the first alarm, in some works
too strong to be carried by assault. A few prisoners were
made and a few men killed, after which General Dickinson
brought off his party with the loss of only three killed and
ten slightly wounded.]
[Sidenote: Washington urged to attack Philadelphia.]
While Lord Cornwallis was in Jersey, and General Greene on the
Delaware above him, the reinforcements from the north being received,
an attack on Philadelphia was strongly pressed by several officers
high in rank; and was in some measure urged by that torrent of public
opinion, which, if not resisted by a very firm mind, overwhelms the
judgment, and by controlling measures not well comprehended, may
frequently produce, especially in military transactions, the most
disastrous effects.
It was stated to the Commander-in-chief, that his army was now in
greater force than he could expect it to be at any future time; that
being joined by the troops who had conquered Burgoyne, his own
reputation, the reputation of his army, the opinion of congress, and
of the nation, required some decisive blow on his part. That the rapid
depreciation of the paper currency, by which the resources for
carrying on the war were dried up, rendered indispensable some grand
effort to bring it to a speedy termination.
The plan proposed was, that General Greene should embark two thousand
men at Dunks' ferry, and descending the Delaware in the night, land in
the town just before day, attack the enemy in the rear, and take
possession of the bridge over the Schuylkill. That a strong corps
should march down on the west side of that river, occupy the heights
enfilading the works of the enemy, and open a brisk cannonade upon
them, while a detachment from it should march down to the bridge, and
attack in front at the same instant, that the party descending the
river should commence its assault on the rear.
Not only the Commander-in-chief, but some of his best officers, those
who could not be impelled by the clamours of the ill-informed to ruin
the public interests, were opposed to this mad enterprise.
The two armies, they said, were now nearly equal in point of numbers,
and the detachment under Lord Cornwallis could not be supposed to have
so weakened Sir William Howe as to compensate for the advantages of
his position. His right was covered by the Delaware, his left by the
Schuylkill, his rear by the junction of those two rivers, as well as
by the city of Philadelphia, and his front by a line of redoubts
extending from river to river, and connected by an abattis, and by
circular works. It would be indispensably necessary to carry all these
redoubts; since to leave a part of them to play on the rear of the
columns, while engaged in front with the enemy in Philadelphia, would
be extremely hazardous.
Supposing the redoubts carried, and the British army driven into the
town, yet all military men were agreed on the great peril of storming
a town. The streets would be defended by an artillery greatly superior
to that of the Americans, which would attack in front, while the brick
houses would be lined with musketeers, whose first must thin the ranks
of the assailants.
A part of the plan, on the successful execution of which the whole
depended, was, that the British rear should be surprised by the corps
descending the Delaware. This would require the concurrence of too
many favourable circumstances to be calculated on with any confidence.
As the position of General Greene was known, it could not be supposed
that Sir William Howe would be inattentive to him. It was probable
that not even his embarkation would be made unnoticed; but it was
presuming a degree of negligence which ought not to be assumed, to
suppose that he could descend the river to Philadelphia undiscovered.
So soon as his movements should be observed, the whole plan would be
comprehended, since it would never be conjectured that General Greene
was to attack singly.
If the attack in front should fail, which was not even improbable, the
total loss of the two thousand men in the rear must follow; and
General Howe would maintain his superiority through the winter.
The situation of America did not require these desperate measures. The
British general would be compelled to risk a battle on equal terms, or
to manifest a conscious inferiority to the American army. The
depreciation of paper money was the inevitable consequence of immense
emissions without corresponding taxes. It was by removing the cause,
not by sacrificing the army, that this evil was to be corrected.
Washington possessed too much discernment to be dazzled by the false
brilliant presented by those who urged the necessity of storming
Philadelphia, in order to throw lustre round his own fame, and that of
his army; and too much firmness of temper, too much virtue and real
patriotism, to be diverted from a purpose believed to be right, by the
clamours of faction or the discontents of ignorance. Disregarding the
importunities of mistaken friends, the malignant insinuations of
enemies, and the expectations of the ill-informed; he persevered in
his resolution to make no attempt on Philadelphia. He saved his army,
and was able to keep the field in the face of his enemy; while the
clamour of the moment wasted in air, and is forgotten.
The opinion that Sir William Howe meditated an attack on the American
camp, was not ill founded. Scarcely had Lord Cornwallis returned to
Philadelphia, and Greene to the American army, when unquestionable
intelligence was received that the British general was preparing to
march out in full strength, with the avowed object of forcing
Washington from his position, and driving him beyond the mountains.
[Sidenote: General Howe marches out to Chestnut Hill.]
On the 4th of December, Captain M'Lane, a vigilant officer on the
lines, discovered that an attempt to surprise the American camp at
White Marsh was about to be made, and communicated the information to
the Commander-in-chief. In the evening of the same day, General Howe
marched out of Philadelphia with his whole force; and, about eleven at
night, M'Lane, who had been detached with one hundred chosen men,
attacked the British van at the Three Mile Run, on the Germantown
road, and compelled their front division to change its line of march.
He hovered on the front and flank of the advancing army, galling them
severely until three next morning, when the British encamped on
Chestnut Hill, in front of the American right, and distant from it
about three miles. A slight skirmish had also taken place between the
Pennsylvania militia under General Irvine, and the advanced light
parties of the enemy, in which the general was wounded, and the
militia, without much other loss, were dispersed.
The range of hills on which the British were posted, approached nearer
to those occupied by the Americans, as they stretched northward.
Having passed the day in reconnoitring the right, Sir William Howe
changed his ground in the course of the night, and moving along the
hills to his right, took an advantageous position, about a mile in
front of the American left. The next day he inclined still farther to
his right, and, in doing so, approached still nearer to the left wing
of the American army. Supposing a general engagement to be
approaching, Washington detached Gist with some Maryland militia, and
Morgan with his rifle corps, to attack the flanking and advanced
parties of the enemy. A sharp action ensued, in which Major Morris, of
Jersey, a brave officer in Morgan's regiment, was mortally wounded,
and twenty-seven of his men were killed and wounded. A small loss was
also sustained in the militia. The parties first attacked were driven
in; but the enemy reinforcing in numbers, and Washington, unwilling to
move from the heights, and engage on the ground which was the scene of
the skirmish, declining to reinforce Gist and Morgan, they, in turn,
were compelled to retreat.
[Sidenote: Returns to Philadelphia.]
Sir William Howe continued to manoeuvre towards the flank, and in
front of the left wing of the American army. Expecting to be attacked
in that quarter in full force, Washington made such changes in the
disposition of his troops as the occasion required; and the day was
consumed in these movements. In the course of it, the American chief
rode through every brigade of his army, delivering, in person, his
orders, respecting the manner of receiving the enemy, exhorting his
troops to rely principally on the bayonet, and encouraging them by the
steady firmness of his countenance, as well as by his words, to a
vigorous performance of their duty.[75] The dispositions of the
evening indicated an intention to attack him the ensuing morning; but
in the afternoon of the eighth, the British suddenly filed off from
their right, which extended beyond the American left, and retreated to
Philadelphia. The parties detached to harass their rear could not
overtake it.
[Footnote 75: The author states this on his own
observation.]
The loss of the British in this expedition, as stated in the official
letter of General Howe, rather exceeded one hundred in killed,
wounded, and missing; and was sustained principally in the skirmish of
the 7th, in which Major Morris fell.
On no former occasion had the two armies met, uncovered by works, with
superior numbers on the side of the Americans. The effective force of
the British was then stated at twelve thousand men. It has been since
declared by an author[76] who then belonged to it, but who, though a
candid writer, appears to have imbibed prejudices against Sir William
Howe, to have amounted to fourteen thousand. The American army
consisted of precisely twelve thousand one hundred and sixty-one
continental troops, and three thousand two hundred and forty-one
militia. This equality in point of numbers, rendered it a prudent
precaution to maintain a superiority of position. As the two armies
occupied heights fronting each other, neither could attack without
giving to its adversary some advantage in the ground; and this was an
advantage which neither seemed willing to relinquish.
[Footnote 76: Stedman.]
The return of Sir William Howe to Philadelphia without bringing on an
action, after marching out with the avowed intention of fighting, is
the best testimony of the respect which he felt for the talents of his
adversary, and the courage of the troops he was to encounter.
The cold was now becoming so intense that it was impossible for an
army neither well clothed, nor sufficiently supplied with blankets,
longer to keep the field in tents. It had become necessary to place
the troops in winter quarters; but in the existing state of things the
choice of winter quarters was a subject for serious reflection. It was
impossible to place them in villages without uncovering the country,
or exposing them to the hazard of being beaten in detachment.
To avoid these calamities, it was determined to take a strong position
in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, equally distant from the
Delaware above and below that city; and there to construct huts, in
the form of a regular encampment, which might cover the army during
the winter. A strong piece of ground at Valley Forge, on the west side
of the Schuylkill, between twenty and thirty miles from Philadelphia,
was selected for that purpose; and some time before day on the morning
of the 11th of December, the army marched to take possession of it. By
an accidental concurrence of circumstances, Lord Cornwallis had been
detached the same morning at the head of a strong corps, on a foraging
party on the west side of the Schuylkill. He had fallen in with a
brigade of Pennsylvania militia commanded by General Potter, which he
soon dispersed; and, pursuing the fugitives, had gained the heights
opposite Matron's ford, over which the Americans had thrown a bridge
for the purpose of crossing the river, and had posted troops to
command the defile called the Gulph, just as the front division of the
American army reached the bank of the river. This movement had been
made without any knowledge of the intention of General Washington to
change his position, or any design of contesting the passage of the
Schuylkill; but the troops had been posted in the manner already
mentioned for the sole purpose of covering the foraging party.
Washington apprehended, from his first intelligence, that General Howe
had taken the field in full force. He therefore recalled the troops
already on the west side, and moved rather higher up the river, for
the purpose of understanding the real situation, force, and designs of
the enemy. The next day Lord Cornwallis returned to Philadelphia; and,
in the course of the night, the American army crossed the river.
[Sidenote: General Washington goes into winter quarters.]
Here the Commander-in-chief communicated to his army, in general
orders, the manner in which he intended to dispose of them during the
winter. He expressed, in strong terms, his approbation of their
conduct, presented them with an encouraging state of the future
prospects of their country, exhorted them to bear with continuing
fortitude the hardships inseparable from the position they were about
to take, and endeavoured to convince their judgments that those
hardships were not imposed on them by unfeeling caprice, but were
necessary for the good of their country.
The winter had set in with great severity, and the sufferings of the
army were extreme. In a few days, however, these sufferings were
considerably diminished by the erection of logged huts, filled up with
mortar, which, after being dried, formed comfortable habitations, and
gave content to men long unused to the conveniences of life. The order
of a regular encampment was observed; and the only appearance of
winter quarters, was the substitution of huts for tents.