The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2 (of 5)
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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.