CHAPTER same time, vice-president of the State of Delaware, who XXXVII succeeded in that capacity to the vacant office. He la1777. mented, without much ability to remedy, the indiffer ence and disaffection which crippled the energies of his little state. At the next election, the more energetic party prevailed, and Cæsar Rodney was chosen president. After a day or two of rest and refreshment, WashingSept. 16. ton recrossed the Schuylkill and marched upon the British left. The armies met twenty miles from Philadelphia, and the advanced parties were already engaged, when a violent storm interrupted the impending battle. The arms of the Americans, bad enough at best, were rendered unserviceable by the rain; and, to secure time and opportunity for repairs, Washington retired across the Schuylkill. Wayne's division, however, was left behind, concealed in a wood on the British left, to form a junction with two thousand Maryland militia employed in harassing the British rear. Information as to Wayne's position was soon carried to the British commander by some of the disaffected, so numerous in that neighborhood; and, under their guidance, he was suddenly attacked by Sept 20. a strong detachment, and obliged to retire with the loss of three hundred men. The British loss was only seven. While Washington maneuvered to prevent the enemy from crossing the Schuylkill above him, Howe crossed Sept. 22. below, and thus placed himself between Philadelphia and the American army. Nothing but a battle and a victory could now save that city. Washington's troops, inferior in numbers, had been much fatigued and harassed by their recent marches. They were sadly deficient in shoes and clothing; their arms were bad; while the irregular supplies consequent on the recent changes in the commissary department, and the increasing finan cial embarrassment of Congress, had even sometimes de prived them of food. Under these circumstances, it seem- CHAPTER ed too hazardous to risk a battle. XXXVII. The necessity of abandoning Philadelphia had been 1777. foreseen. The hospitals, magazines, public stores, and much private property had been already removed. Congress had adjourned to Lancaster, having first invested. Washington with extraordinary powers, to last for sixty days, presently extended to double that period. He was authorized by this vote, as on the former occasion, to suspend misbehaving officers, to fill all vacancies, to take provisions and other necessaries for the army wherever he could find them, within seventy miles of head-quaters, paying the owners therefor, or giving certificates, for the redemption of which the public faith was pledged. He was also authorized to remove or secure, for the benefit of the owners, all goods which might prove serviceable to the enemy. Retiring beyond the Susquehanna to York, Congress presently authorized Washington, in addition to his other extraordinary powers, to seize, to try by courts martial, and to punish with death all persons within thirty miles of any town occupied by the British, who should pilot them by land or water, give or send them intelligence, or furnish them with provisions, arms, forage, fuel, or stores of any kind. To the youthful Hamilton, now one of his aids-decamp, Washington had committed the delicate trust of demanding in Philadelphia, before it passed into the enemy's hand, blankets, shoes, and clothing for the supply of the army—a duty which Hamilton executed with his usual promptitude and tact. Howe found in Philadelphia many to welcome him Sept. 25. -among others, Duchè, the late chaplain of Congress, who presently sent a letter to Washington, advising CHAPTER him to give over the ungodly cause in which he was XXXVII. engaged. Four regiments were quartered in the city; 1777 Galloway, who had accompanied the army, was made superintendent of police. The bulk of the British encamped at Germantown, some ten miles distant. Though obliged to give up the city, the Americans still commanded the river below, which they had been at great pains to fortify. At the confluence of the Schuylkill and the Delaware was Fort Mifflin, built on a low island of sand and mud. Opposite, at Red Bank, on the Jersey shore, was Fort Mercer, a strong redoubt, well provided with heavy artillery. Obstructions had been sunk in the channel of the Delaware, similar to those in the Hudson, consisting of heavy timbers fastened together, with projecting beams pointed with iron. At Billingsport, on the Jersey shore, three miles lower down, extensive but unfinished works had been thrown up to guard some similar obstructions in the river. Above these obstructions were several floating batteries and armed vessels. The British fleet had recently ar rived in the Lower Delaware; but, till these obstructions were removed, which could only be done by obtaining possession of the Jersey shore, no communication could be opened with Philadelphia; and supplies for the army had to be sent up by land from Chester, at great risk of capture by the Americans. Washington still remained in his camp near the Schuylkill, about fourteen miles from Germantown, where he had at last been joined by the Maryland militia, diminished, however, by desertion to one half the expected number. Some re-enforcements had also arrived from New Jersey. Informed by intercepted letters that one British detachment had been sent across the Delaware to aid in removing the obstructions in the river, and an. XXXVII. other to Chester, to escort up a train of provisions from CHAPTER the fleet, Washington resolved to take advantage of this opportunity to attack the British camp at Germantown. 1777. The troops marched in four columns; two, composed wholly of militia, were to gain the enemy's rear, one on each flank, while the other two, composed of Continentals, and led by Sullivan and Greene, were to attack in front. These two columns, after marching all night, entered Germantown about sunrise. They took the en- Oct. 4. emy entirely by surprise, and seemed likely to carry every thing before them. But the morning was dark and foggy; a stone house, into which some companies of British light infantry had thrown themselves, and which several battalions of Greene's column stopped to attack, caused disorder and delay. Germantown was a village of one street, across which the British lay encamped at right angles. The ground in their front abounded with small but strong inclosures, which every where broke the line of the advancing troops. The battalions were separated; some stopped short early, while others advanced with vivacity. The darkness was such as to make it impossible for the officers to know their own position or that of the enemy. The flank attacks seemed to have failed altogether. The superior discipline of the British enabled them to take advantage of this confusion. They soon rallied, and attacked in their turn. Some of the American corps had expended their ammunition; others were seized with a sudden panic. What had promised to be a victory was soon changed into a defeat, and almost a rout. The British loss in this battle was upward of six hundred; the American loss exceeded a thousand, including General Nash and other valuable officers. For misbehavior in this battle, Stephen, whose drunkenness had become notorious, was tried and cashiered. XXXVII. CHAPTER To make himself secure, Washington retired some twenty miles into the country. He had previously sent 1777. orders to the Highlands for twelve hundred men of the garrison there to march to his assistance. Information came at this unpropitious moment that the posts, thus weakened, had been attacked, and carried by the British. The apprehensions thus excited were, however, allayed by news of the surrender of Burgoyne. The troops from the Highlands soon joined the camp; some additional militia arrived from Maryland and a few from Virginia, and Washington reoccupied his old station. Preparatory to an attack on the defenses of the Del Oct. 19. aware, Howe drew his forces close to Philadelphia. The works at Billingsport had been already captured, the obstructions in the river opposite removed, and batteries erected to play on Forts Mercer and Mifflin. Besides several Continental vessels, there was a flotilla in the river, commanded by Hazelwood, belonging to the State of Pennsylvania. In an attack on the enemy's batteries, the Delaware Continental frigate had been lost; and the crews of the flotilla were so discouraged, that many, both officers and men, deserted to the enemy. But Hazelwood did not despair. With the Pennsylvania galleys and the Continental vessels, now also placed under his command, he prepared for a desperate resistance. Two Rhode Island regiments, under Colonel Greene, one con sisting entirely of negro soldiers, garrisoned the fort at Red Bank; Colonel Smith, of the Maryland line, held Fort Mifflin. These forts, with the last remaining obstructions which they guarded, it was determined to hold to the last extremity. Could the communication between the British fleet and army be prevented, Howe might yet be compelled to evacuate the city. To attack the post at Red Bank, Count Donop, with |