Germantown and the Roads to Valley Forge Read online

  Eager to redeem themselves after the disgraceful chaos at Brandywine, the Maryland Line now marched forward and engaged the Light Infantry with no general but Sullivan leading them; the hapless New Englander was nominally commanding the entire column, but Wayne decided to act independently on this morning. It appears that Col. John Hawkins Stone was the acting commander of the 1st Maryland Brigade [1st, 3rd, 7th Maryland Regiments and the Delaware Regiment], which formed on the right, and Col. Moses Hazen commanded the 2nd Maryland Brigade [2nd, 4th, 6th Maryland Regiments and Hazen's 2nd Canadian], formed on the left.80 “We had orders to move on and advanced through a field that had been in grain, three or four hundred yards to the encampment of the British light infantry in an orchard, at what was called Beggars Town, where we found them formed to receive us,” John Eager Howard recalled.81 Some of the British Light Infantry moved forward east of the road to flank Conway. “The Enemy Endeavouring to flank us on the Left, I ordered Col. Ford's [6th Maryland] Regiment to the other side of the Road to Repulse them till General Wains Division arrived,” Sullivan stated.82

  In the meantime, the 6th Pennsylvania continued firing as rapidly as they could. “The action continued very heavy for some time, the enemy retreating until our troops had expended all of their ammunition,” according to Ensign Markland. Two or three volleys per minute would expend forty rounds in about twenty minutes. “A fresh supply arriving in a few minutes, the American line again advanced, and after pressing the British very severely for some time, the brigade was halted in order that the line might be more completely formed, when information was brought that the British had driven our troops on the left,” Markland stated. At this point, as Bower's Company swung to the left to meet the threat, there was a ghastly crack and commotion in the ranks as a 6-pound ball hummed through the air and struck Pvt. Abraham Best, tearing one of his legs off below the knee and showering Ensign Markland's pantaloons with blood. The wounded soldier was picked up and placed in an ammunition wagon, where along with other wounded, he was eventually sent sixty miles to the army hospital at Reading.83

  “We charged them twice, till the battalion was so reduced by killed and wounded that the bugle was sounded to retreat, “Lieutenant Hunter recalled. “Indeed, had we not retreated at the very time we did, we should have all been taken or killed, as two columns of the enemy had nearly got round our flanks.”84 The 2nd Battalion fell back from their camp, and those west of the road facing the Maryland Division withdrew across the road to join the rest of the battalion. “The fog being very thick they Almost Surounded the Light Infantry & obliged them to Retreat, told them to Comin [come in] & they would use them well,” Lt. Gilbert Purdy of the Corps of Guides and Pioneers wrote, meaning that if the light bobs gave up and surrendered, they would be well treated. Knowing what sort of treatment the rebels probably had in mind, the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion wanted no parts of it. “But they Disdaning them for their ofer, the Rebels Gave three Chears & Said that they had Got the Light Infantry & they Charged Boynets With the Rebels & Cut through them three times & Retreted till Another Regt. Came to their Asistiance.”85

  As the Marylanders moved ahead, “In the advance we had inclined to the left untill we reached the road, and in the action, one company, commanded by Capt. David Dorsey, crossed the road,” John Eager Howard recalled. The 4th Maryland, being on the extreme left, was continuously slowed down, and Dorsey's Company kept pausing to fire at the light infantry now across the road. The commander of the 4th Maryland, Col. Josias Carvil Hall, who was on foot, ordered Major Howard to ride over and tell Dorsey to disengage and fall back into line. Howard did as ordered, but “finding them engaged from behind houses with some of the enemy, who I supposed belonged to the picket,” the major figured that they could not fall back without exposing the flank. He reported the situation back to Hall who, unsatisfied, borrowed Howard's horse to ride over and see for himself. In a scene better suited for a slapstick comedy than a desperate battle, Hall was “riding one way and looking another,” and Howard watched as “the horse run him under a cider press.” The Maryland colonel “was so hurt that he was taken from the field,” and John Eager Howard received a field promotion, thanks to the heroic action of his horse.86 “I was then left in command of the Regiment,” Howard wrote, no doubt straining to keep a straight face.87

  East of the road, Wayne's Division was now rushing forward, intent on avenging Paoli. With Hartley's 1st Brigade [1st, 2nd, 7th, 10th Pennsylvania Regiments and Hartley's Additional Continental Regiment] on the right and Humpton's 2nd Brigade [4th, 5th, 8th, 11th Pennsylvania Regiments] on the left, those Pennsylvanians with bayonets moved ahead with a fury, quickly getting around the right flank of the Light Infantry. “We advanced on the Enemy with Charged Bayonets,” Wayne wrote. “They broke at first without waiting to Receive us—but soon formed again—when a heavy and well-directed fire took place on each side—The Enemy again gave way—but being supported by the Grenadiers [sic: probably the 5th Regiment] Returned to the charge.”88

  Maj. Henry Miller was with the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment in the 1st Pennsylvania Brigade, posted on the right of Wayne's Division just east of the road. “The divisions of Sullivan and Wayne immediately fell upon them and by a vigorous attack repulsed the enemy three times, and putting them to flight, pursued them,” he told his family, “capturing their tents, baggage, provisions, artillery, &c. In short they were entirely routed.”89 In the left-center of the same brigade, Lt. Col. Adam Hubley of the 10th Pennsylvania wrote, “On our side (the left) our Men behav'd with the greatest bravery, and repuls'd the Enemy, and with the charge of the Bayonet took their Encampments, &c., and pushed them before us Hard.”90

  “Our People Remembering the Action of the Night of the 20th Sepr. Near the Warren, pushed on with their Bayonets—and took Ample Vengenance for that Nights Work,” Wayne wrote, referring to the Warren Tavern near Paoli. Abundantly satisfied with their performance, he told his wife Polly that “the Rage and fury of the Soldiers was not to be Restrained for some time—at least not until Great Numbers of the Enemy fell by our Bayonets,” and claimed that the officers “Exerted themselves to save many of the Poor Wretches who were Crying for Mercy—but to little purpose.”91

  The Pennsylvanians were unapologetic for the frenzy. “Altho it may be, & indeed is call'd cruel by the Enemy, the Treatment they receiv'd from our Division,” Hubley told his friends in Lancaster, “but Justice call'd for retaliation, and we paid in the same Coin that we received on the bloody Night, on which our Division was surpriz'd.” He admitted, “I must confess, our people shew'd them No quarter and without distinguishon put their Bayonets thro’ all ye came across, at the same time reminding them of thier Inhumanity on that Night.”

  “Now is the time to take Vengeance of the bloody Infantry,” is what James Parker reported was said or shouted.92 Both the Pennsylvanians and the British would “Remember Paoli!” for a long time. “It was a very remarkable Circumstance that the same troops, who engag'd us on that Night, also engage'd us in this Battle, so that our behavior to them is still more justifiable,” Hubley commented. “In short, as in our Division we neither give nor took quarters.”93 Major General Grey, “the same Catiff that commanded in the Night of our Surprize,” was further down in the main Germantown camp. “He had given positive orders that no Quarters should be given to the Rebels,” Hubley wrote vehemently about Grey's role at Paoli. “Would to God he had fell in our Hands—proper notice by our Men would certainly have taken him.”94

  According to Hunter, “This was the first time we had ever retreated from the Americans, and it was with great difficulty that we could prevail on the men to obey our orders.”95 It may have been difficult at first, but under the violence of Wayne's assault, the 2nd Light Infantry came apart. “A close and sharp action commenced and continued fifteen or twenty minutes, when the British broke and retreated,” Major Howard, who was across the road with Sullivan's Division, observed.96 Col. Elias Dayton, whose 3rd New Jersey Regiment
was in Maxwell's Brigade behind Wayne, wrote, “they soon gave wey & were pursued from field to field with great loss on their side.”97

  The fight had been stubborn and costly. “In our regiment four officers and upwards of thirty men were wounded,” Major Howard of the 4th Maryland recalled, and “several men were killed,” but the Continentals swept forward triumphantly into the 2nd Battalion's camp on Mount Pleasant. Howard told Timothy Pickering, who said that he saw no dead in the road as Washington and the staff were following along, “Had you moved to the right of the road thirty yards you would have seen a number dead, and the enemy's tents standing”98

  “Altho I had no Command at this time, I rode forward to where the Main Army was engaged and had an opertunity of seeing the manner in which the affair was conducted,” Lt. Col. John Lacey of the Pennsylvania Militia wrote. “We had full possession of the Enemies Camp which was on fire in many places, Dead and Wounded Men laying strewed about on all Quarters.”99 In addition to the casualties, much else was lost: camp equipment, clothing, officers’ baggage, and military papers, three items of which are known to survive. Capt. Thomas Armstrong's Orderly Book for the 64th Light Company was picked up and eventually made its way to Washington himself for examination. Because it contained military information and was not a personal item, it was retained in Washington's military papers, along with another officer's “Memmorandum list for 1777.”100 Lieutenant St. George's unfinished and unsigned letter to Imperial was also found in the camp, and ended up in Gen. Anthony Wayne's possession. Professional courtesy required the return of personal items, but as the letter was unsigned, identification of the author was impossible at that time. The letter had some military value for Wayne, for it contains a vivid description of Paoli.101

  Revenge for that battle by Wayne's Division was amply paid out. “This little Division, which is now become small thro’ their bravery, behav'd, indeed, like Veterans,” Adam Hubley beamed, “and if I was to pass them, both Officers & Men in silence, I should do them the greatest injustice & Act against my Conscience.”102

  The Pennsylvanians weren't the only Continentals with something to prove. “My Division were ordered to advance which they Did with Such Resolution that the Enemys Light Infantry were soon compelled to Leave the field & with it their Encampment,” Sullivan stated. The light bobs, though, “made a Stand at Every Fence wall & Ditch they passed which were numerous—we were Compelled to Remove Every Fence as we past which delayed us much.”103 Sullivan's troops continued the pursuit, firing volley after volley into the fog and smoke while passing behind the houses along the road and around outbuildings, through one orchard after another and over a seemingly endless succession of fences.

  What of the people of Germantown? Despite the war and the British occupation, Saturday was still market day in Philadelphia, though not surprisingly, traffic into town the day before had been fairly light. But market people and others did still try to travel in, especially since supplies were scarce and the British paid with hard money.

  In Germantown that Saturday morning, the civilians mostly went into their cellars once the shooting started. To the horror of their parents and their own delight, some boys climbed up on the roofs of houses to watch the action. Remarkably, only one civilian, Isaac Wood, “on Lime Kiln Road, was killed at his cellar door, while peeping out at the battle, which was near him, alongside Dr. Betton's Woods.”104 At the Keyser House on the high street in the middle of the village, twelve-year-old Jacob Keyser and his family were able, “by placing an apple under the cellar door, to peep abroad, and see the battle in the opposite field, distinctly.” Jacob could see “those who fell under successive peals of musketry.”105

  Farther down the street, Jacob Miller, sixteen years old at the time, recalled that as the battle began, “he and several others went across the road to an old house” on the high street above Stenton, where “they secured themselves in the cellar, from the door of which they saw cannon balls streaking through the air” towards Miller's woods.106

  A few miles down the road from Miller's, Howe's aide Captain von Münchhausen was carrying a message from headquarters to Lord Cornwallis when the battle began. “I was close to Philadelphia about half past five in the morning,” he noted, “when I heard cannon shots behind me,” the Light Infantry's two 6-pounders. Moving quickly down Germantown Road to Second Street, “I immediately rushed to Lord Cornwallis's quarters and asked one of his aides to report the firing to his lordship, who was still asleep.”107

  The roar of battle increased dramatically in the murky distance. “We were relieved off guard at six that the Battalion might go down towards Chester,” Captain-Lieutenant Peebles of the 2nd Grenadier Battalion noted from camp at the Bettering House at the west end of Philadelphia. “About that time we hear'd a firing at German Town, which grows very heavy and soon after we got an order to march thither in all haste.”108

  A “fifth column” of Americans, probably Pennsylvania Militia, was sent down the west bank of the Schuylkill as a diversion. That morning, Robert Morton had gone over to his family's country house Plantation near Gray's Ferry to see if it had suffered any plundering from the 16th Light Dragoons who were camped in the vicinity. Nearby, at the Middle Ferry, “I saw a number of the citizens with about 30 of the Light Dragoons on Foot watching the motions of the enemy on the other side,” he wrote. “[Three] columns of the Americans with 2 field pieces appeared in sight marching tow'ds the River. The Dragoons were order'd under arms and an express sent off for a reinforcement immediately, after which the Americans fired a field piece attended with a volley of small arms.” Morton didn't want to stick around; “I thought it most advisable to leave the Ground, and rode off as fast as possible.”109 The diversion occupied a few of the dragoons, but did not stop the British Grenadiers from marching to Germantown.

  In town, “The firing was heard distinctly in the city about 8 o'clock,” Jacob Mordecai recalled. “Colonel Monckton at the head of the British Grenadiers marched at a half trot.” The 1st Grenadier Battalion was still posted below the city near the waterfront, so those troops headed up Second Street, only to find the Hessian grenadiers of the Battalion von Linsing plodding out of the Barracks in Northern Liberties at their usual deliberate pace, blocking the street. “I followed them until they reached the Barracks,” Mordecai remembered vividly, “whence the Hessian Grenadiers had been just marched out, smoking their pipes & marching at a steady pace on their way to Germantown.” He observed the measured cadence of the Hessians, compared with the British Grenadiers, who detoured around them and were double-timing up to the battle. “They were soon passed by the British Grenadiers, who took the Fourth Street road & were out of sight long before the Hessians were out of view.” Mordecai couldn't help but say, with a slight tinge of German pride, “These troops, though slow, were invincible in battle & hard to beat.”110

  After notifying Cornwallis of the firing at Germantown, von Münchhausen stated, “I then rushed back to my General.” The distance from Philadelphia to Stenton is five miles uphill; at a gallop, the Hessian captain would have made it back to Germantown within less than an hour. By that time, Howe was up and out of the headquarters. “Since I knew that the General would always be where firing was heaviest,” the aide wrote, “I rode, without asking where I could find him, in the direction of the heaviest fire, and there I found him.”111

  “The enemy had now been kept so long in check that the two brigades had advanced to the entrance of Beggarstown when they met our battalion retreating,” Lieutenant Hunter recalled.112 But Hunter was mistaken, probably due to the poor visibility; only the 5th Regiment from Grant's Division, soon followed by the 55th Regiment, had moved up from their positions in the main camp just east of the high street below the Market House. The 5th Regiment arrived somewhere in the vicinity of Cliveden, where Colonel Musgrave's 40th Regiment was posted. The Light Infantry “soon fell into line again, since the 5th Regiment of the 2nd brigade arrived in good order,” von Münchhausen obs
erved. “They held off the vehemently attacking enemy for a time, but then had to retreat, after heavy losses. I arrived just at that time,” the Hessian aide stated, “and was astounded to see something that I had never seen before, namely the English in full flight.”113

  “By this time, General Howe had come up,” Hunter witnessed, “and seeing the battalion all broke, he got into a great passion and exclaimed, ‘For shame, Light Infantry! I never saw you retreat before. Form! Form! It is only a scouting party.’” Howe was shocked to see his favorite troops running away, though the British Light Infantry had, in fact, retreated before. At Bunker Hill in 1775, with Howe personally leading the column, they had fled down the Mystic River beach after the first assault failed, and at Harlem Heights in 1776 they were forced to withdraw after advancing too far too fast. But in both instances, they had been doing the attacking; here, the Americans were on the offensive and driving them into pell-mell flight.

  It was hardly a scouting party coming through the fog, and the troops resented Howe's yelling at them. “However, he was very soon convinced that it was more than a scouting party,” Hunter stated with satisfaction, “as the heads of three columns of the enemy appeared—one coming through Beggarstown with three pieces of cannon in their front, which they immediately fired with grape at the crowd that was standing with General Howe under a large chestnut-tree.” Relishing the memory of that moment, Hunter recalled with a chuckle, “I think I never saw people enjoy a round of grape before, but really all the officers of the 2nd Battalion appeared pleased to see the enemy make such an appearance, and to hear the grape rattle about the Commander-in-Chief's ears, after he had accused us of running away from a scouting party.”