The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Germantown - 1777 - Jan. 14th, 2003

http://www.ilssar.org/germantown.html ^ | Albert Carlson

[SAMWolf]

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The Battle of Germantown

Germantown is located about five miles northwest of Philadelphia. At the time, Philadelphia was the capital of the Rebel Colonies. This was very important, as occupation of the enemies' capitol most often meant the end of a conflict was due in short order, if not immediately. The capture of the capital was a great source of concern for the leaders of the Revolution, since it directly effected the morale of the confederation of Colonies.

General Howe

After the Battle of Brandywine, Washington and his British counterpart, General Howe, maneuvered around the capital for about two weeks. Washington had hoped to catch Howe's troops while crossing the Schuylkill River, but Washington followed a British feint, missing the river crossing. Howe marched unopposed into Philadelphia on September 26. Most of the citizens of the city, and all of the Continental Congress had left the city about a week previous to the occupation. Howe kept 3,000 of his men in Philadelphia, proper, and stationed the remaining 8,000 at Germantown. Another 3,000 of Howe's forces were deployed along the Delaware River to assist the British Fleet in their blockade of the forts held by the Americans along that river.

Wahsington was in command of approximately 11,000 men, including 3,000 militamen. Seeing that Howe had not prepared defenses and that the British forces were split, General Washington decided to attempt to strike a decisive blow.

Washington and his staff planned a very complicated plan of attack that involved splitting the American command into four distinct colums that were to move into position for the attack under cover of darkness.



On the right flank, BG John Armstron's PA militia was to turn the British left flank and hold them agains the Schuylkill River. On the left of Armstron, along the main north-south rouad in the area, General Sullivan, along with Anthony Wayne's brigade, was to join the attack. General Washington was to accompany this column.

Left of Sullivan and Washington, the main attack was to be spearheaded by Generals Greene, Stephen, and McDougall. This column was to turn the British right and complete enveloping Howe's troops against the Schuylkill River.

On the extreme left, BGs William Smallwood and David Foreman, along with their Maryland and New Jersey militias, were to attempt to facilitate the envelopment by harassing the British rear. They were to move along the old York Road. General Sterling was to hold his troops in reserve on Chestnut Hill and be prepared to support either General Greene's or Sterling's columns.


General Washington

All troops were to gbe in place by 0400, with a two hour period of rest prior to the planned attack at 0600. Stealth was imparative, as troops were to silently strike, bayonets attached, just one hour before dawn on October 4. Unfortunately, all troops were late getting into position. General Greene's column got lost and was even later than the rest of the troops in staging. He was a full hour behind Genral Sullivan's column. The morning found mist coming on, further complicating the battlefield. British forces were familiar with the area, while the American troops were not. And, British outposts had detected the Americans deploying at around 0300. But, the British mistakenly though that it was only a small raid taking place.

Sullivan approached Mt. Airy around 0600 and was met with a volley fired from advanced British outposts. The British then staged an orderly withdrawl, falling back to the position held by a British Light Infantry unit. At the conclusion of the consolidation of the British units, one final volley was fired and the British counter-attacked. At the s;ame time, the 40th Foot was added to the British line to shore it up.



Although surprised, the attackers made use of their superior numbers and pushed through to the northern edge of Germantown. Howe attempted to rally his troops, castigating them for fleeing from "a few rebels," when American grapeshot dropped parts of trees on him. This convinced Howe that this was a full fledged attack, and he hastily withdrew to prepare to meet the American forces.

Mist had turned into fog, confusing both sides. Wahsington was concerned that he didn't hear any firing where General Greene's column should have been. In fact, Greene had not yet made the field of battle, as his guide got lost on the dark roads. Whashing decided to commit his reserves whree Greene should have been, and moved some of General Sullivan's troops to help fill the hole. This blunted Sullivan's attack and slowed progress along that line.

General Sullivan continued to drive back the British in considerable disorder until they reached the home of Judge Chew, located in the middle of Germantown. Lt. Col. Musgrave, commanding the British 40th Foot, put 120 of his troops into the house, making it a small fortress. He laid sniper fire from the house and halted the advance of the American column.



Washington was faced with the choice of going around Judge Chew's house and mopping it up later, or concentrating the attack on the house to remove it totally. General Henry Knox persuaded Washington to attempt to remove the house, but the artillery sent against the house merely bounced off the thick stone walls. Aiming at the doorways and windows was impossible, due to the heavy fog. After half an hour, Washington decided that the time he was being delayed was too costly, and he elected to move on.

As Washington was making this move, Green began to engage the first outposts of the British main encampment and sounded to those around him that he may have, indeed, already be in possession of the camp. Thinking that victory was at hand, Washington rode forward. However, the source of the noise was from a British counterattack, as well as renewed fighting around the Chew house. Anthony Wayne had sent some of his men back to investigate the sounds of firing at his rear, and the men in the column mistakenly thought that they were being attacked from the rear. Around 9 am, Wayne's men began to panic as the fog on the battlefield began to lift. Due to the delays at the Chew house, the British had organized and were fully engaged in a counterattack. Brithish General Grant had found the hole in the lines caused by the Chew house and were expoiting it. Wayne's men, who had spent much of the morning firing at trees and fence posts, ran out of ammunition and began to break. This panic spread through the ranks of Generals Greene and Sullivan, who also experienced their men breaking and running.



With panic spreading, General Cornwallis brought up British reinforcements and committed them against General Greene's column. With this movement, and General Grant threatening his right flank, Green reluctantly ordered a withdrawl to reorganize the troops. He was able, however, to save his guns. Washington saw that Greene was in retreat and had no option other than to order Sullivan and Wayne to do the same. Armstrong, Foreman, and Smallwood also failed in their encircling attacks, primarily due to delay and excessive caution. Washington also ordered them to withdraw.

This ended the Battle of Germantown. The complicated plan had failed with the British losses at 70 killed, 450 wounded, and 14 missing. The Americans lost 152 killed, 521 wounded, and almost 400 missing. American morale was largely unaffected by the loss in that they mistakenly believed that more British were lost than American forces. Howe was impressed that the skill of the Americans had increased so much since the defeat at Brandywine. So, rather than risk a pursuit, Howe retreated to Philadelphia and fortified the city.

[Paulie]

'We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.'

I like this one. Reminds me of the saying " the greatest measure of a man is not never falling, but rising again after he has fallen."

[SAMWolf]

That's the reason we finally won. We wouldn't quit.

[Brian_Baldwin]

Thank you for these posts, it gives me shivers to think of our Fore Fathers whom I love so much. I know that many have family members of past generations who died for freedom, that freedom is not free, and we should all be ready to join with George Washington if he calls us again. Washington is one of my greatest heroes of all time, I wish that if there is a heaven I can see him some day - and I want to see him as he was at that time, leading our troops.

[SAMWolf]

You're Welcome.

It's a shame how PC is removing Washington's contributions to our Country.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi Pippin. Good to see you around here. :-)

[Jen]

Hi friends. Do y'all remember me??? Sorry I've been gone so long. Real life took precedence over FReeping. I've missed my Foxhole FRiends! Hope everyone is doing well.

Those tag lines are cool. How do I make one?

[SAMWolf]

Hiya Jen! Taglines are under the box you type your posts in.

[SAMWolf]

The Plan

General Howe was camped outside of Philadelphia and Washington's rebel forces were looking to drive Howe away from Philadelphia and re-capture it. Washington basically devised a plan to divided his army into 4 groups with each group taking a different path and to have a night march. Hopefully in the early morning his troops would hit Howe's army from 4 different roads all at the same time. This was a brilliant plan if it could be carried out successfully. It would surprise the British on both flanks and in the center and hopefully it would compel the British to retreat from the vicinity Philadelphia and leave it open for the rebel re-capture.

Order of Battle

The British were camped from along School House Lane and Church Street. The British units from left to right were a division of Hessians under Lt. General Baron William Fnyphause, two British support brigades, a division of British regulars under James Grant, a division of the Queens Rangers(Tory units raised in the colonies) and two battalions of British Guards. Located near the Chew House was the 14th regiment under Lt. Col. Thomas Musgrave. His job was to support the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion under Capt. Allen Mclane if it came under attack. A half of a mile away was the Logans House, where General Howe's HQ was.
For Washington he was going to have the Pennsylvania militia under General John Armstrong hit the British on the left while militia under colonel William Smallwood and David Formann hit the British on the right. In the center would be Washington's best troops, Brigadier General Anthony Wayne and Sullvian's Division. Between these troops and the militia to the left would be four brigades all under Major General Nathanel Greene which was Washington's largest prong.

Opening

The opening of the battle consisted of Sullvian's advance with brigadier General Thomas Conway leading the way. He smashes the 2nd Light Infantry, while at the same time Wayne's troops deploy to the left. The 14th British regiment moves forward under the fog and temporally stabilizes the front while covering the retreat of the 2nd Light Infantry. While they retreat they burn the fields, covering the battle with smoke.

Phase 1

Some of the retreating British troops take cover in the Chew House. Henry Knox tries to bombard the house, but to little affect. Next, William Maxwell orders his troops to take the house by storming it. Thirty minutes and fifty dead later, Washington calls the attack off and has the house cordoned off. The delay of thirty minutes cost Washington the surprise in his attack. While Sullvian's troops are engaged with the Hessians and Wayne's troops are engaged with the James Grant Division, Greene's men after an hours delay show up and drive toward Church Street.

Phase 2

Greene's troops attacked the Queens Rangers and the two British Battalions with 2 of his 4 brigades. One of his brigades under, Major General Alexander Mcdougall's inexplicably never advanced. This blunder caused both Brig. Gen. Peter Mulenberg and Brig Gen. George Weeden to be flanked by British troops. The Militia under John Armstrong to the left side of the battle fought elements of the Hessian troops throughout the entire battle. Also two militia units under David Forman and William Smallwood never even showed up. This , in turn, caused Greene's troops to be without reinforcements. During all this fighting Greene's fourth and last brigade shows up under the now drunk Brig. Gen. Adam Stephen. This brigade after being separated from the rest of Greene's forces by a night march, wanders all across the battlefield towards the sound of the fight. His men then proceed to mistakenly fire into the back of Wayne's troops.

The Retreat

Adam Stephen's blunder of firing into the back of Wayne's troops convinced Wayne and his men that they were surrounded so they naturally decided to extract themselves from the fight in order to prevent his unit to be routed and captured. Sullivan seeing his right flank fall back decided to do the same and soon a general retreat followed. This didn't go as planned because at the same time the British after hearing an American call for ammunition decided now was the time to charge. The British charged the American lines and routed them. During the rout and the 9th Virginia in Greene's division found themselves to be surrounded by British troops, so they surrendered in mass.

The Aftermath

The Americans finally re-organized themselves at Pennypacker's Mill. The cost for the Americans were 152 killed, 521 wounded and, 400 missing. The casualties for the British were 71 killed, 450 wounded and, an unknown number of troops missing in action. The battle lasted 2 hours and 45min. During this time the battle proved that Americans could stand up and fight against the British. Also, it provided a morale boost because of the near win. Plus, it got the French to think about helping the American cause. Of course, their help would prove to be immeasurable at the Battle of Yorktown.
Washington blamed the lost battle, literally all on the fog-of-war. Although the fog was a roadblock in Washington's plans several other factors contributed to the failure. The drunkenness of Stephen who, at the climax of the fight, fired into his own troops. The militia not showing up or providing very little support to the continentals. The delays, especially the delay at the Chew House, which cost Washington the surprise and the hour delay for Greene which enabled the British to prepare for an attack. Also, the shortage of ammo was a crucial factor in the battle and, to some extent, Washington himself can be blamed because of the complexity of his plan involving a night march with untrained troops, especially the militia.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi Jen!!! Glad to see you back my friend!

[Jen]

Hi Victoria!!! I hope it's Sam hiding in that tree who wants to give me a hug. You know how homophobic I am!!!

[Jen]

Aha! Thanks.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! She's on to us Victoria.

Sam the tree

[Victoria Delsoul]

LOL!!! It's me, hahahaha.

[Victoria Delsoul]

She's on to us Victoria.

Oh, yes. Happy to see you, Jen. We missed ya big time.

[PhilDragoo]

It's a shame how PC is removing Washington's contributions to our Country.

Conan O'Brien did a disrespectful bit re Washington some nights ago.

Celebrities idolize smack jockeys, implanted bimbos, traitors a la traitor-rapist42.

"Going to the dogs" is a disservice to man's best friend.

"Going to the Clintons" is more apt.

Now some Brits attempt to support Saddam Hussein over their own security.

Persistent karma.

Godspeed Swift Victory and Safe Return to the Finest Fighting Force on Earth.

A two-thousand-degree send-off for the bankroller of the Palestinian bombers.

SADDAM-FREE IN '03

Clintons no more in '04

[SAMWolf]

Good Evening PhilDragoo.

It's amazing the people that are considered "heroes" today.

[Jen]

Good night friends!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[Lee'sGhost]

I believe that there is a monument there -- to Arnold's leg which he should have lost -- the only part of him the country would give tribute to.

[conservativemusician]

Thanks Sam.

Been real busy lately and I'm trying to catch up.
I am a huge fan of Revolutionary War history and this is a great post.