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

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

[SAMWolf]

Thanks larryjohnson. A long history for Germantown Academy.

[facedown]

Good afternoon SAM.

I grew up in (Mad Anthony) Wayne, PA, a few minutes drive from Valley Forge. We used to go there frequently when I was a kid. As young boys are wont to do we used to play "army" in the park. Back then you could still go into the "star fort" earthen embankments and run around the periphery - up and down, up and down - great fun. We would crawl up on the cannons and "fire" them. We were even allowed to play in the little log huts that the men quartered in!

It was some years later that we visited the park in the dead of winter when the horror of the place struck me. The abject misery that those men endured is unimaginable. Countless died and thousands were damaged for life. To think that the Americans not only survived the ordeal but then mounted a full assault across the river is astounding!

"Naked and starving as they are we cannot enough admire incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery"

Washington at Valley Forge February 16, 1778

[SAMWolf]

Good Afternoon, facedown.

It shows how much those men believed in what they were fighting to create. Sometimes I wonder how many today would be willing to do the same to keep it.

[facedown]

Sometimes I wonder how many today would be willing to do the same to keep it.

Count on the blue zone.

[Bogie]

I didn't see "A Man Of Honor." However Arnold was a key player in the battle. Burgoyne foolishly did not listen to his staff, and, on October 7th, attacked with a probe of 2,000 men. The idea was to find out where the Patriot weakness was. He was met, in large numbers, by Morgan's riflemen. (They had the rifled weapons.) The Britts were slaughtered. And, Burgoyne was close enough to the action to see what a mistake he had made. He called a retreat to the redoubts. Arnold pressed an assault on the Breymann Redoubt and Burgoyne's flank caved.

[Bogie]

P.S. Arnold was wounded, but got credit for the day. Col. Otto von Breymann, they say, was shot by one of his own Braunschweiger.

Still, it was the murder/scalping of Jane McCrea, a beautiful blonde who was to marry a Tory, that kept the Tory home and brought out the Patriot.

[The Real Deal]

Hi Misty, there was a rumor going around yesterday that you might have found a real life. Good to have you back.

[The Real Deal]

Man did we ever luck out.

[The Real Deal]

That's a great pic. What a great looking house.

[Bogie]

Sam,I have to say that I really enjoyed "The Patriot." It captured the spirit of arrogance that was behind the brutal treatment of our Founding Fathers by the British. As is often the case in the world of "POP" entertainment, however,the movie mixed things up. For example, Green did successfully use the British tactics to work against them by keeping his regulars as a second and primary battle line. The Britts then charged, with empty rifle and bayonet, into a fully loaded line of hardened regulars. But, it was not at Yorktown, which was how I remember the movie.

Alas it was Burgoyne who was known to have "too much" pride. But hey, I loved the movie.

[SAMWolf]

Yeah America always finds them when they're needed.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Beginning with the Stenton Mansion in 1899, James Logan's elegant country seat in Germantown which was preserved with the Philadelphia chapter of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America as its guardians and interpreters, the number of historic house museums and sites in the Greater Philadelphia area has swelled to over 175 today.

[SAMWolf]

Yeah, Hollyweird has to dramatize for effect. My understanding is that Mel Gibson's part was a combination of characters.

[SAMWolf]

Good Evening Victoria.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Good evening, Samwolf! Good to see you.

I'll be back in a little while. Be good now.

[SAMWolf]

Dinner time for me and kids want my compter for homework.

I'm never good, you should know that!!

[Bogie]

Yes, with the primary character being Marrion of SC.

[SAMWolf]

The Swamp Fox! Remember the Disney series?

[Scorpian]

please take me off this list

[SAMWolf]

Will Do. Thank you.