Reign of George III. (Continued.) page 13

But Howe, instead of pushing on after Washington, committed his invariable blunder. He encamped on the field; allowed Washington to pass the night undisturbed at Chester, and then marching to Philadelphia, to have two whole days there to collect and send away his scattered troops, his ammunition, and stores. Howe was always within reach of victory, but never put out even a hand to seize it, and to close the business. A Clive or a Wellington, and it would only have been an affair of a few weeks.

At this battle of Brandywine, the marquis La Fayette commenced his American campaign. He was wounded in the leg, and very near falling into the hands of the English, and thus soon closing his volunteer partisanship. Being conveyed to Bethlehem, to a Moravian settlement, where he remained six weeks till his wound was cured, he employed the time in listening to the peaceful doctrines of the Herrnhüters, and in planning schemes of the most romantic extravagance, and of a most unpracticable kind. These were no less than to have a descent made on the English West Indian Islands by the French under American colours, for which purpose he wrote to the French commander of Martinique; to have an invasion of the English East Indian territories by the French, also under American colours. This invasion was to set out from the Isle of France; and for this purpose he wrote to M. Maurepas, the prime minister of France. It is difficult to decide whether these proposals show more forcibly the impracticable wildness of La Fayette's ideas, or his obtuseness to honourable principle, seeing that France all this time was at peace with England.

The result of the battle of Brandywine was most mortifying to the American congress. This body and the board of war had adopted the policy of inquiring into the conduct of every officer who suffered defeat. They had just recalled general Schuyler and all the officers of the northern army; they had appointed an inquiry into the failure of Sullivan on Staten Island, and they now charged him with the cause of this defeat, demanding his suspension; but Washington declared that he could not be deprived of his services, and the attempt was abandoned. But their anger fell on Deborre, a foreign officer, whose body of Marylanders, one of Sullivan's brigades, was the first to give way. Deborre, who had been wounded in his endeavours to stop his flying men, threw up his commission in indignation, declaring that if the Americans would run, he would not bear the disgrace for them. Pulaski, who was a volunteer on this occasion, on the contrary, was rewarded for his exertions in recalling the fugitive soldiers by the commission of brigadier- general. The evening after the battle, a party of British entered Wilmington, and made prisoner Mackinley, the president of Pennsylvania, and seized a vessel, on board of which were the public records and money, and much private property.

But, scarcely had Howe posted himself at Wilmington, when Washington re-crossed the Schuylkill and marched on the British left, hoping to get into Howe's rear, and imitate the movement of Cornwallis at the Brandywine, which had been so effectual. Howe, aware of the movement, however, reversed his front, and the Americans were taken by surprise. In this case, Howe himself ought to have fallen on the Americans, but a storm is said to have prevented it, and Washington immediately fell back to Warwick Furnace, on the south bank of French creek. From that point he dispatched general Wayne to cross a rough country, and occupy a wood on the British left. Here, having fifteen hundred men himself, he was to form a junction with two thousand Maryland militia, and with this force harass the British rear. But information of this movement was given to Howe, who, on the 20th of September, sent major- general Greig to expel Wayne from his concealment. Greig gave orders that not a gun should be fired, but that the bayonet alone should be used, and then, stealing unperceived on Wayne, his men made a terrible rush with fixed bayonets, threw the whole body into consternation, and made a dreadful slaughter. Three hundred Americans were killed and wounded, about a hundred were taken prisoners, and the rest fled, leaving their baggage behind them. The English only lost seven men.

Whilst Washington manoeuvred to prevent Howe crossing the Schuylkill above him, the English general crossed below on the 22nd of September, and thus placed himself betwixt Philadelphia and the American army. It was now necessary for Washington to fight, or give up that city; but the condition of his troops, deficient in clothes and shoes, owing to the poverty of the commissariat department, with wretched arms, and fatigued by their recent exertions, forbade all hope of maintaining even the defensive. He therefore fell back, and Cornwallis, on the 27th, advancing from Germantown, entered Philadelphia amid the welcomes of the loyal inhabitants. The Americans had vowed that they would not surrender the city without setting fire to it; but they contented themselves with the removal of the hospitals, the magazines, public stores, and much private property. The quakers. loyal to the extreme, were not to be compelled, by all the threats and coercions of congress, to support a war which, in their consciences, they did not approve. The leaders amongst them had been put into arrest on the approach of Howe, and twenty of them were sent close prisoners to Staunton, in Virginia, before Cornwallis's arrival; but the people at large still received the English cheerfully.

The congress retired to Lancaster, and next to York, beyond the Susquehanna, in their anger authorising Washington to seize, try by court-martial, and put to death, all persons within thirty miles of any town occupied by the British, who should pilot them by land or water, give them any intelligence, or furnish them with provisions, arms, forage, fuel, or stores of any kind. Before quitting Philadelphia, Washington ordered his youthful aide-de-camp, Hamilton, to demand a plentiful supply of blankets, shoes, and clothing for his army, which he rigorously enforced, being empowered with authority from congress to that effect. Amongst the multitudes who welcomed Howe to Philadelphia was Duche, the late chaplain of congress, who wrote to Washington, advising him to give up the ungodly cause. Cornwallis occupied the city with four regiments, but the body of the British army encamped at Germantown, ten miles distant.

But, though the Americans had evacuated the city, they still held the command of the Delaware below it, and thus cut off the supplies of the British army by sea, and all communication betwixt the army and the fleet, except by the circuitous course of Chester, liable to capture by the enemy.

Franklin, before leaving for England, had exerted his ingenuity to defend the mouth of the Delaware. He had had three rows of chevaux-de-frise, composed of immense beams of timber, bolted together, and bristled with strong iron spikes, sunk in the river a little below the confluence of the Schuylkill. The lowest of these obstructions was defended on the Jersey side at Billingsport by extensive but unfinished works, and the upper ones were defended by several floating batteries and armed vessels. On a low, flat island, called Mud Island, near the Pennsylvanian bank of the river, were thrown up other batteries. On the Jersey shore opposite lay a fort called Red Bank, and under its cover were fourteen row-galleys, each carrying one piece of ordnance, two floating batteries carrying nine guns each, several rafts with guns upon them, and a number of fire- ships.

Within a few days of taking Philadelphia, lord Howe raised three batteries on the side of the river. The two American frigates lying in the river, and a flotilla, commanded by Hazel wood, came up, and opened a fierce cannonade, not only on the batteries, but on the town. The tide receding, the Delaware, one of the frigates, was left aground, was stranded, and taken; and the crews of the flotilla were so much discouraged, that many of them deserted. But Hazelwood undauntedly prepared, with the other frigates, the galleys, and flotilla, to make a desperate resistance.

These defences of the river had received the anxious support of Washington. On the 3rd of October he issued from his camp on the Schuylkill, about fourteen miles from Germantown, having heard that two British detachments had been withdrawn thence to attack the forts on the Delaware. He had been reinforced by militia from Maryland and New Jersey, and determined to surprise the English camp at Germantown. Two columns of continental troops, led by Greene and Sullivan, were to gain the front of the British, and attack it; whilst two other columns of militia were to attack the rear. This force marched all night, and entered Germantown about sunrise, and all seemed likely to favour their enterprise. A fog prevented the discovery of their approach. But, at the first surprise, colonel Musgrove threw himself into a storehouse, belonging to a Mr. Chew, with five companies of his regiment, and kept up such a fire from the windows as checked the assault of the Americans, and gave time for the rest of the British force to get under arms.

The village of Germantown consisted of one long street, said to be about three miles long. Across this street the British army had encamped, and stoutly resisted the advance of the Americans. Musgrove was summoned to surrender; but he continued his fire from the house without taking any notice, and, before artillery could be brought up to batter the house, general Greig and brigadier Agnew came up to his assistance. The continental troops in front, led on by Washington himself, made a brisk attack, but were repulsed at all points, and were badly co-operated with by the militia in the rear. Washington was compelled to fall back to his camp at Skippack Creek, leaving behind him about eight hundred killed and wounded, and four hundred prisoners. Amongst several of his officers killed, was general Nash, of North Carolina; amongst the British, fell brigadier Agnew.

On the 8th of October lord Howe ascended the Delaware with the fleet almost as far as Newcastle. There he found that the Americans had raised strong wooden piers to defend the sunken booms which obstructed the passage of the river. A body of sailors were employed to throw up batteries opposite to Mud Island, and on the 21st of October a detachment of twelve hundred Hessians, under count Donop, crossed the Delaware at Philadelphia, and marched down the Jersey shore to attack the fort at Red Bank, whilst the British ships kept up a heavy fire on Fort Mifflin and the flotilla. On Donop's approach, Greene abandoned the outworks of Red Bank, and retired to the main redoubt. The assaulting column was there received by a terrible fire of grape and musketry. Count Donop fell mortally wounded; the next \n command, lieutenant-general Musgrove, was killed, an4 under a galling fire from the flotilla in the rear, as well as from the fort, the Hessians were repulsed with a loss of four hundred men. Had they been able to stand their ground, they found that they had forgotten their scaling-ladders, and that the whole expedition was therefore worse than useless.

At the same time the fleet had passed the first chevaux- de-frise, and the four vessels passed through; but the Augusta frigate and the Merlin sloop ran aground, and were blown up; the rest returned through the opening. The Americans were greatly encouraged by this success; and it was the 10th of November before the English sailors had completed the batteries on Province Island, opposite to Mud Island. On the 15th these batteries began to play on Fort Mifflin, and the fleet also kept up a continued cannonade. The fort began to crumble under the effects of the incessant fire. In vain did the Americans labour to repair the breaches made in the day during the following nights; they were compelled to evacuate, leaving their artillery behind. Two days after the fall of Mud Island, Red Bank being attacked by an overwhelming force under lord Cornwallis, the Americans fled precipitately, burning their vessels and flotillas in the river. The remaining booms were then soon destroyed, and the navigation to Philadelphia was free.

So far, however, was Sir William Howe from availing himself of this opportunity to follow up the attack on Washington, and disperse his army, that he, as usual, thought only of getting into snug winter quarters.. On the other hand, Washington, rendered daring by this strange apathy, made a show of beating up Howe's own quarters. He sent earnest summonses to Putnam and Gates to hasten to him with a powerful detachment of the army now liberated from duty in the north, by circumstances soon to be detailed. Putnam had now nine thousand men, besides a numerous militia; but, instead of obeying Washington's summons, he seemed bent on attacking New York. A second and more peremptory summons at length brought Putnam down along with two other brigades from Gates, at the earnest instance of Hamilton, Washington's young and zealous aide-de-camp.

With these troops Washington quitted his strong post at Skippack Creek, and advanced to a still stronger one at White Marsh, only fourteen miles from Philadelphia. On this menace Howe marched out of that city on the night of the 4th of December, and took post on Chestnut Hill, in front of the American camp. A valley and rivulet lying between the hostile camps, neither commander was willing to run the risk of an attack; but, two days after, Howe suddenly marched from the right of Washington's lines to the left, and came opposite to the northern army, strongly posted on a hill. There lord Cornwallis boldly attacked and routed them so completely, that Washington's left was thrown into confusion; and it required only for Howe to make a general advance, and the whole army would have fled. Stedman says that Washington expected nothing less, and was prepared for a hasty retreat; "that Howe had only to have attacked the Americans in the rear, by which he would have cut off Washington from his baggage and provisions, which were five miles off. But Howe never saw these opportunities, which were always lying before him, though his officers and men did. " Our troops," says Stedman, " retired, to the surprise of all who were acquainted with the ground on which Washington was encamped, and the variety of excellent roads which led round to his rear." So Howe, who was certainly intended for a dormouse, or a hybernating bear, rather than a general, lay still; and Washington, again encouraged by such wondrous sloth, suddenly, on the night of the 10th, abandoned his position, and began to cross to the west bank of the Schuylkill. But early in the morning he found himself confronted by Cornwallis, who drove him back to his bridge of boats, and posted himself on some heights commanding it. Washington, believing that Howe was in the rear of Cornwallis, looked for little else than his own destruction; but no Howe was there - he had returned to Philadelphia. Cornwallis was only at the head of a foraging party; Washington got across his bridge of boats to the other side of the Schuylkill, and Cornwallis returned to quarters.