BATTLE OF THE BRANDYWINE, ETC.
At length, in the month of June, General Howe took the field. At this time Washington, who had been greatly reinforced, had taken up a strong position at Middle Brook, having entrenchments and formidable batteries in his front. It was the object of Howe to tempt the American general to quit this position; and having failed in various expedients, on the 19th of June he ordered his main body to retire to Amboy. This succeeded. Washington abandoned what had cost him so much trouble to create, and advanced to Quibble Town. The mass of the British troops now moved back by different routes, in order to get on the American general’s flank and rear, and by intervening between him and the hills, to force him to a conflict on open ground. Lord Cornwallis led the van, and he had not marched far before he fell in with Washington’s advanced body, who were advantageously posted, and well provided with artillery. The British troops, however, attacked them with such impetuosity that the Americans fled, and were pursued as far as Westfield, leaving behind them some of their cannon, and two hundred men in killed and wounded. But by this time Washington had seen his error, and he quickly remedied it by regaining his station on the hills, and securing those passes which were the main object of Cornwallis’s expedition. General Howe now altered his whole plan of operation. He called in all his detachments, concentrated his army at Amboy, and then passed over to Staten Island, leaving Washington in possession of the Jerseys. His men wondered what he meant to do; but they soon learned that his object was to take Philadelphia. To this end he set sail with his army on the 23rd of July, and on the 30th he rounded the coast to the capes of Delaware. His intention was to have sailed up the Delaware to Philadelphia; but discovering that the Americans had raised prodigious impediments on that river, he sailed to Chesapeake Bay, where he landed about the middle of August. By this time his men had become worn out by the long confinement on ship-board, and the horses had become almost useless; so that it was necessary for them to have rest before they proceeded on their enterprise. The van was put in motion on the 2nd of September, and on the day following, his advanced body fell in with some detachments of the enemy, scattered them, and took up their position, which was on Iron Hill, and which commanded a view of the Delaware river. It was now discovered that Washington had left the Jerseys and was in the field to oppose the advance of the British troops. He had taken possession of some heights on the eastern side of the river Brandywine, which falls into the Delaware below Philadelphia, with an intention of disputing the passage. Howe must necessarily cross this river in order to obtain the great object of the campaign, and he resolved to force his way over. The position of the enemy was formidable; but, notwithstanding, on the 11th of September, the attempt was made, and that successfully. General Knyphausen advanced with the second division of the army to Chad’s Ford, as a feint; and while the Americans were defending that point, Lord Cornwallis had marched a few miles round, crossed the forks of the Brandywine, and came upon Washington’s flank. On discovering this the Americans fell into great confusion, and Knyphausen then rushed with his division across Chad’s Ford, and drove them from their batteries and entrenchments at the point of the bayonet. Later in the day the British forces attacked the Americans, under General Sullivan, who were strongly posted on the heights above Birmingham church, and drove them from thence in great confusion. In the whole they lost three hundred killed, about six hundred wounded, and four hundred who were taken prisoners, besides several pieces of artillery; but Washington kept his corps together, and retired with his cannon and baggage to Chester, where he passed the night without molestation. On the following morning he marched by Derby to Philadelphia, where he collected his scattered troops, in order to defend the city.