Greene defended this pass with great skill and bravery until twilight, when the pursuers encamped for the night. In this defense the brigades of Weed-on and Muhlenberg were greatly distinguished, particularly the tenth Virginia regiment, under Colonel Stevens, and a Pennsylvania regiment, under Colonel Stewart.
We have observed that the plan of the enemy was to attack the Americans front and rear at the same time, by Cornwallis gaining the right flank of the patriots, and Knyphausen crossing the Brandywine at Chad's Ford. The firing of heavy guns on the American right was to be the signal for the German general to ford the stream. When the firing commenced at the Birmingham meeting-house, Knyphausen observed the departure of Greene's division, and the consequent weakening of the defense of the passage of the river. He immediately made a proper disposition of his troops for crossing. Wayne was on the alert, and, the moment Knyphausen's forces moved forward, he
* John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg was born in the village of Trappe, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, on the 1st of October, 1746. He was the son of Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, D.D., the founder of the Lutheran Church in America; and his mother was the daughter of Conrad Weiser, a celebrated officer and Indian agent in Pennsylvania. Peter, his eldest born, was dedicated in infancy to the Church, and he was educated for the ministry, partly in this country and partly in Europe. He was ordained a minister in 1768, and commenced his labors in Western New Jersey the following year. He was married to Anna Barbara Meyer in 1770. In order to take charge of a congregation in Virginia, to which he had been called, he went to London in 1772, to receive ordination from an English bishop. Mr. White (afterward Bishop White, of Pennsylvania) was ordained at the same time (the 23d of April, 1772) by the Bishop of London. In his journal Mr. Muhlenberg states that, before their return to America, he and Mr. White attended the theater to see the performance of Garrick, then in the height of his career as an actor. Returning to America, he assumed ministerial duties at Woodstock, in Virginia, where he soon became a leading spirit among those who opposed British oppression. In 1774, he was chairman of the committee of safety in his county, and was also elected a member of the House of Burgesses. At the close of 1775, he was elected colonel of a Virginia regiment, and laid aside his pastoral character. In concluding his farewell sermon, he said, that, in the language of Holy Writ, "there was a time for all things; a time to preach, and a time to pray, but those times had passed away;" and then, in a voice that echoed like a trumpet-blast through the church, he said, "that there was a time to fight, and that time had now come!" Then, laying aside his sacerdotal gown, he stood before his flock in the full regimental dress of a Virginia colonel. He ordered the drums to be beaten at the church door for recruits; and almost his entire male audience capable of bearing arms joined his standard. Nearly three hundred men enlisted under his banner on that day. He was in the battle at Charleston in 1776, and served with fidelity in the Southern campaign that year. Congress promoted him to the rank of brigadier general in February, 1777, and he was ordered to take charge of all the Continental troops of the Virginia line in that state. He joined the army under Washington, at Middlebrook, in May following, and was with the chief in all his movements until 1779, including the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, the sufferings at Whitemarsh and Valley Forge, the conflict on the plains of Monmouth, and the capture of Stony Point. At the close of that year he was directed to take command of the troops in Virginia, where he was very active until the attack of Cornwallis at Yorktown. In that battle and victory General Muhlenberg participated. At the close of the war, he was elevated to the rank of major general. He removed to Pennsylvania, and in various civil capacities served that state. He was a member of the third Federal Congress, and in 1801 was elected a United States senator. The same year he was appointed supervisor of the internal revenue of Pennsylvania, and in 1802 was made collector of the port of Philadelphia. He remained in that office until his death, which occurred at his country seat, near Philadelphia, on the 1st of October (his birth-day), 1807, at the age of sixty-one years. His grave is near the village church where he was baptized, and a simple monument bears this inscription: "Sacred to the memory of General Peter Muhlenberg, born October 1st, 1746; died October 1st, 1807. He was brave in the field, faithful in the cabinet, honorable in all his transactions, a sincere friend, and an honest man." The portrait here given is copied, by permission of the author, from an engraving in the Life of Peter Muhlenberg, by his grandson, Henry A. Muhlenberg, Esq., from which I compiled this brief memoir.
Passage of the Brandywine by Knyphausen.—Bravery of Wayne.—General Retreat of the Americans.—Result of the Battle.
opened upon him a heavy fire of artillery from his intrenchments and the battery near Chad's house. Although in no condition to oppose nearly one half of the British army, he stood firm at first, and gallantly confronted the heavy and steadily progressing columns. But, on receiving intelligence of the defeat of Sullivan at Birmingham meeting-house, and discovering that a considerable force of the enemy, who had penetrated the woods, were coming out upon his flank, Wayne ordered a retreat. This was accomplished in great disorder, leaving his artillery and munitions of war in the hands of Knyphausen. They retreated, in broken columns and confused fragments, behind the division of General Greene, then gallantly defending the pass near Dilworth, and joined the other defeated troops. The approach of night ended the whole conflict. The Americans retreated to Chester that night, where they rendezvoused, and the next day marched toward Philadelphia, and encamped near Germantown. General Armstrong, who was stationed at Pyles's Ford, had no opportunity to engage in the action. The British remained upon the field, near Dilworth, Howe taking up his quarters at Gilpin's, a few miles from Chad's Ford. *
Military men, when considering the battle of Brandywine, have questioned the judgment of Washington in incurring the great risk incident to a disparity in numbers and discipline. The numbers engaged in the action have never been accurately ascertained. The British effective force, on the day of the battle, was probably not less than seventeen thousand men, while that of the Americans did not exceed eleven thousand, and many of these were raw militia. Washington was aware of the expectations of Congress and the whole country, and wisely considered that a defeat in battle would be less depressing upon the minds of the soldiers and the people, than permitting the enemy to march, without opposition, to the capture of Philadelphia, then the political metropolis of America. Influenced by these considerations, he resolved to fight the enemy; and had not conflicting intelligence perplexed and thwarted him in his plans, it is probable that victory would have crowned the American army. The result was disastrous, and many noble patriots slept their last sleep upon the battle-field that night. **
* In M. Hilliard d'Auberteuil's work, in French, published in 1782, entitled "Essais Historiques et Politique sur la Revolution de l'Amérique Septentrionale," there is a touching story of a seene which occurred near the Brandywine, after the battle. It is in substance as follows: A beautiful girl, named Molly Harvey, loved a young patriot soldier by the name of Seymour. Her father was wealthy; the young man was poor. They were not allowed to marry; and young Seymour, determined to distinguish himself, went to South Carolina, and was in the severe battle at Sullivan's Island. He afterward joined the army under Washington, and commanded a company in the battle on the Brandywine. After the battle he obtained leave of absence for three days, and repaired to the house of Harvey, near by. The parents consented to the marriage, and the nuptials were celebrated. The friends of the parties were assembled under the trees, enjoying the festivity, when two soldiers from the British army approached, and attempted to make Seymour their prisoner. A contest ensued, in which the bride was killed by a bayonet-thrust. The day of her marriage was the day of her death. Accompanying the story is a beautiful engraving, representing the sad spectacle. The number of the killed and wounded in the several engagements on the 11th is not known. Washington was unable to make a return of the American loss on account of the confusion which followed the defeat, many of the militia companies being thinned by desertion; and Howe's estimates were only conjectural. General Greene estimated the loss of the Americans in killed, wounded, and prisoners, at about 1200; that of the royal army nearly 800. Howe reported his loss at 90 killed, 488 wounded, and six missing. He also stated the loss of the Americans at 300 killed, 600 wounded, and 400 taken prisoners; about the number estimated by Greene. The Americans also lost ten small field-pieces, and a howitzer. Many French officers were engaged in the action. The Baron De St. Quary, serving as a volunteer, was taken prisoner. Captain Louis de Fleury, the hero of Stony Point, had a horse killed under him. His bravery commanded the admiration of Washington. Two days after the battle, Congress ordered another horse to be presented to De Fleury. The day after the battle, Howe wrote to Washington, informing him that the wounded Americans were so numerous that his surgeons could not attend to them, and offering to receive any surgeons the American chief might send. Doctors Rush, Leiper, Latimer, and Willet, with their attendants, were sent back to take care of them.
Washington again made Dictator.—Attempt to attack the British Army.—Du Coudray.—Patriotism of the Israels.
Congress was not dismayed by the disaster on the Brandywine, but were nerved to new exertions. They resolved to exert their whole power in strengthening the army in the vicinity, and for that purpose Washington was directed to order fifteen hundred troops of Putnam's division, on the Hudson, to march immediately to the Delaware, while the militia of Pennsylvania and the adjoining states were summoned to join the army. Anticipating the necessity of leaving Philadelphia, and, perhaps, of a temporary speedy dissolution, Congress voted to enlarge the powers of Washington, and he was partially reinvested with the dictatorial character, first conferred upon him before the attack on the enemy at Trenton in 1776. * Nor was Washington himself dispirited. Allowing his troops one day for rest and refreshments at Germantown, he recrossed the Schuylkill, ** for the purpose of September 15, 1777 giving the enemy battle even upon the field of his late defeat, if his camp yet remained there. He took the Lancaster road, and the next day met the enemy not far from the Warren tavern, about twenty miles from Philadelphia. Howe had left his encampment near the Brandywine, and was on his way to Goshen (West Chester)September 16 when he heard of the approach of the Americans. *** By a quick maneuver, he gained