For two hours and forty minutes the battle waged at the very doors of the inhabitants of Germantown, in their gardens, orchards and fields.
The entire loss sustained by two armies was never accurately determined.
The British did not gain much satisfaction in their victory for they soon abandoned their well-earned fields, and moved within the entrenchments directly north of Philadelphia.
Riotous Mob Attacks “Fort Wilson” in
Philadelphia, October 5, 1779
In the year 1779 the lives of Mr. James Wilson, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, and one of the foremost practitioners of that day, and many of his friends, were put in extreme hazard by a band of frenzied partisans, under the pretext of his holding sentiments inimical to popular institutions.
At that time party spirit in Pennsylvania had taken definite shape, and the politicians were divided into Constitutionalists and Republicans. The former rallied around the Constitution of 1776, recently formed, which was reprobated by the Republicans, who believed it tended toward rash, precipitate and oppressive proceedings.
The term Republicans was embraced, as recognizing the principles of the Revolution.
Mr. Wilson was among the leading men of the Republican Party who had agreed that they would not accept of any office or appointment under the Constitution, which, in that case, they would be bound by oath, to support.