Burgoyne's surrender.—The day after the battle Gates pushed forward his left wing, a movement which threatened to pen Burgoyne between the Hudson and a hostile army. The British commander should have sunk his heavy guns in the river and beaten a hasty retreat, but instead he attempted to save his stores and artillery. He fell back eight miles and took a position on the north bank of Fishkill Creek near Saratoga. Gates threw a force across the Hudson which prevented a crossing, troops were posted on the flank of the British Camp and the main army was drawn up on the south bank of Fishkill Creek. The British were trapped and Burgoyne at last realized that the game was up. On October 13 he called a council of war at which it was decided to negotiate terms. Gates demanded an unconditional surrender, but Burgoyne refused and the next day Gates, who appears neither to have been able to win a battle or to make the most of a fortunate situation created by the bravery and skill of another, agreed that Burgoyne should surrender with the honors of war and that his army should be given free passage to Great Britain upon the condition that they would not serve in North America during the war. Congress, to its shame, did not carry out the agreement and the troops were kept as prisoners in America.
THE CONTEST FOR PHILADELPHIA
Howe moves on Philadelphia.—While the northern army was struggling with Burgoyne, another great contest was taking place in Pennsylvania. Germaine had not given Howe definite orders to coöperate with Burgoyne and, in fact, had approved the proposed expedition against Philadelphia. After the retirement from before Middlebrook, Howe's movements were a mystery to Washington. In July he learned that the British fleet was being prepared for a voyage, but whether the enemy would sail up the Hudson, or strike at Boston, Philadelphia, or Charleston, he could not tell. To forestall an advance northward Washington moved his army toward the New York highlands. On July 31 he heard that the British fleet had appeared in Delaware Bay. Immediately the American army was started for Philadelphia, but before the city was reached the astonishing news came that the fleet had disappeared. Washington immediately went into camp twenty miles north of Philadelphia to await developments. Two weeks later the British fleet sailed into Chesapeake Bay and on August 25 the army, which numbered seventeen thousand, began to disembark at the Head of Elk at the northern end of the bay.
Battle of the Brandywine.—As soon as Washington heard of the British landing, he started his army southward. On August 24 eleven thousand men paraded through the spacious streets of Philadelphia and on September 9 the army was posted on the north bank of the Brandywine. The main road to Philadelphia crossed the stream at Chad's Ford and here Wayne's division was stationed. Below the ford the steep banks were defended by a small force of militia. Above Wayne were Greene's well-drilled brigades, and the right was held by Sullivan. On September 10 Howe concentrated his army at the Kennet Square meeting house, where he divided it into two columns. At four the next morning Cornwallis in command of one column started for the upper fords of the Brandywine; by making this wide detour it was hoped that he could get in the rear of the American right wing. An hour later General von Knyphausen in command of the other column advanced toward Chad's Ford. He drove a small group of skirmishers across the stream, arranged his army as if for an assault, and opened with his artillery. Washington spent the morning in uncertainty, but at length Sullivan sent word that Cornwallis's troops were getting in his rear. Washington immediately ordered him to throw his entire force across the path of the enemy, but the movement was not carried out with precision and soon the wings of Sullivan's force were routed. Stirling, who held the center, made a gallant defence, but with both flanks exposed, he was forced to retire. When Von Knyphausen heard the firing, he advanced across Chad's Ford, and carried Wayne's intrenchments. Washington had ordered Greene to go to Sullivan's assistance. His men covered four miles in about forty minutes and then came into action against Cornwallis's victorious troops. For an hour the battle raged with great intensity, and as darkness set in, Greene drew off his men. His stubborn fight had saved the army, which was brought together at Chester.
Paoli.—Washington moved his army thirty-five miles up the Schuylkill and the British encamped south of the river near Valley Forge. To harass the rear of Howe's army Washington sent Wayne's division across the Schuylkill. At 1 A.M. on September 21 this force was surprised near the Paoli Tavern. The British fell upon the American camp with sword and bayonet, and before the grim work was over Wayne had lost more than three hundred men.
The British in Philadelphia.—On September 23 the British army crossed the Schuylkill and began to advance toward Philadelphia. When the news reached the city a Whig exodus began, probably a third of the population taking their departure. Congress removed the prisoners, archives, and most of the stores; upon Washington it conferred dictatorial powers for sixty days in the vicinity, and then adjourned to Lancaster and later to York. On September 25 Howe entered the capital.
Morristown, New Jersey, to Head of Elk, Maryland (1777) (Based on map in G.O. Trevelyan, The American Revolution, Part. III, op. p. 492).