As must ever be the case in new-raised armies, unused to danger and from which undeserving officers have not been expelled, their conduct was not uniform. Some regiments, especially those which had served the preceding campaign, maintained their ground with the firmness and intrepidity of veterans, while others gave way as soon as they were pressed. The author of a very correct history of the war, speaking of this action, says: "A part of the troops, among whom were particularly numbered some Virginia regiments, and the whole corps of artillery, behaved exceedingly well in some of the actions of this day, exhibiting a degree of order, firmness, and resolution, and preserving such a countenance in extremely sharp service, as would not have discredited veterans. Some other bodies of their troops behaved very badly."
The official letter of Sir William Howe stated his loss at rather less than 100 killed and 400 wounded, and this account was accepted at the time as true. A late discovery shows its falsehood. Mr. Headley, in his recent "Life of Washington," notices the finding of a document which settles the question.
It was found, he says, among Gen. James Clinton's papers, carefully filed away and indorsed by himself. On the back, in his own handwriting, is inscribed: "Taken from the enemy's ledgers, which fell into the hands of General Washington's army at the action of Germantown."
Within is the following statement: "State of the British troops and position they were in when they made the attack at Brandywine, the 11th of September, 1777.
The upper ford, under the command of Lieutenant
Lord Cornwallis:
Killed and
Second Regiment, British Guards; Second wounded.
Regiment, Light Infantry 1,740 612
Second Brigade, British Foot 2,240 360
First Division, Hessians 800 70
Ferguson's Riflemen 80 46
______ _____
Totals 4,860 1,088
Middle ford, under the command of Major-General
Gray:
Second Battalion, Guards 500
Second Battalion, Second Highlanders 700
Second Battalion, Seventieth Highlanders 700
____
Total 1,900
Lower ford, under the command of Lieutenant-General
Knyphausen:
Second Brigade, consisting of the Fourth, Killed and
Fifth, Tenth, Fifteenth, Twenty-third, wounded.
Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth, Fortieth,
Forty-fourth, and Fifty-fifth Regiments 2,240 580
Hessians to the amount of 800 28
Queen's Rangers 480 290
________ _____
Total 3,520 898
1,900
4,860 1,088
________ ______
The whole British force 10,280 1,986
1,986
________
8,294"
The estimate, says Mr. Headley, of the total force which the British had on the field, makes the two armies actually engaged about equal. The heavy loss here given seems, at first sight, almost incredible, and puts an entirely different aspect on the battle. Of the authenticity and accuracy of this document I think there can be no doubt.
From the ardor with which Washington had inspired his troops before this action, it is probable that the conflict would have been more severe had the intelligence respecting the movement on the left of the British army been less contradictory. Raw troops, changing their ground in the moment of action, and attacked in the agitation of moving, are easily thrown into confusion. This was the critical situation of a part of Sullivan's division, and was the cause of its breaking before Greene could be brought up to support it, after which it was impossible to retrieve the fortune of the day. But had the best disposition of the troops been made at the time, which subsequent intelligence would suggest, the action could not have terminated in favor of the Americans. Their inferiority in numbers, in discipline, and in arms was too great to leave them a probable prospect of victory. A battle, however, was not to be avoided. The opinion of the public and of Congress demanded it. The loss of Philadelphia, without an attempt to preserve it, would have excited discontent throughout the country, which might be productive of serious mischief, and action, though attended with defeat, provided the loss be not too great, must improve an army in which not only the military talents, but even the courage of officers, some of them of high rank, remained to be ascertained.