While the American army was suffering at Valley Forge the British were comfortably quartered in Philadelphia. When they first entered the city it presented a sorry appearance: 590 dwellings and 240 stores were unoccupied; the leaden spouts of many houses had been taken down to mould into bullets, and the bells of the churches and public buildings had been removed to places of safety. The male population between the ages of eighteen and sixty numbered but 5,335, and of these one fifth were Quakers. The feelings of the Quaker citizens had been greatly outraged by the arrest and banishment to the western part of Virginia of a number of their people. Sullivan had discovered on his march through New Jersey what he believed to be a treasonable correspondence on their part with the enemy, and he had forwarded the papers to Congress. The matter had been referred to the authorities of Pennsylvania, who found in the correspondence, and in an address issued by the Quaker meeting in December, the grounds for sending the Quaker leaders into exile. It was but natural that the families of these men should have looked upon the British as their deliverers from an outrageous tyranny. But they soon found to their sorrow that their opposition to war afforded them as little protection from one side as from the other. The property destroyed by the British was enormous, and a revulsion of feeling was the consequence. At one time seventeen handsome houses beyond the lines were set on fire to prevent their being occupied by the American pickets. Persons living in the neighborhood of the city were robbed by both parties, and their crops carried off or destroyed. The temptation to sell their produce for hard money induced some of the neighboring farmers to supply the enemy with luxuries, though they found access to the city hazardous. The Americans under Smallwood guarded the roads leading to Wilmington, while Generals Potter and Lacy scoured the country west and north of the city. Captains Allen McLane, Clark, and Lee watched the movements of the enemy and reported them to Washington, but they could not oppose the large forces that Howe frequently sent out to protect those who were willing to risk furnishing him with provisions.
Note.—The play-bill on the opposite page is after a fac-simile given in Smith's Amer. Hist. and Lit. Curios., 2d series. A list of such bills printed in Philadelphia at this time is given in Hildeburn's Issues of the Press in Penna., ii. pp. 315, 316.
The desolation which surrounded the town was soon in striking contrast with the scenes within. The empty stores were occupied by itinerant traders from New York, who offered for sale articles of luxury that the war had driven from the American market. The officers of the army were quartered on the citizens, and after the campaign closed they gave themselves up to social enjoyments. Clubs met at the public-houses, and weekly balls were given at the City Tavern. As many of the officers were men of education and refinement, they were warmly welcomed in the families of leading citizens; but there was another class who did much to change the moral aspect of the city, when, by following the loose example of their commander, Sir William Howe, they shocked the staid citizens with their immorality. Cock-fighting and gambling were favorite amusements, and a faro-table kept by a foreigner proved the ruin of many young officers. The theatre on South Street was fitted up under directions of Captains André and De Lancey. Some of the scenes were painted by André. The profits of the performances were divided among the widows and orphans of the soldiers. As spring approached, horse-racing was added to the list of amusements. While citizens of wealth could take part in the gaieties which surrounded them, those in moderate circumstances suffered privations. Firewood was extremely scarce and provisions high. "Nothing but hard money will pass", wrote a resident to a relative outside of the lines. "There is plenty of goods, but little money among the tradespeople. The market is poor. I received the butter by J——; we are no longer accustomed to eat butter on our bread. I keep it to make water soup, which we have nearly every day." The army of occupation, on the other hand, was plentifully supplied with military stores after the defences on the Delaware were captured.
Martial law ruled supreme. The appointment of Joseph Galloway to be superintendent of police and the designation of magistrates under him were the only steps taken towards the revival of civil authority, and Galloway received his orders from headquarters.
The supineness of Howe robbed the British of all the benefits that might have resulted from the capture of Philadelphia. Attempts were made to raise regiments of loyalists, but so little support did the scheme receive that it was only partially successful. The "Pennsylvania Loyalists", of which William Allen, Jr., was colonel, and the "Queen's Rangers", commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe, were the most efficient of these corps. No attempt was made to drive Washington's half-starved forces from their camp, although their condition was perfectly well known to Howe through the deserters that flocked to the city. The military movements of Howe while in Philadelphia were confined to foraging expeditions and attacks on isolated posts that could be surprised and broken up with little danger of loss. While these were successful, they gave to the war a predatory character that reflected little credit on British arms, and intensified the bitterness entertained for all representatives of royal authority.
The British government, dissatisfied with the results of Howe's campaigns, decided early in 1778 upon his recall. Sir Henry Clinton, his successor, arrived in Philadelphia the 8th of May, and on the 18th an entertainment was given by the officers of the army in honor of the retiring commander. The fête was styled the "Mischianza", and consisted of a regatta, a mock tournament, and a ball. But "Knights of the Burning Mountain" and of the "Blended Rose", with squires and ladies decked with spangles and ribbons, could not disguise the fact that the royal army had failed in accomplishing the task assigned to it, and the chagrin of its veterans was deepened by the frivolous scenes which marked the retirement of Sir William Howe.
The alliance with France made it necessary for the British to contract their operations, and Sir Henry Clinton brought with him orders to evacuate Philadelphia. His intention of doing so became known to Washington, and that his information might be more certain he ordered Lafayette, with a body of two thousand four hundred men, the flower of the army, to cross the Schuylkill and take a position near the city. This movement was made on the very day of the Mischianza, and on the morning of the 19th Howe learned that Lafayette was at Barren Hill, twelve miles distant. Clinton had not yet assumed command, and in the hope of closing his career in America by a brilliant stroke, Howe determined to make an effort to capture the young Frenchman and his detachment. So confident was he of doing this, that, before leaving the city, he invited his friends to meet Lafayette, whom he promised to bring with him on his return, while his brother, the admiral, prepared a vessel in which to take the distinguished captive to England. On the night of the 19th Grant, with five thousand men, marched by way of Frankford and Oxford, and by morning he had gained a point on the Swedes Ford road two miles in the rear of Lafayette. Another detachment, under Grey, was sent by way of Chestnut Hill to attack Lafayette's flank; while the main portion of the army, under Howe, took the Ridge road, to attack him in front. Lafayette's position was on high ground, and was naturally strong. Neither Grey nor Howe could approach him without his being aware of their advance. In his rear were two roads. One led along the riverside to Matson's Ford, three miles distant; the other along a ridge, a short distance from the river, to Swedes Ford, still higher up. The ground between the roads was heavily wooded. Had Grant, who held the Swedes Ford road, sent a portion of his force to Matson's Ford (which he could have done by a cross-road), Lafayette's only line of retreat would have been destroyed. But in place of doing this he marched down the Swedes Ford road to attack the American rear. Through the carelessness of his scouts, Lafayette was ignorant of Grant's position. He was preparing his force to receive Howe, when he heard of the column advancing from Chestnut Hill. He had just faced a portion of his troops in that direction when he learned that Grant was in his rear. Lafayette's danger was now apparent, but he was equal to the occasion. Without losing a moment, he sent troops through the woods, with orders to allow themselves to be seen at times by Grant, and lead him to suppose that they were the advance-guards of larger numbers. He also left a small body to engage the attention of Howe and Grey, and then silently marched his detachment along the river road, below Grant, to Matson's Ford. Grant was entirely deceived. He halted his men, reconnoitred the troops seen in the woods, and then pushed on to Barren Hill, where he met the other columns and discovered that Lafayette had escaped. The British pursued him to the ford, but by the time they reached it Lafayette had drawn up his force on the other side, and his rear-guard could be seen following him, dotting the river like the corks of a seine. Fearing that Lafayette had been reinforced by the entire American army, Howe made no attempt to follow him, but returned to the city, and on the 24th sailed for England.