I'll Storm Hell by Noel Gerson

Author:Noel Gerson [Gerson, Noel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lume Books
Published: 2015-02-18T05:00:00+00:00

10

Sir William Howe’s tactics were so simple they completely fooled the Americans. Washington had mobilized his entire force east of a meandering little creek called the Brandywine, and the commander of Howe’s Hessian mercenaries, Baron Wilhelm von Knyphausen, made a feint at his center. Meanwhile Howe and his deputy, General Charles Lord Cornwallis, made a broad, almost semicircular sweep around the defenders’ position, utilizing a heavy, early autumn fog as a cover for their movements, and then launched a heavy attack on the Patriot right flank.

John Sullivan bore the brunt of the Redcoat assault, as he had clone in the Battle of Long Island, and his veterans held firm as long as they could under tremendous pressure, but eventually were thrown back. Other American units fared little better, and even the regiments under Washington’s personal command were forced to retreat. Only Anthony Wayne’s brigade, reinforced until it was virtually of division strength, could not be budged by Knyphausen.

But, with the flank crumbling, Washington faced disaster, and Nathanael Greene prevented a debacle when, with a division of Virginians, he halted what otherwise might have become a rout. Anthony’s Pennsylvanians and the ever-reliable Continentals from Delaware were moved into new positions to help him, and the American corps was saved.

Howe achieved his goal, however, and although the defenders retreated only a short distance, the Battle of Brandywine ended with the British in control of the road to Philadelphia. Anthony won two commendations from the commander-in-chief, one for his troops and another for himself, and the exhausted Washington also wrote to the gallant Lafayette, who had received a bullet wound that would incapacitate him for six weeks.

The Continental Congress promised General Greene a medal would be struck in his honor, but more pressing business distracted the members. Howe was marching toward the American capital, Philadelphia, and Congress evacuated the city in such haste that the delegates were aroused from their beds at four o’clock one cool mid-September morning. Only five hours later they were traveling westward, some on horseback and others in coaches, while their personal belongings and the official files of the United States government followed in carts drawn by mules.

“When an army loses a major battle,” Anthony bitterly told Lafayette, “there are no heroes in its ranks.”

The American corps was in retreat again, and Washington maneuvered with the consummate skill of one accustomed to falling back. He crossed the Delaware River to camp near the town of Chester for a day, then moved up the river toward the Schuylkill, with Howe maintaining a steady if not close pursuit.

Only one body of Continentals remained behind. Fifteen hundred of the most experienced and courageous veterans were given an unusual assignment under the command of the most daring of American generals, Anthony Wayne.

“Keep watch on Howe,” Washington instructed. “He may become careless, and if he leaves any holes or gaps in his line of march, move in. He’s depending on the Royal Navy fleet in Chesapeake Bay for his munitions and provisions, and with

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