88. Montrésor, Montrésor Journals, 449.
89. Letter, Cliffe to Jack, October 24, 1777.
90. Hale, Letter to his parents, “Philadelphia 23 March 1778,” Hale, “Letters,” 37.
91. Officer B.
92. Ewald, Diary, 84.
93. Von Donop, Journal of the Hessian Corps, Letter Z.
94. Lee, Memoirs, 89–90.
95. Officer B, attached memo.
96. Ewald, Diary, 85.
97. Officer B, attached memo.
98. Ewald, Diary, 85–86.
99. Hammond, Sullivan, 463.
100. Ewald, Diary, 86.
101. Letter, Lt. Col. Ludwig von Wurmb to Gen. Friedrich von Jungkenn, Court Chamberlain of Hessen Kassel, “In Camp at Schuylkill Falls, Five miles from Philadelphia, 14 October 1777”; Henry Retzer and Donald Londahl-Smidt, “The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777–1778: Letters and Reports from the von Jungkenn Papers. Part 1– 1777,” Schwalm 6, no. 2 (1998): 10.
102. Townsend MS. “Which was a novelty in that part of the country” is added to the sentence in the Futhey and Cope version. Futhey & Cope, Chester County, 75–76. Mustaches were such an ingrained feature of German soldiers in the eighteenth century that to this day, men of the pacifist Amish faith grow beards after marriage in accordance with the Old Testament but do not wear mustaches as an avoidance of pride and militarism. For the same reason, the men of this community, who were severely persecuted in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Germany and Switzerland for refusing military service, do not wear lapels or buttons on their coats.
103. Von Münchhausen, Diary, 31.
104. Hesse-Cassel Jäger Corps Report, Burgoyne, Enemy Views, 173–74.
105. Attached to the 17th Regiment officer's journal is a manuscript list of questions and comments headed “Examination of the Dundass System, answered according to the practice of the 1st Battalion Light Infantry,” attached to a Memorandum on the Battle of Brandywine: “Number of ranks: [Dundass: Company to form three deep]. Answer: Usual order two men. Men instructed to form single rank or four deep. [Dundass: Distance of files—Files lightly to touch]. Answer: Files by day always loose; usual order 11 inches. Open order arms Length; extended order from five yards to fifty.” British Journal 1776–1778, Notes of a Light Infantry Officer of the 17th Regiment of Foot, Sol Feinstone Collection, David Library of the American Revolution.
106. “The Brigade of Guards have always been with the advanced part of the army…at the battle of Brandywine we attacked the left flank of the rebel army…I had but one Grenadier wounded, the Light Company who were with me had only three…I was ordered the night after [Paoli] to pass the —— [Schuylkill] with the Light Company and Grenadiers of the Guards only…” George to John Osborn, “Camp near —— [Germantown?] September 30, 1777,” Osborn Letters, no. 100.
107. Townsend MS. The version published in Futhey and Cope says that Townsend and his companions went into the field southwest of the road; the manuscript says “southeast,” as does the 1846 published account. This is significant in the sense that Townsend later says that a German officer ordered him to take down bars of a fence along Birmingham Road to let troops through. If he was, in fact, west or southwest of the road, he would have been in the path of the British grenadiers. Here, on the east or southeast side of the road, he was faced with the Hessian and Anspach Jägers and British light infantry. The German officer was probably a Jäger officer.
108. Townsend MS.
109. Ewald, Diary, 86.
110. Townsend MS. The Futhey and Cope published account says, “Samuel Jones's brick dwelling-house” and “Hessians, who, stepping up the bank of the road…” Futhey & Cope, Chester County, 76. The Jones house, much modified in the mid-nineteenth century, still stands, its eighteenth-century brick shell encased in a white stucco Victorian Italianate country villa.
111. Townsend MS. The Futhey and Cope published version says, “a German officer, on horseback.” Futhey & Cope, Chester County, 76. Again, the details included or left out by editing can change the whole picture. Perhaps the officer was mounted, which would make him a high-ranking officer, such as Lieutenant Colonel von Wurmb. Or he may have also been on foot, as many of the junior officers were. In Tustin's translation of Ewald's diary, he speculates, not unreasonably, in note 65 (p. 393) that the officer may have been Ewald. This is unlikely, however, as Ewald was up ahead at the orchard with a handful of Jägers, and this was the main body of light troops deploying for battle several hundred yards away, as Townsend's account demonstrates.
112. Townsend manuscript.
113. Thomas Glyn, “Ensign Glyn's Journal on the American Service with the Detachment of 1,000 Men of the Guards,” entry for August 18, 1776, Princeton University Library, Princeton, New Jersey.
114. Huth, “Letters,” 499.
115. Microfiche #232, letter K, Journal of the Hessian Grenadier Battalion von Minnegerode.
116. “CADENCE, in tactics, implies a very regular and uniform method of marching, by the drum and music, beating time: it may not be improperly called mathematical marching; for after the length of the step is determined, the time and distance may be found. It is by a continual practice and attention to this, that the Prussians have arrived at that point of perfection, so much admired in their evolutions” [emphasis added]. Smith, Universal Military Dictionary, 38.
117. An anonymous British officer echoed similar sentiments in a letter published in London in early 1777 (and reprinted in the Pennsylvania Packet in 1778): “From the LONDON MAGAZINE, for April 1777. The following letter, whilst it confesses the excesses and desolations committed last winter in New Jersey, by the army under General Howe, shews what opinion the British officers entertain of their German auxiliaries. It is plainly the effusion of an English officer.[:] ‘You will easily imagine, that, differing as we do in language, manners and ideas, English and Hessians did not coalesce into one corps; not but that there was great communication and constant visiting, especially among the principal officers; but these were rather national civilities than personal kindnesses, and our younger people hardly kept up any communication with them at all. That rather affected to despise the thriftiness of the Hessian prudence, as a something base and sordid. The Hessian, naturally fierce, was not backward to return the disdain, and affected to consider the volatile spirit with which our youngsters went to war, as unsoldierly, and talked of themselves as the body on whom the success of the war was to depend’” [emphasis added]. Pennsylvania Packet, January 7, 1778, Accessible Archives online, Item #61522.
118. “Of the von Linsing Battalion, Lieutenants Dupuy and von Baumbach were slightly wounded, and some noncommissioned officers besides; the von Lengerke Battalion lost a fine grenadier, who was suffocated during the attack on account of the rapid march and the great heat.” Microfiche 334, Letter Z, Reports to General von Ditfurth, 198–99.
119. Letter, Hale to his parents, “Philadelphia, 23rd March 1778,” Hale, “Letters,” 36.
120. Glyn, 11–11a.
121. Letter, Loftus Cliffe to brother Jack, “Camp York Island [Manhattan] September 21st 1776,” Cliffe Papers.
122. Letter, Grant to Harvey, “Philadelphia 20th Octr. 1777,” Grant Papers, reel 37.
123. Hunter, Journal, 29–30.
124. Joseph Townsend returned to Osborne's Hill once the attack was under way. He recalled, “part of some of the fields in front of us contained great heaps of blankets and bagage thrown together to relieve the men for action.” Townsend MS.
125. Von Münchhausen, Diary, 31–32.
126. Hunter, Journal, 29–30. Hunter inadvertently included the Guards and grenadiers together as one column.
127. “Song CXXI, The British Grenadiers,” The Musical Miscellany: A Selection of Scots, English, and Irish Songs, set to Music (Perth, Scotland: Printed by J. Brown, 1786), 232–33. As with many songs of the period (“Yankee Doodle,” for example), the words, tune, and tempo have changed over the years, and even contemporary ve
rsions have variations. Occasionally the question arises among students and scholars of this period as to whether “The Grenadiers March” and “The British Grenadiers” are the same tune, since there were and are, in fact, two distinctly different tunes with these titles still in use by the British Army. “The Grenadiers March,” also called “The Grenadiers March Past,” is a solemn, slow march in three-quarter time, used for Trooping of the Colours, whereas “The British Grenadiers” is a lively, two-two quickstep. See B. Bruce-Briggs, “‘The Grenadiers March’ in Colonial Massachusetts,” Notes and Documents of Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 81, no. 57 (Autumn, 2003): 282–83, n. 1678, where this question is satisfactorily answered with contemporary songs and titles, including patriotic songs with American words, such as “A Song on Liberty” and “Gen. Washington” (“War and Washington”). The tune played at Brandywine was, no doubt, “The British Grenadiers.” Two more verses of this song appear on the next page.
128. Hale, “Letters,” 24.
129. Hunter, Journal, 29–30.
130. See Parker Journal entry for September 12 for the names of guns captured at Brandywine. “Ultima Ratio Regum” is found on most French cannon barrels of the period.
131. The original, arcane text reads, “Soon atter [after] the Line Wass formed the Army Moved on to Wards the Hights on Which Enemy Wass posted on. The first Line attacked Instantly which the Enemy advance Line gave Way our army Still gained ground all the [although] they had great Advantig of Ground and ther Canon keep a Constant fire on us. Yet We Near [ne'er] Wass danted.” Memmorandum List for 1777, Washington Papers online. This anonymous officer was probably from the 2nd Battalion of Light Infantry.
132. Officer B.
133. “Extracts from the Journal of Surgeon Ebenezer Elmer of the New Jersey Continental Line, September 11–19, 1777,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 35 (1911): 104–5.
134. Schwalm 6, no. 2 (1998): 10.
135. Burgoyne, Enemy Views, 173–74.
136. Officer B, attached memo; Ewald, Diary, 86.
137. Officer B, attached memo.
138. Lee, Memoirs, 89–90.
139. Flickinger, “Diary of Heth,” 31–32.
140. Lee, Memoirs, 89–90.
141. Montrésor, Montrésor Journals, 450.
142. Letter, “From the Camp on the Field of Battle near Delworth on the heights of Brandy Wine September 11th at Night,” Wayne Papers, vol. 4. This unsigned and unfinished letter was captured by Wayne's forces after they overran the camp of the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion at Germantown on October 4. After careful, exhaustive research, Steve Gilbert of Wisconsin was able to conclude from clues found in the text that the author was Lt. Richard St. George Mansergh St. George of the 52nd Light Company, who was wounded in the head at Germantown. See Hunter's Journal.
143. Hunter, Journal, 29–30.
144. “Hesse-Cassel Jäger Corps Journal,” Burgoyne, Enemy Views, 173–74.
145. In describing the cold reception that Lafayette and his party had at Congress in July, Dubuysson commented, “We rightly attributed it to the bad conduct of the Frenchmen who preceded us,” and included “the contempt felt for M. de Borre, also French, by all the officers of his brigade.” Lafayette, Letters and Papers 1, 77.
146. Letter, “Copy of the Letters Wrote to Congress by the Chl [Chevalier] De Preudhomme DeBorre, Trenton the 17 September 1777,” Washington Papers online, ser. 4, General Correspondence, September 1777, images 341–42.
147. Flickinger, “Diary of Heth,” 31.
148. Letter, Sullivan to J. Adams, “Camp on Perkiomy [Perkiomen], Sept. 28, 1777,” Hammond, Sullivan, 471.
149. Ibid., 462–63.
150. Letter, Burke to Caswell, “Philadelphia Sept. 17th, 1777,” Smith et. al. Letters of Delegates 7, 680.
151. Annual Register for 1777, 128. Cynics might be tempted to regard any British praise for Sullivan as gratuitous sarcasm or condescension, since some Americans considered his “incompetence” the reason for British success. The British accounts rightly point to the quality and spirit of their own troops as the reason for success against an American army that was growing stronger and better through hard experience.
152. To Messieurs Powars & Willis Printer in Boston: “…I observe in your paper of the 2nd of October you have published Extracts of a Letter from a Gentleman of Distinction in Philadelphia to his Friend in Boston Dated September 15th 1777 Respecting the Battle of Brandywine which is perhaps as Replete with misrepresentation as any yet published.” Hammond, Sullivan, 472–74.
153. DeBorre, Washington Papers online.
154. Hammond, Sullivan, 463–64.
155. Conway's Testimony for Sullivan, “Given under my Hand at Flatland Camp [Fatland Ford] the Twenty day of September 1777,” Hammond, Sullivan, 555–56.
156. Von Münchhausen, Diary, 31.
157. Hammond, Sullivan, 464.
158. Ibid., 555–56. “M. de Conway, brigadier general, is detested by the officers of his brigade and envied by all the generals, including Washington, because he makes his brigade work and personally drills and instructs it, instead of leaving it idle in camp.” Memoir of Chevalier Dubuysson (who accompanied Lafayette to America), Lafayette, Letters and Papers 1, 79.
159. Lafayette, Letters and Papers 1, 94.
160. Letter, Col. John Stone to William Paca, “Camp in Philadelphia, County Schuylkill, September 23d, 1777,” in Scharf, Chronicles, 166–68.
161. Lafayette, Letters and Papers 1, 94–95.
162. Stone to Paca, Scharf, Chronicles, 166–68.
163. “Papers of Gen. Samuel Smith,” 85.
164. DeBorre, Washington Papers online.
165. Stone to Paca, Scharf, Chronicles, 166–68.
166. “Papers of Gen. Samuel Smith,” 86.
167. DeBorre, Washington Papers online.
168. Stone to Paca, Scharf, Chronicles, 166–68.
169. “Journal of Sgt. Maj. John Hawkins,” in “Notes and Queries,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 20 (1896): 420–21.
170. “Papers of Gen. Samuel Smith,” 86.
171. Robertson Map Key.
172. Osborn Letters 3, 100. In mentioning Maxwell, Osborn was probably referring to the American light troops at Chads's Ford, where the 1st Battalion of Guards ended up. It is also possible that he refers to Maxwell's New Jersey Brigade in Stirling's line.
An extraordinary document in the U.S. National Archives provides documentation about Guards casualties and just how much ammunition each company expended at Brandywine.
“Return of the Number of Cartridges Wanting to Compleat the Brigade of Guards to 60 Rounds Per Man 12th Septemr. 1777.
Return of Killed, Wounded, Missing: 1 Killed, 5 Wounded, 2 Missing
Orders of British Troops, film 9, reel 1.
173. Cantelupe diary.
174. Hammond, Sullivan, 464.
175. “List of Officers Killed Since the Commencement of the War &c.: Compiled by Capt. George Inman, 1784, George Inman's Narrative of the American Revolution,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 7 (1883): 237–48; Remembrancer of 1777, 417.
176. Officer B, attached memo.
177. Officer B.
178. Officer B, attached memo.
179. Hammond, Sullivan, 464.
180. Futhey and Cope, Chester County, 79. McClellan's father was James McClellan, who operated a tavern in Salisbury Township (now Parkesburg). McClellan was one of the chief dignitaries who escorted Lafayette during his return in 1824. The statement that officers were later issued spontoons is correct. The spontoon, or espontoon, was a half-pike, or ornamental spear, usually seven or so feet long. British officers carried them when the war began, but finding that it made them too conspicuous, they changed to fusils. The American forces did the opposite: Finding that officers’ loading and firing distracted them from their duty, directives went out in 1778 that officers were not to carry firearms, but spontoons. The spontoon
allowed the officer to be seen by his men, provided him with a large pointer or a way to keep his men in alignment, and served as a weapon at close quarters.
181. Officer B.
182. Ibid.
183. Daniel Agnew, “A Biographical Sketch of Governor Richard Howell of New Jersey,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 22 (1898): 224.
184. Smith, Universal Military Dictionary, 90.
185. Parker MS. The original text reads, “I visited my friends of the Queens/[Rangers] who had Suffered [wounds?] when I was delighted with the platoons of Genl. Howe on the [rebels’? rig]ht.” The words in brackets have been supplied and the brackets removed for clarity in the text.
186. Extract of a Letter, Chambers to Gen. Edward Hand, Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives 2, 322–23.
187. John T. Hayes, A Gentleman of Fortune: The Diary of Baylor Hill, First Continental Light Dragoons, 1777–1781, vol. 1 (Fort Lauderdale, FL: The Saddlebag Press, 1995), 70.
188. Letter, Henry Marchant to Rhode Island Governor and Assembly, “Philadelphia Sepr. 17th, 1777,” Smith et. al. Letters of Delegates 7, 689; Letter, Elbridge Gerry to James Warren, “Philadelphia Sepr 17, 1777,” Smith et. al. Letters of Delegates 7, 683–84; Letter, Williams to Trumbull, “Philadela. Sepr. 13th, 1777, Saturd. Eveng.,” Smith et. al. Letters of Delegates 7, 657.
189. Von Münchhausen, Diary, 31–32.
190. Robertson Map Key.
191. Montrésor, Montrésor Journals, 450.
192. Lushington, Harris, 66–67.
193. Lee, Memoirs, 90.
194. Lushington, Harris, 66–67.
195. Hammond, Sullivan, 460–65.
196. Lafayette, Letters and Papers 1, 94–96.
197. Hammond, Sullivan, 460–65.
198. Officer B, attached memo.
199. “Memorial of Capt. Charles Cochrane,” written for Lord Germain, Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 6, 2nd ser. (1891): 434–35.
200. Officer B, attached memo.
201. Stuart, A Prime Minister and His Son, 108.
The Philadelphia Campaign Page 48
