Battle of Brandywine

“ Immediately afterwards the army embarked for the Chesapeake. In the battle of Brandywine, a part of the 71st was actively engaged, and the regiment remained in Pennsylvania until November, when they embarked for New York. Here they were joined by two hundred recruits who had arrived from Scotland in September. These men along with one hundred more recovered from the hospital, formed a small corps under Captain Colin Mackenzie and acted as light infantry in an expedition up the North river to create a diversion in favor of General Burgoyne's movements. ”

“ Whereas the first military engagement of Casimir Pulaski with the British was on September 11, 1777, at the Battle of Brandywine, and his courageous charge in this engagement averted a disastrous defeat of the American Cavalry and saved the life of George Washington ”

“ To this I am to add, that, notwithstanding it is a standing order, and often repeated, that the troops shall always have two days' provisions by them, that they might be ready at any sudden call; yet an opportunity has scarcely ever offered, of taking an advantage of the enemy, that has not been either totally obstructed, or greatly impeded on this account. And this, the great and crying evil, is not all. The soap, vinegar, and other articles allowed by Congress, we see none of, nor have we seen them, I believe, since the battle of Brandywine. ”

“ The approach of night ended the whole conflict. The Americans retreated to Chester that night, where they rendezvoused, and the next day marched toward Philadelphia, and encamped near Germantown. General Armstrong, who was stationed at Pyles's Ford, had no opportunity to engage in the action. The British remained upon the field, near Dilworth, Howe taking up his quarters at Gilpin's, a few miles from Chad's Ford. *
Military men, when considering the battle of Brandywine, have questioned the judgment of Washington in incurring the great risk incident to a disparity in numbers and discipline. ”

“ The artillery was judiciously posted, and the disposition of the whole was well made. Unfortunately, Sullivan's division, in taking its ground, made too large a circuit, and was scarcely formed when the attack commenced.
The American army defeated at Brandywine, and retreat to Chester.
On perceiving the Americans, the British army was formed in order of battle; and, about half past four, the action began. It was kept up warmly for some time. The American right first gave way, and by its flight exposed the flank of the remaining divisions to a galling fire. ”

“ Valentine seeing the condition they all were in, resolved to give Brandiser battle, and thereupon divided his army into ten battalions, commanded by ten Knights, and sallying out of the City, began to fight with the Saracens, who were drawn up in readiness to receive them.
In the mean time the Emperor was at sea, returning homeward, and in his way he met a fleet going to the assistance of Brandiser, which bore upon him with full sails: whereupon exhorting his companions to behave like men, they made ready to receive them ”

“ At Brandywine, on the 11th of September, the American army was defeated with severe loss, Lafayette being among the wounded. Washington entered Philadelphia the next day, and, crossing the Schuylkill, posted his troops on the eastern bank of the river, with detachments at the ferries where it was thought the enemy were likely to attempt to cross. General Wayne concealed himself and 1,500 men in the woods, intending to attack the British in the rear, but a Tory betrayed his presence to the enemy, who in a furious assault slew 300 of his men. ”

“ Brandenberger would have to rely in the main on his artillery if the Seventh Army was to hold its position at the shoulder of the counteroffensive against any strong attack from the south. One of the first objectives, therefore, would be to neutralize or destroy the American artillery groupments, and for this purpose the army was given a few batteries of the new, long-range 120-mm. guns. The total artillery strength available in the army was 319 guns and 108 rocket projectors. When it came to close and mobile support for the assault Brandenberger's divisions would be in a bad way ”

“ Terrible in the field at Brandywine was the figure of a man armed only with a hammer, who plunged into the ranks of the enemy, heedless of his own life, yet seeming to escape their shots and sabre cuts by magic, and with Thor strokes beat them to the earth. But yesterday war had been to him a distant rumor, a thing as far from his cottage at Dilworth as if it had been in Europe, but he had revolted at a plot that he had overheard to capture Washington and had warned the general. In revenge the Tories had burned his cottage, and his wife and baby had perished in the flames. ”

“ An enthusiast to the discipline of war, he disdained to fly from the field, or to permit his men to quit their ranks, when their only method of treating the Indian army was by precipitate attack, or an immediate desertion of the field of battle. At length Braddock, having received a musket shot through the lungs, dropped, and a total confusion ensued. All the artillery, ammunition, and baggage of the army was left to the enemy, and the loss sustained by the English amounted to 700 men. ”

“ In wading through a narrow brook that obstructed their advance, their ranks became disordered, and Brant made effective use of the situation. His voice rose in a war-whoop and his warriors sprang into motion. After delivering one sharp, destructive volley, they seized their tomahawks and surged into the midst of their foe. From an hour before noon until sundown, sheltered by trees and rocks, both sides fought stubbornly. At last the whites gave way, and the battle closed with appalling slaughter. ”

“ And again: "Scorning to wield the hatchet for his tribe, 'Gainst Brant himself I went to battle forth, Accursed Brant I he left of all my tribe Nor man, nor child, nor thing of living birth. No I not the dog that watched my household hearth Escaped that night of blood upon the plains. All perish'd! I alone am left on earth! To whom nor relative nor blood remains— No, not a kindred drop that runs in human veins." * Brant always denied any participation in the invasion, but the evidence of history was against him, and the verdict of the world was, that he was the chief actor in the tragedy. ”

“ This surrender of Burgoyne was the greatest disaster which the British troops had thus far experienced, and raised the spirits of the Americans to the highest pitch. Indeed, this surrender decided the fate of the war, for it proved the impossibility of conquering the Americans. It showed that they fought under infinitely greater advantages, since it was in their power always to decline a battle, and to choose their ground. ”

“ An unknown horseman goes through at the gallop, with haggard cheeks and dishevelled hair: ‘Up, to arms, they are here!’ Some natives rush up: it is only too true: they have seen them, the bandits are no more than a league or two away! The alarm bell booms out, the people fly to arms, line up in battle order, start off to reconnoitre. In the end, nothing happens, but their terrors revive. The brigands have only turned aside: every man must remain under arms. ”

“ So also they were easily shaken when they felt or fancied themselves taken in flank, as at Brandywine and Germantown; difficult to move forward to the assault of a strong position, and forgetful of the principle that there is less danger in a rush upon the enemy than in standing still to receive his fire. They lost their organization rapidly, and, what is more rare, they recovered it again no less promptly. ”

“ The battle raged without cessation throughout the day, Wright and Hancock bearing the brunt of it. Burnside made several attacks, in which his troops generally bore themselves like good soldiers. The results of the battle of Spottsylvania were that we had crowded the enemy out of some of his most important positions, had weakened him by losses of between nine thousand and ten thousand men killed, wounded, and captured, besides many battle flags and much artillery, and that our troops rested victorious upon the ground they had fought for. ”

“ The necessity for aggressive operations, on account of Bragg’s boldness in taking such a desperate chance as to send a large force commanded by his ablest general away from his weak little army, increased the activity of the Union Army in its preparation for battle, and thus was opened a way for the relief of Burnside ”

“ To make success certain, General Brandenberger, the Seventh Army commander, sent army artillery and rocket projectors to join the 352d artillery battalions in creating an "artillery center of gravity" at Bastendorf. The shortage of bridging equipment continued to plague the Seventh Army, but Brandenberger's staff scraped together an impromptu bridge train and started it toward Ettelbruck. Fortunately for the Seventh Army drivers, gunners, and pontoneers, the skies remained overcast and the columns moved freely along the roads. ”

“ He told me that a runner had just arrived, who said that Braddock would certainly be defeated; that the Indians and French had surrounded him, and were concealed behind trees and in gullies, and kept a constant fire upon the English, and that they saw the English falling in heaps, and if they did not take the river, which was the only gap, and make their escape, there would not be one man left alive before sundown. The morning after the battle I saw Braddock's artillery brought into the fort ”

“ ON this 16th day of September, the opposing forces—Howe’s army led by Lord Cornwallis and the Americans by Anthony Wayne—met in conflict near the Warren Inn. Since Brandywine, when, because of Sullivan’s defeat, Washington had been forced to retreat to Chester, the armies had been maneuvering on the Lancaster pike ”

“ The British fought, to maintain their position, with wonderful intrepidity, notwithstanding their inferiority in number, and the fatigue of marching all the preceding night. The gallant 42nd Regiment of Scotch Highlanders, or the Black Watch, suffered very severely in pursuit of a French division repulsed early in the morning, by cuirassiers being posted in ambush behind growing corn as high as the shoulders of the tallest men. In this battle, the Duke of Brunswick fell, whose death is alluded to in the well-known lines of Byron on the field of Waterloo. ”

“ Bragg, unfortunately, learning of his dispositions during the night, massed almost his entire army in front of McCook, and in the gray of the following morning, and before we had attacked on the left, advanced with desperate fury upon the right wing. Outnumbered, outflanked, and overpowered, the right was forced to retire, not, however, until its line of battle was marked with the evidences of its struggle and the fearful decimation of the enemy. ”

“ It has been persistently claimed, to General Rosecrans's detriment, that in the excitement of the height of battle he had issued a blundering order. Nothing could be more unjust. The explanation is perfectly simple. General Thomas had sent for Brannan to meet Breckinridge's flank attack. Stewart's attack had struck Reynolds with force and was rapidly developing on Brannan's front. ”

“ Every bit of cover—bush, tree, or boulder—held its man. With dogged valour the savages stood their ground, till driven back by the very impetus of the onset. The enemy were massed deep in front and but little impression could be made on their compact ranks. More distressing still, the Americans had brought their heavy artillery into play, and it began to thunder against the defences. On this day Brant was an inspiring figure to his thin line of warriors. ”

“ Although a defeat, this spirited little battle was every way honorable to the Americans, who fought on until all hope of relief had vanished. A single company would have turned defeat into victory, when to the British, defeat in the woods, thirty miles from help, meant destruction. Even as it was, they did not know what to do with the victory they had just won, with the loss of two hundred men, killed and wounded, seventeen of whom were officers. ”

“ There are a-many who will not forgive me when I am dead."
"Queen Anne reigns, the Earl of Marlborough is at the head of the army. My lord, I want employment; I want to be in this campaign. Oh, cousin Mordaunt," Bevill Bracton said, with a break in his voice, "you cannot know how I desire to be a soldier once again, and fighting for my religion, my country, and the Queen. To be moving, to be a living man--not an idler. I have never parted with this," and he touched the hilt of the sword by his side, "help me; give me the right; find me the way to draw it once more as a soldier." ”

“ The victory was won by the sheer hard fighting of men who were well led.
194. Mighty Efforts of the Patriots to crush Burgoyne.—The battle of Bennington was a severe blow for Burgoyne. His army never fully recovered from it. A thousand of his best men were lost, besides cannon, arms, and supplies of war. Even the savages began to leave in large numbers. [Pg 217]
The effect of this brilliant victory on the country was magical. It began to be thought that the whole of Burgoyne's army might be captured. Militia came in increasing numbers even from points on the Atlantic coast. ”

“ There were a number of defeats to be wiped out. The memory of Braddock's defeat was still fresh, while Fort William Henry and its dastardly massacre was always before them. Those skirmishers fired a hail of bullets into the grenadiers sent down by the enemy to oppose the landing, and then, finding that their powder was damped by the sea-water, for very few of the men had escaped a drenching, they clapped bayonets to their muzzles, gave a fierce shout, and heads down charged the enemy, the long and terrible weapon, which they knew so well how to wield, held well in advance. ”