Happy Independence Day!
This is a special July 4th edition of That Should Be A Movie. Today’s historical event that I would like to pitch as an epic summer blockbuster is one full of John Wayne heroics and Michael Bay explosions. We’re talking Great American Comeback Story, Rocky Balboa Underdog-Going-All-Nine-Rounds-Against-The-World-Heavy-Weight-Champion kind of stuff here. We’re talking about The Philadelphia Campaign of 1777-1778!
I have consulted too many books to name them all here. Here’s just a few. The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777-1778 by Stephen R. Taaffe, from University Press of Kansas, Brandywine: A Military History of the Battle that Lost Philadelphia but Saved America, September 11, 1777 by Michael Harris, from Savas Beatie, The Philadelphia Campaign: June 1777-July 1778 by David G. Martin, from Combined Book, Valley Forge by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, from Simon & Schuster, The Philadelphia Campaign, Vol. I & II, by Thomas J. McGuire, from Stackpole Books, and Monmouth Court House: The Battle that Made the American Army by Joseph G. Bilby, from Westholme Publishing. I had so much fun doing so much research that I might do an episode on each of the individual nine rounds by themselves in the future.
Stay tuned!
Short Pitch
It’s called The Philadelphia Campaign
In the vein of Braveheart
It is like Rock IV meets The Patriot.
It follows strong tempered but firmly diplomatic General George Washington
And young idealistic French aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette
As they battle to keep the British Army from capturing the American capitol at Philadelphia and the colonial fight for freedom.
Problems arise when the British capture the capitol after the Continental Army cannot hold its own against the better trained royalist forces and must face a brutal winter at Valley Forge.
Together they will face the King’s troops, weather the elements, survive political conspiracies, and train to become a force that go the distance against the British Army on the battlefield.
The idea came to me when studying iconic moments of American history like Valley Forge and Monmouth Courthouse, I realized that the Philadelphia Campaign had the inspirational themes of sports movie, like the Rocky franchise.
My unique approach to the subject matter would be telling the epic scale of the campaign through the human relationships of the participants with the themes similar to those in sports movies like going the distance, training, determination, and a strong mindset.
A set piece would be when Lafayette gets the word out that officers are trying to get Washington replaced with Horatio Gates. General Gates is considered the hero of Saratoga, having captured an entire British Army. Many of the Continental Soldiers have seen Washington walk among them and view their suffering. They have observed him do his uttermost to alleviate their sufferings. They have watched him shame inactive Congressmen into taking off their own shoes in the snow and giving them to the soldiers. The soldiers come out of their huts and hovels, shivering as they clutch rags to their malnourished bodies. Then they fill the hollers and dells of Valley Forge with “Washington or No Army! Washington or No Army! Washington or No Army!” Washington remains in command.
Target audiences would be teenagers, men and women 20-90, history nerds, gamers, military buffs, veterans, Americans, South Koreans, Eastern Europeans, and fans of action movies and blockbuster summer releases.
Audiences would want to see it for its themes of determination, resilience, motivation, inspiration, survivalism, brotherhood, friendship, the relationships of historical characters, like the father-son relationship of Washington and Lafayette, excitement, epic scale, romance of another era, fighting for freedom, strong women figures and cameos of characters from the hit musical Hamilton.
FFFRRRREEEEEDDDDDOOOOMMMMM!!!!!
Round One Starts off in New Jersey
The main contenders are General George “Mother Was Hit By Lightning While Carrying Him” Washington and General Sir William “Howdy The Old Man” Howe. After Washington kidney punched the Hessians and redcoats at Trenton and Princeton, the British pulled back to the coastal region of New Jersey. Howe spends the spring and early summer trying to lure the Continental Army out of their corner in Morristown. No large battles occur as Howe tries to cut the ring and Washington backpaddles. Finally, the British were like, “What the heck, it’s New Jersey. You can have it.” The British capture an American spy named Abraham Patten after he tried to rabbit punch them by blowing up their ammunition magazines in Brunswick on King George Three’s Birthday. His final words at his public hanging were, “I die for liberty!”
Then General “Howdy Doody” receives instructions from his trainers back in Jolly Old England to cooperate with General John Burgoyne as he marches south from Canada in order to cut New England off from the other colonies. But he instead decides to combine this movement with capturing the capital of the rebellion, Philadelphia. In European warfare capturing a capital was always a psychological KO.
He loads his men onto the ships of his brother Earl Richard “Black Dick” Howe. Washington has no idea where Howe is going. Is he going to Canada to help Burgoyne? Is he going to attack Charleston, SC? Is he going to capture Boston?
He learns where Howe is going when Caesar Rodney, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, sends a rider to alert him that the British are in Delaware Bay. Now Washington knows that the Brits mean to deliver a punch to The City of Brotherly Love. But then the British backpaddle down the Delaware. On August 12, American signal guns greet the British Navy as they enter Chesapeake Bay. With 266 ships, it is the largest armada to be assembled off the American coast until the War Between The States.
Washington decides to lift morale by having The Continental Army parade through Philadelphia for two hours on August 26. Called the Grand Army, they are composed of Irish, Germans, Poles, British Scots, and African American Freemen. The green sprigs they wear in their hats do not hide the fact that they are mature lightweights.
Then Washington watches the British troops unload at Head of Elk, Maryland. From atop Gray’s Hill, it is believed that he and Howe spied each other in a real Face Off. A rainstorm drives Washington into a nearby home. The homeowner was a Tory, so Washington and his staff came very close to being betrayed and captured. Washington tells his men, “The eyes of all America and of Europe are turned upon us and the most important moment is at hand where glory waits to crown the brave.”
The news is nearly all bad. Daniel Morgan, no not the beer Captain Morgan, and his elite riflemen have been called away to stop Burgoyne and the local militia run away from the heavyweight British. The first blows land when Washington, like Gandalf to the Balrog in the Mines of Moria, tells the British “You Shall Not Pass” at Cooch’s Bridge, or Iron Hill. Bloody British do pass. Legend has it that Iron Hill was the first time that the American flag, The Stars and Stripes, flew over troops during battle.
Round Two Occurs Along a Creek Called The Brandywine (No, Not the One From the Works of Tolkien)
This is George Washington’s first serious attempt to block Howe’s drive toward Philadelphia. He is planning to launch his first offensive against a significant part of the British army during the American Revolution. It is like in Aliens when Ellen Ripley appears in the robot exoskeleton and tells the Xenomorph queen to, “Stay away from her, b-tch.”
Only Cooler.
Because It Is Real.
On the eve of battle, Reverend Jacob Trout leads the troops in a devotion. G. W. places the men of Major General Nathanael Greene and Brigadier-General Francis Nash’s North Carolina to guard a ford that belongs to a Chadd. He believes fake news that the next fords on the Brandywine are many miles away. He tells his men, “Now then is the time for our most strenuous extortions. One bold stroke will free the land from rapine, devastations, and burning and female innocence from brutal lust and violence. If we behave like men, this third campaign will be our last.” #TimesUp
The first shots occur at 6:00 am on September 11th as men under William Maxwell open fire on the advancing troops of Hessians under Wilhelm Knyphausen. American infantry fire and fall back to prearranged concealed positions, slowing the Storm Trooper-like soldiers down. One of these American Infantrymen is the future Chief Justice of the United States John Marshall. Three full hours of sharp ambush firing and fitful skirmishing follow until the Hessians force the Americans across the Brandywine. The colonial cannons on the far side of the creek began firing on them. One cannonball hits an ammunition wagon. Boom! The Hessians are joined by riflemen under Patrick Ferguson. It is believed that Ferguson once had General Washington in his sights but did not shoot him because he admired how well he was carrying out his duties. Washington is joined by an idealistic and romantic French youth named Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, uh, heck, let’s just call him Lafayette. Washington is supposed to try to keep him out of harm’s way, he just doesn’t know this.
Despite fires obscuring their vision, it appears the Americans are winning. But Howe is just feinting and is now bringing his overhand at Jeffery’s Ford upriver. It’s a near-total repeat of Jamaica Pass at The Battle of Long Island from a year earlier. Washington receives conflicting reports about what is going on and according to local legend, it takes an old man named Thomas Cheyney to convince him of the British movement. That could be in a movie, who cares what Brandon F. says? Washington sends the divisions of Nathanael Greene, John Sullivan, Adam Stephen, William Alexander (a.k.a. Lord Stirling), and Francis Nash to meet the British thrust at Birmingham Friends, no, not the sitcom, Meetinghouse. Among Stirling’s men is future president James Monroe. Maxwell’s riflemen, Armstrong’s militia, and the division of Mad Anthony Wayne, whose name would be bestowed on a certain American Icon a century and a half later, are sent to guard Chadd’s Ford.
The Americans, especially Woodford’s Virginians, with a shoutout to the 3rd Virginia, put up a spirited fight. The Americans wait until the enemy is within 6 rods of them before opening fire. Thomas Conway, a seasoned combatant of European wars, says he has never seen “so close and severe a fire.” But it is 5,300 Americans who were about to face off against 9,000 British troops and their allies. With bayonet charges and flanking movements while their band plays “The British Grenadiers”, the British and Germans drive the Americans off the field in one of the most spectacular military moments ever to occur on the North American continent. The rebels are sent into a headlong retreat. Lafayette tries to rally the troops, including jumping from his horse to tackle fleeing soldiers until he is wounded in the thigh. He does not allow the wound to be dressed until that night after helping to form a defensive line at Chester, winning the respect of Washington and many other Americans.
Meanwhile back at the Chadd’s Ford, Ferguson and the Hessians stop bobbing and weaving and strike at the Americans. Generals Wayne and Maxwell’s lightweights are outnumbered three to one and at 2:00 PM are forced to fall back, but not before turning the Brandywine’s waters red with redcoat blood. A cannonade covers their retreat as they fire from behind fences, walls, houses, and ditches for an hour and a half. A cavalry charge of 30 horsemen led by the Polish cavalier Casimir Pulaski helps halt the British advance and the final shots are fired by Greene’s men as the sun goes down.
Thus ends one of the largest and longest battles of the American Revolution. American casualties are nearly a thousand, while British losses at over 600. It is obvious that the British and German troops were much better drilled than the Americans and that the Continental soldiers did not understand tactics. Only the troops under Greene, Maxwell, Wayne, and Nash had retreated in good order. Nash’s troops had even covered the army’s escape. One British officer referred to the rebels as banditti. However, other Royal officers thought differently. In fact, some of the Americans had fought so well that General Howe thought Sullivan’s 1,000 men had been 10,000 troops. The German commander Carl Leopold Bauermeister admired the Americans even as they fought off his Hessians.
But more important was the attitude of the Americans. As they retreated, the soldiers could be heard saying, “Come on boys, we shall do better another time.” Nate Green wrote, “I Live, I Die, I Live Again”..
…Never mind, that was the War Boys from Mad Max: Fury Road.
He actually wrote, “We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.”
Washington decreed that “for their gallant behavior, each man would get one gill per day of rum while it lasts.”
Murica!
Round Three Happens at Paoli
Washington tries to checkhook Howe at Six-Point Crossroads in The Great Valley, not the one from Land Before Time, but the one northwest of Philadelphia, but rain ruins the ammunition and powder of the troops. This rain also providentially kept the Imperials from seriously KOing Washington. This drawl became known as the Battle of the Clouds.
Next, Washington sends Wayne to meet up with William Smallwood’s militia to do a tying-up on Howe’s rear. Wayne’s men camp near a tavern named after the Corsican rebel Pasquale Paoli. However, before The Americans can deliver a knockout, loyalists alert the British.
On the night of September 20th, the British, led by Major General Charles Grey, a real brawler, and including The 42nd Highland Infantry Regiment, The Blackwatch, approach the American camp under cover of darkness. He tells his men to remove the flints from their guns, earning him the nickname, “No Flints” Gray. The attack is so sudden that Wayne would later be accused of being caught with his guard down. A court-martial would clear his name. Most of the gun fire that lit up the night came from American pickets and pockets of resistance. However, it was the fierce use of the bayonet by the British that carried the battle into a pounding American defeat. Fifty-four Americans are killed and many more are wounded and captured. Many of the American POWs were gruesomely wounded from the bayonets.
While the fight at Paoli was small, it had a profound emotional impact. Washington had to send Alexander Hamilton to let Congress know that Philly must be evacuated. All of the papers of the Continental Congress and the Liberty Bell, which had rang out from the State House on July 8, 1776, to announce the reading of the Declaration of Independence, had to be moved to the new capitol at York. In an epic movie, this would call for a truly harrowing scene of the Liberty Bell, which could be melted and cast into munitions by the British, being carried on an ox wagon through streets teaming with masses of confused refugees like Rhett and Scarlet escaping Atlanta in Gone With The Wind.
But more importantly, the nightmare of “Wayne’s Affair” became a rallying cry for Americans. Gruesome stories of the dead and living turned into pin cushions by multiple bayonet wounds spread far and wide turning the battle into a massacre. The British 52nd Light Company became known as the Blood Hounds. And “Remember Paoli” became a rallying cry in the grand tradition of American rally cries like “Remember The Alamo,” “Remember The Maine,” “Remember Pearl Harbor,” “Remember 9/11” and “Remember to Like this Post and Subscribe to this Blog.”
Round Four Takes place at Germantown
On September 26th, Howe and the British army enter the deserted capital. In a jab at the Americans, green sprigs are in their horses’ tails.
But Washington is still in the ring.
He sees an opening when the British troops station just beyond Philly at Germantown. With Wayne and Smallwood back and with more Continentals under the command of Alexander McDougal having arrived, giving Washington a strength of 7,000 Continentals plus 3,000 militia. He decides on a Lead Weight. Then two letters are intercepted that reveal Howe has sent 3,000 of his men to New Jersey, poor guys, to attack American posts at Billingsport which are guarding the Delaware River. The time is ripe for an attack.
On the morning of October 4th, the Americans are like “Knock, Knock.” Now the British are taken by surprise. Wayne’s men cry, “Have at the bloodhounds! Revenge Wayne’s affair!” With bayonets, they take revenge for Paoli. The British with five regiments charged them twice but were driven off each time until their numbers were reduced to battalion by killing and wounding. Continentals fill the air with “Huzzas!” Royal buglers call retreat. And for the first time in the war, the British regulars are running from Washington’s Continental Army. The British are running from the Americans!
General Howe, galloping up to the scene, could not believe his eyes. “For shame, light infantry, I never saw you retreat before, form! Form! It is only a scouting party.” Then the American cannons suddenly appear and fire grapeshot. The soldiers enjoy watching the general who had just accused them of being cowards cower as lead flies by his ears.
Victory seems in grasp. But Colonel Thomas Musgrave and 120 men of the 40th Foot have barricaded themselves inside a stone house called Cliveden. Henry Knox convinces Washington that a fort should not be left in their rear. Washington orders an attack. Despite constant infantry attacks and cannon bombardment, the British stronghold refuses to fall. The soldiers of Maxwell’s light infantry who actually enter the building are bayoneted to death. The Continentals attempt to push a fire wagon to the front door but are driven back. John Laurens, yes, that John Laurens from Hamilton, and a French volunteer, Thomas-Antoine de Mauduit Du-Plassi, approached the house with burning straw. Laurens was wounded in the shoulder, but Du Plessie managed to make it inside. However, he only escaped capture when a British private accidentally shot the officer who had taken him prisoner. Not so lucky were majors John White who was shot when he snuck to the house with a lighted torch and Edward Sherburn who was killed when he was bayoneted through the mouth. In all, 56 Americans died in the futile attempt.
Elsewhere, fog and smoke shrouded the battlefield. Commanders lost and confused, led their men towards the firing at Cliveden. There are incidents of friendly fire between the Continentals. And, the soldiers, not realizing how close they were to enemy lines, began shouting that they were out of ammunition. The British, hearing this, charge, and Washington orders a retreat.
Meanwhile, Nate Greene continues to press his attack, unaware of the army’s retreat. Some of his regiments penetrate the British lines deep enough to plunder abandoned huts. Their shouts of joy alert other British units, which counterattack. Some of the Americans hold up in Market Square Church before surrendering.
One of the last shots of the battle almost hits General Washington and his staff. It was a 6-pound iron cannon ball that tore through the neck of Brigadier General Francis Nash’s horse, ripped through the general’s left thigh, and smashed in the head of and killed Major James Witherspoon, son of Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Nash died a few days later after bleeding through two mattresses.
On a lighter note, the Americans did take some British prisoners. One of them wore a collar saying he belonged to General Howe. Washington, ever the gentleman, called a truce to return his foe his canine friend.
Despite the defeat, the rebels retreated in good order. The famous pamphleteer Thomas Paine, who served as an aide-de-camp to Greene, said the retreat was extraordinary. While admitting they needed more training, he wrote Ben Franklin that “the men were disappointed, not defeated, and more displeased at their retreat than in a hurry to get away. Nobody hurried themselves.” Because of this battle, Howe pulls his troops back to his corner in Philly.
The Continentals had gone the distance!
Round Five Is Split Between the Forts Mercer and Mifflin
The British themselves are still not in the clear yet. Two American forts, Mercer and Mifflin, guarded the Delaware River, keeping British ships from bringing food and supplies to the army in the city. An elaborate defense system, including chevaux de fries planted in the riverbed to disembowel ships, had been designed by the Polish engineer Tadeusz Kościuszko. A British Captain Jon Montresor begins building batteries less than a mile from one fort, but American raids, commando style, slowed down the progress. On October 2, Fort Billingsport, New Jersey, falls to the Royal Navy, but not before The Americans escaped after spiking the guns and setting the barracks on fire.
Boom!
But, as the House Stark says, “Winter Is Coming,” and Howe is running out of supplies and with no timetable from Montresor, he begins planning an attack on the forts.
On October 22, 1,200 Hessians, led by Colonel Carl von Donop , seeking revenge for the humiliation of Trenton, attack Fort Mercer. Inside are 400 Americans led by Nate Greene’s’ cuz, Christopher Greene, who orders his men to fire low. “They have a broad just below the hips. Aim at that.” Von Donop demands that the fort surrender or no quarter will be given. A Lieutenant, Jeremiah Olney replies “We shall not ask for nor – expect – any quarter, and men to defend the fort to the last extremity.” The Hessians attack the fort, scaling the outer walls and getting inside. Victory is at hand, they believe. But the Americans had built a fort within a fort. It’s like Fortception. Concealed Artillery and infantry let loose volleys of crossfires. Canister blasts tore holes in the German lines. It is like Indiana Jones fighting Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Only Cooler
Because It Is Real.
Meanwhile, The Royal Navy tries attacking Fort Mifflin at the same time, but several ships run aground. The siege of that fort lasted from September 26 to November 16, 1777. On November 8, the Royal Navy passes the chevaux de fries, thanks to a traitor! The Americans only have four cannons on that side of the fort. The Pennsylvania Navy comes to help. What follows is a contest of epic portions involving 350 cannons. It was the largest concentration of fire on American soil until the Civil War.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
BOOM!
The fort was pounded into ruins. Americans had to dig out unexploded British cannon balls from the mud to fire back at the Jacks. The Americans send fire ships to disrupt the British ships. The HMS Augusta is set on fire, and when the flames reach her magazine, explodes! Boom! On November 15, the American Commander Simeon Thayer ordered Fort Mifflin abandoned, evacuating his men to Fort Mercer. He set fire to the supplies that remained. But he left the American flag flying, a symbol that the fort never surrendered.
Based!
On November 19th, The Continentals evacuate Fort Mercer and then blow it up. Boom! The Pennsylvanian Navy has no protection and nowhere to go. They set their 15 ships afire. Boom! The whole city of Philadelphia comes out to watch the fire show. Now Howe can supply his men.
It’s like in Rocky IV when Drago kills Apollo Creed.
In Round Six GW Staggers Around the Ring at White Marsh
After the fall of Forts M&M, the Americans and British parry back and forth with a few small skirmishes. December 5th through the 8th sees skirmishing at White Marsh as Howe swings at the Americans. Washington is alerted to Howe’s plans by Lydia Darragh, whose house had been commandeered by British officers. He knows his army is too close to Howe, so he backs up. The British set fire to the houses outside the city limits to deprive the Americans of cover. Once again, the citizens of Philly climbed to their roofs to watch the show. Howe probed the lines of the battered, starving, and cold Continental army at White Marsh for a few days and then backpedals. After the British withdrawal, the soldiers rush forward to gather abandoned blankets and kettles.
Washington realizes that his army will always be in danger when it is less than a day’s march from Philly. He must find a new location.
Round Seven Is the One that Makes or Breaks the Continentals at Valley Forge
The Continental Army, after a march that leaves bloody footprints in the snow, arrive at the Forge and begin building log huts 14 feet wide, 15 feet long, and 6 ½ feet high for 12-man squads to live in. Washington offers a reward of $100 of his own money to the soldier who finds the best roofing material. On December 25 the body of a free man of color named Jethro is found in a hut. He has died of malnutrition and exposure. He is the first of 3000 Americans to die at Valley Forge for our freedom.
Washington faced logistical problems. He asks Nate Greene to replace officers who are failing in their duty to keep the army fed and clothed. Nate is loathed to give up his combat command, “Nobody ever heard of a quarter Master, in History.” But he steps up and smooths out the commissary department problems, and with the help of the American Indians of the Oneida Nation, feeds the army. Washington still faces mutiny in the ranks. Soldiers huddled around their fires chanted “No Meat! No coat! No Blanket! No Soldier!” He faces desertions and the resignation of officers. He faces a civilian population that would rather sell to the enemy for profit than give food to his men in exchange for worthless Continental Dollars. He writes the neglectful Continental Congress that the army “Starve, dissolve, or disperse.” When he finally convinces Congress to visit the camp, many of the delegates are so overcome with emotion at the pitiful state of the soldiers that they take the very shoes off their feet to give them. He faces several diseases. One disease, smallpox, he fights with inoculations. He faces the Conway Cable in which his homeboys like Lafayette fear that Thomas Conway is conspiring with James Wilkinson and Horatio Gates, the supposed Hero of the Battle of Saratoga, a campaign which had ended with British General Burgoyne and his entire army tapping out, to have him replaced. When such rumors circle around camp, the shivering, hungry, half-naked, soldiers come out of their shacks and shanties and fill Valley Forge with echoing chants of “Washington or No Army! Washington or No Army! Washington or No Army!”
Through it all, Washington’s superb leadership and perseverance of character got him and the army through the winter. No doubt the arrival of Martha Washington helped cheer things up. Not only did she visit the soldiers and knit socks for them, but she also held the first-ever public celebration of Washington’s Birthday.
For the Brits, it was always sunny in Philadelphia. Besides the Battle of the Kegs, in which the Royal Fleet responded with a cannonade to mined kegs blowing up in the Delaware River, they lived in relative ease and pleasure. But as Benjamin Franklin, who was in Paris at the time, trying to secure French support for the American cause, says upon hearing of the news of the British capture of the Continental Capitol, “No, sir, Philadelphia has taken the British, Philadelphia has captured Howe.”
One of the myths of Valley Forge is that it was the coldest and harshest winter that the Continental Army faced. That Is not true. The winter at Morristown a year earlier saw many deprivations, to the point of soldiers eating the soles off their shoes. The coldest winter would be the “Hard Winer” of 1779-1780 when the Continentals aced arctic conditions. Valley Forge’s temperatures were relatively mild, which did add to the agony since the melting snow made the ground into a muddy muck in which it was hard to walk.
Valley Forge IS important because of the training the Americans received from Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. After he overcame a language barrier, learning how to cuss in English, and culture shock, Americans would only do what was required of them if they knew the reason why, he began making professional soldiers out of civilians. Why there is some debate on whether he was a baron or not, what is not up to debate is that his training in the American Army was not baren. He taught the men to wheel into formation when the long roll was played. He taught them to march in double rank and to quick step. He made sure officers knew how to do officer things while sergeants knew how to do sergeant things. He taught the differences between marching formations for brigades and platoons. The proper arms to be carried by the men into battle. He instilled in them a discipline that made them proud of themselves. Soon Valley Forge was clean as the men buried old latrines, dug new ones, and hauled away months of trash that had accumulated in the camp.
Why, I feel a training montage set to an ’80s power ballad coming on….
In April, news of the new Franco-American alliance, inspired by the capture of Burgoyne’s army the year before, arrived. This prompted the Brits to send the Carlisle Peace Commission to offer a Bill of Conciliation, giving the colonies everything they wanted if they just came back to Mother England. But the Americans are like Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies and reply, “You’re fired.”
Only Cooler.
Because It Is Real.
To celebrate the new army and the Treaty of Alliance between the colonies and France, Lafayette recommends a fue de joie, a fire of joy. Cannons roar as 10,000 soldiers march by in review in front of GW as he sits on his white Arabian stallion. The infantry displays six weeks of training by wheeling and reforming. There is a cascade of musket fire from line to line. Then three cheers
“Long Live the King of France!”
“And Long Live The Friendly European Powers!”
“To the American States!”
Round Eight Is Lafayette’s Turn to Go The Distance At Barren Hill
The Spring season did not start well for the Americans. Redcoats and rangers under Major John Graves Simcoe, yes, that Major Simcoe from Turn: Washington’s Spies, surprised militiamen seventeen miles from Philadelphia at Crooked Billet. An officer had failed to deploy pickets and the groggy Americans, after repelling a bayonet charge by the Simcoe Rangers, had to fight a running battle with dragoons for four miles before escaping. Not only were there nearly ninety American casualties, against seven British, but forty-four rebel vessels along with valuable supplies had to be destroyed!
Had all von Steuben’s training been for naught?
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, Howe resigns due to his Whig politics and the emptiness of capturing a city when the enemy government will just move the capitol to another location. Now Clinton, no, not Bill Clinton, Sir Henry Clinton, was now in charge of the army. With him, the gloves were off.
With France entering the war, the British now had to defend several fronts around the world from King Louis’s aggression. Philadelphia was worthless to the British and the directions from his trainer in London were to consolidate forces at New York. As he evacuated the city, Clinton realized that he could not take the whole army and the loyalist population on ships, so he made plans to march across New Jersey. Poor guy.
In May, rumors begin brewing in Valley Forge about the British evacuating Philly. Washington gives Lafayette his first full command. “You’re a General,” Lafayette. He would take 2,000 troops to gather intelligence about the rumors. Lafayette led his men to Barren Hill northwest of Philadelphia and set up his headquarters on Barren Hill. Howe and Clinton decide to trap him. Three columns of 2,000 men each, including one led by No Flints Gray, would circle Barren Hill, and capture the Continentals. However, the American pickets spy the approaching Imperials. With Lafayette alerted, he quickly rallied his men and silently marched them out of the trap. Their tactical retreat was covered by Morgan’s Riflemen and Oneida Indians and a providential fog.
This is the first exhibit of von Steuben’s training.
The next morning the British are astonished to see each other climbing up the hill instead of the enemy. To Howe this was inconceivable. Were these even the same untrained volunteers his professional soldiers had beaten so many times before? Clinton was even more disdainful, contributing the escape to the rugged terrain and good luck on the part of the Continentals.
The Final Round is at Monmouth Courthouse
Washington gives chase to Clinton’s column of soldiers as it marches across New Jersey. Poor guys. But first, he must settle a dispute of rank between General Charles Lee, no relation to Robert E. Lee or Bruce Lee, and Lafayette. Lee, paroled after being captured in 1776, during which time he wrote up a plan for the English on how to capture America, by military standards deserves the higher rank. Lafayette steps aside and allows Lee to have command. Lee still despises Washington, saying he is not fit to lead a sergeant’s guard. He also doesn’t believe that the Americans are ready to fight the British.
Meanwhile, General Maxwell and the militias slow Clinton’s column, burning bridges and felling trees in their way while sniping at them. The trees they do leave up have posters pinned to them saying “We Will Burgoyne You.” Skirmishes break out and at one point the British burn a house down on some riflemen who refuse to surrender. Col. William Tavington would approve. If the British had been paying attention, they would have noticed that the American regulars and militia were working better together than they had the year before.
The Americans finally catch up with the British at Monmouth Courthouse, which the British had stopped to plunder. Washington has a huddle with his generals. Lee is still against an attack because he does not believe Van Stubborn has trained the army enough to be a contender. Still, Washington orders his army to go for Clinton.
Lee is reconnoitering the area when he decides he can cut off and capture the British rear guard, including Clinton’s baggage, under the command of Knyphausen, forcing it to surrender without a costly battle. Clinton, seeing Lee’s movements, counterpunches by rushing his soldiers through the June heat to save his baggage. In response to Clinton’s swing, Lee orders a retreat. Clinton, watching from Briar Hill, decides to go for a Haymaker and destroy the rebels. In his classic move from Long Island, he orders his men to get into Lee’s rear. In response, Lee orders a retreat. Two of Anthony Wayne’s regiments have a heavy fight on but cover Lee’s treat. Wayne tells his best marksmen to “pick out the kingbirds,” referring to the officers.
The retreat of Lee’s men is an orderly testament to van Steuben’s training. Washington is astonished to see the soldiers marching away from battle. In a famous scene in which some claim GW swore until the leaves trembled, he confronted Lee at a place called Point of Wood. Washington takes over command and begins to order the men into battle at the Point of Wood and along a hedgerow. Lee simi-redeems himself by remaining on the field to help direct troops. Alexander Hamilton, yes, that Hamilton, reins up his horse up next to him. “That’s right, my dear general,” he says, “and I will stay, and we will all die on this spot if you please.”
The British attack and drive the Americans out of the Point of Woods. In this fight, they come into hand-to-hand combat and realize they are facing a new breed of soldiers. After an epic and violent charge, the Americans are driven from the hedgerow. However, van Steuben’s training is there to see as the army performs a retrograde movement in the face of the enemy that a year before would have resulted in a panic. It is said that van Steuben cries when he sees the men performing so well. The Americans fall back to Perrine Ridge. “No Flints” Gray with 1,600 Imperials tries to turn the American left flank, but the British soon realize that the rebels will not be outflanked. There will be no Long Island today!
Sixteen American artillery pieces slug it out with forty-six British guns in an artillery duel that lasts for two hours and becomes known as “The Great Cannonade.” An American legend is born as several women run water to cool the cannons down, and one, Mary Hayes, helps swab a gun after her husband is wounded, giving birth to the folk hero Molly Pitcher. It is like when Eowyn kills the Witch King in The Return of the King.
Only Cooler.
Because It’s Real.
Then Clinton goes for the jugular and sends more redcoats under Charles Cornwallis to attack the new American line. But the Americans fight back, firing specially designed balls to inflict maximum damage. It is a slugfest in the hot summer afternoon. Men go crazy from thirst. Others collapse from exhaustion. Washington, Laurens and Hamilton both have horses shot from beneath them. Washington’s African American slave, Billy Lee, gives him his horse. Men die from heatstroke. Both Washington and Clinton lead their men from the front. An American almost kills Clinton and pays for it with his life.
Finally, Clinton, his baggage secure, and realizing he cannot force the new model American army off the ridge, orders his men to retreat. Then Washington sends out probing forces under Wayne to harass them. British rear and go for a body punch. The British attack these probes but are unable to pursue them because a southpaw from Du Plessis’s artillery sends them staggering to the ropes. Thus ended one of the largest and longest battles of the American Revolution and the last major battle of the war in the northern colonies. Nearly 2,000 men are casualties.
While historians have come to Majority Draw on who won the battle since the British continued their march with all their baggage to the coast, that is not what matters. What matters is the new American army had proven itself in battle against the world’s finest military. Its discipline, training, and hard work had paid off. It had gone the distance!
A few days later as the British prepared to sail across New York Bay to Manhattan Island, they heard firing in the distance. No, it wasn’t an attack! It was the Americans celebrating July 4th!
Then above the din, they hear George’s thundering voice, “ Yo, Mar-ath-a, I Diiiidddd It!!”
Okay, maybe that last part did not happen. But an epic movie could take, hum, liberties and end with the Liberty Bell being placed back in the State House in Philadelphia and ringing out with the sound of hope for all the freedom-loving people of the world!
Because it is an exciting, epic, inspirational, and motivational account of patriotic Americans staying in the ring until discipline and training paid off at the final bell is why I think The Philadelphia Campaign of 1777-1778 should be told with an Infinity Wars budget in an epic July the 4th Weekend Release!
