The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777-1778


Book Description

Engagingly recounts how this often underestimated Revolutionary War campaign became a critical turning point in the war that led to the ultimate victory of the Continental Army over the British forces.




Germantown


Book Description

The award–winning author of Brandywine examines a pivotal but overlooked battle of the American Revolution’s Philadelphia Campaign. Today, Germantown is a busy Philadelphia neighborhood. On October 4, 1777, it was a small village on the outskirts of the colonial capital—and the site of one of the American Revolution’s largest battles. Now Michael C. Harris sheds new light on this important action with a captivating historical study. After defeating Washington’s rebel army in the Battle of Brandywine, General Sir William Howe took Philadelphia. But Washington soon returned, launching a surprise attack on the British garrison at Germantown. The recapture of the colonial capital seemed within Washington’s grasp until poor decisions by the American high command led to a clear British victory. With original archival research and a deep knowledge of the terrain, Harris merges the strategic, political, and tactical history of this complex operation into a single compelling account. Complete with original maps, illustrations, and modern photos, and told largely through the words of those who fought there, Germantown is a major contribution to American Revolutionary studies.







Brandywine


Book Description

Harris's Brandywine is the first complete study to merge the strategic, political, and tactical history of this complex operation and important set-piece battle into a single compelling account.




Philadelphia 1777


Book Description

Ending with the fall of the capital city to the British Army, the campaign for Philadelphia set in motion a series of events, that led to the defeat of the British and eventual independence for the emerging American nation. From the landing of Howe's army at the head of the Elk River in Maryland, to his eventual capture of Philadelphia, the campaign included some fascinating battles. The first engagement at Brandywine, the inconclusive battle of the Clouds, the controversial Paoli Massacre, the missed opportunity at Germantown, and the maturing of an army at Valley Forge, are all examined in detail by Justin Clement, with supporting maps, original artwork, and photographs. Recently discovered information about the battle of Brandywine and analysis of the major personalities involved, completes this comprehensive account of an important episode in the American War of Independence (1775-1783).




Philadelphia Campaign


Book Description

Brandywine, Germantown, Valley Forge, Monmouth. These are some of the most famous locales of the Revolution, yet not one was the scene of an American victory, except perhaps of the spirit. The Philadelphia campaign, which technically ran for well over a year from early 1777 to mid-summer of 1778, is recognized as the high point of the Revolution. It was a campaign during which the British won most every battle and gloriously seized their objective, the Colonial capital at Philadelphia, yet they were not able to win the war. Thanks to the fortitude and determination of leaders like Greene, Wayne, Morgan, Lafayette, Von Steuben, and especially George Washington, the brave American citizen soldiers refused to admit defeat and weathered the dark days of Valley Forge to emerge a more efficient fighting machine, determined to win the war no matter how long it took. Such was the patriotism of the Colonial troops who won their nation's independence from the professional soldiers and Hessian hirelings of King George. Military historian Dr. David G. Martin's The Philadelphia Campaign is a lively account of an epic period in American history. His narrative includes detailed strategic and tactical analyses of the movements of the generals and their battles for the city of Philadelphia along with the story of the hardships and trials of soldiers on both sides. What emerges is a story of courage, incompetence, tenacity, jealousy, and intrigue. The book is well illustrated with contemporary drawings and maps. A reader's guide provides a basis for further study and there is information about sites from the war which can still be seen today. Sidebars provide information on the period such as theleadership of both armies, the weapons they used, the role of African-Americans in the Revolutionary War, and the stories of heroines Lydia Darragh and Molly Pitcher. The Philadelphia Campaign is not so much military history as American history. It is an important work for anyone interested in how the United States of America came to be.




The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777-1778


Book Description

"This new book covers Howe's Philadelphia campaign during that summer and fall of 1777, as well as the winter encampments of the British in Philadlephia and the Americans at Valley Forge, and the concluding Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778" -- Intro.




The Philadelphia Campaign: Brandywine and the fall of Philadelphia


Book Description

The first in a monumental two-volume set on the pivotal 1777 campaign of the American Revolution, focusing on Washington's defeat at Brandywine and the capture of the Continental capital in Philadelphia.




September 11, 1777


Book Description

The Battle of Brandywine was the largest land battle of the American Revolution and the major conflict of the Philadelphia campaign that ended with Washington's army spending a hard winter at Valley Forge. Brandywine was also the first battle for a young French volunteer, the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette suffered a leg wound during the conflict. British Captain Patrick Ferguson's new invention, a breech-loading rifle, was also used for the first time at Brandywine. Ferguson had a chance to alter history that day as he had Washington in the sights of his weapon but declined to fire upon the brave Washington.




The Disaffected


Book Description

Elizabeth and Henry Drinker of Philadelphia were no friends of the American Revolution. Yet neither were they its enemies. The Drinkers were a merchant family who, being Quakers and pacifists, shunned commitments to both the Revolutionaries and the British. They strove to endure the war uninvolved and unscathed. They failed. In 1777, the war came to Philadelphia when the city was taken and occupied by the British army. Aaron Sullivan explores the British occupation of Philadelphia, chronicling the experiences of a group of people who were pursued, pressured, and at times persecuted, not because they chose the wrong side of the Revolution but because they tried not to choose a side at all. For these people, the war was neither a glorious cause to be won nor an unnatural rebellion to be suppressed, but a dangerous and costly calamity to be navigated with care. Both the Patriots and the British referred to this group as "the disaffected," perceiving correctly that their defining feature was less loyalty to than a lack of support for either side in the dispute, and denounced them as opportunistic, apathetic, or even treasonous. Sullivan shows how Revolutionary authorities embraced desperate measures in their quest to secure their own legitimacy, suppressing speech, controlling commerce, and mandating military service. In 1778, without the Patriots firing a shot, the king's army abandoned Philadelphia and the perceived threat from neutrals began to decline—as did the coercive and intolerant practices of the Revolutionary regime. By highlighting the perspectives of those wearied by and withdrawn from the conflict, The Disaffected reveals the consequences of a Revolutionary ideology that assumed the nation's people to be a united and homogenous front.