Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/505

] march of Philadelphia; no great rivers were in its way; and there was no very strong position of which the Americans could take possession. On landing, General Howe issued a proclamation, promising pardon and protection to all who should submit to him; but, as the American army was at hand, the proclamation produced little effect.

Washington distinctly understood the nature of the contest in which he; was engaged; and, sensible of the inferiority of his raw and undisciplined army, to the veteran troops under Sir William Howe, he wished to avoid a general engagement: but, aware of the effect which the fall of Philadelphia would produce on the minds of the mass of the people, who have no fixed principle or steady purpose, and who are incapable of just and general views, he determined to make every effort, in order to retard the progress and defeat the aim of the royal army. Accordingly, he marched to meet General Howe, who, from want of horses, many of which had perished in the voyage, and from other causes, was unable to proceed from the head of the Elk before the 3d of September. On the advance of the royal army, General Washington retreated across the Brandy wine, a small stream which falls into the Delaware at Wilmington. He took post, with his main body, opposite Chad's Ford, where it was expected the British would attempt the passage; and ordered General Sullivan, with a detachment, to watch the fords above. He sent General Maxwell, with about one thousand light troops, to occupy the high ground on the other side of the Brandywine, to skirmish with the British, and retard them in their progress.

On the morning of the 11th of September, the British army advanced in two columns; the right, under General Knyphausen, marched straight to Chad's Ford; the left, under Lord Cornwallis, accompanied by the commander-in-chief, and Generals Grey, Grant, and Agnew, proceeded by a circuitous route, towards a point named the Forks, where the two branches of the Brandywine unite, with a view to turn the right of the Americans, and gain their rear. General Knyphausen's van soon found itself opposed to the light troops under General Maxwell. A smart conflict ensued. Knyphausen reinforced his advanced guard, and drove the Americans across the rivulet, to shelter themselves under their batteries on the north bank. Knyphausen ordered some artillery to be placed on the most advantageous points, and a cannonade was carried on with the American batteries on the heights beyond the ford.

Meanwhile, the left wing of the British crossed the fords above the Forks. Of this movement, Washington had early notice; but the information which he received from different quarters, through his raw and unpracticed scouts, was confused and contradictory, and consequently his operations were embarrassed. After passing the fords, Lord Cornwallis took the road to Dilworth, which led him on the American right. General Sullivan, who had been appointed to guard that quarter, occupied the heights above Birmingham church, his left extending to