Battle of White Marsh

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View from the British positions at the Battle of White Marsh.
Ink on paper, by cartographer Johann Martin Will

Date	December 5-8, 1777
Location	White Marsh, near present-day Fort Washington, Pennsylvania
Result	British attack repelled in series of skirmishes

Combatants

Commanders

Strength

11,000

14,000

Casualties

90 killed or wounded,
32 captured

60 killed or wounded

Philadelphia campaign 1777–1778
Brandywine – Paoli – Germantown – White Marsh – Matson's Ford – Valley Forge – Crooked Billet – Barren Hill – Monmouth

Map of the Battle of White Marsh

The Battle of White Marsh was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought between December 5 and December 8, 1777, in the area surrounding White Marsh, Pennsylvania. The battle, which took the form of a series of skirmish actions, was the last major engagement of 1777 between British and American forces. British commander General William Howe led a sizable contingent of troops out of British-occupied Philadelphia in one last attempt to destroy George Washington and the Continental Army before the onset of winter. Washington repelled the British attacks, and Howe returned to Philadelphia without engaging Washington in a decisive conflict. With the British back in Philadelphia, Washington was able to march his troops to winter quarters at Valley Forge.

1 Background
2 Battle
3 Aftermath
4 See also
5 Footnotes
6 Further reading
7 External links

[edit] Background

After their October 4, 1777, defeat at the Battle of Germantown, Washington's army retreated along Skippack Pike to Pawling's Mill, beyond the Perkiomen Creek, where they remained encamped until October 8. They then marched east on Skippack Pike, turned left on Forty-Foot Road, and marched to Sumneytown Pike, where they camped on the property of Frederick Wampole near Kulpsville in Towamencin Township. While there, General Francis Nash died of wounds incurred at Germantown and was buried in the Mennonite Meeting Cemetery. On October 16, Washington's forces marched to Methacton—one group via Forty-Foot Road and Skippack Pike, the other on Sumneytown Pike and North Wales Road. On October 20, they marched down Skippack Pike to Whitpain. On November 2, Washington marched his forces—one column via Skippack Pike and the other on Morris Road and present-day Pennsylvania Avenue—to White Marsh, approximately 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Philadelphia.

In early December, British commander General William Howe decided to make one last attempt to destroy Washington's army before the onset of winter, and he began preparations for the attack on the American forces who were rumored to be in the process of moving to a new camp.

Washington's intelligence network, led by Major John Clark, became aware of British plans to surprise the Americans, through a Quaker housewife Lydia Darragh. The Continental Army was ready when Howe marched out of Philadelphia, with a force of approximately 14,000 men, at midnight on December 4. The advance column, led by Lord Cornwallis, headed up Germantown Pike. A second column, led by General Knyphausen, marched toward the American left.

[edit] Battle

Early in the morning of December 5, Cornwallis' column was observed at Chestnut Hill, three miles (5 km) to the right of the American front, where they were fired upon near Beggar Town (now Mount Airy) by a patrol led by Captain Allen McLane. Washington sent out Brigadier-General James Irvine and 600 troops of the Pennsylvania militia to counter Cornwallis' advance. In the action that followed, Irvine was wounded and taken prisoner. That night, the British camped at St. Thomas Episcopal church on Bethlehem Pike, less than half a mile (1 km) from the American positions.

A series of skirmishes ensued on December 6 and 7, with British forces constantly probing the American lines for weakness, only to be repelled by Washington and his troops. At one point, Colonel Joseph Reed and General John Cadwalader became separated from the American forces and were set upon by a group of Hessian soldiers. The two were rescued by Captain McLane and his cavalry, the very men that had fired the opening shots of the engagement one day earlier.^[1]

On December 7, Howe made an attempt to turn the American left flank along present-day Edge Hill Road in Abington. Washington countered with Daniel Morgan's corps of riflemen and Mordecai Gist's Maryland militia. After some intense skirmish actions (sometimes referred to as the "Battle of Edge Hill,") both forces withdrew.

The following day, Howe and his troops abandoned the engagement and returned to Philadelphia.

[edit] Aftermath

George Washington at the Emlen House, his headquarters during the encampment at White Marsh

The Americans suffered 90 killed or wounded, including 27 of Morgan's men, 16-17 men from the Maryland militia and Major Joseph Morris of the First New Jersey Regiment. 32 Americans were captured. British casualties were 60 killed or wounded.

Washington, frustrated at not being able to confront Howe in a more decisive action, wrote in his report to the President of Congress, "I sincerely wish, that they had made an Attack; the Issue in all probability, from the disposition of our Troops and the strong situation of our Camp, would have been fortunate and happy. At the same time I must add that reason, prudence, and every principle of policy, forbad us quitting our post to attack them. Nothing but Success would have justified the measure, and this could not be expected from their position." ^[2]

On December 11, the Continental Army left White Marsh for Valley Forge. It took the soldiers eight days to make the 13-mile (21 km) journey.

[edit] See also

Fort Washington State Park

[edit] Footnotes

^ Event was the subject of a painting entitled "General Reed at Whitemarsh" (c. 1785-1787) by Charles Willson Peale. See article by Charles Coleman Sellers titled "Charles Willson Peale with Patron and Populace. A Supplement to "Portraits and Miniatures by Charles Willson Peale. With a Survey of His Work in Other Genres" in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Ser., Vol. 59, No. 3 (1969):22, for more information.
^ The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources: Volume 10 - Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library, accessed September 21, 2006

[edit] Further reading

Cadwalader, Richard McCall (1901). Fort Washington and the encampment of White Marsh, November 2, 1777 : an address delivered before the Society by the President, Richard McCall Cadwalader ... June 15, 1901.. Lancaster, PA: Press of the New Era Printing Co..

Darrach, Henry (1916). "Lydia Darragh, one of the heroines of the revolution". Publication of the City History Society of Philadelphia 1 (13): 379-403.