At The Battle Of Germantown In October 1777, Washington Made An Attempt To Reclaim Philadelphia

Against October 4, 1777, Washington commanded an attack on the British at Germantown, just outside of Philadelphia. The Americans first appeared to be winning the battle, but soon the situation changed, and Washington was forced to retreat. Despite suffering several setbacks, Washington saw a chance to trap and soundly destroy the dispersed British force. As his final effort of the year before moving into winter quarters, he made up his mind to attack the Germantown garrison. His strategy planned for an intricate and audacious assault; four columns of soldiers were to attack the British garrison from various angles at night in order to form a double-envelopment. In the same way as the Hessians were at Trenton, Washington hoped that the British would be taken by surprise and overpowered.

On October 3, after nightfall, the American force started their march of 16 miles (26 km) in the direction of Germantown. The troops were told to put a piece of white paper in their hats to identify them as friendly or hostile in the shadows. The Jäger pickets failed to notice the Americans, which prevented the main British camp from being informed of the American advance. For the Americans, it appeared that their endeavor to build on their triumph at Trenton was going well. The darkness, however, made it very difficult for the American columns to communicate with one another, and as a result, progress was slower than anticipated. The majority of American forces were too far from their intended positions at dawn, losing the element of surprise they had previously enjoyed. That's all about the fifth fact about the Philadelphia Campaign.