Battle of Germantown - Battle

Battle

A thick fog clouded the battlefield throughout the day. The vanguard of Sullivan's column, on Germantown Road, launched the battle when they opened fire on the British pickets of light infantry at Mount Airy just as the sun was rising at around 5:00 am. The British pickets fired their guns in alarm and resisted the American advance. Howe rode forward, thinking that they were being attacked by foraging or skirmishing parties, and ordered his men to hold their ground. It took a substantial part of Sullivan's division to finally overwhelm the British pickets and drive them back into Germantown.

Howe, still believing that his men were facing only light opposition, called out, "For shame, Light Infantry, I never saw you retreat before. Form! Form! It is only a scouting party." Just then, three American cannons came into action and fired a blast of grape shot. Howe and his staff quickly withdrew out of range. More than one British officer was shocked to see his soldiers rapidly falling back before the powerful attack.

Now cut off from the main British and Hessian force, British Colonel Musgrave ordered his six companies of troops from the 40th Regiment, around 120 men, to fortify the stone house of Chief Justice Chew, called Cliveden. The Americans launched furious assaults against Cliveden, but the greatly outnumbered defenders beat them back, inflicting heavy casualties. General Washington called a council of war to decide how to deal with the distraction. Some of his subordinate officers favored bypassing Cliveden and leaving a regiment behind to deal with it. However, Brigadier General Henry Knox recommended to Washington that it was unwise to allow a garrison in the rear of a forward advance to remain under enemy control, and Washington concurred.

General William Maxwell's brigade, which had been held in the reserve of the American forces, was brought forward to storm Cliveden, while Knox, who was Washington's artillery commander, positioned four 3-pound cannons out of musket range and opened fire against the mansion's defenders. However, the thick stone walls of Cliveden withstood the bombardment from the light cannons. American infantry assaults launched against the mansion were cut down, causing heavy casualties. The few Americans who managed to get inside were shot or bayoneted. It was becoming clear that Cliveden was not going to be taken easily.

Before Knox and Maxwell launched their futile attacks against the Chew mansion, Sullivan's division pressed past the place in the fog. Sullivan deployed Brigadier General Thomas Conway's brigade to the right and Brigadier General Anthony Wayne's brigade to the left and drove forward against the British left center. As Sullivan's 1st and 2nd Maryland Brigades advanced, they paused frequently to fire volleys into the fog. This tactic was effective in suppressing enemy opposition, but it caused the troops to quickly run low on ammunition. Wayne's brigade to the left of the road moved ahead and became separated from Sullivan's line. Suddenly, from the rear, the men began hearing the disquieting racket from Knox's bombardment of the Chew mansion. To their right, the firing from Sullivan's men died down as the Marylanders ran low on ammunition. Wayne's men began to panic in their apparent isolation, so he ordered them to fall back. Sullivan was forced back also, although the regiments fought a stubborn rear guard action. Since the British units following up their retreat were redirected to fight Greene's late-arriving column, Sullivan's men fell back in good order.

Meanwhile, General Nathanael Greene's column on Limekiln Road caught up with the American forces at Germantown. Its vanguard engaged the British pickets at Luken's Mill and drove them off after a savage skirmish. Adding to the heavy fog that already obscured the Americans' view of the enemy was the smoke from cannons and muskets, and Greene's column was thrown into disarray and confusion. One of Greene's brigades, under the command of Brigadier General Adam Stephen, veered off course and began following Meetinghouse Road instead of rendezvousing at Market Square with the rest of Greene's forces. The wayward brigade collided with Wayne's brigade and mistook them for the redcoats. The two American brigades opened heavy fire on each other, became badly disorganized, and both fled. The withdrawal of Wayne's reserve New Jersey Brigade, which had suffered heavy casualties attacking the Chew house, left Conway's right flank exposed to the enemy.

In the north, an American column led by McDougall came under attack by the Loyalist troops of the Queen's Rangers and the Guards of the British reserve. After a brutal battle between the two, McDougall's brigade was forced to retreat, suffering heavy losses. Still convinced, however, that they could win, the Continental 9th Virginia of Greene's column launched an attack on the British and Hessian line as planned, managing to break through and capturing a number of prisoners. However, they were soon surrounded by two arriving British brigades led by General Cornwallis, who launched a devastating countercharge. Cut off completely, the 9th Virginia Regiment was forced to surrender. Greene, upon learning of the main army's defeat and withdrawal, realized that he stood alone against the whole British and Hessian force, so he withdrew as well.

The main attacks on the British and Hessian camp had been repulsed with heavy casualties. Washington ordered Armstrong and Smallwood's men to withdraw. Maxwell's brigade, still having failed to capture the Chew House, was forced to fall back. Part of the British Army rushed forward and routed retreating Americans, pursuing them for some 9 miles (14 km) before giving up the chase in the face of resistance from Greene's infantry, Wayne's artillery guns and a detachment of dragoons, as well as the coming of night.

Eight Army National Guard units (103rd Eng Bn, A/1-104th Cav, 109th FA, 111th Inf, 113th Inf, 116th Inf, 175th Inf and 198th Sig Bn) and one active Regular Army Field Artillery battalion (1-5th FA) are derived from American units that participated in the Battle of Germantown. There are only thirty currently existing units in the U.S. Army with lineages that go back to the colonial era.