USA > Pennsylvania > The history of Pennsylvania from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 17
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1776.
vernment. But in the new instructions no posi- tive directions on the main question were given. Independence was not referred to. The Penn- sylvania delegates were authorized to "concur in forming such further contracts between the united colonies, concluding such treaties with foreign kingdoms and states, and adopting such other measures, as, upon a view of all circum- stances, shall be judged necessary for promoting the liberty, safety, and interests of America ; reserving to this colony the sole and exclusive right of regulating its internal government and police." This done, the assembly adjourned to the 26th of August.
On the 18th of June, a provincial conference assembled at Philadelphia under a summons from the revolutionary committees of Philadel- phia county. This body, of which Colonel Tho- mas Mckean was elected president, resolved that the then government of Pennsylvania was incompetent to manage its affairs, and issued an address, calling a convention to assemble on the 15th of July next ensuing, to form a new govern- ment. No male of one-and-twenty, who had paid taxes, was excluded from voting for mem- bers of this convention, except such as had been published by the committees as enemies, and such as refused to make affirmation of non-allegiance to the king, and of friendship to the establish- ment of the new government. . Members of the
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293
1776.]
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
convention were required to make a declaration of religious faith, based on the Holy Scriptures, and to bind themselves by oath or affirmation to renounce allegiance to Great Britain, and pro- mote the establishment of a government in the province on the authority of the people only.
On the 28th of June, a British fleet made a demonstration against Charleston, South Caro- lina. The port was gallantly defended. Three of the British vessels, in attempting to take a position to rake the fort at Sullivan's Island, grounded on shoals. The others were so hotly received, that they were obliged to retire with severe -loss. Of the three aground, one was abandoned and burned; and the squadron, dis- comfited, set sail for New York to join the main body of the British forces. On the 1st of July, in Congress, the committee appointed to draft a declaration of independence, made their report. The committee consisted of Jefferson, John Ad- ams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Nine colonies voted for the declaration in committee of the whole. New York declined to vote, Delaware was divided, South Carolina stood one for and three against, and Pennsylvania, under the non-committal in- structions of the assembly, stood three for and four against the declaration. On the FOURTH OF JULY, 1776, when the amended declaration came up for final action, the echo of the guns at
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1776.
Charleston brought South Carolina into line. Delaware, by the arrival of Cesar Rodney, who came eighty miles to vote, gave in her adhesion. Two of the adverse Pennsylvania delegation were absent, and thus that province ranked with the
majority. New York did not vote. In a few days, the Provincial Congress of New York having given the Declaration their sanction, the instrument became the unanimous act of the THIRTEEN UNITED STATES. It was then ordered to be engrossed on parchment for signature.
On the 15th of July the convention of Penn- sylvania met to form the new constitution. Among their first acts was to elect delegates to Congress, superseding those already in that body by appointment of the legislature. Four of the old delegation were continued, three were left off, and five added, and the whole delegation, on the 2d of August, signed the Declaration of Independence. The convention was employed until the end of September in maturing the new constitution ; and on Saturday, the 28th, they perfected the instrument and adjourned, having given the document in charge to the Committee of Safety, to be delivered to the general assem- bly at their first meeting under the new order of things. The convention also passed certain ordinances imposing a state tax, and authorizing arrests of suspicious persons.
The charter legislature, adjourned to the 26th
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1776.]
CHARTER GOVERNMENT EXTINCT.
of August ; meet on that day, but only to ad- journ to the 23d of September. A bare quorum was present, but no business was done save the passage, under the previous question, of a series of resolutions, remonstrating against the assump- tion of legislative powers by the late convention , which had assembled for a single specific pur- pose. The house then rose. The charter go- vernment was no more, and Pennsylvania was fully committed to the new order of things.
CHAPTER XVII.
Arrival of General and of Admiral Howe at New York- Failure of a commission to treat with the colonies-Reading of the Declaration-The new State constitution-Retreat of Washington through New Jersey-Philadelphia menaced -The battles of Trenton and Princeton-Withdrawal of the British from Jersey-Landing on the Delaware-Battle of Brandywine-Affair at Paoli-Occupation of Philadelphia by the British-Fortification of the Delaware-Removal of Congress inland-Battle of Germantown-The storming of Fort Mercer-The British occupy Province Island-Forts Mifflin and Mercer evacuated by the Americans.
IT is a curious fact, that during the discussion of the subject of the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen United Colonies were free from Bri- tish troops. General Howe had retired from Boston to Halifax; and the people of the colo-
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
[1776
nies were in doubt where the enemy would next make his appearance. The doubt was soon solved by the arrival of General Howe at New York, and the subsequent arrival of large rein- forcements from England, under command of Admiral Lord Howe, the brother of the general, whose unfortunate beginnings in the vicinity of Boston led the colonists to feel that their cause had already the prestige of success. A few days may make a great difference in the fate of na- tions. Lord Howe undertook to resume certain negotiations which had been commenced with Franklin, in England, for the pacification of the colonies. But the United Provinces had now, by the act of July 4th, become UNITED STATES, and a question of etiquette prevented negotia- tion. The British commissioners refused to re- · cognise the American authorities, military or civil, in their official capacity; and the business of the mission was thenceforth at an end. The declaration had put the patriots in a new attitude, and they refused to compromise their position by any act or admission which should derogate from their rank, or invalidate the power which had appointed them to office.
The declaration was publicly read in the State House Yard, Philadelphia, on the 8th of July, to an assembly of the people who had con- vened in pursuance of a call for that purpose. Captain Hopkins, of the navy, was the reader.
297
FIRST STATE CONSTITUTION.
1776.]
The assembly was not large, nor was the declara- tion received with any evidence of enthusiasm. The people were generally familiar with its contents; and the city of Philadelphia was, as we have already noted, the strong hold of the proprietary and loyal interests in the province. The great importance and the immediate momentous con- sequences of the measure were felt in the dis- ruption of old social and business relations. Without noisy enthusiasm, however, there was a fixedness of purpose which carried the patriotic inhabitants firmly through severe tests of their loyalty to the new government; and if there was little excess of zeal manifested, there was, in the same moderation of spirit, a promise of justice and tolerance to those who adhered to the old order of things-whether as friends of the pro- prietaries or of the British government.
The first constitution of the State of Pennsyl- vania had but a brief existence, Pennsylvania was the first state to abolish the requirement of a property qualification in the representatives chosen. Dr. Franklin was president of the con- vention which framed it, and is supposed to have been the mover of this democratic feature, and of the provision by which the legislative power was vested in one deliberative body. The mem- bers of the assembly were elected by counties. The executive power of the government was vested in a council chosen by the people, and
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
[1776.
the president of the council was president of the state; but he had no more authority than the other counsellors. There was also a council of censors, who were empowered to meet once in every seven years, to investigate breaches of the constitution. The new constitution was strenu- ously opposed from the beginning; and at the very first meeting of the legislature in 1776, it was found that the influence of the opposers of the constitution had been sufficient to apply a "veto," though the instrument gave that authority to no one. There were not enough counsellors elected to organize the government. The diffi- culty was overcome in the spring of 1777, when the requisite number of councillors having been chosen, Thomas Wharton, Jr., was elected pre- sident, and George Brian, vice-president.
The condition of the contest between the United States and Great Britain had now be- come gloomy indeed for the cause of freedom. Washington had slowly retreated before the Bri- tish forces through New Jersey, and Philadel- phia was menaced by the enemy. Under such circumstances, the party in that city which ad- hered to the royal cause exhibited such indica- tions of a disposition to take active measures, that vigilance was deemed necessary over them, as well as over the foreign foe. At this dark hour the hopes of the patriots were again raised by the surprise of Trenton, by General Wash-
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1776.]
DETAILS OF THE WAR.
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ington in person, with a force of twenty-four hundred men. On the night of the 25th of De- cember, he crossed over from the Pennsylvania side, and with the loss of only ten or twelve men, in killed and wounded, made prisoners of a thou- sand Hessian soldiers. The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded was twenty. Six field- pieces and a thousand stand of small arms were taken. On the 3d of January occurred the affair at Princeton, in which the British lost one hundred men in killed and wounded. The Ame- ricans lost about one hundred. The great value of these operations to the American cause lay in their moral effect. The contrast between the appearance of the two armies, the forced retreat, and the apparent impossibility that the ill-clad and poorly-appointed American troops could cope with the fine-looking British regulars, was bringing hundreds to accept the British terms of pardon. These successes of the American arms did much to stay the disaffection to the American cause ; and the excesses of the British troops, who treated Jersey like a conquered pro- vince, did more. The year closed and the winter passed with better hopes for America than the most sanguine had dared to hope while the American forces were retreating before the enemy during the fall of 1776 and the first week of winter.
Philadelphia had not felt yet the actual pre-
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1777.
sence of the enemy, but had received monitions by the assembling of Congress in Baltimore, Philadelphia being deemed too insecure for calm deliberation. Early in 1777 it became evident that an attack on Pennsylvania was meditated; and the arrangements of General Washington were made with a view to that exigency, while · his attention was also divided by other important points. Washington had lain in winter quarters at Morristown; and as spring opened, and the enemy moved, he came out with caution, but did not hazard a general engagement, or suffer him- self to be drawn into an exposed situation. The plan of General Howe was, by arms and procla- mations, to complete the conquest of New Jersey, and, with that colony subdued and secured be- hind him, to occupy Philadelphia. The limits of our work do not permit us to describe all the manœuvres and counter-manœuvres. Suffice it to say, that finding it impossible to drive from the field a general who was cautious as well as skilful, the British abandoned New Jersey and returned to New York, their last marches being harassed by the militia, who needed only the assurance of support to rally in force.
In July the British embarked at New York, and on the 27th of August landed at the head of Elk Creek. The British force has been esti- mated at eighteen thousand. The American was nominally fourteen or fifteen, but, on account
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1777.] BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE.
of poor equipment, did not exceed eleven thou- sand effective men. On the 11th of September the two armies found themselves a few miles apart, in the neighbourhood of the Brandywine, the Americans occupying the north and the. British the south bank. An advanced party of the Americans, under General Maxwell, were posted in the wood leading to Chad's Ford, on the south side of the river. An engagement took place, in which, under the disadvantages of lesser numbers and poorer arms, the Americans were defeated. They laboured too under a diffi- culty peculiarly trying to raw troops. While a portion of the British force made a demonstration to cross Chad's Ford, the rest of the army moved higher up the river, and crossed. Uncertainty as to the purpose of the enemy caused some delay, and a portion of the American troops were attacked while they were taking their position to meet the advancing enemy, and being thus the more easily thrown into confusion were the first to break into retreat. But their retreat was checked and covered by reinforcements, and night-fall prevented a totally disastrous defeat. The column of the British army which attempted Chad's Ford was bravely resisted by General Wayne, until the defeat of the other portion of the American forces was discovered. Then, further resistance being useless, he retired, and the American army retreated to Chester. The
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
[1777.
plan of the British was to attack the American front and rear at the same time. General Wash- ington perceived the manœuvre, and made skilful preparations to counteract it ; but, unfortunately, the troops whose position was most in advance, failed to reach their post till too late to form in good order. A part of the American troops behaved very well, and others very badly- breaking almost at the first fire. Among the wounded was General Lafayette. The battle was not considered decisive, though the loss was more severe than in many other engagements. The loss of the British was six hundred, that of the Americans nine hundred in killed and wounded, as estimated by Marshall. Most of the wounded were made prisoners. So severe a loss indicates that some of the army must have courageously maintained their ground, since few were killed or taken during the retreat.
After a few days of rest, Washington marched out from Chester, and a renewed engagement was about to take place, at a point some twenty miles from Philadelphia, when a heavy rain separated the combatants. Washington retired across the Schuylkill, leaving General Wayne with his division, to be joined by the Maryland militia under General Smallwood, and annoy the British rear. Wayne was encamped in a wood near Paoli, and information was given to the British general by some of the disaffected.
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AFFAIR AT PAOLI.
1777.]
He was suddenly attacked on the night of the 20th September by a strong detachment, and compelled to retire with the loss of three hun- dred men. The Americans received their assail- ants with great intrepidity, but would inevitably have been cut off had it not been for the coolness and intrepidity of General Wayne, who promptly rallied a few regiments, who withstood the shock of the enemy and covered the retreat of the rest. General Smallwood's command, which was within a mile of the ground at the time of the attack, fled in confusion upon meeting a party of the British, who were returning from the pursuit of Wayne's detachment. This affair has acquired the name of the "Massacre at the Paoli," from the ruthless and cruel character of the officer who commanded the British party.
With his troops worn by marches and counter- marches, poorly clad, almost without food, many without shoes, and unsupplied with tents, Wash- ington was unable to dispute the passage of the Schuylkill with the enemy, or to prevent his oc- cupying Philadelphia. On the 26th of Septem- ber the British entered Philadelphia, having been employed thirty days in accomplishing about sixty miles. The army which disputed the ground with this well-appointed force was inferior in numbers and in discipline, and devoid of almost every thing essential to efficient opera- tion. After the battle of Brandywine, that he
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1778.
was able to rally his forces, and in five days to offer battle again, is the highest evidence of the skill of the commander and of the devotion of the troops. If they failed in efficiency and even broke in disorder, these were the misfortunes of their want of discipline and of munitions. But under all there was the animus of a sublime pa- triotism, which could still make such a body of men cohere under circumstances so disheartening.
The royal army was received in Philadelphia
by the disaffected with transports of joy. The winter of 1778 was spent in great festivities, and the impression now became strong, with those who wished such an event, that the efforts of America for independence were effectually losed. Spring was looked forward to as the termination of the struggle. Meanwhile the more sedate and thoughtful of the patriots were not disheartened. It is reported of Franklin, then absent on a mission to France, that when he was told the British had taken Philadel- phia, he answered that this was not the way to state the case. Philadelphia, he said, had taken the British. The event proved that the occupa- tion of the city by the British commander did the royal cause no benefit.
Congress having by resolution invested Gene- ral Washington with extraordinary powers, re- moved to Lancaster immediately after the battle of the Brandywine. They thence removed again
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1778.] FORTIFICATION OF THE DELAWARE.
to York. Before the entrance of the British into Philadelphia, all public stores had been re- moved, and suitable articles for army use, found in private hands, were also taken, and receipts given to the owners. The Delaware River was obstructed with sunken frames of timber, and fortifications were erected on the Jersey shore, and on an island in the river at the junction of the Schuylkill, in order to prevent communica- tion between the British fleet and the city. Above the forts were floating batteries and armed vessels ; and it was strongly hoped that by these means the enemy might still be com- pelled to evacuate the city. Four regiments of the British only were quartered in the city, and the main body of the army was encamped at Germantown. Washington's camp was on the Skippack Creek, fourteen miles from German- town.
The first care of Lord Cornwallis, after enter- ing Philadelphia, was to erect batteries to defend the river front of the city and operate against the American shipping. These batteries were attacked by two American frigates, and several gallies and gondolas, while yet incomplete. One of them, the Delaware, unfortunately grounded and was captured, the other vessels fell down to Fort Mifflin, as the fort on Mud Island was named. The British got possession of a fort on the Jersey side, below the mouth of the Schuyl-
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
[1778.
kill, and the only hope of the Americans now lay in Forts Mifflin and Mercer, at the junction of the Schuylkill. While the British were operating against these points, and employing troops in escorting trains of provisions up from Chester, Washington determined to surprise their camp at Germantown.
The battle of Germantown took place on the morning of the 4th of October. Two columns, marching all night, gained the enemy's rear. The surprise was complete, and for a short time they carried every thing before them. An attack was to have been made at the same time on the front by two other detachments. But the morn- , ing was foggy, and the advance was irregular, owing to the necessary obstructions which a town presented, and the darkness was such that the American officers could not understand their position. A detachment of the British threw themselves into a large stone house, since well known in Revolutionary annals as Chew's house. It stood directly in front of the advancing Ame- ricans, and from its windows were poured disas- trous volleys. After some unsuccessful attempts to take the house by storm, and an ineffectual cannonading, the assailing party left the British in possession and passed on. But the command- ing position and strength of the building enabled its garrison seriously to annoy and separate the Americans; nor could order be restored, or the
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1778.] BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN.
corps thus divided be united. The battle com- menced about daylight, and continued until after ten o'clock. The retreat soon after commenced, and was made without loss, the enemy not hav- ing recovered sufficiently to pursue or annoy the Americans. The loss of the British in this en- gagement was about six hundred, that of the Americans over a thousand, including four hun- dred prisoners. The attack was well planned ; but depended upon the concurrence of so many circumstances for a successful issue that the result is not to be wondered at. The effect was good upon the spirits of the army; for a well- contested battle and skilful retreat is better than inactivity. It was so near a defeat to the Bri- tish in the beginning that it enforced respect for the continental troops. It was so near a dis- astrous route to the Americans at the close, that it taught them the absolute need of discipline. The news of the capture of Burgoyne and his army was now received. The heart of the Ame- rican patriots was reassured, and courage and fortitude were strengthened to meet the severe trials of the memorable winter of 1777-8.
The British forces were now drawn nearer to Philadelphia, the importance of concentration having been discovered, in the face of an army whose chief fault, want of perfect discipline, was wearing off every day. The position of the British army was becoming critical. Nearly two
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
[1778.
months had now passed since the landing in the Delaware, and the British troops, though in no- minal possession of Philadelphia, had no com- munication with their fleet, and could not move out of the city except in strong bodies. Every foraging party was strongly guarded, and the conveying of supplies from the British ships overland required the defence of large bodies of troops. Under these circumstances Howe determined on a vigorous attack on the Delaware fortifications. On the 23d of October, Count Donop, with twelve hundred picked men, crossed over from Philadelphia, marched down the Jersey side, and stormed Fort Mercer at Red Bank, which post was garrisoned by two Rhode Island regiments under General Greene. At the same time several British vessels of war ascended the river, so far as the obstructions would admit. Colonel Donop fell mortally wounded, and the attack on the fort was repulsed with a loss to the British of four hundred men. Of the British vessels which co-operated in the attack, the Au- gusta sixty-four was blown up, the frigate Merlin was burned, and the other vessels returned with heavy loss. The flotilla in the Delaware, belong- ing in part to the State of Pennsylvania, was commanded by Colonel Haslewood, who held his commission under the state. It did excellent service, though disputes, which are so apt to spring up between the land and naval service,
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1777.]
FORT MIFFLIN EVACUATED.
required skilful mediation on the part of the commander-in-chief. Congress, after the repulse of the British at Red Bank, presented to Colonel Greene, who commanded at Fort Mercer, to Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, who commanded Fort Mifflin, and to Commodore Hazlewood, each a sword, in testimony of their high appreciation of their services.
Reinforcements were received by the British from New York, and vigorous measures were taken to remove the obstructions of the Delaware. But Sir William Howe proceeded with more cau- tion, since the affairs at Germantown and Red Bank had shown him that he had to deal with no contemptible enemy. On the 10th of November he took possession of Province Island, on which, within five hundred yards of Fort Mifflin, he erected a battery of twenty-four and thirty-two pounders. With these an incessant battery was kept up for several successive days. The garri- son was relieved every forty-eight hours ; but so weak was the battalion appointed to relieve them, that half the men were constantly on duty. When the works on the island were at last entirely dismantled, and by an alteration in the channel, the enemy's ships could approach within a hun- dred yards of the fort, the position had at last to be abandoned. It had been defended with a heroism, and an endurance of suffering and fatigue unexceeded by any troops during the
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