9) General Cornwallis led 2,000 to 3,000 marching troops, cavalry, and artillery of six brass twelve pounders, four howitzers and light field guns into Philadelphia. It was a show of force designed to intimidate the remaining populace and display the might of the British Army.
McGuire describes the spectacle as follows: “On command, the column stepped off at the slow-march rate of sixty-four steps per minute, the fifes warbling ‘God Save the King,’ above the solemn rumble of the drums. The large battalion flags of light silk, each 6’ by 6’6’’ inches on a 10’ pike, opened fully, their brilliant red and white crosses on dark blue proudly displaying golden crowns and badges wreathed in roses and thistles.” (McGuire, p. 11.)
Earlier, the Hessian Grenadiers had prepared for the entry by whitening their belts and cross straps with pipe clay, polishing “brass buckles, cap plates, and badges to a glow, blackened the leather cartridge boxes and bayonet scabbards and Hessian mustaches- with black-ball wax, and powdered their hair white.” (McGuire, p. 7.)
10) Joseph Galloway and Andrew and William Allen, all prominent Loyalists from Philadelphia rode alongside Cornwallis as he entered the city. Their presence was designed to reassure the citizens that the Army was there to protect them and there would be no widespread pillaging and looting.
Joseph Galloway believed that most Americans preferred to remain part of Britain and loyal to the Crown. In 1774 as a member of the First Continental Congress he proposed a “Plan of Union” which would have guaranteed the Colonists the privileges as Englishmen, as well as the right to representation in Parliament and consent to the laws under which they lived. His plan would have created an American legislature. The King would appoint a President General to administer the colonies and no law would take effect without the approval of both Parliament and the American legislature. (Encyclopedia.Com/ Joseph Galloway.) His Plan of Union was rejected and Galloway continued to oppose independence for the Thirteen Colonies and remained loyal to the King. He quit the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and the Continental Congress when they rejected his recommendation to abandon defiance of Britain and went to New York City where he offered his services to the British.
In September 1777, upon occupying Philadelphia, Howe appointed Galloway as Superintendent of Police and head of the civil government. He was an efficient administrator and organized the Loyalists in the city, hired spies and magistrates to suppress revolutionary activity and prevent goods from reaching the American Army in their winter quarters at Valley Forge. (Encyclopedia.Com/ Joseph Galloway; Wikipedia/Joseph Galloway.)
11) Opinion among the British and Hessians about the sincerity of the welcome they had received from the citizens of Philadelphia varied. Captain John Montresor, the Army’s Chief Engineer and on Cornwallis’ staff remarked, “the army took possession of the city ‘amidst the acclamation of some thousands of the inhabitants mostly women and children.’” Captain von Munchhausen reported “The inhabitants of the city. . .came to meet us and showed in various ways their pleasure at our arrival.” (McGuire, p. 19.)
Captain Lieutenant Downing was less impressed. “Whether they were pleased or not at our entrance, they must have been struck with the appearance of a body of such fine fellows as the British Grenadiers.” (McGuire, p. 13).
I have made Joseph Galloway skeptical of the outward show of enthusiasm and cognizant of support in Philadelphia for the Rebel cause for purposes of the plot. In reality, on September 26, 1777, the day of the triumphal entry of the British into his native city, Galloway claimed with great exaggeration, “no Roman General ever received from the citizens of Rome greater acclamations than the noble General [Cornwallis] did on this occasion from the loyal citizens of Philadelphia.” (McGuire, p. 19.)
Chapter 13 – Difficult Tasks Fulfilled 1) Washington’s Orders of the Day on October 3 were a combination of inspiring rhetoric, “Our dearest rights- our dearest friends- our own lives- honor, glory and even shame, urge us to this fight,” a morale boosting reference to the recent victory of September 19th by General Horatio Gates over British General Burgoyne in the Saratoga campaign, as well as practical information that the British had been compelled to send so many regiments to Philadelphia and elsewhere that their forces which held Germantown were depleted and down to less than 6,000 men. (McGuire, pp. 52-53.)
2) The reference is to the September 21st battle of Paoli in which a British night attack on the American camp resulted in the slaughter of many of the troops by a stealthy bayonet charge. General Wayne was unable to rally his troops who were illuminated by their own campfires and shot down by British troops from the surrounding darkness. McGuire, p. 68.)
3) The primary goal of the American engagement with the Jaegers on the right of the British line was to keep them pinned down and out of the main battle taking place in Germantown. Three hours of sniping and skirmishing accomplished this. (McGuire, p. 80.)
4) At the beginning of the battle, the early morning rapid American advance on the British lines caught them by surprise. Approximately 100 to 120 British light infantry under the command of Col. Thomas Musgrave retreated and took up positions in a mansion on the outskirts of Germantown. The massive two-story house, situated on a slope and near one of the main roads through Germantown, belonged to former provincial Chief Justice Benjamin Chew. It was a formidable building made of quarried gray stone with the front walls nearly two feet thick. The British commenced laying down volley after volley of musket fire, which was disconcerting to the Americans advancing down the road into Germantown but largely ineffective at that range.
Many of Washington’s staff recommended continuing the main thrust into Germantown and skirting the house, leaving behind a regiment to keep Musgrave’s forces contained. However, General Knox cautioned against leaving such a strong enemy position in the army’s rear and his advice prevailed. Washington ordered an assault on Chew House and the advantage and momentum of the surprise attack was lost. A dense fog and the sounds of heavy musket fire at the Chew House, that was to the rear of the troops assaulting the British center, convinced the advancing Americans they were being flanked and caused them to retreat. (McGuire, pp. 83-90.)
5) Knox wrote an account of the Battle of Germantown to the President of the Massachusetts Council. He noted that the American troops after marching all night attacked the British around 6 a.m. forcing their troops back. He omitted any mention of his decisive but fateful advice to attack the Chew mansion instead of pressing on, and attributed the dense fog as “the unhappy cause of our losing the victory after being in possession of it for near two hours, and having driven the enemy above two miles from the place where the engagement begun, quite through their encampment.” He then optimistically assessed the morale of the army, writing: “Our men are in the highest spirits, and ardently desire another trial. I know of no ill consequences that can follow the late action: on the contrary, we have gained considerable experience, and our army have a certain proof that the British troops are vulnerable.”(Drake, pp. 52-53.)
6) William Knox actually joined his brother in July and served as the General’s secretary from then on. For purposes of the plot, I have placed William’s arrival around the end of September, just before the Germantown battle.
7) General Howe’s headquarters was at 164 South Second Street, the former home of American General John Cadwalader. In addition, Howe appropriated the front parlor of the house across the street for staff meetings. The Quaker residents, William and Lydia Darragh, were allowed to continue to live there and in one case, passed on extremely vital information to the Americans. (Nagy, p. 48.)
Chapter 14 – The Confrontation 1) Joseph Stansbury, a Philadelphia merchant was appointed by the British as commander of the watch, the city’s civilian guards. When the British withdrew from Philadelphia in June 1778, Stansbury remained behind and in May 1779 was the intermediary used by Benedict Arnold to offer Arnold’s services to the British.
2) Captain John Montresor was Chief Engineer to General Howe
and responsible for the construction of the new defenses for Philadelphia. When the British occupied New York City, Montresor purchased an island in the harbor. It was initially known as Montresor Island and is now Randall’s Island.
His reputation as a ladies man was enhanced in no small part by Charlotte Temple, a novel, allegedly based on his life and written by his first cousin, Susanna Haswell Rowson. The main character, John Montraville, seduces an innocent English young lady and induces her to run away with him to America. This novel, published in 1790 was said to be the most widely read fiction in the new United States until Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
3) Dr. William Shippen was Director General of Military Hospitals for the Continental Army and the winter of 1777-1778 served at Valley Forge. He received his medical training in Europe with a degree from the University of Edinbugh in Scotland. After the war, Shippen taught at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in Philadelphia,the first such school in the country. (The Pennsylvania Gazette, July/August 2015.)
Chapter 15 – The Return of Friends 1) On Friday night, November 27, 1777 a spectacular display of the northern lights lit the night sky and was visible in Philadelphia. “The sky red as blood interspersed with white streaks & when the Redness grew less, it was as light as when the moon is just risen.” This was taken as a sign that a bloody battle was about to be fought. (McGuire, p. 237.)
2) The strength of British Regiments was seriously depleted by casualties and sickness. For example, the Queen’s Rangers had lost almost a quarter of their number at the Battle of Brandywine. On October 15, General Howe promoted Captain John Graves Simcoe to Major in command of the Queen’s Rangers with exclusive privilege “of enlisting old countrymen (as Europeans were termed in America) and deserters from the rebel army.” (McGuire, p. 231.) Simcoe brought the Rangers up to eleven companies including one of Highlanders, consisting of Scottish refugees from North Carolina and elsewhere.
3) General Howe’s surprise attack on Washington’s army at Whitemarsh, fifteen miles from Philadelphia was thwarted by a spy revealing the plan to the Americans. Lydia Darragh, whose parlor in her house across from Howe’s headquarters was used for staff meetings, hid in a closet and overheard Howe’s briefing his staff on the impending attack. The next day, under the guise of obtaining flour, she passed through the lines and went to the American outpost at the junction of the Germantown and York roads. According to Colonel Boudinot, the American officer who received the information: “After Dinner a little poor looking insignificant woman came in . . .and put into my hands a dirty old needlebook, with various pockets in it.” Boudinot found a rolled up piece of paper on which was written “information that Genl Howe was coming out the next morning with 5000 men, 13 pieces of cannon, Baggage Waggons, and 11 Boats on Waggon Wheels.” Boudinot presented this information to General Washington. (Nagy, “Spies in the Continental Capital,” pp. 48-49; McGuire, p. 240.)
In addition to Lydia Darragh’s intelligence, there had been other evidence indicating that a surprise attack was imminent. I have given Elisabeth the role of communicating such information in her ciphered messages to Will.
4) Washington issued General Orders for the construction of the Army camp at Valley Forge, with specific instructions as to their construction. (McGuire, p. 268.)
5) Dr. James Thacher, a surgeon with the Massachusetts 16th Regiment described the camp as follows: “The huts are arranged in strait lines forming a regular uniform compact village. The officers’ huts are situated in front of the line, according to their rank, the kitchens in the rear and the whole is in the form of a tent encampment. . . The officers’ huts are in general divided into two appartments and are occupied by three or four officers who compose one mess. Those for the soldiers have but one room and contain ten or twelve men with their cabins placed one above the other against the walls and filled in with straw, and one blanket for each man. ( Thacher, James D. Dr., “Military Journal During the American Revolutionary War 1775-1783,” pp. 189-190.)
6) After a personal appeal from George Washington, Glover returned to service in the American Army and was active in the Saratoga campaign of 1777 and the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778. His first wife Hannah died in 1778, he remarried in 1781 and for the remainder of the war was stationed on the Hudson River to guard against the British sailing up from New York City.
Author’s Note and Acknowledgements
One challenge in researching historical novels is deciding what to include and what to omit. In “Blood Upon the Snow,” the scenes of life on the Kearny farm, drawn in large part from “Diary of an Early American Boy- Noah Blake 1805” by Eric Sloane, are a case in point. I learned more about how to extract boulders from a frozen field, forge nails, erect a bridge and construct a gristmill than any reasonable reader would wish to know. It took several rounds of editing to prune that information into hopefully crisp sentences without weighing the reader down with too many snooze-inducing details, while still conveying the essence of the continuous back-breaking labor that was the daily reality of self-sufficiency.
The same is true for the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown. Thomas J. McGuire’s excellent two-volume work, entitled “The Philadelphia Campaign,” is replete with precise and clear overviews of the battle plans and troop movements. His books are also filled with terrific details taken from letters and correspondence and first hand accounts of the charges, retreats, hand to hand combat, assaults on fortified positions, and close encounters with death or capture. Since ordinary soldiers (such as Will Stoner and his gun crew, Bant and McNeil,) experienced the battle from the narrow perspective of fighting the enemy in their immediate vicinity, all of those specific accounts present a wonderful opportunity to have them happen to the fictional actors. The trick is to first decide what part of an historical battle would most interest the reader and then, like someone moving toy soldiers about, insert the fictional characters at that critical juncture.
I have tried to have it both ways in Chapter 10, A Death Wish and A Close Encounter, by placing Sergeant Will Stoner and his gun crew first at Chadd’s Ford. At the beginning of the battle, General Grant and the Hessians were demonstrating against the Americans to mislead Washington into thinking this was the main point of attack, while General Howe led his troops in a wide flanking movement, crossing the Brandywine at an unprotected ford and crashing down on the American left later in the day. I took the liberty of moving Will and his gun crew to reinforce the thin American line so they could shell the advancing British Grenadiers and participate in the climactic end of the battle.
In Chapter 13, Difficult Tasks Fulfilled, although the American troops had advanced well into Germantown, driving the surprised British before them, I chose to focus on the unsuccessful assault on Chew House that ultimately proved to be a major tactical mistake and turned an imminent victory into a retreat, with the Americans leaving the British in possession of the field.
For me, there are so many interesting real historical characters it is a challenge to decide which ones to include in presenting the lives of ordinary people caught up in the war. Bant, the psychologically damaged militiaman is one such person.
I also made a conscious decision, in “Blood Upon the Snow,” to develop the female characters of Elisabeth Van Hooten and Mercy Buskirk Ford and introduce a Quaker woman, Mary Lewis. All three give me the opportunity to explore with readers the roles women played during the early years of the Revolution. Mary lets me depict how the Quakers were distrusted by both Patriots and Tories alike, because many of them remained steadfast to their pacifist and religious principles. Mrs. Knox continues to play a supporting role and in much of her dialogue, I have drawn upon words or phrases she used in her letters to her beloved Harry. They really were that affectionate toward each other, and not shy about expressing themselves.
Finally, the more research I do, the more I am convinced of the need to dispel the many myths we have about the Revolution. In “Blood Upon the Snow,” Will Stoner, Nat Holmes and the Mas
sachusetts Artillery and Marblehead Mariners, having crossed the Delaware, participate in the well-known attack on the Hessians in Trenton on December 26, 1776. Virtually every American is familiar with iconic painting by Emmanuel Leutze of Washington Crossing the Delaware. The disparities between historical facts and artistic license were discussed in “Tories and Patriots” in Note 1 to Chapter 16.
Picture that painting in your mind. You can probably describe it from memory. Yet, with that image so prominent in the mythology of our Revolution, very few history teachers or books explore who was that African American in uniform, seated at the gunwale on Washington’s right. That was one reason I introduced the Marblehead Mariners in “Cannons for the Cause.” I gave Nat Holmes and Adam Cooper prominence in “Tories and Patriots,” because of the Mariners’ vital role in saving the Army from capture on two occasions in 1776. Since their regiment disbanded at the end of that year, and I am committed to being historically accurate in my novels, Nat Holmes, Adam Cooper and Titus Fuller are basically absent in the story told in “Blood Upon the Snow.” However, they return at the end to endure with Will the hardships at Valley Forge and will play a major role in “Spies and Deserters,” the fourth in the series, which will explore among other themes, slavery in New Jersey.
Once again, I am indebted to my friends who read different versions of the manuscript and offered many helpful insights and comments. As I have stated before, they know who they are. I value their friendship and continued support.
Ben West, my editor, focused with laser like intensity on character development and plot. In some cases I assumed something was obvious when it was not, or my ideas consisted of confused half-baked thoughts, inarticulately presented. His comments always clarified and sharpened my writing.
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