On December 19, 1777, at 10 a.m., George Washington and his Continental Army marched out of Rebel Hill and Gulph Mills, past the Hanging Rock, and on to Valley Forge. As one historian wrote, “Th…
On December 18, 1777, General George Washington’s army celebrated the first national Thanksgiving in Gulph Mills and on Rebel Hill. The celebration caused a one day delay in the army’s march to…
After weeks of debate, General Washington decided on Valley Forge as the site of the Continental Army’s winter quarters. As hard as it is for us to believe today, armies at this time generally did…
On a cold and rainy December 16, 1777, the 11,000 soldiers in George Washington’s Continental Army at Gulph Mills and Rebel Hill had one solace — tents had arrived. They had been exposed to the sn…
Source: Day 4: Dec. 16, 1777 — Tents arrive and British soldiers captured at Gulph Mills
On December 15, 1777, the Continental Army has been at Gulph Mills and Rebel Hill for two days, so they are able to settle down and recoup a bit of their strength. As Dr. Albigence Waldo, Surgeon …
Source: Day 3, Dec. 15, 1777 — The Continental Army settles down at Rebel Hill and Gulph Mills
On December 14, 1777, the condition of the 11,000 members of the Continental Army at Gulph Mills and Rebel Hill was one of extreme hardship. The soldier’s tents were not to arrive for two mo…
Source: Day 2, Dec. 14 — Hardship plagues the Continental Army at “the Gulph”
Today is Day 1 of the Six Days in December: General George Washington’s and the Continental Army’s Encampment on Rebel Hill, December 13 – 19, 1777. That’s the day that 10,…
Growing up near Matson’s Ford Road and living on Rebel Hill in Upper Merion Township, I never learned about the Battle of Matson’s Ford in school, but I should have. It’s an impor…
Source: Threshold to the Rebel Hill Encampment 12/13 – 19, 1777: The Battle of Matson’s Ford, 12/11/1777
British drawing of the Battle of Whitemarsh
December was a busy time for General George Washington and the Continental Army in 1777. On November 2, Washington moved the Continental Army into a camp in Whitemarsh, PA. Yet, he thought that the area, about 16 miles northwest of Philadelphia along the hills between Old York Road and Bethlehem Pike, not far down the road from where there was a British occupation in Germantown and even moreencamped in Philadelphia, was vulnerable to attack by the redcoats. He was right.
I wrote a bit about these few days of skirmishes with the redcoats, known as the Battle of Whitemarsh, in my ebook, SIX DAYS IN DECEMBER: General George Washington’s and the Continental Army’s Encampment on Rebel Hill December 13 – 19, 1777. Here is the excerpt:
“The army was cold, tired, and barely clothed when they got to Rebel Hill. British General Howe had moved most of his army out of Philadelphia on Dec. 4 for one final battle before both armies went into winter quarters. Several divisions of Washington’s Continental Army skirmished with the British at the Battle of Whitemarsh on December 5 – 7. Yet, the entire Continental Army was on full alert on December 7 for an attack by Howe’s British army. On that day, General Washington “rode through every brigade of his army, delivering in person his orders respecting the manner of receiving the enemy, exhorting his troops to rely principally on the bayonet, and encouraging them by the steady firmness of his countenance, as well as by his words, to a vigorous performance of their duty.”3 Gen. Howe decided not to attack after he couldn’t draw out the Continental Army, and he ordered their retreat back to Philadelphia on Dec. 8. Gen. Washington decided that, for the winter, his army had to move farther away from Philadelphia than their current headquarters in Whitemarsh.”
3The Camp by the Old Gulph Mill, William Spohn Baker, 10-11, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (1893).”
You can read more about the Battle of Whitemarsh at the World History Project or at one of the many Revolutionary War websites here.
I write about the Battle of Whitemarsh in my novel, Becoming Valley Forge, because it was part of the Philadelphia Campaign of 177-1778. The characters in Becoming Valley Forge answer the question of what happens when the war comes to your backyard, in this case, the backyards of those who live in Whitemarsh, Germantown, and Chestnut Hill. I hope you’ll read about this battle in the book and let me know what you think about it. Feel free to email me at svance@theelevatorgroup.com.
Peace.
Sheilah Vance 