Battle of Germantown

On October 4, 1777, at the Battle of Germantown, General George Washington's troops attacked and were defeated by the British at Germantown, Pennsylvania. An excerpt from the article:

"Around 5:30 in the morning, Sullivan's troops surprised Howe's advanced guard and forced it back towards Germantown in confusion as a dense fog blanketed the battlefield. Approximately 100 British soldiers took refuge in Cliveden, a large stone mansion, while the British withdrew. Sullivan wisely bypassed the structure and continued his advance over a mile, driving the British from a series of fenced yards in the town. Greene, delayed on the long march, opened his attack about an hour later and captured part of the British camp in heavy fighting. With victory seemingly in sight, however, the American attack unraveled.

Sullivan's troops were running low on ammunition and slowed their advance before coming under a volley of friendly fire from Greene's men, who had become disoriented in the fog. In addition, the militia columns failed to envelop Howe's flanks. On the far right flank, John Armstrong's Pennsylvanians held a Hessian detachment in place but did little more. On the opposite end of the field 1,500 New Jersey and Maryland militiamen arrived too late to participate in any major fighting.

The Americans' most serious challenge was at Cliveden. Washington, on the advice of artillery commander Henry Knox, decided to attack the sturdy building rather than isolate it with a small force. For two hours a Continental brigade supported by cannons unsuccessfully tried to storm the mansion, suffering heavy losses. This action diverted troops from Sullivan's main advance and also from Greene's, as some of his soldiers joined the assault."