*While Burgoyne was invading New York, Howe was invading Pennsylvania.  Washington tried to stop him by placing his army between Howe and Philadelphia, and fought him at the Battle of Brandywine.

*There the British split their forces, with Howe sending enough men towards Washington’s camp at Chadd’s Ford to convince him that the entire army planned to attack there, particularly as heavy fog concealed the British numbers.  In fact, Howe sent a large part of his army North where they crossed the river well above where Washington had any pickets (because he had received bad advice from local people about what fords he needed to guard), and then moved towards Washington’s right flank.

*Washington’s men were forced to retreat, and the British pursued them until nightfall.  Washington lost about 300 killed, 600 wounded, and 400 captured compared to about 460 British casualties. 

*On 26 September, 1777, Howe captured Philadelphia, but Washington did not surrender (contrary to Howe’s expectations, as typically the capture of a nation’s capital brought a war to an end in the 18th century).

*Washington did nearly lose his position, however, due to the actions of a number of officers (including General Horatio Gates) and members of Congress who thought Washington was an amateur and were disappointed with his performance.  This was not the first time this had happened—General Charles Lee had written letters to Congress late in 1776 trying to convince them to replace Washington with himself.  However, the Conway Cabal was more serious.

*Named for General Thomas Conway (although he actually had a relatively minor role in the affair, aside from some initial boasting about his abilities and Washington’s flaws after the Battle of Brandywine), the Conway Cabal was a group of officers and congressmen who plotted to replace Washington with another officer, perhaps Horatio Gates (who had just won his great victory at Saratoga).  They exchanged a series of letters with each other and passed rumours to others criticising Washington’s abilities.  Washington became so embarrassed and disgusted that he considered resigning from his post.

*Eventually some of the instigators were found out and humiliated and Washington was exonerated.  Some of the conspirators resigned from Congress; Conway resigned from the army (but continued criticising Washington until one of Washington’s generals, John Cadwalader, challenged him to a duel and shot him in the mouth on 4 July, 1778); although Gates kept his post his reputation was tarnished.  One thing that saved Washington was that the Marquis de Lafayette expressed the view to Congress that France viewed Washington and the American Cause as inseparable, and Congress could not afford to offend France.

*Conspiracy was only one of Washington’s problems in the winter of 1777-1778.  His men had gone into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.  There his men built cabins to protect themselves from the harsh winter, as about two thousand starved, froze, or died of disease.  The one benefit of the long winter at Valley Forge was that during the winter the American Army finally received professional training.

*Baron Friedrich von Steuben had just arrived from Germany, where he (falsely) claimed he had been a general in the Prussian Army.  He developed the drill that would be used by the US Army until the War of 1812 and trained Washington’s soldiers in conventional warfare, particularly the use of the bayonet, which the Americans had not used effectively before (making them even more terrifying in the hands of the British).

*Another highlight of the winter at Valley Forge was the announcement of the Alliance with France.  This also changed the British war strategy, as Britain felt the need to take a more defensive stance.  Howe also resigned from command in America in 1778 and in May was replaced by Henry Clinton, who was told to abandon Philadelphia and return to New York so his forces would not be spread too far out.

*As Clinton retreated from Philadelphia, Washington made plans to attack him, and did so at Monmouth Courthouse, New Jersey on 28 June, 1778.

*Charles Lee was offered command of the lead units, but declined, because he did not think the plan would succeed.  When Washington offered command to Lafayette, however, Lee changed his mind.  Lee managed his role in a sloppy manner, however, sending his men in a few at a time, and soon began to retreat.

*Washington encountered Lee and his fleeing men, argued with Lee, and relieved him of command.  He was later tried by a court-martial and removed from command for a year.  Washington rallied the fleeing men and stopped the British pursuit, and began to push them back, in the first major use of the bayonet by American soldiers.

*The British retreated during the night and made it to New York, but this battle proved the value of von Steuben’s training.  By July, Washington was back on White Plains, and the British army remained in New York for the rest of the war.  Although there was fighting and intrigue in the North, after 1778, the main action of the war shifted to the South.

*Nonetheless, both the British and Continental Armies kept large forces in the North, mostly guarding New York City (either from the inside or the outside), and during this long standoff, the most infamous act of treachery in American history occurred.

*Benedict Arnold felt he never got the respect he deserved for his victory at Ticonderoga and his vital role in the Saratoga Campaign (stopping St Leger and then rallying the men at Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights).  Furthermore, after Washington placed him in charge of the city of Philadelphia in 1778, he met and married Peggy Shippen (daughter of Loyalist), a woman famous for her beauty and her expensive tastes who soon ran through Arnold’s personal money.

*In 1779, friends of Peggy put Arnold in touch with the British high command.  Arnold was considering offering his services to Henry Clinton.  Soon Arnold was corresponding regularly with Major John André, who had recently been placed in charge of the British spy efforts.  Arnold began providing information about troop locations and movements.  Eventually, André asked for the plans for West Point, a major fort on the Hudson River.

*By late 1779, Philadelphia was being searched for Loyalists and the Arnold and Shippen families were being harassed—Arnold asked for bodyguards, but Congress and Philadelphia ignored him.  Instead, he had to undergo a court-martial to clear charges that he had used his position as commander of Philadelphia to make money on supply movements (and his protection of them).  He was cleared of all but two minor charges, but Washington rebuked him for his behaviour, driving him further to bitterness and he resigned from the Army.

*In April, 1780, though, Philip Schuyler offered him the command of West Point, which he accepted.  Soon he was passing information to the British again, eventually offering to sell the plans for West Point to Clinton.  He also started weakening West Point’s defences, choosing not to repair weak points and dispersing troops throughout the area (leaving West Point almost completely unguarded).

*Finally, Clinton offered Arnold £20,000 for the plans and Arnold accepted.  In September, 1780, André and Arnold met, and Arnold wrote André a pass to get safely back to British lines.  However he was intercepted and recognised as a British officer in civilian clothing.

*Arnold found out about André’s capture and escaped to British lines (and later had his request for safe passage for his wife to cross British lines granted), but André was tried and hanged, despite many pleas for clemency.  Arnold was made a general in the British army, served against the Continental Army on several occasions, and later retired to England.

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