Bittersweet Christmas

Daddy's Cannon

1777 was a desperate year for the American cause just like the year before it, and George Washington, Commanding General of the Continental Army wanted to make a last-ditch effort to outsmart and outmaneuver the British who had just taken the American Capital at Philadelphia. Fall was in full color in Pennsylvania, and it would not be long before the enlistments expired of over half his army. It would have to be a Trenton victory all over again; just enough to keep his men motivated to sign-up for another year. It wasn’t about re-taking Philadelphia, which he had to do, it was about trapping half the British Army who had split from the capital to catch the Americans. Just twenty miles north of the capital, Washington planned an ambitious four-pronged assault to attack the British unawares, a double-envelopment - to the dismay of his generals, and if successful the Battle of Germantown would be a decisive blow that might force a treaty. It was to be the last battle of 1777.