Howe made the sea voyage and spent
on it three weeks when a march of a day would have saved this
time and kept his fleet three hundred miles by sea nearer to New
York and aid for Burgoyne.
Howe's mistakes only have their place in the procession to
inevitable disaster. Once in the thick of fighting he showed
himself formidable. When he had landed at Elkton he was fifty
miles southwest of Philadelphia and between him and that place
was Washington with his army. Washington was determined to delay
Howe in every possible way. To get to Philadelphia Howe had to
cross the Brandywine River. Time was nothing to him. He landed at
Elkton on the 25th of August. Not until the l0th of September was
he prepared to attack Washington barring his way at Chadd's Ford.
Washington was in a strong position on a front of two miles on
the river. At his left, below Chadd's Ford, the Brandywine is a
torrent flowing between high cliffs. There the British would find
no passage. On his right was a forest. Washington had chosen his
position with his usual skill. Entrenchments protected his front
and batteries would sweep down an advancing enemy. He had
probably not more than eleven thousand men in the fight and it is
doubtful whether Howe brought up a greater number so that the
armies were not unevenly matched.
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