Audiobook15 hours
Germantown: A Military History of the Battle for Philadelphia, October 4, 1777
Written by Michael Harris
Narrated by Tom Perkins
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Today, Germantown is a busy neighborhood in Philadelphia. On October 4, 1777, it was a small village on the outskirts of the colonial capital whose surrounding fields and streets witnessed one of the largest battles of the American Revolution. The bloody battle represented George Washington's attempt to recapture Philadelphia, but has long been overshadowed by better-known events like Brandywine, Saratoga, and Valley Forge.
General Sir William Howe launched his campaign to capture Philadelphia in late July 1777, with an army of 16,500 British and Hessian soldiers aboard a 265-ship armada sailing from New York. Six difficult weeks later, Howe's expedition landed near Elkton, Maryland, and moved north into Pennsylvania. Washington's rebel army did all it could to harass Howe and fought and lost a major battle at Brandywine on September 11. Philadelphia fell to the British.
On October 4, obscured by darkness and a heavy morning fog, Washington launched a surprise attack on the British garrison at Germantown. His early attack found initial success and drove the British legions before him. The recapture of the colonial capital seemed within Washington's grasp until poor decisions by the American high command brought about a reversal of fortune and a clear British victory.
General Sir William Howe launched his campaign to capture Philadelphia in late July 1777, with an army of 16,500 British and Hessian soldiers aboard a 265-ship armada sailing from New York. Six difficult weeks later, Howe's expedition landed near Elkton, Maryland, and moved north into Pennsylvania. Washington's rebel army did all it could to harass Howe and fought and lost a major battle at Brandywine on September 11. Philadelphia fell to the British.
On October 4, obscured by darkness and a heavy morning fog, Washington launched a surprise attack on the British garrison at Germantown. His early attack found initial success and drove the British legions before him. The recapture of the colonial capital seemed within Washington's grasp until poor decisions by the American high command brought about a reversal of fortune and a clear British victory.
Author
Michael Harris
MICHAEL HARRIS is a contributing editor at Western Living and Vancouver magazine. His award-winning writing appears regularly in magazines such as The Walrus and Frieze and has been featured in several books. He lives in Vancouver.
More audiobooks from Michael Harris
Solitude: In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brandywine: A Military History of the Battle that Lost Philadelphia but Saved America, September 11, 1777 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Germantown
Related audiobooks
Mad Anthony Wayne: The Life and Legacy of the Famous Revolutionary War General Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Saratoga Campaign: The History and Legacy of the Revolutionary War’s Turning Point Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Giants: The Amateur Soldiers Who Won America's Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War Before Independence: 1775-1776 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Enemy Harassed: Washington's New Jersey Campaign of 1777 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohn Haslet's World: An Ardent Patriot, the Delaware Blues, and the Spirit of 1776 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Liberty is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 10 Key Campaigns of the American Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorthern Armageddon: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the Making of the American Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Living Hell: The Dark Side of the Civil War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Union War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5April 1865: The Month That Saved America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Terrible Swift Sword Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dawn's Early Light Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIndependence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5General George Washington: A Military Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saratoga and Yorktown: The History of the American Revolution’s Most Important Campaigns Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
United States History For You
Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wright Brothers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Charlie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Untold History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5John Adams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Letter from Birmingham Jail Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Germantown
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
2 ratings0 reviews