resisted by a very firm mind, overwhelms the
judgment, and by controlling measures not well comprehended, may
frequently produce, especially in military transactions, the most
disastrous effects.

It was stated to the Commander-in-chief, that his army was now in
greater force than he could expect it to be at any future time; that
being joined by the troops who had conquered Burgoyne, his own
reputation, the reputation of his army, the opinion of congress, and
of the nation, required some decisive blow on his part. That the rapid
depreciation of the paper currency, by which the resources for
carrying on the war were dried up, rendered indispensable some grand
effort to bring it to a speedy termination.

The plan proposed was, that General Greene should embark two thousand
men at Dunks' ferry, and descending the Delaware in the night, land in
the town just before day, attack the enemy in the rear, and take
possession of the bridge over the Schuylkill. That a strong corps
should march down on the west side of that river, occupy the heights
enfilading the works of the enemy, and open a brisk cannonade upon
them, while a detachment from it should march down to the bridge, and
attack in front at the same instant, that the party descending the
river should commence its assault on the rear.

Not only the Commander-in-chief, but some of his best officers, those
who could not be impelled by the clamours of the ill-informed to ruin
the public interests, were opposed to this mad enterprise.

The two armies, they said, were now nearly equal in point of numbers,
and the detachment under Lord Cornwallis could not be supposed to have
so weakened Sir William Howe as to compensate for the advantages of
his position. His right was covered by the Delaware, his left by the
Schuylkill, his rear by the junction of those two rivers, as well as
by the city of Philadelphia, and his front by a line of redoubts
extending from river to river, and connected by an abattis, and by
circular works. It would be indispensably necessary to carry all these
redoubts; since to leave a part of them to play on the rear of the
columns, while engaged in front with the enemy in Philadelphia, would
be extremely hazardous.

Supposing the redoubts carried, and the British army driven into the
town, yet all military men were agreed on the great peril of storming
a town. The streets would be defended by an artillery greatly superior
to that of the Americans, whi