r received him with the
noble courtesy to which he pledged himself. After acquainting him with
all the affairs of the department, the measures he had taken and those
he had projected, he informed him of his having signified to Congress
his intention to remain in that quarter for the present and render
every service in his power, and he entreated Gates to call upon him
for council and assistance whenever he thought proper.

Gates was in high spirits. His letters to Washington show how
completely he was aware that an easy path of victory had been opened
to him. But so far was he from responding to Schuyler's magnanimity,
and profiting by his nobly offered counsel and assistance, that he did
not even ask him to be present at his first council of war, although
he invited up General Ten Broeck of the militia from Albany to attend
it.

CHAPTER XLV.
BATTLE OF THE BRANDYWINE.--FALL OF PHILADELPHIA.

On the 25th of August the British army under General Howe began to
land from the fleet in Elk River, at the bottom of Chesapeake Bay. The
place where they landed was about six miles below the Head of Elk (now
Elkton), a small town, the capital of Cecil County. This was seventy
miles from Philadelphia. Early in the evening Washington received
intelligence that the enemy were landing. There was a quantity of
public and private stores at the Head of Elk which he feared would
fall into their hands if they moved quickly. Every attempt was to be
made to check them. The divisions of Generals Greene and Stephen were
within a few miles of Wilmington; orders were sent for them to march
thither immediately. The two other divisions which had halted at
Chester to refresh were to hurry forward. Major-general Armstrong, who
now commanded the Pennsylvania militia, was urged to send down in the
cool of the night all the men he could muster, properly armed. General
Rodney, who commanded the Delaware militia, was ordered to throw out
scouts and patrols toward the enemy to watch their motions; and to
move near them with his troops as soon as he should be reinforced by
the Maryland militia. Light troops were sent out early in the morning
to hover about and harass the invaders.

The country was in a great state of alarm. The inhabitants were
hurrying off their most valuable effects, so that it was difficult to
procure cattle and vehicles to remove the public stores. The want of
horses, and the annoyances given by the American light troops,