Wednesday, September 10 (7pm) to Saturday, September 13 (5pm)
Led by Gary Ecelbarger
HQ: King of Prussia, PennsylvaniaRegistration fee: $675.00
The Philadelphia Campaign has undergone a Renaissance in the 21st Century with numerous articles, essays, monographs and books dedicated to the events surrounding the great Colonial city during the fall of 1777. The knowledge obtained from this new research has drastically altered our understanding of the personalities contributing to the campaign, the battles of the period and the decisions and movements between those battles. America’s History LLC, will take advantage of this updated history to provide a one-of-a-kind tour experience during the 248th anniversary of this fall classic, led by one of the campaign’s more prolific scholars and guides.
Day One: we will launch right into the campaign’s first great battle –Brandywine–on September 11 as we commemorate the exact anniversary of this contest. We will investigate the largest and longest battle of the entire Revolutionary War, partly on preserved fields recently opened for access. After lunch we will strike the grounds of two other face to face encounters between Continental and Crown Forces — the previously nebulous Battle of the Clouds and the surprise upon Wayne’s Pennsylvanians by British general Charles “No Flint” Gray at the Battle of Paoli. Time permitting, we’ll visit Wayne’s grave.
Day Two: The morning will be dedicated to the Battle of Germantown of October 4, 1777, where we will prepare for the battle in view of the Peter Wentz house where Washington did the same. Then we will follow one of the four routes American took to attack General Howe — hopefully without the fog that shrouded the Continentals. We will visit the highly contested Chew House, called “Cliveden” (where Washington himself studied the battlefield from its rooftop exactly one month and one day later). This battle featured the largest coordinated assault on American soil until the second year of the Civil War. From Cliveden we will finish our tour day studying the battles for the forts — Mercer and Mifflin — with a nod to the awesome explosion of the 64-gun HMS Augusta off the east bank of the Delaware.
Day Three: This day will be dedicated to December 1777. First is the Battle of Whitemarsh where Howe unsuccessfully contested Washington for control of the heights and the rich Bucks County forage behind it. From there we will follow Washington and his army’s route to the Schuylkill and discuss the contested crossing at Matson’s Ford on December 11. Our post-lunch focus to complete the day will be at Valley Forge, where the final plan to attack Philadelphia on Christmas Day with 15,000 Americans was hashed out. Our guide will keep within the period of the Philadelphia Campaign — before the construction of winter huts that formed “The Great Continental City” and the third largest population center in the United States. However, we will dedicate enough time for the Visitor Center to get an overview of the Valley Forge Winter.
What’s included: Motor coach transportation, lunch, snack and beverage breaks, Lynne’s world-famous brownies, all admissions and gratuities, a map package and the services of an experienced tour leader selected for his knowledge and expertise of the subject area.
Hotel: Hotel information will be provided in the coming weeks.
Our Tour Leader: Gary Ecelbarger is an experienced tour guide of 18th and 19th Century American history, including conducting Philadelphia Campaign tours since 2005. He has written nine books, co-written three others and is also the author of three dozen articles. His Volume 1 of George Washington’s Momentous Year is the winner of the Fraunces Tavern Museum Award and is currently a finalist for the American Historical Foundation’s Distinguished Writing Award.
Register Online: $675
Register by phone, e-mail or postal mail:
- Phone: 1-703-785-4373
- Email us at: info@AmericasHistoryLLC.com
- Postal mail: America’s History LLC, P. O. Box 1076, Goochland, VA 23063
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