Thomas J. McGuire Knihy

Based on soldiers' and civilians' vivid accounts--many uncovered for the first time from private collections--the story of the compelling fight for independence reaches its most desperate moments. This second in a two-volume set follows the saga from Cornwallis's triumphal march of his British and Hessian troops into Philadelphia in late September to Washington's movement of the weary Continental forces to camp at Valley Forge in December. Defeated at Brandywine, the Continental forces were worn out and ill equipped. Yet on October 4, Washington embarked on his first major offensive of the war--a surprise attack at dawn on Howe's main camp at Germantown. Only narrowly defeated, the Continentals gained valuable experience and new confidence in the possibility of victory. The seige of the Delaware River forts--one of the bloodiest and prolonged battles of the war--ended with British success in mid-November, but still Howe failed to end the war. He tried unsuccessfully to draw Washington from the fortified hills of Whitemarsh. As the Continental forces moved to Valley Forge for the winter, they would have to face their greatest challenge--survival.

The first in a monumental two-volume set on the pivotal 1777 campaign of the American Revolution, this book is an in-depth examination of the military engagements that resulted in the British capture of Philadelphia. Based on surviving accounts of soldiers and civilians, the author weaves together the compelling story of the fight for the Continental capital. In the winter of 1777, after the victories at Trenton and Princeton, George Washington painstakingly rebuilt the Continental Army. The following spring, all eyes turned to the British commander-in-chief, Sir William Howe, to see when and where he would resume the drive on the rebel capital. Numerous skirmishes and seemingly pointless maneuvers finally led to Pennsylvania. The two main armies finally clashed in the bloody Battle of Brandywine on September 11, where Howe's flanking tactics inflicted a serious defeat on Washington. Rallying his forces, Washington resumed his defense of Philadelphia, only to be thwarted at the Schuylkill and suffer a small but bloody defeat at Paoli. Congress fled the capital as the British Army approached, and the campaign to win the hearts and minds of the American people raged in full fury as the two armies marched through the region.

Mysterious creatures of Illinois in a collection of stories