The Highest Honor

philadelphia was tensed with terror the long feared invasion of the city loomed to certainty and the red coat general sir william howe now appeared ready to make good on his boast of eating christmas dinner in philadelphia general washington's troops which had paraded so proudly from front and chestnut and on through southwest philadelphia to the heights of derby were now in retreat the defeat of washington at brandywine and the injury to lafayette was the constant subject of conversation in southwest philadelphia neighbors buried their valuables in the cellar of all yellow mansion at what is today 69th in pascal avenue ironically general howe would soon stride through the doors of the mansion and make the house his headquarters his troops in top aides the comp would map strategy and pace the very floors which hid the neighborhood wealth but the valuables would go undetected at the home of john bartram who was then in the twilight of his career as the nation's foremost botanist there was grave concern lest a lifetime of work be laid to waste by the onrushing grenadiers the young nation's first botanic gardens thriving on 292 acres of fertile southwest philadelphia soil and the home that bartram had erected with his own hands sometimes splitting rocks up to 17 feet long stood directly in the path of the enemy the redcoats and hessian mercenaries could hardly be expected to appreciate the need to preserve the more than 129 varieties gathered by bottram in thousands of miles of expeditions from new england to florida and bartram's title as king's botanist in america hardly see much of a defense against the grenadiers in their artillery john bartram in failing health and preoccupied with fears of an impending british occupation died at age 78. and as if to confirm what everyone had feared general washington sent a dispatch to the continental congress advising them that detect philadelphia against the british faced with 30 miles of the delaware to defend along a line that could be attacked at one or a dozen places washington wrote that he could see no means of preventing the occupation on september 26 1777 20 red coats and hessian troops marched along the king's highway past blue bell inn past saint james church of king sessing and into the heart of the city general howe set up headquarters in old yellow mansion but bartram's invaluable gardens were left unscathed by the ravages of the occupation meanwhile the general's brother admiral richard howe led his command of more than 250 ships of war closer to the american defenses strung across the delaware with the chavo de freeze with their barbed iron points sloping upwards to pierce the hull of wooden ships and tear the planking from its ribs the shavoda freeze which were designed by benjamin franklin were protected by shore guns at fort mifflin on the pennsylvania side and by fort mercer on the jersey shore the channel was effectively closed to shipping but somehow the supplies had to be unloaded if general howe were to pursue washington the british general could not risk extending his supply lines in a generally hostile country his twenty thousand troops had increased philadelphia's population by almost fifty percent without any new sources of food and clothing supplies and washington in a report to congress voice the hope that if how supplies can be stopped by water it may easily be done by land the continentals moved to strengthen the small garrison of 350 men at fort mifflin but robert white later hanged as a traitor failed to install the chavo de freeze on the inland side of the fort and no relief could be expected from the defeated american army the british captured a downstream outpost at billings port opened a passage through the chavo de freeze and moved to within sight of the southwest philadelphia fortification despite cuts in the road to boat creek made by the continental defenders howe established land batteries across the meadows from the fort at the mouth of the skulko and at the bleakley plantation at bleakley's an american saudi captured the british battery but the victory was short-lived a counter attack by redcoats and hessians regained the site and the british bombardment continued later a cannonball ripped through the brick wall wounded three british soldiers and passed out the opposite side of the house neighbors would later refer to it as cannonball farm the barrage from cannonball farm in the other land and see batteries continued unmercifully with cannon shots splitting men like fish killing five or more with one shot two of the 18 pounders at the fort were knocked out and there was no cannonball for the fort's biggest gun a 32 pounder so artillery officers who would catch the british cannonball put into position and return the fire many of the defenders were without clothing and few had stockings or shoes they dozed off sitting up or leaning against a wall but for 15 days no one laid down to sleep the firing increased to a thousand shots every 20 minutes general knox called the incessant bombardment the most severe of the revolutionary war exceeding by far anything ever seen in america by 2 a.m the next day the siege had reduced the fort to a shambles every gun was out of action and seventy percent of the men were either dead or wounded under the cover of darkness those that remained escaped past the guns of the british fleet two days later general howe dispatched lord cornwallis and three thousand red coats to chester for a crossing of a delaware and an attack on the jersey shore the advancing redcoats were spotted by 33 of washington's pickets who had been at blue bell inn to cover the retreat from fort mifflin with the valor of their comrades at fort mifflin etched in their minds the pickets opened fire on con wallace's troops two british soldiers including a sergeant major were killed the british infuriated by the attack broke rank and rushed the inn bayonetting five americans according to accounts of the clash they would have killed them all but the commanding officer interfered and took the remaining 28 prisoner the gallant defense was over the british could land their long-awaited supplies but it was now november 17th and the two-month delay in landing the supplies combined with winter weather prevented general howe from launching an offensive against washington's main army the tide of battle had turned from his field headquarters at white marsh general washington wrote to the president of the continental congress informing him of the fall of the fort i am sorry to inform you that fort mifflin was evacuated the night before last after a defense which does credit to the american arms and will ever reflect the highest honor upon the officers and man of the garrison later washington both as general and as president would return to the scene with regularity while the mood of the year would change from an historic battleground to a prominent gathering spot for the social set of philadelphia washington's mood always remains somber so somber indeed that it is said to have become a topic of conversation among the mrs lloyd following their return from a neighborhood dance the president stood tall and silent in the living room through the kitchen came the giggling of the young ladies and a statement by one that she wondered if the president would still be so somber if she kissed him washington bolted into the kitchen and demanded to know which girl had said that none of them would admit to having made the statement so washington did the only gentlemanly thing that he could he kissed them all [Music] it was the same george washington who returned to philadelphia in 1787 to attend the constitutional convention a hero's reception greeted him at gray's ferry and the ladies of the town vied with each other for a chance to drink tea with the general as the sessions dragged on at independence hall washington sought relief from the frustrations of the convention and the noise of the city along with sam powell soon to be mayor of philadelphia washington rode out to bartram's garden seeking information on ways of maintaining the fertility of his plantation in virginia on june 10th and again on september 2nd 1787 washington visited the gardens recording each visit in his diary he was impressed by the endless stretch of gardens and the many curious plants shrubs and trees many of which were exotics members of the constitutional assembly also took time out from their historic beauties to visit the gardens on july 4th 1787. the legacy of bartram lives on not only at his home in southwest philadelphia but at such places at st james church of king session at what is today 69th and woodland avenue a stained glass window inscribed with the name of bartram and gravestones with the name of bartram's descendants are constant reminders of the heritage of southwest philadelphia within the 202 year old church the traditions of yesterday are well preserved from a 1762 carriage stepping stone to a colonial style pulpit in prayer boards a sense of pride is most evident and in the churchyard gallant soldiers both continentals and redcoats lie side by side their names read like a roll call of bravery from general josiah hammer who served under washington's command to the sergeants who gave their lives for eight dollars a month neither win nor rain has been able to completely erase their appetite and the highest honor placed upon their heroic acts from bow creek to cannonball farm from fort mifflin to blue bell inn joining in the silent tribute is betsy ross the woman who sowed the first flag their commander carried into battle is interred at mount moriah cemetery off king sassing avenue her star-spangled banner waves proudly over her grave in an unending salute to the hollowed ground of historic southwest philadelphia [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] bed [Music] be [Music] oh [Music] so you