Brandywine Wargame: "Professional Historians vs. Professional Wargamers"

hi i'm gary edelman chief historian for the american battlefield trust and today we're standing on hallowed ground this is brandywine the site of the largest battle of the american war of independence depending how you measure it george washington suffered one of his worst defeats on this battlefield in 1777 when the british swept the continental army from the field and drove on to capture philadelphia it was a humiliating defeat for the american rebels but the question today is do you think you can do better gary i don't know but i can't wait to find out well that's good because we're about to thrust you in the role of george washington and at a critical moment in the battle you the viewer will get to take part i'm greg from little wars tv a youtube channel where our club fights famous battles using miniature armies and today we're rolling back the clock to september 11 1777. three amateur historians from my club will challenge gary and his team of professional historians to see if we can turn the tables at brandywine in this stunning war game at a critical moment in the game when everything hangs in the balance we'll present you with a critical command decision two clickable options will appear on your screen and you'll take command as washington himself forced to make a painful decision that could mean the difference between victory and defeat together let's explore the history of this interactive battle in a new and innovative way so what do you say general are you ready [Music] greg and i are standing on a part of the battlefield called dilworth where washington made his final stand but this is just a small part of a much larger battlefield in 1777 the area where the two armies clashed was unusually large covering more than 10 square miles but today 244 years later only a small fraction of that land is preserved i work at the american battlefield trust where my colleagues and i are fighting every day to preserve historical places like this brandywine is in desperate need of more preservation and you might get an email about that in the future gary before our teams match wits on the table top i think that we should maybe first explain the context of how this battle came to happen in the first place and what the two armies were really hoping to achieve here excellent and that'll give me a chance to dispute something that you said at the beginning of the video about the americans humiliating defeat it was a defeat no question but i think washington did still achieve some of his aims okay well then we're definitely going to have something to fight about but let's start on a point of agreement about how the two armies arrived at this quiet farming community 30 miles west of philadelphia in early 1777 two major british armies cast a shadow over the rebellious colonies general burgoyne's army mobilized to invade new york and general howe's army waited in new york city to lend assistance except hal had other ideas yes coordination between the british armies is what washington feared most but howe had something else in mind in july 1777 house army boarded a british fleet and sailed out of new york city washington had no idea where how was going and neither did burgoyne it's probably worth mentioning that the two british commanders in north america howe and burgoyne also happen to be jealous rivals and that may explain why later in august howe didn't show up at the hudson river as washington feared no howe instead disembarked his 15 000 men in the chesapeake bay far away from burgoyne and just 50 miles from the seat of the continental congress in philadelphia capturing the symbolic center of american power would be a major propaganda coup for howe and washington hastily hurried to meet the threat washington had about 15 to 20 000 men in his army at this time many of them militia and worse yet he wasn't exactly sure how many men the british had landed in the chesapeake despite any reservations he may have had about those militia or anything else washington knew he could not abandon philadelphia without a fight washington chose his ground well this is brandywine creek one of the last natural barriers between the british and philadelphia as you can see the brandywine is a fairly wide fast moving creek i have to admit i don't find the brandywine as compelling a defensive position as you do gary a minute ago you mentioned how large this battlefield is at 10 square miles and that's because washington was forced to spread his army along a very wide front due to the number of potential fords and river crossings washington had surprisingly poor maps available of this area and a lack of good roads connecting the crossings would make it difficult for the continental army to redeploy or make use of interior lines having too much ground to cover and too few men to cover it is just one of the problems you american players are going to face in today's war game indeed whatever weaknesses the position has i mean we're only 30 miles from philadelphia and i'm not sure that washington had a better option anywhere the british army camped at kenneth square and on the morning of september 11 1777 the only question was how and where would howe attempt to cross that river in the historical battle that followed howe caught washington by surprise taking a flanking force on a grueling 17-mile flank march across a ford to the north that washington failed to cover we can chalk that up as another one of many mistakes yes and washington was also the recipient of numerous reports of contradictory intelligence and while he did lose i wouldn't consider it a let me prepare for this humiliation as has been described despite his tactical mistakes at brandywine washington did achieve one important aim he met the british army head on in a pitched battle and the inexperienced american rebels did not wilt under fire by all accounts the americans went toe-to-toe with the british and proved to the enemy and to themselves that they could fight and fight hard and when the battle was lost washington's army retreated in good order surviving to fight another day that's all fine and well gary but i've never been one for moral victories in the aftermath of brandywine the british captured philadelphia the continental congress fled west and discontent with washington's handling of this campaign led to calls for his resignation the question is can a group of armchair generals learn from washington's mistakes and rewrite the history of brandywine and when the climax of the battle occurs what will you decide to do when you are placed in washington's boots i'll be the referee for today's war game which pits gary and his team of historians against my club's team of history buffs and wargaming pros now let's go meet the teams i'm eric gimbe and i am commanding general sullivan and the marquis de lafayette i'm dave raymond and i am commanding nathaniel green and matt anthony wayne i'm gary edelman and i am commanding general george washington oh hey what are you doing here i'm here with american battlefield trust and little wars tv we are the creators of a youtube channel called bobblehead george we're both eighth grade u.s history teachers at northeastern middle school the bible georgia was launched about five or six years ago but we've been collaborating and making virtual field trips for our students for the past year and a half hello i'm miles and i'll be cornwalls hi i'm dave and i'll be playing lieutenant general von niepausen hello i'm ed i'll be playing how our orders were to attack on a broad front and i think our plan once we cross the different forwards meeting in the center probably gives us the most maximum flexibility to deal with the the rag ragtag american army i'm only concerned about greg you know how tricky he is we might get lost on a road for all we know that is true that is true i have no remedy for that dave and ed are right to be worried about my role as the referee any time i'm running a war game i like to introduce the fog of war in creative ways and in this game i do have a few tricks up my sleeve but it's not the british who should be worried it's washington earlier in the episode we already noted washington's lack of proper intelligence at brandywine to simulate this asymmetry for our game today's war game will be played on four separate tables each connected by various off-table roads and trails spreading the game out in this manner not only allows us to represent the sprawling nature of the battlefield it also provides me as the referee with opportunities to sow confusion and simulate the historical difficulties of this unique battle to do so i've generously given the british players a detailed paper map providing them accurate intelligence of how the tables fit together and how long it will take to march between the table connections but for poor gary and his fellow rebels i only provide this generic historical map of the region it does not show where the four tables are or how they connect to start the game washington's army deploys on the four tabletops and is given total freedom of movement to choose their own defensive posture we have the nottingham road table depicting the approach from kenneth square the chad's ford table depicting the main continental defensive position we have the birmingham hill table where much of the historical battle was fought and finally the dilworth table representing a key fallback position on the road to philadelphia the americans must hold this table at all costs in the weeks leading up to this war game we posted pre-battle strategies for both armies on social media on little wars tv we hosted the british voting while our friends at the american battlefield trust hosted the continental vote for washington three options were provided first voters could elect for the historical battle plan which was a defense in depth at chad's ford the main crossing the second option was to increase defenses at the other fords and send across a spoiling attack to slow down the british finally we provided a third option for a major attack across the brandywine with nearly half the army this is a bold potentially reckless plan that washington did order historically before prudently rescinding the attack thousands of you voted and an overwhelming number of you advised washington to spread out his defenses and delay the british with a spoiling attack the professional historians playing as the americans do their best to follow these orders and they set up their defenses along the brandywine accordingly on the table top they've deployed most of their troops at chad's ford and jonesford and determined not to commit the same mistakes as washington they have properly covered jeffrey's ford to the far north by leaving some regiments off table as a screening force but in a convenient bit of foreshadowing allow me to draw your attention to two fords that our american players have chosen to leave uncovered brynton's ford and piles ford remember those names for later while the professional historians set up their defenses our team of professional war gamers are plotting the british attack before the game we allowed viewers to vote on hal's strategy the first option was the historical battle plan sending cornwallis with the bulk of the army on a long northern flank march the second option was to faint to the north while throwing cornwallis into a frontal assault directly at chad's ford and finally our third option was to attack across a broad front spreading out the army to threaten multiple fords simultaneously you voted and this one was a nail biter by the narrowest slimmest of margins you advise general hal to rewrite history and attack across a broad front well i broadly agree with the orders like a broad front seems to be a reasonable approach to take i i think an opposed crossing of a defended forward is is potentially a nightmare as general cornwallis i will be taking the bulk of my forces and crossing at withstar ford as von neapousin i will be going across brenton's board let me just say here and now i'm not so sure we shouldn't have gone north and helped johnny in new york it's damnably hot here really the british plan of attack is to probe chad's forward and piles forward while pushing their main assault to wistar and brenton's ford yeah that brenton's ford the one that the american players decided to leave uncovered and so on the morning of our battle we have british troops marching toward multiple fords including two that are undefended the first shots in the historical battle of brandywine rang out across the countryside around 9 00 am on the area represented here by our first tabletop but in our game the rebels have chosen not to screen the main nottingham road coming from kenneth square and so as heavy british columns of infantry deploy on the first tabletop of the day there is no opposition to meet them the british are pleasantly surprised and quickly hasten their march across the table toward their destination our american players are watching this march carefully and now they're starting to have second thoughts about that spoiling attack that they were originally planning to launch they can now see a massive british attack angling towards chad's ford but this frontal assault never materializes the british have other plans in mind dave commanding nepal's wing leaves only a token force to guard the nottingham road while splitting off a detachment under general charles gray toward piles ford he takes most of his troops north toward brynton's ford meanwhile cornwallis's wing commanded by miles continues marching on the map toward westar's ford and there are continental troops guarding westar's ford so as the referee i send word to washington of cornwallis's approach we've received disturbing reports of a strong enemy movement coming toward with stars ford and we have some of your troops there right general sullivan yes sir uh do you propose to hold them off or to fall back let's hold them off well then let's hold them off do it with word of the skirmish erupting at westar's ford the americans spring into action around 10 30 a.m based on the reports they're receiving from their pickets they start to pull back their advance guard to the eastern bank of the brandywine consolidating a tighter position meanwhile washington is starting to siphon off men from chad's ford to reinforce his position to the north and so as we approach the 11am hour our battle of brandywine is already shaping up very differently from the historical action at 11 30 a.m the leading elements of nepal's wing cross brenton's ford unopposed and arrive on one of the main tabletops for general sullivan this is a most unwelcome and unexpected development he now scrambles to redeploy his maryland regiments some of the best in the continental army to face the new threat dave's attack arrives with parade ground precision shaking out into neat lines of battle the outnumbered marylanders are determined to buy as much time as possible for washington to send reinforcements and gary playing the role of general washington is eager to do just that the americans might have been caught on the back foot so far but gary makes a swift recovery he correctly assesses the british intent to ignore chad's ford and instead strike farther north along the brandywine and so at noon washington leaves his headquarters and joins the march north to birmingham house hill confident that this is destined to be the site of the main battle the american players don't know it yet but they've made the right decision not to hesitate in shuffling their reserves north this is indeed the main focus of the british attack but what they're about to discover in the early afternoon is far worse than they could have imagined their pickets at wistar's ford are driven in delivering news that an unstoppable british host is nipping hard on their heels general sullivan and washington are about to be caught in a dangerous double envelopment so it's 1 30 september 11 1777 and uh things are not going well for the continental army uh just like in the real deal uh there we couldn't guard all the fords it seems like the british almost had prescient knowledge of where we wouldn't be covering and came across at places we weren't we got some advanced warning but right now they are having us in not only a pincer movement where they're coming up front and rear but another part of the army has been caught at a disadvantage so things aren't looking good but they are proceeding like they did in the battle we're trying to hold british off in some areas while we keep those roads open for our ultimate route of retreat to save this army and continue the revolution washington is not the only commander in our game who's already thinking about the road to philadelphia that road is top of mind for our british players who are now angling toward dilworth in hopes of encircling the american position and in the british camp generals howe and cornwallis are feeling rather optimistic about their chances well i think it's going just swimmingly what time is it i do think the uh i need to move my command towards my left to cut off their exit i think that is the most important aspect of the game agreed how's the german doing the german is doing quite well for jerome where is he out pondering they're there we don't really kind of keep track of this but sometimes it's best we don't know came on in regimental style though by god i will straight straight columns yeah we've taught him well or frederick the great did the british plan to cut off and bag washington's entire army does rely on stopping general nathaniel greene from sending too many of his men north the british need to tie down the americans at chad's ford for at least a few hours and right on cue charles gray's division crosses unopposed that piles forward and suddenly appears on a trail coming up along the brandywine he stumbles upon armstrong's pennsylvania militia hitting them in the flank sensing that this could spell major trouble for the american line mad anthony wayne rides into the firefight to personally rally the militia and encourage them to stand the rules we're playing in this war game are called live free or die it's a very simple four page game that emphasizes both the training of the regiments and also the opportunity for heroic leaders to do heroic things historically the marquis de lafayette was shot and wounded gallantly rallying american troops in the waning hours of the battle but here in our game it's mad anthony wayne's turn to cover himself in glory all right let's see here one two here's a bit three four you got four ed all right four you need sixes or five six on man have a stable platform ah god bless america good question all right two two two four two british win okay this is for all the money matt anthony two dice oh he's still alive i kept mad anthony alive that's right good job all right matt anthony lives to fight another day general i order my offer my hardest compliments on how you conducted this fight thank you the militia are driven back from the river's edge but thanks to the leadership of mad anthony wayne it's not a route they pull back in good order behind a fence line ready to stand firm all right so the british came across piles forward which is something that we just did not anticipate and they found a trail through the woods and right now i'm feeling a little bit high and dry because uh the majority of the battle is taking place elsewhere and i feel like i've been left holding the bag right here and ah geez things just aren't looking good for us right now it's now mid-afternoon and our battle of brandywine has reached a pivotal moment of decision for washington's army general greene has successfully beaten back a probe at chad's ford but clearly the main british effort is being made around birmingham house hill where both wings of howl's army are enveloping sullivan's position from two directions hit it man oh you got one one might do one doesn't all right yes that's why we roll the dice all right i lost by one tom what do we do uh you lose by one you are driven back in ignominy heroically and thanks to some good dice rolling eric's maryland regulars stave off disaster and hold but this wing of the continental army desperately needs assistance the intelligence we've been receiving has not served us well it seems like every ford we didn't guard that's where the british came and now we are between a rock and a hard place we've got british on two sides of us at our main position we had british on our flank and that one seems to be going a little bit better so it's a very tough decision to make to know what we're supposed to do now i have british soldiers all around us i need reinforcements general washington i gotta argue the exact opposite i think that the army needs to retreat back to dilworth and protect philadelphia we must save the army but we must not let some of our best troops fall into the hands of the enemy what would you do that's right we're asking you the viewer to take command at this pivotal moment general sullivan in danger of being completely overrun is requesting immediate support will you send troops from nathaniel green's wing north to shore up the line or will you take the council of general greene himself who advises you to prioritize the road to philadelphia and send his men east to secure a line of retreat through dilworth both options now appear on your screen to send relief to aid general sullivan click on the thumbnail to the left but if you wish to leave sullivan and his men to their fate and instead secure the line of retreat to philadelphia click to the right the burden of command is a heavy one and now the fate of the revolution falls to you [Music]

Channel: American Battlefield Trust

Views: 355,699

Keywords: American Battlefield Trust, Civil War Trust

Id: yr24wSzf4aw

Length: 22min 13sec (1333 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 14 2021