Editing George Washington (section)

===Philadelphia===
{{Main|Philadelphia campaign}}

====Brandywine, Germantown, and Saratoga====
{{Main|Battle of Brandywine|Battle of Germantown|Battles of Saratoga}}

In July 1777, the British general [[John Burgoyne]] led his British troops south from [[Quebec]] in the [[Saratoga campaign]]; he [[Siege of Fort Ticonderoga (1777)|recaptured Fort Ticonderoga]], intending to divide [[New England]]. However, General Howe took his army from New York City south to Philadelphia rather than joining Burgoyne near [[Albany, New York|Albany]].{{sfn|Chernow|2010|pp=300–301}} Washington and [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Gilbert, Marquis de Lafayette]] rushed to Philadelphia to engage Howe. In the [[Battle of Brandywine]] on September 11, 1777, Howe outmaneuvered Washington and marched unopposed into the American capital at Philadelphia. A Patriot [[Battle of Germantown|attack]] against the British at [[Germantown, Philadelphia|Germantown]] in October failed.{{sfnm|Randall|1997|1pp=340–341|Chernow|2010|2pp=301–304}}

In [[Upstate New York]], the Patriots were led by General Horatio Gates. Concerned about Burgoyne's movements southward, Washington sent reinforcements north with Generals [[Benedict Arnold]] and [[Benjamin Lincoln]]. On October 7, 1777, Burgoyne tried to take [[Battles of Saratoga|Bemis Heights]] but was isolated from support and forced to surrender. Gates' victory emboldened Washington's critics, who favored Gates as a military leader.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|pp=312–313}} According to the biographer John Alden, "It was inevitable that the defeats of Washington's forces and the concurrent victory of the forces in upper New York should be compared."{{sfn|Alden|1996|p=163}} Admiration for Washington was waning.{{sfn|Lender|Stone|2016|pp=36&ndash;37}}

====Valley Forge and Monmouth====
{{Main|Valley Forge|Battle of Monmouth}}
[[File:Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge.jpg|thumb|alt=Painting showing Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette on horseback in a winter setting, at Valley Forge|''Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge'', a 1907 painting by [[John Ward Dunsmore]]]]

Washington and his army of 11,000 men went into winter quarters at [[Valley Forge]] north of Philadelphia in December 1777. There they lost between 2,000 and 3,000 men as a result of disease and lack of food, clothing, and shelter, reducing the army to below 9,000 men.{{sfnm|Ferling|2002|1p=186|Alden|1996|2pp=165, 167}} By February, Washington was facing low troop morale and increased desertions.{{sfn|Alden|1996|p=165}} An [[Conway Cabal|internal revolt]] by his officers prompted some members of Congress to consider removing Washington from command. Washington's supporters resisted, and the matter was ultimately dropped.{{sfn|Heydt|2005}}

Washington made repeated petitions to Congress for provisions and expressed the urgency of the situation to a congressional delegation.{{sfn|Stewart|2021|pp=242&ndash;244}} Congress agreed to strengthen the army's supply lines and reorganize the [[quartermaster]] and [[Commissary#Military|commissary]] departments, while Washington launched the [[Grand Forage of 1778]]{{efn|See, for example, Todd W. Braisted, ''Grand Forage 1778'', Westholme Publishing, 2016.}} to collect food from the surrounding region.{{sfnm|Carp|2017|1pp=44&ndash;47|Herrera|2022|2p=2|Bodle|2004|3pp=36–40, 215–216}} Meanwhile, Baron [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben]]'s incessant drilling transformed Washington's recruits into a disciplined fighting force.{{sfnm|Randall|1997|1pp=342, 356, 359|Ferling|2009|2p=172|Alden|1996|3p=168}} Washington appointed him [[Office of the Inspector General of the United States Army|Inspector General]].{{sfn|Lengel|2005|p=281}}

In early 1778, the French entered into a [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|Treaty of Alliance]] with the Americans.{{sfn|Taylor|2016|p=188}} In May, Howe resigned and was replaced by [[Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)|Sir Henry Clinton]].{{sfn|Ferling|2007|p=296}} The British evacuated Philadelphia for New York that June and Washington summoned a war council of American and French generals. He chose to order a limited strike on the retreating British. Generals Lee and Lafayette moved with 4,000 men, without Washington's knowledge, and bungled their first strike on June 28. Washington relieved Lee and achieved a draw after [[Battle of Monmouth|an expansive battle]]. The British continued their retreat to New York.{{sfnm|Alden|1996|1pp=176–177|Ferling|2002|2pp=195–198}}
This battle "marked the end of the war's campaigning in the northern and middle states. Washington would not fight the British in a major engagement again for more than three years".{{sfn|Rhodehamel|2017|loc=7: Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth}} British attention shifted to the Southern theatre; in late 1778, General Clinton captured [[Savannah, Georgia]], a key port in the American South.{{sfn|Taylor|2016|p=230}} Washington, meanwhile, ordered [[Sullivan Expedition|an expedition]] against the [[Iroquois]], the Indigenous allies of the British, destroying their villages.{{sfn|Rhodehamel|2017|loc=8: The Great Man}}