GER'MANTOWN. A former suburb of Phila delphia, since 1845 included within the municipal limits. Germantown occupies a large area, about five miles to the north of the centre of the city. Its picturesque site, the superior character of its architecture, its beautiful gardens, and the large public libraries, render it a charming place of residence. To the west is the romantic gorge of the Wissahickon; to the north is Chestnut Hill, with its fine villas. There is a large section occupied by manufacturing establishments. Ger mantown was settled in October, 1683, by a party of Germans, four of whom in 1688 made the first formal protest ever made in America against slaveholding. The first paper-mill in America was erected here in 1690, and here also, in 1743, the first American edition of the Bible, in any language, was printed. Ger mantown is chiefly notable in history for the battle which was fought here on October 4, 1777, between the Americans under Washington and the British and Hessians under Howe. Wash ington opened the engagement at daybreak on the 4th. At first his centre and left, under Sullivan and Greene respectively, forced back the opposing British and Hessians, and victory for a time seemed assured; but Stephen, on Greene's right, through a dense fog, mistook the Ameri can left centre under Wayne for the enemy, and opened fire, while a body of English, who had taken refuge in a large stone house, the residence of Judge Chew, in the rear, detained a part of the American forces. Stephen's acci
dent, coupled with the continual firing in the rear, threw the American troops into confusion, but Washington led them from the field in per fect order. The British loss was 575; the Ameri can, 673. Washington's apparent audacity in attacking Howe so soon after the battle of Brandywine (q.v.) greatly encouraged the army and the people, and, together with Gates's suc cess at Saratoga, led the hitherto wavering French Court to form an alliance with the United States. For a contemporary sketch of the founding of Germantown, consult: Pasto ricus, "Geographical Description of Pennsylva nia," in Pennsylvania Historical Society Me moirs (Pennsylvania, 1850) ; for references to its early history, Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1884) ; and for brief accounts of the battle, Carrington, Battles of the American Revolution (New York, 1878) ; Dawson, Battles of the United States (New York, 1858) ; and Lossing, Field Book of the Revolution (New York, 149). For a further description of Germantown, see PHILADELPHIA.