The Wargamer

Introduction

1777: The Year of the Hangman is an intriguing operational level board game that excellently portrays the challenges facing both the British, under General Sir William Howe, and the American Rebels under General George Washington during the 1777 Philadelphia campaign. The British have a powerful, high quality force that is dependent on secure supply lines and cannot afford to take excessive losses. The Americans, with few quality units, have to avoid a stand up fight, maintaining an army in being while looking for opportunities to hurt the British. It is a game of patience and maneuver, as an ill-considered battle can wreck an army in a day. 

Plot and Presentation

The subtitle to 1777: The Year of the Hangman - Being an Examination of the Philadelphia Campaign of that year, Including a study of the Ten Crucial Days of 1776 and the Battles of Trenton and Princeton - sums up the plot pretty nicely. Two chronological periods are covered in the game. The first is December and January of 1776, when General Washington and his ragtag army crossed the Delaware River to attack the Hessian outposts left by Sir William Howe, who had taken the majority of the British Army back to New York City for the winter. After overrunning the garrison at Trenton, General Washington spent the next week dodging Lord Cornwallis' relief column. Outguessing the British, the Americans raided the supply depot at Princeton before retreating to winter quarters in the mountains to the north. The British abandoned much of New Jersey and would not return until the summer of 1777.

The British summer campaign of 1777 was designed to knock New England out of the rebellion. Major General John Burgoyne's forces would descend south from Quebec while Colonel Barry St. Leger marched east from the Great Lakes and General Howe advanced south up the Hudson. They were all to meet at Albany, Howe destroying Washington's army if it tried to stop the dismemberment of the northeastern colonies. The plan ran into trouble in all three directions. Colonel St. Leger's thrust up the Mohawk valley stalled at Fort Stanwix and was called off when word arrived of the approach of an American relief column led by Benedict Arnold. General Howe felt the best use of his forces was to use an advance south to take Philadelphia to draw out and destroy General Washington's forces. He also decided the best way to accomplish this was to use the British Navy to transport his troops. This meant that General Howe would be in no position to assist General Burgoyne if the advance from Quebec ran into trouble. General Burgoyne's campaign got off to a good start. Fort Ticonderoga fell easily to the British, further reinforcing General Howe's opinion that his forces could be better used elsewhere. When the British fleet set sail towards the end of July, Burgoyne was still making slow but steady progress. This soon changed, with a British attempt to launch a raid into Vermont in mid-August being severely defeated at the Battle of Bennington. Despite the knowledge that he could expect no more help from General Howe or Colonel St. Leger, Burgoyne determined to keep on towards Albany. The advance was brought to a halt in mid-September at the Battle of Freeman's Farm, with heavy British casualties. Cut off and under constant harassment, a final failed British attack in early October rendered Burgoyne's force ineffective. They managed to retreat to Saratoga, but found themselves surrounded by the Americans and were compelled to surrender on October 17, 1777.

The Delaware River was defended from sea-borne attacks by two lines in various states of repair and construction. The strongest was just south of Philadelphia and consisted of two forts (Mifflin and Mercer), with a barrier strung between them called a chevaux de frise, consisting of weighted boxes with iron tipped wooden stakes designed to rip out a ship's hull. Further south another chevaux de frise had been placed at Billingsport and another fort was under construction. In addition there was a mixed naval force, consisting of a small squadron of ships and galleys and floating batteries from Pennsylvania.

Reluctant to face these defenses, whose strength was exaggerated by the pro-American river pilots, General Howe decided to instead sail up the Cheaspeake Bay and advance from Maryland. The result, however, was to delay the landing until 25 August, a long time at sea which exhausted supplies and killed or debilitated most of the horses. The British spent the next week foraging and established their supply depot at Elkton, Maryland. The main American position was along the Red Clay Creek south of Wilmington, with a militia force backed by Maxwell's rifle brigade further south along the Christina Creek. The campaign opened on 3 September with the Battle of Cooch's Bridge where the American force on Christina Creek was driven back to the main line. The British then feinted at the American position while moving the majority of their forces north around the Red Clay Creek position. Helped by the slowness of the British advance, the Americans were able to fall back to the Brandywine Creek near Wilmington.

General Howe advanced again on 11 September. One column once again demonstrated against the American's front while another moved around the flank. Two American divisions were routed by the flank attack before Major General Greene's reserves brought the assault to a halt. The Americans lost twice as many men as the British, but the British losses were far harder to replace. General Washington was able to fall back with the army more or less intact and take up another line behind the Schuylkill River in the vicinity of Philadelphia.