John Hazelwood served as a Commodore in the Pennsylvania Navy and Continental Navy and was among the most noted naval officers during the American Revolutionary War. Born in England about 1726, he became a mariner and settled in Philadelphia early in life, became married and had several children. Promoted to Commodore during the Philadelphia campaign, he also became commander of Fort Mifflin while it was under siege by the British. Throughout the campaign Hazelwood and General Washington were in frequent communication with letters. During the weeks spent engaging the British navy on the Delaware River Hazelwood innovated many naval tactics, kept the British navy at bay for weeks and played a major role in the development of riverine warfare for the American navies. Recommended by Washington and his council, Hazelwood was chosen to lead a large fleet of American ships and riverboats up river to safety. For his bravery and distinguished service Congress awarded him with a ceremonial military sword, while the famous presidential artist Charles Peale found Hazelwood worthy enough to paint his portrait. After the Revolution Hazelwood lived out his remaining years in Philadelphia.
The Pennsylvania Navy served as the naval force of Pennsylvania during the American Revolution and afterward, until the formation of the United States Navy. The navy's vessels served almost exclusively on the Delaware River, and were active in first defending the approaches to the city of Philadelphia during the British campaign that successfully occupied the city in 1777, and then preventing the Royal Navy from resupplying the occupying army.
The 12th Pennsylvania Regiment also known as Northampton and Northumberland Defense Battalion was an American infantry unit that fought during the American Revolutionary War as part of the Continental Army. The regiment was raised 23 August 1776 at Sunbury, Pennsylvania as a state militia regiment and later renamed the 12th Pennsylvania. In January 1777 the 12th was commanded by Colonel William Cooke at Princeton. Assigned to Thomas Conway's 3rd Pennsylvania Brigade, the regiment would see action at Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. The regiment was merged into the 3rd Pennsylvania Regiment shortly after Monmouth and went out of existence.
The 3rd Maryland Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. It served from 1776 to 1783, mostly in the Middle Atlantic Region of the conflict.
HMS Somerset was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 18 July 1748. She was the third vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name. Somerset was involved in several notable battles of the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. She was wrecked in a storm in 1778 when she ran aground off of Provincetown, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The Philadelphia campaign (1777–1778) was a British effort in the American Revolutionary War to gain control of Philadelphia, which was then the seat of the Second Continental Congress. British General William Howe, after failing to draw the Continental Army under General George Washington into a battle in northern New Jersey, embarked his army on transports, and landed them at the northern end of Chesapeake Bay. From there, he advanced northward toward Philadelphia. Washington prepared defenses against Howe's movements at Brandywine Creek, but was flanked and beaten back in the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777. After further skirmishes and maneuvers, Howe entered and occupied Philadelphia. Washington then unsuccessfully attacked one of Howe's garrisons at Germantown before retreating to Valley Forge for the winter.
The Battle of Red Bank was a battle fought on October 22, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War in which a British and Hessian force was sent to take Fort Mercer on the left bank of the Delaware River just south of Philadelphia, but was decisively defeated by a far inferior force of colonial defenders. Although the British did take Fort Mercer a month later, the victory supplied a sorely-needed morale boost to the American cause, delayed British plans to consolidate gains in Philadelphia, and relieved pressure on General George Washington's army to the north of the city.
Fort Mercer was a earthen fort on the Delaware River on its New Jersey shore constructed by the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Built by Polish engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko under the command of George Washington, Fort Mercer was built in 1777 to block the approach to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in concert with Fort Mifflin on the Pennsylvania side.
The siege of Fort Mifflin or siege of Mud Island Fort from September 26 to November 16, 1777 saw British land batteries commanded by Captain John Montresor and a British naval squadron under Vice Admiral Lord Richard Howe attempt to capture an American fort in the Delaware River commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Smith. The operation finally succeeded when the wounded Smith's successor, Major Simeon Thayer, evacuated the fort on the night of November 15 and the British occupied the place the following morning. Owing to a shift of the river, Fort Mifflin is currently located on the north bank of the Delaware adjacent to Philadelphia International Airport.
François-Louis Teissèdre de Fleury was a French nobleman who joined the Royal Army in 1768 and later volunteered to fight in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. In America he demonstrated his bravery at Piscataway in May 1777 after which he was appointed an officer of engineers. He fought at the Brandywine in September and was wounded at Germantown in early October. He served capably during the Siege of Fort Mifflin where he was wounded again in November. George Washington made him an assistant to Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben at Valley Forge in the spring of 1778. He served during the Monmouth Campaign in June 1778 and fought in Rhode Island in August.
Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Baron Ducie was a British naval officer who commanded a number of ships before, during and after the American Revolutionary War. He is largely noted for his role as a naval officer during the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Red Bank in 1777 during the Philadelphia campaign on the Delaware River, involving the dual siege of Fort Mifflin and Fort Mercer. During this operation he was commander of the advance fleet on board HMS Augusta in an attempt to clear the way along the Delaware to Philadelphia. His ship ran aground while being pursued by Commodore Hazelwood's fleet when the vessel mysteriously caught fire shortly thereafter and exploded before all of the crew could abandon ship. Reynolds also commanded HMS Jupiter and HMS Monarch in several operations and saw service against the French in the North Sea, European Atlantic coast and the Caribbean theaters.
Simeon Thayer fought in Rogers' Rangers during the French and Indian War and made a harrowing escape from French-allied Indians. At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the Rhode Island assembly appointed him an officer. He quickly raised a company of soldiers and marched with them to the Siege of Boston. He and his men went on Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec during which time he kept a journal of his experiences. He fought at Quebec and was captured. After being paroled, he again served as an officer in the Continental Army. Simeon Thayer was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati of the State of Rhode Island.
Sir George Osborn, 4th Baronet was born into the British aristocracy. He fought in the American Revolutionary War as a British officer. He served in the House of Commons from 1769 to 1784 - before, during, and after that conflict. In 1777 he led a detachment of the Guards Brigade at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. Besides his combat duties, he served as the inspector of the Hessian mercenary soldiers. After returning from America in 1777 he was promoted in rank to general officer. In 1787 he received advancement to lieutenant general. He is remembered in United States history for a clever but harsh comment that he made concerning the dead body of an American officer.
Richard Humpton was born in Yorkshire, England of parents Richard Humpton and Dorothy Grindall. He purchased a captain's commission in the Royal Army and fought in the Raid on St Malo during the Seven Years' War. While posted in the West Indies, he resigned his commission and moved to the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. At the beginning of the American Revolutionary War he offered his services to the patriot cause and was named a lieutenant colonel in 1776. Later that year he became colonel commanding the 11th Pennsylvania Regiment. Tasked with collecting boats on the Delaware River, his attention to this assignment materially helped the Americans win the Battle of Trenton in December 1776.
Thruston's Additional Continental Regiment was an American infantry unit that served for a little more than two years in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Authorized in March 1777, four companies were organized in Virginia during the spring and summer of 1777. George Washington appointed influential Shenandoah Valley political leader Charles Mynn Thruston as colonel in command. The regiment participated in the Philadelphia Campaign in late 1777. One company was detached from the regiment on 4 April 1778 and became part of Hartley's Additional Continental Regiment. The unit was present in the Monmouth Campaign in June 1778. What was left of the regiment was attached to Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment on 15 November 1778. Grayson's and Thruston's Regiments were absorbed by Gist's Additional Continental Regiment on 22 April 1779 and Thruston's Regiment ceased to exist.
Henry Leonard Philipe, Baron d'Arendt was a Prussian officer who volunteered to serve in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was made colonel of the German Battalion in March 1777 and remained its commander until the unit was disbanded at the beginning of 1781. He was placed in charge during the Siege of Fort Mifflin in October 1777 but did not distinguish himself, committing an act of cowardice in front of an American and a French officer. After this incident, he allowed Samuel Smith and Simeon Thayer to exercise actual command of the besieged fort. D'Arendt was the one who first suggested that George Washington appoint an Inspector General to his staff. This advice proved to be very useful to the American cause when Washington appointed a fellow Prussian, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben to that position.
Thomas-Antoine de Mauduit du Plessis or Thomas Duplessis or Thomas-Antoine du Plessis-Mauduit was a French officer who fought with the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in Brittany, he ran away to sea at age 12 and voyaged in the eastern Mediterranean Sea for a time. Later, he attended a famous French artillery school. He was among a number of volunteers to join the fledgling American army in 1777, especially distinguishing himself for bravery at Germantown and skill at Red Bank. At Valley Forge he helped train American officers in the finer points of tactics and artillery handling.
Jean-Joseph Sourbader de Gimat was a volunteer French officer who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born into a military family, he entered the French royal army in 1761. By 1776 he was a first lieutenant but went to America with Gilbert Motier, marquis de La Fayette with the promise of becoming a major. After serving as La Fayette's aide at Brandywine, Gloucester, Barren Hill, and Monmouth, he went back to France for one year. Returning to America in 1780, he was appointed to command a light infantry unit which fought at Green Spring in 1781. He led his men in a successful assault at Yorktown that same year. He returned to France in 1782 and was named colonel in command of a colonial regiment in Martinique.
HMS Roebuck was a fifth-rate ship of the Royal Navy which served in the American and French Revolutionary Wars. Designed in 1769 by Sir Thomas Slade to operate in the shallower waters of North America, she joined Lord Howe's squadron towards the end of 1775 and took part in operations against New York the following year. She engaged the American gun batteries at Red Hook during the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, and forced a passage up the Hudson River in October. On 25 August 1777, Roebuck escorted troopships to Turkey Point, Maryland, where an army was landed for an assault on Philadelphia. She was again called upon to accompany troopships in December 1779, this time for an attack on Charleston. When the ships-of-the-line, which were too large to enter the harbour, were sent back to New York, Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot made Roebuck his flagship. She was, therefore, at the front of the attack, leading the British squadron across the shoal to engage Fort Moultrie and the American ships beyond.
HMS Merlin was a sloop of war, bearing sixteen guns, commanded by Samuel Reeve, and saw service during the American Revolutionary War.
Great Britain 
