The Battle of White Plains |Date||Monday, October 28, 1776|
|Location||White Plains, New York| The US Colonies
|Belligerents||Great Britain, Hessians||United States|
|Commanders||Sir William Howe||George Washington| General George
Washington had, early in his chieftaincy, urged upon the
Congress the necessity of the establishment of a permanent army,
and with prophetic words had predicted the very evils arising
from short enlistments and loose methods of creating officers,
which now prevailed. While there was a brief lull in active
military operations after the battle on Harlem Heights, he again
set forth, in graphic pictures, the sad condition of his army,
and the importance of a thorough reform and reorganization of
the forces, for he foresaw the natural dissolution of his army,
by the expiration of enlistments, only a few weeks later. The
Congress had just resolved (September 10th) to form the army
anew into eighty-eight battalions, to be "enlisted as soon as
possible, and to serve during the war;" but the