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[BROADSIDE]. Philadelphia. June 10, 17771. The Inabitants of the City and Liberties of Philadelphia are requested to meet at the State-House, To-morrow, at Ten o'Clock in the forenoon, when matters of the greatest Importance to the Security and Happiness of their Country will be laid before them, by order of His Excellency General Washington. [Philadelphia:] Styner and Cist, in Second Street, near Arch-Street [1777]. Oblong 4to, 210 x 157mm. (10 3/16 x 8 1/4 in.), edges untrimmed, slight fold tears. Printed in large types heavily leaded between lines and probably intended for posting in streets as a public notice. Not in Evans, Shipton & Mooney or Bristol and APPARENTLY UNRECORDED.
General William Howe had stationed sizeable bodies of troops at Amboy and Brunswick, New Jersey, while Washington's more modest forces had wintered at Morristown, but the Continentals had been ordered forward on May 28 to Middle Brook, closer to the British at Brunswick. While Washington was certain that Howe's next objective would be to capture Philadelphia, he did not know whether the expedition would be made by land march from the Jerseys or by a landing from the Delaware river, or a combination of both. On June 10 there was a flurry of naval activity reported from New York and a body of British troops marched from Amboy to Brunswick and Somerset Court House in New Jersey. The same day as this broadside Washington wrote to Major General Thomas Mifflin in Philadelphia, alerting him that "the Enemy are upon the point of moving, but the circumstances are so perplexing, that it is impossible to say whether part by land and part by Water, or the whole by Water...." (Fitzpatrick 8:222-223). The public meeting announced by the present broadside was most likely convened to announce defensive measures to be undertaken in Philadelphia in the event of a direct assault by Howe's army. In the end, Howe's manoeuvers in the Jerseys proved to be feints, and resulted in an inconclusive skirmish at Short Hills, New Jersey on 26 June, after which Howe withdrew to Staten Island to prepare for the major amphibious expedition against Philadelphia which was launced in late July. By early September the British were in full possession of the city.
General William Howe had stationed sizeable bodies of troops at Amboy and Brunswick, New Jersey, while Washington's more modest forces had wintered at Morristown, but the Continentals had been ordered forward on May 28 to Middle Brook, closer to the British at Brunswick. While Washington was certain that Howe's next objective would be to capture Philadelphia, he did not know whether the expedition would be made by land march from the Jerseys or by a landing from the Delaware river, or a combination of both. On June 10 there was a flurry of naval activity reported from New York and a body of British troops marched from Amboy to Brunswick and Somerset Court House in New Jersey. The same day as this broadside Washington wrote to Major General Thomas Mifflin in Philadelphia, alerting him that "the Enemy are upon the point of moving, but the circumstances are so perplexing, that it is impossible to say whether part by land and part by Water, or the whole by Water...." (Fitzpatrick 8:222-223). The public meeting announced by the present broadside was most likely convened to announce defensive measures to be undertaken in Philadelphia in the event of a direct assault by Howe's army. In the end, Howe's manoeuvers in the Jerseys proved to be feints, and resulted in an inconclusive skirmish at Short Hills, New Jersey on 26 June, after which Howe withdrew to Staten Island to prepare for the major amphibious expedition against Philadelphia which was launced in late July. By early September the British were in full possession of the city.
