The General’s brother, Lord Howe, in command of the fleet, was a good month returning from the head of the Chesapeake round to and up the Delaware as far as Chester, where he arrived on October 6th, so slow and uncertain were the movements of sailing ships in those days. A small squadron had been sent in advance to clear the channel. This move on the part of the British to occupy the river was necessary to keep up the supplies of their army. In this fleet there were eleven vessels, two of which were 64’s, one 50, and three frigates of 28 to 44 guns. The total of their armament was 364 guns, 74 of which were 24-pounders, with somewhat over 2,000 men. To resist this powerful force there were in the river the new Continental frigate _Delaware_, of twenty-four 12-pounders; the brig _Andrew Doria_, of fourteen 6-pounders; and the sloop _Hornet_, with twelve 9-pounders; besides six smaller vessels carrying from four to ten 9-pounders, and twelve galleys with one gun each, of 18, 24, or 32 pounds. These were assisted by the whole of the Pennsylvania navy, which consisted of the ship _Montgomery_, of fourteen 14-pounders, and thirty-eight small craft carrying fifty-one guns varying from 4 to 18 pounders. The total armament was 175 guns. The combined Continental and state fleets were under the command of Commodore John Hazelwood of the latter. To support these there were Fort Mifflin on an island, with also two small batteries on the mainland, just below the mouth of the Schuylkill and two miles from League Island on the Pennsylvania side, and opposite, on the New Jersey shore, at Red Bank, Fort Mercer; a battery opposite Hog Island, and three and a half miles below this, another. Obstructions of heavy timbers, shod at their points with iron, were placed opposite this last battery and in the channel near Fort Mifflin. The Delaware River has a somewhat tortuous, and in places a narrow, channel. Its defensive advantages are thus very strong, and the Americans had a fair chance of success. The most powerful of the naval defence was lost in the beginning by the grounding of the _Delaware_ near a British battery on the city front. Notwithstanding, the Americans made a fine defence of more than six weeks. It was not until November 10th that the British succeeded in clearing the river to Philadelphia and then with heavy loss in men and in ships, two of which, a ship-of-the-line and a sloop-of-war, were burned. Later, in May, 1778, they invaded the river above Philadelphia. The frigates _Washington_ and _Effingham_, nearly ready for sea, had to be burned, and besides these a ship of 18 guns, and brigs, schooners, and small craft, some fifty-four in all, destroyed; a sad ending to a long and gallant struggle.