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Abington, Pennsylvania is a township located on the northern fringe of residential Philadelphia. Compared to other cities and townships in the United States, Abington enjoys a long history dating back to the early 1700s, officially incorporated in 1704. Since then, it has steadily grown in population, with one of the highest population densities in Pennsylvania as of the latest US Census. Its current points of appeal include shopping malls, shaded parks, athletic fields and gyms, and community swimming pools. These pleasant accoutrements of everyday life have not always been present, though. Abington Township fought hard to exist as a place for people to own land and enjoy a good life in the Battle of White Marsh, fought at Abington’s Edge Hill in 1777.

White Marsh was a brief skirmish during the war, and was part of the larger Pennsylvania campaign on the part of the British to maintain their position and presence in nearby Philadelphia. The Continental army, outnumbered and surrounded, made several retreats during the battle of White Marsh, fleeing down Abington’s Edge Hill, and British General Howe moved in closer and closer to Revolutionary camps, looking for weak points to drive American soldiers back after taking dozens of prisoners of war over two days. To everyone’s surprise, however, Howe reconsidered this maneuver and decided to withdraw his soldiers and return to Philadelphia. Howe had effectively won both days of the skirmish, but was ultimately dissatisfied with the progress he had made in flanking the Continental army. Before he could further compromise his men, running low on supplies and tired after two days of fighting in the middle of winter, Howe moved back to British-occupied Philadelphia.

General Washington was frustrated at Howe’s retreat and the furtive fighting by the Continental army. He wanted the opportunity to confront Howe head-on, but would have to first weather the winter outside of Philadelphia at Valley Forge. After winter was over and spring had returned to Pennsylvania in 1778, Howe was sent back to England, so Washington’s frustration at White Marsh was understandable. Ultimately, however, the Revolutionary War was won by the Americans, resulting in the establishment of a new nation. The saying that occasionally one must lose a battle to win a war is indeed salient in this story of the battle of White Marsh.

Students working with tutors in Abington would be wise to remember this story and others like it—minor setbacks in the big picture do not always equate to failure. The Continental army experienced defeat in Abington and a difficult winter at Valley Forge, but went on to triumph the following year. White Marsh was a setback, as many of us experience, but tutors are there to help their clients working to win their own wars, battle by battle.