held off the British advance at the closing of the Battle of Brandywine, allowing the rest of the army to withdraw in good order. They were in the thick of confusion at the Battle of Germantown, so thick in fact that the 9th Virginia Regiment of Mulenburgh's Brigade fought with such success that it found itself cut off and captured to a man. Stephen's Brigade was engaged in an embarrassing example of "friendly fire" with Wayne's Brigade as they too had to retreat after pressing so much further than the Pennsylvanians mistook them for the British in the fog of battle because of the direction they were coming from. The 2d Virginia Regiment again served with distinction, as reflected in the Virginia Gazette, October 17, 1777: "The heroism and gallantry of the second Virginia regiment I cannot help particularly mentioning; they would do honour to any country in the world. It is universally believed they behaved the best of any troops in the field." Colonel Spotswood resigned after the Battle of Germantown to return to Virginia to take care of the family as he mistakenly thought his brother had been killed (he had in fact been wounded and captured). He was replaced by Colonel Christian Febiger, a Danish-born officer, who would command the regiment the rest of its existence. The 2d Virginia Regiment entered winter quarters at Valley Forge, emerging in June 1778 to fight at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. The Philadelphia Campaign had left the Virginia Line in shambles, depleting both men and supplies. On September 14, 1778, the 2d Virginia Regiment is officially consolidated with the 6th Virginia Regiment to make a "new" 2d Virginia Regiment. Colonel Febiger retains his command and Lt. Colonel Simms of the 6th Virginia Regiment becomes his new second in command. Even with this new consolidation, the regiments were understrength, and from this point forward would never operate as a "regiment" again. While encamped around New York City in both the Hudson Highlands and Northern New Jersey, officers deemed supernumerary were given new assignments (while officially holding their prior titles) and parties of men would be assigned duties under various captains. A return written by Inspector General Steuben indicates that the regiment only had 180 rank and file, which could form two divisions. It was decided that it would brigade with the 5th and 11th Virginia Regiments to "compose