First of a weekly series

The rain pelts down on the upper Chesapeake Bay.

It buffets a huge fleet of more than 250 vessels riding at anchor near Elkton, Md., and slashes at thousands of British Redcoats and German mercenaries huddled miserably on shore under makeshift huts of fence rails and corn stalks.

The date is Aug. 25, 1777. The main British army in North America, under the command of Gen. Sir William Howe, is preparing to descend on Philadelphia, about 60 miles to the north, the city where 13 of England's American colonies declared their independence a little more than a year ago.

The soldiers began disembarking early this morning, clambering into flat-bottomed boats to be ferried ashore on the shallow, sluggish Elk River.

Howe's troops are seasoned professionals, but seizing the capital of the rebellion will not be easy work, even for them. The violent storm that broke about 10 this steamy evening is only the first obstacle they face.

Blocking their way is the Continental Army, ragged but resolute under the leadership of George Washington - "that old fox," as a British general had called him.

The march on Philadelphia will be no easy stroll.

Beginning today, and for the next five Sundays, The Inquirer will recount the events of Howe's march on Philadelphia and occupation of the city 225 years ago. Throughout the late fall and winter, occasional articles will appear on the occupation and the Continental Army's winter at Valley Forge.

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As the British force begins its landing with a strength estimated at anywhere from 13,000 to 16,500 or more men, a year has passed since the Declaration of Independence.

And still the armed might of Britain has not been able to restore the rule of His Britannic Majesty in the American colonies. Back in London, the king's ministers are growing impatient.

Things looked very good for the British through much of 1776. Howe had taken New York in the late summer, almost destroying the Continental Army at the Battle of Long Island.

Late in the fall, Howe had chased Washington across New Jersey. The Americans escaped only by crossing the Delaware River into Pennsylvania and making sure they took every boat in the vicinity with them.

Meanwhile, New Jersey residents, who had been riding the fence, turned out in large numbers to declare their allegiance to King George III now that Howe seemed to be in control. Washington fumed that the behavior of New Jerseyans was "infamous. ... They are making their submission as fast as they can."

Even worse, the short-term enlistments of about half of the Continental Army were about to end. The situation was bleak.

Then, in a move as desperate as it was brilliant and bold, Washington recrossed the Delaware on Christmas night, surprised a brigade of Hessian mercenaries at Trenton, juked around a pursuing British force, defeated a British brigade south of Princeton and set up winter camp in the safety of Morristown, N. J.

The American Revolution still lived.

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Though Washington escaped him, Howe has concluded from the behavior of the civilian population in New York and New Jersey that Americans, if given the chance, will rally to their king. And he has decided it makes strategic sense to give that chance to the residents of Philadelphia, the most important city in the colonies. Many Pennsylvanians - even those who strongly support American rights - are thought to oppose independence.

The idea of winning the war by winning the support of the people appeals strongly to Gen. Howe and to his brother, Adm. Viscount Richard Howe, commander of the king's navy in America. Take Philadelphia and win over the people, they believe, and the Revolution will wither on the vine.

The Howes, both of whom have served in Parliament, are friendly to America, if not to American independence. Their approach to the rebellion is a mixture of coercion and conciliation. Unlike the king's ministers, they want to bring the insurrection to an end with as little force as possible.

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Before launching his amphibious expedition, Howe had his troops spend most of June tramping around Northern New Jersey, eager for a fight with the rebels. Howe hoped to draw Washington out from the hills, but Washington stayed put.

The Continental Army, emerging from its winter camp in Morristown, was still a work in progress - undermanned, under-equipped, under-trained. The British army, well-disciplined and well-equipped, would have the clear advantage in a stand-up fight. But the wily Washington stayed out of Howe's reach. And he wore out the British forces trying to catch him.

Capt. Johann Ewald, a German mercenary, writes in his diary that the weather has been so hot during Howe's Jersey foray that "some 20 men died marching," staggering to their death under the weight of "their hussar boots and their great hussar sabers."

Unable to get the battle he wanted in Jersey, Howe loaded his troops onto his brother's fleet and sailed off into the Atlantic Ocean on July 23, bound for ... who knew where?

Since then, Washington has had no choice but to wear out his own men, trying to keep them in position to counter Howe.

Reports that the British fleet had been spotted at the entrance to Delaware Bay at the end of July brought Washington's army scurrying into Pennsylvania. "Since Genl Howes remove from the Jerseys, the Troops under my Command have been More harassed by Marching, & Counter Marching, than any other thing that has happen'd to them in the course of the Campaign," Washington wrote to his brother Jack on Aug. 5, 1777.

Then the British fleet disappeared again, leaving Washington to worry anew about where it was going.

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A sally against Philadelphia seems to defy military logic, which may be why Washington has been so reluctant to believe Howe really means to move against the city.

Washington can't shake the idea that Howe means to link up with Gen. John Burgoyne's army, toiling south from Canada toward Albany, N. Y.

Split the colonies, isolate New England, strangle the revolution: It's what Washington would do if he were running the British army. It's what Howe's staff wants. It's what the ministry back in London wants.

All of which means very little to Sir William and Lord Richard.

As for Burgoyne, Howe has pretty much left "Gentleman Johnny" to win his way to Albany on his own.

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At 1:30 on the afternoon of Aug. 22, John Hancock, the president of Congress, sent word to Washington that the British fleet was in the upper Chesapeake.

A day later, Washington ordered his army, camped north of Philadelphia, to march south and defend the city.

Not just any line of march would do. Washington decided to parade his army right through town, down Front Street and up Chestnut, to impress friends and foes of independence alike with the power of the Continental Army.

The orders for the march called on officers "to see that the men carry their arms well, and are made to appear as decent as circumstances will admit." Female camp followers were to be kept out of sight. Fifes and drums were to play at a moderate tempo so that the soldiers "may step to it with ease; and without dancing along, or totally disregarding the music, as too often has been the case."

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The enemy the Americans will soon meet spends all of today disembarking in Maryland.

The landing begins about 2 a.m., and the soldiers are happy to be ashore after more than a month at sea. The first troops step on land "about ten or eleven o'clock in the forenoon ... amid boisterous shouts of joy and in the best order," the mercenary Ewald notes in his journal.

"By evening, four disembarkations had landed," Ewald writes. The fifth will land the next morning.

The troops find themselves in "a real wilderness," filled with snakes and toads, Ewald writes.

The heat is oppressive, and dangerous for soldiers used to fighting in Europe. The late-evening thunderstorm just makes the night even hotter, "to such a degree that we believed we would suffocate in the fiery air."

But the invasion goes on.

The Philadelphia Campaign has begun.