Brandywine Battle

-The Battle of the Brandywine

The Brandywine Battle took place over September 10-11, 1777. American troops were lined up along six miles, covering the east side of the Brandywine Creek. Washington knew the British target was Philadelphia, so he chose Chadds Ford as his defensive stronghold because of the high ground on the east side of the creek. If America lost here, Philadelphia would fall. The British troops spent the night at Kennett Square and September 11, 1777 at 4:00 in the morning the red coats, 8,000 strong lead by General Howe, quietly came out of Kennett Square on the Baltimore Pike (now known as Route 1).

They marched towards Chadds Ford, about seven miles, to where Washington was waiting for them. After passing through Hammorton they approached the Pennsbury Tavern, now the Pennsbury Inn, and were engaged by a small force of 800 American troops under command of General "Scotch Willie" Maxwell. The Americans, fighting under the cover of thick woods, inflicted heavy casualties on the British forces before retiring to Washington's position at Chadds Ford. The British continued on to the Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford and were face to face with the Americans on opposite sides of the creek. After much gunfire there were about 300 British casualties but just a few American casualties.

The British sent scouts up the Brandywine Creek and after talking to farmers they discovered that there was another crossing place at Jeffers Ford, were they could move their cannons across the creek. It should be noted that some Americans prefered being under British rule and were not sympathetic to the American cause. General Howe then decided to send his main force across Jeffers Ford to outflank Washington's troops at Chadds Ford.

The main body of British troops was discovered near Birmingham and Street Roads. General Washington, not convienced this was the main British force, shifted some of his troops to the area surrounding Birmingham Meeting House under command of General Sullivan. The British were engaged along Birmingham Road and Street Road at approximetly 3:00 in the afternoon. At about 5:00 p.m., after hearing heavy cannon fire from the north and the relative inactivity on the west side of the Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford, General Washington was finally convinced that the main British force was at Birmingham.

General Washington then urgently moved his troops, including French General Lafayette, the four miles to Birmingham Meeting House leaving a small force to guard Chadds Ford. As Washington's troops arrived they found the Americans in retreat. With their arrival, the Americans were able to stablize the battle line temporally. During this time and in fierce fighting, General Lafayette was wounded in the leg. General Washington had left General Wayne at Chadds Ford with a small fighting force to guard against a British attack. The British force under General Knyphausen did mount an attack on General Wayne after crossing the Brandywine at Brittons Ford, a few miles north of Chadds Ford.

General Lafayette'sHeadquarters

The Americans fought valiantly inspite of being out numbered, but after a couple of hours had to retreat towards Chester. General Wayne posted a small brigade of troops at Painters Cross Roads (Rts. 202 and 1), to cover the retreat towards Chester. General Washington's troops had to fall back to defensive positions just south of Dilworthtown after the heavy fighting at Birmingham. The Americans fought delaying actions giving ground towards Painters Crossroads where General Wayne was located. At about 7:30 p.m. American General Weedon and his troops surprised the British in a flanking move after the British had taken Dilworthtown from the retreating Americans. The Americans last stand was not enough to overthrow the British and the Americans continued their retreat toward Chester.

The last American action at Dilworthtown convinced General Howe that it would be too dangerous to try to follow the Americans for a nighttime attack. After marching 17 miles and fighting and the the onset of night, the fatigued the British soldiers decided not to pursue the Americans. The American troops successfully retreated to Chester. Major General Green estimated American casualties at 1,200 men while the British losses were reported at 1,950 men. The Americans also lost ten irreplaceable cannons.

While the Americans lost this battle their strong will to fight was noted by the British commander Howe. An interesting note is that the Birmingham Meeting House, which still stands and is used today, served as a hospital during the battle. Behind the meeting house is a common grave where many British and American troops were buried.