11 September 1777, morning
Brandywine: the flank march
Washington holds the east bank of the Brandywine where the road from Baltimore to Philadelphia crosses at Chadds Ford. Greene’s and Anthony Wayne’s divisions cover the ford, John Armstrong’s 1,000 Pennsylvania militia Pyle’s Ford downstream, and Sullivan’s, Adam Stephen’s and Lord Stirling’s divisions the high ground upstream. Moses Hazen’s brigade watches Buffington’s and Wistar’s fords further up.
The house near Chadds Ford that served as Washington’s headquarters at BrandywineWikimedia Commons, Sdwelch1031, CC BY 3.0 (Brandywine Battlefield Washington Headquarters.jpg)
Howe does not intend to attack the prepared crossing. Under cover of a heavy fog, Wilhelm von Knyphausen marches about 6,800 men east along the Great Road from Kennett Square at 5:30 am. The Queen’s Rangers in his vanguard push William Maxwell’s light infantry back from Welch’s Tavern and the Old Kennett meeting house, where the Quakers keep up their midweek meeting during the fight, to the ford.
Half an hour earlier Howe and Cornwallis set out north with about 9,000 men. Loyalist guides lead them across two fords Washington has overlooked, Trimble’s Ford on the West Branch and Jefferis Ford on the East Branch. The 17-mile march takes about nine hours, while Washington receives contradictory reports and expects the main attack at Chadds Ford.
Sources
- Michael C. Harris, Brandywine (2014).
- Thomas J. McGuire, The Philadelphia Campaign, volume 1 (2006).
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