Brandywine Creek, Battle of

Brandywine (Creek), Battle of (September 11, 1777) a Revolutionary War battle in which British troops under Sir William Howe broke through American positions, along a Pennsylvania creek, chosen by George Washington to block the British march toward Philadelphia. Though plagued by poor communications and intelligence, Washington's men, suffering heavy casualties, managed to avoid a catastrophic defeat.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Brandywine Creek, Battle of (11 September 1777), was fought in Chester County, Pennsylvania, ten miles northwest of Wilmington, Delaware. The British and Hessian troops commanded by the generals Sir William Howe, Lord Cornwallis, and Baron Wilhelm von Knyphausen composed a force of nineteen thousand. The American army under General George Washington numbered eleven thousand. The British crossed the east side of the creek at Jeffrie's Ford, continued southward, and suddenly attacked General John Sullivan's troops near Birmingham Meeting house. The outnumbered Americans suffered one thousand casualties and were compelled to retire. At night Washington withdrew his army toward Philadelphia.

Bibliography

Canby, Henry Seidel. The Brandywine. New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1941.

Townsend, Joseph. The Battle of Brandywine. New York: New York Times, 1969.

—Charles W. Heathcote/A. R.