Brandywine Battlefield - Commonwealth Treasure
Birmingham Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission declares Brandywine Battlefield a Commonwealth Treasure for all to protect and preserve as the site of one of the major battles in the colonists' fight for independence
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
On September 11, 1777, the rolling farmland around Birmingham Township became the stage for the largest single-day battle of the Revolutionary War. Washington's Continentals tried to hold the fords of the Brandywine against Sir William Howe's advancing British and Hessian troops, but a wide flanking march turned the American position and opened the road to Philadelphia. The Commonwealth Treasure designation recognizes this preserved ground as hallowed to the founding struggle.
Why it matters
Though a defeat, Brandywine showed the Continental Army could stand against Europe's finest in open field battle, and the loss of the capital that followed helped push the cause toward the decisive winter at Valley Forge.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · George Washington
- · William Howe
Related events
- · Battle of Brandywine
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Dilworthtown - PLAQUE
Birmingham Township, PA · est. 1915
Near the village of Dilworthtown, the Battle of Brandywine drew to its close on the evening of September 11, 1777. After Washington's line was flanked and driven back through the surrounding hills, the last fighting flared here as darkness ended the day. The marker fixes the point where one of the Revolution's largest engagements finally spent itself.
Battle of Brandywine
Chadds Ford Township, PA · est. 1952
As darkness fell on September 11, 1777, the Battle of Brandywine wound to its close with the British holding the ground and Washington's defeated army pulling back toward Chester. Amid the confusion of the retreat, the young French volunteer Marquis de Lafayette — wounded in the leg — worked to rally the withdrawing Continentals, while Casimir Pulaski's cavalry screened them from pursuit. Both foreign officers were early proof that the American cause had drawn allies from across Europe.
Birmingham Friends' Meeting House - PLAQUE
Birmingham Township, PA · est. 1915
This Quaker meeting house, raised in 1783, sits amid the ground fought over at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777. In the aftermath of that Revolutionary clash — the largest single-day land battle of the war — the building served as a hospital for the wounded. Its plain stone walls tie the peace testimony of the Society of Friends to the violence that swept across Chester County.
Battle of Brandywine
Birmingham Township, PA · est. 1952
On September 11, 1777, the fields around Birmingham Meeting House became the crisis point of the Battle of Brandywine, the largest single-day engagement of the Revolutionary War. British and Hessian troops, having flanked the American army by a long march, struck Washington's right wing here late in the day. General John Sullivan threw together a defensive line that fought hard before being pushed back toward Dilworthtown, while reinforcements from Chadds Ford bought time for the army to withdraw.