Battle of Cooch's Bridge

On September 3, 1777, German troops leading the British advance met musket fire from American light infantry in the woods flanking the road toward Cooch's Bridge. A small company of Hessian dragoons under Captain Johann Ewald headed up the road from Aiken's Tavern as Cornwallis's advance guard. The fighting lasted much of the day; at the bridge Maxwell's men stood until they had shot themselves out of ammunition and fought on with sword and bayonet, a weapon his militia lacked experience using. Advance British light infantry and German Jäger had moved east across Elk Creek and occupied Gray's Hill, about a mile west of Iron Hill. After seven hours, the Americans retreated from Iron Hill across Cooch's Bridge, taking position on the far side.