Battle of Brandywine

Background. Howe's army departed Sandy Hook, New Jersey, on July 23, 1777, and after a 34-day voyage a Royal Navy fleet of more than 260 ships carrying some 17,000 troops landed at the head of the Elk River near present-day Elkton, Maryland, roughly 40–50 miles southwest of Philadelphia. Washington positioned his approximately 20,300-strong army between Head of Elk and Philadelphia as Howe moved to take the American capital.

American Dispositions at the Fords. After a skirmish at Cooch's Bridge south of Newark, Washington abandoned a defensive encampment along Red Clay Creek near Newport, Delaware, and deployed at Chadds Ford, the most direct passage across the Brandywine on the road from Baltimore to Philadelphia. On September 9 he placed detachments to guard other fords: General John Armstrong's roughly 1,000 Pennsylvania militia covered Pyle's Ford, while the divisions of Anthony Wayne and Nathanael Greene covered Chadds Ford, and John Sullivan's, Adam Stephen's, and Lord Stirling's divisions extended northward along the east banks.

Aftermath. Washington reported to the Continental Congress that despite the day's misfortune most of his men remained in good spirits and willing to fight again. Besides battle losses, 315 men were posted as deserters from his camp during this stage of the campaign. The armies maneuvered for several days, meeting at the Battle of the Clouds on September 16 and the Battle of Paoli on the night of September 20–21, before British forces marched into Philadelphia unopposed on September 26, holding the city until June 1778.