Battle of Brandywine
Near Wilmington, Pennsylvania
On September eleventh, seventeen seventy-seven, the largest land battle of the American Revolution unfolded nearby. British General William Howe feinted up the middle while General Cornwallis led about nine thousand troops on a wide flanking march, fording the branches of the Brandywine Creek and swinging southeast to hit the American right. General John Sullivan's wing, confused by contradictory intelligence reports, never formed a proper line before the redcoats crashed into them here that afternoon.
Washington's army was driven back toward Philadelphia, which fell to the British fifteen days later. Despite the defeat, the Continental Army survived intact, retreating northward to fight another day toward the eventual victory at Yorktown.
