The Battle of Brandywine is the battle of the Philadelphia campaign for the US War of Independence , during which British troops ( William Howe , 15.5 thousand) defeated the American militia ( George Washington , 14.6 thousand) on the river Brandywine ( PA ) September 11, 1777 .
| The Battle of Brandywine | |||
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| Main Conflict: US War of Independence Philadelphia Campaign | |||
 Wounded Marquis de Lafayette | |||
| date | September 11, 1777 | ||
| A place | Chedds Ford, PA | ||
| Total | British victory | ||
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As a result of this battle, Philadelphia , the capital of the revolutionary colonies, was defenseless and was occupied by royal forces on September 26. The losses of the Americans amounted to 1300 people, the losses of the royal troops - 587 soldiers.
Battle Progress
The British managed to get around the rebels from the flanks, and the position of the latter became hopeless: unable to withstand the blow of superior enemy forces, the Washington army began to retreat in disarray. Being in the midst of a battle in the General Stirlingβs division, occupying a position on the central sector of the front, and seeing an erratic escape, the Marquis de La Fayette , trying to stop the retreats, darted with his sword in his hand across the battlefield until he was wounded in the hip with one bullet the enemy. Nevertheless, La Fayette remained on the battlefield until he lost consciousness. At this time, reinforcements led by Washington itself approached the central section of the battle.
The soldiers carried La Fayette from the battlefield. By the end of the day, it became clear that the Americans were defeated, and Washington hastily withdrew its army from the encirclement ring ready to close. During the battle, one of the best snipers of the English army Patrick Ferguson , the inventor of the rifle of the same name , took the sight of the commander in chief of the American army of Washington, but did not shoot him from the nobility [3] .
Notes
- β 1 2 Clement, Justin. Philadelphia 1777: Taking the capital. - Osprey Publishing, 2007 .-- S. 23. - ISBN 1846030331 .
- β 1 2 McGuire, Thomas J. The Philadelphia Campaign: Volume 1: Brandywine and the Fall of Philadelphia. - Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. - S. 269. - ISBN 0811701786 .
- β Lanning, Michael. The American Revolution 100. - Sourcebooks, Inc., 2009. - S. 328. - ISBN 978-1402221156 .
Links
- Wikimedia Commons has media related to the Battle of Brandywine
- Cherkasov P.P. Lafayette. M .: Thought, 1991.