1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 315 



to ascertain the proclivities of his family — whether his father or 

 elder brothers were rebels. Finding nothin<r objectionable in 

 the family, the officers treated his mother kindly, with the ex- 

 ception, that they appropriated to themselves her eatables 

 ratiier too freely. They notified her that " the butter, cheese, 

 and milk they must and uundd have, whether she received pay 

 or not." They j»aid for everything; and upon the eve of their 

 departure, notified her to secure every species of property from 

 the depredation of the camp followers; to bolt and bar every 

 window and door, and not to admit one of them on any pretence 

 whatever, " as they would steal everything they could lay their 

 hands on." 



A few days after the battle of Brandywine, four or five hun- 

 dred of the American wounded soldiers were taken to Ephrata, 

 in Lancaster County, and placed in a hospital. Here the camp 

 fever set in, which, in conjunction with the wounds of the sol- 

 diers, baffled the skill of the surgeons. One hundred and fifty 

 soldiers died, and were buried at this place. They were prin- 

 cipally from the Eastern States and from Pennsylvania, with a 

 few British, who had deserted and joined the American army.' 



When General Washington retreated to Philadelphia, the main 

 body of his army encamped near Germantown, where he allowed 

 his men two or three days to rest. On the 15th of the month 

 he marched up the Lancaster road, and halting at the Buck 

 tavern, in Haverford township, he despatched a letter to the 

 Council, urging a supply of blankets for the troops. On the 

 same evening he reached the Warren tavern, where, hearing of 

 the approach of the enemy by the w^ay of Goshen meeting-house, 

 he resolved to give him battle, for although the conflict on the 

 Brandywine had been sanguinary and disastrous, the troops Avere 

 by no means discouraged. In fact the opinion generally pre- 

 vailed that the loss on each side was nearly equal, and the 

 British had gained but little more than the battle-field. 



Howe, anxious to give battle, on the next day marched towards 

 the American army. Some skirmishing occurred between the 

 pickets, but a rain-storm of almost unprecedented violence set 

 in, and separated the two armies. The Americans retreated 

 to the Yellow Springs, where they discovered that scarcely one 

 musket in a regiment could be discharged, and that scarcely one 

 cartridge-box was fit for use. This state of things suggested the 

 precaution of moving to a greater distance. The army accord- 

 ingly retired to Warwick Furnace, where a supply of ammuni- 

 tion was obtained, and soon after crossed the Schuylkill, except 

 the division under General Wayne, consisting of 1500 men, 

 which was dispatched to the rear of the British army, where he 



1 Hist. Lancaster County, 218. 



