316 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 



was to join General Smallwood, who was in command of a body 

 of militia. Oi the evening of the 20th of September, Wayne was 

 encamped on the ground now marked by the "Paoli Monument," 

 a pedestal erected in commemoration of the serious disaster of 

 that night. General Howe, having been informed by tories re- 

 siding in the neighborhood of the exact position of Wayne's 

 encampment, dispatched General Gray with an adequate force 

 to capture the whole party. Cautiously approaching in the 

 dead of the night, and probably guided by some local enemy 

 of the American cause, he drove in the pickets with charged 

 bayonets, and at once rushed upon the encampment. " Wayne 

 instantly formed his division ; and with his right sustained a 

 fierce assault, directed a retreat by the left under cover of a 

 few regiments, who for a short time withstood the violence of the , 

 shock." The total loss of the Americans has been variously 

 estimated at from 150 to 300, while the British only admit a 

 loss of seven. 



When the attack commenced. General Smallwood was within 

 less than a mile of Wayne's encampment, a circumstance un- 

 known to General Gray. But his militia gave way on the 

 approach of a party of the British returning from the pursuit of 

 Wayne, with the loss of but one man. 



Some severe animadversions on this unfortunate affair having 

 been made in the army. General Wayne demanded a court mar- 

 tial, which, after investigating his conduct, was unanimously of 

 the opinion, that he had done every thing to be expected, from 

 an active brave and vigilant officer; and acquitted him with 

 honor.^ 



Having already been led into a detail of events happening 

 beyond the limits of our County, a further notice of the parti- 

 cular movements of the two armies will be omitted. The British 

 crossed the Schuylkill on the 22d, and entered Philadelphia on 

 the 26th of September, from whence both Congress and the 

 Executive Council had adjourned to Lancaster only a few days 

 before. 



The next object of Washington was to prevent the army at 

 Philadelphia from receiving supplies from the fleet. The works 

 on the Delaware have already been noticed. Immediately upon 

 the entry of the British into Philadelphia, an effort was made by 

 the armed vessels appearing in front of the city, to deter them 

 from erecting defences. This movement resulted in the loss of 

 a frigate called the Delaware, which ran aground and was cap- 

 tured by the enemy. 



After the battle of Brandywine, Lord Howe, who commanded 

 the fleet, sailed to the mouth of the Delaware, and several light 



' Marshall's Life of Washington, i. 161. 



