Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Brandywine Battlefield

After the Railroad Museum, we headed over to Brandywine because I thought we were going to go to the Andrew Wyeth Museum.  It turned out that my mom didn't really want to go but as we were heading somewhere for lunch, we passed the Brandywine Battlefield.  So we decided to head back there.

The Battle of Brandywine was fought in September of 1777 between the troops of General Washington of the Americans and General Howe of the British.  The British were able to outflank the American troops but because they were slow, they Americans were able to reposition some of their men on the high ground.

The Americans attempted a counterattack but was repulsed and that led to a full out retreat.  Through the efforts of Lafayette and the British lack of cavalry, it didn't turn into a complete rout.  As a result, the Americans had to retreat from Philadelphia to West Chester and eventually York, Pennsylvania.  The British suffered heavy casualties in the process though.
 This was part of a Quaker farm that was supposedly used as Lafayette's Headquarters but the historical record is unclear on this.
 This is the house where Lafayette supposedly stayed.
 A shot of the barn on that farm.
 Another angle of the Lafayette House.
 An overall shot of the farm.
 This would have been General Washington's headquarters but a fire hit and it was rebuilt to look like it did at the time of the battle.
 Another angle of that house.
I'm not sure what this building is.

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