E descended from the observatory at Valley Forge at one o'clock, and departed for the banks of the Brandywine by way of the Paoli * and West Chester. A veil of moisture, deepening every hour, November 30, 1848 obscured the sun and omened an approaching storm. I alighted on the borders of a wood a short distance from the Norristown road, and sketched the remains of one of the American redoubts pictured on page 335, which lies, almost unknown, within the embrace of the forest. Thence to the place memorable as the scene of the Paoli massacre, a distance of nearly nine miles, our road passed through a broken but well-cultivated country, spreading out into more gentle undulations on the left, toward the Delaware. The place of the massacre is about a quarter of a mile from the highway, east of the West Chester rail-way (which connects with the Columbia rail-way near "the Paoli"), a mile south of the Warren tavern, on the Lancaster turnpike, and a little more than two miles southwest from the Paoli tavern. We left our horse to dine upon corn at a farmyard near, and, following a pathway northeast from the road, through the open fields, we came to the monument which stands over the remains of those who fell there on the night of the 20th of September, 1777. It is upon a small elevated plain, overlooking a fine rolling country toward the Brandywine, and covered with a forest when the event occurred, but now smiling with cultivation. ** The sad story which makes the place memorable in our history is brief but touching.
I have mentioned in another chapter (page 386) the movements of the American army after the battle on the Brandywine, and the prevention of an engagement between the belligerent forces near the Warren tavern by a violent storm of rain, which damaged their ammunition. When Washington withdrew and crossed the Schuylkill, with the main body
* The Paoli was one of the famous taverns on the old Lancaster turnpike. The Spread Eagle, the Back, the White Horse, the Black Horse, the Red Lion, &e., were all famous among travelers upon the Lancaster and Harrisburg roads. Governor Pownall (member of Parliament during the period of the Revolution), who traveled the roads in 1754, mentions several of these small hamlets that had grown up near some of the old taverns.
** The land is owned chiefly by Mr. Joseph Rodgers, whose residence is not far distant.
Wayne's Encampment near the Paoli.—British Attack upon his Detachment.—The Massacre.
of the army, at Parker's Ford, he left General Wayne, with about fifteen hundred men and four pieces of cannon (to be joined by General Smallwood and Colonel Gist the next day * ), with directions to annoy the enemy's rear, then posted near Tredyffrin church, and to attempt to cut off his baggage train. Wayne encamped two or three miles southwest of the British lines, in a secluded spot, away from the public roads, near the place where the monument now stands. The vigilance of British sentinels did not discover him, but the treachery of Tories revealed his numbers and place of encampment to the commander of the enemy. Howe determined to surprise Wayne, and for that purpose dispatched General Grey (the subsequent murderer at Tappan and plunderer on the New England coasts) to steal upon the patriot camp at night and destroy them. Wayne had intimations of this intended movement, and, though doubting its truth, he neglected no precaution. It was a dark and stormy night. Wayne ordered his men to sleep on their arms, with their ammunition under their coats. With two regiments and a body of light infantry, Grey marched stealthily, in two divisions, toward midnights through the woods and up a narrow defile a September 20, 1777 below the Paoli, and gained Wayne's left at about one o'clock in the morning. (b) The divisions conjoined in the Lancaster road, near Wayne's encamp b September 21ment. The "no-flint general" (see note on page 196) had given his usual order to rush upon the patriots with fixed bayonets, without firing a shot, and to give no quarters! Several of the American pickets near the highway were silently massacred in the gloom. These being missed by the patroling officer, his suspicions that an enemy was near were awakened, and he hastened to the tent of Wayne. The general immediately paraded his men. Unfortunately, he made the movement in the light of his own camp-fires, instead of forming them in the dark, back of the encampment. By the light of these fires Grey was directed where to attack with the best chance of success. ** In silence, but with the fierceness of tigers, the enemy leaped from the thick gloom upon the Americans, who knew not from what point to expect an attack. The patriots discharged several volleys, but so sudden and violent was the attack that their column was at once broken into fragments. They fled in confusion in the direction of Chester. One hundred and fifty Americans were killed and wounded in this onslaught, some of whom, it is said, were cruelly butchered after ceasing to resist, and while begging for quarter; and but for the coolness and skill of Wayne, his whole command must have been killed or taken prisoners. He promptly rallied a few companies, ordered Colonel Hampton to wheel the line, and with the cavalry and a portion of the infantry, he gallantly covered a successful retreat. Grey swept the American camp, captured between seventy and eighty men, including several subordinate officers, a great number of small-arms, two pieces of cannon, and eight wagons loaded with baggage and stores. The loss of the British was inconsiderable; only one captain of light infantry and three privates were killed, and four men wounded. General Smallwood was only a mile distant at the time of the engagement, and made an unsuccessful attempt to march to the relief of Wayne. His raw militia were too deficient in discipline to make a sudden movement, and, before he could reach the scene of conflict, Grey had completed his achievement, and was on his way towar'd the British camp. Falling in with a party of the enemy retiring from the pursuit of Wayne, Smallwood's militia instantly fled in great confusion, and were not rallied until a late hour the next day.
The dead bodies of fifty-three Americans were found on the field the next morning, and were interred upon the spot, in one grave, by the neighboring farmers. For forty years their resting-place was marked by a simple heap of stones, around which the plow of the agriculturist made its furrows nearer and nearer every season. At length the "Republican Artillerists" of Chester county patriotically resolved to erect a monument to their memory,