Battle of Paoli

Presented by Michael Harris

After the American defeat on September 11th at Brandywine Creek and the British occupation of Philadelphia, George Washington needed to both monitor British activity and access supplies stored in Reading.  Dividing his forces and posting units on both sides of the Schuylkill River just north of Philadelphia, Washington ordered  General “Mad” Anthony Wayne to keep pressure on the British by harassing them at every opportunity and to attempt to capture their supplies. Wayne made the mistake of believing his forces were undetected by the British, but on the night of September 20, 1777 British forces under General Charles Grey surprised and routed Wayne's force the Paoli Tavern (present-day Malvern). Quietly eliminating the American sentries, Grey’s men charged into the camp in three waves putting Wayne’s entire division to flight with a loss of nearly 300 men (the British lost just a dozen). Rumor had the Redcoats giving “no quarter” to the Americans, and the engagement came to be known as the “Paoli Massacre” fostering many lingering myths.  Paoli was another fight that would be a part of the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign. 

Michael C. Harris is a graduate of the University of Mary Washington and the American Military University. He worked for the National Park Service at Fredericksburg, Virginia, Fort Mott State Park in New Jersey, and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission at Brandywine Battlefield.  An expert on the Philadelphia Campaign, he is working on his third volume of the campaign trilogy.