Prelude
Contemplating the contingency of an early withdrawal by the British from the occupied American Revolutionary capital of Philadelphia, Washington sent Lafayette to Barren Hill, located roughly halfway between Valley Forge and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, to reconnoiter British intentions and interdict British detachments foraging for food in the surrounding countryside. [3]
On May 18, Lafayette left the Valley Forge camp with 2,400 troops and five pieces of artillery. [4] After crossing the Schuylkill River and turning south, he took up position at Barren Hill, which was close to Matson's Ford. A brigade and the guns were posted on the high ground, near a church, facing south. Another posting was at the Ridge Road to the south, and the Pennsylvania militia was sent to guard the road that led west from White Marsh. The British quickly discovered that the American force was nearby and decided to attack.
On May 19, 1778, around 10:30 p.m., Maj. Gen. James Grant and a 5,000-man British force, including 15 guns, was sent toward Barren Hill. The plan was to take a circuitous route leading to the junction of White Marsh Road and Ridge Road. This would cut off any avenue of retreat for the Americans. A body of 2,000 grenadiers and dragoons would then move along Lafayette's left flank while another group would move into position on the American right. The plan would result in the American position being encircled from 3 positions, trapping them against the river. The British force was to wait until morning to attack and destroy or capture the entire American force.
The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The fighting occurred in a wooded area near Locust Grove, Virginia, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Fredericksburg. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, nearly 29,000 in total, a harbinger of a war of attrition by Grant against Lee's army and, eventually, against the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia. The battle was tactically inconclusive, as Grant disengaged and then continued his offensive.
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette, known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French nobleman and military officer who volunteered to join the Continental Army, led by General George Washington, in the American Revolutionary War. Lafayette was ultimately permitted to command Continental Army troops in the decisive Siege of Yorktown in 1781, the Revolutionary War's final major battle that secured American independence. After returning to France, Lafayette became a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830 and continues to be celebrated as a hero in both France and the United States.
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). The forces met near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. More troops fought at Brandywine than at any other battle of the American Revolution. It was also the second longest single-day battle of the war, after the Battle of Monmouth, with continuous fighting for 11 hours.
Major-General Nathanael Greene was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputation as one of George Washington's most talented and dependable officers and is known for his successful command in the Southern theater of the conflict.
The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey, on June 28, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. It pitted the Continental Army, commanded by General George Washington, against the British Army in North America, commanded by General Sir Henry Clinton.
James Grant, 4th of Ballindalloch (1720–1806) was a British Army officer who served as a major general during the American War of Independence. He served as Governor of East Florida from 1763 to 1771, and between 1773 and 1802 he had seats in the House of Commons.
The Battle of Pell's Point, also known as the Battle of Pelham, was a skirmish fought between British and American troops during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The conflict took place in what is now part of Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, New York City and the villages of Pelham Manor and Pelham in Westchester County, New York.
The Battle of Monocacy was fought on July 9, 1864, about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early defeated Union forces under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace. The battle was part of Early's raid through the Shenandoah Valley and into Maryland in an attempt to divert Union forces from their siege of Gen. Robert E. Lee's army at Petersburg, Virginia.
The 2nd New Jersey Regiment was raised, on 9 October 1775, at Trenton, New Jersey, for service with the Continental Army under the command of Colonel William Maxwell. The regiment would see action at the Battle of Trois-Rivières, Battle of Valcour Island, Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Germantown, Battle of Crooked Billet, Battle of Monmouth, Sullivan Expedition, Battle of Springfield and the Battle of Yorktown. The regiment was furloughed, on 6 June 1783, at Newburgh, New York, and disbanded 3 November 1783.
The 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment, formed with lauded veterans from the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion, was raised in December 1776. The 1st Pennsylvania Battalion was raised in October 1775, under the command of Colonel John Bull for service with the Continental Army.
The Battle of Rhode Island took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and Militia forces under the command of Major General John Sullivan had been besieging the British forces in Newport, Rhode Island, which is situated on Aquidneck Island, but they had finally abandoned their siege and were withdrawing to the northern part of the island. The British forces then sortied, supported by recently arrived Royal Navy ships, and they attacked the retreating Americans. The battle ended inconclusively, but the Continental forces withdrew to the mainland and left Aquidneck Island in British hands.
The Philadelphia campaign (1777–1778) was a British military campaign during the American Revolutionary War designed to gain control of Philadelphia, the Revolutionary-era capital where the Second Continental Congress convened, formed the Continental Army, and appointed George Washington as its commander in 1775, and later authored and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence the following year, on July 4, 1776, which formalized and escalated the war.
Pennsylvania was the site of many key events associated with the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War. The city of Philadelphia, then capital of the Thirteen Colonies and the largest city in the colonies, was a gathering place for the Founding Fathers who discussed, debated, developed, and ultimately implemented many of the acts, including signing the Declaration of Independence, that inspired and launched the revolution and the quest for independence from the British Empire.
The Battle of Quinton's Bridge was a minor battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on March 18, 1778, during the British occupation of Philadelphia. New Jersey militia companies defending a bridge across Alloway Creek in Salem County, New Jersey, were lured into a trap by British Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood and suffered significant casualties.
The Battle of White Marsh or Battle of Edge Hill was a battle of the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought December 5–8, 1777, in the area surrounding Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania. The battle, which took the form of a series of skirmish actions, was the last major engagement of 1777 between British and American forces.
The Battle of Matson's Ford was a battle in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought on December 11, 1777 in the area surrounding Matson's Ford. In this series of minor skirmish actions, advance patrols of Pennsylvania militia encountered a British foraging expedition and were overrun. The British pushed ahead to Matson's Ford, where units of the Continental Army were making their way across the Schuylkill River. The Americans retreated to the far side, destroying their temporary bridge across the Schuylkill. The British left the area the next day to continue foraging elsewhere; the Continentals crossed the river at Swede's Ford to Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, a few miles upriver from Matson's Ford.
The Battle of Red Bank, also known as the Battle of Fort Mercer, was fought on October 22, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. A British and Hessian force was sent to take Fort Mercer on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River just south of Philadelphia, but was defeated by a smaller force of Continental Army troops.
The northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga consisted of a series of battles between American revolutionaries and British forces, from 1778 to 1782 during the American Revolutionary War. It is characterized by two primary areas of activity. The first set of activities was based around the British base of operations in New York City, where each side made probes and counterprobes against the other's positions that sometimes resulted in notable actions. The second was essentially a frontier war in Upstate New York and rural northern Pennsylvania that was largely fought by state militia companies and some Indian allies on the American side, and Loyalist companies supported by Indians, British Indian agents, and occasionally British regulars. The notable exception to significant Continental Army participation on the frontier was the 1779 Sullivan Expedition, in which General John Sullivan led an army expedition that drove the Iroquois out of New York. The warfare amongst the splinters of the Iroquois Six Nations were particularly brutal, turning much of the Indian population into refugees.
Valley Forge was the winter encampment of the Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. The Valley Forge encampment lasted six months, from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778. It was the third of the eight winter encampments that Washington and the Continental Army endured during the war.
The history of Virginia in the American Revolution begins with the role the Colony of Virginia played in early dissent against the British government and culminates with the defeat of General Cornwallis by the allied forces at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, an event that signaled the effective military end to the conflict. Numerous Virginians played key roles in the Revolution, including George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson.
Marquis de La Fayette 
Sir William Howe 
