Chadds Ford

Benjamin Ring House (Washington's Headquarters)

Historic House · 1491 Baltimore Pike, Chadds Ford, PA 19317

The farmhouse used as Washington's headquarters on September 11, 1777, during the Battle of Brandywine. Washington spent the morning here receiving intelligence about the British approach, much of which proved confusing and contradictory. The house is preserved within the Brandywine Battlefield State Historic Site. It is one of the few surviving structures directly associated with Washington's use as a command post.

Gilpin House (Lafayette's Headquarters)

Historic House · 1491 Baltimore Pike, Chadds Ford, PA 19317

The farmhouse used as headquarters by the Marquis de Lafayette during the Battle of Brandywine. Lafayette, 19 years old, was shot in the leg during the fighting and organized a fighting retreat that helped cover the American withdrawal. His wound was treated at a field hospital nearby. The house is preserved within the battlefield site.

Brandywine Battlefield State Historic Site

Battlefield · 1491 Baltimore Pike, Chadds Ford, PA 19317

The site of the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777 — the largest battle of the Revolution by number of troops engaged. Washington positioned his army along Brandywine Creek with Chadds Ford as the main crossing point. Howe feinted at the ford while sending nearly half his army on a twelve-mile flanking march. The flanking column crossed at an unguarded ford to the north and hit Washington's exposed right. The Americans were defeated; Philadelphia fell two weeks later.

Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford

Landmark · Chadds Ford, PA 19317

The Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford — the main British crossing point Washington expected, and the ford the British successfully feinted at while flanking to the north. The creek is relatively shallow at Chadds Ford; in September 1777 it was crossable on foot in most places. The ford is no longer a primary crossing; a bridge serves the road. The creek and its banks retain the general character they had in 1777.

Brandywine River Museum of Art

Museum · 1 Hoffmans Mill Rd, Chadds Ford, PA 19317

The museum, housed in a 19th-century grist mill near Chadds Ford, includes the Howard Pyle School collection and significant holdings of American illustration and landscape art. The museum's setting on the Brandywine Creek evokes the terrain of the 1777 battle — the creek, its banks, and the rolling hills of Chester County are essentially unchanged in character. N.C. Wyeth's paintings of the Brandywine region provide a visual vocabulary for understanding the landscape.