After the Revolutionary War Battle of Brandywine,Gen George Washington withdrew most of his army towards the supply center at Reading PA. The British General William Howe was also short on provisions, and he stayed at Brandywine for several days until he could be replenished by wagon train.
As Howe departed for Philadelphia, however, Washington saw a chance to inflict some damage on the British rear guard, possibly even destroying their baggage train. Leaving General “Mad Anthony” Wayne at nearby Chester PA with 1500 Pennsylvania militia, he directed another 2000 Maryland militia under General William Smallwood to meet up with Wayne. Together they would ambush the redcoats as they passed by. On September 19, Wayne was just two miles away from the British, awaiting Smallwood’s arrival, at the little town of Paoli.
But this area had a large proportion of Loyalists who were passing intelligence information on to the British, and, unknown to Wayne, Howe knew where he was and what he was up to, and, seeing a chance to cut off and destroy part of the colonial forces, sent General Charles Gray and 1800 redcoats to attack the rebels. Gray took every step to insure surprise: his troops captured and held every civilian they met along the road (so nobody would run ahead and alert the Americans), and his men had unloaded all their muskets (so no accidental shots would give them away as they moved into position). By 1am on September 21, the redcoats reached Wayne’s camp, near the Paoli Tavern.
The British charge took the colonials completely by surprise. Most of the American militia had no bayonets, and the redcoats swarmed around the camp virtually unopposed. Wayne and a small force managed to withdraw towards the nearby White Horse Tavern. The British pursued, and unexpectedly ran into Smallwood’s militia who were camped nearby on the same road. Oblivious to the presence of Howe’s troops, Smallwood’s inexperienced militia were unprepared for battle, and the British overran their camp and captured many of them too.
Though in terms of number of troops engaged the fighting at Paloi was just a skirmish, it was one of the most lopsided British victories of the war: the colonials lost over 250 killed, wounded and captured, while Howe’s forces lost only 10 men.
Most later colonial accounts called it the “Paoli Massacre”, with claims that the British infantry had bayoneted a large number of prisoners after they had surrendered, but there is no real evidence of that having happened. The recoats had captured 71 of the surprised colonials.
Wayne found himself under blame for the disaster, and demanded a court martial in order to clear his reputation. He was criticized for some tactical errors, but was acquitted on all charges.
In 1817, a stone monument was erected at the Paoli battle site, and was replaced in 1877. Today, the area is preserved by the Paoli Battlefield Site and Parade Grounds, 40 acres of which is owned by the nearby town of Malvern PA: the cemetery is run by the nonprofit Paoli Memorial Association. The battlefield is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site also contains a World War One monument and World War Two memorial.
Some photos from a visit.