Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Battlefield Preservation

Into The Wilderness Part 2: Getting Our Bearings On Thompson’s Island

In my last post about the Battle of Thompson’s Island, I gave a brief background on the conflict and discussed the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) grant our office received to find the battlefield.  Like the campaign itself, the project has continued moving. Continue reading

The Battle of Brandywine Revisited

By Jill Hall and Karen Marshall

Brinton 1704 House and the surrounding lands were the location of core combat actions in the final phase of the Battle, Chadds Ford, Delaware County

Brinton 1704 House and the surrounding lands were the location of core combat actions in the final phase of the Battle, Chadds Ford, Delaware County

On September 11, 1777, British General William Howe and his professional army engaged General George Washington and his citizen soldiers along the banks of the Brandywine River about 30 miles southwest of Philadelphia. Part of a larger strategy known as the Philadelphia Campaign, the Battle of Brandywine was one of the earliest and largest battles of the American Revolution, encompassing some 30,000 British and American soldiers. The Battle lasted from sunup to sundown, instantly changing the character of a quiet farming community that consisted predominately of Quakers. Although the Battle of Brandywine was a loss for the Americans, they proved that they had the resiliency to withstand the British, increasing French support of the American cause.  Continue reading

The Revolutionary War Burial Ground in Bethlehem

It’s not every day that you find a human skeleton out in your backyard. But this is exactly what happened in a residential part of the City of Bethlehem in February of 1995. Continue reading

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