Hello all. The release of the Empire Total War demo last Friday featuring the Battle of Brandywine peaked my interest since the battlefield is just a few miles away from where I live - in fact, I learned that it was much closer to home than I realized. So on Wednesday morning I grabbed my camera and headed off to photograph what I could and give my fellow Orgahs a little more feel for the terrain. This is made a little difficult as the battlefield has not been preserved. Housing developments and new schools sit cover parts of the field. The few historical markers are easily overlooked by the hundreds of cars that pass them everyday.
To assist visually with this guide I present a modified map I got from www.BritishBattles.com. On this map I've added orange number to indicate the location of the various stops I made. One thing that surprised me about the map (that probably shouldn't have) is that the roads are still there and most are major, numbered routes.
I'll make a few observations concerning the ETW demo and the actual battlefield along the way. Each section is hidden to restrict the picture loading until the reader is ready.
Location 1: Trimble's Ford
Contrary to the ETW demo, the British under Howe did not cross the Brandywine River, but rather crossed both east and west branches of the Brandywine Creek further to the north. The two branches join at the edge of the demo map just north of the secondary ford. The British crossed the west branch at Trimble's Ford. Today a one lane wood and steel bridge crosses the creek here.
Flats near the creeks with rolling hills defining a valley. Horse farms are a big thing around here. In this first shot, we are looking south, back towards Trimble's Ford at the base of the hills. The British marched along the road on the right (lined with the evergreen trees) and then eastward along the road at my back. The Brandywine is marked by the trees on the left edge.
Looking west, the British marched down this road toward the camera. The Brandywine is across a field to the south (left) shown in the second shot - the tree line.
Howe and his men crossed the east branch of the Brandywine Creek at Jefferis Ford. Today there is a one lane box girder bridge at the ford. This simple plaque at the bridge acknowledges the event.
The British formed up on Osborne hill and marched south along the Birmingham road towards the Americans on the far ridge. The telephone poles on the left edge mark the Birmingham road. The Brandywine River is about a mile and a half (less than 3km) to the west (right).
A small historical marker (across street from yellow fire hydrant) reads "Osborne's Hill. From this ridge General Howe directed the movements of the British Army at the Battle of Brandywine. September 11, 1777" This is a far cry from the magnificant monuments at Gettysburg.
Down the Birmingham road and into the valley between the ridges lies the small creek Radley Run. Skirmishers clashed here in the fields of the Daniel Davis farm.
The building was used as a hospital by both sides during and after the battle. The following pictures are of the north side of the building that saw the fighting. The stone wall was used by Stirling's Americans for protection during the fighting.
The British definitely had to attack up a slope toward the meeting house (which is behind the camera). Unfortunately the camera does not capture the slope that is so apparent to the eye:
One thing that this part of the tour showed me clearly is that the meeting house in the ETW demo should be on the hilltop that lies just to its west, not at the base of it.
An unremarkable plaque on the stone wall reads "To mark the site of the first line of defense of the American Army at the Battle of the Brandywine. 11 September 1777".
A half a mile (1 km) south on Birmingham road, the retreating Americans formed a second line of defense. The fighting was intense here as was the American cannon fire. The British 64th Foot lost all their officers and 2/3 of their men killed or wounded. It was at this point that Washington realized his mistake and rushed Greene north from Chadds Ford.
A badly rusted Civil War era canon marks this spot along the Birmingham road. A view looking north from where the British were attacking:
If I understand the battle accounts correctly, back at the time of the battle, the view in the above shot would have been covered in part by the thick Wistar's Woods (only a small portion remains today). The British Grenadiers and Guards entered the thick Wistar's Woods with the intent to attack Sullivan's second line of defense here. Instead, they got lost for two hours and come out of Wistar's Woods farther south and into the flank of the Americans defending against Knyphausen's assault at Chadds Ford.
Between location 8 and 9 Birmingham road cut a "miniature pass" due to heavy use. Here the banks on either side of the road range from 4-8 feet high. There was no place to safely stop here and take pictures. Heavy fighting also took place here. One unusual sight was a slender 10 foot tall monument to Lafayette in the front yard of a house.
Location 9: Sandy Hill
In this field Lafayette formed the third line of defense for the Americans. He was wounded in the thigh during the fighting. About a quarter of a mile (1/2 km) beyond the house at the far end of the field on the left side (to the north west) is the general direction of where the Wylie road second line of defense was. The miniature pass I mentioned is also to the left of that house in the trees.
The final part of the battle was a rearguard action by Pulaski's cavalry at nightfall. Again, a simple, unremarkable plaque marks the site. It reads "Dilworthtown. The Battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777, ended a short distance southeast of this place." This shot of the plaque is looking southeast to a field where, perhaps, Pulaski fought.
I'm going to stop here for the night. The last segment will mostly examine the terrain along the Brandywine River itself from Chadds Ford upstream to the fork.
02-28-2009, 08:31
Adrian II
Re: Brandywine Battlefield Photo Tour
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregoshi
The stone wall was used by Stirling's Americans for protection during the fighting.
Thank God for free-roaming lunatics such as yourself, Sir. This sort of detailed, expert commentary on a single battle has devout TW followers like me foaming at the mouth.
Great job, Gregoshi. :bow:
Maybe other members who live close to Napoleonic battlefields could do the same. Apart from the usual suspects and assorted history buffs, there must be potential ETW modders who will be very, very interested in such details.
02-28-2009, 11:39
InsaneApache
Re: Brandywine Battlefield Photo Tour
Great stuff Greg. It's eyeopening to see the battlefield for real. Thanks for that
02-28-2009, 13:02
PanzerJaeger
Re: Brandywine Battlefield Photo Tour
Excellent stuff! Thanks Greg! :2thumbsup:
Too bad about the development though. I live near Shiloh and it is hallowed ground, protected by the state and fierce preservation groups poised to drive away any roving WalMart location scouts.
02-28-2009, 13:20
Ibn-Khaldun
Re: Brandywine Battlefield Photo Tour
That is great, Gregoshi!! :balloon2:
02-28-2009, 16:11
Lusitani
Re: Brandywine Battlefield Photo Tour
Great post ...thanks! :2thumbsup:
03-01-2009, 06:32
Gregoshi
Re: Brandywine Battlefield Photo Tour
Part 3 of the Brandywine Battlefield Tour.
This part mostly features terrain along the Brandywine River with a brief diversion towards the British starting position west on the Nottingham Road towards Kennett Square.
Location 11: Chadds Ford
Chadds Ford is where Washington expected the main British attack to be. Instead, the Hessian Knyphausen was under orders to "amuse the Americans" while Howe executed his flanking movement. The photos here show the river and ford area. Unfortunately I did not think to turn the camera away from the river to show the surrounding area. It probably wouldn't have mattered much as there are a lot of trees in area.
The Brandywine River about 100 yards/meters south of the ford, taken from the parking lot of the Wyeth Brandywine River Museum looking west towards the British side of the river:
The west bank (British side) north of the ford has hills almost right to the river bank. Today, Chadds Ford Elementary School sits on a hill overlooking the river where British soldiers and/or cannons were probably positioned. One wonders if the children are even taught about the history of the grounds on which they learn.
This view is looking east from the Nottingham Road (US Route 1) about a mile west of Chadds Ford. The building in the trees is the Brandywine River Museum on the east bank where I took the first picture above.
On the ETW demo map, this picture is eerily similar to the view of Chadds Ford from the British starting position (slight dog-leg left). Well done CA!
Location 13: Kennett Meeting House
Kennett Meetiing House is a Quaker building where some of the earliest action took place around 10am. During this action, the Quakers were holding a mid-week meeting. A worshipping Quaker later wrote: "While there was much noise and confusion without, all was quiet and peaceful within." Gotta love it. Here is a picture of the Kennett Meeting House (Est 1710):
Back to the river, we come to Brinton's Ford. Here, a high, steep hill comes right up to the west bank of the river. Knyphausen sent four regiments across the ford here when he decide to stop "amusing" the Americans and attack. Though there is a road here, it is halfway up the hillside and it was not apparent exactly how the troops would have gotten from the road down to the river. Railroad track laid between the road and the river may have helped obscure any road/trail down to the ford.
First shot here is looking north (upstream) at the road running along the hillside at Brintons ford. A hollowed out cliff cuts into the hillside, but you can get a feel for the slope of the hill the goes down to the river:
The next shot is looking across the Brandwine from the road. Note the flat plain on the east side of the river before you get to the hills beyond. Another aspect that the ETW demo map shows well.
Today, this road is known as Brinton's Bridge Road. It runs on both sides of the river, but the two halves are not connected on the map. I was quite surprised to see the remains of a destroyed bridge on both sides of the river. It looked like an old bridge but built sometime after the battle. In this view of Brinton's ford, the bridge structure is visible on the far bank, but, again, though all the branches, the camera does not distinguish this as well as the eye does.
ETW observation: this area seems to correlate to the east-west running wooded ridge on the west bank just north of Chadds Ford on the demo map. At our next stop on the tour, we will see what I think is the "valley" just north of this ridge that leads to the river bank.
Location 15: Pocopson Creek
Now we move about one mile (2 km) north along the river to Pocopson Creek. Here the hills along the western bank retreat far back from the river to form a small valley. This first view looks west with the river about 100 yards/meters behind the camera.
This second view is looking a little more to the north west to show the gently rolling hills that form the north "wall" of this valley. This hill runs to the north for quite a way but stays back away from the river roughly 100 yards/meters.
Location 16: Jone's(?) Ford - Colonel Bland's Position
About 1/2 mile (1 km) north of Pocopson Creek, Colonel Bland's dragoons pushed across the Brandywine at Jone's(?) ford. With reports of the British marching north, Washington ordered Bland to find the British and confirm this movement. Washington received conflicting reports all day which held the bulk of his forces at Chadds Ford for most of the day until it was too late.
This shot looking west at an imposing hill topped by an elementary school. I suspect it was wooded back in the day. Again, this hill sits back from the Brandywine River about 100 yards/meters.
A mile or so north of here, the hills once again come up to the banks of the river.
Location 17: Below the Fork in the Brandywine
The last stop on the battlefield tour is an area along the east bank of the river a little below the fork in the river. Again we see (smaller) hills coming up to the west bank. The east bank continues to be flat with hills standing far back from the river. Today this stretch from Wistar's Ford to the fork features several parks but the areas between the parks are swampy wetlands so I imagine the parks were dirt filled to make the land usable.
The first shot is looking roughly south (downstream) at the wetlands in the flats. The river runs beyond the wetlands along the treeline at the base of the hill.
This concludes my battlefield tour. I hope it was instructive to the reader.
Note: I tried to get some screenshots from the demo to correlate my pictures with analogous views from the game map, but my ancient computer could barely handle the demo, let alone any other program to do screen captures. ~:(
03-01-2009, 07:12
Monk
Re: Brandywine Battlefield Photo Tour
Truly amazing stuff Greg, really appreciate the pictures! Somehow it kinda brings the battle into focus to the actual area where it all took place, how its changed over the centuries, ect.
Awesome idea for a thread as well! :2thumbsup:
03-01-2009, 07:21
Malkut
Re: Brandywine Battlefield Photo Tour
I'd like to commend you for this thread idea. Too often, we forget that these games are about real people in real places who sacrificed their lives in real wars. We should honor them, by using the media of interactive entertainment to study how they lived, fought, and died for what they believed in.
03-01-2009, 10:15
Daevyll
Re: Brandywine Battlefield Photo Tour
Excellent post, enjoyed it very much, thank you.
03-02-2009, 04:16
Alexander the Pretty Good
Re: Brandywine Battlefield Photo Tour
I can only echo the thanks others have already put more eloquently.
