"The Battle of Paoli," Jim Christ
The March 16, 2022 Meeting was held at Glen
Allen - Henrico County Public Library and featured a presentation by Jim Christ
entitled "The Battle of Paoli." Jim is the President of the Paoli
Battlefield Preservation Fund, Vice President of both the American Revolution
Round Table of Philadelphia, and the Brandywine Valley Civil War Round Table.Christ's presentation on the battle was
well received by the members present as he explained the events on the night of
September 20, 1777, in the area surrounding present-day Malvern, Pennsylvania,
and was one in a series of American Revolutionary War conflicts, that became
known as the Philadelphia Campaign. That campaign was initiated by the British to
gain control of Philadelphia, then the seat of the Second Continental Congress.
Christ spoke about the commanders on both
sides and the plans they made--especially the expectations of American
Brigadier General Anthony Wayne and British General Sir William Howe, as
Commander-in-Chief, North America.
On September 11, 1777, Wayne had commanded
the Pennsylvania Line at the Battle of Brandywine, where they held off General
Wilhelm von Knyphausen who commanded Hessian auxiliaries on behalf of Great
Britain. Wayne was ordered to retreat ending the battle. He was then ordered to
harass the British rear to slow Howe's advance towards Pennsylvania. Christ
then discussed the Paoli attack itself and the role of Major General Charles
Grey who led around 2,000 men into the Great Valley to surprise over 2,000 of
Wayne's men and 2,100 Maryland Militia under General William Smallwood. Grey
became known as "No-flint Grey" for ordering his men to extract the
flints from their muskets during the nighttime surprise approach and to fight
with bayonets only. While there were relatively few American casualties, claims
were made that the British took no prisoners and granted no quarter, and the
engagement became known as the "Paoli Massacre" and “Remember Paoli”
became America’s first battle cry. As historian and author Robert M. Dunkerly
observed in his January 19, 2022, presentation to the Roundtable "Decision
at Brandywine: The Battle on Birmingham Hill," eighteenth-century combat
was brutal and random in its violence. Wayne's own reputation was tarnished by the
American losses at Paoli, and he demanded a formal inquiry to clear his
battlefield decisions. Christ explained the aftermath of the fighting and spent
considerable time on the court martial of Wayne, which Wayne himself had
demanded and eventually resulted in his exoneration.
The ninth bloodiest battle of the
Revolutionary War left Philadelphia open to British occupation. The British
captured Philadelphia two weeks later on September 26, resulting in the city
falling under British control for nine months, until June of 1778.
Howe resigned during the occupation of
Philadelphia and was replaced by his second-in-command, General Sir Henry
Clinton. Although Wayne's reputation suffered due to his defeat in the Battle
of Paoli, he later earned praise for leadership successes before the end of the
war.
--Fred Sorrell
