Destruction & Wanton Waste: The Impact of War in a Peaceful Valley

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Beyond Battlefields: Culture and Conflict through the Philadelphia Campaign" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

On September 11, 1777, General Sir William Howe’s Crown Forces engaged General George Washington at the Battle of Brandywine. Their battlefield, one of the richest agricultural and milling regions in the mid-Atlantic colonies, was dominated by a large and peaceful Quaker population. Following the defeat and retreat of Washington at Brandywine, the Crown Forces occupied the region for five days and launched a substantial “foraging” effort to replenish their depleting supplies and provisions. What resulted was what one local inhabitant called "Destruction and Wanton Waste.” This Crown Force occupation threw local Quakers, many of whom had tried to remain neutral, into the fray causing some to choose sides and abandon their Testimonies of Peace. Through a study of various primary source material including damage claims and personal accounts, these peaceful inhabitants and their struggles have recently been brought to the forefront of interpretive efforts surrounding the Battle of Brandywine.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond Battlefields: Culture and Conflict through the Philadelphia Campaign   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology