The Brandywine

Since the bloody battle of the Brandywine, on the banks of Brandywine Creek, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, September 11th, 1777, eminent men have sought diligently for the origin of the name. The best explanation so far given, is that it is derived from the German Brauntwine (pronounced Brontvine), and that, having been named by some Teutonic explorers, it was corrupted by ignorant English usage into its present shape.

The battle of the Brandywine, between the forces of Washington and Howe, was disastrous to the American army. One of its results was that Howe occupied Philadelphia for his winter quarters, while Washington, with a remnant of his defeated army, turned out of doors, as it were, retreated to Valley Forge, twenty miles north of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill. There, during that severe winter, he suffered with them everything but the loss of life and the loss of faith in his country's cause. The British occupied Philadelphia until June, 1778. During this occupation the "Battle of the Kegs" took place (q. v.). Laugh and be fat, says the Proverb.--Judge Francis Hopkinson's poem, "The Battle of the Kegs" (page 21), turning the laugh of many a starving soldier against the victorious Britons, kept his spirits up though rations were scanty.