ke up arms against his sovereign." As they sat thus
talking, Cornwallis passed the house. He appeared tall and sat very
erect, wearing his scarlet uniform, richly trimmed with gold lace and
heavy epaulets. Most of the officers, our narrator says, "were rather
short, portly men, well dressed and of genteel appearance, and did not
look as if they had ever been exposed to any hardship, their skins being
as white and delicate as is customary for females brought up in large
cities or towns." A halt of the advance-guard had been made a few
minutes in the village while the horses were fed on some patches of
growing corn. These troops were Germans, "and many of them," Townsend
remarks, "wore their beards on their upper lips, which was a novelty in
that part of the country."

By two o'clock, or somewhat earlier, the British had reached Osborne's
Hill, from which they had a good view to the south and east. The high
ground around Birmingham meeting-house, on which a little later the
hurrying Americans would appear, was plainly in view. Cornwallis's men
had now marched since morning about thirteen miles under the burning
sun, wading the two branches of the Brandywine. They were halted here,
took out their dinner-rations and ate them, and about three o'clock were
rested and ready to fight.

All the fore part of the day Washington had been near the crossing at
Chad's, watching the encounter there. It must have been nearly noon when
he received intelligence of a startling character. Colonel Bland had
been across the creek (the main stream below its "forks"), and now sent
word that he had observed at a distance the march north of a large body
of the enemy. Two brigades he had distinctly seen, "and the dust
appeared to rise in their rear for a considerable distance." While this
despatch was in Washington's hand came another from Colonel Ross, who
had ridden to a point on "the Great Valley road," in the rear of Howe's
column, and sent word confirming Bland's observations. He estimated the
moving force at not less than five thousand.

With such intelligence of Howe's strategy, Washington promptly resolved
upon a bold and vigorous counter-movement--not hastily, we may presume,
for he had doubtless anticipated the contingency and formed the plan in
anticipation of such an attempt to outflank him. He now gave orders to
his division commanders--Sullivan on the right, Greene in the centre and
Wayne on the left--to prepare for an immediate of