Birmingham Hill Preserve, 113 acres of hayfield and woodland around Meetinghouse, Birmingham and Wylie roads in Birmingham Township, covers ground where the Continental Army formed its first and second defensive lines at the Battle of Brandywine on 11 September 1777, and where some of the fiercest fighting took place. Once the British column had crossed the Brandywine north of Washington's position, the divisions of Lord Stirling, Adam Stephen and John Sullivan were rushed to the high ground around Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse. The British attacked at about 4 p.m., and the American line gave way five times, re-forming each time farther back. Sullivan recalled that five times the enemy drove his troops from the hill and as often it was regained, the summit often disputed almost muzzle to muzzle.
Howe directed the battle from Birmingham Hill once it was taken. The young Marquis de Lafayette came up behind Conway's Pennsylvania brigade and was shot through the leg while trying to rally it. Revisiting the battlefield in 1825, he pointed out the spot along the crest of the hill, although other accounts place his wounding farther south near Sandy Hollow.
The land was nearly lost. In January 2006 the Odell family submitted a plan to divide the farm into 33 house lots and two farmettes. The Brandywine Conservancy in May 2007 bought the 100-acre Skirmish Hill Farm for eight million dollars, with gifts ranging from two million dollars from the Mt. Cuba Center to 200 dollars raised by fifth and sixth graders. A metal-detecting survey in 2008 found a musket ball, a pewter button and a coin that may be a George I halfpenny. The last 13 acres were bought in 2018.
Getting there
39.9007, -75.5955
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
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