directed Washington to give the necessary orders for completing the
defenses of the Delaware.

From Chester the army marched through Darby, over the Schuylkill bridge
to its former ground near the falls of that river. Greene's division,
which, having been less in action, was more entire than any other,
covered the rear, and the corps of Maxwell remained at Chester until
the next day as a rallying point for the small parties and straggling
soldiers who might yet be in the neighborhood.

Having allowed his army one day for repose and refreshment, Washington
recrossed the Schuylkill and proceeded on the Lancaster road, with the
intention of risking another engagement.

Sir William Howe passed the night of the 11th on the field of battle.
On the succeeding day he detached Major-General Grant with two brigades
to Concord Meeting House, and on the 13th (September, 1777), Lord
Cornwallis joined General Grant, and marched toward Chester. Another
detachment took possession of Wilmington, to which place the sick and
wounded were conveyed.

To prevent a sudden movement to Philadelphia by the lower road the
bridge over the Schuylkill was loosened from its moorings, and General
Armstrong was directed, with the Pennsylvania militia, to guard the
passes over that river.

On the fifteenth the American army, intending to gain the left of the
British, reached the Warren tavern, on the Lancaster road, twenty-three
miles from Philadelphia. Intelligence was received early next morning
that Howe was approaching in two columns. It being too late to reach