Weedon's Foray Historical Marker

The Weedon's Foray Historical Marker

This past July (2023), an exciting historical event took place in Mill Creek Hundred. Nestled down in the Mill Creek valley, off of Stoney Batter Road down at the bottom of the hill, a brand new historical sign was unveiled! It memorializes an event from the days of our country's founding, and the marker was largely the result of one man's tireless work (no, not me). The event is known as Weedon's Foray, and it was (until recently) a largely forgotten event that really does deserve more recognition.

Weedon's Foray was a small skirmish that took place between two other, more well-known engagements, but which did end up having an importance of its own. The date was September 8, 1777, and just 5 days earlier British and American forces had clashed at the Battle of Cooch's Bridge, south of Newark. The Redcoats had disembarked a few days earlier at the Head of Elk in Maryland, and everyone knew their ultimate destination was Philadelphia -- the only questions was, by what route would they go?

After the engagement at Cooch's Bridge, convinced British General Howe would take the most direct route through Wilmington, Gen. Washington moved his army back to take up positions where the road crossed Red Clay Creek, at Stanton. They camped between Marshallton and Newport, waiting for the enemy to arrive. Howe, however, had other plans. He intended to take a slightly more circuitous, northerly route. The Americans, though, had not yet figured this out.

The British Army marched out of Pencader Hundred on September 8, and set up camp along Limestone Road, stretching from around the state line all the way down to Milltown (much more information about these events can be found here and here). The American forces mostly stayed put west of Newport, except for a brigade led by Gen. George Weedon, which was tasked with checking on and engaging with the enemy. The Continentals marched that day to "an eminence near Mr. McCannon's meeting house". Mr. McCannon's meeting house is, of course, Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church, and Weedon's brigade would have marched out of their encampment up what we know as Duncan Road (it was, at the time, the main route between Newport and the Hockessin area).

Gen. George Weedon

They would have come up to McKennan's Church Road (if that name never made sense to you before, I hope it does now) and crossed over, ending up on high ground now part of Delcastle golf course, just below the bend in Mill Creek Road (across from the driving range and softball fields). The British saw them coming, and Gen. Howe's Aide de Camp, Captain Friedrich von Muenchhausen, was ordered to move a group of Hessian Jaegers to cut them off. The Jaegers, sort like the Army Rangers of their time, were camped just north of today's Stoney Batter Road, in what's now Limestone Hills. They moved across to what's now the development of North Pointe.

The two opposing forces viewed each other from across the steep, wooded valley, which would later be the site of the mill and home known as Spring Grove. In reality, neither side would have been eager to attack across such terrain, but the Jaegers did take a few shots at the Continentals with their amusettes -- small field guns that shot about one pound balls. No one was injured, and the Americans soon retreated out of range. What they took with them was intelligence.

Location of the British and American forces, and the
site of Weedon's Foray on Sept. 8, 1777

The knowledge that the enemy forces were encamped in the area may have finally convinced Washington that there really was going to be no attack against them here, in Delaware. The next morning the Continental Army broke camp and marched north to Chadds Ford. Two days after that, on September 11, 1777, Howe's army would defeat the Americans at the Battle of Brandywine. Washington was able to get his army safely away however, and they would eventually end up spending that winter at Valley Forge. The British would move on and march unopposed into Philadelphia on September 26. 

Although Weedon's Foray was not completely unknown, its significance was underplayed until recent research by local 18th Century researcher Walt Chiquoine and Spring Grove owner David Deputy gave it its full due. I know that David spent several years working to make this marker a reality, and I'm happy for him and for our local history that he finally succeeded. Below is the text of the marker:

“On September 8, 1777, General George Washington and his Continentals were pursuing British forces headed north along Limestone Road to seize Philadelphia following the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge. General George Weedon advanced his Continental brigade to a hillside east of Mill Creek at what is now known as Spring Grove. British forces advanced to the hillside west of Mill Creek where a skirmish broke out and gunfire was exchanged. The foray aided General Washington in making strategical adjustments that enabled his forces to reach Chadds Ford in time to create defensive positions in preparation for the Battle of Brandywine on September 11.”