Cooch's Bridge is a historic district located at
Old Baltimore Pike
Old Baltimore Pike is a road in the U.S. state of Delaware. The road, known as New Castle County Road 26, runs from Maryland Route 281 (MD 281) at the Maryland state line south of Newark, Delaware and continues east to Christi ...
,
Newark,
Delaware, and is the site of the 1777 Battle of Cooch's Bridge. While there are several modern bridges near the site of the battle, the original bridge was in poor shape in 1777, and did not survive the
American Revolution.
Battle of Cooch's Bridge
Fought on September 3, 1777, the Battle of Cooch's Bridge has two principal distinctions. It was the only battle of the
American Revolutionary War fought on Delaware soil, and marked the first time that the
Stars and Stripes was flown in battle.
The battle was fought between British and
Hessian
A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse.
Hessian may also refer to:
Named from the toponym
*Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire
**Hessian (boot), a style of boot
**Hessian f ...
troops under Generals
Cornwallis,
Howe, and
Knyphausen and the Colonial troops under
General Washington.
The engagement began August 30, about two miles (3 km) south of the bridge. The Americans harried the lead forces of the
British Army using guerrilla techniques learned from the
Native Americans. However, the roughly 700 Colonials were greatly outmanned and outgunned, and were driven back by the advancing British.
By September 3, the Colonials had dropped back to Cooch's Bridge. A handpicked regiment of 100 marksmen under General William Maxwell laid an ambush in the surrounding cover. Over the ensuing battle, several British and
Hessian
A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse.
Hessian may also refer to:
Named from the toponym
*Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire
**Hessian (boot), a style of boot
**Hessian f ...
charges were repelled, but the Americans soon depleted their ammunition and called a retreat.
The property was taken by the British and several buildings were burned. General Cornwallis used the Cooch house as his headquarters for the next week as the British regrouped. American casualties numbered around 30.
Shortly after General Howe moved his troops out. On September 11 he defeated the Colonials in the
Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the Ame ...
and subsequently captured the Colonial capital of
Philadelphia.
Signage
There are two sets of monuments/signs:
* in the Pencader Heritage Museum parking lot:
* across the railroad tracks on Dayett Mills Road, just south of the Old Baltimore Pike:
See also
*
*
References
External links
*http://www.classbrain.com/artmonument/publish/coochs_bridge_battlefield_history.shtml
*https://web.archive.org/web/20050907131301/http://www.revolutionaryday.com/usroute202/coochs/default.htm
{{National Register of Historic Places in Delaware
Buildings and structures in Newark, Delaware
Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware
Bridges in New Castle County, Delaware
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware
National Register of Historic Places in New Castle County, Delaware