[1] The unit's first commanding officer was patriot leader and pastor Peter Muhlenberg, who became a militia colonel in 1775 at the request of Washington.

[9] At the Battle of Brandywine on 11 September 1777, Scott's and William Woodford's Virginia brigades were part of Adam Stephen's division.

[10] That morning, Sir William Howe marched one wing of his army 17 miles (27 km) to reach a position in the rear of the American right flank.

George Washington immediately ordered the divisions of Stephen, John Sullivan, and Lord Stirling to block Howe.

[11] Stephen's 1,500 troops held the right, Stirling's 1,500 men defended the center, and Sullivan's soldiers began forming on the left of the position.

Washington planned for this body of troops to assault the British right flank while Sullivan and Stirling attacked the enemy left.

The divisions of Greene and Stephen advanced so quickly that Alexander McDougall's Connecticut Brigade lost sight of them.

Part of Woodford's brigade and its supporting artillery stopped to fire on 100 British troops at the Chew House.

However, Lee placed Wayne in command of Grayson, two detachments under Richard Butler and Henry Jackson, and Eleazer Oswald's four cannons and sent the troops forward about 9:00 AM.

[21] As Washington rode forward, he was distressed to see Lee's division retreating, led by Grayson's and Patton's Additional Regiments.

[22] Farther on, Washington encountered Walter Stewart and Nathaniel Ramsey and asked them to hold off the British with their detachments.

They formed their men in a dense wood on the left while Jeremiah Olney and Henry Livingston Jr. deployed behind a hedgerow on the right, supported by Oswald's four guns.

A sharp action followed as the Americans in the trees ambushed the 1st Battalion of the Brigade of Guards as it attempted to move past.

Stung by the surprise fire which wounded their commander, the Guards stormed the woods at the cost of 40 casualties and drove the Americans into the open.

British grenadiers then overran the hedgerow after heavy fighting that claimed the life of Colonel Henry Monckton.

[1] Under the command of Woodford, about 750 Virginia Continentals arrived at Charleston, South Carolina on 6 April 1780 after a march of 500 miles (805 km) in four weeks.