During the Battle of Brandywine, Major General John Sullivan sent George Washington a message that reports of a British attempt to cross the Brandywine north of the Continental Army were false after Sullivan met Major Joseph Spear of the militia, who had come from Martin’s Tavern on the forks of the Brandywine. Spear rode from Martin’s Tavern to what is today Longwood Gardens without seeing the roughly 9,000 British who would soon pass south of Marshallton, and this mistaken report led Washington to recall orders that may have changed the course of the battle. British General Sir William Howe also benefited from Joseph Galloway’s spy map and presence at the battle; Galloway, a former speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly and leader of Pennsylvania’s Loyalists, knew the region around Martin’s Tavern and especially the key fords crossing each branch of the Brandywine, giving Howe the opportunity to nearly surround the Continental Army. Washington also had local intelligence available in militia commander John Hannum and was eventually warned of Howe’s plan by Squire Thomas Cheyney, both of whom had spent the previous night at Martin’s Tavern. A British spy map by Joseph Galloway from 1777-78 is the first drawing to record the exact location of Martin’s Tavern along the Strasburg Road.
