At 10 am, George Washington prepared to defend the east side of Brandywine Creek against the entire British Army by concentrating his army around Chads' Ford, the largest crossing point on the river, and deploying men to six smaller fords along the creek. He had difficulty gathering reliable intelligence, remained unaware of Trimble's Ford and Jefferis' Ford six miles north of Chads' Ford, and received conflicting reports about the British position throughout the afternoon. At 12 noon, after Squire Cheyney reported seeing British troops heading toward Jefferis' Ford and Colonel Ross confirmed it, Washington saw a brief chance to strike while only part of Howe's army was across the creek and sent Maxwell's division over Chads' Ford to attack Knyphausen's troops. At 1:15 pm, Major Joseph Spear reported no British troops farther north, and Washington again believed he faced the full British army at Chads' Ford, so Maxwell's division was withdrawn. At 2 pm, Colonel Bland confirmed that Howe had split his army. A lull caused by Cornwallis instructing his troops to break for tea allowed the divisions of Stephen, Stirling, and Sullivan to try to get into position to protect Birmingham Hill. At about 5 pm, the sound of cannon from the north, together with Knyphausen's relative inactivity on the west side of Brandywine Creek, finally convinced Washington that the main British force was at Birmingham. Accompanied by Timothy Pickering, Henry Knox, Alexander Hamilton, Casimir Pulaski, and others, he galloped toward the fighting around Dilworthtown, followed by two reserve divisions under Nathanael Greene, whose column covered four miles in 45 minutes. Around 5:45 pm, Washington arrived to find the Americans in retreat, and Knox placed his two artillery pieces on a knoll overlooking Wilmington Pike and opened fire on the advancing British.
