On September 11, 1777, during the Battle of Brandywine, British commander in chief Sir William Howe ordered Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis to cross Brandywine Creek out of sight of the Continental Army's right flank. Cornwallis crossed at Jefferis Ford and moved southeast until Continental scouts spotted his 8,400 troops on Osborne Hill at 2:00 P.M. General George Washington responded by dispatching 4,300 Continental soldiers in three divisions under Major Generals William Alexander, known as Lord Stirling, Adam Stephen, and John Sullivan to guard the American right. Stirling and Stephen reached Birmingham Hill and formed a strong battle line beside a meetinghouse and cemetery, while Sullivan arrived out of position. When the British columns appeared at 4:00 P.M., Cornwallis attacked before Sullivan's men could link up with the other American divisions. On Birmingham Hill, the Americans endured repeated musketry, cannon fire, and bayonet assaults from 7,000 British soldiers, and five times they were driven back only to retake the ground. Sullivan's force on the southwest part of the hill broke first. The Marquis de Lafayette then entered the fight, dismounted, and tried to keep the remaining troops from collapsing, but he was soon struck in the leg by a musket ball.