On 3 September 1777, approximately 800 Americans forming Brigadier General William Maxwell’s “Special Corps” engaged several thousand Hessian and Anspach jägers and British light infantry near Cooch’s Bridge. Maxwell’s newly formed corps included Continentals from New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, along with volunteers from neighboring Pennsylvania and militia from New Castle County; the men were supposed to be marksmen, and many carried rifles. For one week, under General George Washington’s orders to “provide every possibly annoyance,” Maxwell’s corps had harassed and scouted the Crown Forces army. Commanded by General Sir William Howe, the 17,000-man Crown Forces army had landed at the Head of Elk in late August to advance on Philadelphia. As the advance guard moved along the Glasgow-to-Newark road about 9 o’clock in the morning, it entered a well-prepared ambush, and elements of Maxwell’s corps opened fire from concealed positions along the road. Maxwell’s orders were to engage the enemy, force deployment, fall back to another defensive position, and delay the enemy again. After the initial surprise, the rifle-armed jägers rallied and overran the first American position in hand-to-hand fighting, but a second American line stalled the Crown Forces advance. Howe then reinforced the jägers with two British light infantry battalions and ordered them to outflank the American position. The movement to the right reached a swampy area, today’s Sunset Lake, and effectively removed one light infantry battalion from the action, while the drive to the left toward Iron Hill more successfully outflanked the Americans and forced them to withdraw. Maxwell’s troops eventually had to cross Christina Creek at Cooch’s Bridge when Crown Forces artillery came into play and Howe ordered a charge. Outnumbered, outgunned, disorganized, and low on ammunition, the Americans withdrew toward Christiana, ending the battle. Casualties on both sides ranged from 30 to 40 dead and wounded, and British pioneers buried at least 24 Americans on the field in unmarked graves. American officers engaged included John Marshall, later Chief Justice of the United States, Thomas Duff of Newport, Delaware, Alexander Martin, later Governor of North Carolina, and Francis Gurney, founder of Dickinson College. After the battle, the Crown Forces occupied the area from Rittenhouse Park and Iron Hill to Aikens’ Tavern in Glasgow, General Cornwallis established his headquarters at the Cooch House, and the army encamped there for five days before marching north through Newark on 8 September. The two armies met again on 11 September 1777 at the Battle of Brandywine. The local grist mills of Thomas Cooch and Andrew Fisher supplied flour to the Crown’s troops, and the Cooch mill was destroyed when the Crown Forces departed. Sometimes known to American participants as the Battle of Iron Hill, this fight was the opening engagement in the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777.