Battle of Cooch's Bridge

Battle of Cooch's Bridge
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Detail of a 1777 military map. Cooch's Bridge is just to the right of Iron Hill; Philadelphia is off to the northeast.
Date September 3, 1777 Location Newark, Delaware 39°38′23″N 75°43′36″W / 39.63972°N 75.72667°W / 39.63972; -75.72667 Result British victory
Belligerents
United States	Great Britain Hesse Ansbach
Commanders and leaders
William Maxwell	Sir William Howe Ludwig Wurmb
Strength
1,000[1]	450 jägers 1,300 British light infantry[1]
Casualties and losses
20 killed 20 wounded[2]	23[3] to 30[4] killed or wounded

The Battle of Cooch's Bridge, also known as the Battle of Iron Hill,^[5] was fought on September 3, 1777, between the Continental Army and American militia and primarily German soldiers serving alongside the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. It was the only significant military action during the war on the soil of Delaware (though there were also naval engagements off the state's coast), and it took place about a week before the major Battle of Brandywine. Some traditions claim this as the first battle which saw the U.S. flag.^[6][7]

After landing in Maryland on August 25 as part of a campaign to capture Philadelphia, the seat of the Continental Congress, British and German forces under the overall command of General William Howe began to move north. Their advance was monitored by a light infantry corps of Continental Army and militia forces that had based itself at Cooch's Bridge, near Newark, Delaware. On September 3, German troops leading the British advance were met by musket fire from the U.S. light infantry in the woods on either side of the road leading toward Cooch's Bridge. Calling up reinforcements, they flushed the Americans out and drove them across the bridge.