This first full-length treatment of the Revolutionary War battle of Paoli recounts the British surprise attack on a Continental Army division near Philadelphia in September 1777. A crushing defeat for the Americans, the battle became known as the "Paoli Massacre". Philadelphia fell to the British a week later.

Reconstructs the battle from the maneuvering that preceded it to the bloody aftermath

Explains how this relatively small clash affected the larger Philadelphia Campaign and shaped American strategy for the rest of the war