What was Chadds Ford like?
Pre-Revolutionary War Chadds Ford was a small hamlet consisting of an inn or tavern, one or two mills, a forge, and several houses. Farms made up the surrounding countryside. This prosperous largely Quaker community of farmers, artisans, and craftsmen was little affected by British taxes.
During the Battle of Brandywine, the pacifist Quakers maintained their neutrality, hiding in their houses until the battle had passed.
The five-day British occupation and looting after the battle devastated the area.
Chadds Ford area field, ca. 1935. Anna Seal Schlosser Collection, 1991.501.sch.
Who Were the Quakers?
The pacifist Quakers believed that war was a sin against God. Most were sympathetic to the American cause, but did not approve of armed rebellion. They refused to take Britain’s Oath of Allegiance. They refused to pay military taxes and did not fight or furnish aid to either army. Quakers who did not follow these principles were "read out of meeting" (expelled).
Many British and the Americans considered the Quakers traitors. In Philadelphia many Quakers were arrested and removed to camps in Virginia for the duration of the war. Both armies seized Quaker homes and supplies.
After the war, Quakers did not file damage claims for items looted from their houses. To do so would have seemed as if they had profited from war.