Brandywine Creek (Christina River) in the context of "Pennsylvania Scenic Rivers"

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⭐ Core Definition: Brandywine Creek (Christina River)

Brandywine Creek (also called the Brandywine River) is a tributary of the Christina River in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware in the United States. The Lower Brandywine (the main stem) is 20.4 miles (32.8 km) long and is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River with several tributary streams. The East Branch and West Branch of the creek originate within 2 miles (3 km) of each other on the slopes of Welsh Mountain in Honey Brook Township, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of their confluence.

The mouth of the creek on the Christina River in present-day Wilmington, Delaware, is the site of the New Sweden colony, where colonists first landed on March 29, 1638. The Battle of Brandywine was fought around the creek near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1777, during the American Revolution. Water-powered gristmills in Brandywine Village, near the creek mouth, and the nearby DuPont gunpowder mill were important in developing American industry before the introduction of steam power.

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Brandywine Creek (Christina River) in the context of Philadelphia campaign

The Philadelphia campaign (1777–1778) was a British military campaign during the American Revolutionary War designed to gain control of Philadelphia, the Revolutionary-era capital where the Second Continental Congress convened, formed the Continental Army, and appointed George Washington as its commander in 1775, and later authored and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence the following year, on July 4, 1776, which formalized and escalated the war.

In the Philadelphia campaign, British General William Howe failed to draw the Continental Army under George Washington into a battle in North Jersey. Howe then embarked his army on transports, and landed them at the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay, where they began advancing north toward Philadelphia. Washington prepared defenses against Howe's movements at Brandywine Creek, but was flanked and beaten back in the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777. After further skirmishes and maneuvers, Howe entered and occupied Philadelphia. Washington then unsuccessfully attacked one of Howe's garrisons at Germantown prior to retreating to Valley Forge for the winter, where he and 12,000 faced the harshest winter of the war, including insufficient food and clothing.

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Brandywine Creek (Christina River) in the context of Mill pond

A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill.

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Brandywine Creek (Christina River) in the context of Christina River

The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) long, in northern Delaware. It also flows through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near its mouth, the river flows past downtown Wilmington, Delaware, forming the city's harbor for traffic on the Delaware River. The Port of Wilmington, opened in 1923 at the river's mouth, handles international cargo and trade.

The river rises in southeastern Pennsylvania in Franklin Township in southern Chester County, and initially flows southeastwardly, passing through the northeastern extremity of Maryland in northeastern Cecil County, into New Castle County in Delaware, where it flows through western and southern areas of the city of Newark and then turns northeastwardly, passing the town of Newport and approaching Wilmington from the southwest. It receives White Clay Creek from the west near Newport, and Brandywine Creek in Wilmington, approximately 2 miles (3 km) upstream of its mouth.

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Brandywine Creek (Christina River) in the context of Fort Christina

Fort Christina, also called Fort Altena, was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony. Built in 1638 and named after Christina, Queen of Sweden, it was located approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) east of the present-day downtown Wilmington, Delaware, at the confluence of the Brandywine River and the Christina River, approximately 2 mi (3 km) upstream from the mouth of the Christina on the Delaware River.

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