Gideon Gilpin House

The Marquis de Lafayette, a young French volunteer, saw his first military action in America at Brandywine with Washington. On the eve of the battle he was quartered in the house of Gideon Gilpin, a Quaker farmer. After the battle Gilpin's property was plundered by foraging soldiers. The claim for losses filed by Gilpin provides insight into the appearance of this prosperous farm in September 1777. Included among his losses were:

Portrait Gallery (Second Bank)

The Marquis de Lafayette
by Charles Willson Peale, after life portrait

• 10 milch cows
• 1 yoke of oxen
• 48 sheep
• 28 swine
• 12 tons of hay
• 230 bushels of wheat
• 50 pounds of bacon
• 1 history book
• 1 gun

Today, the house appears much as it was in 1777 when the famous French patriot was quartered here.