September 20, 1777 — The Paoli Massacre

Night fighting is the devil’s work. At Paoli, the British made sure of it.

General Anthony Wayne had his Pennsylvania men camped near Paoli Tavern. Tarleton’s dragoons and greycoats came at them in the dark, bayonets fixed, muskets silent. Surprise. Steel. Screams in the night.

Over 200 patriots were cut down—stabbed, slashed, burned alive in tents. Survivors called it butchery. The British called it discipline.

Me? I call it terror made tactic. And once you cross that line, there’s no going back. From then on, “Remember Paoli” was the cry. Mercy was in short supply.

— Captain Samuel Mason, Washington County Militia

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