11th Pennsylvania Regiment The 11th Pennsylvania Regiment or Old Eleventh was authorized on 16 September 1776 for service with the Continental Army . On 25 October , Richard Humpton was named colonel . In December 1776 , the regiment was assigned to George Washington ' s main army and was present at Assunpink Creek and fought at Princeton in January 1777 . During the spring the unit assembled at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in a strength of eight companies . The soldiers were recruited from Philadelphia and four nearby counties . On 22 May 1777 the regiment became part of the 2nd Pennsylvania Brigade . The 11th was in the thick of the action at Brandywine , Paoli , and Germantown in 1777 . It was present at White Marsh and Monmouth . On 1 July 1778 , the unit was consolidated with the 10th Pennsylvania Regiment and the 11th Regiment ceased to exist . Humpton took command of the reorganized unit . A new 11th Pennsylvania Regiment was formed in January 1779 by consolidating two " additional " regiments and elements of a third . The New Eleventh served in the Sullivan Expedition in the summer of 1779 . The unit existed until January 1781 when it merged with the 3rd Pennsylvania Regiment . The " New Eleventh " is also known as Hartley ' s Additional Continental Regiment . History . Princeton . The 11th Pennsylvania Regiment came into existence on 16 September 1776 . Richard Humpton , a former captain in the British Army and Seven Years ' War veteran , was appointed colonel on 25 October . The soldiers hailed from Philadelphia City , Berks , Chester , Philadelphia ( now Montgomery ) , and Northumberland Counties . In the 1776 establishment of a Continental Army infantry regiment , there were three field officers , one colonel , one lieutenant colonel , and one major . The staff included one each of the following : surgeon , surgeon ' s mate , adjutant , quartermaster , paymaster , sergeant major , quartermaster sergeant , drum major , fife major , and chaplain . Each of the eight line companies included one captain , one first lieutenant , one second lieutenant , one ensign , four sergeant s , four corporal s , one drummer , one fifer , and 76 privates . The Continental regiment was formidable on paper but typically operated far below its nominal strength . The Pennsylvania infantry company organization of October 1775 was weaker than the Continental standard by one lieutenant , the two musicians , and eight privates . The American infantry regiment was designed to fight in two ranks from its inception . The 11th Pennsylvania Regiment was assigned to the main army on 27 December 1776 . Together with the 2nd , 4th , 10th , and 12th Pennsylvania Regiment s , the 11th was assigned to Thomas Mifflin ' s brigade . Since the brigade fielded 1 , 500 troops , the five regiments averaged around 300 men each . Mifflin ' s brigade crossed the Delaware River to Burlington , New Jersey on 28 December . By 1 January 1777 , Mifflin moved his troops to Bordentown , New Jersey . He joined the main army the next day in time to be present at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek . Mifflin was at George Washington ' s council of war that evening . Before the Battle of Princeton on 3 January 1777 , the Pennsylvanians made the second night march in a row with very little sleep and the soldiers were exhausted . The order of march for John Sullivan ' s division was a vanguard under Isaac Sherman followed by the brigades of Arthur St . Clair and Mifflin . While Sullivan ' s column swung to the right , the troops under Nathanael Greene turned to the left , led by 350 men under Hugh Mercer . Charles Mawhood ' s British 17th Foot and 55th Foot immediately confronted Greene ' s column . After a firefight , the British charged and routed the American vanguard , mortally wounding Mercer . Mawhood ' s soldiers advanced toward the Thomas Clark House and hill but were halted by cannon fire from Joseph Moulder ' s artillery company . As the British attack stalled , Washington patched together a line from the brigades of John Cadwalader , Daniel Hitchcock , Edward Hand , and Mifflin . After exchanging volleys with the British , the Americans finally advanced . Mawhood ' s outnumbered force put up a spirited resistance but his soldiers finally broke ranks and fled . Philadelphia campaign . On 22 May 1777 , Washington placed the 11th Regiment in the 2nd Pennsylvania Brigade . The other units in the 2nd Brigade were 4th , 5th , and 8th Pennsylvania Regiment s . Major General Benjamin Lincoln led the Pennsylvania division , but he was later sent on detached duty and the 1st Pennsylvania Brigade ' s commander Brigadier General Anthony Wayne led the division in his absence . Brigadier General John Philip De Haas was named commander of the 2nd Pennsylvania Brigade , but he never joined his brigade for reasons that remain unclear to this day . In De Haas ' absence , Humpton led the brigade at the Battle of Brandywine on 11 September 1777 . Wayne ' s 2 , 000 - man division deployed in a single battleline east of Chadds Ford on Brandywine Creek . The 1st Brigade under temporary commander Thomas Hartley formed on the right while the 2nd Brigade held the left . The 5th Pennsylvania held the extreme left flank , while to its right , in order , were the 11th , 8th , and 4th Pennsylvania Regiments . Wilhelm von Knyphausen ' s British and Hessians advanced across the creek and captured Thomas Proctor ' s artillery redoubt . Wayne ' s troops held their ground at first , then retired in good order from one position to the next . As darkness fell Wayne withdrew his division to a hill farther east . Washington withdrew behind the Schuylkill River with his main army while leaving Wayne ' s division on the west bank to harry Sir William Howe ' s British army . During the day of 20 September , Wayne , Humpton , and Hartley scouted Howe ' s nearby camp . At the same time , Howe directed Charles Grey to conduct a silent night bayonet attack on Wayne ' s Pennsylvanians . Grey had 1 , 200 troops , including the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion , 42nd Foot , and 44th Foot . Just after midnight on the 21st , the Battle of Paoli began when an American dragoon alerted the camp and Wayne ordered his soldiers out of their shelters . A soldier of the 11th Pennsylvania recalled that the soldiers formed up in " less than five Minutes " . As the British attack overran the pickets , Wayne sent the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment to hold off the British and got his men in motion to the rear . The artillery pulled out first , then the 2nd and 1st Brigades followed in order . One of the guns broke down , blocking the road , and as the Pennsylvanians waited for the obstruction to be cleared , the British burst through the 1st Regiment and fell on the immobile column with bayonet and sword . Those Americans who survived the slaughter retreated or fled into the night . An approaching body of 2 , 100 Maryland militia under William Smallwood was also involved in the stampede and over 1 , 000 militiamen ran away and never returned . In the so - called " Paoli Massacre " the Americans admitted suffering 300 casualties , including 52 dead . British losses were only three dead and eight wounded . At the Battle of Germantown on 4 October 1777 , the 11th Regiment fought in John Sullivan ' s right column . The attack was led by Thomas Conway ' s 3rd Pennsylvania Brigade . In the foggy dawn , Conway ' s men engaged the British 2nd Light Infantry Battalion at Mount Airy . Sullivan fed in his own division of two Maryland brigades on the right flank while Wayne deployed his two brigades on the left of Germantown Road . As at Brandywine , Hartley ' s 1st Brigade formed on the right , next to the road , while Humpton ' s 2nd Brigade , including the 11th Regiment , deployed on the left . Faced with their tormentors of Paoli , Wayne ' s men attacked in a battle frenzy . Set upon by the Pennsylvanians and Marylanders , the 2nd Light Infantry were routed for the first time and suffered the loss of their camp . A little later , the 5th Foot and 55th Foot arrived at the front and the 2nd Light Infantry attempted to rally . Sullivan ' s column overpowered this position and pressed ahead . A British officer in command of a picket of the 46th Foot watched in amazement as the light infantry ran away . Then the 2nd Pennsylvania Brigade and part of Nathanael Greene ' s left column forced his men to flee also . As Sullivan ' s line passed the Benjamin Chew House , 120 men of the 40th Foot took refuge in the building , but the Americans ignored them and pressed onward into the fog . Sullivan shifted Conway ' s brigade to the right of his Marylanders and all contact between his troops and Wayne ' s was lost . Presently , the American reserve arrived before the Chew House . Persuaded by Henry Knox , Washington decided to attack the structure . Accordingly , two cannons of Proctor ' s 4th Continental Artillery Regiment and two captured British 6 - pound guns began firing at the Chew House . Two New Jersey regiments tried to storm the house to no avail , suffering heavy losses . Completely isolated to the east of Germantown Road and several hundred yards south , Wayne heard the racket , about - faced his division , and started back in the direction of the Chew House . As they moved back , Adam Stephen ' s Virginia division spotted them in the fog and opened fire . The friendly fire volley ripped into the 2nd Pennsylvania Brigade , whose men returned fire . In the growing confusion , Wayne ' s men panicked and did not rally until they were from the battlefield . The regiment was present at the Battle of White Marsh from 5 to 8 December 1777 , though only light infantry and militia were engaged . At the time the regiment went into winter quarters at Valley Forge , Humpton ' s field officers were Lieutenant Colonel Caleb North and Major Francis Mentges . Monmouth . The 11th Regiment ' s last action was the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778 . On 22 June , Washington ordered each brigade in the army to detach one officer and 25 sharpshooters to join a corps led by Daniel Morgan . On 24 June , Morgan was directed to annoy the right flank and rear of Sir Henry Clinton ' s retreating British army . Washington also sent a 1 , 500 detachment of picked men from the entire army under Charles Scott to harass the British left flank . Another 1 , 000 picked men led by Wayne were sent out on 25 June . The various detachments plus more units were placed under the command of Charles Lee . The 2nd Pennsylvania Brigade under the acting command of Francis Johnston had 53 officers , 13 staff , 115 non - commissioned officers , and 647 privates , or a total strength of 828 men . However , the detachments to Lee ' s advance guard reduced the brigade ' s numbers to 35 officers , 51 sergeants , and 401 rank and file , or 487 men . The rump of the 11th Pennsylvania was led by Humpton . Of the four 360 - man detachments under Scott , one was under the leadership of a Pennsylvanian , that of Richard Butler . Of the three 350 - man detachments under Wayne , one was under Pennsylvanian Walter Stewart . At the beginning of the action , Lee ' s vanguard sparred with the British rear guard , but quickly retreated when Clinton advanced at the head of 6 , 000 men . Units fell back without orders and Lee was compelled to order a retreat . While elements of Lee ' s advance guard put in some stiff fighting at a hedgerow around noon , Washington and Lord Stirling deployed the 2nd and 3rd Pennsylvania Brigades , and the brigades of Jedediah Huntington , John Glover , and Ebenezer Learned in line on Perrine Ridge . Knox positioned about 12 cannon to brace this position . Both armies then endured a cannonade for two hours . At 2 : 00 PM Clinton tried to turn Lord Stirling ' s left flank with Grey ' s brigade but the attempt failed . When an American battery on Comb ' s Hill began to enfilade his lines from the left Clinton began a deliberate withdrawal . After a series of clashes , the British successfully broke contact and continued their retreat . Almost immediately after the battle , on 1 July , the " Old Eleventh " was merged into the 10th Pennsylvania Regiment . As the senior colonel , Humpton took command of the consolidated regiment . New Eleventh . On 13 January 1779 a new 11th Pennsylvania Regiment was formed by consolidating a number of existing units . The bulk of the troops came from Hartley ' s Additional Continental Regiment and Patton ' s Additional Continental Regiment . Also , the companies of Captains John Doyle , John Steele , and James Calderwood were transferred from Malcolm ' s Additional Continental Regiment . The new regiment was organized with nine companies . It was first assigned to the Middle Department . On 9 April 1779 the " New Eleventh " transferred to Edward Hand ' s Brigade in the main army . The regiment went on the Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois in the summer of 1779 . On 1 August 1780 , the unit became part of the 2nd Pennsylvania Brigade , still in the main army . The new 11th was absorbed by the 3rd Pennsylvania Regiment on 17 January 1781 .