6th Pennsylvania Regiment The 6th Pennsylvania Regiment , first known as the 5th Pennsylvania Battalion , was a unit of the United States of America ( U . S . ) Army , raised December 9 , 1775 at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania for service with the Continental Army . The regiment would see action during the New York Campaign , Battle of Brandywine , Battle of Germantown , Battle of Monmouth , and Green Spring . The regiment was disbanded on January 1 , 1783 . Establishment . The regiment was authorized in December 1775 as the 5th Pennsylvania Battalion . The regiment participated in the unsuccessful defense of New York City and was captured in part at Fort Washington on November 16 , 1776 along with its commander , Colonel Robert Magaw . On January 1 , 1777 , the survivors of the 5th Battalion , along with exchanged prisoners and new recruits , were reorganized into the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment . Most of the regiment ' s men were recruited from Berks and Chester counties , although many came from Philadelphia and as far away as Northumberland County . During 1777 , the regiment participated in the Philadelphia Campaign and fought at the Battles of Brandywine ( September 11 ) and Germantown ( October 4 ) . At Brandywine , the women of the 6th Pennsylvania were cited for their bravery under fire while bringing water to the men . The regiment spent the winter of 1777 - 78 at Valley Forge and took part in the Battle of Monmouth ( June 28 ) the following summer . In 1779 , the light infantry company of the 6th Pennsylvania was part of the Corps of Light Infantry commanded by " Mad " Anthony Wayne that stormed the British fortifications at Stony Point , NY ( July 16 ) . The regiment spent the rest of the year in garrison at West Point and probably wintered at Morristown . The next year , the regiment took part in a number of small engagements in New Jersey and again wintered at Morristown . On New Year ' s Day , 1781 , members of the 6th Pennsylvania joined the mutiny of the Pennsylvania regiments then quartered at Morristown . After a settlement was reached , the regiment was furloughed at Trenton on January 17 . Soldiers remaining in the regiment were reassigned to other units and eventually sent south to take part in the Yorktown Campaign . The regiment was officially disbanded in January , 1783 , although in reality , no regiment had existed since 1781 . However , historian Mark Boatner asserts that on 26 May 1781 Wayne went south with 1 , 000 men and six guns of the 2nd , 5th , and 6th Pennsylvania and the 4th Continental Artillery Regiment . They joined Gilbert Motier , marquis de La Fayette in Virginia on 10 June . Colonel Richard Humpton led his troops at the Battle of Green Spring on 6 July , though on this occasion , Boatner refers to the unit as a battalion . Brief history of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment of 1777 . November 16 , 1776 - Formerly known as the 5th Pennsylvania Battalion the entire unit was captured at Fort Washington , New York . The enlisted men were held by the British until December 26 , 1776 when they were set free on parole . January to June 1777 - During this period the unit was reorganized as the 6th Regiment with Colonel Henry Bicker as its commander . Many of the men who served in 1776 reenlisted and to these were added new recruits to fill out the regiment . In June the men refused to report at camp for duty as they thought they were still on parole and had not been properly exchanged . These concerns were overcome and the regiment joined the army later in the month . June 26 , 1777 - As part of Lord Stirling ' s Division the regiment probably joined the army in time to participate in the battle of Short Hills . July to August 1777 - With the rest of Washington ' s army the 6th Regiment marched back and forth across New Jersey and into New York and Pennsylvania while trying to ascertain the destination of General Howe ' s army , which had embarked on the British fleet . During this time the brigade under General Thomas Conway , to which the 6th Regiment belonged , was reputed to be " the best instructed and disciplined " in the army . This was in spite of the fact that he " is detested by the officers of his brigade . . . because he makes his brigade work and personally drills and instructs it , instead of leaving it idle in camp . September 11 , 1777 - Stirling ' s Division takes part in the action on the right of Washington ' s army during the Battle of Brandywine . During the afternoon the forces under General John Sullivan fought with the enemy for almost two hours near Birmingham Meeting House . In this contest " Lord Sterling ' s Division & particularly Conway ' s Brigade " were seen to have " remarkably distinguished themselves . " It was during this action that the " wives of several of the soldiers belonging to the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment . . took the empty canteens of their husbands and friends and returned them filled with water . . . during the hottest part of the engagement , although frequently cautioned as to the danger of coming into the line of fire . " October 4 , 1777 - Brigadier General Thomas Conway ' s 3rd Pennsylvania Brigade , consisting of the 3rd , 6th , 9th , and 12th Pennsylvania Regiment s , was chosen to lead the main column of Washington ' s army in the attack on the British at the Battle of Germantown . Leading the assault column , Captain Jacob Bower ' s company of the 6th Pennsylvania attacked the British pickets at Mount Airy . Conway ' s Brigade continued to attack and eventually drove " the enemy a mile and a half below Chew ' s house " before being forced to retire . At least one company of the regiment joined in the assaults on the Chew House and lost a number of men . December 19 , 1777 - After an encampment of almost six weeks at Whitemarsh , Pennsylvania the army moved into its winter quarters at Valley Forge where they would remain for the next six months . It was here that they received a new commander , Lieutenant Colonel Josiah Harmar , on January 1 , 1778 . Harmar would remain in this position until 1780 . After the war he became the Commander of the First American Regiment , for a time they only infantry unit in the fledgling army of the independent United States .