1Designating May 1, 2014, as "The Battle of the Crooked Billet
2Day" in Pennsylvania.

3WHEREAS, During the American War for Independence at the time
4of the Valley Forge encampment in 1777 and 1778, President
5Thomas Wharton of the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council
6commissioned Brigadier General John Lacey, the youngest general
7in American history and a native of Bucks County, to lead the
8Pennsylvania Militia in patrolling the countryside outside
9Philadelphia; and

10WHEREAS, General George Washington, commander in chief of the
11Continental Army, charged General John Lacey with the mission to
12keep the local inhabitants from selling supplies to the British
13Army, which occupied Philadelphia, and to reroute those supplies
14to the Continental Army at Valley Forge; and

15WHEREAS, Due to the success of the Pennsylvania Militia, the

1British Army developed a plan to annihilate the Pennsylvania
2Militia by ambush; and

3WHEREAS, The British Army also planned to capture General
4John Lacey; and

5WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Militia was comprised of
6approximately 300 men from Bucks County and historic Cumberland
7County as well as from other places throughout this
8Commonwealth; and

9WHEREAS, The British Army attacked the Pennsylvania Militia
10with a force of approximately 850 men in the early morning of
11May 1, 1778, in the present-day Borough of Hatboro, Montgomery
12County, and the present-day Township of Warminster, Bucks
13County; and

14WHEREAS, The Queen's Rangers attempted to push the
15Pennsylvania Militia south toward the point of ambush along
16present-day Horsham Road; and

17WHEREAS, General John Lacey was not fooled by the trap and
18led the Pennsylvania Militia north, fighting its way through a
19blockade held by British Dragoons, escaping deeper into Bucks
20County; and

21WHEREAS, The British committed war atrocities on the wounded
22by throwing them into burning piles of buckwheat straw and
23stabbing, with their bayonets and cutlasses, militiamen who were
24surrendering and wounded; and

25WHEREAS, Twenty-six Pennsylvania Militiamen were killed in
26action that day; and

27WHEREAS, Fifty-eight Pennsylvania Militiamen were captured;
28and

29WHEREAS, General John Lacey's heroic leadership and quick
30thinking on that fateful day prevented further casualties,

1saving the lives of hundreds of Pennsylvania Militiamen; and

2WHEREAS, General John Lacey, 48 hours after the battle,
3continued with his orders of keeping supplies from occupied
4Philadelphia and redirecting supplies to Valley Forge; and

5WHEREAS, General John Lacey continued to serve the people of
6Pennsylvania when, in November of 1778, he was elected to the
7Pennsylvania General Assembly and, in November 1779, he was
8elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council; and

9WHEREAS, It is fitting to honor the men of the Pennsylvania
10Militia under the command and leadership of Brigadier General
11John Lacey for their heroism and, especially for those men who
12paid the ultimate sacrifice on May 1, 1778, to recognize the
13competent and heroic leadership of Brigadier General John Lacey
14in preserving the militia from annihilation and leading it to
15safety, and to remember the militia's sacred participation in
16the fight and struggle for freedom in the early years of the
17young republic that would become the United States of America;
18therefore be it

19RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate May 1,
202014, as "The Battle of the Crooked Billet Day" in Pennsylvania.