On the night of Sept. 21, 1777, a column of British troops launched a surprise attack on American troops encamped in a field near modern day Malvern, Pennsylvania. In the ensuing struggle, American Brigadier General Anthony Wayne's force suffered heavy casualties and was forced to flee. One of the British participants in the action, Lieutenant Richard St. George Mansergh St. George of the 52nd Regiment, commissioned this painting by Italian artist Xavier della Gatta in 1782 to commemorate the action. In 1817, local residents erected a stone obelisk to mark the location of a mass grave of American soldiers, one of the earliest public monuments commemorating the American Revolution.