History & local legend
The Paoli Battlefield in Chester County is associated with a headless rider whose story begins during the September 1777 campaign. Historian Rob Goshorn included the tale in a 1979 collection for the Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society.
In the legend, a Continental soldier is home on leave when he twice dreams that British troops are attacking his comrades. He returns to camp and discovers the slaughter he feared. Before he can escape, a British soldier kills him with a saber.
Each year, at midnight on the battle's anniversary, he is said to ride silently through Paoli on a white horse, wearing Continental blue. The tale adds that he may offer his severed head to someone who comes too close. Goshorn also recounts the claim that local railroad surgeon Dr. Anthony Wayne Baugh went out to look for the rider and saw him more than once.
