Quite a few of the meeting houses were used, but not necessarily with the okay of the meeting......when asked, and refused permission, the various troops used them anyway. When a congregation is pacifistic there is, literally nothing they could do to prevent it. Some meetings were more strict than others, but I remember reading of a farmer who came into town and casually mentioned some troop movements, and was censured by his meeting.....with the belief that this information could be passed along and used by one side or another. The German Reformed Church in East Vincent and the Zion Lutheran church on Schuylkill road were both used as hospitals after Brandywine, plus private homes, too. Both these churches continued to provide aid to the American troops. Gen. Lafayette was cared for by the Moravians at Bethlehem. and the German 7th day Baptists opened their whole establishment at Ephrata, as a hospital. Birmingham and Tredyffrin twps had the greatest amount of property taken and destroyed, of all the townships. The Quakers, who lived in a portion of the route traveled by the British army, sustained a considerable portion of these community damages. However, it's interesting to note that, in generally, they didn't report their losses to the public authorities, as did the non-Quakers. "The Friends, as a body maintained a position of passive neutrality during the 7 years of war. It was one of the cardinal doctrines of the society to maintain a 'testimony" against all wars, whether called offensive or defensive, and they could not, consistently with these principles. advocate or engage in it or take part in the conduct of governmental affairs where it would be necessary to provide any means to carry it on." This meant refusing to pay taxes, as they would go toward the war effort......this was the same thing that brought them to PA originally...the inability to pay taxes to any government who had a standing army. These were hard times for the Friends, and even George Washington misunderstood the Quaker tenants ,.... when in an area where many Quakers lived, said he was in "enemy territory". I'm sure it took many, many years for the scars to heal between those who remained passive and those who took an active part in the war. It was impossible for many to understand that even though the Quakers weren't "for us', it didn't mean that they were 'against us'. Sandra "Birmingham Meeting House now bears a historical marker mentioning its role as a hospital during the Battle of the Brandywine. "