 Unbeknownst to the Americans, General Charles Cornwallis led a sizable British force out of the city on a foraging expedition early that morning.Cornwallis was also apparently unaware of the Continental Army movement, and had planned to forage in the area just south of Matson's Ford.Employing a local resident named John Roberts (who despite protestations that he acted under duress, was convicted and hanged in 1778 for assisting Cornwallis) as a guide, Cornwallis crossed the Schuylkill at Middle Ferry, drawing a round of musket fire from the American picket there before it withdrew.