During Howe's Philadelphia Campaign in the autumn of 1777, the 40th Foot fought at Brandywine and Paoli, but the regiment played a decisive role at the Battle of Germantown. When Washington's main Continental army surprised British outposts north of the village at dawn on October 3, 1777, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Musgrave barricaded himself and 120 men from the 40th in Cliveden, a large stone mansion. The Redcoats held their improvised fortress for two hours against overwhelming odds, withstanding artillery salvos and repeated infantry assaults. Musgrave's stand bought Howe the time necessary to rally the 7,000 British and Hessian troops encamped around Germantown, summon reinforcements from Philadelphia, and drive Washington from the field.

Like other British infantry regiments in the American Revolution, the 40th Foot consisted of ten companies. Ordinary soldiers belonged to the eight battalion companies, while chosen men went into the two flank companies - the grenadiers and light infantry. Throughout the war, the British high command detached grenadier and light infantry companies from their parent regiments for service in separate battalions.

For Howe's operations around Philadelphia, the 40th Foot's light infantry company served in the 2nd Battalion of Light Infantry, along with the light companies from the 37th, 43rd, 45th, 46th, 49th, 52nd, 54th, 55th, 57th, 63rd, 64th, and 71st Regiments. Captain William Wolfe started the campaign commanding the 40th's light company. He was the only British officer killed when the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion delivered a terrifying bayonet attack against Brigadier General Anthony Wayne's Pennsylvania division at Paoli on the night of September 20-21, 1777. Captain William Montgomery transferred from one of the 40th's battalion companies to replace Wolfe. Montgomery and the 40th's "Light Bobs" also saw plenty of action at Germantown, as the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion became the first British formation to engage Washington's troops.

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