Project sponsored by the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution
Recent posts: Finding the Maryland 400
What’s In a Name: Companies, Regiments, and Battalions
Revolutionary War military terminology can be pretty confusing. Starting today, we are publishing periodic posts to help explain what some of these words mean, moving towards a full glossary of eighteenth-century military terms.
Enlistment Bounties: Use and Abuse
When men enlisted to fight in the Revolutionary War, they left home with the expectation that they would be properly paid for their military service. However, that’s not what happened. Paychecks lagged severely behind schedule, with some men never receiving theirs, and were heavily reduced due to the replacement costs of uniforms, arms, and equipment, […]
“The child…was almost entirely destitute of maintenance and support”: A trust fund for Captain Edgerly’s son
Edward Edgerly served in the Maryland Line for five years, enlisting as a sergeant in February 1776. He fought at the Battle of Brooklyn that August, earning a place among the famed Maryland 400. In 1777, he received a commission and served as a “respectable and brave” officer, becoming a captain by 1779. He survived […]
The Case of Thomas Connor, Who Didn’t Die in Battle
Of the 256 Marylanders who were killed or captured at the Battle of Brooklyn (more than 25 percent of the regiment), very few have so far been identified by name. We know the names of just four who died and seventy who were taken prisoner. Our efforts to learn more are complicated because the fates […]
Archives
Category Archives: Revolutionary Veterans
A “little groggy”: the deputy sheriff of Baltimore and his “bowl of toddy”
On December 21, 1776, Sergeant John Hardman of the Edward Veazey‘s Seventh Independent Company arrived at a public prison in Baltimore Town with captured British soldiers. [1] He was there escorting the British prisoners from Philadelphia. That night, Hardman ordered a “bowl of … Continue reading
Sickened Marylanders and the Philadelphia Bettering House
On April 13, 1777, John Adams described the spread of disease in Philadelphia and the fate of the sick soldiers in that city in a letter to his wife, Abigail Smith. In his letter, he mentioned a local institution, called the … Continue reading
“The misfortune which ensued”: The defeat at Germantown
On the morning of October 4, 1777, Continental troops encountered British forces, led by Lord William Howe, encamped at Germantown, Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia’s outskirts. George Washington believed that he had surprise on his side. [1] He had ordered his multiple divisions to march twenty … Continue reading
British “masters of the field”: The disaster at Brandywine
On the night of September 10, 1777, many of the soldiers and commanding officers of the Continental Army sat around their campfires and listened to an ominous sermon that would predict the events of the following day. Chaplain Jeremias (or Joab) Trout … Continue reading
A “dull place” on the Patapsco: Baltimore and the Marr Brothers
In May 1776, the Revolution had been raging for almost a year with skirmishes between the British imperial army and the rag-tag revolutionaries. William Marr, probably with his brothers Nicholas and James, enlisted in the Continental Army in Capt. Nathaniel Ramsey’s … Continue reading
“He had never gave them an inch before he found that he had nothing left to keep them off with”
In late August 1777, the American Army planned a raid on Staten Island. Intelligence available to the Americans suggested that the British forces there were primarily American Loyalist militia rather than British regular troops. Furthermore, the inexperienced Tories were stealing … Continue reading
Col. Gaither: Seven years on Georgia’s frontier
A new biography expands on previous writing on this blog about Henry Chew Gaither, a Revolutionary War captain of the First and Fourth Maryland Regiments. On the eve of the Battle of Brooklyn, he served as a witness for Daniel … Continue reading
Revolutionary Veterans VI: The Long and Eventful Life of William McMillan
Regular readers of Finding the Maryland 400 will already know about William McMillan. As a 20 year old sergeant at the Battle of Brooklyn, McMillan survived a battle where “My captain was killed, first lieutenant was killed, second lieutenant shot … Continue reading
Revolutionary Veterans V: Thomas Stockett Brewer of Annapolis
Thomas Stockett Brewer also remained in his home state after the war. Brewer hailed from Anne Arundel County and likely lived in Annapolis before the war, where he was surrounded by patriotic sentiment. He likely worked as an apprentice or … Continue reading
