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Recent posts: Finding the Maryland 400
Death by Pig
While researching soldiers and their families from the Revolutionary War, it can be difficult to uncover reliable information. We have written about some of our methods before, and you can read one of those posts here. However, sometimes the best we can do is to make an educated guess or conclusion, as was done in […]
A Veteran Remembers
The last officially recorded fact about Joseph Steward’s military service is that he enlisted in the Second Company of the First Maryland Regiment, commanded by Captain Patrick Sim, on February 26, 1776. There is nothing to tell us what became of him. [1] But another soldier remembered Steward. Moses Gill still remembered clearly, some fifty […]
Happy National Literacy Day! – Literacy Rates in Colonial America
In addition to the Revolutionary War, a literary revolution swept across the American Colonies and Europe in the 18th century. In celebration of National Literacy Day, today we will explore the literacy rates of Colonial America and how they affected the men of the Maryland Line.
Upcoming Maryland 400 Lecture
On Saturday, September 9, Finding the Maryland 400 project director Owen Lourie will give a lecture at Belair Mansion in Bowie, Maryland. He will talk about the Maryland 400 at the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776, and highlight the stories of several soldiers from the Bowie area. The lecture will be part of a day-long […]
Tag Archives: Baltimore
“Flecking the hedges with red”: Palmer’s Ballad on the Maryland 400
In the past, we have written about poems and songs relating to the Maryland 400. [1] They were celebrated years after and during the Revolutionary War, with newspapers often containing poems and songs. Such poems included one about William Sterrett in 1776 … Continue reading
Persecuted in Revolutionary Baltimore: The Sufferings of Quakers
In March 1777, revolutionary leader John Adams wrote an angry letter to his wife, Abigail. He declared that Baltimore was a “dull place” where many of the town’s remaining inhabitants were Quakers, who he described as “dull as Beetles” and a “kind of neutral Tribe, … Continue reading
The political climate of Baltimore in 1776
Baltimore Town was more than a diverse and pre-industrial port town that sat on the Patapsco River. It had numerous sentiments, ranging from the pro-revolutionary, some of which were militant in their beliefs, to support for the British Crown. This article continues the series … 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
David Plunket: A Radical Rebel
As Second Lieutenant of the Fifth Maryland Regiment at the time of the Battle of Brooklyn, David Plunket fought bravely and resolutely amidst heavy cannon and mortar fire to hold off the British Army, while the body of the Continental … Continue reading
The Road to Trenton
December was a desperate month for the Revolutionary cause, which badly needed a victory to turn the tide of losses. Expiring enlistments were steadily chipping away at the size of the Continental Army, and the British established a winter camp … Continue reading
The Whig Club: Judge and Jury in Baltimore
It was a cold morning when Melchior Keener got word to leave Baltimore or suffer the vengeance of the Whig Club. At nine o’clock on December 5, 1776, James Cox, a popular local tailor, delivered the message that Keener had three … Continue reading
The Resurrection of William Sterrett
An anonymous poet composed the following eulogy for nineteen-year-old lieutenant William Sterrett. It was published in the Maryland Gazette on September 12, 1776, just over two weeks after the Battle of Brooklyn: On the death of Mr. WILLIAM STERET, who … Continue reading
237 Years Ago
On July 6, 1776 the Convention of Maryland ordered Colonel William Smallwood to march his 6 Companies stationed in Annapolis and the 3 Companies in Baltimore to Philadelphia. Joining them would be three of the Independent Companies, specifically those under … Continue reading
