Project sponsored by the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution
Recent posts: Finding the Maryland 400
Help Support the Maryland 400!
In August 1776, a group of soldiers—the Maryland 400—helped hold back the British Army at the Battle of Brooklyn, allowing the rest of the Americans to escape the field. The Marylanders lost a quarter of their men that day, but their stand saved the Continental Army, allowing it to live and fight another day. For […]
Revolutionary Book Review: George the Drummer Boy
The first book I ever read about the American Revolution was a children’s book called George the Drummer Boy, by Nathaniel Benchley, with illustrations by Don Bolognese. It tells the story of a drummer in the British Army who is stationed in Boston in 1775. His unit is chosen to march out of Boston to […]
A New Podcast Tells the Story of the Maryland Line
We are excited to share that a new podcast about the Revolutionary War, and Maryland’s soldiers, has been launched by Mission History. The series tells the story of the events that brought two armies, including nearly 2,000 soldiers from Maryland, to Camden, South Carolina in August 1781. The battle fought at Camden was one of […]
A Beating in Baltimore: Communal Violence during the Revolution
Today’s post comes from Marshall Cooperman of St. John’s College in Annapolis, who was part of the Maryland State Archives’ intern class of 2023. Marshall’s project team worked on cataloging a large collection of Revolutionary-era correspondence, and he came across the letters that tell this story while doing that work America in 1776 was a […]
Category Archives: Maryland 400
Where were the Maryland 400 Buried?
We frequently receive questions about where the Maryland 400 are buried. Popular folklore, advanced by prominent historians and public figures like Sir Patrick Stewart, suggests that a single mass grave existed, traditionally said to be located on Brooklyn’s Third Avenue … Continue reading
August 26, 1776: The Day Before
Tomorrow is August 27, the 243rd anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn. It is a day which is commemorated every year. Today, however, I would like to mark another day: August 26, the day before. August 26, 1776 was a … Continue reading
The Second War with Britain: The Legacy of the Maryland 400 in the War of 1812
Some members of the Maryland 400 who survived the Revolutionary War’s trials later faced other challenging moments in the War of 1812. The divisive war once again tested the mettle of the Revolutionary War veterans in political office and on … Continue reading
“Gross Outrage”: An Independence Day Celebration Gone Wrong
During my recent research of Adjutant Jacob Brice, I came across a place I had never heard of in relation to the Revolutionary War, called Haddrell’s Point in South Carolina. Brice was wounded and captured at the Battle of Camden … Continue reading
“Determined to Run the Risk of Being Hanged”: The Enlistment Feud between the Second and Fifth Maryland Regiments
In my last post, I discussed a few examples of the enlistment problems plaguing former members of the Maryland 400 in 1777. Some of the examples focused on a growing feud between Captain Archibald Anderson of the Second Maryland Regiment and Captain William … Continue reading
“Not So Genteel” Behavior: Enlistment Issues Involving the Maryland 400
In September of 1776, the Continental Congress decided to restructure the Continental Army, hoping to recruit a larger number of troops. To this end, Congress ordered the creation of 88 new regiments, with quotas set for each state based on their … Continue reading
“Unfit for Duty”: Medicine and Illness in the Revolutionary War
This week, I finished writing biographies for Maryland 400 soldiers. Over the course of my research on various soldiers, I have written about quite a few who fell sick during their service, including the soldier I am currently researching, Christopher … Continue reading
The Fourth of July, 1776
Today, we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The news of that event reached Annapolis a day or two later, where it was received by the thousand or so soldiers who were … Continue reading
Rebel Quakers: The Struggle Between Faith and Liberty
Last week, I began researching Richard Besswick, a private in the First Maryland Regiment and a member of the Maryland 400. In the course of my search for information about his life, I came across the will of Nathan Besswick … Continue reading
A Tale of Two Jeffers: How Pension Information Differentiates Revolutionary War Soldiers
The first biography I wrote for Finding the Maryland 400 covered the life of Jacob Jeffers, a soldier who served in Maryland’s Fourth Independent Company during the Battle of Brooklyn. Jeffers later served in the Second Maryland Regiment until his … Continue reading
Finding the Maryland 400 