Project sponsored by the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution
Recent posts: Finding the Maryland 400
250 Years Ago in Brooklyn, New York…
…the Maryland 400 made a desperate last stand that held back the British and helped save the American army. The Battle of Brooklyn, fought on August 27, 1776, was the first major battle of the Revolutionary War, and a terrible defeat for the Americans.The British overwhelmed the Continental Army commanded by George Washington. As the […]
Finding the Maryland 400 Book For Sale
Finding the Maryland 400, the book chronicling Maryland’s Revolutionary War soldiers, is now for sale! The price is $40 (plus $9 shipping & handling). It can be purchased online here: The book is also available in person at the Maryland State Archives. Finding the Maryland 400 tells the stories of the soldiers who fought heroically […]
Maryland 400 Podcast, Episode Three: The Meaning of the Maryland 400
This is the final episode of the Maryland 400 podcast, exploring Maryland and the American Revolution, from journalism professor Tom Moore of CUNY York College. The series concludes by discussing the meaning of the Maryland 400. Who were these soldiers, and what did they do? What can be learned about them? It features Assistant State […]
Maryland 400 Podcast, Episode 2: Maryland’s Black Patriots
This is episode two of the Maryland 400 podcast, exploring Maryland and the American Revolution, from journalism professor Tom Moore of CUNY York College. This week’s episode focuses on Maryland’s Black soldiers, who are often overlooked but were a critical part of the Continental Army. Maryland enlisted Black soldiers as early as the summer of […]
Category Archives: Maryland 400
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
Victory at Yorktown!
On October 19, 1781, British General Charles, Lord Conwallis surrendered his army of more than 8,000 men to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia. Cornwallis’s action brought an end to a siege which had lasted nearly two weeks. It was also … 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
“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
Which Private Smith is the Right Private Smith?
Piecing together service records of Revolutionary War soldiers can be complicated. No one got a DD 214 when they were mustered out. Many soldiers had their service records compiled by the Federal Government in the late nineteenth century, and applications for … 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
Another Company Finished!
We are very pleased to announce that we have written biographies of all the soldiers in the Fourth Company of the First Maryland Regiment! There are 71 biographies of Fourth Company soldiers, which make up an important part of the … 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 240th Anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn
Late on the night of August 26, 1776, the First Maryland Regiment and the rest of the Continental Army began to cross the East River from Manhattan to Long Island. Awaiting them were some 20,000 British and Hessian soldiers. Earlier … Continue reading
Finding the Maryland 400 