Project sponsored by the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution
Recent posts: Finding the Maryland 400
Exciting Project News!
I am very happy to share the news that we have recently completed the last of our biographies. They are all now complete!
The Maryland Line and The Creation of the Society of the Cincinnati
As the Revolutionary War drew to a close, Continental Army officers and their French allies wanted an effective way to preserve the values they had fought for and the intense camaraderie that they had developed throughout the war. Major General Henry Knox proposed an organization which would do exactly that in May of 1783: the […]
What’s In a Name: Military Ranks
Military terminology can be confusing. Finding the Maryland 400 has previously worked on a glossary of military units to help readers better understand the differences between companies, regiments, and battalions. Today’s post will cover a glossary of important military ranks, describing each position’s duties as explained mainly by Baron Friedrich von Steuben. Steuben, inspector general […]
Revisiting the Capture and Escape of the McMillan Brothers
Samuel and William McMillan, two brothers who enlisted in the First Maryland Regiment, fought in the Battle of Brooklyn, where Hessian soldiers captured them and decimated their company. Taken to Halifax, the two brothers were part of a group that made a daring escape, desperate to return familiar territory. Although Finding the Maryland 400 has previously discussed their […]
Archives
-
Join 3,198 other subscribers
Category Archives: wills
“Being Desirous to Settle my Worldly Affairs”: Private George Claypoole’s Will
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of our work researching Maryland’s Revolutionary War soldiers is connecting their military service to civilian life. It’s relatively straight forward to piece a man’s army history together, but finding records of that person’s life afterward, … Continue reading
The Short Life of Capt. Daniel Bowie
Daniel Bowie had been a soldier for seven months, and a captain for just seven weeks, when he wrote out his will on August 26, 1776, the day before he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Brooklyn. We have … Continue reading
Corporal Zachariah Gray’s Last Will and Testament
Corporal Zachariah Gray may have been the oldest enlisted man in the First Maryland Regiment when the regiment fought at the Battle of Brooklyn. At the time of his enlistment on February 3, 1776 Gray was forty-five years old, significantly … Continue reading
The Last Will and Testament of Edward Sinclair
As a sergeant in the Fifth Company during the Battle of Brooklyn, Edward Sinclair was among those men who heroically covered the retreat of the Continental Army, thus saving the American forces from destruction.[1]
“If I Fall on the Field of Battle”
Captain Daniel Bowie wrote his last will and testament on the eve of the Battle of Brooklyn. The next day he was wounded in battle and captured by the British. While imprisoned he would succumb to his wounds and become … Continue reading