“All and singular the goods, chattels and personal estate of col. Henry Neale”

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Finding the Maryland 400

Henry Neale, lieutenant during the Battle of Brooklyn and lieutenant Colonel of the Forty Fifth Regiment of the Maryland militia, died in late 1815. When someone died an inventory of the deceased’s personal property was made for government records, a practice which continues today. These documents only cover personal property and do not include land. Neale’s inventory was conducted on January 30, 1816. As Henry Neale did not have a Will Continue reading →

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Nick’s Introduction

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Finding the Maryland 400

Dear Readers,

My name is Nicholas Couto and I am a rising junior at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland majoring in History. Continue reading →

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Col. Barton Lucas: more than a military man

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Finding the Maryland 400
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A zoomed version of a 1754 map by Emanuel Bowen apparently showing English Plantations

In the past, we have written about Col. Barton Lucas, captain of the Third Company. Previous posts have focused on records kept by Lucas’s clerk about the clothing worn by members of the Maryland 400 and mentioned in passing that he was sick and missed the Battle of Brooklyn. We also recalled how John Hughes, a private in Lucas’s company, mentioned how the Battle of Brooklyn made Capt. Barton Lucas “deranged in consequence of losing his company” and about his other military duties in the rest of the war including his service as a militia captain. Rather than just reciting the recently expanded biography of Lucas, this post focuses on a number of aspects of Lucas’s life including his family relations and life as a slaveowner with a plantation. Continue reading →

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Evaluating the Maryland Officers

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Finding the Maryland 400

In late 1776, Maryland expanded its military contribution to the Continental Army from one regiment to seven. This required a great deal of planning, as each new regiment required about 50 new officers, and so many promotions required much deliberation.

The chart below was probably written by someone on the staff of the Fifth Maryland Regiment in the first part of 1777, possibly the regiment’s commander Col. William Richardson himself, to evaluate potential candidates. Some of these men, like Lt. Andrew Porter, had fought in Richardson’s Flying Camp battalion in the fall and winter of 1776. One of them, Lt. William Frazier, had served in the Continue reading →

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Burkely Hermann’s Introduction

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Finding the Maryland 400

Hello everyone. Welcome back to our blog.

My name is Burkely Hermann and I have the privilege for being the researcher for this wonderful project, Finding the Maryland 400. Less than a week ago, I graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, a small liberal arts college bordering historic St. Mary’s City, with a bachelor of arts in Political Science and a minor in History. Continue reading →

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Battle of Brooklyn Roll of Honor

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

On August 27, 1776, after a week of anticipation, and hours of marching, the Continental Army fought the British at the Battle of Brooklyn, the first large-scale battle of the Revolutionary War. All told, the Americans lost about 300 killed, and another 1,100 captured, out of an army of 10,000. The British estimated they lost around 400 their 22,000 men.

In the latter stages of the battle, as the surrounded Americans were desperately retreating, a portion of the Maryland troops made a daring stand. Continue reading →

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Upcoming Battle of Brooklyn Commemorations

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

The 239th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn is next week, and we will have new material to commemorate the battle and the Marylanders’ sacrifices there. Continue reading →

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The story of Walter Brooke Cox in the Continental Army

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

Walter Brooke Cox joined the army, like many other men at the time, with the hope of making a name for himself.

Commissioned on January 3, 1776 as a cadet, Cox joined Captain Patrick Sim’s Second Company of the First Maryland Regiment. [1] Under Captain Sim’s guidance, Cox’s first engagement with the British occurred during the Battle of Brooklyn on August 27, 1776. During the battle, the Continental Army attempted to Continue reading →

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“Our officers…cared but little, if anything at all, about us.”

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

Our posts exploring officers’ duties have drawn from heavily from the work of Inspector General Continental Army, Fredrich Wilhelm von Steuben. His treatise on the Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States lays out the duties and responsibilities of each rank, invariably charging each officer to act with compassion for his men. Von Steuben’s words present an obvious question: did he mean it? Continue reading →

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The Role of the Captain on and off the Battlefield

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

Since the foundation of the Continental Army by the Continental Congress in 1775, the role of the company was quite significant. In the Continental Army, the company was the most basic unit of the army, both on and off the battlefield. A company contained roughly 70 to 100 men. Moreover, seven to nine companies comprised a regiment. Continue reading →

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