Sergeant Levin Wilcoxon: Settler of “Westsylvania”

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

Levin Wilcoxon served as a sergeant in the Third Company when the First Maryland Regiment fought at the Battle of Brooklyn. Following his discharge from the army in 1777, Wilcoxon returned to Prince George’s County and eventually moved to neighboring Montgomery County were he worked as a planter.

In 1781 Wilcoxon sold his lands in Prince George’s County and sometime thereafter moved to the frontier territory west of the Alleghany Mountains near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While frontier life was difficult, settlers also dealt with challenges resulting from border disputes between Pennsylvania and Virginia. Continue reading →

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“Cain Tuck lands”: Uncovering the Life of Peter Brown

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

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Account of services rendered by Peter Brown, 1777. Maryland State Papers. Revolutionary War Papers. MdHR 19970-02-04/17 [MSA S997-2-270, 01/07/03/008].

Ensign Peter Brown was the only officer from the Third Company not killed or captured during the Battle of Brooklyn (Captain Barton Lucas was sick and missed the engagement). He remained in the army for almost a year after the battle, resigning in July 1777. Most of the information about his military career comes from the Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18. Documents from the Maryland State Archives Revolutionary War Papers Collection help provide further specifics about his military service.

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John H. Beanes: The Lone Escaping Lieutenant of Ninth Company

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

John Hancock Beanes was the first lieutenant of the Ninth Company, First Maryland Regiment when the regiment fought at the Battle of Brooklyn on August 27, 1776. He was the only lieutenant of the Ninth Company to avoid capture; Second Lieutenant Hatch Dent, Jr. and Third Lieutenant Walker Muse were both taken prisoner and endured unusually long captivities for officers. After surviving the battle, Beanes Continue reading →

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Maryland’s African American Troops

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

Earlier, we introduced the topic of black Revolutionary War soldiers, but left unanswered the question of whether any fought as part of the Maryland 400. While a number of African Americans fought as part of the Maryland Line later in the war, there were apparently none among the men who fought under Col. William Smallwood at the Battle of Brooklyn. The simplest explanation is that the Smallwood’s regiment was Maryland’s first contingent of regular, full-time soldiers, and they had no trouble raising enough whites. Only in New England were black soldiers really welcomed; for the most part, states acquiesced to enlisting African Americans only when facing severe shortages of men. In early 1776, Maryland wasn’t having trouble filling its quota of soldiers. Continue reading →

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Hatch Dent, Jr.: From Prisoner of War to Minister and Teacher

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

Before he was a well-known minister and teacher, Hatch Dent Jr. was an officer in the First Maryland Regiment when the Maryland 400 made their heroic stand at the Battle of Brooklyn. A native of Charles County, Dent was the Second Lieutenant of the Ninth Company (Light Infantry) when he was captured at Brooklyn. After enduring an unusually long captivity for an officer, Dent was exchanged in April 1778 and became the captain of a company in the Second Maryland Regiment. Dent Continue reading →

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African Americans in the Revolutionary War

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

In October, Congress gave preliminary approval to a monument on the National Mall to African American Revolutionary War soldiers. While much work remains to be done before a monument is actually constructed, this was an important step for the project, whose backers have been advocating for such a marker since the mid-1980s.

While the military service of African Americans during the Civil War is well-known, thanks to movies like Glory and projects like this one, the black soldiers who fought in the American Revolution are seldom remembered. Continue reading →

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A Virginian in the First Maryland Regiment

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

Walker Muse fought alongside the soldiers of the State of Maryland throughout the course of the American Revolution, despite being a native of Virginia. As the Third Lieutenant in the Ninth Company of the First Maryland Regiment, he was present during the famed stand of the Maryland 400 at the Battle of Brooklyn and was among those captured during the engagement. Subject to an unusually long captivity for an officer, Muse Continue reading →

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Sean Baker’s Introduction

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Finding the Maryland 400

Hello all,

My name is Sean Baker and I am honored to announce the beginning of my involvement on this great project, Finding the Maryland 400. I graduated from the University of West Florida with a master’s degree in Public History, and from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in History. Continue reading →

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In Their Own Words, Postscript: The Marylanders Retreat From Brooklyn

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

Most of the first-hand accounts that we have from the Battle of Brooklyn end on the afternoon of August 27, when the Americans were able to retreat to their encampment in Brooklyn. The fighting had paused, but the danger had not receded, and the British still loomed close by. The only chance the Americans had was to retreat across the East River back to Manhattan.

The only Marylander who left a description of the retreat was Samuel Smith, captain of the 8th Company. When Smith and his men arrived at the American lines, they were stationed outside a small American outpost. As Smith recounted,

About midnight, one of the Corporals informed me that he had been up and down the [encampment], and not a man was to be seen. In consequence of which I sent my two Lieutenants…[who] reported that all the troops had gone, where they knew not…I presumed that we had been left as a forlorn hope [to cover the retreat]. Continue reading →

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Becoming the Maryland 400

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

By the afternoon of August 27, 1776, the Battle of Brooklyn had rapidly become a life or death struggle for the American army. After distracting the American forces with an auxiliary diversion that morning, the British sprung their trap. The night before the battle, Generals Howe and Clinton had led 10,000 troops to the rear of the Americans in a flanking maneuver. After the Americans had fought off the British diversion to their front, the 10,000 British descended upon the Continental troops from the north. According to one American soldier, the Americans were entirely unaware of the presence of the large force to their rear, until “the main body of their army, by a route we never dreamed of, had entirely surrounded us, and drove within the lines, or scattered in the woods, all our men, except the Delaware and Maryland battalions, who were standing at bay with double their number.

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