The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the Eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

So wrote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1860. Paul Revere really did ride across the Massachusetts countryside on the night of April 18, 1775, part of a large intelligence network, warning of advancing British troops. The Battles of Concord and Lexington, fought the next day, were a response to a British mission to seize the militia’s weapons–particularly their artillery. [1] Continue reading →

Posted in Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Family in Uniform

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

Finding the Maryland 400 seeks to not only identify the individuals who made up the First Maryland Regiment, but it also explores the links between these individuals that were forged and tested by the Revolutionary War.

The danger and uncertainty of war made these connections indispensable for family members waiting for news from New York to reach Maryland. Continue reading →

Posted in Biographies, Maryland 400 | 2 Comments

The Forage War and the Battle for New Jersey

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

In many ways, Joseph Nourse’s experiences in winter camp at Morristown were nothing like most of the army’s. On February 15, 1777 he wrote that he “read Homers Odyssy, which I borrowed from Lord Sterling,” a moment of culture which probably seemed as foreign to the bulk of the army’s rank and file  as it does to modern readers. Indeed, enlistment records like these make it clear that many soldiers could not read or write at all. Continue reading →

Posted in Maryland 400 | 1 Comment

William Chaplin: Defector to the British

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

The American colonies’ direct relationship with Britain meant that there were many colonists who did not support the Revolutionary War, and even the act of enlisting into the Continental Army did not mean that a person was devoted to the American cause. Throughout the war, men deserted for a number of reasons (as seen in an earlier post), and some of these deserters even defected to the British army. Even the First Maryland Regiment experienced this, and one example comes from a member of the Maryland 400. Continue reading →

Posted in Biographies, Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Project Updates

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

Hello all,

A short note about some recent changes to Finding the Maryland 400.

We have exhausted all of our project funding, which means that we have unfortunately had say good bye to Emily, although she has been able to move to another project at the Maryland State Archives. Continue reading →

Posted in Maryland 400 | 5 Comments

Maryland 400 in the News

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

Some of you may have already seen it, but the Maryland 400 was featured in The Baltimore Sun on Friday: “Researchers bringing Md. Revolutionary War heroes to life.”

sunphotomd400

Maryland 400 research staff.
Photo from The Baltimore Sun. Click to read!

The story has great photos and video about our work, and Continue reading →

Posted in Maryland 400 | Comments Off on Maryland 400 in the News

Introducing the Interactive Map

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

Geography physically connects us to the past in a way that can dust the cobwebs off of history and make it more accessible to the modern world.  This interactive map shows where Smallwood’s men came from and the places where they went before, during, and after the Revolutionary War– places that are familiar to us today. Continue reading →

Posted in Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Introducing the Interactive Map

The Prisoner and the Privateer

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

Two new entries have been added to the biography page! William Sterrett and Phillip Hawkins were Baltimoreans who fought in different companies of Smallwood’s Battalion at the Battle of Brooklyn. Both men were also survivors of the British prison ships in Wallabout Bay, New York. Continue reading →

Posted in Biographies, Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Prisoner and the Privateer

Who Were the Maryland 400?

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

We are very pleased to officially launch perhaps the most important part of this project: the online roster of all known members of the First Maryland Regiment who fought at the Battle of Brooklyn in August, 1776. Continue reading →

Posted in Maryland 400 | Comments Off on Who Were the Maryland 400?

Winter at Morristown

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Finding the Maryland 400

After the battles of Trenton and Princeton, the American troops made winter headquarters at Morristown, New Jersey on January 6.[1] Traditionally, wars were not fought during the wintertime, but the American Revolution was not a conventional European war. The winter did not bring any large engagements, but an army of citizen-farmers was uniquely suited to fight through the winter, and the American troops, particularly the New Jersey militia, kept pressure on the British with smaller skirmishes.

Continue reading →
Posted in Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment