Project sponsored by the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution
Recent posts: Finding the Maryland 400
Help Support the Maryland 400!
In August 1776, a group of soldiers—the Maryland 400—helped hold back the British Army at the Battle of Brooklyn, allowing the rest of the Americans to escape the field. The Marylanders lost a quarter of their men that day, but their stand saved the Continental Army, allowing it to live and fight another day. For […]
Revolutionary Book Review: George the Drummer Boy
The first book I ever read about the American Revolution was a children’s book called George the Drummer Boy, by Nathaniel Benchley, with illustrations by Don Bolognese. It tells the story of a drummer in the British Army who is stationed in Boston in 1775. His unit is chosen to march out of Boston to […]
A New Podcast Tells the Story of the Maryland Line
We are excited to share that a new podcast about the Revolutionary War, and Maryland’s soldiers, has been launched by Mission History. The series tells the story of the events that brought two armies, including nearly 2,000 soldiers from Maryland, to Camden, South Carolina in August 1781. The battle fought at Camden was one of […]
A Beating in Baltimore: Communal Violence during the Revolution
Today’s post comes from Marshall Cooperman of St. John’s College in Annapolis, who was part of the Maryland State Archives’ intern class of 2023. Marshall’s project team worked on cataloging a large collection of Revolutionary-era correspondence, and he came across the letters that tell this story while doing that work America in 1776 was a […]
Tag Archives: 1776 Timeline
The Trial of Lieutenant Steward
On September 23, 1776, Lieutenant John Steward of Maryland stood before a court martial on the Heights of Harlem. He had slapped a sergeant from Connecticut for cowardly behavior and then argued with, some would say threatened, a colonel who … Continue reading
“Maryland Troops Bear the Palm”
As of September 16, 1776, the revolutionary struggle had only resulted in defeat for the Americans. The week before in Boston, September 12 was declared a “day of prayer… on account of the critical state of our military operations.”[1] British ships … Continue reading
“The Unhappy Situation”
It rained constantly for two days after the Battle of Long Island. The defeated Americans did not have enough tents or clothes, and the soggy troops could only wait for the storm to end. The Continental army’s ranks were depleted … Continue reading
The Rain and the Retreat
The morning of August 28, 1776 dawned cold, gray, and rainy. The demoralized American troops were trapped in their Brooklyn entrenchments, an area about three miles around. They were fenced in by the British army to their front and the … Continue reading
The Marylanders Arrive
On August 26, 1776, the Marylanders arrived at Long Island on the eve of battle. Once it became clear that a major engagement was imminent, Washington sent the regiment to reinforce the American defensive line. The men who would become … Continue reading
Finding the Maryland 400 