Tag Archives: Baltimore

“Flecking the hedges with red”: Palmer’s Ballad on the Maryland 400

In the past, we have written about poems and songs relating to the Maryland 400. [1] They were celebrated years after and during the Revolutionary War, with newspapers often containing poems and songs. Such poems included one about William Sterrett in 1776 … Continue reading

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Persecuted in Revolutionary Baltimore: The Sufferings of Quakers

In March 1777, revolutionary leader John Adams wrote an angry letter to his wife, Abigail. He declared that Baltimore was a “dull place” where many of the town’s remaining inhabitants were Quakers, who he described as “dull as Beetles” and a “kind of neutral Tribe, … Continue reading

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The political climate of Baltimore in 1776

Baltimore Town was more than a diverse and pre-industrial port town that sat on the Patapsco River. It had numerous sentiments, ranging from the pro-revolutionary, some of which were militant in their beliefs, to support for the British Crown. This article continues the series … Continue reading

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A “dull place” on the Patapsco: Baltimore and the Marr Brothers

In May 1776, the Revolution had been raging for almost a year with skirmishes between the British imperial army and the rag-tag revolutionaries. William Marr, probably with his brothers Nicholas and James, enlisted in the Continental Army in Capt. Nathaniel Ramsey’s … Continue reading

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David Plunket: A Radical Rebel

As Second Lieutenant of the Fifth Maryland Regiment at the time of the Battle of Brooklyn, David Plunket fought bravely and resolutely amidst heavy cannon and mortar fire to hold off the British Army, while the body of the Continental … Continue reading

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The Road to Trenton

December was a desperate month for the Revolutionary cause, which badly needed a victory to turn the tide of losses. Expiring enlistments were steadily chipping away at the size of the Continental Army, and the British established a winter camp … Continue reading

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The Whig Club: Judge and Jury in Baltimore

It was a cold morning when Melchior Keener got word to leave Baltimore or suffer the vengeance of the Whig Club. At nine o’clock on December 5, 1776, James Cox, a popular local tailor, delivered the message that Keener had three … Continue reading

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The Resurrection of William Sterrett

An anonymous poet composed the following eulogy for nineteen-year-old lieutenant William Sterrett. It was published in the Maryland Gazette on September 12, 1776, just over two weeks after the Battle of Brooklyn: On the death of Mr. WILLIAM STERET, who … Continue reading

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237 Years Ago

On July 6, 1776 the Convention of Maryland ordered Colonel William Smallwood to march his 6 Companies stationed in Annapolis and the 3 Companies in Baltimore to Philadelphia. Joining them would be three of the Independent Companies, specifically those under … Continue reading

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