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: biographies
The amazing story of Charles Thompson, who “agreed to enlist with the Enemy–and by that Means made his escape”
The life and career of Charles Thompson is perhaps the most remarkable that we have come across in all of our biographical research for this project. Thompson showed immense courage and determination during his time in the army. In addition, … Continue reading
The Case of Thomas Connor, Who Didn’t Die in Battle
Of the 256 Marylanders who were killed or captured at the Battle of Brooklyn (more than 25 percent of the regiment), very few have so far been identified by name. We know the names of just four who died and … Continue reading
A Pennsylvanian in the Maryland Line?
Most Maryland 400 veterans returned to Maryland after their military service ended. Many, perhaps most, of them stayed in the state afterward, but plenty moved on instead, mostly heading west in search of land. Michael Waltz, a private in the … Continue reading
A Veteran Remembers
The last officially recorded fact about Joseph Steward’s military service is that he enlisted in the Second Company of the First Maryland Regiment, commanded by Captain Patrick Sim, on February 26, 1776. There is nothing to tell us what became … Continue reading
A Completed Company!
We are very happy to announce that we have recently completed work on another company! Last week we posted the final biography of a soldier in the Seventh Independent Company, which was raised on the Eastern Shore. While the company … Continue reading
“Being Desirous to Settle my Worldly Affairs”: Private George Claypoole’s Will
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of our work researching Maryland’s Revolutionary War soldiers is connecting their military service to civilian life. It’s relatively straight forward to piece a man’s army history together, but finding records of that person’s life afterward, … Continue reading
The Maryland 400’s Veterans
The mission of Finding the Maryland 400 is to pay tribute to Maryland’s Revolutionary War veterans. Today, however, we want to focus on the members of the First Maryland Regiment who were already veterans before the unit’s first battle in … Continue reading
Another Company Finished!
We are very pleased to announce that we have written biographies of all the soldiers in the Fourth Company of the First Maryland Regiment! There are 71 biographies of Fourth Company soldiers, which make up an important part of the … Continue reading
“All and singular the goods, chattels and personal estate of col. Henry Neale”
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 … Continue reading
“Cain Tuck lands”: Uncovering the Life of Peter Brown
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 … Continue reading
Finding the Maryland 400 