Tag Archives: Maryland Line

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

Posted in Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A “little groggy”: the deputy sheriff of Baltimore and his “bowl of toddy”

On December 21, 1776, Sergeant John Hardman of the Edward Veazey‘s Seventh Independent Company arrived at a public prison in Baltimore Town with captured British soldiers. [1] He was there escorting the British prisoners from Philadelphia. That night, Hardman ordered a “bowl of … Continue reading

Posted in Baltimore, Maryland 400, slaveowners | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A “little groggy”: the deputy sheriff of Baltimore and his “bowl of toddy”

Victory at Yorktown!

On October 19, 1781, British General Charles, Lord Conwallis surrendered his army of more than 8,000 men to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia. Cornwallis’s action brought an end to a siege which had lasted nearly two weeks.  It was also … Continue reading

Posted in Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“The misfortune which ensued”: The defeat at Germantown

On the morning of October 4, 1777, Continental troops encountered British forces, led by Lord William Howe, encamped at Germantown, Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia’s outskirts. George Washington believed that he had surprise on his side. [1] He had ordered his multiple divisions to march twenty … Continue reading

Posted in battles, Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Which Private Smith is the Right Private Smith?

Piecing together service records of Revolutionary War soldiers can be complicated. No one got a DD 214 when they were mustered out. Many soldiers had their service records compiled by the Federal Government in the late nineteenth century, and applications for … Continue reading

Posted in Biographies, Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

Posted in Baltimore, Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The political climate of Baltimore in 1776

“Games of Exercise” During the American Revolution

With the Olympics in full swing, this is a good time to talk about the athletic pastimes of American soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Active campaigning took a relatively small part of the year during the American Revolution, and as … Continue reading

Posted in Maryland 400 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on “Games of Exercise” During the American Revolution

A Short Fight on Hobkirk’s Hill: Surprise, Blame, and Defeat

At 10 or 11 o’clock in the morning of April 25, 1781, one and half miles from Camden, South Carolina, British troops advanced on Continental Army soldiers, commanded by Major General Nathaniel Greene, who were having their breakfast. The Continentals, camped on a … Continue reading

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

“Anxious of showing my zeal for the love of my Country, I entered myself as a Cadet…”

When Maryland put together its regiment as directed by the Continental Congress in 1776, it needed officers to command the troops. The regiment had nine companies, as well as seven independent companies. Each company had a captain and three lieutenants, … Continue reading

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

A Young Soldier Prepares to Leave for War

“Ordered, That colonel Smallwood immediately proceed with his battalion to the city of Philadelphia, and put himself under the continental officer commanding there,” wrote the Convention of Maryland, the state’s Revolutionary legislature, on July 6, 1776. The men of the … Continue reading

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