Tag Archives: Revolutionary War

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 →

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“He had never gave them an inch before he found that he had nothing left to keep them off with”

In late August 1777, the American Army planned a raid on Staten Island. Intelligence available to the Americans suggested that the British forces there were primarily American Loyalist militia rather than British regular troops. Furthermore, the inexperienced Tories were stealing … Continue reading →

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A Common Soldier’s Inventory, and His Career

We recently posted about the extensive probate inventory of Henry Neale’s personal property, and how, running seven pages long, it can tell us a lot about its subject. Today, we have an inventory from another veteran of the First Maryland … Continue reading →

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Burkely Hermann’s Introduction

Hello everyone. Welcome back to our blog. My name is Burkely Hermann and I have the privilege for being the researcher for this wonderful project, Finding the Maryland 400. Less than a week ago, I graduated from St. Mary’s College … Continue reading →

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Battle of Brooklyn Roll of Honor

On August 27, 1776, after a week of anticipation, and hours of marching, the Continental Army fought the British at the Battle of Brooklyn, the first large-scale battle of the Revolutionary War. All told, the Americans lost about 300 killed, … Continue reading →

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William Chaplin: Defector to the British

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 … Continue reading →

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Introducing the Interactive Map

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 … Continue reading →

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The Prisoner and the Privateer

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 … Continue reading →

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Winter at Morristown

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 … Continue reading →

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A Fine Fox Chase: The Battle of Princeton

At the beginning of 1777 the Americans were in an unfamiliar position; they were on the offensive. In the week after capturing Trenton they had successfully parried the attacks of General Cornwallis, but a more serious engagement was inevitable before … Continue reading →

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