1st Maryland Regiment
1st Maryland Regiment | |
---|---|
Active | 1776–1783 |
Country | United States of America |
Allegiance | Maryland |
Type | Infantry |
Size | 728 soldiers (1776) re-organized to 611 soldiers (1781) |
Part of | Maryland Line |
Engagements | Brooklyn, Harlem Heights White Plains, Trenton Princeton, Brandywine Germantown, Monmouth Camden, Battle of Cowpens, Guilford Court House Siege of Yorktown |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Colonel William Smallwood Colonel John Gunby |
The 1st Maryland Regiment (Smallwood's Regiment) originated with the authorization of a Maryland Battalion of the Maryland State Troops on 14 January 1776. It was organized in the spring at Baltimore, Maryland (three companies) and Annapolis, Maryland (six companies) under the command of Colonel William Smallwood consisting of eight companies and one light infantry company from the northern and western counties of the colony of Maryland.
History
On 6 July 1776, the Maryland Battalion was assigned to the main
The Maryland Battalion distinguished itself at the Battle of Long Island by single-handedly covering the retreat of the American forces against numerically superior British and Hessian forces, with a group of men memorialized as the Maryland 400. Thereafter, General George Washington relied heavily upon the Marylanders as one of the few reliable fighting units in the early Continental Army. For this reason, Maryland is sometimes known as "The Old Line State."[1] The lineage of this unit is perpetuated by the 175th Infantry Regiment, Maryland Army National Guard.
Battle of Brooklyn
The Maryland Regiment had joined the Continental Army barely two weeks before the Battle of Long Island. Unlike most of Washington's Army, the Maryland contingent had been well drilled at home and were so well equipped – they even had
In fierce fighting, the Marylanders charged the British forces six times to give their comrades time to make their way to safety with the rest of Washington's army in the Heights. Twice they managed to drive the British from the house, but as more British reinforcements arrived and the Marylanders casualties mounted, they finally had to give up the assault and try to get to safety themselves. Only Major Mordecai Gist and nine others managed to reach the American lines. Of the others, 256 lay dead in front of the Old Stone House and more than 100 were wounded/and or captured. The bravery of the Maryland Regiment earned them the name "immortals". The dead were buried in a mass grave consisting of six trenches in a farm field. The gravesite is located on what is now Third Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets.[2] Until the widening of Third Avenue in 1910, the site was marked by a tablet that read: "Burial place of ye 256 Maryland soldiers who fell in ye combat at ye Cortelyou House on ye 27th day of August 1776." The result of the brief battle was stunning for the Americans. More than a thousand men were killed, captured, or missing. Generals Stirling and Sullivan were in the enemy's hands. The battalion had lost more than 250 of their number. Most of the Marylanders' casualties occurred in the retreat and desperate covering action at the Cortelyou House. Ultimately, of the original Maryland 400 muster, 96 returned, with only 35 fit for duty.
Historian, Thomas Field, writing in 1869, "The Battle of Long Island," called the stand of the Marylanders "an hour more precious to liberty than any other in history." Four companies of the 1st Maryland stood as the final anchor of the crumbled American front line, and their heroic action not only saved many of their fellows but afforded Washington critical respite to regroup and withdraw his battered troops to Manhattan and continue the struggle for independence.
Over time, the farm became the site of a
Battle of Cowpens
When Major General Nathanael Greene took command of the Southern theater of the war, his army numbered 1482 men present. Only 949 were Continental regulars, most of whom were in the "Maryland Line" regiment.[4] Three companies of the Marylanders were in Lt. Col. John Eager Howard's battalion.[5] They participated extensively at Cowpens.[6]
References
- ^ "State Nicknames". Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2006.
- ^ "Permanent Revolution". New York. 10 September 2012.
- OCLC 31936005.
- ISBN 978-1-4325-7926-5.
- ISBN 0-8078-2434-8.
- ^ Steuart, Rieman (1969). A history of the Maryland line in the Revolutionary War, 1775–1783. Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland. p. 162.
- Bibliography
- Gallagher, John J. (1995). The Battle of Brooklyn 1776. Sarpedon Publishers. OCLC 31936005.
- O'Donnell, Patrick K. (2016). Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution. Atlantic Monthly Press. OCLC 911364918.
- Wright, Richard K. (1983). "Lineage". The Continental Army. Army Lineage Series. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 60-4. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2006.
Further reading
- Balch, Thomas (1857). Papers Relating Chiefly to the Maryland Line During the Revolution. Philadelphia. p. 218.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Christian, Bernard (1972) [1900]. Muster Rolls & other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution 1775–1783 (HTML) (Reprint ed.). Baltimore: Lord Baltimore Press, Maryland Historical Society. p. 736. Retrieved 29 May 2006.
- Reno, Linda Davis (2008). The Maryland 400 in the Battle of Long Island, 1776. McFarland & Co. OCLC 188535862.
External links
- Bibliography of the Continental Army in Maryland compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History
- The American Revolution Institute