Finding the Maryland 400 Since it was launched in May 2013, the Maryland State Archives’ project Finding the Maryland 400 has worked to preserve the memory of the Maryland soldiers who fought at the Battle of Brooklyn, and to serve as a tribute to them. It has done so by uncovering their names and telling their stories. Thanks to the generous and continued support of the Maryland SAR, we have worked to attain these goals in a number of ways: Compiling an online roster of all known Marylanders who fought at the Battle of Brooklyn. This is the first listing of all Maryland soldiers, containing about 850 known names of the roughly 900 men who were present at the battle. It is the most accurate listing to date, because we have been able to refine it over a sustained period, and can draw on the work of others. Centralizing all information known about the fates of the soldiers: who was killed, wounded, or captured. This information is vital, as the search for the Marylanders’ grave site in New York continues. Researching and writing biographies of these soldiers. To date, there are over 225 biographies of Maryland soldiers published online, fully sourced and including many images of original records. Of these biographies, more than 150 were completed during periods of SAR sponsorship, either by SAR-funded individuals or other partner organizations such as Washington College. Public outreach, ensuring that the story of the Maryland 400 is widely known and understood. Project staff have given public lectures and press interviews on the topic, always emphasizing the SAR’s contribution to the project. The project blog is an important component of this; it is the first Google result for “Maryland 400,” after Wikipedia, showing the reach of the project. In addition to the work outlined in the proposal to the SAR for additional funding, the project has the following activities planned: Additional lectures (three scheduled for 2017 already) for history and heritage groups. Revision of the project website, in cooperation with a UMBC public history graduate student. We are committed to continuing this project until its completion. The ultimate goals should be completing biographies of all remaining soldiers, and then publishing these biographies, along with additional content about the Revolutionary War in Maryland, into a print publication. Accompanying this report are samples of the project’s work from this year: two biographies, and a blog post about the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, where many members of the Maryland 400 played an important role. Finding the Maryland 400 www.msamaryland400.wordpress.com Full Strength Known Names Discharged/ Bios Known Officers' bios Company Strength 6-7/1776 on Roster Deserted Online POWs to write: Notes Samuel Jones removed from roster because 1 74 73 13 1 0 he left Reg. in 7/1776 2 74 75 2 7 1 0 2 deserters 3 74 77 16 22 0 4 74 58 71 6 71 11 0 Complete 5 74 70 46 2 46 2 0 Complete Need 2nd Lt.'s name; only non-finished bios 6 74 72 11 10 0 are John McLains 7 74 72 10 0 8 74 68 73 4 5 1 0 4 deserters 9 78 81 13 13 0 4th Ind. 106 111 111 6 3 0 "lost but 3 men" 5th Ind. 106 30 11 0 7th Ind. 106 111 64 11 6 0 Strength interpolation Staff Officers 11 5 Total 988 856 225 70 0 Total in regiment, 9/27/1776: 643 Total lost in battle: 256 Approximate strength at time of battle: 899 Finding the Maryland 400 A Maryland State Archives research project “The misfortune which ensued”: The defeat at Germantown Posted on October 4, 2016 by Finding the Maryland 400 Saverio Xavier della Gatta, an eighteenth-century Neopolitan painter, painted this scene of the Battle of Germantown in 1782, possibly for a British officer. Courtesy of the Museum of the American Revolution. 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 miles from their camp at Perkeomen, with some of the soldiers having neither food or blankets. [2] Washington thought that if the British were defeated he could retake the Continental capital of Philadelphia and reverse his disaster at Brandywine. Among the men who marched with Washington were 210 Marylanders, including many veterans of the Maryland 400. [3] The seven Maryland regiments, commanded by General John Sullivan, were at the lead of the Continental attack. After marching most of the night, like the rest of the Continental Army, they arrived at Chestnut Hill, three miles from Mount Airy, and encountered a British picket. [4] Later, Sullivan’s division advanced and fought British light infantry in a 15-20 minute clash in an orchard. [5] The Marylanders progressed on the road to Germantown, pushing down fences as they moved forward during this “very foggy morning.” [6] As Enoch Anderson of the Delaware Regiment described it, the scene became bloody in the thick fog: “Bullets began to fly on both sides,–some were killed,–some wounded, but the order was to advance. We advanced in the line of the division,—the firing on both sides increased,—and what with the thickness of the air and the firing of guns, we could see but a little way before us.” [7] As the battle moved forward, many Continentals fought at the house of Benjamin Chew, also called Cliveden. The Marylanders advanced upon a small breastwork in Germantown, leading to an intense fight with many lying dead, and they later captured British artillery. [8] Later on, Sullivan ordered 1 | P a g e the Marylanders, within 400 or 500 yards of the stone house, to retreat since this obstacle had stopped their advance. [9] In response to the hundred or so British troops who came out of the house and a British advance from Lord Charles Cornwallis‘s reinforcements, some Marylanders fired a volley in response. After a British officer was killed, they did not pursue Sullivan’s men. When the smoke cleared, Colonel John Hoskins Stone and General Uriah Forest were wounded while two Marylanders were missing. [10] Regiments from New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania also fought in the battle. Like the Marylanders, these Continentals were initially successful in pushing back the British. [11] They were even successful against the Hessian Jägerkorps who had soundly defeated them at the Battle of Brandywine, 24 days earlier. [12] As George Washington recounted, the Continental troops were part of his plan to flank the British, advancing at sunrise, but that they “retreated a considerable distance, having previously thrown a party into Mr Chews House, who were in a situation not to be easily forced, and had it in their power from the Windows to give us no small annoyance, and in a great measure to obstruct our advance…The Morning was extremely foggy, which prevented our improving the advantages we gained so well, as we should otherwise have done. This circumstance…obliged us to act with more caution and less expedition than we could have wished, and gave the Enemy time to recover from the effects of our first impression…It also occasioned them [the Continentals] to mistake One another for the Enemy, which, I believe, more than any thing else contributed to the misfortune which ensued.” [13] Clearly, the successes of these Continentals were reversed because they attempted to take the well- defended stone house, which was “shot to pieces” in the intense fighting and friendly fire. Some, such as Connecticut Lieutenant James Morris III recalled that in the “memorable battle of Germantown,” the Continental Army’s victory “in the outsetting seemed to perch on our standards.” [14] He also wrote that the day’s success turned against them due to, in his view, the “misconduct” of General Adam Stephen and “undisciplined” soldiers scattering. Illustration of the battle at the Chew House by American artist Christian Schussele Regardless of who is blamed, the heavy fighting undoubtedly resulted in the death and wounding of many soldiers, leading to a withdrawal. [15] Soldiers were disoriented and confused by heavy morning radiation 2 | P a g e fog, caused by a 34 degree temperature and humidity, along with the thick black powder smoke from cannons and muskets. This annulled any chance for victory, even though some claimed that they were near to “gaining a compleat Victory.” [16] Washington said that his army would have gained victory if “the fogginess of the Morning” hadn’t prevented the Continental Army “from seeing the advantage we had gained.” [17] In later letters he told General William Heath, his brother John Augustine Washington, and Virginia politician John Page a similar story. He wrote that the hazy day was “overcast by dark & heavy fog,” was “extremely foggy,” and “a thick Fog rendered so infinitely dark at times.” [18] From his viewpoint, this prevented the enemy from sustaining “total defeat” with complications including the Continental Army’s right wing lacking ammunition as the battle dragged on. After the battle, the Continental Army moved twenty miles way to collect their forces and care for the wounded as the British still held on to Philadelphia. [19] While wounded Marylanders were sent to Reading, Pennsylvania, the Continental Army camped beside the Delaware River before returning to Perkeomen, where they had been stationed before the battle. [20] George Washington, with the help of other officers and informers, repeatedly tried to assess their losses and that of the British.