USA > Maryland > Governors of Maryland : from the Revolution to the year 1908 > Part 3
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During the years of America's struggle for Is lepeddedce the people of Maryland posent the administrative allurs er thli commonwealth - the bands of wien who were more ar hithe in the legichowy pull and io the courtroom than wow the bottleheld. The first and third governors -- Johnson And Paca- had been preeminently joints, whthough Mr. Johnson at one time had a leaning toward the war ospartident: Governor Les too, was wnachpiloted with Ils ble of a warrior, But when the com ceased, although the people of the dOOWJIAMA MAKIJIWd mind from the aria runt had been 02897-2851
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COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY H. E. BUCHHOLZ.
2I
WILLIAM SMALLWOOD
was regarded as a matter of great importance by both his parents and at a tender age he was sent to England, receiv- ing his preparatory training at Kendall and completing his studies at Eton. In the meanwhile Smallwood cultivated a passion for the life of a soldier, and upon his return to America engaged, though without distinction, in the French and Indian war. From this time until the beginning of the Revolution, Mr. Smallwood occupied only an incon- spicuous place in the province, but during these years he was being developed for the task which was to be imposed upon him by the struggling colonies. He was in his forty-third year when the war with England began, and while the echo of the first shot was yet resounding through the land he hurried to the field of action. On April 19, 1775, Lexington witnessed the initial locking of horns of the Brit- ish soldiery and the American colonists, and five days later William Smallwood, glorying in the title of colonel and com- manding 1444 men, left Annapolis for Boston to join the Revolutionary forces. Colonel Smallwood's regiment took part in the battle of Long Island, and two days later the Maryland regiment, then at Fort Putnam, was designated by Washington to cover his retreat into the lines below Fort Washington. The impetuosity of Colonel Small- wood prevented him from distinguishing between covering a retreat and making a charge, and he had the red coats on the run when Washington was forced to send a messenger after him and have his troops recalled.
Colonel Smallwood was not a humane leader. The sacri- ficing of men was to him a matter of little concern. In many of the engagements in which his command took part the passing of the smoke of battle revealed the sorrowful fact that the majority of his men had been slain. But he knew no such word as retreat, and with something like the unconcern of a god he could see the lines about him crumble
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GOVERNORS OF MARYLAND
away without for an instant changing his purpose of stand- ing firm. For example, at the battle of White Plains, after Brooks'regiment had "fled in confusion without more than a random scattering fire" when the British appeared, and the artillery followed, Smallwood's regulars and Reitzman's regiment of New Yorkers held their ground as unconcerned as if they constituted the entire Continental forces instead of a very small part of it. Although deserted on all sides, they stood like a rock in the midst of the conflict and "finally, cramped for room, they sullenly retired down the north side of the hill." The troops who then rejoined the Continental forces comprised but a minority of the two regiments, more than half of Smallwood's soldiers having been left dead upon the field while the daring com- mander himself was carried off, disabled by two wounds received in the last moments of the struggle. On October 23, 1776, Smallwood was commissioned brigadier-general, and his regiment was in the battles of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776; Trenton, December 26, 1776; and Princeton, January 3, 1777, and of its performance Wash- ington recorded: "Smallwood's troops had been reduced to a mere handful of men, but they took part in the engage- ment with their usual gallantry and won great renown." At Germantown, October 4, 1777, the Maryland Line retrieved the day and captured part of the British camp.
During the war General Smallwood developed to a remark- able degree the faculty of being a disagreeable man. When his quarrels with those who were supposed to be striving for the same purpose as himself are noted there arises a question whether he was less agreeable to encounter on the field of battle or in the barracks. He was strongly opposed to the appointment of foreigners as officers in the Continental army, and as a consequence he had several disagreements
23
WILLIAM SMALLWOOD
with distinguished warriors who had come from other lands to America's aid. The first encounter of this kind occurred in June, 1778, when Count Pulaski took up his headquar- ters in Baltimore and began to enlist men for "The Pulaski Legion." When Smallwood observed that men who should have come to him were drifting to Count Pulaski, he pro- tested to the council. But the council-fearing to hurt the count's feelings and not daring to ruffle Smallwood's- plead lack of jurisdiction. In 1780 the Maryland Line marched to the south, and here for some time persevered under General Gates. Although the operations in the south were not altogether successful from the American stand- point, congress was prompted, on October 14, 1780, form- ally to thank Brigadiers Smallwood and Gist and the offi- cers and soldiers of the Maryland and Delaware lines "for their bravery and good conduct displayed in the action of the 16th of August last, near Camden, in the state of South Carolina." But Camden was the burial ground of the fame of General Gates, and he was deposed, while General Greene
assumed command of the southern army. In September, 1780, Smallwood was made a major-general and some of his fellow-officers intimated that he was honored only because he had left no stone unturned in his fight for self-advance- ment. "At Salisbury," writes Colonel Williams, "120 or 130 miles from the scene of the late action, Smallwood took time to dictate those letters which he addressed to congress and in which he intimated the great difficulties he had encountered and the great exertions he had made to save a remnant of General Gates' army-letters which, with the aid of those he addressed to his friends in power, procured him, it is generally believed in the line, the rank of major- general in the army of the United States, and which prob- ably promoted the resolution of congress directing an inquiry into the conduct of General Gates."
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GOVERNORS OF MARYLAND
Upon the death of Baron de Kalb, which occurred several days after the battle of Camden, General Smallwood was promoted to command a division. But the removal of Gates brought him under Baron Steuben, and once more he found himself at odds with his fellow-officers. Small- wood refused to serve as subordinate to the foreigner and also demanded of congress that his own commission be dated two years back, upon penalty of losing him as an officer in the Continental forces if his request was not complied with. Washington went on record with an expression of displeasure at Smallwood's endeavor to engage Steuben in a controversy, while congress flatly refused to comply with Smallwood's demand; and yet he continued to serve, remaining in the army until November 15, 1783.
Smallwood was elected to congress in 1785, but before he could begin his duties in that body he was chosen, in No- vember of the same year, to succeed William Paca as state executive, and he served three terms of one year each as governor. During Smallwood's administration the country reached its low water mark as an independent nation. The colonies had granted very small power to the central gov- ernment, and even this little authority was not respected. The country was in a chaotic state, and throughout the provinces pessimism was widespread. The success of the American colonies as independent and republican states was regarded as a visionary thing, a bubble that had been punctured. It was during Smallwood's administration that the colonies were finally influenced to accept the con- stitution of the United States. A few weeks after the ques- tion of adopting the constitution was submitted to the people of the several states by congress, Smallwood con- vened the assembly, November 5, 1787, and while that body was in session the delegates to the constitutional convention were invited to appear before it and report. There was a
25
WILLIAM SMALLWOOD
strong opposition in the state against the constitution, led by Luther Martin, but finally, on April 28, 1788, the consti- tution was accepted. Smallwood's administration also witnessed the beginning of the work to improve the navi- gation of the Potomac, the settlement of the claims of British creditors and the devising of methods of paying the national debt.
Governor Smallwood was succeeded in 1788 by Gen. John Eager Howard, another Revolutionary hero, and retired to his estate in southern Maryland. As to his home life little can be said, since a bachelor is not supposed to have any home life, and Smallwood was never married. He died at Mattawoman, on Febuary 14, 1792. He requested that no stone should mark his grave, and it may have been due as much to his unpopularity in certain quarters as to any intention to respect his wish that up to a few years ago his final resting place was practically un- marked. A chestnut tree-sprung, it was claimed, from a nut that had been put into the soft mound of his freshly made grave-was for more than a century all that indicated where the body of Governor Smallwood lay. But on July 4, 1898, the Maryland Society, Sons of the American Revolu- tion, erected a plain granite block, five feet high and nearly square, over the warrior's grave in Charles county. No more appropriate symbol could have been chosen for the man.
V JOHN EAGER HOWARD
During the years of the Revolution there were practically no political parties of pronounced doctrine in America, since no reason appeared for their existence. Everybody-except of course, the tories-was supposed to belong to the party which was opposing England, and it was not until after the independence of the American states had been fully assured that the former subjects of England living in the provinces began to shift about for some form of political faith. It must not be inferred that none of them had previously entertained views upon government, nor must it be sup- posed that certain forms of government had not already been devised; but how highly speculative were these still imperfect political faiths is shown by the custom, prevail- ing in the first years under the constitution, which counte- nanced a member of each of the two leading political par- ties becoming, at the command of congress, bedfellows, one as president and the other as vice-president. At the close of the Revolution the outlook in America was serious, because the several commonwealths were suspicious of one another, and therefore in no frame of mind to delegate to the representatives of other states any considerable voice in the conduct of their own affairs, while a large part of the American people was favorable to a policy which should reserve to each commonwealth its individuality as a sover- eign state. This led to the formation, in 1787, of a party known as the federalist, which had as its aim the support of the proposed constitution of the United States. There also sprang up the anti-federalist party which was dis-
JOHN EAGER HOWARD 1788-1791
V JOHN FAGER HOWARD
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COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY H. E. BUCHHOLZ.
27
JOHN EAGER HOWARD
trustful of the expediency of placing in the hands of any central government large authority over the several states. The story of these two parties naturally concerns the reader who would follow the history of Maryland past the administration of Governor Smallwood. The first four state executives were men of no party; they may have had views upon government-they did, indeed, cultivate very decided views-but the opportunity for a man being a party politician did not arrive until about the close of Smallwood's administration, or in 1788, when Colonel Howard, a federalist, was elected to the executive office.
John Eager Howard was born at Belvedere, in Balti- more county, June 4, 1752, the son of Cornelius and Ruth (Eager) Howard. He was one of a vast army of young men, coming to maturity toward the outbreak of the Revolution, who had been trained simply for a life of ease. Private tutors hadbeen provided for him by an indulgent and well-to- do father, and from these he learned what he wanted to know and declined to study what did not appeal to him. When the first shot of the war was fired many of the wealthy young men of the country, who were ready always for a fox hunt or a skirmish, hied themselves to the scene of activity, and among them was young Howard. He had only a few years before reached maturity and was still but a stripling. It is recorded, that he expressed to a member of the com- mittee of safety a desire that he be permitted to join the rebels, and that friend promptly secured for him a commis- sion as colonel. Anecdotes, especially of the Revolutionary period, should be taken with more than a grain of salt, and yet the subsequent acts of Mr. Howard seem to give some plausibility to the rest of the story, which says that he con- fessed a distrust of his ability to fill the office of colonel, and insisted on being assigned instead to the position of captain. At all events when the "Flying Camp" moved northward
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GOVERNORS OF MARYLAND
Howard set forth to try his worth as a warrior. He was at the battle of White Plains on October 28, 1776, and in other smaller engagements. In December, when his term of service expired, he reënlisted, taking rank as a major in the Fourth Maryland. At the battle of Germantown, October 4, 1777, Howard assumed command of the regiment upon the disabling of Lieutenant-Colonel Hall. In June, 1779, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, his commission dating from March II. He accompanied the Maryland troops when they started for the Carolinas, in 1780, and was present at the disastrous battle of Camden.
Throughout these years Mr. Howard advanced steadily; and succeeded in attracting to himself some attention as an officer of considerable ability, but it was not until 1781, or in the latter part of the Revolution, that he really won fame. His name is linked inseparably with the story of the battle of Cowpens, for it was there that an apparent Amer- ican defeat was turned to an American victory, and the Mary- lander was the man who did the turning. Victories were needed to cheer the hearts of the discouraged colonists, and for the cheer which Howard's feat sent forth the people were quick in according gratitude.
On January 17, 1781, the British under Tarleton engaged the Continentals under General Morgan, including Howard's regiment. Morgan, observing that by the movement of the British army Howard's right was being exposed, ordered the latter to retreat. But before Howard could execute the order Tarleton began a charge. Colonel Howard seeing the enemy advance toward his regiment and feeling at his heart a twitching to be courteous and meet him halfway, disre- garded his orders, turned his men about and fired upon the enemy. Tarleton's men were unprepared for the shot which was poured in upon them and wavered in their advance. Their hesitancy was fatal, for General Howard, seeing them
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29
JOHN EAGER HOWARD
falter, commanded his men to charge with fixed bayonets the line from which he had been ordered to protect himself by a retreat. The enemy was hung almost to a man upon the American's bayonets; Cowpens was a victory and How- ard thenceforth a hero. General Morgan rode up to his daring subordinate and said: "You have done well, for you are successful; had you failed I should have shot you." Upon which Howard calmly responded: "Had I failed there would have been no need of shooting me."
A writer of the time is authority for the statement that Howard at that moment held in his hand the swords of seven British officers who had surrendered to him. But, of all the records of the affair there is none which wins as high admiration for the hero as a story which he himself related. It certifies that Howard, as daring as Smallwood while in action, possessed a depth of humanity that spoke of a heart even bigger than his courage. "My attention," wrote Howard, "was now drawn to an altercation of some of the men with an artilleryman, who appeared to make it a point of honor not to surrender his match. The men, provoked by his obstinacy, would have bayoneted him on the spot had I not interfered and desired them to spare the life of so brave a man. He then surrendered his match."
In the battle of Eutaw Springs, September 8, 1781, How- ard's regiment was reduced to thirty men while Howard, toward the close of the struggle, fell, severely wounded. A few months later Howard set out for his home and of the departing Marylander General Greene wrote: "My own obligations to him are great-the public's still more so. He deserves a statue of gold, no less than the Roman and Gre- cian heroes." Colonel Howard retired to his home in Baltimore county, but, like many of the soliders who found their occupation gone, he soon turned to politics as a means of employing his talents. He was a member of the Conti-
30
GOVERNORS OF MARYLAND
nental congress in 1787 and 1788, and in the latter year was elected governor of Maryland to succeed General Small- wood.
Mr. Howard appeared as the standard-bearer of a politi- cal body, which had not been the case with his predecessors in the executive office. He was very much a federalist and held to the principles of that party even up to the time when it opposed the second war with England. He served three terms of one year each as governor, being reelected in 1789 and 1790. During this period the state of Maryland cast her six electoral votes for Washington as the first president. Governor Howard's administration also wit- nessed preparations for the founding of a national capital, the Maryland assembly, voting, December 23, 1788, in favor of ceding a tract of land 10 miles square for the seat of the central government. When the legislature of Vir- ginia undertook to make a loan to the federal government for the purpose of erecting governmental buildings, the state of Maryland, 1789, provided for the sale of public lands to the amount of $72,000, the proceeds to be lent to the national government for the same purpose. At the close of his administration Colonel Howard retired to pri- vate life. In 1794 he was offered a position in the regular army with the rank of major-general, but declined it. The following year he was elected state senator and in 1796 he was chosen as the successor of Richard Potts in the United States senate. The unexpired term to which Howard was chosen was for one year, and at the termination of this short service he was reelected for a full term of six years, serving until 1803. Howard had been invited by Washing- ton in 1795 to become a member of his official family by accepting the portfolio of war, but was constrained to decline the office. .
Despite his natural inclination toward a military career
3I
JOHN EAGER HOWARD
and his political activities, Howard was a man who loved best the moments he spent at his own fireside. He had married, on May 18, 1787, Miss Margaret Chew of Phila- delphia. The Howards had five sons-almost all of whom won distinction in their state-and four daughters. Four of the boys, including the one named after Governor How- ard, were in the War of 1812-15, taking part in the battle of North Point. His grandson, also bearing his name, was in the Mexican War, while George Howard, another son, was elected governor. of Maryland. In 1814, while the British were occupying Washington, there was talk in Baltimore of capitulation. At this time Governor Howard organized a regiment of veterans, and, placing himself at their head, took the field, although he was not afforded opportunity to see much active service. Colonel Howard was a prominent figure in the councils of the federalist party until 1816, when that organization named him for vice-president. But the federalists' stand in the War of 1812-15 had been their undoing and Howard and his fellow candidates on the federal ticket were defeated. After that Colonel Howard was less active in public affairs. He spent his days in a quiet, peaceable, uneventful sort of life at Belvedere. Mrs. Howard died in 1824, and thereafter the old warrior and statesman was little seen in public. Early in October, 1827, he contracted a severe cold, and died on the twelfth of that month. His funeral was attended by a host of high dignitaries, including President Adams.
VI GEORGE PLATER
Since "all the world's a stage," it is not unreasonable to assume that even history in many parts is only a record of the performance of those who make-believe. Yet, though history's pages generally be filled with tales of the heroic and the sensational, here and there is found evidence of the pres- ence of humbler creatures, who seem to be there chiefly to afford a background for their less retiring contemporaries. Occasionally the reader in the Revolutionary period of American history finds a page across which flits, as if by the merest chance, one of these modest historical personages; but instead of being offended because of the apparently un- warranted intrusion,helearns towelcome it with more warmth than is given the appearance of many of the chief actors. And these quiet, unassuming men have their historic value. First of all, they bring home to him who surveys those times the fact that not all men were then conventional heroes. These commonplace characters serve, too, as ballast for a story that threatens sometimes to take on the aspect of myth. But to speak of one of the chief magistrates of Maryland as a commonplace man is, perhaps, to give offense; and therefore the critical biographer of Governor Howard's successor is apt to be offensive. Not that Mr. Plater was an incapable man, nor that as a statesman he revealed small ability; but the even tenor of his life and the absence of any- thing notable in a career that had so many opportunities for notable service, cause his public record to be completely overshadowed by the lives of most of the leaders of his day.
GEORGE PLATER 1791-1792
VI GEORGE PLATER
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COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY H. E. BUCHHOLZ.
33
GEORGE PLATER
George Plater was born at Sattorly, near Leonardtown, St. Mary's county, November 8, 1735. He was, therefore, at the time of the Revolution, one of the more mature citi- zens of the province as compared with the youths of John Eager Howard's stripe. His father, Colonel George Plater, had held among other public offices that of member of Lord Baltimore's council of state. The son was trained for the legal profession, but preparatory to taking up the study of law was graduated from William and Mary College (1753). As a lawyer he did not possess that passion for debate and appreciation of the spectacular that caused his fellows, of no greater mental caliber than he, to forge ahead of him. But his mind was well developed and he reverenced the law with a reverence that was little short of worship. Entering the political arena at Annapolis at a time when the public voice was beginning to be tinged with accusations and denunciations of England, Mr. Plater was almost bound to become infected with the germs of "opposition." A lawyer in the decade or so preceding the war for independ- ence had no surer way of informing the people that he was prepared to receive clients than by taking the stump in more or less intelligent discussion of England's disregard of the colonies' rights. But George Plater was never one of the violent fire-eaters.
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