USA > Maryland > Leading Events of Maryland History: With Topical Analyses, References, and questions for original thought and research, revised and enlarge > Part 9
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Throughout the whole of this period the Maryland troops fully sustained the reputation which they had won at Long Island. Many marks of confidence were shown them by the
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general, and they were frequently given posts of unusual re- sponsibility and danger. A member of Washington's staff declares, "The Virginia and Maryland troops bear the palm." The Maryland soldiers fought gallantly at the defense of Fort Washington, and in almost every other engagement of the cam- paign. The soldiers of the old Maryland Line,1 originally numbering fif- teen hundred men, had been reduced almost to nothing.
During the retreat through New Jersey, Con- E gress became alarmed for its safety, and removed "OLD CONGRESS HALL from Philadelphia to Bal- CONTINENTAL CONGRESS timore, which thus be- came for a time the capital. It was here that extraordinary powers were conferred on Wash- ington, enabling him to conduct the war success- fully. Congress met in a Tablet on the Site of Old Congress Hall From a photograph building on the southwest corner of Baltimore (at that time called Market street) and Sharp streets. In 1894 the site of "Old Congress Hall" was marked by a bronze tablet, through the efforts of the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
1 The regular infantry of Maryland, as distinguished from her militia, was called the Maryland Line.
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70. Second Attempt to Conquer New York and Hold the Hudson. - An elaborate campaign for the year 1777 was now planned by the British. An army under General Burgoyne was to march down from Canada, capture Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, and proceed to Albany ; a smaller force was to march eastward from Oswego and unite with Burgoyne; while the main army under General Howe was to ascend the Hudson and meet Burgoyne at Albany.
General Howe concluded that he would have time to go down and capture the "rebel capital," Philadelphia, before starting northward to meet Burgoyne. The skill of Washington pre- vented his marching through New Jersey, and finally he put his troops aboard ship and sailed down the coast and into the Chesapeake. Landing his forces at the head of the bay, he began his march upon Philadelphia. Washington, though outnumbered nearly two to one, gave him battle at the Brandywine creek. The Americans were compelled to retreat, but the wonderful skill of their general detained the British two weeks on the march of twenty-six miles. Washington planned a brilliant attack on the British army encamped at Germantown, about six miles from Philadelphia, but through a mistake the battle was unfortunately lost. The morning was dark and foggy, and one American brigade, mistaking another for the enemy, fiercely attacked it. Great confusion ensued, and soon a general retreat began.
In the meantime Washington's skillful detention of Howe had borne glorious fruit in the North, for Burgoyne's army was cut off and obliged to surrender. This is regarded as the decisive vic- tory of the war; for although the war did not end until several years afterward, yet the first and best plan of the British for conquering the colonies was defeated, while France decided to enter into an alliance with us and send ships and men to our aid.
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Washington's army now went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, and not being well supplied either with food or clothing, the soldiers suffered fearful hardships. In June, 1778, General Clinton had succeeded General Howe as commander of the British, evacuated Philadelphia, and begun a retreat to New York. Washington attacked the retreating army near Mon- mouth. The traitor, Charles Lee, had been exchanged, and was again in command; he took advantage of his position to order a shameful retreat at the moment of victory, thus spoiling Wash- ington's plan and nearly causing a defeat before the latter could re-form the army. For this Lee was afterward tried and removed from the army. Little further of importance occurred at the North.
In this series of battles the sol- diers of Maryland served with their usual distinction. In the battle of Germantown they fought with the greatest daring, being Nathaniel Ramsey the first troops engaged and the From a painting in the gallery of the Maryland Historical Society last to give up the struggle. Fort Mifflin, guarding the approach by water to Philadelphia, was heroically defended by Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Smith of Maryland, until it became absolutely untenable. He was voted a sword by Congress for his gallantry. At the battle of Mon- mouth, when Washington met the body of disorderly fugitives under Lee, he called for an officer to hold the enemy in check until he could form his troops for action. Colonel Nathaniel Ramsey of Baltimore offered himself with the words, " I will
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stop them or fall." Marching at the head of his troops, Ramsey held the British in check until the American army was formed for the attack ; the British were then, after a stubborn resist- ance, slowly pushed from the field, and again the American army owed its salvation to the troops of Maryland. During the terrible winter at Valley Forge the Maryland troops were stationed at Wilmington, where they lived in much greater com- fort than their unfortunate comrades.
While the troops so liberally furnished by Maryland were thus serving with distinction in the patriot cause, the state suffered severely at home. Early in the war the people were greatly annoyed by Lord Dunmore, who had been the royal governor of Virginia. Angry at being driven out of the country, he set on foot dangerous plots, and sailing about the bay, in a British ship on which he had taken refuge, he plundered and distressed the people to the limit of his power. Other depredations of the British, and the voyage of General Howe up the Chesapeake when on his way to capture Philadelphia, kept the people in nearly constant alarm and made it necessary to keep militia on duty for their protection. The state also suffered from a dangerous rising of the Tories, as those who sided with England were called, in Somerset and Worcester counties. The insur- rection, however, was promptly suppressed by a body of troops under General Smallwood and Colonel Gist.
THE WAR IN THE SOUTH
71. Second Plan of Conquering the Country. - The British now tried their second way of conquering the Americans, which was to go down to the southern extremity of the country and reduce the states to obedience, one by one. For a while it seemed as if they must be successful. Georgia was overrun and
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the royal governor again placed in control. The city of Charles- ton, with an army under General Lincoln, was captured by the British general, Sir Henry Clinton. The whole of South Carolina was soon reduced, and Clinton returned to New York, leaving Lord Cornwallis in command.
72. The Campaign of General Gates. - A new army was raised, but unfortunately the command was given to General Gates, a thoroughly incapable officer. In the famous campaign which resulted in Burgoyne's sur- render, he had been placed in command shortly before the crowning victory, and so had managed to reap the glory that had been won by others. After committing a great many follies, against the advice of his officers, Gates met the British general at Camden; each general had started out to surprise the other, and the armies met in the night. In the morning the battle commenced, and resulted in one of the most terrible defeats ever inflicted upon an American army.
The two armies met between huge swamps that protected the flanks of each. The right wing of the American army was com- Statue of De Kalb, Annapolis From a photograph manded by Baron de Kalb (a Ger- man soldier who had volunteered in the cause of American lib- erty); it was composed of the Second Maryland regiment and
DEKALE
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a Delaware regiment in front, and the First Maryland regiment a short distance in the rear. The left wing was composed of Virginia and North Carolina militia under Generals Stevens and Caswell. This wing, on being charged by the British right under Colonel Webster, instantly gave way, the men throwing away their guns and fleeing with hardly a shot. Gates was carried away by the panic-stricken mob, and Colonel Webster, leaving the cavalry under Tarleton to cut down the fugitives, turned upon the devoted Marylanders. Throwing his victorious column upon the First regiment, he slowly pushed it from the field, after the most determined resistance. The Second Mary- land regiment, in the meantime, had repelled the attack of the British left wing under Lord Rawdon. In a splendid bayonet charge under Major John Eager How- ard, they had even broken through his lines, and were, for the moment, victo- rious. But they were now attacked in flank by the troops of Colonel Webster, and Cornwallis threw his whole army upon them. De Kalb fell dying from eleven wounds, and the remnant of the brave fellows made their escape through the marsh where the cavalry could not follow.
Nathanael Greene After a painting by Trumbull
73. The Campaigns of General Greene. - After the terrible rout at Camden, affairs in the South seemed desperate. But a new army was presently raised, and the command intrusted (October, 1780) to Nathanael Greene, a general scarcely inferior in skill and energy to Washington himself.
A detachment of Greene's army under General Morgan won the battle of Cowpens, after a brilliant engagement. Greene
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himself executed a masterful retreat into Virginia, and having led his adversary far into a hostile country, faced about and offered him battle at Guilford Courthouse. The British managed to stand their ground, but were so badly cut up that they were obliged to retreat into Virginia. Leav- ing Cornwallis behind him, Greene now returned to the Carolinas, and after a brilliant campaign captured every important post. In the battles of Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs he was virtually the victor, and by September, 1781, had completely re- gained South Carolina with the ex- ception of Charleston. Cornwallis, in Virginia, allowed himself to be shut up in Yorktown by Lafayette,1 where- Marquis de Lafayette From a French print upon Washington made a wonderful march from the Hudson river to the York and, with the aid of the French fleet, compelled his surrender (October 19, 1781). This practically ended the war.
74. Maryland Troops in the South. - In the southern cam- paigns the Maryland Line confirmed and enhanced the reputa- tion won in the North, but they also did much more. They may fairly be said to have taken the lead, and to have played the decisive part in this concluding struggle of the war, a fact which a very slight knowledge of their services would make perfectly plain. The heroic deeds of the Maryland troops at Camden have already been described. In Morgan's victory at the Cow- pens they took an even more prominent part, under the famous leader, John Eager Howard. When the force under Morgan
1 The Marquis de Lafayette was a noble and unselfish young Frenchman who came to America to help the people win their independence.
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was detached, Cornwallis sent out the famous cavalry com- mander, Colonel Tarleton, to intercept it and to capture or destroy it.
Morgan retreated before his adversary to a long, rising slope near some inclosures known as the Cowpens. Here he faced about and formed his troops for battle. In front he placed the militia of Georgia and Carolina ; on the brow of a hill one hun- dred and fifty yards in the rear of these " he stationed the splen- did Maryland brigade which De Kalb had led at Camden ; " behind these on a second hill was placed the cavalry under Colonel William Washington. The militia behaved well, and after firing several deadly volleys, retired, forming again in the rear. The British now fiercely attacked the second line, under Colonel John Eager Howard. Being superior in numbers, they extended their line so as to threaten Howard's flanks, whereupon the line began to retire. Thinking them in full retreat, the British pressed on in confusion. But the Marylanders, at a word of command from Howard, suddenly faced about, poured a murderous fire into the enemy's ranks, and, came down upon them in a furious bayonet charge. Taken in flank and rear at the same time by the militia and the cavalry under Colonel Washington, the remains of the British army surrendered, Tarleton himself narrowly escaping. This is regarded as the most brilliant battle of the war, for Morgan had actually surrounded and captured a superior force in open field. It is therefore a matter for great pride that the decisive part was played by the troops of Mary- land and their gallant commander. When Congress voted a gold medal to Morgan, a silver medal was voted to Colonel Howard.
In the wonderful retreat of General Greene to Virginia, it was of the highest importance that a body of reliable troops, ably commanded, should protect the rear of the army, and hold the
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British in check, while the main army made good its retreat. The difficult and perilous post of honor was intrusted to Colonel Otho Holland Williams of Maryland, with a body of Marylanders under Howard, and some other troops. In the performance of this difficult and dangerous duty, Williams and his troops suffered terrible hardships, but the duty was performed most successfully, and they won. the highest praise for the manner in which it was accom- plished. The battle came at last at Guilford Courthouse. The main line was formed of Maryland and Virginia regulars, who bore the brunt of the fight, and the chief advantage was gained by a splendid bayonet charge of the Maryland troops under Colonels John Gunby and John Eager How- ard, in which the most Equestrian Statue of John Eager Howard, Washington Place, Baltimore From a photograph dauntless courage was shown.
At the battle of Hobkirk's Hill, the Maryland troops again played the most conspicuous part. While the troops were ad- vancing to the charge, Captain William Beatty, a favorite officer, was shot dead at the head of his company. To the confusion which resulted and the order of Colonel Gunby to fall back and re-form, have been attributed the defeat of the American army.
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As a matter of fact, the Maryland troops merely fell back a few rods and then rallied, while the other troops (on their right and left) had fallen into disorder about the same time, and were re- formed on the line of the Maryland regiment. So far from losing the battle, therefore, the Maryland troops by their steadiness en- abled Greene to make an orderly retreat. At the siege of Ninety- Six, a desperate assault was made by a party of Maryland and
Otho Holland Williams
From the painting in the gallery of the Maryland Historical Society
Virginia troops, in which five out of six of their number were killed or wounded. In the final battle at Eutaw Springs our gallant troops fittingly crowned their noble work. At the critical mo- ment General Greene issued the order, " Let Williams advance and sweep the field with his bayo- nets." Under Williams and How- ard the heroic band instantly advanced in a furious charge, and the finest infantry of England was swept from the field.
General Greene spoke of the officers and men of the Maryland Line in terms of the highest praise. In a letter to General Small- wood he writes, " The Maryland Line made a charge that exceeded anything I ever saw." In another letter he said of John Eager Howard, "He deserves a statue of gold, no less than the Roman and Grecian heroes."
75. Naval Operations. - During the Revolutionary War the United States never possessed a navy worthy of the name, though a few battles were fought and immense damage was inflicted upon the commerce of the enemy by American priva-
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teers.1 In this respect Maryland fully supported her military record. Baltimore fitted out more privateers than any other American city. These vessels were famous for their speed and the skill with which they were handled ; they captured British vessels almost in their own harbors in England. It has been claimed with some reason that Balti- more was the most zealous and patriotic city in the country, in point of damage inflicted on the enemy.
In 1782, Lieutenant Joshua Barney of Maryland was appointed to the command of the Hyder Ally. He shortly afterward fell in with a British sloop-of-war, the General Monk, a vessel better armed and better manned than his own. Notwithstanding this fact, Barney captured the General Joshua Barney From a print in possession of the Maryland Historical Society Monk and carried her a prize to Phil- adelphia, after an engagement which has been spoken of as "one of the most brilliant that ever occurred under the American flag." Commodore Nicholson and other Marylanders also achieved distinction.
76. Close of the War ; Women of Maryland. - With the sur- render of Cornwallis the war virtually ended. By invitation of the state, Annapolis became temporarily the capital of the United States. There, in the Senate Chamber of the State House, December 23, 1783, George Washington surrendered his commission to Congress. It was a sad and impressive cere- mony, as the noble and unselfish chief, after having led his country successfully through the long war to the achievement
1 A privateer is a privately owned vessel which has been authorized by a belligerent gov- ernment to capture ships and supplies of the enemy.
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of her independence, calmly resigned his high position, and asked only to be allowed to return to the privacy and quietude of his home.
The narrative of the war would not be complete without a mention of the noble work of the women of Maryland. Wash- ington wrote a personal letter of thanks to Mrs. Mary Lee (wife of Governor Lee of Maryland) for the efforts of the women of the state for the relief of the destitute southern army. It is said that during a ball, given in honor of Lafayette as he passed through Baltimore, the general appeared sad, and on being ques- tioned by one of the ladies as to the cause replied, " I cannot enjoy the gayety of the scene while so many of the poor soldiers are in want of clothes." "We will supply them," was the reply of the fair querist, and next morning the ball-room was trans- formed into a clothing manufactory. The ladies of the city, old and young, gathered to the task, and much was done to relieve the suffering of the soldiers.
77. Maryland's Part in the Winning of Independence. - In the great struggle for independence Maryland had indeed borne a noble part, and one of prime importance. In proportion to size and population, she furnished far more than her just share of soldiers to the army. We have mentioned some of the impor- tant work done by the troops of Maryland, but not all such ser- vices have been mentioned, by any means. For instance, a splendidly equipped body of riflemen, under the command of Captain Michael Cresap, was raised and sent north to join the army early in the war; a large number of Marylanders joined the body of troops raised in Maryland by Count Pulaski, a Polish nobleman who had volunteered in the American cause; and in minor engagements many notable exploits were performed by the officers and men of Maryland that have not been related here.
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Copyright, 1904, by A. W. Elson & Co., Boston.
Washington Resigning his Commission From the original painting by Trumbull, Yale Gallery, New Haven
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The courage and devotion of the troops of Maryland, the skill of their officers, their frequent and telling use of the bay- onet, and their inestimable services to their country, have already been related. It only remains to say that the record of the state in other particulars was just as good ; while she was so liberal in her supplies of troops she was equally energetic and patriotic in other respects. To the requests of Congress and of Wash- ington for food, clothing, and other necessary supplies, the state replied as promptly and as cheerfully as to the demands for men, which is a good deal more than can be said for some of her sister states.
Thus on the part of her sons and her daughters alike did Maryland nobly play her part in the great struggle for liberty, and in the fruits of the glorious victory none was more deserv- ing to share than she.
TOPICS AND QUESTIONS
67. The Revolutionary War.
Explain the change of affairs wrought by the Declaration of Indepen- dence.
Who was the American commander-in-chief ? Describe his character. What great advantage had the Americans ?
Describe the two plans of the British for conquering the country.
68. The Battle of Long Island.
General plan of battle ; its results.
Position of the Maryland troops ; their noble sacrifice.
69. From Long Island to Morristown. Services of the old Maryland Line.
The capital temporarily removed from Philadelphia to Baltimore.
70. Second Attempt to Conquer New York and Hold the Hudson. Plans for the year 1777. Capture of Philadelphia.
The surrender of Burgoyne.
Philadelphia evacuated ; battle of Monmouth.
Describe the services of Marylanders at Germantown; Fort Mifflin ; Monmouth.
Describe the difficulties of the state at home.
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71. Second Plan of Conquering the Country.
Success of the plan at first.
72. The Campaign of General Gates.
Describe the battle of Camden, and the part taken by the troops of Maryland. .
73. The Campaigns of General Greene.
Greene's skill as a general ; what he accomplished.
Surrender of Cornwallis ; its importance.
74. Maryland Troops in the South.
What was the general character of the services of the Maryland troops in the South ?
Describe the battle of Cowpens, and the part taken by Maryland soldiers.
What important duty was assigned to Otho Holland Williams, and how was it performed ?
Describe the services of Marylanders at Guilford Courthouse ; Hobkirk's Hill; the siege of Ninety-Six ; Eutaw Springs.
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