Washington's Immortals

by Patrick K. O'Donnell

  22 “stamp’d all that prov’d good.” Ibid.

  22 “vile trash.” R. Beall to Council of Safety, May 29, 1776, MSA, 11:452.

  22 “of the guns which were in the hands of the minute Company.” “Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 29, 1775 to July 6, 1776,” MSA, 11:212.

  23 “very indifferent, indeed . . . worse one.” Ibid., 11:221.

  23 “very uneasy . . . with Cloaths.” T. Smyth to Maryland Council of Safety, letter, April 9, 1776, MSA.

  23 Biographical detail on Jack Steward from Francis R. Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1914), 467.

  23 “You only live once.” Steward Papers, MHS.

  23 Information about gunpowder from James M. Potts, French Covert Action in the American Revolution (New York: iUniverse Inc., 2005), 33.

  23 “take the most . . . the province.” John E. Selby and Edward M. Riley, Dunmore (Williamsburg: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1977), 55.

  24 These efforts were . . . and arrows. Helen Augur, The Secret War of Independence (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1955), 65.

  25–25 “Deserted. From the . . . forty shillings.” Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, March 29, 1775.

  Chapter 4: America’s First Civil War

  26 “it was better . . . they were.” “Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 29, 1775 to July 6, 1776,” MSA, 11:309.

  26 “My brave boys . . . be stretched.” Ibid.

  26 “was satisfied he was right.” Ibid.

  27 “I confess . . . myself carfully.” Ibid., 11:310.

  28 Information about colonial debts from Kevin Phillips, 1775: A Good Year for Revolution (New York: Penguin Group, 2012), 108.

  28 “was an ardent . . . a Tory.” A. A. Gunby, Colonel John Gunby of the Maryland Line (Cincinnati: Robert Clark Company, 1902), 24–25.

  28 “one of the most . . . Gen. Smallwood.” Salisbury (Maryland) Times, September 7, 1959, Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture at Salisbury University.

  29 “I am determined . . . of England.” Ibid.

  29 “a name to . . . endure oppression.” Gunby, Colonel John Gunby, 24–25.

  29 “The worthy proprietor . . . fertile territory.” New, Maryland Loyalists in the American Revolution, 20.

  29–30 “shamefully misrepresents facts . . . SYNONYMOUS TERMS.” James ­Chalmers (Candidus), Plain Truth (Philadelphia: R. Bell, 1776).

  30 “repel force by force.” Ibid.

  Chapter 5: The Otter

  33 “becoming, subsequently, on the most friendly terms.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library. The author painstakingly transcribed the handwritten papers, which were a biography written in the third person.

  34 “We hear that . . . you can.” “Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 29, 1775 to July 6, 1776,” MSA, 11:201.

  34–35 “moved with astonishing . . . with Men.” Ibid., 11:236.

  35 “was done without . . . inconsiderate midshipman.” Ibid.

  35 “We cannot sufficiently . . . our power.” Ibid., 11:226.

  36 “It evidently appears . . . our Enemies.” Ibid., 11:334.

  Chapter 6: The Armada

  37 “a wood of pine trees trimmed.” Daniel McCurtin, “Journal of the Times at the Siege of Boston,” in Papers Related to the Maryland Line during the Revolution, Thomas Balch, ed. (Philadelphia: Printed for the Seventy-Six Society, 1857), 40.

  37 “I declare, at . . . was afloat.” Ibid.

  37 Part of a small advance group. Two companies of Marylanders, including a main figure in this book, Otho Holland Williams, took part in the siege of Boston.

  38 “The Congress have . . . of tyranny.” John Hancock to the Convention of Maryland, letter, July 4, 1776, from Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, 525–26.

  38 “I do therefore . . . defend ourselves.” Ibid.

  39 “silent as a rock.” Chernow, Washington: A Life, 239.

  39 “had no objection . . . enjoyed madam.” David McCollough, 1776 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), 75.

  40 “a shy bitch.” Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy, The Men Who Lost America (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013), 214.

  40 Information on terms of enlistment from Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 33.

  41 “the most arrogant army in the world.” A. Graydon, Memoirs of His Own Time, J. S. Littell, ed. (Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1846), 208.

  41 “Their army is . . . motley crew.” Michael Stephenson, Patriot Battles: How the War of Independence Was Fought (New York: HarperCollins, 2007), 20.

  41 Information on purchase of commissions and British troops’ experience from Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 34; and Sylvia R. Frey, The British Soldier in America (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981), 135.

  42 “For men on . . . deeply believed.” Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 50.

  42 “leaping, running, climbing . . . remarkable rapidity.” Bennet Cuthbertson, Cuthbertson’s System, for the Complete Interior Management and Œconomy of a Battalion of Infantry (Briston: A. Gray, 1776), 191.

  43 “two pistols, a short-barreled carbine, and a long cavalry sword.” Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 36.

  44 “any disgrace which . . . cruel misfortune.” James Browne, A History of the Highlands and of the Highland Clans (London, Edinburgh, and Dublin: A. Fullarton, 1854), 133.

  44 “the largest suppliers . . . most expensive.” Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 52.

  45 “Never in this . . . them rich.” Johann Ewald, Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal, Joseph P. Tustin, ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979), 118.

  46 “The time is . . . this Army.” Chernow, Washington: A Life, 212.

  46 “The whole army . . . take it.” Henry Onderdone Jr., ed., Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties with an Account of the Battle of Long Island, and the British Prisons and Prison-Ships at New-York (New York: Leavitt & Company, 1849), 133–34.

  46 Note on Marylanders in New York: An independent company of Marylanders took part in the siege of Boston and therefore arrived in Manhattan before Smallwood or the Flying Camp.

  46 “They met, they talked, they parted.” Ambrose Serle, The American Journal of Ambrose Serle, 1776–1778, Edward H. Tatum Jr., ed. (San Marino, CA: Huntington Library, 1940), 70.

  Chapter 7: Maryland Goes to War

  47 “Never did a . . . hunting-shirts.” “Account of Smallwood’s Regiment in Philadelphia,” in George Washington Park Custis, Mary Randolph Custis Lee, and Benson John Lossing, Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington (New York: Derby and Jackson, 1860), 265.

  47 “Colonel Smallwood’s battalion . . . the Union.” John Thomas Scharf, The Chronicles of Baltimore (Baltimore: Turnbull Brothers, 1874), 265.

  47–48 “was obliged . . . the Service.” Washington to Robert Morris, superintendent of finance, letter, January 29, 1783, in John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745–1799, Volume 26, January 1, 1783–June 10, 1783 (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1939), 79.

  48 “Having fondness for . . . the revolution.” Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family, Volume 5, Lillian Miller, ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000), 119.

  48 “She said she . . . to her.” Ibid., 123.

  48 “You can aid . . . seen before.” Ibid., 124.

  49 “We are advised . . . the Ospitals.” Sands Collection, Williams Sands letter, August 14, 1776, MSA SC 2095.

  49 Percentage of army listed as sick from Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 87.

  4
9 “typically easing themselves in the ditches of the fortifications.” Nathanael Greene, General Orders, July 28, 1776, in Papers of Nathanael Greene, 1776, Richard Showman, ed. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989), 1:278.

  50 “The whores (by information) . . . one another.” John J. Gallagher, Battle of Brooklyn, 1776 (New York: Da Capo Press, 1995), 79.

  50 Details on prostitute population from Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 86.

  50 Details on whore’s march from Christopher Ward, The War of the Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1952). 123–25.

  51 “We shall have . . . our all.” Council to Maryland Deputies, August 16, 1776, MSA, 12:211–13.

  51 “the amenity of . . . of friends.” Thomas Wyatt, Memoirs of the General, Commodores, and Other Commanders Who Distinguished Themselves in the American Army and Navy (Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1848), 78.

  51 “deserves a statue . . . Grecian heroes.” A Memoir of the Late Col. John Eager Howard, Reprinted from the Baltimore Gazette, October 15, 1827 (Baltimore: Kelly, Hedian & Piet, 1863), 4.

  51 “was apptd. an Ensign . . . 3d July.” Papers of Captain William Beatty, MHS.

  52 “tall and brawny . . . genuine courage.” Balch, Papers Related to the Maryland Line, 46-48.

  Chapter 8: The Storm Begins

  53 “In a few . . . every side.” Henry P. Johnson, The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn (Brooklyn, NY: Long Island Historial Society, 1878), 113.

  53 “the tips of . . . if roasted.” McCullough, 1776, 156.

  53 “ships and vessels . . . the rain.” Serle, American Journal, 70.

  53–54 “The peach and . . . readily apparent.” Bruce Burgoyne, trans. and ed., An Anonymous Hessian Diary (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1980), 54–55.

  54 “regaled themselves with . . . trees together.” Serle, American Journal, 71–73.

  54 “The Enemy being . . . [by the] lines.” Mordecai Gist, letter, Camp New York, August 1776, New-York Historical Society (NYHS).

  54 “over desire of being popular.” George Washington to Congress, letter, June 17, 1776 in James Thomas Flexner, George Washington (New York: Little, Brown, 1965), 6:112.

  54 “carts and horses . . . in tumult.” Philip Vickers Fithian, “August 25, 1776,” in Philip Vickers Fithian Journal, 1773–1776 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1934), 218.

  55 “A few more . . . in America.” Henry Clinton, The American Rebellion: Sir Henry Clinton’s Narrative of His Campaigns, 1775–1782, William B. Willcox, ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1954), 19.

  55 “The distinction between . . . the latter.” George Washington to Israel Putnam, letter, August 25, 1776 in Flexner, George Washington, 6:126–27.

  55 “a continuous barrier . . . be sustained.” Henry P. Johnston, Memoirs of the Long Island Historical Society (Brooklyn, NY: Long Island Historical Society, 1878), 3:143.

  58 “at all hazards . . . the wood.” George Washington to Israel Putnam, letter, August 25, 1776.

  Chapter 9: The Battle of Brooklyn

  59 Details on the devil’s footprint from Whittemore, Heroes of the American Revolution, xiv.

  60 “Now you are . . . the enemy.” Onderdone, Revolutionary Incidents, 138–39.

  61 “overweight, rheumatic, vain, pompous, gluttonous inebriate.” Paul David Nelson, William Alexander, Lord Stirling (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1987), 88.

  61 “I fully expected . . . our lines.” Johnston, Memoirs of the Long Island Historical Society, 2:357.

  61–62 “We began our . . . the attack.” “Extract of a letter from a gentleman from Maryland,” New York, August 30, 1776, in Peter Force’s American Archives (Washington, DC, 1837–53), 5th series, 1:1231–32; Papers of Mordecai Gist, MHS.

  62 “with a Red and angry Glare.” “Extract of a letter”; Papers of Mordecai Gist, New-York Historical Society.

  62 “immediately advanced and . . . the front.” “Extract of a letter”; Papers of Mordecai Gist, NYHS.

  62 “immediately drew up . . . English taste.” Unknown (Nathaniel Ramsay), “Extract of a Letter from New-York, Dated September 1, 1776,” in Journal of the Transactions of August 27, 1776, upon Long-Island, Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 2:107–8.

  62 “Our men stood . . . our number.” Ibid.

  62–63 “We gave them . . . touched any.” Captain Enoch Anderson, Personal Recollections (Wilmington: Historical Society of Delaware, 1895), 121.

  63 “[Grant] may have . . . mill pond.” William Duer, The Life of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling (New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1847), 102.

  63 “Our men behaved . . . side ceased.” “Extract of a letter from a gentleman from Maryland,” New York, August 30, 1776, Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 1:1231–32.

  63 “We soon heard . . . our camp.” Ibid.

  64 “with colors flying . . . their bayonets.” Christopher Longstreth Ward, The Delaware Continentals, 1776–1783 (Literary Licensing, 2012), 37.

  64 Details on bayoneting of stragglers from Henry R. Stiles, A History of the City of Brooklyn (Brooklyn, NY, 1867), 1:274.

  64 “ten or fifteen grenadiers.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.

  64 “that the left . . . for stragglers.” Ibid.

  64 “When the regiment . . . in line.” Ibid.

  64–65 “We soon fell . . . in ambuscade.” “Extract of a Letter from a Marylander, Dated New York, August 30, 1776,” Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 1:1231–32.

  65 “They entirely overshot . . . I made.” “Extract of a Letter from a Marylander, Dated New York, August 28, 1776,” Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 7:615.

  65 “came to the marsh . . . brisk fire.” Onderdone, Revolutionary Incidents, 146.

  65 “During this interval . . . a marsh.” “Extract of a Letter from a Marylander, Dated New York, August 30, 1776,” Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 1:1231–32.

  65 Details about bridge from Scharf, History of Maryland, 246.

  65 “rather corpulent.” O’Shaughnessy, The Men Who Lost America, 249.

  66 “I found it . . . the creek.” Lord Stirling to General Washington, letter, August 29, 1776, Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 1:1245.

  66 “We were then . . . our battalion.” “Extract of a Letter from a Marylander, Dated New York, August 28, 1776,” Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 7:615.

  67 “We continued the . . . several times.” There’s a conflict between Gist’s and Stirling’s accounts regarding the number of charges. Stirling, letter to George Washington, Stirling Papers, New-York Historical Society.

  67 “our little line . . . second attack.” “Extract of a Letter from a Marylander, Dated New York, August 30, 1776,” Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 1:1231–32.

  67 “Our men fought with more than Roman valor.” Unknown (Nathaniel Ramsay), “Extract of a Letter from New-York, Dated September 1, 1776,” in Journal of the Transactions of August 27, 1776, upon Long-Island, Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 2:107–8; Onderdone, Revolutionary Incidents, 147.

  67 “encouraged and animated . . . invincible resolution,” “Extract of a Letter from a Marylander, Dated New York, August 30, 1776,” Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 1:1231–32.

  67 “Surrounded on all . . . and confusion.” Ibid.

  67–68 “The Hessians and . . . their hands.” Onderdone, Revolutionary Incidents, 138.

  68 “We were greatly . . . was decided.” Ibid.

  68 “My captain was . . . was taken.” Pension application of William McMillan, NARA.

  69 “Major Gist [and his men] . . . them again.” “Extract of a Letter from a Marylander, Dated New York, August 28, 1776,” Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th seri
es, 7:615.

  69 “Gen. Washington wrung . . . day lose!’” Maryland Gazette, January 9, 1772–September 10, 1779; “Mordecai Gist,” Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series).

  69 “out of the water . . . water-rats.” Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 16.

  69 “Most of those . . . their lives.” Smallwood Papers, MHS.

  69 “He and a sergeant . . . not swim.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.

  69 “hold up his . . . his mouth.” Charles Willson Peale, The Autobiography of Charles Willson Peale, in The Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family, Lillian B. Miller and Sidney Hart, eds. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2000), 5:123.

  69–70 “[My father spoke] . . . his head.” Pension application of Bryan Philpot, NARA.

  70 Details about decapitation from pension applications of Patrick Sims and Bryan Philpot, NARA.

  70 “A party retreated . . . safe in.” “Extract of a Letter from a Marylander, Dated New York, August 30, 1776,” Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 1:1231–32.

  70 “The men were . . . they could.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.

  70 “Captain Veazey is . . . are missing.” Unknown (Nathaniel Ramsay), “Extract of a Letter from New-York.”

  70 “torn with shot.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 41.

  70–71 “soon found it . . . the Hessians.” Stirling Papers, NYHS.

  71 “General Stirling fought like a wolf.” Cornwallis Papers, UK Public Record Office (PRO).

  71 “an hour, more . . . its history.” Thomas W. Field, The Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn, NY: Long Island Historical Society, 1869), 208.

  Chapter 10: Escape from Long Island

  72 “The enemy came . . . has begun,” “Maryland Soldier’s Letter,” Peter Force’s American Archives and Maryland Gazette, September 5, 1776.

  72 Details on killed and missing from Onderdone, Revolutionary Incidents, 146.

  72 “It required repeated . . . the attempt.” Howe’s Memoirs in Memoirs of the Long Island Historical Society (Brooklyn, NY: Long Island Historical Society, 1869), 2:378; also found in George Trevelyan, The American Revolution (London: C. J. Fox, 1899), 1:311.