CHAPTER XXII. THE decisive step having been taken, Maryland at once proceeded to secure the independence she had declared, by strengthening her military force and placing it at the disposal of congress. The convention determined to raise 3,405 men-the proportion authorized by congress-to form a flying camp to act with the militia of Pennsylvania and Delaware in service in the middle department, (from New York to Maryland, both included,) until the 1st of December following. This force was to be divided into four battalions of nine companies each, of which nine were to be furnished by Frederick County, five by Anne Arundel, four by Baltimore, three by Prince George's, two each from Charles, Harford, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's and Caroline, and one each from St. Mary's, Calvert and Talbot; the whole to be commanded by Brigadier-General Thomas Johnson, Jr.1 Ten thousand pounds was also appropriated for the erection of fortifications on Greenbury's, Horn and Windmill Point, and other places adjacent to the City of Annapolis. A sum of money was advanced to Dr. Alexander Warfield for the purpose of carrying on a nitre manufactory. And to repress toryism, it was enacted that if any inhabitant of the province should, after the 5th of August following, levy war against the United Colonies or any of them, or should adhere "to any person or persons bearing arms or employed in the On the 4th of July, the convention "being of the opinion that it is of very great importance to the welfare of this province, that it should not be deprived of the advice and assistance of the said Thomas Johnson in the public councils of the united colonies, and that his place can be supplied with less inconvenience in the military than in the civil department, therefore, Resolved, that a brigadier-general be elected by ballot in the room of the said Thomas Johnson, Esq.;" and John Dent was elected to fill the vacancy. He resigned shortly afterwards and Gen. Beall was chosen. Otho H. Williams was elected colonel of the Frederick County battalion, but declined, as will be seen by the following letter: "FREDERICK TOWN, July 23, 1776. "GENTLEMEN-Col. Stull informs me that at your last convention at Annapolis, you did me the very great honor of appointing me colonel of the Frederick County battalion to serve the United States of America in the flying camp until the first day of December next. Ever since the commencement of the unnatural war waged by a wicked ministry against this country, I have considered it as my indispensible duty to exert my feeble abilities in its defence, and entering early into the service, have had the good fortune to be so far recommended to the Honorable, the Continental Congress,as to obtain a commission as major of a battalion of riflemen to serve the United States three years; and being diffident of my abilities to discharge the duties of a more exalted station at present, beg leave to decline the very honorable appointment by which you, gentlemen, have confered an obligation on me ever to be most gratefully remembered and acknowledge1. I beg leave, in a particular manner, to profess my gratitude to those worthy gentlemen, by whose recommendations I obtained so respectable an appointment, their favorable opinion, I trust, will always be maintained by a propriety of conduct in gentlemen. Your most obliged and obedient humble servant, O. H. WILLIAMS." SECURING INDEPENDENCE. 239 service of Great Britain against the United Colonies, or any of them; or shall afford such persons, or any of them, any aid or comfort, or shall give them, or any of them, or any subject of Great Britain, any intelligence of the warlike. preparations or designs of the United Colonies, or any of them; such person, on conviction thereof by a petit jury, after a presentment by a grand jury, in a court to be erected in this colony by the next convention, for the trial of such offenders, shall suffer death without benefit of clergy, and forfeit all estate which he had at the time of the commission of the crime, to be applied to the use of this colony, unless such convicted person shall be pardoned by the person or persons invested with the power of granting pardons for such offences." "Resolved, That the several offences aforesaid shall receive the same constructions that have been given by the judges in England to such of the said offences as are enumerated in the statute of Edward the III., commonly called the statute of treason." 1 1 Any person, after the 5th of August, who should forge, counterfeit or alter, or offer for sale, any forged, counterfeited or altered notes or bills of credit issued by congress, the assembly or convention, of this or any of the States, upon conviction, was to suffer death without benefit of clergy. The shadow of the proprietary government having vanished by the departure of Governor Eden, the convention, in pursuance of instructions from the several counties, on the 3d of July, resolved upon the establishment of a permanent form of government. For this purpose a new convention was to be elected, consisting of four representatives from each district of Frederick County, four from each of the other counties, and two each from Annapolis and Baltimore Town. The elections were to be "viva voce, in the manner heretofore used in this colony." The qualified electors were freemen over twenty-one years, holding not less than fifty acres of land in freehold, or having visible property not less than £50. For Annapolis the elector was to own a whole lot in the city, have an estate of £20, or have served five years to any trade in the city, being also a housekeeper. "And to prevent any violence or force being used at the said elections, no person shall come armed to any of them, and no muster of the militia shall be made on the day on which any of the said elections shall be held, nor shall any battalion or company of the militia, or any ten men thereof give in their votes immediately succeding each other, if any other voter who offers to vote objects thereto; nor shall any soldiers in the pay of this province be suffered to collect at the time and place of holding any of the said elections." Persons in the military service of the colony or the United States, were excluded from voting or being delegates, as also those who had been pub 1 This resolution was, no doubt, suggested by the disaffection which occurred in the lower part of Somerset County, in June. Major Price was directed to march the independent companies on the Eastern Shore to this district, and disarm all disaffected persons. Hon. George Plater and John Hall were also appointed a committee to repair to the same place, and take such measures as should unite the county with the others of the province. They were also directed to arrest any person who was disaffected, and send them before the Council of Safety. lished as enemies, or who had not been restored to public favor. The place, time and manner of election were designated, and the 12th of August assigned for the meeting of the new deputies. The convention was declared to be dissolved on the ensuing 1st of August; but the Council of Safety was still continued in existence, as the government of the province, to await the regulations of the intended assembly. General Howe and his army evacuated Boston on the 17th of March, and retired to Halifax. Expecting this movement, General Washington, on the 15th, sent the two Maryland companies of riflemen to New York, where they arrived on the 28th. The whole army, excepting five regiments detained for the defence of Boston under General Ward, followed soon after. On the 11th of June, the fleet which had borne General Howe's troops from Boston, sailed from Halifax, and on the 29th entered the lower harbor of New York. On the 9th of July, they landed on the shore of Staten Island, where in a few days they were joined by the fleet of Sir Henry Clinton and Sir Peter Parker, who had been repulsed from the siege of Charleston, by the guns of Fort Moultrie. From this time, every day witnessed the arrival of reinforcements to the British forces. At the urgent solicitation of Washington, congress resolved to strengthen the army at New York with thirteen thousand eight hundred militia, drawn from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and a flying camp of ten thousand more from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. As we have shown, the Maryland Convention before it adjourned, made provision to raise its quota, and on the last day of the session, the 6th of July, in obedience to the requisitions of congress, they ordered Colonel Smallwood to march with his regiment to Philadelphia and place himself under the orders of congress; and the independent companies stationed in Talbot, Queen Anne's and St. Mary's Counties, were ordered to join him and place themselves under his command. By another resolve, in obedience to a requisition of congress, passed on the 27th of June, they directed two companies of riflemen to be raised, one in Harford County, and the other in Frederick; and four companies of Germans, two in Baltimore County, and two in Frederick. In pursuance of the orders of the convention, Colonel Smallwood, on the 10th of June, embarked at Annapolis six companies of his regiment for the head of Elk River; and on the same day Major Gist, of the same regiment, embarked three companies at Baltimore for the same place, (now Elkton, Cecil County), whence they marched to Philadelphia. Major Adlam in a letter to George W. Parke Custis, referring to the arrival of these young men, the sons of some the most patriotic and best families in Maryland, says: "Smallwood's regiment arrived in Philadelphia about the middle of July, 1776, the day after the militia of York got there. I happened to be in Market street when the regiment was marching down it. They turned up Front street till they reached the Quaker meeting house, called the Bank meeting, where they halted for some time, which THE MARYLAND LINE REPORTS TO CONGRESS 241 I presumed was owing to a delicacy on the part of the officers, seeing they were about to be quartered in a place of worship. After a time they moved forward to the door, where the officers halted and their platoons came up and stood with their hats off, while the soldiers with recovered arms marched into the meeting-house. The officers then retired and sought quarters elsewhere." Immediately upon his arrival, Colonel Smallwood reported to congress for orders, and on the 17th, President Hancock directed him to march his regiment as soon as possible to New York and report to General Washington. At the same time President Hancock addressed a letter to General Washington, in which he informed him of the arrival of "upwards of one thousand troops from Maryland," who were now "on their way to join the flying camp at [Elizabeth Town], New Jersey." He represented that they were "an exceeding fine body of men, and will begin their march this day." On reaching Elizabeth Town, Colonel Smallwood's regulars were attached to the brigade of Brigadier-General Lord Stirling. In the meantime the troops of Generals Clinton and Cornwallis, and on the 12th of August, the Hessians under General De Heister, arrived at New 16-v. ii York as reinforcements for General Howe. The British army, which now amounted to twenty-seven thousand men, landed from their transports and were received "with the wildest demonstrations of joy by the inhabitants, and the deputations of loyalists from Long Island;" but they were not permitted to remain unmolested, for Lord Stirling's riflemen, on the New Jersey shore, soon disturbed their repose. To meet the force of the enemy, General Washington had at his disposal on the 8th of August, 17,225 men, of whom 3,668 were sick and unfit for duty. These undisciplined troops were extended over a line of defence reaching from King's Bridge, on Manhattan Island, to Bedford, on Long Island, or more than seventeen miles in length. To strengthen the hands of the commander-in-chief, the Maryland Council of Safety sent forward during the next fortnight the entire State quota of troops. In announcing this fact. on the 16th of August to their delegates in congress, they indicated the greatest zeal and interest in defending New York from the common enemy. In their letter they remark: "In consequence of a resolve of the convention, we have given orders to all the inde.pendent companies (four in number) to march. Col. Carvel Hall's and Col. Ewing's, and six or seven companies on the eastern shore, have like orders to march; so that, with Griffith's battalion, we shall have near four thousand men with you in a short time. This exceeds our proportion for the Flying Camp, but we are sending all that we have that can be armed and equipped;' and the people of New York, for whom we have great affection, can have no more than our all. Enclosed you have a list of the several battalions and companies. * * * "P. S.-These companies are not all fully armed and equipped, but we hope soon to collect enough. LIST OF THE TROOPS FROM MARYLAND. Smallwood's battalion, nine companies, 76 each..... 684 Captains Veazey, Hindman, Thomas, Beall, Gunby, Woolford and Watkins' companies, 100 men each..... 700 Griffith's battalion, nine companies, 90 men each.... . 810 Colonel Carvel Hall's battalion, nine companies, 90 men each. 810 Three companies of Colonel Ewing's battalion... 270 Seven companies of Eastern Shore battalion... ..644 3,918 "The remaining companies of Ewing's and the Eastern Shore battalions, must borrow arms from the militia to do duty here; they can get arms on no other terms."1 There was the greatest scarcity of arms in the State at this time, notwithstanding the arrival of several cargoes and the energy with which the manufacture was pressed. The committee of observation of Dorchester county, in a letter to the Council of Safety, dated July 23, 1776, say: "We are satisfied, at this time, there are not more than a fourth part of the militia in our county who have arms that can be depended on, and these only fowling pieces and squirrel guns not fixed with bayonets. There are others that are defective, some of which may be prepared, which we are endeavoring to have done; but a great part of them can never |