Tales of the Maryland Extra Regiment

By Burkely Hermann

Explosions rocked the ground, the soldiers advanced, cut down by musket fire, falling to the earth. Some of those soldiers and their officers are often forgotten by military historians and others who write about the Revolutionary War period of U.S. History. They come from the Maryland Extra Regiment, also called the Regiment Extraordinary. While the unit itself never saw battlefield action, some had become battle-hardened from previous engagements. The lives of each one of the soldiers and officers is a story in and of itself. This e-book aims to tell the stories of some of these soldiers and officers with the assistance of maps from the Library of Congress and other visualizations. In sum, this book is a mix of military and social history, telling stories not only of those whom were struggling as farmers but also those whom were slaveowners. As such, this book is a must-read for historians, especially those interested in Revolutionary War history, and researchers, like those whom want to learn more about their ancestors who lived during this time period. It is a book that will, without a doubt, open up a new world of exploration for historians, researchers, and the public as a whole.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Burkely Hermann
• Release date: Apr 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463312773

Burkely Hermann

Burkely Hermann is a history-loving researcher, writer, and archivist-in-training. In May 2016, he graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in History. He is currently a graduate school student at University of Maryland, College Park, working on his MLIS degree, with a specialization in Archives & Digital Curation. He has previously worked at Maryland State Archives in summer and fall 2016 as a library researcher,the LAC Group in spring 2017 as a virtual researcher, the Daughters of the American Revolution in fall 2017 as a staff genealogist, and at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in summer 2018 as a library assistant. Currently, he is a graduate assistant at the University of Maryland and has been working with the Digital Curation and Innovation Center in College Park on the Legacy of Slavery Project since fall 2018. Also, he has participated in National History Day as a participant for three years (2007, 2010, and 2011), and has served as a judge for the past couple years. Recently, he became a member of the Society of American Archivists, the professional organization for archivists in the United States, and was previously a member of the Maryland Historical Society. When he isn’t watching movies and doing research for fun, he likes to hike, cook, and learn more about his family’s genealogy.

Book preview

Tales of the Maryland Extra Regiment

Copyright 2019 Burkely Hermamm

Published by Burkely Hermann at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Beginning the story

Chapter 2: Continuing the story

Chapter 3: Alexander Lawson Smith’s postwar life

Chapter 4: Archibald Golder, a person of trust

Chapter 5: The tale of Mountjoy Bayly

Chapter 6: A short life of a Maryland gentleman

Chapter 7: Telling the tale of Theodore Middleton

Chapter 8: The story of a former Maryland captain

Chapter 9: Benjamin Murdoch’s life after the war

Chapter 10: The Extra Regiment’s ordinary soldiers

Chapter 11: Mr. Marshall’s correction and Moses Orme

Chapter 12: Lisa Oakley and the saga of John Plant

About Burkely

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Endnotes

Preface

After learning, on April 17th, from Gaurav P, a happiness engineer at WordPress that all content you create on your blog/site on WordPress.com is owned by you, and there should not be any such restriction I decided to embark on a project of turning my posts on WordPress into usable e-books that could be enjoyed and read by the general public. In the process, corrections were made as necessary with changes from the original posts on WordPress including combining endnotes, and removing many of the original pictures. [1] Only some photos have been retained, specifically those from the Library of Congress (LOC). This is because, as explained on the legal page on the LOC website, unless otherwise indicated on this site, the Library of Congress has no objection to the international use and reuse of Library U.S. Government works on loc.gov. These works are also available for worldwide use and reuse under CC0 1.0 Universal. The cover image is actually from LOC, specifically from a map by John Wallis in 1783 and another which shows a re-enactment from the Revolutionary War. The same was the case for ChartGo, which says in their terms of use that we offer a service that generates graphs. The actual data and image created by you belong to you. You can use it as you see fit; in a website, a blog, a book, a research paper etc. You do not have to credit us in any way. If you do, it would be appreciated but it is not required. Additionally, as part of the editing process, some sources have either been removed, summarized, or added to the endnotes. In the process, almost every written section has been given a different chapter name, but the content within is still generally the same.

This book builds from the 91 biographies of Revolutionary Marylanders and associated articles about revolutionary times that I wrote while working at the Maryland State Archives in the summer and fall of 2016. While the stories may seem, at times, disparate, the fact is that all tie together into an overall tale about the Maryland Extra Regiment, a unit during the Revolutionary War that not much has been written about in the past apart from military historians mentioning it in their books in passing. It is my hope that this e-book will not only be enjoyable but it will help those whom are interested in Revolutionary War history, but genealogy of their ancestors whom lived during this time period. In many ways, this book is a mix of military history and social history, as one cannot tell the history of a time period without focusing on the people themselves. Some of those stories involve people whom are struggling while others involve literal slaveowners, as is the case in this e-book, opening up a new world of exploration for historians, researchers, and the like.

If you have any questions about sourcing of this e-book, suggestions, or any other comments, please contact me at [e-mail]. Keep in mind that the majority of the text of this book was written in 2017 and 2018, so some of the links to online content may be dead. Enjoy this e-book, which I hope is part of a long series of varied e-books. Thanks, and I look forward to your thoughts on this book.

Chapter One: Beginning the story

The year was 1780. Maryland, one of the key states within the fledgling United States was called upon to alleviate the severe shortage of armed men for the Continental Army and reinforce it.[2] This was because of casualties emanating from the battles as part of the Southern campaign. In the summer, Maryland’s generals, as ordered by the Council of Maryland filled the regiment, called the Extra Regiment, Regiment Extraordinary, or the New Regiment, with former deserters, a detachment composed Chiefly of Men left at the Hospitals and a few Recruited for the old Regiments. Even though it comprised a motley crew, the regiment’s men still wore uniforms of red-lined brown coats. [3]

This new regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Lawson Smith, a young man either in his 20s or 30s. Only one year earlier, he had been recommended for promotion by George Washington after receiving recommendation from William Fitzhugh, a delegate representing Virginia in the Continental Congress.

Samuel Luckett and Josias Miller, men in their twenties, a young man John Plant, mid-aged man Charles Smith, and a man named James Farnandis were among those in this new unit. These men were some of the remaining members of the "Maryland 400" who had fought in the Battle of Brooklyn so many years ago. In July, Luckett and Plant, both experienced soldiers, were made ensigns and later promoted to lieutenant in the fall.[4] While they experienced promotion, Miller joined the regiment as a lieutenant, and Smith as a captain, likely around the same time, or after, Luckett and Plant were promoted. Still, becoming lieutenant, was, for Smith and Miller, a step up in rank from their previous positions in the Maryland Line. It is interesting that these combat veterans joined the regiment since it not only included former deserters, but also consisted of many who had little combat experience.

The regiment was slow to form. This was partially due to desertions from its ranks and a lack of supplies. Before marching southward, the unit moved from Prince George’s County to Philadelphia, going to Head of Elk (present-day Elkton, Maryland), then going back down the Chesapeake Bay to Annapolis to gain more recruits for the beleaguered unit. [5]

In August, Uriah Forest, a high-ranking military man of Maryland wrote to George Washington, describing the state of the regiment:

"[your letter] to the Commanding Officer of the Maryland additional Regt was put into my hands yesterday…they have assembled at this place…three hundred & thirty [recruits]—a hundred & fifty more are daily expected from the more distant Counties, Returns of which have already come to hand. The Gentleman appointed to Command this Regiment not having Joined, & the Men being entirely destitute of Cloathing of every kind, has render’d the Execution of your Excellency’s orders with regard to their Marching altogether impracticable. The State Clothier is now busily employed, in getting them fitted with Shirts, Overalls and Shoes…It is with Real Concern I observe to your Excellency that there is no Prospect of procuring Men to fill up the Regiments. Almost the whole of the Horses and some of the Waggons required of this State are Obtained. I have the honor to be with Perfect Respect"

From then onto to the early winter, the regiment stayed in Annapolis, the state capital, for a "considerable time." In the fall, some portions of the regiment, with Charles Smith, a Captain, among them, fought a small battle with the British near modern-day Fort Washington, Maryland on the Potomac River. [6] This skirmish occurred at Digg’s Landing or Digges Point, land owned by John Digges, with Smith’s company of Continentals fighting a small group of British soldiers who severely wounded him in the face by a cannon ball, as the story goes, bouncing off a rock. The British, not long after, set fire to Want Water, the nearby house of Colonel William Lyles. After marching about 3.5 miles to the house, the Continentals took several prisoners.

The whole regiment, not just one company, like Smith’s, soon began to march southward. In December, after gaining the "necessary Clothing &c. to equip them for the March," it began marching to join Horatio Gates and General Nathaniel Greene at the Continental Army’s headquarters, then in Hillsboro, North Carolina, to assist in the Southern Campaign. [7]

Once the unit arrived in North Carolina, in January, a number of problems developed. It refused to join the main Continental Army because of disputes over rank. General Greene took the side of veteran officers, who took charge when commanders of the unit who had trained the unit’s soldiers, for the past six months, were dismissed. As a result, the unit changed into the Second Maryland Regiment before the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781. As a result, many of the regiment’s senior members, including but not limited to, Luckett, Miller, Plant, Smith, and Farnandis, likely resigned in January since they could not retain their rank in the new unit. [8] Following this, these officers would return home, away from the battlefront in the Southern United States. As John McCay put it, in his pension, soon after the [extra] regiment broke up, the men transferred to fill other regiments and the Officers [from the extra regiment] were sent home, an account confirmed by William Groves. With the officers leaving, the ordinary soldiers stayed in the 2nd Maryland regiment, fighting in the battle previously mentioned in this paragraph, and others that were part of the Southern campaign, with some discharged in Annapolis at the end of the war, ending their public service.

In the years that followed, after the dissolution of the regiment, each of the soldiers would go their separate ways. Plant, by 1783, would become a small farmer and slaveowner, owning two horses, one cattle, and one enslaved black child, while Miller would later live in Franklin County, Ohio, possibly on his bounty lands. [9] Smith, on the other hand, would be married to a sixteen-year-old woman, from Prince George’s County, Mary Bowling, and have three children named Benjamin, John, and Polly with her. Farnandis also married and stayed in Charles County. However, he married for the second time after his first wife, Elizabeth, died, married a woman named Chloe McPherson. Luckett also returned to his family. His wife, a woman named Monica Kennedy, whom he married before he left for war in 1776, he had two children with her, William and Francis H., before her death sometime in the 1780s.

As for Alexander Lawson Smith, one of the co-founders of the Society of the Cincinnati, he had a similar, but different, story. He married a woman named Martha Griffith in 1792, the same year that his brother, Patrick Sim Smith, a well-off a merchant and legislator within the state, sold him eight enslaved blacks. [10] Eight years later, in 1800, he was still living in Harford County. He was with three young children under age 10 (two female, one male), and two young people aged 16-25 (one female, one male), along with 21 enslaved blacks, his with Martha likely among them. He died in 1802. Later, he would be listed in many pension and bounty land warrant applications by those in his regiment during the war while his wife would get half-pay of a captain from the Treasurer of the Western Shore as stated in an 1835 Maryland Law.

Chapter Two: Continuing the story

In our last chapter, many of the contours of the Maryland Extra Regiment/Regiment Extra were outlined. This chapter aims to expand that story. It was pointed out that Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Lawson Smith (called Alexander Smith in the rest of this chapter), described as a gentleman Who’s Conduct & Bravery deserves Your Excellency notice by Harford County’s Richard Dallam in a letter to Maryland Governor Thomas Sim Lee on July 14, 1780, led the regiment. [11] Within this unit, Maryland 400 veterans Samuel Luckett, Josias Miller, John Plant, Charles Smith, and James Farnandis were all mid or high-ranking military officers. This chapter aims to outline the known members of the Extra Regiment beyond these six individuals using available information, telling more of the story of this regiment which is broadly lost to history. Sometimes this will overlap with what was said in the previous chapter, but generally it will be new information to expand existing scholarship on the subject.

Recruiting and desertion within the Extra Regiment

In July of 1780, to alleviate the "Exigencies of the War in the Southern Department or southern theater of the Revolutionary War, the Council of Maryland ordered the creation of this regiment. Originally, it was supposed to consist of 531 men, with orders it be ready by July. [12] However, recruiting was so abysmal that hardly one-half the promised number was obtained. This means that there was less than 265 men, with exactly 228 in the regiment, commanded by Mr. Alexander Smith, by December, marching later that year. This was not only because the state did not have sufficient funds for the recruitment of individuals into the regiment, later giving men 1,500 pounds to serve for only a three-month period, a successful measure, but also trying to draw in former deserters. The latter was compounded by armed boats reportedly maned by the torys" in the lower part of Dorcester County, suppressed by Lieutenant Jonathan Smoot, later a captain, who burned the houses of those who held pro-British Crown sympathies and hung others of the same political persuasion.

The other problems of deserters was outlined by Benjamin MacKall, recruiter for the regiment in Calvert County, who told Col. Uriah Forest that in July only one man joined the Extra Regiment, with two enlisted, and former deserters, escaping by "breaking through the Prison wall." Adding to this was that fact that the local militia was not paying more than 5% toward procuring new recruits for the regiment, leading certain counties to not fulfill their quotas required to fill the ranks of new regiment. Still, in some counties, like Queen Anne’s, 31 men were enlisted by William Hemsley even with lackluster recruiting in general.

Other problems with recruiting the necessary men led to continuing pleas. As the "extravagant prices given to Soldiers for the regiment reduced recruiting for other regiments, new recruits were even furnished with meat" so that they would stay within the ranks. This confirms that the idea that Maryland abandoned the idea of an Extra Regiment after the Battle of Camden on August 16 is completely erroneous. Nine days after that battle, the Council of Maryland wrote the wife of Governor Lee, Mary Digges Lee, saying:

"We are very anxious to send forward the Regiment Extraordinary to reinforce the American Army. The Impracticability of procuring immediately by Purchase, a Sufficient Quantity of Linen, for Shirts for all the Men, induces us to solicit your Assistance at this Emergency, and to request a Loan of two hundred and sixty Shirts, which we will not fail to replace when you may deem it necessary to demand them."

In later months, the situation would seem to get worse. Fifty men within the regiment, as of September 17, were in the hospital, and a number deserted, but the Continental Congress still directed the state of Maryland to take certain measures for the march of the new raised Regiment. As the year progressed, the soldiers of the regiment were clothed, even with continuing desertions and defections to the Enemy’s vessels, and was given the appropriate supplies for its imminent march Southward. Some soldiers were even rejected by the state, but then were allowed to march again under certain circumstances. Even the paymaster of southern department, Joseph Clay, was given 2,060 dollars on October 25 by the Continental Congress to enable the extra regiment…to proceed to the Southward. [13] It was around this time that the Maryland legislature set the stage for the final dissolution of the regiment, by saying that the non-commissioned officers and privates of the regiment extra ordinary be draughted into the old battalions of the quota of this state in the continental service, and that the field and commissioned officers of said regiment be recalled with Mr. Alexander Smith holding the rank of lieutenant-colonel, as a supernumerary officer of this state in the continental service. This does not mean that the regiment was abolished as other records prove that the regiment stayed intact until the following year.

On September 21, Mr. Alexander Smith was given his marching orders for the regiment, which he would follow when the unit marched in December to join the Continental Army:

"The board think proper to direct That you proceed from Annapolis as soon as circumstances will permit, on your March to Join the Southern Army by way of Alexandria to orange Court House