The Maryland 400: The Old Line

“Good God! What brave fellows I must this day lose.” -George Washington August 27, 1776

Two hundred fifty years ago today, at the Battle of Brooklyn, the “Maryland 400” prevented the destruction of the American Continental Army (and perhaps its irreplaceable commander) with a determined stand against a larger force at the cost of horrific casualties. Washington called them his “old line,” and Maryland to this day calls itself the Old Line State in their honor.

Washington was outnumbered and out-maneuvered by a vastly superior British force supported by an enormous fleet. A last-minute desperate collection of boats managed by New England fishermen and soldiers, a near-miraculous fog that hid the American preparations for retreat and, in the end, dramatic heroism by a few determined men from Maryland and Delaware allowed for the escape of Washington’s remaining army of 9,000 men.

Of the 1st Maryland regiment, the first, second, 5th, seventh companies and the 4th and 5th independent companies escaped with the main force.

But of the part of the regiment that formed the rear guard, the third company lost two-thirds, the fourth lost 44 of 58, and 12 men survived in the 6th company. And the light infantry 9th company and the 7th independent company both suffered heavy losses.

Their division commander, General John Sullivan, was captured in the battle. His next-in-command, Brigadier William Alexander of New Jersey (who preferred to be called Lord Stirling), took command of the small rearguard. A wildly colorful, wealthy man, Stirling laid claim to a Scottish title recognized by nominal authorities in Scotland but not by the House of Lords. At stake was an existing family claim (rendered problematic by Jacobite connections) to considerable land holdings in the American colonies. Stirling introduced wine-growing in New Jersey, threw great parties (George Washington was a guest several times) and was a very able and energetic field commander.

At Brooklyn, at the rear of the American lines, the British center had a fortified position in what is today in a national park known as The Old Stone House. The small American rear guard was eventually surrounded but fought for a full hour, thus covering the American retreat. Rather than remain passive while the enemy gathered strength, Stirling ordered repeated bayonet charges against the presumably surprised but steadfast British. The Marylanders were one of the few units in the Continental Army with any formal training and also one of the few to be issued bayonets and trained in their use. Stirling evaded the British and surrendered to Hessians upriver instead when his defensive line finally collapsed.

Technically, the “400” may have been as few as 256, and some historians debate the casualty figures, but the significance of their stand in the Revolutionary War is indisputable.

Five years later, Maryland veterans of the Battle of Brooklyn were part of the final line in Daniel Morgan’s tactically brilliant rout of the odious Banastre Tarleton at Cowpens. Exhausted from forced-march pursuit of the Americans and after a headlong charge thinking the enemy was retreating, the British found themselves under disciplined fire from the veteran core of Morgan’s troops into the suddenly surrounded British. Tarleton lost 1,000 dead or captured. Payback must have felt good.

The state archives have a list and biographical info on the Maryland 1st Regiment.