Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

John Read
MSA SC 3520-17310

Biography:

In early 1776, John Read enlisted as a sergeant in Edward Veazey's Seventh Independent Company. Many of those in the Seventh Independent Company were recruited from Kent, Cecil, and Queen Anne counties, and were in their twenties. The average age was about twenty-five, but soldiers born in the thirteen colonies were slightly younger than those from foreign countries. [1]

A sergeant, like Read, had an important role in the Maryland Line. As non-commissioned officers, their duties included maintaining discipline within their company, and inspecting the new recruits. Sergeants needed to teach the fresh recruits of 1776 how to handle weapons and behave properly, despite most sergeants having little military experience as well. [2]

The independent companies, early in the war, had a different role than William Smallwood's First Maryland Regiment, which was raised as full-time Maryland soldiers to be part of the Continental Army. They were tasked with securing the Chesapeake Bay's shoreline from British attack. The Seventh Independent Company was stationed in Kent County's Chestertown and Queen Anne County's Kent Island. During this time, Veazey was uneasy that they did not receive "arms nor ammunition" until June. [3]

While the independent companies were originally intended to defend Maryland, three of them accompanied the First Maryland Regiment when it marched up to New York in July 1776. The transfer of the independent companies to the Continental Army showed that Maryland was more than willing to do its part to recruit the men needed. The independent companies and the First Maryland Regiment arrived in New York in early August, with the Battle of Brooklyn set between the Continental Army and the British Army, joined by their Hessian allies. [4]

Read served with his company at the Battle of Brooklyn in late August 1776. Sixty-eight percent of Veazey's company were killed, wounded or captured. Captain Veazey was "killed at [Sergeant Hezekiah Foard's] side," while Second Lieutenant Samuel Turbutt Wright and Third Lieutenant Edward De Coursey were captured. As a result of Veazey's death, First Lieutenant William Harrison took charge of the company. After the battle, only about 36 men remained out of the original force of over 100. [5]

Read survived the Battle of Brooklyn and was not taken prisoner. By the spring of 1777, the command of the Seventh Independent Company was uncertain due to the absence of many high-ranking officers. As a result, the company--along with the other independent companies--became part of the Second Maryland Regiment. [7]

On April 10, 1777, Read reenlisted in the Second Maryland Regiment. He was promoted to ensign after he had been successfully recommended for promotion in December 1776. Ensigns, like Read, were the lowest rank of commissioned officers. They were mainly responsible for carrying the flags of their unit on the battlefield and reported to the colonel of the unit. [8]

In the last year of his service, he was sick and not on the battlefield. He was hospitalized and sent home several times on furlough to recover. On April 12, 1779, Read was discharged from the Maryland Line, presumably because his illness. [9]

Nothing about Read's post-war life is definitively known.

- Burkely Hermann, Maryland Society of the Sons of American Revolution Research Fellow, 2016.

Notes:

[1] Monthly return for the 7th Independent Company, 9 June 1776, Maryland Historical Society, MS 1914; Monthly return for the 7th Independent Company, 4 July 1776, Maryland Historical Society, MS 1914; Mark Andrew Tacyn, “'To the End:’ The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution” (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 24-25, 34, 97; Descriptions of men in Capt. Edward Veazey’s Independent Comp, 1776, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, MdHR 19970-15-36/01 [MSA S997-15-36, 1/7/3/13].

[2] Friedrich von Steuben, Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, Part I (Philadelphia: Styner and Cist, 1792), pp. 137-140.

[3] Tacyn, pp. 33-34, 37, 39.

[4] Tacyn, pp. 44-45.

[5] Tacyn, pp. 4, 98.

[6] List of Regular Officers by Chamberlaine, December 1776, Maryland State Papers, Red Books, vol. 12, no. 66, MdHR 4573 [MSA S989-17, 1/6/4/5];

[7] Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, National Archives, NARA M881, Record Group 93, Roll 0400, from Fold3.com.

[8] Muster Rolls of the Second Maryland Regiment, Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, National Archives, NARA M246, Record Group 93, Roll 0033, Folder 15, from Fold3.com; Steuben, pp. 133-134.

[9] Compiled Service Records; Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, 156; John Read Resignation, 1779, Maryland State Papers, Red Books, vol. 14, no. 15 [MSA S989-20, 1/6/4/8].

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