Hugh Galloway
MSA SC 3520-17632
Biography:
Hugh Galloway (or Galway) enlisted as a private in the Sixth Company of the First Maryland Regiment, led by Captain Peter Adams, on May 7, 1776. Although the Sixth Company was recruited primarily from the Eastern Shore, Galloway likely enlisted after the company had traveled to Annapolis. [1]
After six months of training, the company then moved north, making it to Philadelphia by mid-July 1776 and to New York by August 14. Once in New York, it was positioned, along with the rest of the First Maryland Regiment, about one mile outside of New York, with orders to prepare for battle.
The Marylanders met the British at the Battle of Brooklyn (sometimes called the Battle of Long Island) on August 27, 1776, where the Continental Army, led by General George Washington, fought to defend New York. The American troops were severely outnumbered and surrounded when they were ordered to retreat. Half the regiment was able to escape the battle, however the other half, including most of the Sixth Company, was trapped by the swampy Gowanus Creek. They turned back to face the British, holding their position long enough for the rest of the Marylanders to return to safety. This heroic stand earned them the honorable name of the “Maryland 400.” [2]
Hugh Galloway was taken prisoner, along with at least ten other men from the Sixth Company; only sixteen men and officers from the company were not killed or taken prisoner. Most of the prisoners were returned in the beginning of 1777, but Galloway was not released back to the Maryland Line until May 1778. [3]
The First Maryland Regiment went on to fight in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778, where Galloway was likely a participant. He reenlisted in February 1779 for the duration of the war, but deserted just a month later. Although Galloway was in the army for three years, he likely only participated in two battles due to his lengthy captivity. Unfortunately, his life before and after the war remains a mystery. [4]
-Natalie Miller, Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution Research Fellow, 2018
Notes:
[2] Mark Andrew Tacyn, "To the End: The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution," (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 48-73; "Extract of a letter from New-York," 1 September 1776, American Archives, 5th series, vol. 2, p. 107.
[3] Pay Roll of Prisoners Taken on Long Island, 14 February 1777, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, box 19, no. 2, MdHR 19970-19-2 [MSA S997-19-2, 01/07/03/015]; Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, NARA M881, from Fold3.com; Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, NARA M246, from Fold3.com.
[4] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 112; Compiled Service Records.
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