Francis Reveley
MSA SC 3520-16927

Biography:

Entering the military as a sergeant in the Fifth Company of the First Maryland Regiment by May of 1776, Francis Reveley earned himself a place of recognition among the heroic Maryland 400 at the Battle of Brooklyn before going on to serve for the duration of the war. The son of Thomas (c. 1700- c. 1785) and Elizabeth Reveley, Francis was born on August 26, 1753 in Cumberland (now Cumbria), in northwestern England. He had seven siblings: Elizabeth, Sarah, Ann, Samuel, John, William and George. In 1765, Reveley's parents sold their family estate of Catgill Hall and emigrated to Virginia. It is not certain what led Francis to enlist with the Maryland troops, rather than a Virginia unit, but he clearly had ties to the state, and probably lived in Maryland for a time after the Revolution.[1]

The Battle of Brooklyn, fought on August 27, 1776--the day after Reveley's twenty-third birthday--was the first major engagement of the Revolutionary War. At this battle, the Continental Army sought unsuccessfully to defend New York. American General Lord Stirling was taken by surprise when the main body of the British Army, led by General Howe, launched an aggressive flank attack. The left line of the American forces collapsed almost immediately, resulting in an emergency retreat. Amidst the panic of the retreat, the First Maryland Regiment and the Delaware Continentals stood resolute, providing cover for the retreating American forces.

Once the body of the Continental Army had reached safety, the First Maryland began its withdraw. As they withdrew, the Fifth Company was ambushed by an advanced group of British troops who pretended to surrender. The First Maryland succeeded in temporarily pushing back the British at the Gowanus Creek, allowing the First, Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Eighth Companies to escape through the swamp. The remaining Third, Fourth, Sixth, Ninth, and Seventh Independent Companies skirted the edge of the swamp and took heavy casualties after making a last stand at the Old Stone House. [2]

Reveley remained with the Fifth Company until the end of his enlistment in early 1777. At the end of 1776 and beginning of 1777 the Continental Army was in dire need of reenlistments. Initial enlistments only required one year of service, and by December 1776 and early January 1777, many soldiers were returning home. In attempts to encourage reenlistment, the Continental Congress offered cash payments and clothing in return for a three year enlistment. Bounty land was added to sweeten the deal for those who enlisted for the duration of the war. [3]

Francis Reveley was one of a countless number who took advantage of this arrangement. By February 20, 1777, Reveley had reenlisted and received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Third Maryland Regiment, where he was quickly promoted to first lieutenant on April 15, 1777.[4] While serving in this capacity, Reveley participated in American attempts to regain control of New York and the unsuccessful defense of the American Capital at Philadelphia.[5]

In June of 1779, Reveley was transferred to the Light Infantry of the First Regiment, and was among the men who fought with great distinction at the Battle of Stony Point. In January 1781. Reveley was transferred back to the Third Maryland Regiment.[6] On June 18, 1781, Reveley was promoted to captain and transferred back to the First Maryland Regiment to fill the position of Captain George Armstrong, who had been killed at the Battle of Ninety-Six in South Carolina.[7]

During this period, Reveley took part in the Southern Campaign. During this campaign, the British attempted to defeat the colonists through subjugating the southern half of the colonies. Initial British attempts proved successful with the tactical victories at the Siege of Charleston in April 1780, and the Battle of Camden on August 16, 1780. The Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, however, proved a turning point for the Americans in the Southern Campaign. The Battle of Cowpens greatly weakened British troop strength and enabled the Americans to successfully halt the British advance from the south, which ultimately led to the end of the war.[8]

From January 1, 1783 to the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, Reveley served as a captain of the Ninth Company of the First Maryland Regiment.[9] In return for his enlistment for the duration of the war, Reveley received a tract of bounty land west of Fort Cumberland near the modern border of Maryland and Pennsylvania . For reasons unknown, Reveley never claimed his bounty land, although it may have been a result of its remote location and lack of farmable terrain. After the war, Reveley was active in the founding of the Society of Cincinnati, a fraternal and political organization of former Continental Army officers.[10] 

There is very little information on Francis Reveley following the war, expect for a few anecdotes. In 1786, Reveley wrote a letter to William Smallwood, then the Governor of Maryland, requesting to be put in charge of troops to march against the “savage” Native American tribes to the west.[11] Nothing however, came of this request.

The following year, Reveley became engaged in a confrontation with a man named William Thomson in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Although we do not know the specifics of the dispute, Reveley got into an argument with Thomson on June 9, 1787, over a series of public insults Thomas had supposedly leveled against him. The confrontation turned violent when Reveley took a horse whip to Thomson, who drew a pistol and shot Reveley in the chest. Reveley was initially thought to have been mortally hit, but later reporting noted that he was “in a hopeful way of recovery.”[12] Thomson was immediately arrested. Later that fall, Thomson engaged in a duel and as a result, lost his arm.[13]

Reveley died in the early 1800s, purportedly as a result of the bullet wound, perhaps traveling in North Carolina. He never married or had any children. Therefore, after his death, Reveley’s sisters, Sarah, Ann, and Elizabeth, began writing to the Pension and Land Office in attempts to claim the bounty land awarded to their brother. Their attempts were unsuccessful, as only widows and children were eligible for such a claim, and the land lay vacant and unclaimed through the early 1830s.[14]  

 -Taira Sullivan, 2014. Many thanks to Sarah Reveley for contributing additional Reveley family information.

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