Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

William Basford
MSA SC 3520-16931

Biography:

Unlike a number of soldiers captured during the Battle of Brooklyn, William Basford reenlisted at the end of December 1776, and went on to serve in the Continental Army for another three years.[1]

Basford enlisted as a private in the Fifth Company of the First Maryland Regiment by May of 1776.[2] By mid-August Basford and the rest of the First Maryland Regiment had marched approximately 200 miles from Baltimore to Brooklyn, in preparation for a large-scale British attack on New York. That attack came in the early morning hours of August 26. Distracted by a frontal attack led by Hessian mercenaries, the American Army was routed when the main body of the British Army deployed a left flanking maneuver.

In a display of immense courage, the First Maryland Regiment held back the advancing British Army while the core of the Continental Army fled. Upon their own retreat, the Fifth Company fought their way through an ambush before escaping across the swampy Gowanus Creek. While it is unclear at what point, somewhere along the way Private Basford was captured and taken prisoner by the British.[3]

Basford was held captive for almost four months before he was exchanged in early December of 1776.[4] There was a great disparity in the treatment of commissioned and noncommissioned officers held in British captivity. For commissioned officers, parole was a likely alternative to imprisonment. When Captain John Gassaway, who had been an ensign in the Fifth Company at the Battle of Brooklyn, was captured at the Battle of Camden on August 16, 1780, for example, he was allowed to travel from South Carolina to Annapolis to retrieve money and goods for himself and other commissioned officers while on parole.[5] Noncommissioned officers and enlisted men were afforded no such luxuries. As a private, Basford likely endured severe neglect, mistreatment, and near starvation.

Upon his release in early December of 1776, Basford received one dollar as back pay for his time in captivity. The experience of British imprisonment did not dissuade Basford from reenlisting for a three year term on December 10, 1776, however. While in the First Company of the First Maryland Regiment, Basford served under Colonel John Hopkins Stone and Captain Nathaniel Ewing, both of whom were veterans of the Battle of Brooklyn.[6]

During his service with the First Company, Basford participated in American attempts to regain control of New York, and the unsuccessful defense of the American Capital at Philadelphia. Basford spent the winter of 1777-1778 at the Valley Forge encampment, and the winter of 1778-1779 in Middlebrook. Basford concluded his military service at the winter encampment in Morristown at the end of his three year enlistment in December of 1779. By the time of his discharge, Basford had risen to the rank of sergeant.[7]

Following his military service, Basford returned home to Anne Arundel County where he died by September of 1785. Basford does not appear in the land, tax, or marriage records, which suggests that he had not established his own independent household by the time of his death. When he died, John Basford, a relative of William, was made administrator of his “goods chattel and credits.” Approving Basford’s estate records was John Gassaway, Basford’s former comrade in the Fifth Company at the Battle of Brooklyn, and Register of Wills in Anne Arundel County at the time.[8]   

-Taira Sullivan, 2014

Notes:

[1] To read more about the prisoners captured at the Battle of Brooklyn see “Taking Names,” on the Finding the Maryland 400 blog.

[2]Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18 p. 640.

[3] Account of Cash Paid to Soldiers, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, MdHR 19970-06-25/1 [MSA S997-6-59, 01/07/03/011] (cited hereafter as Prisoners Pay); To read more about the experience of the Fifth Company at the Battle of Brooklyn see “The Fate of the Fifth Company,” on the Finding the Maryland 400 blog.  

[4] Prisoners Pay.

[5] Maryland Gazette, September 29, 1780, American Archives Online: Maryland Gazette Collection, MSA SC 2731, M 1283, Image 178To read more about the experience of  soldiers captured in battle see "The Resurrection of William Sterrett," on the Finding the Maryland 400 blog.

[6] Prisoners Pay; Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, NARA M881, 0397, from Fold3.com (hereafter cited as Service Records).

[7] Service Records; Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 81. There is no known date of his promotion, and the listing of him as a sergeant may in fact be a mistake.

[8] Anne Arundel County Register of Wills, Administration Bonds, Bond of William Basford, 1785 [MSA C31-2, 01/03/14/017]; Anne Arundel County Register of Wills, Wills, Will of John Basford, 1818, box B, folder 12 [MSA C155-2, 01/04/13/007]; Anne Arundel County Register of Wills, Wills, Will of Thomas Basford, 1782, box B, folder 13 [MSA C155-2, 01/04/13/007].

Return to William Basford's Introductory Page


 
 
 


This web site is presented for reference purposes under the doctrine of fair use. When this material is used, in whole or in part, proper citation and credit must be attributed to the Maryland State Archives. PLEASE NOTE: The site may contain material from other sources which may be under copyright. Rights assessment, and full originating source citation, is the responsibility of the user.


Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!



© Copyright September 11, 2019 Maryland State Archives