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]
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]
-Taira Sullivan, 2014
[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
[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.
[5]
[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].
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