Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Richard Watts
MSA SC 3520-17124

Biography:

Richard Watts was an early supporter of the American Revolution, and fought in the Battle of Brooklyn as a member of the First Maryland Regiment in 1776. He began his military career as a private in John Rodgers' company of militia in Harford County in 1775, and early the next year enlisted in the First Maryland Regiment, Maryland's first contribution to the Continental Army. Several members of the Harford militia enlisted around the same time, including William and Samuel McMillan. [1]

Watts marched with the Maryland regiment to New York in the summer of 1776, and was with them on August 27, 1776, fighting in the Battle of Brooklyn (sometimes called the Battle of Long Island). The battle was the first full-scale battle of the Revolutionary War, and was an attempt by the Americans to prevent the British from taking New York. The battle was complete disaster for the Americans, as the Continental Army was outflanked and surrounded by the British. A portion of the Maryland troops, including Watts' company, sought to retreat to the American's fortified camp, but were blocked by the British. The Marylanders launched a series of attacks which delayed the British advance and allowed the bulk of the American troops to escape, at high cost. Some 80 percent of Watts' company was killed or captured; he was one of only a dozen privates, along with a sergeant and a drummer, who survived the battle. [2] William McMillan later described the battle this way:

On the evening of the 26 August we left New York and landed on Long Island and the next day was August 27 battle... My captain was killed, first lieutenant was killed, second lieutenant shot through the hand, two sergeants was killed; one in front of me... two corporals killed...We had a pretty severe fight with Jagers [Hessian mercenaries fighting for the British] and it was a draw battle. There was a good many on each side killed. They retreated and we did not pursue them. [However, later] we were surrounded by Healanders [Highlanders] on one side, Hessians on the other... [3]

Watts managed to escaped the fate of McMillan, who was taken prisoner. He was with the army during the fall and winter of 1776, a time that saw the American pushed out of New York, followed with revitalizing victories at Trenton and Princeton late that winter. Watts reenlisted in the First Maryland Regiment in December, 1776, and apparently served for a time as a servant to Colonel Francis Ware. [4] After early 1777, Watt's military service records is somewhat unclear. He was likely still in service in 1778, but how long he served for is not known. It is possible that he returned to Maryland and took residence in Baltimore, where a Richard Watts was living in March, 1778; that man died in 1807, although it is not certain that he was the same man who survived the Battle of Brooklyn as part of the Maryland 400 in 1776. [5]

Owen Lourie, 2015

Notes:

[1] S. Eugene Clements and F. Edward Wright, The Maryland Militia in the Revolutionary War, (Silver Spring, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1987), 171; Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18 [hereafter Archives of Maryland vol. 18] p. 11.

[2] Return of the Maryland troops, 27 September 1776, from Fold3.com. For more on the experience of the Marylanders at the Battle of Brooklyn, see "In Their Own Words," on the Maryland State Archives research blog, Finding the Maryland 400.

[3] Pension of William McMillan, National Archives and Records Administration, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, NARA M804, S 2806, p. 33-35, from Fold3.com.

[4] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 173; Mordecai Gist, Account, 23 January 1777, Maryland State Archives, Revolutionary Papers, box 2, no. 4/1-2, MdHR 19,970-2-4/1, 2 [MSA S997-2-254, 1/7/3/8]; Account for supplies, c. January 1777, Maryland State Archives, Revolutionary Papers, box 3, no. 28-3, MdHR 19970-3-28/3 [MSA S997-3-328, 1/7/3/9].

5. Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 291; U.S, Baltimore County, box 3, folder 13, p. 8. Baltimore County Register of Wills, Inventories, Richard Watts, 1807, Liber 25, p. 59-60 [MSA C340-26, 2/29/9/26].

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