John Hardman (1752-1780)
MSA SC 3520-17300
Biography:
John Hardman was born in early 1752. At age twenty-four, in early 1776, Hardman enlisted as a sergeant in Edward Veazey's Seventh Independent Company. Many of those in the Seventh Independent Company were recruited from Kent, Cecil, and Queen Anne counties, and were in the twenties. Overall, the average age was about twenty-five, but soldiers born in the thirteen colonies were slightly younger than those from foreign countries. [1]
A sergeant, like Hardman, had an important role in the Maryland Line. As non-commissioned officers, their duties included maintaining discipline within their company, and inspecting the new recruits. Sergeants needed to teach the fresh recruits of 1776 how to handle weapons and behave properly, despite most sergeants having little military experience as well. [2]
The independent companies, early in the war, had a different role than William Smallwood's First Maryland Regiment, which was raised as full-time Maryland soldiers to be part of the Continental Army. They were tasked with securing the Chesapeake Bay's shoreline from British attack. The Seventh Independent Company was stationed in Kent County's Chestertown and Queen Anne County's Kent Island. During this time, Veazey was uneasy that they did not receive "arms nor ammunition" until June. [3]
While the independent companies were originally intended to defend Maryland, three of them accompanied the First Maryland Regiment when it marched up to New York in July 1776. The transfer of the independent companies to the Continental Army showed that Maryland was more than willing to do its part to recruit the men needed. The independent companies and the First Maryland Regiment arrived in New York in early August, with the Battle of Brooklyn set between the Continental Army and the British Army, joined by their Hessian allies. [4]
Hardman served with his company at the Battle of Brooklyn in late August 1776. Sixty-eight percent of Veazey's company were killed, wounded or captured. Captain Veazey was "killed at [Foard's] side," while Second Lieutenant Samuel Turbutt Wright and Third Lieutenant Edward De Coursey were captured. As a result of Veazey's death, First Lieutenant William Harrison took charge of the company. After the battle, only about 36 men remained out of the original force of over 100. [5]
Hardman survived the Battle of Brooklyn and was not taken prisoner. In late December, he escorted prisoners from North Carolina to Baltimore Town. While in a Baltimore jail, the Baltimore County Sheriff John Ross, who had "very friendly conversation with the Prisoners," became drunk, and called for "damnation to General Washington & his army & success to Lord Howe & his army." As he drank more, he wished "damnation to General or Lord Howe." Ross "appear'd a little groggy at the time" as he spoke these words. Ross, the Baltimore sheriff, later appeared at a meeting of the Baltimore Council of Safety in January 1777. The council members told him to come to the next meeting since Hardman was not there to reaffirm his case. Further information about the story is not known. [6]
By the spring of 1777, the command of the Seventh Independent Company was uncertain due to the absence of many high-ranking officers. As a result, the company--along with the other independent companies--became part of the Second Maryland Regiment. Hardman reenlisted in the Second Regiment in December of 1776. [7]
Hardman became a second lieutenant in the Second Maryland Regiment on April 10, 1777. He also served in the light infantry for a short stint in the fall of 1778. As a result, he likely fought in the battles of Brandywine (1777), Germantown (1777), White Marsh (1777), and Monmouth (1778). In April 1780, he became a captain in the same regiment, marching with the rest of the regiment southward. [8]
On August 16, 1780, at the Battle of Camden, he was mortally wounded. Fifteen or sixteen days later, he died of his wounds, at age 28, reportedly as a prisoner of war in Kershaw County, South Carolina, where the battle occurred. A five years after his death, a payment certificate was delivered to the unnamed legal representatives of John Hardman. Years later, Hardman was recognized by the War Department and had a fort in Maine named in honor of him. [9]
- Burkely Hermann, Maryland Society of the Sons of American Revolution Research Fellow, 2016.
Notes:
[1] Descriptions of men in Capt. Edward Veazey’s Independent Comp, 1776, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, MdHR 19970-15-36/01 [MSA S997-15-36, 1/7/3/13]; Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 28.
[3] Mark Andrew Tacyn, “‘To the End:’ The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution” (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), pp. 33-34, 37, 39.
[4] Tacyn, pp. 44-45.
[5] Tacyn, pp. 4, 98.
[6] Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, 1777-1778, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 16, pp. 46-48, 60, 83; Deposition about the statements of John Ross, Sub-Sheriff in Baltimore, December 23, 1776, Maryland State Papers, Red Books, vol. 13, MdHR 4575-179 [MSA S989-19, 1/6/4/7].
[7] List of Regular Officers by Chamberlaine, December 1776, Maryland State Papers, Red Books, vol. 12, no. 66, MdHR 4573 [MSA S989-17, 1/6/4/5]; ; Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, National Archives, NARA M881, Record Group 93, Roll 0400, from Fold3.com.
[8] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 119.
[9] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 119; Capt John Hardman gravestone, Find A Grave, accessed October 20, 2016; War Department, General Orders and Circulars: 1906 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1907), 155.
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