Thomas Stern
MSA SC 3520-17308
Biography:
In early 1776, Thomas Stern 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 their twenties. The average age was about twenty-five, but soldiers born in the thirteen colonies were slightly younger than those from foreign countries.
A sergeant, like Stern, 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]
Stern served with his company at the Battle of Brooklyn in late August 1776, but could have been wounded or killed during the battle. Sixty-eight percent of Veazey's company were killed, wounded or captured. Captain Veazey was "killed at [Sergeant Hezekiah 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]
Stern's life after 1776 is not known due to his absence in Revolutionary War records and on muster rolls. In Maryland, there are two men with the same name, one of whom was living in Dorchester County in 1810 and another who was living in Anne Arundel County in 1818. [15] It is not known which one, if any, of these men are Stern. Ultimately, Stern's fate is not known. [6]
- Burkely Hermann, Maryland Society of the Sons of American Revolution Research Fellow, 2016.
Notes:
[1] Monthly return for the 7th Independent Company, 9 June 1776, Maryland Historical Society, MS 1914; Monthly return for the 7th Independent Company, 4 July 1776, Maryland Historical Society, MS 1914; Mark Andrew Tacyn, “'To the End:’ The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution” (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 24-25, 34, 97; 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].
[3] Tacyn, pp. 33-34, 37, 39.
[4] Tacyn, pp. 44-45.
[5] Tacyn, pp. 4, 98.
[6] U. S. Federal Census, 1810, Dorchester County, Maryland; Session Laws, 1818, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 637, p. 33.
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