Robert Veazey
MSA SC 3520-17411
Biography:
A member of a prominent family that enthusiastically supported American independence, Robert Veazey enlisted in Maryland's Seventh Independent Company in 1776, which was commanded by his brother Edward. Robert was twenty-three years old when he enlisted, the average age of all Maryland soldiers in 1776. He was the son of Ann (d. 1781) and John Veazey, Jr. (1722-1780), of Cecil County, Maryland. In addition to Edward, Robert had four other brothers: Samuel, George (d. 1789), William, and John (d. 1777). John Jr. and John III also saw military service during the Revolutionary War, serving in the county militia. [1]
Maryland's independent companies were formed in early 1776, and differed from the nine companies that made up Colonel William Smallwood’s First Maryland Regiment. While the Council of Safety, Maryland's Revolutionary executive body, used the nine companies of regular troops to fulfill the state's quota for the Continental Army, it dispatched seven independent companies throughout Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore to guard the vast shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay. Half of the Seventh Independent Company was stationed on Kent Island, while the rest, including Veazey, were sent to Chestertown. In these first months, the company had great difficulty obtaining supplies, including uniforms and weapons. In the summer of 1776, Congress requested additional troops from Maryland to help reinforce the Continental Army, and the state agreed to shift the independent companies to that duty. When the First Maryland Regiment marched for New York in early July, it was accompanied by the Fourth, Fifth and Seventh independent companies; the rest followed later that fall. [2]
The Marylanders arrived in New York in early August, and prepared to protect the city from attack by the British. On August 27, the Americans clashed with the British at the Battle of Brooklyn (also called the Battle of Long Island), the first full-scale encounter of the American Revolution. The battle was a rout: the British were able to sneak around the American lines, and the outflanked Americans fled in disarray. During the retreat, the Maryland troops fought their way towards the American fortifications, but were blocked by the swampy Gowanus Creek. Half the regiment was able to cross the creek to safety. The rest, Veazey's company among them, were unable to do so before they were attacked by the British. Facing down a much larger, better-trained force, these men, now known as the "Maryland 400," mounted a series of daring charges, which held the British at bay for some time, at the cost of many lives, before being overrun. [3]
The Seventh Independent Company suffered greatly during the battle. Robert's brother Edward was killed early in the fighting, and two of the company's lieutenants were captured. First Lieutenant William Harrison was the sole officer in the company to escape, and only 36 men avoided death or captivity, just a third of the company. What exactly happened to Robert at the battle is unknown, although he was able to escape death. Whether he was captured, or if he continued to fight with the Marylanders during the rest of the difficult 1776 campaign, is also not known. However, at the end of the year, Robert did not reenlist, and left the army for good. [4]
Robert lived out the rest of his life in Cecil County. He never married or had children, and it is likely that he lived with his relatives: he owned no land, and his probate inventory lists no household goods, only clothing and personal items. It is not clear how he supported himself, although his mother Ann left him a small yearly allowance in her will. [5]
Robert died in September of October 1797, leaving most of his property to Ann, Elizabeth, and Samuel M. Veazey, the children of his brother Samuel. Robert also freed one of his slaves, Adam, and directed that the others, Margaret and her two children, be sold. Robert did own a sizable personal library, containing works on religion, philosophy, and the classics, as well as literature including Paradise Lost. [6] In leaving legacies for his nieces and nephew, Robert was following the pattern of his brother George, who wrote in his 1788 will of his "conviction that my Brother Samuel's children have greater Need of any assistance I can give them, and I trust my other Brothers will not hereby be offended." [7]
Owen Lourie, 2017
Notes:
[1] Descriptions of men in Capt. Edward Veazey’s Independent Company, 1776, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, MdHR 19970-15-36/01 [MSA S997-15-36, 1/7/3/13]; Edward C. Papenfuse, et al., eds, A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789, vol. 2 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985), 850-851; Ann Veazey will, 1781, Cecil County Register of Wills, Wills, Liber DD 4, p. 38 [MSA C646-3, 1/11/14/11]; Robert Veazey will, 1797, Cecil County Register of Wills, Wills, Liber FF 6, p. 127 [MSA C646-5, 1/11/14/12].
[2] Mark Andrew Tacyn “’To the End:’ The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution” (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 33-34, 43; Journal of the Maryland Convention and Council of Safety 1775-1776, Archives of Maryland Online vol. 11, pps. 318, 468; Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July-December, 1776, Archives of Maryland Online vol. 12, p. 4.
[3] Tacyn, 48-73. 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.
[4] Extract of a letter from an officer in the Maryland Battalion, 28 August 1776, American Archives series 5, vol. 1, p. 1195; Return of the Maryland troops, 27 September 1776, from Fold3.com.
[5] General Assembly, House of Delegates, Assessment Record, 1783, Cecil County, District 2, p. 8 [MSA S1161-3-8, 1/4/5/46]; Robert Veazey inventory, 1798, Cecil County Register of Wills, Inventories, Liber 11, p. 434 [MSA C620-16, 1/11/12/32]; Ann Veazey will.
[6] Robert Veazey list of debts, 1800, Cecil County Register of Wills, Inventories, Liber 12, p. 177 [MSA C620-17, 1/11/12/33]; Robert Veazey will.
[7] George Veazey will, 1788, Cecil County Register of Wills, Wills, Liber EE 5, p. 196 [MSA C646-4, 1/11/14/11].
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