Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

William Hill
MSA SC 3520-17448

Biography:

William Hill enlisted as a private in Captain Edward Veazey's Seventh Independent Company in 1776. He was twenty-four years old, about the average age of the Maryland troops in 1776. He was probably from Kent County, on Maryland's Eastern Shore. [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 Hill, were sent to Chestertown, in Kent County. 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, the Seventh Independent 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. Its commander Captain Veazey 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. [4]

Hill's exact fate at the battle is uncertain, and there are only a few hints his later life. When his original enlistment expired in late 1776, he joined the Second Maryland Regiment as a corporal for a three-year term. The independent companies were reorganized into the Second Maryland at the end of 1776, and many men who had served in them continued on in the new unit. Indeed, Hill served under Captain John Davidson, who had been a second lieutenant in the Fifth Independent Company at the Battle of Brooklyn, in a company with a number of other veterans. Men like Hill, who had survived the difficult campaign of 1776, played an important role in the years to come, forming a core of experienced veterans who led the Maryland Line to many years of success. [5]

Not long after Hill began his second stint in the army, he was reported as a deserter, although he evidently was not gone for long. Hill and the Marylanders fought at the American defeat at the Battle of Staten Island in August 1777, before traveling south to defend Philadelphia, fighting at the battles of Brandywine (September 1777) and Germantown (October 1777). The Maryland Line fought with notable bravery and skill at these engagements, as well as at the Battle of Monmouth (June 1778). Hill remained with the army until late 1778 or early 1779, when he deserted and returned home to Kent County. Desertion was a continual problem for the Continental Army, and in February 1779 the Second Maryland Regiment's commander, Colonel John Steward (himself a veteran of the Battle of Brooklyn) complained that there were more than fifty men missing from his unit: "These men are all at this time in Maryland, and from what I have heard, pass in their ordinary business with impunity." [6] Despite Steward's request that the state work to recover his soldiers, there is no indication that Hill ever returned to the army this time. Men deserted for many reasons, including cowardice, financial distress at home, grievances with officers, or administrative errors, and it is unknown what occurred in the case of William Hill.

Although there were several people named William Hill living in Maryland after the Revolutionary War, including one in Kent County, there is no definitive information available about the man who fought so bravely as part of the Maryland 400 in 1776.

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]; John Steward to Governor of Maryland, 22 February 1779, Maryland State Papers, Red Books 26:68, MdHR 4593-72/73 [MSA S989-37, 1/6/3/25].

[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] Muster rolls, Second Maryland Regiment, Davidson's Company, 1777-1778, Revolutionary War Rolls, NARA M246, folder 9, from Fold3.com.

[6] "One Hundred and Eighty Dollars Reward," Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser (Philadelphia), 2 July 1777; Quote from Steward to Governor.

Return to William Hill's Introductory Page


 
 
 


This web site is presented for reference purposes under the doctrine of fair use. When this material is used, in whole or in part, proper citation and credit must be attributed to the Maryland State Archives. PLEASE NOTE: The site may contain material from other sources which may be under copyright. Rights assessment, and full originating source citation, is the responsibility of the user.


Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!



© Copyright Wednesday, 28-Aug-2019 15:39:54 EDT Maryland State Archives