Lawrence Querney
MSA SC 3520-17449
Biography:
Private Laurence Querney enlisted into the First Maryland Regiment on February 7th, 1776. At was the time of the Battle of Brooklyn (otherwise known as the Battle of Long Island) on August 27, 1776, Querney was in Captain Patrick Sim’s Second Company. Although the battle was a defeat for the Americans, the valiant defense by Querney and the other soldiers of the “Maryland 400” held off the British long enough to allow much of the trapped American army to escape. Querney was one of the lucky soldiers who survived that day, his company losing fewer than ten men. [1]
After the Battle of White Plains, the Battle of Trenton, and the Battle of Princeton, Querney was one of the many who reenlisted. After the reestablishment of a restructured First Maryland Regiment, these Marylanders went on to participate in every main battle fought by the Continental Army until 1780, including the battles of Staten Island, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. In these battles, the new recruits to Maryland’s forces were provided with a hardened core of experienced soldiers like Querney who were able to provide them with stability, strength, and the experience of prior confrontations. This helped with the campaign of 1777, where the First Maryland Regiment acted as a crucial aspect of Washington’s offensive force. [2]
Querney was discharged on December 27, 1779. There is no further definitive record of Querney in Maryland. By 1800, he had moved to Rowan County, North Carolina. [3]
-Taylor Blades, 2017
Notes:
[2] Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War. NARA M881, from Fold3.com.
[3] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 154; 1800 United States Federal Census. NARA M32. From Ancestry.com; Mark Andrew Tacyn “’To the End:’ The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution” (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 287.
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