Clement Barber
MSA SC 3520-17458
Biography:
Clement Barber enlisted as a private in the Seventh Company of the First Maryland Regiment, led by John Day Scott, on February 10, 1776. [1]
The Seventh Company began their military career by training in Annapolis for six months. They then moved north, making it to Philadelphia by mid-July 1776 and to New York by August 14. They positioned themselves about one mile outside of New York with orders to prepare for battle. According to William Sands, a sergeant in the Seventh Company, they “had lost a great many...troops [who] deserted from...Philadelphia and Elizabethtown, and a great many [were] sick in the hospital,” so the regiment was weakened before entering combat. [2]The Seventh Company first met the British at the Battle of Brooklyn (Battle of Long Island) on August 27, 1776, where the Continental Army, led by General George Washington, fought to defend New York. American troops were severely outnumbered and surrounded when they were ordered to retreat. While the Seventh Company was withdrawing, they were again ambushed by British troops. About half of the First Maryland Regiment stayed behind to fight off the British long enough for the rest of the Americans to safely escape. Casualties were extreme, but so was the heroism that earned them the honorable name of the “Maryland 400.” Fortunately, the Seventh Company escaped without immense casualties, losing fewer than ten out of approximately 75 troops. Maryland losses totalled 256 men killed or captured, but without the Maryland 400, even more would have been lost. Despite their courageous actions, the battle was a defeat for the Americans. [3]
The Maryland Regiment helped secure America’s first victory at the Battle of Harlem Heights in September 1776 where they were praised for their “gallant behavior” and “splendid spirit and animation.” They fought again at the Battle of White Plains in October where, despite the Maryland troops’ immense improvement, there was no clear victory. Unfortunately, the First Maryland Regiment suffered greatly, including the loss of John Day Scott, the captain of the Seventh Company, and Second Lieutenant Thomas Goldsmith who was fatally shot while attempting to save a soldier's life.
Barber survived these battles and reenlisted on December 10, 1776 as a private in Lieutenant James Farnandis's company. He then likely fought with the rest of the Maryland Line at the Battle of Staten Island, and the bloody Battles of Brandywine and Germantown, part of the Philadelphia campaign which was an unsuccessful attempt to defend the American capital at Phildelphia. All were British victories, however the Battle of Germantown was reported by John Adams to be considered the “most decisive proof that America would finally succeed.” [4]
Barber was detached from his company by May 1778 and was stationed in Newark, Delaware at an army shoe factory initiated by Brigadier General William Smallwood. Adequate supplies of shoes and clothing were a constant problem for the Continental Army. Smallwood wrote to General George Washington in December 1777 that “the march of the troops...through the frosty roads, has cut out their shoes, & by being barefoot they are rendered unfit for duty.” He then requested that Washington send "shoemakers & soldiers who are...employed as guards, waiters, tradesmen or waggoners” to the newly established Newark shoe factory. Barber was one of the approximately thirty soldiers in the shoe factory who worked for years to get the army “amply supplied with very good shoes.”Although some men were chosen because of their shoe-making skills, the others were, according to Smallwood, "mostly...[the] sorriest men" who were already doing the lowest tier of work in the army. Barber likely remained in the shoe factory through the beginning of 1779. [5]
-Natalie Miller, Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution Research Fellow, 2017
Notes:[3] Mark Andrew Tacyn, "To the End: The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution," (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 48-73; Extract of a letter from New-York: Account of the battle on Long-Island, 1 September 1776, American Archives Online, series 5, vol. 2, p. 107.
[4] Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, NARA M881, from Fold3.com.[5] Compiled Service Records; William Smallwood To George Washington, 28 December 1777, Founders Online, National Archives; William Smallwood To George Washington, 7 January 1779, Founders Online, National Archives.
[6] Tacyn, 210, 284.[7] General Assembly House of Delegates Assessment Record, 1783, Montgomery County, Middle Potomac, Lower Potomac, and Georgetown Hundred, p. 1 [MSA S 1161-8-3, 1/4/5/51]; Personal Property of Clement Barber, Inventory of Clement Barber, 1785, Montgomery County Register of Wills, Estate Records, Liber B, p. 251 [MSA C1138-2, 01/17/08/002].
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