Nicholas Watkins, of Stephen (1758-1794)
MSA SC 3520-17564
Biography:
Nicholas Watkins enlisted as a private in the First Maryland Regiment's Seventh Company, commanded by Captain John Day Scott, on January 20 or 21, 1776; there were two men named Nicholas Watkins in the company, and it is not clear who enlisted on which day. Watkins was the eldest child of Stephen (b. 1735) and Elinor (Boyd) Watkins, and lived in the Lothian area of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He was sometimes called Nicholas Watkins, of Stephen to differentiate him from the other people in the area with the same name. Stephen and Elinor were married in 1757, and Nicholas was born not long after, on March 9, 1758. He had eight siblings: Benjamin (b. 1759); Mary (b. 1761); Stephen (b. 1763); John (b. 1764); Thomas (b. 1767); Elinor Elizabeth (b. 1769); Sarah Harwood (b. 1771); and Rachel (b. 1773). [1]
The Seventh Company was raised in the beginning of the year, then traveled to Annapolis in the spring, where it joined five of the regiment's other companies that were stationed there; three additional companies were in Baltimore. Commanded by Colonel William Smallwood, the regiment was the first unit of full-time, professional soldiers raised in Maryland for service in the Continental Army. In July, the regiment received orders to march to New York to defend the city from an impending British attack. The Marylanders arrived in New York a month later and joined the rest of the Continental Army, commanded by General George Washington. One of the company’s sergeants, William Sands, described the scene in mid-August: “Our Maryland Battalion is encamped on a hill about one mile out of New York, where we lay in a very secure place…We are ordered to hold ourselves in readiness. We expect an attack hourly.” [2]
That attack finally came two weeks later, on August 27, 1776, at the Battle of Brooklyn (sometimes called the Battle of Long Island), the first full-scale engagement of the war. The battle was a rout: the British were able to sneak around the American lines, and the outflanked Americans fled in disarray. As the Maryland troops fought their way towards the American fortifications, they were forced to stop at the swampy Gowanus Creek. Half the regiment, including the Seventh Company, was able to cross the creek and escape the battle. However, the rest were unable to do so before they were attacked by the British. Facing down a much larger, better-trained force, this group of soldiers, today called the "Maryland 400," mounted a series of daring charges. They held the British at bay for some time before being overrun, at the cost of many lives. The Marylanders took enormous casualties, with some companies losing nearly 80 percent of their men, but their actions delayed the British long enough for the rest of the Continental Army to escape. In all, the First Maryland lost 256 men, killed or taken prisoner. [3]
Watkins survived the battle, as did most of the men in his company, although William Sands was among those killed. In October, Watkins fought with the Marylanders at the Battle of White Plains, where they again took the brunt of the fighting. They were ordered to leave their defensive position on the top of a hill and charge at the British. “Smallwood’s [regiment] suffered most, on this occasion, sustaining, with great patience and coolness, a long and heavy fire–and finally retreated with great sullenness, being obliged to give way to a superior force,” wrote one observer. Watkins’s company lost its captain and one of its lieutenants, Thomas Goldsmith, both killed. By November, the Americans had been pushed out of New York, and put on the run through New Jersey. Not until late that winter did they secure revitalizing victories at Trenton and Princeton. [4]
In December 1776, Watkins’s enlistment came to an end, and he signed on as a sergeant for a three-year term. A number of the soldiers who had fought in the 1776 campaign received similar promotions, a reflection of the veteran leadership that they could contribute to the army. During his second term in the army, Watkins probably took part in the disastrous raid on Staten Island (August 1777), and the major battles of the Philadelphia Campaign, Brandywine (September 1777) and Germantown (October 1777). The Marylanders also fought at the Battle of Monmouth (June 1778). Watkins was discharged in late December 1779. [5]
After Watkins left the army, he returned to Anne Arundel County and settled into life as a wealthy planter. On February 3, 1782, he married Sarah Disney, who died a few years later, and Watkins married Elizabeth Walker in April 1786. They probably had no children. [6]
In addition to managing his plantation, Watkins held several minor political positions. He was appointed the inspector of tobacco at the Taylors Landing Warehouse, in Anne Arundel County, in 1786, and again in 1790 and 1791. In July 1794, Watkins was commissioned as the major of the Twenty-Second Regiment of Maryland Militia. Both of these positions were patronage jobs, indicating that Watkins was politically connected, and probably a member of the Federalist Party which dominated the state during this period. [7]
Nicholas Watkins died on December 14, 1794, just thirty-six years old. His estate was valued at $2,037, and included ten slaves. Watkins also owned a number of items which indicated his high status: a silver watch, several guns, and a violin. He left a lot in London Town to his brother John, and directed that the rest of his land be sold. A few days after Watkins's death, a friend published a poem in his honor in the Maryland Gazette:
Sweet spring advance, and deck with flowerets gay,
The tomb where Watkins's remains are laid,
Ye muses there your constant vigils pay,
And guard from ills the consecrated shade.
...
Lost to his country and his mournful friends,
His last address was with a feeble pen,
He now assumes a more exalted strain,
And quits, for angels, the pursuits of men.
Adieu! My friend, long may thy mem'ry live,
Thy country grateful--long thy merits own,
This artless verse is all a friend can give,
'Tis for that country to erect the stone. [8]
Owen Lourie, 2017
Notes:
[1] Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 16-17; St. James' Church, St. James' Parish (Herring Creek Parish), Parish Register, 1663-1856, p. 91 [MSA SC2497-1-1, SCM 937].
[3] Return of the Maryland troops, 27 September 1776, from Fold3.com; Mark Andrew Tacyn "'To the End:' The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution" (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 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.
[5] There is conflicting information about Watkins's rank in 1778-1779, and one source says that he was demoted to private in August 1778, then promoted to corporal in February 1779, but other records show him leaving the army as a sergeant. Account of money paid sundry soldiers by Gen. Smallwood, paid to Nicholas Watkins, late 1776/early 1777, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, box 6, no. 7-6, MdHR 19970-6-7/6 [MSA S997-6-28, 1/7/3/11]; Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 173; Compiled Service Record of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, National Archives, NARA M881, from Fold3.com; List of receipts of soldiers who were paid upon discharge, 27 December 1779, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, box 3, no. 7-21, p. 1, MdHR 19970-3-7/21 [MSA S997-3-94, 1/7/3/9]; Commissioner to Settle and Adjust Pay Due Officers and Soldiers, Depreciation Pay, vol. 2, p. 115 [MSA S169-2, 1/1/4/22].
[6] Because there were several Nicholas Watkins in Anne Arundel, it is not absolutely certain that he married Sarah Disney. However, their wedding was at St. James Church, where Nicholas's family were parishioners, so it is likely it was the same person. St. James Parish Register, p. 105; Anne Arundel County Court, Marriage Licenses, 1777-1813, p. 16, 91 [MSA C113-1, 1/1/11/27]; Will of Nicholas Watkins, of Stephen, 1794, Anne Arundel County Register of Wills, Wills, Liber JG 1, p. 451 [MSA C153-5, 1/3/12/15].
[7] Journal and Correspondence of the State Council, 1784-1789, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 71, p. 100, 148; Journal and Correspondence of the State Council, 1789-1793, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 72, p. 79, 126, 188; Adjutant General, Militia Appointments, 1794-1816, p. 92 [MSA S538-2, 2/6/5/10].
[8] Watkins will; Inventory of Nicholas Watkins, of Stephen, 1795, Anne Arundel County Register of Wills, Inventories, Liber JG 6, p. 190, MdHR 4819-1 [MSA C88-9, 1/3/12/34]; Nicholas Watkins, of Stephen, Account of sale, 1795, Anne Arundel County Register of Wills, Accounts of Sale, Liber JG 6, p. 191, MdHR 4819-2 [MSA C27-9, 1/3/12/34]; Maryland Gazette, 8 January 1795.
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