Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Alexander Fulton
MSA SC 3520-17626

Biography:

Alexander Fulton enlisted as a private in the Sixth Company of the First Maryland Regiment, led by Captain Peter Adams, on February 22, 1776. [1]

Fulton was from Cecil County, and the Sixth Company was recruited primarily from the Eastern Shore. The company traveled to Annapolis in the spring of 1776 to complete six months of training.  The company then moved north, making it to Philadelphia by mid-July 1776 and to New York by August 14.  It was positioned with the rest of the First Maryland Regiment about one mile outside of New York, with orders to prepare for battle.

The Marylanders met the British at the Battle of Brooklyn (sometimes called the Battle of Long Island) on August 27, 1776, where the Continental Army, led by General George Washington, fought to defend New York. The  American troops were severely outnumbered and surrounded when they were ordered to retreat.  Half the regiment was able to escape the battle, however the other half, including most of the Sixth Company, was trapped by the swampy Gowanus Creek.  They turned back to face the British, holding their position long enough for the rest of the Marylanders to return to safety.  This heroic stand earned them the honorable name of the “Maryland 400.” [2]

The First Maryland Regiment suffered major losses. The Sixth Company alone lost 58 men, or 80 percent. By the end of the battle, Maryland losses totalled 256 men killed or captured.  Despite the heroic actions of the Maryland 400, the battle was a defeat for the Americans. Unlike many of his companions, Fulton survived the battle and was not captured. He was one of just sixteen officers and men from the Sixth Company to come out of the battle unscathed. [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. [4]

Alexander Fulton survived these battles and reenlisted as a private in the First Maryland Regiment on December 10, 1776 when the Maryland Line was reorganized.  He likely participated in the revitalizing victories at Trenton  and Princeton in the winter of 1776-1777.  However, their luck soon ran out when they fought at Battle of Staten Island, and the bloody battles of Brandywine and Germantown, part of the campaign to defend Philadelphia from British capture. All were British victories, although John Adams considered the Battle of Germantown to be the “most decisive proof that America would finally succeed.” [5]

When his enlistment ended in December 1779, Fulton was discharged, along with many of the men who had been in the regiment since the beginning of the war.  Out of the 170 men who had reenlisted in December 1776, only 40 percent reached the end of their three-year enlistment.  The discharge of these men was a momentous event for the Maryland Line, with the original war veterans handing their company over to the newer recruits, entrusting them with the success of the remainder of the war. [6]

After he left the army, Fulton returned home to Cecil County, Maryland.  He was a farmer, owning almost 400 acres of land and one slave, and he likely rented out portions of his land to other farmers.  He and his wife--whose name is not known--had eight children: Alexander, Elizabeth, Robert, John L., Jane, and three older siblings whose names are unknown. They lived comfortably and likely had a few luxuries as part of their upper-middle class lifestyle.  Alexander Fulton died in or around 1802, leaving a widow and five children who were still minors. Unfortunately no other information is known about them. [7]

-Natalie Miller, Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution Research Fellow, 2018

Notes:

[1] Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 14.

[2] 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.

[3]  Return of the Maryland troops, 27 September 1776, from Fold3.com.

[4] Henry P. Johnston, The Campaign of 1776 Around New York and Brooklyn (1878; Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), 256.

[5] Tacyn, 210.

[6] Archives of Maryland Online, vol 18, p. 108; Tacyn, 210, 284.

[7] Deed, John Fulton to Alexander Fulton, 1785, Cecil County Court, Land Records, vol. 15 p. 417 [MSA CE133-17]; Cecil County, Register of Wills, Guardian Accounts, p. 311, 312, 316, 317, MdHR 16586-2 [MSA C592-2, 01/11/13/11].

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