Davalt Stottlemeir
MSA SC 3520-17694
Biography:
Davalt Stottlemeir enlisted as a private in the Ninth Company of the First Maryland Regiment on January 21, 1776, in the Revolutionary War's earliest days. He lived in Frederick County, Maryland, and was the son of Catherine and David Stottlemeir. Davalt had eight siblings: David; George; Jacob; John; Catherine Elizabeth; Eave Magdalena; Maryann; and Catherine. [1]
The First Maryland Regiment was the state's first contingent of full-time, professional soldiers raised to be part of the Continental Army. Like Stottlemeir, many of the men in the company came from Western Maryland. It was designated as the light infantry company for the regiment. Instead of fighting in a line with the other companies, the light infantry was often deployed in small groups ahead of the main body of troops as scouts or skirmishers. They carried rifles, rather than muskets, and were intended to be a more mobile group.[2]
Stottlemeir and the rest of the company were ordered to travel from Frederick to Annapolis in March 1776 to join with the rest of the regiment. As they departed, however, they were instructed to head for Baltimore instead to provide reinforcements in case of an anticipated British attack launched from the HMS Otter, a warship reportedly heading for the city. No attack ever materialized, and the company proceeded to Annapolis. They trained there until July, when the First Maryland Regiment was ordered to march north to New York, to protect the city from invasion by the British. [3]
On August 27, 1776, the Americans faced the British Army 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 was able to cross the creek and escape the battle. However, the rest, including the Ninth Company, 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. [4]
The Ninth Company fared poorly at the battle, probably because the light infantry's role placed them closest to the enemy lines during combat. Fewer than half the men from the Ninth Company escaped death or captivity at the battle, and at least thirteen soldiers were taken prisoner. Stottlemeir was among those who survived the battle, and went on to fight with the Marylanders through the rest of the difficult fall and winter of 1776. While the Maryland troops demonstrated their skill and bravery at Harlem Heights in September and White Plains in October, the Americans were nevertheless 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. At the end of the year, Stottlemeir's enlistment expired, and he left the army. [5]
Returning to Frederick County, Stottlemeir likely lived as a modest farmer. He and his wife Sabanee had several children, although their names are not known. His father David died in late 1790 or early 1791, and divided his property between his wife and their nine children, although how much Davalt received was not recorded. He did purchase 84 acres of land in Frederick County in 1805, a relatively small tract. [6]
Stottlemeir and his family left Frederick around 1809 or 1810. They sold their land, making a nice profit on it, and relocated just across the Potomac River to Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Their location after 1810 is not known. [7]
Owen Lourie, 2018
Notes:
[1] Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 18; Will of David Stottlemyer, 1791, Frederick County Register of Wills, Wills, Liber GM 2, p. 371 [MSA C898-3, 1/51/9/11].
[3] Order to Capt. Stricker, Council of Safety Proceedings, 6 March 1776, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 11, p. 202; Order to Capt. Stricker, 9 March 1776, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 11, p. 224-225.
[4] 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] Return of the Maryland troops, 27 September 1776, from Fold3.com.
[6] David Stottlemyer will; U.S. Federal Census, 1790, Frederick County, Maryland; Bill of Sale, Jeremiah Gilbert to Davalt Stottlemire, 1800, Frederick County Court, Land Records, Liber WR 20, p. 110 [MSA CE108-40]; Deed, Peter Michael to Davalt Stottlemier, 1805, Liber WR 26, p. 465 [MSA CE108-46];
[7] Deed, Davalt Stottlemire to Nicholas Haup, Liber WR 36, p. 653 [MSA CE108-56]; U.S. Federal Census, 1810, Berkeley County, Virginia.
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