John Kerby
MSA SC 3520-17713
Biography:
John Kerby enlisted as a private in the Sixth Company of the First Maryland Regiment, led by Captain Peter Adams, on February 24, 1776. [1]
The Sixth Company was recruited primarily from the Eastern Shore, but traveled to Annapolis in the spring of 1776 where they trained for a few months. They then moved north, making it to Philadelphia by mid-July 1776 and to New York by August 14. They positioned themselves, along 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 84 percent, or 58 men. 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, Kerby 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. [3]
John Kerby 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 fought with the rest of the Maryland Line at the victorious battles of Trenton in 1776 and Princeton in 1777. Surviving these battles, he went on to fight at the Battle of Staten Island on August 22, 1777, where he was taken prisoner. Kerby and the other prisoners were kept on British prison ships known for their horrid conditions. One prisoner, Connecticut soldier Robert Shefield, left a disturbing account of what he encountered:
The heat was so intense that (the hot sun shining all day on deck) they were all naked, which also served the well to get rid of vermin, but the sick were eaten up alive. Their sickly countenances, and ghastly looks were truly horrible; some swearing and blaspheming; others crying, praying, and wringing their hands; and stalking about like ghosts; others delirious, raving and storming,—all panting for breath; some dead, and corrupting. The air was so foul that at times a lamp could not be kept burning, by reason of which the bodies were not missed until they had been dead ten days. [4]
John Kerby’s fate past his capture is unclear. At least two men with the same name served in the Maryland Line in the latter years of the war. One of the men was from Talbot county on the eastern shore, where the Sixth Company was recruited. Although it is entirely possible, it is unclear if either of these were the same man who was a member of the Maryland 400. [5]
-Natalie Miller, Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution Research Fellow, 2018
Notes:
[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] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 129.
[5] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 387.
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