Samuel Clark
MSA SC 3520-17747
Biography:
Samuel Clark enlisted on January 12, 1776, as a private in the Eighth Company of the First Maryland Regiment, led by Captain Samuel Smith. The Eighth Company was recruited primarily from Baltimore, where it trained with two other Maryland companies that spring and summer. In July, the First Maryland Regiment was ordered to travel to New York in anticipation of a British attack. During the march, four men deserted from the Eighth Company, the first of many who deserted that summer. [1]
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. After a mild initial attack, the British covertly maneuvered to the rear, where they attacked and outflanked the unexpecting Americans. About half of the First Maryland Regiment became trapped by the swampy Gowanus Creek, and turned back 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 Eighth Company escaped, losing approximately six out of 70 or so men. 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 tragic defeat for the Americans. [2]
Samuel Clark survived the battle and continued to fight with the Eighth Company. However, about two weeks later, he was arrested along with William Arnold, another man from his company, and a Pennsylvania soldier. The three were accused of "plundering the House lately occupied by Lord Stirling," the American General who commanded the Marylanders. Arnold and Clark were acquitted and sent back to their companies, although the Pennsylvanian was convicted and received thirty-nine lashes as punishment. [3]
Clark’s enlistment ended in December 1776. At least two men named Samuel Clark served later in the Revolution, and several lived in Maryland in the years following the war. Unfortunately, it is unclear if any of them are the same man from the Maryland 400.
-Natalie Miller, Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution Research Fellow, 2018
Notes:
[2] 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; 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] "General Orders, 11 September 1776," Founders Online, National Archives.Return to Samuel Clark's Introductory Page
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