Patrick Walsh
MSA SC 3520-17757
Biography:
Patrick Walsh enlisted on January 11, 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 would desert 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 of the Continental Army, where they attacked and outflanked the unexpecting Americans. About half of the First Maryland Regiment became trapped by the swampy Gowanus Creek. Unable to escape, they turned back to fight off the British long enough for the rest of the Americans to safely retreat. [2]
Casualties were extreme, but so was the heroism that earned them the honorable name of the “Maryland 400.” Fortunately, the Eighth Company was able to escape through the swamp, 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 defeat for the Americans. [3]
Walsh survived the battle, and presumably fought with the Marylanders for the rest of the fall campaign. However, because of the commonness of his name, no further definitive information is known about him. At least three other men with the same name served throughout the war, but unfortunately it is unclear if any of them are the same man who was a member of the Maryland 400. [4]
-Natalie Miller, Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution Research Fellow, 2018
Notes:
[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.
[4] Samuel Smith, payments to 8th company soldiers, 6 January 1777, Samuel Smith Papers, Military Papers, box 5, reel 4, Library of Congress [SCM 5992-208].
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