William Welsted
MSA SC 3520-17758
Biography:
William Welsted enlisted as a private on January 23, 1776 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 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. [3]
Walsted survived, and continued to fight with the Eighth Company. 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, and the First Maryland suffered greatly. [4]
Welsted reenlisted on December 10, 1776, when the Maryland Line was reorganized. He likely fought in the revitalizing victories at Trenton and Princeton in the winter of 1776-1777. The Continental Army’s luck soon ran out when they fought at the Battle of Staten Island in August 1777, and the bloody battles of Brandywine and Germantown within the next few months. All three battles were British victories, although John Adams considered the Battle of Germantown to be the “most decisive proof that America would finally succeed.” The Marylanders went on to fight in the inconclusive Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. [5]
As 1779 approached, the war slowed to a stalemate, and no major battles took place. Welsted was discharged when his enlistment ended in December 1779, along with many of the men who had been in the regiment since the beginning of the war. 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]
Unfortunately, nothing is known about Welsted’s life after his discharge.
-Natalie Miller, Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution Research Fellow, 2018
Notes:
[1] First Regiment Boarding Document 1776, Revolutionary War Rolls, NARA M246, folder 3, p. 1-10, from Fold3.com.
[2] Extract of a letter from New-York: Account of the battle on Long-Island, 1 September 1776, American Archives Online, series 5, vol. 2.
[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] Extract of a letter from Head-Quarters to a gentleman in Annapolis: Shall give the enemy a genteel drubbing in case the Yankees will fight, 17 September 1776, American Archives Online, series 5, vol. 2; Henry P. Johnston, The Campaign of 1776 Around New York and Brooklyn ( New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), 256.
[5] Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol 18, p. 173; John Adams to James Lovell, 26 July 1778, Founders Online, National Archives.
[6] Archives of Maryland Online, vol 18, p. 173.
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