Philip Waid
MSA SC 3520-17761
Biography:
Philip Waid enlisted as a private on February 6, 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]
Waid 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]
As 1776 continued, the Continental Army was pushed out of New York and through New Jersey due to the loss at Fort Washington. The tides changed when later that winter the Marylanders participated in the victorious battles of Trenton and Princeton. Philip Waid's enlistment ended that winter as well, and he did not reenlist. Unfortunately, no further information is known about his life.
-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.
[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, pg. 370; Henry P. Johnston, The Campaign of 1776 Around New York and Brooklyn ( New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), 256.Return to Philip Waid's Introductory Page
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