William Clarke
MSA SC 3520-17802
Biography:
William Clarke enlisted as a private in the Maryland First Regiment’s First Company, underneath the leadership of Captain John Hoskins Stone, on January 24, 1776. [1]
The First Company was primarily recruited from Charles County, Maryland, but trained in Annapolis until the summer of 1776. That July, Maryland’s First Regiment marched north to rendezvous with General George Washington outside of New York. There, the majority of the Maryland Line experienced the bitter taste of war for the first time. [2]
The Battle of Brooklyn (or Battle of Long Island) erupted on August 27, 1776, and was the first major battle that followed the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The British troops, totaling nearly 15,000 men, and the British Royal Navy arrived with the intention of ending the war with this battle. Meanwhile, General Washington was determined to defend New York. Ultimately, between General Washington’s smaller army and the poor intelligence he referenced when preparing for the British invasion, the Battle of Brooklyn ended in a Continental retreat and a crippling loss. [3]
The Maryland 400 earned their heroic title during the peak of the conflict in Brooklyn. The First Maryland Regiment split into two separate wings, stretching in a continuous line from Gowanus Road to the Continental artillery stationed upon a ridge. Under the command of Major Mordecai Gist, the men fought off the first wave of advancing British troops. The British eventually retreated a few hundred feet, giving the impression that the Continental Army had successfully stopped the British invasion. Shortly after the first wave of British troops receded, the Marylanders were shocked as another larger group of British soldiers snuck up on their rear and threatened to surround them. Quickly, the Continental Army’s confidence culminated into fear, their line broke, and the companies retreated. [4]
During the retreat, the Marylanders found themselves unfortunately positioned in between enemy fire and the Gowanus Creek. About half of the Marylanders, counting the First Company, attempted to cross the creek and reach their allies. The other half of Maryland’s First Regiment had no other option but to turn back and face the enemy, allowing their fellow countrymen to reach safety. That day, 256 of the First Marylanders that stood on Gowanus Road were killed or made prisoners. Following the Battle of Brooklyn, 77 percent of the First Company was accounted for, including William Clarke. [5]
Following the Continental Army’s retreat from Brooklyn, Clarke presumably continued to fight in the fall of 1776 at the destructive battles of White Plains and Fort Washington. On December 10, 1776 , he enlisted again as a private in Maryland’s First Regiment and joined them in fighting the British during the Continental victories at Trenton and Princeton. [6]
Like many of the Marylanders who re-enlisted in the winter of 1776, William Clarke deserted in the Summer of 1777. What happened to the William Clarke of Maryland’s First Regiment is unknown because he had a common name and there is no way to confirm which documentation belongs to him. There were at least two William Clarkes from Maryland that served in the Revolutionary War, and countless others scattered throughout the thirteen colonies. Although one of these men is likely connected to the legacy of the Maryland 400, it is uncertain which one he was. [7]
-Elizabeth Cassibry, Washington College Explore America Research Intern, 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), 21.
[3] Tacyn, 23-30.
[4] Tacyn, 30-60.
[5] Return of the Maryland troops, 27 September 1776, from Fold3.com.
[6] John Dwight Kilbourne, “A Short History of the Maryland Line in the Continental Army,” (Baltimore, Maryland, 1992), 11-25; Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 91.
[7] Tacyn, 307.
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