Thomas Way Connell
MSA SC 3520-17803
Biography:
Thomas Way Connell enlisted as a private in the First Maryland Regiment’s First company on January 24, 1776, underneath the leadership of Captain John Hoskins Stone. [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 Maryland Line experienced the bitter taste of war for the first time. [2]
The Battle of Brooklyn (or the 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 single 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 at Brooklyn. The First Maryland Regiment split into two separate wings, stretching in a continuous line from the Gowanus Road to the Continental artillery stationed upon a ridge. Under the command of Major Mordecai Gist, the Marylanders 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 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 the Maryland 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. Fortunately, the majority of the men in Captain Stone’s company made it to the Gowanus Creek and successfully swam across. After the retreat, 77 percent of the First Company was accounted for. [5]
What became of Connell following the Battle of Brooklyn is unknown. It is possible that Connell deserted, or was captured or killed at the Battle of Brooklyn. Alternatively, he may have continued to fight with the Maryland Line through the embarrassing losses at White Plains and Fort Washington in the fall of 1776 and then decided not to reenlist that December. Unfortunately, the life of Thomas Way Connell before and after 1776 remains a mystery. [6]
-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: The Sons of the American Revolution, 1992), 11-25.
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