Abijah Buxtone
MSA SC 3520-17825
Biography:
Abijah Buxtone enlisted as a private in the Third Company of the First Maryland Regiment, led by Captain Barton Lucas, on February 3, 1776. [1]
The Third Company was recruited primarily from Prince George’s County, Maryland, but traveled to Annapolis in the spring of 1776 to train for several months. That July, the company received orders to march north, making it to Philadelphia by mid-July and to New York a month later. It was positioned with the rest of the First Maryland Regiment about one mile outside of New York, with orders to prepare for battle.
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. The American troops were severely outnumbered and surrounded when they were ordered to retreat. Half the regiment was able to escape the battle, however the other half, including most of the Third Company, was trapped by the swampy Gowanus Creek. They turned back to face the British, holding their position long enough for the rest of the Marylanders to return to safety. This daring stand earned them the honorable name of the “Maryland 400.” [2]
Despite the heroic actions of the Maryland 400, the battle was a defeat for the Americans, and the First Maryland Regiment suffered greatly. By the end of the battle, Maryland losses totalled 256 men killed or captured. As for the Third Company, only 27 men, just 35 percent of the company, escaped death or captivity. Of the remaining men, at least an astonishing 22 men, or 29 percent, were taken prisoner. Sadly, the rest of the company remains unaccounted for. On the day of the battle, Captain Lucas was sick and unable to lead his men. He "became deranged as a consequence of losing his company," and left the army not long after. [3]
Unlike many of his companions, Buxtone survived the battle and was not captured, and continued to fight. 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. Unfortunately, the First Maryland Regiment suffered greatly. [4]
Abijah Buxtone survived these battles and reenlisted as a private in the First Maryland Regiment on December 10, 1776 when the Maryland Line was reorganized. He likely participated in the revitalizing victories at Trenton and Princeton in the winter of 1776-1777. However, their luck soon ran out when they fought at Battle of Staten Island, and the bloody battles of Brandywine and Germantown, part of the campaign to defend Philadelphia from British capture. All were British victories, although John Adams considered the Battle of Germantown to be the “most decisive proof that America would finally succeed.” [5]
When his enlistment ended in December 1779, he enlisted yet again, this time as a private in the Seventh Maryland Regiment. In the spring of 1780, the Marylanders were part of the American Army that was ordered to march south to defend the colonies after the southern army had been almost entirely captured by the British. After reaching the south, they fought in the Battle of Camden, where the Maryland Line again found themselves alone on the battlefield after the rest of the army fled. The battle was yet another British victory with extreme casualties on the American side. At some point, he transferred back to the First Maryland Regiment, where he served until at least January 1781. [6]
After leaving the army, Buxtone was awarded land in Allegany County, Maryland, for his six years of service. Like many soldiers, he chose not to take the land because it was “absolutely good for nothing . . . unfit for Cultivation,” and there was not much he could do with it. Unfortunately, Buxtone’s life after this time is unclear, and nothing else is known of him. [7]
-Natalie Miller, Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution Research Fellow, 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), 48-73; "Extract of a letter from New-York," 1 September 1776, American Archives, series 5, vol. 2, 107-108.
[3] Return of the Maryland troops, 27 September 1776, from Fold3.com; Pension of John Hughes. National Archives, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land-Warrant Application Files, S 5954, from Fold3.com.
[4] Henry P. Johnston, The Campaign of 1776 Around New York and Brooklyn (1878; Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), 256.
[5] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 81.
[6] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 190.
[7] J. Thomas Scharf, History of Western Maryland (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Louis H. Everts, 1882), 148.Return to Abijah Buxtone's Introductory Page
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