Francis Shepard
MSA SC 3520-17903
Biography:
Francis Shepard enlisted as a private in the First Company of the First Maryland Regiment in January 1776. The company was led by Captain John Hoskins Stone, and was part of Maryland's first contingent of full-time, professional troops. Its men distinguished themselves that summer, gaining fame as the "Maryland 400." [1]
Shepard was part of a family of middling farmers who lived in Charles County, Maryland. He was the eldest son of John and Mary Ann Shepard, and had five siblings: Thomas Lambert, Jane, Sarah, Ann, and Aleah. John owned about 200 acres of land in the 1770s, but increased his holdings to 360 acres in the 1780s. [2]
After Shepard enlisted, he and the rest of the company traveled to Annapolis in the spring of 1776 to train and await further orders. In July, the regiment was directed to march to New York to defend the city from an impending British attack. The Marylanders arrived in New York in early August, and joined with the rest of the Continental Army, commanded by General George Washington. On August 27, 1776, the Americans faced the British Army at the Battle of Brooklyn (sometimes called the Battle of Long Island), the first full-scale engagement of the war. The battle was a rout: the British were able to sneak around the American lines, and the outflanked Americans fled in disarray.
During the retreat, the Maryland troops fought their way towards the American fortifications, but were blocked by the swampy Gowanus Creek. Half the regiment, including the First Company, was able to cross the creek, and escape the battle. However, the rest were unable to do so before they were attacked by the British. Facing down a much larger, better-trained force, this group of soldiers, today called the "Maryland 400," mounted a series of daring charges, which held the British at bay for some time, at the cost of many lives, before being overrun. They took enormous causalities, with some companies losing nearly 80 percent of their men, but their actions delayed the British long enough for the rest of the Continental Army to escape. In all, the First Maryland lost 256 men, killed or taken prisoner. [3]
Shepard survived the battle, as did most of the men in his company. During the fall of 1776, the Marylanders fought a series of battles in New York: Harlem Heights (September), White Plains (October), and Fort Washington (November). While the Americans had some tactical successes at these engagements, by November they had been pushed out of New York entirely, though they secured key revitalizing victories at Trenton and Princeton late that winter.
In December 1776, Shepard's enlistment came to an end, and he signed on again, this time as a sergeant. A number of the soldiers who had fought in the 1776 campaign received similar promotions, a reflection of the veteran leadership that they could contribute to the army. During his three-year term, Shepard saw a great deal of combat. The Marylanders fought in the disastrous raid on Staten Island in August 1777, and the major battles of the campaign to protect Philadelphia from the British, Brandywine (September 1777) and Germantown (October 1777), both significant defeats. The Marylanders also fought at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. The next year, 1779, saw little major combat as the war slowed to a stalemate. [4]
Shepard's enlistment expired on December 27, 1779, and he was discharged. However, his service had been noted by his superiors, and the next month he was among a number of sergeants and corporals recommended for promotion. As General William Smallwood, by now Maryland's highest-ranking officer, wrote, "I believe their Services and Merit entitle them to such Reward." The gap between non-commissioned officers, like sergeants and corporals, and commissioned officers was a wide one, as officers were typically drawn from the gentry. Furthermore, commanders were sometimes reluctant to promote non-commissioned officers like sergeants, because experienced sergeants were so valuable. [5]
Shepard did not receive his commission until July 1780, when he was made a lieutenant in the Regiment Extraordinary, a unit raised by Maryland in the summer of 1780 to help alleviate the Continental Army's severe manpower shortage. Desperate for any available men, the state filled the regiment with "Deserters...Men left at the Hospitals [and] a few Recruited for the old Regiments." Shepard was among the latter group, and as an experienced soldier he was made an officer. The regiment was slow to form, and by October, when Shepard was promoted to captain, it was still short of men and supplies. Portions of the regiment did fight a small battle with the British near Fort Washington, Maryland that fall, and the men eventually marched to join the main body of the army in December 1780. Arriving in North Carolina, the Regiment Extraordinary faced organizational challenges and was disbanded in March 1781. Some of the men were incorporated into the Second Maryland Regiment. Many of the officers resigned from the army, however, since they were not permitted to join the Second Maryland and still retain their ranks. Shepard was probably among those who left the army and returned home. [6]
Resuming civilian life after more than five years in the army, Shepard returned to Charles County, where he lived as a farmer. Just as his parents had been, Shepard was part of the county's middle class. His land holdings fluctuated between 250 and 180 acres, and he owned about 4 slaves, the typical profile for a middling farmer. When his father John died in 1787, he left all his property to his wife Mary Ann. After her death, the family's plantation and land was to be divided equally between Francis and his brother Thomas. By 1798, the latest date there is information about his property, Francis owned 180 acres, roughly half the land his father owned in the 1780s around the time of his death. While Shepard's moderate wealth put him in the middle of the county's economic hierarchy, his true social status may have been higher. Shepard was only an army captain for about six months, but he retained the title for the rest of his life, which certainly set him apart from all of the other middling farmers. [7]
Shepard likely never married or had any children. He died around the beginning of 1805, and his estate was valued at $1,448, a fairly high amount; his four slaves made up nearly two-thirds of that amount. Shepard's estate was divided among his siblings and his nieces and nephews. [8]
Owen Lourie, 2018
Notes:
1. Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 6. Shepard's name was spelled with many different variations. This is the spelling that he used to sign his name on at least two occasions.
2. Will of John Shepherd, 1787, Charles County Register of Wills, Wills, Liber AH 9, p. 406, MdHR 7290-1 [MSA C681-10, 1/8/10/10]; Land Office, Debt Book, Charles County, 1774, vol. 17, p. 15 [MSA S12-91, 1/24/2/17]; General Assembly, House of Delegates, Assessment Record, 1783, Charles County, District 7, p 11 [MSA S1161-5-4, 1/4/5/48].
3. Return of the Maryland troops, 13 September 1776, Revolutionary War Rolls, NARA M246, folder 35, p. 85, 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. For more on the experience of the Marylanders at the Battle of Brooklyn, see "In Their Own Words," on the Maryland State Archives research blog, Finding the Maryland 400.
4. Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 160; Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, NARA M881, from Fold3.com.
5. List of receipts of soldiers who were paid upon discharge, 27 December 1779, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, box 3, no. 7-21, p. 3, MdHR 19970-3-7/21 [MSA S997-3-94, 1/7/3/9]; Compiled Service Record; Journal and Correspondence of the State Council, 1779-1790, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 43, p. 71.
6. Uriah Forrest to George Washington, 17 August 1780, Founders Online, National Archives; Mordecai Gist to George Washington, 26 October 1780, Founders Online, National Archives; Receipt for supplies, Lt. Francis Shepard, 24 August 1780, Maryland State Papers, Series A, box 19, no. 140, MdHR 6636-19-140 [MSA S1004-24-2146, 1/7/3/35]; Order to pay Capt. Francis Shepard, 19 October 1780, Maryland State Papers, Series A, box 22, no. 23/12, MdHR 6636-22-23/12 [MSA S1004-29-2722, 1/7/3/38]; Pension of Charles Smith, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, National Archives, W 25,002, from Fold3.com; Order to pay Capt. Francis Shepard, 26 April 1781, Maryland State Papers, Series A, box 32, no. 87B, MdHR 6636-32-87B [MSA S1004-42-210, 1/7/3/46]; Archives of Maryland, vol. 43, pps. 234, 272, 325; Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, 1780-1781, Archives of Maryland, vol. 45, pps. 336, 415.
7. Deed, John Shepherd to Francis Shepherd, 1771, Charles County Court, Land Records, Liber S3, p. 242 [MSA CE82-35]; Deed, John Hoskins Stone to Francis Shepard, 1790, Charles County Court, Land Records, Liber K4, p. 99 [MSA CE82-39]; Deed, Francis Shepard to John Hoskins Stone, Charles County Court, Land Records, 1790, Liber K4, p. 103 [MSA CE82-39]; Federal Direct Tax, 1798, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 729, Charles County, General List of Land, p. 1400, General List of Houses, p. 1422, General List of Slaves, p. 1456; U.S. Federal Census, 1790, Charles County, Maryland; U.S. Federal Census, 1800, Durham Parish, Charles County, Maryland; John Shepherd will.
8. Inventory of Francis Shepard, 1805, Charles County Register of Wills, Inventories, 1802-1808, p. 199, MdHR 7304-1 [MSA C665-13, 1/8/10/24]; Account and distribution of Francis Shepard, 1807, Charles County Register of Wills, Administration Accounts, 1807-1808, p. 247, MdHR 7304-2 [MSA C650-12, 1/8/10/24].
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