John McPherson
MSA SC 3520-17912
Biography:
John McPherson enlisted as a private in the First Company of the First Maryland Regiment in January 1776. The company was raised in Charles County, Maryland, and was led by Captain John Hoskins Stone. It 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]
In July, the regiment received orders to march to New York to defend the city from an impending British attack. The Marylanders arrived in New York in early August, where they 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 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. [2]
McPherson's fate at the battle is not known, nor is anything else known about his life. In the years during and after the Revolutionary War, there were at least four men named John McPherson living in Charles County who were roughly the right age for military service. Indeed, two soldiers who enlisted in the First Maryland Regiment in 1776 had brothers named John McPherson. However, because so little is known about the man who joined the First Maryland Regiment in 1776, it is impossible to determine which of them he was. [3]
Owen Lourie, 2018
Notes:
[2] 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.
[3] The four known John McPhersons were:
John McPherson, son of Alexander, and brother of Mark McPherson, who also enlisted in the First Company of the First Maryland Regiment in 1776. John's date of birth is not known; Mark was born in 1754. Assuming the brothers were relatively close in age, John would have been close to the typical age of Maryland soldiers. Based on age, therefore, this is the John McPherson most likely to have enlisted in 1776.
John McPherson, born on April 5, 1742, the son of William (d. 1788) and Elinor (Wilkinson), and the brother of William McPherson, who enlisted in the Ninth Company of the First Maryland Regiment in 1776. He would have been about thirty-four years old when he enlisted, which is older than typical, but not impossible.
John McPherson, (1742/43-1798), the son of William (d. 1751 or 1752) and Barbara (Acton). He, too would have been older than the typical soldier.
John McPherson, son of Alexander (1738-1805) and Mary (Weems). His father was also the son of William and Barbara. His birth date is not known, but based on his father's age, he may have been too young to join the army in 1776.
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