Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Philip Weller
MSA SC 3520-18061

Biography:

Philip Weller enlisted as a private in the Third Company of the First Maryland Regiment in March 1776. The company was part of Maryland's first contingent of full-time, professional troops, raised to fulfill the state's quota of soldiers for the Continental Army. The Third Company was commanded by Captain Barton Lucas, a veteran of the French and Indian War. Most of the company's men enlisted in Bladensburg, Maryland, and many of them were natives of Prince George's County. The company spent the first part of 1776 stationed in Annapolis, along with most of the other companies of the regiment (the rest were in Baltimore), where it trained and helped guard the city. [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 was able to cross the creek, and escape the battle. However, the rest of the men, including the Third Company, 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 casualties, 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. [2]

The Third Company suffered greatly, and more than 60 percent of its men were killed or captured. At least twenty two were taken prisoner by the British, including Weller. Lucas was sick during the battle and unable to fight with his men, and was greatly affected by the high number of casualties they took. One of his soldiers recalled that "Captain Barton Lucas became deranged in consequence of losing his company...Lucas was sent home" later that fall. [3]

While Weller left no account of his time as a prisoner, Thomas McKeel, a sergeant in the Sixth Company, described the details of his captivity. McKeel "remained a prisoner on board of a Prison Ship until the British troops got possession of New York" in November 1776, and "he was then taken ashore and imprisoned in New York with the Maryland officers and prisoners, until he was parolled." Weller's experiences were probably similar, and by February 1777 he had been released in a prisoner exchange and returned to Maryland. [4]

Weller's enlistment expired at the end of 1776, while he was a prisoner. Few of the men captured at Brooklyn reenlisted; many of them were no doubt in poor health because of their imprisonment. Weller proved to be an exception, however, and he signed on for another term in the army. [5]

During the next three years, Weller served with many of the same soldiers who he had fought alongside at the Battle of Brooklyn. The Marylanders fought in the disastrous raid on Staten Island in August 1777, and the major battles of the Philadelphia Campaign, 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. On December 27, 1779, Weller's enlistment ended, and he received his discharge. [6]

There is no definite information about Weller after he left the army and returned to Maryland. [7]

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, 10; Pension of John Hughes. National Archives, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land-Warrant Application Files, S 5954, from Fold3.com; Pension of George Reed. National Archives, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land-Warrant Application Files, S 30669, from Fold3.com.

[2] Return of the Maryland troops, 13 September 1776, Revolutionary War Rolls, NARA M246, folder 35, 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] Return of the Maryland troops, 13 September 1776; Hughes pension.

[4] Pay Role of Prisoners taken on Long Island from 27th August to the 10th Dec. 1776, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, box 19, no. 3 [MSA S997-19-3, 01/07/03/15]; Cash Paid to Men Released From New York, early 1777, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, box 6, no. 25 [MSA S997-6-59, 1/7/3/11]; Pension of Thomas McKeel. National Archives, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land-Warrant Application Files, S34977, from Fold3.com.

[5] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, 173; Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, NARA M881, from Fold3.com. Weller's reenlistment date was recorded as December 10, 1776, which was an administrative placeholder, representing the day the regiment was re-formed, rather than when he actually rejoined the army.

[6] List of receipts of soldiers who were paid upon discharge, 27 December 1779, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, box 3, no. 7-21, 1 [MSA S997-3-94, 1/7/3/9].

[7] Some sources say that by the 1820s Weller had settled in Nelson County, Kentucky, but it is not certain that information is correct. For example see C.E. Schildknecht, Monocacy and Catoctin, vol. 2 (Westminster, MD: Family Line Publications, 1989), 308.

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