Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

William Jenkins
MSA SC 3520-18116

Biography:

William Jenkins enlisted as a private in Maryland’s Fourth Independent Company on January 22, 1776 under Captain James Hindman. Hindman’s company took part in an effort spearheaded by Maryland’s Council of Safety designed to protect the Chesapeake Bay from potential British invasions. Originally stationed at Oxford in Talbot County, Hindman's company traveled to New York to reinforce the Continental Army in preparation for a British invasion. The Fourth Independent Company arrived in New York by mid-August 1776. [1]

On the morning of August 27, 1776, American forces faced British troops at the Battle of Brooklyn (otherwise known as the Battle of Long Island). While several companies engaged the British Army on the Gowanus Road and the nearby Gowanus Creek, taking severe losses in the process, the Fourth Independent Company was largely spared, suffering only three casualties. Hindman defended his actions during the battle to the Council of Safety, arguing that rumors referring to the Fourth Independent Company’s “very ill” behavior were unfounded. Hindman instead declared that “the company [he] had the honor to command...behaved themselves as well as in the service, notwithstanding the dark insinuations...thrown out to their prejudice.” The Fourth Independent Company later fought at the Battle of White Plains in October 1776. Jenkins’s enlistment ended by December, 1776. [2]

On June 1, 1777, Jenkins enlisted as a private in Maryland’s Second Regiment as part of Captain Archibald Anderson’s Fourth Company. Curiously, a notice in the Pennsylvania Gazette from June 2, 1777 listed Jenkins as a deserter, although he seemingly returned to duty shortly afterwards; Jenkins may have left and returned for reasons unknown. Between 1777 and 1779, Jenkins’s company remained in the northern theater and participated in combat at locations including Staten IslandBrandywine, and Germantown. Jenkins once again fought alongside many of the same people from the Fourth Independent Company, including Anderson, who had previously been Jenkins’s first lieutenant in Hindman's company. [3]

Jenkins also served in the light infantry, and likely participated in the night raid on Stony Point. American officers did not allow their soldiers to load their muskets prior to the harrowing assault on British troops for fear that accidental misfires might give away their positions. Despite the dangerous odds, Jenkins survived the battle. Although the American victory at Stony Point served as a major psychological victory, producing “an ardor of enthusiasm in the minds of both the army and the people,” the Americans soon abandoned the area. [4]

Although discharged from Anderson’s company in 1780, Jenkins reenlisted for the remainder of the war. Following disastrous Battle of Camden, in which the Maryland Line lost around one-third of its troops, Jenkins joined the First Maryland Regiment’s Light Infantry Company under Francis Reveley. Maryland soldiers like Jenkins fought at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781, where Archibald Anderson died. Although American troops continued to suffer setbacks the following month at the Battle of Hobkirk's Hill, the war began to turn in favor of the Americans after cornering the British in Charleston, South Carolina. Jenkins served until near the war's end. Jenkins once again deserted for unknown reasons, although he received a pardon for his actions. [5]

Despite his illustrious service record, post-war information on William Jenkins is difficult to find because of the number of people sharing his name. None of the William Jenkins living in Maryland following the war can be conclusively linked to the Jenkins who served in the Maryland Line.

-James Schmitt, Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution Research Fellow, 2019

Notes:

[1] Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 24; Mark Andrew Tacyn, “‘To the End:’ The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution” (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), pp. 33-34, 44-45.

[2] Tacyn, pp. 52-67; Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety July 7, 1776 to December 31, 1776, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 12, pp. 345-346.

[3] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 126; Tacyn, pp. 98-109, 128, 186-215; Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War, NARA M881, from Fold3.com; “Forty Dollars Reward,” Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia), 18 June 1777.

[4] Samuel W. Pennypacker, “The Capture of Stony Point,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 26, no. 3 (1902), pp. 366, 368; Compiled Service Records.

[5] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, pp. 358, 444, 498; Tacyn, pp. 224-226, 244.

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