Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Peregrine Evans
MSA SC 3520-18121

Biography:

Peregrine Evans enlisted in Maryland’s Fourth Independent company on February 19, 1776 as a private.[1] Just a few months after enlisting, Evans and his company were ordered to march to New York and join forces with the Continental Army against an impending British offensive. On August 27, 1776, Evans and his fellow soldiers fought in the first major engagement of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Brooklyn.

This first battle was a heartbreaking defeat for the colonies. The Americans found themselves entirely outflanked by the British and were forced to scramble through Gowanus Creek in retreat under enemy fire. This precarious situation on the battlefield threatened the survival of the entire Continental Army, including General Washington. The patriots were saved, however, by the actions of the Maryland troops that had recently arrived in New York. They launched a daring counterattack and bought the Army just enough time to successfully retreat. As a result, 256 of their men were killed or captured. This bravery would earn them the title of the Maryland 400.

Evans was one of the lucky men to survive the Battle of Brooklyn. He went on to fight at the Battles of White Plains, Trenton, and Princeton. After the Battle of Princeton, the issue of expiring enlistments came to call. Despite witnessing bloody combat and suffering the conditions of an extremely ill-supplied army, Evans made the decision to reenlist on January 10, 1777.[2] The Fourth Independent then combined with the other independent companies and formed the Second Maryland Regiment.

Evans fought in and survived both the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of Germantown. It seems he fought well, for on May 1, 1778, Evans was made a corporal.[3] His regiment next saw action at the Battle of Monmouth later that year. Evans was promoted again on January 10, 1780, this time to the rank of sergeant.[4] At the Battle of Camden a few months afterwards, Evans was one of the many soldiers lost amidst the Americans’ confused retreat.[5] He did eventually manage to find his way back to his regiment.

At the Siege of Ninety-Six in 1781, Evans was shot in the right calf. He was brought to a hospital in Charlottesville, North Carolina for treatment.[6] While his wound healed, Evans was given a furlough and returned home. He rejoined his unit in Annapolis once he had fully recovered and remained in the service until the end of the war.[7] He was discharged on June 20, 1783 in Baltimore just a few months before the colonies officially won their independence.[8]

After the war, Evans married and started a family. He and his wife Deborah had four children, Nancy, Drusilla, Jesse, and Washington.[9] Evans was granted fifty acres of land in Western Maryland for his service to his country.[10] Like many others, he never claimed the land due to its isolation and poor agricultural potential. Instead, Evans and his family moved to Goshen Mill, South Carolina, where he established a farm.[11] By 1825, Evans owned eighty-six acres of land worth about $150.00 on which he kept a small quantity of livestock.[12]

As time went on, Evans required the assistance of the country he had helped liberate. His old age and leg injury made farming difficult, so he applied for a federal pension in 1818 at age fifty-nine and was awarded $8.00 a month.[13] Evans struggled with the pension office for the next ten years, however. He had to authenticate his Revolutionary War service four times between 1818 and 1828 to get himself back on the pension list.[14]

On February 25, 1843, Evans passed away in Goshen Mill, South Carolina, where he is now buried.[15] There is also a memorial to Evans in Calhoun County, Alabama, where his son Jesse moved.[16]

Jillian Curran, Explore America Research Intern, 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.

[2] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 106.

[3] Pension of Perry Evans. National Archives, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, NARA M804 S. 39503, p. 1-33, from Fold3.com.

[4] Evans Pension.

[5] Evans Pension.

[6] Evans Pension.

[7] Evans Pension.

[8] Evans Pension.

[9] Evans Pension.

[10] Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck, Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants, (Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1996), 198.

[11] Evans Pension.

[12] Evans Pension.

[13] Evans Pension.

[14] Evans Pension.

[15] Final Payment Voucher of Perry Evans, National Archives, Final Payment Vouchers Index for Military Pensions, 1818-1864, NARA 2733385, p. 1-2, from Fold3.com.

[16] Perry Evans on FindAGrave.

[17] While 1840 is listed as the year of death on Evans's grave, federal pension records state February 25, 1843 as his death date.

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