Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

David Priestley
MSA SC 3520-18154

Biography:

David Priestley enlisted as a private in the Fourth Independent Company on January 28, 1776 under Captain James Hindman. [1]

Hindman’s company originally played a role in the Maryland Council of Safety’s plan to protect the Chesapeake Bay from potential British invasions. Colonel William Smallwood’s Maryland battalion of nine companies were stationed in Baltimore and Annapolis while the independent companies were divided between the Eastern and Western shores. While centered at Oxford in Talbot County that summer, Hindman’s company received orders to march to New York to reinforce the Continental Army for a British invasion. The independent companies, including the Fourth Independent, arrived in New York by mid-August 1776. [2]

On August 27, 1776, American forces faced British troops at the Battle of Brooklyn (also known as the Battle of Long Island), the first full-scale engagement of the war. Under heavy fire, the American troops attempted to retreat through Gowanus Creek, suffering severe losses in the process. To hold the British at bay, the remaining Marylanders who hadn’t crossed the creek yet mounted a series of charges. The Maryland troops delayed the British long enough for the rest of the Continental Army to escape, and their bravery earned them the title of the "Maryland 400."

Priestley and the Fourth Independent Company saw little combat at the battle, taking only minimal losses. Hindman defended his company against allegations of non-participation, and blamed their orders for preventing them from taking a more active role: "I have had the vanity to think the company I have had the honor to command have behaved themselves as well as in the service, notwithstanding the dark insinuations that have been thrown out to their prejudice." [3]

Following the battle of Brooklyn, the Fourth Independent Company fought at the Battle of White Plains, a continuation of the retreat from New York and an American loss. Priestley was most likely at the battles of Trenton and Princeton as well.

At the beginning of 1777, the issue of expiring enlistments came to call. After suffering the privations of an ill-supplied army, Priestley did not return to military service.No information is known about Priestley’s life.

Cassy Sottile, 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] Mark Andrew Tacyn, "To the End: The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution," (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 34-45.

[3] Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July 7: December 31, 1776, Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 12, p. 346.

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