Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Thomas Barker
MSA SC 3520-18210

Biography:

Thomas Barker enlisted as a private in the Fourth Independent Company on February 5, 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 in the summer of 1776, 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 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. Despite the loss of 256 men who were killed or captured, the bravery and sacrifice of the Maryland troops earned them the title of the "Maryland 400." [3]

While the Fourth Independent was spared the worst of the fighting, the company still suffered small losses, including Barker, who was captured at Long Island on August 29. [4]

While in captivity, Barker most likely remained a prisoner on board a prison ship. Thomas McKeel, another Maryland prisoner captured during the Battle of Brooklyn, noted that he "remained a prisoner on board of a Prison Ship until the British troops got possession of New York." As the British considered American troops to be rebels, prisoners such as Barker and McKeel were often tortured or abused by the British soldiers. Thousands of American prisoners died on the prison ships stationed in New York due to poor conditions and disease. [5] The British took the prisoners ashore after taking New York, and in the winter of 1776-1777, released most of the Marylanders who didn't die in captivity. [6] However, Barker’s fate after his capture is unknown.

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] Return of the Maryland troops, 13 September 1776, Revolutionary War Rolls, NARA M246, folder 35, p. 85, from Fold3.com.

[4] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 24.

[5] George C. Doughan, Revolution on the Hudson: New York City and the Hudson River Valley in the American War of Independence (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016); Patrick O’Donnell, Washington’s Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2016), 96-98; Tacyn, 84-87.

[6] Pension of Thomas McKeel, National Archives and Records Administration, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, NARA M804, S 34977, from Fold3.com.

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